The Havamal: A Heathen Path of Living (Part 48)

76.

Cattle die, kindred die,

Every man is mortal:

But the good name never dies

Of one who has done well.

77.

Cattle die, kindred die,

Every man is mortal:

But I know one thing that never dies,

The fame of a dead man’s deeds.

This is the stanzas that describe the idea of what immortality meant to the ancient Norse. These stanzas describe that money fades (cattle was a measure of wealth to the ancients), friends die, and family dies. This is a reminder that we and everything and everyone that we know will eventually die and fade away. Every man is mortal. But, some things do live on: the names of great people and the deeds that they do. To the Norse, Beowulf is immortal. He was a hero of the Geats, a tribe who lived in southern Sweden, and traveled to an area in modern Denmark to help King Hrothgar defeat a terrible monster that had been terrorizing the countryside. Stories were told of Beowulf and his adventures. Eventually, someone wrote those stories down. And now today, well over a thousand years after the story was written down, students today still read of Beowulf and his tale is told in movies, comic books, and games. His name is recognized even if people haven’t read his story. To the ancient Norse, everyone should aspire to be like Beowulf and live a life that is so great and noteworthy that centuries later people will still be talking about it.

But, what if you aren’t a Geatish hero who can sail across a sea to kill a monster and slay a dragon? Is it still possible to live up to these standards and achieve what the ancient Norse would have considered immortality’? It may be as easy a living a life for others. One of my favorite stories is “The Changing of the Guard”, an episode of the TV show, Twilight Zone. In the episode, an elderly English literature teacher at a boy’s prep school is forced into retirement. Without any idea of what he would do with his life without teaching and feeling as if all of his lessons had been for nothing, the teacher goes to his classroom late at night with the intention of killing himself. But before he can, the ghosts of several of his former students appear before them. They are all young men who died but were inspired by the lessons he taught them: to live and die in the service of others even at their own cost. Though this man was a simple school teacher, he had a profound impact on the lives around him and they, in turn, had a impact on others. If you want to have the Norse version of immortality, then you must live a life that people will want to remember. How you do that is up to you.