Slow Havamal: 85

The 85th verse says:
A breaking bow,
a burning fire,
a howling wolf,
a cawing crow,
a grunting pig,
a rootless tree,
a swelling wave,
a boiling kettle,

I have given this verse exactly, because I’m not sure how to paraphrase it. I normally don’t like reproducing copyrighted text, but I have heard that it’s legal to use up to 500 words, quoted and cited (The Wanderer’s Havamal, translated by Jackson Crawford), so hopefully the copyright gods may forgive me. This verse and the next few are a list that doesn’t become meaningful until it’s explained in verse 89. The reader may like to study it for a moment to see if they can figure out what these lines have in common.

Sometimes in this series, I hit a verse that worries me. Either I can’t quite suss out what it means, or it seems too similar to other nearby verses, which brings the risk of having to repeat myself. Repetition has its own meaning. It can teach us much when we pay attention to why a wise source might repeat something. But it probably doesn’t make for entertaining reading. As always, I will try to deal with the verse at hand, and as often, may drag it down some unlikely tracks.( Read more... )