The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 64 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 304
110. On his ring swore Othin | the oath, methinks;
Who now his troth shall trust?
Suttung’s betrayal | he sought with drink,
And Gunnloth to grief he left.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3613
Thrym′-heim, Thjazi’s home, 89, 90.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2249
The fire raged, | the earth was rocked,
The flames leaped high | to heaven itself;
Few were the hardy | heroes would dare
To ride or leap | the raging flames.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1164
11. Rind: mentioned by Snorri as one of the goddesses. Concerning her
son Vali, begotten by Othin for the express purpose of avenging Baldr’s
death, and his slaying of Hoth the day after his birth, cf. Voluspo,
33–34, where the lines of this stanza appear practically verbatim.
Vestrsalir (“The Western Hall”): not elsewhere mentioned in the poems.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2528
12. Never so black | had seemed the night
As when in sorrow | by Sigurth I sat;
The wolves . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 3011
Prose. In the manuscript the prose is headed “Of Guthrun,” the title
“Guthrunarhvot” preceding stanza 1. The prose introduction is used both
by Snorri (Skaldskaparmal, chapter 42) and in the Volsungasaga. It
would be interesting to know on what the annotator based this note, for
neither Bikki nor Randver is mentioned by name in either the
Guthrunarhvot or the Hamthesmol. On the prose notes in general, cf.
Reginsmol, introductory note. Guthrun: on the slaying of Atli by his
wife, Guthrun, Sigurth’s widow, cf. Atlamol, 83–86 and notes. Jonak: a
Northern addition to the legend, introduced to account for Svanhild’s
half-brothers; the name is apparently of Slavic origin. Sorli, Erp, and
Hamther: Sorli and Hamther are the Sarus and Ammius of the Jordanes
story (cf. introductory note). The Volsungasaga follows this note in
making Erp likewise a son of Guthrun, but in the Hamthesmol he is a son
of Jonak by another wife. Svanhild: cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 54
and note. Jormunrek (Ermanarich): cf. introductory note. Bikki: the
Sifka or Sibicho of the Gothic legends of Ermanarich, whose evil
counsel always brings trouble. Randver: in the Volsungasaga Jormunrek
sends his son Randver with Bikki to seek Svanhild’s hand. On the voyage
home Bikki says to Randver: “It were right for you to have so fair a
wife, and not such an old man.” Randver was much pleased with this
advice, “and he spake to her with gladness, and she to him.” Thus the
story becomes near of kin to those of Tristan and Iseult and Paolo and
Francesca. According to the Volsungasaga, Bikki told Ermanarich that a
guilty love existed between his son and his young wife, and presumably
the annotator here meant as much by his vague “this.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1940
17. “Runes to the warrior | will she tell,
All that men | may ever seek,
And teach thee to speak | in all men’s tongues,
And life with health; | thou’rt happy, king!”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2487
6. “Hild the helmed | in Hlymdalir
They named me of old, | all they who knew me.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 1798
6. “Hamal’s the ship | by the shore so steep,
Our home in Hlesey | do we have;
For fair wind bide we | in Brunavagar,
Eastward the way | that we wish to try.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 280
86. In a flying arrow | or falling waters,
In ice new formed | or the serpent’s folds,
In a bride’s bed-speech | or a broken sword,
In the sport of bears | or in sons of kings,
The Poetic Edda, passage 3428
Kār′-a, daughter of Halfdan, 272, 310, 311, 314, 316, 330, 331, 345.
The Poetic Edda, passage 321
127. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,—
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
If evil thou knowest, | as evil proclaim it,
And make no friendship with foes.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3242
Frey′-ja, a goddess, 10–12, 22, 90, 91, 102, 108, 128, 152, 157–159,
161–163, 175–177, 180, 181, 217–220, 231–233, 236, 472.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2241
35. Lines 3–4 are probably interpolated. Race of wolves: family of a
slain foe.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2020
“Though a sister loses | her father, seldom
Revenge on her brother she brings.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3099
Vowels. The vowels are pronounced approximately as follows:
The Poetic Edda, passage 1124
10. Men, etc.: nothing could more clearly indicate the author’s
mythological inaccuracy than his confusion of the inhabitants of the
nine worlds. Men (dwellers in Mithgarth) appear in each of Alvis’s
thirteen answers; so do the gods (Asgarth) and the giants (Jotunheim).
The elves (Alfheim) appear in eleven answers, the Wanes (Vanaheim) in
nine, and the dwarfs (who occupied no special world, unless one
identifies them with the dark elves of Svartalfaheim) in seven. The
dwellers “in hell” appear in six stanzas; the phrase probably refers to
the world of the dead, though Mogk thinks it may mean the dwarfs. In
stanzas where the gods are already listed appear names elsewhere
applied only to them,—“holy ones,” “sons of the gods” and “high
ones,”—as if these names meant beings of a separate race. “Men” appears
twice in the same stanza, and so do the giants, if one assumes that
they are “the sons of Suttung.” Altogether it is useless to pay much
attention to the mythology of Alvis’s replies.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1981
5. Grani: Sigurth’s horse. According to the Volsungasaga his father was
Sleipnir, Othin’s eight-legged horse, and Othin himself gave him to
Sigurth. The introductory note to the Reginsmol tells a different
story.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3514
Reg′-in, son of Hreithmar, 7, 343, 356–359, 361–366, 369–372, 377–383,
403.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1672
4. East and west | the ends they hid,
In the middle the hero | should have his land;
And Neri’s kinswoman | northward cast
A chain, and bade it | firm ever to be.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2483
2. “What wouldst thou have | from Valland here,
Fickle of heart, | in this my house?
