The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 67 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 63
7. At Ithavoll met | the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples | they timbered high;
Forges they set, | and they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, | and tools they fashioned.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1589
10. “Hjorvarth, king, | unwholesome thy counsels,
Though famed thou art | in leading the folk,
Letting fire the homes | of heroes eat,
Who evil deed | had never done thee.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2793
6. Forth did Kostbera, wife | of Hogni, then come,
Full kindly she was, | and she welcomed them both;
And glad too was Glaumvor, | the wife of Gunnar,
She knew well to care | for the needs of the guests.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2708
16. This their sister saw, | as soon as her brothers
Had entered the hall,— | little ale had she drunk:
“Betrayed art thou, Gunnar! | what guard hast thou, hero,
’Gainst the plots of the Huns? | from the hall flee swiftly!
The Poetic Edda, passage 1517
40. Laughing Völund | rose aloft,
But left in sadness | Nithuth sat.
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 2691
The translation of the Atlakvitha is rendered peculiarly difficult by
the irregularity of the metre, by the evident faultiness of the
transmission, and above all by the exceptionally large number of words
found nowhere else in Old Norse, involving much guesswork as to their
meanings. The notes do not attempt to indicate all the varying
suggestions made by editors and commentators as to the reconstruction
of defective stanzas and the probable meanings of obscure passages; in
cases which are purely or largely guesswork the notes merely point out
the uncertainty without cataloguing the proposed solutions.
The Poetic Edda, passage 453
23. “Mundilferi is he | who begat the moon,
And fathered the flaming sun;
The round of heaven | each day they run,
To tell the time for men.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3066
3. Svanhild and Jormunrek: regarding the manner in which Jormunrek
(Ermanarich) married Svanhild, daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun, and
afterwards had her trodden to death by horses, cf. Guthrunarhvot,
introductory note. Lines 3–4 are identical with lines 5–6 of
Guthrunarhvot, 2.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3320
Heim′-ir, Brynhild’s foster-father, 345–348, 350, 351, 353, 403, 404,
445.
The Poetic Edda, passage 214
20. The greedy man, | if his mind be vague,
Will eat till sick he is;
The vulgar man, | when among the wise,
To scorn by his belly is brought.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2758
20. Apparently a Fornyrthislag stanza, though most editions have
attempted to expand the lines into Malahattr. The exploits of Hogni
(Hagene), with the names of many of his victims, are told in the
Nibelungenlied. The fire: in the Nibelungenlied Kriemhild has the hall
set on fire, and the Burgundians fight amid the flames. Line 4 is
clearly defective, and some editors regard the name “Gunnar” as all
that is left of the first two lines of stanza 21.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3326
Helg″-a-kvith′-a Hund″-ings-ban′-a I (en Fyr′-ri), the First Lay of
Helgi Hundingsbane, 14, 160, 215, 221, 273, 276, 281, 287, 290–308,
310, 311, 313, 316–319, 321, 322, 328, 358, 364–366, 428, 524.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3429
Kār′-i, ancestor of Ketil, 224.
The Poetic Edda, passage 155
37. Nithavellir (“the Dark Fields”): a home of the dwarfs. Perhaps the
word should be “Nithafjoll” (“the Dark Crags”). Sindri: the great
worker in gold among the dwarfs. Okolnir (“the Not Cold”): possibly a
volcano. Brimir: the giant (possibly Ymir) out of whose blood,
according to stanza 9, the dwarfs were made; the name here appears to
mean simply the leader of the dwarfs.
The Poetic Edda, passage 885
29. Snorri says nothing of this episode of Hymir’s cup. The glass which
cannot be broken appears in the folklore of various races.
The Poetic Edda, passage 76
20. Thence come the maidens | mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling | down ’neath the tree;
Urth is one named, | Verthandi the next,—
On the wood they scored,— | and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there, | and life allotted
To the sons of men, | and set their fates.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2909
19. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1827
26. “Better, Sinfjotli, | thee ’twould beseem
Battles to give, | and eagles to gladden,
Than vain and empty | speech to utter,
Though warriors oft | with words do strive.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3262
Gjūk′-i, father of Gunnar, 226, 343, 344, 348, 352–354, 362, 383, 403,
406, 407, 410, 411, 413, 415–418, 421–423, 426, 429, 444, 446–448, 451,
452, 459, 462, 466, 470, 476, 477, 480, 482, 499, 500, 509, 516, 517,
529, 535, 541, 542, 546, 552, 553.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1289
21. “Isolf and Osolf, | the sons of Olmoth,
Whose wife was Skurhild, | the daughter of Skekkil,
Count them among | the heroes mighty,
And all are thy kinsmen, | Ottar, thou fool!
The Poetic Edda, passage 2991
3. “Not like are ye | to Gunnar of yore,
Nor have ye hearts | such as Hogni’s was;
Vengeance for her | ye soon would have
If brave ye were | as my brothers of old,
Or hard your hearts | as the Hunnish kings’.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1993
43. The simultaneous weddings of Sigurth and Gunnar form a memorable
feature of the German tradition as it appears in the Nibelungenlied,
but in the Volsungasaga Sigurth marries Guthrun before he sets off with
Gunnar to win Brynhild.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3204
Eir, Mengloth’s handmaid, 248, 249.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2499
7. Regarding the identification of swan-maidens with Valkyries, and the
manner in which men could get them in their power by stealing their
swan-garments, cf. Völundarkvitha, introductory prose and note, where
the same thing happens. The monarch: perhaps Agnar, brother of Autha,
mentioned in Sigrdrifumol (prose and quoted verse following stanza 4)
as the warrior for whose sake Brynhild defied Othin in slaying
Hjalmgunnar. Eight: the Nornageststhattr manuscripts have “sisters of
Atli” instead of “sisters eight.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1702
34. Sinfjotli answered, | and up on an oar
Raised a shield all red | with golden rim;
A sea-sentry was he, | skilled to speak,
And in words with princes | well to strive.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1878
18. Maid: the word thus rendered is the same doubtful one which appears
in Völundarkvitha, 1 and 5, and which may mean specifically a Valkyrie
(Gering translates it “helmed” or “heroic”) or simply “wise.” Cf.
