The Hávamál - Part 1: 5 Principles of Viking Wisdom

What if the Vikings left behind more than stories of war and conquest? What if they left a blueprint for how to think, speak, and live wisely in a dangerous world?

In this episode, we explore the Hávamál, the “Sayings of the High One,” a collection of wisdom attributed to Odin and preserved in the Poetic Edda. These are not abstract ideas. They are practical principles forged in a world where trust had to be earned, words carried weight, and reputation defined your legacy.

We break down five core teachings from the Hávamál:

•  Observe people carefully and trust patterns, not words 
•  Practice restraint and learn the power of silence 
•  Build and maintain strong friendships rooted in loyalty 
•  Understand that your reputation is your lasting legacy 
•  Embrace travel and exposure to sharpen your judgment 

This episode challenges you to move beyond passive listening and begin applying these principles in your daily life. If you want to grow in awareness, discipline, and intentional living, this is a conversation worth revisiting.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Alright. We're stepping into something ancient here. Something deep. Something heavy. Something worthwhile. Something you don't just hear. Something that you carry with you. Because buried in the Viking Age, beneath all the battles, the long ships, the blood and iron, there's another kind of power. Quieter, colder, more precise. A kind of wisdom that doesn't win fights, it prevents them. Or it made sure that you survived. And it didn't echo just from the battlefield. It echoed from the fire-lit halls. It echoed from the tavern. It echoed when men stopped fighting and returned with stories. When watchful eyes and listening ears hung on every word that these warriors would say. It was this subtle tension that men understood that a hairless word could cost you more than what you would have lost on the battlefield. It would cost you everything. That kind of wisdom, those kinds of sayings, they permeate the north. And this episode is going to dive right in and look at some of those famous sayings, those treasures of wisdom, things that we can take and we can consider for our own lives right here, right now, from the history of the north, from their words of wisdom. And what you'll find is these voices, they don't tell you just what you want to hear. They tell you what helps move you forward. And in the north, what would keep you alive. Odin is the one that is attributed with saying at least part of what we're going to discover today. This is not Odin the war god, not Odin the storm breaker. This is Odin the seeker, the wanderer, the one who comes down, comes to Midgard and interacts and walks among the people, seeking to guide, seeking to learn, looking for wisdom. But here it is, in written form. He paid a high price for this wisdom. He gave his eye. He gave it at Mimir's well. He didn't give his eye for magic. He didn't give it for glory or more power, but he gave it for wisdom. Because Odin knew something most people never learn. Power without wisdom short-lived. And what he brought back from that, it wasn't comfort. He had lost a great deal going to that well. But he brought back inspiration. And the words of wisdom recorded for us. See the thing about wisdom and the principles of wisdom is that they transcend time. They transcend geography. Why? Because they're rooted in what is true. And truth, whether he like it or not, is universal. The truth that we're talking about was preserved in a manuscript known as the Codex Regis, where we find one of the most important sections of Norris wisdom literature, the Havamal. It means the sayings of the High One. Again, this means it was attributed to Odin. And that title alone, though, it should make you pause because this isn't the advice from a king or from a warrior who's seen many battles and knows the principles it takes to win. This is wisdom attributed to a God who sacrificed for knowledge and who chose to pass it on, not to hide it. But here's where things get interesting. The Havamal isn't written like a story. There's no action, there's no hero arc, there's no final battle, there are no cliffhangers. Instead, it reads like fragments, almost like what you would find in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. They are observations, they're warnings, they're principles. And we can take them and we can apply them to our lives and be better for it. Think of it like you're overhearing the distilled thoughts of someone who has seen too much, who knows too much, and has learned what actually matters. And today we're not going to read large sections. We're going to cover five specific topics. And there are more. And so if you want to go, you can read them now. You can find the Havamol available for you to explore and to read on your own. But we're going to unpack five key principles that we find. Now, most people read the Havamal like it's poetry. They admire it. They quote it, and then they move on. But that misses the point because it wasn't written to be