{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/pre/pre05.htm","path":"neu/pre/pre05.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre05.htm","text":"I. A certain man was named \u00c6gir, or Hl\u00e9r. He dwelt on the island which is now called Hl\u00e9r's Isle,[2] and was deeply versed in black magic. He took his way to \u00c1sgard, but the \u00c6sir had foreknowledge of his journey; he was received with good cheer, and yet many things were done by deceit, with eye-illusions. And at evening, when it was time for drinking, Odin had swords brought into the hall, so bright that light radiated from them: and other illumination was not used while they sat at drinking. The n the \u00c6sir came in to their banquet, and in the high-seats sat them down those twelve \u00c6sir who were appointed to be judges; these were their names: Thor, Nj\u00f6rdr, Freyr, T\u00fdr, Heimdallr, Bragi, V\u00eddarr, V\u00e1li, Ullr, H\u0153nir, Forseti, Loki; and in like manner the \u00c1synjur: Frigg, Freyja, Gefjun, Idunn, Gerdr, Sigyn, Fulla, Nanna. It seemed glorious to \u00c6gir to look about him in the hall: the wainscottings there were all hung with fair shields; there was also stinging mead, copiously quaffed. The man seated next to \u00c6gir was Bragi, and they took part together in drinking and in converse: Bragi told \u00c6gir of many things which had come to pass among the \u00c6sir.\nHe began the story at the point where three of the \u00c6sir, Odin and Loki and H\u0153nir, departed from home and were wandering over mountains and wastes, and food was hard to find. But when they came down into a certain dale, they saw a herd of oxen, took one ox, and set about cooking it. Now when they thought that it must be cooked, they broke up the fire, and it was not cooked. After a while had passed, they having scattered the fire a\n[1. Usually translated \"Poetical Diction.\"\n2. Now L\u00e6ss\u00f8.]\n{p. 90}\nsecond time, and it was not cooked, they took counsel together, asking each other what it might mean. Then they heard a voice speaking in the oak up above them, declaring that he who sat there confessed he had caused the lack of virtue in the fire. They looked thither, and there sat an eagle; and it was no small one. Then the eagle said: \"If ye are willing to give me my fill of the ox, then it will cook in the fire.\" They assented to this. Then he let himself float down from the tree and alighted by the fire, and forthwith at the very first took unto himself the two hams of the ox, and both shoulders. Then Loki was angered, snatched up a great pole, brandished it with all his strength, and drove it at the eagle's body. The eagle plunged violently at the blow and flew up, so that the pole was fast to the eagle's back, and Loki's hands to the other end of the pole. The eagle flew at such a height that Loki's feet down below knocked against stones and rock-heaps and trees, and he thought his arms would be torn from his shoulders. He cried aloud, entreating the eagle urgently for peace; but the eagle declared that Loki should never be loosed, unless he would give him his oath to induce Idunn to come out of \u00c1sgard with her apples. Loki assented, and being straightway loosed, went to his companions; nor for that time are any more things reported concerning their journey, until they had come home.\nBut at the appointed time Loki lured Idunn out of \u00c1sgard into a certain wood, saying that he had found such apples as would seem to her of great virtue, and prayed that she would have her apples with her and compare them with these. Then Thjazi the giant came there in his eagle's plumage and took Idunn and flew away with her, off into Thrymheimr to his abode.\n{p. 91}\nBut the \u00c6sir became straitened at the disappearance of Idunn, and speedily they became hoary and old. Then those, \u00c6sir took counsel together, and each asked the other what had last been known of Idunn; and the last that had been seen was that she had gone out of \u00c1sgard with Loki. Thereupon Loki was seized and brought to the Thing, and was threatened with death, or tortures; when he had become well frightened, he declared that he would seek after Idunn in J\u00f6tunheim, if Freyja would lend him the hawk's plumage which she possessed. And when he got the hawk's plumage, he flew north into J\u00f6tunheim, and came on a certain day to the home of Thjazi the giant. Thjazi had rowed out to sea, but Idunn was at home alone: Loki turned her into the shape of a nut and grasped her in his claws and flew his utmost.\nNow when Thjazi came home and missed Idunn, he took his eagle's plumage and flew after Loki, making a mighty rush of sound with his wings in his flight. But when the \u00c6sir saw how the hawk flew with the nut, and where the eagle was flying, they went out below \u00c1sgard and bore burdens of plane-shavings thither. As soon as the hawk flew into the citadel, he swooped down close by the castle-wall; then the \u00c6sir struck fire to the plane-shavings. But the eagle could not stop himself when he missed the hawk: the feathers of the eagle caught fire, and straightway his flight ceased. Then the \u00c6sir were near at hand and slew Thjazi the giant within the Gate of the \u00c6sir, and that slaying is exceeding famous.\nNow Skadi, the daughter of the giant Thjazi, took helm and birnie and all weapons of war and proceeded to \u00c1sgard, to avenge her father. The \u00c6sir, however, offered her reconciliation and atonement: the first article was that she should\n{p. 92}\nchoose for herself a husband from among the \u00c6sir and choose by the feet only, seeing no more of him. Then she saw the feet of one man, passing fair, and said: \"I choose this one: in Baldr little can be loathly.\" But that was Nj\u00f6rdr of N\u00f3at\u00fan. She had this article also in her bond of reconciliation: that the \u00c6sir must do a thing she thought they would not be able to accomplish: to make her laugh. Then Loki did this: he tied a cord to the beard of a goat, the other end being about his own genitals, and each gave way in turn, and each of the two screeched loudly; then Loki let himself fall onto Skadi's knee, and she laughed. Thereupon reconciliation was made with her on the part of the \u00c6sir. It is so said, that Odin did this by way of atonement to Skadi: he took Thjazi's eyes and cast them up into the heavens, and made of them two stars.\nThen said \u00c6gir: \"It seems to me that Thjazi was a mighty man: now of what family was he?\" Bragi answered: \"His father was called \u00d6lvaldi, and if I tell thee of him, thou wilt think these things wonders. He was very rich in gold; but when he died and his sons came to divide the inheritance, they determined upon this measure for the gold which they divided: each should take as much as his mouth would hold, and all the same number of mouthfuls. One of them was Thjazi, the second Idi, the third Gangr. And we have it as a metaphor among us now, to call gold the mouth-tale of these giants; but we conceal it in secret terms or in poesy in this way, that we call it Speech, or Word, or Talk, of these giants.\"\nThen said \u00c6gir: \"I deem that well concealed in secret terms.\" And again said \u00c6gir: \"Whence did this art, which ye call poesy, derive its beginnings?\" Bragi answered: \"These were the beginnings thereof. The gods had a dispute\n{p. 93}\nwith the folk which are called Vanir, and they appointed a peace-meeting between them and established peace in this way: they each went to a vat and spat their spittle therein. Then at parting the gods took that peace-token and would not let it perish, but shaped thereof a man. This man is called Kvasir, and he was so wise that none could question him concerning anything but that he knew the solution. He went up and down the earth to give instruction to men; and when he came upon invitation to the abode of certain dwarves, Fjalar and Galarr, they called him into privy converse with them, and killed him, letting his blood run into two vats and a kettle. The kettle is named \u00d3drerir, and the vats S\u00f3n and Bodn; they blended honey with the blood, and the outcome was that mead by the virtue of which he who drinks becomes a skald or scholar. The dwarves reported to the \u00c6sir that Kvasir had choked on his own shrewdness, since there was none so wise there as to be able to question his wisdom.\n\"Then these dwarves invited the giant who is called Gillingr to visit them, and his wife with him. Next the dwarves invited Gillingr to row upon the sea with them; but when they had gone out from the land, the dwarves rowed into the breakers and capsized the boat. Gillingr was unable to swim, and he perished; but the dwarves righted their boat and rowed to land. They reported this accident to his wife, but she took it grievously and wept aloud. Then Fjalar asked her whether it would ease her heart if she should look out upon the sea at the spot where he had perished; and she desired it. Then he spoke softly to Galarr his brother, bidding him go up over the doorway, when she should go out, and let a mill-stone fall on her head, saying that her weeping grew wearisome to him; and even so he did.\n{p. 94}\n\"Now when the giant Suttungr, Gillingr's son, learned of this, he went over and took the dwarves and carried them out to sea, and set them on a reef which was covered at high tide. They besought Suttungr to grant them respite of their lives, and as the price of reconciliation offered him the precious mead in satisfaction of his father's death. And that became a means of reconciliation between them. Suttungr carried the mead home and concealed it in the place called Hnitbj\u00f6rg, placing his daughter Gunnl\u00f6d there to watch over it. Because of this we call poesy Kvasir's Blood or Dwarves' Drink, or Fill, or any kind of liquid of \u00d3drerir, or of Bodn, or of S\u00f3n, or Ferry-Boat of Dwarves--since this mead brought them life--ransom from the reef--or Suttungr's Mead, or Liquor of Hnitbj\u00f6rg.\"\nThen \u00c6gir said: \"These seem to me dark sayings, to call poesy by these names. But how did ye \u00c6sir come at Suttungr's Mead?\" Bragi answered: \"That tale runs thus: Odin departed from home and came to a certain place where nine thralls were mowing hay. He asked if they desired him to whet their scythes, and they assented. Then he took a hone from his belt and whetted the scythes; it seemed to them that the scythes cut better by far, and they asked that the hone be sold them. But he put such a value on it that whoso desired to buy must give a considerable price: nonetheless all said that they would agree, and prayed him to sell it to them. He cast the hone up into the air; but since all wished to lay their hands on it, they became so intermingled with one another that each struck with his scythe against the other's neck.\n\"Odin sought a night's lodging with the giant who is called Baugi, Suttungr's brother. Baugi bewailed his husbandry, saying that his nine thralls had killed one another,\n{p. 95}\nand declared that he had no hope of workmen. Odin called himself B\u00f6lverkr in Baugi's presence; he offered to undertake nine men's work for Baugi, and demanded for his wages one drink of Suttungr's Mead. Baugi declared that he had no control whatever over the mead, and said that Suttungr was determined to have it to himself, but promised to go with B\u00f6lverkr and try if they might get the mead. During the summer B\u00f6lverkr accomplished nine men's work for Baugi, but when winter came he asked Baugi for his hire. Then they both set out for Suttungr's. Baugi told Suttungr his brother of his bargain with B\u00f6lverkr; but Suttungr flatly refused them a single drop of the mead. Then B\u00f6lverkr made suggestion to Baugi that they try certain wiles, if perchance they might find means to get at the mead; and Baugi agreed readily. Thereupon B\u00f6lverkr drew out the auger called Rati, saying that Baugi must bore the rock, if the auger cut. He did so. At last Baugi said that the rock was bored through, but B\u00f6lverkr blew into the auger-hole, and the chips flew up at him. Then he discovered that Baugi would have deceived him, and he bade him bore through the rock. Baugi bored anew; and when B\u00f6lverkr blew a second time, then the chips were blown in by the blast. Then B\u00f6lverkr turned himself into a serpent and crawled into the auger-hole, but Baugi thrust at him from behind with the auger and missed him. B\u00f6lverkr proceeded to the place where Gunnl\u00f6d was, and lay with her three nights; and then she gave him leave to drink three draughts of the mead. In the first draught he drank every drop out of \u00d3drerir; and in the second, he emptied Bodn; and in the third, S\u00f3n; and then he had all the mead. Then he turned himself into the shape of an eagle and flew as furiously as he could; but when Suttungr saw the eagle's\n{p. 96}\nflight, he too assumed the fashion of an eagle and flew after him. When the \u00c6sir saw Odin flying, straightway they set out their vats in the court; and when Odin came into \u00c1sgard, he spat up the mead into the vats. Nevertheless he came so near to being caught by Suttungr that he sent some mead backwards, and no heed was taken of this: whosoever would might have that, and we call that the poetaster's part.[1] But Odin gave the mead of Suttungr to the \u00c6sir and to those men who possess the ability to compose. Therefore we call poesy Odin's Booty and Find, and his Drink and Gift, and the Drink of the \u00c6sir.\"\nThen said \u00c6gir: \"In how many ways are the terms of skaldship variously phrased, or how many are the essential elements of the skaldic art?\" Then Bragi answered: \"The elements into which all poesy is divided are two.\" \u00c6gir asked: \"What two?\" Bragi said: \"Metaphor and metre.\" \"What manner of metaphor is used for skaldic writing?\" \"Three are the types of skaldic metaphor.\" \"Which?\" \"Thus: [first], calling everything by its name; the second type is that which is called 'substitution;' the third type of metaphor is that which is called 'periphrasis,' and this type is employed in such manner: Suppose I take Odin, or Thor, or T\u00fdr, or any of the \u00c6sir or Elves; and to any of them whom I mention, I add the name of a property of some other of the \u00c6sir, or I record certain works of his. Thereupon he becomes owner of the name, and not the one whose name was applied to him: just as when we speak of Victory-T\u00fdr, or T\u00fdr of the Hanged, or T\u00fdr of Cargoes: that then becomes Odin's name: and we call these periphrastic names. So also with the title T\u00fdr of the Wain.[2]\n[1. See Burns, The Kirk's Alarm, 11th stanza, for a similar idea.\n2. T\u00fdr. See discussion in Cl.-Vig., p. 647. This word as a proper name refers {footnote p. 97} to the one-armed God of War; but, especially in compounds, it has the sense of God, the God, and is usually applied to Odin. The compounds mentioned here by Snorri are all epithets of Odin. See Gylfaginning, p. 30.]\n{p. 97}\n\"But now one thing must be said to young skalds, to such as yearn to attain to the craft of poesy and to increase their store of figures with traditional metaphors; or to those who crave to acquire the faculty of discerning what is said in hidden phrase: let such an one, then, interpret this book to his instruction and pleasure. Yet one is not so to forget or discredit these traditions as to remove from poesy those ancient metaphors with which it has pleased Chief Skalds to be content; nor, on the other hand, ought Christian men to believe in heathen gods, nor in the truth of these tales otherwise than precisely as one may find here in the beginning of the book.\nII. Now you may hear examples of the way in which Chief Skalds have held it becoming to compose, making use of these simple terms and periphrases: as when Arn\u00f3rr Earls' Skald says that Odin is called Allfather:\nNow I'll tell men the virtue\n Of the terrible Jarl;\n Allfather's Song-Surf streams;\n Late my sorrows lighten,\nHere, moreover, he calls poesy the Song-Surf of Allfather. H\u00e1vardr the Halt sang thus:\nNow is the flight of eagles\n Over the field; the sailors\n Of the sea-horses hie them\n To the Hanged-God's gifts and feasting.\n{p. 98}\nThus sang Viga-Gl\u00famr:\nWith the Hanged-God's helmet\n The hosts have ceased from going\n By the brink; not pleasant\n The bravest held the venture.\nThus sang Refr:\nOft the Gracious One came to me\n At the holy cup of the Raven-God;\n The king of the stem-ploughed sea's gold\n From the skald in death is sundered.\nThus sang Eyvindr Skald-Despoiler:\nAnd Sigurdr,\n He who sated the ravens\n Of Cargo-God\n With the gore of the host\n Of slain Haddings\n Of life was spoiled\n By the earth-rulers\n At \u00d6gl\u00f3.\nThus sang Gl\u00famr Geirason:\nThere the T\u00fdr of Triumph\n Himself inspired the terror\n Of ships; the gods of breezes\n That favor good men steered them.\nThus sang Eyvindr:\n{p. 99}\nG\u00f6ndull and Sk\u00f6gull\n Gauta-T\u00fdr sent\n To choose from kings\n Who of Yngvi's kin\n Should go with Odin\n And be in Valhall.\nThus sang \u00dalfr Uggason:\nSwiftly the Far-Famed rideth,\n The Foretelling God, to the fire speeds,\n To the wide pyre of his offspring;\n Through my cheeks praise-songs are pouring.\nThus sang Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr of Hvin:\nThe slain lay there sand-strewing,\n Spoil for the Single-Eyed\n Dweller in Frigg's bosom;\n In such deeds we rejoiced.\nHallfredr sang thus:\nThe doughty ship-possessor\n With sharpened words and soothfast\n Lures our land, the patient,\n Barley-lock\u00e8d Wife of Thridi.\nHere is an example of this metaphor, that in poesy the earth is called the Wife of Odin. Here is told what Eyvindr sang:\nHerm\u00f3dr and Bragi,\n Spake Hropta-T\u00fdr.\n{p. 100}\nGo ye to greet the Prince;\n For a king who seemeth\n A champion cometh\n To the hall hither.\nThus sang Korm\u00e1kr:\nThe Giver of Lands, who bindeth\n The sail to the top, with gold-lace\n Honors him who pours god's verse-mead;\n Odin wrought charms on Rindr.\nThus sang Steinth\u00f3rr:\nMuch have I to laud\n The ancient-made (though little)\n Liquor of the valiant\n Load of Gunnl\u00f6d's arm-clasp.\nThere I think the Valkyrs follow,\n And ravens, Victorious Odin\n To the blood of holy Baldr.\n With old tales the hall was painted.\nThus sang Egill Skallagr\u00edmsson:\nNo victims for this\n To V\u00edli's brother,\n The High-God, I offer,\n Glad to behold him;\n{p. 101}\nYet has M\u00edmir's friend\n On me bestowed\n Amends of evil\n Which I account better.\nHe has given me the art\n He, the Wolf's Opposer,\n Accustomed to battle,\n Of blemish blameless.\nHere he is called High God, and Friend of M\u00edmir, and Adversary of the Wolf.\nSwift God of Slain, that wieldeth\n The snowy billow's wave-hawks,\n The ships that drive the sea-road,\n To thee we owe the dwarves' drink.\nThus sang Einarr Tinkling-Scale:\n'T is mine to pour the liquor\n Of the Host-God's mead-cask freely\n Before the ships' swift Speeder:\n For this I win no scorning.\nHis steed the lordly Heimdallr\n Spurs to the pyre gods builded\n For the fallen son of Odin,\n The All-Wise Raven-Ruler.\n{p. 102}\nThis is said in Eir\u00edksm\u00e1l:\nWhat dream is that? quoth Odin,--\n I thought to rise ere day-break\n To make Valhall ready\n For troops of slain;\n I roused the champions,\n Bade them rise swiftly\n Benches to strew,\n To wash beer-flagons;\n The Valkyrs to pour wine,\n As a Prince were coming.\nKorm\u00e1kr sang this:\nI pray the precious Ruler\n Of Yngvi's people, o'er me\n To hold his hand, bow-shaking.\n Hroptr bore with him Gungnir.\nTh\u00f3r\u00e1lfr sang this:\nThe Mighty One of Hlidskj\u00e1lf\n Spake his mind unto them\n Where the hosts of fearless\n H\u00e1rekr were slaughtered.\nThe mead which forth\n From Surtr's sunk dales\n The Strong-through-spells\n Swift-flying bore.\n{p. 103}\nSo sang Bragi:\n'Tis seen, on my shield's surface,\n How the Son of the Father of Peoples\n Craved to try his strength full swiftly\n 'Gainst the rain-beat Snake earth-circling.\nThus sang E\u00ednarr:\nSince less with Bestla's Offspring\n Prevail most lordly princes\n Than thou, my task is singing\n Thy praise in songs of battle.\nThus sang Thorvaldr Blending-Skald:\nNow have I much\n In the middle grasped\n Of the son of Borr,\n Of B\u00fari's heir.\nIII. \"Now you shall hear how the skalds have termed the art of poesy in these metaphorical phrases which have been recorded before: for example, by calling it Kvasir's Gore and Ship of the Dwarves, Dwarves' Mead, Mead of the \u00c6sir, Giants' Father-Ransom, Liquor of \u00d3drerir and of Bodn and of S\u00f3n, and Fullness of these, Liquor of Hnitbj\u00f6rg, Booty and Find and Gift of Odin, even as has been sung in these verses which Einarr Tinkling-Scale wrought:\nI pray the high-souled Warder\n Of earth to hear the Ocean\n Of the Cliff of Dwarves, my verses:\n Hear, Earl, the Gore of Kvasir.\n{p. 104}\nAnd as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang further:\nThe Dwarves' Crag's Song-wave rushes\n O'er all the dauntless shield-host\n Of him who speeds the fury\n Of the shield-wall's piercing sword-bane.\nEven as Ormr Steinth\u00f3rsson sang:\nThe body of the dame\n And my dead be borne\n Into one hall; the Drink\n Of Dvalinn, Franklins, hear.\nAnd as Refr sang:\nI reveal the Thought's Drink\n Of the Rock-Folk to Thorsteinn;\n The Billow of the Dwarf-Crag\n Plashes; I bid men hearken.\nEven as Egill sang:\nThe Prince requires my lore,\n And bound his praise to pour,\n Odin's Mead I bore\n To English shore.\nAnd as Gl\u00famr Geirason sang:\nLet the Princely Giver hearken:\n I hold the God-King's liquor.\n{p. 105}\nLet silence, then, be granted,\n While we sing the loss of thanes.\nAnd as Eyvindr sang:\nA hearing I crave\n For the High One's Liquor,\n While I utter\n Gillingr's Atonement;\n While his kin\n In the Kettle-Brewing\n Of the Gallows-Lord\n To the gods I trace.\nEven as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe Wave of Odin surges;\n Of \u00d3drerir's Sea a billow\n 'Gainst the tongue's song-glade crashes;\n Aye our King's works are goodly.\nAnd as he sang further:\nNow that which Bodn's Billow\n Bodes forth will straight be uttered:\n Let the War-King's host make silence\n In the hall, and hear the Dwarves' Ship.\nAnd as Eil\u00edfr Gudr\u00fanarson sang:\nGrant shall ye gifts of friendship,\n Since grows of S\u00f3n the Seedling\n In our tongue's fertile sedge-bank:\n True praise of our High Lord.