CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CONDUCT OF LIFE—THE HÁVAMÁL.
Rules of life—The duty of hospitality—Folly of boasting—The wise man keeps his eyes and ears open—Wits are better than wealth—Drink destroys reason—The duty of cheerfulness and bravery—Over-eating—We should not worry—All who smile on a man are not his friends—The value of silence—A guest should not outstay his welcome—The value of a home however humble—No man should be the friend of his foe’s friend—Every man has two sides to his character—Man’s happiness—Wealth is the most unstable of friends—The fickleness of woman—All is fair in love—Do not neglect your friends—No man is without his faults—Proverbs and wise savings.
To all great popular leaders and lawgivers are often attributed the dogmas and words of wisdom which form part of their creed. It is not therefore surprising to find the great Norse code of morality, known under the name of Hávamál,[301] attributed to Odin; Hávamál meaning the “Song of the High.”
All door-ways Before one goes forth Should be looked over, Should be searched out, For ‘tis hard to know Where foes sit On the benches before one.
Hail my host![302] A guest has come in; Where shall he sit? In hot haste is he Who has to try his luck On snow-shoes.
Fire is needed By him who has come in And is benumbed in his knees; Food and clothes Are needed by one Who has travelled over the mountain.
Water is needed By the one who comes to the meal, A towel and a hearty welcome, Good-will If he can get it, Talk and answer.
Wisdom is wanted By him who travels widely; Anything is easy at home;[303] He who nothing knows And sits among the wise Becomes a gazing-stock.
A man with a thinking mind Should not boast, But rather be heedful in his mood. When a wise and silent man Comes to a homestead The wary man seldom makes a slip, For a more faithful friend Will a man never get Than great man-wit.[304]
The wary guest Who comes to a meal Is silent and talks little, Listens with (his) ears, Looks on with (his) eyes; Thus every wise man looks about him.
He is happy Who gets for himself Praise and good-will; That which a man must own In the mind[305] of another Is less easy to deal with.
He is happy Who himself has Praise and wits while alive; For evil counsels Has one often got Out of another’s breast.
A better burthen A man carries not on the road Than great wits; Better than wealth It is thought at strange places; It is the strength of the poor.
Better burthen A man carries not on the road Than great good sense; No worse journey-provisions Weigh him to the ground Than too much ale-drinking.
The ale of men’s sons Is not so good As men say it is; For the more A man drinks The less has he his senses.
He is called heron of Oblivion The one who soars over ale-bouts, He steals away men’s senses; With the feathers of that bird I was bound[306] In the house of Gunnlód.[307]
I got drunk, I got too drunk At the wise Fjalar’s; The ale is best when Every man Gets his reason back.
Silent and thoughtful Should a king’s son be And bold in battle; Glad and cheerful Should every man be Till he meet his death.
The unwise man Thinks he will live for ever If he shuns fight, But old age gives him No peace Though spears may spare him.
A fool gapes When he comes into company, He mutters or sulks; All at once If he gets a drink His mind is displayed.
He alone knows Who widely travels And has seen much What the temper is Of every man Who has his wits about him.
A man shall not send away the cup But drink mead moderately, Speak usefully or be silent; No man will blame thee For ill-breeding Though thou goest early to sleep.
A greedy man Unless he has sense Eats ill-health for himself; A foolish man’s belly Often causes laughter When he is among the wise.
Herds know When they shall go home And then walk off the grass; But an unwise man Never knows The measure of his stomach.
A wretched man With evil mind Sneers at everything; He knows not that, Which he needed to know, That he is not himself faultless.
An unwise man Is awake all night Worrying about everything; He is weary When the morning comes All the woe is as it was.
An unwise man Thinks all who smile on him To be his friends; He does not know When he sits among wise men Though they speak badly of him.
An unwise man Thinks all who smile on him To be his friends; But he will find When he comes to the thing That he has few spokesmen.[308]
An unwise man Thinks he knows everything If he has shelter in a corner; He knows not What he should say If men test him.
