Translation by Dr. Aaron K. Hostetter. Edition by Wulfgár Seaxnéating.

Introductory note: The purpose of this collection is to offer Heathens (Anglo-Saxon ones, specially) a body of moral and ethical teachings of the Anglo-Saxons devoid of Christian references (that may sound boring sometimes when you aren't Christian but still like the secular part of the writings). Some verses were totally or partially omitted (when they were nothing but Christian boasting), and some were changed to fit the ideas of Heathenry, that is, what these texts might have sounded like if they had been written down before the conversion. All aditions and changes are indicated by italics.

[Maxims I. A] Ask me of these olden words; nor let your soul be hidden, or be secret what you know most deeply! I don’t wish to speak to you of my hidden matters, if you veil your crafty thought from me, and the ideas of your heart. [...]

[Ælfric] He is wise, the one who speaks through works. [Precepts] [...] Always do what best avails you, and your work will succeed. [...] Your cyn will always be yours, belonging to every good man your master and comfort. The paths of exile are for the others, the wolves deserve loneness. Hope for the better, even this courage, always so long as you live. Cherish your father and mother with your heart, and every one of your kindred, so long as they also keep friþ. Always be gracious to your elders, fair-worded, and let your teachers be beloved in your spirit and mind, those who would bolster you to good most eagerly.[...]

Keep dear this virtue! Perform no crimes, nor ever tolerate them in your friends or kinsmen, lest Tíw reproach you, as an abettor of such faults. He may yield the punishment to you, what belongs to others, to their prosperity. [...]

Do not keep company with those beneath you, to the width of your life, nor esteem any of them, but take on that one who always speaks in good news and teachings, counsel-minded. About the rich, let it be just as it can be.

Abandon not your most intimate friend, but ever always keep him close, as is rightly fitting. Perform this courtesy, so that you never become vile to your own friend.[...]

Shelter yourself from drunken and daft words, malicious in your mind, and lying in your mouth, anger and spite and lechery for the ladies. Therefore shame-minded he must often venture who turns away from the love of his wife for strange women.[...] Always be wise of your reasons, wary against your desires, a warden of your words.[...]

Eagerly perceive what may be good or evil, and distinguish them always sharp-mindedly in your heart and ever choose the better. It will always be parted for you, if your mind avails. Wisdom dwells within, and you know readily the sense of evil, held against you stoutly, care for the good in your essence always.[...]

Seldom will the wise man, though sorrowless, exult, likewise will the fool rarely rejoice, filled with regrets, about his wyrd, unless he knows enmity. Guarded in speech, a wisdom-fast warrior must consider his heart, not all booming in voice. [...]

Learn these precepts, suitable for instruction,hope for yourself in wisdom and keep the Shaper of Armies in your expectations, mindful of his cyn, and keep truth ever in your sight when you say what you say.[...]

There are not many men who wish to keep the ancient customs, but his mind decays, his courage cools, discipline falling idle, nor do they have any bit left over for that, though they do disgrace instead of the wyrd's commandment. Many shall be rewarded with theexile. Yet allow your inner heart to hold from now on these olden teachings of your elders which men everywhere in this place abandon in their ambition declining precipitously, when righteousness should be theirs.[...]

He enjoys wisdoms who for the love of his cyn always guards himself against disgrace of words and deeds in his self-keeping and performs the truth. Every gift will be augmented for him, profitable in power, when he flies away from wickedness. Don’t allow anger ever to control you, cresting in your chest, or the ground of spiteful words, to defile you with its welling-forth, but your mind will keep him best in his heart.[...]

[Maxims I. A] [...] Wise men must trade their songs. [...] Man must be on earth, the young must grow old. [...] Wóden grants us understanding, a mindful variety, many manners of speech. Many a broad island embraces many ensouled creatures.

