Odin speaks again

Hávamál book presents Viking proverbs M. Michael Brady Asker, Norway The Hávamál is a Viking Age poem with a prominent pedigree. It is from the pre-Christian era, as connoted by its title: Hávamál literally means “Sayings of the High One,” or Odin, the Norse All-father God. It is a long poem of 164 stanzas that divides into five parts, of which the first is “Gestaþáttir” (guest’s section), a set of 80 terse proverbs and statements of gnomic wisdom, the most quoted part, generally known as the Hávamál Proper. It is the second of 29 poetic works of an Icelandic codex written on vellum leaves in the late 13th century. It was called the Codex Regius (Latin for “Royal Book”), because in 1662 Brynjólfur Sveinsson, the Bishop of Skálholt (then one of Iceland’s two Episcopal seats), presented it to King Frederick II of Denmark, who then ruled Norway,