The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 48 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1860
Prose. In the manuscript the poem is headed “Of the Volsungs,” but most
editions give it the title used here. Sigmund: cf. Helgakvitha
Hundingsbana I, 6 and note, which also mentions Volsung, Borghild and
Bralund: cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 1 and note. Helgi: the
annotator’s explanation that the child was named after Helgi
Hjorvarthsson is a naive way of getting around the difficulties created
by the two sets of Helgi stories. He might equally well have said that
the new Helgi was the old one born again, as he accounts for Sigrun in
this way (“she was Svava reborn”). Hagal: not elsewhere mentioned; it
was a common custom to have boys brought up by foster-parents. Hunding
and Hundland: cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 10 and note. Volsungs and
Ylfings: regarding this confusion of family names cf. Helgakvitha
Hundingsbana I, 5 and note. Hæming: his name does not appear in the
list of Hunding’s sons. It is quite possible that these opening stanzas
(1–4) do not refer to Hunding at all.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1221
47. Young Kon rode forth | through forest and grove,
Shafts let loose, | and birds he lured;
There spake a crow | on a bough that sat:
“Why lurest thou, Kon, | the birds to come?
The Poetic Edda, passage 2329
9. Herborg implies that the queen’s jealousy was not altogether
misplaced.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3620
Ulf′-rūn, mother of Heimdall, 229.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1912
In form the poem is a dialogue between the youthful Sigurth and his
uncle, Gripir, but in substance it is a condensed outline of Sigurth’s
whole career as told piecemeal in the older poems. The writer was
sufficiently skillful in the handling of verse, but he was utterly
without inspiration; his characters are devoid of vitality, and their
speeches are full of conventional phrases, with little force or
incisiveness. At the same time, the poem is of considerable interest as
giving, in brief form, a summary of the story of Sigurth as it existed
in Iceland (for the Gripisspo is almost certainly Icelandic) in the
latter half of the twelfth century.
The Poetic Edda, passage 354
160. A fourteenth I know, | if fain I would name
To men the mighty gods;
All know I well | of the gods and elves,—
Few be the fools know this.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2380
33. “None mock thee, Gunnar! | thou hast mightily fought,
But thy hatred little | doth Atli heed;
Longer than thou, | methinks, shall he live,
And greater in might | shall he ever remain.
The Poetic Edda, passage 583
King Geirröth sat and had his sword on his knee, half drawn from its
sheath. But when he heard that Othin was come thither, then he rose up
and sought to take Othin from the fire. The sword slipped from his
hand, and fell with the hilt down. The king stumbled and fell forward,
and the sword pierced him through, and slew him. Then Othin vanished,
but Agnar long ruled there as king.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1633
Prose. The annotator contradicts himself here, as he had already stated
that Atli was on his way home.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1228
4. Line 5 has generally been rejected as spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 752
32. “Thy help did I need then, Thor, | to hold the white maid
fast.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2330
10. Cf. stanza 5 and note. The manuscript abbreviates to first letters.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3167
Borg′-nȳ, daughter of Heithrek, 469–473, 479.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1427
57. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
Lives there the man | who in Mengloth’s arms
So fair may seek to sleep?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2500
8. Hjalmgunnar: regarding this king of the Goths (the phrase means
little) and his battle with Agnar, brother of Autha, cf. Sigrdrifumol,
prose after stanza 4. One Nornageststhattr manuscript has “brother of
the giantess” in place of “leader of Goths.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2956
71. Many editions make a separate stanza of lines 1–2, some of them
suggesting the loss of two lines, and combine lines 3–4 with lines 1–2
of stanza 72. The manuscript marks both lines 1 and 3 as beginning
stanzas.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3518
Rind, mother of Vali, 198, 236.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1129
22. Hush, etc.: the manuscript, by inserting an additional letter,
makes the word practically identical with that translated “Kite” in
stanza 18. Most editors have agreed as to the emendation.
The Poetic Edda, passage 716
How far this confusion is due to interpolations and faulty transmission
of the original poem is uncertain. Finnur Jonsson has attempted a
wholesale purification of the poem, but his arbitrary condemnation of
words, lines, and entire stanzas as spurious is quite unjustified by
any positive evidence. I have accepted Mogk’s theory that the author
was “a first-rate psychologist, but a poor poet,” and have translated
the poem as it stands in the manuscripts. I have preserved the metrical
confusion of the original by keeping throughout so far as possible to
the metres found in the poem; if the rhythm of the translation is often
hard to catch, the difficulty is no less with the original Norse.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3278
Gran′-mar, father of Hothbrodd, 291, 296, 300, 304, 308, 316–322, 332.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2122
Sigurth hewed off Regin’s head, and then he ate Fafnir’s heart, and
drank the blood of both Regin and Fafnir. Then Sigurth heard what the
nut-hatch said:
The Poetic Edda, passage 1585
7. “What gift shall I have | with Helgi’s name,
Glorious maid, | for the giving is thine?
