Hávamál
Gifts between friends
In the guest’s section, friendship is something kept up by giving and giving back.
Reference: stanzas 41–42 (Bray’s numbering) (The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems)
The text, stanzas 41–42
41.
With raiment and arms shall friends gladden each other,
so has one proved oneself;
for friends last longest, if fate be fair
who give and give again.
42.
To his friend a man should bear him as friend,
and gift for gift bestow,
laughter for laughter let him exchange,
but leasing pay for a lie.
- 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 41–42 (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
Friends, the poem says, should gladden one another with gifts, such as weapons and clothing, and a gift should be answered with a gift. A man should prove a true friend to his friend.
- Henry Adams Bellows (translator), The Poetic Edda (1936)
Context
Giving and returning gifts is one of the main concerns of the guest’s section of the poem, which is about hospitality and reciprocity.
- Wikipedia contributors, Hávamál (opens in a new tab)
In the manuscripts and scholarship
In stanza 41 the manuscript adds the words “givers again” in the third line, after “gift-givers”, which Bellows noted in his edition as an addition to the line as most editors print it. The stanza belongs to the Gestaþáttr, which has long been described as a collection of proverbs on conduct, hospitality and reciprocity. Its stanzas survive only in the Codex Regius of the 1270s.
- Henry Adams Bellows (translator), The Poetic Edda (1936)
- Wikipedia, Hávamál (opens in a new tab)
Modern interpretation
Today this is often read as a reminder that relationships are kept up by effort on both sides. That is a modern reading.
Questions to sit with
- Who in your life have you given nothing to, in time, attention or help, for a long while? What small thing could you give this week?