Hávamál
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Hávamál (Sayings of Hár, Sayings of the high one) is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. It sets out a set of guidelines for wise living and survival; some verses are written from the perspective of Odin (particularly towards the end, where it segues into an account of Odin's obtaining of the magical runes and the spells he learned). It is both practical and metaphysical in content. The only surviving source for this poem is contained within the Codex Regius and is thought to be no older than c. year 800 . An early reference to the poem is by Eyvindr skáldaspillir in Hákonarmál, c. 960.
Hávamál consists of a number of poems, which shift in tone and tenor and narrative position. Numerous English translations exist of the text.
Contents |
[edit] Gestaþáttr
The first section Gestaþáttr, the "guest's section", strophes 1 - 79, comprises a set of maxims for how to comport oneself when a guest and travelling, focussing particularly on the etiquette and behavioral relationships between hosts and guests. The first stanza exemplifies the practical behavioral advice it offers:
According to Carolyne Larrington's 1996 translation:
- All the entrances, before you walk forward,
- you should look at,
- you should spy out;
- for you can't know for certain where enemies are sitting,
- ahead in the hall
Number 77 is possibly the most known one of the Gestaþáttr:
- Deyr fé,
- deyja frændr,
- deyr sjálfr et sama;
- ek veit einn,
- at aldri deyr:
- dómr of dauðan hvern.
According to Larrington's translation:
- Cattle die, kinsmen die
- the self must also die;
- I know one thing which never dies:
- the reputation of each dead man.
[edit] Loddfáfnismál
The next major section of Hávamál deals with morals, ethics, correct action and codes of conduct. It is directed to Loddfáfnir ("stray-singer"), hence the name for this section, Loddfáfnismál, who stands in the place of the reader (or, as was the case at the time, the listener).
[edit] Rúnatal
The Rúnatal (Rúnatáls-tháttr-Odhins or Odins Rune Song) is a section of the Hávamál of which Odins reveals the Secret of the Runes. It runs from Stanzas' 138 through to 165.
Odin talks of his self-sacrifice (to himself) in stanza 138, in the section known as Rúnatal.
According to Larrington's translation:
- I know that I hung on a windy tree
- nine long nights,
- Wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
- myself to myself,
- on that tree of which no man knows
- from where its roots run.
[edit] Ljóðatal
The last section, the Ljóðatal, which is very mystical, deals with the transmission of knowledge, and the Odinic mysteries. It is essentially a list and a key to a sequenced number of runic charms. There are correspondences between this section and with the Sigrdrífumál, in which the valkyrie Sigrdrífa details a number of the runes at her command.
The text (in Old Norse and in English translation) is as follows:
|
Veit ec at ec hecc vindga meiði a Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi, |
I know that I hung on a windy tree No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn, |
Stanza 151, for example, according to Larrington's translation:
- I know a sixth one if a man wounds me
- with the roots of the sap-filled wood:
- and that man who conjured to harm me,
- the evil consumes him, not me.
The sending of a tree root with runes carved into it is well documented in Norse literature; it was, for example, the cause of death of Grettir the Strong.
[edit] Neopaganism
Many modern proponents of Ásatrú and other Germanic pagan reconstructive groups place an emphasis on the Hávamál as one source of their religious beliefs, amongst other historical sources.
[edit] Reference
- The Poetic Edda: A new translation by Carolyne Larrington - Larrington (1996) (ISBN 0192839462)
[edit] External links
- Hovamol Translation and commentary by H. A. Bellows
- Havamal Translation by Benjamin Thorpe
- Hávamál Translation by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor
- Hávamál Translation by Olive Bray
