Step 1 of 9 · Courage, Fear and Risk
Courage and cowardice
Why this step
Stanzas 15 and 16 begin the trail with an argument. A prince’s child should be silent, thoughtful and bold in a fight, and cheerful and generous until death. The coward who thinks he will live for ever if he avoids every fight is told that old age will not leave him in peace. The entry reads the second stanza as saying that avoiding all risk does not save you from anything; it only changes what you lose.
The text, stanzas 15–16
15.
Silent and thoughtful and bold in strife
the prince's bairn should be.
Joyous and generous let each man show him
until he shall suffer death.
16.
A coward believes he will ever live
if he keep him safe from strife:
but old age leaves him not long in peace
though spears may spare his life.
- 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 15–16 (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 prince’s child should be silent, thoughtful and bold in a fight, and generous to the end. The coward who avoids every fight does not escape old age.