The whole poem is essentially encyclopædic in character, and thus was particularly useful to Snorri in his preparation of the Prose Edda. The encyclopædic poem with a slight narrative outline seems to have been exceedingly popular; the Grimnismol and the much later Alvissmol represent different phases of the same type. The Vafthruthnismol and Grimnismol together, indeed, constitute a fairly complete dictionary of Norse mythology. There has been much discussion as to the probable date of the Vafthruthnismol, but it appears to belong to about the same period as the Voluspo: in other words, the middle of the tenth century. While there may be a few interpolated passages in the poem as we now have it, it is clearly a united whole, and evidently in relatively good condition.
Othin spake: 1. “Counsel me, Frigg, | for I long to fare, And Vafthruthnir fain would find; In wisdom old | with the giant wise Myself would I seek to match.”
Frigg spake: 2. “Heerfather here | at home would I keep, Where the gods together dwell; Amid all the giants | an equal in might To Vafthruthnir know I none.”
Othin spake: 3. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got from the gods; And fain would I know | how Vafthruthnir now Lives in his lofty hall.”
Frigg spake: 4. “Safe mayst thou go, | safe come again, And safe be the way thou wendest! Father of men, | let thy mind be keen When speech with the giant thou seekest.”
5. The wisdom then | of the giant wise Forth did he fare to try; He found the hall | of the father of Im, And in forthwith went Ygg.
Othin spake: 6. “Vafthruthnir, hail! | to thy hall am I come, For thyself I fain would see; And first would I ask | if wise thou art, Or, giant, all wisdom hast won.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 7. “Who is the man | that speaks to me, Here in my lofty hall? Forth from our dwelling | thou never shalt fare, Unless wiser than I thou art.”
Othin spake: 8. “Gagnrath they call me, | and thirsty I come From a journey hard to thy hall; Welcome I look for, | for long have I fared, And gentle greeting, giant.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 9. “Why standest thou there | on the floor whilst thou speakest? A seat shalt thou have in my hall; Then soon shall we know | whose knowledge is more, The guest’s or the sage’s gray.”
Othin spake: 10. “If a poor man reaches | the home of the rich, Let him wisely speak or be still; For to him who speaks | with the hard of heart Will chattering ever work ill.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 11. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the steed | that each morn anew The day for mankind doth draw?”
Othin spake: 12. “Skinfaxi is he, | the steed who for men The glittering day doth draw; The best of horses | to heroes he seems, And brightly his mane doth burn.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 13. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the steed | that from East anew Brings night for the noble gods?”
Othin spake: 14. “Hrimfaxi name they | the steed that anew Brings night for the noble gods; Each morning foam | from his bit there falls, And thence come the dews in the dales.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 15. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the river | that ’twixt the realms Of the gods and the giants goes?”
Othin spake: 16. “Ifing is the river | that ’twixt the realms Of the gods and the giants goes; For all time ever | open it flows, No ice on the river there is.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 17. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the field | where in fight shall meet Surt and the gracious gods?”
Othin spake: 18. “Vigrith is the field | where in fight shall meet Surt and the gracious gods; A hundred miles | each way does it measure, And so are its boundaries set.”
Vafthruthnir spake: 19. “Wise art thou, guest! | To my bench shalt thou go, In our seats let us speak together; Here in the hall | our heads, O guest, hall we wager our wisdom upon.”
Othin spake: 20. “First answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails, And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: In earliest time | whence came the earth, Or the sky, thou giant sage?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 21. “Out of Ymir’s flesh | was fashioned the earth, And the mountains were made of his bones; The sky from the frost-cold | giant’s skull, And the ocean out of his blood.”
Othin spake: 22. “Next answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails, And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence came the moon, | o’er the world of men That fares, and the flaming sun?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 23. “Mundilferi is he | who begat the moon, And fathered the flaming sun; The round of heaven | each day they run, To tell the time for men.”
Othin spake: 24. “Third answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence came the day, | o’er mankind that fares, Or night with the narrowing moon?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 25. “The father of day | is Delling called, And the night was begotten by Nor; Full moon and old | by the gods were fashioned, To tell the time for men.”
Othin spake: 26. “Fourth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence did winter come, | or the summer warm, First with the gracious gods?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 27. “Vindsval he was | who was winter’s father, And Svosuth summer begat;”...|...Othin spake: 28. “Fifth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: What giant first | was fashioned of old, And the eldest of Ymir’s kin?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 29. “Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made Was the birth of Bergelmir; Thruthgelmir’s son | was the giant strong, And Aurgelmir’s grandson of old.”
