Section 1h

In a brother's slayer, | if thou meet him abroad, In a half-burned house, | in a horse full swift-- One leg is hurt | and the horse is useless-- None had ever such faith | as to trust in them all. 89. Hope not too surely | for early harvest, Nor trust too soon in thy son; The field needs good weather, | the son needs wisdom, And oft is either denied. * * * 90. The love of women | fickle of will Is like starting o'er ice | with a steed unshod, A two-year-old restive | and little tamed, Or steering a rudderless | ship in a storm, Or, lame, hunting reindeer | on slippery rocks. * * * 91. Clear now will I speak, | for I know them both, Men false to women are found; When fairest we speak, | then falsest we think, Against wisdom we work with deceit. 92. Soft words shall he speak | and wealth shall he offer Who longs for a maiden's love, And the beauty praise | of the maiden bright; He wins whose wooing is best. [89. This stanza follows stanza 89 in the manuscript. Many editors have changed the order, for while stanza 89 is pretty clearly an interpolation wherever it stands, it seriously interferes with the sense if it breaks in between 87 and 88.] p. 48 93. Fault for loving | let no man find Ever with any other; Oft the wise are fettered, | where fools go free, By beauty that breeds desire. 94. Fault with another | let no man find For what touches many a man; Wise men oft | into witless fools Are made by mighty love. 95. The head alone knows | what dwells near the heart, A man knows his mind alone; No sickness is worse | to one who is wise Than to lack the longed-for joy. 96. This found I myself, | when I sat in the reeds, And long my love awaited; As my life the maiden | wise I loved, Yet her I never had. 97. Billing's daughter | I found on her bed, In slumber bright as the sun; Empty appeared | an earl's estate Without that form so fair. [96. Here begins the passage (stanzas 96-102) illustrating the falseness of woman by the story of Othin's unsuccessful love affair with Billing's daughter. Of this person we know nothing beyond what is here told, but the story needs little comment.] p. 49 98. "Othin, again | at evening come, If a woman thou wouldst win; Evil it were | if others than we Should know of such a sin." 99. Away I hastened, | hoping for joy, And careless of counsel wise; Well I believed | that soon I should win Measureless joy with the maid. 100. So came I next | when night it was, The warriors all were awake; With burning lights | and waving brands I learned my luckess way. 101. At morning then, | when once more I came, And all were sleeping still, A dog found | in the fair one's place, Bound there upon her bed. 102. Many fair maids, | if a man but tries them, False to a lover are found; That did I learn | when I longed to gain With wiles the maiden wise; [102. Rask adds at the beginning of this stanza two lines from a late paper manuscript, running: "Few are so good | that false they are never To cheat the mind of a man." He makes these two lines plus lines I and 2 a full stanza, and line 3, 4, 5, and 6 a second stanza.] p.