Havamal - The Sayings of the High
One
Translation by Henry Adams Bellows
- Within the gates
ere a man shall go,
(Full warily let him watch,)
Full long let him look about him;
For little he knows where a foe may
lurk,
And sit in the seats within.
- Hail to the giver!
a guest has come;
Where shall the stranger sit?
Swift shall he be who, with swords
shall try
The proof of his might to make.
- Fire he needs
who with frozen knees
Has come from the cold without;
Food and clothes must the farer have,
The man from the mountains come.
- Water and towels
and welcoming speech
Should he find who comes, to the feast;
If renown he would get, and again be
greeted,
Wisely and well must he act.
- Wits must he have
who wanders wide,
But all is easy at home;
At the witless man the wise shall wink
When among such men he sits.
- A man shall not boast
of his keenness of mind,
But keep it close in his breast;
To the silent and wise does ill come
seldom
When he goes as guest to a house;
(For a faster friend one never finds
Than wisdom tried and true.)
- The knowing guest
who goes to the feast,
In silent attention sits;
With his ears he hears, with his eyes
he watches,
Thus wary are wise men all.
- Happy the one
who wins for himself
Favor and praises fair;
Less safe by far is the wisdom found
That is hid in another's heart.
- Happy the man
who has while he lives
Wisdom and praise as well,
For evil counsel a man full oft
Has from another's heart.
- A better burden
may no man bear
For wanderings wide than wisdom;
It is better than wealth on unknown
ways,
And in grief a refuge it gives.
- A better burden
may no man bear
For wanderings wide than wisdom;
Worse food for the journey he brings
not afield
Than an over-drinking of ale.
- Less good there lies
than most believe
In ale for mortal men;
For the more he drinks the less does
man
Of his mind the mastery hold.
- Over beer the bird
of forgetfulness broods,
And steals the minds of men;
With the heron's feathers fettered
I lay
And in Gunnloth's house was held.
- Drunk I was,
I was dead-drunk,
When with Fjalar wise I was;
'Tis the best of drinking if back one
brings
His wisdom with him home.
- The son of a king
shall be silent and wise,
And bold in battle as well;
Bravely and gladly a man shall go,
Till the day of his death is come.
- The sluggard believes
he shall live forever,
If the fight he faces not;
But age shall not grant him the gift
of peace,
Though spears may spare his life.
- The fool is agape
when he comes to the feast,
He stammers or else is still;
But soon if he gets a drink is it seen
What the mind of the man is like.
- He alone is aware
who has wandered wide,
And far abroad has fared,
How great a mind is guided by him
That wealth of wisdom has.
- Shun not the mead,
but drink in measure;
Speak to the point or be still;
For rudeness none shall rightly blame
thee
If soon thy bed thou seekest.
- The greedy man,
if his mind be vague,
Will eat till sick he is;
The vulgar man, when among the wise,
To scorn by his belly is brought.
- The herds know well
when home they shall fare,
And then from the grass they go;
But the foolish man his belly's measure
Shall never know aright.
- A paltry man
and poor of mind
At all things ever mocks;
For never he knows, what he ought to
know,
That he is not free from faults.
- The witless man
is awake all night,
Thinking of many things;
Care-worn he is when the morning comes,
And his woe is just as it was.
- The foolish man
for friends all those
Who laugh at him will hold;
When among the wise he marks it not
Though hatred of him they speak.
- The foolish man
for friends all those
Who laugh at him will hold;
But the truth when he comes to the
council he learns,
That few in his favor will speak.
- An ignorant man
thinks that all he knows,
When he sits by himself in a corner;
But never what answer to make he knows,
When others with questions come.
- A witless man,
when he meets with men,
Had best in silence abide;
For no one shall find that nothing
he knows,
If his mouth is not open too much.
(But a man knows not, if nothing he
knows,
When his mouth has been open too much.)
- Wise shall he seem
who well can question,
And also answer well;
Nought is concealed that men may say
Among the sons of men.