All thy words | shall I think on well,
But I want them not | if I win not thee.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2506
It has been already pointed out (introductory note to Reginsmol) that
the compiler of the Eddic collection had clearly undertaken to
formulate a coherent narrative of the entire Sigurth cycle, piecing
together the various poems by means of prose narrative links. To some
extent these links were based on traditions existing outside of the
lays themselves, but in the main the material was gathered from the
contents of the poems. The short prose passage entitled Drap Niflunga,
which in the Codex Regius immediately follows the Helreith Brynhildar,
is just such a narrative link, and scarcely deserves a special heading,
but as nearly all editions separate it from the preceding and following
poems, I have followed their example.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1224
Prose. It would be interesting to know how much the annotator meant by
the phrase old stories. Was he familiar with the tradition in forms
other than that of the poem? If so, his introductory note was scanty,
for, outside of identifying Rig as Heimdall, he provides no information
not found in the poem. Probably he meant simply to refer to the poem
itself as a relic of antiquity, and the identification of Rig as
Heimdall may well have been an attempt at constructive criticism of his
own. The note was presumably written somewhere about 1300, or even
later, and there is no reason for crediting the annotator with any
considerable knowledge of mythology. There is little to favor the
identification of Rig with Heimdall, the watchman of the gods, beyond a
few rather vague passages in the other poems. Thus in Voluspo, 1, the
Volva asks hearing “from Heimdall’s sons both high and low”; in
Grimnismol, 13, there is a very doubtful line which may mean that
Heimdall “o’er men holds sway, it is said,” and in “the Short Voluspo”
(Hyndluljoth, 40) he is called “the kinsman of men.” On the other hand,
everything in the Rigsthula, including the phrase “the aged and wise”
in stanza 1, and the references to runes in stanzas 36, 44, and 46,
fits Othin exceedingly well. It seems probable that the annotator was
wrong, and that Rig is Othin, and not Heimdall. Rig: almost certainly
based on the Old Irish word for “king,” “ri” or “rig.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2331
11. Gollrond: not elsewhere mentioned. Line 4 looks like an
interpolation replacing a line previously lost.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3584
Svan′-ni, daughter of Karl, 210.
The Poetic Edda, passage 762
42. “A ring for thy hand | shall make all right for thee,
As the judge decides | who sets us two at peace.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 596
14. Folkvang (“Field of the Folk”): here is situated Freyja’s hall,
Sessrymnir (“Rich in Seats”). Freyja, the sister of Freyr, is the
fairest of the goddesses, and the most kindly disposed to mankind,
especially to lovers. Half of the dead: Mogk has made it clear that
Freyja represents a confusion between two originally distinct
divinities: the wife of Othin (Frigg) and the northern goddess of love.
This passage appears to have in mind her attributes as Othin’s wife.
Snorri has this same confusion, but there is no reason why the Freyja
who was Freyr’s sister should share the slain with Othin.
The Poetic Edda, passage 794
19. Thjazi: this giant, by a trick, secured possession of the goddess
Ithun and her apples (cf. Skirnismol, 19, note), and carried her off
into Jotunheim. Loki, through whose fault she had been betrayed, was
sent after her by the gods. He went in Freyja’s “hawk’s-dress” (cf.
Thrymskvitha, 3), turned Ithun into a nut, and flew back with her.
Thjazi, in the shape of an eagle, gave chase. But the gods kindled a
fire which burnt the eagle’s wings, and then they killed him. Snorri’s
prose version does not attribute this feat particularly to Thor.
Thjazi’s daughter was Skathi, whom the gods permitted to marry Njorth
as a recompense for her father’s death. Alvaldi: of him we know only
that he was the father of Thjazi, Ithi and Gang, who divided his
wealth, each taking a mouthful of gold. The name is variously spelled.
It is not known which stars were called “Thjazi’s Eyes.” In the middle
of line 4 begins the fragmentary version of the poem found in the
Arnamagnæan Codex.
