Proverbia Mundi II: Old Norse Refrains
from the Hávamál and Njál’s Saga
While the Vikings are more
known today more for their costal pillaging of the early middle ages, they also
possessed an interesting literary tradition. They ceased pillaging in the 11th
century (c.1066), around the same time they abandoned Germanic paganism, an
influence which marked their literary cosmos from beginning to end.
And this literature today
belongs to modern Iceland, who speak the descendent of Old Norse: Icelandic. It
consists mostly of epic poems and skaldic verse, (poetry relative to the skalds,
or [courtly] Scandinavian poets), but the Hávamál, (lit. “sayings of the
High One”), has a decidedly didactic and sententious tone, and as such, it
gives us a glimpse into their life philosophy and outlook more than any other
surviving work in Old Norse. From a mythological point of view, they were
inspired by and also attributed to Odin.
What is most striking about
these sayings, is the evident lack of Greco-Roman influence; essentially this
literature is born out of an indigenous pagan pedigree, with little outside
cultural influence seeping into their cultural domain. The end result is both
interesting and striking to readers unfamiliar with the Hávamál or Njál’s
Saga. Unfortunately, the state of these sayings on in the internet isn’t in
the best of shape (as of 2020); it’s difficult to source when they were first
published and from what manuscripts they originated from. Consequently, we will
be offering only 6 proverbs here (complete with an Old
Icelandic-English/Spanish glossary after each refrain, to aid comprehension),
which include an Old Norse glossary for each proverb, offered here in a dual
Castilian-English translation. To the best of my knowledge, the proverbs have
been modernized to current Icelandic. Njóttu!
1[1].
Deyr fé,
deyja frændur,
deyr sjálfur ið sama;
ek veit einn at aldri deyr
dómr um dauðan hvern.
(original version, n. 76):
Deyr fé,
deyja frændur,
deyr
sjálfur ið sama.
En orðstír
deyr aldregi
hveim er sér góðan getur.
Eng.
[1st version]
Cattle die,
friends die,
and you yourself [will] die;
but I know something that never dies:
our judgement of each man gone.
[2nd Version]
Cattle die,
friends die,
and the same with you;
yet honour
never dies [in]
he who does good.
Cast. (Traducción de la 1ª versión)
El ganado muere,
los amigos mueren,
y tú mismo morirás;
mas conozco algo que nunca muere:
nuestro juicio de cada hombre
fenecido.
(Traducción de la 2ª versión, de un texto
del 1870)
El ganado muere,
los amigos mueren,
y mueres tú mismo;
mas el honor
nunca muere [en]
el que hace el bien.
Glossary 1
aldregi. adv. never; nunca. (aldrei
in Modern Icelandic).
at. conj. that, which; que.
dauðan (acc. of dauðr). dead;
muerto.
deyja. they die; mueren.
deyr. he/she/it dies; muere.
dómr. (Proto-Germanic *dōmaz).
judgment; juicio.
einn. something; algo.
ek. but; pero.
en. conj. but; than; and: pero; y;
que.
er. rel. pron. who, which; quien,
que.
fé. cattle; ganado.
frændur. (pl. of frændi). friends;
amigos. (The form frændr is also found).
getur. (3rd person pl. of geta,
and this from Proto-Germanic *getaną). he gets; consigue. (The Old Norse
form getr also is attested).
góðan. (From Proto-Germanic *gōdaz).
strong acc. of góðr. good, honest; bueno, honesto.
hveim. (From Proto-Germanic *hwaz).
rel. pron. who; quien.
hvern. (From Proto-Germanic *hwarjaz).
each; cada.
ið. relat. ad. that, where; que,
donde.
ið. neuter article, the; lo.
orðstír. reputation, honor;
prestigio, honor.
sama. (Prob. from Proto-Germanic *samaz).
same; lo mismo.
sér. dat. of sig, herself/himself/itself;
a sí mismo.
sjálfur. (From Proto-Germanic *selbaz).
self; mismo.
um. (From Proto-Germanic *umbi).
prep. regarding, concerning; due to: acerca de, respecto a; debido a.
veit. I know; sé.
(From Njáls saga, 13th century)
2. Eigi fellr tré við it fyrsta högg.
[103. kafli].
Eng.
A tree does not fall with the first
strike.
Cast.
«Un árbol no se cae con el primer
golpe».
[In Runes:]
ᛅᛁᚴᛁ:ᚠᛁᛚᚱ:ᛏᚱᛁ:ᚢᛁᚦ:ᛁᛏ:ᚠᚢᚱᛋᛏᛅ:ᚼᚮᚴ
Glossary 2
eigi. not; no.
fellr (From the verb falla,
from Proto-Germanic *fallaną). falls, cae.
fyrsta. first, primero.
högg. strike, golpe.
it. def. art. the; el/la.
tré. tree, árbol.
við. (with acc. case). through, by,
by means of; a través de, mediante.
(Sourced from the 1837 publication, Islandsk
læsebog: med tilhörende ordforklaring by Ludvig Christian Müller).
(From the Hávamál)
3. Mildir,
fræknir
menn
best lifa,
sjaldan sút ala.
(48).
Eng.
Benign and brave
men live best,
they rarely indulge in sorrow.
Cast.
«Los hombres benignos y valientes
viven mejor,
rara vez fomentan la miseria».
