The Poetic Edda
Henry Adams Bellows (translator)
3,671 passages indexed from The Poetic Edda (Henry Adams Bellows (translator)) — Page 13 of 74
License: Public Domain
The Poetic Edda, passage 1845
The maiden went home and said to Sigrun:
The Poetic Edda, passage 2440
25. Müllenhoff thinks this stanza, or at any rate lines 1–2, a later
addition based on stanza 29.
The Poetic Edda, passage 860
40. The mighty one came | to the council of gods,
And the kettle he had | that Hymir’s was;
So gladly their ale | the gods could drink
In Ægir’s hall | at the autumn-time.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2888
97. “A ship will I buy, | and a bright-hued coffin,
I will wax well the shroud | to wind round thy body,
For all will I care | as if dear were we ever.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1833
31. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
“The sword shall bite not | which thou bearest,
Till thy head itself | it sings about.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2191
17. On glass and on gold, | and on goodly charms,
In wine and in beer, | and on well-loved seats,
On Gungnir’s point, | and on Grani’s breast,
On the nails of Norns, | and the night-owl’s beak.
The Poetic Edda, passage 581
53. Thy sword-pierced body | shall Ygg have soon,
For thy life is ended at last;
The maids are hostile; | now Othin behold!
Now come to me if thou canst!
The Poetic Edda, passage 3015
4. Hamther: some editions spell the name “Hamthir.” Sigurth, etc.: cf.
Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 21–24, and Brot, concluding prose. This
stanza has been subjected to many conjectural rearrangements, some
editors adding two or three lines from the Hamthesmol.
The Poetic Edda, passage 367
27. The last two lines were probably added as a commentary on lines 3
and 4.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2858
70. Full heedless the warrior | was that he trusted her,
So clear was her guile | if on guard he had been;
But crafty was Guthrun, | with cunning she spake,
Her glance she made pleasant, | with two shields she played.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1743
19. Granmar: the annotator gives an account of him and his family in
the prose following stanza 12 of Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2982
98. Heirs, etc.: merely a stock phrase, here quite meaningless, as
Atli’s heirs had all been killed. Long: cf. Guthrunarhvot, introductory
prose.
The Poetic Edda, passage 846
26. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
Joyless as back | they rowed was the giant;
Speechless did Hymir | sit at the oars,
With the rudder he sought | a second wind.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1937
14. “To the warrior now | in words so wise,
Monarch noble, | more shalt tell;
I am Gjuki’s guest, | and thence I go:
What the life | that I shall lead?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 220
26. An ignorant man | thinks that all he knows,
When he sits by himself in a corner;
But never what answer | to make he knows,
When others with questions come.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2966
81. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. Lines 1–2 may be the
remains of a separate stanza; Grundtvig adds: “Thou wast foolish, Atli,
| when wise thou didst feel, / Ever the whole | of thy race did I
hate.” The Volsungasaga paraphrase, however, indicates no gap. Many
editions make a separate stanza of lines 3–6, which, in the
Volsungasaga, are paraphrased as a speech of Atli’s. Lines 5–6 may be
spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 621
39. Skoll and Hati: the wolves that devour respectively the sun and
moon. The latter is the son of Hrothvitnir (“The Mighty Wolf,” i.e.
Fenrir); cf. Voluspo, 40, and Vafthruthnismol, 46–47, in which Fenrir
appears as the thief. Ironwood: a conjectural emendation of an obscure
phrase; cf. Voluspo, 40.
The Poetic Edda, passage 842
22. Two whales on his hook | did the mighty Hymir
Soon pull up | on a single cast;
In the stern the kinsman | of Othin sat,
And Veur with cunning | his cast prepared.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1899
45. Both lines 3–4 and lines 5–6 have been suspected by editors of
being interpolated, and the loss of two lines has also been suggested.
Brides: the plural here is perplexing. Gering insists that only Sigrun
is meant, and translates the word as singular, but both “brides” and
“loves” are uncompromisingly plural in the text. Were the men of
Helgi’s ghostly following likewise visited by their wives? The
annotator may have thought so, for in the prose he mentions the “women”
returning to the house, although, of course, this may refer simply to
Sigrun and the maid.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3020
11. Line 1 in the original is of uncertain meaning. Many editors assume
the loss of a line after line 1, and some completely reconstruct line 1
on the basis of a hypothetical second line. Princes: Gunnar and Hogni.
The Poetic Edda, passage 308
114. Such is her might | that thou hast no mind
For the council or meeting of men;
Meat thou hatest, | joy thou hast not,
And sadly to slumber thou farest.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3589
Svath″-il-far′-i, a stallion, 102, 159, 160, 196, 230.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2240
34. Probably an interpolation.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2063
16. Rævil’s steeds (Rævil was a sea-king, possibly the grandson of
Ragnar Lothbrok mentioned in the Hervararsaga), sail-horses and
sea-steeds all mean “ships.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1869
8. The manuscript indicates line 5 as the beginning of a new stanza;
some editors reject lines 1–2, while others make lines 5–6 into a
fragmentary stanza. Ylfings: cf. introductory prose and note. Bragalund
(“Bragi’s Wood”): a mythical place. Bears: presumably Berserkers,
regarding whom cf. Hyndluljoth, 23.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1227
3. A line may have been lost from this stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1928
6. Then of many | things they talked,
When thus the men | so wise had met.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3548
Sig′-yn, wife of Loki, 16, 167, 172, 173.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2124
41. “Green the paths | that to Gjuki lead,
And his fate the way | to the wanderer shows;
The doughty king | a daughter has,
That thou as a bride | mayst, Sigurth, buy.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1300
31. The father of Baldr | was the heir of Bur,
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 1971
48. “What sayst thou, Gripir? | give me the truth!
