The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 51 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1032
11. Freyja the fair | then went they to find;
Hear now the speech | that first he spake:
“Bind on, Freyja, | the bridal veil,
For we two must haste | to the giants’ home.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1397
27. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the house? | for no man beheld
‘Mongst the gods so grim a sight.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2485
4. “Thou wast, Brynhild, | Buthli’s daughter,
For the worst of evils | born in the world;
To death thou hast given | Gjuki’s children,
And laid their lofty | house full low.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3568
Sökk′-va-bekk, Saga’s dwelling, 88, 89.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2455
43. Cf. note on preceding stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3459
Mith′-garth, the world of men, 3, 4, 92, 100, 101, 129, 186, 221, 223.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2723
31. On the long-maned Glaum | rode Atli the great,
About him were warriors | . . . . . . . .
But Guthrun, akin | to the gods of slaughter,
Yielded not to her tears | in the hall of tumult.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1254
35. Various lines have been regarded as interpolations, 3 and 6 being
most often thus rejected.
The Poetic Edda, passage 331
137. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,—
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
When ale thou drinkest, | seek might of earth,
(For earth cures drink, | and fire cures ills,
The oak cures tightness, | the ear cures magic,
Rye cures rupture, | the moon cures rage,
Grass cures the scab, | and runes the sword-cut;)
The field absorbs the flood.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3415
Ing′-un-ar = Freyr, Freyr, 165.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2454
42. Hardly any two editions agree as to the arrangement of the lines in
stanzas 42–44. I have followed the manuscript except in transposing
line 4 of stanza 43 to this position from the place it holds in the
manuscript after line 4 of stanza 44. All the other arrangements
involve the rejection of two or more lines as spurious and the
assumption of various gaps. Gering and Sijmons both arrange the lines
thus: 42, 1–2; two-line gap; 43, 3 (marked probably spurious); 44, 1–4;
43–4 (marked probably spurious); 42, 3–4; 43, 1–2.
The Poetic Edda, passage 470
40. “Eleventh answer me well, | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
What men . . . . . . | in . . . . . . home
Each day to fight go forth?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3476
Nan′-na, daughter of Nokkvi, 224.
The Poetic Edda, passage 997
39. Hrothvitnir (“The Mighty Wolf”): Fenrir, who awaits in chains the
final battle and death at the hands of Vithar. The manuscript has a
metrical error in line 3, which has led to various emendations, all
with much the same meaning.
The Poetic Edda, passage 327
133. Oft scarcely he knows | who sits in the house
What kind is the man who comes;
None so good is found | that faults he has not,
Nor so wicked that nought he is worth.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3031
It has been argued, and with apparently sound logic, that our extant
Hamthesmol originated in Greenland, along with the Atlamol. In any
case, it can hardly have been put together before the latter part of
the eleventh century, although the “old” Hamthesmol undoubtedly long
antedates this period. Many editors have attempted to pick out the
parts of the extant poem which were borrowed from this older lay, but
the condition of the text is such that it is by no means clear even
what stanzas are in Fornyrthislag and what in Malahattr. Many editors,
likewise, indicate gaps and omissions, but it seems doubtful whether
the extant Hamthesmol ever had a really consecutive quality, its
component fragments having apparently been strung together with little
regard for continuity. The notes indicate some of the more important
editorial suggestions, but make no attempt to cover all of them, and
the metrical form of the translation is often based on mere guesswork
as to the character of the original lines and stanzas. Despite the
chaotic state of the text, however, the underlying narrative is
reasonably clear, and the story can be followed with no great
difficulty.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2459
48. Brynhild means, as stanzas 49–51 show, that those of her women who
wish to win rewards must be ready to follow her in death. The word
translated “women” in line 1 is conjectural, but the general meaning is
clear enough.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1729
3. Line 2 is largely guesswork, the manuscript being obscure. Moon’s
hall: the sky.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2788
1. There are many who know | how of old did men
In counsel gather; | little good did they get;
In secret they plotted, | it was sore for them later,
And for Gjuki’s sons, | whose trust they deceived.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1010
57. Mjollnir: concerning Thor’s famous hammer see particularly
Thrymskvitha, 1 and note. Shoulder-cliff: head; concerning the use of
such diction in the Edda, cf. introductory note to Hymiskvitha. The
manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, but this is
apparently a scribal error.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1023
3. To the dwelling fair | of Freyja went they,
Hear now the speech | that first he spake:
“Wilt thou, Freyja, | thy feather-dress lend me,
That so my hammer | I may seek?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1722
54. “Summon Hogni, | the sons of Hring,
Atli and Yngvi | and Alf the Old;
Glad they are | of battle ever;
Against the Volsungs | let us go.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2552
36. Soon on horseback | each hero was,
And the foreign women | in wagons faring;
A week through lands | so cold we went,
And a second week | the waves we smote,
(And a third through lands | that water lacked).
