Step 2 of 12 · Youth, Age and Learning
The first-sown fruit, and a son too soon
Why this step
Stanza 87 is more careful about the young. Let no one put his faith in the first-sown fruit, or in his son too soon: whim rules the child and weather the field, and each is open to chance. The entry says it is often read today as a point about patience and not counting on early results. Where the blessing promised, this stanza waits to see.
The text, stanza 87
87.
Let none put faith in the first sown fruit
nor yet in his son too soon;
whim rules the child, and weather the field,
each is open to chance.
- 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 87 (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 put your faith in the first-sown fruit or in your son too early: a child is ruled by whim and a field by weather, and both are open to chance.
Read the full page for The first-sown fruit, and a son too soon
Questions to sit with
- What did you once count on too soon, in yourself or in someone younger? What did the waiting show you?