Am I guilty so | as now is said,
Or lies does the far-famed | queen put forth
Of me and herself? | Yet further speak.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1209
35. To grow in the house | did Jarl begin,
Shields he brandished, | and bow-strings wound,
Bows he shot, | and shafts he fashioned,
Arrows he loosened, | and lances wielded,
Horses he rode, | and hounds unleashed,
Swords he handled, | and sounds he swam.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1788
King Sigmund, the son of Volsung, had as wife Borghild, from Bralund.
They named their son Helgi, after Helgi Hjorvarthsson; Hagal was
Helgi’s foster-father. Hunding was the name of a powerful king, and
Hundland is named from him. He was a mighty warrior, and had many sons
with him on his campaigns. There was enmity and strife between these
two, King Hunding and King Sigmund, and each slew the other’s kinsmen.
King Sigmund and his family were called Volsungs and Ylfings.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2573
18. The manuscript marks line 3 as the beginning of a stanza. Grimhild
is eager to have amends made to Guthrun for the slaying of Sigurth and
their son, Sigmund, because Atli has threatened war if he cannot have
Guthrun for his wife.
The Poetic Edda, passage 611
29. This stanza looks as though it originally had had nothing to do
with the two preceding it. Snorri quotes it in his description of the
three roots of Yggdrasil, and the three springs beneath them. “The
third root of the ash stands in heaven and beneath this root is a
spring which is very holy, and is called Urth’s well.” (Cf. Voluspo,
19) “There the gods have their judgment-seat, and thither they ride
each day over Bifrost, which is also called the Gods’ Bridge.” Thor has
to go on foot in the last days of the destruction, when the bridge is
burning. Another interpretation, however, is that when Thor leaves the
heavens (i.e., when a thunder-storm is over) the rainbow-bridge becomes
hot in the sun. Nothing more is known of the rivers named in this
stanza. Lines 3–4 are almost certainly interpolated from stanza 30.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3006
18. “And keenest of all | when they cut the heart
From the living breast | of the king so brave;
Many woes I remember, | . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 2949
64. Wise one: Guthrun. The manuscript marks line 3 as beginning a new
stanza.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2035
19. “Hnikar, say, | for thou seest the fate
That to gods and men is given;
What sign is fairest | for him who fights,
And best for the swinging of swords?”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2561
45. “On my bed I sank, | nor slumber sought,
Weary with woe,— | full well I remember.”
. . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .
The Poetic Edda, passage 3563
Skrȳm′-ir, a giant, 122, 130, 170, 171.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1342
24. The manuscript omits the first half of line 1, here supplied from
the Orvar-Oddssaga. Bolm: probably the island of Bolmsö, in the Swedish
province of Småland. In the manuscript and in most editions stanza 24
is followed by lines 3–4 of stanza 22. Some editors reject line 5 as
spurious.
The Poetic Edda, passage 217
23. The witless man | is awake all night,
Thinking of many things;
Care-worn he is | when the morning comes,
And his woe is just as it was.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3637
Var′-in, a Norwegian king (?), 281, 302.
The Poetic Edda, passage 3345
Hind′-ar-fjoll, Brynhild’s mountain, 383, 384, 388, 445.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1593
12. “Who are the heroes | in Hatafjord?
The ships are covered with shields;
Bravely ye look, | and little ye fear,
The name of the king would I know.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 1551
31. Something has probably been lost before this stanza, explaining how
Völund made himself wings, as otherwise, owing to his lameness, he
could not leave the island. The Thithrekssaga tells the story of how
Völund’s brother, Egil, shot birds and gave him the feathers, out of
which he made a feather-garment. This break in the narrative
illustrates the lack of knowledge apparently possessed by the compiler
who was responsible for the prose notes; had he known the story told in
the Thithrekssaga, it is hardly conceivable that he would have failed
to indicate the necessary connecting link at this point. Some editors
reject line 3 as spurious. The manuscript does not indicate any lacuna.
The Poetic Edda, passage 2425
9. Line 1 does not appear in the manuscript, and is based on a
conjecture by Bugge. Some editions add line 2 to stanza 8. The
manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza, and some
editors assume a gap of two lines after line 4. Hunnish king: cf.
stanza 4.
The Poetic Edda, passage 1809
16. “Fear not ever | Hogni’s anger,
Nor yet thy kinsmen’s | cruel wrath;
Maiden, thou | with me shalt live,
Thy kindred, fair one, | I shall not fear.”
The Poetic Edda, passage 2574
19. Lines 5–6 are almost certainly interpolations, made by a scribe
with a very vague understanding of the meaning of the stanza, which
refers simply to the journey of the Gjukungs to bring their sister home
from Denmark.
The Poetic Edda, passage 332
138. Now are Hor’s words | spoken in the hall,
Kind for the kindred of men,
Cursed for the kindred of giants:
Hail to the speaker, | and to him who learns!
Profit be his who has them!
Hail to them who hearken