The Poetic Edda

Imth, mother of Heimdall, 229.

Here it is told in this poem about the death of Sigurth, and the story goes here that they slew him out of doors, but some say that they slew him in the house, on his bed while he was sleeping. But German men say that they killed him out of doors in the forest; and so it is told in the old Guthrun lay, that Sigurth and Gjuki’s sons had ridden to the council-place, and that he was slain there. But in this they are all agreed, that they deceived him in his trust of them, and fell upon him when he was lying down and unprepared.

7. “We have seven halls, | each of swords is full, (And all of gold | is the hilt of each;) My steed is the swiftest, | my sword is sharpest, My bows adorn benches, | my byrnies are golden, My helm is the brightest | that came from Kjar’s hall, (Mine own is better | than all the Huns’ treasure.)”

37. “In an eagle’s guise | at the end of heaven Hræsvelg sits, they say; And from his wings | does the wind come forth To move o’er the world of men.”

17. “Hrimgerth am I, | my father was Hati, Of giants the most in might; Many a woman | he won from her home, Ere Helgi hewed him down.”

143. Runes shalt thou find, | and fateful signs, That the king of singers colored, And the mighty gods have made; Full strong the signs, | full mighty the signs That the ruler of gods doth write.

11. Then the fame-glad one— | on the steps she was— The slender-fingered, | spake with her son: “Ye shall danger have | if counsel ye heed not; . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . By two heroes alone | shall two hundred of Goths Be bound or be slain | in the lofty-walled burg.”

2. Fate grew for the princes, | to death they were given; Ill counsel was Atli’s, | though keenness he had; He felled his staunch bulwark, | his own sorrow fashioned, Soon a message he sent | that his kinsmen should seek him.

49. Dan and Danp: These names are largely responsible for the theory that the Rigsthula was composed in Denmark. According to the Latin epitome of the Skjöldungasaga by Arngrimur Jonsson, “Rig (Rigus) was a man not the least among the great ones of his time. He married the daughter of a certain Danp, lord of Danpsted, whose name was Dana; and later, having won the royal title for his province, left as his heir his son by Dana, called Dan or Danum, all of whose subjects were called Danes.” This may or may not be conclusive, and it is a great pity that the manuscript breaks off abruptly at this stanza.

38. “Shame didst thou win, | that women thou slewest, Thor.”

14. Yngvi’s heir: Yngvi was one of the sons of the Danish king Halfdan the Old, and traditionally an ancestor of Helgi (cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 57 and note). Calling Sigurth a descendant of Yngvi is, of course, absurd, and the use of this phrase is one of the many reasons for believing that stanzas 13–18 belonged originally to the Helgi cycle. The threads, etc.: another link with Helgi; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 3–4. As Helgi was likewise regarded as a son of Sigmund, stanzas 13–14 would fit him just as well as Sigurth.

25. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; some editors assume the loss not only of two lines, but of an additional stanza. Evidently Guthrun has already become Atli’s wife.

30. Mimameith (“Mimir’s Tree”): the ash Yggdrasil, that overshadows the whole world. The well of Mimir was situated at its base; cf. Voluspo, 27–29.

33. From the branch which seemed | so slender and fair Came a harmful shaft | that Hoth should hurl; But the brother of Baldr | was born ere long, And one night old | fought Othin’s son.

Mōth′-ir, mother of Jarl, 204, 210–212.

36. “Go ye far from the house, | for false is its entrance, Soon shall I burn you, | ye are swiftly smitten; I bade ye come fairly, | but falseness was under, Now bide ye afar | while your gallows I fashion.”

29. Leipt: this river is mentioned in Grimnismol, 28. Uth: a daughter of the sea-god Ægir; regarding her sacred stone we know nothing. According to the annotator, Dag’s life had been spared because he swore loyalty to Helgi.

6. Lopt: like Lothur (cf. Voluspo, 18) another name for Loki; cf. Hyndluljoth, 43, and Svipdagsmol, 42.

7. Fafnir here refers to the fact that Hjordis, mother of the still unborn Sigurth, was captured by Alf after Sigmund’s death; cf. Fra Dautha Sinfjotla, note.

3. “Hail to the gods! | Ye goddesses, hail, And all the generous earth! Give to us wisdom | and goodly speech, And healing hands, life-long.

11. “Tell to me now | the ancient names, And the races of all | that were born of old: Who are of the Skjoldungs, | who of the Skilfings, Who of the Othlings, | who of the Ylfings, Who are the free-born, | who are the high-born, The noblest of men | that in Mithgarth dwell?”

23. Five hundred doors | and forty there are, I ween, in Valhall’s walls; Eight hundred fighters | through one door fare When to war with the wolf they go.

5. “What is the man, | to me unknown, That has made me travel | the troublous road? I was snowed on with snow, | and smitten with rain, And drenched with dew; | long was I dead.”

52. Surt fares from the south | with the scourge of branches, The sun of the battle-gods | shone from his sword; The crags are sundered, | the giant-women sink, The dead throng Hel-way, | and heaven is cloven.

8. “Then third I will chant thee, | if threatening streams The danger of death shall bring: Yet to Hel shall turn | both Horn and Ruth, And before thee the waters shall fail.

Skek′-kil, father of Skurhild, 224.

THE POETIC EDDA

48. How fare the gods? | how fare the elves? All Jotunheim groans, | the gods are at council; Loud roar the dwarfs | by the doors of stone, The masters of the rocks: | would you know yet more?

