The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 6 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1979
3. Sigurth: a few editions use in the verse the older form of this
name, “Sigvorth,” though the manuscript here keeps to the form used in
this translation. The Old High German “Sigifrid” (“Peace-Bringer
through Victory”) became the Norse “Sigvorth” (“Victory-Guarder”),
this, in turn, becoming “Sigurth.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2363
16. “Wilt thou the hero | for wealth betray?
’Twere good to have | the gold of the Rhine,
And all the hoard | in peace to hold,
And waiting fortune | thus to win.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2192
18. Shaved off were the runes | that of old were written,
And mixed with the holy mead,
And sent on ways so wide;
So the gods had them, | so the elves got them,
And some for the Wanes so wise,
And some for mortal men.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1396
26. “Thrymgjol they call it; | ’twas made by the three,
The sons of Solblindi;
And fast as a fetter | the farer it holds,
Whoever shall lift the latch.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1510
33. “Always I wake, | and ever joyless,
Little I sleep | since my sons were slain;
Cold is my head, | cold was thy counsel,
One thing, with Völund | to speak, I wish.
The Poetic Edda, passage 735
15. “Fain art thou to tell | how with Hrungnir I fought,
The haughty giant, | whose head of stone was made;
And yet I felled him, | and stretched him before me.
What, Harbarth, didst thou the while?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3596
Svip″-dags-mǭl′, the Ballad of Svipdag, 60, 81, 154, 234–251, 350, 388,
441, 472.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1600
19. “Dull art thou, Atli, | thou dreamest, methinks,
The lids lie over thine eyes;
By the leader’s ships | my mother lay,
Hlothvarth’s sons on the sea I slew.
The Poetic Edda, passage 265
71. The lame rides a horse, | the handless is herdsman,
The deaf in battle is bold;
The blind man is better | than one that is burned,
No good can come of a corpse.
The Poetic Edda, passage 831
11. “Hail to thee, Hymir! | good thoughts mayst thou have;
Here has thy son | to thine hall now come;
(For him have we waited, | his way was long;)
And with him fares | the foeman of Hroth,
The friend of mankind, | and Veur they call him.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3080
18. In the manuscript these two lines are followed by stanza 19 with no
indication of a break. Some editions insert here lines 2–3 of stanza
12, while others assume the loss of two or more lines.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3465
Morn′-a-land, an eastern country, 470.
The Poetic Edda, passage 578
50. I deceived the giant | Sokkmimir old
As Svithur and Svithrir of yore;
Of Mithvitnir’s son | the slayer I was
When the famed one found his doom.
The Poetic Edda, passage 517
51. Vithar: a son of Othin, who slays the wolf Fenrir; cf. Voluspo, 54
and note. Vali: the son whom Othin begot to avenge Baldr’s death; cf.
Voluspo, 33 and note. Mothi (“Wrath”) and Magni (“Might”): the sons of
the god Thor, who after his death inherit his famous hammer, Mjollnir.
Concerning this hammer cf. especially Thrymskvitha, passim. Vingnir
(“the Hurler”): Thor. Concerning his death cf. Voluspo, 56. This stanza
is quoted by Snorri.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2142
20. It has been suggested that this stanza is spurious, and that stanza
21 ought to follow stanza 22. Lines 3–4, abbreviated in the manuscript,
are identical with lines 3–4 of stanza 9. The Volsungasaga paraphrase
in place of these two lines makes Fafnir say: “For it often happens
that he who gets a deadly wound yet avenges himself.” It is quite
likely that two stanzas have been lost.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3512
Rand′-vēr, son of Rathbarth, 227.
The Poetic Edda, passage 994
36. Thy sister: the Ynglingasaga supports this story of Njorth’s having
had two children by his sister before he came among the gods. Snorri,
on the other hand, specifically says that Freyr and Freyja were born
after Njorth came to the gods.
The Poetic Edda, passage 323
129. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,—
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Look not up | when the battle is on,—
(Like madmen the sons | of men become,—)
Lest men bewitch thy wits.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2575
20. Lines 1–2 are probably interpolated, though the Volsungasaga
includes the names. Some one apparently attempted to supply the names
of Atli’s messengers, the “long-beard men” of line 4, who have come to
ask for Guthrun’s hand. Some commentators assume, as the Volsungasaga
does, that these messengers went with the Gjukungs to Denmark in search
of Guthrun, but it seems more likely that a transitional stanza has
dropped out after stanza 19, and that Guthrun received Atli’s
emissaries in her brothers’ home. Long-beards: the word may actually
mean Langobards or Lombards, but, if it does, it is presumably without
any specific significance here. Certainly the names in the interpolated
two lines do not fit either Lombards or Huns, for Valdar is identified
as a Dane, and Jarizleif and Jarizskar are apparently Slavic. The
manuscript indicates line 5 as beginning a new stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2980
95. Thing, etc.: here the poet makes Atli into a typical Norse
land-owner, going to the “Thing,” or general law council, to settle his
disputes. Even the compilers of the Volsungasaga could not accept this,
and in their paraphrase changed “Thing” to “battle.” The text of the
second half of line 2 is uncertain. The manuscript leaves a blank to
indicate the gap in line 4; Grundtvig adds: “as beseems not a king.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 188
66. This stanza, which fits so badly with the preceding ones, may well
have been interpolated. It has been suggested that the dragon, making a
last attempt to rise, is destroyed, this event marking the end of evil
in the world. But in both manuscripts the final half-line does not
refer to the dragon, but, as the gender shows, to the Volva herself,
who sinks into the earth; a sort of conclusion to the entire prophecy.
