Henry Adams Bellows · stanza 70
1923It is better to live than to lie a corpse,The live man catches the cow;I saw flames rise for the rich man’s pyre,And before his door he lay dead.Hávamál · Hávamál proper
Henry Adams Bellows stanza 70
3 translations are aligned to this passage.
View all translations together3 editions
Other translations of this passage
Benjamin Thorpe · stanza 70
1866It is better to live,even to live miserably;a living man can always get a cow.I saw fire consumethe rich man’s property,and death stood without his door.Olive Bray · stanza 70
1908More blest are the living than the lifeless,‘tis the living who come by the cow;I saw the hearth-fire burn in the rich man’s halland himself lying dead at the door.Source
The Poetic Edda: Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction and Notes
Hávamál, translated by Henry Adams Bellows, in The Poetic Edda (1923). Public-domain transcription sourced from Project Gutenberg ebook 73533.
- Translator or editor
- Henry Adams Bellows
- Published
- 1923
- License
- Public domain in the United States
- Text source
- Project Gutenberg
Related passages
Passage 006
Henry Adams Bellows stanza 6
A man shall not boast of his keenness of mind, But keep it close in his breast; To the silent and wise does ill come seldom When he goes as…
Read passage →Passage 014
Henry Adams Bellows stanza 14
Drunk I was, I was dead-drunk, When with Fjalar wise I was; ‘Tis the best of drinking if back one brings His wisdom with him home.
Read passage →Passage 040
Henry Adams Bellows stanza 40
None so free with gifts or food have I found That gladly he took not a gift, Nor one who so widely scattered his wealth That of recompense…
Read passage →Passage 050
Henry Adams Bellows stanza 50
On the hillside drear the fir-tree dies, All bootless its needles and bark; It is like a man whom no one loves,— Why should his life be lon…
Read passage →Your study notes
My notes
Only you can see these notes.
Reader discussion
Reader Discussion
Discussion reflects individual readers and community members. It is not part of the original text or published commentary.
No discussion has been started here yet.