\n{p. 106}\nEven as V\u00f6lu-Steinn sang:\nEgill, hear the Heart-streams\n Of Odin beat in cadence\n 'Gainst my palate's skerry;\n The God's Spoil to me is given.\nThus sang Ormr Steinth\u00f3rsson:\nNo verse of mine men need to fear,\n No mockery I intertwine\n In Odin's Spoil; my skill is sure\n In forging songs of praise.\nI show to host-glad \u00c1leifr\n The Heart-Fjord's Shoal of Odin,--\n My song: him do I summon\n To hear the Gift of Gr\u00edmnir.\nPoesy is called Sea, or Liquid of the Dwarves, because Kvasir's blood was liquid in \u00d3drerir before the mead was made, and then it was put into the kettle; wherefore it is called Odin's Kettle-Liquor, even as Eyvindr sang and as we have recorded before:\nWhile his kin\n In the Kettle-Brewing\n Of the Gallows-Lord\n To the gods I trace.[1]\n[1. See page 105.]\n{p. 107}\nMoreover, poesy is called Ship or Ale of the Dwarves: ale is l\u00ed\u00f0, and li\u00f0 is a word for ships; therefore it is held that it is for this reason that poesy is now called Ship of the Dwarves, even as this verse tells:\nThe wit of Gunnl\u00f6d's Liquor\n In swelling wind-like fullness,\n And the everlasting Dwarves' Ship\n I own, to send the same road.\nIV. \"What figures should be employed to periphrase the name of Thor? Thus: one should call him Son of Odin and of J\u00f6rd, Father of Magni and M\u00f3di and Thr\u00fadr, Husband of Sif, Stepfather of Ullr, Wielder and Possessor of Mj\u00f6llnir and of the Girdle of Strength, and of Bilskirnir; Defender of \u00c1sgard and of Midgard, Adversary and Slaver of Giants and Troll-Women, Smiter of Hrungnir, of Geirr\u00f6dr and of Thr\u00edvaldi, Master of Thj\u00e1lfi and R\u00f6skva, Foe of the Midgard Serpent. Foster-father of Vingnir and Hl\u00f3ra. So sang Bragi the Skald:\nThe line of Odin's Offspring\n Lay not slack on the gunwale,\n When the huge ocean-serpent\n Uncoiled on the sea's bottom.\nThus sang \u00d6lvir Cut-Nose-and-Crop-Ears:\nThe enc\u00edrcler of all regions\n And J\u00f6rd's Son sought each other.\n{p. 108}\nThus sang Eil\u00edfr:\nWroth stood R\u00f6skva's Brother,\n And Magni's Sire wrought bravely:\n With terror Thor's staunch heart-stone\n Trembled not, nor Thj\u00e1lfi's.\nAnd thus sang Eysteinn Valdason:\nWith glowing eyes Thr\u00fadr's Father\n Glared at the sea-road's circler,\n Ere the fishes' watery dwelling\n Flowed in, the boat confounding.\nEysteinn sang further:\nSwiftly Sif's Husband bouned him\n To haste forth with the Giants\n For his hardy fishing:\n Well sing we Hr\u00edmnir's horn-stream.\nAgain he sang:\nThe earth-fish tugged so fiercely\n That Ullr's Kinsman's clenched fists\n Were pulled out past the gunwale;\n The broad planks rent asunder.\nThus sang Bragi:\nThe strong fiend's Terrifier\n In his right hand swung his hammer,\n When he saw the loathly sea-fish\n That all the lands confineth.\n{p. 109}\nThus sang Gamli:\nWhile the Lord of high Bilskirnir,\n Whose heart no falsehood fashioned,\n Swiftly strove to shatter\n The sea-fish with his hammer.\nThus sang Thorbj\u00f6rn Lady's-Skald:\nBravely Thor fought for \u00c1sgard\n And the followers of Odin.\nAnd the vast misshapen circler\n Of the ship's sea-path, fierce-minded,\n Stared from below in anger\n At the Skull-Splitter of Hrungnir.\nAgain sang Bragi:\nWell hast Thou, Hewer-in-Sunder\n Of the nine heads of Thr\u00edvaldi,\n Kept thy goats[1] .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\nThe Merciless Destroyer\n Of the people of the Giants\n Grasped with ready fore-arms\n At the heavy red-hot iron.\n[1. The remainder of this stanza cannot be made out.]\n{p. 110}\nFaintly the stout-framed thickling\n A fearful peril called it,\n At the great draught wondrous heavy\n Drawn up by the Lord of he-goats.\nThus \u00dalfr sang further:\nThe very mighty Slayer\n Of the Mountain-Man brought crashing\n His fist on Hymir's temple:\n That was a hurt full deadly.\nYet again sang \u00dalfr:\nVimur's ford's Wide-Grappler\n 'Gainst the waves smote featly\n The glittering Serpent's head off.\n With old tales the hall was gleaming.\nHere he is called Giant of Vimur's Ford. There is a river called Vimur, which Thor waded when he journeyed to the garth of Geirr\u00f6dr.\nThus sang Vetrlidi the skald:\nThou didst break the leg of Leikn,\n Didst cause to stoop Starkadr,\n Didst bruise Thr\u00edvaldi,\n Didst stand on lifeless Gj\u00e1lp.\nThou didst smite the head of Keila,\n Smash Kjallandi altogether,\n{p. 111}\nEre thou slewest L\u00fatr and Leidi,\n Didst spill the blood of B\u00faseyra;\n Didst hold back Hengjankjapta,\n Hyrrokkin died before;\n Yet sooner in like fashion\n Sv\u00edv\u00f6r from life was taken.\nV. \"How should one periphrase Baldr? By calling him Son of Odin and Frigg, Husband of Nanna, Father of Forseti, Possessor of Hringhorni and Draupnir, Adversary of H\u00f6dr, Companion of Hel, God of Tears. \u00dalfr Uggason, following the story of Baldr, has composed a long passage in the H\u00fasdr\u00e1pa; and examples are recorded earlier to the effect that Baldr is so termed.\nVI. \"How should one periphrase Nj\u00f6rdr? By calling him God of the Vanir, or Kinsman of the Vanir, or Wane, Father of Freyr and Freyja, God of Wealth-Bestowal.\nSo says Th\u00f3rdr Sj\u00e1reksson:\nGudrun's self by ill\n Her sons did kill;\n The wise God-bride\n At the Wane's side\n Grieved; men tell\n Odin tamed steeds well;\n 'T was not the saying\n Hamdir spared sword-playing.\nHere it is recorded that Skadi departed from Nj\u00f6rdr, as has already been written.\n{p. 112}\nVII. \"How should one periphrase Freyr? Thus: by calling him Son of Nj\u00f6rdr, Brother of Freyja, and also God of Vanir, and Kinsman of the Vanir, and Wane, and God of the Fertile Season, and God of Wealth-Gifts.\nFor that Grj\u00f3tbj\u00f6rn\n In goods and gear\n Freyr and Nj\u00f6rdr\n Have fairly blessed.\nFreyr is called Adversary of Beli, even as Eyvindr Spoiler of Skalds sang:\nWhen the Earl's foe\n Wished to inhabit\n The outer bounds\n Of Beli's hater.\nHe is the possessor of Sk\u00eddbladnir and of that boar which is called Gold-Bristle, even as it is told here:\n\u00cdvaldi's offspring\n In ancient days\n Went to shape Sk\u00eddbladnir,\n Foremost of ships,\n Fairly for Freyr,\n Choicely for Nj\u00f6rdr's child.\nThus speaks \u00dalfr Uggason:\nThe battle-bold Freyr rideth\n First on the golden-bristled\n{p. 113}\nBarrow-boar to the bale-fire\n Of Baldr, and leads the people.\nThe boar is also called Fearful-Tusk.\nVIII. \"How should one periphrase Heimdallr? By calling him Son of Nine Mothers, or Watchman of the Gods, as already has been written; or White God, Foe of Loki, Seeker of Freyja's Necklace. A sword is called Heimdallr's Head: for it is said that he was pierced by a man's head. The tale thereof is told in Heimdalar-galdr; and ever since a head is called Heimdallr's Measure; a sword is called Man's Measure. Heimdallr is the Possessor of Gulltoppr; he is also Frequenter of V\u00e1gasker and Singasteinn, where he contended with Loki for the Necklace Br\u00edsinga-men, he is also called Vindl\u00e9r. \u00dalfr Uggason composed a long passage in the H\u00fasdr\u00e1pa on that legend, and there it is written that they were in the form of seals. Heimdallr also is son of Odin.\nIX. \"How should one periphrase T\u00fdr? By calling him the One-handed God, and Fosterer of the Wolf, God of Battles, Son of Odin.\nX. \"How should one periphrase Bragi? By calling him Husband of Idunn, First Maker of Poetry, and the Long-bearded God (after his name, a man who has a great beard is called Beard-Bragi) and Son of Odin.\nXI. \"How should one periphrase V\u00eddarr? He maybe called the Silent God, Possessor of the Iron Shoe, Foe and Slayer of Fenris-Wolf, Avenger of the Gods, Divine Dweller in\n{p. 114}\nthe Homesteads of the Fathers, Son of Odin, and Brother of the \u00c6sir.\nXII. \"How should V\u00e1li be periphrased? Thus: by calling him Son of Odin and Rindr, Stepson of Frigg, Brother of the \u00c6sir, Baldr's Avenger, Foe and Slayer of H\u00f6dr, Dweller in the Homesteads of the Fathers.\nXIII. \"How should one periphrase H\u00f6dr? Thus: by calling him the Blind God, Baldr's Slayer, Thrower of the Mistletoe, Son of Odin, Companion of Hel, Foe of V\u00e1li.\nXIV. How should Ullr be periphrased? By calling him Son of Sif, Stepson of Thor, God of the Snowshoe, God of the Bow, Hunting-God, God of the Shield.\nXV. How should H\u0153nir be periphrased? By calling him Bench-Mate or Companion or Friend of Odin, the Swift of God, the Long-Footed, and' King of Clay.[1]\nXVI. \"How should one periphrase Loki? Thus: call him Son of F\u00e1rbauti and Laufey, or of Nil, Brother of B\u00fdleistr and of Helblindi, Father of the Monster of V\u00e1n (that is, Fenris-Wolf), and of the Vast Monster (that is, the Midgard Serpent), and of Hel, and Nari, and \u00c1li; Kinsman and Uncle, Evil Companion and Bench-Mate of Odin and the \u00c6sir, Visitor and Chest-Trapping of Geirr\u00f6dr, Thief of the Giants, of the Goat, of Br\u00edsinga-men, and of Idunn's Apples, Kinsman of Sleipnir, Husband of Sigyn, Foe of the Gods, Harmer of Sif's Hair, Forger of Evil, the Sly God,\n[1. ?Aur-konung.]\n{p. 115}\nSlanderer and Cheat of the Gods, Contriver of Baldr's Death, the Bound God, Wrangling Foe of Heimdallr and of Skadi. Even as \u00dalfr Uggason sings here:\nThe famed rain-bow's defender,\n Ready in wisdom, striveth\n At Singasteinn with Loki,\n F\u00e1rbauti's sin-sly offspring;\n The son of mothers eight and one,\n Mighty in wrath, possesses\n The Stone ere Loki cometh:\n I make known songs of praise.\nHere it is written that Heimdallr is the son of nine mothers.\nXVII. \"Now an account shall be given of the source of those metaphors which have but now been recorded, and of which no accounts were rendered before: even such as Bragi gave to \u00c6gir, telling how Thor had gone into the east to slay trolls, and Odin rode Sleipnir into J\u00f6tunheim and visited that giant who was named Hrungnir. Hrungnir asked what manner of man he with the golden helm might be, who rode through air and water; and said that the stranger had a wondrous good steed. Odin said he would wager his head there was no horse in J\u00f6tunheim that would prove equally good. Hrungnir answered that it was a good horse, but declared that he had a much better paced horse which was called Gold-Mane. Hrungnir had become angry, and vaulted up onto his horse and galloped after him, thinking to pay him for his boasting. Odin gal loped so furiously that he was on the top of the next hill first; but Hrungnir was so filled with the giant's frenzy\n{p. 116}\nthat he took no heed until he had come in beyond the gates of \u00c1sgard. When he came to the hall-door, the \u00c6sir invited him to drink. He went within and ordered drink to be brought to him, and then those flagons were brought in from which Thor was wont to drink; and Hrungnir swilled from each in turn. But when he had become drunken, then big words were not wanting: he boasted that he would lift up Valhall and carry it to J\u00f6tunheim, and sink \u00c1sgard and kill all the gods, save that he would take Freyja and Sif home with him. Freyja alone dared pour for him; and he vowed that he would drink all the ale of the \u00c6sir. But when his overbearing insolence became tiresome to the \u00c6sir, they called on the name of Thor.\n\"Straightway Thor came into the hall, brandishing his hammer, and he was very wroth, and asked who had advised that these dogs of giants be permitted to drink there, or who had granted Hrungnir safe-conduct to be in Valhall, or why Freyja should pour for him as at a feast of the \u00c6sir. Then Hrungnir answered, looking at Thor with no friendly eyes, and said that Odin had invited him to drink, and he was under his safe-conduct. Thor declared that Hrungnir should repent of that invitation before he got away. Hrungnir answered that \u00c1sa-Thor would have scant renown for killing him, weaponless as he was: it were a greater trial of his courage if he dared fight with Hrungnir on the border at Grj\u00f3t\u00fanagard. 'And it was a great folly,' said he, 'when I left my shield and hone behind at home; if I had my weapons here, then we should try single-combat. But as matters stand, I declare thee a coward if thou wilt slay me, a weaponless man.' Thor was by no means anxious to avoid the fight when challenged to the field, for no one had ever offered him single-combat before.\n{p. 117}\n\"Then Hrungnir went his way, and galloped furiously until he came to J\u00f6tunheim. The news of his journey was spread abroad among the giants, and it became noised abroad that a meeting had been arranged between him and Thor; the giants deemed that they had much at stake, who should win the victory, since they looked for ill at Thor's hands if Hrungnir perished, he being strongest of them all. Then the giants made a man of clay at Grj\u00f3t\u00fanagard: he was nine miles high and three broad under the arm-pits; but they could get no heart big enough to fit him, until they took one from a mare. Even that was not steadfast within him, when Thor came. Hrungnir had the heart which is notorious, of hard stone and spiked with three corners, even as the written character is since formed, which men call Hrungnir's Heart. His head also was of stone; his shield too was stone, wide and thick, and he had the shield before him when he stood at Grj\u00f3t\u00fanagard and waited for Thor. Moreover he had a hone for a weapon, and brandished it over his shoulders, and he was not a pretty sight. At one side of him stood the clay giant, which was called M\u00f6kkurk\u00e1lfi: he was sore afraid, and it is said that he wet himself when he saw Thor.\n\"Thor went to the meeting-place, and Thj\u00e1lfi with him. Then Thj\u00e1lfi ran forward to the spot where Hrungnir stood and said to him: 'Thou standest unwarily, Giant, having the shield before thee: for Thor has seen thee, and comes hither down below the earth, and will come at thee from beneath.' Then Hrungnir thrust the shield under his feet and stood upon it, wielding the hone with both hands. Then speedily he saw lightnings and heard great claps of thunder; then he saw Thor in God-like anger, who came forward furiously and swung the hammer and cast it at Hrungnir\n{p. 118}\nfrom afar off. Hrungnir lifted up the hone in both hands and cast it against him; it struck the hammer in flight, and the hone burst in sunder: one part fell to the earth, and thence are come all the flint-rocks; the other burst on Thor's head, so that he fell forward to the earth. But the hammer Mj\u00f6llnir struck Hrungnir in the middle of the head, and smashed his skull into small crumbs, and he fell forward upon Thor, so that his foot lay over Thor's neck. Thj\u00e1lfi struck at M\u00f6kkurk\u00e1lfi, and he fell with little glory. Thereupon Thj\u00e1lfi went over to Thor and would have lifted Hrungnir's foot off him, but could not find sufficient strength. Straightway all the \u00c6sir came up, when they, learned that Thor was fallen, and would have lifted the foot from off him, and could do nothing. Then Magni came up, son of Thor and J\u00e1rnsaxa: he was then three nights old; he cast the foot of Hrungnir off Thor, and spake: 'See how ill it is, father, that I came so late: I had struck this giant dead with my fist, methinks, if I had met with him.' Thor arose and welcomed his son, saying that he should surely become great; 'And I will give thee,' he said, the horse Gold-Mane, which Hrungnir possessed.' Then Odin spake and said that Thor did wrong to give the good horse to the son of a giantess, and not to his father.\n\"Thor went home to Thr\u00fadvangar, and the hone remained sticking in his head. Then came the wise woman who was called Gr\u00f3a, wife of Aurvandill the Valiant: she sang her spells over Thor until the hone was loosened. But when Thor knew that, and thought that there was hope that the hone might be removed, he desired to reward Gr\u00f3a for her leech-craft and make her glad, and told her these things: that he had waded from the north over Icy Stream and had borne Aurvandill in a basket on his back from the\n{p. 119}\nnorth out of J\u00f6tunheim. And he added for a token, that one of Aurvandill's toes had stuck out of the basket, and became frozen; wherefore Thor broke it off and cast it up into the heavens, and made thereof the star called Aurvandill's Toe. Thor said that it would not be long ere Aurvandill came home: but Gr\u00f3a was so rejoiced that she forgot her incantations, and the hone was not loosened, and stands yet in Thor's head. Therefore it is forbidden to cast a hone across the floor, for then the hone is stirred in Thor's head. Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr of Hvin has made a song after this tale in the Haustl\u00f6ng. [It says there:\nOn the high and painted surface\n Of the hollow shield, still further\n One may see how the Giant's Terror\n Sought the home of Grj\u00f3t\u00fan;\n The angry son of J\u00f6rd drove\n To the play of steel; below him\n Thundered the moon-way; rage swelled\n In the heart of Meili's Brother.\nAll the bright gods' high mansions\n Burned before Ullr's kinsman;\n With hail the earth was beaten\n Along his course, when the he-goats\n Drew the god of the smooth wain forward\n To meet the grisly giant:\n The Earth, the Spouse of Odin,\n Straightway reft asunder.\nNo truce made Baldr's brother\n With the bitter foe of earth-folk.\n{p. 120}\nRocks shook, and crags were shivered;\n The shining Upper Heaven\n Burned; I saw the giant\n Of the boat-sailed sea-reef waver\n And give way fast before him,\n Seeing his war-like Slayer.\nSwiftly the shining shield-rim\n Shot 'neath the Cliff-Ward's shoe-soles;\n That was the wise gods' mandate,\n The War-Valkyrs willed it.\n The champion of the Waste-Land\n Not long thereafter waited\n For the speedy blow delivered\n By the Friend of the snout-troll's crusher.\nHe who of breath despoileth\n Beli's baleful hirelings\n Felled on the shield rim-circled\n The fiend of the roaring mountain;\n The monster of the glen-field\n Before the mighty hammer\n Sank, when the Hill-Danes' Breaker\n Struck down the hideous caitiff.\nThen the hone hard-broken\n Hurled by the Ogress-lover\n Whirred into the brain-ridge\n Of Earth's Son, that the whetter\n Of steels, sticking unloosened\n In the skull of Odin's offspring,\n{p. 121}\nStood there all besprinkled\n With Einridi's blood.\nUntil the wise ale-goddess,\n With wondrous lays, enchanted\n The vaunted woe, rust-ruddy,\n From the Wain-God's sloping temples;\n Painted on its circuit\n I see them clearly pictured:\n The fair-bossed shield, with stories\n Figured, I had from Th\u00f3rlelfr.\"][1]\nXVIII. Then said, \u00c6gir: \"Methinks Hrungnir was of great might. Did Thor accomplish yet more valorous deeds when he had to do with the trolls?\" And Bragi answered: \"It is worthy to be told at length, how Thor went to Geirr\u00f6dr's dwelling. At that time he had not the hammer Mj\u00f6llnir with him, nor his Girdle of Might, nor the iron gauntlets: and that was the fault of Loki, who went with him. For once, flying in his sport with Frigg's hawk-plumage, it had happened to Loki to fly for curiosity's sake into Geirr\u00f6dr's court. There he saw a great hall, and alighted and looked in through the window; and Geirr\u00f6dr looked up and saw him, and commanded that the bird be taken and brought to him, But he who was sent could scarce get to the top of the wall, so high was it; and it seemed pleasant to Loki to see the man striving with toil and pains to reach him, and he thought it was not yet time to fly away until the other had accomplished the perilous climb. When the man pressed hard after him, then he stretched his wings for flight, and thrust out vehemently, but now his feet were stuck fast.\n[1. Passages enclosed within brackets are considered by J\u00f3nsson to be spurious.]\n{p. 122}\nSo Loki was taken and brought before Geirr\u00f6dr the giant; but when Geirr\u00f6dr saw his eyes, he suspected that this might be a man, and bade him answer; but Loki was silent. Then Geirr\u00f6dr shut Loki into a chest and starved him there three months. And now when Geirr\u00f6dr took him out and commanded him to speak, Loki told who he was; and by way of ransom for his life he swore to Geirr\u00f6dr with oaths that he would get Thor to come into Geirr\u00f6dr's dwelling in such a fashion that he should have neither hammer nor Girdle of Might with him.\n\"Thor came to spend the night with that giantess who was called Gr\u00eddr, mother of V\u00eddarr the Silent. She told Thor the truth concerning Geirr\u00f6dr, that he was a crafty giant and ill to deal with; and she lent him the Girdle of Might and iron gloves which she possessed, and her staff also, which was called Gr\u00eddr's Rod. Then Thor proceeded to the river named Vimur, greatest of all rivers. There he girded himself with the Girdle of Might and braced firmly downstream with Gr\u00eddr's Rod, and Loki held on behind by the Girdle of Might. When Thor came to mid-current, the river waxed so greatly that it broke high upon his shoulders. Then Thor sang this:\nWax thou not now, Vimur,\n For I fain would wade thee\n Into the Giants' garth:\n Know thou, if thou waxest,\n Then waxeth God-strength in me\n As high up as the heaven.\n\"Then Thor saw Gj\u00e1lp, daughter of Geirr\u00f6dr, standing in certain ravines, one leg in each, spanning the river,\n{p. 123}\nand she was causing the spate. Then Thor snatched up a great stone out of the river and cast it at her, saying these words: 'At its source should a river be stemmed.' Nor did he miss that at which he threw. In that moment he came to the shore and took hold of a rowan-clump, and so climbed out of the river; whence comes the saying that rowan is Thor's deliverance.\n\"Now when Thor came before Geirr\u00f6dr, the companions were shown first into the goat-fold[1] for their entertainment, and there was one chair there for a seat, and Thor sat there. Then he became aware that the chair moved under him up toward the roof: he thrust Gr\u00eddr's Rod up against the rafters and pushed back hard against the chair. Then there was a great crash, and screaming followed. Under the chair had been Geirr\u00f6dr's daughters, Gj\u00e1lp and Greip; and he had broken both their backs. Then Geirr\u00f6dr had Thor called into the hall to play games. There were great fires the whole length of the hall. When Thor came up over against Geirr\u00f6dr, then Geirr\u00f6dr took up a glowing bar of iron with the tongs and cast it at Thor. Thor caught it with his iron gloves and raised the bar in the air, but Geirr\u00f6dr leapt behind an iron pillar to save himself. Thor lifted up the bar and threw it, and it passed through the pillar and through Geirr\u00f6dr and through the wall, and so on out, even into the earth. Eil\u00edfr Gudr\u00fanarson has wrought verses on this story, in Th\u00f3rsdr\u00e1pa:\n[The winding sea-snake's father\n Did wile from home the slayer\n[1. So Cod. Reg. and Cod. Worm.; Cod. Upsal. and Cod. Hypn. read gesta h\u00fas = guest's house. Gering, Simrock, and Anderson prefer the latter reading. I have followed J\u00f3nsson in accepting geita h\u00fas.]