THE HIGH ONE'S LAY
Odin.
19. "Thou art no Vala, nor wise woman, rather art thou the mother of three Thursar."
Vala.
20. "Home ride thou, Odin! and exult. Thus shall never more man again visit me, until Loki free from his bonds escapes, and Ragnarök all-destroying comes."
THE HIGH ONE'S[1] LAY.
1. All door-ways, before going forward, should be looked to; for difficult it is to know where foes may sit within a dwelling.
2. Givers, hail! A guest is come in: where shall he sit? In much haste is he, who on the ways has to try his luck.
3. Fire is needful to him who is come in, and whose knees are frozen; food and raiment a man requires, wheo'er the fell has travelled.
4. Water to him is needful who for refection comes, a towel and hospitable invitation, a good reception; if he can get it, discourse and answer.
5. Wit is needful to him who travels far: at home all is easy. A laughing-stock is he who nothing knows, and with the instructed sits.
- ↑ Odin is the "High One." The poem is a collection of rules and maxims, and stories of himself, some of them not very consistent with our ideas of a supreme deity.
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