Rasp
Senior Editor
[The Hávamál, translated by D.E. Martin Clarke. Cambridge, 1923.]
THE H��VAM��L
1) Before making your way up the hall you should observe and note all the doorways, for you can never be certain when you will find enemies present.
2) Hail to the bountiful! A stranger has entered! Where is he to sit? He who has to prove his mettle at the hearth is in a great hurry.
3) A man who enters chilled to the very knees needs a fire. Food and clothing are needed by him who has been traversing the mountains.
4) He who comes for a meal requires water, a towel and a hearty welcome—a word of good cheer if he can get it, and polite attention.
5) A man who takes long journeys needs his wits about him: anything will pass at home. An ignorant man becomes an object of ridicule when he sits among the wise.
6) No man should be boastful about his intelligence but rather alert in his wits. When a man who is clever but reticent comes to a house his prudence often shields him from misfortune, for never will a man get a more trustworthy friend than a good store of common sense.
7) A cautious stranger who comes for a meal keeps silent with sharpened hearing—hearkens with his ears and watches with his eyes: so every wise man takes note of what is going on round him.
8) Happy is the man who wins for himself a reputation and popularity. It is an uncomfortable position for a man when he has to depend on the mind of another.
9) Happy is the man who by independent effort preserves his reputation and depends on his mother wit as long as he lives. For often has a man received evil counsel from the mind of another.
10) There is no better load that a man can carry along with him than a good store of common sense. In a strange place it will prove better than riches, and it is a means of existence to him who is destitute.
11) There is no better load that a man can carry along with him than a good store of common sense. No worse provision will he carry on his way than too deep a draught of beer.
12) The ale of the sons of men is not so good as they say: for the more a man drinks the less control he has of his wits.
13) There is a bird called the heron of forgetfulness which hovers over the ale-drinking; it robs a man of his wits. With the feathers of that bird was I fettered in the abode of Gunnlöð.
14) I became drunk, exceedingly drunk, at the house of wise Fjalarr. Ale-drinking is not good for any man unless he recovers his wits.
15) A man of princely birth should be reticent and thoughtful and bold in fighting. Every man should be glad and cheerful until he meets his death.
16) A cowardly man thinks he will live for ever if he takes care to avoid fighting, but old age will give him no quarter though he be spared by spears.
17) When a noodle comes on a friendly visit he gapes and chatters or sits dumb. If he gets a drink, then very speedily the character of the man's mind is fully exposed.
18) It is only he who makes far journeys and has travelled extensively who knows what kind of mind any man possesses who has control of his wits.
19) No man should be the slave of the drinking cup, though he may drink mead in moderation. He should say what is wanted or hold his tongue. No man will accuse you of ill manners for going to bed early.
20) A greedy man will lay up for himself life-long trouble unless he has his wits about him. When a fool mixes with intelligent people, his gluttony always makes him an object of derision.
21) Cattle know when it is time to go home and then they leave their pasture, but a foolish man never knows the measure of his own appetite.
22) He is a wretched man and evil of disposition who scoffs at everything. He does not know what he ought to know—that he himself is not irreproachable.
23) He is a foolish man who lies awake all night and broods over everything. When morning breaks he is weary and all his trouble is the same as it was.
24) He is a foolish man who thinks all who smile at him are his friends. If sensible people show their dislike for him when he is in their company, he will not realise it.
25) He is a foolish man who thinks all who smile at him are his friends. He will discover when he comes into court that he has but few supporters.
26) He is a foolish man who thinks he knows everything if he secures safety in danger. He will not know what to answer if men test him with questions.
27) When a senseless man mixes with other people he had better keep silent. No one will know how ignorant he is unless he talks too much. An ignorant man will never know that he is talking too much.
28) He is considered well-informed who can both ask and answer questions. The sons of men can never be silent about the frailty of their fellows.
29) He who is never silent will make many aimless remarks. A glib tongue, unless checked by its owner, will often make music to his sorrow.
30) A man ought not to hold another up to ridicule when he is paying a friendly visit. Many a man will be considered wise if he is not asked any questions and will manage to rest undisturbed with a dry skin.
31) A stranger inclined to mock at other strangers will be considered wise if he beat a retreat. He who pokes fun at table never knows for certain that he is not making enemies by his jesting.
32) Many men who are kindly disposed to one another will become abusive at table. Quarrels among strangers will ever be a source of strife to mankind.
33) A man should always get a meal early in the day unless he is going to visit a friend. He will sit and gobble and look as if he were famished and be unable to enter into conversation.
34) On getting to a bad friend's house, though he lives on your route, you will have gone far out of your way; but the roads that lead to a good friend's house—however far he may have gone—do not deviate from the direct route.
35) A visitor should depart and not always be in one place. A friend becomes a nuisance if he stays too long in the house of another.
36) A house of your own is better, though it is only a little one. Every man is a person of consequence at home. Even if you only have two goats and a cottage thatched with fibre it is better than begging.
37) A house of your own is better, though it is only a little one. Every man is a somebody at home. It is heart breaking to have to beg food for yourself for every meal.
38) A man ought not to move an inch from his weapons when away from home, for it can never be known with certainty when he will need the use of his spear as he goes forth on his travels.
39) I have never found a man so generous and hospitable that he would not receive a present, nor one so liberal with his money that he would dislike a reward if he could get one.
40) A man should not stint himself in the use of money he has made. Many a time what is meant for friends is being saved up for foes. Things often turn out worse than we anticipate.
41) Friends should rejoice each other's hearts with gifts of weapons and raiment, that is clear from one's own experience. That friendship lasts longest—if there is a chance of its being a success—in which the friends both give and receive gifts.
