26. “Thrymgjol they call it; | ’twas made by the three, The sons of Solblindi; And fast as a fetter | the farer it holds, Whoever shall lift the latch.”
Svipdag spake: 27. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What call they the house? | for no man beheld ‘Mongst the gods so grim a sight.”
Fjolsvith spake: 28. “Gastropnir is it, | of old I made it From the limbs of Leirbrimir; I braced it so strongly | that fast it shall stand So long as the world shall last.”
Svipdag spake: 29. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What call they the tree | that casts abroad Its limbs o’er every land?”
Fjolsvith spake: 30. “Mimameith its name, | and no man knows What root beneath it runs; And few can guess | what shall fell the tree, For fire nor iron shall fell it.”
Svipdag spake: 31. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What grows from the seed | of the tree so great, That fire nor iron shall fell?”
Fjolsvith spake: 32. “Women, sick | with child, shall seek Its fruit to the flames to bear; Then out shall come | what within was hid, And so is it mighty with men.”
Svipdag spake: 33. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What cock is he | on the highest bough, That glitters all with gold?”
Fjolsvith spake: 34. “Vithofnir his name, | and now he shines Like lightning on Mimameith’s limbs; And great is the trouble | with which he grieves Both Surt and Sinmora.”
Svipdag spake: 35. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What call they the hounds, | that before the house So fierce and angry are?”
Fjolsvith spake: 36. “Gif call they one, | and Geri the other, If now the truth thou wouldst know; Great they are, | and their might will grow, Till the gods to death are doomed.”
Svipdag spake: 37. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: May no man hope | the house to enter, While the hungry hounds are sleeping?”
Fjolsvith spake: 38. “Together they sleep not, | for so was it fixed When the guard to them was given; One sleeps by night, | the next by day, So no man may enter ever.”
Svipdag spake: 39. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: Is there no meat | that men may give them, And leap within while they eat?”
Fjolsvith spake: 40. “Two wing-joints there be | in Vithofnir’s body, If now the truth thou wouldst know; That alone is the meat | that men may give them, And leap within while they eat.”
Svipdag spake: 41. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What weapon can send | Vithofnir to seek The house of Hel below?”
Fjolsvith spake: 42. “Lævatein is there, | that Lopt with runes Once made by the doors of death; In Lægjarn’s chest | by Sinmora lies it, And nine locks fasten it firm.”
Svipdag spake: 43. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: May a man come thence | who thither goes, And tries the sword to take?”
Fjolsvith spake: 44. “Thence may he come | who thither goes, And tries the sword to take, If with him he carries | what few can win, To give to the goddess of gold.”
Svipdag spake: 45. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What treasure is there | that men may take To rejoice the giantess pale?”
Fjolsvith spake: 46. “The sickle bright | in thy wallet bear, Mid Vithofnir’s feathers found; To Sinmora give it, | and then shall she grant That the weapon by thee be won.”
Svipdag spake: 47. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What call they the hall, | encompassed here With flickering magic flames?”
Fjolsvith spake: 48. “Lyr is it called, | and long it shall On the tip of a spear-point tremble; Of the noble house | mankind has heard, But more has it never known.”
Svipdag spake: 49. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What one of the gods | has made so great The hall I behold within?”
Fjolsvith spake: 50. “Uni and Iri, | Bari and Jari, Var and Vegdrasil, Dori and Ori, | Delling, and there Was Loki, the fear of the folk.”
Svipdag spake: 51. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What call they the mountain | on which the maid Is lying so lovely to see?”
Fjolsvith spake: 52. “Lyfjaberg is it, | and long shall it be A joy to the sick and the sore; For well shall grow | each woman who climbs it, Though sick full long she has lain.”
Svipdag spake: 53. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: What maidens are they | that at Mengloth’s knees Are sitting so gladly together?”
Fjolsvith spake: 54. “Hlif is one named, | Hlifthrasa another, Thjothvara call they the third; Bjort and Bleik, | Blith and Frith, Eir and Aurbotha.”
Svipdag spake: 55. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: Aid bring they to all | who offerings give, If need be found therefor?”
