The Havamal: A Heathen Path of Living (Part 7)

15.

Silence becomes the son of a prince,

To be silent, but brave in battle:

It befits a man to be merry and glad

Until the day of his death.

16.

The coward believes he will live forever

If he holds back in the battle,

But in old age he shall have no peace

Though spears have spared his limbs.

These are short and simple stanzas, but ones with deep meaning. These stanzas drive us to live courageously, not because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes no sense to live any other way. This goes back to the Norse concept of wyrd. This idea is that the time, place, and method of one’s death was set at the time of one’s birth and that this fate cannot be changed. This is one of reasons why the Vikings threw themselves into battle: the assumption is that if they were fated to die in that battle, then there was nothing they could do to change it and they might as well go down in a blaze of glory. This concept has led people to believe that the Norse people were grim and fatalistic. In reality the opposite is true.

In the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche, the author states that by focusing on death, a Buddhist’s life becomes richer. There are a few truths in this world.  First, we are all going to die. Second, no one knows for sure when that will be. We often go through life believing that we have an infinite amount of tomorrows and all we have to do is avoid risks and we’re practically immortal. People who have lost loved ones unexpectedly, whether from an accident or violence, often regret the things that they did not do or did not say to that person because they always believed that there would be time later. It’s an odd thing to consider that in life we often regret the things we DID NOT do more than the things we DID do. The girl we never asked out, the job we didn’t take, the vacation we never went on can haunt us longer than the money or time lost.

The Wanderer encourages us to look at the things that frighten us. These can be as minor as fear of rejection to as serious as some form of phobia. The Wanderer encourages us to face that fear and see what would be the worst thing that would happen if our worst fears were to come to light. Then look at everything we are giving up to avoid that fear and balance them out. Is your fear causing you to give up on some great things in life? Isn’t it time you smack fear in the face and teach it who the real master is in your life?