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Hávamál, The Saying of Odin, Stanza 10
Hail and welcome! This is Huginn's Heathen Hof, with your Daily Hávamál.
Original-
Byrði betri
berrat maðr brautu at
en sé manvit mikit
auði betra
þykkir þat à ókunnum stað
slÃkt er válaðs vera
Translation-
No better burden
can one carry on the road
than Common Sense.
It will serve youÂ
better than riches,
in an unfamiliar place
-Hávamál: Stanza 10
In today's Stanza, Odin yet again emphasizes the importance of common sense and critical reasoning. In Eddic poetry, it's common to repeat concepts or phrases in multiple verses in order to emphasize their importance. Since the value of "common sense" was just explained in Stanza 6, we know that Odin viewed this trait as particularly relevant to our lives. We'll see this theme a third time in tomorrow's stanza!