- Often he speaks
who never is still
With words that win no faith;
The babbling tongue, if a bridle it
find not,
Oft for itself sings ill.
- In mockery no one
a man shall hold,
Although he fare to the feast;
Wise seems one oft, if nought he is
asked,
And safely he sits dry-skinned.
- Wise a guest holds it
to take to his heels,
When mock of another he makes;
But little he knows who laughs at the
feast,
Though he mocks in the midst of his foes.
- Friendly of mind
are many men,
Till feasting they mock at their friends;
To mankind a bane must it ever be
When guests together strive.
- Oft should one make
an early meal,
Nor fasting come to the feast;
Else he sits and chews as if he would
choke,
And little is able to ask.
- Crooked and far
is the road to a foe,
Though his house on the highway be;
But wide and straight is the way to
a friend,
Though far away he fare.
- Forth shall one go,
nor stay as a guest
In a single spot forever;
Love becomes loathing if long one sits
By the hearth in another's home.
- Better a house,
though a hut it be,
A man is master at home;
A pair of goats and a patched-up roof
Are better far than begging.
- Better a house,
though a hut it be,
A man is master at home;
His heart is bleeding who needs must
beg
When food he fain would have.
- Away from his arms
in the open field
A man should fare not a foot;
For never he knows when the need for
a spear
Shall arise on the distant road.
- If wealth a man
has won for himself,
Let him never suffer in need;
Oft he saves for a foe what he plans
for a friend,
For much goes worse than we wish.
- None so free with gifts
or food have I found
That gladly he took not a gift,
Nor one who so widely scattered his
wealth
That of recompense hatred he had.
- Friends shall gladden each other
with arms and garments,
As each for himself can see;
Gift-givers' friendships are longest
found,
If fair their fates may be.
- To his friend a man
a friend shall prove,
And gifts with gifts requite;
But men shall mocking with mockery
answer,
And fraud with falsehood meet.
- To his friend a man
a friend shall prove,
To him and the friend of his friend;
But never a man shall friendship make
With one of his foeman's friends.
- If a friend thou hast
whom thou fully wilt trust,
And good from him wouldst get,
Thy thoughts with his mingle, and gifts
shalt thou make,
And fare to find him oft.
- If another thou hast
whom thou hardly wilt trust,
Yet good from him wouldst get,
Thou shalt speak him fair, but falsely
think,
And fraud with falsehood requite.
- So is it with him
whom thou hardly wilt trust,
And whose mind thou mayst not know;
Laugh with him mayst thou, but speak
not thy mind,
Like gifts to his shalt thou give.
- Young was I once,
and wandered alone,
And nought of the road I knew;
Rich did I feel when a comrade I found,
For man is man's delight.
- The lives of the brave
and noble are best,
Sorrows they seldom feed;
But the coward fear of all things feels,
And not gladly the niggard gives.
- My garments once
in a field I gave
To a pair of carven poles;
Heroes they seemed when clothes they
had,
But the naked man is nought.
- On the hillside drear
the fir-tree dies,
All bootless its needles and bark;
It is like a man whom no one loves,--
Why should his life be long?
- Hotter than fire
between false friends
Does friendship five days burn;
When the sixth day comes the fire cools,
And ended is all the love.
- No great thing needs
a man to give,
Oft little will purchase praise;
With half a loaf and a half-filled
cup
A friend full fast I made.
- A little sand
has a little sea,
And small are the minds of men;
Though all men are not equal in wisdom,
Yet half-wise only are all.
- A measure of wisdom
each man shall have,
But never too much let him know;
The fairest lives do those men live
Whose wisdom wide has grown.
- A measure of wisdom
each man shall have,
But never too much let him know;
For the wise man's heart is seldom
happy,
If wisdom too great he has won.
- A measure of wisdom
each man shall have,
But never too much let him know;
Let no man the fate before him see,
For so is he freest from sorrow.
- A brand from a brand
is kindled and burned,
And fire from fire begotten;
And man by his speech is known to men,
And the stupid by their stillness.
