At kveldi skal dag leyfa (Hávamál s. 81)
Channel: Aux Phoques !
Date: 19/05/2022

This and all songs posted on this channel are licenced under Creative Commons with Attribution (CC BY).  As the author of this piece of music, I permit its use in derivative works (including commercial projects), provided that said authorship is properly cited.  This can be done by linking to the original video and/or providing a written or spoken attribution in the work itself or accompanying materials (i.e. Youtube video description).  If you enjoy the music of «Aux Phoques !», please inform all your friends and acquaintances.  Say «Aux Phoques !» as often as possible; it is rumoured to relieve stress.  Strive always to live your best life and «Aux Phoques !» yourself!

At kveldi skal dag leyfa, 
konu er brennd er, 
mæki er reyndr er, 
mey er gefin er, 
ís er yfir kømr, 
öl er drukkit er. 

Don’t praise the day until it’s night, 
don’t praise your wife until she’s burned, 
don’t praise the sword till after the fight, 
nor your daughter till she’s married, 
don’t praise the ice until it’s crossed, 
nor the ale until it’s drunk. 


- Hávamál stanza 81
English translation by Jackson Crawford © 2019

Corresponding passage from Dr. Crawford’s “The Cowboy Hávámal” © 2012: 

Don’t sing the praises 
of anything that ain’t over. 
Not the day’s before the night, 
not the work’s before its end, 
not the man’s before his death. 

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Image: Public Domain - The Stages of Life (Die Lebensstufen) by Caspar David Friedrich (1835). Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig. The Stages of Life is a meditation on the artist's own mortality, depicting five ships at various distances from the shore. The foreground similarly shows five figures at different stages of life