The ése following the wyrd reared up roomy habitations for mankind, as many of both nations and customs. A ġemót must be held aged with aged, as their essences are similar, they always settle disputes, teach concord, when the miserable have earlier borne it away. Counsel must be with the wise, righteousness too, good deeds must be with the good. The two shall be paired: a woman must be with a man, engendering in the world children with their birth.

A tree must stand in the earth losing its leaves, the bare branches must mourn. The eager must venture forth, when wyrd determines him to die and contend every day against their parting from Middanġeard. Only some of the ése know from what direction Hell will come to the children of Mann, who departs from this country. Children multiply, then infant disease takes them. In this way so many of the race of men come into being, nor would there be any limit to the children across Eorþe, if the wyrd of this world did not diminish their number.

Foolish is the one who knows not his lord, death often comes unheeded to him. Wise men bolster up their souls, holding their truth with righteousness. Blessed is the one who thrives in his homeland, wretched he who his friends betray. Never must he thrive whose food fails him, he must be bound by need at times.

Happy must be a heart void of evil. A blind man must do without his eyes, he is deprived of clear vision, nor can they keep watch of the stars above, the sky-bright Sunne nor Móna. He is pained in his mind, anxious when he alone knows it, he does not believe that its return will come. [...] A sick man needs a doctor.

A man must teach a younger man, strengthened and urged to know good, until that man has restrained him, given him food and clothing, until that man leads him into his wits. Neither must a man chide the child-young, before he can disclose himself, by this he must prosper among his people, so that he should be bold of resolve.

A man must direct his strong mind. The sea often brings a storm, the ocean in grim seasons. They begin to be driven furiously dusky a distance from land, whether or not it stands firmly. The cliff-walls hold out against themand the winds are against them too. So the sea will be serene when the winds do not rouse them, so the nations shall be united, when they have come together, sitting together in harmonious conclave, and when they keep their companionship, keen men have a powerful nature. The cyning will be eager for authority, hateful is he who claims the land, beloved he who offers more.

Majesty must be with pride, bravery with ferocity, they must both be prompt to make war. An eorl must ride upon a horse’s back, the cavalry must ride forth together, the infantrymen must stand firmly. It suits an engaged person to be at his or her table. A wandering engaged person gives rise to words, often a man smears others with stains, men speak of them slanderously, often a woman's beauty is thus impaired.

A shameful man must go in the shadows, the light suits a brighter man.

The hand must labor for the head, the hoard must await the treasure, the kingly throne must stand ready for when men should distribute gifts. Greedy is he who is taken by gold, man on the high seat has enough of it. There must be reward, if we do not wish to lie, for those who show us mercy.

[Maxims I. B] Frost must freeze, and fire burn up wood, the earth must blossom, the ice build bridges, water must wear its helmet, locking down wondrously the sprouts of the earth. Éostre must unbind the fetters of frost, [...] winter must cast down, the weather soon arrives, summer must be hot in heaven, the waters unquiet. Deep are the deadly waves, what is hidden shall be longest the holly must be burned, the heritage of a dead man must be shared out. Glory is the greatest.

The cyning must procure his wife with her price, with cups and rings, both must be first gracious with gifts. War must be in an eorl, valor increasing, and prospering with a wife, beloved by their people, they must be light-minded, holding their secrets, being ample-hearted with horses and holdings, with the mead as well for his cherished companions, always and everywhere, a hedge for his noble friends, greeting them first, at the start, with a filled vessel to the master’s hand, offering it straightaway, and giving them counsel to the hall-owners, both of them together.

A ship must be nailed tight, a shield bound fast, the light linden boards, a welcome cherished by the Frisian woman, when the ship is ported, his boat will have arrived and her husband is home, her own livelihood, and she leads him inside, washes his soiled garments and gives him new clothes, is mild to him on land who his love winds tight.

A woman must keep her pledge with a man, often a man smears with stains. Many are loyal-minded, many are too curious, she keeps her peace with a strange man, when hers has gone far away. A sailor is long on a journey, yet a man must always look for his dear one, waiting for who he cannot compel. When the time arrives, he will come home, if he endures in health, unless the ocean prevents him, the sea keep the joy of being a husband clutched tight.

