Send Message to
Hávamál, The Sayings of Odin, Stanza 9
Â
Hail and welcome! This is Huginn's Heathen Hof, with your Daily Hávamál.
Original-
Sá er sæll
er sjalfr of á
lof ok vit meðan lifir
þvà at ill röð
hefr maðr opt þegit
annars brjóstum ór
Translation-
It is a fortunate man who
keeps hold of his wits
and reputation
while he still lives.
It is best that he things
for himself,
for men often give
each other poor advice.
-Hávamál: Stanza 9
History so fondly remembers the warriors, who's greatest wish was to die in battle and go on to fight in Valhalla. We often overlook the simple fact that most people (then AND now) are far more likely to die in our beds than the field of battle. Stanza 9 is a comment on the unpleasant realities of old age. In the GrÃmnismál, Odin tells us about his two ravens. (Huginn- "Thought" and Muninn- "Memory") He laments that he worries about Huginn leaving him, but he's even more afraid that he'll lose Muninn.
I recently lost my great grandmother at the age of 102. It's an impressive run to be sure, but she hadn't really been herself since she was 90. The last twelve years of her life were a kind of slow fading, and I too worry that this will someday happen to me. So this verse holds a lot of personal meaning to me, and (I imagine) to all of us who have seen friends and family go through it.
When the Allfather says that "he who keeps their wits and reputation while they still live"Â being lucky, it's because Odin himself worries about losing his faculties in his old age. The message here is that it's best to go out while one is still sharp, rather than dragging on through the years while your mind slowly slips away.Â
Â