Hávamál
Wary, but not too wary
Be 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.
Reference: stanza 130 (Bray’s numbering) (The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems)
The text, stanza 130
130.
I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels,
they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them,
they will work thy weal if thou win'st them:
I pray thee be wary, yet not too wary,
be wariest of all with ale,
with another's wife, and a third thing eke,
that knaves outwit thee never.
- 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), stanza 130 (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 speaker asks the Stray-Singer to be wary, but not too wary. Be wariest of all with ale, with another man’s wife and with a third thing the stanza does not name, so that knaves never outwit you.
- 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), stanza 130 (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.
Where the pieces come from
“Wary, yet not too wary” is close in spirit to the “wise in measure” stanzas (53 to 56). Ale and another man’s wife have each come up before (ale in stanzas 11 to 14, another man’s wife in stanza 114); the third thing is not named.
- 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), stanza 130 (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 as a point about balancing caution and trust, and about knowing your own weak points. That is a modern reading.
Questions to sit with
- What are your “ale, another’s wife and a third thing”: the things that make you easiest to outwit?