--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And yet, it was still a performance. Odin…" description: "\"“And yet, it was still a performance. Odin and I both knew it. It was a kind of play, a dream of how things might have been if he and I had been capabl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/joanne-m-harris-82720_good-old-days_and-yet-it-was-still-a-performance-odin_1782103.jpg" --- # And yet, it was still a performance. Odin and I both knew… ![“And yet, it was still a performance. Odin and I both knew it. It was a kind of play, a dream of how things might have been if he and I had been capable of trusting each other for a change. And so we hunted, and sang, and laughed, and told heavily edited stories of the good old days, while each of…” quote by Joanne M. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/joanne-m-harris-82720_good-old-days_and-yet-it-was-still-a-performance-odin_1782103.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/joanne-m-harris-82720_good-old-days_and-yet-it-was-still-a-performance-odin_1782103.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/joanne-m-harris-82720_good-old-days_and-yet-it-was-still-a-performance-odin_1782103.jpg) > ““And yet, it was still a performance. Odin and I both knew it. It was a kind of play, a dream of how things might have been if he and I had been capable of trusting each other for a change. And so we hunted, and sang, and laughed, and told heavily edited stories of the good old days, while each of us watched the other and wondered when the knife would fall.”” Joanne M. Harris ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes a fragile, performative bond between two characters, built on trust, storytelling, and looming danger. **In simple terms:** A fragile, trusting performance with hidden threats. Key Takeaway Build genuine trust, not just performance. Themes trust performance storytelling danger friendship Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - team building - creative collaborations - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology narrative theory mythology Questions to Reflect On - What would happen if trust truly existed? - How does storytelling affect relationships? A Different Perspective Performance can mask underlying tension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good old days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-old-days/) [Loki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loki/) [Norse-mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norse-mythology-2/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Odin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odin/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Suspicion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suspicion/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [“Those movies... ridiculously inaccurate. The real gods of Asgard — Thor, Loki, Odin, and the rest — are much more powerful, much more terrifying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/those-movies-ridiculously-inaccurate-the-real-gods-of-asgard-thor/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“If you survive in battle, it is with Odin's grace, and if you fall, it is because he has betrayed you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-you-survive-in-battle-it-is-with-odin-s-grace-and-if-you-fall-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“People are capable of loving, less capable of trusting, and fully capable of doing wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taskinsoy/people-are-capable-of-loving-less-capable-of-trusting-and-fully/) [John Taskinsoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taskinsoy/) > [“Well, that's history for you, folks. Unfair, untrue and for the most part written by folk who weren't even there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-m-harris/well-that-s-history-for-you-folks-unfair-untrue-and-for-the-most-part/) Joanne M. Harris > [“Hippocrates asked the reason why he laughed. He told him, at the vanities and the fopperies of the time, to see men so empty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burton/hippocrates-asked-the-reason-why-he-laughed-he-told-him-at-the/) [Robert Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burton/) > [ Perhaps Kafka laughed when he told stories \[. . . \] because one isn't always equal to oneself. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/perhaps-kafka-laughed-when-he-told-stories-because-one-isn-t-always/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [“gone.  He told her the truth.  He always told his wife the truth.  And of course she laughed at him and told him how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-harmon/gone-he-told-her-the-truth-he-always-told-his-wife-the-truth-and-of/) [Brian Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-harmon/) > [“And that he knows what I did and he still sat next to me and laughed and told me I had the prettiest eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/and-that-he-knows-what-i-did-and-he-still-sat-next-to-me-and-laughed/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [“Is it the Well of Wisdom because Yggdrasil drinks from it, or does Yggdrasil drink from it because it is the Well of Wisdom?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/is-it-the-well-of-wisdom-because-yggdrasil-drinks-from-it-or-does/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) > [“Does Yggdrasil drink from it because it is the Well of Wisdom, or is it the Well of Wisdom because Yggdrasil drinks from it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/does-yggdrasil-drink-from-it-because-it-is-the-well-of-wisdom-or-is/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) > [“It is better to live on the sea and let other men raise your crops and cook your meals. A house smells of smoke,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harald-halfdanson-viking-tales/it-is-better-to-live-on-the-sea-and-let-other-men-raise-your-crops/) Harald Halfdanson Viking Tales > [“That's it? That's all that happens after you topple from grace? We lose our rubies and rations?" Marshall smirked. "Woe is me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-avett/that-s-it-that-s-all-that-happens-after-you-topple-from-grace-we-lose/) Sophie Avett > [“Mrs. Potts beady black eyes narrowed,"Do you know how many glass slippers I have to stitch when I get home? There's a Mad Hatter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-avett/mrs-potts-beady-black-eyes-narrowed-do-you-know-how-many-glass/) Sophie Avett > [“I recalled my encounter with the sea goddess Ran, who had described her husband as a hipster who liked microbrewing. At the time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-recalled-my-encounter-with-the-sea-goddess-ran-who-had-described/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Mrs. Pott's beady black eyes narrowed,"Do you know how many glass slippers I have to stitch when I get home? There's a Mad Hatter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-avett/mrs-pott-s-beady-black-eyes-narrowed-do-you-know-how-many-glass/) Sophie Avett ## More by Joanne M. Harris > [“Well, that's history for you, folks. Unfair, untrue and for the most part written by folk who weren't even there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-m-harris/well-that-s-history-for-you-folks-unfair-untrue-and-for-the-most-part/) Joanne M. Harris > [“I don’t pretend to know much about love, but that’s how great loves come to an end, not in the flames of passion, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-m-harris/i-don-t-pretend-to-know-much-about-love-but-that-s-how-great-loves/) Joanne M. Harris Explore all 3 Joanne M. Harris quotes ## More Good old days quotes > [“We stepped a little quicker, laughed a little louder and chatted over the fences a little longer. 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