Gold-goddess, now, | if thou wouldst know,
Heroes’ blood | from thy hands hast washed.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 23
At last Eirikr Magnusson hit on what appears the likeliest solution of
the puzzle: that “Edda” is simply the genitive form of the proper name
“Oddi.” Oddi was a settlement in the southwest of Iceland, certainly
the home of Snorri Sturluson for many years, and, traditionally at
least, also the home of Sæmund the Wise. That Snorri’s work should have
been called “The Book of Oddi” is altogether reasonable, for such a
method of naming books was common—witness the “Book of the Flat Island”
and other early manuscripts. That Sæmund may also have written or
compiled another “Oddi-Book” is perfectly possible, and that tradition
should have said he did so is entirely natural.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2342
24. The stanza is obviously in bad shape; perhaps it represents two
separate stanzas, or perhaps three of the lines are later additions.
Atli: Brynhild here blames her brother, following the frequent custom
of transferring the responsibility for a murder (cf. Helgakvitha
Hundingsbana II, 33), because he compelled her to marry Gunnar against
her will, an idea which the poet seems to have gained from
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 32–39. These stanzas represent an entirely
different version of the story, wherein Atli, attacked by Gunnar and
Sigurth, buys them off by giving Gunnar his sister, Brynhild, as wife.
He seems to have induced the latter to marry Gunnar by falsely telling
her that Gunnar was Sigurth (a rationalistic explanation of the
interchange of forms described in the Volsungasaga and Gripisspo,
37–39). In the present stanza Atli is made to do this out of desire for
Sigurth’s treasure. Hunnish race: this may be merely an error (neither
Gunnar nor Sigurth could properly have been connected in any way with
Atli and his Huns), based on Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, wherein Sigurth
appears more than once as the “Hunnish king.” The North was very much
in the dark as to the differences between Germans, Burgundians, Franks,
Goths, and Huns, and used the words without much discrimination. On the
other hand, it may refer to Sigurth’s appearance when, adorned with
gold, he came with Gunnar to besiege Atli, in the alternative version
of the story just cited (cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 36). Flame of
the snake’s bed: gold, so called because serpents and dragons were the
traditional guardians of treasure, on which they lay.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3274
Got′-thorm, slayer of Sigurth, 226, 350, 354, 361, 405, 410, 426–428,
453, 533.
The Poetic Edda, passage 292
98. “Othin, again | at evening come,
If a woman thou wouldst win;
Evil it were | if others than we
Should know of such a sin.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2105
25. “Glad art thou, Sigurth, | of battle gained,
As Gram with grass thou cleansest;
My brother fierce | in fight hast slain,
And somewhat I did myself.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3606
Thōr′-a, daughter of Hokon, 419, 454, 455.
The Poetic Edda, passage 968
65. “Ale hast thou brewed, | but, Ægir, now
Such feasts shalt thou make no more;
O’er all that thou hast | which is here within
Shall play the flickering flames,
(And thy back shall be burnt with fire.)”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3335
Herk′-ja, Atli’s servant, 465, 466, 468.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1968
45. “Thine oaths remembering, | silent thou art,
And dwellest with Guthrun | in wedlock good;
But Brynhild shall deem | she is badly mated,
And wiles she seeks, | herself to avenge.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2776
39. Giver of swords: generous prince, i.e., Atli. Honey: cf.
Guthrunarkvitha II, 42. To send to thy followers: literally, “to send
from thy high seat.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1998
The Reginsmol immediately follows the Gripisspo in the Codex Regius,
and in addition stanzas 1, 2, 6, and 18 are quoted in the Volsungasaga,
and stanzas 13–26 in the Nornageststhattr. In no instance is the title
of the poem stated, and in Regius there stands before the introductory
prose, very faintly written, what appears to be “Of Sigurth.” As a
result, various titles have been affixed to it, the two most often used
being “the Ballad of Regin” and “the First Lay of Sigurth Fafnisbane.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 782
2. The superscriptions to the speeches are badly confused in the
manuscripts, but editors have agreed fairly well as to where they
belong.
