The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 73 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 757
37. “In Hlesey the brides | of the Berserkers slew I;
Most evil they were, | and all they betrayed.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 709
35. Most editors combine lines 1–2 with stanza 36 (either with the
first two lines thereof or the whole stanza), as lines 3–5 stand in the
manuscript after line 2 of stanza 30. Hrimgrimnir (“The
Frost-Shrouded”): a giant not elsewhere mentioned. Line 5, as a
repetition of line 4, is probably a later addition.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2248
Then follows the episode of the winning of Brynhild for Gunnar (cf.
Gripisspo, 37 and note). This was certainly the subject of a poem,
possibly of the first part of the “Long” Lay of Sigurth, although it
seems more likely that the episode was dealt with in a separate poem.
The Volsungasaga quotes two stanzas describing Sigurth’s triumphant
passing through the flames after Gunnar has failed and the two have
changed forms. They run thus:
The Poetic Edda, passage 2414
67. “Let between us | lie once more
The steel so keen, | as so it lay
When both within | one bed we were,
And wedded mates | by men were called.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2179
5. “Beer I bring thee, | tree of battle,
Mingled of strength | and mighty fame;
Charms it holds | and healing signs,
Spells full good, | and gladness-runes.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 617
35. Snorri quotes this stanza, which concludes the passage, beginning
with stanza 25, describing Yggdrasil. If we assume that stanzas 27–34
are later interpolations—possibly excepting 32—this section of the poem
reads clearly enough.
The Poetic Edda, passage 344
150. A fourth I know, | if men shall fasten
Bonds on my bended legs;
So great is the charm | that forth I may go,
The fetters spring from my feet,
Broken the bonds from my hands.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3377
Hǭk′-on, father of Thora, 419, 454, 455.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1588
Eylimi was the name of a king, whose daughter was Svava; she was a
Valkyrie, and rode air and sea. She gave Helgi this name, and shielded
him oft thereafter in battle. Helgi spake:
The Poetic Edda, passage 1095
14. “‘Moon’ with men, ‘Flame’ | the gods among,
‘The Wheel’ in the house of hell;
‘The Goer’ the giants, | ‘The Gleamer’ the dwarfs,
The elves ‘The Teller of Time.’”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2602
3. “This shall I | with oaths now swear,
Swear by the sacred | stone so white,
That nought was there | with Thjothmar’s son
That man or woman | may not know.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2912
23. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2. Possibly the
concluding phrase of line 2 should be “bloody spears,” as in the
Volsungasaga paraphrase.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1843
39. “Is this a dream | that methinks I see,
Or the doom of the gods, | that dead men ride,
And hither spurring | urge your steeds,
Or is home-coming now | to the heroes granted?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2187
13. Them Hropt arranged, | and them he wrote,
And them in thought he made,
Out of the draught | that down had dropped
From the head of Heithdraupnir,
And the horn of Hoddrofnir.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3054
23. “Happy, methinks, | were I to behold
Hamther and Sorli | here in my hall;
The men would I bind | with strings of bows,
And Gjuki’s heirs | on the gallows hang.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1469
Once let a figure become popular in oral tradition, and the number and
variety of the incidents connected with his name will increase very
rapidly. Doubtless there were scores of Weland stories current in the
eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, many of them with very little if
any traditional authority. The main one, however, the story of the
laming of the smith by King Nithuth (or by some other enemy) and of
Weland’s terrible revenge, forms the basis of the Völundarkvitha. To
this, by way of introduction, has been added the story of Völund and
the swan-maiden, who, to make things even more complex, is likewise
said to be a Valkyrie. Some critics maintain that these two sections
were originally two distinct poems, merely strung together by the
compiler with the help of narrative prose links; but the poem as a
whole has a kind of dramatic unity which suggests rather that an early
poet—for linguistically the poem belongs among the oldest of the Eddic
collection—used two distinct legends, whether in prose or verse, as the
basis for the composition of a new and homogeneous poem.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1153
12. “Wise-woman, cease not! | I seek from thee
All to know | that I fain would ask:
