3 translations are aligned to this passage.
Better no prayer than too big an offering,By thy getting measure thy gift;Better is none than too big a sacrifice,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .So Thund of old wrote ere man’s race began,Where he rose on high when home he came.* * *‘Tis better not to praythan too much offer;a gift ever looks to a return.‘Tis better not to sendthan too much consume.So Thund gravedbefore the origin of men,where he ascended,to whence he afterwards came.* * * * *Better ask for too little than offer too much,like the gift should be the boon;better not to send than to overspend.. . . . . . . . . .Thus Odin graved ere the world began;Then he rose from the deep, and came again.Hávamál, translated by Henry Adams Bellows, in The Poetic Edda (1923). Public-domain transcription sourced from Project Gutenberg ebook 73533.
The sluggard believes he shall live forever, If the fight he faces not; But age shall not grant him the gift of peace, Though spears may sp…
Read passage →If wealth a man has won for himself, Let him never suffer in need; Oft he saves for a foe what he plans for a friend, For much goes worse t…
Read passage →. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oft for the words that to others one speaks He will get but an evil gift.
Read passage →Fire for men is the fairest gift, And power to see the sun; Health as well, if a man may have it, And a life not stained with sin.
Read passage →Only you can see these notes.
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