admired. It was written to be used. Think about it. Trust. Blind trust can be fatal. Speech can provoke violence. Alliances often determine survival. And reputation followed you further than any ship. This wasn't just philosophy. This was strategy for life. And if you listen closely, you'll start to notice something. This isn't just ancient wisdom. It's extremely relevant. Because truth supersedes and crosses cultures, boundaries, time, age. It just keeps going. That's why even the book of Proverbs in the Bible continues to be relevant today. Most people think that books like the Bible or the Codex Regis that they're outdated. Give it a chance, give it a read, and see that some of those same principles they apply today. The reason why it's relevant, the reason why those bullet points that we mentioned are still relevant is because people tend to say more than they should. They do tend to trust blindly. And oftentimes people burn bridges that they should have left intact. Because allies are important, because friendships are important, because relationships matter. And here's my promise to you. If you don't just hear these, but actually live them, they will change how you walk into every room, every relationship, every decision you make. You'll start to see people differently, you'll speak differently, you'll choose differently. You'll be more confident, harder to read, harder to manipulate, and far more effective in the world around you. Now, let's take our first bucket, dip it, draw from the well of the Havamal, and see what it has to offer. This first one can feel a little bit like a warning, almost like maybe somebody is paranoid until you realize, no, this is realistic. The unwise man thinks all who smile are friends. Consider that. The unwise man thinks all who smile at him are his friends. Translation. Don't confuse politeness with loyalty. Don't confuse words with truth. The Viking world didn't have background checks. There were no resumes, no LinkedIn profiles to sift through. You learned who someone was by watching how they treated the weak, how they acted when no one was looking, how they behave when things went wrong. Because pressure, it has a way of revealing the truth. Anyone can speak well when things are easy, but watch a man when he's insulted, when he's losing when he's tempted. That's where the character lives. Another stanza that supports this is let a man hold his cup, yet watch his tongue. Let him be weary and wise in speech. Because the wise man doesn't just listen to what is said, he listens to what is revealed. The Havamal is essentially telling you, be a student of human nature, not cynical, not paranoid, but aware. Because here's the danger. If you trust too quickly, you don't just risk embarrassment. You risk betrayal, being manipulated, and ultimately losing out. The Vikings understood something that we often forget. Words are cheap, but patterns, patterns reveal the truth. Words and actions should always line up. A man can speak of loyalty, but then betray you tomorrow. A man can say nothing and stand beside you when it matters. So don't just listen to what is said. Watch. Take your time. Let people reveal themselves, even if it's slow. Take note of repeated choices, quiet habits, moments where no one else sees what's going on. Because that's where the real story is written. And that's when things become clear. We should pay attention to what people do, not just what they say. That's that famous line where a parent tells their child, do as I say, not as I do. That's bogus. We should be people that do what we say and that our actions speak louder than words. That's the takeaway. So that may be a challenge. That may be tough to hear, but that's the reality. That's what we're after. And the Vikings, they knew this principle over a thousand years ago. All right. Our second drink from the well tells us exactly why we're even doing this, because wisdom is important. But here's the catch. One of the most famous lines from the Havel Mall is a wise man's heart is rarely known. Let that sit for a second. We're here trying to soak up the wisdom of the Viking Age and what the Havel Mall has to offer. And we think, all right, I can't wait to equip myself with this wisdom and then go out and show the world how wise I am. Uh uh, wait, time out. A wise man's heart is rarely known. That statement cuts against everything our modern culture rewards. Today we're told you share your thoughts, you share your intelligence, you prove your value. If you have wisdom, you better start a YouTube channel and a TikTok and a whatever and get after it. You want to speak up, stand out, be heard. But the Havamal says, ah, be careful, because the more you reveal, the more you're exposed. There's another stanza in the Havamal that basically says wisdom without restraint becomes a liability because in that deeper layer, what's happening is the problem with being wise isn't that we have this understanding. The problem is that we want everybody to know it. And that is what becomes the liability. We have to pair wisdom with humility or with at least the