\n{p. 124}\nOf the life of the gods' grim foemen;\n --(Ever was Loptr a liar)--\n The never faithful Searcher\n Of the heart of the fearless Thunderer\n Declared green ways were lying\n To the walled stead of Geirr\u00f6dr.\nNo long space Thor let Loki\n Lure him to the going:\n They yearned to overmaster\n Thorn's offspring, when the Seeker\n Of Idi's garth, than giants\n Greater in might, made ready\n In ancient days, for faring\n To the Giants' Seat, from Odin's.\nFurther in the faring\n Forward went warlike Thj\u00e1lfi\n With the divine Host-Cheerer\n Than the deceiving lover\n Of her of enchanted singing:\n --(I chant the Ale of Odin)--\n The hill dame's Mocker measured\n The moor with hollow foot-soles.\nAnd the war-wonted journeyed\n Till the hill-women's Waster\n Came to Gangr's blood, the Vimur;\n Then Loki's bale-repeller,\n Eager in anger, lavish\n Of valor, longed to struggle\n{p. 125}\nAgainst the maid, kinswoman\n Of the sedge-cowled giant.\nAnd the honor-lessener\n Of the Lady of the Sea-Crag\n Won foot-hold in the surging\n Of the hail-rolled leaping hill-spate;\n The rock-knave's swift Pursuer\n Passed the broad stream of his staff's road,\n Where the foam-flecked mighty rivers\n Frothed with raging venom.\nThere they set the staves before them\n In the streaming grove of dogfish;\n The wind-wood's slippery pebbles,\n Smitten to speech, slept not;\n The clashing rod did rattle\n 'Gainst the worn rocks, and the rapid\n Of the fells howled, storm-smitten,\n On the river's stony anvil.\nThe Weaver of the Girdle\n Beheld the washing slope-stream\n Fall on his hard-grown shoulders:\n No help he found to save him;\n The Minisher of hill-folk\n Caused Might to grow within him\n Even to the roof of heaven,\n Till the rushing flood should ebb.\nThe fair warriors of the \u00c6sir,\n In battle wise, fast waded,\nAnd the surging pool, sward-sweeping,\n Streamed: the earth-drift's billow,\n Blown by the mighty tempest,\n Tugged with monstrous fury\n At the terrible oppressor\n Of the earth-born tribe of cave-folk.\nTill Thj\u00e1lfi came uplifted\n On his lord Thor's wide shield-strap:\n That was a mighty thew-test\n For the Prop of Heaven; the maidens\n Of the harmful giant stiffly\n Held the stream stubborn against them;\n The Giantess-Destroyer\n With Gr\u00eddr's staff fared sternly.\nNor did their hearts of rancor\n Droop in the men unblemished,\n Nor courage 'gainst the headlong\n Fall of the current fail them:\n A fiercer-daring spirit\n Flamed in the dauntless God's breast,--\n With terror Thor's staunch heart-stone\n Trembled not, nor Thj\u00e1lfi's.\nAnd afterward the haters\n Of the host of sword-companions,\n The shatterers of bucklers,\n Dinned on the shield of giants,\n Ere the destroying peoples\n Of the shingle-drift of monsters\n{p. 127}\nWrought the helm-play of Hedinn\n 'Gainst the rock-dwelling marksmen.\nThe hostile folk of sea-heights\n Fled before the Oppressor\n Of headland tribes; the dalesmen\n Of the hill-tops, imperilled,\n Fled, when Odin's kindred\n Stood, enduring staunchly;\n The Danes of the flood-reef's border\n Bowed down to the Flame-Shaker.\nWhere the chiefs, with thoughts of valor\n Imbued, marched into Thorn's house,\n A mighty crash resounded\n Of the cave's ring-wall; the slayer\n Of the mountain-reindeer-people\n On the giant-maiden's wide hood\n Was brought in bitter peril:\n There was baleful peace-talk.\nAnd they pressed the high head, bearing\n The piercing brow-moon's eye-flame\n Against the hill-hall's rafters;\n On the high roof-tree broken\n He crushed those raging women:\n The swinging Storm-car's Guider\n Burst the stout, ancient back-ridge\n And breast-bones of both women.\nEarth's Son became familiar\n With knowledge strange; the cave-men\n{p. 128}\nOf the land of stone o'ercame not,\n Nor long with ale were merry:\n The frightful elm-string's plucker,\n The friend of Sudri, hurtled\n The hot bar, in the forge fused,\n Into the hand of Odin's Gladdener.\nSo that Gunnr's Swift-Speeder\n Seized (the Friend of Freyja),\n With quick hand-gulps, the molten\n High-raised draught of metal,\n When the fire-brand, glowing,\n Flew with maddened fury\n From the giant's gripping fingers\n To the grim Sire of Thr\u00fadr.\nThe hall of the doughty trembled\n When he dashed the massy forehead\n Of the hill-wight 'gainst the bottom\n Of the house-wall's ancient column;\n Ullr's glorious step-sire\n With the glowing bar of mischief\n Struck with his whole strength downward\n At the hill-knave's mid-girdle.\nThe God with gory hammer\n Crushed utterly Glaumr's lineage;\n The Hunter of the Kindred\n Of the hearth-dame was victorious;\n The Plucker of the Bow-String\n Lacked not his people's valor,--\n{p. 129}\nThe Chariot-God, who swiftly\n Wrought grief to the Giant's bench-thanes.\nHe to whom hosts make offering\n Hewed down the dolt-like dwellers\n Of the cloud-abyss of Elf-Home,\n Crushing them with the fragment\n Of Gr\u00eddr's Rod: the litter\n Of hawks, the race of Listi\n Could not harm the help-strong\n Queller of Ella's Stone-Folk.]\nXIX.\" How should one periphrase Frigg? Call her Daughter of Fj\u00f6rgynn, Wife of Odin, Mother of Baldr, Co-Wife of J\u00f6rd and Rindr and Gunnl\u00f6d and Gr\u00eddr, Mother-in-law of Nanna, Lady of the \u00c6sir and \u00c1synjur, Mistress of Fulla and of the Hawk-Plumage and of Fensalir.\nXX. \"How should one periphrase Freyja? Thus: by calling her Daughter of Nj\u00f6rdr, Sister of Freyr, Wife of \u00d3dr, Mother of Hnoss, Possessor of the Slain, of Sessr\u00famnir, of the Gib-Cats, and of Br\u00edsinga-men; Goddess of the Vanir, Lady of the Vanir, Goddess Beautiful in Tears, Goddess of Love. All the goddesses may be periphrased thus: by calling them by the name of another, and naming them in terms of their possessions or their works or their kindred.\n[XXI. \"How should Sif be periphrased? By calling her Wife of Thor, Mother of Ullr, Fair-Haired Goddess, Co-Wife of J\u00e1rnsaxa, Mother of Thr\u00fadr.\nXXII. \"How should Idunn be periphrased? Thus: by calling\n{p. 130}\nher Wife of Bragi, and Keeper of the Apples; and the apples should be called Age-Elixir of the \u00c6sir. Idunn is also called Spoil of the Giant Thjazi, according to the tale that has been told before, how he took her away from the \u00c6sir. Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr of Hvin composed verses after that tale in the Haustl\u00f6ng:\nHow shall I make voice-payment\n Meetly for the shield-bridge\n .\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\n Of the war-wall Th\u00f3rleifr gave me?\n I survey the truceless faring\n Of the three gods strife-foremost,\n And Thjatsi's, on the shining\n Cheek of the shield of battle.\nThe Spoiler of the Lady\n Swiftly flew with tumult\n To meet the high god-rulers\n Long hence in eagle-plumage;\n The erne in old days lighted\n Where the \u00c6sir meat were bearing\n To the fire-pit; the Giant\n Of the rocks was called no faint-heart.\nThe skilful god-deceiver\n To the gods proved a stern sharer\n Of bones: the high Instructor\n Of \u00c6sir, helmet-hooded,\n Saw some power checked the seething;\n The sea-mew, very crafty,\n{p. 131}\nSpake from the ancient tree-trunk;\n Loki was ill-willed toward him.\nThe wolfish monster ordered\n Meili's Sire to deal him\n Food from the holy trencher:\n The friend of Him of Ravens\n To blow the fire was chosen;\n The Giant-King, flesh-greedy,\n Sank down, where the guileless\n Craft-sparing gods were gathered.\nThe comely Lord of All Things\n Commanded Loki swiftly\n To part the bull's-meat, slaughtered\n By Skadi's ringing bow-string,\n Among the folk, but straightway\n The cunning food-defiler\n Of the \u00c6sir filched-the quarters,\n All four, from the broad table.\nAnd the hungry Sire of Giants\n Savagely ate the yoke-beast\n From the oak-tree's sheltering branches,--\n That was in ancient ages,--\n Ere the wise-minded Loki,\n Warder of war-spoil, smote him,\n Boldest of foes of Earth-Folk,\n With a pole betwixt the shoulders.\nThe Arm-Burden then of Sigyn,\n Whom all the gods in bonds see,\n{p. 132}\nFirmly forthwith was fastened\n To the Fosterer of Skadi;\n To J\u00f6tunheim's Strong Dweller\n The pole stuck, and the fingers\n Of Loki too, companion\n Of H\u0153nir, clung to the pole's end.\nThe Bird of Blood flew upward\n (Blithesome in his quarry)\n A long way off with Loki,\n The lither God, that almost\n Wolf's Sire was rent asunder;\n Thor's friend must sue for mercy,\n Such peace as he might purchase\n To pray: nigh slain was Loptr.\nThen Hymir's Kinsman ordered\n The crafty god, pain-maddened,\n To wile to him the Maiden\n Who warded the \u00c6sir's age-cure;\n Ere long the necklace-robber,\n Br\u00edsinga's thief, lured slyly\n The Dame of Brunnakr's brooklet\n Into the Base One's dwelling.\nAt that the steep slope-dwellers\n No sorrow felt; then Idunn\n Was from the south, by giants\n New-stolen, come among them.\n All Ingvi-Freyr's high kindred,\n Hoary and old, to council\n{p. 133}\nHasted; grewsome of fashion\n And ugly all the gods were.\n .\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.[1]\n This heard I, that the Staunch Friend\n Of H\u0153nir--oft thereafter\n With wiles he tricked the \u00c6sir--\n Flew, in hawk-wings hidden;\n And the vile Sire of Giants,\n Vigorous Wing-Plume-Wielder,\n Hurtled on eagle-pinion\n After the hawk-shaped Loki.\nSwiftly the gods have kindled\n A fire; and the sovereign rulers\n Sustained the flame with shavings:\n Scorched was the flying giant,--\n He plunged down in mid-soaring:\n 'Tis pictured on the giant's\n Sole-bridge, the shield which, painted\n With stories, Th\u00f3rleifr gave me.]\n\"This is the correct manner of periphrasing the \u00c6sir: To call each of them by the name of another, and to designate him in terms of his works or his possessions or his kindred.\nXXIII. \"How should the heaven be periphrased? Thus: call it Skull of Ymir, and hence, Giant's Skull; Task or Burden of the Dwarves, or Helm of Vestri and Austri, Sudri, or Nordri; Land of the Sun, of the Moon, and of the\n[1. \"Brj\u00e1la \u00f0ur texti\"--J\u00f3nsson, Edda (Reykjavik, 1907), p. 384. The condition of the text makes translation impossible.]\n{p. 134}\nStars of Heaven, of the Wains and the Winds; Helm, or House, of the Air and the Earth and the Sun. So sang Arn\u00f3rr Earls'-Skald:\nSo large of gifts ne'er mounted\n Young Lord of Shields on ship-deck\n 'Neath the ancient Skull of Ymir:\n Splendid this Prince's largess.\nAnd as he sang again:\nBright grows the sun at dusking,\n The earth sinks into the dark sea,\n The Toil of Austri bursteth;\n All the ocean on the fells breaks.\nThus sang B\u00f6dvarr the Halt:\nFor never 'neath the Sun's Plain\n Shall come a nobler Land-Ward,\n Keener in battle-onset,\n Nor a brother of Ingi better.\nAnd as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr of Hvin sang:\nJ\u00f6rd's Son drove to the steel-play\n (High swelled the godlike anger\n In the mind of Meili's Brother),\n And the Moon-Way 'neath him quivered.\nEven as sang Ormr Barrey's-Skald:\nLady of Draupnir's gore-streak,\n However great I know him,\n{p. 135}\nThe wielder (by right he ruleth)\n Of the Wain's Road sees me gladly.\nEven as the skald Bragi sang:\nHe who threw the dead eyes\n Of Thjazi, Skadi's father,\n Into the Winds' Wide Basin\n O'er the abodes of men-folk many.\nAnd as Mark\u00fas sang:\n'Tis long since the dear-loved Warder\n Of sea-men was born on the wave-girt earth-bottom\n Of the Storm-Container; each man praises\n The sublime age of the Ring-Dispenser.\nEven as Steinn Herd\u00edsarson sang:\nI sing the holy Ruler\n Of the high World-Tent rather\n Than men, for very precious\n Is He: His praises tell I.\nAnd as Arn\u00f3rr Earls'-Skald sang:\nHelp, dear King of Heaven,\n The Day's Plain, help my Hermundr.\nAnd as Arn\u00f3rr sang further:\nSoothfast King of the Sun-Tents,\n Help stout-hearted R\u00f6gnvaldr.\n{p. 136}\nAnd as Hallvardr sang:\nKn\u00fatr wards the land, as the Ruler\n Of All wards the radiant Fell-Hall.\nAs Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nMichael, wise of understanding,\n Weighs what seems done ill, and good things:\n Then the Monarch of the Sun's Helm\n At the Doom-Seat parts all mortals.\nXXIV. \"How should one periphrase the earth? Thus: by calling her Flesh of Ymir, and Mother of Thor, Daughter of \u00d3narr, Odin's Bride, Co-Wife of Frigg and Rindr and Gunnl\u00f6d, Mother-in-law of Sif, Floor and Bottom of the Storm-Hall, Sea of Beasts, Daughter of Night, Sister of Audr and of Day. Even as Eyvindr Skald-Despoiler sang:\nNow the beaming gold is hidden\n In the body of the Mother\n Of the Giants' Foe; the counsels\n Of a kindred strong are mighty.\nAs sang Hallfredr Troublous-Skald:\nIn council 't was determined\n That the King's friend, wise in counsel,\n Should wed the Land, sole Daughter\n Of \u00d3narr, greenly wooded.\nAnd he said further:\n{p. 137}\nThe Raven-Abode's brave Ruler\n Got the broad-faced Bride of Odin,\n The Land, with kingly counsels\n Of weapons, lured unto him.\nEven as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr-sang:\nThe Ruler, glad in Warriors,\n In the rowed hull doth fasten\n The ships of men to the strand's end,\n At the head of the sea keel-ridden.\nAs Hallfredr sang:\nFull loath to let the Land slip\n I hold the lordly Spear-Prince\n Audr's sister is subjected\n To the splendid Treasure-Spender.\nThus sang Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr:\nFar off the dart-slow sluggard\n Stood, when the Sword-Inciter\n In ancient days took to him\n The unripe Co-Wife of Rindr.\nXXV. \"How should one periphrase the sea? Thus: by calling it Ymir's Blood; Visitor of the Gods; Husband of R\u00e1n; Father of \u00c6gir's Daughters, of them who are called Himingl\u00e6va, D\u00fafa, Bl\u00f3dughadda, Hefring, Udr, Hr\u00f6nn, Bylgja, B\u00e1ra, Kolga; Land of R\u00e1n and of \u00c6gir's Daughters, of Ships and of ships' names, of the Keel, of Beaks, of Planks and Seams, of Fishes, of Ice; Way and Road of\n{p. 138}\nSea-Kings; likewise Encircler of Islands; House of Sands and of Kelp and of Reefs; Land of Fishing-gear, of Sea-Fowls, and of Fair Wind. Even as Ormr Barrey's-Skald sang:\nOn the gravelly beach of good ships\n Grates the Blood of Ymir.\nAs Refr sang:\nThe mild deer of the masthead beareth\n O'er the murky water from the westward\n Her wave-pressed bows; the land I look for\n Before the beak; the Whale-Home shallows.\nEven as Steinn sang:\nWhen the fallow fell-wall's Whirlwinds\n Wove o'er the waves full fiercely,\n And \u00c6gir's storm-glad daughters\n Tore, of grim frost begotten.\nGymir's wet-cold Spae-Wife\n Wiles the Bear of Twisted Cables\n Oft into \u00c6gir's wide jaws,\n Where the angry billow breaketh.\nIt is said here that \u00c6gir and Gymir are both the same. And he sang further:\nAnd the Sea-Peak's Sleipnir slitteth\n The stormy breast rain-driven,\n{p. 139}\nThe wave, with red stain running\n Out of white R\u00e1n's mouth.\nAs Einarr Sk\u00falason sang:\nThe stern snow-wind has thrust out\n With strength, the ship from landward:\n The Swan-Land's steed sees Iceland\n Into the surf receding.\nMany a stiff rowlock straineth,\n And the noisy Strand of Fish-Gear,\n The Sea, the lands o'ercometh:\n Men's hands oft span the stays.\nAnd he sang yet further:\nThe gray Isle-Fetter urges\n Heiti's raven-ship onward;\n Gold beaks the fleet ships carry:\n Rich that faring to the Chieftain.\nAnd he sang again:\nThe Isle-Rim autumn chilly\n Impels the dock's cold snowshoe.\nAnd thus also:\nThe cool lands' Surging-Girdle\n Before the beaks springs asunder.\n{p. 140}\nAs Sn\u00e6bjorn sang:\nThey say nine brides of skerries\n Swiftly move the Sea-Churn\n Of Gr\u00f3tti's Island-Flour-Bin\n Beyond the Earth's last outskirt,--\n They who long the corny ale ground\n Of Aml\u00f3d\u00ed; the Giver\n Of Rings now cuts with ship's beak\n The Abiding-Place of boat-sides.\nHere the sea is called Aml\u00f3di's Churn.\nThe sturdy drive-nails weaken\n In the swift swirl, where paleth\n Rakni's Heaving Plain: wind\n Puffs the reefs against the stays.\nXXVI. \"How should one periphrase the sun? By calling her Daughter of Mundilfari, Sister of the Moon, Wife of Glenr, Fire of Heaven and of the Air. Even as Sk\u00fali Thorsteinsson sang:\nGlenr's god-blithe Bed-Mate wadeth\n Into the Goddess's mansion\n With rays; then the good light cometh\n Of gray-sarked M\u00e1ni downward.\nThus sang Einarr Sk\u00falason:\nWhereso the lofty flickering\n Flame of the World's Hall swimmeth\n{p. 141}\nO'er our loved friend, who hateth\n And lavisheth the sea-gold.\nXXVII. \"How should the wind be periphrased? Thus: call it Son of Fornj\u00f3tr, Brother of the Sea and of Fire, Scathe or Ruin or Hound or Wolf of the Wood or of the Sail or of the Rigging.\nThus spake Sveinn in the Nordrsetu-dr\u00e1pa:\nFirst began to fly\n Fornj\u00f3tr's sons ill-shapen.\nXXVIII. \"How should one periphrase fire? Thus: call it Brother of the Wind and the Sea, Ruin and Destruction of Wood and of Houses, H\u00e1lfr's Bane, Sun of Houses.\nXXIX. \"How should winter be periphrased? Thus: call it Son of Vindsvalr, Destruction of Serpents, Tempest Season. Thus sang Ormr Steinth\u00f3rsson:\nTo the blind man I proffer\n This blessing: Vindsvalr's Son.\nThus sang \u00c1sgr\u00edmr:\nThe warlike Spoil-Bestower,\n Lavish of Wealth, that winter--\n Snake's-Woe--in Thr\u00e1ndheim tarried;\n The folk knew thy true actions.\nXXX. \"How should one periphrase summer? Thus: call\n{p. 142}\nit Son of Sv\u00e1sudr and Comfort of Serpents, and Growth of Men. Even as Egill Skallagr\u00edmsson sang:\nWe shall wave our swords, O Dyer\n Of Wolf's Teeth, make them glitter:\n A deed we have for wreaking\n In the Comfort of Dale-Serpents.\nXXXI. \"How should man be periphrased? By his works, by that which he gives or receives or does; he may also be periphrased in terms of his property, those things which he possesses, and, if he be liberal, of his liberality; likewise in terms of the families from which he descended, as well as of those which have sprung from him. How is one to periphrase him in terms of these things? Thus, by calling him accomplisher or performer of his goings or his conduct, of his battles or sea-voyages or huntings or weapons or ships. And because he is a tester of weapons and a winner of battles,--the words for 'winner' and 'wood' being the same, as are also those for tester' and 'rowan,'--therefore, from these phrases, skalds have called man Ash or Maple, Grove, or other masculine tree-names, and periphrased him in such expressions in terms of battles or ships or possessions. It is also correct to periphrase man with all the names of the \u00c6sir; also with giant-terms, and this last is for the most part for mocking or libellous purposes. Periphrasis with the names of elves is held to be favorable.\n\"Woman should be periphrased with reference to all female garments, gold and jewels, ale or wine or any other drink, or to that which she dispenses or gives; likewise with reference to ale-vessels, and to all those things which it becomes her to perform or to give. It is correct to periphrase\n{p. 143}\nher thus: by calling her giver or user of that of which she partakes. But the words for 'giver' and 'user' are also names of trees; therefore woman is called in metaphorical speech by all feminine tree-names. Woman is periphrased with reference to jewels or agates for this reason: in heathen times what was called a 'stone-necklace,' which they wore about the neck, was a part of a woman's apparel; now it is used figuratively in such a way as to periphrase woman with stones and all names of stones. Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the \u00c1synjur or the Valkyrs or Norris or women of supernatural kind. It is also correct to periphrase woman in terms of all her conduct or property or family.\nXXXII. \"How should gold be periphrased? Thus: by calling it \u00c6gir's Fire, and Needles of Glasir, Hair of Sif, Snood of Fulla, Freyja's Tears, Talk and Voice and Word of Giants, Draupnir's Drop and Rain or Shower of Draupnir, or of Freyja's Eyes, Otter's Ransom, Forced Payment of the \u00c6sir, Seed of F\u00fdris-Plain, Cairn-Roof of H\u00f6lgi, Fire of all Waters and of the Hand, Stone and Reef or Gleam of the Hand.\nXXXIII. Wherefore is gold called \u00c6gir's Fire? This tale is to the same purport as we have told before: \u00c6gir went to \u00c1sgard to a feast, but when he was ready to return home, he invited Odin and all the \u00c6sir to visit him in three months' time. First came Odin and Nj\u00f6rdr, Freyr, T\u00fdr, Bragi, V\u00eddarr, Loki; likewise the \u00c1synjur: Frigg, Freyja, Gefjun, Skadi, Idunn, Sif. Thor was not there, having gone into the eastern lands to slay trolls. When the gods had sat down in their places, straightway \u00c6gir had bright gold\n{p. 144}\nbrought in onto the floor of the hall, and the gold gave forth light and illumined the hall like fire: and it was used there for lights at his banquet, even as in Valhall swords were used in place of fire. Then Loki bandied sharp words with all the gods, and slew one of \u00c6gir's thralls, him who was called Five-Finger; another of his thralls was named Fire-Kindler. R\u00e1n is the name of \u00c6gir's wife, and their daughters are nine, even as we have written before. At this feast all things were self-served, both food and ale, and all implements needful to the feast. Then the \u00c6sir became aware that R\u00e1n had that net wherein she was wont to catch all men who go upon the sea. Now this tale is to show whence it comes that gold is called Fire or Light or Brightness of \u00c6gir, of R\u00e1n, or of \u00c6gir's daughters; and now such use is made of these metaphors that gold is called Fire of the Sea, and of all names of the sea, even as \u00c6gir or R\u00e1n had names associated with the sea. Therefore gold is now called Fire of Waters or of Rivers, and of all river names.