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Quotation from The Poetic Edda by Anonymous (Old Norse)

“The lame rides a horse, | the handless is herdsman, The deaf in battle is bold; The blind man is better | than one that is burned, No good can come of a corpse.”

Anonymous (Old Norse) (spoken by Othin (the High One))

The Poetic Edda, Hovamol, stanza 71, trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

Portrait of Anonymous (Old Norse)

A saying that every living man, however maimed, still has a use and a place, set among stanzas on the worth of life.

Citation: "The lame rides a horse, | the handless is herdsman, The deaf in battle is bold; The blind man is better | than one that is burned, No good can come of a corpse." — Anonymous (Old Norse), The Poetic Edda, Hovamol, stanza 71, trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923). (id poetic-edda-q6)

Portrait: Codex Regius of Eddaic Poems, Unknown author, Public domain.

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Quote card: The lame rides a horse, | the handless is herdsman, The deaf in battle is bold;