Anon Mhkv 2III
Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1217.
notes
[1, 3] ekki; verr ‘not; more rudely’: Neither word now visible; emendations by Jón Sigurðsson and accepted by all subsequent eds.
hefk ‘I have’
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hafa (verb): have
með ‘in for’
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með (prep.): with
flimtun ‘lampoons’
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flimtun (noun f.): [lampoons]
farit ‘gone’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
fullvel ‘full well’
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fullvel (adv.): very well, full well
ættak ‘would I have’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
til ‘excuse’
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til (prep.): to
varit ‘had’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
yrkja ‘compose’
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yrkja (verb): compose
kann ‘can’
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kunna (verb): know, can, be able
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
vánu ‘than you’d expect’
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2. venja (verb): accustom, train
notes
[1, 3] ekki; verr ‘not; more rudely’: Neither word now visible; emendations by Jón Sigurðsson and accepted by all subsequent eds.
vita ‘knows’
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1. vita (verb): know
þykkisk ‘thinks’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
maðrinn ‘man’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
notes
[4] maðrinn ‘man’: Lit. ‘the man’. The first of sixteen different nouns in Mhkv with postposited def. art., the vast majority occupying line-initial position; see sts 5/6, 7/7, 11/6 (14/6, 17/6, 20/6), 12/2, 12/3, 13/7, 16/8 (twice), 19/1, 19/2, 19/6, 21/1, 21/6, 25/2, 29/2.
hverr ‘every’
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
Stolit ‘stolen’
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stela (verb): to steal
væri ‘would be’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
mér ‘my’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
ekki ‘Nothing’
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2. ekki (adv.): not
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
ætt ‘patrimony’
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1. ætt (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): family
jafnan ‘always’
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jafnan (adv.): always
þótt ‘even if’
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þótt (conj.): although
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
kvæða ‘recite’
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2. kveðja (verb; kvaddi): (dd) request, address, greet
slétt ‘smoothly’
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sléttr (adj.): level, smooth
notes
[6] slétt (adv.) ‘smoothly’: Cf. sléttr adj. ‘smooth, even’. Used with reference to poetic art in Anon Leið 3/2VII, 25/3VII, ESk Geisl 50/3VII, Anon Gyð 1/4VII, Anon Lil 3/4VII and Hst Rst 1/1I. Kock (Skald), following Jón Þorkelsson (Möbius 1874, 615), emends to slætt ‘blunt, obtuse, without point’ in order to improve the rhyme: cf. the paired ætt ‘family’: óslætt ‘un-obtuse, able’ in RvHbreiðm Hl 78/8.
róa ‘row’
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2. róa (verb): row
verðr ‘one has to’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
fyrst ‘first’
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fyrstr (num. ordinal): first
á ‘toward’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[7] á it næsta nes ‘toward the nearest headland’: The skald will begin at the beginning, i.e. with his own lot. Skj B, following Eiríkr Magnússon (1888, 325) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 137), emends to til ens næsta ness for the sake of rhyme. The opening of Nóregs konungatal (Anon Nkt 2/1-4II) uses a similar proverb (although in an opposite meaning), comparing rowing out after whales to composing a genealogical poem: róa skal fyrst | fjarri reyði, | koma þó niðr | nær, áðr lúki ‘one must first row far from the whale, yet come down close before it is finished’.
it ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
notes
[7] á it næsta nes ‘toward the nearest headland’: The skald will begin at the beginning, i.e. with his own lot. Skj B, following Eiríkr Magnússon (1888, 325) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 137), emends to til ens næsta ness for the sake of rhyme. The opening of Nóregs konungatal (Anon Nkt 2/1-4II) uses a similar proverb (although in an opposite meaning), comparing rowing out after whales to composing a genealogical poem: róa skal fyrst | fjarri reyði, | koma þó niðr | nær, áðr lúki ‘one must first row far from the whale, yet come down close before it is finished’.
næsta ‘nearest’
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nærri (adj. comp.; °superl. nǽstr): near, nearer, next
notes
[7] á it næsta nes ‘toward the nearest headland’: The skald will begin at the beginning, i.e. with his own lot. Skj B, following Eiríkr Magnússon (1888, 325) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 137), emends to til ens næsta ness for the sake of rhyme. The opening of Nóregs konungatal (Anon Nkt 2/1-4II) uses a similar proverb (although in an opposite meaning), comparing rowing out after whales to composing a genealogical poem: róa skal fyrst | fjarri reyði, | koma þó niðr | nær, áðr lúki ‘one must first row far from the whale, yet come down close before it is finished’.
nes ‘headland’
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nes (noun n.; °-s; -, gen. -ja): headland
notes
[7] á it næsta nes ‘toward the nearest headland’: The skald will begin at the beginning, i.e. with his own lot. Skj B, following Eiríkr Magnússon (1888, 325) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 137), emends to til ens næsta ness for the sake of rhyme. The opening of Nóregs konungatal (Anon Nkt 2/1-4II) uses a similar proverb (although in an opposite meaning), comparing rowing out after whales to composing a genealogical poem: róa skal fyrst | fjarri reyði, | koma þó niðr | nær, áðr lúki ‘one must first row far from the whale, yet come down close before it is finished’.
nǫkkut ‘some’
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nøkkurr (pron.): some, a certain
ættak ‘I would have’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
kyn ‘pedigree’
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1. kyn (noun n.; °-s; -): kin
til ‘for’
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til (prep.): to
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
I have not gone in for lampoons; full well would I have had excuse for that; I can compose more rudely than you’d expect; every man thinks he knows it. Nothing would be stolen from my patrimony, even if I should always recite smoothly; one has to row first toward the nearest headland; I would have some pedigree for that.
[5-8]: After boasting of his inadequacy (I can compose vánu verr lit. ‘worse than expected’), the speaker illustrates his ineptitude with two apparently imperfect rhymes (ætt : slétt and nes : þess).
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