thinking thoughts about Norse lore

I’ve recently re-unearthed a book in my collection of translated Viking poetry fragments on the themes of love and war. Here’s one by Harald Sigurdarson, an 11th C king of Norway, in which he describes his escape from the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 when he was 15 years old:

I remained upright

in battle while wounds bled;

the farmers’ troop grew fuller,

destroyer of shields dealt death.

Now, with little glory

I slink through the forests;

who knows, whether I’ll become

widely famous later?

This one is interesting to me on a number of levels!

Firstly, the poem embodies a “live to fight another day” perspective, which seems somewhat contrary to the modern popular perception that I think exists of the Vikings being a “death before dishonor” kinda people. It reminds me of how the word cunning used to have a more complimentary vibe conveying skillfulness, whereas its sense of deceitfulness probably didn’t arise until the late 14th C.

Secondly, I’m always interested to note the Viking preoccupation with fame, and with someone’s name living on after their death. It’s not something I’m much fussed about, personally, so I’m always vaguely baffled by it. In this case, Harald’s hopes indeed came to fruition - Harald Sigurdarson is the same person as Harald Hardrada, who attacked the north of England in 1066 shortly before William the Conquerer attacked in the south. If I’m remembering my primary school history lessons correctly, despite Harald’s attack being unsuccessful, historians (at least sometimes) credit it with wearing out the English forces enough that William’s (albeit unrelated) attack succeeded.

Interestingly, Harald’s half-brother Olaf, who was killed at Stiklestad, also achieved long-lasting fame - he was canonized as St Olaf in 1164.

Hi! My blog header image is a portion of the Codex Runicus, which is a legal manuscript from around 1300. It’s written in medieval runes, which is an alphabet that evolved from the Younger Futhark. A “Younger-Younger Futhark”, if you will!

My own personal outlook on runes is to use them both linguistically as a personal writing system (for which I usually default to a mishmash of medieval variants, having learnt those first) and devotionally/symbolically (for which I usually go with Elder Futhark). I like your magical coding/circuitry metaphor!

I’m popping in to apologize for the accidental hiatus - my wife and I both came down with The Crud(tm) in rapid succession, knocking my schedule for a loop and eating up all my spoons to stay afloat with daily life. I’ll try to get some new posts up soon!

This verse keeps it short and sweet:

For those words which one man says to another,

he often gets recompense.

For me, this is a reminder to think before you open your mouth, and to be courteous in your speech; and possibly also to make sure that if you do speak rudely or aggressively, that it’s worth the retaliation that may come in response!

These are a pair of those verses that’ve turned out to be especially useful in the modern age, I think! They read:

I advise you, Loddfáfnir, to take this advice:

it’ll help, if you take it,

do you good, if you get it:

you never ought to bandy words

with any dumb blockhead;

For never from a wicked man

will you get a good return;

but a good man will surely make you

well-respected and praised.

I suspect that originally this could have been more to do with selecting your friends carefully in aid of your own social advancement?

To be honest, I think the verses about runes and mysticism are always going to be a little baffling to me. As far as I know, we have very little historical and archaeological evidence about the details of runeworking - as far as I know, most of the information we have today comes from that one snippet in Tacitus’ Germania, the rune poems, and the little information we can glean from the Eddas.

However, despite being something of a skeptic and a non-magic-worker, I still find the Hávamal passages about runes and spells both fascinating and moving! Hávamál 142 reads:

Runes you must find, and the meaningful symbols,

very great symbols,

very strong symbols,

which the mighty sage stained,

and the great powers made,

and a runemaster cut from among the powers[.]

I definitely feel like this verse suggests that the runes are somehow something other, something powerful - they’re great, they’re strong, they’re meaningful. It describes their making by wise masters, experts in their fields.

This verse reads,

Better not invoked, than too much sacrificed:

a gift always looks for a return;

better not dispatched, than too much slaughtered:

so Thund cut before the creation of nations:

he rose up when he returned.

I don’t really get the last two lines of this one? Thund is Odin, which I only know because of the footnotes in my translation; but I don’t really understand the meaning here, so I’ll skip that bit. (If anyone does have any insights, I’m all ears!)

The first three lines, though, I think are a nice reminder to look before you leap! For me, at least, better not invoked, than too much sacrificed, cautions to consider costs and consequences before acting - it might not be worth it.

A gift always looks for a return counsels against unwisely accepting favors, and reminds me of the phrase, “no such thing as a free lunch” - or maybe “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours,” which I’ve always perceived as a slightly sinister thing to say!

This verse exists within the greater context of the section of the Hávamál that tells of Odin’s wisdom and runeworking; but I find meaning in it also as a standalone. It reads,

Then I quickened and flourished,

sprouted and throve.

From a single word, another sprung:

from a single deed, another sprung.

Again, I haven’t much insight into the intended meaning of this verse; but for me, I read it as an inspiration to beginnings. Once you begin an undertaking, you can follow on from the foundations you’ve laid.