understanding that we don't have to let every single person know how smart and how wise we are. It's okay if they think that we're ignorant. It's okay if they think that we are not wise. Wisdom says it doesn't matter. I know who I am. So don't go around advertising that you are as wise as you are. Look, just keep gaining wisdom, keep gaining knowledge, and let your actions speak for themselves. And when it's appropriate, sprinkle in those words of wisdom. That's why even in the business world, oftentimes you'll hear whoever speaks first loses. Because the man who talks first reveals his position. So when you say something, don't feel like you gotta keep on talking, gotta keep on sharing everything. Just say what you say and let it rest. Let people, even in the silence, see how wise you are. And if you think about that principle, if you listen more than you speak, what are you doing? You are continuing to soak up and absorb more and more wisdom. You're gathering, you're studying, you're learning from everyone else's position without even revealing your own. That is power. That is where wisdom lies. That's how you gain more wisdom. Listen more than you talk. Now, place yourself in a Viking hall for a moment. Let's go back and just think about this. It's a friend's dinner party, it's a feast in a hall. The room is full of warriors, rival families, potential allies, and potential enemies. Every word there carries weight. If you say too much, you could insult someone without realizing it. You could reveal your plans before you're ready. You could even expose your own insecurities or weaknesses. And once that happens, you don't get that back. See, reputation, it travels faster and farther than the long ships of the Viking Age. But when you say less, something shifts. You become harder to read, harder to predict, harder to manipulate. You actually come across as extremely wise. There's a quote that I've heard many times, I don't know who to attribute it to. It's better to remain silent and thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt. So there is something to be said about silence, about speaking when it's appropriate. We're not trying to give away a map or have everybody know every detail about our lives. We want to be learners, studyers, seekers. And that happens by listening and observing. So this is what you might call strategic restraint. It's not rooted in fear, it's rooted in discipline because there's a difference. You're not being silent because you're unsure, you're being silent because you're choosing to in that moment. Here's the second part of what we're talking about from the Havamo. The fool, he wants to be seen as wise, whereas the wise man wants to simply be seen as effective. The fool proves himself with his words, his actions. He wants to keep talking constantly, continually. He has no restraint. He jumps in quickly, he thinks he knows everything. He adds his opinion to every situation instead of gathering the details. He wants to show everybody what he knows. And in so doing, he reveals who he is. He's not a wise man, that's for sure. So the wise is patient. They understand that there's timing. Timing is part of the intelligence. They know that the right word at the wrong time, it's a mistake. The right truth spoken too early can create resistance. Spoken at the wrong tone and the wrong words can also lead to disaster. And sometimes silence speaks louder than an explanation. There are some subtle truths here. When we speak less, we speak louder. When we don't talk, we listen, and we gain information, valuable information. Now, that doesn't mean that people that have wisdom never speak. That would be ridiculous. That would be useless. But it does mean that you speak with intentionality. When you speak, it's clear, it's measured, it carries weight. Like you've gone through and you've debated your own words before you've said them. So you know that they are going to stick, that they're going to stand. And it's okay when somebody has a better idea to recognize and say, hey, that's a good idea. There's no threat in that. You're just acknowledging and saying, hey, you bring something to the table worth value, and there's wisdom in that too. So by being restrained and talking only when it matters, then so just think of the sagas and the example that we have of Odin's stories, how he's portrayed by the Norse, the one that paid for wisdom with his eye at Mimir's well. He didn't go around boasting about his wisdom. He didn't walk into rooms proving his intelligence. He continued to gather knowledge and he did it relatively quiet. So it's simple. Once you speak, what you say belongs to the world, but while it goes unspoken, it still belongs to you. So just make sure you watch, you listen, you measure the moment, and when you finally speak, you make sure it lands with the weight of wisdom, and then people will take note. The third drink from the well today is about friendship and survival. See, the Havamol doesn't treat friendship like it's a warm, optional part of life, like it's a bonus somehow. You've got what you need, and if you have