The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 12 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1577
“I may if the prince | an offering makes,
And I have what I will | from the house of the king.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1959
36. “Evil waits me, | well I see it,
And gone is Sigurth’s | wisdom good,
If I shall woo | for another to win
The maiden fair | that so fondly I loved.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1903
Prose. The attitude of the annotator is clearly revealed by his
contempt for those who put any faith in such “old wives’ folly” as the
idea that men and women could be reborn. As in the case of Helgi
Hjorvarthsson, the theory of the hero’s rebirth seems to have developed
in order to unite around a single Helgi the various stories in which
the hero is slain. The Lay of Kara (Karuljoth) is lost, although, as
has been pointed out, parts of the Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II may be
remnants of it, but we find the main outlines of the story in the
Hromundar saga Greipssonar, whose compilers appear to have known the
Karuljoth. In the saga Helgi Haddingjaskati (Helgi the Haddings’-Hero)
is protected by the Valkyrie Kara, who flies over him in the form of a
swan (note once more the Valkyrie swan-maiden confusion); but in his
fight with Hromund he swings his sword so high that he accidentally
gives Kara a mortal wound, whereupon Hromund cuts off his head. As this
makes the third recorded death of Helgi (once at the hands of Alf, once
at those of Dag, and finally in the fight with Hromund), the phenomenon
of his rebirth is not surprising. The points of resemblance in all the
Helgi stories, including the one told in the lost Karuljoth, are
sufficiently striking so that it is impossible not to see in them a
common origin, and not to believe that Helgi the son of Hjorvarth,
Helgi the son of Sigmund and Helgi the Haddings’-Hero (not to mention
various other Helgis who probably figured in songs and stories now
lost) were all originally the same Helgi who appears in the early
traditions of Denmark.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3156
Bil′-ling, a giant (?), 28, 46, 48.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2560
44. “Men shall soon | of sacrifice speak,
And off the heads | of beasts shall hew;
Die they shall | ere day has dawned,
A few nights hence, | and the folk shall have them.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3131
Ar″-in-nef′-ja, daughter of Thræll, 207.
The Poetic Edda, passage 96
40. The giantess old | in Ironwood sat,
In the east, and bore | the brood of Fenrir;
Among these one | in monster’s guise
Was soon to steal | the sun from the sky.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1424
54. “Hlif is one named, | Hlifthrasa another,
Thjothvara call they the third;
Bjort and Bleik, | Blith and Frith,
Eir and Aurbotha.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 733
13. “Great trouble, methinks, | would it be to come to thee,
To wade the waters across, | and wet my middle;
Weakling, well shall I pay | thy mocking words,
If across the sound I come.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2944
58. Some editions mark line 5 as probably interpolated.
The Poetic Edda, passage 896
The prose notes are long and of unusual interest. The introductory one
links the poem closely to the Hymiskvitha, much as the Reginsmol,
Fafnismol and Sigrdrifumol are linked together; the others fill in the
narrative gaps in the dialogue—very like stage directions,—and provide
a conclusion by relating Loki’s punishment, which, presumably, is here
connected with the wrong incident. It is likely that often when the
poem was recited during the two centuries or so before it was committed
to writing, the speaker inserted some such explanatory comments, and
the compiler of the collection followed this example by adding such
explanations as he thought necessary. The Lokasenna is certainly much
older than the Hymiskvitha, the connection between them being purely
one of subject-matter; and the twelfth-century compiler evidently knew
a good deal less about mythology than the author whose work he was
annotating.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2223
13. Stanzas 13–14 appear to have come from a passage regarding Othin’s
getting of the runes similar to Hovamol, 139–146. Editors have tried
various combinations of the lines in stanzas 12–14. Hropt: Othin; cf.
Voluspo, 62. The draught, etc.: apparently the reference is to the head
of Mim, from which Othin derived his wisdom in magic (cf. Voluspo, 47
and note); Heithdraupnir (“Light-Dropper”) and Hoddrofnir
(“Treasure-Opener”) seem to be names for Mim.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2003
If the entire passage beginning with the prose Fra Dautha Sinfjotla,
and, except for the Gripisspo, including the Reginsmol, Fafnismol, and
Sigrdrifumol, be regarded as a highly uncritical piece of compilation,
rendered consecutive by the compiler’s prose narrative, its
difficulties are largely smoothed away; any other way of looking at it
results in utterly inconclusive attempts to reconstruct poems some of
which quite possibly never existed.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1954
31. “Ye twain shall all | the oaths then swear
That bind full fast; | few shall ye keep;
One night when Gjuki’s | guest thou hast been,
Will Heimir’s fosterling | fade from thy mind.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 3671
Ys′-ja, daughter of Thræll, 207.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3290
Gun′-nar, brother of Borghild (?), 334.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1513
36. “Seek the smithy | that thou didst set,
Thou shalt find the bellows | sprinkled with blood;
I smote off the heads | of both thy sons,
And their feet ’neath the sooty | straps I hid.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1473
There was a king in Sweden named Nithuth. He had two sons and one
daughter; her name was Bothvild. There were three brothers, sons of a
king of the Finns: one was called Slagfith, another Egil, the third
Völund. They went on snowshoes and hunted wild beasts. They came into
Ulfdalir and there they built themselves a house; there was a lake
there which is called Ulfsjar. Early one morning they found on the
shore of the lake three women, who were spinning flax. Near them were
their swan-garments, for they were Valkyries. Two of them were
daughters of King Hlothver, Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the
All-Wise, and the third was Olrun, daughter of Kjar from Valland. These
did they bring home to their hall with them. Egil took Olrun, and
Slagfith Swan-White, and Völund All-Wise. There they dwelt seven
winters; but then they flew away to find battles, and came back no
more. Then Egil set forth on his snowshoes to follow Olrun, and
Slagfith followed Swan-White, but Völund stayed in Ulfdalir. He was a
most skillful man, as men know from old tales. King Nithuth had him
taken by force, as the poem here tells.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3359
Hlēs′-ey, an island, 132, 139, 314, 478.
