Sayings of the High One
© 2023 Edward Pettit, CC BY-NC 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0308.02
- Before advancing through all doorways,
one must look around,
one must peer around;
for one never knows for certain where enemies
are sitting on the boards. - ‘Hail to the givers!’ A guest has come in.
Where shall he sit?
He’s very anxious, the one who has
to test his fortune on the firewood. - Fire is required for the one who has come in
and is chilled at the knee;
food and clothes are required for the man
who has travelled over mountains. - Water is required for the one who comes to a meal,
a towel and a warm invitation,
a good disposition, if he can get it,
conversation and silence in return. - Wits are required by the one who wanders widely;
everything is easy at home;
he who knows nothing and sits among the wise
becomes the subject of winking. - One shouldn’t be boastful of one’s brains,
but rather be reserved of mind;
when a wise and reticent man comes to homesteads,
misfortune seldom befalls the wary;
for one never gets a more unfailing friend
than great common sense. - The cautious guest, when he comes to a meal,
is silent with strained hearing;
he listens with his ears and looks with his eyes;
so every wise man spies things out before himself. - Happy is that one who earns himself
praise and kindness-staves;
it’s less easy to deal with what one has to own
in the heart of another. - Happy is he who himself possesses
acclaim and intelligence while he lives;
for a man has often had bad advice
from another’s breast. - One doesn’t bear a better burden on the road
than great common sense;
better than wealth it seems in a strange place;
such is a poor man’s means of existence. - One doesn’t bear a better burden on the road
than great common sense;
one can’t carry worse provisions through the country
than overindulgence in ale. - It’s not as good as they say it’s good,
ale, for the sons of men;
for the more a man drinks,
the less he knows his mind. - It’s called the heron of oblivion, the one that stands quietly over ale-feasts;
it steals a man’s wits;
with this bird’s feathers I was fettered
in the court of Gunnlǫð. - I got drunk, got extremely drunk,
at the house of wise Fjalarr;
in that case the best ale-feast is one where each man
gets his faculties back. - A ruler’s child must be reserved and thoughtful
and brave in battle;
every man must be merry and cheerful
until he meets his death. - A foolish man thinks he will live forever,
if he bewares of battle;
but old age will give him no peace,
even if spears give it to him. - A fool stares when he comes to a friend’s house;
he mumbles to himself or stays silent;
all at once, if he gets a swig,
the man’s wits are gone. - Only the one who wanders widely
and has journeyed much
knows what disposition commands each man;
he’s knowing about the mind. - One mustn’t hog the bowl, but drink mead in moderation;
let one say something useful or be silent;
nobody will blame you for such bad manners,
if you go to bed early. - A greedy man, unless he knows his inclination,
eats himself into life-sorrow;
the stomach often brings scorn on a foolish man,
when he comes among the wise. - Herds know it, when they must go home,
and then go from the grass;
but a foolish man never knows
the measure of his maw. - A wretched man and one of wicked character
laughs at everything;
he doesn’t know what he needed to know,
that he’s not short of faults. - A foolish man stays awake through all nights
and thinks about everything;
then he’s exhausted when morning arrives,
[and] all his trouble is as it was. - A foolish man thinks all who laugh with him
are his friends;
he doesn’t notice, though they speak ill of him,
if he sits among the wise. - A foolish man thinks all who laugh with him
are his friends;
then he finds it [out] when he comes to the assembly
that he has few speakers on his behalf. - A foolish man thinks he knows it all,
if he has a safe spot for himself in a corner;
he doesn’t know this — what he must say in response,
if people put him to the test. - When a foolish man comes among men,
it’s best that he keep quiet;
no one will know that he knows nothing,
unless he talks too much;
the man who knows nothing doesn’t even know
when he talks too much. - He who can ask and also answer
is considered wise;
the sons of men can conceal nothing
of what goes around men. - He who is never silent speaks too many
staves of senselessness;
a fast-talking tongue, unless it has guards,
often invokes no good for itself. - One shouldn’t make mock of another
when one visits an acquaintance;
many [a man] may then seem wise if he isn’t questioned
and he manages to sit quietly with his skin dry. - A guest scornful of a [fellow] guest
is thought wise — [that is,] the one who [in this situation] takes flight;
the one who’s sneering at a meal can’t be sure
whether he’s scoffing among enemies. - Many men are entirely friendly towards each other,
but abuse one another at a feast;
there will always be strife among men,
guest will fall out with guest. - One should often have one’s meal early,
unless one visits an acquaintance;
[otherwise] one sits and craves food restlessly, acts as if famished,
and can ask about few things. - It’s a very roundabout route to a bad friend’s house,
even if he lives on your way;
but straight roads lead to a good friend,
even if he’s gone further away. - One must go, not always be
a guest in one place;
a loved man becomes loathed if he stays for long
on the floor of another. - A farmstead is better, even if it’s little;
everyone’s a free man at home;
even if one has [only] two goats and a rope-raftered hall,
that’s still better than begging. - A farmstead is better, even if it’s little;
everyone’s a freeman at home;