friends, then good for you. It treats it like it's a necessity. A man should be a friend to his friend and repay gifts with gifts. So that's not sentimental to the Viking age. That's communal. And if you haven't listened to the episode on how Vikings survived the winter, the harsh winter conditions of the north, then you'll see there that this principle is at play the whole time. The community is a huge part of what allowed the Vikings to survive in harsh winters. The rest of the Viking world was also extremely dangerous. There was no illusion of safety. There were no police. There were no governments that were looking after everyone. This was a very dangerous time to be alive. However, the Vikings had friends, had community in such a way that we don't have today. Now we have the governments, we have the big government, we have the forces that try to keep us all safe and protected. They did not. What's the difference? They had community. So friendship in the Viking Age wasn't casual, it was infrastructure, it was survival. And that's why the Havamall puts a stress on friendship, on community, on having people that you can depend on who you can call and will answer. Because isolation in the Viking Age, it wasn't just an inconvenience. It wasn't just, it's a little bit lonely from time to time. Friendship during the Viking Age was protection. It was your alliance. It was your support group. It was everything that you needed when things turned against you, whether that's the seasons, whether that's a bad crop, or when other clans came to attack, whatever it was, whatever life threw at you, having community is what made the difference. It just meant that when things went wrong, you weren't standing alone. Here's something the Havamal also points out. Friendship is not passive. You realize that friends are a gift and you need to treat them as such. We'll just sum it up in modern language. If you want to have friends, then be friendly. This doesn't have to be perfect. Nobody's looking for a perfect friend, but they are looking for consistency. And they are looking for somebody who will listen and who will do what they say. Consistency over time is what creates those deep friendships. So here are some practical actions you can take that the Havamal emphasizes. Visit your friends, exchange gifts, stay connected. Pretty simple. We can do that. And these things written in the Havamal, they're not symbolic. They're not just a fancy way of saying something. This is survival in poetry form. They are reinforcing the bonds that matter. There's a lot more that the Havamal would have to say about friendship. But for sake of time, we'll continue on and I'll just leave you with this that what the Havamal is saying about friendship is not just poetic and it's not abstract. It's very actionable. Show up, give a little, stay connected, choose your friends carefully, invest deeply. Because friendship is about presence over time. And if you get that right, you're not just building relationships, you're building something stronger, a network of loyalty that can carry you through anything. And in this world, in their world, this is not optional. This is survival. But I think it goes a step further. And actually going from survive to thrive has to do with who you're connected to. So tuck that away. Our fourth stop at the well is this cattle die, kinsmen die, you yourself will die. But the fame of a dead man never dies. That is maybe one of the most famous lines from the Havel Mall. Basically, it's saying, look, there is an end to all men. For the Vikings, they believed in fate, that the end is written before it even starts. It is woven as a tapestry, and at some point that final thread will be snipped, and that's it. There's nothing you can do about it, except you can embrace it and you can face it with bravery. That is the Viking way. Whether you believe in fate or you believe in providence or the agency of man, that's not the point. But the reality is all of those views agree that there is an end for everyone. The statistics on death are not in our favor, let's just put it that way. And the Havamal doesn't beat around the bush. It just tells it like it is. But the other thing that it's telling us is once you accept it, then everything else becomes clear. Your wealth, temporary, your possessions fading away. Even your closest relationships, they are bound by time. But your reputation, that's your echo, is what remains when everything else is stripped away. And the Vikings understood this with brutal clarity. They weren't obsessed with fame in the shallow sense we often think of today. Applause, attention, followers, likes. No. They were obsessed with something far heavier, legacy. Because once you're gone, your story is all that remains. And you don't get to tell it anymore. Others do. So the question becomes, what will they say? Not at what you intended for them to say, not what you believed about yourself, what your life actually proved. Did you keep your word? Did you stand when it was hard? Were you a friend? Did you betray or did you build? Because reputation isn't