Step 10 of 12 · Home, Kin and Belonging
A friend of a friend, and a friend of a foe
Why this step
Stanza 43 draws the edge of that circle. A man should be a friend to his friend, to him and to a friend of his, but take care not to become the friend of someone who is a friend to his enemy. The entry says it is often read today as a point about divided loyalties in a feud, in a family or at work. Belonging, here, also means knowing where it stops.
The text, stanza 43
43.
To his friend a man should bear him as friend,
to him and a friend of his;
but let him beware that he be not the friend
of one who is friend to his foe.
- 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), stanza 43 (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
Be a friend to your friend and to his friends, but take care not to befriend someone who is a friend to your enemy.
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