Slow Havamal: 68
Oct. 12th, 2022 12:00 pm
The 68th verse lists four things that are “best” for mortals: fire, sunshine, good health if you’re lucky enough to have it, and living beyond reproach.
I don’t know if or how the Norse divided the world into elements, but all four things listed here as blessings for mortals fall neatly under the traditional western element of fire. When it comes to happiness and health, no other single element covers it better. Fire and sunshine are easy correspondences. Physical vitality also usually falls here, and heat is seen as treating many illnesses of the body, while metaphorical warmth heals the melancholic or phlegmatic mind. Living beyond reproach means embodying virtue. When one is a shining example, a leader, a spiritual beacon, this too belongs to fire.
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