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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Mhkv 3III

Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1218.

Anonymous PoemsMálsháttakvæði
234

Þjóð ‘The world’

(not checked:)
þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people

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spyrr ‘learns’

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spyrja (verb; spurði): ask; hear, find out

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alt ‘all’

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allr (adj.): all

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er ‘’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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þrír ‘three’

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þrír (num. cardinal): three

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menn ‘people’

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maðr (noun m.): man, person

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vitu ‘know’

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1. vita (verb): know

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hafa ‘come off’

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hafa (verb): have

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verr ‘worse’

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verri (adj. comp.): worse, worst

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er ‘who’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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trygðum ‘sworn pledges’

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tryggð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar): security, oath

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slitu ‘have broken’

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slíta (verb): to tear

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ekki ‘that is not’

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2. ekki (adv.): not

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er ‘’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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til ‘at’

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til (prep.): to

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manns ‘person’

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maðr (noun m.): man, person

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skotit ‘aimed’

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skjóta (verb): shoot

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ýmsir ‘several’

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ýmiss (adj.): various, alternate

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hafa ‘have’

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hafa (verb): have

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dœmi ‘experiences as their lot’

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dœmi (noun n.; °-s; -): judgement, example

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hlotit ‘had’

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hljóta (verb): alot, gain

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Hermðarorð ‘Angry words’

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hermðarorð (noun n.): [Angry words]

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munu ‘shall’

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munu (verb): will, must

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hittask ‘be found’

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hitta (verb): meet, encounter

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í ‘here’

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í (prep.): in, into

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heimult ‘mouthfuls’

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heimulð (noun f.): [mouthfuls]

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at ‘to’

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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

notes

[6] at glaupsa ‘to speak mouthfuls’: Lit. ‘to speak ironically, indecently about sth.’ (see LP: glaupsa and Heggstad et al. 2008: glaupsa).

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glaupsa ‘speak’

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glaupsa (verb): [speak]

notes

[6] at glaupsa ‘to speak mouthfuls’: Lit. ‘to speak ironically, indecently about sth.’ (see LP: glaupsa and Heggstad et al. 2008: glaupsa).

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of ‘about’

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3. of (prep.): around, from; too

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nǫkkut ‘rather’

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nøkkurr (pron.): some, a certain

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varð ‘had to’

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1. verða (verb): become, be

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sýsla ‘look’

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2. sýsla (verb): do, do business

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of ‘after’

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3. of (prep.): around, from; too

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svinneyg ‘the wise-eyed’

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svinneygr (adj.): [wise-eyed]

[8] svinneyg: ‘svineyg’ R

notes

[8] svinneyg drós ‘the wise-eyed woman’: An apparent apo koinou construction, to be taken with either the preceding or following clause. The emendation of ms. ‘svineyg’ was first suggested by Jón Sigurðsson; CPB II, 364 translates svín-eyg as ‘pigsney’ or ‘pig’s eye’, a northern version of ‘ox-eyed Juno’? English ‘pignsey’ (ME piggisnye ‘pig’s-eye’ or ‘piggy’s eye’) probably originated in children’s talk, or as a nursery endearment – or perhaps even a flower-name (OED: pigsney). Nevertheless, such a female epithet would be unprecedented in Old Norse (svín-words tend to be uncomplimentary or nautical), while the Old Norse adj. svinnr ‘wise, quick’ (alone or compounded) frequently describes women, especially in poetry.

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drós ‘woman’

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drós (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): lady

notes

[8] svinneyg drós ‘the wise-eyed woman’: An apparent apo koinou construction, to be taken with either the preceding or following clause. The emendation of ms. ‘svineyg’ was first suggested by Jón Sigurðsson; CPB II, 364 translates svín-eyg as ‘pigsney’ or ‘pig’s eye’, a northern version of ‘ox-eyed Juno’? English ‘pignsey’ (ME piggisnye ‘pig’s-eye’ or ‘piggy’s eye’) probably originated in children’s talk, or as a nursery endearment – or perhaps even a flower-name (OED: pigsney). Nevertheless, such a female epithet would be unprecedented in Old Norse (svín-words tend to be uncomplimentary or nautical), while the Old Norse adj. svinnr ‘wise, quick’ (alone or compounded) frequently describes women, especially in poetry.

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hvé ‘how’

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hvé (conj.): how

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hon ‘she’

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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

notes

[8] hon ‘she’: Wisén (1886-9, I, 73) deletes the pron. as extra-metrical.

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við ‘’

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2. við (prep.): with, against

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

[1]: Cf. Hávm 63/6 (NK 27): þióð veit, | ef þríro ‘the world knows if three do’; for other Old Norse-Icelandic examples of this proverb, see Ísl. Málsh.: þjóð. Several English versions of the adage exist; cf. Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack (July 1735): ‘Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead’. Additional examples in Whiting and Wescott (1968: T248, T544).

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