Fjolsvith spake: 56. “Soon aid they all | who offerings give On the holy altars high; And if danger they see | for the sons of men, Then each from ill do they guard.”
Svipdag spake: 57. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask, For now the truth would I know: Lives there the man | who in Mengloth’s arms So fair may seek to sleep?”
Fjolsvith spake: 58. “No man there is | who in Mengloth’s arms So fair may seek to sleep, Save Svipdag alone, | for the sun-bright maid Is destined his bride to be.”
Svipdag spake: 59. “Fling back the gates! | make the gateway wide! Here mayst thou Svipdag see! Hence get thee to find | if gladness soon Mengloth to me will give.”
Fjolsvith spake: 60. “Hearken, Mengloth, | a man is come; Go thou the guest to see! The hounds are fawning, | the house bursts open,— Svipdag, methinks, is there.”
Mengloth spake: 61. “On the gallows high | shall hungry ravens Soon thine eyes pluck out, If thou liest in saying | that here at last The hero is come to my hall.
62. “Whence camest thou hither? | how camest thou here? What name do thy kinsmen call thee? Thy race and thy name | as a sign must I know, That thy bride I am destined to be.”
Svipdag spake: 63. “Svipdag am I, | and Solbjart’s son; Thence came I by wind-cold ways; With the words of Urth | shall no man war, Though unearned her gifts be given.”
Mengloth spake: 64. “Welcome thou art, | for long have I waited; The welcoming kiss shalt thou win! For two who love | is the longed-for meeting The greatest gladness of all.
65. “Long have I sat | on Lyfjaberg here, Awaiting thee day by day; And now I have | what I ever hoped, For here thou art come to my hall.
66. “Alike we yearned; | I longed for thee, And thou for my love hast longed; But now henceforth | together we know Our lives to the end we shall live.”
NOTES 1. Svipdag (“Swift Day”): the names of the speakers are lacking in the manuscripts.
3. The woman: Svipdag’s stepmother, who is responsible for his search for Mengloth (“Necklace-Glad”). This name has suggested that Mengloth is really Frigg, possessor of the famous Brisings’ necklace, or else Freyja (cf. Lokasenna, 20, note).
6. For this catalogue of charms (stanzas 6–14) cf. the Ljothatal (Hovamol, 147–165). Rani and Rind: the manuscripts have these words in inverse relation; I have followed Neckel’s emendation. Rind was the giantess who became the mother of Vali, Othin’s son, the one-night-old avenger of Baldr (cf. Voluspo, 33–34, and Baldrs Draumar, 11 and note). Rani is presumably Othin, who, according to a skaldic poem, won Rind by magic.
7. Urth: one of the three Norns, or Fates; cf. Voluspo, 20.
8. Horn and Ruth: these two rivers, here used merely to symbolize all dangerous streams, are not included in the catalogue of rivers given in Grimnismol, 27–29, for which reason some editors have changed the names to Hron and Hrith.
10. This stanza is a close parallel to Hovamol, 150, and the fifth line may well be an interpolation from line 4 of that stanza.
13. A dead Christian woman: this passage has distressed many editors, who have sought to emend the text so as to make it mean simply “a dead witch.” The fact seems to be, however, that this particular charm was composed at a time when Christians were regarded by all conservative pagans as emissaries of darkness. A dead woman’s curse would naturally be more potent, whether she was Christian or otherwise, than a living one’s. Presumably this charm is much older than the poem in which it here stands.
16. At this point Groa’s song ends, and Svipdag, thus fortified, goes to seek Mengloth. All the link that is needed between the poems is approximately this: “Then Svipdag searched long for Mengloth, and at last he came to a great house set all about with flames. And before the house there was a giant.”
17. Most editors have here begun a new series of stanza numbers, but if the Grougaldr and the Fjolsvinnsmol are to be considered as a single poem, it seems more reasonable to continue the stanza numbers consecutively. Bugge thinks a stanza has been lost before 17, including Fjolsvith’s name, so that the “he” in line 1 might have something to refer to. However, just such a prose link as I have suggested in the note on stanza 16 would serve the purpose. Editors have suggested various rearrangements in the lines of stanzas 17–19. The substance, however, is clear enough. The giant Fjolsvith (“Much-Wise”), the warder of the house in which Mengloth dwells, sees Svipdag coming and stops him with the customary threats. The assignment of the speeches in stanzas 17–20, in the absence of any indications in the manuscripts, is more or less guesswork.
