Slow Havamal: 111

In verse 111, Odin opens up about the wise man’s chair at Urd’s well, where he saw and was silent, saw and thought, listened to men’s speech, and heard about the runes who have him counsel.

Odin, ever the seeker of wisdom, visits Urd—one of the female Norns, or Fates—who resides at the base of Yggdrasil. We don’t know what the wise man’s chair is, but presumably it could be a seat where one receives wisdom. I’m tempted to imagine Odin sitting in meditation. There are four actions he mentions: to see, to listen, to think, and to remain silent. These remind me to some degree of Eliphas Levi’s four magical virtues: to know, to dare, to will, and to be silent.
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