42) A man ought to be a friend to his friend and repay gift with gift. People should meet smiles with smiles and lies with treachery.
43) A man ought to be a friend to his friend and also to his friend's friend. But no one should be friendly with a friend of his foe.
44) Know—if you have a friend in whom you have sure confidence and wish to make use of him, you ought to exchange ideas and gifts with him and go to see him often.
45) If you have another in whom you have no confidence and yet will make use of him, you ought to address him with fair words but crafty heart and repay treachery with lies.
46) Further, with regard to him in whom you have no confidence and of whose motives you are suspicious, you ought to smile upon him and dissemble your feelings. Gifts ought to be repaid in like coin.
47) I was young once and walked quite alone, and then I went astray. I thought myself a rich man when I found a comrade, for comradeship is the delight of mankind.
48) Generous and bold men have the best time in life and never foster troubles. But the coward is apprehensive of everything, and a miser is always groaning over gifts.
49) I gave my clothes out in the country to two wooden men. They thought themselves champions when they had the garments: a naked man is ashamed.
50) A young fir-tree withers away when it stands on a mound, neither its bark nor needles protect it. So is it with a man for whom nobody cares—why should he continue to live?
51) Among bad friends affection burns more fiercely than fire for five days, but when the sixth comes it dies out, and all the friendly feeling between them becomes spoilt.
52) It is not necessarily a big gift one ought to give to a man. Esteem is often bought at a small price. With a half loaf and a tilted bottle I have picked up a companion.
53) Small are the shallows of small seas, small are the minds of small men. All men are not equally wise, for mankind is not always perfect.
54) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. Those people who know a very fair amount have the best time.
55) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. For the heart of a wise man is seldom glad if its owner is a man of very great wisdom.
56) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. He who does not foresee his fate has a mind most free from care.
57) One faggot is set light to by another until it is burnt out, one flame is kindled by another. One man is brought out in conversation by another, but becomes moody through being wrapped up in himself.
58) He ought to get up early who means to take his neighbour's life or property. A wolf in its lair never gets a ham, nor a slumbering man victory.
59) He who has few to work for him ought to get up early and go to see to his work. A man who sleeps during the morning is at a great disadvantage. By the keen man wealth is already half-won.
60) Of dry faggots and shingles for thatching—of such things a man can make an estimate—such timber as will last a quarter or half a year.
61) A man should wash himself and take a meal before riding to court, even if he is not too well clad. No man should be ashamed of his shoes or trousers or of his horse either, though he has not a good one.
62) The eagle coming to the sea hovers with bent head over the hoary deep and snatches at its prey. Not otherwise is it with a man who comes into a throng and has none to speak on his behalf.
63) Every man of learning ought to take part in discussion if he wishes to be reputed wise. (For you know) "Take one into your confidence, but never two; if you confide in three the whole world will know."
64) Every man who is judicious will use his power with moderation. When he mixes with the brave he will discover that no man is peerless in courage.
65) . . . . . . . . . . .
A man often pays the penalty for words which he uses to others.
66) At many a place I have arrived much too early—at others too late. (Sometimes) the ale had been drunk, at other times it had not been brewed. An unpopular man rarely hits on the right moment.
67) Now and then I would be invited to a house when I was in no need of food for a meal; or two hams would be hanging up in the house of an intimate friend when I had already eaten one.
68) The sons of men have no better possession than fire and sunshine and, if it can be preserved, health combined with a respectable life.
69) A man is not altogether miserable even if he suffers from ill-health. One man is blest in his sons, another in his relations, another in plenty of money, and another in the success of his undertakings.
70) It is better to be left alive and prosperous. For it is the living man who always gets the cow. I have seen fire blazing up ready for a rich man and he was dead outside the door.
71) The lame can ride a horse, the maimed drive cattle, the deaf can fight and prevail. It is better to be blind than to be burnt. A corpse is of no use to anyone.
72) It is well to have a son, though he is born late after the death of his father. Seldom will memorial stones be seen by the roadside unless placed there by one relative for another.
73) There are two belonging to one company. The tongue is the destroyer of the head. Under every fur coat I expect to find a hand lurking.
74) Night is welcome only to him who is sure of his provisions. Slender are the yards of a ship, and treacherous is an autumn night; weather changes often in five days and still more in a month.
75) He who is ignorant will never know that many a man has been made a fool by vagabonds. One man is wealthy, another poor, but one should not blame him for his misfortune.
76) Cattle die, kinsfolk die, even to us ourselves will death come. But the good fame which a man has won for himself will never die.
77) Cattle die, kinsfolk die, even to us ourselves will death come. One thing I know will never die—the reputation we all leave behind at our death.
78) I have seen the sons of Fitjung with fully stocked folds, now they bear the staff of a beggar. Wealth is like the twinkling of an eye, it is the ficklest of friends.
79) If a foolish man succeeds in getting wealth or the love of a woman, his pride increases but not his common sense; he continues with steadily increasing illusions.
80) Then will be proved what you learn from the runes—those of divine origin which the mighty powers made and the greatest sage engraved: He will do best then if he keeps silent.
81) Praise no day until evening, no wife until she is burnt, no sword until tested, no maid until given in marriage, no ice until crossed, no ale until it has been drunk.
82) Fell wood in a wind, row out to sea in a breeze, woo a maid in the dark—for many are the eyes of day. Handle a ship so that it glides through the water, use a shield to give protection, a sword to give a blow and a maid to get her kisses.
83) Drink ale by the fire, slide on the ice, buy a horse when it is lanky and a sword when rusty. Feed up the horse at home and the dog in your farm.
