Slow Havamal: 115

In verse 115, Odin counsels Loddfafnir never to seduce another man’s wife.

Loddfafnir has already heard of the perils of sleeping with certain kinds of women—in particular, sorceresses. Now he’s advised not to sleep with ANY woman who’s already married to another. This might seem like a universal cultural value, enforced with differing degrees of severity. However, there have been a number of documented societies where voluntarily trading spouses was the norm, and it persists among individuals in societies where it’s frowned upon. Early accounts of certain Greenland Eskimo populations come to mind as examples of the former.( Read more... )