Stanza 125

Original Old Norse:	Auden & Taylor:	Bellows:	Bray:
Ráðumk þér Loddfáfnir en þú ráð nemir njóta mundu ef þú nemr þér munu góð ef þú getr þrimr orðum senna skalattu þér við verra mann opt inn betri bilar þá er inn verri vegr	Bandy no speech with a bad man: Often the better is beaten In a word fight by the worse.	I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,-- Profit thou hast if thou hearest, Great thy gain if thou learnest: With a worse man speak not | three words in dispute, Ill fares the better oft When the worse man wields a sword.	124. I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels, they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them, they will work thy weal if thou win'st them: oft the worst lays the best one low.
Chisholm:	Hollander:	Terry:	Thorpe:
I give you rede Loddfafnir, heed it well! You will use it, if you learn it, it will do you good if you understand it. Bandy not three words with a lesser man. Often the better man fails when the worse gets hostile.	Hear thou, Loddfafnir, and heed it well, learn it, 'twill lend thee strength, follow it, 'twill further thee: not three words shalt with a worse man bandy; oft the better man forbears when the worse man wounds thee.	Heed my words, Loddfafnir, listen to my counsel; you'll be better off if you believe me, follow my advice, and you'll fare well: don't offer three words to a man unworthy; good men come to grief when the worse make war.	127. I counsel thee, etc. Even in three words quarrel not with a worse man: often the better yields, when the worse strikes.
Bad men know how to twist words, and make things other than they are. They will do everything in their power to make you look the idiot, to prove their point or come out ahead.