Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 54’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 393-4.
Aura þína skaltu eigi til ónýtis hafa;
heldr neyt með hagspeki;
válaðr verðr, sá er eigi vinna má,
ef hann hefr aurum amat.
Skaltu eigi hafa aura þína til ónýtis; heldr neyt með hagspeki; verðr válaðr, sá er eigi má vinna, ef hann hefr amat aurum.
‘You must not have your money for no use; rather use it with sense; he who cannot work becomes poor if he has squandered his money.’
Lat. parallel: (Dist. I, 39) Conserva potius, quae sunt iam parta labore; / cum labor in damno est, crescit mortalis egestas ‘Preserve with greater effort what you have already gained; when labour is set at naught, human poverty grows’. 624 has a very different reading:
Eigur þínar skaltu eigi til ofneyzlu hafa;
opt verðr sá aumr, er fyrir aurum ræðr,
ok hefir öðrum á mót.
Skaltu eigi hafa eigur þínar til ofneyzlu; sá verðr opt aumr, er ræðr fyrir aurum ok hefir öðrum á mót ‘You shall not use your property for intemperance; he often becomes poor who rules over money and uses it against others’. 624 lacks a 3rd l. and there is no alliteration in the last l. The verbal correspondences in the first helmingr, however, suggest that both versions are ultimately derived from the same translation.
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.
Aura þína
skaltu eigi til ónýtis hafa;
ok neyt með hagspeki;
válaðr verðr,
sá er eigi vinna má,
ef hann hefr aurum amat.
Aura þijna skalltu eigi til önýtis hafa. og neit med hagspeke. Voladur verdr | sa er ei vinna ma, ef hann hefur Aurum amad.
(VEÞ)
†[...] þina†
skaltu eigi til ónýts hafa;
hafna þú eigi hagspeki ;
válaðr verðr,
sá er vinna eigi má ,
ef hann hefr aurum amat.
[...] þina skalltu ei til onytz hafa· hafna þu ei hagspeki vol | adr verdr saer vinna ei ma ef hann hefr avrvm amat \\ |
(VEÞ)
Aura þína skaltu allra neyta enn hafa þó við alla hagspeki
(SG)
eigur þínar
skaltu eigi til ofneyzlu hafa;
;
opt verðr sá aumr ,
er fyrir aurum ræðr ,
ok hefr öðrum á mót .
eigur þínar skaltu eigi til ofneyzlu hafa opt verdr sa avmur er firer avrvm ʀædur ok hefur ꜹ | drvm amot
(VEÞ)
Eigur þijnar | skaltu ei til ofneitslu hafa, offt verdur sä armur | er firer Aurum rædur og gefur ódrum ä möt.
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 54: AII, 180, BII, 194, Skald II, 101, NN §2590; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 16, Gering 1907, 15, Tuvestrand 1977, 101, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 64.
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