Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 72’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 404-5.
Af hyggjandi sinni skyldi maðr óhræsinn vera,
nema geraz þarfir þess;
opt at haldi hefr ýtum komit,
ef leyniz spakr at speki.
Maðr skyldi vera óhræsinn af hyggjandi sinni, nema geraz þarfir þess; opt hefr komit at haldi ýtum, ef spakr leyniz at speki.
A man should not be boastful [lit. should be unboastful] of his intelligence, unless need of it arises; often it has become a help to people, if a wise man conceals his wisdom.
Mss: 1199ˣ(74v), 624(144)
Readings: [1] sinni: þinni 624 [2] skyldi maðr: vertu 624; vera: om. 624 [3] nema: unz 624 [6] ef: at 624
Editions: Skj AII, 183, Skj BII, 197-8, Skald II, 103, NN §3282; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 19, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 551, Gering 1907, 20, Tuvestrand 1977, 112, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 78.
Notes: [All]: Lat. parallels: (Dist. II, 18) Insipiens esto, cum tempus postulat ipsum, / stultitiam simulare loco, prudentia summa est ‘Be foolish when the occasion demands; to feign stupidity is at times the highest prudence’. For similar phrasing cf. Hávm 6/1-2 (NK, 18): At hyggiandi sinni | scylit maðr hrœsinn vera ‘about his intelligence no man should be boastful’ (Larrington 1996, 15). This st. is included considerably further on in 1199ˣ, with other sts that seem very much out of order (29, 66). Its inclusion here follows 624 and the Lat. text.
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