Anon Mhkv 15III
Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 15’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1229.
Auðigr ‘rich’
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auðigr (adj.; °auðgan/auðigan; compar. auðgari/auðigri, superl. auðgastr/auðigastr): wealthy
[1] Auðigr: ‘A[...]gr’ R, auðigr(?) RFJ
þykkir ‘seems’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
[1] þykkir: ‘þi[...]k[...]’ R, ‘þicker’ RFJ
einn ‘A lone man’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
[1] einn sér: sér einn R
notes
[1] einn ... sér ‘a lone man ... to himself’: Changed in all eds from sér einn (R) for sake of metre (to avoid alliteration falling on the unstressed syllable in metrical position 6).
sér ‘to himself’
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
[1] einn sér: sér einn R
notes
[1] einn ... sér ‘a lone man ... to himself’: Changed in all eds from sér einn (R) for sake of metre (to avoid alliteration falling on the unstressed syllable in metrical position 6).
annars ‘of another’
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1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
margr ‘many a one’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
of ‘about’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
far ‘the conduct’
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far (noun n.; °-s; *-): travel, vessel, trace, life, conduct
ørgrands ‘the flawless’
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ørgrandr (adj.): flawless, virtuous
[3] ørgrands: ‘avrgrannz’ R
notes
[3] ørgrands ‘the flawless’: M. or n. gen. sg. of the adj. ørgrandr. Möbius (1874), Wisén (1886-9, I) and Skj B interpret the ms. reading as the adj. ørgrannr ‘tiny, very little’; NN §3273, followed here, argues for the adj. ørgrandr ‘without blame, flawless’.
erum ‘seek’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
vér ‘we’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
lengst ‘longest’
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lengst (adv.): longest
á ‘after’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
lundvær ‘peaceable’
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lundværr (adj.): [peaceable]
[4] lundvær: ‘l[...]ær’ R, lundvær RFJ
bezta ‘the best’
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betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
sveit ‘company’
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sveit (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): host, company
[4] sveit: ‘[...]’ R, sveit RFJ
Skammæ ‘short-lived’
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skammær (adj.): short-lived
[5] Skammæ: ‘sk[...]’ R, skammæ RFJ, skammr RJS
þykkja ‘seems’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
ǫll ‘Everything’
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allr (adj.): all
ekki ‘not’
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2. ekki (adv.): not
mart ‘much’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
er ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
verra ‘worse’
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verri (adj. comp.): worse, worst
en ‘than’
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4. en (conj.): than
trǫll ‘a troll’
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troll (noun n.; °-s; -): troll
eigi ‘nothing’
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3. eigi (adv.): not
[7] eigi spillir: ‘[...]pillir’ R, ‘engi spiller’ RFJ
spillir ‘spoils’
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spilla (verb): destroy
[7] eigi spillir: ‘[...]pillir’ R, ‘engi spiller’ RFJ
hyggins ‘of a wise man’
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hygginn (adj.; °comp. -ari, superl. -astr): intelligent
hjali ‘the talk’
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hjal (noun n.; °-s): [talk, chatter]
hefkat ‘I have not’
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hafa (verb): have
ek ‘’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
spurt ‘heard’
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spyrja (verb; spurði): ask; hear, find out
notes
[8] at … ‘that …’: Most previous eds supply bersa kali ‘a bear freezes’, where the verb kali ‘freezes’ is 3rd pers. sg. subj. used impersonally and bersa ‘bear’ acc. sg. of bersi. This conjectural reading by Jón Sigurðsson has taken a firm grip on scholarship. Adherents of Bishop Bjarni’s authorship of Mhkv have used it (along with bersi in st. 6/8) as supporting evidence: bersi = Bjarni < bjǫrn ‘bear’ (see, e.g. LH II, 48). Guðbrandur Vigfússon suggested the emendation (at) hvatan dvali ‘the bold man never delays’ (Möbius 1874, 33), but it did not find a home in CVC.
notes
[8] at … ‘that …’: Most previous eds supply bersa kali ‘a bear freezes’, where the verb kali ‘freezes’ is 3rd pers. sg. subj. used impersonally and bersa ‘bear’ acc. sg. of bersi. This conjectural reading by Jón Sigurðsson has taken a firm grip on scholarship. Adherents of Bishop Bjarni’s authorship of Mhkv have used it (along with bersi in st. 6/8) as supporting evidence: bersi = Bjarni < bjǫrn ‘bear’ (see, e.g. LH II, 48). Guðbrandur Vigfússon suggested the emendation (at) hvatan dvali ‘the bold man never delays’ (Möbius 1874, 33), but it did not find a home in CVC.
notes
[8] at … ‘that …’: Most previous eds supply bersa kali ‘a bear freezes’, where the verb kali ‘freezes’ is 3rd pers. sg. subj. used impersonally and bersa ‘bear’ acc. sg. of bersi. This conjectural reading by Jón Sigurðsson has taken a firm grip on scholarship. Adherents of Bishop Bjarni’s authorship of Mhkv have used it (along with bersi in st. 6/8) as supporting evidence: bersi = Bjarni < bjǫrn ‘bear’ (see, e.g. LH II, 48). Guðbrandur Vigfússon suggested the emendation (at) hvatan dvali ‘the bold man never delays’ (Möbius 1874, 33), but it did not find a home in CVC.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
A lone man seems to himself rich everywhere; many a one speaks about the conduct of another; we seek longest after the flawless; peaceable company seems the best. Everything beyond the mean seems short-lived; not much is worse than a troll; nothing spoils the talk of a wise man; I have not heard that …
[5]: On this sententia, found in three other Old Norse texts, see Foote (1988).
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