The Poetic Edda, passage 307
113. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,—
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Beware of sleep | on a witch’s bosom,
Nor let her limbs ensnare thee.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1944
21. “Before me lay | in clearest light
All of thy youth | for mine eyes to see;
Not rightly can I | wise be called,
Nor forward-seeing; | my wisdom is fled.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2396
49. Silent were all | as so she spake,
And all together | answer made:
“Slain are enough; | we seek to live,
Not thus thy women | shall honor win.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3026
18. The king: Hogni; cf. Atlakvitha, 25. The manuscript marks line 3 as
beginning a new stanza. Most editors agree that there is a more or less
extensive gap after stanza 18, and some of them contend that the
original ending of the poem is lost, stanzas 19–21 coming from a
different poem, probably a lament closely following Sigurth’s death.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3510
Rag′-nar Loth′-brōk, a Danish king, 366.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2207
33. Then ninth I rede thee: | burial render
If thou findest a fallen corpse,
Of sickness dead, | or dead in the sea,
Or dead of weapons’ wounds.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1831
29. “Now may every | oath thee bite
That with Helgi | sworn thou hast,
By the water | bright of Leipt,
And the ice-cold | stone of Uth.
The Poetic Edda, passage 766
46. “Of such things speak I so.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1276
8. “Now let us down | from our saddles leap,
And talk of the race | of the heroes twain;
The men who were born | of the gods above,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 872
15. Thor’s appetite figures elsewhere; cf. Thrymskvitha, 24.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3445
Lodd″-fāf-nis-mǭl′, the Ballad of Loddfafnir, 28, 67, 387, 397.
The Poetic Edda, passage 54
The general plan of the Voluspo is fairly clear. Othin, chief of the
gods, always conscious of impending disaster and eager for knowledge,
calls on a certain “Volva,” or wise-woman, presumably bidding her rise
from the grave. She first tells him of the past, of the creation of the
world, the beginning of years, the origin of the dwarfs (at this point
there is a clearly interpolated catalogue of dwarfs’ names, stanzas
10–16), of the first man and woman, of the world-ash Yggdrasil, and of
the first war, between the gods and the Vanir, or, in Anglicized form,
the Wanes. Then, in stanzas 27–29, as a further proof of her wisdom,
she discloses some of Othin’s own secrets and the details of his search
for knowledge. Rewarded by Othin for what she has thus far told (stanza
30), she then turns to the real prophesy, the disclosure of the final
destruction of the gods. This final battle, in which fire and flood
overwhelm heaven and earth as the gods fight with their enemies, is the
great fact in Norse mythology; the phrase describing it, ragna rök,
“the fate of the gods,” has become familiar, by confusion with the word
rökkr, “twilight,” in the German Götterdämmerung. The wise-woman tells
of the Valkyries who bring the slain warriors to support Othin and the
other gods in the battle, of the slaying of Baldr, best and fairest of
the gods, through the wiles of Loki, of the enemies of the gods, of the
summons to battle on both sides, and of the mighty struggle, till Othin
is slain, and “fire leaps high about heaven itself” (stanzas 31–58).
But this is not all. A new and beautiful world is to rise on the ruins
of the old; Baldr comes back, and “fields unsowed bear ripened fruit”
(stanzas 59–66).
The Poetic Edda, passage 637
Critics have generally agreed in dating the poem as we now have it as
early as the first half of the tenth century; Finnur Jonsson puts it as
early as 900, and claims it, as usual, for Norway. Doubtless it was
current in Norway, in one form or another, before the first Icelandic
settlements, but his argument that the thistle (stanza 31) is not an
Icelandic plant has little weight, for such curse-formulas must have
traveled freely from place to place. In view of the evidence pointing
to a western origin for many or all of the Eddic poems, Jonsson’s
reiterated “Digtet er sikkert norsk og ikke islandsk” is somewhat
exasperating. Wherever the Skirnismol was composed, it has been
preserved in exceptionally good condition, and seems to be practically
devoid of interpolations or lacunæ.
The Poetic Edda, passage 898
Ægir had two serving-men, Fimafeng and Eldir. Glittering gold they had
in place of firelight; the ale came in of itself; and great was the
peace. The guests praised much the ability of Ægir’s serving-men. Loki
might not endure that, and he slew Fimafeng. Then the gods shook their
shields and howled at Loki and drove him away to the forest, and
thereafter set to drinking again. Loki turned back, and outside he met
Eldir. Loki spoke to him:
The Poetic Edda, passage 1552
32. The manuscript indicates line 4 as the beginning of a stanza, and
many editors have followed this arrangement.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1400
30. “Mimameith its name, | and no man knows
What root beneath it runs;
And few can guess | what shall fell the tree,
For fire nor iron shall fell it.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 624
43. This and the following stanza are certainly interpolated, for they
have nothing to do with the context, and stanza 45 continues the
dramatic conclusion of the poem begun in stanza 42. This stanza is
quoted by Snorri. Ivaldi (“The Mighty”): he is known only as the father
of the craftsmen-dwarfs who made not only the ship Skithblathnir, but
also Othin’s spear Gungnir, and the golden hair for Thor’s wife, Sif,
after Loki had maliciously cut her own hair off. Skithblathnir: this
ship (“Wooden-Bladed”) always had a fair wind, whenever the sail was
set; it could be folded up at will and put in the pocket. Freyr:
concerning him and his father, see Voluspo, 21, note, and Skirnismol,
introductory prose and note.