Hávamál
Blunting weapons and loosing chains
The third song blunts the swords of enemies; the fourth frees the speaker if he is chained.
Reference: stanzas 147–148 (Bray’s numbering) (The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems)
The text, stanzas 147–148
147.
A third I know: if sore need should come
of a spell to stay my foes;
when I sing that song, which shall blunt their swords,
nor their weapons nor staves can wound.
148.
A fourth I know: if men make fast
in chains the joints of my limbs,
when I sing that song which shall set me free,
spring the fetters from hands and feet.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 147–148 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
In plain English
The third song, the speaker says, is for sore need: a spell to stay his foes. When he sings it, their swords are blunted and neither their weapons nor their staves can wound.
The fourth is for when men fasten his limbs in chains. When he sings that song, the fetters spring from his hands and feet.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 147–148 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
Modern interpretation
Read today, these are pictures of protection from violence and release from restraint. That is a modern reading.
Questions to sit with
- What would blunting the weapons and loosing the chains mean for you? What is binding you now?