A prosperous man then purchases a kingly home for his men, when he arrives sailing, making use of wood and water, when he is permitted a home buying food, if he needs more, before he becomes too weary. He will become sick who eats too seldom. Although he be led into Sunne, he cannot survive by the weather, even though it may be warm in summer, he will be overcome before he dies, if he knows not who will sustain his life. A man must support his strength with food, murder consigned to the earth, down below the ground, by one endeavoring to conceal their crime­, that will not be a fitting death, when it is kept secret.

The humble must bow down, those inclined must fall, the righteous grow stronger. Good counsel is the most useful, evil most unavailing, which seizes the miserable. Good prevails, and is the company of Tíw.

The mind must be controlled, the hand wielded, the pupil must be in the eye, wisdom in the breast. There are the mindful thoughts of that man. Every mouth needs food, meals must go on time. Gold is suitable on a man’s sword, the best for triumphal garb, treasure on a queen, a good singer is fitting for men, spear-hate for warriors, keeping the peace of their homes against battle. A shield must be for the fighter, the shaft for the reaver, a ring must be for the bride and books for the scholar. [...]

Wóden worked [...] the herbs. The utilities of the green beings are always better when recognised, as they can help the man troubled by infirmity to get some rest.

[Maxims I. C] A man must speak good counsel, write in rúne, sing poetry, merit praise, relate judgment and move swiftly by day. A good man needs a good and tame horse, known and proven, steel-shod, no man can acquire too much.

A man must keep his friend well in every way, often a man passes around a town, where no friend is known. Friendless, a miserable man will take a wolf for his companions, a very shifty animal. Very often such friends tear at him, terror must be for the cowardly, the grave for dead men, and it moans hungrily, not at all wound up in lamentation, nor indeed does the grey wolf weep for the dead, the slaughtering of men, yet it wishes for ever more.

A bandage must be wound, vengeance for harsh men. The bow must be for the arrow, they shall be like a close pair together. Treasure becomes others, a man must give out gold. A man's wyrd can grant blessed possessions and also take them back. The hall must tower high, itself enduring the years. A tree lying flat grows the least. The trees must grow tall and truth grow firm, the heart must flush forth within the merciful.

A man is pledge-free and imprudent, malicious and hopeless, who does not care for his cyn. The stream of the wyrd made that came to be of old, ordaining that they exist ever on. Sagacious words befit every pledge, songs to minstrels, and wisdom to men. So many men are upon the earth, so are their ideas, each of them has its own mind. He longs the less when he knows a multitude of songs, or knows how to touch the harp with his hands, he holds the gift of music that the wyrd gave to him.

Wretched is he who must live alone, abide friendless, the wyrd have ordained this for him, it would be better for him that he had a brother, both of one father, the heirs of an eorl, if a boar must attack them or a bear bear them down, that is a cruel-pawed beast.

These warriors must always ordain and lead and sleep together in death. Man may never spread tales, before death separates them. Those two must sit about playing at dice, from there their misery recedes, forgetting the harshness of the world, having themselves some fun at the table, the idle hand is enough for the leisurely for the dicing of men, when they’re casting stones. Seldom in the broad boat, unless its running under sail, will the weary man row against the wind, very often a man urges on the weak with threats, he loses his courage, his oar dries on board.

Deceit must stay with depravity, skill with what is fitting, when the stolen token is taken. Often they cast their words away, before they separate back to back, a wyrd-reading man remains ready.

Feuding happened for the kindred of men. [...] Did this happen just once? No, from the woeful drops there sprung widely a great bale for much of humankind, the deadly mixture of hate. [...]

Ready must be the battle-shield, the shaft for the spear, the edge on the sword, and the point for the javelin, the man has a penetrating mind. Helmets must be for the keen, and for the abjected essence the least extraordinary hoard.