- He must early go forth
who fain the blood
Or the goods of another would get;
The wolf that lies idle shall win little
meat,
Or the sleeping man success.
- He must early go forth
whose workers are few,
Himself his work to seek;
Much remains undone for the morning-sleeper,
For the swift is wealth half won.
- Of seasoned shingles
and strips of bark
For the thatch let one know his need,
And how much of wood he must have for
a month,
Or in half a year he will use.
- Washed and fed
to the council fare,
But care not too much for thy clothes;
Let none be ashamed of his shoes and
hose,
Less still of the steed he rides,
(Though poor be the horse he has.)
- When the eagle comes
to the ancient sea,
He snaps and hangs his head;
So is a man in the midst of a throng,
Who few to speak for him finds.
- To question and answer
must all be ready
Who wish to be known as wise;
Tell one thy thoughts, but beware of
two,--
All know what is known to three.
- The man who is prudent
a measured use
Of the might he has will make;
He finds when among the brave he fares
That the boldest he may not be.
- A man must be watchful
and wary as well,
And fearful of trusting a friend.
Oft for the words that to others one
speaks
He will get but an evil gift.
- Too early to many
a meeting I came,
And some too late have I sought;
The beer was all drunk, or not yet
brewed;
Little the loathed man finds.
- To their homes men would bid
me hither and yon,
If at meal-time I needed no meat,
Or would hang two hams in my true friend's
house,
Where only one I had eaten.
- Fire for men
is the fairest gift,
And power to see the sun;
Health as well, if a man may have it,
And a life not stained with sin.
- All wretched is no man,
though never so sick;
Some from their sons have joy,
Some win it from kinsmen, and some
from their wealth,
And some from worthy works.
- It is better to live
than to lie a corpse,
The live man catches the cow;
I saw flames rise for the rich man's
pyre,
And before his door he lay dead.
- The lame rides a horse,
the handless is herdsman,
The deaf in battle is bold;
The blind man is better than one that
is burned,
No good can come of a corpse.
- A son is better,
though late he be born,
And his father to death have fared;
Memory-stones seldom stand by the road
Save when kinsman honors his kin.
- Two make a battle,
the tongue slays the head;
In each furry coat a fist I look for.
- He welcomes the night
whose fare is enough,
(Short are the yards of a ship,)
Uneasy are autumn nights;
Full oft does the weather change in
a week,
And more in a month's time.
- A man knows not,
if nothing he knows,
That gold oft apes begets;
One man is wealthy and one is poor,
Yet scorn for him none should know.
- Among Fitjung's sons
saw I well-stocked folds,--
Now bear they the beggar's staff;
Wealth is as swift as a winking eye,
Of friends the falsest it is.
- Cattle die, and
kinsmen die,
And so one dies one's self;
But a noble name will never die,
If good renown one gets.
- Cattle die, and
kinsmen die,
And so one dies one's self;
One thing now that never dies,
The fame of a dead man's deeds.
- Certain is that
which is sought from runes,
That the gods so great have made,
And the Master-Poet painted;
Certain is that which is sought from runes,
The runes of the race of gods:
Silence is safest and best.
- An unwise man,
if a maiden's love
Or wealth he chances to win,
His pride will wax, but his wisdom never,
Straight forward he fares in conceit.
* * *
- Give praise to the day at evening,
to a woman on her pyre,
To a weapon which is tried, to a maid
at wed lock,
To ice when it is crossed, to ale that
is drunk.
- When the gale blows hew wood,
in fair winds seek the water;
Sport with maidens at dusk, for day's
eyes are many;
From the ship seek swiftness, from
the shield protection,
Cuts from the sword, from the maiden
kisses.
- By the fire drink ale,
over ice go on skates;
Buy a steed that is lean, and a sword
when tarnished,
The horse at home fatten, the hound
in thy dwelling.
* * *
- A man shall trust not
the oath of a maid,
Nor the word a woman speaks;
For their hearts on a whirling wheel
were fashioned,
And fickle their breasts were formed.
