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The
discussion and analysis presented after these
translated stanzas is our
opinion. Read the translations for yourself and our analysis, but also seek
out varied sources and come to your own conclusions.
STANZA 33 OF THE
HAVAMAL
Auden & Taylor:
An early meal a man should take, before he visits
friends, Lest, when he gets there he go hungry, Afraid to ask
for food.
Bellows:
Oft should one make an early meal, Not fasting when it comes
to the feast; Else he sits and chews as if he would choke and
little is able to ask
Bray:
A man should always take his meals betimes unless he visit a
friend, or he sits and mopes, and half famished seems, and
can ask or answer naught.
Chisholm:
A man should often get his meal early. When he visits friends,
otherwise he sits and idles, eats like he were
starving without even asking.
Hollander:
An early meal ay a man should get him, lest famished he come
to the feast; he sits and stuffs as though starved he
were, and naught he says to his neighbors.
Terry:
A man does well to eat a hearty meal before he visits
friends, or he sits around glumly acting starved and finds
words for very few.
Thorpe:
Early meals, a man should often take, unless to a friend's
house he goes; else he will sit and mope, will seem
half-famished and can of few things inquire.
DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF STANZA 33
For me, I am again impressed by the
completely different interpretations our various translators give us
to choose from. They differ in meaning
quite bit.
Some talk about eating before you visit a feast, some talk about
eating before you visit friends, and one (Bray) says you should eat
at home unless you are visiting friends. While Bray is in the
minority here, I tend to like his interpretation of this part of the
stanza. After all, with hospitality as an important value in
their culture, it makes sense that one would never go hungry at the
home of a friend. And in modern Heathenry, I have never gone
hungry in the home of a friend. When we travel to visit other
kindreds and heathen families, we always gain weight! Modern
Heathens tend to show very good hospitality, and push food at you
like an Italian Grandmother trying to fatten up her
Grandchildren.
In lines 3 and 4, they all seem to disagree about what the
consequences will be for not eating that early meal. Only one
of them (Auden and Taylor) says that you will go hungry and be
afraid to ask for food. Several of them (Bellows, Chisholm,
Hollander) suggest that the guy who didn't eat an early meal will be
so hungry that he will basically eat like a starving
animal...completely gluttonous...and not be able to have
conversations with those around him. And several of them
suggest that the guy who doesn't eat an early meal will sit at the
feast (or friend's house) starving, moping, and glumly be unable to
talk to anyone.
This is one of the frustrating things about the English
translations. It is clear that the poetic language of some of
these stanzas does not have a clear interpretation into English...or
at the very least, is confusing enough to leave us with such a wide
variety of interpretations.
Bottom line meaning for me: Eat an early meal before going
to a feast (or to visit friends.) Going there with some food
in your belly will keep you from being hungry or from stuffing
yourself like a starved animal. And having some food in your
belly will allow you to engage in conversations at the feast (or
your friend's house), and to be able to ask and answer questions,
and ultimately enjoy yourself and be socially successful.
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