84) No one should trust the words of a girl nor what a married woman says; for their hearts have been shaped on a revolving wheel and inconstancy is lodged in their breasts.
85) In a twanging bow, a blazing fire,
a ravening wolf, a croaking crow,
a grunting pig, a rootless tree,
a rising sea, a boiling kettle,
86) a flying dart, a falling wave,
ice from one night's frost, a coiled snake,
a bride's bed talk, or a broken blade,
a bear's play, or a king's child,
87) a sick calf, an independent slave,
the pleasing prophecies of a wise woman,
the corpse of the newly slain,
88) in crops sown early in the year or prematurely in a son no man should place his confidence—weather determines the fate of the crops and intelligence that of the son, and both are uncertain—
89) in your brother's slayer if you meet him on the road, a house half burnt, a horse exceeding swift—the horse is useless if a leg breaks—no man should be so trustful as to trust in any of these.
90) To have the love of women with crafty hearts is like driving on slippery ice with an unroughshod horse (a high-spirited two-year old, not broken in)—or like steering a rudderless boat in a violent wind—or like having to catch a reindeer on thawing hills when you are lame.
91) Now I will speak plainly for I have known both. Men are not constant in their love for women. For the falser our hearts the more nattering our words, and so we betray even a clever mind.
92) He who wants to win a woman's love should say nattering things and offer presents—praise the figure of the beautiful maiden. It is the flatterer who is the successful wooer.
93) No man should ever blame another for falling in love. Often a bewitching face will captivate the wise when it has no effect on a fool.
94) A man should in no way blame another for that which is a common weakness. Mighty love turns the sons of men from wise men into fools.
95) The mind alone knows what is near to the heart, and alone is conscious of its feelings. In the opinion of a wise man there is no ailment worse than not to be contented with anything.
96) This I experienced when I sat in the reeds and waited for my love. That wise maiden was body and soul to me; yet I did not win her the more for that.
97) I found the daughter of Billingr asleep on her bed—fair as the sun in her beauty. I felt there could be no possible pleasure for a noble except in living with that fair form.
98) 'And towards evening, Óðinn, you ought to come if you intend to woo a maiden for yourself. It will mean utter disgrace if more than two know of such a shameful deed.'
99) Back I turned and thought to enjoy my love in my reckless desire; I believed that I should have complete possession of her mind and love.
100) When next I came the bold band of warriors was wide awake and bearing torches of flaming pine. Such was the love-visit in store for me.
101) And when I had come again towards morning the household had fallen asleep, but I found a dog had been tied to the bed of that worthy lady.
102) Many a worthy damsel when you get to know her well shows a heart that is fickle to men. I proved that when I tried to lure that prudent lady into evil ways. The clever maiden sought out for me every humiliation, and none the more did I win the lady.
103) At home a man ought to be cheerful and affable to his guests and self-reliant, but to become a great sage one should cultivate a good memory and eloquent speech and constantly talk of the heroic. Arch-dunce is the name given to the man who can say nothing; that is the characteristic of a noodle.
104) I have just returned from visiting that old Jötunn. Little did I gain by silence there—for it was by many words that I won my suit in the halls of Suttungr.
105) Gunnlöð gave me from her golden throne a drink of the precious mead. It was a poor recompense I made to her for her true feelings and her troubled heart.
106) With the snout of Rati I drilled through the rock and bored a passage for myself. Above and below I was enclosed by rocks—and so I risked my life.
107) I made good use of the beauty so cheaply bought—little is unobtainable by the clever—for Óðrerir has now come up to human habitations.
108) I very much doubt whether I should have come back from the courts of the Jötnar had I not made use of that worthy lady Gunnlöð, whom I took in my arms.
109) The next day the frost-giants went to ask about the state of the High One—in the hall of the High One. They asked whether Bölverkr had returned to the gods or whether Suttungr had slaughtered him.
110) I suppose that Óðinn had sworn a ring-oath. How can his word be trusted? He defrauded Suttungr of his mead and left Gunnlöð in tears.
111) It is time to chant from the seat of the sage, at the well of Fate; I saw and was silent, I saw and pondered, I listened to the speech of men. I heard runes spoken of and the interpretation thereof declared at the hall of the High One; in the hall of the High One, I heard such words as these:
112) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not rise at night unless you are on the watch or looking for a place outside for yourself.
113) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not sleep in the arms of a witch or suffer her to take you into her embrace.
114) She will make you heedless of the court and of the word of the king. You will not wish for food or the joys of mankind, but will go to sleep weighed down with sorrow.
115) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never lure to yourself as confidante the wife of another.
116) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—if you desire to journey over mountain or sea, provide yourself with plenty of food.
117) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never let a bad man know of any ill luck which may befall you, for you will never get from a bad man any return for your goodheartedness.
118) I have known a man mortally hurt by the talk of a bad woman—a wily tongue brought about his death, through quite untrue accusations.
119) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—know, if you have a friend in whom you have confidence go and see him often, for a path which is never used gets overgrown with bushes and rank grass.
120) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—attract to yourself good men in close companionship and you will have a healing charm as long as you live.
121) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never be the first to break rashly with a friend. Sorrow will eat out your heart unless you can tell some one all that is in your mind.
122) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—you ought never to enter into conversation with a senseless fool.
123) For you will never get from a bad man any return for kindness, but a good man will be able to gain for you a sound and sure reputation.
124) It is a sign of the closest intimacy when a man determines to reveal his whole soul to someone. There is nothing worse than to be fickle. He is no friend who never says anything unpleasant.
125) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—you should not waste a word in altercation with a man inferior to yourself; generally, when a worse man attacks, the better man retires.
126) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never be a maker of shoes or shafts except for yourself alone. If the shoe is misshapen or the shaft crooked, then a curse will be called down upon you.
127) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—whenever you notice mischief, regard it as mischief intended against yourself and give no peace to your enemies.
128) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never rejoice in evil but get your pleasure out of what is good.
129) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—look not up in battle—for the sons of men become mad with terror—lest spells be cast upon you.
130) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—if you want to persuade a worthy lady to the closest companionship, and to secure her favour, you make fair promises to her and let them be binding. No one is averse to gifts who can get them.
131) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—I bid you be cautious but not too cautious; exercise caution most with ale and the wife of another man, and thirdly see that thieves do not outwit you.
132) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never hold a stranger or a traveller up to ridicule or mockery.
133) Those who are present in a house are frequently without information as to the origin of the visitors. There is no man so good as to be free from imperfection or so bad as to be entirely worthless.
134) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never make fun of a grey-haired sage. Often what old men say is sound. Words of wisdom often come from a wrinkled skin—from one who loiters among the hides, and potters about among the skins, and totters about among the drudges.
135) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not bawl at a stranger nor drive him away from your gate. Show kindness to the poor.
136) It is a strong bolt which has to be raised for all to enter in. Give gifts freely or every kind of plague will be called down upon your limbs.
137) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—when you drink ale choose for yourself the might of earth, for earth offers resistance to drunkenness and fire to disease, oak to 'binding,' and an ear of corn to witchcraft, höll offers resistance to strife—the moon should be invoked for anger—beiti to disease caused by bites and runes to evil. It is the function of land to offer resistance to water.
138) I know that I hung on a windswept tree for nine whole nights, wounded with a spear and given to Óðinn, myself to myself, on a tree about which no one knows from the roots of what (tree) it springs.
139) They revived me neither with bread nor drink. I peered downwards. I took up the runes, screaming I took them. Thereupon I fell back.
140) Nine mighty spells I learned from the famous son of Bölþorr, Bestla's father, and sprinkled with Óðrerir I got a drink of the precious mead.
141) Then I began to be quickened and full of wisdom, to grow and to thrive. Words coming in succession one after another led me to further words—deeds coming in succession one after another led me to further deeds.
142) You will be able to find the runes and the legible letters, letters of great power and might, which have been painted by the great sage, made by the mighty gods and cut by Óðinn the hroptr of the gods among
143) the Aesir, by Dáinn for the elves, by Dvalinn for the dwarfs, by ��sviðr for the giants. I have cut some myself.
144) Do you know how to cut and how to interpret? Do you know how to paint and how to divine? Do you know how to invoke and how to make offerings? Do you know how to sacrifice and how to slaughter?
145) Better there should be no prayer than excessive offering; a gift always looks for a recompense. Better there should be no sacrifice than an excessive slaughter. So Thundr engraved before the history of mankind began. He rose up where he came back.
146) Such spells I know as are not known to women of royal rank and to the sons of men. One is called "Help" and it will help you against accusations and sorrows and woes of every kind.
147) A second I know which the sons of men need who wish to be physicians.
148) A third I know: if I am in great need of placing a shackle on my foes, I blunt the blades of my enemies: neither their weapons nor their staves will wound.
149) A fourth I know: if men place gyves upon my arms and legs, I will chant such spells as will set me free—the fetter from my feet shall fly, the shackle from my hands.
150) A fifth I know: if I see a dart maliciously shot whizzing through the host, though its course be unerring I will stay it if my eyes catch sight of it.
151) A sixth I know: if a man wound me by the roots of a sapling, and rather than on myself the hurt will prey on the man who wishes me evil.
152) A seventh I know: if I see a lofty hall blazing above the banqueters, the flames will not spread to such an extent that my help will be unavailing—such a spell I know how to chant.
153) An eighth I know which it is profitable for all to take to heart: should hostility spring up between the sons of a warrior prince I can speedily reconcile them.
154) A ninth I know: if need arises to save my boat on the sea, I can lull the wind over the waves and calm the whole ocean.
155) A tenth I know: if I see phantom riders sporting in the air, I can contrive to make them go bereft of their proper shapes and their proper senses.
156) An eleventh I know: if I have to lead old friends into battle, I chant spells under their shields and they march in their might—safe into the fight—safe out of the fight—from all their conflicts safe they return.
157) A twelfth I know: if I see on a tree aloft a corpse swinging from a halter, I cut and paint runes in such wise that the man walks and talks with me.
158) A thirteenth I know: if I have to sprinkle a young boy with water, he will never fall if he goes into battle—nor will such a man succumb to the sword.
159) A fourteenth I know: if I have to number the gods before a host of men, I have information about all the gods and elves. No one but a wise man has such knowledge.
160) A fifteenth I know which Þóðreyrir the dwarf chanted before the doors of Dellingr. He chanted strength to the gods, success to the elves, understanding to Hroptatýr.
161) A sixteenth I know: if I wish to have an independent damsel's whole mind and love, I can sway the heart of the white-armed girl and altogether change her affections.
162) A seventeenth I know so that the young maiden will be slow to part from me. You will be long in need of these spells, Loddfáfnir. Yet you will prosper if you accept—benefit if you lay them to heart, profit if you receive them.
163) An eighteenth I know which I will never make known to maiden or married woman, save only to her who holds me in her arms, or perchance to my sister. It is always better for only one to know.—And that is the conclusion to my song.
164) Now have the words of the High One been uttered in the hall of the High One—most profitable to the sons of men, but useless to the jötnar. Luck to him who has spoken! Luck to him who has knowledge! May he benefit who has laid these words to heart! Luck to those who have listened!
