The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 68 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 3603
Thjōth′-rek, Theoderich, 451, 465–467, 517.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3570
Sōl′-bjart, father of Svipdag, 250.
The Poetic Edda, passage 895
The poem is one of the most vigorous of the entire collection, and
seems to have been preserved in exceptionally good condition. The
exchange or contest of insults was dear to the Norse heart, and the
Lokasenna consists chiefly of Loki’s taunts to the assembled gods and
goddesses, and their largely ineffectual attempts to talk back to him.
The author was evidently well versed in mythological lore, and the poem
is full of references to incidents not elsewhere recorded. As to its
date and origin there is the usual dispute, but the latter part of the
tenth century and Iceland seem the best guesses.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1489
Then Nithuth called, | the lord of the Njars:
“How gottest thou, Völund, | greatest of elves,
These treasures of ours | in Ulfdalir?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3154
Bif′-rost, the rainbow bridge, 22, 90, 96, 102, 136, 329, 376.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2205
31. Then seventh I rede thee, | if battle thou seekest
With a foe that is full of might;
It is better to fight | than to burn alive
In the hall of the hero rich.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1786
Sijmons maintains that sections I and II are fragments of the Kara lay
mentioned by the annotator in his concluding prose note, and that
sections IV, VI, and VIII are from a lost Helgi-Sigrun poem, while
Section III comes, of course, from the “old Volsung lay.” This seems as
good a guess as any other, conclusive proof being quite out of the
question.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3405
Hund′-ing, enemy of Sigmund, 269, 270, 273, 294, 295, 307, 309–311,
313, 315, 316, 326, 335, 336, 342, 343, 357, 358, 365, 368, 369.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2778
41. The text of the whole stanza has required a considerable amount of
emendation. Lines 3–5 may have been expanded out of two lines, or line
5 may be an interpolation, possibly from stanza 12 of the
Guthrunarhvot. Weapons: the word literally means “good-weaving,” and
may refer to silken garments, but this hardly fits the noun here
rendered “clashing.” Wept not: cf. stanza 31 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1212
38. His spear he shook, | his shield he brandished,
His horse he spurred, | with his sword he hewed;
Wars he raised, | and reddened the field,
Warriors slew he, | and land he won.
The Poetic Edda, passage 91
35. One did I see | in the wet woods bound,
A lover of ill, | and to Loki like;
By his side does Sigyn | sit, nor is glad
To see her mate: | would you know yet more?
The Poetic Edda, passage 3639
Vār′-kald, father of Vindkald, 240.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2296
Guthrun sat by the dead Sigurth; she did not weep as other women, but
her heart was near to bursting with grief. The men and women came to
her to console her, but that was not easy to do. It is told of men that
Guthrun had eaten of Fafnir’s heart, and that she understood the speech
of birds. This is a poem about Guthrun.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3544
Sig′-rūn, wife of Helgi, 14, 269, 270, 289, 296, 299, 300, 306, 307,
309–316, 318–320, 323, 325–330, 339, 345.
The Poetic Edda, passage 138
19. Yggdrasil: cf. stanza 2 and note, and Grimnismol, 29–35 and notes.
Urth (“The Past”): one of the three great Norns. The world-ash is kept
green by being sprinkled with the marvelous healing water from her
well.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3644
Vestr′-sal-ir, Rind’s home, 198.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3353
Hjor′-varth, father of Helgi, 269–274, 276–278, 284, 287, 289, 331.
The Poetic Edda, passage 629
48. Sithhott: “With Broad Hat.” Sithskegg: “Long-Bearded.” Sigfather:
“Father of Victory.” Hnikuth: “Overthrower.” Valfather: “Father of the
Slain.” Atrith: “The Rider.” Farmatyr: “Helper of Cargoes” (i.e., god
of sailors).
The Poetic Edda, passage 3056
25. Then did Hamther speak forth, | the haughty of heart:
“Thou soughtest, Jormunrek, | us to see,
Sons of one mother | seeking thy dwelling;
Thou seest thy hands, | thy feet thou beholdest,
Jormunrek, flung | in the fire so hot.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1614
31. “Welcome, Hethin! | what hast thou to tell
Of tidings new | that from Norway come?
Wherefore didst leave | thy land, O prince,
And fared alone | to find us here?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 333
139. I ween that I hung | on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine;
With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was
To Othin, myself to myself,
On the tree that none | may ever know
What root beneath it runs.
The Poetic Edda, passage 880
24. Hill of the hair: head,—a thoroughly characteristic skaldic phrase.
Brother of Fenrir: Mithgarthsorm was, like the wolf Fenrir and the
goddess Hel, born to Loki and the giantess Angrbotha (cf. Voluspo, 39
and note), and I have translated this line accordingly; but the word
used in the text has been guessed as meaning almost anything from
“comrade” to “enemy.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1520
43. “True is it, Nithuth, | that which was told thee,
Once in the isle | with Völund was I,
An hour of lust, | alas it should be!
Nought was my might | with such a man,
Nor from his strength | could I save myself.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2797
10. Full soon then his bed | came Hogni to seek,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The clear-souled one dreamed, | and her dream she kept not,
To the warrior the wise one | spake when she wakened:
The Poetic Edda, passage 2938
51. Five brothers: the Volsungasaga speaks of four (not five) sons of
Buthli, but names only Atli. Regarding the death of the first two
brothers cf. stanza 91 and note. The manuscript marks line 3 as
beginning a stanza, and many editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 52.
