Slow Havamal: 134

[kylec]

In verse 134, Odin counsels Loddfafnir never to laugh at an old man, for wise words often come from a gray beard, from one who hangs with dried skin and despicable men.

Crawford admits this is one of the most challenging verses to translate because of the final lines. They read:

From the one who hangs with dried skins,
who swings with dried skins,
who waves with despicable men.

It seems clear we are talking about the wise old man. There’s plenty of speculation as to why these men are hanging and swinging with skins and despicable men. One possibility is that they hang with Odin from Yggdrasil, among those who have hung so long they’ve dried out, as well as the freshly-sentenced.

The talk of the old often sounds foolish to us. We might only be a few decades apart, but to a young person, they were raised in a different time, with different values and subtle variation in everything from belief to speech. Often we share enough that we think we are talking about the same thing when we use a word, but the meaning has diverged enough in two generations that we each think the other is an idiot, because we are hearing our meaning when the speaker intends his, and vice-versa. But were we to take the time to understand what the other actually means to say, we may find a kind of wisdom that we haven’t been privy to, if only because it comes from a novel perspective.

Of course, the reason we tend to laugh at the old is that many of them are so calcified in habits that no longer fit the present circumstances that they really do behave foolishly and sputter nonsense. Many of us refuse to give up our hard-won understanding in order to learn new things as we age. But when the old do pay attention they can develop a nuance to their wisdom that is only attainable through long effort. And though we may not fully understand it, by listening, we can at least spare ourselves the trouble until that understanding arrives. Loddfafnir and the reader may want to take note, even when Odin’s words are obscure.

The final lines of the verse, inasmuch as they make any sense, suggest sacrifice. These old folks have studied long under Odin and share in his fate, to suffer in exchange for wisdom among those who have learned before them and left shreds of their knowledge behind. Among those who don’t enjoy popular respect, and who are reviled.