Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 18’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 371-2.
Ofsvefni tæla láttu þik aldrigi;
kosta vakr at vera;
leti ok lasta verðr, þeim er lengi sefr,
auðit iðugliga.
Láttu þik aldrigi tæla ofsvefni; kosta at vera vakr; verðr leti ok lasta iðugliga auðit, þeim er lengi sefr.
Never let too much sleepiness entice you; try to stay awake; laziness and vices frequently fall to the lot of the one who sleeps for a long time.
Mss: 1199ˣ(72r), 720a IV(1r), 723aˣ(77), 696XV(1r), 624(141)
Readings: [1] Ofsvefni: ofsefn 723aˣ, ofsvefna 624; tæla: ‘tel[...]’ 696XV, om. 624 [2] láttu þik: ‘[...]’ 696XV; aldrigi: ‘[...]’ 696XV, eigi tæla 624 [3] kosta: kosta þú 720a IV, 696XV, 624; vera: ver 624 [4] lasta: losta 696XV, 624 [5, 6] er lengi sefr auðit: ‘[...]’ 696XV
Editions: Skj AII, 171, Skj BII, 188, Skald II, 98; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 10, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 549, Gering 1907, 5, Tuvestrand 1977, 80, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 36.
Notes: [All]: Lat. parallel: (Dist. I, 2) Plus vigila semper nec somno deditus esto; / nam diuturna quies vitiis alimenta ministrat ‘Always keep more alert, nor be given to sleep; for continuous idleness offers food for vice’. The text of 1199ˣ is closer than that of 624 to the Lat.; in 624 the whole st. seems corrupt. The advice to be alert is also expressed in Hsv 9. Similar advice is also given in Grp 29 (NK, 168).
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