bloody is the heart of the one who must beg
for his food at every meal. - One mustn’t go a foot from
one’s weapons in the field;
for, out on the roads, a man never knows for certain
when he’ll have need of his spear. - I haven’t encountered a man so kind or generous with food
that to accept was not [to be reckoned as having] accepted,
or so liberal with his wealth
that a reward would be loathed, if he could receive one. - Of his wealth, when he has acquired it,
a man shouldn’t endure need;
often one saves for the loathed what’s meant for the loved;
many things turn out worse than one expects. - With weapons and apparel friends should gladden each other;
that’s most evident on themselves;
givers in return and repeat givers are friends longest,
if it lasts long enough to turn out well. - One should be a friend to one’s friend,
and repay gift with gift;
men should requite laughter with laughter,
and lying with a lie. - One should be a friend to one’s friend,
to him and to his friend;
but no one should be a friend
of his enemy’s friend. - Know that if you have a friend whom you trust well,
and you want to get good from him,
you must mingle your mind with his and exchange gifts,
go to see him often. - If you have another, whom you mistrust,
yet you want to get good from him,
you must speak fair with him but think false,
and repay lying with a lie. - That’s also the case with the one whom you mistrust
and whose disposition you suspect:
you must laugh with him and mince the truth;
there should be like repayment for gifts. - I was young once, I travelled alone,
then I was astray on the roads;
I thought myself rich when I met another;
man is man’s delight. - Generous, brave men live best,
they seldom nurse sorrow;
but a foolish man fears everything,
a miserly man is always nervous about gifts. - Out in the country, I gave my clothes
to two tree-men;
they thought themselves champions when they had fine clothing;
a naked man is shamed. - The fir-tree that stands in a farmstead withers,
neither bark nor needles protect it;
so it is with the man whom no one loves:
how is he to live for long? - Love burns hotter than fire for five days
among false friends,
but then dies down when the sixth comes,
and all friendship worsens. - One shouldn’t give a man only great things,
one can often buy oneself love with little;
with half a loaf and with a tilted cup
I got myself a comrade. - Of little sands, of little seas,
little are the minds of men;
that’s why all people haven’t become equivalently wise;
each class of humankind is half[-wise]. - Every man should be moderately wise,
let him never be too wise;
those people who know just enough
live the pleasantest lives. - Every man should be moderately wise,
let him never be too wise;
for the heart of a wise man seldom becomes happy,
if he who owns it is all-wise. - Every man should be moderately wise,
let him never be too wise;
let no one have foreknowledge of his fate,
one’s mind is [then] freest from sorrows. - Brand catches fire from brand, until it is burnt,
flame is kindled from flame;
man becomes wise from man by speech,
and too foolish from reticence. - He must rise early, the one who wants to have
another’s wealth or life;
a lounging wolf seldom gets the ham,
nor a sleeping man the victory. - He must rise early, the one who has few workmen,
and go to inspect his work;
many things will hinder the one who sleeps through the morning,
wealth is half in the hands of the willing. - Of dry sticks and bark for roofing,
a man knows his measure of this,
and of the wood that can suffice
for three months and for six. - Washed and fed let a man ride to the assembly,
even if he isn’t too well attired;
of his shoes and breeches let no man be ashamed,
or of his horse either, even if he hasn’t a good one. - When an eagle comes to the sea it snaps
and stretches at the ancient ocean;
so is a man who comes among many
and has few speakers on his behalf. - Every wise man who wants to be called sensible
must ask and answer;
one man should know, but not a second,
the nation will know, if there are three. - Every man wise in counsel should keep
his power in check;
he will find it [out], when he comes among the brave,
that no one is boldest of all. - For the words that one says to another,
one often receives repayment. - Much too early I came to many places,
and too late to some;
the ale had been drunk, [or] some was unbrewed,
the hated one seldom hits the mark. - Here and there I would be invited home
if I didn’t need food at meal-times;
or two hams might hang in the true friend’s house
when I had [already] eaten one. - Fire is best among the sons of men,
and the sight of the sun,
his health, if a man can keep it,
to live without disability. - A man isn’t entirely wretched, even if he’s in bad health:
one man is blessed in sons,
one in kinsmen, one in sufficient wealth,
one is well-[blessed] in deeds. - It’s better for the living than the unliving,
the live man always gets the cow;
I saw fire blaze up before a rich man,
but death was outside the door. - A limping man rides a horse, a one-handed man drives a flock,
a deaf man fights and wins;
it’s better to be blind than burnt;
no one has use for a corpse. - A son is better, even if he’s born late,
after the father has passed on;
memorial stones seldom stand by the road
unless kinsman raises them for kinsman. - Two are the destroyers of one; the tongue is the head’s slayer;
I expect a hand inside every fur cloak. - Night is welcome to the one who trusts his provisions;
short are a ship’s yard-arms;
an autumn night is changeable;
a wealth of weather in five days,
and more in a month. - He who knows nothing doesn’t know it:
many a man becomes an ape through money;
one man is wealthy, another unwealthy,