An unwise man When he comes among people, Had best be silent; No one knows That he nothing knows, Unless he talks too much; The man who nothing knows Knows not of it Though he talk too much.
He who can ask And answer questions Thinks himself wise; The sons of men Can hide nothing That passes among men.
He who is never silent Speaks too many Meaningless words; A glib tongue Unless it has restrainers Often does harm to itself.
A man shall not Have another for a gazing-stock[309] Though he come into company; Many one thinks himself wise If he is not asked questions And can loiter with dry clothes.
Wise thinks himself The guest who drives away Another guest with mocking; He is not wise Who sneers at a meal If he prates among angry men.
Many men Are kind to one another, Yet quarrel at the meal; This will always be The cause of men’s strife; Guest gets angry with guest.
An early meal Should a man often take And not go without it into company; (Otherwise) he sits and sulks, Looks as if he were hungry, And cannot talk.
It is long out of one’s way To a bad friend, Though he live on the road; But to a good friend There are short paths Though he be farther off.
One should take leave, The guest should not stay Always in one place; The loved becomes loathed If he sits too long In another’s house.
A homestead is best Though it be small; A man is master at home; Though he has but two goats And a straw-thatched hall (house) It is better than begging.
A homestead is best Though it be small; A man is a man (master) at home; Bleeding is the heart Of him who must beg His food for every meal.
A man shall not on the ground Go a step forward Without his weapons; For it is hard to know When out on roads If a man may need his spear.
I never met a man So openhanded or free with his food That he would not take a gift, Nor one so lavish With his property That rewards were to him unwelcome.
A man When he has gained property Should not suffer want; What was meant for the loved Is often spared for the hated; Many things go worse than expected.
With weapons and clothes Such as are most sightly on oneself Shall friends gladden each other; Givers and receivers Are the longest friends, If they give with good wishes.
A man should be A friend to his friend And give gift for gift; Laughter for laughter And lie for lie Should men return.
To his friend A man should be a friend, To him and his friend; But no man Should be the friend Of his foe’s friend.
Know if thou hast a friend Whom thou trustest well And thou wilt good from him get, Thou must blend thoughts with him, And exchange gifts, Go often and meet him.
If thou hast another Whom thou trustest little Yet wilt good from him get, Kindly shalt thou talk to him, But think deceitfully And give lie back for lie.
That is further from him Whom thou trustest little And whose mind thou suspectest, Thou shalt smile at him And speak contrary to thy thoughts, The reward should be like the gift.
I once was young, I travelled alone, And missed my way; I thought myself wealthy When I another met; Man is the delight of man.
Liberal and valiant Men live best; They seldom harbour grief; But unwise men Fear everything; The miser always longs for gifts.
My clothes Gave I to two wood-men (men of the forest) In the field; They thought themselves men, When they got the garments; Ashamed is a naked man.
The fir withers That stands on a fenced field; Neither bark nor foliage shelter it; Thus is a man Whom no one loves; Why should he live long?
Hotter than fire Burns between bad friends Friendship for five days; But when the sixth comes It is quenched And all the friendship vanishes.
Much at once Should one not give; With little you often get praise; With half a loaf And a half-filled cup I got a companion.
Small are sand grains, Small are drops of water, Small are men’s minds; For all men Were not made equally wise; Men are everywhere by halves.[310]
Middling wise Should every man be, Never too wise; Happiest live Those men Who know many things well.
Middling wise Should every man be, Never too wise; For the heart of a wise man Is seldom glad If its owner is all-wise.
Middling wise Should every man be Never too wise; No man ought to Know his fate beforehand, Then his mind is freest from sorrow.
Brand is kindled from brand Till it is burnt out; Fire is kindled from fire; A man gets knowledge By talk with a man But becomes wilful by self-conceit.
Early should rise He who wants the property Or the life of another; Seldom a sleeping wolf Gets a thigh-bone Or a sleeping man victory.
Early should rise He who has few workers And go to his work; Many hindrances has he Who sleeps in the morning; Half one’s wealth depends on activity.
