History

Havamal contrasted with Sakon the Good
Based upon English Translations

There is a full length English translation of the Havamal from the University of Pittsburgh.  The work is attributed to Odin, and covers a number of topics.  The work is arranged in poetic form with short stanzas.  Here, the translation is probably misleading in that the original auditory quality of the word order was likely destroyed or changed severely by the translation.  The reason for this is that the work comes out of a spoken - oral tradition.  For such people, the mneumonic devices allowed individual scholars to effectively function as walking encyclopedias, with much of the information organized by the type of poem.

Odin covers the general attitude to take towards others in the Hall, a large place for public or private gatherings.  He advises people to not be overly trusting of others, since flatterers are not necessarily real friends and now and then one might come across a foe in an otherwise friendly location.

He also covers wisdom and folly.  He argues that a moderate amount of wisdom is best.  Too much or not enough of this may cause problems.  Not enough and people tend to foolish behavior whereas too much of it makes, according to Odin, it difficult for people to be happy.

Odin explains early on, with impressive clarity, that it is best to not blame others for their circumstances in life, whether they be wealthy or poor, powerful or not.  He also describes this with respect to love.  True love can make otherwise wise people behave strangely or more foolishly in certain ways.

The poetry is somehow lyric and pleasurable but also an obvious sequence of common sense advice for use.  The audience is obviously presumed to be mostly adult men.

Odin writes of something translated as mother wit.  He describes this as very precious.  He declares that people should go out of their way to preserve their wits.  While necessary he also gives a warning to people.  He admonishes people regarding their egos.  Essentially he explains that an inflated ego can cause a wide variety or troubles, and that it makes a man vulnerable to folly and into the kinds of mistakes that can ruin him.  Hence, one should use their wits with a sense of humility.

Odin explains that people who like to give presents also often like to receive them.  He apparently views this as normal.  The over all tenor of the work is that it is friendly and is about social relations in general.  That seems to be why the subjects are so wide ranging within the one piece of literature.

He shows an advocacy for some combination of trust and suspicion, some blend of seeing that the motives of others can be self-evident on many occasions but that the same world can also contain subterfuge and deceptive circumstances.  Readers may find this to be almost shockingly similar to the way that the real world still appears in 2010.  

Another worthwhile detail about this piece is that Odin has observed that individuals like to have some privacy, even the humblest of people like to have some space over which they have full authority.  Once again, this seems to be a very matter of fact observation regarding the full true human nature.

Of men and love, Odin writes that men are not necessarily fair to women in love.  There is a tendency to desire, to love and to woo.  As well as the need for real love, however, there also abides some attitude or disposition towards conquest which isnt necessarily fair to the maids.

Even in this writing there appears to be a differentiation between people who are not married and people who are.  There is no further separation of these two social states beyond married and maiden.  While this can be misleading and vague, it can also reflect the truth of things.

To give another picture of the same work, a stanza is quoted below, as found in an English translation.  The stanzas are neatly numbered.  It is not immediately clear whether or not this is the preservation of something original or if it has been added by later scholars who brought the work into the classical literature of Western mankind.

36. Ones own house is best, though small it may be each man is master at home though he have but two goats and a bark-thatched huttis better than craving a boon.

37. Ones own house is best, though small it may be,each man is master at home with a bleeding heart will he beg, who must, his meat at every meal.

47. Young was I once, I walked alone, and bewildered seemed in the way then I found me another and rich I thought me, for man is the joy of man.

48. Most blest is he who lives free and boldand nurses never a grief,for the fearful man is dismayed by aught,and the mean one mourns over giving.

(The Elder or Poetic Edda, commonly known as Saemunds Edda, part 1 The Mythological Poems, edited and translated by Olive Bray, London Printed for the Viking Club, 1908, pp. 61 - 111).

Odin was not exceptionally successful in love.  First he explains that he strongly believes that a man should rejoice at the end of things as well as at the beginning - to be grateful to have had a woman for a wife even when she has died, to be glad for some ale even after one has drunk it and through these diverse examples shares an attitude with the reader.  He describes how he loved a woman who never married him.  The story does not make it entirely clear whether he was chasing after one woman, but then was rapidly diverted to another or if one stanza simply follows the next.  He snuck up on a woman in bed - there is no distinction made about whether or not he raped her.  Readers would hope not, or would assume not, normally but there is a discernable ambiguity to the story.  The next night he attempts to return to the same maiden but she is protected by a barking dog.  Then, when she does wake up, he describes her as a shrewd and full of insults for him.  Her reaction, between the dog and malicious speech suggests that their encounter might not have been for her, what it was for him.  He seems to take the rebuttal in the right spirit, and describes her implicitly as well worthy of being a wife - a deep and long lasting lover, but that he did not win her over for his wife.

There is something about a stray-singer, who seems to be if ritualistic importance in the Viking culture.  Perhaps after the manner of a scholar or a cleric in contemporary society.

There is more discussion of the runes - native Nordic alphabet, the rudiments of literacy which doubled as a means of divination.  The myth is that Odin sacrificed one of his eyes and cast into the Well - possibly the Well of Weird, in order to get knowledge and runes.

The bottom line here is that the Vikings realized that these runes - these symbols were very powerful.  They were viewed as being sacred in origin.  They are not the only people to have this attitude towards the letters of their home made alphabets.  The invention of writing for a culture is on a similar level to the invention of the wheel, or of laws and of the aqueduct or hoe.