22. Vindkald (“Wind-Cold”), Varkald (“Cold of Early Spring”) and Fjolkald (“Much Cold”): Svipdag apparently seeks to persuade Fjolsvith that he belongs to the frost giants.
24. Svafrthorin: who he was, or what his name means, or who his son was, are all unknown.
26. Thrymgjol (“Loud-Clanging”): this gate, like the gate of the dead, shuts so fast as to trap those who attempt to use it (cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 68 and note). It was made by the dwarfs, sons of Solblindi (“Sun-Blinded”), the traditional craftsmen, who could not endure the light of day.
28. Gastropnir: “Guest-Crusher.” Leirbrimir’s (“Clay-Giant’s”) limbs: a poetic circumlocution for “clay”; cf. the description of the making of earth from the body of the giant Ymir, Vafthruthnismol, 21.
30. Mimameith (“Mimir’s Tree”): the ash Yggdrasil, that overshadows the whole world. The well of Mimir was situated at its base; cf. Voluspo, 27–29.
32. Gering suggests that two stanzas have been lost between stanzas 15 and 16, but the giant’s answer fits the question quite well enough. The fruit of Yggdrasil, when cooked, is here assumed to have the power of assuring safe childbirth.
34. Vithofnir (“Tree-Snake”): apparently identical with either the cock Gollinkambi (cf. Voluspo, 43) or Fjalar (cf. Voluspo, 42), the former of which wakes the gods to battle, and the latter the giants. Surt: the giant mentioned in Voluspo, 52, as ruler of the fire-world; here used to represent the giants in general, who are constantly in terror of the cock’s eternal watchfulness. Sinmora: presumably Surt’s wife, the giantess who possesses the weapon by which alone the cock Vithofnir may be slain.
35. The last two lines have been variously emended.
36. Gif and Geri: both names signify “Greedy.” The first part of line 3 is conjectural; the manuscripts indicate the word “eleven,” which clearly fails to make sense.
42. Lævatein (“Wounding Wand”): the manuscripts differ as to the form of this name. The suggestion that the reference is to the mistletoe with which Baldr was killed seems hardly reasonable. Lopt: Loki. Lægjarn (“Lover of Ill”): Loki; cf. Voluspo, 35, where the term appears as an adjective applied to Loki. This is Falk’s emendation for the manuscripts’ “Sægjarn,” meaning “Sea Lover.” Sinmora: cf. stanza 34.
44. Goddess of gold: poetic circumlocution for “woman,” here meaning Sinmora.
46. Sickle: i.e., tail feather. With this the circle of impossibilities is completed. To get past the dogs, they must be fed with the wing-joints of the cock Vithofnir; the cock can be killed only with the sword in Sinmora’s possession, and Sinmora will give up the sword only in return for the tail feather of the cock.
48. Lyr (“Heat-Holding”): just what the spear-point reference means is not altogether clear. Presumably it refers to the way in which the glowing brightness of the lofty hall makes it seem to quiver and turn in the air, but the tradition, never baffled by physical laws, may have actually balanced the whole building on a single point to add to the difficulties of entrance.
50. Loki, the one god named, was the builder of the hall, with the aid of the nine dwarfs. Jari, Dori, and Ori appear in the Voluspo catalogue of the dwarfs (stanzas 13 and 15); Delling appears in Hovamol, 161, and Vafthruthnismol, 25, in the latter case, however, the name quite possibly referring to some one else. The other dwarfs’ names do not appear elsewhere. The manuscripts differ as to the forms of many of these names.
52. Lyfjaberg (“Hill of Healing”): the manuscripts vary as to this name; I have followed Bugge’s suggestion. This stanza implies that Mengloth is a goddess of healing, and hence, perhaps, an hypostasis of Frigg, as already intimated by her name (cf. stanza 3, note). In stanza 54 Eir appears as one of Mengloth’s handmaidens, and Eir, according to Snorri (Gylfaginning, 35) is herself the Norse Hygeia. Compare this stanza with stanza 32.
