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The Poetic Edda: Hovamol · 15 of 16 · tr. Henry Adams Bellows

Section 1o

A sixth I know, | if harm one seeks With a sapling's roots to send me; The hero himself | who wreaks his hate Shall taste the ill ere I. 153. A seventh I know, | if I see in flames The hall o'er my comrades' heads; It burns not so wide | that I will not quench it, I know that song to sing. [148. Second , etc., appear in the manuscript as Roman numerals. The manuscript indicates no gap after line 2. 152. The sending of a root with runes written thereon was an excellent way of causing death. So died the Icelandic hero Grettir the Strong.] p. 65 154. An eighth I know, | that is to all Of greatest good to learn; When hatred grows | among heroes' sons, I soon can set it right. 155. A ninth I know, | if need there comes To shelter my ship on the flood; The wind I calm | upon the waves, And the sea I put to sleep. 156. A tenth I know, | what time I see House-riders flying on high; So can I work | that wildly they go, Showing their true shapes, Hence to their own homes. 157. An eleventh I know, | if needs I must lead To the fight my long-loved friends; I sing in the shields, | and in strength they go Whole to the field of fight, Whole from the field of fight, And whole they come thence home. 158. A twelfth I know, | if high on a tree I see a hanged man swing; [156. House-riders : witches, who ride by night on the roofs of houses, generally in the form of wild beasts. Possibly one of the last two lines is spurious. 157. The last line looks like an unwarranted addition, and line 4 may likewise be spurious. 158. Lines 4-5 are probably expanded from a single line.] p. 66 So do I write | and color the runes That forth he fares, And to me talks. 159. A thirteenth I know, | if a thane full young With water I sprinkle well; He shall not fall, | though he fares mid the host, Nor sink beneath the swords. 160. A fourteenth I know, | if fain I would name To men the mighty gods; All know I well | of the gods and elves, Few be the fools know this. 161. A fifteenth I know, | that before the doors Of Delling sang Thjothrörir the dwarf; Might he sang for the gods, | and glory for elves, And wisdom for Hroptatyr wise. 162. A sixteenth I know, | if I seek delight To win from a maiden wise; The mind I turn | of the white-armed maid, And thus change all her thoughts. [159. The sprinkling of a child with water was an established custom long before Christianity brought its conception of baptism. 161. This stanza, according to Müllenhoff, was the original conclusion of the poem, the phrase "a fifteenth" being inserted only after stanzas 162-165 had crept in. Delling : a seldom mentioned god who married Not (Night). Their son was Dag (Day). Thjothrörir : not mentioned elsewhere. Hroptatyr : Othin.] p. 67 163. A seventeenth I know, | so that seldom shall go A maiden young from me; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164. Long these songs | thou shalt, Loddfafnir, Seek in vain to sing; Yet good it were | if thou mightest get them, Well, if thou wouldst them learn, Help, if thou hadst them. 165.
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Themes
Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

Natural elements like wind and sea are personified as entities that can be commanded, alongside gods, elves, and dwarfs.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

Deities such as Delling and Thjothrörir are depicted with human actions like singing and marrying. [quarantine-w3: anthropomorphism x norse — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]

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Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

Stanza 164 indicates that these songs are difficult to learn and others will seek them in vain. [quarantine-w4: hidden_sayings x norse — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]

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Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

Stanza 160 highlights the power of naming the mighty gods as a specific form of knowledge. [quarantine-w4: sacred_names x norse — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]

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Shapeshifting Transformationtheology

Form-mutability as a constitutional property of divine and preternatural beings — gods, heroes, spirits, and their human practitioners possessing inherent capacity to alter form across human, animal, plant, or elemental states. Loki and Odin's transformations in Norse, Math's pigs and Blodeuwedd's owl-shape and Pwyll's exchange with Arawn in the Mabinogion, the Greek Proteus, the Indian dasavatara, Vainamoinen's bird-flight in the Kalevala, Ovid's metamorphoses, the shamanic and witch's capacity for ritual form-change. Distinct from anthropomorphism (divine taking specific human form, single embodiment) in that anthropomorphism establishes a stable form whereas this concept establishes form's plurality and instability.

Stanza 156 explicitly describes witches revealing their true shapes after being driven from houses.

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Theurgypraxis

Iamblichean ritual practice that engages the gods directly through consecrated material symbols and actions, on the premise that divine power descends into properly prepared matter — distinct from philosophical contemplation alone.

The text describes ritual actions like writing runes and singing songs to engage divine power for practical effects.

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Word Power Incantationpraxis

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

The passage centers on Odin's knowledge of songs and runes that directly alter reality, such as quenching fire or calming the sea.

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