2) Hail to the bountiful! A stranger has entered! Where is he to sit? He who has to prove his mettle at the hearth is in a great hurry.
3) A man who enters chilled to the very knees needs a fire. Food and clothing are needed by him who has been traversing the mountains.
4) He who comes for a meal requires water, a towel and a hearty welcome—a word of good cheer if he can get it, and polite attention.
5) A man who takes long journeys needs his wits about him: anything will pass at home. An ignorant man becomes an object of ridicule when he sits among the wise.
6) No man should be boastful about his intelligence but rather alert in his wits. When a man who is clever but reticent comes to a house his prudence often shields him from misfortune, for never will a man get a more trustworthy friend than a good store of common sense.
7) A cautious stranger who comes for a meal keeps silent with sharpened hearing—hearkens with his ears and watches with his eyes: so every wise man takes note of what is going on round him.
8) Happy is the man who wins for himself a reputation and popularity. It is an uncomfortable position for a man when he has to depend on the mind of another.
9) Happy is the man who by independent effort preserves his reputation and depends on his mother wit as long as he lives. For often has a man received evil counsel from the mind of another.
10) There is no better load that a man can carry along with him than a good store of common sense. In a strange place it will prove better than riches, and it is a means of existence to him who is destitute.
11) There is no better load that a man can carry along with him than a good store of common sense. No worse provision will he carry on his way than too deep a draught of beer.
12) The ale of the sons of men is not so good as they say: for the more a man drinks the less control he has of his wits.
13) There is a bird called the heron of forgetfulness which hovers over the ale-drinking; it robs a man of his wits. With the feathers of that bird was I fettered in the abode of Gunnlöð.
14) I became drunk, exceedingly drunk, at the house of wise Fjalarr. Ale-drinking is not good for any man unless he recovers his wits.
15) A man of princely birth should be reticent and thoughtful and bold in fighting. Every man should be glad and cheerful until he meets his death.
16) A cowardly man thinks he will live for ever if he takes care to avoid fighting, but old age will give him no quarter though he be spared by spears.
17) When a noodle comes on a friendly visit he gapes and chatters or sits dumb. If he gets a drink, then very speedily the character of the man's mind is fully exposed.
18) It is only he who makes far journeys and has travelled extensively who knows what kind of mind any man possesses who has control of his wits.
19) No man should be the slave of the drinking cup, though he may drink mead in moderation. He should say what is wanted or hold his tongue. No man will accuse you of ill manners for going to bed early.
20) A greedy man will lay up for himself life-long trouble unless he has his wits about him. When a fool mixes with intelligent people, his gluttony always makes him an object of derision.
21) Cattle know when it is time to go home and then they leave their pasture, but a foolish man never knows the measure of his own appetite.
22) He is a wretched man and evil of disposition who scoffs at everything. He does not know what he ought to know—that he himself is not irreproachable.
23) He is a foolish man who lies awake all night and broods over everything. When morning breaks he is weary and all his trouble is the same as it was.
24) He is a foolish man who thinks all who smile at him are his friends. If sensible people show their dislike for him when he is in their company, he will not realise it.
25) He is a foolish man who thinks all who smile at him are his friends. He will discover when he comes into court that he has but few supporters.
26) He is a foolish man who thinks he knows everything if he secures safety in danger. He will not know what to answer if men test him with questions.
27) When a senseless man mixes with other people he had better keep silent. No one will know how ignorant he is unless he talks too much. An ignorant man will never know that he is talking too much.
28) He is considered well-informed who can both ask and answer questions. The sons of men can never be silent about the frailty of their fellows.
29) He who is never silent will make many aimless remarks. A glib tongue, unless checked by its owner, will often make music to his sorrow.
30) A man ought not to hold another up to ridicule when he is paying a friendly visit. Many a man will be considered wise if he is not asked any questions and will manage to rest undisturbed with a dry skin.
31) A stranger inclined to mock at other strangers will be considered wise if he beat a retreat. He who pokes fun at table never knows for certain that he is not making enemies by his jesting.
32) Many men who are kindly disposed to one another will become abusive at table. Quarrels among strangers will ever be a source of strife to mankind.
33) A man should always get a meal early in the day unless he is going to visit a friend. He will sit and gobble and look as if he were famished and be unable to enter into conversation.
34) On getting to a bad friend's house, though he lives on your route, you will have gone far out of your way; but the roads that lead to a good friend's house—however far he may have gone—do not deviate from the direct route.
35) A visitor should depart and not always be in one place. A friend becomes a nuisance if he stays too long in the house of another.
36) A house of your own is better, though it is only a little one. Every man is a person of consequence at home. Even if you only have two goats and a cottage thatched with fibre it is better than begging.
37) A house of your own is better, though it is only a little one. Every man is a somebody at home. It is heart breaking to have to beg food for yourself for every meal.
38) A man ought not to move an inch from his weapons when away from home, for it can never be known with certainty when he will need the use of his spear as he goes forth on his travels.
39) I have never found a man so generous and hospitable that he would not receive a present, nor one so liberal with his money that he would dislike a reward if he could get one.
40) A man should not stint himself in the use of money he has made. Many a time what is meant for friends is being saved up for foes. Things often turn out worse than we anticipate.
41) Friends should rejoice each other's hearts with gifts of weapons and raiment, that is clear from one's own experience. That friendship lasts longest—if there is a chance of its being a success—in which the friends both give and receive gifts.
42) A man ought to be a friend to his friend and repay gift with gift. People should meet smiles with smiles and lies with treachery.
43) A man ought to be a friend to his friend and also to his friend's friend. But no one should be friendly with a friend of his foe.
