Step 5 of 9 · Hospitality and the Stranger
A guest or wandering wight
Why this step
Stanzas 131 and 132 give the host a reason for patience: those who sit within know only unsurely what manner of man has come. No one is found so good that no fault attends him, or so ill that he serves for nothing. The entry reads this as a reminder not to judge a stranger quickly.
The text, stanzas 131–132
131.
I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels,
they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them,
they will work thy weal if thou win'st them:
hold not in scorn, nor mock in thy halls
a guest or wandering wight.
132.
They know but unsurely who sit within
what manner of man is come:
none is found so good, but some fault attends him,
or so ill but he serves for somewhat.
- 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 131–132 (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
Do not scorn or mock a guest or a wanderer in your hall. Those who sit inside cannot be sure what kind of person has come, and nobody is so good that he has no fault, or so ill that he is no use.