Hávamál (High's Word)
What I propose here is not another translation
of Hávamál. It is rather a commentary and a discussion of
its possible meanings. This discussion is properly an attempt at reconstruction
of the several meanings that the text could carry for a Heathen of the tenth
century. As in any other reconstruction, humility is in order here since we are
simply doing our best to reconstruct as honestly as we are able to.
The structure I found the best to
communicate the content of the poem is sevenfold as follows.
1. At first, I propose a translation
which, though in plain English, tries to follow a word-for-word presentation.
It tends to look like the classical academic translations, except for their
care for literary worth.
2. Follows a translation/explanation
trying to make clear some of the ambiguities implicit in the translation.
3. We then can read the Old Norse
text itself (including as few as possible versions, except when they deeply
alter the meaning of the text) in front of a strictly word-for-word (often
hardly understandable) translation. This part is for the readers who are
interested in getting an inside view of the ON version.
4. Follows Bellows translation
together with variations of several academic translators, when they significantly
differ from Bellows'. Two brand new 2011 translations, both due to well
acknowledged academics, have been used, namely Ursula Dronke's
and Andy Orchard's. I also made use of Régis Boyer's
(I'll always translate his French into English) who is particularly interesting
due to the fact that, while he is an excellent specialist of the Norse language
and civilization, he is also an acknowledged Christian activist – for instance
his PhD thesis deals with: “Religious Life in Iceland (1116-1264)” which describes
the raise of Catholic faith and tries to prove that several stanzas in Hávamál
are inspired by biblical texts. Most academics claim their indifference towards
religious feelings, while they are obvious representatives of our
Christianity-based civilization. Boyer is unable to hide his feelings as well
as more neutral persons, and his translations - otherwise excellent for a
Christian reader – helped me to spot the differences I am trying to make
explicit here.
5. I then analyze the meaning of
some of the words which are particularly significant for a complete
understanding of the stanza. I made use, here, of Evans' glossary which
provides a very good view of the academic choices for the meaning of the words,
of Hugo Gering's Glossar zu den Liedern der Edda, together with the two basic
dictionaries of the ON language, namely Cleasby-Vigfusson's
Icelandic-English dictionary, and de Vries' Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch.
6. Follows a discussion of the
various meanings the stanza can take, depending on which of the possible
meanings we choose to use.
7. Finally, you will find a summary
of Evans' commentaries on some of the stanzas. I'll give you only two full
samples of these commentaries for stanzas 1 and 2. More details are available
online as a pdf version, at
http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Text%20Series/Havamal.pdf .
Verses 1-7 on relationships among guests
Verses 8-9-10 on some uses of magic
Verses 11-14 on drinking and
good sense
Verses 15-35 on wisdom. Now available : 15-18