Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 87’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 413.
Manndáð meiri getr eigi fyrir mold ofan,
en kenna góð ráð gum*um;
ódyggt líf mundu ýtar hafa,
ef bætti engi yfir.
Getr eigi meiri manndáð fyrir mold ofan en kenna gum*um góð ráð; ýtar mundu hafa ódyggt líf, ef engi bætti yfir.
There is no greater act of prowess on earth than to teach men good advice; people would have a worthless life if nobody were to improve it.
Mss: 1199ˣ(74r), 624(145)
Readings: [1] Manndáð: manndýrð 624 [3] góð: gott 624; ráð: om. 624; gum*um: gumnum 1199ˣ, gunnum 624 [4] ódyggt: fádyggt 624 [5] ýtar: flestir 624 [6] bætti engi: engi bætti 624
Editions: Skj AII, 186, Skj BII, 200, Skald II, 104; Hallgrímur Scheving 1831, 22, Konráð Gíslason 1860, 551-2, Gering 1907, 24, Tuvestrand 1977, 120, Hermann Pálsson 1985, 89.
Notes: [All]: Lat. parallel: (Dist. III, 1a) Fortunae donis semper par esse memento: / non opibus bona fama datur, sed moribus ipsis ‘Always remember to be equal to the gifts of Fortune; a good reputation is given not on account of riches, but because of [one’s] conduct’. The Lat. distich is a variant of III, 1 and the translation here is likewise a variant of st. 86. — [3] gum*um ‘to men’: Cf. Note to st. 59/3.
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