Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 79’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 408.
Margsnotr maðr, sá er fyrir meinum verðr,
láti sinn eigi hryggja hug;
góðs at vænta skal gumna hverr,
þótt hann sé til dauða dæmdr.
Margsnotr maðr, sá er verðr fyrir meinum, láti eigi hryggja hug sinn; hverr gumna skal góðs at vænta, þótt hann sé dæmdr til dauða.
A very wise man who meets with misfortunes should not let them distress his mind; every man must expect good, although he may be sentenced to death.
Mss: 1199ˣ(74v), 624(144)
Readings: [1] Margsnotr: margvitr 624 [2] sá: om. 624 [3] sinn eigi: eigi sinn 624 [5] skal: skyldi 624; gumna: seggja 1199ˣ, gunna 624
Editions: Skj AII, 184, Skj BII, 199, Skald II, 104; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 20, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 551, Gering 1907, 22, Tuvestrand 1977, 116, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 84.
Notes: [All]: Lat. parallel: (Dist. II, 25) Rebus in adversis animum submittere noli; / spem retine: spes una hominem nec morte relinquit ‘Do not lower your courage when things go wrong; keep up hope: hope alone does not desert a man, not even in death’. The phrasing of the last two ll. is very close to Hsv 34. A similar topic is dealt with in Sól 34. — [5] gumna ‘of men’: 1199ˣ’s seggja does not provide alliteration, whereas 624’s gunna ‘of wars’ is clearly an error. AM 148 8°ˣ, a copy of 624, has gumna. Cf. sts 81/5 and 87/3, where the scribe of 624 also has written gunn- for gumn-.
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