Anon Sól 33VII/6 — náum ‘corpses’
Frá því er at segja, hvé sæll ek var
ynðisheimi í;
ok inu öðru, hvé ýta synir
verða nauðgir at náum.
Frá því er at segja, hvé sæll ek var í ynðisheimi; ok inu öðru, hvé ýta synir verða nauðgir at náum.
It is to be told how happy I was in the delightful world; and the other thing, how the sons of men are forced to become corpses.
readings
[6] náum (‘nám’): so 2797ˣ, námi 166bˣ, papp15ˣ, 738ˣ, 214ˣ, 1441ˣ, 10575ˣ
notes
[6] náum: Gísli Konráðsson, scribe of 2797ˣ, copied or emended his text as nám, probably recognising that the majority mss’ námi is unmetrical in final position. Even though his reading has support only from 7 mostly unimportant mss, it is likely to be correct, both on metrical grounds, and on grounds of sense. Nám or náum (dat. pl.) ‘corpses’ was adopted as an emendation by Bugge and accepted by Skj B, Skald, Falk, Björn Ólsen and Fidjestøl. The expression verða at nám ‘to become corpses’ occurs in HHund II 28/4: at nám orðnir. If the majority mss’ reading verða at námi is retained, as Njörður Njarðvik does (1991, 67), the sense must be that the second thing the speaker mentions is that sons of men are forced to set about learning (nám n.), a sentiment certainly relevant to the injunction to learn in st. 32.