Thursday, 9 November 2017

Onsdag den 8. november 2017

Jeg bruger formiddagen på at læse endnu 20 vers af Havamal, et oldnorsk digt, der blev skrevet af Odin, den berømte nordiske gud. Scillas U3A oldnorske gruppe holder dens næste møde i eftermiddag kl 14 i byens bibliotek.

I mellemtiden arbejder Lois arbejder i baghaven og fortsætter med at ”lægge haven i sengen for vinteren”. Efter frokost jeg tager mig en kort eftermiddagslur, og bagefter kører jeg ind i byen for at deltage i Scillas gruppemøde.

14:00 Scillas møde starter, og medlemmerne dykker lidt dybere ned i Odins usuccesfulde forsøg på at forføre en kæmpekvinde, som han var forgabet i. Hvem var denne kvinde? Der er stadig en livlig debat mellem eksperterne – nogle af dem tror, at kvinden var Billings datter, og andre, at hun var Billings kone.

Vi diskuterer spørgsmålet og endelig hælder vi til teorien, at hun var Billings kone. Hun var meget selvsikker, virkede at være erfaren seksuelt, og passer til cougar-profilen, synes vi. Hun var tjekkede, forandringsvillig, og så vidste hun, hvad hun ville have!

Ved at starte affærer med yngre mænd (og yngre guder) kunne kvinden også have planlagt lidt af et kærligt skub bagi til selve Billing, hendes ægtemand, der, som mange midaldrende giganter, måske ikke var så forandringsvillig og energisk, som sig selv.

Det mest overbevisende argument er, at Odin forsøger konstant at overtale hende ”til at være utro”, hvilket antyder, at hun allerede er i et forhold, og der er ikke tal om andre mænd i historien, end selve Billing.

Fru Billing må have været en moden kvinde, men hun havde tilsyneladende en fantastisk krop ifølge Odin – han fik en dag tilfældigvis et godt glimt af hende, mens hun sov i sin seng. Fra det tidspunkt kunne han tænke på ikke andet, end at score hende.


Havamal vers 97: Odins oprindelige tekst i sort
og mine notater i rød

Deres første ”date” viste sig at være lidt af en fiasko. Odin sad og ventede på hende i en klump rør (formentlig i en slags robåd). Men hun dukkede ikke op.

Senere sendte fru Billing en besked til Odin. Hun inviterede ham til at besøge hende den følgende nat i hendes soveværelse. Men da Odin smukkede forbi, fandt han kun kvindens hund, som hun har lænket til sengen.

Jeg diskuterede scenen tidligere på dagen med Lois. Hun synes, at fru Billing var ikke interesseret i et forhold til Odin, og ville sende ham en signal, så han ville droppe sine planer om at score  hende. Lois har bemærket, at Odin var en ganske grim gud, mens fru Billing var lidt af en skønhed og kunne gøre bedre, ifølge Lois.

Odin, ”en ganske grim gud”

fru Billing – hun kunne få bedre end Odin, synes Lois

Og ifølge Lois var selve Billing ikke noget oliemaleri – du godeste,
sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!

16:00 Mødet slutter og jeg kører hjem. Efter to års oldnorsk er jeg udmattet (som sædvanligt) –hele oplevelsen har været meget intens. Jeg føler mig helt slået ud følelsesmæssigt.

18:00 Efter aftensmad ser Lois og jeg lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om ”mennesker, man kender, der spiser, hvad de har lyst til, men som ikke tage på i vægt".



Programmet kredser om to mennesker, den 37-årige familiefar Yemi, og den 41-årige udarbejdende mor Anne Marie, der begge to har stillesiddende jobs og som spiser alt, hvad de har lyst til, hvilket lyder lidt som gennemsnitlige menneskers oplevelse. Men de tager ikke på i vægt – hvad er hemmeligheden?

den 37-årige familiefar Yemi spiser alt, hvad han har lyst til


den 41-årige udarbejdende familiemor Anne Marie spiser også alt, 
hvad hun har lyst til. Oven i købet indrømmer hun, at hun er ”meget doven”

Men visse andre kendsgerninger dukker frem i løbet af programmet. De to går sjældent ud at spise, de spiser altid hjemmelaget mad (de bestiller aldrig takeaway), de drikke sjældent alkohol. De spiser kun, når de er sulten, og ikke på grund af, at det er tid til det, så derfor nogle dage spiser de mere, nogle dage mindre.

Selvom det er sandt, at de to forsøgskaniner har stillesiddende jobs, og har ikke noget regelmæssigt motionsprogram, er det ikke sandt, at de ikke får nogen motion. Yemi går til fods til sin arbejdsplads, der er 1 mile væk fra hans hus. Og Anne Marie leder en ugentlig aktivitetsprogram for unge børn. Og selvom hun hele dagen skal sidde på sit skrivebord, er hun utroligt rastløs og bevæger sig konstant på sin stol.