Glossary 3
ala. (3rd
person pl. of the verb ala). (From Proto-Germanic *alaną). nourish,
foment; nutren, fomentan. (Cognate of the Latin verb alo).
fræknir. (Nom. pl. of frœkinn/frœkn).
brave; valiente.
lifa. (3rd person pl. of
the verb lifa). (Proto-Germanic *libjaną). live; viven.
mildir. (Nom. pl. of mildr). (From
Proto-Germanic *mildijaz). gentle, mild; merciful, clement: gentil,
suave; misericordioso, clemente.
sjaldan. adv. seldom, rara vez.
sút. sorrow, tristeza.
(From Njál’s Saga)
4. Illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin.
(77).
Eng.
It is a wicked thing to have a thrall
as one's dearest friend.
Cast.
Malvado es tener un esclavo como
mejor amigo.
Glossary 4
at. to (with infinitve); para. at
eiga. To have; tener: as; como.
einga. only; solo.
er. (3rd per. pres. of the
verb vera, itself from vesa, and this from Proto-Germanic *wesaną). is;
es.
eingavin. (Compound of einga, “only”,
and vin, acc. of vinr, “friend”) good friend, or only
friend.
illt. evil, wicked; malvado,
enfermizo.
þræl. slave, thrall; esclavo.
(The form þræll also is attested).
vin. (acc. of vinr). (From
Proto-Norse ᚹᛁᚾᛁᛉ “winiz”,
from Proto-Germanic *winiz). friend; amigo.
(From Njáls saga)
5. Skamma stund verðr hönd höggi
fegin. (chapter 99).
Eng.
The hand contents [itself] with its
blow for but a brief moment.
[I.e., that any physical vengeance
carried out will give only momentary satisfaction before being retributed upon
the culprit].
Cast.
La mano se alegra en el golpe por un
tiempo fugaz.
[Runes:]
ᛋᚴᛅᛘᛅ:ᛋᛏᚢᚾᛏ:ᚢᛁᚱᚦᚱ:ᚼᚨᚾᛏ:ᚼᚮᚴᛁ:ᚠᛁᚴᛁᚾ
Glossary 5
fegin (From Proto-Germanic *faganaz).
conent, joyful; contento, alegre. (The form feginn is also found).
höggi. hit, strike; golpe.
hönd. (Proto-Germanic *handuz).
hand; mano.
skamma. (acc. pl. or fem. acc. of skammr?)
short; corto.
stund. (From Proto-Germanic *stundō).
time, while; tiempo, rato. um stund. for a while; por un rato.
verðr. (From Proto-Germanic *werþaz).
worth; worthy of: valor; digno de.
(From the Hávamál)
6.
Bú er betra,
þótt lítið sé.
Halur er heima hver.
Þótt tvær geitur eigi
og taugreftan sal,
það er þó betra en bæn. (36).
(With different orthography):
Bú er betra,
þótt lítit sé,
halr er heima hverr;
þótt tvær geitr eigi
ok taugreftan sal,
þat er þó betra en bæn.
Eng.
A farm of your own is better, even if small. Everyone’s someone at home. Though he has two goats and a corded roof [house], that is better than begging (36).
Cast.
Tu hacienda es mejor, aunque fuera diminuta. Cada varón es alguien en casa. Aunque tuviese dos cabras y un techo de ramitas, eso es mejor que rogar.
A farm of your own is better, even if small. Everyone’s someone at home. Though he has two goats and a corded roof [house], that is better than begging (36).
Cast.
Tu hacienda es mejor, aunque fuera diminuta. Cada varón es alguien en casa. Aunque tuviese dos cabras y un techo de ramitas, eso es mejor que rogar.
Glossary 6
bæn. begging; rogando.
betra. better; mejor.
bú. (From Proto-Germanic *būą).
dwelling; vivienda.
geitr. (Pl. of geit). (From Proto-Germanic
*gaits). she-goat.
halr. poet. man; hombre.
heima. adv. at home; en casa.
hverr. (From Proto-Germanic *hwarjaz). pron. who, which, every; quién, que, cada.
hverr. (From Proto-Germanic *hwarjaz). pron. who, which, every; quién, que, cada.
lítit. (Nom. pl. of lítill).
little; pocos.
ok. (Proto-Germanic *auk
“also”). conj. and; y.
sal. (Prob. acc. of salr). (From
Proto-Germanic *saliz). house, room; casa, habitación.
sé. (3rd per. subj. of vera).
should be; sea.
taug. (From Proto-Germa*taugō). rope, string; soga, cuerda.
taug. (From Proto-Germa*taugō). rope, string; soga, cuerda.
taugreftan. (coarsely) roofed, (lit. "corded, strung"); techado.
tvær. (Fem. acc. of tveir).
two; dos. (The form tvár is also found).
þótt. conj. even though, although;
aun cuando, a pesar de.
[1] I found two different versions here: the first
one seems to be more modernized than the second, which I can source to the 1870
publication Útfararminning madömu Regnheiðar Jónsdóttur að Móeiðarhvoli og
Æfisöguer, by Steingrímur Jónsson. The last three lines are quite different
to each other.
Gallery:
Hermóðr, son of Odin, riding upon Sleipnir,
Odin’s 8-legged horse. Some scholars have linked
Sleipnir to Nordic shamanic practices.
Ásbyrgi, Northern Iceland, a canyon in the
shape of a horse shoe. In
Icelandic folklore, the “print” was formed by
Sleipnir’s hoof.
