Anon Mhkv 2^III

Ekki hefk með flimtun farit;
fullvel ættak til þess varit;
yrkja kann ek vánu verr;
vita þykkisk þat maðrinn hverr.
Stolit væri mér ekki ór ætt,
jafnan þótt ek kvæða slétt;
róa verðr fyrst á it næsta nes;
nǫkkut ættak kyn til þess.

Hefk ekki farit með flimtun; fullvel ættak varit til þess; kann ek yrkja vánu verr; hverr maðrinn þykkisk vita þat. Ekki væri stolit mér ór ætt, þótt ek kvæða jafnan slétt; verðr fyrst róa á it næsta nes; ættak nǫkkut kyn til þess.

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.

Mss: R(54v)

Readings: [1] Ekki: ‘[...]’ R, ‘[...]ki’ RFJ, RJS    [3] verr: ‘[...]’ R, verr RFJ, RJS

Editions: Skj AII, 131, Skj BII, 138, Skald II, 74, NN §§2581A, 3268; Möbius 1874, 3, Wisén 1886-9, I, 73.

Notes: [1, 3] ekki; verr ‘not; more rudely’: Neither word now visible; emendations by Jón Sigurðsson and accepted by all subsequent eds. — [1] flimtun ‘lampoons’: Lit. ‘lampoon’ (sg.). For flimtun and the more common form flimtan, see ANG §137.2 Anm. 3. — [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. — [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). — [6] slétt (adv.) ‘smoothly’: Cf. sléttr adj. ‘smooth, even’. Used with reference to poetic art in Anon Leið 3/2^VII, 25/3^VII, ESk Geisl 50/3^VII, Anon Gyð 1/4^VII, Anon Lil 3/4^VII and Hst Rst 1/1^I. 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. — [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 2/1-4^II) 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’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
6. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
7. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
9. Internal references
10. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Gyðingsvísur 1’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 516-17.
11. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 143.
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 763.
13. Roberta Frank 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Málsháttakvæði’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1213. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1029> (accessed 28 April 2024)
14. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 50’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 48.
15. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 565-6.
16. Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 897.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 78’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1088.