The Vikings were mysterious and strong seafarers, and their popularity has grown throughout time. Many of their sayings and ideas are still relevant today.
Below you’ll find a selection of Viking quotes, sayings and ideas from the Norse mythology, movies and authors.
Viking Quotes
- Better to fight and fall than to live without hope” – Volsunga Saga, Chapter 12
- It is better to stand and fight. If you run, you’ll only die tired
- If you find your axe is too short, add to it’s length.. by continuining to take steps forward
- Eyes can not hide a woman’s love for a man – The Saga of Gunnlaugur the Worm-tongue, chapter 13
- Our most important baggage on our journeys is wisdom – Hávamál
- One should not ask more than would be thought fitting – Hávamál
- Never break the peace which good and true men make between you and others – Hávamál
- No one is a total fool if he can be silent – The Saga of Grettir the Strong, chapter 88
- Never laugh at the old when they offer counsel, often their words are wise – Havaml: 134
- A tale is but half told when only one person tells it – The Saga of Grettir the Strong, chapter 46
- Courage is better than keenest steel – Sigurth, Fáfnimál
- Where fault can be found, the good is ignored – The Saga of Burnt Njal, chapter 139
- Bravely and gladly a man shall go, till the day of his death is come – Hávamál: 15
- Do well by your kinsmen and take little revenge for their wrongdoings. Endure patience and you will win long-lasting praise – Brynhild
- Over the foaming salt sea spray, The Norse sea-horses took their way, Racing across the ocean-plain – Heimskringla
- There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good – The Saga of Grettir the Strong, chapter 78
- Though glad at home, and merry with guests, a man shall be way and wise – Hávamál: 103
- He is bad-tempered, and may be that I shall let another’s wound be my warning – The Saga of Burnt Njal, chapter 37
- Love is mingled when a man can say to a bosom friend what burdens him – Hávamál: 124
- There are more things to be thought of by men than money alone – The Saga of Grettir the Strong, chapter 47
- Shun not the mead, but drink in measure – Hávamál: 19
- All dead men’s ghosts do grow more dread as daylight darkens to dimness of night – Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- For heroes, ’tis seemly the truth to speak – Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- Braver are many in word than in deed – Grettir, The Saga of Grettir the Strong
- Push away pride! Your strength, your power, are yours for how many years? Death comes faster than you think, no one can flee it – Beowulf
- I demolish my bridges behind me – then there is no choice but forward – Fridtjof Nansen
- Never stop because you are afraid – you are never so likely to be wrong – Fridtjof Nansen
- We will never flee from our enemies but rather endure their weapons – Hjalmar, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks: 4
- Now the youth was to enter the line of battle with his lord, his first time to be tested as a fighter. His spirit did not break – Beowulf
- Do not dispute with those who are drunk on wine and have lost their wits – Saga of the Volsungs
- There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good – Grettir Saga, c.78
- Old friends are the last to break away – The Saga of Grettir
- What brothers own jointly is best seen together – Gisli Sursson’s Saga, c.10
- Few are bold in old age that are cowardly in childhood – Volsunga Saga, c.18
- Stand by your own trial and not by what others say – Gudmundur Jonsson
- Often times it is not numbers that wins the victory, but those who fare forward with the most vigor
– The Saga of Thrond of Gate, c.19 - When men meet foes in fight, better is stout heart than sharp sword – Volsunga, c.19
- To take up great resolutions, and then to lay them aside, only ends in dishonor – King Olaf Trygvisson’s Saga, c.9
- Ill is the result of letting fear rule thine actions – The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.46
- Too much ale and a man’s heart is laid open for all to see – The Saga of Olaf Haraldsson, c.151
- There’s no excusing the man who rejects the truth once it’s proven – Fóstbrœðra saga, c.23
- When ill seed has been sown, so an ill crop will spring from it – Njal’s Saga
- Likely is ill the result when words of slander fly – Heitharvega, c.35
- Varied will be his fortunes who fares far – The Saga of Fridthjof the Bold
- Sorrow is lightened by being brought out openly – The Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf
- Forethought is better than afterthought – Vatnsdæla Saga
Norse Sayings
- “Du skal kravle, før du kan gå” – You have to learn to crawl before you can walk
- “Ju senare på kvällen, desto vackrare folk” – The later in the evening, the more beautiful the people
- “The cowardly man thinks he’ll live for ever, if he keeps away from fighting; but old age won’t grant him a truce even is spears spare him”
- “If aware that another is wicked, say so: Make no truce or treaty with foes”
- “Árinni kennir illur ræðari” – A bad rower blames the oar
- “The unwise man is awake all night,
and ponders everything over;
when morning comes he is weary in mind,
and all is a burden as ever” - “Bara döda fiskar följer strömmen” – Only dead fish follow the stream
- “Praise day at even, a wife when dead,
a weapon when tried, a maid when married, ice when ’tis crossed, and ale when ’tis drunk” - “Berre bok gjer ingen klok” – Merely book makes none wise
- “About his intelligence no man should be boastful, rather cautious of mind; when a wise and silent man comes to a homestead blame seldom befalls the wary; for no more dependable friend can a man every get than a store of common sense”
- “Den hund som bieffer meget, han bider ikkun lidet” – Barking dogs seldom bite
- “A guest must depart again on his way, nor stay in the same place ever; if he bide too long on another’s bench the loved one soon becomes loathed”
- “Gammel kjærleik rustar ikkje” – Old love does not corrode
- “Det är som mörkast innan gryningen” – It is darkest before dawn
- “Let none put faith in the first sown fruit nor yet in his son too soon; whim rules the child, and weather the field, each is open to chance”
Sources: Vikingrune.com