What maidens are they | who then shall weep,
And toss to the sky | the yards of the sails?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 684
Prose. Freyr: concerning his father, Njorth, and the race of the Wanes
in general, cf. Voluspo, 21 and note. Snorri thus describes Njorth’s
family: “Njorth begat two children in Noatun; the son was named Freyr,
and the daughter Freyja; they were fair of aspect and mighty. Freyr is
the noblest of the gods; he rules over rain and sunshine, and therewith
the fruitfulness of the earth; it is well to call upon him for plenty
and welfare, for he rules over wealth for mankind. Freyja is the
noblest of the goddesses. When she rides to the fight, she has one-half
of the slain, and Othin has half. When she goes on a journey, she
drives her two cats, and sits in a cart. Love-songs please her well,
and it is good to call on her in love-matters.” Hlithskjolf: Othin’s
watch-tower; cf. Grimnismol, introductory prose. He said: both
manuscripts have “Then Skathi said:” (Skathi was Njorth’s wife), but
Bugge’s emendation, based on Snorri’s version, is doubtless correct.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3412
Hynd″-lu-ljōth′, the Poem of Hyndla, 115, 132, 154, 167, 203, 217–233,
273, 292, 307, 314, 350, 427, 454, 457.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1980
4. Bugge thinks a stanza has been lost after stanza 4, in which Geitir
tells Gripir who Sigurth is.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3013
2. Idle: a guess; a word is obviously missing in the original. The
manuscript marks line 5 as beginning a new stanza, and lines 5–6 may
well have been inserted from another part of the “old” Hamthesmol (cf.
Hamthesmol, 3).
The Poetic Edda, passage 2456
45. Perhaps the remains of two stanzas; the manuscript marks line 4 as
the beginning of a new stanza, and after line 4 an added line has been
suggested: “She was ever known | for evil thoughts.” On the other
hand, line 1, identical with line 1 of stanza 17, may well be a mere
expansion of “Hogni spake,” and line 6 may have been introduced, with a
slight variation, from line 5 of stanza 38. Born again: this looks like
a trace of Christian influence (the poem was composed well after the
coming of Christianity to Iceland) in the assumption that if Brynhild
killed herself she could not be “born again” (cf. concluding prose to
Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II).
The Poetic Edda, passage 2764
27. Apparently the remains of two Fornyrthislag lines; the manuscript
combines them with lines 1–2 of stanza 28. Gunnar foretells Atli’s
speedy death.
The Poetic Edda, passage 647
9. “The horse will I give thee | that goes through the dark
And magic flickering flames,
And the sword as well | that will fight of itself
If a worthy hero wields it.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 442
12. “Skinfaxi is he, | the steed who for men
The glittering day doth draw;
The best of horses | to heroes he seems,
And brightly his mane doth burn.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1319
50. “Flames I see burning, | the earth is on fire,
And each for his life | the price must lose;
Bring then to Ottar | the draught of beer,
Of venom full | for an evil fate.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 493
17. Surt: the ruler of the fire-world (Muspellsheim), who comes to
attack the gods in the last battle; cf. Voluspo, 52.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1107
26. “‘Fire’ men call it, | and ‘Flame’ the gods,
By the Wanes is it ‘Wildfire’ called;
‘The Biter’ by giants, | ‘The Burner’ by dwarfs,
‘The Swift’ in the house of hell.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2161
THE BALLAD OF THE VICTORY-BRINGER
The Poetic Edda, passage 352
158. A twelfth I know, | if high on a tree
I see a hanged man swing;
So do I write | and color the runes
That forth he fares,
And to me talks.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2997
9. Weeping Guthrun, | Gjuki’s daughter,
Went sadly before | the gate to sit,
And with tear-stained cheeks | to tell the tale
Of her mighty griefs, | so many in kind.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1062
9. The manuscript marks line 2, instead of line 1, as the beginning of
a stanza, which has caused editors some confusion in grouping the lines
of stanzas 8 and 9.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1523
2. In the manuscript these two lines stand after stanza 16; editors
have tried to fit them into various places, but the prose indicates
that they belong here, with a gap assumed.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2729
37. The wine-heavy ale-cups | of Atli resounded,
When there in the hall | the Hunnish youths clamored,
And the warriors bearded, | the brave ones, entered.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3559
Skjöld″-ung-a-sag′-a, the Saga of the Skjoldungs, 216.
