Maxims I

Question me with wise words! Do not let your spirit be hidden, nor conceal what you know most deeply. I will not tell you my secrets, if you hide from me your mind's craft and your heart's thoughts. Wise men should exchange sayings. A man should first praise God fairly, our Father, for He gave us at the beginning life and this loaned existence; He will remind us of that reward. The Creator must be in glory, man must on earth grow from young to old. God is eternal for us, Fates do not turn Him nor does anything afflict Him, not sickness nor age the Almighty; He does not grow old in spirit, but is still as He was, the patient Lord. He gives us thought, diverse moods, many tongues. Many kinds of life embrace the wide expanse, many an island. Spacious lands the Measurer raised up for mankind, Almighty God, just as many peoples as there are customs. The wise should hold council with the wise; their spirit is alike, they always settle strife, teach peace, which the unhappy had carried away. Counsel should be with wisdom, justice with the wise, the good belong with the good. Two are a pair; a wife and a man are to bring into the world children by birth. A tree on the earth must lose its leaves, its limbs lament. The eager must journey, the fated must die, and each day strive against parting from this middle-earth. The Creator alone knows whence death comes, that which departs from this homeland. The newborn increases what early sickness takes; thus on the earth so many of the race of men would grow, there would be no measure to this human-building, if He who shaped this world did not diminish them. Foolish is he who knows not his Lord, to him death often comes unannounced. Wise men protect their souls, they hold to their truth with justice. Blessed is he who thrives in his homeland, wretched is he whom his friends betray. Never shall he thrive whose provisions fail, by need he must be bound for a time. A blithe heart should be harmless. The blind must suffer the loss of his eyes, he is deprived of bright sight. He cannot behold the stars, the sky-bright sun or moon; that is a sorrow in his spirit, a pain when he knows it alone, and does not hope for its return. The Ruler ordained that torment for him, He who can grant a turn for the better, health to the bright jewel of the head, if He knows the heart is clean. A sick man needs a healer. One should teach a young man, strengthen and instruct him that he may know well, until one has him tamed; give him food and clothing, until one has brought him to his senses. One should not condemn him in his childhood, before he can prove himself; thus he should thrive among his people, so that he becomes bold of thought. One must steer with a strong spirit. A storm often stirs the sea, the ocean in grim seasons; the grim waves begin to strive, fallow from afar, against the land, whether it stands fast. The walls hold against them, the wind is shared between them. So is the sea smooth, when the wind does not wake it; so are peoples at peace, when they have come to terms, they sit in sound counsel, and then with companions the brave men hold their natural kingdom. A king is eager for power; hated is he who claims land, loved is he who offers more. Glory belongs with splendor, the bold with the brave, both must readily perform in battle. A warrior must be on his horse's back, the cavalry must ride in a troop, the foot-soldiers stand fast. A maiden is fitting at her embroidery; a wandering woman spreads rumors, often she is blamed for vices, men speak of her with scorn, often her cheek flushes. The shamed man must walk in shadow, the bright is fitting in the light. The hand should work for the head, treasure should wait in the treasury, the gift-throne stand ready, for when men may share it. Greedy is he who receives the gold, the man on the high-seat has enough of it; a reward is due, if we will not lie, to Him who granted us this grace. Frost must freeze, fire melt wood, earth must grow, ice must form a bridge, water must wear a helmet, wondrously locking up the sprouts of the earth. One alone can unbind the frost's fetters, the very-mighty God; winter must depart, fair weather return, summer be sky-hot, the sea unstill. The deep path of the dead is longest hidden; holly must be kindled, the inheritance of a dead man divided. A good name is best. A king must buy a queen with property, with cups and with rings; both must first be generous with gifts. War must be in a warrior, battle must grow, and a woman thrive beloved among her people, be light of heart, keep secrets, be generous with horses and with treasures, at the mead-giving before the company of retainers always and everywhere greet first the protector of princes, quickly pass the first cup to her lord's hand, and know counsel for them both together, the heads of the house. A ship is to be nailed, a shield bound— a light linden-wood board, a beloved welcome to a Frisian's wife, when the fleet stands at anchor; his keel has come and her man is home, her own provider, and she invites him in, washes his sea-worn garment and gives him new clothes, grants him on land what his love asks. A wife should keep faith with a man, though often she is blamed