maður er manns gaman
Icelandic
FWOTD – 21 January 2015
Etymology
Literally “man is man’s joy”. (Antonymic is the sentiment of the Latin expression homō hominī lupus (“man is a wolf to man”).)
The proverb is from the forty-seventh verse of the Hávamál, one of the books of the Poetic Edda.[1]
the 47th verse of the Hávamál
- Hávamál verse 47 in Old Norse[1]
- Ungr var ek forðum
- fór ek einn saman
- þá varð ek villr vega;
- auðigr þóttumk
- er ek annan fann
- maðr er manns gaman.
- English translation by Benjamin Thorpe[2]
- I was once young,
- I was journeying alone,
- and lost my way;
- rich I thought myself,
- when I met another.
- Man is the joy of man.
- English translation by Henry A. Bellows[3]
- Young was I once,
- and wandered alone,
- And nought of the road I knew;
- Rich did I feel
- when a comrade I found,
- for man is man's delight.
- English translation by Olive Bray [4]
- Young was I once,
- I walked alone,
- and bewildered seemed in the way;
- then I found me another
- and rich I thought me,
- for man is the joy of man.
- English translation by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor[5][6]
- Young and alone
- on a long road,
- Once I lost my way:
- Rich I felt
- when I found another;
- Man rejoices in man.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmaːðʏr ɛ(ː)r ˈmanːs ˈkaːma(ː)n/
Proverb
- Men enjoy the company of other men.
- Icelandic Rune Poem, found in manuscript AM 461 12mo (, ):
- Maðr
- er manns gaman
- ok moldar auki
- ok skipa skreytir.
- homo mildingr.
- Man
- delight of man
- and augmentation of the earth
- and adorner of ships.
- Icelandic Rune Poem, found in manuscript AM 461 12mo (, ):
References
- Icelandic Web of Science: Hvað þýðir "maður er manns gaman"? (“What does maður er manns gaman mean?”)
- “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the title of the work), accessed 4 October 2008, archived from the original on 14 May 2008
- ; The Elder or Poetic Edda, edited and translated by Olive Bray (London: Printed for the Viking Club, 1908), pages 61-111
- “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the title of the work), accessed 4 October 2008, archived from the original on 12 September 2005
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