Anon Sól 28VII/4 — á
Æsta þykkir einkum vandliga,
þess er þykkir vant vera;
alls á mis verðr, sá er einskis biðr;
fár hyggr þegjanda þörf.
Þykkir æsta einkum vandliga, þess er þykkir vant vera; sá er einskis biðr, verðr alls á mis; fár hyggr þörf þegjanda.
It seems [right] to ask especially carefully for what seems to be lacking; he who asks for nothing, will go amiss in everything; few consider the need of the one who is silent.
readings
[4] á mis: ‘a væl’ 166bˣ, 214ˣ, ‘ami’ papp15ˣ, á vil 738ˣ, ‘a ne’ 1441ˣ, ‘a nei’ 10575ˣ, ‘ani’ 2797ˣ
notes
[4] a mis: The mss have a variety of readings, providing variants on ‘væl’, ‘mi’ and ‘ne’. Skj B’s conjecture mis (followed by Björn M. Ólsen and Njörður Njarðvík) is supported by papp15ˣ and possibly by the various ‘ne’ readings. Verða á mis(s) + gen. means ‘to go wrong, go amiss’ and suits the context well. Á víl (which is suggested by the readings of 738ˣ and 166bˣ) does not take the gen. of what goes astray or amiss, as is required here. Kock (NN §2149 and Skald) conjectures áveill ‘wretched, miserable’. Bugge emended to án æ ‘always without’; some support for this may be offered by 7 mss reading ‘an’, ‘ani’ or ‘a nei’, as 10575ˣ does. Falk, followed by Fidjestøl, emended to án ‘alone’, als án verðr ‘he will get nothing’. This emendation provides an effective contrast with asking for nothing (l. 5); cf. Matt. VII.7-8: petite et dabitur vobis quaerite et invenietis pulsate et aperietur vobis / omnis enim qui petit accipit et qui quaerit invenit et pulsanti aperietur ‘ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened’ (cf. Luke XI.9-10).