Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 18’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1232.
(not checked:)
efni (noun n.; °-s; -): material
[1] Efnum: ‘[…]fnvm’ R, ‘Efnvm’ RFJ
(not checked:)
2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
(not checked:)
betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
(not checked:)
brǫgðóttr (adj.; °compar. -ari): [cunning]
(not checked:)
reyna (verb): test, try, experience
(not checked:)
gemla (noun f.): [to year-old ewe]
(not checked:)
fúa (noun f.): [vixen]
[2] fúa ‘the vixen’: OIcel. fóa ‘vixen’. The [u:] for usual WN [o:] has been interpreted as an Orcadian feature (Barnes 1998, 13-14).
(not checked:)
2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
(not checked:)
kunna (verb): know, can, be able
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
(not checked:)
slœgð (noun f.; °-ar: -ir): trick, sleight, slyness
(not checked:)
sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
(not checked:)
svá (adv.): so, thus
(not checked:)
2. nǫkkvi (adv.): somewhat, a little
(not checked:)
gefa (verb): give
(not checked:)
Rannveig (noun f.): Rannveig
[4] Rannveig: The real or fictive name of the speaker’s dark lady.
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
(not checked:)
1. illa (adv.): badly
(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
(not checked:)
1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
(not checked:)
svíkja (verb): betray, deceive
[5] sýkr ‘betrays’: This is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. (= svíkr) of svíkja ‘betray, deceive’.
(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not
(not checked:)
1. vita (verb): know
(not checked:)
áðr (adv.; °//): before
(not checked:)
hefnd (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): revenge
(not checked:)
1. lúka (verb): end, close
(not checked:)
bráðfengr (adj.): [quickly won]
[7] bráðfengr: ‘braðfen[…]’ R, ‘braðfengr’ RFJ
[7] bráðfengr ‘quickly’: An adj. meaning ‘quick off the mark, immediate’, attested in poetry only here.
(not checked:)
2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
(not checked:)
brúðhlaup (noun n.; °-s; -): wedding feast
(not checked:)
frami (noun m.): success
(not checked:)
1. brigða (adv.): extremely
[8] brigða ‘exceedingly’: The gen. pl. of the n. noun brigð ‘change’ used as an intensifying adv. (see LP: brigð 3). There may be a playful contradiction between brigð in the sense ‘change’ and inn sami ‘the same’.
(not checked:)
lengi (adv.): for a long time
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the
(not checked:)
samr (adj.; °compar. -ari): same
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
It seems best to live with resources; the vixen proved cunning to the year-old ewe; she knew many tricks for herself; so Rannveig somewhat showed herself to me. The one who betrays another comes off badly; the outcome is not known until vengeance ends; the glory of the wedding feast seems quickly won; exceedingly long is every man the same.
[1]: This proverb is no. 27 in ms. AM 604 4° (Kålund 1886, 146; Eirikr Magnússon 1888, 343), an indication perhaps that the C16th compiler of that proverb collection may have read Mhkv. — [3]: Wisén (1886-9, I) removes the pron. hon ‘she’ as unmetrical; eds who preserve the ms. reading attain the correct number of syllables in the line by eliding kunni and hon.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.