The Poetic Edda Read online

  standing over a farm,

  no longer protected by bark and needles.

  A person is the same way

  if nobody loves him;

  how will he live much longer?

  [51] The friendship

  among false friends

  burns warmly for five days,

  but then it’s extinguished

  by the sixth day,

  and the friendship is over.

  [52] You should not give

  only big gifts;

  often a little thing will win you favor.

  I have won friends

  with just half a loaf of bread

  and a bowl of soup.

  [53] Where the beaches are small,

  it’s a small sea that washes them—

  and so it is with little minds.

  Not everyone

  is equally wise,

  but the average is moderately wise.

  [54] You should be

  only a little wise,

  never too wise.

  The happiest people

  throughout their lives

  are the moderately wise.

  {27} [55] You should be

  only a little wise,

  never too wise.

  A wise man’s heart

  is seldom glad

  if he’s truly wise.

  [56] You should be

  only a little wise,

  never too wise.

  It’s best not to know

  your fate beforehand;

  you’ll live happier if you don’t.

  [57] A torch is lit by another

  and burns till it’s burned out;

  a fire is kindled by another fire.

  A man becomes wise

  by speaking with other men,

  but foolish by keeping to himself.

  [58] Rise early, if you want

  to take another man’s

  property, or his life.

  A sleeping wolf

  seldom wins a sheep,

  or a sleeping warrior a victory.

  [59] Rise early

  if you have no one to work for you,

  and get straight to work.

  You lose more than time

  if you sleep when it dawns;

  for the early riser, wealth is half-won.

  [60] You should know how

  to dry logs for firewood

  and bark for roofing,

  and also this:

  how to measure

  time and the seasons.

  {28} [61] You should always go out

  with your hair combed

  and a meal in your belly,

  even if you can’t afford good clothes.

  You should not be ashamed

  of your shoes and pants,

  nor of your horse,

  even if it’s not a good one.

  [62] A hungry eagle snaps his beak

  and stretches out his neck,

  when the sea comes into sight.

  People get the same look about them

  when they walk among strangers

  and have no one to speak well of them.

  [63] If you want to be called wise,

  you should know how

  to ask and answer wisely.

  Tell your secret to one person,

  never to two—

  everyone knows, if three people know.

  [64] A wise man

  should use his abilities

  only in moderation.

  Otherwise, when he

  is in battle, he’ll learn

  that no one is bravest of all.

  [65] You will often

  get repayment in kind

  for the words you speak to others.

  [66] I have come too early

  to some events

  and too late to others.

  The drinks were all gone,

  or else not even made;

  a hated man gets little hospitality.

  {29} [67] Now and then

  I’ve been invited to a friend’s home,

  as long as I had no need for food,

  or as long as I could make

  my inhospitable host’s cellars

  fuller rather than emptier.

  [68] Fire is best

  for mortals,

  and sunshine—

  and also good health,

  if you have it,

  and living beyond reproach.

  [69] No one is totally wretched,

  even if his health is bad—

  some find happiness in their children,

  some in their kin,

  some in their money,

  some in work well done.

  [70] Better to be alive,

  no matter what, than dead—

  only the living enjoy anything.

  I saw a rich man’s house,

  but it was on fire,

  and he lay dead outside the door.

  [71] A limping man can ride a horse,

  a handless man can herd,

  a deaf man can fight and win.

  It’s better even to be blind

  than fuel for the funeral pyre;

  what can a dead man do?

  [72] Better to have a son than not,

  even if he’s born late in life,

  even if he’s born after you die.

  You’ll rarely see memorials or graves

  standing near the road

  that were raised for men without sons.

  {30} [73] Two men will defeat one;

  your tongue can endanger your head.

  In every hand hidden by a cloak,

  I expect to see a weapon.

  [74] The seaman is glad at evening,

  looking forward to his dinner,

  with just a short distance to row home.

  But an autumn night is untrustworthy.

  Many things can get worse

  in only five days,

  and even more in a month.

  [75] The ignorant man

  does not know how little he knows.

  You become foolish by listening to fools.

