Hávamál
Fair words and false hearts
The speaker says he has seen both sides: man is unfaithful to maid, and the fairest words come when thoughts are falsest. A man who woos with soft words and gifts wins.
Reference: stanzas 89–90 (Bray’s numbering) (The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems)
The text, stanzas 89–90
89.
Now plainly I speak, since both I have seen;
unfaithful is man to maid;
we speak them fairest when thoughts are falsest
and wile the wisest of hearts.
90.
-- Let him speak soft words and offer wealth
who longs for a woman's love,
praise the shape of the shining maid --
he wins who thus doth woo.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 89–90 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
In plain English
The speaker says he will speak plainly, because he has seen both sides: man is unfaithful to maid. People speak most fairly when their thoughts are falsest, and that beguiles the wisest hearts.
A man who longs for a woman’s love should speak soft words, offer wealth and praise the shape of the shining maid; the man who woos like that wins.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 89–90 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
Where it sits
Stanza 89 opens “Lessons for Lovers” and says the speaker has seen both sides. Stanza 83, in the previous part, said the hearts of women were false; stanza 89 says that man is unfaithful to maid.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 89–90 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
Modern interpretation
Read today, this is a frank statement that flattery works, written as advice for the wooer and as a warning for the one being wooed. That is a modern reading.
Questions to sit with
- When have fine words from someone turned out to be about what they wanted, more than about you?