Anon Hsv 16^VII

Fámálugr þú vert,        er með fyrðum kemr
        ok at sumblum sitr;
annan fýsa        skaltu eigi illra hluta;
        mæl þú gott ok ger.

Vert þú fámálugr, er kemr með fyrðum ok sitr at sumblum; skaltu eigi fýsa annan illra hluta; mæl þú ok ger gott.

Be reticent when you come among men and sit at banquets; you must not encourage another [to do] bad things; speak and do good.

Mss: 1199ˣ(72r), 720a IV(1r), 723aˣ(77) (l. 6), 696XV(1r), 624(141)

Readings: [1] Fámálugr: ‘[...]’ 696XV;    vert: ver 696XV    [2] er: er þú 624    [3] sumblum: sumlu 720a IV, samkundum 696XV, samkundu 624;    sitr: ‘sit[...]’ 696XV    [4] annan fýsa: ‘[...]ann [...]’ 696XV    [5] skaltu: þú skaltu 720a IV, ‘[...]’ 696XV    [6] mæl: ‘[...]’ 723aˣ, annaz 624

Editions: Skj AII, 171, Skj BII, 188, Skald II, 98, NN §3266B Anm.; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 9, Gering 1907, 5, Tuvestrand 1977, 79, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 35.

Notes: [All]: Lat. parallels: (sent. 51) pauca in convivio loquere ‘say few words at a banquet’; (sent. 55) illud adgredere quod iustum est ‘undertake what is rightful’. A similar topic is dealt with in Hsv 104. In ON-Icel. literature it seems to have been common advice to be cautious among strangers and to listen carefully before speaking oneself. Cf. for instance Hávm 27 and Sól 19. — [6] mæl ‘speak’: The main ms. reading does not correspond to the Lat. text, whereas the reading of 624 (annaz ‘concern yourself with, take care of’) is closer to the Lat.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Tuvestrand, Birgitta, ed. 1977. Hugsvinnsmál: Handskrifter och kritisk text. Lundastudier i nordisk språkvetenskap A:29. Lund: Blom.
5. Hermann Pálsson, ed. 1985a. Áhrif Hugsvinnsmála á aðrar fornbókmenntir. Studia Islandica/Íslensk Fræði 43. Reykjavík: Menningarsjóður.
6. Gering, Hugo, ed. 1907. Hugsvinnsmál. Eine altisländische Übersetzung der Disticha Catonis. Kiel: Lipsius & Tischer.
7. Hallgrímur Scheving, ed. 1831. Hugsvinnsmál, ásamt þeirra látinska frumriti. Skóla hátið. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla.
8. Internal references
9. Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 104’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 422.
10. Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 19’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 308.
11. Not published: do not cite ()