Syx Mynet is an Old English song by J.R.R. Tolkien, a translation of the English nursery rhyme I Love Sixpence, written around 1924.[1] It is published as the ninth song in Songs for the Philologists in 1936.
The manuscript of the poem was rendered in pen and ink, together with another Tolkien's poem La, Huru, on one leaf. The manuscript is kept in the Tolkien-Gordon Collection at the Library of the University of Leeds.[1]
Poem excerpt
Syx Mynet
Syx mynet lufige ic,
Maðum mynelic,
Syx mynet lufige ic
ofer selfe lif.
Heora anes ic ann,
Oþer sceal oþer mann
And feower habban freolic wif.
Feower mynet lufige ic,
Maðum mynelic,
Feower mynet lufige ic
ofer selfe lif.
Heora anes ic ann,
Oþer sceal oþer mann
And twa sceal habban tornmod wif.
Translation excerpt
I love six coins,
Pleasing treasure,
I love six coins
better than my life.
One of them I give to thee,
Another I give to another man
And four I (shall) have for my good wife.
I love four coins,
Pleasing treasure,
I love four coins
better than my life.
One of them I give to thee,
Another I give to another man
And two I shall have for my angry wife.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Archive File: Syx Mynet and Lá Húru", library.leeds.ac.uk, accessed 9 May 2017