Stanza 70

Original Old Norse:	Auden & Taylor:	Bellows:	Bray:
Betra er lifðum en sé ólifðum ey getr kvikr kú eld sá ek upp brenna auðgum manni fyrir en úti var dauðr fyr durum	It is always better to be alive, The living can keep a cow. Fire, I saw, warming a wealthy man, With a cold corpse at his door.	It 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. 70. The manuscript has "and a worthy life" in place of "than to lie a corpse" in line I, but Rask suggested the emendation as early as 1818, and most editors have followed him.	More 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 hall and himself lying dead at the door.
Chisholm:	Hollander:	Terry:	Thorpe:
Better to be alive and happy. The quick always get the cattle. The fire burned for the wealthy man, but the dead man lays outside.	Better alive (than lifeless be): too quick fall ay the cattle; the hearth fire burned for the happy heir-- Outdoors a dead man lay.	Better to live than to be lifeless: the living can hope for a cow. While the wealthy man sat warm by his fire, a dead man lay outside the door.	It is better to live, even to live miserably; a living man can always get a cow. I saw fire consume the rich man’s property, and death stood without his door.
Better to be alive than dead: few would argue with that. Bellows notes the original manuscript may have read a bit differently than the translations. Do you think that changes the meaning of the verse? The second half is less clear but seems to be a reminder that even wealth and a warm houses cannot save you from death when your time has come and death is ready to knock for entrance. Talk about unwelcome guests!