Hospitality - The Sacred Duty
Welcome guests and share your resources; hospitality creates bonds and honors the gods.
Hospitality was not mere courtesy but sacred duty. The guest-host relationship was protected by the gods. Offering food, shelter, and protection to travelers created alliances and demonstrated honor. Violating hospitality brought divine wrath.
A guest should be welcomed with warmth; with water and towel and kindly word.
Hospitality was essential for survival in Norse lands and created political alliances.
Poetic Edda