Of dry logs And thatching-bark A man knows the measure And of the fire-wood Which can last For meals and for seasons.[311]
Washed and well-fed Should a man ride to the thing, Though he be not so well dressed; Of his shoes and breeches Let no man be ashamed, Nor of his horse, though he has not a good one.
Sniffs and hangs with its head, When it comes on the sea, The eagle on the old ocean; So is the man Who comes among many And has few spokesmen.
Ask and answer Should every sage man Who wants to be called wise; One may know But not another; All know if three know.
His power Should every foresighted man Use moderately; He will feel When he comes among the skilled That no one is the best.
* * * * *
For the words That a man says to another He has often to pay the penalty.[312]
Much too early Came I to many places And too late to some; The ale was drunk Or it was unbrewed; An unwelcome man seldom finds the ale.
Here and there Might I be invited home If I needed not food for a meal Or if two hams hung At my trusty friend’s Where I had eaten one.
Fire is the best thing Among the sons of men, And the sight of the sun, His good health If a man can keep it, And a blameless life.
A man is not utterly unhappy Though he be in ill-health; Some are happy in sons, Some in kinsmen, Some in much wealth, Some in good deeds.
Better is it to live Than not to live; A living man (may) always get a cow; I saw fire blaze Before a wealthy man And outside was death at the door.
The lame may ride a horse, The handless may drive a herd, The deaf may fight and do well; A blind man is better Than a burnt one; The dead are of no use.
A son is better Though he be late born, After a man’s death; Seldom memorial stones Stand near the road Unless kinsman raise Them after kinsman.
Two are of one host The tongue is the head’s bane; Under every fur-coat I expect a hand.[313]
He who trusts to his knapsack Is glad when night comes; The ship’s corners are small; The autumn night is changeable; There are many weathers In five days[314] And more in a month.
He who nothing knows Knows not this; Many are made fools by wealth; One man is wealthy, And another poor; Blame not a man for that.
Cattle die, Kinsmen die, One’s self dies too; But the fame Never dies Of him who gets a good name.
Cattle die, Kinsmen die, We ourselves die; I know one thing That never dies, The doom over every dead man.[315]
Full stocked folds I saw at the sons of Fitjung; Now they carry beggars’ staffs; Wealth is Like the twinkling of an eye The most unstable of friends.
An unwise man If he gets Wealth or a woman’s love Grows in pride, But never in wits; He goes on further in his conceit.
It will be found When thou askest about The god-born runes Which the high powers made, And the all wise marked, Then it is best that he be silent.
A day should be praised at night, A woman when she is burnt, A sword when it is tried, A maiden when she is married, Ice when crossed, Ale when drank.
In a gale should trees be cut, In a breeze row out at sea, In the dark to a maiden talk, Many are the eyes of day, A ship is made for sailing, A shield for sheltering, A sword for striking, A maiden for kisses.
At the fire shalt thou drink ale And glide on the ice, Buy a lean horse, And a rusty sword, Fatten (thy) horse at home, And (thy) dog at (thy) farm.
The words of a maiden Or the talk of a woman Should no man trust; For their hearts were shaped On a whirling wheel, And fickleness laid in their breasts.
A creaking bow, A burning flame, A gaping wolf, A croaking crow, A squealing swine, A rootless tree, A waxing wave, A boiling cauldron,
A flying arrow, A falling billow, A one night old ice, A ring-coiled snake, The bed-talk of a bride, Or a broken sword, The play of a bear, Or a king’s child
A sick calf, A wilful thrall, The kind words of a volva, The new-felled slain,[316]
An early sown field Shall no man trust, Nor his son too early; The weather rules the field, And wit guides the son; Each of them is uncertain.
Let no man be so trustful That he trust His brother’s slayer, Though he meet him on the highway, A half-burnt house, A very swift horse, A horse is useless If a leg be broken.
Thus is the love of women Whose hearts are false As riding on slippery ice, With an unshod, Wild, two year old, Badly broken horse, Or like cruising Rudderless in a strong gale, Or like the lame reindeer On thawing mountain sides.
