The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 59 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1648
20. Apparently Hrimgerth has assumed the form of a mare.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3310
Ham′-thēr, son of Jonak, 361, 439, 447, 536–541, 545–550, 552–555.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1366
The love story of Svipdag and Mengloth is not referred to elsewhere in
the Poetic Edda, nor does Snorri mention it; however, Groa, who here
appears as Svipdag’s mother, is spoken of by Snorri as a wise woman,
the wife of Orvandil, who helps Thor with her magic charms. On the
other hand, the essence of the story, the hero’s winning of a bride
ringed about by flames, is strongly suggestive of parts of the
Sigurth-Brynhild traditions. Whether or not it is to be regarded as a
nature or solar myth depends entirely on one’s view of the whole “solar
myth” school of criticism, not so highly esteemed today as formerly;
such an interpretation is certainly not necessary to explain what is,
under any circumstances, a very charming romance told, in the main,
with dramatic effectiveness.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2292
The First Lay of Guthrun, entitled in the Codex Regius simply
Guthrunarkvitha, immediately follows the remaining fragment of the
“long” Sigurth lay in that manuscript. Unlike the poems dealing with
the earlier part of the Sigurth cycle, the so-called Reginsmol,
Fafnismol, and Sigrdrifumol, it is a clear and distinct unit,
apparently complete and with few and minor interpolations. It is also
one of the finest poems in the entire collection, with an extraordinary
emotional intensity and dramatic force. None of its stanzas are quoted
elsewhere, and it is altogether probable that the compilers of the
Volsungasaga were unfamiliar with it, for they do not mention the
sister and daughter of Gjuki who appear in this poem, or Herborg,
“queen of the Huns” (stanza 6).
The Poetic Edda, passage 1140
Whether the Volva (wise-woman) of the poem is identical with the
speaker in the Voluspo is purely a matter for conjecture. Nothing
definitely opposes such a supposition. As in the longer poem she
foretells the fall of the gods, so in this case she prophesies the
first incident of that fall, the death of Baldr. Here she is called up
from the dead by Othin, anxious to know the meaning of Baldr’s evil
dreams; in the Voluspo it is likewise intimated that the Volva has
risen from the grave.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3422
Jar′-iz-skār, Atli’s emissary, 456, 457.
The Poetic Edda, passage 447
17. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor
Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:
What name has the field | where in fight shall meet
Surt and the gracious gods?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2008
2. “Andvari am I, | and Oin my father,
In many a fall have I fared;
An evil Norn | in olden days
Doomed me in waters to dwell.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2784
Many of the chief facts regarding the Atlamol, which follows the
Atlakvitha in the Codex Regius, are outlined in the introductory note
to the earlier Atli lay. That the superscription in the manuscript is
correct, and that the poem was actually composed in Greenland, is
generally accepted; the specific reference to polar bears (stanza 17),
and the general color of the entire poem make this origin exceedingly
likely. Most critics, again, agree in dating the poem nearer 1100 than
1050. As to its state of preservation there is some dispute, but,
barring one or two possible gaps of some importance, and the usual
number of passages in which the interpolation or omission of one or two
lines may be suspected, the Atlamol has clearly come down to us in
fairly good shape.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1431
61. “On the gallows high | shall hungry ravens
Soon thine eyes pluck out,
If thou liest in saying | that here at last
The hero is come to my hall.
The Poetic Edda, passage 100
44. Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free;
Much do I know, | and more can see
Of the fate of the gods, | the mighty in fight.
The Poetic Edda, passage 660
21. “Then do I bring thee | the ring that was burned
Of old with Othin’s son;
From it do eight | of like weight fall
On every ninth night.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2473
63. Bikki: Svanhild is married to the aged Jormunrek (Ermanarich), but
Bikki, one of his followers, suggests that she is unduly intimate with
Jormunrek’s son, Randver. Thereupon Jormunrek has Randver hanged, and
Svanhild torn to pieces by wild horses. Ermanarich’s cruelty and his
barbarous slaying of his wife and son were familiar traditions long
before they became in any way connected with the Sigurth cycle (cf.
introductory note to Gripisspo).
The Poetic Edda, passage 1253
32. The manuscript begins both line 1 and line 2 with a capital
preceded by a period, which has led to all sorts of strange
stanza-combinations and guesses at lost lines in the various editions.
The confusion includes stanza 33, wherein no line is marked in the
manuscript as beginning a stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1795
Helgi escaped and went to a fighting ship. He slew King Hunding, and
thenceforth was called Helgi Hundingsbane.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1181
7. A son bore Edda, | with water they sprinkled him,
With a cloth his hair | so black they covered;
Thræll they named him, | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 3423
Jarn′-sax-a, mother of Heimdall, 229.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1525
4. No lacuna indicated in the manuscript; one editor fills the stanza
out with a second line running: “Then to her breast Slagfith embraced.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2887
96. “Thou liest now, Guthrun, | but little of good
Will it bring to either, | for all have we lost;
But, Guthrun, yet once | be thou kindly of will,
For the honor of both, | when forth I am borne.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2615
7. Who Saxi may be is not clear, but the stanza clearly points to the
time when the ordeal by boiling water was still regarded as a foreign
institution, and when a southern king (i.e., a Christian from some
earlier-converted region) was necessary to consecrate the kettle used
in the test. The ordeal by boiling water followed closely the
introduction of Christianity, which took place around the year 1000.
