Odin From Hávamál

Odin from The Sayings of the High One (Hávamâl)

“All doorways
before entering
gaze into carefully;
one never knows
where on the benches
enemies are sitting.”

  • This quote comes from the poem, Hávamál (stanza 1), included in the 13th-century Poetic Edda, which was produced anonymously in Iceland. It was also cited in The Prose Edda (Gylfaginning, section 2) by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). The translation version here is by Jesse Byock (Penguin Classics, 2005).

 

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