Anon Mhkv 29III/8 — vill ‘wants it’
Orða er leitat mér í munn;
mælgin verðr oss heyrinkunn;
Yggjar bjór hverr eiga myni,
ósýnt þykkir lýða kyni.
Eyvit mun sjá atfrétt stoða;
allmjǫk erum vér lynd til hroða;
þeygi var sjá aflausn ill;
eiga skal nú hverr, er vill.
Er leitat orða í munn mér; mælgin verðr oss heyrinkunn; hverr myni eiga bjór Yggjar, þykkir ósýnt kyni lýða. Eyvit mun sjá atfrétt stoða; allmjǫk erum vér lynd til hroða; þeygi var sjá aflausn ill; nú skal eiga hverr, er vill.
They seek in my mouth for words; the chatter is well known to us [me]; who might possess the strong drink of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POETRY] seems unclear to the race of men [HUMANS]. That inquiry will not at all help; we are very much inclined to coarseness; this release was not at all bad; now anyone who wants it shall have it.
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
grammar
Irregular verbs: vilja (to wish)
| indic. | subj. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pres. | past | pres. | past | ||
| sing. pl. | 1 2 3 1 2 3 | vil vill, vilt vill viljum vilið vilja | vilda vildir vildi vildum vilduð vildu | vilja vilir vili vilim vilið vili | vilda vildir vildi vildim vildið vildi |
| pres. part. past part. | viljandi viljat | ||||