maður er manns gaman

Icelandic

FWOTD – 21 January 2015

Etymology

Literally “person is person’s joy”. (Antonymic is the sentiment of the Latin expression homō hominī lupus (“man is a wolf to man”).) Compare Norwegian Nynorsk mann er manns gaman.

The proverb is from the forty-seventh verse of the Hávamál, one of the books of the Poetic Edda.

the 47th verse of the Hávamál

• Hávamál verse 47 in Old Norse

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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 ˈkaːman/

Proverb

maður er manns gaman

1. people enjoy the company of other people
   • Icelandic Rune Poem, found in manuscript AM 461 12mo ([6], [7]):

     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.