The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson
_Thor_.
17. How did your women prove towards you?
_Harbard_.
18. Sprightly women we had, had they but been meek; shrewd ones we
had, had they but been kind. Of sand a rope they twisted, and from the
deep valley dug the earth: to them all I alone was superior in
cunning. I rested with the sisters seven, and their love and pleasures
shared. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
19. I slew Thiassi, that stout-hearted Jotun: up I cast the eyes of
Allvaldi's son into the heaven serene: they are signs the greatest of
my deeds. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
20. Great seductive arts I used against the riders of the night,[36]
when from their husbands I enticed them. A mighty Jotun I believed
Hlebard to be: a magic wand he gave me, but from his wits I charmed
him.
_Thor_.
21. With evil mind then thou didst good gifts requitè _Harbard_.
22. One tree gets that which, is from another scraped: each one in
such case is for self. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
23. In the east I was, and slew the Jotun brides, crafty in evil, as
they to the mountain went. Great would have been the Jotun race, had
they all lived; and not a man left in Midgard. What meanwhile didst
thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
24. I was in Valland, and followed warfare; princes I excited, but
never reconciled. Odin has all the jarls that in conflict fall; but
Thor the race of thralls.
_Thor_.
25. Unequally thou wouldst divide the folk among the Æsir, if thou
but hadst the power.
_Harbard_.
36. Thor has strength over-much, but courage none; from cowardice
and fear, thou wast crammed into a glove, and hardly thoughtest thou
wast Thor. Thou durst not then, through thy terror, either sneeze or
cough, lest Fialar it might hear.
_Thor_.
27. Harbard, thou wretch! I would strike thee dead, could I but
stretch my arm across the sound.
_Harbard_.
28. Why wouldst thou stretch thy arm across the sound, when there is
altogether no offence? But what didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
39. In the east I was, and a river I defended, when the sons of
Svarang me assailed, and with stones pelted me, though in their
success they little joyed: they were the first to sue for peace. What
meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
30. I was in the east, and with a certain lass held converse; with
that fair I dallied, and long meetings had. I that gold-bright one
delighted; the game amused her.
_Thor_.
31. Then you had kind damsels there?
_Harbard_.
32. Of thy aid I had need, Thor! in retaining that maiden lily-fair.
_Thor_.
33. I would have given it thee, if I had had the opportunity.
_Harbard_.
34. I would have trusted thee, my confidence if thou hadst not
betrayed it.
_Thor_.
35. I am not such a heel-chafer as an old leather shoe in spring.
_Harbard_.
36. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
37. The Berserkers' brides I on Læsso cudgeled; they the worst had
perpetrated, the whole people, had seduced.
_Harbard_.
38. Dastardly didst thou act, Thor! when thou didst cudgel women.
_Thor_.
39. She-wolves they were, and scarcely women. They crushed my ship,
which with props I had secured, with iron clubs threatened me, and
drove away Thialfi. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
40. I in the army was, which was hither sent, war-banners to raise,
lances to redden.
_Thor_.
41. Of that thou now wilt speak, as thou wentest forth us hard terms
to offer.
_Harbard_.
42. That shall be indemnified by a hand-ring, such as arbitrators
give, who wish to reconcile us.
_Thor_.
43. Where didst thou learn words than which I never heard more
irritating?
_Harbard_.
44. From men I learned them, from ancient men, whose home is in the
woods.
_Thor_.
45. Thou givest certainly a good name to grave-mounds, when thou
callest them, homes in the woods.
_Harbard_.
46. So speak I of such a subject.
_Thor_.
47. Thy shrewd words will bring thee evil, if I resolve the sound to
ford. Louder than a wolf thou wilt howl, I trow, if of my hammer thou
gettest a touch.
_Harbard_.
48. Sif has a gallant at home; thou wilt anxious be to find him:
thou shalt that arduous work perform; it will beseem thee better.
_Thor_.
49. Thou utterest what comes upmost, so that to me it be most
annoying, thou dastardly varlet! I believe thou art lying.
_Harbard_.
50. I believe I am telling truth. Thou art travelling slowly; thou
wouldst have long since arrived, hadst thou assumed another form.
_Thor_.
51. Harbard! thou wretch! rather is it thou who hast detained me.
_Harbard_.
52. I never thought that a ferryman could the course of Asa-Thor
retard.
_Thor_.
53. One advice I now will give thee: row hither with thy boat; let
us cease from threats; approach the sire of Magni.
_Harbard_.
54. Go farther from the sound, the passage is refused thee.
_Thor_.
55. Show me then the way, if thou wilt not ferry me across the
water.
_Harbard_.
56. That's too little to refuse. 'Tis far to go; 'tis to the stock
an hour, and to the stone another; then keep the left hand way, until
thou reachest Verland; there will Fiorgyn find her son Thor, and
point out to him his kinsmen's ways to Odin's land.
_Thor_.
57. Can I get there to-day?
_Harbard_.
58. With pain and toil thou mayest get there, while the sun is up,
which, I believe, is now nigh.
_Thor_.
59. Our talk shall now be short, as thou answerest with scoffing
only. For refusing to ferry me I will reward thee, if another time we
meet.
_Harbard_.
60. Just go to where all the powers of evil may have thee.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 36: Giantesses, witches, etc.]
THE JOURNEY OR LAY OF SKIRNIR.
Frey, son of Niord; had one day seated himself in Hlidskialf, and was
looking over all regions, when turning his eyes to Jotunheim, he there
saw a beautiful girl, as she was passing from her father's dwelling to
her bower. Thereupon he became greatly troubled in mind. Frey's
attendant was named Skirnir; him Niord desired to speak with Frey;
when Skadi said:--
1. Rise up now, Skirnir! go and request our son to speak; and
inquire with whom he so sage may be offended.
