Step 8 of 9 · Hospitality and the Stranger
The way to a friend, and when to leave
Why this step
Stanza 35 gives the guest a duty: depart again, and do not stay in the same place for ever, because if you stay too long on another man’s bench the loved one soon becomes loathed. The entry reads it as knowing when a visit has lasted long enough.
The text, stanzas 34–35
34.
Long is the round to a false friend leading,
e'en if he dwell on the way:
but though far off fared, to a faithful friend
straight are the roads and short.
35.
A guest must depart again on his way,
nor stay in the same place ever;
if he bide too long on another's bench
the loved one soon becomes loathed.
- 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 34–35 (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
The road to a false friend is long even if he lives nearby; the road to a true friend is short even when far. A guest must go home before he is loathed.
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