Hávamál
The Hávamál, the “Sayings of the High One”, is an Old Norse poem attributed to Odin and kept in a 13th-century manuscript, the Codex Regius. The whole poem is here in eight parts, in Olive Bray’s 1908 translation, followed by short passages explained in plain English. Browse the passages by theme, or read the poem from the beginning.
What you will find on each page
- Myth and literature · Quotation
- The passage itself in a named translation, shown only where we have confirmed the right to reproduce it.
- Our paraphrase
- The passage in our own plain words. It is not a translation.
- Myth and literature · Context
- Where the passage sits in the poem, and what the text itself shows, with the source named. Scholarly background is added only where we have checked it.
- Modern interpretation
- Reflection questions and modern readings made for this site. They are not what the poem says.
The poem, in eight parts
Every stanza, in order, in Olive Bray’s 1908 translation.
- Wisdom for Wanderers and Counsel to GuestsStanzas 1–79
- Maxims for All MenStanzas 80–88
- Lessons for LoversStanzas 89–93
- Odin’s Love QuestsStanzas 94–100
- Odin’s Quest after the Song MeadStanzas 101–108
- The Counseling of the Stray-SingerStanzas 109–136
- Odin’s Quest after the RunesStanzas 137–144
- The Song of SpellsStanzas 145–164
Passages explained: Wisdom for Wanderers and Counsel to Guests
- The guest at the doorA traveller is advised to look carefully at every doorway and hall before entering, because you cannot know in advance where an enemy may be sitting.
- A guest comes in from the coldA tired, frozen traveller arrives. The household is asked where he should sit, and what he needs is listed: fire, food, clothing, water and a welcome.
- Wits for the roadA traveller needs his wits more than the man at home does. The advice is to stay quiet, watch and listen when entering a strange place.
- What is truly your ownFair fame and wisdom are worth most when they are held in yourself, not in another person’s keeping. Natural good sense is the best thing to carry on the road.
- Ale and the witsNatural good sense is the best thing to carry, and too much ale the worst. The speaker says he once lost his wits at a feast, in Gunnlod’s garths.
- Courage and cowardiceA prince’s child should be silent, thoughtful and bold in a fight, and generous to the end. The coward who avoids every fight does not escape old age.
- What the ale cup showsA shy fool is silent until the ale cup is passed, and then his mind is shown. Drink your measure, say what is needed, and go to your rest.
- The greedy bellyA man who cannot judge how much is enough eats himself into harm and scorn. Even the herd knows when to go home.
- The unwise man, his nights and his friendsThe faultfinder cannot see his own faults, the worrier lies awake and gains nothing, and the man who trusts flatterers finds few to defend him.
- The man who thinks he knows everythingSitting in a sheltered corner, the unwise man thinks he knows it all, until someone puts him to the test. Silence hides what he lacks; talking more does not teach him.
- Questions, answers and the held tongueThe wise are those who can ask well and answer well. Someone who never holds his peace gives himself away.
- Guests at the tableDo not make a laughing-stock of another guest; at a meal you cannot tell who will take a joke. Friends fall out at table, and a hungry man makes poor company.
- The way to a friend, and when to leaveThe road to a false friend is long even if he lives nearby; the road to a true friend is short even when far. A guest must go home before he is loathed.
- A house of your ownOne’s own home is best, even if small. A man with two goats and a bark-thatched hut is better off than one who has to beg for his meals.
- Weapons on the roadA traveller should never take a step without his weapons, because no one knows when he will need a spear.
- Gifts, and not stinting yourselfEveryone, however generous, is glad of a gift and likes a return. The speaker warns against going without the wealth you have won, because it may end up with an enemy instead of a friend.
- Gifts between friendsIn the guest’s section, friendship is something kept up by giving and giving back.
- A friend of a friend, and a friend of a foeBe a friend to your friend and to his friends, but take care not to befriend someone who is a friend to your enemy.
- The friend you trust, and the one you don’tWith a trusted friend you share your mind and exchange gifts. With someone you do not trust, but need something from, you speak fair and keep your thoughts to yourself.
- Man is the joy of manThe speaker remembers being young, alone and lost on the road, and the wealth he felt on finding another person.
- The free and bold, and the garments given awayThe happiest man is free, bold and without a grudge. Fear and stinginess are the opposites. The speaker once gave his clothes to two landmarks made to look like men.
- The pine on the hillA pine standing on a hill with no bark or needles to shelter it wastes away. The speaker compares it to a man whom nobody loves.
- Friendship that burns out, and half a loafAmong false friends, affection burns fast and dies on the sixth day. Real friends are often made with small things: half a loaf and a tilted bowl.
- Wise in measureMinds are small as the grains of sand if the sea is small, and nobody is wise in every way. Be wise, but not too wise.
- Brand from brandA fire is kindled from one brand to another and a spark from a spark; so a man opens up through speaking with another man, and closes in on himself through silence.
- Rise earlyWhoever wants someone else’s life or wealth, or has few to serve him, must get up early. Prey does not fall to sleeping wolves.
