Step 1 of 12 · Appetite, Ale and Measure
The greedy belly
Why this step
The trail starts with the stomach. Stanzas 20 and 21 say a greedy man who is not mindful eats to the harm of his own life, and that herds know when to leave the grass and go home, while a foolish man never knows the measure of his own stomach. The entry says the stanzas are often read today more widely than food, as knowing when you have had enough of anything. That is the question this trail follows.
The text, stanzas 20–21
20.
A greedy man, if he be not mindful,
eats to his own life's hurt:
oft the belly of the fool will bring him to scorn
when he seeks the circle of the wise.
21.
Herds know the hour of their going home
and turn them again from the grass;
but never is found a foolish man
who knows the measure of his maw.
- 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 20–21 (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.
From the Lorebook
A man who cannot judge how much is enough eats himself into harm and scorn. Even the herd knows when to go home.
Questions to sit with
- Where in your life do you know the measure of enough, and where do you tend to lose it?