\n\"But these names have fared just as other figures also have done: the later skalds have composed after the examples of the old skalds, even those examples which stood in their poems, but were later expanded into such forms as seemed to later poets to be like what was written before: as a lake is to the sea, or the river to the lake, or the brook to the river. Therefore all these are called new figures, when terms are expanded to greater length than what was recorded before; and all this seems well and good, so fair as it concurs with verisimilitude and nature. As Bragi the Skald sang:\nI was given by the Battler\n The fire of the Brook of Sea-Fish:\n{p. 145}\nHe gave it me, with mercy,\n For the Drink of the Mountain-Giant.\nXXXIV. \"Why is gold called the Needles, or Leaves; of Glasir? In \u00c1sgard, before the doors of Valhall, there stands a grove which is called Glasir, and its leafage is all red gold, even as is sung here:\nGlasir stands\n With golden leafage\n Before the High God's halls.\nFar and wide, this tree is the fairest known among gods and men.\nXXXV. \"Why is gold called Sif's Hair? Loki Laufeyarson, for mischief's sake, cut off all Sif's hair. But when Thor learned of this, he seized Loki, and would have broken every bone in him, had he not sworn to get the Black Elves to make Sif hair of gold, such that it would grow like other hair. After that, Loki went to those dwarves who are called \u00cdvaldi's Sons; and they made the hair, and Sk\u00eddbladnir also, and the spear which became Odin's possession, and was called Gungnir. Then Loki wagered his head with the dwarf called Brokkr that Brokkr's brother Sindri could not make three other precious things equal in virtue to these. Now when they came to the smithy, Sindri laid a pigskin in the hearth and bade Brokkr blow, and did not cease work until he took out of the hearth that which he had laid therein. But when he went out of the smithy, while the other dwarf was blowing, straightway a fly settled upon his hand and stung: yet he blew on\n{p. 146}\nas before, until the smith took the work out of the hearth; and it was a boar, with mane and bristles of gold. Next, he laid gold in the hearth and bade Brokkr blow and cease not from his blast until he should return. He went out; but again the fly came and settled on Brokkr's neck, and bit now half again as hard as before; yet he blew even until the smith took from the hearth that gold ring which is called Draupnir. Then Sindri laid iron in the hearth and bade him blow, saying that it would be spoiled if the blast failed. Straightway the fly settled between Brokkr's eyes and stung his eyelid, but when the blood fell into his eyes so that he could not see, then he clutched at it with his hand as swiftly as he could,--while the bellows grew flat,--and he swept the fly from him. Then the smith came thither and said that it had come near to spoiling all that was in the hearth. Then he took from the forge a hammer, put all the precious works into the hands of Brokkr his brother, and bade him go with them to \u00c1sgard and claim the wager.\n\"Now when he and Loki brought forward the precious gifts, the \u00c6sir sat down in the seats of judgment; and that verdict was to prevail which Odin, Thor, and Freyr should render. Then Loki gave Odin the spear Gungnir, and to Thor the hair which Sif was to have, and Sk\u00eddbladnir to Freyr, and told the virtues of all these things: that the spear would never stop in its thrust; the hair would grow to the flesh as soon as it came upon Sif's head; and Sk\u00eddbladnir would have a favoring breeze as soon as the sail was raised, in whatsoever direction it might go, but could be folded together like a napkin and be kept in Freyr's pouch if he so desired. Then Brokkr brought forward his gifts: he gave to Odin the ring, saying that eight\n{p. 147}\nrings of the same weight would drop from it every ninth night; to Freyr he gave the boar, saying that it could run through air and water better than any horse, and it could never become so dark with night or gloom of the Murky Regions that there should not be sufficient light where be went, such was the glow from its mane and bristles. Then he gave the hammer to Thor, and said that Thor might smite as hard as he desired, whatsoever might be before him, and the hammer would not fail; and if he threw it at anything, it would never miss, and never fly so far as not to return to his hand; and if be desired, he might keep it in his sark, it was so small; but indeed it was a flaw in the hammer that the fore-haft was somewhat short.\n\"This was their decision: that the hammer was best of all the precious works, and in it there was the greatest defence against the Rime-Giants; and they gave sentence, that the dwarf should have his wager. Then Loki offered to redeem his head, but the dwarf said that there was no chance of this. 'Take me, then,' quoth Loki; but when Brokkr would have laid hands on him, he was a long way off. Loki had with him those shoes with which he ran through air and over water. Then the dwarf prayed Thor to catch him, and Thor did so. Then the dwarf would have hewn off his head; but Loki said that he might have the head, but not the neck. So the dwarf took a thong and a knife, and would have bored a hole in Loki's lips and stitched his mouth together, but the knife did not cut. Then Brokkr said that it would be better if his brother's awl were there: and even as he named it, the awl was there, and pierced the lips. He stitched the Ups together, and Loki ripped the thong out of the edges. That thong, with which Loki's mouth was sewn together, is called Vartari.\n{p. 148}\nXXXVI. \"One may hear how gold is metaphorically called Fulla's Snood, in this verse which Eyvindr Skald-Despoiler wrought:\nFulla's shining Fillet,\n The forehead's sun at rising,\n Shone on the swelling shield-hill\n For skalds all Hakon's life-days.\nXXXVII. \"Gold is called Freyja's Tears, as was said before. So sang Sk\u00fali Thorsteinsson:\nMany a fearless swordsman\n Received the Tears of Freyja\n The more the morn when foemen\n We murdered; we were present.\nAnd as Einarr Sk\u00falason sang:\nWhere, mounted 'twixt the carvings,\n The Tear of Mard\u00f6ll lieth,\n We bear the axe shield-splitting,\n Swollen with Serpent's lair-gold.\nAnd here Einarr has further periphrased Freyja so as to call her Mother of Hnoss, or Wife of \u00d3dr, as standeth below:\nThe shield, tempest's strong roof-ice,\n With tear-gold is unminished,\n Eye-rain of \u00d3dr's Bed-Mate:\n His age the King so useth.\nAnd again thus:\n{p. 149}\nH\u00f6rn's Child, the glorious adornment,\n I own, gold-wound--a jewel\n Most fair--to the shield's rim\n Fast is the golden Sea-Flame:\n On the gem, Freyr's Niece, the tear-drift\n Of the fore-head of her Mother\n She bears; the Raven-Feeder\n Gave me Fr\u00f3di's seed-gold's fostering.\nIt is also recorded here that one may periphrase Freyja by calling her Sister of Freyr.\nA defence of songs full goodly\n He freely gave me, neighbor\n Of sea-scales: I praise gladly\n Nj\u00f6rdr's Daughter's golden gem-child.\nHere she is called Daughter of Nj\u00f6rdr.\nThe awesome Stately Urger\n Of Odin, he who raises\n The struggle stern, gave to me\n The courage-stalwart daughter\n Of the Vana-Bride, my fair axe;\n The valorous sword-mote's Ruler\n Led Gefn's girl to the Skald's bed,\n Set with the sea-flame's gold-work.\nHere she is called Gefn and Bride of the Vanir.--It is proper to join 'tears' with all the names of Freyja, and\n{p. 150}\nto call gold by such terms; and in divers ways these periphrases have been varied, so that gold is called Hail, or Rain, or Snow-Storm, or Drops, or Showers, or Water falls, of Freyja's Eyes, or Cheeks, or Brows, or Eyelids.\nXXXVIII. \"In this place one may hear that gold is called Word, or Voice, of Giants, as we have said before; thus sang Bragi the Skald:\nThen had I the third friend\n Fairly praised: the poorest\n In the Voice of the Botched-Knob's \u00c1li,\n But best of all to me.\nHe called a rock Botched Knob, and a giant \u00c1li of Rock, and gold Voice of the Giant.\nXXXIX. \"For what reason is gold called Otter's Wergild? It is related that when certain of the \u00c6sir, Odin and Loki and H\u0153nir, went forth to explore the earth, they came to a certain river, and proceeded along the river to a waterfall. And beside the fall was an otter, which had taken a salmon from the fall and was eating, blinking his eyes the while. Then Loki took up a stone and cast it at the otter, and struck its head. And Loki boasted in his catch, that he had got otter and salmon with one blow. Then they took up the salmon and the otter and bore them along with them, and coming to the buildings of a certain farm, they went in. Now the husbandman who dwelt there was named Hreidmarr: he was a man of much substance, and very skilled in black magic. The \u00c6sir asked him for a night's lodging, saying that they had sufficient food with them, and showed him\n{p. 151}\ntheir catch. But when Hreidmarr saw the otter, straight way he called to him his sons, F\u00e1fnir and Reginn, and told them that the otter their brother was slain, and who had done that deed.\nIt Now father and sons went up to the \u00c6sir, seized them, bound them, and told them about the otter, how he was Hreidmarr's son. The \u00c6sir offered a ransom for their lives, as much wealth as Hreidmarr himself desired to appoint; and a covenant was made between them on those terms, and confirmed with oaths. Then the otter was flayed, and Hreidmarr, taking the otter-skin, bade them fill the skin with red gold and also cover it altogether; and that should be the condition of the covenant between them. Thereupon Odin sent Loki into the Land of the Black Elves, and he came to the dwarf who is called Andvari, who was as a fish in the water. Loki caught him in his hands and required of him in ransom of his life all the gold that he had in his rock; and when they came within the rock, the dwarf brought forth all the gold he had, and it was very much wealth. Then the dwarf quickly swept under his hand one little gold ring, but Loki saw it and commanded him to give over the ring. The dwarf prayed him not to take the ring from him, saying that from this ring he could multiply wealth for himself if he might keep it. Loki answered that be should not have one penny left, and took the ring from him and went out; but the dwarf declared that that ring should be the ruin of every one who should come into possession of it. Loki replied that this seemed well enough to him, and that this condition should hold good provided that he himself brought it to the ears of them that should receive the ring and the curse. He went his way and came to Hreidmarr's dwelling, and showed the\n{p. 152}\ngold to Odin; but when Odin saw the ring, it seemed fair to him, and he took it away from the treasure, and paid the gold to Hreidmarr. Then Hreidmarr filled the otter-skin as much as he could, and set it up when it was full. Next Odin went up, having the skin to cover with gold, and he bade Hreidmarr look whether the skin were yet altogether hidden. But Hreidmarr looked at it searchingly, and saw one of the hairs of the snout, and commanded that this be covered, else their covenant should be at an end. Then Odin drew out the ring, and covered the hair, saying that they were now delivered from their debt for the slaying of the otter. But when Odin had taken his spear, and Loki his shoes, and they had no longer any need to be afraid, then Loki declared that the curse which Andvari had uttered should be fulfilled: that this ring and this gold should be the destruction of him who received it; and that was fulfilled afterward. Now it has been told wherefore gold is called Otter's Wergild, or Forced Payment of the \u00c6sir, or Metal of Strife.\nXL. \"What more is to be said of the gold? Hreidmarr took the gold for his son's wergild, but F\u00e1fnir and Reginn claimed some part of their brother's blood-money for themselves. Hreidmarr would not grant them one penny of the gold. This was the wicked purpose of those brethren: they slew their father for the gold. Then Reginn demanded that F\u00e1fnir share the gold with him, half for half. F\u00e1fnir answered that there was little chance of his sharing it with his brother, seeing that he had slain his father for its sake; and he bade Reginn go hence, else he should fare even as Hreidmarr. F\u00e1fnir had taken the helmet which Hreidmarr had possessed, and set it upon his head (this helmet was\n{p. 153}\ncalled the Helm of Terror, of which all living creatures that see it are afraid), and the sword called Hrotti. Reginn had that sword which was named Refill. So he fled away, and F\u00e1fnir went up to Gnita Heath, and made himself a lair, and turned himself into a serpent, and laid him down upon the gold.\n\"Then Reginn went to King Hj\u00e1lprekr at Thj\u00f3d, and there he became his smith; and he took into his fostering Sigurdr, son of Sigmundr, V\u00f6lsungr's son, and of Hj\u00f6rd\u00eds, daughter of Eylimi. Sigurdr was. most illustrious of all Host-Kings in race, in prowess, and in mind. Reginn declared to him where F\u00e1fnir lay on the gold, and incited him to seek the gold. Then Reginn fashioned the sword Gramr, which was so sharp that Sigurdr, bringing it down into running water, cut asunder a flock of wool which drifted down-stream onto the sword's edge. Next Sigurdr clove Reginn's anvil down to the stock with the sword. After that they went, Sigurdr and Reginn, to Gnita Heath, and there Sigurdr dug a pit in F\u00e1fnr's way and laid him self in ambush therein. And when F\u00e1fnir glided toward the water and came above the pit, Sigurdr straightway thrust his sword through him, and that was his end.\n\"Then Reginn came forward, saying that Sigurdr had slain his brother, and demanded as a condition of reconciliation that he take F\u00e1fnir's heart and roast it with fire; and Reginn laid him down and drank the blood of F\u00e1fnir, and settled himself to sleep. But when Sigurdr was roasting the heart, and thought that it must be quite roasted, he touched it with his finger to see how hard it was; and then the juice ran out from the heart onto his finger, so that he was burned and put his finger to his mouth. As soon as the heart's blood came upon his tongue, straightway he knew the speech\n{p. 154}\nof birds, and he understood what the nuthatches were saying which were sitting in the trees. Then one spake:\nThere sits Sigurdr\n Blood-besprinkled,\n F\u00e1fnir's heart\n With flame he roasteth:\n Wise seemed to me\n The Spoiler of Rings\n If the gleaming\n Life-fibre he ate.\nThere lies Reginn--sang another--\n Rede he ponders,\n Would betray the youth\n Who trusteth in him:\n In his wrath he plots\n Wrong accusation;\n The smith of bale\n Would avenge his brother.\nThen Sigurdr went over to Reginn and slew him, and thence to his horse, which was named Grani, and rode till he came to F\u00e1fnir's lair. He took up the gold, trussed it up in his saddle-bags, laid it upon Grani's back, mounted up himself, and then rode his ways. Now the tale is told why gold is called Lair or Abode of F\u00e1fnir, or Metal of Gnita Heath, or Grani's Burden.\nXLI. \"Then Sigurdr rode on till he found a house on the mountain, wherein a woman in helm and birnie lay sleeping. He drew his sword and cut the birnie from her: she\n{p. 155}\nawoke then, and gave her name as Hildr: she is called Brynhildr, and was a Valkyr. Sigurdr rode away and came to the king who was named Gj\u00faki, whose wife was Gr\u00edmhildr; their children were Gunnarr, H\u00f6gni, Gudr\u00fan, Gudn\u00fd; Gotthormr was Gj\u00faki's stepson. Sigurdr tarried there a long time, and then he obtained the hand of Gudr\u00fan, daughter of Gj\u00faki, and Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni swore oaths of blood brotherhood with Sigurdr. Thereafter Sigurdr and the sons of Gj\u00faki went unto Atli, Budli's son, to sue for the hand of Brynhildr his sister in marriage to Gunnarr. Brynhildr abode on Hinda-Fell, and about her hall there was a flaring fire; and she had made a solemn vow to take none but that man who should dare to ride through the flaring fire.\n\"Then Sigurdr and the sons of Gj\u00faki (who were also called Niflungs) rode up onto the mountain, and Gunnarr should have ridden through the flaring fire: but he had the horse named Goti, and that horse dared not leap into the fire. So they exchanged shapes, Sigurdr and Gunnarr, and names likewise; for Grani would go under no man but Sigurdr. Then Sigurdr leapt onto Grani, and rode through the flaring fire. That eve he was wedded with Brynhildr. But when they came to bed, he drew the Sword Gramr from its sheath and laid it between them. In the morning when he arose and clothed himself, he gave Brynhildr as linen-fee the same gold ring which Loki had taken from Andvari, and took another ring from her hand for remembrance. Then Sigurdr mounted his horse and rode to his fellows, and he and Gunnarr changed shapes again and went home to Gj\u00faki with Brynhildr. Sigurdr and Gudr\u00fan had two children, Sigmundr and Svanhildr.\n\"It befell on a time that Brynhildr and Gudr\u00fan went to the water to wash their hair. And when they came to the\n{p. 156}\nriver, Brynhildr waded out from the bank well into the river, saying that she would not touch to her head the water which ran out of the hair of Gudr\u00fan, since herself had the more valorous husband. Then Gudr\u00fan went into the river after her and said that it was her right to wash her hair higher upstream, for the reason that she had to husband such a man as neither Gunnarr nor any other in the world matched in valor, seeing that he had slain F\u00e1fnir and Reginn and succeeded to the heritage of both. And Brynhildr made answer: 'It was a matter of greater worth that Gunnarr rode through the flaring fire and Sigurdr durst not.' Then Gudr\u00fan laughed, and said: 'Dost thou think that Gunnarr rode through the flaring fire? Now I think that he who went into the bride-bed with thee was the same that gave me this gold ring; and the gold ring which thou bearest on thine hand and didst receive for linen-fee is called Andvari's Yield, and I believe that it was not Gunnarr who got that ring on Gnita Heath.' Then Brynhildr was silent, and went home.\n\"After that she egged on Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni to slay Sigurdr; but because they were Sigurdr's sworn blood-brothers, they stirred up Gotthormr their brother to slay him. He thrust his sword through Sigurdr as he slept; but when Sigurdr felt the wound, he hurled his sword Gramr after Gotthormr, so that it cut the man asunder at the middle. There fell Sigurdr and Sigmundr, his son of three winters, whom they slew. Then Brynhildr stabbed herself with a sword, and she was burned with Sigurdr; but Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni took F\u00e1fnir's heritage and Andvari's Yield, and ruled the lands thereafter.\n\"King Atli, Budli's son, and brother of Brynhildr, then wedded Gudr\u00fan, whom Sigurdr had had to wife; and they\n{p. 157}\nhad children. King Atli invited to him Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni, and they came at his invitation. Yet before they departed from their land, they hid the gold, F\u00e1fnir's heritage, in the Rhine, and that gold has never since been found. Now King Atli had a host in readiness, and fought with Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni; and they were made captive. King Atli bade . the heart be cut out of H\u00f6gni alive, and that was his end. Gunnarr he caused to be cast into a den of serpents. But a harp was brought secretly to Gunnarr, and he struck it with his toes, his hands being bound; he played the harp so that all the serpents fell asleep, saving only one adder, which glided over to him, and gnawed into the cartilage of his breast-bone so far that her head sank within the wound, and she clove to his liver till he died. Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni were called Niflungs and Gj\u00fakungs, for which reason gold is called Treasure, or Heritage, of the Niflungs.\n[\"A little while after, Gudr\u00fan slew her two sons, and caused flagons to be made of their skulls, set with gold and silver. Then the funeral-feast was held for the Niflungs; and at this feast Gudr\u00fan had mead poured into the flagons for King Atli, and the mead was mixed with the blood of the boys. Moreover, she caused their hearts to be roasted and set before the king, that he might eat of them. And when he had eaten, then she herself told him what she had done, with many scathing words. There was no lack of strong drink there, so that most of the company had fallen asleep where they sat. That night she went to the king while he slept, and H\u00f6gni's son with her; they smote the king, and that was the death of him. Then they set fire to the hall, and burned the folk that were within. After that she went to the shore and leaped into the sea, desiring to make\n{p. 158}\nan end of herself; but she was tossed by the billows over the firth, and was borne to King J\u00f3nakr's land. And when he saw her, he took her to him and wedded her, and they had three sons, called S\u00f6rli, Hamdir, and Erpr: they were all raven-black of hair, like Gunnarr and H\u00f6gni and the other Niflungs. There Svanhildr, daughter of the youth Sigurdr, was reared, and of all women she was fairest. King J\u00f6rmunrekkr the Mighty learned of her beauty, and sent his son Randv\u00e9r to woo her and bring her to be his wife. When Randv\u00e9r had come to the court of J\u00f3nakr, Svanhildr was given into his hands, and he should have! brought her to King J\u00f6rmunrekkr. But Earl Bikki said that it was a better thing for Randv\u00e9r to wed Svandhildr, since he and she were both young, whereas J\u00f6rmunrekkr was old. This counsel pleased the young folk well. Thereupon Bikki reported the matter to the king. Straightway, King J\u00f6rmunrekkr commanded that his son be seized and led to the gallows. Then Randv\u00e9r took his hawk and plucked off ins feathers, and bade that it be sent so to his father; after which he was hanged. But when King J\u00f6rmunrekkr saw the hawk, suddenly it came home to him that even as the hawk was featherless and powerless to fly, so was his kingdom shorn of its might, since he was old and childless. Then King J\u00f6rmunrekkr, riding out of the wood where he had been hunting, beheld Svanhildr as she sat washing her hair: they rode upon her and trod her to death under their horses' feet.