43. “On the mountain sleeps | a battle-maid, And about her plays | the bane of the wood; Ygg with the thorn | hath smitten her thus, For she felled the fighter | he fain would save.

18. “Venom I breathed | when bright I lay By the hoard my father had; (There was none so mighty | as dared to meet me, And weapons nor wiles I feared.)”

22. In this and in Othin’s following questions, both manuscripts replace the words “next,” “third,” “fourth,” etc., by Roman numerals.

8. “Next I let | the leader of Goths, Hjalmgunnar the old, | go down to hell, And victory brought | to Autha’s brother; For this was Othin’s | anger mighty.

1. In olden days, | when eagles screamed, And holy streams | from heaven’s crags fell, Was Helgi then, | the hero-hearted, Borghild’s son, | in Bralund born.

There is scarcely any literary work of great importance which has been less readily available for the general reader, or even for the serious student of literature, than the Poetic Edda. Translations have been far from numerous, and only in Germany has the complete work of translation been done in the full light of recent scholarship. In English the only versions were long the conspicuously inadequate one made by Thorpe, and published about half a century ago, and the unsatisfactory prose translations in Vigfusson and Powell’s Corpus Poeticum Boreale, reprinted in the Norrœna collection. An excellent translation of the poems dealing with the gods, in verse and with critical and explanatory notes, made by Olive Bray, was, however, published by the Viking Club of London in 1908. In French there exist only partial translations, chief among them being those made by Bergmann many years ago. Among the seven or eight German versions, those by the Brothers Grimm and by Karl Simrock, which had considerable historical importance because of their influence on nineteenth century German literature and art, and particularly on the work of Richard Wagner, have been largely superseded by Hugo Gering’s admirable translation, published in 1892, and by the recent two-volume rendering by Genzmer, with excellent notes by Andreas Heusler, 1914–1920. There are competent translations in both Norwegian and Swedish. The lack of any complete and adequately annotated English rendering in metrical form, based on a critical text, and profiting by the cumulative labors of such scholars as Mogk, Vigfusson, Finnur Jonsson, Grundtvig, Bugge, Gislason, Hildebrand, Lüning, Sweet, Niedner, Ettmüller, Müllenhoff, Edzardi, B. M. Olsen, Sievers, Sijmons, Detter, Heinzel, Falk, Neckel, Heusler, and Gering, has kept this extraordinary work practically out of the reach of those who have had neither time nor inclination to master the intricacies of the original Old Norse.

15. Line 1 in the manuscript is apparently incorrectly copied, and some editions omit “Mid weapons and lances” and assume a gap in either line 1 or line 3.

1. “Sawest thou Sigrlin, | Svafnir’s daughter, The fairest maid | in her home-land found? Though Hjorvarth’s wives | by men are held Goodly to see | in Glasir’s wood.”

10. With this stanza begins a new episode, that of Helgi’s victory over King Hrothmar, who had killed his mother’s father (cf. prose after stanza 5). It has been suggested, in consequence, that stanzas 10–11 may be a separate fragment. The verse tells nothing of the battle, merely giving Helgi’s reproaches to his father for having left Svafnir’s death and the burning of Svavaland unavenged.

4. A loaf of bread | did Edda bring, Heavy and thick | and swollen with husks; Forth on the table | she set the fare, And broth for the meal | in a bowl there was. (Calf’s flesh boiled | was the best of the dainties.)

23. “Hail to thee, Sigurth! | Thou victory hast, And Fafnir in fight hast slain; Of all the men | who tread the earth, Most fearless art thou, methinks.”

40. Out of Ymir’s flesh | was fashioned the earth, And the ocean out of his blood; Of his bones the hills, | of his hair the trees, Of his skull the heavens high.

Fāf′-nir, brother of Regin, 226, 260, 273, 339, 345, 357, 359, 361–365, 369–383, 385, 412, 421, 431, 445, 448, 475, 476, 484.

68. Fire for men | is the fairest gift, And power to see the sun; Health as well, | if a man may have it, And a life not stained with sin.

Thōr′-a, wife of Dag, 222, 454.

30. Necklaces had I | and rings from Heerfather, Wise was my speech | and my magic wisdom; . . . . . . . . . . Widely I saw | over all the worlds.

31. Serpents’-bed goddess: woman (i.e., Borgny); “goddess of gold” was a frequent term for a woman, and gold was often called the “serpents’ bed” (cf. Guthrunarkvitha I, 24 and note).

57. The sun turns black, | earth sinks in the sea, The hot stars down | from heaven are whirled; Fierce grows the steam | and the life-feeding flame, Till fire leaps high | about heaven itself.

Bygg′-vir, Freyr’s servant, 152, 153, 165, 166, 169.

6. Snorri quotes this stanza, introducing it, as here, with “Then Loki said” in the prose. Regius omits this phrase, but inserts “said Loki” in line 1.

40. One there was born, | the best of all, And strong was he made | with the strength of earth; The proudest is called | the kinsman of men Of the rulers all | throughout the world.

25. No line indicated in the manuscript as beginning a stanza. The names mean: Snot, “Worthy Woman”; Bruth, “Bride”; Svanni, “The Slender”; Svarri, “The Proud”; Sprakki, “The Fair”; Fljoth, “Woman” (?); Sprund, “The Proud”; Vif, “Wife”; Feima, “The Bashful”; Ristil, “The Graceful.”