Anon Mhkv 24^III

Engi knettr of annars mein;
aldri lætk at munni sein;
heimi, heyrik sagt, at snúi;
sumir einir, hykk, at mér trúi.
Erfitt verðr, þeim er illa kann;
engan þarf at hjúfra mann;
þannig hefr mér lagzk í lund:
langviðrum skal eyða grund.

Engi knettr of mein annars; aldri lætk sein at munni; heyrik sagt, at heimi snúi; hykk, at sumir einir trúi mér. Erfitt verðr, þeim er illa kann; þarf at hjúfra engan mann; þannig hefr mér lagzk í lund: langviðrum skal eyða grund.

No one bemoans another’s misfortune; I never rein in my mouth; I hear tell that the world is turning; I think only some believe me. Life is difficult for him who understands poorly; one need not lament any man; thus it has lodged itself in my mind: with long-lasting storms shall the earth be laid waste.

Mss: R(55r)

Readings: [8] grund: ‘g[...]n[...]’ R, grund RFJ

Editions: Skj AII, 135, Skj BII, 144, Skald II, 77; Möbius 1874, 10, Wisén 1886-9, I, 76.

Notes: [1] knettr ‘bemoans’: The verb knetta ‘bemoan, lament’ is a hap. leg. For cognates in other Germanic languages, see AEW: knetta. — [2] lætk sein ‘rein in’: Lit. ‘put delay’; sein (f. acc. sg.) ‘delay’. The rhyme sein : mein also occurs in Gamlkan Has 41/8^VII. — [4] hykk ‘I think’: Ms. R reads ‘hyck ek’, but the pers. pron. has been cliticised (as in ll. 2 and 3) in order to make the line metrical (so Wisén 1886-9, I and Skald; Skj B omits the pron. and normalises to hygg). — [6] hjúfra ‘lament’: The verb occurs in Old Norse only here and in the eddic Guðr I 1/5 and Guðr II 11/5; see Kommentar VI, 224. For other Germanic cognates, see AEW: hjúfra. — [8] langviðrum ‘with long-lasting storms’: This cpd, which here refers to a catastrophic emptying of the world (lang ‘long’ plus viðri < veðr ‘wind, weather’), is used as an adv. (langviðris ‘extremely’) in its only other occurrence in poetry (Þorv Lv 1/5^IV). The Mhkv cpd in its apocalyptic sense is found in C16th Icelandic prophetic literature.

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
5. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
6. Kommentar = See, Klaus von et al. 1997-2012. Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. 7 vols. Heidelberg: Winter.
7. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
8. Internal references
9. 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 18 April 2024)
10. Not published: do not cite ()
11. Not published: do not cite ()
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 41’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 108-9.
13. Not published: do not cite (Þorv Lv 1^IV)