Anon Mhkv 19^III

Lýtin þykkja skammæ skarar;
skrautligt kǫllum nafnit farar;
trautt kallak þann valda, er varar;
verða menn, þeir er uppi fjarar.
Ógipt verðr í umbúð skjót;
élin þykkja mǫrgum ljót;
engi of sér við ǫllum rokum;
jafnan spyrja menn at lokum.

Lýtin skarar þykkja skammæ; kǫllum nafnit farar skrautligt; trautt kallak þann, er varar, valda; menn verða, þeir er uppi fjarar. Ógipt verðr skjót í umbúð; élin þykkja mǫrgum ljót; engi of sér við ǫllum rokum; menn spyrja jafnan at lokum.

A haircut’s flaws seem of short duration; we call the name of an expedition ‘glorious’; I scarcely declare the one who warns to be the cause; men there are who end up high and dry. Misfortune is quick in preparation; snowstorms seem ugly to many; no one avoids all sudden gusts; people always ask about a conclusion.

Mss: R(55r)

Editions: Skj AII, 134, Skj BII, 142-3, Skald II, 76, NN §3274; Möbius 1874, 9, Wisén 1886-9, I, 75.

Notes: [2] skrautligt ‘“glorious”’: For skraut ‘splendour, magnificence’ associated with a naval expedition, see SnSt Ht 70/7 skrautfǫr ‘splendour-expedition’ and Anon Pl 38/7^VII skrautvalr ‘adornment-horse [SHIP]’. — [2] kǫllum ‘we call’: The ms. has kǫllum vér (‘kavllum ver’) and Skj B and Skald, following Wisén (1886-9, I), delete the following pron. vér as unmetrical. — [3]: Cf. Njáls saga (Nj ch. 41, ÍF 12, 106): veldrat sá, er varar ‘he who gives warning is not the cause’; Hrafnkels saga (Hrafnk ch. 3, ÍF 11, 102): eigi veldr sá, er varar annan ‘he who warns another is not the cause’. — [4]: Wisén (1886-9, I) adopts the emendation of Jón Þorkelsson (in Möbius 1874, 615), who substituted þar’s (þar er) ‘where’ for þeir’s ‘who’. For fjara e-n uppi ‘strand (sby or sth.), leave high and dry’ used impersonally with the acc., see Fritzner: fjara. Fjara (f.) is the part of the beach left dry at ebb tide. — [7]: A known proverb: see, e.g., Grettis saga (Gr ch. 52, ÍF 7, 169): eigi má nú við ǫllu sjá ‘one can’t guard against everything now’. — [7] of: Correct use of the expletive particle (see Note to st. 10/5). — [8]: The same proverb occurs as an addition to the Latin source in Anon Hsv 99/6^VII æ spyrr lýðr at lokum ‘people always find out about a conclusion’. Lok (pl.) ‘conclusions, ends’ comes just before the final stanza of the stefjabálkr; cf. SnSt Ht 102/4 þats kvæðis lok ‘that is the end of the poem’; Anon Leið 45/1, 4^VII lok bragar þessa ‘[the company shall now look on] the end of this poem’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
6. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. ÍF 7 = Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar. Ed. Guðni Jónsson. 1936.
8. ÍF 11 = Austfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Jón Jóhannesson. 1950.
9. ÍF 12 = Brennu-Njáls saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1954.
10. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
11. Internal references
12. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Njáls saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1220-1313. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=55> (accessed 5 May 2024)
13. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 640-806. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=70> (accessed 5 May 2024)
14. Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 99’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 419.
15. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 45’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 178.
16. Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Plácitusdrápa 38’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 204-5.
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 102’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1209.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 70’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1181.