Editing Hávamál (section)

==Structure==
The ''Hávamál'' is edited in 165 stanzas by Bellows (1936). Other editions give 164 stanzas, combining Bellow's stanzas 11 and 12, as the manuscript abbreviates the last two lines of stanzas 11. Some editors also combine Bellow's stanzas 163 and 164. In the following, Bellow's numeration is used.

The poems in ''Hávamál'' is traditionally taken to consist of at least five independent parts,
#the ''Gestaþáttr'', or ''Hávamál'' proper,  (stanzas 1–80), a collection of proverbs and [[gnomic poetry|gnomic]] wisdom
#a dissertation on the faithlessness of women (stanzas 81–95), prefacing an account of the love-story of Odin and the [[daughter of Billingr]] (stanzas 96–102) and the story of how Odin got the [[mead of poetry]] from the maiden [[Gunnlöð]]  (stanzas 103–110)
#the ''Loddfáfnismál'' (stanzas 111–138), a collection of gnomic verses similar to the ''Gestaþáttr'', addressed to a certain Loddfáfnir
#the  ''Rúnatal'' (stanzas 139–146), an account of how Odin won the runes, introductory to the  ''Ljóðatal''
#the '' Ljóðatal'' (stanzas 147–165), a collection of charms

Stanzas 6 and 27 are expanded beyond the standard four lines by an additional two lines of "commentary". Bellow's edition inverses the manuscript order of stanzas 39 and 40. Bellow's stanza 138 (''Ljóðalok'') is taken from the very end of the poem in the manuscript, placed before
the ''Rúnatal'' by most editors following Müllenhoff. Stanzas 65, 73–74, 79, 111, 133–134, 163 are defective.

Stanzas  81–84 are in ''[[málaháttr]]'', 85–88 in ''[[fornyrðislag]]''. The entire section of 81–102 appears to be an ad hoc interpolation. Stanza 145 is also an interpolation in  ''málaháttr''.