Later, in the same work, there is a list of the magical spells that Odin has.  They serve specific purposes and should be viewed by readers as having had the power of speech and mind the same way that people nowadays do realize that it matters what people say and that the way one thinks can affect what happens in any given situation.

HYPERLINK httpwww.pitt.edudashhavamal.htmlhttpwww.pitt.edudashhavamal.html
The Saga of Haakon the Good stems from a decidedly mortal, but high class set of circumstances.  Descended from this person and the saga there is some orchestral music which continues to have some popularity and renown throughout many nations of the world.  Haakon the Good was the 3rd King of Norway.  He lived more recently, 920 - 961 according to the Christian solar calendar still in use internationally today.

Gunnhild is known as a mother of kings.  She learned magic from two Finnish wizards, but because they had demanded to have sexual relations with her - her objections to the arrangement are made clear by the way  they were killed by Erik Bloodaxe, at her request.  Erick then became her husband.  One of their children or descendants was Haakon the Good.

Haakon was Norwegian, prior to the Christianization of that nation.  This occurred in the middle of the Viking Age.  During this time, Norway was gaining a higher order of organization - tribal leaders or diverse princes and kings were coming together and the nation was actually united.  Haakons father, Harald the Fair of Norway unified Norway, whereas for the British - the great feat of the mysterious King Arthur is that he unified England.  Haralds unification was intimately associated with the British because his battles, conquests and alliances reached the British Isles.  The Shetland Isles, the Isle of Orkney and Scotland were subjected to the protection of Harald of Norway.  Earls who were allies, governed the South Eastern regions of his dominion.  His son was Hakon the Good.  Hakon improved upon a public policy involving a mandate for grown men - at least, if not also other members of every household to keep and bear arms.  The wealthier someone was, the better the weaponry he was expected to have.  This policy did effectively deter invading armies and did give the general populace a higher level of defensive preparedness than would have otherwise been the case.  Eric Bloodaxe was Hakons eldest son, who ruled first and served along with his fathers immediate guidance.

The Icelandic are amongst those who have written about this, but with the understanding that they viewed the Norwegians more as foes than as allies at the time of the events.

Hakon was viewed as far kinder and gentler than his older brother.  Raised tenderly down in Britain, the people of Norway called for his return and for his ascension to the throne of Norway.  He was only 18 years old at the time.  Unlike his father and brother, he appeared to not have participated in much warfare at that point.  Haakon was also a Christian but Norway was not.  He did not attempt to force Christianity onto the Norwegian peoples.  He is commended for having created an effective coast guard for Norway, using an adaptation of his fathers policy.  He could have military defense of the coast of Norway within 48 hours of the spotting of approaching war ships.  He was called Haakon the Good, because the people were happy with his service as their King.  Hakon was eventually defeated by sons of his elder half-brother Eric Bloodaxe due largely to their alliance with the Danes.  Haakons armies successfully defeated elder sons of Eric Bloodaxe prior to defeating one. At the end of Hakons reign, power in Scandinavia decidedly shifted towards Denmark for decades.

The saga gives a more modern account of the dynamics of the Viking age and cultural character.  The saga, unlike the eddas, is performed live to this very day, by orchestras.

The saga shows the growing tension between the ancient pagan traditions and the emergence of Christianity into the region.  The impression is that Haakon only received Christianity because he went all the way down to England and was influenced by a people who had been Christianized by the Romans centuries before his arrival.  The account of him publically holding a blot in accordance with the old pagan customs while pointing to his cross shows his position in these matters.  He respects the old ways and the will of the people but does not personally believe in the ancient gods - including Odin, who is revered as the deity responsible for writing the edda described above.

The Viking Age shows a few trends.  There was a lot of warfare during this period. Often enough it was done in an effort to improve unity.  To contemporary readers who are not military, this may seem like a bizarre approach.  Nevertheless, it was obviously a well known and respected method of resolving disputes and power struggles.  At the same time, both accounts show a love of peace as well as a respect for the violence of warfare.

Odin writes of enjoying life with others, and Haakon is enthusiastically chosen to be King in part because he is viewed as being gentler than Eric Bloodaxe.

Power moved from one part of Scandinavia to another during the total 300 years of the Viking Age.  Military skill and tactical systems seemed to improve.  The military forces of Scandinavians were known to raid other peoples, often those to the South.  A large portion of Western Europeans remember mainly things like that.  However, the Anglo-Saxons, and the sons of Eric Bloodaxe are examples of how the Vikings used a blend of Southern settlement, cooperation, invasion, raiding and alliance in their relations with the British and even the Germans late in the first millenium after Jesus Christs life down in the Middle East.

The culture had improved capacities for making music later on, which the saga of Haakon shows clearly.  It might be justifiably claimed, that Haakon shows the new way of the Scandinavians, a path that would carry them through the rest of the Viking Age and beyond.  Meanwhile, the aedda written by Odin reveals and glorifies the old ways of Scandinavia.  In both cases, there is a real understanding of human nature.  In both there is respect for tradition within the cultures of the Vikings.  When viewed this way, it also becomes clear that Viking culture is more like saying Scandinavian and while it does have significance is not necessarily very precise.  Europeans, for example, can be lumped together similarly with the same problem.  The participating nations would assert that there are numerous cultural differences between nations while admitting that there is a noticeable similarity of general cultural style when contrasted to the Middle East, or the Far East or Africa.