\n\"But when Gudr\u00fan learned of this, she urged on her sons to take vengeance for Svanhildr. When they were preparing for their journey, she gave them birnies and helmets so strong that iron could not bite into them. She laid these instructions upon them: that, when they were come to King J\u00f6rmunrekkr, they should go up to him by night as he slept:\n{p. 159}\nS\u00f6rli and Hamdir should hew off his hands and feet, and Erpr his head. But when they were on their way, they asked Erpr what help they might expect from him, if they met King J\u00f6rmunrekkr. He answered that he would render them such aid as the hand affords the foot. They said that that help which the foot received from the hand was altogether nothing. They were so wroth with their mother that she had sent them away with angry words, and they desired so eagerly to do what would seem worst to her, that they slew Erpr, because she loved him most of all. A little later, while S\u00f6rli was walking, one of his feet slipped, and he supported himself on his hand; and he said: 'Now the hand assists the foot indeed; it were better now that Erpr were living.' Now when they came to King J\u00f6rmunrekkr by night, where he was sleeping, and hewed hands and feet off him, he awoke and called upon his men, and bade them arise. And then Hamdir spake, saying: 'The head had been off by now, if Erpr lived.' Then the henchmen rose up and attacked them, but could not overmaster them with weapons; and J\u00f6rmunrekkr called out to them to beat them with stones, and it was done. There S\u00f6rli and Hamdir fell, and now all the house and offspring of Gj\u00faki were dead. A daughter named \u00c1slaug lived after young Sigurdr; she was reared with Heimir in Hlymdalir, and great houses are sprung from her. It is said that Sigmundr, V\u00f6lsungr's son, was so strong that he could drink venom and receive no hurt; and Sinfj\u00f6tli his son and Sigurdr were so hard-skinned that no venom from without could harm them: wherefore Bragi the Skald has sung thus:\nWhen the wriggling Serpent\n Of the V\u00f6lsung's Drink hung writhing\n{p. 160}\nOn the hook of the Foeman\n Of Hill-Giants' kindred.\nMost skalds have made verses and divers short tales from these sagas. Bragi the Old wrote of the fall of S\u00f6rli and Hamdir in that song of praise which he composed on Ragnarr Lodbr\u00f3k:\nOnce J\u00f6rmunrekkr awakened\n To an dream, 'mid the princes\n Blood-stained, while swords were swirling:\n A brawl burst in the dwelling\n Of Randv\u00e9r's royal kinsman,\n When the raven-swarthy\n Brothers of Erpr took vengeance\n For all the bitter sorrows.\nThe bloody dew of corpses,\n O'er the king's couch streaming,\n Fell on the floor where, severed,\n Feet and hands blood-dripping\n Were seen; in the ale-cups' fountain\n He fell headlong, gore-blended:\n On the Shield, Leaf of the Bushes\n Of Leifi's Land, 't is painted.\nThere stood the shielded swordsmen,\n Steel biting not, surrounding\n The king's couch; and the brethren\n Hamdir and S\u00f6rli quickly\n To the earth were beaten\n By the prince's order,\n{p. 161}\nTo the Bride of Odin\n With hard stones were battered.\nThe swirling weapons' Urger\n Bade Gj\u00faki's race be smitten\n Sore, who from life were eager\n To ravish Svanhildr's lover;\n And all pay J\u00f3nakr's offspring\n With the fair-piercing weapon,\n The render of blue birnies,\n With bitter thrusts and edges.\nI see the heroes' slaughter\n On the fair shield-rim's surface;\n Ragnarr gave me the Ship-Moon\n With many tales marked on it.]\nXLII. \"Why is gold called Fr\u00f3di's Meal? This is the tale thereof: One of Odin's sons, named Skj\u00f6ldr,--from whom the Skj\u00f6ldungs are come,--had his abode and ruled in the realm which now is called Denmark, but then was known as Gotland. Skj\u00f6ldr's son, who ruled the land after him, was named Fridleifr. Fridleifr's son was Fr\u00f3di: he succeeded to the kingdom after his father, in the time when Augustus Caesar imposed peace on all the world; at that time Christ was born. But because Fr\u00f3di was mightiest of all kings in the Northern lands, the peace was called by his name wherever the Danish tongue was spoken; and men call it the Peace of Fr\u00f3di. No man injured any other, even though he met face to face his father's slayer or his brother's, loose or bound. Neither was there any thief nor robber then, so that a gold ring lay long on Jalangr's Heath. King Fr\u00f3di\n{p. 162}\nwent to a feast in Sweden at the court of the king who was called Fj\u00f6lnir, and there he bought two maid-servants, Fenja and Menja: they were huge and strong. In that time two mill-stones were found in Denmark, so great that no one was so strong that he could turn them: the nature of the mill was such that whatsoever he who turned asked for, was ground out by the mill-stones. This mill was called Gr\u00f3tti. He who gave King Fr\u00f3di the mill was named Hengikj\u00f6ptr. King Fr\u00f3di had the maid-servants led to the mill, and bade them grind gold; and they did so. First they ground gold and, peace and happiness for Fr\u00f3di; then he would grant them rest or sleep no longer than the cuckoo held its peace or a song might be sung. It is said that they sang the song which is called the Lay of Gr\u00f3tti, and this is its beginning:\nNow are we come\n To the king's house,\n The two fore-knowing,\n Fenja and Menja:\n These are with Fr\u00f3di\n Son of Fridleifr,\n The Mighty Maidens,\n As maid-thralls held.\nAnd before they ceased their singing, they ground out a host against Fr\u00f3di, so that the sea-king called M\u00fdsingr came there that same night and slew Fr\u00f3di, taking much plunder. Then the Peace of Fr\u00f3di was ended. M\u00fdsingr took Gr\u00f3tti with him, and Fenja and Menja also, and bade them grind salt. And at midnight they asked whether M\u00fdsingr were not weary of salt. He bade them grind longer. They had ground but a little while, when down sank the ship; and from that\n{p. 163}\ntime there has been a whirlpool the sea where the water falls through the hole in the mill-stone. It was then that the sea became salt.\n[\"The lay of Gr\u00f3tti:\nThey to the flour-mill\n Were led, those maidens,\n And bidden tirelessly\n To turn the gray mill-stone:\n He promised to neither\n Peace nor surcease\n Till he had heard\n The handmaids' singing.\nThey chanted the song\n Of the ceaseless mill-stone:\n 'Lay we the bins right,\n Lift we the stones!'\n He urged the maidens\n To grind on ever.\nThey sung and slung\n The whirling stone\n Till the men of Fr\u00f3di\n For the most part slept;\n Then spake Menja,\n To the mill coming:\n'Wealth grind we for Fr\u00f3di,\n We grind it in plenty,\n{p. 164}\nFullness of fee\n At the mill of fortune:\n Let him sit on riches\n And sleep on down;\n Let him wake in weal:\n Then well 't is ground.\nHere may no one\n Harm another,\n Contrive evil,\n Nor cast wiles for slaying,\n Nor slaughter any\n With sword well sharpened,\n Though his brother's slayer\n In bonds he find.'\nBut he spake no word\n Save only this:\n 'Sleep ye no longer\n Than the hall-cuckoo's silence,\n Nor longer than so,\n While one song is sung.'\n'Thou wast not, Fr\u00f3di,\n Full in wisdom,\n Thou friend of men,\n When thou boughtest the maidens:\n Didst choose for strength\n And outward seeming;\n But of their kindred\n Didst not inquire.\n'Hardy was Hrungnir,\n And his father;\n Yet was Thjazi\n Than they more mighty:\n Idi and Aurnir\n Of us twain are kinsmen,--\n Brothers of Hill-Giants,\n Of them were we born.\nGr\u00f3tti had not come\n From the gray mountain,\n Nor the hard boulder\n From the earth's bosom,\n Nor thus would grind\n The Hill-Giants' maiden,\n If any had known\n The news of her.\n'We nine winters\n Were playmates together,\n Mighty of stature,\n 'Neath the earth's surface,\n The maids had part\n In mighty works:\n Ourselves we moved\n Mighty rocks from their place.\n'We rolled the rock\n O'er the Giants' roof-stead,\n So that the ground,\n Quaking, gave before us;\n{p. 166}\nSo slung we\n The whirling stone,\n The mighty boulder,\n Till men took it.\n'And soon after\n In Sweden's realm,\n We twain fore-knowing\n Strode to the fighting;\n Bears we hunted,\n And shields we broke;\n We strode through\n The gray-mailed spear-host.\nWe cast down a king,\n We crowned another;\n To Gotthormr good\n We gave assistance;\n No quiet was there\n Ere Kn\u00fai fell.\n'This course we held\n Those years continuous,\n That we were known\n For warriors mighty;\n There with sharp spears\n Wounds we scored,\n Let blood from wounds,\n And reddened the brand.\n'Now are we come\n To the king's abode\n{p. 167}\nOf mercy bereft\n And held as bond-maids;\n Clay eats our foot-soles,\n Cold chills us above;\n We turn the Peace-Grinder:\n 'T is gloomy at Fr\u00f3di's.\n'Hands must rest,\n The stone must halt;\n Enough have I turned,\n My toil ceases:\n Now may the hands\n Have no remission\n Till Fr\u00f3di hold\n The meal ground fully.\n'The hands should hold\n The hard shafts,\n The weapons gore-stained,--\n Wake thou, Fr\u00f3di!\n Wake thou, Fr\u00f3di,\n If thou wouldst hearken\n To the songs of us twain\n And to ancient stories.\n'Fire I see burning\n East of the burg,\n War-tidings waken,\n A beacon of warning:\n A host shall come\n Hither, with swiftness,\n{p. 168}\nAnd fire the dwellings\n Above King Fr\u00f3di.\n'Thou shalt not hold\n The stead of Hleidr,\n The red gold rings\n Nor the gods' holy altar;\n We grasp the handle,\n Maiden, more hardly,--\n We were not warmer\n In the wound-gore of corpses.\n'My father's maid\n Mightily ground\n For she saw the feyness\n Of men full many;\n The sturdy posts\n From the flour-box started,\n Made staunch with iron.\n Grind we yet swifter.\n'Grind we yet swifter!\n The son of Yrsa,\n H\u00e1lfdanr's kinsman,\n Shall come with vengeance\n On Fr\u00f3di's head:\n Him shall men call\n Yrsa's son and brother.\n We both know that.'\nThe maidens ground,\n Their might they tested,\n{p. 169}\nYoung and fresh\n In giant-frenzy:\n The bin-poles trembled,\n And burst the flour-box;\n In sunder burst\n The heavy boulder.\nAnd the sturdy bride\n Of Hill-Giants spake:\n 'We have ground, O Fr\u00f3di!\n Soon we cease from grinding;\n The women have labored\n O'er long at the grist.'\nI have heard that Fr\u00f3di's hand-maids\n Ground in the mill full gladly\n The Serpent's Couch; with gold-meal\n The king lets peace be broken:\n The fair cheeks of my axe-head,\n Fitted with maple, show forth\n Fenja's Grist; exalted\n Is the skald with the good king's riches.\nSo sang Egill:\nGlad are full many men\n In Fr\u00f3di's meal.]\nXLIII. \"Why is gold called Kraki's Seed? In Denmark there was a king called Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki: he was most renowned\n{p. 170}\nof all ancient kings for munificence, valor, and graciousness. One evidence of his graciousness which is often brought into stories is this: A little lad and poor, V\u00f6ggr by name, came into the hall of King Hr\u00f3lfr. At that time the king was young, and of slender stature. V\u00f6ggr came into his presence and looked up at him; and the king said: 'What wouldst thou say, lad, for thou lookest at me?' V\u00f6ggr answered: 'When I was at home, I heard say that Hr\u00f3lfr the king at Hleidr was the greatest man in the northern lands; but now there sitteth in the high seat a little pole, and he is called King.' Then the king made answer: 'Thou, boy, hast given me a name, so that I shall be called Hr\u00f3lfr the Pole (Kraki); and it is the custom that the giving of a name be accompanied by a gift. Now I see that with the name which thou has fastened on me, thou hast no gift such as would be acceptable to me, wherefore he that has wherewith to give shall give to the other.' And he took from his hand a gold ring and gave it to him. Then V\u00f6ggr said: 'Above all kings be thou most blessed of givers! Now I swear an oath that I shall be that man's slayer who slays thee.' Then spake the king, laughing loudly: 'V\u00f6ggr is pleased with a small thing.'\n\"Another example is the tale told concerning the valor of Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki: That king whom men call Adils ruled over Uppsala; he had to wife Yrsa, mother of Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki. He was at strife with the king who ruled over Norway, whose name was Ali; the two joined battle on the ice of the lake called Vaeni. King Adils sent an embassy to Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki, his stepson, praying him to come to his aid, and promised wages to all his host so long as they should be away; King Hr\u00f3lfr himself should have three precious gifts, whatsoever three he might choose from all Sweden. {p. 171} King Hr\u00f3lfr could not make the journey in person, owing to the strife in which he was engaged with the Saxons; but he sent to Adils his twelve berserks: B\u00f6dvar-Bjarki was there for one, and Hjalti the Stout-Hearted, Hv\u00edtserkr the Stern, V\u00f6ttr V\u00e9seti, and the brethren Svipdagr and Beigudr. In that battle King \u00c1li fell, and the great part of his host with him; and King Adils took from him in death the helm Battle-Swine and his horse Raven. Then the berserks of Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki demanded for their hire three pounds of gold for each man of them; and in addition they required that they might bear to Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki those gifts of price which they had chosen for him: which were the Helm Battle-Boar and the birnie Finn's Heritage,--on neither of which iron would take hold,--and the gold ring which was called Pig of the Swedes, which Adils' forefathers had had. But the king denied them all these things, nor did he so much as pay their hire: the berserks went away ill-pleased with their share, and told the state of things to Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki.\n\"Straightway he begin his journey to Uppsala; and when he had brought his ships into the river F\u00fdri, he rode at once to Uppsala, and his twelve berserks with him, all without safe-conduct. Yrsa, his mother, welcomed him and led him to lodgings, but not to the king's hall: fires were made there before them, and ale was given them to drink. Then men of King Adils came in and heaped firewood onto the fire, and made it so great that the clothes were burnt off Hr\u00f3lfr and his men. And the fellows spake: 'Is it true that Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki and his berserks shun neither fire nor iron?' Then Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki leapt up, and all they that were with him; and he said:\n{p. 172}\n'Add we to the fire\n In Adils' dwelling!'\ntook his shield and cast it onto the fire, and leapt over the flames, while the shield burnt; and he spake again:\n'He flees not the flames\n Who o'er the fire leapeth!'\nEven so did his men, one after another; and they laid hands on those fellows who had heaped up the fire, and cast them into the flames. Then Yrsa came and gave Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki a deer's horn full of gold, the ring Pig of the Swedes being with the gold; and she bade them ride away to the host. They vaulted onto their horses and rode down into the Plain of the F\u00fdri; and soon they saw King Adils riding after them with his host all in armor, hoping to slay them. Then Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki plunged his right hand down into the horn, grasped the gold, and strewed it all about the road. When the Swedes saw that, they leapt down out of their saddles, and each took up as much as he could lay hold of; but King Adils bade them ride on, and himself rode furiously . His horse was called Sl\u00f6ngvir, swiftest of all horses. Then Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki saw that King Adils was drawing close up to him, took the ring, Pig of the Swedes, and threw it toward him, and bade him receive it as a gift. King Adils rode at the ring and thrust at it with his spear-point, and let it slide down over the shaft-socket. Then Hr\u00f3lfr Kraki turned back and saw how he bent down, and spake: 'Now I have made him who is mightiest of Swedes stoop as a swine stoops.' Thus they parted. For this cause gold is called Seed of Kraki or of F\u00fdri's Plain. Thus sang Eyvindr Skald-Despoiler:\n{p. 173}\nGod of the blade of battle,\n We bear through H\u00e1kon's life-days\n The Seed of F\u00fdri's valley\n On our arms, where sits the falcon.\nEven as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang:\nThe king sows the bright seed-corn\n Of knuckle-splendid gold rings,\n With the crop of Yrsa's offspring,\n In his company's glad hand-grasp;\n The guileless 'Land-Director\n With Kraki's gleaming barley\n Sprinkles my arms, the flesh-grown\n Seat of the hooded falcon.\nXLIV. \"It is said that the king called H\u00f6lgi, from whom H\u00e1logaland is named, was the father of Thorgerdr H\u00f6lgabr\u00fadr; sacrifice was made to both of them, and a cairn was raised over H\u00f6lgi: one layer of gold or silver (that was the sacrificial money), and another layer of mould and stones. Thus sang Sk\u00fali Thorsteinsson:\nWhen I reddened Reifnir's Roof-Bane,\n The ravening sword, for wealth's sake\n At Sv\u00f6ldr, I heaped with gold rings\n Warlike H\u00f6lgi's cairn-thatch.\nIn the ancient Bjarkam\u00e1l many terms for gold are told: it says there:\nThe king most gift-gracious\n His guardsmen enriched\n{p. 174}\nWith Fenja's Labor,\n With F\u00e1fnir's Midgard,\n Glasir's bright Needles,\n Grani's fair Burden,\n Draupnir's dear dripping,\n Down of Grafvitnir.\nThe free-handed Lord gave,\n The heroes accepted,\n Sif's firm-grown tresses,\n Ice of the bow-force,\n Otter-gild unwilling,\n Weeping of Mard\u00f6ll,\n Fire-flame of \u00d3run,\n Idi's fine Speeches.\nThe warrior rejoiced;\n We walked in fair garments,\n In Thjazi's counsels\n The people's host-countless,\n In the Rhine's red metal,\n Wrangling of Niflungs,\n The leader war-daring,\n Warded Baldr not.\nXLV. Gold is metaphorically termed Fire of the Hand, or of the Limb, or of the Leg, because it is red; but silver is called Snow, or Ice, or Hoar-Frost, because it is white. In like manner, gold or silver may be periphrased in metaphors of purse, or crucible, or lather, and both silver and gold may be called Hand-Stone, or Necklace, of any man who was\n{p. 175}\nwont to have a necklace. Necklaces and rings are both silver and gold, if no other distinction is raised.\nAs Thorleikr the Fair sang:\nThe kindly Prince the Load casts\n Of Crucibles on the Hawk-Seats\n Of thanes, the wrists embellished,--\n Gives Embers of the Arm-joint.\nAnd as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe land-strong King of Lurid\n Breaks the golden Limb-Brands;\n I think the Prince of Warriors\n Lacks not the Rhine's bright Pebbles.\nThe Purse-Snow and the Sea-Fire\n Lie on both sides of the axe-head\n Blood-spilling; 't is my office\n To praise our foemen's Scather.\nThe Sea-Glow each day standeth\n O'er the Crucible's white Snow-Drift,\n And the shield, ships' cheeks protecting,\n Shelters a heart most lavish;\n Ne'er can one melt the silver\n Flagon-Snow in the Fire-Flame\n Of the Eel's Stream-Road; the Feller\n Of Hosts all feats performeth.\n176\nHere gold is called Fire of the Eel's Stream-Road; and silver, Snow of Flagons.\nThus sang Th\u00f3rdr M\u00e6ri's Skald:\nThe glad Giver of the Hand-Waste\n Of the Gold-Minisher perceiveth\n That the Herm\u00f3dr of the Snake's Lair\n Hath had a lordly father.\nXLVI. \"Man is called Breaker of Gold, even as \u00d3ttarr the Swarthy sang:\nI needs must use the Breaker\n Of the Battle-Glow of good men;\n Here is the watch war-doughty\n Of the Wise King assembled.\nOr Gold-Sender, as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe Sender of Gold permitteth\n The silent earth to hearken\n To song; his gifts I gather:\n The prince his young men gladdens.\nGold-Caster, as Thorleikr sang:\nGold-Caster makes loyal to him\n His guard with kingly armor.\nGold's Adversary, as sang Thorvaldr Blending-Skald:\nThe gold's foe Hot Coals casteth\n Of the Arm; the king gives red wealth;\n{p. 177}\nThe vile folk's Desolator\n Dispenseth the Freight of Grani.\nGold-Towerer, as is written here:\nThe Gold-Towerer in friendship\n I got, and of the Warrior,\n Son of the glowing War-Blade,\n I make a song of praise.\nWoman is periphrased in metaphors of gold, being called Willow or Giver of Gold, as Hallarsteinn sang:\nHe who casts the Amber\n Of Vidblindi's Boar's cool, salt Drink,\n Long will recall the Willow\n Of the Reed-Snake's golden River.\nHere the whale is called Boar of Vidblindi; this Vidblindi was a giant who drew whales out of the sea like fishes. The Drink of Whales is the sea; Amber of the Sea is gold; woman is the Willow, or Dealer, of that gold which she gives; and the willow is a tree. Therefore, as is already shown, woman is periphrased with all manner of feminine tree-names: she is also called User of that which she gives; and the word for 'user' also signifies a log, the tree which falls in the forest.\nThus sang Gunnlaugr Serpent's-Tongue:\nThat dame was born to stir strife\n Among the sons of men-folk;\n The War-Bush caused that; madly\n I yearned to have the Wealth-Log.\n{p. 178}\nWoman is called Forest; so sang Hallarsteinn:\nWith the well-trained Plane of Singing,\n The tongue, I have planed, my Lady,\n Dame of the First Song's ale-vats,\n Forest fair of Flagons.\nFagot, as Steinn sang:\nThou shalt, O fresh Sif-Tender\n Of the Flood's gold Fire, like other\n Fagots of Hjadnings' gravel,\n Break with thy good fortune.\nProp, as Ormr Steinth\u00f3rsson sang:\nThe Prop of Stone was cloth\u00e8d\n In garments clean and seemly:\n A new cloak did the hero\n Cast o'er the Mead's bright Valkyr.\nPost, as Steinarr sang:\nAll my dreams of the gracious Goddess\n Of the bracelet-girded soft arms\n Have lied to me; the Stream-Moon's\n Unsteadfast Prop beguiled me.\nBirch, as Ormr sang:\nFor a mark of the Birch\n Of the bright hollow ring,\n The palm-flame, I laid\n On the dwarf-flagon, my song.\n{p. 179}\nOak, even as stands here:\nThe fair shaped Oak of Riches\n Stands, our mirth forestalling.\nLinden, even as is written here:\nO dreadful, towering Elm-Tree\n Of the dinning shower of weapons,\n Our courage shall not lessen:\n So bade the Linen's Linden.