Slow Havamal: 89

The 89th verse lists the killer of your brother (even if encountered in a public place), a half-burned house, and a too-fast horse (which is lame if a single leg breaks), then notes of these and all previously listed items that you should never be so trusting that you trust all of these things.

In The Wanderer’s Havamal, the 88th and 89th verses are inverted. Verse 89 appears to continue with and resolve the list we’ve been following for several verses, but 88 is jarring in that it doesn’t seem to pertain to this train of thought. There may have been a scribal error in the Codex Regius. Whatever the case, Crawford transposes them for sense. We’ll return to 88 next week.

This week, I’ll continue the practice of treating each item separately.( Read more... )