The Poetic Edda, passage 573
45. To the race of the gods | my face have I raised,
And the wished-for aid have I waked;
For to all the gods | has the message gone
That sit in Ægir’s seats,
That drink within Ægir’s doors.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2737
45. To the flames she gave all | who yet were within,
And from Myrkheim had come | from the murder of Gunnar;
The timbers old fell, | the temple was in flames,
The dwelling of the Buthlungs, | and the shield-maids burned,
They were slain in the house, | in the hot flames they sank.
The Poetic Edda, passage 674
35. “Hrimgrimnir is he, | the giant who shall have thee
In the depth by the doors of Hel;
To the frost-giants’ halls | each day shalt thou fare,
Crawling and craving in vain,
(Crawling and having no hope.)
The Poetic Edda, passage 482
52. “Much have I fared, | much have I found,
Much have I got of the gods:
What shall bring the doom | of death to Othin,
When the gods to destruction go?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2769
32. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Sigtyr
(“Victory-God”): Othin; what particular mountain (if any) is meant is
unknown. Horse of the rest-bed: probably this means “bedpost,” i.e.,
the support of the marriage-bed. Ull: the archer-god, cf. Grimnismol, 5
and note. Nothing is known of his ring.
The Poetic Edda, passage 269
75. A man knows not, | if nothing he knows,
That gold oft apes begets;
One man is wealthy | and one is poor,
Yet scorn for him none should know.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1079
Mogk is presumably right in dating the poem as late as the twelfth
century, assigning it to the period of “the Icelandic renaissance of
skaldic poetry.” It appears to have been the work of a man skilled in
poetic construction,—Thor’s questions, for instance, are neatly
balanced in pairs,—and fully familiar with the intricacies of skaldic
diction, but distinctly weak in his mythology. In other words, it is
learned rather than spontaneous poetry. Finnur Jonsson’s attempt to
make it a tenth century Norwegian poem baffles logic. Vigfusson is
pretty sure the poem shows marked traces of Celtic influence, which is
by no means incompatible with Mogk’s theory (cf. introductory note to
the Rigsthula).
The Poetic Edda, passage 545
17. Filled with growing trees | and high-standing grass
Is Vithi, Vithar’s land;
But there did the son | from his steed leap down,
When his father he fain would avenge.
The Poetic Edda, passage 915
15. “In thy seat art thou bold, | not so are thy deeds,
Bragi, adorner of benches!
Go out and fight | if angered thou feelest,
No hero such forethought has.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3511
Rand′-vēr, son of Jormunrek, 439, 538, 551.
The Poetic Edda, passage 536
8. The fifth is Glathsheim, | and gold-bright there
Stands Valhall stretching wide;
And there does Othin | each day choose
The men who have fallen in fight.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2936
49. Line 2 is probably an interpolation, and the original apparently
lacks a word. There is some obscurity as to the exact meaning of lines
4–5. The two sons of Bera: Snævar and Solar; her brother is Orkning;
cf. stanza 28.
The Poetic Edda, passage 787
9. In danger: Thor is “sekr,” i.e., without the protection of any law,
so long as he is in the territory of his enemies, the giants. Meili: a
practically unknown son of Othin, mentioned here only in the Edda.
Magni: son of Thor and the giantess Jarnsaxa; after Thor’s fight with
Hrungnir (cf. stanza 14, note) Magni, though but three days old, was
the only one of the gods strong enough to lift the dead giant’s foot
from Thor’s neck. After rescuing his father, Magni said to him: “There
would have been little trouble, father, had I but come sooner; I think
I should have sent this giant to hell with my fist if I had met him
first.” Magni and his brother, Mothi, inherit Thor’s hammer.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1408
38. “Together they sleep not, | for so was it fixed
When the guard to them was given;
One sleeps by night, | the next by day,
So no man may enter ever.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1974
51. “Heavy it lies | on Guthrun’s heart,
When her brothers all | shall bring thee death;
Never again | shall she happiness know,
The woman so fair; | ’tis Grimhild’s work.”