Anon Hsv 136VII
Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 136’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 441.
text and translation
Engi oftreysti, þótt eigi sé gamall,
at muni lengi lifa;
skugga sinn hygg ek eigi mega skatna flýja
né heldr forðaz feigð.
Engi oftreysti, at muni lifa lengi, þótt sé eigi gamall; ek hygg skatna mega eigi flýja skugga sinn né heldr forðaz feigð.
‘Nobody may trust too much that he will live long, even if he is not old; I think that men cannot escape their shadow nor avoid the approach of death.’
notes and context
Lat. parallel: (Dist. IV, 37) Tempora longa tibi noli promittere vitae: / quocumque ingrederis, sequitur mors corporis umbra ‘Do not promise yourself a long stretch of life; wherever you go death, the shadow of the body, follows’. The advice to be wary of sudden death is also given in Hsv 38. Cf. also Hávm 16 (NK, 19): Ósniallr maðr | hyggz muno ey lifa, | ef hann við víg varaz ‘The foolish man thinks he will live for ever, if he keeps away from fighting’ (Larrington 1996, 16). The same idea is expressed in Has 43.
readings
- [1] oftreysti: oftreystiz 624
- [2] eigi sé: hann sé eigi 624
- [3] muni: hann muni 624
- [5] mega skatna flýja: skatna flýja mega 624
sources
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.
-
Lbs 1199 4°x (1199x) — 75v/4 - 75v/5
imagesEingi oftreisti þo ei sie gamall ad muni leingi lifa | Skugga sinn higg eg ei meiga skatna flýa, nie helldur fordast feigd. |
(VEÞ)
-
AM 148 8vox (148x*) — 245r/19 - 245r/21 [1-5]
Einge þvij treijste þö ei sie gamall, | ad hann lenge life, þvij skugga sinn mä ei skatna | lid flija,
(VEÞ)
-
AM 624 4° (624) — 147/15 - 147/17
imagesEngi oftreystiz,
þótt hann sé eigi gamall,
at hann muni lengi lifa;
skugga sinn
hygg ek eigi skatna flýja mega
né heldr forðaz feigð.Eingi oftreystizt þo hann se eigi gamall at hann mvni leingi lí | fa skugga sin hygg ek eigi skatna flyia mega níe helldur fordaz | feigd
(VEÞ)
-
AM 148 8vox (148x*) — 75v/6 - 75v/8
Einge oftreistest þö hann sie ei gamall, ad hann | mune leinge lifa, skugga sinn higg eg ei skatnna | flijia mega, nie helldur fordast feigd. |
(VEÞ)
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 137: AII, 195, BII, 208, Skald II, 109; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 32, Gering 1907, 37, Tuvestrand 1977, 146, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 122.
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