Stanza 79

Original Old Norse:	Auden & Taylor:	Bellows:	Bray:
Ósnotr maðr ef eignask getr fé eða fljóðs munuð metnaðr honum þróask en mannvit aldregi fram gengr hann drjúgt í dul	In the fool who acquires cattle and lands, Or wins a woman's love, His wisdom wanes with his waxing pride, He sinks from sense to conceit.	Certain is that | which is sought from runes, That the gods so great have made, And the Master-Poet painted; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the race of gods: Silence is safest and best. 79. This stanza is certainly in bad shape, and probably out of place here. Its reference to runes as magic signs suggests that it properly belongs in some list of charms like the Ljothatal (stanzas 147-165). The stanza-form is so irregular as to show either that something has been lost or that there have been interpolations. The manuscript indicates no lacuna; Gering fills out the assumed gap as follows: "Certain is that which is sought from runes, The runes--," etc.	All will prove true that thou askest of runes -- those that are come from the gods, which the high Powers wrought, and which Odin painted: then silence is surely best.
Chisholm:	Hollander:	Terry:	Thorpe:
The unwise man only grows arrogant when he wins himself wealth or a woman’s love. His wisdom never increases, only his pride.	The unwise man, once he calls his own wealth or the love of a woman-- his overweening waxes but his wit never-- He haughtily hardens his heart.	When a man is not wise, he has only to win cattle or a woman's caress, and his self-esteem waxes, unlike his wits, he's all puffed up with pride.	A foolish man, if he acquires wealth or a woman’s love, pride grows within him, but wisdom never: he goes on more and more arrogant.
Gaining wealth is something anyone can do. Gaining the love of a woman is a bit trickier, but anyone can do it. A fool is he who boasts about such things, trying to show off what he has “acquired” Bellows seems a step ahead in his verses..