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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Mhkv 18III

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.

Anonymous PoemsMálsháttakvæði
171819

text and translation

Efnum þykkir bezt at búa;
brǫgðótt reyndisk gemlu fúa;
margar kunni hon slœgðir sér;
svá nǫkkvi gafsk Rannveig mér.
Illa hefr, sá er annan sýkr;
eigi veit, áðr hefndum lýkr;
bráðfengr þykkir brullaups frami;
brigða lengi er hverr inn sami.

Þykkir bezt at búa efnum; fúa reyndisk gemlu brǫgðótt; hon kunni sér margar slœgðir; svá nǫkkvi gafsk Rannveig mér. Illa hefr, sá er sýkr annan; eigi veit, áðr hefndum lýkr; frami brullaups þykkir bráðfengr; brigða lengi er hverr inn sami.
 
‘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.

notes and context

[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.

readings

sources

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.

editions and texts

Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], A. [1]. Málsháttakvæði 18: AII, 134, BII, 142, Skald II, 76, NN §2581C; Möbius 1874, 8, Wisén 1886-9, I, 75.

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