The Lay of Harbarth

One of my favourite poems in the Elder Edda is the Lay of Harbarth. This is the poem that describes a battle of words between Thor and Odin, wherein Thor is trying to cross a river and comes across a ferryman (Odin in disguise), who taunts Thor and refuses to give him a ride. Being a Thor's man, who doesn't hold with Woden all that much, it might seem ironic that this is a favourite. Scholars generally agree that Odin pretty much gets the better of Thor throughout the whole thing, getting Thor riled up and pissed off at the insults he's hurling. You see, basically, Odin spends the whole time bragging of his glorious deeds, the wars he's fought, the glory gained, the women wooed. Thor, on the other hand, speaks of doing a more basic job - in this case, population control of the ettins, lest they overrun the earth - a job with no real glory in it at all. He basically says to Odin, "Fuck off, I have a job to do."

I find that this typifies the attitudes towards the blue collar worker. There is rarely glory in this type of work, yet it must be done. It doesn't bring with it the prestige of the "shinier" jobs, like office work (which tends to be kind of inglorious as well), acting, etc. But there are many who are more happy doing it than they ever would be in doing those "shiny" jobs. They don't need to be lauded by all and sundry for doing their work - a job well done is enough (though it is nice to point at a building or a stage and be able to say, "I did that.").