The Poetic Edda, passage 226
32. Friendly of mind | are many men,
Till feasting they mock at their friends;
To mankind a bane | must it ever be
When guests together strive.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3225
Fim′-a-feng, Ægir’s servant, 152, 153.
The Poetic Edda, passage 829
9. “Kinsman of giants, | beneath the kettle
Will I set ye both, | ye heroes bold;
For many a time | my dear-loved mate
To guests is wrathful | and grim of mind.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2921
33. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2; Grundtvig supplies:
“Then weeping did Glaumvor | go to her rest-bed, / And sadly did
Bera | her spinning wheel seek.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1183
9. He began to grow, | and to gain in strength,
Soon of his might | good use he made;
With bast he bound, | and burdens carried,
Home bore faggots | the whole day long.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3630
Val′-fath-er, Othin, 3, 12, 104.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1973
50. “Shall Gunnar the wise | to the woman’s words,
And Gotthorm and Hogni, | then give heed?
Shall Gjuki’s sons, | now tell me, Gripir,
Redden their blades | with their kinsman’s blood?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1056
2. Loki: cf. Lokasenna, passim.
The Poetic Edda, passage 992
33. Njorth: father of Freyr and Freyja, and given by the Wanes as a
hostage, in exchange for Hönir, at the close of the first war; cf.
Voluspo, 21 and note, also Skirnismol, introductory prose and note.
Babes: cf. stanza 23 and note. Bugge suggests that this clause may have
been a late insertion.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1861
1. Helgi appears to have stayed with Hunding under the name of Hamal,
but now, thinking himself safe, he sends word of who he really is.
Hunding: it has been suggested that the compiler may have inserted this
name to fit what he thought the story ought to be, in place of Hæming,
or even Hadding. If stanzas 1–4 are a fragment of the Karuljoth (Lay of
Kara), this latter suggestion is quite reasonable, for in that poem,
which we do not possess, but which supplied material for the compilers
of the Hromundar saga Greipssonar, Helgi appears as Helgi
Haddingjaskati (cf. final prose note). Nothing beyond this one name
connects stanzas 1–4 with Hunding.
The Poetic Edda, passage 5
LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Poetic Edda, passage 2576
21. Each: the reference is presumably to Gunnar and Hogni, and perhaps
also Grimhild. I suspect that this stanza belongs before stanza 20.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1984
13. Gjuki: the Norse form of the name Gibeche (“The Giver”). Gjuki is
the father of Gunnar, Hogni, and Guthrun, the family which reflects
most directly the Burgundian part of the tradition (cf. Introductory
Note). The statement that Sigurth is to go direct from the slaying of
Fafnir to Gjuki’s hall involves one of the confusions resulting from
the dual personality of Brynhild. In the older (and the original South
Germanic) story, Sigurth becomes a guest of the Gjukungs before he has
ever heard of Brynhild, and first sees her when, having changed forms
with Gunnar, he goes to woo her for the latter. In another version he
finds Brynhild before he visits the Gjukungs, only to forget her as the
result of the magic draught administered by Guthrun’s mother. Both
these versions are represented in the poems of which the author of the
Gripisspo made use, and he tried, rather clumsily, to combine them, by
having Sigurth go to Gjuki’s house, then find the unnamed Valkyrie, and
then return to Gjuki, the false wooing following this second visit.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1111
30. “‘Night’ men call it, | ‘Darkness’ gods name it,
‘The Hood’ the holy ones high;
The giants ‘The Lightless,’ | the elves ‘Sleep’s Joy,’
The dwarfs ‘The Weaver of Dreams.’”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1321
1. Freyja: The names of the speakers do not appear in the manuscripts.
On Freyja cf. Voluspo, 21 and note; Skirnismol, introductory prose and
note; Lokasenna, introductory prose and note. As stanzas 9–10 show,
Ottar has made a wager of his entire inheritance with Angantyr
regarding the relative loftiness of their ancestry, and by rich
offerings (Hyndla hints at less commendable methods) has induced Freyja
to assist him in establishing his genealogy. Freyja, having turned
Ottar for purposes of disguise into a boar, calls on the giantess
Hyndla (“She-Dog”) to aid her. Hyndla does not appear elsewhere in the
poems.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3393
Hring′-stath-ir, Ringsted, 293, 308.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3484
Nīth′-hogg, a dragon, 17, 26, 27, 97–99.
