The Sayings of the Hoary
The Expanded Wisdom of Hagal · Deutero-Rime
The Sayings of the Hoary is a wisdom-collection ascribed to Saint Hagal, expanding the canonical The Proverbs of Hagal with further aphorisms, parables, and meditations on the virtues, the Fevers, and the nature of the Cold. It is counted deutero-rime — read for edification by the older rites, held non-canonical by the Reformed — and is among the most-quoted of the non-canonical books.
Contents
A loose gathering of Hagal’s “further sayings,” including:
- Extended meditations on the difference between cold and heat, keeping and consuming (the source of “The fire knows itself only by consuming; the Cold knows itself by keeping” and “Heat is only cold gone to ruin”).
- Parables of the kept and the warm — the wise traveler who carries a small coal but never warms his heart by it; the foolish hoarder of heat.
- Counsel on the Stilling, patience, the tongue, friendship, and the rearing of children “in the cold.”
- The “Three Things” sayings (“Three things the Cold keeps forever: a true word, a kept vow, and a mercy done in secret”).
Its Authority and Use
Because it agrees with and deepens the canonical The Proverbs of Hagal and the accepted teaching, the Sayings is freely cited in commentary and preaching (much of the wisdom quoted throughout the vault — e.g. on Melt the Dripping One, the nature of heat, and the virtues — comes from it). It was kept from the canon only for its uncertain authorship and late additions, not for any error. The Hagalites especially treasure it.
Notable Sayings (quoted across the tradition)
- “The fire knows itself only by consuming; the Cold knows itself by keeping.”
- “He is not the cold’s equal, but its ruin; a fire that thinks itself a sun.” (of Melt the Dripping One)
- “Keep a coal to live; love the coal, and you have already begun to melt.”
- “As the snowflake has six arms about one still center, so the soul has six virtues about one still heart.”