The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 52 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1047
26. Hard by there sat | the serving-maid wise,
So well she answered | the giant’s words:
“From food has Freyja | eight nights fasted,
So hot was her longing | for Jotunheim.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3334
Her′-jan, Othin, 14, 103, 416.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1561
42. The manuscript indicates no gap, but indicates line 3 as the
beginning of a stanza; Vigfusson’s added “Then Nithuth spake, |
lord of the Njars” seems plausible enough.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2773
36. Young beasts: Guthrun means Atli’s sons, Erp and Eitil, but of
course he thinks she refers to newly slaughtered beasts; cf.
Guthrunarkvitha II, 41–45.
The Poetic Edda, passage 183
63. No lacuna (line 2) indicated in the manuscripts. Hönir: cf. stanza
18 and note. In this new age he has the gift of foretelling the future.
Tveggi (“The Twofold”): another name for Othin. His brothers are Vili
and Ve (cf. Lokasenna, 26, and note). Little is known of them, and
nothing, beyond this reference, of their sons. Vindheim (“Home of the
Wind”): heaven.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2848
60. Then fain was Hogni— | there are few would do thus—
To beg for the slave | that safe hence he should go;
“I would find it far better | this knife-play to feel,
Why must we all hark | to this howling longer?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1655
Prose. The manuscript does not indicate a new section of the poem.
Eylimi: cf. note on prose after stanza 9. Valkyrie: here, as before,
the annotator has apparently nothing but his own imagination on which
to base his statement. Svava in the ensuing stanzas certainly does not
behave like a Valkyrie. Norway: the annotator doubtless based this
statement on the reference to Norway in line 2 of stanza 31. Yule-eve:
the Yule feast, marking the new year, was a great event in the heathen
North. It was a time of feasting and merrymaking, vows (“New Year’s
resolutions”), ghosts and witches; the spirits had their greatest power
on Yule-eve. The king’s toast: vows made at the passing of the king’s
cup at the Yule feast were particularly sacred. Sacred boar: a boar
consecrated to Freyr, an integral part of the Yule rites. Hethin’s vow,
which is, of course, the vengeance of the troll-woman, is too sacred to
be broken, but he immediately realizes the horror of his oath.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1891
37. Line 5 (or possibly line 4) may be spurious. Cf. Guthrunarkvitha I,
17, and Guthrunarkvitha II, 2.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2994
6. “. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The gear of the Hunnish | kings now give us!
Thou hast whetted us so | to the battle of swords.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 601
19. Freki (“The Greedy”) and Geri (“The Ravenous”): the two wolves who
sit by Othin’s side at the feast, and to whom he gives all the food set
before him, since wine is food and drink alike for him. Heerfather:
Othin.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2005
Regarding the general development of the story of Sigurth in the North,
see the introductory note to the Gripisspo.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2743
3. Myrkwood the secret (the adjective is literally “unknown”): the
forest which divided Atli’s realm from that of the Gjukungs; cf.
Oddrunargratr, 23 and note. Around the hearth: the adjective is the
same one which is applied to “benches” in stanza 1 (cf. note); it may
be an error here, or it may possibly have the force of “of your
followers,” i.e., Gunnar is to arm the men of his household (those who
are round his hearth) for the journey.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1666
The general subject of the Helgi lays is considered in the introduction
to Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, and it is needless here to repeat the
statements there made. The first lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is
unquestionably one of the latest of the Eddic poems, and was composed
probably not earlier than the second quarter of the eleventh century.
It presents several unusual characteristics. For one thing, it is among
the few essentially narrative poems in the whole collection, telling a
consecutive story in verse, and, except for the abusive dialogue
between Sinfjotli and Gothmund, which clearly was based on another and
older poem, it does so with relatively little use of dialogue. It is,
in fact, a ballad, and in the main an exceedingly vigorous one. The
annotator, who added his prose narrative notes so freely in the other
Helgi poems, here found nothing to do. The available evidence indicates
that narrative verse was a relatively late development in Old Norse
poetry, and it is significant that most of the poems which consist
chiefly, not of dialogue, but of narrative stanzas, such as the first
Helgi Hundingsbane lay and the two Atli lays, can safely be dated, on
the basis of other evidence, after the year 1000.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3251
Garm, a hound, 19, 21, 24, 102, 140, 196.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1560
41. The first line is a conjectural addition. Thakkrath is probably the
northern form of the Middle High German name Dancrat.