54. The manuscripts and editions show many variations in these names. They may be approximately rendered thus: Helper, Help-Breather, Folk-Guardian, Shining, White, Blithe, Peaceful, Kindly (?), and Gold-Giver.
55. One of the manuscripts omits stanzas 55 and 56.
56. The first line is based on a conjectural emendation.
63. Solbjart (“Sun-Bright”): not elsewhere mentioned. The words of Urth: i.e., the decrees of fate; cf. stanza 7.
65. Lyfjaberg cf. stanza 52 and note.
PART II THE POETIC EDDA VOLUME II LAYS OF THE HEROES VÖLUNDARKVITHA THE LAY OF VÖLUND INTRODUCTORY NOTE Between the Thrymskvitha and the Alvissmol in the Codex Regius stands the Völundarkvitha. It was also included in the Arnamagnæan Codex, but unluckily it begins at the very end of the fragment which has been preserved, and thus only a few lines of the opening prose remain. This is doubly regrettable because the text in Regius is unquestionably in very bad shape, and the other manuscript would doubtless have been of great assistance in the reconstruction of the poem.
There has been a vast amount written regarding the Weland tradition as a whole, discussing particularly the relations between the Völundarkvitha and the Weland passage in Deor’s Lament. There can be little question that the story came to the North from Saxon regions, along with many of the other early hero tales. In stanza 16 the Rhine is specifically mentioned as the home of treasure; and the presence of the story in Anglo-Saxon poetry probably as early as the first part of the eighth century proves beyond a doubt that the legend cannot have been a native product of Scandinavia. In one form or another, however, the legend or the smith persisted for centuries throughout all the Teutonic lands, and the name of Wayland Smith is familiar to all readers of Walter Scott, and even of Rudyard Kipling’s tales of England.
In what form this story reached the North is uncertain. Sundry striking parallels between the diction of the Völundarkvitha and that of the Weland passage in Deor’s Lament make it distinctly probable that a Saxon song on this subject had found its way to Scandinavia or Iceland. But the prose introduction to the poem mentions the “old sagas” in which Völund was celebrated, and in the Thithrekssaga we have definite evidence of the existence of such prose narrative in the form of the Velentssaga (Velent, Völund, Weland, and Wayland all being, of course, identical), which gives a long story for which the Völundarkvitha can have supplied relatively little, if any, of the material. It is probable, then, that Weland stories were current in both prose and verse in Scandinavia as early as the latter part of the ninth century.
Once let a figure become popular in oral tradition, and the number and variety of the incidents connected with his name will increase very rapidly. Doubtless there were scores of Weland stories current in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, many of them with very little if any traditional authority. The main one, however, the story of the laming of the smith by King Nithuth (or by some other enemy) and of Weland’s terrible revenge, forms the basis of the Völundarkvitha. To this, by way of introduction, has been added the story of Völund and the swan-maiden, who, to make things even more complex, is likewise said to be a Valkyrie. Some critics maintain that these two sections were originally two distinct poems, merely strung together by the compiler with the help of narrative prose links; but the poem as a whole has a kind of dramatic unity which suggests rather that an early poet—for linguistically the poem belongs among the oldest of the Eddic collection—used two distinct legends, whether in prose or verse, as the basis for the composition of a new and homogeneous poem.
The swan-maiden story appears, of course, in many places quite distinct from the Weland tradition, and, in another form, became one of the most popular of German folk-tales. Like the story of Weland, however, it is of German rather than Scandinavian origin, and the identification of the swan-maidens as Valkyries, which may have taken place before the legend reached the North, may, on the other hand, have been simply an attempt to connect southern tradition with figures well known in northern mythology.
The Völundarkvitha is full of prose narrative links, including an introduction. The nature of such prose links has already been discussed in the introductory note to the Grimnismol; the Völundarkvitha is a striking illustration of the way in which the function of the earlier Eddic verse was limited chiefly to dialogue or description, the narrative outline being provided, if at all, in prose. This prose was put in by each reciter according to his fancy and knowledge, and his estimate of his hearers’ need for such explanations; some of it, as in this instance, eventually found its way into the written record.
