kylec | Slow Havamal: 160

In verse 160, Odin says he knows a fifteenth spell: a dwarf named Thjodreyrir cast it in front of Delling’s doors to bring power to the gods, courage to the elves, and knowledge to Odin.

We don’t know much about the dwarf Thjodreyrir or Delling’s doors, but that was apparently an early use of the spell that Odin later learned. Given that it brought knowledge to Odin, the details of the spell may have come from that casting, itself. I can only speculate on how or why these things were granted, but power, courage, and knowledge make a fine trio of virtues.

We often think of knowledge and power as two sides of a balanced equation. You need to be able to make changes in the world, but doing it blindly brings disaster. So you need the knowledge to understand what can and should be changed, and how. Knowledge alone leaves you knowing better but unable to do anything.

Courage further reinforces these two qualities. Having the power but not the guts, or having the knowledge while fearing to use it, does little good. I suppose that someone who is very powerful may end up being courageous by virtue of not facing any real opposition. But for humans at least, there is always another level beyond our power, a context in which it exists—in fact, many. So even a formidable power faces dangers. The ignorant man may not think so. It’s easy for him to imagine he’s unstoppable. But when you add knowledge to power, you give him the ability to second-guess. There are many good reasons not to act. There is no omniscience here. In action there is risk. Knowing it may give pause to the powerful person. His knowledge of how things will turn out can never be complete. So he understands what he can do, the ways it might affect things, then by an act of courage decides to accept the consequences if he fails. So courage is a crucial third element that becomes necessary once power is mitigated by knowledge.

(It’s very interesting to me that the three rays of light in Druidry often translate as knowledge, power, and peace, with the latter taking the place of courage in that particular balance. Make of that what you will.)

That’s for humans, anyway. I don’t know why these virtues were assigned each to someone else, nor does that mean they didn’t already possess the others. We might see it as a boost rather than adding a new ability. In this triumvirate of gods, elves, and All-Father, Odin plays the role of knowing what can and should be done by a wise actor. He directs the power of the gods, and perhaps where he can’t be sure, leans on the courage of the elves.