Othin spake: 30. “Sixth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence did Aurgelmir come | with the giants’ kin, Long since, thou giant sage?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 31. “Down from Elivagar | did venom drop, And waxed till a giant it was; And thence arose | our giants’ race, And thus so fierce are we found.”
Othin spake: 32. “Seventh answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: How begat he children, | the giant grim, Who never a giantess knew?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 33. “They say ’neath the arms | of the giant of ice Grew man-child and maid together; And foot with foot | did the wise one fashion A son that six heads bore.”
Othin spake: 34. “Eighth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: What farthest back | dost thou bear in mind? For wide is thy wisdom, giant!”
Vafthruthnir spake: 35. “Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made Was the birth of Bergelmir; This first knew I well, | when the giant wise In a boat of old was borne.”
Othin spake: 36. “Ninth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence comes the wind | that fares o’er the waves Yet never itself is seen?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 37. “In an eagle’s guise | at the end of heaven Hræsvelg sits, they say; And from his wings | does the wind come forth To move o’er the world of men.”
Othin spake: 38. “Tenth answer me now, | if thou knowest all The fate that is fixed for the gods: Whence came up Njorth | to the kin of the gods,— (Rich in temples | and shrines he rules,—) Though of gods he was never begot?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 39. “In the home of the Wanes | did the wise ones create him, And gave him as pledge to the gods; At the fall of the world | shall he fare once more Home to the Wanes so wise.”
Othin spake: 40. “Eleventh answer me well, |...What men...| in...home Each day to fight go forth?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 41. “The heroes all | in Othin’s hall Each day to fight go forth; They fell each other, | and fare from the fight All healed full soon to sit.”
Othin spake: 42. “Twelfth answer me now | how all thou knowest Of the fate that is fixed for the gods; Of the runes of the gods | and the giants’ race The truth indeed dost thou tell, (And wide is thy wisdom, giant!)”
Vafthruthnir spake: 43. “Of the runes of the gods | and the giants’ race The truth indeed can I tell, (For to every world have I won;) To nine worlds came I, | to Niflhel beneath, The home where dead men dwell.”
Othin spake: 44. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What shall live of mankind | when at last there comes The mighty winter to men?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 45. “In Hoddmimir’s wood | shall hide themselves Lif and Lifthrasir then; The morning dews | for meat shall they have, Such food shall men then find.”
Othin spake: 46. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: Whence comes the sun | to the smooth sky back, When Fenrir has snatched it forth?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 47. “A daughter bright | Alfrothul bears Ere Fenrir snatches her forth; Her mother’s paths | shall the maiden tread When the gods to death have gone.”
Othin spake: 48. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What maidens are they, | so wise of mind, That forth o’er the sea shall fare?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 49. “O’er Mogthrasir’s hill | shall the maidens pass, And three are their throngs that come; They all shall protect | the dwellers on earth, Though they come of the giants’ kin.”
Othin spake: 50. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: Who then shall rule | the realm of the gods, When the fires of Surt have sunk?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 51. “In the gods’ home Vithar | and Vali shall dwell, When the fires of Surt have sunk; Mothi and Magni | shall Mjollnir have When Vingnir falls in fight.”
Othin spake: 52. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What shall bring the doom | of death to Othin, When the gods to destruction go?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 53. “The wolf shall fell | the father of men, And this shall Vithar avenge; The terrible jaws | shall he tear apart, And so the wolf shall he slay.”
Othin spake: 54. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got from the gods: What spake Othin himself | in the ears of his son, Ere in the bale-fire he burned?”
Vafthruthnir spake: 55. “No man can tell | what in olden time Thou spak’st in the ears of thy son; With fated mouth | the fall of the gods And mine olden tales have I told; With Othin in knowledge | now have I striven, And ever the wiser thou art.”
NOTES 1. The phrases “Othin spake,” “Frigg spake,” etc., appear in abbreviated form in both manuscripts. Frigg: Othin’s wife; cf. Voluspo, 34 and note. Vafthruthnir (“the Mighty in Riddles”): nothing is known of this giant beyond what is told in this poem.
2. Heerfather (“Father of the Host”): Othin.
5. This single narrative stanza is presumably a later interpolation. Im: the name appears to be corrupt, but we know nothing of any son of Vafthruthnir. Ygg (“the Terrible”): Othin.
8. Gagnrath (“the Gain-Counsellor”): Othin on his travels always assumes a name other than his own.
10. This stanza sounds very much like many of those in the first part of the Hovamol, and may have been introduced here from some such source.
