Gifts of the High One

Hey! Nicole here (and welcome to my Ted talk). As a student in anthropology, I am automatically obligated to make my blog posts about famous anthropological theories and how they tie into Viking culture. Today, I’ll be talking about one of my favorite scholars—Marcel Mauss—and his concept of reciprocal exchange, also known as the theory of gift giving. To demonstrate this theory using cultural evidence, I’ll be referring to Sayings of the High One from the Poetic Edda to present my case. So, let’s get started!

Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) was a French sociologist whose theories greatly contributed to the field of anthropology. His ideas surrounding gift giving were largely based in empirical evidence obtained through ethnographic field work (essentially, a phenomenon where anthropologists visit a culture for a long time and record everything they see and experience). For Mauss, there is no such thing as a “free” gift. When you give a gift, you are actually beginning a long line of reciprocal exchange between you and the other person. There is a bond between the giver and the gift itself which cannot be easily separated—essentially, you are giving part of yourself away when you give someone something. Because of this, there is an obligation to give a gift in return, and a risk to losing social status or honor if the gift is not reciprocated.

While we can talk about the evidence Mauss uses to describe gift giving, we can see this concept reflected in Sayings of the High One as well, in multiple instances. To begin with, the poem talks about what one should give a guest when they enter from the cold or join the table for a meal. Fire, food, clothing, water, a friendly disposition… all of these things should be given to a guest upon arrival. This is because—if you were the traveler, would you not want these things given to you as well? The favor is expected to be returned or passed on wherever you go.

The poem goes on to say:

The greedy man, unless he guards against this tendency, will eat himself into lifelong trouble.

You could interpret this as “someone who does not give back will suffer the consequences.” This sort of attitude is seen again, with:

Cattle know when they ought to go home, and then they leave the pasture; but the foolish man never figures the measure of his own stomach.

And:

A man must go, he must not remain a guest always in one place; the loved man is loathed if he sits too long in someone else’s hall.

So a man is foolish if he takes too much—if he overstays his welcome, not knowing when to leave. No one is expected to give all the time. One must give back—if not to the individual, then to the community itself. Not only are you expected to give, but you are expected to receive, too, as seen in this stanza:

I never found a generous man, nor one so unstingy with food, that he wouldn’t accept what was given; or one so open-handed with possessions that he disliked a gift when offered.

So, we can see a pattern being followed here. These lines are pieces of wisdom Odin has intended to spread throughout the community—if you want to be a good man/woman, you will follow these guidelines. You will give to your guests, your neighbors, your friends, and they will give back to you and to others.

As mentioned before, Mauss described the gift as something the giver has invested part of their personhood into. Again, Sayings of the High One is supportive of this notion, as we can see here:

You know, if you’ve a friend whom you really trust and from whom you want nothing but good, you should mix your soul with his and exchange gifts, go and see him often.

Through exchanging gifts, you are mixing your soul with another’s. You are investing a part of your soul into the very gift that you are giving—you are giving part of yourself away, and they, in turn, will reciprocate because of the power and symbolism this gift holds. Perfect fit!

While this poem is riddled with lovely lines that reflect reciprocal exchange (talking of how generous and brave men live the best; how the miser always worries when he gets gifts, etc.), sadly, I must end this blog post before it gets to be too long. I will leave you with one last piece of wisdom:

With weapons and gifts friends should gladden one another, those which can be seen on them; mutual givers and receivers are friends for longest, if the friendship keeps going well. To his friend a man should be a friend and repay gifts with gifts; laughter men should accept with laughter but return deception for a lie.