one shouldn’t blame him for his misfortune. - Cattle die, kinsmen die,
one dies oneself the same;
but reputation never dies
for whoever gets himself a good one. - Cattle die, kinsmen die,
one dies oneself the same;
I know one thing that never dies:
the renown of every dead man. - Full cattle-pens I saw for Fitjungr’s sons;
now they bear a beggar’s staff;
wealth is just like the winking of an eye,
it’s the most fickle of friends. - If a foolish man gets hold of wealth
or a woman’s love,
his pride increases, but his intelligence never;
forward he goes, headlong into folly. - It’s proven then, when you enquire of the runes,
those of divine descent,
those which mighty powers made
and Fimbulþulr coloured;
he does best then if he keeps quiet. - One should praise a day in the evening, a woman when she’s been burned,
a sword when it’s been proven, a girl when she’s been given in marriage,
ice when it’s been crossed, ale when it’s been drunk. - One should fell a tree in a wind, row to sea in fine weather,
chat with a girl in the dark; many are the eyes of day;
one should look to a ship for speed, and to a shield for protection,
a sword for a blow, and a girl for kisses. - One should drink ale by the fire, and skate on ice,
buy a lean horse, and a dirty sword;
fatten a horse at home, but a hound at [another’s] house. - No one should trust a girl’s words,
or what a woman says,
because their hearts were shaped on a whirling wheel,
fickleness was laid in their breast. - In a breaking bow, in a burning flame,
in a gaping wolf, in a cawing crow,
in a grunting boar, in a rootless tree,
in a rising wave, in a boiling cauldron, - in a flying shaft, in a falling wave,
in one-night-old ice, in a coiled snake,
in a bride’s bed-talk or in a broken sword,
in a bear’s play or in a king’s child, - in a sick calf, in a self-willed slave,
in a seeress’s satisfying words, in a newly-felled man, - in a field sown early, let no one have faith,
nor in a son too soon —
weather rules the field, and sense the son;
each of them is at risk — - in one’s brother’s slayer, if one should meet him on the road,
in a half-burned house, in a very fast horse —
a horse is useless if it breaks one leg —
let no man become so trusting that he puts faith in all these! - Loving women, those who think deceitful thoughts,
is like driving a horse without spikes on slippery ice,
a frisky two-year-old and ill-trained,
or like tacking a rudderless ship against a raging wind,
or having, as a limping man, to lay hands on a reindeer on a thawing mountain. - I shall now speak plainly, for I know both —
men’s feelings for women are fickle;
when we speak most sweetly, we think most deceitfully —
that deludes wise minds. - He must speak sweetly and offer wealth,
the one who wants to win a woman’s love,
praise the radiant girl’s body,
he who woos wins. - No one should ever find fault
with another over love;
often ravishingly fair looks enthrall a wise man,
when they don’t enthrall a fool. - One should find fault with another
for nothing that happens to many a man;
that mighty desire makes dolts
out of wise sons of men. - The mind alone knows that which lives near the heart,
he is alone with his thoughts;
no sickness is worse for any wise man
than to be content with nothing. - I proved that when I sat in the reeds
and waited for my love;
the wise girl was flesh and heart to me,
yet I have her none the more for that. - I found Billingr’s daughter in bed,
sleeping, sun-white;
an earl’s delight seemed as nothing to me,
unless I could live with that body. - ‘You must come again towards evening, Óðinn,
if you want to win the girl with words;
all will be undone, unless we alone
know of such shame together!’ - Back I turned and thought myself in love,
from certain delight;
I thought this, that I would have
her whole heart and love-play. - Thus [it was when] I came next,
that the able warband was all awake;
with burning lights and raised wood,
thus was a misery-path appointed for me. - And toward morning, when I had come again,
the hall-guard was asleep;
then I found one of the good woman’s bitches
bound on the bed. - Many a good girl, if one gets to know her fully,
is fickle of mind towards men,
I proved that when I sought to seduce
the counsel-wise woman into deceit;
the wise girl attacked me with every insult,
and I had nothing of this woman. - A man happy at home and cheerful with guests
must be shrewd in his behaviour,
mindful and talkative, if he wants to be very knowledgeable;
he must often speak of good;
he who can say little is called a complete idiot:
that’s the sign of the unwise. - I visited the ancient giant, [and] now I have come back;
I got little by keeping quiet there;
with many words I spoke to my advancement
in Suttungr’s halls. - Gunnlǫð gave me on a golden seat
a drink of the precious mead;
I let her have a poor reward
for her true feelings,
for her troubled mind. - I made Rati’s mouth make room
and gnaw through rock;
above and below me stood the roads of giants;
that’s how I risked my head for it. - I’ve made good use of the well-bought look;
for the wise one, little is lacking;
because Óðrerir has now come up
to the rim of the sanctuary of men. - I doubt that I would have come back
from the courts of the giants,
if I hadn’t made use of Gunnlǫð, the good woman,
who laid her arm over me. - The following day, frost-giants went
to seek Hávi’s counsel in Hávi’s hall;
they asked about Bǫlverkr, whether he had come among the gods,
or whether Suttungr had slaughtered him. - I think Óðinn has sworn a ring-oath;
how can his pledges be trusted?
He cheated Suttungr of the drink,
and caused Gunnlǫð to weep. - It is time to chant from the sage’s seat,
at the spring of Urðr;
I saw and I was silent, I saw and I pondered;
I listened to the speech of men;
