The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 29 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1235
12. There is some confusion as to the arrangement of the lines and
division into stanzas of 12 and 13. The names mean: Fjosnir,
“Cattle-Man”; Klur, “The Coarse”; Hreim, “The Shouter”; Kleggi, “The
Horse-Fly”; Kefsir, “Concubine-Keeper”; Fulnir, “The Stinking”; Drumb,
“The Log”; Digraldi, “The Fat”; Drott, “The Sluggard”; Leggjaldi, “The
Big-Legged”; Lut, “The Bent”; Hosvir, “The Grey.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2679
26. If a stanza has been lost after stanza 25, it may well have told of
Atli’s treacherous invitation to the Gjukungs to visit him; cf. Drap
Niflunga, which likewise tells of the slaying of Hogni and Gunnar (the
other).
The Poetic Edda, passage 1880
21. The difference of meter would of itself be enough to indicate that
this stanza comes from an entirely different poem. A few editions
assign the whole stanza to Helgi, but lines 3–4 are almost certainly
Sigrun’s, and the manuscript begins line 3 with a large capital letter
following a period.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1948
25. “Now to Sigurth | all shall I say,
For to this the warrior | bends my will;
Thou knowest well | that I will not lie,—
A day there is | when thy death is doomed.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 932
32. “Be silent, Freyja! | thou foulest witch,
And steeped full sore in sin;
In the arms of thy brother | the bright gods caught thee
When Freyja her wind set free.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 405
“Evil and good | do men’s sons ever
Mingled bear in their breasts.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3236
Folk′-vang, Freyja’s home, 90, 175.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2825
37. Then Hogni made answer, | his heart yielded little,
And nought did he fear | that his fate held in store:
“Seek not to affright us, | thou shalt seldom succeed;
If thy words are more, | then the worse grows thy fate.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 510
43. Nine worlds: cf. Voluspo, 2. Niflhel: “Dark-Hell.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1711
43. “Under houses the stepson | of Siggeir lay,
Fain of the wolf’s cry | out in the woods;
Evil came then | all to thy hands,
When thy brothers’ | breasts thou didst redden,
Fame didst thou win | for foulest deeds.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2771
34. Six Fornyrthislag lines which editors have tried to reconstruct in
all sorts of ways. The manuscript marks line 5 as the beginning of a
new stanza. Regarding the serpents’ den, Gunnar’s harp-playing, and the
manner of his death, cf. Drap Niflunga and Oddrunargratr, 27–30, and
notes. In Atlamol, 62, Gunnar plays the harp with his feet, his hands
being bound, and some editors change hand in line 4 to “foot.” Lines
5–6 may be interpolated, or, as Bugge maintains, lines 1–4 may have
been expanded out of two lines.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2178
Sigrdrifa slew Hjalmgunnar in the battle, and Othin pricked her with
the sleep-thorn in punishment for this, and said that she should never
thereafter win victory in battle, but that she should be wedded. “And I
said to him that I had made a vow in my turn, that I would never marry
a man who knew the meaning of fear.” Sigurth answered and asked her to
teach him wisdom, if she knew of what took place in all the worlds.
Sigrdrifa said:
The Poetic Edda, passage 3323
Heith′-rek, father of Borgny, 470.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2669
14. The manuscript indicates line 3, but not line 1, as the beginning
of a new stanza; some editions combine lines 3–4 with lines 3–4 of
stanza 15. Making Buthli plan the marriage of Oddrun and Gunnar may be
a sheer invention of the poet, or may point to an otherwise lost
version of the legend.
The Poetic Edda, passage 713
43. The superscription is lacking in Regius. Snorri quotes this one
stanza in his prose paraphrase, Gylfaginning, chapter 37. The two
versions are substantially the same, except that Snorri makes the first
line read, “Long is one night, | long is the second.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 592
10. The opening formula is abbreviated in both manuscripts. A wolf:
probably the wolf and the eagle were carved figures above the door.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1058
4. The manuscript and most editions have lines 1–2 in inverse order.
Several editors assume a lacuna before line 1, making a stanza out of
the two conjectural lines (Bugge actually supplies them) and lines 1–2
of stanza 4. Thus they either make a separate stanza out of lines 3–5
or unite them in a six-line stanza with 5. The manuscript punctuation
and capitalization—not wholly trustworthy guides—indicate the stanza
divisions as in this translation.
The Poetic Edda, passage 494
18. Vigrith: “the Field of Battle.” Snorri quotes this stanza. A
hundred miles: a general phrase for a vast distance.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1026
6. “How fare the gods, | how fare the elves?
Why comst thou alone | to the giants’ land?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2990
2. “Why sit ye idle, | why sleep out your lives,
Why grieve ye not | in gladness to speak?
Since Jormunrek | your sister young
Beneath the hoofs | of horses hath trodden,
(White and black | on the battle-way,
Gray, road-wonted, | the steeds of the Goths.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 2715
23. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
They cut out the heart | from the breast of Hjalli,
On a platter they bore it, | and brought it to Gunnar.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2418
1. Gjuki: father of the brothers twain, Gunnar and Hogni, and of
Guthrun. In this version of the story Sigurth goes straight to the home
of the Gjukungs after his victory over the dragon Fafnir, without
meeting Brynhild on the way (cf. Gripisspo, 13 and note). Volsung:
Sigurth’s grandfather was Volsung; cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla and note.
