Hávamál
The greedy belly
A man who cannot judge how much is enough eats himself into harm and scorn. Even the herd knows when to go home.
Reference: stanzas 20–21 (Bray’s numbering) (The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems)
The text, stanzas 20–21
20.
A greedy man, if he be not mindful,
eats to his own life's hurt:
oft the belly of the fool will bring him to scorn
when he seeks the circle of the wise.
21.
Herds know the hour of their going home
and turn them again from the grass;
but never is found a foolish man
who knows the measure of his maw.
- 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 20–21 (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
A greedy man who is not mindful eats to the harm of his own life. The belly of the fool often brings him scorn when he joins the circle of the wise.
Herds know when it is time to leave the grass and go home. A foolish man never knows the measure of his own stomach.
- 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 20–21 (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
Today this is often read more widely than food: knowing when you have had enough of anything. That is a modern reading.
Questions to sit with
- Where do you reach for more past the point of “enough”? What would knowing your measure look like there?