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Slow Havamal: 110
Sep. 6th, 2023 12:12 pm
In verse 110, it’s stated that apparently Odin swore an oath to the frost-giants, “But who can trust Odin?” He deceived Suttung and left Gunnlod in tears.
Havamal—the words of the high one—implies that this poem comes straight from Odin’s mouth, which makes it that much funnier when he states plainly, “But who can trust Odin?” This and the previous verse switch from the first-person narrative to an after-the-fact third-person perspective. I read this as a play on identity in the way I discussed last week. Odin’s conception of self may be less permanent and more open to change than we are accustomed to. In a sense, he might be winking at us with his one eye as he says these lines, but in another, he may intend to convey something more subtle.
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<i>In verse 110, it’s stated that apparently Odin swore an oath to the frost-giants, “But who can trust Odin?” He deceived Suttung and left Gunnlod in tears.</i>
Havamal—the words of the high one—implies that this poem comes straight from Odin’s mouth, which makes it that much funnier when he states plainly, “But who can trust Odin?” This and the previous verse switch from the first-person narrative to an after-the-fact third-person perspective. I read this as a play on identity in the way I discussed last week. Odin’s conception of self may be less permanent and more open to change than we are accustomed to. In a sense, he might be winking at us with his one eye as he says these lines, but in another, he may intend to convey something more subtle.<cut?
The person you were yesterday is not the person you were today, but today, you still contain that person or at least diverge from that starting point. You can’t forget him or her, or ignore them completely. What you become issues from the possibilities remaining after those actions. Yet you are different.
If there’s one aspect that Odin himself would admit lingers from scene to scene, it’s the possibility of deceit. He offers a tidy response to the frost-giants, but undercuts it by pointing out past deception and the likelihood that the oath, as well as this account, may be “tailored.”
More obviously, what people have done before, we should expect them to perhaps do again. While they change, they also flow from those actions, and the more they perform them, the more likely they are to repeat them. Thus our character is born. While the giants may stew at falling victim to Odin’s tricks, we humans look on the matter differently. We got Oderir—the mead of inspiration—out of the same actions.
Here we have a segue to another point I’ve often made: virtue is that which confers a survival advantage to the community. Lies and thievery may seem evil, but for most cultures, they are only evil when visited within the community. Outsiders such as the giants are not protected. There may even be scenarios in which NOT lying to an outsider to the benefit of your community will be seen as evil.
In this matter, we side with Odin, and would be well-advised to remain in his graces.
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<i>In verse 110, it’s stated that apparently Odin swore an oath to the frost-giants, “But who can trust Odin?” He deceived Suttung and left Gunnlod in tears.</i>
Havamal—the words of the high one—implies that this poem comes straight from Odin’s mouth, which makes it that much funnier when he states plainly, “But who can trust Odin?” This and the previous verse switch from the first-person narrative to an after-the-fact third-person perspective. I read this as a play on identity in the way I discussed last week. Odin’s conception of self may be less permanent and more open to change than we are accustomed to. In a sense, he might be winking at us with his one eye as he says these lines, but in another, he may intend to convey something more subtle.<cut?
The person you were yesterday is not the person you were today, but today, you still contain that person or at least diverge from that starting point. You can’t forget him or her, or ignore them completely. What you become issues from the possibilities remaining after those actions. Yet you are different.
If there’s one aspect that Odin himself would admit lingers from scene to scene, it’s the possibility of deceit. He offers a tidy response to the frost-giants, but undercuts it by pointing out past deception and the likelihood that the oath, as well as this account, may be “tailored.”
More obviously, what people have done before, we should expect them to perhaps do again. While they change, they also flow from those actions, and the more they perform them, the more likely they are to repeat them. Thus our character is born. While the giants may stew at falling victim to Odin’s tricks, we humans look on the matter differently. We got Oderir—the mead of inspiration—out of the same actions.
Here we have a segue to another point I’ve often made: virtue is that which confers a survival advantage to the community. Lies and thievery may seem evil, but for most cultures, they are only evil when visited within the community. Outsiders such as the giants are not protected. There may even be scenarios in which NOT lying to an outsider to the benefit of your community will be seen as evil.
In this matter, we side with Odin, and would be well-advised to remain in his graces.
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