\nMan is periphrased in tree-metaphors, as we have written before; he is called Rowan, or Tester, of Weapons, or of Combats, of Expeditions and of Deeds, of Ships, and of all that which he wields and tests; thus sang \u00dalfr Uggason:\nBut the flashing-eyed stiff Edge-Rope\n Of the Earth stared past the gunwale\n At the Rowan-Tree of the people\n Of Stone, the Giant-Tester.\nTree and Beam, as Korm\u00e1kr sang:\nThe Beam of the murdering Sword-Twig\n Is taller than are many\n In the Din of Darts; the sword wins.\n The land for dauntless Sigurdr.\nGrove, as sang Hallfredr Troublous-Skald:\nThe Mighty Grove and Faithful\n Of the Shield-Murderer, budded\n{p. 180}\nWith hair, stands in the Eastlands\n Safe with Ullr's Ash-Warriors.\nHere he is also called Ash.\nBox, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nThe Box of Ships bade the Rygir\n Bring the shields together\n At early dusk; through the spear-rain\n Of strife-clouds held the autumn night.\nAsh, as Refr sang:\nThe Strife-Lord, gracious Giver,\n Sought the Maid's bed gold-sprinkled;\n The Ash of Odin's War-Sleet\n Won the estate of manhood.\nMaple, as here:\nHail, Maple of the Ice-Lumps\n Of the Hand!' So spake the Birnie.\nTree, as Refr sang:\nSince I have appointed\n To proffer Odin's Breast-Sea,\n The War-God's Verse, to Thorsteinn;\n The Tree of Swords so wills it.\nStaff, as \u00d3ttarr sang:\nThou, fierce War-Staff, maintainedst\n Maugre two kings, thy borders\n{p. 181}\nWith heroes' kin, where the ravens\n Starved not; keen-hearted art thou.\nThorn, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nHe gathered, the young Wealth-Thorn,\n Many great heaps of corpses\n For the eagles, and his henchmen\n Guided and helped the hero.\nXLVII. \"How should battle be periphrased? By calling it Storm of Weapons or of Sheltering Shields, or of Odin or the Valkyrs, or of Host-Kings; and Din and Clashing.\nThus sang Hornklofi:\nThe king hath held a Spear-Storm\n With heroes, where the eagles\n Screamed at the Din of Sk\u00f6gul;\n The red wounds spat out blood.\nAnd that hero\n At H\u00e1ar's Tempest\n Wore a sark\n Of gray wolf-skin.\nThus sang Bersi:\nIn earlier days I seemed not\n To Gunn's War-Bushes useful\n In the Sleet of Hl\u00f6kk, when younger\n We were: so 't is said.\n{p. 182}\nThus sang Einarr:\nThe stark prince lets Hildr's Shield-Sails\n Take the sternest crashing Storm-Wind\n Of the Valkyr, where hail of bow-strings\n Drives; the sword-blade hammers.\nAs Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe mail-sarks of the warriors,\n Firm-woven, did not shelter\n The seemly youths 'gainst H\u00f6gni's\n Showers of H\u00e1kon's onset.\nEven as here:\nThey set the Point-Net's edge-band\n Against the Point-Crash-Urger.\nAnd again:\n'Neath eagles' claws the king's foes\n Sank at the Clash of G\u00f6ndul.\nXLVIII. \"Weapons and armor should be periphrased in figures of battle, and with reference to Odin and the Valkyrs and host-kings: one should call a helmet Cowl, or Hood; a birnie, Sark, or Kirtle; a shield, Tent; and a shield-wall is termed Hall and Roof, Wall and Floor. Shields, periphrased in figures of warships, are called Sun, or Moon, or Leaf, or Sheen, or Garth, of the Ship; the shield is also called Ship of Ullr, or periphrased in terms of Hrungnir's feet, since he stood upon his shield. On ancient shields it\n{p. 183}\nwas customary to paint a circle, which was called the 'ring,' and shields are called in metaphors of that ring. Hewing weapons, axes or swords, are called Fires of Blood, or of Wounds; swords are called Odin's Fires; but men call axes by the names of troll-women, and periphrase them in terms of blood or wounds or a forest or wood. Thrusting weapons are properly periphrased by calling them by names of serpents or fishes. Missile weapons are often metaphorically termed hail or sleet or storm. Variants of all these figures have been made in many ways, for they are used chiefly in poems of praise, where there is need of such metaphors.\nSo sang V\u00edga-Gl\u00famr:\nHelm-folded strife-bold B\u00fai,--\n Who from the south went forth\n Into Gunn's Crash,--and din-swift\n Sigvaldi offered battle.\nSark of R\u00f3di, as Tindr sang:\nWhen came the birnied H\u00e1kon\n To cast away the ring-rent\n Streaming Sark of Odin,\n R\u00f3di's rocking sea-steeds were cleared.\n{p. 184}\nHamdir's Kirtle, as Hallfredr sang:\nThe war-sleet hard and streaming\n Of Egill's weapons breaketh\n Fiercely on Hamdir's Kirtles\n Of the foremost wave-deer's warriors.\nS\u00f6rli's Garments, as he sang further:\nThence the bright Weeds of S\u00f6rli\n In men's blood must be reddened;\n I hear it clearly: Wound-Fire\n In cutting showers of iron.\nShields are called Tents of Hl\u00f6kk, as Grett\u00edr sang:\nHl\u00f6kk's Tent-Raisers held their noses\n Together, and the heroes\n Of the Rain-Storm of Hildr's Shield-Wall\n Hewed at each other's beards.\nR\u00f3di's Roof, as Einarr sang:\nR\u00f3di's Roof's great Ice-Lump\n For the Rain of Freyja's Eyelids\n Grows not less, my fair axe-head;\n His age my lord so useth.\nWall of Hildr, as Grett\u00edr sang, and as we have written before.\nShip-Sun, as Einarr sang:\nIn the sea \u00d3lafr's Kinsman\n Reddens the flame of the Ship-Sun.\n{p. 185}\nMoon of the Ship's Cheek, as Refr sang:\nFair was the day, when Scatterers\n Of Arm-Fire thrust the clear Moon\n Of the Cheek into my hand-clasp,\n The coiling track of red rings.\nShip's Garth, as here:\nThe swift Sweller of the Spear-Crash\n Shot through the stain-dyed Prow-Garth\n As it were birch-bark; truly\n He was a bitter battler.\nAsh of Ullr, as here:\nThe Snow-Gusts of Ullr's Ash-Ship\n Grimly o'er our Prince shoot\n With fullness, where are tossing\n The fearsome covered spike-spars.\nBlade of Hrungnir's Foot-Soles, as Bragi sang:\nWilt hear, O Hrafnketill,\n How I shall praise the Sole-Blade\n Of Thr\u00fadr's thief, stain-covered\n With skill, and praise my king.\nBragi the Skald sang this concerning the ring on the shield:\nUnless it be, that Sigurdr's\n Renowned Son would have payment\n In good kind for the ring-nave\n Of the Ringing Wheel of Hildr.\n{p. 186}\nHe called the shield Wheel of Hildr, and the ring the Nave of the Wheel.\nRing-Earth, as Hallvardr sang:\nThe Chief of ranks of Combat\n Sees the red-gleaming Ring-Earth\n Fly in two parts; the white disk,\n The pictured, bursts in sunder.\nIt is also sung:\nA ring befits the shield best;\n Arrows befit the bow.\nA sword is Odin's Fire, as Korm\u00e1kr sang:\nThe fight swelled, when the Warrior,\n The Wolf's blithe Feeder, in tumult\n Fared with Odin's ringing Fire-Flame;\n Urdr came forth from the Well.\nFire of the Helm, as \u00dalfr Uggason sang:\nThe very mighty Maiden\n Of the Mountain made the Sea-Horse\n Roll forward, but the Champions\n Of Odin's Helm-Fire felled her Wolf-Steed.\nFire of the Birnie, as Gl\u00famr Geirason sang:\nAt that the Land-Protector\n Let the Birnie's Streaming Fire whine,\n Hone-whetted, he who warded\n Him strongly 'gainst the warriors.\n{p. 187}\nIce of the Rim, and Hurt of Sheltering Weapons, as Einarr sang:\nI received the Ice of Wed Rims,\n With Freyja's golden Eye-Thaw,\n From the upright prince high-hearted;\n We bear in hand the Helm's Hurt.\nAn axe is called Troll-Woman of Sheltering Weapons, as Einarr sang:\nR\u00e6fill's Sea-Steed's Riders\n May see how, richly carven,\n The dragons close are brooding\n 'Gainst the brow of the Helm-Ogress.\nA spear is called Serpent, as Refr sang:\nMy angry Murky Serpent\n Of the markings of the Shield-Board\n Savagely doth sport, in\n My palms, where men in strife meet.\nArrows are called Hail of the Bow or Bowstring, or of the\n Shelters, or of Battle, as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe hammering King of Swords shook\n From the Sails of Hl\u00f6kk the Bow-Hail:\n Bravely the Wolf's Supporter\n Warded his life in battle.\nAnd Hallfredr:\nAnd the armor of the Spear-Sleet,\n Knitted with iron, saved not\n{p. 188}\nThe saters of hungry ravens\n From the Shaft-Hail of the Bowstring.\nAnd Eyvindr Skald- Despoiler:\nThey said, O H\u00f6rds' Land-Warder,\n Thy spirit little faltered,\n When the Birnie's Hail in the wound burst;\n Bent were the string\u00e8d elm-bows.\nXLIX. \"Battle is called Storm or Snow-Shower of the Hjadnings, and weapons are termed Fire or Wands of Hjadnings; and this is the tale thereof: that king who was called H\u00f6gni had a daughter named Hildr: her King Hedinn, son of Hjarrandi, took as the spoils of war, while King H\u00f6gni attended an assembly of kings. But when he learned that there had been raiding in his realm and his daughter had been borne off, he departed with his host to seek Hedinn, and heard tidings of him, that he was proceeding northward along the land. When H\u00f6gni had come into Norway, he learned that Hedinn had sailed westward over the sea. Then H\u00f6gni sailed after him, even to the Orkneys; and when he landed at the place called Hoy, Hedinn was already there before him with his host. Then Hildr went to meet her father, and offered him a necklace on Hedinn's behalf, for reconciliation and peace; but if it were not accepted, she said, Hedinn was ready to fight, and H\u00f6gni might hope for no mercy at his hands.\n\"H\u00f6gni answered his daughter harshly; and when she returned to Hedinn, she told him that H\u00f6gni desired no reconciliation, and she bade him make ready for battle. So did both parties: they went to the island and marshalled\n{p. 189}\ntheir hosts. Then Hedinn called to H\u00f6gni his father-in-law, offering him reconciliation and much gold in compensation. But H\u00f6gni answered: 'Thou hast made this offer over-late, if thou wouldst make peace: for now I have drawn D\u00e1insleif, which the dwarves made, and which must cause a man's death every time it is bared, nor ever fails in its stroke; moreover, the wound heals not if one be scratched with it.' Then said Hedinn: 'Thou dost boast in the sword, but not in the victory; I call any sword good which is faithful to its lord.' Then they began that famous battle which is called the Hjadnings' Strife, and they fought all that day, but at evening the kings went to their ships. Now Hildr went to the slain by night, and with magic quickened all those that were dead. The next day the kings went to the battlefield and fought, and so did all those that had fallen on the day before. So the fight went one day after the other: all who fell, and all those weapons which lay on the field, and the shields also, were turned to stone; but when day dawned, up rose all the dead men and fought, and all weapons were renewed. It is said in songs that in this fashion the Hjadnings shall continue unto the Weird of the Gods. Bragi the Skald composed verses after this tale in Ragnarr Lodbr\u00f3k's Song of Praise:\nAnd the belov\u00e8d Maiden\n Of the veins' blood-letting\n Purposed to bring, for wrath's sake,\n The bow-storm to her father:\n When the ring-wearing lady,\n The woman full of evil,\n Bore the neck-ring of War-Doom\n To the Battler of the Wind's Steeds.\n{p. 190}\nThat gory Wound-Amender\n To the glorious Monarch offered\n The necklace not for fear's sake,\n At the mote of fatal weapons:\n Ever as restraining battle\n She seemed, although she goaded\n Warriors to walk the death-road\n With the ravening Wolf's dire Sister.\nThe Prince of Folk, the Land-God,\n Let not the fight, wolf-gladdening,\n Halt, nor slaughter on the sands cease,--\n Hate, deadly, swelled in H\u00f6gni,\n When the stern Lords of Sword-Din\n Sought Hedinn with stern weapons,\n Rather than receive\n The necklet-rings of Hildr.\nAnd that baleful Witch of Women,\n Wasting the fruits of victory,\n Took governance on the island\n O'er the axe, the Birnie's Ruin;\n All the Ship-King's war-host\n Went wrathful 'neath the firm shields\n Of Hjarrajidi, swift-marching\n From Reifnir's fleet sea-horses.\nOn the fair shield of Sv\u00f6lnir\n One may perceive the onslaught;\n Ragnarr[1] gave me the Ship-Moon,\n With many tales marked on it.\n[1. See page 161.]\n{p. 191}\nBattle is called Storm of Odin, as is recorded above; so sang V\u00edga-Gl\u00famr:\nI cleared my way aforetime\n Like earls to lands; the word went\n Of this among the Storm-Staves,\n The men of Vidrir's Sword-Wand.\nHere battle is called Storm of Vidrir, and the sword is the Wand of Battle; men are Staves of the Sword. Here, then, both battle and weapons are used to make metaphors for man. It is called 'inlaying,' when one writes thus.\n\"The shield is the Land of Weapons, and weapons are Hail or Rain of that land, if one employs figures of later coinage.\nL. \"How should the ship be periphrased? Call it Horse or Deer or Snowshoe of the Sea-King, or of Ship's Rigging, or of Storm. Steed of the Billow, as Hornklofi sang:\nThe Counsel-Stern Destroyer\n Of the pale Steed of the Billow\n When full young let the ships' prows\n Press on the sea at flood-tide.\nGeitir's Steed, as Erringar-Steinn sang:\nBut though to the skald all people\n This strife from the south are telling,\n We shall yet load Geitir's Sea-Steed\n With stone; we voyage gladly.\n{p. 192}\nSveidi's Reindeer:\nO Son of Sveinn strife-valiant,\n Thou comest with Sveidi's Reindeer,\n Long of seam, on the Seat of S\u00f6lsi;\n The Sound-Deer from land glided.\nSo sang Hallvardr. Here the ship is also called Deer of the Sound; and the Sea is called S\u00f6lsi's Seat.\nThus sang Th\u00f3rdr Sj\u00e1reksson:\nThe swift Steed of the Gunwale\n Around Sigg veered from northward,\n The gust shoved Gylfi's Stream's Mirth,\n The Gull's Wake-Horse, to southward\n Of Aumar, laying fleetly\n Both K\u00f6rmt and Agdir's coastline\n Along the stern; by Listi\n The Leek's Steed lightly bounded.\nHere the ship is called Steed of the Gunwale; and the sea is Gylfi's Land; the sea is also called Gull's Wake. The ship is called Horse, and further, Horse of the Leek: for 'leek' means 'mast.'\nAnd again, as Mark\u00fas sang:\nThe Stream's Winterling waded\n Stoutly the Firth-Snake's Snow-Heaps;\n The Tusker of the Mast-Head\n Leaped o'er the Whale's spurned House-Tops;\n The Bear of the Flood strode forward\n On the ancient paths of sea-ships;\n{p. 193}\nThe Stay's Bear, shower-breasting.\n Broke the Reef's splashing Fetter.\nHere the ship is called Winterling of the Stream: a bear cub is called a Winterling; and a bear is called Tusker; the Bear of the Stay is a ship.\nThe ship is also called Reindeer, and so Hallvardr sang, as we have written before; and Hart, as King Haraldr Sigurdarson sang:\nBy Sicily then widely\n The Seam cut: we were stately;\n The Sea-Hart glided swiftly\n As we hoped beneath the heroes.\nAnd Elk, as Einarr sang:\nThe ring's mild Peace-Dispenser,\n The princely hero, may not\n Long bide with thee, if something\n Aid not; we boune the Flood's Elk.\nAnd Otter, as M\u00e1ni sang:\nWhat, laggard carle with gray cheeks,\n Canst do among keen warriors\n On the Otter of the Sea-Waves?\n For thy strength is ebbing from thee.\nWolf, as Refr sang:\nAnd the Hoard-Diminisher hearkened\n To Thorsteinn; true my heart is\n{p. 194}\nTo the Lord of the Wolf of Billows\n In the baleful Wrath-Wand's conflict.\nAnd Ox also. The ship is called Snowshoe, or Wagon, or Wain. Thus sang Eyj\u00f3lfr the Valiant Skald:\nLate in the day the young Earl\n In the Snowshoe of Landless Waters\n Fared with equal following\n To meet the fearless chieftain.\nThus sang Styrk\u00e1rr Oddason:\nH\u00f6gni's host drove the Wagons\n Of Rollers o'er Heiti's snow-Heaps,\n Angrily pursuing\n The great Giver of Flood-Embers.\nAnd as Thorbj\u00f6rn sang:\nThe Freighter of Wave-Crests' Sea-Wain\n Was in the font of christening,\n Hoard-Scatterer, who was given\n The White Christ's highest favor.\nLI. \"How should one periphrase Christ? Thus: by calling Him Fashioner of Heaven and Earth, of Angels, and of the Sun; Governor of the World and of the Heavenly Kingdom and of Jerusalem and Jordan and the Land of the Greeks; Counsellor of the Apostles and of the Saints. Ancient skalds have written of Him in metaphors of Urdr's Well and Rome; as Eil\u00edfr Gudr\u00fanarson sang:\n{p. 195}\nSo has Rome's Mighty Ruler\n In the Rocky Realms confirm\u00e8d\n His power; they say He sitteth\n South, at the Well of Urdr.\nThus sang Skapti Th\u00f3roddssen:\nThe King of Monks is greatest\n Of might, for God all governs;\n Christ's power wrought this earth all,\n And raised the Hall of Rome.\nKing of the Heavens, as Mark\u00fas sang:\nThe King of the Wind-House fashioned\n Earth, sky, and faithful peoples;\n Christ, sole Prince of Mortals,\n Hath power o'er all that liveth.\nThus sang Eil\u00edfr K\u00falnasveinn:\nThe Host of the beaming World's Roof\n And the Band of Illustrious bow down\n To the Holy Cross; than all glory\n Else the Sole Sun's King is brighter.\nSon of Mary, as Eil\u00edfr sang further:\nThe bright Host of Heaven boweth\n To Mary's Bairn: He winneth,\n The Gentle Prince, of glory\n The true might, God and man both.\n{p. 196}\nKing of Angels, as Eil\u00edfr sang again:\nThe goodly might of God's friend\n Is better than men guess of;\n Yet the Gracious King of Angels\n Is dearer than all, and holier.\nKing of Jordan, as Sigvatr sang:\nFour angels the King of Jordan\n Sent long ago through aether\n To earthward; and the stream washed\n The holy head of the World's Lord.\nKing of Greeks, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nI have lodged for the hero's ashes\n Prayers with the Lordly Warder\n Of Greeks and men of Gardar:\n Thus I pay my Prince for good gifts.\nThe Glory of Heaven praises\n Man's Prince: He is King of all things.\nHere he called Christ, first, King of Men, and again, King of All. E\u00ednarr Sk\u00falason sang:\nHe who compasseth, Bright in Mercy,\n All the world, and gently careth\n For all, caused the realm of Heaven\n To ope for the valiant ruler.\n{p. 197}\nLII. \"There the metaphors coincide; and he who interprets the language of poesy learns to distinguish which king is meant; for it is correct to call the Emperor of Constantinople King of Greeks, and similarly to call the king who rules over the land of Jerusalem King of Jerusalem, and also to call the Emperor of Rome King of Rome, and to call him King of Angles' who governs England. But that periphrasis which was cited but now, which called Christ King of Men, may be had by, every king. It is proper to periphrase all kings by calling them Land-Rulers, or Land-Warders, or Land-Attackers, or Leader of Henchmen, or Warder of the People.\nWho filled the ravens\n From life was reft\n By the Earth-Rulers\n At \u00d6gl\u00f3.[1]\nThe Prince beneath the helmet\n Reddened the sword hone-hollowed\n On the Geats: there the Land-Warder\n Was found in the grinding spear-din.\nAs Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang:\n'T is my wish that the glorious Leader\n Of Henchmen, the Glad-hearted,\n Should leave his sons the heritage\n And the sod of his fair freehold.\n[1. The reverse of Gregory's pun: \"Non Angli sed angeli.\"\n2. See page 98.]\n{p. 198}\nAs Einarr sang:\nThe valiant-souled Earth-Warder\n On his stern head the helm bears;\n The bard before heroes telleth\n The fame of the King of H\u00f6rdland.\nIt is right also to call him King of Kings, under whom are tributary kings. An emperor is highest of kings, and next under him is that king who reigns over a nation; and each of these is equal to the other in the periphrases made of them in poesy. Next to them are those men who are called earls or tributary kings: and they are equal in periphrasis with a king, save that one may not term them kings of nations. And thus sang Arn\u00f3rr Earl's Skald concerning Earl Thorfinnr:\nLet the men hear how the Earl's King,\n Hardy of mind, the sea sought:\n The overwhelming Ruler\n Failed not to thwart the ocean.\nNext to these in the figures of poesy are those men who are called chiefs: one may periphrase them as one might a king or an earl, calling them Dispensers of Gold, Wealth Munificent, Men of the Standards, and Captains of the Host, or Van-Leaders of the Array or of Battle; since each king of a nation, who rules over many lands, appoints tributary kings and earls in joint authority with himself, to administer the laws of the land and defend it from attack in those parts which lie far removed from the king. And in those parts they shall be equal with the king's self in giving\n{p. 199}\njudgment and meting punishment. Now there are many districts in one land; and it is the practice of kings to appoint justiciars over as many districts as one chooses to give into their hands. These justiciars are called chiefs or landed men in the Danish tongue, reeves in Saxony, and barons in England. They are also to be righteous judges and faithful warriors over the land which is entrusted to them for governance. If the king is not near, then a standard shall be borne before them in battle; and then they are quite as lawful war-captains as kings or earls.\n\"Next under them are those men who are called franklins: they are those freeholders who are of honorable kindred, and possessed of full rights. One may periphrase them by calling them Wealth-Givers, and Protectors, and Reconcilers of Men; headmen also may have these titles.\n\"Kings and earls have as their following the men called henchmen and house-carles; landed-men also have in their service those who are called henchmen in Denmark and Sweden, and house-carles in Norway, and these men swear oaths of service to them, even as henchmen do to kings. The house-carles of kings were often called henchmen in the old heathen time.\nThus sang Thorvaldr Blending Skald:\nHail, King, swift in the onset!\n And thy sturdy house-carles with thee!\n In their mouths men have my verses,\n Made for a song of praising.\nKing Haraldr Sigurdarson composed this:\nThe man full mighty waiteth\n The filling of the King's seat;\n{p. 200}\nOft, I find, to the Earl's heels\n Throngs my host of house-carles.\nHenchmen and house-carles may be periphrased by calling them House-Guard, or Wage-Band, or Men of Honor: thus sang Sigvatr:\nI learned the Warrior's Wage-Band\n On the water fought that battle\n Newly: 't is not the smallest\n Snow-shower of Shields I tell of.\nWhen on the Steed of Cables\n The clashing steel was meeting,\n 'T was not as when a maid bears\n The Chief's mead to the Honor-Winners.\nThe service-fee which headmen give is called wages and gifts; thus sang \u00d3ttarr the Swarthy:\nI needs must use the Breaker\n Of the Battle-Glow of good men;\n Here is the watch war-doughty\n Of the Wise King assembled.