The Poetic Edda, passage 319
125. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,—
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
With a worse man speak not | three words in dispute,
Ill fares the better oft
When the worse man wields a sword.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3061
30. “We have greatly fought, | o’er the Goths do we stand
By our blades laid low, | like eagles on branches;
Great our fame though we die | today or tomorrow;
None outlives the night | when the Norns have spoken.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1616
33. “Grieve not, Hethin, | for true shall hold
The words we both | by the beer have sworn;
To the isle a warrior | wills that I go,
(There shall I come | the third night hence;)
And doubtful must be | my coming back,
(So may all be well, | if fate so wills.)”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3448
Lok″-a-sen′-na, Loki’s Wrangling, 4, 16, 26, 102, 107, 130, 134, 139,
151–175, 177, 178, 180, 184, 196, 218, 228, 232, 236, 256, 306.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2367
20. “Gotthorm to wrath | we needs must rouse,
Our younger brother, | in rashness blind;
He entered not | in the oaths we swore,
The oaths we swore | and all our vows.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 832
12. “See where under | the gable they sit!
Behind the beam | do they hide themselves.”
The beam at the glance | of the giant broke,
And the mighty pillar | in pieces fell.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2712
20. Hogni slew seven | with sword so keen,
And an eighth he flung | in the fire hot;
A hero should fight | with his foemen thus,
As Hogni strove | in Gunnar’s behalf.
The Poetic Edda, passage 969
And after that Loki hid himself in Franang’s waterfall in the guise of
a salmon, and there the gods took him. He was bound with the bowels of
his son Vali, but his son Narfi was changed to a wolf. Skathi took a
poison-snake and fastened it up over Loki’s face, and the poison
dropped thereon. Sigyn, Loki’s wife, sat there and held a shell under
the poison, but when the shell was full she bore away the poison, and
meanwhile the poison dropped on Loki. Then he struggled so hard that
the whole earth shook therewith; and now that is called an earthquake.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1127
16. Deceiver of Dvalin: Dvalin was one of the foremost dwarfs; cf.
Voluspo, 14, Fafnismol, 13, and Hovamol, 144. The sun “deceives” him
because, like the other dwarfs living underground, he cannot live in
its light, and always fears lest sunrise may catch him unaware. The
sun’s rays have power to turn the dwarfs into stone, and the giantess
Hrimgerth meets a similar fate (cf. Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, 30).
Alvis suffers in the same way; cf. stanza 35.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1820
21. “Grieve not, Sigrun, | the battle is gained,
The fighter can shun not his fate.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 755
35. “No heel-biter am I, in truth, | like an old leather shoe
in spring.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 734
14. “Here shall I stand | and await thee here;
Thou hast found since Hrungnir died | no fiercer man.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2867
78. “I cut out their hearts, | on a spit I cooked them,
I came to thee with them, | and calf’s flesh I called them;
Alone didst thou eat them, | nor any didst leave,
Thou didst greedily bite, | and thy teeth were busy.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2
TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
The Poetic Edda, passage 1320
51. “Thine evil words | shall work no ill,
Though, giantess, bitter | thy baleful threats;
A drink full fair | shall Ottar find,
If of all the gods | the favor I get.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2625
“Here Borgny lies | in bitter pain,
Thy friend, and, Oddrun, | thy help would find.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2181
7. Ale-runes learn, | that with lies the wife
Of another betray not thy trust;
On the horn thou shalt write, | and the backs of thy hands,
And Need shalt mark on thy nails.
Thou shalt bless the draught, | and danger escape,
And cast a leek in the cup;
(For so I know | thou never shalt see
Thy mead with evil mixed.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 2386
39. “But the bond at last | I let be made,
For more the hoard | I longed to have,
The rings that the son | of Sigmund won;
No other’s treasure | e’er I sought.
The Poetic Edda, passage 416
147. With this stanza begins the Ljothatal, or list of charms. The
magic songs themselves are not given, but in each case the peculiar
application of the charm is explained. The passage, which is certainly
approximately complete as far as it goes, runs to the end of the poem.
In the manuscript and in most editions line 4 falls into two
half-lines, running:
The Poetic Edda, passage 2169
Sigurth rode up on Hindarfjoll and turned southward toward the land of
the Franks. On the mountain he saw a great light, as if fire were
burning, and the glow reached up to heaven. And when he came thither,
there stood a tower of shields, and above it was a banner. Sigurth went
into the shield-tower, and saw that a man lay there sleeping with all
his war-weapons. First he took the helm from his head, and then he saw
that it was a woman. The mail-coat was as fast as if it had grown to
the flesh. Then he cut the mail-coat from the head-opening downward,
and out to both the arm-holes. Then he took the mail-coat from her, and
she awoke, and sat up and saw Sigurth, and said:
The Poetic Edda, passage 3233
Fjors′-ungs, the fishes (?), 321.