The Havamal: A Heathen Path of Living (Part 5)

10.

A traveler cannot carry

Better gear than good sense,

Better than riches for a poor man,

Far from his own home.

11.

A traveler cannot carry

Better gear than good sense,

A traveler cannot carry

A worse burden than too much drink.

These two stanzas are paired together. The first tells us what we should have. The second tells us what we should put down. The first stanza tells us that the best gear to carry with us on our path is good sense. This builds off of the previous few stanzas in that having your own good sense means that you do not have to rely on other people to tell you how to live your life. Also, as anyone who has gone hiking can tell you, the gear you carry can get lost or broken. If you are far from home, then you will just have to make do somehow. Out in the wilderness there are no stores where you can buy a new knife or backpack. But “good sense” is the best gear of all because it cannot be broken, lost, or stolen. And, with good sense, you can figure out how to make do with the rest of the gear you do have. I think this is the most important lesson that the Wanderer is giving us in this stanza: with good sense, you can survive almost anything.

The second stanza is the first admonition against drunkenness. I remember when I first read this that I found it ironic that the culture who gave us the Vikings and their stereotypical love of mead and beer is the same culture to warn us against he dangers of drunkenness. But, this is also an indication of how long humans have struggled with alcohol (and most likely many other drugs). Here is an ancient text that reports the problems with too much alcohol in one’s life. If you are struggling with drugs or alcohol, then know that this is nothing new and that you are not alone. Though The Wanderer does not give us guidance on exactly how to get off alcohol, he does make it clear that it is necessary in order to walk our path.