- In a breaking bow
or a burning flame,
A ravening wolf or a croaking raven,
In a grunting boar, a tree with roots
broken,
In billowy seas or a bubbling kettle,
- In a flying arrow
or falling waters,
In ice new formed or the serpent's
folds,
In a bride's bed-speech or a broken
sword,
In the sport of bears or in sons of
kings,
- In a calf that is sick
or a stubborn thrall,
A flattering witch or a foe new slain.
In a light, clear sky or a laughing
throng,
In the bowl of a dog or a harlot's
grief!
- In a brother's slayer,
if thou meet him abroad,
In a half-burned house, in a horse
full swift--
One leg is hurt and the horse is useless--
None had ever such faith as to trust
in them all.
- Hope not too surely
for early harvest,
Nor trust too soon in thy son;
The field needs good weather, the son
needs wisdom,
And oft is either denied.
* * *
- The love of women
fickle of will
Is like starting o'er ice with a steed
unshod,
A two-year-old restive and little tamed,
Or steering a rudderless ship in a
storm,
Or, lame, hunting reindeer on slippery
rocks.
* * *
- Clear now will I speak,
for I know them both,
Men false to women are found;
When fairest we speak, then falsest
we think,
Against wisdom we work with deceit.
- Soft words shall he speak
and wealth shall he offer
Who longs for a maiden's love,
And the beauty praise of the maiden
bright;
He wins whose wooing is best.
- Fault for loving
let no man find
Ever with any other;
Oft the wise are fettered, where fools
go free,
By beauty that breeds desire.
- Fault with another
let no man find
For what touches many a man;
Wise men oft into witless fools
Are made by mighty love.
- The head alone knows
what dwells near the heart,
A man knows his mind alone;
No sickness is worse to one who is
wise
Than to lack the longed-for joy.
- This found I myself,
when I sat in the reeds,
And long my love awaited;
As my life the maiden wise I loved,
Yet her I never had.
- Billing's daughter
I found on her bed,
In slumber bright as the sun;
Empty appeared an earl's estate
Without that form so fair.
- "Othin, again
at evening come,
If a woman thou wouldst win;
Evil it were if others than we
Should know of such a sin."
- Away I hastened,
hoping for joy,
And careless of counsel wise;
Well I believed that soon I should
win
Measureless joy with the maid.
- So came I next
when night it was,
The warriors all were awake;
With burning lights and waving brands
I learned my luckess way.
- At morning then,
when once more I came,
And all were sleeping still,
A dog found in the fair one's place,
Bound there upon her bed.
- Many fair maids,
if a man but tries them,
False to a lover are found;
That did I learn when I longed to gain
With wiles the maiden wise;
Foul scorn was my meed from the crafty
maid,
And nought from the woman I won.
* * *
- Though glad at home,
and merry with guests,
A man shall be wary and wise;
The sage and shrewd, wide wisdom seeking,
Must see that his speech be fair;
A fool is he named who nought can say,
For such is the way of the witless.
- I found the old giant,
now back have I fared,
Small gain from silence I got;
Full many a word, my will to get,
I spoke in Suttung's hall.
- The mouth of Rati
made room for my passage,
And space in the stone he gnawed;
Above and below the giants' paths lay,
So rashly I risked my head.
- Gunnloth gave
on a golden stool
A drink of the marvelous mead;
A harsh reward did I let her have
For her heroic heart,
And her spirit troubled sore.
- The well-earned beauty
well I enjoyed,
Little the wise man lacks;
So Othrörir now has up been brought
To the midst of the men of earth.
- Hardly, methinks,
would I home have come,
And left the giants' land,
Had not Gunnloth helped me, the maiden
good,
Whose arms about me had been.
- The day that followed,
the frost-giants came,
Some word of Hor to win,
(And into the hall of Hor;)
Of Bolverk they asked, were he back
midst the gods,
Or had Suttung slain him there?
- On his ring swore Othin
the oath, methinks;
Who now his troth shall trust?
