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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 37 OF THE
HAVAMAL
Auden
& Taylor:
A small hut of one's own is better, A
man is his master at home: His heart bleeds in the beggar who
must Ask at each meal for meat.
Bellows:
Better a house, | though a hut it
be, A man is master at home; His heart is bleeding | who needs
must beg When food he fain would have.
Bellow's Note: Lines I and 2 are
abbreviated in the manuscript, but are doubtless identical with
the first two lines of stanza 36.
Bray:
One's own house is best, though small it may
be, each man is master at home; with a bleeding heart will he
beg, who must, his meat at every meal.
Chisholm:
One’s own home is best, though it is
small. To each, home is hall. His heart will bleed who has
to ask for each meal’s meat.
Hollander:
One's home is best thought a hut it
be: there a man is master and lord; his heart doth bleed who
has to beg the meat for his every meal.
Terry:
Though it be little, better to live in a
house you hold as your own; a man's heart breaks if he has to
beg for everything he eats.
Thorpe:
One’s own house is best, small though it
be, at home is every one his own master. Bleeding at heart is
he, who has to ask for food at every meal-tide.
DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF STANZA 37
Stanza 36 and 37 touch on similar themes and share the
same first two lines.
Lines 1 and 2 express the idea that it is good to have your
own house, regardless of how small or humble it may be. The
reason given in the majority of the translations, is
because when you have a home, you are the master
there. Chisholm goes a little bit
different direction by saying that "home is hall."
This seems like just a somewhat more subtle way of getting at
the "master of the home" idea, because if your home is your
hall...then you are the Lord of the Hall. Terry steers
away from the concept of you being the master at home,
and simply says it is good to have a home to "hold as your
own." My favorite translation of the first two lines is
Thorpe's.
One’s own house is best, small though it
be; at home is every one his own
master.
Describing being one's "own master" at
your "own house," gets right to the heart of the wisdom presented in
this stanza. At your work, or in public, or as a guest at
another's house you are not fully free. Even more so if you
don't have a place of your own to live, or if you live in the home
of another. But, in your own home...whether it's a little hut
or a big mansion...you are the master of your domain. You
are your own master.
Lines 3 and 4 get right to the point of how
painful it is for someone to have to beg for their food or any other
necessity in life. Everyone but Terry translates the
consequences of begging, as having your heart bleed. Terry
puts it in more modern terms, and describes it has the heart
breaking.
To maintain one's honor and to stand on your
own two feet, a man or woman must earn their way. To maintain
one's pride, one must be able to provide for one's family. The
loss of independence and pride when one must beg for what one needs
strikes at the very core of a person.
In everyone's life, there are times when you
need a little help from family or friends, or other sources.
Bad things happen, and a measure of one's Gefrain and Luck, is how
many people step up and help you during these times. But,
these are temporary circumstances, and an honorable man or woman
works hard, struggles, and fights their way back from these
troubles. They return a gift for a gift, and return the
favors they were done. And in the end, remaining
self-sufficient and standing on your own two feet brings pride and
worth to one's life.
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