The right saying from the 'Sayings of the High One' – for a memorial stone, door sign, mug or gift. Old Norse and English, public domain.
The Hávamál, the "Sayings of the High One", is the great book of wisdom of the Edda – and the source of many of the most beautiful lines for engravings. Choose an occasion, and we show you suitable verses with the Old Norse original and an English rendering after Henry Adams Bellows (1923). Both are in the public domain, so you can use them freely.
Shorter is often stronger. A whole stanza fits on a large slate plaque or a memorial stone; on a mug, a drinking horn or a pendant, a single line usually works better – for example the last two lines of stanza 77. You may shorten a verse, but don't stitch together lines from different stanzas into a new "saying".
Old Norse or English? The original has the old sound and the special letters þ, ð and æ, which look beautiful when engraved – but few can read them. Many customers therefore choose the original large and the translation small beneath it.
Name the source. "Hávamál 77" under the verse is honest and gives the line weight. And please don't use the so-called "Viking prayer" from the film The 13th Warrior as an "ancient" text – we explain why in our myth check.
Not sure which verse fits? Write to us – we'll be happy to advise you, via our custom engraving page. The complete selection with background is in the Hávamál reading edition and in our article on Hávamál sayings.
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