[Maxims II] A cyning must keep the realm. A city seen from afar, the cunning work of the éotenas, some remain upon the earth, the ornate handiwork of wall-stones. The wind is the swiftest in the sky, thunder is loudest in the moment. The ése's mæġen is mighty. Wyrd is greatest.

Winter is the coldest, the spring most icy, it’s cold for the longest, the summer the most Sunne-beautiful, the heaven is hottest, the harvest is most blessed, it brings to men the whole year’s crops, what Fríġ sends to them.

The truth is very tricky, treasure the dearest, and gold is for every man, the old man is the wisest, aged in ancient years, who has experienced many events. Woe is wondrously tenacious, the clouds keep rolling. Excellent comrades must build up the young noble in battle and the ring-giving. The eorl must be courageous, the blade must await the helmet in warfare.

The wild hawk must abide upon the glove. The wolf must live in the grove, a miserable lone-dweller, the boar in the forest, firm in its toothy power. An excellent man must work glory in his homeland. A javelin must rest in the palm, a spear gold-splattered. A gem must be in the ring standing high and wide. The river must mix up with the waves, the tidal flood. A mast must be on the ship, the sail-yard hanging. The sword must be in the lap, the lordly iron. The dragon must be in the barrow, aged, proud in treasure. The fish must be in the water, propagating its kind. The cyning must wait in the hall, dealing in rings. The bear must be on the heath, old and terrible. The rivers runs downhill, flowing as grey as the sea. An army must stand together, a band ready for glory. Troth must in the eorl, wisdom in the man. The woods must be on the earth, blossoming with blooms. A hill must be upon the earth, towering green. The ése must be in Éseġeard, the æþel rulers.

A door must be on the hall, the spacious building mouth. The boss must be on the shield, the fixed shelter for fingers. The fowl must be in the sky, bouncing on the breeze. The salmon must be in the pool, shooting with the trout. The rainstorm must be in the sky, blending up the winds, coming into the world. A thief must go in the shadowy weather. The orc lives in the marsh, alone deep in the water. A lady must with secret skill, a woman seeking her lover, if she does not wish to thrive among her people, so that one buys her off with rings.

The ocean water must swarm with salt,the sky-helmet, the watery flood around each and every land, flowing mountainous streams. Money must be in the earth, breeding, growing stronger. The star must be in the heavens, shining brightly, just as the shapers of the world ordained.

Good must stand against evil, youth against age, life must be against death, light against the shadows, army arranged against army, an enemy against its opposite, hated against hateful, contending for land, charging them with crimes.

A wise man must always ponder about the struggles of this world, the accursed must hang, repaying fairly what crimes he committed against mankind. Everyoneknow where the essence must turn in the hereafter, oath-breakers, liers and friþ-breakers are the dinner of the serpent in Wyrmsele. Future creation is secret and obscure, as only the Wyrde, Fríġand Wóden know it.

[The Wanderer] [...] Therefore a man cannot become wise, before he has earned his share of winters in this world. A wise man ought to be patient, nor too hot-hearted, nor too hasty of speech, nor too weak a warrior, nor too foolhardy, nor too fearful nor too fey, nor too coin-grasping, nor ever too bold for boasting, before he knows readily.

A stout-hearted warrior ought to wait, when he makes a boast, until he readily knows where the thoughts of his heart will veer. A wise man ought to perceive how ghostly it will be when all this world’s wealth stands wasted, so now in various places throughout this Middanġeard, the walls stand, blown by the wind, crushed by frost, the buildings snow-swept. [...]

[Precepts] [...] A wise warrior must be moderate, keen of mind, perceptive in his thoughts, eager for lore, so he can gather his blessings among men.

Don’t ever be a slanderer, nor a double-talker, nor allow men to urge you to wickedness in your mind, but be gracious instead, bearing a light breast-coffer in your thoughts. And so you, my child, be mindful of the teaching of your aged father and always keep yourself away from wickedness.