Loddfaffner

Loddfaffni(r), or in anglicised form Lodfaffni, is translated as 'stray singer' and is not a reference to a dwarf but to a skald (poet) named as such. The name figures nowhere else in Norse Mythology and as such is likely a mythic personification of the court poets or skalds that would have collected and recited (or sung) the poem.

Havamal itself is not likely to have been a single poem and comprises at least five separate poems lumped together by Havamal's compiler. While at least three of the sections seem to have a common bond, it seems most likely that the two others are only present because the strophes in question (Odin's love lessons and Odins Rune Tally) were attributed to the God. For a more complete analysis and breakdown of the poem see 'Corpus Poeticum Boreale' by Cleasby/Vigfusson.