crafted in speeches. It's forged in the decisions that we make. They may not even feel significant in the moment, but they are. Remember, we started with actions speak louder than words. The world that we live in, it chases comfort, convenience, short-term wins, the easy path, the quick advantage, the life hack, the immediate reward. But the Havamal cuts through all of that, says none of that lasts. Only your name, only what you did, only how people remember you actually keeps going. You can be remembered for a lot of things. We think about what we've uncovered so far. Being remembered for wisdom, being remembered for being a friend. Those are things that are worth being remembered for. And so that's why the Havamal is a place where you can look at, you can dig in, you can say, hey, what can I learn? What can I apply to my life? But there's a twist, and there's a major twist with the Havamal. See, nobody knows exactly who wrote the Codex Regis. It's a collection of poems. The Havamal being part of it, it's from multiple sources, multiple skulls, multiple scholars, multiple scribes, but it was preserved by the church. And oftentimes, what you hear in the Havamal are actually timeless principles. And quite possibly that's why it was preserved. Because these same principles, they're not new. And this is why I brought up the book of Proverbs from the Bible earlier in the episode here. It's because these same principles exist there, which means truth is truth. It crosses cultures, crosses continents, and it crosses centuries, thousands of years apart from each other, and a thousand years forward into our day and age. It works because these principles are true. That's why they keep going. That's why we can listen to them and we can gain something from them and take action with them. And so my encouragement is don't dismiss truth, whatever form it comes in. You may lean towards, I want what the Havamal has to say, I don't want what a passage of the Bible says. Or you may say, I want what the Bible says, and I don't want what the Havamal says. But if the Havamal says the same thing as the Bible, then maybe there's truth there, and vice versa. Back to the Havamal and this principle that, hey, everything is going to come to an end, but your reputation is what keeps on going, travels further and beyond. That's the opportunity that we have, to leave our mark. And we don't do that by accident. We do that by starting with seeking after wisdom and truth, and then allowing that wisdom and truth to become actionable in our lives, to do what we say, to do what we've learned, and therefore leaving a mark in this world. This last one is to me what makes the Viking Age so exciting. If you don't know, one of my favorite Viking Age heroes is Leif Erickson, because he risked everything to sail across the ocean and land in North America before any other European. He was an adventurer. He traveled, he lived in Iceland, he lived in Greenland, and he for a time lived in North America. He went for it, he ventured. And I want that adventurous spirit to never die in my own life. I want to go, I want to experience, I want to explore, whether that's going to another country, another continent, or just taking a step and venturing into the world of podcasting and seeing where that goes. What an amazing journey so far. But we're still going. And so the Havamal says the traveled man knows what spirit governs man. The Vikings, they weren't just raiders. They were explorers, sailors of the open water. They walked foreign roads. They heard many, countless foreign languages, and they discovered something that if you travel, you will uncover too. That the more of the world that you see, the more you want to see. In other words, the Habamal is teaching that a man who moves is a man who learns. Not just facts, not just geography, but people, patterns. He sees that people are people everywhere you go. There's so many similarities, and then there's so many things that are so unique. As I've traveled in various parts of the world, the one thing I'm impressed with is culture. I love to see people functioning, operating in their culture. I often think to myself, I wish I had a decade or two or three to spend immersed in this culture, learning the language, learning why they enjoy what they enjoy, the foods that they eat and the way they do things, the customs, the holidays, all of that. And then I see another culture and I want to do the same thing. I think, oh, there's just not enough time. But the more you travel, the more you realize how much value every culture has to offer. And that's the idea. A man who travels knows, and he knows what kind of spirit governs man. Here's the reality: you can't discover from a distance. You gotta go. You gotta jump in. You can research podcasts all day long, but until you go for it, until you actually click record, it's gonna be tough to actually discover what podcasting entails. And let me tell you, I've discovered a lot over the last year. The idea is that when you stay in one place, no matter how comfortable it is, something subtle is happening, the world