kylec | Slow Havamal: 48

In the 48th verse, it’s the kind and the brave who live the best, never holding a grudge, while the unwise worry over every detail—even how to repay a gift.

We would probably agree that to be kind is a virtue, and so is to be brave. What’s interesting is that Havamal appears to create a third virtue, unnamed but defined as the presence of both, striking the balance that leads to the best life. The kind don’t have to be brave. They may be kind because they’re afraid of what will happen to them if they aren’t. And we can all think of examples of times when brave men act with cruelty. What is it about these characteristics that makes such a fine pair?

A kind person takes others into consideration and acts to their benefit. It may be through a pleasant word exchanged, an act of service, or a mercy, and likely all of these over time and across acquaintances. Kindness carries an element of generosity. This person gives of himself, and never takes by force. He’s probably a joy to be around. The main fault we may hold against kind people is they have a tendency to be a bit meek. Even if the kindness is genuine, emanating from their nature, some of them conflate kindness with never causing an argument and always giving others what they want. It’s the kindness of a welcome mat.

A brave person ultimately acts according to what they choose. This can be a double-edged sword. They fear no consequences, or fear them but accept them wholeheartedly. Bravery, too, is generous in that it can entail sacrifice, either for your principles or for some person or circumstance you’re unwilling to yield. The knock against it, as I mentioned, is that rapine warlords are often very brave.

But when we meet the two together, we have a person who lives to give, who brighten the room, and who will stand up for those people to the death if necessary. Bravery is balanced with a nature that puts its own concerns second to others, and kindness is galvanized with a will that never allows itself to be trod on. The kind, brave person knows both power and mercy. They live well, because they hold no grudges. What grudge can stand against a open heart? What grudge can paralyze the valiant with fear? This person lives their own way, for others, and lets no cruelty bend them to an easier track. By relinquishing grudges, no act is undertaken out of contempt or fear. The traveler carries no burden, and so is free to roam where they please.

Why does the unwise man worry, then? Maybe he doesn’t have sufficient understanding to put his concerns into context. Minor sleights feel like existential challenges. Worry is low-level fear. He isn’t brave, because he dreads certain outcomes, and one who is fearful can only be kind until their fear turns them back to their own concerns. While our kind, brave soul can only imagine living one way, and so lives according that nature, the worrier can come up with quite a few options, many of which run contrary to what they feel is right but offer other advantages.

The first person would relish the opportunity to repay a gift, because it means 1) he received a gift, a sign of friendship, and 2) no generous person enjoys being in another’s debt. He’s eager to prove his side of the equation as a valuable friend. The second person worries that the repayment will tax their means too much, or be insufficient and earn disapproval. Or simply that it will take time and energy he’d rather devote elsewhere. He sees repayment as an obligation, whereas the first person sees it as inclination.

If we’re kind and brave, nothing can go wrong. We live authentically, doing exactly what we would choose in each moment for the noblest of reasons. Even if the world rails against us, harms us, destroys us, it can hardly be taken as more than weather—those natural events that unfold beyond our control while we were busy living justly.