Suttung's betrayal he sought with drink,
And Gunnloth to grief he left.
* * *
- It is time to chant
from the chanter's stool;
By the wells of Urth I was,
I saw and was silent, I saw and thought,
And heard the speech of Hor.
(Of runes heard I words, nor were counsels
wanting,
At the hall of Hor,
In the hall of Hor;
Such was the speech I heard.)
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,---
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Rise not at night, save if news thou
seekest,
Or fain to the outhouse wouldst fare.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Beware of sleep on a witch's bosom,
Nor let her limbs ensnare thee.
- Such is her might
that thou hast no mind
For the council or meeting of men;
Meat thou hatest, joy thou hast not,
And sadly to slumber thou farest.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Seek never to win the wife of another,
Or long for her secret love.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
If o'er mountains or gulfs thou fain
wouldst go,
Look well to thy food for the way.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
An evil man thou must not let
Bring aught of ill to thee;
For an evil man will never make
Reward for a worthy thought.
- I saw a man who
was wounded sore
By an evil woman's word;
A lying tongue his death-blow launched,
And no word of truth there was.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
If a friend thou hast whom thou fully
wilt trust,
Then fare to find him oft;
For brambles grow and waving grass
On the rarely trodden road.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
A good man find to hold in friendship,
And give heed to his healing charms.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,-
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Be never the first to break with thy
friend
The bond that holds you both;
Care eats the heart if thou canst not
speak
To another all thy thought.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Exchange of words with a witless ape
Thou must not ever make.
- For never thou mayst
from an evil man
A good requital get;
But a good man oft the greatest love
Through words of praise will win thee.
- Mingled is love
when a man can speak
To another all his thought;
Nought is so bad as false to be,
No friend speaks only fair.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
With a worse man speak not three words
in dispute,
Ill fares the better oft
When the worse man wields a sword.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,-
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
A shoemaker be, or a maker of shafts,
For only thy single self;
If the shoe is ill made, or the shaft
prove false,
Then evil of thee men think.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
If evil thou knowest, as evil proclaim
it,
And make no friendship with foes.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
In evil never joy shalt thou know,
But glad the good shall make thee.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Look not up when the battle is on,--
(Like madmen the sons of men become,--)
Lest men bewitch thy wits.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,-
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
If thou fain wouldst win a woman's
love,
And gladness get from her,
Fair be thy promise and well fulfilled;
None loathes what good he gets.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,-
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
I bid thee be wary, but be not fearful;
(Beware most with ale or another's wife,
And third beware lest a thief outwit
thee.)
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,-
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Scorn or mocking ne'er shalt thou make
Of a guest or a journey-goer.
- Oft scarcely he knows
who sits in the house
What kind is the man who comes;
None so good is found that faults he
has not,
Nor so wicked that nought he is worth.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Scorn not ever the gray-haired singer,
Oft do the old speak good;
(Oft from shrivelled skin come skillful
counsels,
Though it hang with the hides,
And flap with the pelts,
And is blown with the bellies.)
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Curse not thy guest, nor show him thy
gate,
Deal well with a man in want.
- Strong is the beam
that raised must be
To give an entrance to all;
Give it a ring, or grim will be
The wish it would work on thee.
- I rede thee, Loddfafnir!
and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
When ale thou drinkest) seek might
of earth,
(For earth cures drink, and fire cures
ills,
The oak cures tightness, the ear cures
magic,
Rye cures rupture, the moon cures rage,
Grass cures the scab, and runes the
sword-cut;)
The field absorbs the flood.
- Now are Hor's words
spoken in the hall,
Kind for the kindred of men,
Cursed for the kindred of giants:
Hail to the speaker, and to him who
learns!
Profit be his who has them!
Hail to them who hearken!
* * *
- I ween that I hung
on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine;
With the spear I was wounded, and offered
I was
To Othin, myself to myself,
On the tree that none may ever know
What root beneath it runs.