Now I speak openly For I know both; Fickle is the mind of men to women; We speak most fair When we think most false; That beguiles wise minds.
Finely must talk And offer gifts He who would win woman’s love, Praise the shape Of the bright (fair) maiden; He wins who woos.
In matters of love Should a man never Blame another; The bewitching hues[317] That do not move the dull Often move the wise.
A man must not Blame another For what is many men’s weakness; For mighty love Changes the son of men From wise into fools.
The mind alone knows What is near the heart; It alone sees what is near the heart; It alone sees what is in the breast; No sickness is worse For a wise man Than to enjoy nothing.
I tried that when I sat in the rushes And waited for my love; The gentle maiden Was like my own flesh and heart; Yet she was not mine.
I found the sun-bright Maiden of Billing[318] Asleep on her bed; The happiness of a jarl I thought worth nothing, Unless living with that maiden.
And near evening (in the twilight) Must thou come, Odin, If thou wilt talk with a maiden; It will fare badly Unless we alone know Of such unlawful love.
I went away; It seemed to me I loved Out of my wise will;[319] I thought I had won All her heart and love.
When next I came All the doughty household Was awake; With burning lights And carried torches That way of woe was marked for me.
Near morning, When I came again, The household was asleep; A dog I found Tied to the bed Of the good woman.
Many a good maiden If thou searchest well Is fickle to men; That I found When I the counsel wise maiden Sought to beguile; Every mocking Showed me the wise maiden, And from that woman nought had I.
At home shall a man be merry And cheerful to his guests, Cautious about himself, Of good memory and ready speech, If he wants to be very wise; A good man is often talked of; A great fool is he called Who little can tell; That is the mark of a fool.
I visited the old jotun; Now I have come back; Little got I silent there; Many words I spoke for my good In the halls of Suttung.
Gunnlod gave me On a golden chair A drink of the costly mead; Ill reward I gave her afterwards For her strong love, For her true love.
The point (mouth) of Rati I let make its way And gnaw the rock; Over me and under me Were the ways of jotuns, Thus I risked my head.
The trick-bought mead I have enjoyed well; The wise lack little, For Odrerir[320] Has now come up On the skirt of the earth of men.[321]
I doubt whether I should yet have come Out of the jötun halls, If I had not had help From Gunnlod, the good maiden Round whom I laid my arm.
The next day The Hrim-thussar came, To ask about the purpose of Hár[322] Into his hall; They asked about Bólverk[323] If he was among the gods, Or Suttung had slain him.
An oath on the ring,[324] I think, Odin took; Shall his plighted faith be trusted? He defrauded Suttung Of his mead, And made Gunnlod weep.
It is time to speak From the chair of the wise man At the well of Urd; I saw and was silent, I saw and pondered, I listened to the talk of men; I heard talk of runes, Nor were they silent about their plans At the hall of Hár; In the hall of Hár I heard this spoken.
I advise thee, Loddfafnir, Take thou my advice; Thou wilt profit by it if thou takest it;[325] Rise not at night Unless thou goest a spying Or thou art compelled to go out.
Thou must not sleep In the arms of a witch So that she clasp thee with her limbs.
She (the witch) causes that Thou dost not heed The thing or the words of a chief; Thou wantest not food Nor the amusement of men; Thou goest sorrowful to sleep.
The wife of another man Tempt thou never To be thy ear-whisperer.[326]
On a mountain or a fjord If thou to travel wantest Take thou good store of food.
A bad man Do thou never Let thy misfortunes know; For from a bad man Gettest thou never Reward for thy goodwill.
I saw the words Of a wicked woman Wound a man deeply; Her false tongue Became his death, Though he had no guilt.
Know this, if thou hast A friend whom thou trustest well, Go often to see him; For with brushwood And with high grass will overgrown The road on which no one walks.
Draw a good man to thee For the sake of pleasant talk, And learn healing spells while thou livest.