  One man is rich,

  another man is poor,

  neither has the other to blame.

  [76] Cows die,

  family die,

  you will die the same way.

  But a good reputation

  never dies

  for the one who earns it well.

  [77] Cows die,

  family die,

  you will die the same way.

  I know only one thing

  that never dies:

  the reputation of the one who’s died.

  [78] I saw big herds of cattle

  owned by a rich man’s sons;

  now they carry a beggar’s staff.

  Wealth is like

  the twinkling of an eye—

  no friend could be more faithless.

  {31} [79] If an unwise man

  chances upon money

  or a woman’s love,

  he will grow more arrogant

  but not more intelligent;

  he will be deceived about his own worth.

  [80] What you ask of the runes

  will prove true;

  they are gifts of the Aesir,

  made by the gods

  and painted by Odin.

  You’ll learn best with your mouth shut.

  [81] Don’t praise the day until it’s night,

  don’t praise your wife until she’s buried,

  don’t praise the sword till after the fight,

  nor your daughter till she’s married,

  don’t praise the ice until it’s crossed,

  nor the ale until you’re sloshed.

  [82] Chop wood when the wind blows,

  row your boat on the sea,

  court a lover at nighttime

  (for the day has many eyes).

  Value a ship for its speed,

  a shield for its protection,

>   a sword for its sharpness,

  and a woman for her kiss.

  [83] Drink ale by the fire,

  skate on the ice,

  buy a thin horse

  and a rusty sword.

  Give your horse food,

  and let your dog feed itself.

  [84] No man should trust

  the words of a girl,

  nor anything a woman says.

  Women’s hearts are molded

  {32} on a wobbly wheel.

  Deception lurks in their words.

  [85] A breaking bow,

  a burning fire,

  a howling wolf,

  a cawing crow,

  a grunting pig,

  a rootless tree,

  a swelling wave,

  a boiling kettle,

  [86] a flying spear,

  a crashing wave,

  one-night-old ice,

  a striped snake,

  the words of a bride in bed,

  a broken sword,

  a playful bear,

  the child of a king,

  [87] a sick calf,

  a stubborn servant,

  a prophet who foresees good things,

  a corpse on the battlefield,

  (89) your brother’s killer

  (even if you meet him in public),

  a half-burned house,

  a horse that’s too fast

  (remember, a horse is unusable

  if only one foot breaks)—

  may you never be so trusting

  that you trust all these things.

  (88) Do not put too much trust

  in your newly planted crops,

  nor in your child too early—

  weather will shape the field

  and whim will shape the child,

  and neither will stay the same.

  {33} [90] Take care not to love

  a deceitful woman,

  it is like driving an unshod horse,

  a playful, young,

  poorly-tamed foal,

  across slippery ice,

  or like sailing a ship

  in a wild wind,

  or trying to catch a reindeer on foot

  after the mountains thaw.

  [91] I’ll speak plainly now, since

  I know both men and women:

  men lie to women.

  We speak most eloquently

  when we tell the biggest lies,

  and seduce even wise women with lies.

  [92] A man should speak eloquently

  and offer gifts

  to a woman whose love he wants.

  Praise the body

  of a beautiful woman;

  you will win her if you praise her.

  [93] No man

  should mock another

  for falling in love.

  Love-sickness

  often strikes harder

  on a wise man than a fool.

  [94] No man

  should mock another

  for falling in love;

  love is strong enough

  to make a fool

  out of a man who once was wise.

  {34} [95] Only you know

  what dwells in your heart

  when you are alone;

  but nothing is worse

  for a wise person

  than to have nothing to love.

  [96] I experienced this

  when I waited among the reeds

  and my lover did not come to me.

  That wise girl

  was my flesh and my heart,

  though I could not call her my own.

  [97] I found Billing’s daughter,

  fair as a sun-ray,

  asleep on her bed.

  The life of a lord

  seemed as nothing to me

  unless I could live with that woman.

  [98] “You should come back

  in the evening, Odin,” she said,

  “if you want to woo me—

  it is improper

  for others to know

  of such a scandal.”

