Step 6 of 9 · Friendship and Trust
The friend you trust, and the one you don’t
Why this step
Here the poem pulls against the card. Stanza 44 says to share your mind with a trusted friend, swap gifts and visit often. Stanzas 45 and 46 say that with someone you trust badly you should speak fair and think otherwise, and laugh while holding back your thought. The entry says plainly that the poem advises guardedness, even deceit, and leaves it to the reader whether that is wise or simply how a world of feuds worked.
The text, stanzas 44–46
44.
Hast thou a friend whom thou trustest well,
from whom thou cravest good?
Share thy mind with him, gifts exchange with him,
fare to find him oft.
45.
But hast thou one whom thou trustest ill
yet from whom thou cravest good?
Thou shalt speak him fair, but falsely think,
and leasing pay for a lie.
46.
Yet further of him whom thou trusted ill,
and whose mind thou dost misdoubt;
thou shalt laugh with him but withhold thy thought,
for gift with like gift should be paid.
- 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 44–46 (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
With a trusted friend you share your mind and exchange gifts. With someone you do not trust, but need something from, you speak fair and keep your thoughts to yourself.
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