begins to shrink, your assumptions they begin to harden, your thinking also begins to stagnate. You begin to believe that what you see every day is all that there is, that your normal way of living, that's how it should be, or that's how it is everywhere. And if somebody doesn't fit that mold, then well, they're just different. No, your perspective is just incomplete. Your understanding is just not sufficient. We are limited by what we experience. And the Havamall is pushing against limitation, saying that, hey, if you travel, when you explore, when you go for it, even if you fail, even if you can't speak a language, even if you can't stand the food, it doesn't matter. Everything begins to shift because you encounter different beliefs, different strategies, different ways of living, different cultures, customs, practices, and you learn. You may not want to adopt those things, you may not even enjoy any part of it, but it gives you a renewed perspective on what you have. So either way, you benefit, you win from going for it, traveling, exploring, being an adventurer, just like those of the Viking Age. You will see strengths in other cultures, and that's good. And we can take a little bit of those back with us every time we expose ourselves to something new. Now, that again, that doesn't mean that we agree with everything. We don't have to, but we can be respectful, we can honor, and we can gain what we can gain from them. And what the Havamol is pointing us to is that wisdom, the wisdom here isn't just knowing more information, it's seeing more clearly. You can't see clearly if your world is small. And travel is what stretches that. I love how the sagas and the Havamal, they give us this picture of if you want to see clearly, you need wisdom, which is interesting that Odin had to lose an eye in order to gain it. So he doesn't see as well, but now he sees better than before. That's the point. That's what all of this does, all these principles. If we take them, apply them, if we allow them to become part of who we are, we will see clearer. We will see where the truth is actually leading us. So don't shelter in place, even though that might feel safe, because it's a known environment, because you understand the rules and it's comfortable. You gotta go, you gotta be bold, you gotta get after it, you gotta explore like the Vikings did, because wisdom of the time is waiting on the other side, waiting for you as you cross the sea, and as you land on a new continent, and as you try something new, and as you learn a new task, as you learn a new skill, or you gain more information or knowledge, and you're digging in, and all of that addition to you is something that you can add to other people. You will have stories, you will have wisdom that you can share and you can give to someone else. Havamal is just simply saying, don't always stay where it's familiar. It's great to have a comfortable home base, a place where you feel good when you return, but just realize that comfort alone doesn't make you sharper. In fact, oftentimes it's discomfort trying new things, doing new things that actually leads to gaining the wisdom that we're after. And so we've covered five principles today. We've just talked through it. No story today, but just the wisdom from the Havamal. And this is just scratching the surface as well. But they're clear and they're direct and they oftentimes feel simple, which is fine. They should, because they should be able to be remembered so that you can take it and you can move forward. This isn't abstract philosophy. This is lived wisdom, right? This is from the Viking Age. This is what the people decided needs to be recorded. Even the prose edda takes from pieces of the Havamal and inserts it into that text. It's all there. It's embedded in the stories, embedded in the sagas. And this is the kind of wisdom that's not just a decoration for life, it's actually direction for it. How do you choose the people that you trust? How do you be a better friend? How do you build a reputation that lasts? And how do you stretch yourself when comfort is so much easier? There's so many things that that the Havel Mall has to offer, but none of these things are new or unique to the Havel Mall itself. It's just worded in a way that makes sense in the Viking age. And my last encouragement to you is don't just admire the wisdom. Apply it. See how it will improve. Test it and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. And even if we've only drawn a few drops from the well, there is more waiting. There is more depth, there's more tension. And we don't have to wait for the next episode on the Havamal. We can hear it in the sagas. We can hear it in the wisdom of the Viking Age, in their battle tactics, in their stories, in the mythology. There's nuggets of wisdom and truth embedded everywhere. And sometimes all we have to do is skid our shovel, dig a little bit, and we'll find those gems. So keep after it, keep searching for knowledge, keep searching for truth, and let wisdom be your guide. And until next time, be bold, be strong, and awaken the Viking in you.