Ved slutningen af programmet, er værten ikke helt sikker på, hvad er de to menneskers hemmelighed – det er juryen stadig ude om, siger hun.

Efter min mening, er hemmeligheden, at begge forsøgskaniner bare er meget meget lykkelige og oven i købet er utroligt begejstrede for deres liv og deres hverdag. Trods alt har man mest tendens til at spise, når livet er kedeligt. Begejstring er så vigtig i livet, og det er det så nemt at glemme – yikes!

Jeg fortæller Lois, at vi skulle mindes vores tidligere motto – plads til begejstring. Men ikke i aften – vi er alt for udmattede – uha!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!


English translation

I spend the morning reading another 20 verses of Havamal, an Old Norse poem written by Odin, the famous Norse god. Scilla's U3A Old Norse Group is to hold its next meeting this afternoon at 2pm in the town library, and the Havamal poem is the group's current project.

Meanwhile, Lois works in the backyard continuing to "put the garden to bed for the winter". After lunch I take a short afternoon nap, and then I drive into town to attend Scilla's group’s meeting.

14:00 Scilla's meeting starts and members dig a little deeper into Odin's unsuccessful attempt to seduce a giantess he was infatuated with. Who was this woman? There is still a lively debate between the experts - some of them think that the woman was Billing's daughter and others that she was Billing's wife.

We discuss the question and finally we lean to the theory that she was Billing's wife. She was very confident, seemed to be experienced sexually, and fits the cougar profile, we think. She had been around the block, was open to change, and she knew what she wanted.

By starting affairs with younger men (and younger gods), the woman could also have intended a bit of a gentle kick in the backside to Billing himself, her husband who, like many middle aged giants, might not have been as open to change and as energetic as herself.

The most convincing argument is that Odin is constantly trying to persuade her "to be unfaithful", suggesting that she is already in a relationship, and there are no other men in the story apart from Billing himself.

Mrs Billing must have been a mature woman, but she apparently had a fantastic body according to Odin - he happened to get a good glimpse of her one day, asleep in her bed. From then on he could think of nothing else but scoring with her.
  

Havamal verse 97: Odin's original text in black
and my notes in red

Their first "date" proved to be a bit of a fiasco. Odin was waiting for her in a clump of reeds (probably in a kind of rowboat). But she did not show up.

Later, Mrs Billing sent a message to Odin. She invited him to visit her the following night in her bedroom. But when Odin swung by, he found only the woman's dog that she had chained to the bed. Mrs Billing herself was not there.

I discussed this scene earlier in the day with Lois. She thinks Mrs Billing was not interested in a relationship with Odin and wanted to send him a signal so he would drop his plans to score with her.  Lois has noticed that Odin was a pretty ugly god, while Mrs Billing was something of a beauty and could do much better than Odin, according to Lois.

Odin – a “pretty ugly god”

Mrs Billing: she could do better than Odin, Lois thinks

And according to Lois, Billing himself was no oil painting –
good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!

16:00 The meeting ends and I drive home. After two hours of Old Norse I am exhausted as usual – the whole experience has been very intense. I feel totally washed up emotionally.

18:00 After dinner, Lois and I watch a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, all about "people you know who eat what they want but who do not put on any weight."


The program revolves around two people, 37-year-old family man Yemi, and 41-year-old working mother Anne Marie, both of whom have sedentary jobs and eat everything they want, which sounds a bit like average people's experience. But they do not put on weight - what's the secret?

37-year-old family man Yemi eats everything he wants


41-year-old working mother Anne Marie also eats everything she wants.
In addition, she admits that she is "very lazy"

But certain other facts emerge during the program. The two rarely eat out, they always eat home- cooked food (never takeaways), they rarely drink alcohol. They only eat when they are hungry and not because it's time for it, so on some days they eat more, some days less.

Although it is true that the two guinea pigs have sedentary jobs and do not have a regular exercise program, it is not true that they do not get any exercise. Yemi goes on foot to his workplace, which is 1 mile away from his house. And Anne Marie leads a weekly activity class for young children. And while she has to sit at her desk all day, she is incredibly restless and constantly moving about on her chair.

At the end of the program, the presenter is not entirely sure what the two people's secret is - the jury is still out on that, she says.

In my opinion, the secret is that both guinea pigs are just very very happy and what's more are incredibly excited about their lives and their "everyday". After all, most people tend to eat when life is boring. Enthusiasm is so important in life, and that's something it's so easy to forget - yikes!

I tell Lois that we should remember our old motto - room for excitement. But not tonight - we are far too exhausted - oh dear!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!


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