The Poetic Edda, passage 450
20. “First answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails,
And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:
In earliest time | whence came the earth,
Or the sky, thou giant sage?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 772
52. “I thought not ever | that Asathor would be hindered
By a ferryman thus from faring.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 69
13. Fili, Kili, | Fundin, Nali,
Heptifili, | Hannar, Sviur,
Frar, Hornbori, | Fræg and Loni,
Aurvang, Jari, | Eikinskjaldi.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1443
13. A dead Christian woman: this passage has distressed many editors,
who have sought to emend the text so as to make it mean simply “a dead
witch.” The fact seems to be, however, that this particular charm was
composed at a time when Christians were regarded by all conservative
pagans as emissaries of darkness. A dead woman’s curse would naturally
be more potent, whether she was Christian or otherwise, than a living
one’s. Presumably this charm is much older than the poem in which it
here stands.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2355
8. Oft did she go | with grieving heart
On the glacier’s ice | at even-tide,
When Guthrun then | to her bed was gone,
And the bedclothes Sigurth | about her laid.
The Poetic Edda, passage 53
At the beginning of the collection in the Codex Regius stands the
Voluspo, the most famous and important, as it is likewise the most
debated, of all the Eddic poems. Another version of it is found in a
huge miscellaneous compilation of about the year 1300, the Hauksbok,
and many stanzas are included in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson.
The order of the stanzas in the Hauksbok version differs materially
from that in the Codex Regius, and in the published editions many
experiments have been attempted in further rearrangements. On the
whole, however, and allowing for certain interpolations, the order of
the stanzas in the Codex Regius seems more logical than any of the
wholesale “improvements” which have been undertaken.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3388
Hrauth′-ung, ancestor of Hjordis, 226.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3634
Val′-land, Slaughter-Land, 129, 136, 254, 255, 443.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1004
47. Heimdall: besides being the watchman of the gods (cf. Voluspo, 27),
he appears also as the god of light (cf. Thrymskvitha, 14), and
possibly also as a complex cultural deity in the Rigsthula. He was a
son of Othin, born of nine sisters; cf. Hyndluljoth, 37–40. In the last
battle he and Loki slay one another. Line 2 is quoted by Snorri; cf.
stanza 29, note.
The Poetic Edda, passage 150
32. Baldr: The death of Baldr, the son of Othin and Frigg, was the
first of the great disasters to the gods. The story is fully told by
Snorri. Frigg had demanded of all created things, saving only the
mistletoe, which she thought too weak to be worth troubling about, an
oath that they would not harm Baldr. Thus it came to be a sport for the
gods to hurl weapons at Baldr, who, of course, was totally unharmed
thereby. Loki, the trouble-maker, brought the mistletoe to Baldr’s
blind brother, Hoth, and guided his hand in hurling the twig. Baldr was
slain, and grief came upon all the gods. Cf. Baldrs Draumar.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2876
86. “Ne’er her deed from thee hides | the daughter of Grimhild,
I own to the guilt | that is ending thy life,
And the son of Hogni; | ’tis so thy wounds bleed.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2261
5. Slain was Sigurth | south of the Rhine;
From a limb a raven | called full loud:
“Your blood shall redden | Atli’s blade,
And your oaths shall bind | you both in chains.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2294
In their present forms the second Guthrun lay is undoubtedly older than
the first; in the prose following the Brot the annotator refers to the
“old” Guthrun lay in terms which can apply only to the second one in
the collection. The shorter and “first” lay, therefore, can scarcely
have been composed much before the year 1000, and may be somewhat
later. The poet appears to have known and made use of the older lament;
stanza 17, for example, is a close parallel to stanza 2 of the earlier
poem; but whatever material he used he fitted into a definite poetic
scheme of his own. And while this particular poem is, as critics have
generally agreed, one of the latest of the collection, it probably
represents one of the earliest parts of the entire Sigurth cycle to
take on verse form.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2976
91. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. It marks both lines 4
and 5 as beginning new stanzas, but line 5 is presumably an
interpolation. The text of the second half of line 2 is obscure, and
many emendations have been suggested. Ye brothers: cf. note on stanza
90. Half: i.e., two of Atli’s brothers were killed, the other two dying
in the battle with Gunnar and Hogni; cf. stanza 51.