Presumably the stanza (barring the last half-line, which was probably
intended as the conclusion of the poem) belongs somewhere in the
description of the great struggle. Nithhogg: the dragon at the roots of
Yggdrasil; cf. stanza 39 and note. Nithafjoll (“the Dark Crags”);
nowhere else mentioned. Must I: the manuscripts have “must she.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1036
15. “Keys around him | let there rattle,
And down to his knees | hang woman’s dress;
With gems full broad | upon his breast,
And a pretty cap | to crown his head.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3623
Ūt′-garth-a=Lok′-i, a giant, 122, 130.
The Poetic Edda, passage 466
36. “Ninth answer me well, | if wise thou art called,
If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:
Whence comes the wind | that fares o’er the waves
Yet never itself is seen?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3255
Geir′-skog-ul, a Valkyrie, 14.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2704
12. A following gallant | fared forth with the ruler,
Yet they wept as their home | with the hero they left;
And the little heir | of Hogni called loudly:
“Go safe now, ye wise ones, | wherever ye will!”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3311
Ham″-thēs-mǭl′, the Ballad of Hamther, 226, 410, 439, 447, 450, 488,
536–540, 545–555.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3473
Myrk′-wood, a forest in Hothbrodd’s land, 306.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1676
8. Helgi he named him, | and Hringstathir gave him,
Solfjoll, Snæfjoll, | and Sigarsvoll,
Hringstoth, Hotun, | and Himinvangar,
And a blood-snake bedecked | to Sinfjotli’s brother.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1112
31. “Answer me, Alvis! | thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the seed, | that is sown by men,
In each and every world?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 218
24. The foolish man | for friends all those
Who laugh at him will hold;
When among the wise | he marks it not
Though hatred of him they speak.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1550
30. No gap indicated in the manuscript; some editors combine the two
lines with lines 3–4 of stanza 29, and many with the three lines of
stanza 31.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1386
18. “What seekest thou here? | for what is thy search?
What, friendless one, fain wouldst thou know?
By the ways so wet | must thou wander hence,
For, weakling, no home hast thou here.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 409
138. In the manuscript this stanza comes at the end of the entire poem,
following stanza 165. Most recent editors have followed Müllenhoff in
shifting it to this position, as it appears to conclude the passage
introduced by the somewhat similar stanza III.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3557
Skirn″-is-mǭl′, the Ballad of Skirnir, 21, 22, 78, 86, 88, 101,
107–121, 126, 149, 152, 162, 163, 165, 174, 175, 193, 218, 228, 282,
360.
The Poetic Edda, passage 566
38. In front of the sun | does Svalin stand,
The shield for the shining god;
Mountains and sea | would be set in flames
If it fell from before the sun.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3645
Vīg′-blǣr, Helgi’s horse, 325.
The Poetic Edda, passage 94
38. A hall I saw, | far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands, | and the doors face north;
Venom drops | through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls | do serpents wind.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1854
47. “Now do I say | that in Sevafjoll
Aught may happen, | early or late,
Since thou sleepest clasped | in a corpse’s arms,
So fair in the hill, | the daughter of Hogni!
(Living thou comest, | a daughter of kings.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 1222
48. “’Twere better forth | on thy steed to fare,
. . . . . . . . | and the host to slay.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1174
They tell in old stories that one of the gods, whose name was Heimdall,
went on his way along a certain seashore, and came to a dwelling, where
he called himself Rig. According to these stories is the following
poem:
The Poetic Edda, passage 2977
92. From the land: this maritime expedition of Guthrun and her two
brothers, Gunnar and Hogni (the poet seems to know nothing of her
half-brother, Gotthorm), with Sigurth seems to have been a pure
invention of the poet’s, inserted for the benefit of his Greenland
hearers. Nothing further is reported concerning it.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1690
22. Messengers sent | the mighty one then,
By land and by sea, | a host to seek,
Store of wealth | of the water’s gleam,
And men to summon, | and sons of men.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2146
26. In the manuscript stanzas 26–29 stand after stanza 31, which fails
to make clear sense; they are here rearranged in accordance with the
Volsungasaga paraphrase.
The Poetic Edda, passage 710
36. For the combination of this stanza with the preceding one, cf. note
on stanza 35. The scribe clearly did not consider that the stanza began
with line 1, as the first word thereof in the manuscript does not begin
with a capital letter and has no period before it. The first word of
line 3, however, is so marked. Line 5 may well be spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 815
The Hymiskvitha is found complete in both manuscripts; in Regius it
follows the Harbarthsljoth, while in the Arnamagnæan Codex it comes
after the Grimnismol. Snorri does not quote it, although he tells the
main story involved.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2841
53. “Hear me now, Atli! | the first evil was thine;
My mother didst thou take, | and for gold didst murder her,
My sister’s daughter | thou didst starve in a prison.
A jest does it seem | that thy sorrow thou tellest,
And good do I find it | that grief to thee comes.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 514
47. Snorri quotes this stanza. Alfrothul (“the Elf-Beam”): the sun.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2431
15. After “Buthli” in line 2 the manuscript has “my brother,”
apparently a scribal error. In line 4 the manuscript has “wealth”
instead of “love,” apparently with stanza 10 in mind, but the
Volsungasaga paraphrase has “love,” and many editors have suspected an
error.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2160
Prose. There is no break in the manuscript between the end of this
prose passage and the beginning of the one introducing the
Sigrdrifumol: some editors include the entire prose passage with one
poem or the other. Hrotti; “Thruster.”