I heard them discuss runes, they weren’t silent with counsels,
at Hávi’s hall,
in Hávi’s hall;
I heard it said thus: - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, that you take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
don’t get up at night, unless you’re on watch
or looking, from inside, for a place to relieve yourself outside! - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, that you take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
you mustn’t sleep in the embrace of a woman wise in magic,
so that she locks you in her limbs. - Thus she’ll ensure you won’t pay attention
to the assembly or a ruler’s speech;
you won’t want food or the pleasure of anyone’s fellowship,
you’ll go to sleep sorrowful. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, that you take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never lure another’s wife
into being your lover. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
if you want to travel on fell or fjord,
provide yourself well with food. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never let a bad man
know your misfortunes,
because from a bad man you will never get
a reward for the good intention. - I saw the words of an evil woman bite a man high up;
a deceitful tongue was the death of him,
and yet the accusation was untrue. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
know [this, that] if you have a friend, one whom you trust well,
go to visit him often,
because a road that no one treads becomes overgrown
with brushwood and tall grass. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
draw a good man into a pleasing friendship with you,
and learn soothing charms while you live. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never be the first to sever
happy relations with your friend;
sorrow eats the heart if you can’t speak
your whole mind to someone. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
you must never exchange words
with an unwise ape. - Because from a bad man you’ll never
get a reward for the goodwill,
but a good man can make you assured
of esteem by his praise. - Kinship is exchanged when anyone decides
to tell his whole mind [to another];
anything is better than for one to be unreliable,
he who says only what’s agreeable is no friend to another. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
you mustn’t utter [even] three words in dispute with a worse man than you;
often the better man fails
when the worse man fights. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
be neither a shoe-maker nor a shaft-maker,
unless you be one for yourself;
[if] the shoe is badly made or the shaft is crooked,
then evil will be invoked for you. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
wherever you perceive evil, declare it as evil,
and don’t give your enemies peace. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never be gladdened by evil,
but let yourself be pleased with good. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
you mustn’t look up in battle —
the sons of men become like a madman —
lest men cast a spell on you. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
if you want to persuade a good woman into secret love with you
and get delight from her,
you must make fine promises and let them be firm:
no one loathes a good thing, if one gets it. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
I bid you be wary, but not overwary;
be wariest with ale and with another’s wife,
and, third, that thieves don’t outwit you. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never treat a guest or a tramp
with scorn or derision. - Often those sitting inside are unsure
what kind of men are those who come;
no one is so good as to have no fault,
nor so bad as to be good for nothing. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
never scoff at a grey-haired sage;
often what old men say is good;
often shrewd words come from a shrunken bag,
from the one who hangs among hides
and dangles among skins
and swings among wretches. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
don’t bark at a guest or drive him to the gate;
provide well for a poor man. - Strong is the beam that must slide
to open up for all;
give an arm-ring, or visitors will invoke
every kind of injury upon your limbs. - I counsel you, Loddfáfnir, and you should take my counsels;
you’ll profit if you take them,
they’ll be good for you if you get them:
wherever you may drink ale, choose for yourself earth’s power,
for earth has strength against ale, and fire against illnesses,
oak against constipation, ear of corn against witchcraft,
elder(?) against household strife — for hatreds one must call on the moon —
earthworm against bite-illnesses, and runes against evil;
one must take earth for the flux. - I know that I hung on a windy tree
for all of nine nights,
wounded by a spear and given to Óðinn,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no one knows
the kind of roots it runs from. - They blessed me with neither bread nor horn,
I peered down, I took up runes,
screaming I took them; I fell back from there. - Nine mighty songs I learnt from the famous son
of Bǫlþórr, father of Bestla,
and I got a drink of the precious mead,
poured from Óðrerir. - Then I began to produce seed and be fertile,
and to grow and feel well;
word sought word from my word,
deed sought deed from my deed. - Runes you will find and readable staves,
very great staves,
very stiff staves,
which Fimbulþulr coloured
and great powers created
and Hroptr of the ruling powers carved, - Óðinn among the Æsir, and Dáinn for the elves,
Dvalinn for the dwarves,
Ásviðr for the giants,
I carved some myself. - Do you know how one must carve? Do you know how one must read?
