Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 21’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1235.
Yndit láta engir falt;
allopt verðr í hreggi svalt;
andaðs dr*úpa minjar mest;
magran skyldi kaupa hest.
Œrit þykkir viðkvæm vá;
vinfengin ’ró misjǫfn þá;
fasthaldr varð á Fenri lagðr;
fíkjum var mér ramligr sagðr.
Engir láta yndit falt; allopt verðr svalt í hreggi; minjar andaðs dr*úpa mest; skyldi kaupa magran hest. Vá þykkir œrit viðkvæm; vinfengin ’ró þá misjǫfn; fasthaldr varð lagðr á Fenri; var mér sagðr fíkjum ramligr.
‘None puts his love up for sale; very often it becomes cool in a storm; memories of a dead man droop the most; one should buy a lean horse. Woe seems tangible enough; friendships are unequal then; a fetter was laid on Fenrir; I was told it was hugely strong. ’
[1]: For similar proverbs, see Ísl. Málsh.: auður (1). — [4]: Cf. Hávm 83/3 (NK 30): (scal) magran mar kaupa ‘one should buy a lean horse’.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
†Vndit† láta engir falt;
allopt verðr í hreggi svalt;
andaðs drjúpa minjar mest;
magran skyldi kaupa hest.
Œrit þykkir viðkvæm vá;
vinfegin ’ró misjǫfn þá;
fasthaldr varð á Fenri lagðr;
fíkjum var mér ramligr sagðr.
Vndit lata engir falt allopt verþr i hreɢi svalt andaðs drivpa miniar mest magran | skyldi kavpa hest ærit þickir viðqvæm va vinfegin ero misiofn þa fasthalldr varþ ⸝⸝ afenri lagðr fikiom var hann mer ramligr sagðr |
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], A. [1]. Málsháttakvæði 21: AII, 134, BII, 143, Skald II, 77, NN §2581D; Möbius 1874, 9, Wisén 1886-9, I, 75.
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