The Poetic Edda, passage 902
4. “If in thou goest | to Ægir’s hall,
And fain the feast wouldst see,
And with slander and spite | wouldst sprinkle the gods,
Think well lest they wipe it on thee.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1245
22. No line indicated in the manuscript as beginning a stanza. Cart:
the word in the original, “kartr,” is one of the clear signs of the
Celtic influence noted in the introduction.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2849
61. Then the brave one they seized; | to the warriors bold
No chance was there left | to delay his fate longer;
Loud did Hogni laugh, | all the sons of day heard him,
So valiant he was | that well he could suffer.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2038
22. “Third it is well | if a howling wolf
Thou hearest under the ash;
And fortune comes | if thy foe thou seest
Ere thee the hero beholds.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1942
19. “Then to Heimir’s | home thou comest,
And glad shalt be | the guest of the king;
Ended, Sigurth, | is all I see,
No further aught | of Gripir ask.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3025
17. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza (cf.
note on stanza 16). Stanzas 17 and 18 are very likely later
interpolations, although the compilers of the Volsungasaga knew them as
they stand here. The whole passage depends on the shades of difference
in the meanings of the various superlatives: harþastr, “hardest”;
sárastr, “sorest”; grimmastr, “grimmest,” and hvassastr, “keenest.”
Snakes: cf. Drap Niflunga.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1160
6. The manuscript has no superscriptions indicating the speakers.
Vegtam (“The Wanderer”): Othin, as usual, conceals his identity,
calling himself the son of Valtam (“The Fighter”). In this instance he
has unusual need to do so, for as the wise-woman belongs apparently to
the race of the giants, she would be unwilling to answer a god’s
questions. Heaven: the word used includes all the upper worlds, in
contrast to hell. Benches, etc.: the adornment of the benches and
raised platforms, or elevated parts of the house, was a regular part of
the preparation for a feast of welcome. The text of the two last lines
is somewhat uncertain.
The Poetic Edda, passage 820
1. Of old the gods | made feast together,
And drink they sought | ere sated they were;
Twigs they shook, | and blood they tried:
Rich fare in Ægir’s | hall they found.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1777
54. Hogni: the father of Sigrun; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II, 18.
Of Hring and his sons nothing further is known. Volsungs: here for the
first time the poet gives Helgi and Sinfjotli the family name to which,
as sons of Sigmund Volsungsson, they are entitled.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2932
44. Niflungs: regarding the application of this term to the Burgundians
cf. Atlakvitha, 11, and Brot, 17, and notes. The manuscript here spells
the name with an initial N, as elsewhere, but in stanza 83 the son of
Hogni appears with the name “Hniflung.” In consequence, some editors
change the form in this stanza to “Hniflungs,” while others omit the
initial H in both cases. I have followed the manuscript, though
admittedly its spelling is illogical.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1392
“Vindkald am I, | and Varkald’s son,
And Fjolkald his father was.
The Poetic Edda, passage 165
47. In Regius lines 3, 2, and 1, in that order, follow stanza 46
without separation. Line 4 is not found in Regius, but is introduced
from the Hauksbok version. Yggdrasil: cf. stanza 19 and note, and
Grimnismol, 29–35. The giant: Fenrir. The head of Mim: various myths
were current about Mimir. This stanza refers to the story that he was
sent by the gods with Hönir as a hostage to the Wanes after their war
(cf. stanza 21 and note), and that the Wanes cut off his head and
returned it to the gods. Othin embalmed the head, and by magic gave it
the power of speech, thus making Mimir’s noted wisdom always available.
