Hávamál (The Words of the High One), (known also as "The Sayings of Har", or the "High Song of Odin"), a work of Old Norse poetry, is a source document for the study of Norse mythology, being a set of rules for wise living (and survival) purportedly written by Odin. It is both practical and metaphysical in content. The only extant source for this poem is contained within the Codex Regius. An early reference to the poem is by Eyvind the Plagiarist in Hakonarsmál, c. 960. Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in a number of Nordic languages, embraced by the term Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. ... Norse mythology, Viking mythology or Scandinavian mythology refer to the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Odin, Icelandic/Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden, Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon Woden, Old Franconian Wodan, Alemannic Wuodan, German Wotan or Wothan Lombardic Godan. ... The Codex Regius is an Icelandic manuscript (See also Codex) which is thought to have been written in the 1270s, but many of the poems and stories contained in it pre-date the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity in the late tenth century. ...

Hávamál consists of a number of poems, which shift in tone and tenor and narrative position.

Many modern proponents of Ásatrú place the Havamal at the centre of their religious beliefs. Ásatrú describes a variety of revivals of the indigenous, pre-Christian religions of the Teutonic tribes of Northern Europe. ...

Gestathattr (Old Norse: Gestaþáttr)

The first section Gestathattr, the "guest's section", strophes 1 - 79, comprises a set of maxims for how to comport oneself when a guest and travelling, focussing particularly on the etiquette and behavioural relationships between hosts and guests. The first stanza exemplifies the practical behavioural advice it offers: Strophe (Greek, to turn) is a term in versification which properly means a turn, as from one foot to another, or from one side of a chorus to the other. ... Etiquette is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ...

When standing at an unfamiliar door,

Take care before entering:

Look this way and that:

Who knows up front what foes may be

Awaiting in the hall?

Number 77 is possibly the most known one of the Gestathattr, it goes as follows.

Cattle Die,

Friends Die:

Even you die:

But I know one that does not die

Judgment over dead men

Lodfafnirsmál (Old Norse: Loddfáfnismál)

The next major section of Hávamál deals with morals, ethics, correct action and codes of conduct. It is directed to Loddfaffner ("stray-singer"), hence the name for this section, Lodfafnirsmál, who stands in the place of the reader (or, as was the case at the time, the listener). Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... Loddfaffni(r), is a character in the 9th Century Norse document the Havamal to whom the discourse on morals, ethics, and correct action is directed. ...

Runatals (Old Norse: Rúnatal)

Odin talks of his self-sacrifice (to himself) in stanza 138, in the section known as Runatals: Odin, Icelandic/Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden, Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon Woden, Old Franconian Wodan, Alemannic Wuodan, German Wotan or Wothan Lombardic Godan. ...

Wounded, I dangled on a wind-swept gallows

For nine long days and nights,

Impaled upon a spear, sacrificed to Odin,

An offering, self to self

Upon the Tree whose roots ascend to heaven

Ljodatal (Old Norse: Ljóðatal)

The last section, the Ljodatal, which is spectacularly metaphysical, deals with the transmission of knowledge, and the Odinic mysteries. It is essentially a list and a key to a sequenced number of runic charms. There are correspondences between this section and with the Sigrdrifumál, in which the Valkyrie Sigrdrifa details a number of the runes at her command. This article is about the Valkyries, figures of Norse mythology. ... In Norse mythology, Sigrdrida was one of the Valkyries. ...

In the sixth charm, for example

A sixth I know, lest any mean me harm:

Write runes upon a sapling's roots

Dispatch them to the author of the hate

To taste what he has wrought

the sending of a root with runes carved on is well documented in Norse literature; it was, for example, the cause of death of Grettir the Strong.

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