VIKING QUOTES

Viking Age sayings and proverbs often deliver a powerful message filled with wisdom in a short, straigth forward manner. They inspire reflection, fairness, courage and honor. Most of them can be applied to our modern day world in order to become a better person. Here are 48 favorites:

• Too much beer, and a man's heart will be open for all to see - The Saga of Olaf Haraldsson, c.151

• The error is the result of letting fear rule your actions - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.46.

• A person should not agree today to what he will regret tomorrow – Saga Bandamanna, c.10.

• Defend your own judgment and not what others say - Gudmundur Jonsson.

• No one is a fool if he knows when to shut up - Grettir's saga, c.88.

• Not all the clouds that darken the day bring rain - Saga Heitharvega, c.7.

• It is better to fight and fall than to live without hope - The Saga of the Volsungs, c.12.

• Where the wolf's ears are, the wolf's teeth are close. - Volsunga Saga, c.19.

• Fight your enemies in the field, don't burn in your home - Saga Volsunga, c.21.

• When men encounter enemies in the fight, a robust heart is better than a sharp sword - Volsunga, c.19.

• Only a coward expects to be taken as a redfish or a fox from a trap - Saga Laxdaela, c.40.

• We often regret saying too much and seldom regret saying too little - The saga of Hrafnkel Freysgothi, c.7.

• Those who take large resolutions, and then set them aside, only end in disgrace  (The saga of King Olaf Trygvisson, c.9)

• Gold is little comfort to the dead relative - Saga of Ervar Odd, c.11.

• The one you trust the most may disappoint you the most – Saga Fljotsdale, c.23.

• Ill is the result of letting fear rule thine actions - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.46

• Ill it is to take love from another man’s wife - Saga of the Volsungs, c.21

• Kinsmen to kinsmen should be true. - The Saga of Olaf Haraldsson, c.186

• Fear not death for the hour of your doom is set and none may escape it - Saga of the Volsungs, c.5

• Often times it is not numbers that wins the victory, but those who fare forward with the most vigor - The Saga of Thrond of Gate, c.19

• With many who come to power and honor, pride keeps pace with promotion - The Saga of Magnus the Good, c.8

• Ill it is to abandon honor and integrity in exchange for injustice and greed - Bandamanna Saga, c.10 

• There is more honor in accumulating little by little than in reaching for the sky and ending up flat on your face - Vatnsdæla Saga, c.7

• A person’s actions are often worse than their intentions - The Saga of Hrafnkel Freysgothi, c.10

• Stubbornness brings either greater humiliation or greater honor - The Saga of Hrafnkel Freysgothi, c.10

• When truth and fairness are different from what is law, better it is to follow truth and fairness - Bandamanna Saga, c.6

• Wisdom is welcome wherever it comes from - Bandamanna Saga, c.10

• Great deeds and ill deeds often fall within each other’s shadow - Gisli Sursson’s Saga, c.17

• Better to die with honor than live with shame - The Saga of the Jomsvikings, c.23,

• Oft one finds, when the foe he meets, that he is not the bravest of all - Fafnismal 17

• All a people need in order to rise up against tyranny is a leader bold enough to take up the banner - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.45

• That which has a bad beginning, is likely to have a bad ending - Hen-Thorir’s Saga, c.4

• One should not ask more than would be thought fitting - Króka-refs Saga, c.10

• Often it is that what happens to most others will happen to you - Eyrbyggja Saga, c.32

• Better a brief spell of honour than a long rule of shame - Laxdaela Saga, c.29

• There is greater consolation than money - Grettir’s Saga, c.47

• He’s a wise man who knows himself - The Saga of Hrafnkel Freysgothi, c.7

• Let another’s wounds be your warning - Njal’s Saga, c.37

• Bravery is half the victory - The Saga of Harald Hardrade, c.103

• A hungry wolf is bound to wage a hard battle - Laxdaela Saga, c.19

• The fool is busy in everyone’s business but his own - Kormak’s Saga, c.14

• Often it is that anger is blind to the truth - The Foster-brother’s Saga, c.22

• Better it is to have a lower position in life and be free than to have a position of power only to be subject to the will of another - The Saga of Olaf Haraldsson, c.79

• Ill is the result of being more given to big talk than using one’s wits - The Saga of Bjarn of the Hitdoela Champions, c.19

• With law shall our land be built up and settled, and with lawlessness wasted and spoiled - Njal’s Saga, c.69

• It can be expected that a man who has a lot on his mind will not always be careful enough - The Saga of Hrafnkel Freysgothi, c.9

• Where fault can be found, the good is ignored - Njal’s Saga

• A tale is but half told when only one person tells it - The Saga of Grettir