for vices; many are firm-minded, many are curious, they love a strange man when the other travels far. The sailor is long on his journey; yet a woman should always hope for her beloved, wait for what she cannot hasten. When his chance comes again, he will come home, if he lives and is whole, unless the sea prevents him, the ocean holds in its grasp the joy of a young warrior. The wealthy man then buys a dwelling in the king's town from the people, when he comes from sailing; he makes use of wood and water when a place is allowed him, buys food if he needs more, before he becomes too weary. Sick is he who eats too seldom; though one leads him into the sun, he cannot live by the weather, though it be warm in summer; he will be overcome before he dies, if he knows not who will feed him while he lives. One must feed strength with food, and bury murder under the earth, hide it under the soil, he who thinks to conceal it; that is not a fitting death, when it becomes a secret thing. The lowly must bow down, the sick must sink, the righteous flourish. Counsel is most useful, evil most useless, that which the wretched man takes up. Good is current, and endures with the good. Thought should be restrained, the hand controlled, sight should be in the eye, wisdom in the breast, where a man's mind-thoughts are. Every mouth needs food, meals must come at their proper times. Gold is fitting on a man's sword, a wondrous victory-sword-belt, treasure on a queen, a good poet for men, spear-strife for warriors, war to defend and hold a dwelling-peace. A shield is for the champion, a shaft for the reaver, a ring is for the bride, a book for the scholar, the host for the holy man, sin for the heathen. Woden wrought idols, but the All-Wielder wrought glory, the spacious heavens; that is the mighty God, Himself the true-king, savior of souls, who gave us all that we live by, and again at the end rules over all mankind. That is the Creator Himself. One should speak counsel, write runes, sing a song, earn praise, declare glory, hasten through the day. A good man takes care of a good and tame horse, a known and tested one and one with sound hooves; no man ever acquires too many. A man should hold a friend well on every road; often a man travels far from his town, where he knows no certain friend. The friendless, unhappy man takes wolves for his companions, a very treacherous beast. Full oft that companion tears him apart; terror must be for the gray wolf, a grave for the dead man; it howls from hunger, it does not wrap the corpse in a shroud, nor indeed does the gray wolf weep for the slaughter, the violent death of men, but always wants more. A band should be wound, vengeance for a hard man. A bow is for an arrow, and it is fitting for a man to have a mate. Treasure is worthy of another, gold one should give. God can give possessions to the blessed and take them away again. A hall should stand, though it itself grows old. A fallen tree grows least of all. Trees should spread and truth should grow, that which arises in the breasts of the righteous. The faithless and reckless man, poison-minded and untrue, God does not heed him. The Creator shaped many things that happened long ago, and commanded them to be so forth. For every man wise words are fitting, a song for the gleeman and wisdom for a man. As many men as there are on earth, so many are there mind-thoughts; each has his own separate spirit. He longs the less who knows a wealth of songs, or can greet the harp with his hands; he has his gift of glee, which God gave him. Wretched is he who must live alone, Fate has decreed he dwell friendless; it were better for him that he had a brother, both of them one man's sons, a nobleman's heirs, if they should have to attack a boar or both a bear; that is a savage-handed beast. Always should those warriors lead their troops and sleep together; may no one ever speak ill of them, until death divides them. The two of them should sit at a game-board, until their grief glides away, forget those grim fates, have their game at the board; the idle hand has leisure enough for the man at the game-board, when he throws the dice. Seldom in a wide ship, unless it runs under sail, does a weary man row against the wind; full oft one accuses the coward with reproaches, so that he loses courage, his oar dries on the gunwale. Deceit belongs with depravity, skill with what is fitting; by such means the gem is stolen. Often they cast words at each other, before they draw their swords; it is soon clear who is ready. Feud came to the race of men, when first the earth swallowed Abel's blood. That was no one-day evil; from those drops of strife sprang wide a great affliction for men, for many peoples a bale-blended malice. Cain slew his own brother, he did not mourn that killing; it was widely known afterwards, that eternal strife harmed men, as it did the dwellers of that land. They endured the strife of weapons wide across the earth, they devised and hardened the cruel-cutting sword. Ready must be the war-board, the spear on its shaft, the edge on the sword and the point on the spear, and a hard heart in a man. A helm is for the brave, and for the wretched man's spirit, a hoard is most useless.