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Quotation from The Poetic Edda by Anonymous (Old Norse)

“Cattle die, | and kinsmen die, And so one dies one’s self; But a noble name | will never die, If good renown one gets.”

Anonymous (Old Norse) (spoken by Othin (the High One))

The Poetic Edda, Hovamol, stanza 77, trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

Portrait of Anonymous (Old Norse)

The most famous of the Hovamol sayings, setting lasting reputation against the certainty of death.

Citation: "Cattle die, | and kinsmen die, And so one dies one’s self; But a noble name | will never die, If good renown one gets." — Anonymous (Old Norse), The Poetic Edda, Hovamol, stanza 77, trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923). (id poetic-edda-q7)

Portrait: Codex Regius of Eddaic Poems, Unknown author, Public domain.

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Quote card: Cattle die, | and kinsmen die, And so one dies one’s self; But a noble name | wi