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The
discussion and analysis presented after these
translated stanzas is our
opinion. Read the translations for yourself and our analysis, but also seek
out varied sources and come to your own conclusions.
STANZA 25 OF THE
HAVAMAL
Auden & Taylor:
The fool thinks that those who laugh At
him are all his friends: When he comes to the Thing and calls for
support, Few spokesmen he finds
Bellows:
The foolish man | for friends all
those Who laugh at him will hold; But the truth when he comes
| to the council he learns, That few in his favor will speak.
Bellow's Note: The first two
lines are abbreviated in the manuscript, but are doubtless
identical with the first two lines of stanza
24.
Bray:
The unwise man weens all who smile and
flatter him are his friends; but when he shall come into court
he shall find there are few to defend his cause.
Chisholm:
The unwise man thinks that all who laugh
at him are friends. But when he is at the thing he finds few spokesmen.
Hollander:
The unwise man weens that all that laugh
with him like him too; but then he finds, when to the Thing he
comes, few spokesman to speed his cause.
Terry:
The foolish man thinks everyone his
friend who laughs when he does; then he sees that few will
take his side when his case comes to court.
Thorpe:
A foolish man thinks all who speak him
fair to be his friends; but he will find, if into court he
comes, that he has few advocates.
DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF STANZA 25
(The first two lines of Stanza 25 are the
same as the first two lines of Stanza 24, though they were
abbreviated in the text, as noted
by Bellows)
At first reading, several of these
translations (Auden & Taylor, Bellows, and Chisholm) make it
sound like the foolish man thinks that all who "laugh at him are his
friends." And, this makes it sort of sound like people are laughing
at him...or making fun of him. But, I think Bray, Hollander, Terry,
and Thorpe translations are closer to the intended meaning, when
they suggest that the fool believes that everyone who laughs with
him is his friend. Everyone who "laughs when he does." Bray attempts
to make this as clear as possible by putting, "all who smile and
flatter him."
Essentially, lines 1 and 2 say that the Fool
believes that everyone who is nice to him is his friend. Everyone
who glad-hands him. Everyone who laughs at his jokes. Everyone who
smiles when he walks in a room. The fool takes these rather shallow
indications...as indications of friendship
with others.
Lines 3 and 4 suggest that he may think all
of these folks who flatter him are his friends, but when he appears
in court or at Thing, no one will speak for him or take his
side. Among our ancestors, it was important to have people who
would speak for you. If you had a dispute with another farmer,
and brought the dispute to Thing...you would both put forward men to
speak for you. Men to vouch for you. Men to say that you
were right, and the other man was wrong. If a man went to
Thing with a dispute or was brought up in a dispute at Thing, and
had no one to speak for him...then he was going
to lose.
In our modern world, lines 3 and 4 can
easily be taken more generally. When the fool runs into
hardships and trouble, those "friends" he thought he had will be no
where to be found. We all need an advocate at times. We
all need someone to champion our cause. We all need someone to
pick us up when we fall, brush us off, and march along with
us. Our true friends do this for us, knowing that we will also
do it for them. But, the fool misidentifies two-faced fakes
and flakes as his friends...and when he falls, they are very
far away.
The wise man is a better judge of his
friends...a better judge of reality. The wise man has a good
idea of who will stand with him and who will be missing when
hardships are encountered. The wise man works hard to earn and
deserve the sorts of friends that will stand
with him.
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