[1]\nEarls and chiefs and henchmen are periphrased by calling them Counsellors or Speech-Friends or Seat-Mates of the King, as Hallfredr sang:\n[1. See page 176.]\n{p. 201}\nThe Counsellor battle-mighty\n Of the Prince, whom boldness pleases,\n Lets the feud-fiery weeds of H\u00f6gni,\n Hammer-beaten, clash upon him.\nAs Snaebj\u00f6rn sang:\nThe Speech-Friend of Kings letteth\n The long-hulled steer-rope's Race-Horse\n Steady the swordlike steel beak\n Of the ship against the stern wave.\nThus sang Arn\u00f3rr:\nMy young sons do bear for my sake\n Grave sorrow for the slaughter\n Of the Earl, destroyed by murder,\n The Bench-Mate of our Monarch.\nKing's Counsel-Friend, as Hallfredr sang:\nIn council 't was determined\n That the King's Friend, wise in counsel,\n Should wed the Land, sole Daughter\n Of \u00d3narr, greenly wooded.[1]\nOne should periphrase men by their kindred; as Korm\u00e1kr sang:\nLet the son of Haraldr's true friend\n Give ear, and hearken to me:\n I raise my song, the Yeast-Stream\n Of S\u00fdr's snow-covered Monsters.\n[1. See page 136.]\n{p. 202}\nHe called the Earl True Friend of the King, and H\u00e1kon, Son of Earl Sigurdr. And Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang thus concerning Haraldr:\nAbout \u00d3lafr's sire\n Waxed the steel-knife-storm's ire,\n That of wightness each deed\n Is worthy fame's meed.\nJarizleifr could espy\n Where the king passed by:\n The brave, sainted lord's kin\n Stoutly praise did win.\nAnd again he sang:\nBreath-bereft is he\n Who o'er all bore the gree,--\n Of chiefs kinsman mild,\n Haraldr's brother's child.\nArn\u00f3rr also sang thus in R\u00f6gnvaldr's Song of Praise:\nHeiti's war-good kinsman\n Made wedlock-kindred with me:\n The earl's strong tie of marriage\n Made honor to us rendered.\nAnd again, concerning Earl Thorfinnr, he sang:\nThe thin-made swords bit keenly\n Old R\u00f6gnvaldr's kin, to southward\n{p. 203}\nOf Man, where rushed the strong hosts\n Under the sheltering shield-rims.\nAnd he sang further:\nO God, guard the glorious\n Kin-Betterer of great Turf-Einarr\n From harm; I pray, show mercy\n To him whom faithful chiefs love.\nAnd Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nThe House-Prop of the Kindred\n Of Hildit\u00f6nn shall not lack\n Hardihood more munificent;\n I am bound to maintain praises.\nLIII. \"How are the uninvolved terms of poesy made? By calling each thing by its proper name. What are the simple terms for poesy? It is called Poetry, Glorifying, Song, Laud, and Praise. Bragi the Old sang this, when he was travelling through a forest late at evening: a troll woman hailed him in verse, asking who passed:\n'Trolls do call me\n Moon's\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\n .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0of the giant,\n Storm-sun's (?) bale,\n Fellow-in-misery of the sibyl,\n Warder of the circled ring-earth,\n Wheel-devourer of the heaven.\n What is the troll but that?\"\n[1. \"Eru tr\u00f6ll-kenningar, sumar myrkar.\" J\u00f3nsson, p. 403.]\n{p. 204}\nHe answered thus:\n'Skalds do call me\n Vidurr's Shape-Smith,\n Gautr's Gift-Finder,\n Bard not faulty,\n Yggr's Ale-Bearer,\n Song's Arrayer,\n Skilled Smith of Verse:\n What is the Skald but this?'\nAnd as Korm\u00e1kr sang:\nI make more Glorifying\n By far o'er H\u00e1kon's great son:\n I pay him the song-atonement\n Of the gods. In his wain Thor sitteth.\nAnd as Th\u00f3rdr Kolbeinsson sang:\nThe Shield-Maple let many swift ships\n And merchant-craft, and speedy\n War-boats o'er the sea pour;\n The skald's ready Song of Laud waxed.\nLaud, as \u00dalfr Uggason sang:\nNow the stream to the sea cometh;\n But first the Laud I sang forth\n Of the Messenger of Sword-Rain:\n Thus I raise the praise of warriors.\nHere poesy is called praise also.\n{p. 205}\n LIV. \"How are the gods named? They are called Fetters, as Eyj\u00f3lfr the Valiant Skald sang:\nEir\u00edkr draws the lands beneath him\n At the pleasure of the Fetters,\n And fashions the Spear-Battle.\nAnd Bonds, as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr of Hvin sang:\nThe skilful God-Deceiver\n To the Bonds proved a stern sharer\n Of bones: the Helmet-Hooded\n Saw somewhat hindered seething.[1]\nPowers, as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:\nI say, the Mighty Powers\n Magnify H\u00e1kon's empire.\nJ\u00f3lnar,[2] as Eyvindr sang:\nWe have fashioned\n The Feast of J\u00f3lnar,\n The Prince's praise-song,\n Strong as a stone bridge.\nDeities,[3] as Korm\u00e1kr sang:\n[1. See page 130.\n2. This word, in the singular, is one of the names of Odin. I can find no etymology for it.\n3. A rare and doubtful word. According to Cl.-Vig., the word occurs only twice: Yngl. S., ch. ii, and here. Cl.-Vig. holds that the word probably meant priests: \"The d\u00edar of the Yngl. S. were probably analogous to the Icel. godi, from god (deus)\" (p. 100).]\n{p. 206}\nThe Giver of Lands, who bindeth\n The sail to the top, with gold-lace\n Honors him who pours Deities' verse-mead;\n Odin wrought charms on Rindr.[1]\nLV. \"These names of the heavens are recorded (but we have not found all these terms in poems; and these skaldic terms, even as others, are not meet for use in skaldic writing, methinks, unless one first find such names in the works of Chief Skalds): Heaven, Hl\u00fdrnir, Heidthornir, Storm M\u00edmir, Long-Lying, Light-Farer, Driving, Topmost Sky, Wide-Fathom, Vet-M\u00edmir, Lightning, Destroyer, Wide-Blue. The solar planet is called Sun, Glory, Ever-Glow, All-Bright, Sight, Fair Wheel, Healing Ray, Dvalinn's Playmate, Elfin-Beam, Doubtful-Beam, Luminary. The lunar planet is called Moon, Waxer, Waner, Year-Teller, Mock-Sun, Fengari,[2] Glamour, Haster, Crescent, Glare.\nLVI. \"Which are the simple terms for Earth? She is called Earth, as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang:\nThe hardy Point-Rain's Urger\n Oft caused the harsh sword-shower,\n Ere under him the broad Earth\n With battle he subjected.\nField, as \u00d3ttarr sang:\nThe Prince guards the Field:\n Few kings are so mighty;\n[1. See page 100.\n2. \"Byzant. {Greek fegga'ri}; an {Greek a?'p. leg.}\" (Cl.-Vig., p. 151).]\n{p. 207}\n\u00d3leifr fattens the eagle,\n Foremost is the Swedes' King.\nGround, as Hallvardr sang:\nThe broad Ground, 'neath the venom-cold Adder\n Bound, lies subject to the Warrior\n Of the Island-Fetter's heaped gold;\n The Hone-Land's Lord the hoard dispenseth.\nHaudr,[1] as Einarr sang:\nBrave heroes are defending\n The hard Haudr of famous princes\n With the sword; oft splits the helmet\n Before the furious edge-storm.\nLand, as Th\u00f3rdr Kolbeinsson sang:\nThe Land, after the battle,\n Was laid low from Veiga northward\n To Agdir south, or farther:\n Hard is song in conflict.\nFief, as \u00d3ttarr sang:\nThou, fierce War-Staff, maintainedst\n The Fief despite two Monarchs\n With heroes' kin. where the ravens\n Starved not; keen-hearted art thou.[2]\n[1. \"Etymology not known\" (Cl.-Vig., p. 241).\n2. See pages 180, 181.]\n{p. 208}\nHl\u00f6dyn,[1] as V\u00f6lu-Steinn sang:\nI remember how murky earth yawned\n With graven mouth for the Sender\n Of the Gold-Words of the Giant\n Of the hard bones of Green Hl\u00f6dyn.\nCountry, as \u00dalfr Uggason sang:\nBut the flashing-eyed stiff Edge-Rope\n Of the Earth stared past the gunwale\n At the Rowan-Tree of the Country\n Of Stone, the Giant-Tester.[2]\nFj\u00f6rgyn,[3] as is said here:\nI was faithful to the free Payer\n Of the stream-bed of Fj\u00f6rgyn's Serpent;\n May honor be closely guarded\n By the Giver of the Giant's Stream-gold.\nLVII. \"It is correct to periphrase blood or carrion in terms of the beast which is called Strangler,\" by calling them his Meat and Drink; it is not correct to express them in terms of other beasts. The Strangler is also called Wolf.\nEnough guesting to the Ravener\n Was given, when the Son of Sigurdr\n[1. A personification.\n2. See page 179.\n3. Cf. Goth. fairguni (= a mountain) and A.-S. fyrgen. A personification: Fj\u00f6rgynn is father of Frigg and of J\u00f6rd (Earth).\n4. Vargr; cf. A.-S. wearg, Ger. -w\u00fcrgen.]\n{p. 209}\nCame from the North, the Wolf\n To lure from the wood to the wound.\nHere he is called Ravener also.\nGreedy One, as Egill sang:\nThe Greedy One gashed\n Grisly wounds, when plashed\n The red Point-Creek\n On the raven's beak.\nWitch-Beast, as Einarr sang:\nThe G\u00f6tha, cold with venom,\n With hot Wound-Gush was reddened;\n The Witch-Beast's warm drink, mingled\n With the water, in the sea poured.\nShe-Wolf, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nThe She-Wolf's evil Kindred\n Swallowed the corpse, harm-swollen,\n When the green sea was turn\u00e8d\n To red, with gore commingled.\nStrangler, as Illugi sang:\nThere was happiness for the Strangler\n When my lord pursued hosts full many;\n With the sword the Necklet-Minisher\n Pierced the swart Snake of the Forest.\n{p. 210}\nThus sang Hallr:\nHe sated the Heath-Beasts' Hunger:\n The hoar howler in wounds gladdened;\n The king reddened the Wild One's mouth-hairs,--\n The Wolf went to drink of the wound.\nAnd again, as Th\u00f3rdr sang:\nIn blood Gj\u00e1lp's Stud-Horse waded,\n The dusty pack got fullness\n Of the Greedy One's Wheat; the howler\n Enjoyed the Ravener's Gore-Drink.\nThe bear is called Wide-Stepper, Cub, Winterling, Ourse, Gib-Cat, Tusker, Youngling, Roarer, J\u00f6lfudr,[1] Wilful-Sharp, She-Bear, Horse-Chaser, Scratcher, Hungry One, Bl\u00f3mr,[1] Bustler. The hart is called M\u00f3dr\u00f6dnir,[2] Dalarr,[3] Dalr,[3] D\u00e1inn,[4] Dvalinn,[4] Duneyrr,[4] Durathr\u00f3r.[4] These are the names of horses enumerated in the Rhymes of Thorgr\u00edmr:[5]\nHrafn[6] and Sleipnir,\n The famous horses;\n Valr[7] and L\u00e9ttfeti;\n Tjaldari[8] a was there too;\n Gulltopr and Goti;[9]\n I heard S\u00f3ti[10] told of;\n M\u00f3r[11] and Lungr[12] with Marr.[13]\n[1. Meaning?\n2. Angry-minded?\n3. Meaning?\n4. These are the names of the harts that feed on the leaves of the Ash Yggdrasill. See Gylfag., ch. xvi.\n5. For meanings not given in footnotes, see Gylfag., ch. xv, and Sk\u00e1lds., ch. xvii.\n6. Raven.\n7. Hawk.\n8. Racer? (Cl.-Vig, p. 635).\n9. ?\n10. Soot-Colored.\n11. Dark-Gray.\n12. ?\n13. a Steed.]\n{p. 211}\nVigg[1] and St\u00fafr[2]\n Were with Sk\u00e6vadr;[3]\n Blakkr[4] could well bear Thegn;\n Silfrtoppr and Sinir;[5]\n I heard F\u00e1kr[6] spoke of;\n Gullfaxi and J\u00f3r[7] with the Gods were.\nBl\u00f3dugh\u00f3fi[8] hight a horse\n That they said beareth\n The strength-eminent Atridi;\n G\u00edsl[9] and Falh\u00f3fnir;[10]\n Gl\u00e6r[11] and Skeidbrimir;[12]\n Mention, too, was made of Gyllir.[13]\nThese also are recorded in K\u00e1lfsv\u00edsa:\nDagr rode Dr\u00f6sull,[14]\n And Dvalinn rode M\u00f3dnir;[15]\n Hj\u00e1lmth\u00e9r, H\u00e1feti;[16]\n Haki rode F\u00e1kr;\n The Slayer of Beli\n Rode Bl\u00f3dugh\u00f3fi,\n And Sk\u00e6vadr was ridden\n By the Ruler of Haddings.\nV\u00e9steinn rode Valr,\n And Vifill rode St\u00fafr;\n Meinthj\u00f3fr rode M\u00f3r,\n[1 Carrier.\n2. Stump.\n3. Hoof-Tosser.\n4. Black.\n5. Sinewy.\n6. Jade.\n7. Horse, Steed.\n8. Bloody-Hoof.\n9. Hostage.\n10. Hollow-Hoof.\n11. Shining.\n12. Swift-Runner.\n13. Golden.\n14. Roamer.\n15. Spirited.\n16. High-Heels.]\n{p. 212}\nAnd Morginn on Vakr;[1]\n \u00c1li rode Hrafn,\n They who rode onto the ice:\n But another, southward,\n Under Adils,\n A gray one, wandered,\n Wounded with the spear.\nBj\u00f6rn rode Blakkr,\n And Bj\u00e1rr rode Kertr;[2]\n Atli rode Glaumr,[3]\n And Adils on Sl\u00f6ngvir;[4]\n H\u00f6gni on H\u00f6lvir,[5]\n And Haraldr on F\u00f6lkvir;[6]\n Gunnarr rode Goti,[7]\n And Sigurdr, Grani.[8]\nArvakr[9] and Alsvidr[10] draw the Sun, as is written before; Hr\u00edmfaxi[11] or Fj\u00f6rsvartnir[12] draw the Night; Skinfaxi[13] and Gladr[14] are the Day's horses.\n\"These names of oxen are in Thorgr\u00edmr's Rhymes:\nOf all oxen the names\n Have I accurately learned,--\n Of these: Raudr[15] and H\u0153fir,[16]\n Rekinn[17] and H\u00fdrr,[18]\n[1. Watchful, Nimble, Ambling, or perhaps Hawk.\n2. Related to Kerti = a candle?\n3. Tumult.\n4. Slinger.\n5. Horse; etymology?\n6. ?\n7. Goth.\n8. Shining-Lip? (J\u00f3nsson).\n9. Early-Wake.\n10. All-Swift.\n11. Frosty-Mane.\n12. Swart-Life.\n13. Shining-Mane.\n14. Bright, or Glad.\n15. Red.\n16. Meet.\n17. Driven.\n18. Gentle.]\n{p. 213}\nHiminhrj\u00f3dr[1] and Apli,[2]\n Arfr[3] and Arfuni.[4]\nThese are names of serpents: Dragon, F\u00e1fnir, Mighty Monster, Adder, N\u00eddh\u00f6ggr, Lindworm, She-Adder, G\u00f3inn,[5] M\u00f3inn,[5] Grafvitnir,[5] Gr\u00e1bakr,[5] \u00d3fnir,[5] Sv\u00e1fnir,[5] Hooded One.\nNeat-Cattle: Cow, calf, oxen, heifer, yearling, steer, bull.\nSheep: Ram, buck, ewe, lamb, wether.\nSwine: Sow, she-pig, boar, hog, suckling.\nLVIII. \"What are the names of the air and of the winds? Air is called Yawning Void and Middle World, Bird-Abode, Wind-Abode. Wind is called Storm, Breeze, Gale, Tempest, Gust, Blowing. Thus does one read in Alsvinnsm\u00e1l:\nWind 't is called among menfolk,\n And Waverer with the gods,--\n Neigher the great powers name it;\n Shrieker the giants,\n And Shouter elves call it;\n In Hel Clamorer 't is called.\nThe Wind is also called Blast.\nLIX. \"Two are those birds which there is no need to periphrase otherwise than by calling blood and corpses their Drink and Meat: these are the raven and the eagle. All other male birds may be periphrased in metaphors of blood\n[1. Heaven-Bellowing, or perhaps Heaven-Destroyer.\n2. Calf.\n3. Bull; properly = cattle, pecus, fee; hence, inheritance.\n4. Heir; cf. with 3.\n5. For these names and their meanings, see Gylfag., ch. xvi.]\n{p. 214}\nor corpses; and then their names are terms of the eagle or the raven. As Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang:\nThe Prince with Eagle's Barley\n Doth feed the bloody moor-fowl:\n The H\u00f6rd-King bears the sickle\n Of Odin to the gory Swan's crop;\n The Sater of the Vulture\n Of the Eagle's Sea of corpses\n Stakes each shoal to the southward\n Which he wards, with the spear-point.\nThese are names of the raven: Crow, Huginn,[1] Muninn,[1] Bold of Mood, Yearly Flier, Year-Teller, Flesh-Boder.\nWith flesh the Host-Convoker\n Filled the feathered ravens:\n The raven, when spears were screaming,\n With the she-wolf's prey was sated.\nHe who gluts the Gull of Hatred,\n Our precious lord, could govern\n The sword; the hurtful raven\n Of Huginn's corpse-load eateth.\nBut the King's heart swelleth,\n His spirit flushed with battle,\n[1. For the meaning of these names (which are those of Odin's Ravens), see Gylfag., ch. xxxviii.]\n{p. 215}\nWhere heroes shrink; dark Muninn\n Drinks blood from out the wounds.\nAs V\u00edga-Gl\u00famr sang:\nWhen stood the shielded Maidens\n Of the gory sword, strife-eager,\n On the isle; the Bold of Mood then\n Received the meat of wound-blood.\nAs Sk\u00fali Thorsteinsson sang:\nNot the hindmost in the hundred\n Might Hl\u00f6kk of horns have seen me,\n Where to the Yearly Flier\n I fed the wounds full grievous.\nThe erne is called Eagle, Old One, Storm-Shearer, Inciter, Soarer, Wound-Shearer, Cock. As Einarr sang:\nWith blood the lips he reddened\n Of the black steed of J\u00e1rnsaxa;\n With steel Erne's meat was furnished:\n The Eagle slit the Wolf's Bait.\nAs Ottarr sang:\nThe Erne swills corpse-drink,\n The She-wolf is sated,\n The Eagle there feedeth,\n Oft the wolf his fangs reddens.\n{p. 216}\nThe Spoiler of the Lady\n Swiftly flew with tumult\n To meet the high God-Rulers,\n Long hence, in Old One's plumage.[1]\nAnd as stands here:\nWith skill will I rehearse\n Of the Storm-Shearer my verse.\nAnd again as Sk\u00fali sang:\nEarly and late with sobbing\n I wake, where well is sated\n The hawk of the Cock's blood-ocean:\n Then the bard heareth good tidings.\nLX. \"What are the names of the Sea? It is called Ocean, Main, Wintry, Lee, Deep, Way, Weir, Salt, Lake, Furtherer. As Arn\u00f3rr sang, and as we have written above:\nLet men hear how the Earls' King,\n Hardy of mind, the Sea sought;\n The overwhelming Ruler\n Failed not to resist the Main.[2]\nHere it is named Sea, and Main also.\n\"Ocean, as Hornklofi sang:\nWhen the man-scathing Meeter\n Of the Mansion of the Rock-Reefs\n[1. See Page 130.\n2. See page 198.]\n{p. 217}\nThrust the Forecastle-Adder\n And the skiff out on the Ocean.\nIn the following verse it is called Lake as well: thus sang Einarr:\nThe Lake doth bathe the vessel,\n Where the sea 'gainst each side beateth,\n And the bright wind-vanes rattle;\n The surf washes the Flood-Steeds.\nHere it is called Flood also. Thus sang Refr, as was said before:\nWintry One's[1] wet-cold Spae-Wife\n Wiles the Bear of Twisted Cables\n Oft into \u00c6gir's wide jaws,\n Where the angry billow breaketh.[2]\nDeep, as Hallvardr sang:\nThe Sword-Shaker bids be pointed\n The prow of the hardy ship-steed\n Westward in the girdle\n Of all lands, the Watery Deep.\nWay, as here:\nOn our course from land we glided;\n On the Way to the coast of Finland:\n I see from the Ship's Road, eastward,\n The fells with radiance gleaming.\nWeir, as Egill sang:\n[1. Gymir. See Gering, Die Edda, p. 53, note 2.\n2. See page 139.]\n{p. 218}\nI sailed o'er the Weir\n To the West: I bear\n Odin's Heart-Sea.\n So it stands with me.\nOcean, as Einarr sang:\nMany a day the cold Ocean\n Washes the swarthy deck-planks\n 'Neath the gracious Prince; and Snow-Storm\n Furrows Mona's Girdle.\nSalt, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nThe hardy King the Salt plowed\n From the east with hull ice-laden:\n Brown tempests tossed the Lessener\n Of Surf-Gold toward Sigt\u00fan.\nFurtherer, as B\u00f6lverkr sang:\nThou didst summon from fair Norway\n A levy the next season,\n With Din-Surf's ships the Furtherer\n Didst shear; o'er decks the sea poured.\n Here the sea is called Din-Surf also.\nWide One, as Refr sang:\nTo its breast the Stay's steed taketh\n The Home of Planks, beak-furrowed,\n And tosses the Wide One over\n The hard side; the wood suffers.\n{p. 219}\nDusky One, as Nj\u00e1ll of the Burning sang:\nWe sixteen pumped, my Lady,\n In four oar-rooms, but the surge waxed:\n The Dusky One beat over\n The hull of the driven sea-ship.\nThese are other names for the Sea, such as it is proper to use in periphrasing ships or gold.\n\"R\u00e1n, it is said, was \u00c6gir's wife, even as is written here:\nTo the sky shot up the Deep's Gledes,\n With fearful might the sea surged:\n Methinks our stems the clouds cut,--\n R\u00e1n's Road to the moon soared upward.\nThe daughters of \u00c6gir and R\u00e1n are nine, and their names are recorded before: Himingl\u00e6va,[1] D\u00fafa,[2] Bl\u00f3dughadda,[3] Hefring,[4] Udr,[5] Hr\u00f6nn,[6] Bylgja,[7] Dr\u00f6fn,[8] K\u00f3lga.[9] Einarr Sk\u00falason recorded the names of six of them in this stanza, beginning:\nHimingl\u00e6va sternly stirreth,\n And fiercely, the sea's wailing.\nWelling Wave,[10] as Valgardr sang:\nFoam rested in the Sea's bed:\n Swollen with wind, the deep played,\n[1. That through which one can see the heaven (J\u00f3nsson).\n2. The Pitching One (J\u00f3nsson).\n3 Bloody-Hair.\n4 Riser.\n5. Frothing Wave.\n6. Welling Wave.\n7. Billow.\n8. Foam-Fleck.\n9. Poetical term for Wave. \"The Cool One\" (J\u00f3nsson).\n10. In the following stanzas, for the sake of consistency, I have been obliged to translate the names, since they are employed in the stanzas as common nouns, {footnote p. 220} rather than as proper names. It is beyond my ability to translate Himingl\u00e6va briefly.]\n{p. 220}\nAnd the Welling Waves were washing\n The awful heads of the war-ships.\nBillow, as Ottarr the Swarthy sang:\nYe shear with shaven rudder\n Billows moisty-deep; the broad sheet,\n Which girls spun, on the mast-head\n With the Roller's Reindeer sported.\nFoam-Fleck, as Ormr sang:\nThe hawk-like, heedful Lady\n Has every virtue: Lofn\n Of the Foam-Fleck's flame-gold, faithful\n As a friend, all faults renounceth.\nWave-Borne, as Thorleikr the Fair sang:\nThe sea walls, and the Wave-Borne\n Bears bright froth o'er the red wood,\n Where gapes the Roller's Brown Ox,\n With mouth gold-ornamented.\nShoal, as Einarr sang:\nNor met the Forward-Minded,\n Where the fierce sea on our friends falls;\n I think the Shoal becalmed not\n The Ship, Wood of the Waters.\nFullness, as Refr sang:\n{p. 221}\nDownward the Fells of Fullness\n Fall on the Bear of Tackle:\n Now forward Winterling, stirreth,\n The ship, on Glammi's sea-path.\nComber,[1] as here:\nThe Comber fell headlong o'er me;\n The Main called me home unto it:\n I accepted not the Sea's bidding.\nBreaker, as \u00d3ttarr sang:\nIn burst the ship-sides thin;\n Rushed the Breaker downward; flushed\n Stood the wind, bane of the wood;\n Men endured wild tempest then.\nWave, as Bragi sang:\nThe Giver of the Wave's Coals,\n Who cut Thor's slender tackle,\n The Line of the Land of Sea-Mews,\n Loved not to fight the wroth sea.\nSound, as Einarr sang:\nI sheared the Sound\n From Hrund south-bound;\n My hand was gold-wound\n When the Giver I found.\n[1. So Cl.-Vig. Literally, the word means ominous, foreboder.]\n{p. 222}\nFjord, as Einarr sang:\nNext I see a serpent\n Carved well on the splendid ale-horn:\n Let the Fjord-Fire's Dispenser\n Learn how for that I pay him.\nWetness, as Mark\u00fas sang:\nI'll not lampoon the Chatterer,\n Lord of the fearful sword-blade,\n Who squanders the Sun of Wetness:\n Ill is he who spoileth verses.\nLXI. \"What are the names of fire? Even as is written here:\nNot seldom does the fire blaze\n Which Magn\u00fas sets: the stalwart\n Ruler burns habitations:\n Houses blow reek before him.\nGlow, as Valgardr sang:\nFierce Glow, with red-hot embers,\n Swiftly from the soot flared,\n Straight o'er the tottering dwellings\n Stood up the dense smoke-columns.\nBale, as here:\nHaki was burned on Bale,\n Where the sea's broad wake weltered.\n{p. 223}\nGledes, as Grani sang:\nI think the Gledes diminished\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\n Glammi's tracks; thus the king kindled.\nEmbers, as Atli sang:\nWith blood the axe is reddened,\n Embers wax, burn many houses,\n Halls stand aglow; now rages\n The Gem; good men are falling.\nHere fire is called Gem also.\nVapor, as here:\nHalf-built, by the Nid's side\n Burn the All-Ruler's dwellings;\n I think fire razed the hall's pride:\n Vapor shot rime on the people.\nHot Ashes, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nThe Isle-Danes' wrathful Harmer\n With the Raumar spared not hard counsel:\n Hot Ashes made them calmer;\n The Heinir's threatening words hushed.