Anon Mhkv 5^III

Alllítit er ungs manns gaman;
einum þykkir daufligt saman;
annars barn er sem úlf at frjá;
óðfúss myndi blindr at sjá.
Dýrt láta menn dróttins orð;
drekarnir rísa opt á sporð;
ǫðlingr skyldi einkar rǫskr;
œpa kann í mœrum frǫskr.

Alllítit er gaman ungs manns; daufligt þykkir einum saman; barn annars er sem úlf at frjá; óðfúss myndi blindr at sjá. Menn láta dýrt orð dróttins; drekarnir rísa opt á sporð; ǫðlingr skyldi einkar rǫskr; frǫskr kann œpa í mœrum.

It takes very little to amuse a young man; life seems dreary to one alone; to love another’s child is like cherishing a wolf; desperately would the blind one wish to see. People say a lord’s word is precious; dragons often rise up on their tail; a prince should be especially brave; a frog can croak in the marshes.

Mss: R(54v)

Editions: Skj AII, 131-2, Skj BII, 139, Skald II, 74; Möbius 1874, 4, Wisén 1886-9, I, 73.

Notes: [All]: Finnur Jónsson (1890a, 266) attempted to illustrate a close contextual fit between the eight proverbs in this stanza and the narrator’s lovesickness. — [1-2]: For related proverbs, see Ísl. Málsh.: gaman, einn. — [4] óðfúss ‘desperately’: Lit. ‘wildly eager’. In Old Norse poetry only in Þry 26/7, 28/7 and BjHall Kálffl 8/6^I. — [5]: This proverb is widely cited in Old Norse texts: cf. Laxdœla saga (Laxd ch. 47, ÍF 5, 147): Dýrt mun mér verða dróttins orð ‘The royal command is worth a lot to me’; Kjalnesinga saga (Kjaln ch. 15, ÍF 14, 35): Dýrt er dróttins orð; Óláfs saga helga (ÓHHkr, ÍF 27, 126): dýrt er dróttins orð; and the allusive use of the saying in Sigv Berv 9/3^II dróttins orð til dýrðar ‘the royal command [opens the path] to glory’. — [6]: On a dragon’s strength residing in its tail, see Isidore, Etym. 12.3.4-5. — [8] frǫskr ‘a frog’: (O)Icel. froskr ‘frog’. The word is attested in poetry only here. On Orcadian-Norw. dialectal frǫskr, see LH II, 47-8; on braying frogs in medieval European literature, see Ransom (1986, 69-83). The rhyme of the noble rǫskr ‘brave’, adj. of champions, with homely frǫskr seems comic. On Lat. rana ‘frog’ named from the noise (cf. rancare) it makes in its native paludes ‘swamps’, see Isidore, Etym. 12.6.58.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
4. LH = Finnur Jónsson. 1920-4. Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie. 3 vols. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Gad.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. ÍF 5 = Laxdœla saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1934.
7. ÍF 14 = Kjalnesinga saga. Ed. Jóhannes Halldórsson. 1959.
8. Kjaln = Kjalnesinga saga.
9. Finnur Jónsson. 1890a. ‘Fornyrðadrápa (Málsháttakvæði)’. ÅNOH 2, 253-66.
10. Ísl. Málsh. = Bjarni Vilhjálmsson and Óskar Halldórsson, eds. 1979. Íslenzkir málshættir. 2nd edn. Reykjavík: Almenna Bókafélagið.
11. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
12. Ransom, Daniel J. 1986. ‘Rana loquax and the Frogs of Provençal Poetry’. In Groos 1986, 69-83.
13. Internal references
14. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Laxdœla saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1199-1203. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=11> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 26 April 2024)
17. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni gullbrárskáld Hallbjarnarson, Kálfsflokkr 8’ 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. 889.
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Bersǫglisvísur 9’ 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, pp. 20-1.
20. Not published: do not cite ()