Hefir bálk þennan og barngælur
sett og samið Svartr á Hofstöðum
mier til gamans en meinþurðar
meingi ófróðu; mun eg nú þagna.
Svartr á Hofstöðum hefir sett og samið þennan bálk og barngælur til gamans mier en meinþurðar ófróðu meingi; nú mun eg þagna.
Svartr from Hofstaðir has composed and put together this poem and nursery rhymes for the pleasure of myself and [for] the entertainment of an uneducated multitude; now I shall be silent.
[6] meinþurðar: mannþurðar Rask87ˣ
[6] meinþurðar ‘[for] the entertainment’: Lit. ‘[for] harm-decrease’. The ms. reading, mannþurðar ‘man-decrease’, makes no sense in the context. The emendation was first suggested by Jón Þorkelsson (1888, 219 n. 3) and adopted by Jón Þorkelsson (1922-7) and Páll Eggert Ólason (1947).