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Poetic Edda

13.[1] Over beer the bird  of forgetfulness broods, And steals the minds of men;With the heron's feathers  fettered I lay And in Gunnloth's house was held.
14.[2] 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.
15. The son of a king  shall be silent and wise, And bold in battle as well;Bravely and gladly  a man shall go, Till the day of his death is come.
16. The sluggard believes  he shall live forever, If the fight he faces not;But age shall not grant him  the gift of peace, Though spears may spare his life.
17. The fool is agape  when he comes to the feast, He stammers or else is still;But soon if he gets  a drink is it seen What the mind of the man is like.
  1. ↑ The heron: the bird of forgetfulness, referred to in line 1. Gunnloth: the daughter of the giant Suttung, from whom Othin won the mead of poetry. For this episode see stanzas 104-110.
  2. ↑ Fjalar: apparently another name for Suttung. This stanza, and probably 13, seem to have been inserted as illustrative.

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