Sjaldan hittisk feigs vǫk frørin;
fljóðin verða at ǫldrum kørin;
lengi hefr þat lýst fyr mér:
lítinn kost á margr und sér.
Sagt er frá, hvé neflauss narir;
nú verðr sumt, þat er mangi varir;
væri betr, at þegðak þoks;
þat hefr hverr, er verðr er, loks.
Sjaldan hittisk vǫk feigs frørin; fljóðin verða kørin at ǫldrum; lengi hefr þat lýst fyr mér: margr á lítinn kost und sér. Sagt er frá, hvé neflauss narir; nú verðr sumt, þat er mangi varir; væri betr, at þegðak þoks; hverr hefr loks þat, er verðr er.
Seldom is a doomed man’s ice-hole found frozen; women are chosen at drinking parties; that has long been clear to me: many a one has little in his power. It is related how a noseless person languishes; now comes something that no one expects; it would be far better that I should be silent; each gets what he deserves in the end.
[5] neflauss ‘a noseless person’: Taken here (with Möbius 1874, 69 and Skj B) as a cpd nef- ‘nose’ plus -lauss ‘less’, while Wisén (1886-9, II, 211) interprets the cpd neflauss as ‘one without relatives’ (nefi ‘kinsman’ plus -lauss). There are references to noseless men and women in Strengleikar and Hauksbók (see Fritzner: neflauss citations), as if this condition held some interest for the medieval North.