Falling in love is nothing new
Published: Thu, 02/15/18
Yesterday was Valentines day, you did notice didn’t you? It was hard not to. The Moral Maze was on radio 4 last night as I was getting supper ready. The discussion was something along the lines of: Romantic love was invented 500 years ago and made particularly popular by the Victorians. So it is all a con to distract us from the important things in life. (A pretty similar argument is made about Christmas in December). The first guest was a beautifully spoken women who wrote successful romantic novels. She was quite aggressively interrogated and accused of perpetuating the myth of romance and distracting her readers from doing something more important with their lives. The author kept her cool and sweetly pointed out that people love a good story and romance makes good stories. Also that love and finding a life partner is a good thing for most people even if the excitement of ‘being in love’ does not last for ever. The third
point she made was that she had confidence that her readers could tell the difference between fiction and real life. She gave the example of people enjoying a James Bond film without needing to believe that they were watching a realistic depiction of the secret service. Or, for that matter, believing that 007 was a role model to be emulated in real life.
I am also not at all sure that ‘romantic love’ was invented 500 years ago. There is plenty in the Eddas to suggest that strong attraction and the effect it has on judgment and rationality has been around a lot longer that that. Perhaps the difference is that our down to earth ancestors saw both sides of the situation. They certainly recognized strong attraction. They also recognized the consequences of allowing overwhelming emotion to cloud our judgment.
Perhaps the best example is the story of when Thor loses his hammer, Mjolnir and the mighty weapon falls into the hands of the giant Thrymr. The smart thing to do would have been to just kept the hammer safely hidden, thus rendering the Aesir more vulnerable than they were when Thor was properly armed. Thrymr however, so desired the beautiful Freya that he let the Aesir know that he was willing to return Mjolnir if Freya was willing to marry him. Freya was having none of it. So, Thor had to dress up as woman and fool Thrymr into thinking he was Freya long enough to recover his hammer and deal with the giants in Thor’s customary way.
There is also a reference in the Havamal (verses 90 onwards) where there is a discussion on the nature of love and its effect on men. (The Havamal is written from a male point of view). Verse 93 says that: ‘No man should reproach another for love; often the wise man is seized, when the foolish man is not, by a delightfully fair appearance.’ Then in verses 96 there is the account of how Odin himself falls for ‘Billing’s daughter’ and nearly falls into some kind of trap for the sake of love and desire.
Earlier in the Havamal there is plenty of advice on how to live wisely. Basically judge anything or anyone only after testing and experience. Verse 81 suggests praising a woman when she has been cremated, judge her on the way she lived her life, not on the impression she made when first fallen in love with. The same applies to a man of course too.
Falling in love was certainly a common experience at the time the Eddas were written. (as of course it has been throughout human history). Whoever wrote the Havamal also saw the dangers of letting your judgment get clouded by emotion. Read the Havamal for yourself, it isn’t long and it will give you a lot to think about.
On Monday this week I sent out module 5 of the Foundation programme. In it I explored the stories about the Norns, including the tale of Norna-gest and the concept of the Yggrasil or world tree. Next week we are looking at the story of Rig the Walker as found in the Poetic Edda and the five principles of Stav. In Module 9 I will share what the Havamal has to teach us about understanding the runes.
I am planning a second Foundation Day Course for the 26th of May in Beverley. This will be a second trial in that this time I will be testing the automated delivery of the modules. Six places only but you will need to book up in good time since you will need to receive the first module by the 24th of March. This will allow 9 weeks to study each module before coming on the day seminar. If you are interested in participating please contact me and I will notify you as soon as I am ready to accept bookings, should be next week.
If you think it unlikely that you will be unable to make it to Beverley then you are welcome to just receive the distance learning modules and I will test out using a Zoom meeting or similar to answer questions arising from the programme. Again, let me know if you are interested.
To contact me just reply to this or use contact@iceandfire.org
regards
Graham
PS David Watkinson’s funeral will be in Bridlington on the 23rd of this month. I am planning to attend. If you want more details then let me know and I will pass on all I know so far.