Slow Havamal: 93

The 93rdverse says not to mock others for falling in love. That a woman’s beauty can often affect a wise man even more strongly than a fool.

The love-struck seem to lose their senses. To the unaffected, it’s a peculiar phenomenon. How can a man who thought and behaved one way suddenly undergo such a profound change? It seems to defy reason, and the odd turn lends itself to mocking because he appears to have fallen for a temporary and embarrassing delusion. Everyone can see that this new passion is out of proportion to its object, so why can’t he?( Read more... )

Slow Havamal: 94

The 94th verse says not to mock others for falling in love. That love is strong enough to make a fool of a wise man.

This verse repeats the first three lines from the previous, and alters the last three. We still receive a caution that the wise are not much better than fools in the face of love, and can even change places. The wise are those who have many experiences and see the connections between them. I have argued that wisdom is a kind of structure, rather than facts or aphorisms—a context, which colors future experiences. Foolishness, then, would be disconnection. Everything is new. Nothing here has happened before. There is as much promise and danger in one thing as the next. A fool can’t predict. He can only stumble ahead and discover. ( Read more... )