44) Know—if you have a friend in whom you have sure confidence and wish to make use of him, you ought to exchange ideas and gifts with him and go to see him often.
45) If you have another in whom you have no confidence and yet will make use of him, you ought to address him with fair words but crafty heart and repay treachery with lies.
46) Further, with regard to him in whom you have no confidence and of whose motives you are suspicious, you ought to smile upon him and dissemble your feelings. Gifts ought to be repaid in like coin.
47) I was young once and walked quite alone, and then I went astray. I thought myself a rich man when I found a comrade, for comradeship is the delight of mankind.
48) Generous and bold men have the best time in life and never foster troubles. But the coward is apprehensive of everything, and a miser is always groaning over gifts.
49) I gave my clothes out in the country to two wooden men. They thought themselves champions when they had the garments: a naked man is ashamed.
50) A young fir-tree withers away when it stands on a mound, neither its bark nor needles protect it. So is it with a man for whom nobody cares—why should he continue to live?
51) Among bad friends affection burns more fiercely than fire for five days, but when the sixth comes it dies out, and all the friendly feeling between them becomes spoilt.
52) It is not necessarily a big gift one ought to give to a man. Esteem is often bought at a small price. With a half loaf and a tilted bottle I have picked up a companion.
53) Small are the shallows of small seas, small are the minds of small men. All men are not equally wise, for mankind is not always perfect.
54) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. Those people who know a very fair amount have the best time.
55) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. For the heart of a wise man is seldom glad if its owner is a man of very great wisdom.
56) Every man should be moderately wise, never excessively so. He who does not foresee his fate has a mind most free from care.
57) One faggot is set light to by another until it is burnt out, one flame is kindled by another. One man is brought out in conversation by another, but becomes moody through being wrapped up in himself.
58) He ought to get up early who means to take his neighbour's life or property. A wolf in its lair never gets a ham, nor a slumbering man victory.
59) He who has few to work for him ought to get up early and go to see to his work. A man who sleeps during the morning is at a great disadvantage. By the keen man wealth is already half-won.
60) Of dry faggots and shingles for thatching—of such things a man can make an estimate—such timber as will last a quarter or half a year.
61) A man should wash himself and take a meal before riding to court, even if he is not too well clad. No man should be ashamed of his shoes or trousers or of his horse either, though he has not a good one.
62) The eagle coming to the sea hovers with bent head over the hoary deep and snatches at its prey. Not otherwise is it with a man who comes into a throng and has none to speak on his behalf.
63) Every man of learning ought to take part in discussion if he wishes to be reputed wise. (For you know) "Take one into your confidence, but never two; if you confide in three the whole world will know."
64) Every man who is judicious will use his power with moderation. When he mixes with the brave he will discover that no man is peerless in courage.
65) . . . . . . . . . . .
A man often pays the penalty for words which he uses to others.
66) At many a place I have arrived much too early—at others too late. (Sometimes) the ale had been drunk, at other times it had not been brewed. An unpopular man rarely hits on the right moment.
67) Now and then I would be invited to a house when I was in no need of food for a meal; or two hams would be hanging up in the house of an intimate friend when I had already eaten one.
68) The sons of men have no better possession than fire and sunshine and, if it can be preserved, health combined with a respectable life.
69) A man is not altogether miserable even if he suffers from ill-health. One man is blest in his sons, another in his relations, another in plenty of money, and another in the success of his undertakings.
70) It is better to be left alive and prosperous. For it is the living man who always gets the cow. I have seen fire blazing up ready for a rich man and he was dead outside the door.
71) The lame can ride a horse, the maimed drive cattle, the deaf can fight and prevail. It is better to be blind than to be burnt. A corpse is of no use to anyone.
72) It is well to have a son, though he is born late after the death of his father. Seldom will memorial stones be seen by the roadside unless placed there by one relative for another.
73) There are two belonging to one company. The tongue is the destroyer of the head. Under every fur coat I expect to find a hand lurking.
74) Night is welcome only to him who is sure of his provisions. Slender are the yards of a ship, and treacherous is an autumn night; weather changes often in five days and still more in a month.
75) He who is ignorant will never know that many a man has been made a fool by vagabonds. One man is wealthy, another poor, but one should not blame him for his misfortune.
76) Cattle die, kinsfolk die, even to us ourselves will death come. But the good fame which a man has won for himself will never die.
77) Cattle die, kinsfolk die, even to us ourselves will death come. One thing I know will never die—the reputation we all leave behind at our death.
78) I have seen the sons of Fitjung with fully stocked folds, now they bear the staff of a beggar. Wealth is like the twinkling of an eye, it is the ficklest of friends.
79) If a foolish man succeeds in getting wealth or the love of a woman, his pride increases but not his common sense; he continues with steadily increasing illusions.
80) Then will be proved what you learn from the runes—those of divine origin which the mighty powers made and the greatest sage engraved: He will do best then if he keeps silent.
81) Praise no day until evening, no wife until she is burnt, no sword until tested, no maid until given in marriage, no ice until crossed, no ale until it has been drunk.
82) Fell wood in a wind, row out to sea in a breeze, woo a maid in the dark—for many are the eyes of day. Handle a ship so that it glides through the water, use a shield to give protection, a sword to give a blow and a maid to get her kisses.
83) Drink ale by the fire, slide on the ice, buy a horse when it is lanky and a sword when rusty. Feed up the horse at home and the dog in your farm.
84) No one should trust the words of a girl nor what a married woman says; for their hearts have been shaped on a revolving wheel and inconstancy is lodged in their breasts.
