The Hávamál

The Hávamál is a Norse mythology book containing a collection of ancient Norse wisdom. Thought to have been written down in about 1270 CE. The title, Hávamál, translates as “Sayings of Har.” Har is the High One, another name for Odin. So they are the “Sayings of the High One.” These sayings are a collection of poetry, offering insights and wisdom to help one lead a good life.

Starting in December 2015, Sam Flegal dedicated a month to illustrate the Hávamál. Each day he did a different ink drawing based on a verse from the ancient Norse text. In order to harness inspiration he started with random ink blobs, and then meditated on the text. Once things felt right he approached the ink blobs, and with the text in mind began to find shapes and forms within the random shapes. Each drawing was made using brush and ink. Even though it took a little longer than a month, Sam completed 31 ink drawings.

Read more about the process for The Hávamál illustrations.