- Stored for the seasonA man can know the measure of his dry logs, roof-bark and firewood, and whether they will last a quarter or half a year.
- Riding to courtGo to the assembly fed and washed, and do not be ashamed of old clothes or a poor horse. A man with no one to speak for him is like prey for the eagle.
- What to say, and to whomThe wise ask and answer well. Tell a secret to one person and no more. A mild man uses his strength in measure, and a careful man is slow to trust a friend with his words.
- Too late, too soon, and too hungryThe speaker has often arrived at feasts too late or too early, and says he would be asked home more often if he did not need to eat.
- What is dear to the livingFire, sunshine, health and a life without shame are dearest. Even the sick are not stripped of everything: some are blessed in children, kin, wealth or work.
- Better the livingIt is better to be alive than dead, and a body with a limitation can still do much. Nobody cares for a corpse.
- A son, and stones by the roadIt is best to have a son, even a late-born one, even if the father dies first. Stones by the road are raised by kin for kin.
- Sayings on the roadA single stanza strings together sayings about company, the tongue, hidden hands, lodging and the weather.
- One man’s folly and another’sA man who has never learned does not know how one man can be made a fool by another. If one man is rich and another poor, the poor one should not be blamed for it.
- What does not dieCattle die, kinsmen die and so does everyone; the poem says that a good name does not.
- The Fatling’s sonsThe Fatling’s sons once had full folds of stock and now carry beggars’ staffs. Wealth is brief and the most faithless of friends.
- The fool with wealth or loveIf a fool comes by wealth or a woman’s love, his pride grows but his wisdom does not.
- On the runes, silence is bestWhatever is asked of the runes that came from the gods will prove true, and then silence is surely best.
Maxims for All Men
- Praise it when it has proved itselfSix things are praised only at the right moment: the day at evening, a weapon once tried, ice once crossed, ale once drunk. The list also includes a wife when dead and a maid when married.
- Things in their seasonCut wood in wind, sail in a breeze, court in the dark; judge a ship by its gliding and a sword by its striking. Drink by the fire, buy a horse when it is lean and a sword when it is rusty.
- A maiden’s wordsThe speaker says nobody should trust a maiden’s speech or a woman’s words, because their hearts were shaped on a whirling wheel with falsehood fixed in their breasts.
- Things never to trustA long list of things not to rely on, from a breaking bow and a croaking raven to a half-burned house and a new-slain foe.
- The first-sown fruit, and a son too soonDo not put your faith in the first-sown fruit or in your son too early: a child is ruled by whim and a field by weather, and both are open to chance.
- Three images of unsafe groundThe love of women whose thoughts are lies is likened to a young horse driven over ice, a ship steered without a rudder in a wild wind, and a lame man chasing a reindeer on thawing fell.
Lessons for Lovers
- Fair words and false heartsThe speaker says he has seen both sides: man is unfaithful to maid, and the fairest words come when thoughts are falsest. A man who woos with soft words and gifts wins.
- Do not blame the loverNo one should blame another for what love has led them into. A fair form can catch the wise, and the might of love makes fools of once-wise people.
- No sickness like discontentOnly a person’s own mind knows what is nearest their heart. To the wise no illness is as sore as being unable to find contentment in anything.
Odin’s Love Quests
- In the reeds, and Billing’s daughterThe speaker waits in the reeds for his love, and says she was all he wanted. He finds Billing’s daughter asleep, fairer than sunlight, and lordship seems worth nothing beside her.
- Come nearer evening, OdinA voice tells the speaker, who is named Odin, to come nearer evening. He goes away confident of winning her, comes back and finds the whole war troop awake with torches.
- The tied dog, and the prudent girlNear morning the speaker returns, finds the household asleep and a barking dog tied to the maid’s bed, and is met with insults. He concludes that many a sweet maid is fickle towards men.
Odin’s Quest after the Song Mead
- Cheerful at home, and not a SimpletonBe cheerful and generous to guests, careful in your bearing, and ready to talk if you want wisdom. The man with nothing to say is called a Simpleton.
- Into Suttung’s hallsThe speaker tells how he went to the old Jötun, found silence of little use, won his desire with whispered soft speeches, and bored a road through the rock.
- Gunnlod and the Mead of SongGunnlod gives the speaker a draught of the mead, and he admits he repaid her poorly. He says he could not have come back without her, and that the Mead of Song is now among men.
- The Frost Giants ask, and the ring-oathThe next day the Frost Giants enter the High One’s hall to ask whether he is back or whether Suttung has killed him. The speaker then says that Odin took a ring-oath and asks how his word can be trusted.
The Counseling of the Stray-Singer
- The Sage’s SeatThe speaker opens the counsel by saying it is time to speak from the Sage’s Seat by the Well of Weird, where he watched, kept silent and listened to men talk of runes.
- Night-time, and a place outsideThe first of the counsels to the Stray-Singer: do not get up in the night unless you are keeping watch or looking for a place outside.
