Slow Havamal: 119

[kylec]

In verse 119, Odin counsels Loddfafnir that if he has a trustworthy friend, to visit him often, because weeds and tall grasses grow on an untraveled path.

What we believe we have must not be taken for granted. It isn’t a permanent thing, nor is it static. There might be some relationships that can be renewed with joy after falling dormant for many years, but that’s not something any of us should count on.

Odin says to visit our friends often. A friend is not a thing like a plow or a house. We may think of our friend as a noun, but if so, they are a person unto themselves. “Friend” is merely a role they play in our lives. What we’re discussing is actually a relationship. What is a relationship if not a system of ways in which we interact? Therefore, it requires acts of renewal. Those behaviors that friends do to earn the name must be repeated with some frequency.

Think of the friend not as the person you visit, but the path that Odin describes—the thing that connects these two. If I ignore my friend, he will be fine. I will be fine. What changes is that the path between us becomes overgrown and harder to travel with each passing year. It’s the connection that suffers. The act that keeps the path smooth is the constant tread of feet.

We may well extend this to any kind of relationship. Our loves falter untended. Even our material things require some degree of maintenance if they’re to stay in good order. A wise book fades from memory if it’s never revisited. The caution here is against the fallacy of misplaced permanence. We think of people and things as enduring, rather than engaged in a constant bloom of renewal. Whatever we value under the sun, we must turn our attention to. Pay a visit, utter a kind word, mend it where it falters, love it as a new thing. If we can’t, then we shouldn’t be surprised when we can no longer find our way back to that trustworthy companion.