The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 50 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 3048
17. From their sheaths they drew | their shining swords,
Their blades, to the giantess | joy to give;
By a third they lessened | the might that was theirs,
The fighter young | to earth they felled.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3581
Svaf′-nir, a king, 273–275, 278.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3109
Accents. The accented syllable in each name is indicated by the acute
accent (′). In many names, however, and particularly in compounds,
there is both a primary and a secondary accent, and where this is the
case the primary stress is indicated by a double acute accent (″) and
the secondary one by a single acute accent (′). To avoid possible
confusion with the long vowel marks used in Old Norse texts, the
accents are placed, not over the vowels, but after the accented
syllables.
The Poetic Edda, passage 877
20. The manuscripts have no superscription. Steerer of ships: probably
merely a reference to Thor’s intention to go fishing. The lacuna after
stanza 20 is assumed by most editors.
The Poetic Edda, passage 953
Then Sif came forward and poured mead for Loki in a crystal cup, and
said:
The Poetic Edda, passage 982
20. Nothing is known of the incident here mentioned. There is a good
deal of confusion as to various of the gods and goddesses, and it has
been suggested that Gefjun is really Frigg under another name, with a
little of Freyja—whose attributes were frequently confused with
Frigg’s—thrown in. Certainly Othin’s answer (stanza 21, lines 3–4) fits
Frigg perfectly, for she shared his knowledge of the future, whereas it
has no relation to anything known of Gefjun. As for the necklace (line
3), it may be the Brisings’ necklace, which appears in the Thrymskvitha
as Freyja’s, but which, in some mythological writings, is assigned to
Frigg.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2336
17. Cf. Guthrunarkvitha II, 2. The manuscript does not name the
speaker, and some editions have a first line, “Then Guthrun spake, |
the daughter of Gjuki.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1166
13. Possibly two separate stanzas. Enchanter: the meaning of the
original word is most uncertain.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1001
43. Byggvir: one of Freyr’s two servants; cf. introductory prose.
Ingunar-Freyr: the name is not used elsewhere in the poems, or by
Snorri; it may be the genitive of a woman’s name, Ingun, the unknown
sister of Njorth who was Freyr’s mother (cf. stanza 36), or a
corruption of the name Ingw, used for Freyr (Fro) in old German
mythology.
The Poetic Edda, passage 774
54. “From the sound go hence; | the passage thou hast not.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 675
36. “Base wretches there | by the root of the tree
Will hold for thee horns of filth;
A fairer drink | shalt thou never find,
Maid, to meet thy wish,
(Maid, to meet my wish.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 1667
The first Helgi Hundingsbane lay is again differentiated from most of
the Eddic poems by the character of its language. It is full of those
verbal intricacies which were the delight of the Norse skalds, and
which made Snorri’s dictionary of poetic phrases an absolute necessity.
Many of these I have paraphrased in the translation; some I have
simplified or wholly avoided. A single line will serve to indicate the
character of this form of complex diction (stanza 56, line 4): “And the
horse of the giantess | raven’s-food had.” This means simply that
wolves (giantesses habitually rode on wolves) ate the bodies of the
dead.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1649
22. Varin’s cove: the name of Varin appears twice in place names in
Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I (stanzas 27 and 39). The sagas mention a
mythical King Varin who lived at Skorustrond in Rogaland (Norway).
