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The
discussion and analysis presented after these
translated stanzas is our
opinion. Read the translations for yourself and our analysis, but also seek
out varied sources and come to your own conclusions.
STANZA 6 OF THE
HAVAMAL
Auden and Taylor:
Of his knowledge a man should never boast,
Rather be sparing of speech When to his house a wiser
comes: Seldom do those who are silent Make mistakes; mother
wit Is ever a faithful friend,
Bellows:
A man shall not boast | of his keenness of
mind, But keep it close in his breast; To the silent and wise
| does ill come seldom When he goes as guest to a house; (For
a faster friend | one never finds Than wisdom tried and
true.)
Bellow's Note: Lines 5 and 6
appear to have been added to the stanza.
Bray:
Let no man glory in the greatness of his
mind, but rather keep watch o'er his wits. Cautious and
silent let him enter a dwelling; to the heedful comes seldom
harm, for none can find a more faithful friend than the
wealth of mother wit.
Chisholm:
Let a man not be boastful about his
wisdom, but watchful instead. The wise and silent are seldom
harmed when wary in the hall. A more trustworthy friend, a man
cannot have, than understanding.
Hollander:
To be bright of brain let no man
boast, but take good heed of his tongue; the sage and silent
come seldom to grief as they fare amongst folk in the
hall. {More faithful friend findest thou never than shrewd
head on thy shoulders.}
Terry:
Better to be careful than to boast how
much is in your mind; when the wise come in, keeping their
counsel, trouble seldom starts. A man won't find a better
friend than his own head full of sense.
Thorpe:
Of his understanding no one should be
proud, but rather in conduct cautious. When the prudent and
taciturn come to a dwelling, harm seldom befalls the
cautious; for a firmer friend no man ever gets than great
sagacity.
Original Old Norse:
Aš hyggjandi sinni skyli-t mašur hręsinn
vera, heldur gętinn aš geši žį er horskur og žögull kemur
heimisgarša til; sjaldan veršur vķti vörum. Žvķ aš óbrigšra
vin fęr mašur aldregi en manvit
mikiš.
DISCUSSION AND
ANALYSIS OF STANZA 6
This is one of a number of stanzas in the
Havamal, that basically say, "Sit down, shut up, watch and
observe."
Specifically, the first two lines say that a
guest is better off being cautious and silent and watchful, than to
go boasting about how knowledgeable they are. I think the
subtext here, is that if you have a need to brag about how clever
you are and how much you know, you probably aren't nearly as clever
as you
think.
Lines 3 and 4 specifically address the idea
that the wise and cautious seldom run into problems in the
Hall. That a guest who keeps quiet and watches seldom
generates problems for
himself.
Both Bellows and Hollander suggest that lines 5
and 6 are a later addition to the stanza and probably not part of
its original form. They basically stress how important having
wisdom really is, by saying it is the most important "friend" a man
can
have.
While the stanzas in the Havamal that belong to
the category of "Sit down, shut up, watch and observe" refer to this
being good advice to a guest who have come to a Hall to visit, we
can see as modern Heathens how important this advice can be in many
situations we find ourselves. We can run into real problems in
new situations if we feel the need to take charge, be the center of
attention, and brag needlessly. In new situations, it is good
to take it all in, assess the environment and all the factors at
play, and act from a place of knowledge and
wisdom.
Let's take the first two lines of this
stanza a little further. Here is Terry's version of the
first two lines: "Better to be careful than to boast how much
is in your mind;"
When you are a guest in someone else's home,
or at someone else's faining or gathering, don't go telling them how
they should do things. Don't criticize their thew. Don't
criticize their traditions and practices. Don't go telling
them "better ways" to do this...and that. A good guest watches
and observes, and does not spend his time boasting of his own
knowledge and wisdom, by feeling the need to "correct" what his
hosts are doing.
There is a time and place to offer
constructive advice or input. Often it is asked for by your
host...and then of course, share your constructive advice. If
it is not asked for, there are polite ways to engage in discussion
about why something is done a certain way, that will help both host
and guest understand each other better.
This advice also applies to people's activity
on-line. You'll see people boasting about the most outlandish
things on a message board or on Facebook. On-line,
other Heathens will call out on this behavior. Sometimes
you'll be called out directly, in a very straight-forward
fashion. But, other times the judgements are made more
silently. In the stanza before this one, Stanza 5, it
says, "At the witless man | the wise shall wink, When among such men
he sits." Sometimes people are so out-there, that the
vast majority of people just sort of make
the person an example of "Who Not to Be." It is
not like a vote is taken, or the intention
to do this declared publicly. It just sort of happens naturally. It is
better to sit down, shut up, watch and observe...than to boastfully and unintentionally
show off one's lack of wisdom.
At face-to-face gatherings, we'll see this
phenomenon at work from time to time. Often, it is not a big
deal. Someone will show up for their first gathering, and get
a bit loud and boastful in a way that causes a few eyes to
roll. Boasting is fine and dandy, if you have something to
boast about. But, when you are meeting people for the first
time, stretching the reality a bit to seem bigger than life is
usually spotted fairly quickly. But, usually the person will
calm down, settle in, get to know folks, and the somewhat foolish
behavior disappears. But, I can think of at least one
instance where a new person showed up, drank a bit too much, and
began boasting in a way that caused quite a bit of irritation and
even anger. Boasting along the lines of "I'm the strongest man
here," etc. At first people just sort of rolled their
eyes. But, as the behavior got
louder and more disrespectful, the person was verbally
challenged. They did not know how to react to being challenged,
and acted badly. For this one person, what should
have been a great day and their first day among other heathens from
across the region, became a story that we are still telling as an
example of "what not to do."
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