The Cowboy Havamal by Jackson Crawford

 

 Use yer eyes,

and never walk blind.

There ain't no tellin’

where there's someone waitin’

to put one over on you.

The original Havamal, also called Gestathattr, or The Counsel of Odin the One-Eyed was an Old Norse prose poem found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Viking tales and legends.

The Havamal is conspicuous for its brevity and down-to-earth warrior wisdom.

Noted Norse scholar, Jackson Crawford of Boulder, Colorado was always struck by its pragmatic bent. He felt that it dovetailed nicely with the cowboy wisdom of his rancher grandfather.

In The Cowboy Havamal he offers a rendering in the voice of a wise, pragmatic but sometimes cynical rancher.

It captures the Viking spirit beautifully, just as it captures the can-do of the Old West.

Both versions can be read in half an hour.

Both are chockful of stick-to-your-ribs wisdom.