85) In a twanging bow, a blazing fire,
a ravening wolf, a croaking crow,
a grunting pig, a rootless tree,
a rising sea, a boiling kettle,
86) a flying dart, a falling wave,
ice from one night's frost, a coiled snake,
a bride's bed talk, or a broken blade,
a bear's play, or a king's child,
87) a sick calf, an independent slave,
the pleasing prophecies of a wise woman,
the corpse of the newly slain,
88) in crops sown early in the year or prematurely in a son no man should place his confidence—weather determines the fate of the crops and intelligence that of the son, and both are uncertain—
89) in your brother's slayer if you meet him on the road, a house half burnt, a horse exceeding swift—the horse is useless if a leg breaks—no man should be so trustful as to trust in any of these.
90) To have the love of women with crafty hearts is like driving on slippery ice with an unroughshod horse (a high-spirited two-year old, not broken in)—or like steering a rudderless boat in a violent wind—or like having to catch a reindeer on thawing hills when you are lame.
91) Now I will speak plainly for I have known both. Men are not constant in their love for women. For the falser our hearts the more nattering our words, and so we betray even a clever mind.
92) He who wants to win a woman's love should say nattering things and offer presents—praise the figure of the beautiful maiden. It is the flatterer who is the successful wooer.
93) No man should ever blame another for falling in love. Often a bewitching face will captivate the wise when it has no effect on a fool.
94) A man should in no way blame another for that which is a common weakness. Mighty love turns the sons of men from wise men into fools.
95) The mind alone knows what is near to the heart, and alone is conscious of its feelings. In the opinion of a wise man there is no ailment worse than not to be contented with anything.
96) This I experienced when I sat in the reeds and waited for my love. That wise maiden was body and soul to me; yet I did not win her the more for that.
97) I found the daughter of Billingr asleep on her bed—fair as the sun in her beauty. I felt there could be no possible pleasure for a noble except in living with that fair form.
98) 'And towards evening, Óðinn, you ought to come if you intend to woo a maiden for yourself. It will mean utter disgrace if more than two know of such a shameful deed.'
99) Back I turned and thought to enjoy my love in my reckless desire; I believed that I should have complete possession of her mind and love.
100) When next I came the bold band of warriors was wide awake and bearing torches of flaming pine. Such was the love-visit in store for me.
101) And when I had come again towards morning the household had fallen asleep, but I found a dog had been tied to the bed of that worthy lady.
102) Many a worthy damsel when you get to know her well shows a heart that is fickle to men. I proved that when I tried to lure that prudent lady into evil ways. The clever maiden sought out for me every humiliation, and none the more did I win the lady.
103) At home a man ought to be cheerful and affable to his guests and self-reliant, but to become a great sage one should cultivate a good memory and eloquent speech and constantly talk of the heroic. Arch-dunce is the name given to the man who can say nothing; that is the characteristic of a noodle.
104) I have just returned from visiting that old Jötunn. Little did I gain by silence there—for it was by many words that I won my suit in the halls of Suttungr.
105) Gunnlöð gave me from her golden throne a drink of the precious mead. It was a poor recompense I made to her for her true feelings and her troubled heart.
106) With the snout of Rati I drilled through the rock and bored a passage for myself. Above and below I was enclosed by rocks—and so I risked my life.
107) I made good use of the beauty so cheaply bought—little is unobtainable by the clever—for Óðrerir has now come up to human habitations.
108) I very much doubt whether I should have come back from the courts of the Jötnar had I not made use of that worthy lady Gunnlöð, whom I took in my arms.
109) The next day the frost-giants went to ask about the state of the High One—in the hall of the High One. They asked whether Bölverkr had returned to the gods or whether Suttungr had slaughtered him.
110) I suppose that Óðinn had sworn a ring-oath. How can his word be trusted? He defrauded Suttungr of his mead and left Gunnlöð in tears.
111) It is time to chant from the seat of the sage, at the well of Fate; I saw and was silent, I saw and pondered, I listened to the speech of men. I heard runes spoken of and the interpretation thereof declared at the hall of the High One; in the hall of the High One, I heard such words as these:
112) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not rise at night unless you are on the watch or looking for a place outside for yourself.
113) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not sleep in the arms of a witch or suffer her to take you into her embrace.
114) She will make you heedless of the court and of the word of the king. You will not wish for food or the joys of mankind, but will go to sleep weighed down with sorrow.
115) I advise you Loddfáfnir to take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never lure to yourself as confidante the wife of another.
116) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—if you desire to journey over mountain or sea, provide yourself with plenty of food.
117) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never let a bad man know of any ill luck which may befall you, for you will never get from a bad man any return for your goodheartedness.
118) I have known a man mortally hurt by the talk of a bad woman—a wily tongue brought about his death, through quite untrue accusations.
119) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—know, if you have a friend in whom you have confidence go and see him often, for a path which is never used gets overgrown with bushes and rank grass.
120) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—attract to yourself good men in close companionship and you will have a healing charm as long as you live.
121) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never be the first to break rashly with a friend. Sorrow will eat out your heart unless you can tell some one all that is in your mind.
122) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—you ought never to enter into conversation with a senseless fool.
123) For you will never get from a bad man any return for kindness, but a good man will be able to gain for you a sound and sure reputation.
124) It is a sign of the closest intimacy when a man determines to reveal his whole soul to someone. There is nothing worse than to be fickle. He is no friend who never says anything unpleasant.
125) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—you should not waste a word in altercation with a man inferior to yourself; generally, when a worse man attacks, the better man retires.
126) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never be a maker of shoes or shafts except for yourself alone. If the shoe is misshapen or the shaft crooked, then a curse will be called down upon you.
127) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—whenever you notice mischief, regard it as mischief intended against yourself and give no peace to your enemies.
128) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never rejoice in evil but get your pleasure out of what is good.
129) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—look not up in battle—for the sons of men become mad with terror—lest spells be cast upon you.
130) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—if you want to persuade a worthy lady to the closest companionship, and to secure her favour, you make fair promises to her and let them be binding. No one is averse to gifts who can get them.
131) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—I bid you be cautious but not too cautious; exercise caution most with ale and the wife of another man, and thirdly see that thieves do not outwit you.
132) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never hold a stranger or a traveller up to ridicule or mockery.
133) Those who are present in a house are frequently without information as to the origin of the visitors. There is no man so good as to be free from imperfection or so bad as to be entirely worthless.
134) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—never make fun of a grey-haired sage. Often what old men say is sound. Words of wisdom often come from a wrinkled skin—from one who loiters among the hides, and potters about among the skins, and totters about among the drudges.
135) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—do not bawl at a stranger nor drive him away from your gate. Show kindness to the poor.
136) It is a strong bolt which has to be raised for all to enter in. Give gifts freely or every kind of plague will be called down upon your limbs.
137) I advise you Loddfáfnir and you shall take my advice—you will benefit if you lay it to heart, you will prosper if you accept it—when you drink ale choose for yourself the might of earth, for earth offers resistance to drunkenness and fire to disease, oak to 'binding,' and an ear of corn to witchcraft, höll offers resistance to strife—the moon should be invoked for anger—beiti to disease caused by bites and runes to evil. It is the function of land to offer resistance to water.
138) I know that I hung on a windswept tree for nine whole nights, wounded with a spear and given to Óðinn, myself to myself, on a tree about which no one knows from the roots of what (tree) it springs.
139) They revived me neither with bread nor drink. I peered downwards. I took up the runes, screaming I took them. Thereupon I fell back.
140) Nine mighty spells I learned from the famous son of Bölþorr, Bestla's father, and sprinkled with Óðrerir I got a drink of the precious mead.
141) Then I began to be quickened and full of wisdom, to grow and to thrive. Words coming in succession one after another led me to further words—deeds coming in succession one after another led me to further deeds.
142) You will be able to find the runes and the legible letters, letters of great power and might, which have been painted by the great sage, made by the mighty gods and cut by Óðinn the hroptr of the gods among
143) the Aesir, by Dáinn for the elves, by Dvalinn for the dwarfs, by ��sviðr for the giants. I have cut some myself.
144) Do you know how to cut and how to interpret? Do you know how to paint and how to divine? Do you know how to invoke and how to make offerings? Do you know how to sacrifice and how to slaughter?
145) Better there should be no prayer than excessive offering; a gift always looks for a recompense. Better there should be no sacrifice than an excessive slaughter. So Thundr engraved before the history of mankind began. He rose up where he came back.
146) Such spells I know as are not known to women of royal rank and to the sons of men. One is called "Help" and it will help you against accusations and sorrows and woes of every kind.
147) A second I know which the sons of men need who wish to be physicians.
148) A third I know: if I am in great need of placing a shackle on my foes, I blunt the blades of my enemies: neither their weapons nor their staves will wound.
149) A fourth I know: if men place gyves upon my arms and legs, I will chant such spells as will set me free—the fetter from my feet shall fly, the shackle from my hands.
150) A fifth I know: if I see a dart maliciously shot whizzing through the host, though its course be unerring I will stay it if my eyes catch sight of it.
151) A sixth I know: if a man wound me by the roots of a sapling, and rather than on myself the hurt will prey on the man who wishes me evil.
152) A seventh I know: if I see a lofty hall blazing above the banqueters, the flames will not spread to such an extent that my help will be unavailing—such a spell I know how to chant.
153) An eighth I know which it is profitable for all to take to heart: should hostility spring up between the sons of a warrior prince I can speedily reconcile them.
154) A ninth I know: if need arises to save my boat on the sea, I can lull the wind over the waves and calm the whole ocean.
155) A tenth I know: if I see phantom riders sporting in the air, I can contrive to make them go bereft of their proper shapes and their proper senses.
156) An eleventh I know: if I have to lead old friends into battle, I chant spells under their shields and they march in their might—safe into the fight—safe out of the fight—from all their conflicts safe they return.
157) A twelfth I know: if I see on a tree aloft a corpse swinging from a halter, I cut and paint runes in such wise that the man walks and talks with me.
158) A thirteenth I know: if I have to sprinkle a young boy with water, he will never fall if he goes into battle—nor will such a man succumb to the sword.
159) A fourteenth I know: if I have to number the gods before a host of men, I have information about all the gods and elves. No one but a wise man has such knowledge.
160) A fifteenth I know which Þóðreyrir the dwarf chanted before the doors of Dellingr. He chanted strength to the gods, success to the elves, understanding to Hroptatýr.
161) A sixteenth I know: if I wish to have an independent damsel's whole mind and love, I can sway the heart of the white-armed girl and altogether change her affections.
162) A seventeenth I know so that the young maiden will be slow to part from me. You will be long in need of these spells, Loddfáfnir. Yet you will prosper if you accept—benefit if you lay them to heart, profit if you receive them.
163) An eighteenth I know which I will never make known to maiden or married woman, save only to her who holds me in her arms, or perchance to my sister. It is always better for only one to know.—And that is the conclusion to my song.
164) Now have the words of the High One been uttered in the hall of the High One—most profitable to the sons of men, but useless to the jötnar. Luck to him who has spoken! Luck to him who has knowledge! May he benefit who has laid these words to heart! Luck to those who have listened!
