Anon Hsv 57VII
Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 57’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 395-6.
text and translation
Gæzku safna skal gumna hverr,
sá er vill hyggindi hafa;
æðri speki fær maðr aldrigi,
en hann við syndum sjái.
Hverr gumna, sá er vill hafa hyggindi, skal safna gæzku; maðr fær aldrigi æðri speki, en hann sjái við syndum.
‘Every man who wants to have wisdom must accumulate virtues; a man never gets more wisdom than [if] he guards himself against sins.’
notes and context
Lat. parallel: (Praefatio Libri II, 6-9) Si quid amare libet vel discere amare legendo, / Nasonem petito; sin autem cura tibi haec est, / Ut sapiens vivas, audi quae discere possis, / Per quae semotum vitiis deducitur aevum ‘If your fancy is to love something, or you want to learn of love by reading, seek out Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso]; but if this is your concern, to live as a wise man, hear those things you may learn, from which a lifetime removed from vice is drawn’. The Icel. text of the preface to Book II avoids specific mention of the two Lat. authors Virgil and Ovid, in the latter case possibly because his Ars Amatoria ‘Art of Love’ appears to have been somewhat controversial in Icel. classrooms, to judge by the well-known incident reported in Jóns saga helga (JBp 2003, 19, 84, 125), in which Bishop Jón forbade the future bishop Klængr Þorsteinsson to study this and similar books.
readings
- [1] safna: gerva 624
- [2] skal: skyli 624
- [3] vill hyggindi: hyggindi vill 624
- [4] æðri: æðra 624
- [4] speki: spekt 624
- [5] fær: getr 624
- [6] hann við syndum sjái: lastvarr lifa 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.
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Lbs 1199 4°x (1199x) — 73r/30 - 73r/31
imagesGiæsku safna skal Gumna huór sa er vill higgindi hafa. Ædri speki | fær madur alldri enn hann vid Syndum siäe.
(VEÞ)
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AM 148 8vox (148x*) — 245v/10 - 245v/11 [1-3]
Giæsku | skal safna gumna huor, er hygginde vill hafa, |
(VEÞ)
-
AM 624 4° (624) — 143/18 - 143/19
imagesGæzku gerva
skyli gumna hverr,
sá er hyggindi vill hafa;
æðra spekt
getr maðr aldrigi,
en lastvarr lifa .gæsku giorua skili gvna hver sa er | hygíndi uíll hafa ædra sp⸌e⸍ckt getur madur alldri enn lastuar lifa ·
(VEÞ)
-
AM 148 8vox (148x*) — 72r/13 - 72r/15
ad gæsku giorua skilie | gumna huor sä, er higginde vill hafa, ædre spekt | getur madur alldre, enn lastuar lifa.
(VEÞ)
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], [C. E/5]. Hugsvinnsmál 58: AII, 180-1, BII, 195, Skald II, 102; Gering 1907, 16, Tuvestrand 1977, 103, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 67.
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