Völundarkvitha, note on introductory prose. Norns: cf. Voluspo, 20 and
note. In stanza 33 Dag similarly lays the blame for the murder he has
committed on Othin. Bragi: probably Sigrun’s brother.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1661
39. Frekastein (“Wolf-Crag”): the name appears several times in the
Helgi lays applied to battlefields; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 46
and 55, and II, 18 and 24. Need: i.e., Alf deserves no credit for the
victory, which was due to the troll-woman’s magic.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3041
10. “For thy brothers dost weep, | and thy boys so sweet,
Thy kinsmen in birth | on the battlefield slain;
Now, Guthrun, as well | for us both shalt thou weep,
We sit doomed on our steeds, | and far hence shall we die.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1379
12. “Then seventh I chant thee, | if frost shall seek
To kill thee on lofty crags:
The fatal cold | shall not grip thy flesh,
And whole thy body shall be.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2130
1. The first line in the original, as here, is unusually long, but
dramatically very effective on that account.
The Poetic Edda, passage 706
32. No gap indicated in the manuscript; Niedner makes the line here
given as 4 the first half of line 3, and fills out the stanza thus:
“with which I will tame you, / Maid, to work my will.” The whole stanza
seems to be either interpolated or out of place; it would fit better
after stanza 25.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1596
15. “Atli am I, | and ill shalt thou find me,
Great hate for witches I have;
Oft have I been | in the dripping bows,
And to dusk-riders death have brought.
The Poetic Edda, passage 295
101. At morning then, | when once more I came,
And all were sleeping still,
A dog I found | in the fair one’s place,
Bound there upon her bed.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1410
40. “Two wing-joints there be | in Vithofnir’s body,
If now the truth thou wouldst know;
That alone is the meat | that men may give them,
And leap within while they eat.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 908
9. “Remember, Othin, | in olden days
That we both our blood have mixed;
Then didst thou promise | no ale to pour,
Unless it were brought for us both.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 844
24. The venomous serpent | swiftly up
To the boat did Thor, | the bold one, pull;
With his hammer the loathly | hill of the hair
Of the brother of Fenrir | he smote from above.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1888
31. No gap indicated in the manuscript, but most editors have assumed
that either the first or the last two lines have been lost. Bugge adds
a line: “The shield shall not help thee | which thou holdest.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 975
10. In stanzas 10–31 the manuscript has nothing to indicate the
identity of the several speakers, but these are uniformly clear enough
through the context. Vithar: cf. note on introductory prose. The wolf’s
father: Loki; cf. Voluspo, 39 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1190
16. The woman sat | and the distaff wielded,
At the weaving with arms | outstretched she worked;
On her head was a band, | on her breast a smock;
On her shoulders a kerchief | with clasps there was.
The Poetic Edda, passage 615
33. Stanzas 33–34 may well be interpolated, and are certainly in bad
shape in the Mss. Bugge points out that they are probably of later
origin than those surrounding them. Snorri closely paraphrases stanza
33, but without elaboration, and nothing further is known of the four
harts. It may be guessed, however, that they are a late multiplication
of the single hart mentioned in stanza 26, just as the list of dragons
in stanza 34 seems to have been expanded out of Nithhogg, the only
authentic dragon under the root of the ash. Highest twigs: a guess; the
Mss. words are baffling. Something has apparently been lost from lines
3–4, but there is no clue as to its nature.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1452
34. Vithofnir (“Tree-Snake”): apparently identical with either the cock
Gollinkambi (cf. Voluspo, 43) or Fjalar (cf. Voluspo, 42), the former
of which wakes the gods to battle, and the latter the giants. Surt: the
giant mentioned in Voluspo, 52, as ruler of the fire-world; here used
to represent the giants in general, who are constantly in terror of the
cock’s eternal watchfulness. Sinmora: presumably Surt’s wife, the
giantess who possesses the weapon by which alone the cock Vithofnir may
be slain.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1039
18. Then bound they on Thor | the bridal veil,
And next the mighty | Brisings’ necklace.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1102
21. “Answer me, Alvis! | thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the calm, | that quiet lies,
In each and every world?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2798
11. “Thou wouldst go hence, Hogni, | but heed my counsel,—
Known to few are the runes,— | and put off thy faring;
I have read now the runes | that thy sister wrote,
And this time the bright one | did not bid thee to come.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2253
Gunnar and Sigurth alike try to appease the angry Brynhild, but in
vain. After Sigurth has talked with her, his leaving her hall is
described in the following stanza, introduced by the specific phrase:
“as is said in the Lay of Sigurth”:
The Poetic Edda, passage 3044
13. On the way they found | the man so wise;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“What help from the weakling | brown may we have?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1925
“Sigurth am I, | and Sigmund’s son,
And Hjordis the name | of the hero’s mother.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2012
5. “Now shall the gold | that Gust once had
Bring their death | to brothers twain,
And evil be | for heroes eight;
Joy of my wealth | shall no man win.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3115
Alf, slayer of Helgi, 286, 288, 289, 331.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1892
Prose. Valhall, etc.: there is no indication as to where the annotator
got this notion of Helgi’s sharing Othin’s rule. It is most unlikely
that such an idea ever found place in any of the Helgi poems, or at
least in the earlier ones; probably it was a late development of the
tradition in a period when Othin was no longer taken seriously.