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Hovamol

88.[1] In a brother's slayer,  if thou meet him abroad,In a half-burned house,  in a horse full swift—One leg is hurt  and the horse is useless—None had ever such faith  as to trust in them all.
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89. Hope not too surely  for early harvest, Nor trust too soon in thy son;The field needs good weather,  the son needs wisdom, And oft is either denied.
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90. The love of women  fickle of willIs like starting o'er ice  with a steed unshod,A two-year-old restive  and little tamed,Or steering a rudderless  ship in a storm,Or, lame, hunting reindeer  on slippery rocks.
***
91. Clear now will I speak,  for I know them both, Men false to women are found;When fairest we speak,  then falsest we think, Against wisdom we work with deceit.
92. Soft words shall he speak  and wealth shall he offer Who longs for a maiden's love,And the beauty praise  of the maiden bright; He wins whose wooing is best.
  1. ↑ This stanza follows stanza 89 in the manuscript. Many editors have changed the order, for while stanza 89 is pretty clearly an interpolation wherever it stands, it seriously interferes with the sense if it breaks in between 87 and 88.

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