_Skirnir_.
2. Harsh words I have from your son to fear, if I go to speak with
him, and to inquire with whom he so sage may be offended.
_Skirnir_.
3. Tell me now, Frey, prince of gods! for I desire to know, why
alone thou sittest in the spacious hall the livelong day?
_Frey_.
4. Why shall I tell thee, thou young man, my mind's great trouble?
for the Alfs' illuminator shines every day, yet not for my pleasure.
_Skirnir_.
5. Thy care cannot, I think, be so great, that to me thou canst not
tell it; for in early days we were young together: well might we trust
each other.
_Frey_.
6. In Gymir's courts I saw walking a maid for whom I long. Her arms
gave forth light wherewith shone all air and water.
7. Is more desirable to me that maid than to any youth in early
days; yet will no one, Æsir or Alfar, that we together live.
_Skirnir_.
8. Give me but thy steed, which can bear me through the dusk,
flickering flame, and that sword, which brandishes itself against the
Jotuns' race.
_Frey_.
9. I will give thee my steed, which can bear thee through the dusk,
flickering flame, and that sword, which will itself brandish, if he is
bold who raises it.
_Skirnir Speaks to the Horse_.
10. Dark it is without, 'tis time, I say, for us to go across the
misty fells, over the Thursar's land: we shall both return, or the
all-potent Jotun will seize us both. Skirnir rides to Jotunheim, to
Gymir's mansion, where fierce dogs were chained at the gate of the
enclosure that was round Gymir's hall. He rides on to where a cowherd
was sitting on a mound, and says to him:
11. Tell me, cowherd! as on the mound thou sittest, and watchest all
the ways, how I to the speech may come, of the young maiden, for
Gymir's dogs?
_Cowherd_.
12. Either thou art death-doomed, or thou art a departed one. Speech
wilt thou ever lack with the good maid of Gymir.
_Skirnir_.
13. Better choices than to whine there are for him who is prepared
to die: for one day was my age decreed, and my whole life determined.
_Gerd_.
14. What is that sound of sounds, which I now sounding hear within
our dwelling? The earth is shaken, and with it all the house of Gymir
trembles.
_A serving-maid_.
15. A man is here without, dismounted from his horse's back: he lets
his steed browse on the grass.
_Gerd_.
16. Bid him enter into our hall, and drink of the bright mead;
although I fear it is my brother's slayer who waits without.
17. Who is this of the Alfar's, or of the Æsir's sons, or of the
wise Vanir's? Why art thou come alone, through the hostile fire, our
halls to visit?
_Skirnir_.
18. I am not of the Alfar's, nor of the Æsir's sons, nor of the wise
Vanir's; yet I am come alone, through the hostile fire, your halls to
visit.
19. Apples all-golden I have here eleven: these I will give thee,
Gerd, thy love to gain, that thou mayest say that Frev to thee lives
dearest.
_Gerd_.
20. The apples eleven I never will accept for any mortal's pleasure;
nor will I and Frey, while our lives last, live both together.
_Skirnir_.
21. The ring too I will give thee, which was burnt with the young
son of Odin. Eight of equal weight will from it drop, every ninth
night.
_Gerd_.
22. The ring I will not accept, burnt though it may have been with
the young son of Odin. I have no lack of gold in Gymir's courts; for
my father's wealth I share.
_Skirnir_.
23. Seest thou this sword, young maiden! thin, glittering-bright,
which I have here in hand? I thy head will sever from thy neck, if
thou speakst not favourably to me.
_Gerd_.
24. Suffer compulsion will I never, to please any man; yet this I
foresee, if thou and Gymir meet, ye will eagerly engage in fight.
_Skirnir_.
25. Seest thou this sword, young maiden! thin, glittering-bright,
which I have here in hand? Beneath its edge shall the old Jotun fall:
thy sire is death-doomed.
26. With a taming-wand I smite thee, and I will tame thee, maiden!
to my will. Thou shalt go thither, where the sons of men shall never
more behold thee.
27. On an eagle's mount thou shalt early sit, looking and turned
towards Hel. Food shall to thee more loathsome be than is to any one
the glistening serpent among men.
28. As a prodigy thou shalt be, when thou goest forth; Hrimnir shall
at thee gaze, all beings at thee stare; more wide-known thou shalt
become than the watch among the gods,[37] if thou from thy gratings
gape.
29. Solitude and disgust, bonds and impatience, shall thy tears with
grief augment. Set thee down, and I will tell thee of a whelming flood
of care, and a double grief.
30. Terrors shall bow thee down the livelong day, in the Jotuns'
courts. To the Hrimthursar's halls, thou shalt each day crawl
exhausted, joyless crawl; wail for pastime shalt thou have, and tears
and misery.
31. With a three-headed Thurs thou shalt be ever bound, or be
without a mate. Thy mind shall tear thee from morn to morn: as the
thistle thou shalt be which has thrust itself on the house-top.
32. To the wold I have been, and to the humid grove, a magic wand to
get. A magic wand I got.
33. Wroth with thee is Odin, wroth with thee is the Æsir's prince;
Frey shall loathe thee, even ere thou, wicked maid! shalt have felt
the gods' dire vengeance.
34. Hear ye, Jotuns! hear ye, Hrimthursar! sons of Suttung! also ye,
Æsir's friends! how I forbid, how I prohibit man's joy unto the
damsel, man's converse to the damsel.
35. Hrimgrimnir the Thurs is named, that shall possess thee, in the