Stanza 44

Original Old Norse:

Veiztu ef þú vin átt

þanns þú vel trúir

ok vill þú af honum gótt geta

geði skalt við þann

blanda ok gjöfum skipta

fara at finna opt

Auden & Taylor:

If you find a friend you fully trust 

And wish for his good-will, 

exchange thoughts, 

exchange gifts, 

Go often to his house.

Bellows:

 If a friend thou hast | whom thou fully wilt trust,

And good from him wouldst get,

Thy thoughts with his mingle, | and gifts shalt thou make,

And fare to find him oft.

Bray:

Hast thou a friend whom thou trustest well, 

from whom thou cravest good? 

Share thy mind with him, gifts exchange with him, 

fare to find him oft.

Chisholm:

If you know that you have a friend and that he is true,

and that you will get good from him,

share your mind with him, exchange gifts,

and visit him often.

Hollander:

If friend thou hast whom faithful thou deemest,

and wishest to win him for thee;

open thy heart to him nor withhold thy gifts,

and fare to find him often.

Terry:

If you have a friend you feel you can trust

and you want him to treat you well,

open your mind to him, give him gifts,

and go to see him often.

Thorpe:

Know, if thou has a friend

whom thou fully trustest,

and from whom thou woulds’t good derive,

thou shouldst blend thy mind with his,

and gifts exchange,

and often go to see him.

When I was in grade school, I lost a very dear friend to a train accident. We were 'country folk', and one of the best swimming holes was beneath a train bridge. We would run out on the bridge, and jump into the river. One day, he wasn't fast enough, and the train won. His funeral was about a week later, and the thing was PACKED. The school gave all the kids who wanted to attend the day off. I had to sit and watch as all of these "friends" sat around the little country church, chit chatting and having fun, because they were out of school. They were not his friends, they simply used it as an excuse to ditch for the day.

If you have a friend, a true friend, whom you care for, BE the friend in return. In today's society of social media, and the mad race to collect likes and friend requests, how many of those do you actually know? How many are actually friends?