- None made me happy
with loaf or horn,
And there below I looked;
I took up the runes, shrieking I took
them,
And forthwith back I fell.
- Nine mighty songs
I got from the son
Of Bolthorn, Bestla's father;
And a drink I got of the goodly mead
Poured out from Othrörir.
- Then began I to thrive,
and wisdom to get,
I grew and well I was;
Each word led me on to another word,
Each deed to another deed.
- Runes shalt thou find,
and fateful signs,
That the king of singers colored,
And the mighty gods have made;
Full strong the signs, full mighty
the signs
That the ruler of gods doth write.
- Othin for the gods,
Dain for the elves,
And Dvalin for the dwarfs,
Alsvith for giants and all mankind,
And some myself I wrote.
- Knowest how one shall write,
knowest how one shall rede?
Knowest how one shall tint, knowest
how one makes trial?
Knowest how one shall ask, knowest
how one shall offer?
Knowest how one shall send, knowest
how one shall sacrifice?
- Better no prayer
than too big an offering,
By thy getting measure thy gift;
Better is none than too big a sacrifice,
. . . . . . . . . .
So Thund of old wrote ere man's race
began,
Where he rose on high when home he
came.
* * *
- The songs I know
that king's wives know not,
Nor men that are sons of men;
The first is called help, and help
it can bring thee
In sorrow and pain and sickness.
- A second I know,
that men shall need
Who leechcraft long to use;
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
- A third I know,
if great is my need
Of fetters to hold my foe;
Blunt do I make mine enemy's blade,
Nor bites his sword or staff.
- A fourth I know,
if men shall fasten
Bonds on my bended legs;
So great is the charm that forth I
may go,
The fetters spring from my feet,
Broken the bonds from my hands.
- A fifth I know,
if I see from afar
An arrow fly 'gainst the folk;
It flies not so swift that I stop it
not,
If ever my eyes behold it.
- A sixth I know,
if harm one seeks
With a sapling's roots to send me;
The hero himself who wreaks his hate
Shall taste the ill ere I.
- A seventh I know,
if I see in flames
The hall o'er my comrades' heads;
It burns not so wide that I will not
quench it,
I know that song to sing.
- An eighth I know,
that is to all
Of greatest good to learn;
When hatred grows among heroes' sons,
I soon can set it right.
- A ninth I know,
if need there comes
To shelter my ship on the flood;
The wind I calm upon the waves,
And the sea I put to sleep.
- A tenth I know,
what time I see
House-riders flying on high;
So can I work that wildly they go,
Showing their true shapes,
Hence to their own homes.
- An eleventh I know,
if needs I must lead
To the fight my long-loved friends;
I sing in the shields, and in strength
they go
Whole to the field of fight,
Whole from the field of fight,
And whole they come thence home.
- A twelfth I know,
if high on a tree
I see a hanged man swing;
So do I write and color the runes
That forth he fares,
And to me talks.
- A thirteenth I know,
if a thane full young
With water I sprinkle well;
He shall not fall, though he fares
mid the host,
Nor sink beneath the swords.
- A fourteenth I know,
if fain I would name
To men the mighty gods;
All know I well of the gods and elves,
Few be the fools know this.
- A fifteenth I know,
that before the doors
Of Delling sang Thjothrörir the dwarf;
Might he sang for the gods, and glory
for elves,
And wisdom for Hroptatyr wise.
- A sixteenth I know,
if I seek delight
To win from a maiden wise;
The mind I turn of the white-armed
maid,
And thus change all her thoughts.
- A seventeenth I know,
so that seldom shall go
A maiden young from me;
. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .
- Long these songs
thou shalt, Loddfafnir,
Seek in vain to sing;
Yet good it were if thou mightest get
them,
Well, if thou wouldst them learn,
Help, if thou hadst them.
- An eighteenth I know,
that ne'er will I tell
To maiden or wife of man,--
The best is what none but one's self
doth know,
So comes the end of the songs,--
Save only to her in whose arms I lie,
Or who else my sister is.
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