Slow Havamal: 161

[kylec]

In verse 161, Odin says he knows a sixteenth spell: he uses it to win over a cunning, lovely-armed beauty all for himself.

The two descriptions of the kind of woman Odin desires are cunning and lovely-armed or white-armed, the color which means beautiful in Norse metaphor. The first adjective could mean that she is very clever, and that that’s a desirable trait in a woman (I would agree). It could also mean that he needs this spell only for cunning women because the less-clever are easily won. I’m also reminded of the American folk use of the word cunning to describe one versed in magical arts, which means she may have formidable resistance to ordinary spells.

That the arms are mentioned is charming to me, because I can’t think of a modern American description of a woman that uses the beauty of her arms as a stand-in for her person, or celebrates them above other body parts more frequently mentioned. This might be metaphor, but I’d like to think that her strength was valued, though it could as well have been a slenderness that betrays a lack of manual labor.

Love spells are among the most common uses of magic. People want what they want, and if they can’t have it by ordinary means, you can bet that a certain fraction will resort to any method at their disposal. I’ve heard from those familiar that this inevitably results in catastrophic blowback. After a brief initial success, the target ends up despising the suitor and often personal calamity follows, because to force someone to do something against their will is a curse.

Odin, of course, if a god and standard rules need not apply. He could as well have been enumerating things that humans seek his help with, and he might be more than happy to help even when he knows the results will be unpleasant. The seeker would end up owing him a favor, and the hard way’s often the best way for us mortals to learn a lesson.

Comments

[sdi]

You see charmingly-odd descriptions of beauty among the Greeks, too: Hera, for example, is also described as "white-armed," but my favorite is how Persephone is described as "slender-ankled."

[kylec]

I love that one! Interesting how our tastes change, or at least our euphemisms when we want to be polite.