  [99] I turned back,

  and thought that I

  would win her.

  I imagined

  that I would win

  the woman’s love and all her joy.

  [100] But when I came back that night,

  there was a good company of warriors

  awake and ready for me.

  With burning flames

  and torches held high,

  I was shown my miserable way out.

  {35} [101] And when morning came,

  and I returned,

  everyone in the hall was sleeping—

  and then I found a watchdog

  tied to the bed

  of that good woman.

  [102] There’s many a good woman,

  if you get to know her,

  who’ll change her mind about a man;

  I learned that

  when I tried

  to seduce a wise woman.

  That lady

  showed me every kind of shame,

  and I gained no wife for my trouble.

  [103] If you want to be very wise,

  be happy at home,

  and cheerful with a guest.

  Cultivate wisdom,

  a good memory, and eloquence,

  and speak kind words often.

  You’ll be called a fool

  if you can’t say much—

  that’s the mark of the unwise.

  [104] I visited an old giant,

  and now I’ve returned.

  I didn’t stay silent there.

  I spoke many words

  in support of my cause

  at Suttung’s hall.

  [105] Gunnloth, his daughter,

  gave me a drink of his precious mead

  while I sat on a golden chair.

  I would later give her

  a bad repayment

  for her trusting mind,

  for her troubled mind.

  {36} [106] Giants’ dwellings were

  over and under me.

  I used Rati’s tusk

  to burrow out

  and gnaw away the rock—

  in this way, I got out with my head.

  [107] I made good use

  of the disguise I used;

  few things are too difficult for the wise.

  Now Othrerir

  is rescued

  from the clutches of the giants.

  [108] I doubt

  I could have escaped

  Jotunheim

  if I hadn’t used Gunnloth,

  the good woman

  who rested in my arms.

  [109] The next day

  the frost-giants came

  to ask news about Odin

  in Odin’s hall;

  they inquired about that evildoer,

  whether he was among the gods,

  or whether Suttung had killed him.

  [110] I believe that Odin

  swore an oath to them—

  but who can trust Odin?

  He left Suttung deceived

  in his own home,

  and he left Gunnloth weeping.

  [111] It is time to speak

  on the wise man’s chair

  at Urth’s well.

  I saw and was silent,

  I saw and I thought,

  {37} I listened to men’s speech.

  I heard about runes,

  they were not silent with counsel

  at Odin’s hall,

  in Odin’s hall,

  I heard them say so:

  [112] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Do not rise at night,

  unless you’re spying on your enemies,

  or seeking a place to relieve yourself.

  [113] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if y
ou’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Do not sleep in the arms

  of a sorceress,

  or else she will lock your limbs.

  [114] She will enchant you

  so that you won’t care

  for advice nor a powerful man’s words;

  you will want neither food

  nor the pleasure of friends’ company,

  and you will sleep full of sorrow.

  [115] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Never seduce

  another man’s woman

  with whispers in her ear.

  [116] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  {38} If you spend time wandering

  by land or by sea,

  bring plentiful provisions.

  [117] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Never let

  a bad man

  know of your misfortune,

  for you will never

  profit at all

  for telling him about it.

  [118] I saw

  a bad woman’s words

  bite a man in the neck—

  a lying tongue

  was his death,

  and not even with good cause.

  [119] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  If you have a friend,

  and you trust him,

  go and visit him often.

  Weeds and high grass

  will grow on a path

  that nobody travels.

  [120] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Get a good man

  to teach you the runes,

  and learn a healing spell while you live.

  {39} [121] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  Never be

  the first to break

  friendship with your friend.

  Sadness will eat up your heart

  if you have no one

  you can talk to.

  [122] I counsel you, Loddfafnir,

  if you’ll take my advice,

  you’ll profit if you learn it,

  it’ll do you good if you remember it:

  You should never

  exchange words

  with someone who won’t see reason.

  [123] You will never

  get a reward for speaking

  with a bad man,

  but a good man

  will make you happy

  with his praise.

  [124] Men become friends

  when they can share

  their minds with one another.

  Anything is better

  than being lied to: