The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 8 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 2271
15. Silent were all | who heard her speak,
And nought of the heart | of the queen they knew,
Who wept such tears | the thing to tell
That laughing once | of the men she had won.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3485
Nīth′-uth, king of the Njars, 253–255, 257–268.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1652
28. Again something is clearly wrong, and the last three lines look
like interpolations, though some editors have tried to reconstruct two
full stanzas. The passage suggests the identification of the Valkyries
with the clouds.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2432
16. Cf. note on stanza 14. After thus adding lines 4–5 of stanza 14 at
the beginning of stanza 16, Gering marks line 4 as probably spurious;
others reject both lines 3 and 4 as mere repetitions. Rhine: the Rhine,
the sands of which traditionally contained gold, was apparently the
original home of the treasure of the Nibelungs, converted in the North
to Andvari’s treasure (cf. Reginsmol, 1–9). That greed for Sigurth’s
wealth was one of the motives for his slaying is indicated likewise in
Guthrunarkvitha I, 20, and in the German versions of the story.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3389
Hrauth′-ung, father of Geirröth, 85.
The Poetic Edda, passage 422
158. Lines 4–5 are probably expanded from a single line.
The Poetic Edda, passage 357
163. A seventeenth I know, | so that seldom shall go
A maiden young from me;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 1678
10. Short time for war | the chieftain waited,
When fifteen winters | old he was;
Hunding he slew, | the hardy wight
Who long had ruled | o’er lands and men.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2919
31. Bera: Kostbera; the first element in compound feminine proper names
was not infrequently omitted; cf. Hild for Brynhild (Helreith
Brynhildar, 6). The manuscript indicates no gap; Grundtvig inserts
(line 2): “And clear was her cry | to her kinsmen dear.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3363
Hlōr′-rith-i, Thor, 135, 140, 143, 147, 149, 169, 176, 178, 182.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1097
16. “Men call it ‘Sun,’ | gods ‘Orb of the Sun,’
‘The Deceiver of Dvalin’ the dwarfs;
The giants ‘The Ever-Bright,’ | elves ‘Fair Wheel,’
‘All-Glowing’ the sons of the gods.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2153
37. Here, as in stanza 34, some editions turn the speech from the third
person into the second.
The Poetic Edda, passage 988
27. On the death of Baldr, slain through Loki’s cunning by the blind
Hoth, cf. Voluspo, 32 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3164
Bol′-verk, Othin, 50, 52, 103.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1931
8. “Monarch wise, | now more I ask;
To Sigurth say, | if thou thinkest to see,
What first will chance | of my fortune fair,
When hence I go | from out thy home?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 703
29. Three nouns of doubtful meaning, which I have rendered rage,
longing, and heart respectively, make the precise force of this stanza
obscure. Niedner and Sijmons mark the entire stanza as interpolated,
and Jonsson rejects line 5.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3032
1. Great the evils | once that grew,
With the dawning sad | of the sorrow of elves;
In early morn | awake for men
The evils that grief | to each shall bring.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3462
Mjoth′-vit-nir, a dwarf, 6, 7.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3622
Urth, a Norn, 9, 52, 96, 236, 250, 251.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2385
38. “Oft in my mind | I pondered much
If still I should fight, | and warriors fell,
Brave in my byrnie, | my brother defying;
That would wide | in the world be known,
And sorrow for many | a man would make.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1447
24. Svafrthorin: who he was, or what his name means, or who his son
was, are all unknown.
The Poetic Edda, passage 465
35. “Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made
Was the birth of Bergelmir;
This first knew I well, | when the giant wise
In a boat of old was borne.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1458
48. Lyr (“Heat-Holding”): just what the spear-point reference means is
not altogether clear. Presumably it refers to the way in which the
glowing brightness of the lofty hall makes it seem to quiver and turn
in the air, but the tradition, never baffled by physical laws, may have
actually balanced the whole building on a single point to add to the
difficulties of entrance.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3376
Hog′-ni, son of Gjuki, 226, 343, 350, 354, 361, 404–406, 421, 425–427,
429, 431, 434, 447–449, 453, 456, 457, 459–461, 467, 469, 472, 476,
477, 482, 484–487, 490–93, 498–500, 502–506, 509, 511, 512, 514, 515,
517–521, 523, 529–533, 539, 541, 543, 546–548.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1867
6. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers. Hamal: Helgi’s
assumption of this name seems to link this section (stanzas 5–12) with
stanza 1. Hlesey (“Island of Hler”—i.e., Ægir, the sea-god): generally
identified as the Danish island of Läsö; cf. Harbarthsljoth, 37 and
note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 375
62. This stanza follows stanza 63 in the manuscript, but there are
marks therein indicating the transposition.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1428
58. “No man there is | who in Mengloth’s arms
So fair may seek to sleep,
Save Svipdag alone, | for the sun-bright maid
Is destined his bride to be.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2571
16. Some editions combine lines 3–4 with stanza 17. Sigmund: Sigurth’s
father, who here appears as a sea-rover in Guthrun’s tapestry. Sigar:
named in Fornaldar sögur II, 10, as the father of Siggeir, the latter
being the husband of Sigmund’s twin sister, Signy (cf. Fra Dautha
Sinfjotla). Fjon: this name, referring to the Danish island of Fünen,
is taken from the Volsungasaga paraphrase as better fitting the Danish
setting of the stanza than the name in Regius, which is “Fife”
(Scotland).
The Poetic Edda, passage 692
13. This stanza is almost exactly like many in the first part of the
Hovamol, and may well have been a separate proverb. After this stanza
the scene shifts to the interior of the house.
The Poetic Edda, passage 512
45. Snorri quotes this stanza. Hoddmimir’s wood: probably this is the
ash-tree Yggdrasil, which is sometimes referred to as “Mimir’s Tree,”
because Mimir waters it from his well; cf. Voluspo, 27 and note, and
Svipdagsmol, 30 and note. Hoddmimir is presumably another name for
Mimir. Lif (“Life”) and Lifthrasir (“Sturdy of Life”?): nothing further
is known of this pair, from whom the new race of men is to spring.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2055
9. The manuscript includes “said Hreithmar” (abbreviated) in the middle
of line 1, and some editors have followed this.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1439
6. For this catalogue of charms (stanzas 6–14) cf. the Ljothatal
(Hovamol, 147–165). Rani and Rind: the manuscripts have these words in
inverse relation; I have followed Neckel’s emendation. Rind was the
giantess who became the mother of Vali, Othin’s son, the one-night-old
avenger of Baldr (cf. Voluspo, 33–34, and Baldrs Draumar, 11 and note).
Rani is presumably Othin, who, according to a skaldic poem, won Rind by
magic.
The Poetic Edda, passage 298
104. I found the old giant, | now back have I fared,
Small gain from silence I got;
Full many a word, | my will to get,
I spoke in Suttung’s hall.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2145
25. Gram: Sigurth’s sword; cf. Reginsmol, prose after 14.
The Poetic Edda, passage 671
32. “I go to the wood, | and to the wet forest,
To win a magic wand;
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
I won a magic wand.
The Poetic Edda, passage 987
26. Fjorgyn: Othin; cf. Voluspo, 56 and note. Vili and Ve: Othin’s
brothers, who appear merely as, with Othin, the sons of Bur and Bestla;
cf. Voluspo, 4. The Ynglingasaga says that, during one of Othin’s
protracted absences, his two brothers took Frigg as their mistress.
Vithrir: another name for Othin.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3294
Guth′-rūn, wife of Sigurth, 226, 339, 343, 344, 349, 352–354, 383, 388,
403–407, 410–417, 419, 421–424, 428, 429, 433, 436–439, 442, 446–451,
453, 455–457, 459–466, 468, 470, 477, 480, 482, 485, 493–501, 513, 515,
516, 518, 519, 522–544, 546–550, 552.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3028
21. Perhaps something has been lost between stanzas 20 and 21, or
possibly stanza 21, while belonging originally to the same poem as
stanzas 19 and 20, did not directly follow them. Sore-pressed: a guess;
a word seems to have been omitted in the original.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1586
8. “Swords I know lying | in Sigarsholm,
Fifty there are | save only four;
One there is | that is best of all,
The shield-destroyer, | with gold it shines.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1230
6. The manuscript does not indicate that these lines form a separate
stanza, and as only one line and a fragment of another are left of
stanza 7, the editions have grouped the lines in all sorts of ways,
with, of course, various conjectures as to where lines may have been
lost.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2441
26. My son: Sigmund; cf. stanza 12 and note, and also Brot, 9 and note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2464
54. Probably a line has been lost from this stanza. Grundtvig adds as a
new first line: “Her shalt thou find | in the hall of Half.” Some
editions query line 3 as possibly spurious. Svanhild: the figure of
Svanhild is exceedingly old. The name means “Swan-Maiden-Warrior,”
applying to just such mixtures of swan-maiden and Valkyrie as appear in
the Völundarkvitha. Originally part of a separate tradition, Svanhild
appears first to have been incorporated in the Jormunrek (Ermanarich)
story as the unhappy wife of that monarch, and much later to have been
identified as the daughter of Sigurth and Guthrun, thus linking the two
sets of legends.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1075
29. Luckless: so the manuscript, but many editors have altered the word
“arma” to “aldna,” meaning “old,” to correspond with line 1 of stanza
32. Line 5 may well be spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2863
74. Then the grim one slew both | of the brothers young,
Full hard was her deed | when their heads she smote off;
Fain was Atli to know | whither now they were gone,
The boys from their sport, | for nowhere he spied them.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2899
9. The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as the beginning of a
stanza; cf. note on stanza 8.
The Poetic Edda, passage 560
32. Ratatosk is the squirrel | who there shall run
On the ash-tree Yggdrasil;
From above the words | of the eagle he bears,
And tells them to Nithhogg beneath.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3632
Vāl′-i, a god, 15, 82, 198, 227, 228, 236.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3368
Hnifl′-ung, son of Hogni, 498, 515, 529.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1040
19. Keys around him | let they rattle,
And down to his knees | hung woman’s dress;
With gems full broad | upon his breast,
And a pretty cap | to crown his head.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1344
26. Volsung: Sigurth’s grandfather and Othin’s great-grandson. Hjordis:
daughter of King Eylimi, wife of Sigmund and mother of Sigurth.
Othlings: cf. stanza 11.