Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 113’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 427-8.
Þat skaltu gera, sem þér gegnir vel,
ok við villu varaz;
mildr af þurftum vertu í mörgum hlutum;
gott er dyggum at duga.
Skaltu gera þat, sem gegnir þér vel, ok varaz við villu; vertu í mörgum hlutum mildr af þurftum; gott er at duga dyggum.
‘You must do what suits you well and beware of error; be in many things generous as necessary; it is good to help the trustworthy.’
Lat. parallels: (Dist. IV, 7) Res age quae prosunt, rursus vitare memento, / in quis error inest nec spes est certa laboris ‘Do things which are useful, but on the other hand remember to avoid those in which there is fault and no sure hope of work’; (Dist. IV, 8) Quod donare potes gratis, ne vende roganti, / nam recte fecisse bonis, in parte lucrorum est ‘What you can give for nothing, do not sell to the asker; for to have done right with goods is to be considered as gain’.
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.
Þat skaltu gera,
sem þér gegnir vel,
ok við villu varaz;
mildr af þurftum
vertu í mörgum hlutum;
gott kveða dyggum at duga.
Þad skalltu | gióra sem þier gegner vel, og vid villu varast. Milldur af þurftum | vertu i mórgum hlutum. ɢott qveda dýgguum ad duga.
(VEÞ)
Þat skaltu gera,
er þér gegnir vel,
ok við villu varaz;
mildr af þurftum
vertu í mörgum hlutum;
gott kveð dyggum at duga.
Þath skaltu giora er þier giegner wel ok wid willu wa\\rast· mi|lldr af þurftum wert þuimorgum hlutum· go|tt kued er dygum ath duga
(TW)
Þat skaltu gera,
þér gegnir vel,
ok varaz villu mest ;
mildr af þurftum
skalt í mörgum hlutum;
gott er dyggum at duga.
þad skalltu gióra þier gegner vel, og varast | villu mest, milldur af þurftum skallt i morgum h[...]|tum, gott er dyggum ad duga.
(TW)
Þat skaltu gera,
er gegnir vel,
en við villu varaz;
mildr at þurftum
vertu í mörgum hlutum;
gott er dyggum at duga.
Þat skaltv giorra er gegner uel en vid | víllu varaz milldur at þurftvm vertv j morgvm hlutum gott er dyggvm at dvga · |
(VEÞ)
þad skaltu giora er gegnner vel, | enn vid villu varast, milldur ad þurfftum vertu i mórgum | hlutum, gott er diggum ad duga.
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 113: AII, 190, BII, 204, Skald II, 107, NN §111; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 27, Gering 1907, 31, Tuvestrand 1977, 134, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 107.
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