Stanza 81

Original Old Norse:	Auden & Taylor:	Bellows:	Bray:
At kveldi skal dag leyfa konu er brennd er mæki er reyndr er mey er gefin er ís er yfir kømr öl er drukkit er	For these things give thanks at nightfall: The day gone, a guttered torch, A sword tested, the troth of a maid, Ice crossed, ale drunk.	Give praise to the day at evening, | to a woman on her pyre, To a weapon which is tried, | to a maid at wed lock, To ice when it is crossed, | to ale that is drunk.	Hew wood in wind, sail the seas in a breeze, woo a maid in the dark, -- for day's eyes are many, -- work a ship for its gliding, a shield for its shelter, a sword for its striking, a maid for her kiss;
Chisholm:	Hollander:	Terry:	Thorpe:
Praise the day in the evening, a torch when it is burned, a sword when it is tried, a maid when married, ice when crossed, ale when drunk.	At eve praise the day, when burned down, a torch, a wife when bedded, a weapon when tried, ice when over it, ale when 'tis drunk.	Praise the day at nightfall, a woman when she's dead, a sword proven, a maiden married, ice you've crossed, ale you've drunk.	At eve the day is to be praised, a woman after she is burnt, a sword after it is proved, a maid after she is married, ice after it has passed away, beer after it is drunk.
Bellow's Note: 81. With this stanza the verse-form, as indicated in the translation, abruptly changes to Malahattr. What has happened seems to have been something like this. Stanza 80 introduces the idea of man's love for woman. Consequently some reciter or compiler (or possibly even a copyist) took occasion to insert at this point certain stanzas concerning the ways of women. Thus stanza 80 would account for the introduction of stanzas 81 and 82, which, in turn, apparently drew stanza 83 in with them. Stanza 84 suggests the fickleness of women, and is immediately followed--again with a change of verse-form--by a list of things equally untrustworthy (stanzas 85-90). Then, after a few more stanzas on love in the regular measure of the Hovamol (stanza 91-9s), is introduced, by way of illustration, Othin's story of his {footnote p. 46} adventure with Billing's daughter (stanzas 96-102). Some such process of growth, whatever its specific stages may have been, must be assumed to account for the curious chaos of the whole passage from stanza 81 to stanza 102.
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Don't put the cart before the horse. Don't be quick to say something is good, before it actually proves itself to be good.