[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke up the unused path

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Great! Thanks, Jeff Prucher and Amy West.
I have added an 1828 citation for the translation by W. Taylor to the article.

Also, Amy sent me a message off-list with helpful information. I have
added a scan of the original Icelandic text of strophe number 119.

Changes should be visible within 24 hours. Old versions of webpages
from the QI website are shown because of caching. I try to flush the
cache, but it does not always work properly.

[Begin acknowledgement excerpt]
Also, thanks to Jeff Prucher who noted that there exist several early
translations of the Poetic Edda into English. Prucher found the 1828
citation containing a translation of the Hávamál. Many thanks to Amy
West who provided additional information and pointed to the Icelandic
text.
[End acknowledgement excerpt]

Garson

On Thu, Jul 17, 2025 at 5:27 PM Jeff Prucher
<000000b93183dc86-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>  There are earlier translations of the Poetic Edda into English. A seemingly exhaustive list can be found at https://www.germanicmythology.com/elderedda/eddicpoems.html, although figuring out which have Hávamál (or the correct portion thereof, since there are a lot of partial translations) is beyond my remit.
> This is the earliest I've found (in a not remotely exhaustive search).
> Historic Survey of German Poetry, Interspersed with Various Translations. by W. Taylor, of Norwich. In Three Volumes.Vol. I1830
> Hava-mal, the High Songp. 19If you've a friend, take care to keep him,And often to his threshold pace;Bushes and grass soon choke the pathOn which a man neglects to walk.https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historic_Survey_of_German_Poetry/pXdYT6p2msUC?q=&gbpv=1&bsq=youngling#f=false
> Jeff Prucher
>     On Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 07:33:15 PM PDT, ADSGarson O'Toole <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>  The saying in the subject line is often attributed to Ralph Waldo
> Emerson. However, I found no substantive evidence that Ralph Waldo
> Emerson crafted this saying. He died in 1882, and he received credit
> by 1921.
>
> The earliest match I found in English appeared in 1878 within an
> article titled "The Ethic Ideas of the Edda" by Karl Blind which was
> published in "The University Magazine" of London. Edda designates a
> collection of Medieval Icelandic literary works. Blind printed the
> following verse from a work called "Hávamál".
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> If thou hast a friend whom thou well canst trust:
> Go often to him for friendly talk!
> For brushwood grows, and very high grass,
> On the path which nobody treads.
> [End excerpt]
>
> A different translation of the verse by Carolyne Larrington appeared
> in the book "The Poetic Edda" from Oxford University Press in 2014
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> I advise you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice,
> it will be useful if you learn it,
> do you good, if you have it:
> you know, if you've a friend, one whom you trust well,
> go to see him often;
> for brushwood grows, and tall grass,
> on the road which no man treads.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/07/16/friend-path/
>
> Feedback and illuminating citations would be welcome.
> Garson O'Toole
> QuoteInvestigator.com
>
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>
>
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