Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 16’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1230.
Engi þarf at hræðask hót;
heldr kømr opt við sáran fót;
hlutgjarn ferr með annars sǫk.
Nøkkvi ríkstr er heima hverr;
†ta† ek umb at síðr;
orðin fara, þegar munninn líðr.
Engi þarf at hræðask hót; heldr opt kømr við sáran fót; hlutgjarn ferr með sǫk annars. Nøkkvi ríkstr er hverr heima; ... †ta† ek umb at síðr; orðin fara, þegar munninn líðr.
‘No one needs to fear threats; rather often does something touch a sore foot; … a busybody conducts another’s suit. At home each man is something of a king; … I … about [it] the less; words travel as soon as they leave the mouth. ’
Lines 3 and 6 are illegible in the ms. — [7]: Skj B silently construes this line as øngu tala ‘(I) speak in no way’, a reconstruction that fits awkwardly with the ms. evidence, where all illegible letters precede -ta. — [8]: This line has nine syllables that occupy seven metrical positions: fara ‘travel’ is resolved in the second lift and þegar ‘as soon as’ is neutralised in the second dip.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Engi þarf at hræðask hót;
heldr kømr opt †[...]† ;
hlutgjarn †f[...]† annars sǫk.
Nøkkvi ríkstr †[...]† ;
†[...]ta† ek umb at síðr;
orðin †f[...]a†, þegar munninn líðr.
Engi þarf at hræþaz hot helldr kemr opt [...] | [...] hlvt giarn f[...] aɴars savk noqvi rikstr [...] | [...]ta ek vm at siðr orþin f[...]a þegar mvɴin liðr |
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], A. [1]. Málsháttakvæði 16: AII, 133-4, BII, 142, Skald II, 76; Möbius 1874, 8, Wisén 1886-9, I, 75.
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