13. Here, and in general throughout the poem, the two-line introductory formulæ are abbreviated in the manuscripts.
16. Ifing: there is no other reference to this river, which never freezes, so that the giants cannot cross it.
17. Surt: the ruler of the fire-world (Muspellsheim), who comes to attack the gods in the last battle; cf. Voluspo, 52.
18. Vigrith: “the Field of Battle.” Snorri quotes this stanza. A hundred miles: a general phrase for a vast distance.
19. With this stanza Vafthruthnir, sufficiently impressed with his guest’s wisdom to invite him to share his own seat, resigns the questioning to Othin.
20. The fragmentary version of this poem in the Arnamagnæan Codex begins in the middle of the first line of this stanza.
21. Ymir: the giant out of whose body the gods made the world; cf. Voluspo, 3 and note.
22. In this and in Othin’s following questions, both manuscripts replace the words “next,” “third,” “fourth,” etc., by Roman numerals.
23. Mundilferi (“the Turner”?): known only as the father of Mani (the Moon) and Sol (the Sun). Note that, curiously enough, Mani is the boy and Sol the girl. According to Snorri, Sol drove the horses of the sun, and Mani those of the moon, for the gods, indignant that they should have been given such imposing names, took them from their father to perform these tasks. Cf. Grimnismol, 37.
25. Delling (“the Dayspring”? Probably another form of the name, Dogling, meaning “Son of the Dew” is more correct): the husband of Not (Night); their son was Dag (Day); cf. Hovamol, 161. Nor: Snorri calls the father of Night Norvi or Narfi, and puts him among the giants. Lines 3–4: cf. Voluspo, 6.
27. Neither the Regius nor the Arnamagnæan Codex indicates a lacuna. Most editors have filled out the stanza with two lines from late paper manuscripts: “And both of these | shall ever be, / Till the gods to destruction go.” Bugge ingeniously paraphrases Snorri’s prose: “Vindsval’s father | was Vosuth called, / And rough is all his race.” Vindsval: “the Wind-Cold,” also called Vindljoni, “the Wind-Man.” Svosuth: “the Gentle.”
28. Ymir’s kin: the giants.
29. Bergelmir: when the gods slew Ymir in order to make the world out of his body, so much blood flowed from him that all the frost-giants were drowned except Bergelmir and his wife, who escaped in a boat; cf. stanza 35. Of Thruthgelmir (“the Mightily Burning”) we know nothing, but Aurgelmir was the frost-giants’ name for Ymir himself. Thus Ymir was the first of the giants, and so Othin’s question is answered.
31. Snorri quotes this stanza, and the last two lines are taken from his version, as both of the manuscripts omit them. Elivagar (“Stormy Waves”): Mogk suggests that this river may have been the Milky Way. At any rate, the venom carried in its waters froze into ice-banks over Ginnunga-gap (the “yawning gap” referred to in Voluspo, 3), and then dripped down to make the giant Ymir.
33. Snorri gives, without materially elaborating on it, the same account of how Ymir’s son and daughter were born under his left arm, and how his feet together created a son. That this offspring should have had six heads is nothing out of the ordinary, for various giants had more than the normal number, and Hymir’s mother is credited with a little matter of nine hundred heads; cf. Hymiskvitha, 8. Of the career of Ymir’s six-headed son we know nothing; he may have been the Thruthgelmir of stanza 29.
35. Snorri quotes this stanza. Bergelmir: on him and his boat cf. stanza 29 and note.
37. Snorri quotes this stanza. Hræsvelg (“the Corpse-Eater”): on this giant in eagle’s form cf. Voluspo, 50, and Skirnismol, 27.
38. With this stanza the question-formula changes, and Othin’s questions from this point on concern more or less directly the great final struggle. Line 4 is presumably spurious. Njorth: on Njorth and the Wanes, who gave him as a hostage to the gods at the end of their war, cf. Voluspo, 21 and note.
40. In both manuscripts, apparently through the carelessness of some older copyist, stanzas 40 and 41 are run together: “Eleventh answer me well, what men in the home mightily battle each day? They fell each other, and fare from the fight all healed full soon to sit.” Luckily Snorri quotes stanza 41 in full, and the translation is from his version. Stanza 40 should probably run something like this: “Eleventh answer me well, | if thou knowest all / The fate that is fixed for the gods: / What men are they | who in Othin’s home / Each day to fight go forth?”
41. The heroes: those brought to Valhall by the Valkyries. After the day’s fighting they are healed of their wounds and all feast together.
