Mberf Lv 4^II

Hvats í heimi betra
— hyggr skald af þrô sjaldan —
— mjǫks langr, sás dvelr drengi,
dagr — an víf in fǫgru?
Þungan berk af þingi
þann harm, es skalk svanna
— skreytask menn á móti —
minn aldrigi finna.

Hvats betra í heimi an in fǫgru víf? Skald hyggr sjaldan af þrô; dagr, sás dvelr drengi, [e]s mjǫk langr. Berk þann þungan harm af þingi, es skalk aldrigi finna svanna minn; menn skreytask á móti.

What’s better in this world than fair women? The poet seldom forgets his yearning; the day which delays men is very long. I carry that heavy care from the assembly, that I shall never meet my woman; men dress up at the meeting.

Mss: Mork(24r) (Mork); H(91v), Hr(63ra) (H-Hr); F(59va), E(35v), J2ˣ(314r), 42ˣ(14r)

Readings: [1] Hvats (‘Hvat er’): Hvat er hér E, 42ˣ    [2] af: á H, Hr, at 42ˣ    [4] in fǫgru: it fagra H, Hr    [6] harm: arm J2ˣ    [7] skreytask: skreytisk Hr, ‘skeytaz’ F;    á: at H, Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 433, Skj BI, 402-3, Skald I, 199; Mork 1867, 152, Mork 1928-32, 330, Andersson and Gade 2000, 308, 487 (Mberf); Fms 7, 61 (Mberf ch. 30); F 1871, 276, E 1916, 124-5 (Mberf).

Context: As Lv 3 above.

Notes: [4] in fǫgru víf ‘fair women’: Lit. ‘the fair women’. — [7] menn skreytask á móti ‘men dress up at the meeting’: The meaning of this cl. is not immediately obvious. Skj B adopts the H, Hr variant at móti ‘at the meeting’, and the cl. is translated as mændene smykker sig til (ved?) mødet ‘men dress up for (at?) the meeting’. That variant is not supported by the ms. witnesses. Á móti ‘at the meeting’ may be synonymous with á þingi ‘at the assembly’ (see Fritzner: mót 3), which would imply that men were dressing up at the legal assembly for their own self-esteem and also in the anticipation of subsequent encounters with desired women. That interpretation is supported by st. 61 of Hávm (NK 26): Þveginn oc mettr | ríði maðr þingi at, | þótt hann séð væddr til vel; | scúa oc bróca | scammiz engi maðr, | né hestz in heldr, | þótt hann hafit góðan ‘Washed and full of food should a man ride to the assembly, although he might be dressed too well; no man should be ashamed of his shoes and trousers, nor of his horse, although he might not have a good one’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=144> (accessed 2 May 2024)
14. Not published: do not cite ()