The Poetic Edda, passage 423
159. The sprinkling of a child with water was an established custom
long before Christianity brought its conception of baptism.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3595
Svip′-dag, son of Solbjart, 234–236, 238–250.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1126
14. Flame: a doubtful word; Vigfusson suggests that it properly means a
“mock sun.” Wheel: the manuscript adds the adjective “whirling,” to the
destruction of the metre; cf. Hovamol, 84, 3.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3263
Gjūk′-ungs, Gjuki’s sons, 344, 383, 388, 403, 408, 421, 426, 431, 446,
448, 449, 451, 456, 457, 476, 477, 483, 484, 500, 501.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3216
Ey′-mōth, Atli’s emissary, 456, 457.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2676
23. Murky wood: the forest which divided Atli’s realm from that of the
Gjukungs is in Atlakvitha, 3, called Myrkwood. This hardly accords with
the extraordinary geography of stanzas 28–29, or with the journey
described in Guthrunarkvitha II, 36.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2618
Where or how the figure of Oddrun entered the Sigurth-Atli cycle is
uncertain. She does not appear in any of the extant German versions,
and it is generally assumed that she was a creation of the North,
though the poet refers to “old tales” concerning her. She does not
directly affect the course of the story at all, though the poet has
used effectively the episode of Gunnar’s death, with the implication
that Atli’s vengeance on Gunnar and Hogni was due, at least in part, to
his discovery of Gunnar’s love affair with Oddrun. The material which
forms the background of Oddrun’s story belongs wholly to the German
part of the legend (cf. introductory note to Gripisspo), and is
paralleled with considerable closeness in the Nibelungenlied; only
Oddrun herself and the subsidiary figures of Borgny and Vilmund are
Northern additions. The geography, on the other hand, is so utterly
chaotic as to indicate that the original localization of the Atli story
had lost all trace of significance by the time this poem was composed.
The Poetic Edda, passage 70
14. The race of the dwarfs | in Dvalin’s throng
Down to Lofar | the list must I tell;
The rocks they left, | and through wet lands
They sought a home | in the fields of sand.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1007
53. Sif: Thor’s wife; cf. Harbarthsljoth, 48, where her infidelity is
again mentioned. The manuscript omits the proper name from the
preceding prose, and a few editors have, obviously in error, attributed
the speech to Beyla.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3010
22. May nobles all | less sorrow know,
And less the woes | of women become,
Since the tale of this | lament is told.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2109
29. “Brave men better | than cowards be,
When the clash of battle comes;
And better the glad | than the gloomy man
Shall face what before him lies.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3089
27. In the manuscript this stanza is introduced by the same line as
stanza 25: “Then did Hamther speak forth, | the haughty of heart,”
but the speaker in this case must be Sorli and not Hamther. Some
editors, however, give lines 1–2 to Hamther and lines 3–4 to Sorli.
Bag: i.e., Hamther’s mouth; cf. note on stanza 11. The manuscript
indicates line 3 as beginning a new stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2158
43. Battle-maid: Brynhild, here clearly defined as a Valkyrie. Bane of
the wood: fire. Ygg: Othin; cf. Grimnismol, 53. The thorn: a prose note
in Sigrdrifumol calls it “sleep-thorn.” The fighter: the story of the
reason for Brynhild’s punishment is told in the prose following stanza
4 of Sigrdrifumol.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1556
36. Lines 3–4 are nearly identical with lines 3–4 of stanza 24.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2607
8. To the bottom she reached | with hand so bright,
And forth she brought | the flashing stones:
“Behold, ye warriors, | well am I cleared
Of sin by the kettle’s | sacred boiling.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 211
17. The fool is agape | when he comes to the feast,
He stammers or else is still;
But soon if he gets | a drink is it seen
What the mind of the man is like.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2304
8. “Then bound I was, | and taken in war,
A sorrow yet | in the same half-year;
They bade me deck | and bind the shoes
Of the wife of the monarch | every morn.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2812
24. “A river the length | of the hall saw I run,
Full swiftly it roared, | o’er the benches it swept;
O’er the feet did it break | of ye brothers twain,
The water would yield not; | some meaning there was.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 65
9. Then sought the gods | their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, | and council held,
To find who should raise | the race of dwarfs