The manuscript of the Völundarkvitha is in such bad shape, and the conjectural emendations have been so numerous, that in the notes I have attempted to record only the most important of them.
There was a king in Sweden named Nithuth. He had two sons and one daughter; her name was Bothvild. There were three brothers, sons of a king of the Finns: one was called Slagfith, another Egil, the third Völund. They went on snowshoes and hunted wild beasts. They came into Ulfdalir and there they built themselves a house; there was a lake there which is called Ulfsjar. Early one morning they found on the shore of the lake three women, who were spinning flax. Near them were their swan-garments, for they were Valkyries. Two of them were daughters of King Hlothver, Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the All-Wise, and the third was Olrun, daughter of Kjar from Valland. These did they bring home to their hall with them. Egil took Olrun, and Slagfith Swan-White, and Völund All-Wise. There they dwelt seven winters; but then they flew away to find battles, and came back no more. Then Egil set forth on his snowshoes to follow Olrun, and Slagfith followed Swan-White, but Völund stayed in Ulfdalir. He was a most skillful man, as men know from old tales. King Nithuth had him taken by force, as the poem here tells.
1. Maids from the south | through Myrkwood flew, Fair and young, | their fate to follow; On the shore of the sea | to rest them they sat, The maids of the south, | and flax they spun.
2...|...Hlathguth and Hervor, | Hlothver’s children, And Olrun the Wise | Kjar’s daughter was.
3...|...One in her arms | took Egil then To her bosom white, | the woman fair.
4. Swan-White second,— | swan-feathers she wore,...|...And her arms the third | of the sisters threw Next round Völund’s | neck so white.
5. There did they sit | for seven winters, In the eighth at last | came their longing again, (And in the ninth | did need divide them). The maidens yearned | for the murky wood, The fair young maids, | their fate to follow.
6. Völund home | from his hunting came, From a weary way, | the weather-wise bowman, Slagfith and Egil | the hall found empty, Out and in went they, | everywhere seeking.
7. East fared Egil | after Olrun, And Slagfith south | to seek for Swan-White; Völund alone | in Ulfdalir lay,...|...
8. Red gold he fashioned | with fairest gems, And rings he strung | on ropes of bast; So for his wife | he waited long, If the fair one home | might come to him.
9. This Nithuth learned, | the lord of the Njars, That Völund alone | in Ulfdalir lay; By night went his men, | their mail-coats were studded, Their shields in the waning | moonlight shone.
10. From their saddles the gable | wall they sought, And in they went | at the end of the hall; Rings they saw there | on ropes of bast, Seven hundred | the hero had.
11. Off they took them, | but all they left Save one alone | which they bore away...|...|...12. Völund home | from his hunting came, From a weary way, | the weather-wise bowman; A brown bear’s flesh | would he roast with fire; Soon the wood so dry | was burning well, (The wind-dried wood | that Völund’s was).
13. On the bearskin he rested, | and counted the rings, The master of elves, | but one he missed; That Hlothver’s daughter | had it he thought, And the all-wise maid | had come once more.
14. So long he sat | that he fell asleep, His waking empty | of gladness was; Heavy chains | he saw on his hands, And fetters bound | his feet together.
Völund spake: 15. “What men are they | who thus have laid Ropes of bast | to bind me now?”
Then Nithuth called, | the lord of the Njars: “How gottest thou, Völund, | greatest of elves, These treasures of ours | in Ulfdalir?”
Völund spake: 16. “The gold was not | on Grani’s way, Far, methinks, is our realm | from the hills of the Rhine; I mind me that treasures | more we had When happy together | at home we were.”
17. Without stood the wife | of Nithuth wise, And in she came | from the end of the hall; On the floor she stood, | and softly spoke: “Not kind does he look | who comes from the wood.”
King Nithuth gave to his daughter Bothvild the gold ring that he had taken from the bast rope in Völund’s house, and he himself wore the sword that Völund had had. The queen spake: 18. “The glow of his eyes | is like gleaming snakes, His teeth he gnashes | if now is shown The sword, or Bothvild’s | ring he sees; Let them straightway cut | his sinews of strength, And set him then | in Sævarstath.”