Some insert lines 2–3 of stanza 52 ahead of lines 3–4 of stanza 51.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1602
21. “A stallion I seem | if thou seekest to try me,
And I leap to land from the sea;
I shall smite thee to bits, | if so I will,
And heavy sinks Hrimgerth’s tail.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1597
16. “Corpse-hungry giantess, | how art thou called?
Say, witch, who thy father was!
Nine miles deeper | down mayst thou sink,
And a tree grow tall on thy bosom.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 433
3. “Much have I fared, | much have I found,
Much have I got from the gods;
And fain would I know | how Vafthruthnir now
Lives in his lofty hall.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 224
30. In mockery no one | a man shall hold,
Although he fare to the feast;
Wise seems one oft, | if nought he is asked,
And safely he sits dry-skinned.
The Poetic Edda, passage 800
29. The river: probably Ifing, which flows between the land of the gods
and that of the giants; cf. Vafthruthnismol, 16. Sons of Svarang:
presumably the giants; Svarang is not elsewhere mentioned in the poems,
nor is there any other account of Thor’s defense of the passage.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1435
65. “Long have I sat | on Lyfjaberg here,
Awaiting thee day by day;
And now I have | what I ever hoped,
For here thou art come to my hall.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1162
9. Concerning the blind Hoth, who, at Loki’s instigation, cast the
fatal mistletoe at Baldr, cf. Voluspo, 32–33 and notes. In the
manuscript the last line is abbreviated, as also in stanza 11.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2619
In the manuscript the poem, or rather the brief introductory prose
note, bears the heading “Of Borgny and Oddrun,” but nearly all
editions, following late paper manuscripts, have given the poem the
title it bears here. Outside of a few apparently defective stanzas, and
some confusing transpositions, the poem has clearly been preserved in
good condition, and the beginning and end are definitely marked.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2620
Heithrek was the name of a king, whose daughter was called Borgny.
Vilmund was the name of the man who was her lover. She could not give
birth to a child until Oddrun, Atli’s sister, had come to her; Oddrun
had been beloved of Gunnar, son of Gjuki. About this story is the
following poem.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2358
11. “Back shall I fare | where first I dwelt,
Among the kin | that come of my race,
To wait there, sleeping | my life away,
If Sigurth’s death | thou shalt not dare,
(And best of heroes | thou shalt not be.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 369
37. Lines 1 and 2 are abbreviated in the manuscript, but are doubtless
identical with the first two lines of stanza 36.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1196
22. He began to grow, | and to gain in strength,
Oxen he ruled, | and plows made ready,
Houses he built, | and barns he fashioned,
Carts he made, | and the plow he managed.
The Poetic Edda, passage 243
49. My garments once | in a field I gave
To a pair of carven poles;
Heroes they seemed | when clothes they had,
But the naked man is nought.
The Poetic Edda, passage 653
14. “What noise is that | which now so loud
I hear within our house?
The ground shakes, | and the home of Gymir
Around me trembles too.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3592
Svāv′-a-land, Svafnir’s country, 273, 275, 276, 278.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1757
34. Sinfjotli: cf. note on stanza 6. Red: raising a red shield was the
signal for war.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2433
18. We four: if line 1 of stanza 19 is spurious, or the reference
therein to “five” is a blunder, as may well be the case, then the
“four” are Sigurth and the three brothers, Gunnar, Hogni, and Gotthorm.
But it may be that the poet had in mind a tradition which, as in the
Thithrekssaga, gave Gjuki a fourth son, in which case the “four” refers
only to the four Gjukungs. Hunnish hero: Sigurth; cf. stanza 4 and
note. Some editions put line 4 between lines 1 and 2. Some add lines
1–2 of stanza 19 to stanza 18, marking them as spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2400
53. “Thou shalt Guthrun requite | more quick than thou
thinkest,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
Though sadly mourns | the maiden wise
Who dwells with the king, | o’er her husband dead.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3633
Vāl′-i, son of Loki, 16, 167, 172, 173.
The Poetic Edda, passage 378
70. The manuscript has “and a worthy life” in place of “than to lie a
corpse” in line 1, but Rask suggested the emendation as early as 1818,
and most editors have followed him.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1071
22. Njorth: cf. Voluspo, 21, and Grimnismol, 11 and 16. Noatun
(“Ships’-Haven”): Njorth’s home, where his wife, Skathi, found it
impossible to stay; cf. Grimnismol, 11 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3472
Myrk′-wood, a forest in Atli’s land, 476, 483, 484, 487, 498.
The Poetic Edda, passage 603
21. Thund (“The Swollen” or “The Roaring”): the river surrounding
Valhall. Thjothvitnir’s fish: presumably the sun, which was caught by
the wolf Skoll (cf. Voluspo, 40), Thjothvitnir meaning “the mighty
wolf.” Such a phrase, characteristic of all Skaldic poetry, is rather
rare in the Edda. The last two lines refer to the attack on Valhall by
the people of Hel; cf. Voluspo, 51.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2942
56. The text of the first half of line 3 is somewhat uncertain, but the
general meaning of it is clear enough.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2829
41. “Little it matters | if long ye have planned it;
For unarmed do ye wait, | and one have we felled,
We smote him to hell, | of your host was he once.”