Some editions make two stanzas out of stanza 7, and Müllenhoff contends
that lines 1–2 do not constitute part of Guthrun’s speech.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2334
15. The word here translated “tresses” is sheer guesswork. The detail
of the geese is taken from Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 29, line 3 here
being identical with line 4 of that stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1237
14. In the manuscript line 4 stands after line 4 of stanza 16, but
several editors have rearranged the lines, as here. Afi and Amma:
Grandfather and Grandmother.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1398
28. “Gastropnir is it, | of old I made it
From the limbs of Leirbrimir;
I braced it so strongly | that fast it shall stand
So long as the world shall last.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 956
54. “Alone thou wert | if truly thou wouldst
All men so shyly shun;
But one do I know | full well, methinks,
Who had thee from Hlorrithi’s arms,—
(Loki the crafty in lies.)”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3631
Val′-hall, Othin’s hall, 3, 14, 15, 25, 79, 88, 89, 92–94, 218, 220,
232, 325, 326, 441, 474, 480, 483.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2266
10. Then Brynhild laughed— | and the building echoed—
Only once, | with all her heart;
“Long shall ye joy | in lands and men,
Now ye have slain | the hero noble.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 343
149. A third I know, | if great is my need
Of fetters to hold my foe;
Blunt do I make | mine enemy’s blade,
Nor bites his sword or staff.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3161
Blind, follower of Hunding, 312.
The Poetic Edda, passage 664
25. “Seest thou, maiden, | this keen, bright sword
That I hold here in my hand?
Before its blade | the old giant bends,—
Thy father is doomed to die.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2873
83. Together they sat | and full grim were their thoughts,
Unfriendly their words, | and no joy either found;
In Hniflung grew hatred, | great plans did he have,
To Guthrun his anger | against Atli was told.
The Poetic Edda, passage 917
17. “Be silent, Ithun! | thou art, I say,
Of women most lustful in love,
Since thou thy washed-bright | arms didst wind
About thy brother’s slayer.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1150
9. “Hoth thither bears | the far-famed branch,
He shall the bane | of Baldr become,
And steal the life | from Othin’s son.
Unwilling I spake, | and now would be still.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1571
Parts I, II, and IV may all have come from the same poem or they may
not; it is quite impossible to tell surely. All of them are generally
dated by commentators not later than the first half of the tenth
century, whereas the Hrimgertharmol (section III) is placed
considerably later. When and by whom these fragments were pieced
together is another vexed question, and this involves a consideration
of the prose notes and links, of which the Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar
has a larger amount than any other poem in the Edda. These prose links
contain practically all the narrative, the verse being almost
exclusively dialogue. Whoever composed them seems to have been
consciously trying to bring his chaotic verse material into some
semblance of unity, but he did his work pretty clumsily, with manifest
blunders and contradictions. Bugge has advanced the theory that these
prose passages are to be regarded as an original and necessary part of
the work, but this hardly squares with the evidence.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1306
37. One there was born | in the bygone days,
Of the race of the gods, | and great was his might;
Nine giant women, | at the world’s edge,
Once bore the man | so mighty in arms.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2227
17. Charms: the wearing of amulets was very common. Gungnir: Othin’s
spear, made by the dwarfs, which he occasionally lent to heroes to whom
he granted victory. Grani: Sigurth’s horse; the Volsungasaga has
“giantesses’.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2652
30. “Then crawling the evil | woman came,
Atli’s mother— | may she ever rot!
And hard she bit | to Gunnar’s heart,
So I could not help | the hero brave.
The Poetic Edda, passage 732
12. “And though I had a quarrel, | from such as thou art
Yet none the less | my life would I guard,
Unless I be doomed to die.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3449
Lok′-i, a god, 1, 8, 9, 11, 15–17, 21, 22, 25, 101, 102, 128, 130, 134,
146, 149–173, 175–179, 196, 198, 200, 228, 230–232, 245–247, 303,
357–362, 417, 493.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2649
27. “The hero wise | on his harp then smote,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
For help from me | in his heart yet hoped
The high-born king, | might come to him.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1519
42. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“Is it true, Bothvild, | that which was told me;
Once in the isle | with Völund wert thou?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1638
8. Sigarsholm (“Isle of Sigar”): a place not identified, but probably
related to the Sigarsvoll where Helgi was slain (stanza 35).
The Poetic Edda, passage 2842
54. “Go now, ye warriors, | and make greater the grief
Of the woman so fair, | for fain would I see it;
So fierce be thy warring | that Guthrun shall weep,
I would gladly behold | her happiness lost.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3221
Far′-baut-i, father of Loki, 157, 168.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3035
4. “Little the kings | of the folk are ye like,
For now ye are living | alone of my race.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1790
1. “Say to Hæming | that Helgi knows
Whom the heroes | in armor hid;
A gray wolf had they | within their hall,
Whom King Hunding | Hamal thought.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2254
Forth went Sigurth, | and speech he sought not,
The friend of heroes, | his head bowed down;
Such was his grief | that asunder burst
His mail-coat all | of iron wrought.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3372
Hǭ′-alf, King Half of Horthaland, 223, 224.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2428
12. The son: the three-year-old son of Sigurth and Guthrun, Sigmund,
who was killed at Brynhild’s behest.
The Poetic Edda, passage 747
27. “Thou womanish Harbarth, | to hell would I smite thee
straight,
Could mine arm reach over the sound.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1890
35. Line 5 may be spurious. Vigblær (“Battle-Breather”): Helgi’s horse.