The Poetic Edda, passage 625
44. Snorri quotes this stanza. Like stanza 43 an almost certain
interpolation, it was probably drawn in by the reference to
Skithblathnir in the stanza interpolated earlier. It is presumably in
faulty condition. One Ms. has after the fifth line half of a
sixth,—“Brimir of swords.” Yggdrasil: cf. stanzas 25–35. Skithblathnir:
cf. stanza 43, note. Sleipnir: Othin’s eight-legged horse, one of
Loki’s numerous progeny, borne by him to the stallion Svathilfari. This
stallion belonged to the giant who built a fortress for the gods, and
came so near to finishing it, with Svathilfari’s aid, as to make the
gods fear he would win his promised reward—Freyja and the sun and moon.
To delay the work, Loki turned himself into a mare, whereupon the
stallion ran away, and the giant failed to complete his task within the
stipulated time. Bilrost: probably another form of Bifrost (which
Snorri has in his version of the stanza), on which cf. stanza 29.
Bragi: the god of poetry. He is one of the later figures among the
gods, and is mentioned only three times in the poems of the Edda. In
Snorri’s Edda, however, he is of great importance. His wife is Ithun,
goddess of youth. Perhaps the Norwegian skald Bragi Boddason, the
oldest recorded skaldic poet, had been traditionally apotheosized as
early as the tenth century. Hobrok: nothing further is known of him.
Garm: cf. Voluspo, 44.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2393
46. From the speaker gloomily | Gunnar turned,
For the jewel-bearer | her gems was dividing;
On all her wealth | her eyes were gazing,
On the bond-women slain | and the slaughtered slaves.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1066
14. Heimdall: the phrase “whitest of the gods” suggests that Heimdall
was the god of light as well as being the watchman. His wisdom was
probably connected with his sleepless watching over all the worlds; cf.
Lokasenna, 47 and note. On the Wanes cf. Voluspo, 21 and note. They are
not elsewhere spoken of as peculiarly gifted with knowledge of future
events.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1113
32. “Men call it ‘Grain,’ | and ‘Corn’ the gods,
‘Growth’ in the world of the Wanes;
‘The Eaten’ by giants, | ‘Drink-Stuff’ by elves,
In hell ‘The Slender Stem.’”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2286
13. Slayer of hosts: warrior (Gunnar). Raven and eagle: cf. note on
stanza 5.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1862
Prose. Hagal: Helgi’s foster-father, who naturally protects him.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2131
3. The names of the speakers do not appear in the manuscript, though
they seem originally to have been indicated in the margin for stanzas
3–30. The last two lines of stanza 3 are missing in the manuscript,
with no gap indicated, but the Volsungasaga prose paraphrase indicates
that something was omitted, and the lines here given are conjecturally
reconstructed from this paraphrase.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2378
31. Then Gunnar, monarch | of men, spake forth:
“Thou dost not laugh, | thou lover of hate,
In gladness there, | or for aught of good;
Why has thy face | so white a hue,
Mother of ill? | Foredoomed thou art.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1680
12. The prince let not | their prayers avail,
Nor gold for their dead | did the kinsmen get;
Waiting, he said, | was a mighty storm
Of lances gray | and Othin’s grimness.
The Poetic Edda, passage 658
19. “Eleven apples, | all of gold,
Here will I give thee, Gerth,
To buy thy troth | that Freyr shall be
Deemed to be dearest to you.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3461
Mjoll′-nir, Thor’s hammer, 82, 126, 149, 169–171, 174, 181.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2950
65. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker.