Be never the first To forsake The company of thy friend; Sorrow eats the heart If one cannot tell All his mind to some one.
Thou shouldst never Words exchange With fools.
For from a bad man Wilt thou never Get return for good; But a good man Will be able to make thee Liked and praised.
Souls are together blended, When a man tells to one All his mind; All is better Than to be fickle; No friend is he who speaks as one wishes.[327]
Not even in three words quarrel Shalt thou with a worse man; Often the better one yields When the worse one strikes.
Be not a shoe-smith Nor a shaft-smith Except for thyself; Is the shoe misshaped, Or the shaft wry, Then is evil wished to thee.
Where thou canst do harm Do not keep from it, And do not give peace to thy foes.
Be never Glad at evil, But be pleased with the good.
Never look up Shalt thou in battle; Like swine[328] May become the sons of men; Let no man spell-bind thee.
Wouldst thou get a good woman To talk pleasantly, And get delight from her, Promise thou fair things And firmly keep it; No man dislikes the good if he can get it.
I bid thee be wary, But not too wary; Be most wary at ale, And with another’s wife, And thirdly That thieves play not tricks on thee.
Thou must never Mock or laugh at A guest or a wayfarer.
Often know not well Those who sit within Of what kin they are who come; No man is so good That a fault follows him not, Nor so bad, that he is good for nothing.
Never laugh At a hoary wise man; Often it is good which old men say, Skilled words come often Out of a shrivelled skin Hanging among hides, Dangling among dry skins, And going among the sons of toil.
Scoff not at the guest, Nor drive him to the door; Be kind to the poor.
Strong is the door-bar, That shall turn And open for all; Give a ring,[329] Or to thy limbs Will every kind of evil be wished.
Wherever thou drinkest ale, Take earth’s strength; For the earth acts against ale, And fire against constipation, The (corn) ear against spells, The spurred rye against hernia; The moon shall be called on against curses, Heather against contagious diseases, Runes against evil spells; The mould must receive the liquid.
The following proverbs and wise sayings occur in the Sagas:
Courage is better Than the power of sword Where the angry must fight; For I saw a bold man Win.... Victory with a blunt sword.
‘Tis better for the bold Than cowards To be in the game of Hild;[330] It is better to be merry Than to be downhearted Whatever may come to hand.
(Fafnismal.)
When Heidrek, the son of Hofund, was outlawed by his father for his misconduct, he asked to have advice given him:
“King Hofund said: ‘Little advice will I give him, for I think he will make bad use of it; but, since you ask, I will give him first the advice never to help the man who has betrayed his master; the second is never to spare the life of (always to slay) a man who has murdered his companion; the third is not to let his wife visit her kinsmen often though she ask; the fourth not to tell his concubine all his secrets; the fifth not to ride on his best horse when in a hurry; the sixth never to raise the child of a more high-born man than he is himself; the seventh never to break his truce; the eighth never to take with him many captured thralls. If he follows all this advice he will be a man of luck, though I outlaw him now for breach of the law” (Hervarar Saga, c. 8).
“A tree falls not at the first blow,” said an Icelander to the priest Thangbrand, who was going to christianize Iceland. (Njala, ch. 103.)
“Cold (fatal) are the counsels of women,” said the chief Flosi to his kinswoman Hildigunn, who urged him to revenge her husband. (Njala, ch. 116.)
“You have much of a swine’s memory” (a very short memory), said Gudrún, when she was urging her brothers to slay Kjartan, her former lover. (Laxdæla, ch. 48.)
“It must be worse before it gets better.” (Fms. v. 199.)
“A sheepless household starves.”
“The bondi is bú-pillar; the bú is the pillar of the land.”
Sigrdrífa gives the following counsels to Sigurd:
_Sigrdrífa._
First, I advise thee Do no wrong to Thy kinsmen; Do not avenge thyself Though they harm thee. It is said to be good after death.
Secondly I advise thee, Swear not an oath, Unless it be true; Cruel roots Strike perjury; Wretched is the wolf of plighted faith.