Of course this story does not fit with that underlying the references
to Mimir in stanzas 27 and 29. The kinsman of Surt: the wolf Fenrir,
who slays Othin in the final struggle; cf. stanza 53. Surt is the giant
who rules the fire-world, Muspellsheim; cf. stanza 52.
The Poetic Edda, passage 604
22. Valgrind (“The Death-Gate”): the outer gate of Valhall; cf.
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 68 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2340
22. Line 1 is abbreviated in the manuscript.
The Poetic Edda, passage 993
34. Daughters of Hymir: we have no clue to who these were, though Hymir
is doubtless the frost-giant of the Hymiskvitha (q.v.). Loki’s point is
that Njorth is not a god, but the product of an inferior race (the
Wanes).
The Poetic Edda, passage 1885
Prose. Here begins a new section of the poem, dealing with Helgi’s
death at the hands of Dag, Sigrun’s brother. The note is based wholly
on stanzas 28–34, except for the introduction of Dag’s name (cf. note
on prose following stanza 16), and the reference to Othin’s spear, the
weapon which made victory certain, and which the annotator brought in
doubtless on the strength of Dag’s statement that Othin was responsible
for Helgi’s death (stanza 33). Fjoturlund (“Fetter-Wood”): mentioned
only here and in stanza 28.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2648
26. “Great was the clatter | of gilded hoofs
When Gjuki’s sons | through the gateway rode;
The heart they hewed | from Hogni then,
And the other they cast | in the serpents’ cave.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3426
Jorth, Earth, 12, 23, 24, 123, 136, 170, 174, 175, 389.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1625
40. “Hail to thee, Svava! | thy sorrow rule,
Our meeting last | in life is this;
Hard the wounds | of the hero bleed,
And close to my heart | the sword has come.
The Poetic Edda, passage 358
164. Long these songs | thou shalt, Loddfafnir,
Seek in vain to sing;
Yet good it were | if thou mightest get them,
Well, if thou wouldst them learn,
Help, if thou hadst them.
The Poetic Edda, passage 42
In the second form, the Ljothahattr (“Song Measure”), the first and
third line of each stanza are as just described, but the second and
fourth are shorter, have no cæsural pause, have three accented
syllables, and regularly two initial-rhymed accented syllables, for
which reason I have occasionally referred to Ljothahattr as four-three
measure. The following is an example:
The Poetic Edda, passage 3228
Fjol′-kald, Svipdag’s grandfather, 240.
The Poetic Edda, passage 137
18. Hönir: little is known of this god, save that he occasionally
appears in the poems in company with Othin and Loki, and that he
survives the destruction, assuming in the new age the gift of prophesy
(cf. stanza 63). He was given by the gods as a hostage to the Wanes
after their war, in exchange for Njorth (cf. stanza 21 and note).
Lothur: apparently an older name for Loki, the treacherous but
ingenious son of Laufey, whose divinity Snorri regards as somewhat
doubtful. He was adopted by Othin, who subsequently had good reason to
regret it. Loki probably represents the blending of two originally
distinct figures, one of them an old fire-god, hence his gift of heat
to the newly created pair.
The Poetic Edda, passage 847
27. “The half of our toil | wilt thou have with me,
And now make fast | our goat of the flood;
Or home wilt thou bear | the whales to the house,
Across the gorge | of the wooded glen?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2910
20. The manuscript indicates no gap, but none of the many attempted
emendations have made sense out of the words as they stand. The proper
location for the missing words is sheer guesswork. Two roads: probably
the meaning is that their way (i.e., their success) would be doubtful.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2827
39. Atli summoned his men, | in mail-coats they hastened,
All ready they came, | and between was the courtyard.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2230
20. Stanzas 20–21 are all that remains of the dialogue between Brynhild
and Sigurth from the poem to which stanzas 2–4 belong; cf. Introductory
Note. In the intervening lost stanzas Brynhild has evidently warned
Sigurth of the perils that will follow if he swears loyalty to her;
hence the choice to which she here refers. Tree, etc.: warrior. The
manuscript does not indicate the speaker of either this or the
following stanza; the Volsungasaga names Sigurth before stanza 21.