43. Nine worlds: cf. Voluspo, 2. Niflhel: “Dark-Hell.”
44. The mighty winter: Before the final destruction three winters follow one another with no intervening summers.
45. Snorri quotes this stanza. Hoddmimir’s wood: probably this is the ash-tree Yggdrasil, which is sometimes referred to as “Mimir’s Tree,” because Mimir waters it from his well; cf. Voluspo, 27 and note, and Svipdagsmol, 30 and note. Hoddmimir is presumably another name for Mimir. Lif (“Life”) and Lifthrasir (“Sturdy of Life”?): nothing further is known of this pair, from whom the new race of men is to spring.
46. Fenrir: there appears to be a confusion between the wolf Fenrir (cf. Voluspo, 39 and note) and his son, the wolf Skoll, who steals the sun (cf. Voluspo, 40 and note).
47. Snorri quotes this stanza. Alfrothul (“the Elf-Beam”): the sun.
49. Mogthrasir (“Desiring Sons”): not mentioned elsewhere in the Eddic poems, or by Snorri. The maidens: apparently Norns, like the “giant-maids” in Voluspo, 8. These Norns, however, are kindly to men.
50. Surt: cf. Voluspo, 52 and note.
51. Vithar: a son of Othin, who slays the wolf Fenrir; cf. Voluspo, 54 and note. Vali: the son whom Othin begot to avenge Baldr’s death; cf. Voluspo, 33 and note. Mothi (“Wrath”) and Magni (“Might”): the sons of the god Thor, who after his death inherit his famous hammer, Mjollnir. Concerning this hammer cf. especially Thrymskvitha, passim. Vingnir (“the Hurler”): Thor. Concerning his death cf. Voluspo, 56. This stanza is quoted by Snorri.
53. The wolf: Fenrir; cf. Voluspo, 53 and 54.
54. His son: Baldr. Bugge changes lines 3–4 to run: “What did Othin speak | in the ear of Baldr, / When to the bale-fire they bore him?” For Baldr’s death cf. Voluspo, 32 and note. The question is, of course, unanswerable save by Othin himself, and so the giant at last recognizes his guest.
55. Fated: in stanza 19 Vafthruthnir was rash enough to wager his head against his guest’s on the outcome of the contest of wisdom, so he knows that his defeat means his death.
GRIMNISMOL THE BALLAD OF GRIMNIR INTRODUCTORY NOTE The Grimnismol follows the Vafthruthnismol in the Codex Regius and is also found complete in the Arnamagnæan Codex, where also it follows the Vafthruthnismol. Snorri quotes over twenty of its stanzas.
Like the preceding poem, the Grimnismol is largely encyclopædic in nature, and consists chiefly of proper names, the last forty-seven stanzas containing no less than two hundred and twenty-five of these. It is not, however, in dialogue form. As Müllenhoff pointed out, there is underneath the catalogue of mythological names a consecutive and thoroughly dramatic story. Othin, concealed under the name of Grimnir, is through an error tortured by King Geirröth. Bound between two blazing fires, he begins to display his wisdom for the benefit of the king’s little son, Agnar, who has been kind to him. Gradually he works up to the great final moment, when he declares his true name, or rather names, to the terrified Geirröth, and the latter falls on his sword and is killed.
For much of this story we do not have to depend on guesswork, for in both manuscripts the poem itself is preceded by a prose narrative of considerable length, and concluded by a brief prose statement of the manner of Geirröth’s death. These prose notes, of which there are many in the Eddic manuscripts, are of considerable interest to the student of early literary forms. Presumably they were written by the compiler to whom we owe the Eddic collection, who felt that the poems needed such annotation in order to be clear. Linguistic evidence shows that they were written in the twelfth or thirteenth century, for they preserve none of the older word-forms which help us to date many of the poems two or three hundred years earlier.
Without discussing in detail the problems suggested by these prose passages, it is worth noting, first, that the Eddic poems contain relatively few stanzas of truly narrative verse; and second, that all of them are based on narratives which must have been more or less familiar to the hearers of the poems. In other words, the poems seldom aimed to tell stories, although most of them followed a narrative sequence of ideas. The stories themselves appear to have lived in oral prose tradition, just as in the case of the sagas; and the prose notes of the manuscripts, in so far as they contain material not simply drawn from the poems themselves, are relics of this tradition. The early Norse poets rarely conceived verse as a suitable means for direct story-telling, and in some of the poems even the simplest action is told in prose “links” between dialogue stanzas.
