urse you must remember that Northern society was a very terrible
thing in some ways. Every man carried his life in his hands; every farmer
kept sword and spear at his side even in his own fields; and every man
expected to die fighting. In fact, among the men of the more savage
North--the men of Norway in especial--it was considered a great disgrace
to die of sickness, to die on one's bed. That was not to die like a man.
Men would go out and get themselves killed, when they felt old age or
sickness coming on. But these facts must not blind us to the other fact
that there was even in that society a great force of moral cohesion, and
sound principles of morality. If there had not been, it could not have
existed; much less could the people who lived under it have become the
masters of a great part of the world, which they are at the present day.
There was, in spite of all that fierceness, much kindness and good nature
among them; there were rules of conduct such as no man could find fault
with--rules which still govern English society to some extent. And there
was opportunity enough for social amusement, social enjoyment, and the
winning of public esteem by a noble life.

Still, even in the "Havamal," one is occasionally startled by teachings
which show the darker side of Northern life, a life of perpetual vendetta.
As in old Japan, no man could live under the same heaven with the murderer
of his brother or father; vengeance was a duty even in the case of a
friend. On the subject of enemies the "Havamal" gives not a little curious
advice:

A man should never step a foot beyond his weapons; for he can
never tell where, on his path without, he may need his spear.

A man, before he goes into a house, should look to and espy all
the doorways (_so that he can find his way out quickly again_),
for he can never know where foes may be sitting in another man's
house.

Does not this remind us of the Japanese proverb that everybody has three
enemies outside of his own door? But the meaning of the "Havamal" teaching
is much more sinister. And when the man goes into the house, he is still
told to be extremely watchful--to keep his ears and eyes open so that he
may not be taken by surprise:

The wary guest keeps watchful silence; he listens with his ears
and peers about with his eyes; thus does every wise man look about
him.

One would think that men must have had very strong nerves to take comfo