Anon Hsv 46^VII

Einskis biðja        samir þér annan þess,
        er gengr af réttri rifi;
ósvinnr maðr        biðr þess iðugliga,
        er hann þarf hvergi at hafa.

Samir þér biðja annan einskis þess, er gengr af réttri rifi; ósvinnr maðr biðr iðugliga þess, er hann þarf hvergi at hafa.

It befits you to ask another for nothing which departs from right reason; an unwise man frequently asks for that which he does not need to have.

Mss: 1199ˣ(73r), 723aˣ(80), 401ˣ(1v), 624(142)

Readings: [1] Einskis: so 723aˣ, 401ˣ, 624, einski 1199ˣ    [2] samir þér: þér samir vel 401ˣ, skaltu 624    [3] gengr af réttri rifi: er gengr af restu rifi 723aˣ, ‘ei geingr af re[...]rife’ 401ˣ, þú eigi þarft 624    [4] ósvinnr: ósnotr 624    [5] iðugliga: optliga 401ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 178, Skj BII, 193, Skald II, 101, NN §2589; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 14, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 550, Gering 1907, 13, Tuvestrand 1977, 96, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 58.

Notes: [All]: Lat. parallel: (Dist. I, 31) Quod iustum est petito vel quod videatur honestum, / nam stultum petere est quod possit iure negari ‘Ask for what is right or what seems proper, for it is foolish to ask for that which may rightly be denied’. The question of whom to ask for what and to be decent in one’s pleas is also dealt with in Hávm and Sól. Cf. Sól 28. — [1-3]: The text in 624 departs from the Lat.: Einskis biðja | skaltu annan þess | er þú eigi þarft ‘You must ask another for nothing which you do not need’.

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. Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 28’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 314-15.
10. Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Sólarljóð’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 287-357. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1041> (accessed 24 April 2024)
11. Not published: do not cite ()