- A sorceress and sorrowful sleepNever sleep in the arms of a sorceress, or she may lock your limbs and charm you so that you stop caring for counsel, food and the joys of people.
- Another man’s wifeDo not try to draw another man’s wife to yourself with love-whispering.
- Provision for the roadIf you mean to travel over fell and firth, take plenty of food.
- Telling an evil man your troublesDo not tell an evil man about your misfortunes, or expect anything back from a bad friend for your trust. The speaker has seen a man killed by the lying words of an evil woman.
- The path where no foot passesIf you have a friend you trust, go and see him often, because the path no foot walks grows over with brushwood and tall grass.
- The righteous, and a healing songCall the righteous to your side in pleasant talk, and learn a healing song while you live.
- Never the first to break the bondDo not be the first to break the bond of fellowship with a friend. Care will gnaw your heart if you cannot tell all your mind to another.
- Words wasted on a foolDo not waste a single word on a foolish knave; he will give no good will in return. A righteous man’s praise makes you firm in favour and love.
- Mingling in friendshipFriends mingle when each can speak his whole mind to the other. Nothing is so vile as a fickle tongue, and a flatterer is no friend.
- Do not strive with a worse manDo not argue with a man who is worse than you; the worst often lays the best low.
- Shoemaker and shaft-makerDo not make shoes or spear-shafts for anyone but yourself: if the work is bad, a curse will land on your head.
- Danger, and ill tidingsWhen you are in danger, admit it, and never give your enemies peace. Do not rejoice at bad news, but be glad in what is good.
- Do not look up in battleIn battle, when men are like beasts, do not look up, or the wights may bewitch you with spells.
- A promise to a maidenIf you want to win joy of a gentle maiden, make a fair promise and keep it fast: no one scorns happiness who can win it.
- Wary, but not too waryBe wary, but not too wary; most of all with ale, with another’s wife and with a third thing, so that knaves never outwit you.
- A guest or wandering wightDo not scorn or mock a guest or a wanderer in your hall. Those who sit inside cannot be sure what kind of person has come, and nobody is so good that he has no fault, or so ill that he is no use.
- The hoary singerDo not scorn the old singer: the counsel of the old is often good, and wisdom can come from withered lips, even from one left hanging among hides.
- The gate and the barDo not growl at guests or drive them from the gate, but be gentle to the poor. The bar on the door is heavy to move for everyone to enter; spend your wealth, or people will wish you ill.
- Earth, fire, oak and ryeWhen you drink ale, call on the might of earth. Then follows a list of what prevails over what, ending with runes over harm.
Odin’s Quest after the Runes
- Odin on the windy treeOdin hangs for nine nights on a windswept tree, wounded by a spear and given to himself, and takes up the runes.
- Nine songs and the MeadThe speaker says he learned nine mighty songs, drank a measure of the Mead and then bore fruit, grew in wisdom and found words for words and deeds for deeds.
- Runes made by the PowersYou are told to seek hidden runes and interpreted signs, fashioned by the high Powers. Odin graved runes for the gods, Daïn for the elves, Dvalin for the dwarfs, All-wise for the Jötuns, and the speaker some for men.
- Do you know how to write?A string of eight questions on what you know how to do, followed by advice not to give more than the gift deserves, and a closing line about Odin.
The Song of Spells
- Help, and the healing songThe speaker says he knows songs that no one else does. The first is Help, which helps in all woes; the second is the one a healer must sing.
- Blunting weapons and loosing chainsThe third song blunts the swords of enemies; the fourth frees the speaker if he is chained.
- Stopping an arrow, turning a curseThe fifth song stops an arrow in flight if he can glimpse it; the sixth turns a runic curse back onto the one who cast it.
- A burning hall, and rising hateThe seventh song saves a blazing hall, however fiercely it burns. The eighth, which anyone can learn, calms hate among warriors.
- The storm and the night-ridersThe ninth song hushes wind and sea to save a ship. The tenth sends witches riding at night home bewildered.
- Leading comrades to warThe eleventh song is sung beneath the shields so that old comrades go into battle safe, come out safe and return safe.
- The hanged man speaksThe twelfth song makes a hanged corpse in a tree come down and speak, by writing and painting runes.
- Sprinkling a newbornThe thirteenth song: sprinkling a warrior’s newborn son with water means he will not fail in war and will never fall to a sword.
- Knowing the PowersThe fourteenth song lets the speaker name all the gods and elves. The fifteenth is one that a dwarf sang at the gates of Dawn for gods, elves and Odin.
- Winning a maiden’s heartThe sixteenth and seventeenth songs turn a woman’s heart and mind to the speaker, even a shy one. The text does not ask what she wants.
- The eighteenth song, kept secretThe Stray-Singer is told he will long lack these songs. The eighteenth the speaker will tell to no one but his sister or the woman who holds him: secrets are safest with one.
- Hail, the sayings are utteredThe last stanza says the sayings of the High One have been spoken for the good of men and the woe of Jötuns, and greets the speaker, the one who knows and the listeners.