So was it done: the sinews in his knee-joints were cut, and he was set in an island which was near the mainland, and was called Sævarstath. There he smithied for the king all kinds of precious things. No man dared to go to him, save only the king himself. Völund spake: 19. “At Nithuth’s girdle | gleams the sword That I sharpened keen | with cunningest craft, (And hardened the steel | with highest skill;) The bright blade far | forever is borne, (Nor back shall I see it | borne to my smithy;) Now Bothvild gets | the golden ring (That was once my bride’s,— | ne’er well shall it be.)”
20. He sat, nor slept, | and smote with his hammer, Fast for Nithuth | wonders he fashioned; Two boys did go | in his door to gaze, Nithuth’s sons, | into Sævarstath.
21. They came to the chest, | and they craved the keys, The evil was open | when in they looked; To the boys it seemed | that gems they saw, Gold in plenty | and precious stones.
Völund spake: 22. “Come ye alone, | the next day come, Gold to you both | shall then be given; Tell not the maids | or the men of the hall, To no one say | that me you have sought.”
23...|...Early did brother | to brother call: “Swift let us go | the rings to see.”
24. They came to the chest, | and they craved the keys, The evil was open | when in they looked; He smote off their heads, | and their feet he hid Under the sooty | straps of the bellows.
25. Their skulls, once hid | by their hair, he took, Set them in silver | and sent them to Nithuth; Gems full fair | from their eyes he fashioned, To Nithuth’s wife | so wise he gave them.
26. And from the teeth | of the twain he wrought A brooch for the breast, | to Bothvild he sent it;...|...27. Bothvild then | of her ring did boast,...|...| “The ring I have broken, I dare not say it | save to thee.”
Völund spake: 28. “I shall weld the break | in the gold so well That fairer than ever | thy father shall find it, And better much | thy mother shall think it, And thou no worse | than ever it was.”
29. Beer he brought, | he was better in cunning, Until in her seat | full soon she slept.
Völund spake: “Now vengeance I have | for all my hurts, Save one alone, | on the evil woman.”
30...|...|...Quoth Völund: “Would | that well were the sinews Maimed in my feet | by Nithuth’s men.”
31. Laughing Völund | rose aloft, Weeping Bothvild | went from the isle, For her lover’s flight | and her father’s wrath.
32. Without stood the wife | of Nithuth wise, And in she came | from the end of the hall; But he by the wall | in weariness sat: “Wakest thou, Nithuth, | lord of the Njars?”
Nithuth spake: 33. “Always I wake, | and ever joyless, Little I sleep | since my sons were slain; Cold is my head, | cold was thy counsel, One thing, with Völund | to speak, I wish.
34...|...“Answer me, Völund, | greatest of elves, What happed with my boys | that hale once were?”
Völund spake: 35. “First shalt thou all | the oaths now swear, By the rail of ship, | and the rim of shield, By the shoulder of steed, | and the edge of sword, That to Völund’s wife | thou wilt work no ill, Nor yet my bride | to her death wilt bring, Though a wife I should have | that well thou knowest, And a child I should have | within thy hall.
36. “Seek the smithy | that thou didst set, Thou shalt find the bellows | sprinkled with blood; I smote off the heads | of both thy sons, And their feet ’neath the sooty | straps I hid.
37. “Their skulls, once hid | by their hair, I took, Set them in silver | and sent them to Nithuth; Gems full fair | from their eyes I fashioned, To Nithuth’s wife | so wise I gave them.
38. “And from the teeth | of the twain I wrought A brooch for the breast, | to Bothvild I gave it; Now big with child | does Bothvild go, The only daughter | ye two had ever.”
Nithuth spake: 39. “Never spakest thou word | that worse could hurt me, Nor that made me, Völund, | more bitter for vengeance; There is no man so high | from thy horse to take thee, Or so doughty an archer | as down to shoot thee, While high in the clouds | thy course thou takest.”