Out of Brimir’s blood | and the legs of Blain.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1635
Prose. Sigrlin and Alof, protected by the latter’s father, Franmar,
have fled before the ravaging army of Sigrlin’s rejected suitor,
Hrothmar. The beginning of a new section (II) is indicated in the
manuscript only by the unusually large capital letter with which
“Hjorvarth” begins. No name, etc.: this probably means that Helgi had
always been so silent that he would answer to no name, with the result
that he had none. Valkyries: cf. Voluspo, 31 and note. The annotator
insists here and in the prose after stanza 9 that Svava was a Valkyrie,
but there is nothing in the verse to prove it, or, indeed, to identify
the Svava of the last section of the poem with the person who gave
Helgi his name. In the Volsungasaga Sigmund himself names his son
Helgi, and gives him a sword, following Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1017
Prose: Snorri tells the same story, with minor differences, but makes
it the consequence of Loki’s part in the slaying of Baldr, which
undoubtedly represents the correct tradition. The compiler of the poems
either was confused or thought the incident was useful as indicating
what finally happened to Loki. Possibly he did not mean to imply that
Loki’s fate was brought upon him by his abuse of the gods, but simply
tried to round out the story. Franang: “Gleaming Water.” Vali and
Narfi: cf. stanza 49 and note. Sigyn: cf. Voluspo, 35, the only other
place where she is mentioned in the poems. Snorri omits the naive note
about earthquakes, his narrative ending with the words, “And there he
lies till the destruction of the gods.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 707
33. Jonsson marks this stanza as interpolated. The word translated most
evil is another case of guesswork.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1902
49. Many editors assign this speech to the maid. Line 5 (or 4) may be
spurious. Meeting of dreams (“Dream-Thing”): sleep.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1108
27. “Answer me, Alvis! | thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the wood, | that grows for mankind,
In each and every world?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1440
7. Urth: one of the three Norns, or Fates; cf. Voluspo, 20.
The Poetic Edda, passage 600
18. Stanzas 18–20 appear also in Snorri’s Edda. Very possibly they are
an interpolation here. Eldhrimnir (“Sooty with Fire”): the great kettle
in Valhall, wherein the gods’ cook, Andhrimnir (“The Sooty-Faced”)
daily cooks the flesh of the boar Sæhrimnir (“The Blackened”). His
flesh suffices for all the heroes there gathered, and each evening he
becomes whole again, to be cooked the next morning.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3261
Gjolp, mother of Heimdall, 229.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3642
Veg″-tams-kvith′-a, the Lay of Vegtam, 195.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1285
17. “Hildigun then | her mother hight,
The daughter of Svava | and Sækonung;
And all are thy kinsmen, | Ottar, thou fool!
It is much to know,— | wilt thou hear yet more?
The Poetic Edda, passage 2383
36. “To the hero great | my troth I gave
Who gold-decked sat | on Grani’s back;
Not like to thine | was the light of his eyes,
(Nor like in form | and face are ye,)
Though kingly both | ye seemed to be.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2644
22. “Atli said | that never I
Would evil plan, | or ill deed do;
But none may this | of another think,
Or surely speak, | when love is shared.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1355
39. It has been suggested that these lines were interpolated from
Guthrunarkvitha II, 22. Some editors add the refrain of stanza 36.
Swine’s blood: to Heimdall’s strength drawn from earth and sea was
added that derived from sacrifice.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1405
35. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the hounds, | that before the house
So fierce and angry are?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 67
11. Nyi and Nithi, | Northri and Suthri,
Austri and Vestri, | Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar and Nain, | Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bofur, | Bombur, Nori,
An and Onar, | Ai, Mjothvitnir.
The Poetic Edda, passage 999
41. The mouth of the river: according to Snorri, the chained Fenrir
“roars horribly, and the slaver runs from his mouth, and makes the
river called Vam; he lies there till the doom of the gods.” Freyr’s
threat is actually carried out; cf. concluding prose.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2093
14. “Tell me then, Fafnir, | for wise thou art famed,
And much thou knowest now:
How call they the isle | where all the gods
And Surt shall sword-sweat mingle?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1156
14. “Home ride, Othin, | be ever proud;
For no one of men | shall seek me more
Till Loki wanders | loose from his bonds,
And to the last strife | the destroyers come.”