Do you know how one must color? Do you know how one must test?
Do you know how one must invoke? Do you know how one must offer?
Do you know how one must send? Do you know how one must immolate? - Uninvoked is better than over-offered;
a gift always looks for repayment;
unsent is better than over-immolated;
thus Þundr carved before the history of peoples;
there he rose up, when he came back. - I know those songs that a ruler’s wife doesn’t know,
and no one’s son;
one is called ‘help’, and it will help you
against disputes and sorrows, and each and every suffering. - I know it, a second, which the sons of men need,
those who want to live as healers. - I know it, the third: if I have great need
of a fetter for my foes,
I blunt the edges of my enemies;
for them neither weapons nor staffs will bite. - I know it, the fourth: if people put
bonds on my arms and legs,
I chant so that I can walk;
the fetter springs from my legs,
and the shackle from my arms. - I know it, the fifth: if I see a shaft shot
in malice flying in battle,
it doesn’t fly so forcefully that I can’t stop it,
if I see it with my sight. - I know it, the sixth: if a warrior wounds me
on the roots of a strong tree —
so too with that man who provokes my hatred —
harm will devour him, rather than me. - I know it, the seventh: if I see a high hall
blazing around bench-mates,
it doesn’t burn so broadly that I can’t save it;
I know the incantation to chant. - I know it, the eighth, which is useful
for all to learn:
wherever hatred grows between a warrior’s sons,
I can swiftly settle it. - I know it, the ninth: if need arises for me
to save my ship when it’s afloat,
I calm the wind on the wave
and lull all the sea to sleep. - I know it, the tenth: if I see fence-riders
sporting in the air,
I bring it about that they go astray
to the home of their shapes(?),
to the home of their minds(?). - I know it, the eleventh: if I have to lead
long-standing friends into conflict,
I chant beneath the shield-rims, and they journey with strength,
safe to battle,
safe from battle,
they come safe from anywhere. - I know it, the twelfth: if I see a halter-corpse
dangling up in a tree,
I so carve and colour-in runes
that that man walks
and talks with me. - I know it, the thirteenth: if I have to throw
water on a young warrior,
he won’t fall, even if he comes into battle,
that man won’t sink before swords. - I know it, the fourteenth: if I have to count the gods
before a company of people,
of Æsir and elves I know all their attributes;
few fools can do that. - I know it, the fifteenth, which Þjóðreyrir, a dwarf,
chanted before Dellingr’s doors:
he chanted strength to the Æsir, and courage to the elves,
intellect to Hroptatýr. - I know it, the sixteenth: if I wish to have the whole heart
and sexual pleasure of the wise girl,
I turn the feelings of the white-armed woman
and I twist her whole heart. - I know it, the seventeenth, so that the girly girl
will be slow to leave me.
These songs, Loddfáfnir, you will
long be lacking,
though it would be good for you if you get them,
[they would be] useful if you take them,
needful if you receive them. - I know it, the eighteenth, which I never teach
to a girl or a man’s wife —
everything is better when only one knows;
it marks the end of the songs —
except to her alone who enfolds me in her arms,
or who might be my sister. - Now Hávi’s sayings have been spoken in Hávi’s hall,
most useful to the sons of men,
useless to the sons of men(?)!
Hail to the one who spoke! Hail to the one who knows!
Let the one who learned profit!
Hail to those who listened!
* Original text modified by the editor for clarification and ease of reading