Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 97’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 418.
Algegn maðr með aurafjölð
vill sér kjósa konu;
þat þá reynir, ef hann reyna skal
mundargjöld til mikin.
Algegn maðr með aurafjölð vill kjósa sér konu; þat reynir þá, ef hann skal reyna til mikin mundargjöld.
A very upright man with a lot of money will want to choose a wife for himself; that [his wealth] is then put to the test, if he must test too great a bride-price settlement.
Mss: 1199ˣ(74r)
Editions: Skj AII, 187, Skj BII, 202, Skald II, 105, NN FF §60; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 24, Gering 1907, 26, Tuvestrand 1977, 125, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 96.
Notes: [All]: Lat. parallel: (Dist. III, 12) Uxorem fuge ne ducas sub nomine dotis, / nec retinere velis, si coeperit esse molesta ‘Flee from taking a wife for the sake of dowry, and do not wish to keep her if she begins to be burdensome’. — [4-6]: The sense seems to be: because it is known that the prospective groom is wealthy, the bride’s family will attempt to ask for an excessive mundr or bride-price. The translation here reflects the difference between the ON system of bride-price and dowry and the dowry (heimanfylgja) system implied in the Lat. distich. — [6] mundargjöld ‘bride-price settlement’: This cpd is hap. leg.
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