Slow Havamal: 34

[kylec]

In the 34th verse, it’s noted that the walk to visit a bad friend is long and crooked, though he lives very near, and the walk to a good friend is easy, even if the journey is long.

The destination determines the journey to some degree. Or rather, our expectation of what we’ll find. Every step that winds us closer to a bad friend is a miserable one, even if it isn’t physically daunting. This is a function of attitude. What makes a walk good or bad? Of course the length and the terrain should have something to do with it. But so does what we find along the way. A walk of wandering exploration is different than a time-pressed trip, even over the same ground. It’s difficult to separate the experience of the travel from the reason that set us out in the first place. If it’s the obligation to visit a bad friend, and every time we take that particular path we find him, the path itself takes on a gloomy tint.

We could perceive the entire sequence as a timeless whole. The destination includes exactly the path that got you there, and the path evokes the destination. It’s as though I walk on a hill that seems to be make of a scaly dirt, with a line of rocks that mark the way. As they draw to an end, the ground rises beneath me and I realize I’ve walked along the spine of a dragon and awoken the fiery business-end in the process. The tail, back, and head are not just related. They’re part of the same system. Take the same action, get the same results. If the path feels cursed or blessed, it’s because I should know by now where these particular actions lead. Why do I feel inclined to repeat the ones that lead me to the bad friend?

There’s very little we won’t endure with some assurance that it leads to a happy result. Often the road to unpleasantness is short because we took the lazy way, and it led to a dead end. The longer route involves a lot of work, and the result reflects that fact. Lousy neighbors might live close or far, and the same goes for good ones. The things we want in life, on the other hand, tend to be exactly as far away as their worth. When something wonderful seems to come easy, a look back might reveal that it was because we already put in years of work that led us to the opportunity. Otherwise, it’s going to be a bit of a slog. Meanwhile, it’s never a long tumble to a miserable destination. Tail to snout, you can walk a dragon’s back in about fifty paces.

Finally, attitude matters. The first reaction is to think this verse says that knowledge of the destination changes our attitude about the journey. I think that’s true, but inasmuch as they’re part of the same system. If I do have to visit a bad friend—undertake some unpleasant obligation—I can reframe my attitude in a way that makes the task seem less onerous, and maybe even a pleasant challenge. My attention is directed differently. I notice the vegetation and the clouds in a different light. I walk taller, and with more pep. My actions have changed. New actions mean the road itself has changed. I may not love where I end up, but it’s fair to say I walk an entirely different beast.