The Havamal: A Heathen Path of Living (Part 24)

42.

A man should be loyal through life to friends,

To them and to friends of theirs,

But never shall a man make offer

Of friendship to his foes’ friends.

43.

A man should be loyal through life to friends,

And return gift for gift,

Laugh when they laugh, but with lies repay

A false foe who lies.

These two stanzas tell us of two things: loyalty and karma. The first stanza discusses how we should be loyal for life to our friends. As discussed previously, friends were important to the ancient Norse as they not only helped with survival, but they also help make survival more bearable. But the first stanza goes even further to direct us to be friends of our friends. I think the belief is that if you are friends with your friends and your friends have friends of their own, then this common friendship builds a community. In fact, I wonder if this is how many clans were created once extended families met other extended families. This common friendship builds a bond of trust. A friend of a friend already comes with a personal reference, our friend. But, this also emphasizes the importance of building good friendships. If your friend is not very good, if he is never around when you need him or you find that you really can’t trust him, then why should you expect any different from friends of his?

The first stanza also gives us good advice: never make a friend with someone who is a friend of our enemy. Immediately, that friend has divided loyalties. If the situation between us and our enemy reaches a boiling point, then our mutual friend will have to choose sides. If we have been doing all of the things necessary to maintain a healthy friendship, then we have most likely put our trust into that friend and revealed some vulnerabilities. If our friend decides to side with our enemy, then we have not only lost a friend, but possibly given up some secrets that will be given over to our enemy.

The second stanza is as close to a Norse concept of karma as I’ve heard. ‘Return gift for a gift’, ‘laugh when they laugh’, and repay lies with lies sound awfully like ‘an eye for an eye’ to me. But, I also tend to think that this is more than just a form of justice, but simply pointing out how the world works. If you are jovial and make people laugh, then they are going to like being around you and will want to have a good time with you. If you give gifts or do things for others, then they are likely to do the same for you. Also the kinds of gifts and actions will be reciprocated. If you only give small, crappy gifts that you picked up at a convenience store, then you should not be expecting a brand new flat screen tv in return. But, also, when you harm others, when you lie to them, you should not be surprised when that is what you get in return as well. This concept fits well with the notion of karma, that how you treat others will be returned to you. So, why not treat others well?