\nFlames, as Einarr sang:\nFlame soon was alight,\n And swiftly took flight\n All H\u00edsing's host:\n The fight they lost.\n{p. 224}\nFlare, as Valgardr sang:\nThe sturdy king's bright Flare soared\n Above the castle's bulwark;\n The vikings burst in grimly:\n Grief on the maid descended.\nLowe, as Hald\u00f3rr sang:\nThere did ye share their jewels,\n While o'er the host the Shield's Lowe,\n The sword, shrieked fiercely: never\n Wert thou spoiled of conquest.\nLXII. \"These are time-names: Cycle, Days of Yore, Generation, Lang-Syne, Year, Season, Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn, Month, Week, Day, Night, Morning, Eve, Twilight, Early, Soon, Late, Betimes, Day before Yesterday, Yester Eve, Yesterday, To-morrow, Hour, Moment. These are more names of Night in Alsvinnsm\u00e1l:\nNight 't is called among men,\n And among the gods, Mist-Time;\n Hooded Hour the Holy Powers know it;\n Sorrowless the giants,\n And elves name it Sleep-joy;\n The dwarves call it Dream-Weaver.\n[\"It is autumn from the equinox till the time when the sun sets three hours and a half after noon; then winter endures till the equinox; then it is spring till the moving-days;[1] then\n[1. In May.]\n{p. 225}\nsummer till the equinox. The month next before winter is called Harvest-Month; the first in winter is the Month of Cattle-Slaughter; then Freezing Month, then Rain-Month, then the Month of Winter's Wane, then G\u00f3i;[1] then Single Month, then Cuckoo-Month and Seed-Time, then Egg-time and Lamb-Weaning-Time; then come Sun-Month and Pasture Month, then Haying-Season; then Reaping Month.][2]\nLXIII. \"What are the simple terms for men? Each, in himself, is Man; the first and highest name by which man is called is Emperor; next to that, King; the next thereto, Earl: these three men possess in common all the following titles: All-Ruler, as this song showeth:\nI know all All-Rulers\n East and south, o'er the Ships' seat\n Sveinn's son in proof is better\n Than any other War-Prince.\nHere he is called War-Prince also; for this reason he is called All-Ruler, that he is sole Ruler of all his realm.\nHost-Arrayer, as Gizurr sang:\nThe Host-Arrayer feedeth\n The wolf and the raven in folk-mote;\n \u00d3l\u00e1fr gladdens, in Sk\u00f6gul's sharp showers\n Of battle, the geese of Odin.\n[1. I cannot find the meaning of this word.\n2. \"This passage, which U lacks, is clearly a later addition.\" J\u00f3nsson, Copenhagen ed. (1900), p. 138, footnote.]\n{p. 226}\n\"A King is called Host-Arrayer because he divides his war-host into companies.\nLeader, as Ottarr the Swarthy sang:\nThe Leader taketh\n Odin's loved Wife,\n The lordless land;\n His a warrior's life.\nLord or Lording, as Arn\u00f3rr sang:\nThe Lord of Hjaltland, highest\n Of heroes, gained the victory\n In every thunderous sword-clash:\n The bard will extol his glory.\nAn earl is called Host-Duke, and a king also is so termed, forasmuch as he leads his host to battle. Thus sang Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr:\nHe who put to shame the Host-Duke\n Thrust out the eyes of prisoners,--\n He who speeds the sacrifices;\n In song I chant his praises.\nSignor, or Se\u00f1or, as Sigvatr sang:\nO Norway's gracious Signor,\n Grant the wretched, as the happy,\n May now enjoy thy wise laws;\n Give greatly, hold thy word!\nMunificent One, as Mark\u00fas sang:\n{p. 227}\nThe Munificent Prince brought fire's destruction\n O'er the base people; to the pirates\n Death was fated: Thief-Compeller,\n South at J\u00f3m highest flame-glow kindle!\nIllustrious One, as Hallvardr sang:\nNo Illustrious One nearer\n Under Earth's Hazel liveth\n Than thou, O Monks' Upholder:\n The Gold-Minisher Danes protecteth.\nLand-Driver, as Thj\u00f3d\u00f3lfr sang:\nThe guileless Land-Driver sprinkles\n Kraki's gleaming barley,\nas was written before;[1] he is called so because he drives his host about the lands of other kings, or drives a host out of his own land.\nLXIV. \"There was a king named H\u00e1lfdan the Old, who was most famous of all kings. He made a great sacrificial feast at mid-winter, and sacrificed to this end, that he might live three hundred years in his kingdom; but he received these answers: he should not live more than the full life of a man, but for three hundred years there should be no woman and no man in his line who was not of great repute. He was a great warrior, and went on forays far and wide in the Eastern Regions:[2] there he slew in single combat the king who was called Sigtryggr. Then he took in\n[1. See Page. 173.\n2. That is, in the lands bordering the Baltic.]\n{p. 228}\nmarriage that woman named Alvig the Wise, daughter of King Eymundr of H\u00f3lmgardr:[1] they had eighteen sons, nine born at one birth. These were their names: the first, Thengill,[2] who was called Manna-Thengill;[2] the second, R\u00e6sir;[3] the third, Gramr;[3] the fourth, Gylfi;[3] the fifth, Hilmir;[3] the sixth, J\u00f6furr;[3] the seventh, Tyggi;[3] the eighth, Skyli[3] or Sk\u00fali;[3] the ninth, Harri[3] or Herra.[3] These nine brothers became so famous in foraying that, in all records since, their names are used as titles of rank, even as the name of King or that of Earl. They had no children, and all fell in battle. Thus sang Ottarr the Swarthy:\nIn his youth stalwart Thengill\n Was swift and staunch in battle:\n I pray his line endureth;\n O'er all men I esteem him.\nThus sang Markus:\nThe R\u00e6sir let the Rhine's Sun shimmer\n From the reddened Skull's ship on the Sea-Fells.\nThus sang Egill:\nThe Gramr the hood hath lifted\n From the hair-fenced brows of the Singer.\nHe played with the land-folk\n Who should have defended;\n[1. Russia.\n2. This word means Prince or King; Manna-Thengill = Prince of Men.\n3. All of these words are poetic names for a Prince or King.]\n{p. 229}\nGylfi the gladsome\n Stood 'neath the gold helmet.\nHilmir beneath the helmet\n Reddened the sword hone-hollowed.[1]\nThus sang \u00d3ttarr the Swarthy:\nLet J\u00f6furr hear the beginning\n Of his laud: all the king's praises\n Shall be maintained, and justly\n Let him mark my praise-song's measures.\nAs St\u00fafr sang:\nThe glory-ardent Tyggi\n South before Niz with two hands\n Beat down the band of heroes:\n Glad beneath their shields the host went.\nThus sang Hallfredr:\nFrom Skyli I am parted:\n This age of swords hath caused it.\n 'T is greatest of all self-mockings\n To hope that the king's guard cometh.\nThus sang Mark\u00fas:\nI bid the hawklike Danish Harri\n Hark to my cunning web of praises.\n[1. See page 197]\n{p. 230}\n\"H\u00e1lfdan and his wife had nine other sons also; these were Hildir, from whom the Hildings are come; Nefir, from whom the Niflungs sprang; Audi, from whom the \u00d6dlungs are come; Yngvi, from whom the Ynglings are descended; Dagr, from whom come the D\u00f6glings; Bragi, from whom the Bragnings are sprung (that is the race of H\u00e1lfdan the Munificent); Budli, from whom the Budlungs are come (from the house of the Budlungs Atli and Brynhildr descended); the eighth was Lofdi, who was a great war-king (that host who were called Lofdar followed him; his kindred are called Lofdungs, whence sprang Eylimi, Sigurdr F\u00e1fnisbani's mother's sire); the ninth, Sigarr, whence come the Siklings: that is the house of Siggeirr, who was son-in-law of V\u00f6lsungr,--and the house of Sigarr, who hanged Hagbardr. From the race of Hildings sprang Haraldr the Red-Bearded, mother's father of H\u00e1lfdan the Swarthy. Of the Niflung's house was Gj\u00faki; of the house of \u00d6dlings, Kj\u00e1rr; of the house of the Ylfings was Eir\u00edkr the Wise in Speech. These also are illustrious royal houses: from Yngvi, the Ynglings are descended; from Skj\u00f6ldr in Denmark, the Skj\u00f6ldungs are come; from V\u00f6lsungr in the land of Franks, those who are called V\u00f6lsungs. One war-king was named Skelfir; and his house is called the House of Skilfings: his kindred is in the Eastern Region.\n\"These houses which were named but now have been used in skaldship for titles of rank. Even as Einarr sang:\nI learned that the Hildings sallied\n To hold the Spear-Assembly\n On the Gray Isle; the broad shields,\n Green lindens, burst in sunder.\n{p. 231}\nAs Grant sang:\nThe D\u00f6gling to eagle's kindred\n For drink gave Danish blood.\nAs Gamli Gn\u00e6vadar-Skald sang:\nNot long since, the young \u00d6dling\n With ship's deck and with sword-blade\n Joined battle, waging fiercely\n Of points the bitter tempest.\nAs J\u00f3runn sang:\nThe Bragning bade the weapons\n Be dyed in blood of vile folk;\n The people endured his anger:\n Houses bowed before red embers.\nThe Budlung's blade sheared,\n Blood on darts was smeared;\n The storm-cloud of Hildr\n At Whitby spilled.\nThus sang Arnorr:\nThe Kin of Siklings inureth\n To the waves the ships sea-tossing;\n With blood he dyes the warships\n Within: 't is the weal of ravens.\n{p. 232}\nThus the doughty Sikling ended\n His life; in dire straits were we:\n The glorious Lofdung waited\n Bravely surcease of living.\nThe folk who were called Lofdar followed King Lofdi.\nChief, another Skj\u00f6ldung higher\n Than thou shall ne'er be born 'neath sun's light.\nV\u00f6lsung, as Thorkell Hamar-Skald sang:\nThe Kin of V\u00f6lsungs\n Gave counsel to send me\n The gold-decked weapon\n O'er the cool waters.\nYngling, as Ottarr the Swarthy sang:\nIn the East no mighty Yngling\n To earth fell, ere o'ertook thee\n He who subjected to him\n The Sea-isles from the westward.\nYngvi: that too is a king's title, as Mark\u00fas sang:\nThe age shall hear the praise of Eir\u00edkr:\n None in the world a prince hath known of\n Lordlier; thou holdest, Yngvi,\n The Seat of Kings with long-kept glory.\n{p. 233}\nSkilfing, as Valgardr sang:\nThe Skilfing kept a great host\n Southward in the broad lands,\n Where the swift ships shivered:\n Sicily soon was desolated.\nSignor, as Sigvatr sang:\nO Norway's gracious Signor,\n Let the poor enjoy; give greatly.[1]\nLXV. \"Skalds are called bards; and in skaldship it is correct to call any man so whom one will. Those men who served King H\u00e1lfr were called Champions.[2] and from their name warriors are called champions; and it is correct to call all men so. In skaldship men are called Lofdar also, as is written above.[3] Those men were called Skatnar[4] who served the king named Skati the Munificent: from his name every one who is munificent is called Skati. They who followed Bragi the Old were called Bragnar.[5] They who assess the transactions of men are called taxers. Fyrdar[6] and Firar[7] are they called who defend the land. Vikings and fleet-men form a ship-army. They who followed King Beimuni were called Beimar.[8] Captains of companies are called Grooms, even as he is called who carries home a bride. The Goths are named after that king who was called Goti, from whom Gotland is named: he was so called after Odin's name, derived from the name Gautr,\n[1. See page 216.\n2. Rekkar.\n3. See page 232.\n4. Plural of Skati = lordly, towering.\n5. Heroes.\n6, 7. Cf. A.-S. fyrd, firas.\n8. Heroes, Men.]\n{p. 234}\nfor Gautland or Gotland was named after Odin's name, and Sweden from the name of Svidurr, which is also a title of Odin's. At that time all the mainland which he possessed was called Reid-Gotaland, and all the islands, Ey-Gotaland: that is now called the Realm of Danes or of Swedes.\n\"Young men not householders are called Drengs, while they are acquiring wealth and glory: sea-faring Drengs are they who voyage from land to land; King's Drengs are they who serve rulers. They also are Drengs who serve wealthy men or franklins; valiant and ambitious men are called Drengs. Warriors are also called Champions and Troops: these are soldiers. Freeholders are called Thanes and Yeomen; those men who go about reconciling men are called Day-Men. These men are they who are called Champions, Kemps, Men of War, Brave Men, Valiant Men, Hardy Men, Overpowerers, Heroes. Over against these are the following terms: Soft, Weak, Unleavened, Leavenless, Melting One, Sheath, Coward, Skulker, Weakling, Qualmish, Caitiff, Scamp, Vile One, Dog, Lout, Feeble One, Paltry' One, Imbecile, Bungler, Son of Wretchedness.\n\"A good man of his hands is called Munificent, Illustrious, Towerer, Mighty Towerer, Towering Gold-Giver, Prince of Men, Wealthy One, Prosperous, Heaper-Up of Riches, Mighty Man, Chieftain. In contrast to these are they who are called Niggard, Miser, Calculator, Wretched One, Wealth-Hiding, Gift-Tardy One. A man wise in Counsel is called Wielder of Counsel. A witless man is called Clown, Oaf, Gander, Dupe, Boor, Idiot, Dolt, Fool, Madman, Maniac, Moon-Struck. One who thinks much of dress is called Gaudy, Dreng, Glittering One, Careful\n{p. 235}\nof Attire, Tricked-Out. A noisy fellow is called Shark-Skin, Braggart, Sheath-Cleaner, Fawner, Brawler, Good-for-Naught, Worthless One. Common-folk are called Country-folk or People. A thrall is called Kept-Man, Serf, Laborer, Servant.\nLXVI. \"Each one singly is called man; 't is twain if they are two; three are a thorp; four are a group; a band is five men; if there are six, it is a squad; seven complete a crew; eight men make a panel; nine are 'good fellows;' ten are a gang; eleven form an embassy; it is a dozen if twelve go together; thirteen. are a crowd; fourteen are an expedition; it is a gathering, when fifteen meet; sixteen make a garrison; seventeen are a congregation; to him who meets eighteen, they seem enemies enough. He who has nineteen men has a company; twenty men are a posse; thirty are a squadron; forty, a community; fifty are a shire; sixty are an assembly; seventy are a line;[1] eighty are a people; one hundred is a host.\nLXVII. \"Beside these there are those terms which men prefix to the names of men: we call such terms epithets of possession,[2] or true terms, or surnames. It is an epithet of possession when one names a thing by its true name, and calls him whom one desires to periphrase Owner of that thing; or Father or Grandfather of that which was named; Grandsire is a third epithet. Moreover, a son is also called Heir, Heritor, Bairn, Child and Boy, Inheritor. A blood-kinsman is called Brother, Twin, Germane, Consanguine; a relation is also called Nephew, Kinsman, Kin,\n[1. S\u00f6rvar, plural of s\u00f6rvi, a lady's necklace.\n2. Vidhenningar: literally, by-periphrases.]\n{p. 236}\nKith, Friend, Kin-Stave, Descendant, Family-Prop, Family-Stem, Kin-Branch, Family-Bough, Offshoot, Offspring, Head-Tree, Scion. Kinsmen by marriage are further called Sib-folk, Minglers of Blood. A friend is called Counsel-Mate, Counsel-Giver, Adviser, Secret-Sharer, Converser, Bench-Fellow, Fondling, Seat-Mate; bench-fellow also means Cabin-Mate. A foe is called Adversary, Shooter Against One, Hater, Attacker, Scather, Slayer, Hard Presser, Pursuer, Overbearer.\n\"These terms we call epithets of possession; and so also if a man is known by his dwelling or his ship, which has a name of its own, or by his estate, when a name of its own is given to it.\n\"This we call true terms: to call a man Wise Man, Man of Thought, Wise in Speech, Sage in Counsel, Wealth Munificent, Not Slack, Endower, Illustrious One; these are surnames.\nLXVIII. \"These are simple terms for women in skald ship: Wife and Bride and Matron are those women who are given to a man. Those who walk in pomp and fine array are called Dame and Lady. They who are witty of speech are called Women of Wisdom.[1] They who are gentle are called Girls; they who are of high countenance are called Proud and Haughty Ones. She who is of noble mind is called Gentlewoman;[2] she who is richest, Lady. She who is bashful, as young -maids are, or those women who are modest, is called Lass. The woman whose husband has departed from the land is called Stay-at-Home.\n[1. Sn\u00f3t (plural, Sn\u00f3tir) = a gentlewoman. Cf. Snotr = wise. A popular etymology.\n2. Literally = Plowshare. (See Cl.-Vig, p. 498.)]\n{p. 237}\nThat woman whose husband is slain is called War-Widow: Widow is the term for her whose husband has died of sick ness. Maid means, first, every woman, and then carlines that are old. Then there are those terms for women which are libellous: one may find them in songs, though they be not ill writing. Those women who have one husband in common are called Concubines. A son's wife is termed Daughter-in-law; the husband's mother is called Mother-in-law. A woman may also be called Mother, Grand mother, Great-Grandmother; a Mother is called Dam. Woman is further called Daughter, Bairn, and Child. She is also called Sister, Lady,[1] and Maiden.[1] Woman is also called Bed-Fellow, Speech-Mate, and Secret-Sharer of her husband; and that is an epithet of possession.\nLXIX. \"A man's head is termed thus: [thus should it he periphrased: call it Toil or Burden of the Neck; Land of the Helm, of the Hood, and of the Brain, of the Hair and Brows, of the Scalp, of Ears, Eves, and Mouth; Sword of Heimdallr, arid it is correct to name any term for sword which one desires; and to periphrase it in terms of every one of the names of Heimdallr][2] the Head, in simple terms, is called Skull, Brain, Temple, Crown. The eyes are termed Vision or Glance, and Regard, Swift-Appraising; [they may he so periphrased as to call them Sun or Moon, Shields and Glass or Jewels or Stones of the Eyelids, of the Brows, the Lashes, or the Forehead]. The ears are called Listeners[3] or Hearing;[3] [one should periphrase\n[1. D\u00eds; properly = sister. For discussion of these words, see under d\u00eds in Cl.-Vig., p. 100.\n2. This and other pages in brackets are probably spurious.\n3. These are the literal meanings; the meanings, in general usage, coincide: both words signify the inner parts of the ear (Cl.-Vig.).]\n{p. 238}\nthem by calling them Land, or any earth-name, or Mouth, or Canal, or Vision, or Eyes of Hearing, if the metaphors employed are new-coined. The mouth one should periphrase by calling it Land or House of the Tongue or of the Teeth, of Words or of the Palate, of the Lips, or the like; and if the metaphors used are not traditional, then men may call the mouth Ship, and the lips the Planks, and the tongue Oar or Tiller of the Ship. The teeth are sometimes called Gravel or Rocks of Words, of the Mouth, or of the Tongue. The tongue is often called Sword of Speech or of the Mouth]. The hair which stands on the lips is called Beard, Moustache, or Whiskers. Hair is called Nap; the hair of women is called Tresses. Hair is termed Locks. [One may periphrase hair by calling it Forest, or by some tree-name; one may periphrase it in terms of the skull or brain or head; and the beard in terms of chin or cheeks or throat.]\nLXX. The heart is called grain-sheaf; [one should periphrase it by terming it Grain or Stone or Apple or Nut or Ball, or the like, in figures of the breast or of feeling. More over, it may be called House or Earth or Mount of Feeling. One should periphrase the breast by calling it House or Garth or Ship of the Heart, of Breath, or of the Liver; Land of Energy, of Feeling, and of Memory]. Feeling is affection and emotion, love, passion, desire, love-longing. [Passion should be periphrased by calling it Wind of Troll Women; also it is correct to name what one soever is desired, and to name giants, periphrasing giantesses as Woman or Mother or Daughter of the Giants.] Feeling is also called mood, liking, eagerness, courage, activity, memory, understanding,\n{p. 239}\ntemper, humor, good faith. It is also wrath, enmity, mischievousness, grimness, balefulness, grief, sorrow, ill-will, spite, falseness, faithlessness, fickleness, light-mindedness, baseness, hasty temper, violence.\nLXXI. \"The hand and fore-arm may be called hand, arm, paw, palm. Parts of the arm are called elbow, upper arm, wolf's joint,[1] finger, grip, wrist, nail, finger-tip, hand-edge, quick. [One may term the hand Earth of Weapons or of Defensive Armor; and together with shoulder and arm, the hollow of the hand and the wrist, it may, be called Earth of Gold Rings, of the Falcon and the Hawk, and of all the equivalents thereof; and in new-coined metaphors, Leg of the Shoulder-joint, and Force of the Bow. The legs may be called Tree of the Soles, of the Insteps, of the Ankles, or the like; Running Shaft of the Road or of the Way or the Pace; one may call the leg Tree or Post of all these. The legs are periphrased in metaphors of snowshoes, shoes, and breeks.] The parts of the legs are called thigh, knee, calf, lower leg, upper leg, instep, arch, sole, toe; [one may periphrase the leg in terms of all these, calling it Tree, Mast, and Yard thereof; and in metaphors of them all].\nLXXII. \"Speech is called words, language, eloquence, talk, tale, gibing, controversy, song, spell, recital, idle talk, babbling, din, chatter, squalling, merry noise, wrangling, mocking, quarrelling, wish-wash, boasting, tittle-tattle, nonsense, idiom, vanity, gabbling. It is also termed voice, sound, resonance, articulation, wailing, shriek, dash, crash, alarm, roaring, creaking, swoop, swooping, outburst.\n[1. This is the wrist-joint.]\n{p. 240}\nLXXIII. \"Understanding is called wisdom, counsel, discernment, memory, speculation, intelligence, arithmetic, far sight,[1] craft, word-wit, pre\u00ebminence. It is called subtlety, wiliness, falsehood, fickleness.\nLXXIV. \"Expression is of two kinds: that which is called voice, and that which is called manners; manners is also temper. Rei\u00f0i[2] also has double meaning: rei\u00f0i[2] is the ill humor of a man, and rei\u00f0i[2] is also the rigging of a ship or the driving-gear of a horse. F\u00e1r also has double meaning: f\u00e1r[2] signifies wrath, and far[2] signifies a ship.\n\"Men have made frequent use of such ambiguous expressions as these; and this practice is called punning. [Lith[3] is that part of a man where bones meet; li\u00f0 is a word for ship; li\u00f0 means people; when a man renders an other assistance, his aid is li\u00f0; l\u00ed\u00f0 signifies ale. Hli\u00f0 signifies the gate in a garth; hli\u00f0r men call an ox, and hl\u00ed\u00f0 signifies a slope. One may make such use of these distinct meanings in skaldship as to make a pun that is hard to interpret, provided one employ other distinctions than those which are indicated by the half-lines which precede. These cases are there, and many others, in which divers things have the same name in common.]\"\n[1. That is, prophecy.\n2. These are properly two different words.\n3. Li\u00f0.]\n{p. 241}","title":"Sk\u00e1ldskaparmal","type":"page"}