Self-Reliance - Independence of Spirit
Depend on your own strength and abilities; self-sufficiency brings freedom and respect.
While community was valued, Norse culture also prized individual self-reliance. One should be capable of providing for oneself and family without dependence on others. This creates true freedom and the ability to offer genuine help to others.
Better a free man in a small house than a slave in a rich man's hall.
Self-reliance was necessary in the harsh Norse environment and valued as virtue.
Norse Oral Tradition
Written about in
- What the Havamal says about knowing yourself
Being able to feed yourself is framed as the basis of freedom and, oddly, of generosity. You cannot give anything away until you are not dependent.