40. Laughing Völund | rose aloft, But left in sadness | Nithuth sat...|...41. Then spake Nithuth, | lord of the Njars: “Rise up, Thakkrath, | best of my thralls, Bid Bothvild come, | the bright-browed maid, Bedecked so fair, | with her father to speak.”
42...|...|...“Is it true, Bothvild, | that which was told me; Once in the isle | with Völund wert thou?”
Bothvild spake: 43. “True is it, Nithuth, | that which was told thee, Once in the isle | with Völund was I, An hour of lust, | alas it should be! Nought was my might | with such a man, Nor from his strength | could I save myself.”
NOTES Prose. Nithuth (“Bitter Hater”): here identified as a king of Sweden, is in the poem (stanzas 9, 15 and 32) called lord of the Njars, which may refer to the people of the Swedish district of Nerike. In any case, the scene of the story has moved from Saxon lands into the Northeast. The first and last sentences of the introduction refer to the second part of the poem; the rest of it concerns the swan-maidens episode. Bothvild (“Warlike Maid”): Völund’s victim in the latter part of the poem. King of the Finns: this notion, clearly later than the poem, which calls Völund an elf, may perhaps be ascribed to the annotator who composed the prose introduction. The Finns, meaning the dwellers in Lapland, were generally credited with magic powers. Egil appears in the Thithrekssaga as Völund’s brother, but Slagfith is not elsewhere mentioned. Ulfdalir (“Wolf-Dale”), Ulfsjar (“Wolf-Sea”), Valland (“Slaughter-Land”): mythical places without historical identification. Valkyries: cf. Voluspo, 31 and note; there is nothing in the poem to identify the three swan-maidens as Valkyries except one obscure word in line 2 of stanza 1 and again in line 5 of stanza 5, which may mean, as Gering translates it, “helmed,” or else “fair and wise.” I suspect that the annotator, anxious to give the Saxon legend as much northern local color as possible, was mistaken in his mythology, and that the poet never conceived of his swan-maidens as Valkyries at all. However, this identification of swan-maidens with Valkyries was not uncommon; cf. Helreith Brynhildar, 7. The three maidens’ names, Hlathguth, Hervor, and Olrun, do not appear in the lists of Valkyries. King Hlothver: this name suggests the southern origin of the story, as it is the northern form of Ludwig; the name appears again in Guthrunarkvitha II, 26, and that of Kjar is found in Atlakvitha, 7, both of these poems being based on German stories. It is worth noting that the composer of this introductory note seems to have had little or no information beyond what was actually contained in the poem as it has come down to us; he refers to the “old stories” about Völund, but either he was unfamiliar with them in detail or else he thought it needless to make use of them. His note simply puts in clear and connected form what the verse tells somewhat obscurely; his only additions are making Nithuth a king of Sweden and Völund’s father a king of the Finns, supplying the name Ulfsjar for the lake, identifying the swan-maidens as Valkyries, and giving Kjar a home in Valland.
1. The manuscript indicates line 3 as the beginning of a stanza; two lines may have been lost before or after lines 1–2, and two more, or even six, with the additional stanza describing the theft of the swan-garments, after line 4. Myrkwood: a stock name for a magic, dark forest; cf. Lokasenna, 42.
2. In the manuscript these two lines stand after stanza 16; editors have tried to fit them into various places, but the prose indicates that they belong here, with a gap assumed.
3. In the manuscript these two lines follow stanza 1, with no gap indicated, and the first line marked as the beginning of a stanza. Many editors have combined them with stanza 4.
4. No lacuna indicated in the manuscript; one editor fills the stanza out with a second line running: “Then to her breast Slagfith embraced.”
5. Line 3 looks like an interpolation, but line 5, identical with line 2 of stanza 1, may be the superfluous one.
6. The phrase “Völund home from a weary way” is an emendation of Bugge’s, accepted by many editors. Some of those who do not include it reject line 4, and combine the remainder of the stanza with all or part of stanza 7.
7. The manuscript marks the second, and not the first, line as the beginning of a stanza. Some editors combine lines 2–3 with all or part of stanza 8. No gap is indicated in the manuscript, but many editors have assumed one, some of them accepting Bugge’s suggested “Till back the maiden | bright should come.”