Oaths: regarding the blood-brotherhood sworn by Sigurth, Gunnar, and
Hogni cf. Brot, 18 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1084
3. “Alvis am I, | and under the earth
My home ’neath the rocks I have;
With the wagon-guider | a word do I seek;
Let the gods their bond not break.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2567
12. Many editions make one stanza of stanzas 12 and 13, reconstructing
line 3; the manuscript shows no gap. Bugge fills out the stanza thus:
“The wolves were howling | on all the ways, / The eagles cried |
as their food they craved.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1545
24. Some editions begin a new stanza with line 3.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3374
Hog′-ni, brother of Sigar, 312, 313.
The Poetic Edda, passage 318
124. Mingled is love | when a man can speak
To another all his thought;
Nought is so bad | as false to be,
No friend speaks only fair.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1967
44. “Shall the kinship new | thereafter come
To good among us? | Tell me, Gripir!
To Gunnar joy | shall it later give,
Or happiness send | for me myself?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3344
Him″-in-vang′-ar, Heaven’s-Field, 293.
The Poetic Edda, passage 599
17. Vithi: this land is not mentioned elsewhere. Vithar avenged his
father, Othin, by slaying the wolf Fenrir.
The Poetic Edda, passage 784
5. Some editors assume a lacuna after this stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2398
51. “But little of gems | to gleam on your limbs
Ye then shall find | when forth ye fare
To follow me, | or of Menja’s wealth.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 2171
“Sigmund’s son, | with Sigurth’s sword,
That late with flesh | hath fed the ravens.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2555
39. “Now from sleep | the Norns have waked me
With visions of terror,— | to thee will I tell them;
Methought thou, Guthrun, | Gjuki’s daughter,
With poisoned blade | didst pierce my body.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1547
26. These two lines have been grouped in various ways, either with
lines 3–4 of stanza 25 or with the fragmentary stanza 27. No gap is
indicated in the manuscript, but the loss of something is so obvious
that practically all editors have noted it, although they have differed
as to the number of lines lost.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1168
The Rigsthula is found in neither of the principal codices. The only
manuscript containing it is the so-called Codex Wormanius, a manuscript
of Snorri’s Prose Edda. The poem appears on the last sheet of this
manuscript, which unluckily is incomplete, and thus the end of the poem
is lacking. In the Codex Wormanius itself the poem has no title, but a
fragmentary parchment included with it calls the poem the Rigsthula.
Some late paper manuscripts give it the title of Rigsmol.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3553
Skath′-i, a goddess, 90, 108, 128, 152, 157, 167, 168, 172, 180, 228.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2435
20. The manuscript does not name the speaker. Gotthorm (the name is
variously spelt): half-brother of Gunnar and Hogni (cf. Hyndluljoth, 27
and note, and Brot, 4 and note). The name is the northern form of
Gundomar; a prince of this name is mentioned in the Lex Burgundionum,
apparently as a brother of Gundahari (Gundicarius). In the
Nibelungenlied the third brother is called Gernot.
The Poetic Edda, passage 843
23. The warder of men, | the worm’s destroyer,
Fixed on his hook | the head of the ox;
There gaped at the bait | the foe of the gods,
The girdler of all | the earth beneath.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1718
50. Forth stood Hothbrodd, | helmed for battle,
Watched the riding | of his warriors;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“Why are the Hniflungs | white with fear?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 45
Horsk vas húsfreyja, | hugþi at mannviti,
lag heyrþi orþa, | hvat á laun máeltu;
þá vas vant vitri, | vildi þeim hjalpa:
skyldu of sáe sigla, | en sjǫlf né kvamskat.
The Poetic Edda, passage 252
58. He must early go forth | who fain the blood
Or the goods of another would get;
The wolf that lies idle | shall win little meat,
Or the sleeping man success.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1936
13. “Fafnir’s den | thou then shalt find,
And all his treasure | fair shalt take;
Gold shalt heap | on Grani’s back,
And, proved in fight, | to Gjuki fare.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 817
The poem is almost certainly one of the latest of those dealing with
the gods, though Finnur Jonsson, in order to support his theory of a
Norwegian origin, has to date it relatively early. If, as seems
probable, it was produced in Iceland, the chances are that it was
composed in the first half of the eleventh century. Jessen, rather
recklessly, goes so far as to put it two hundred years later. In any
case, it belongs to a period of literary decadence,—the great days of
Eddic poetry would never have permitted the nine hundred headed person
found in Hymir’s home—and to one in which the usual forms of diction in
mythological poetry had yielded somewhat to the verbal subtleties of
skaldic verse.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1739
15. No gap indicated in the manuscript, but almost certainly something
has been lost mentioning more specifically the coming of the Valkyries.
The lightning which accompanies them suggests again their
identification with the clouds (cf. Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, 28).
The Poetic Edda, passage 2861
73. “Nay, ask me no more! | You both shall I murder,
For long have I wished | your lives to steal from you.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1193
19. Rig knew well | wise words to speak,
He rose from the board, | made ready to sleep;
Soon in the bed | himself did he lay,
And on either side | the others were.
The Poetic Edda, passage 244
50. On the hillside drear | the fir-tree dies,
All bootless its needles and bark;
It is like a man | whom no one loves,—
Why should his life be long?
The Poetic Edda, passage 2651
29. “I bade the serving-maids | ready to be,
For I longed the hero’s | life to save;
Across the sound | the boats we sailed,
Till we saw the whole | of Atli’s home.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2302
6. Then Herborg spake, | the queen of the Huns:
“I have a greater | grief to tell;
My seven sons | in the southern land,
And my husband, fell | in fight all eight.
(Father and mother | and brothers four
Amid the waves | the wind once smote,
And the seas crashed through | the sides of the ship.)