The Poetic Edda, passage 305
111. It is time to chant | from the chanter’s stool;
By the wells of Urth I was,
I saw and was silent, | I saw and thought,
And heard the speech of Hor.
(Of runes heard I words, | nor were counsels wanting,
At the hall of Hor,
In the hall of Hor;
Such was the speech I heard.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 3059
28. “His head were now off | if Erp were living,
The brother so keen | whom we killed on our road,
The warrior noble,— | ’twas the Norns that drove me
The hero to slay | who in fight should be holy.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2961
76. Morning: Guthrun refers to Atli’s taunt in stanza 64.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1330
10. To glass: i.e., the constant fires on the altar have fused the
stone into glass. Glass beads, etc., were of very early use, though the
use of glass for windows probably did not begin in Iceland much before
1200.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1978
1. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers anywhere in the poem.
Some editors have made separate stanzas out of the two-line speeches in
stanzas 1, 3 and 6.
The Poetic Edda, passage 725
5. “Now hast thou said | what to each must seem
The mightiest grief, | that my mother is dead.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2838
50. Then the warrior spake, | and wild was his anger:
“This is evil to see, | and thy doing is all;
Once we were thirty, | we thanes keen for battle,
Now eleven are left, | and great is our lack.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2902
12. Line 5 may be spurious, or else all that is left of a lost stanza.
The manuscript marks it as the beginning of a new stanza, which, as the
text stands, is clearly impossible.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1997
52. The manuscript has stanzas 52 and 53 in inverse order.
The Poetic Edda, passage 194
Few gnomic collections in the world’s literary history present sounder
wisdom more tersely expressed than the Hovamol. Like the Book of
Proverbs it occasionally rises to lofty heights of poetry. If it
presents the worldly wisdom of a violent race, it also shows noble
ideals of loyalty, truth, and unfaltering courage.
The Poetic Edda, passage 78
22. Heith they named her | who sought their home,
The wide-seeing witch, | in magic wise;
Minds she bewitched | that were moved by her magic,
To evil women | a joy she was.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2979
94. Hun-king: Sigurth, though most illogically so called; cf.
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 4 and note. The Volsungasaga paraphrase of
line 2 is so remote as to be puzzling: “It was little to bear the name
of widow.” Perhaps, however, the word “not” fell out between “was” and
“little.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1563
THE LAY OF HELGI THE SON OF HJORVARTH
The Poetic Edda, passage 1303
34. Heith and Hrossthjof, | the children of Hrimnir.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 1587
9. “In the hilt is fame, | in the haft is courage,
In the point is fear, | for its owner’s foes;
On the blade there lies | a blood-flecked snake,
And a serpent’s tail | round the flat is twisted.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2952
67. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Requital, etc.: it is
not clear just to what Guthrun refers; perhaps she is thinking of
Sigurth’s death, or possibly the poet had in mind his reference to the
slaying of her mother in stanza 53.
The Poetic Edda, passage 821
2. The mountain-dweller | sat merry as boyhood,
But soon like a blinded | man he seemed;
The son of Ygg | gazed in his eyes:
“For the gods a feast | shalt thou forthwith get.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3513
Rāth′-barth, a Russian king, 227.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3660
Völ′-und, a smith, 252–262, 264–268, 527.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2280
4. The Volsungasaga quotes a somewhat different version of this stanza,
in which the snake is called “wood-fish” and the third line adds “beer
and many things.” Eating snakes and the flesh of beasts of prey was
commonly supposed to induce ferocity. Gotthorm: Grimhild’s son,
half-brother to Gunnar. He it is who, not having sworn brotherhood with
Sigurth, does the killing.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3107
S is always hard, as in “so,” “this,” never soft, as in “as.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 789
13. This stanza, like the preceding one, is peculiarly chaotic in the
manuscript, and has been variously emended.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3347
Hjalm′-gun-nar, a Gothic king, 345, 390, 445.