Thirdly I advise thee That thou at a thing Do not quarrel with fools; For an unwise man Often says Worse words than he knows.
All is difficult If thou art silent, Then thou art thought to be born a coward, Or his (the fool’s) words to be true: The home-judgment is dangerous Unless thou gettest a good one. The next day Thou shalt slay him (the fool), And thus reward people for their lie.
Fourthly I advise thee, If a witch Full of evil lives on the way, It is better to walk on Than lodge there Though the night overtake thee.
Eyes of foresight Need the sons of men In the angry fight; Often wicked women Sit near the road, Who blunt both sword and sense.
Fifthly I advise thee Though you seest Fair brides on the benches; Let not the goddesses of silver Hinder thy sleep, Do not entice women to kisses.
Sixthly I counsel thee, Though among men be Evil ale-talk; Thou shalt not quarrel With drunk battle-trees;[331] Many a one’s wits wine steals.
Strife and ale Have caused Grief of mind to many men, Death to some, Curses to others, Many are the evils of men.
Seventhly I advise thee, If thou hast to fight Against fearless men, It is better to fight Than to be burnt In the house.
Eighthly I advise thee That thou beware of evil And shun false words; Do not beguile a maiden, Nor a man’s wife, Nor entice them to overmuch pleasure.[332]
Tenthly I advise thee, Do thou never believe The plighted faith of an outlaw’s son, Whether thou art the slayer of his brother Or hast killed his father; There is a wolf in a young son Though he be cheered (comforted) with gold (wergild).
I think That strife and hate (are not sleepy), Nor the grief; Wisdom and weapons Are not easy to get For a chief that would be the foremost among men.
Eleventhly I advise thee That thou beware of evil In every way from thy friends; I think I know The chief’s (Sigurd’s) life will not be long; Strong contests have arisen.
Footnote 301:
Háva = of the high, namely Odin; mál = song.
Footnote 302:
Giver in the text = host.
Footnote 303:
Meaning: anything will do at home.
Footnote 304:
Good sense.
Footnote 305:
Here the text has breast for mind or heart. The meaning of the stanza is that it is very hard to know another man’s mind.
Footnote 306:
This refers to Odin getting drunk from the mead of poetry which he stole from Suttung. (See later Edda.)
Footnote 307:
A Jotun woman.
Footnote 308:
I.e., supporters.
Footnote 309:
Make fun of him.
Footnote 310:
The meaning of this line is somewhat obscure; it probably means that every man has two sides to his character.
Footnote 311:
The application is missing in the text.
Footnote 312:
The text of part of this verse is missing.
Footnote 313:
The sense of this stanza is most difficult; the meaning of first part seems to be that tongue and head are of one host, and nevertheless the tongue may be the head’s bane. The latter part probably means: the hand of a foe or friend may be hidden under any cloak.
Footnote 314:
Here we see the custom of counting weeks by five.
Footnote 315:
Doom, judgment passed by men over man = his name.
Footnote 316:
In a paper MS. of 1684 some verses are found which are not on the skin text.
Footnote 317:
Lostfagr = so fair as to kindle lust.
Footnote 318:
Billing occurs in Voluspa as a name of dverg.
Footnote 319:
This means—as if I was mad with love.
Footnote 320:
Odrerir = song-inspirer or vessel for the poetic mead.
Footnote 321:
Midgard.
Footnote 322:
Odin.
Footnote 323:
Odin.
Footnote 324:
I.e., the Temple ring which, like the Bible now, was formerly used for oaths.
Footnote 325:
These three verses are repeated at the head of nearly each stanza but omitted after this stanza.
Footnote 326:
I.e., mistress.
Footnote 327:
No man is another’s friend who says only what he wishes.
Footnote 328:
To Odin is attributed the power to make men in battle mad with terror like swine.—‘Ynglinga Saga,’ ch. 6.
Footnote 329:
Something as alms.
Footnote 330:
War.
Footnote 331:
Men.
Footnote 332:
Two stanzas missing, see vol. i. p. 322.