The applications of this fact, which has been too often overlooked, are almost limitless, for it suggests a still unwritten chapter in the history of ballad poetry and the so-called “popular” epic. It implies that narrative among early peoples may frequently have had a period of prose existence before it was made into verse, and thus puts, for example, a long series of transitional stages before such a poem as the Iliad. In any case, the prose notes accompanying the Eddic poems prove that in addition to the poems themselves there existed in the twelfth century a considerable amount of narrative tradition, presumably in prose form, on which these notes were based by the compiler.
Interpolations in such a poem as the Grimnismol could have been made easily enough, and many stanzas have undoubtedly crept in from other poems, but the beginning and end of the poem are clearly marked, and presumably it has come down to us with the same essential outline it had when it was composed, probably in the first half of the tenth century.
King Hrauthung had two sons: one was called Agnar, and the other Geirröth. Agnar was ten winters old, and Geirröth eight. Once they both rowed in a boat with their fishing-gear to catch little fish; and the wind drove them out into the sea. In the darkness of the night they were wrecked on the shore; and going up, they found a poor peasant, with whom they stayed through the winter. The housewife took care of Agnar, and the peasant cared for Geirröth, and taught him wisdom. In the spring the peasant gave him a boat; and when the couple led them to the shore, the peasant spoke secretly with Geirröth. They had a fair wind, and came to their father’s landing-place. Geirröth was forward in the boat; he leaped up on land, but pushed out the boat and said, “Go thou now where evil may have thee!” The boat drifted out to sea. Geirröth, however, went up to the house, and was well received, but his father was dead. Then Geirröth was made king, and became a renowned man.
Othin and Frigg sat in Hlithskjolf and looked over all the worlds. Othin said: “Seest thou Agnar, thy fosterling, how he begets children with a giantess in the cave? But Geirröth, my fosterling, is a king, and now rules over his land.” Frigg said: “He is so miserly that he tortures his guests if he thinks that too many of them come to him.” Othin replied that this was the greatest of lies; and they made a wager about this matter. Frigg sent her maid-servant, Fulla, to Geirröth. She bade the king beware lest a magician who was come thither to his land should bewitch him, and told this sign concerning him, that no dog was so fierce as to leap at him. Now it was a very great slander that King Geirröth was not hospitable; but nevertheless he had them take the man whom the dogs would not attack. He wore a dark-blue mantle and called himself Grimnir, but said no more about himself, though he was questioned. The king had him tortured to make him speak, and set him between two fires, and he sat there eight nights. King Geirröth had a son ten winters old, and called Agnar after his father’s brother. Agnar went to Grimnir, and gave him a full horn to drink from, and said that the king did ill in letting him be tormented without cause. Grimnir drank from the horn; the fire had come so near that the mantle burned on Grimnir’s back. He spake: 1. Hot art thou, fire! | too fierce by far; Get ye now gone, ye flames! The mantle is burnt, | though I bear it aloft, And the fire scorches the fur.
2. ’Twixt the fires now | eight nights have I sat, And no man brought meat to me, Save Agnar alone, | and alone shall rule Geirröth’s son o’er the Goths.
3. Hail to thee, Agnar! | for hailed thou art By the voice of Veratyr; For a single drink | shalt thou never receive A greater gift as reward.
4. The land is holy | that lies hard by The gods and the elves together; And Thor shall ever | in Thruthheim dwell, Till the gods to destruction go.
5. Ydalir call they | the place where Ull A hall for himself hath set; And Alfheim the gods | to Freyr once gave As a tooth-gift in ancient times.
6. A third home is there, | with silver thatched By the hands of the gracious gods: Valaskjolf is it, | in days of old Set by a god for himself.
7. Sökkvabekk is the fourth, | where cool waves flow, And amid their murmur it stands; There daily do Othin | and Saga drink In gladness from cups of gold.
8. The fifth is Glathsheim, | and gold-bright there Stands Valhall stretching wide; And there does Othin | each day choose The men who have fallen in fight.
9. Easy is it to know | for him who to Othin Comes and beholds the hall; Its rafters are spears, | with shields is it roofed, On its benches are breastplates strewn.
10. Easy is it to know | for him who to Othin Comes and beholds the hall; There hangs a wolf | by the western door, And o’er it an eagle hovers.
11. The sixth is Thrymheim, | where Thjazi dwelt, The giant of marvelous might; Now Skathi abides, | the god’s fair bride, In the home that her father had.
12. The seventh is Breithablik; | Baldr has there For himself a dwelling set, In the land I know | that lies so fair, And from evil fate is free.
13. Himinbjorg is the eighth, | and Heimdall there O’er men holds sway, it is said; In his well-built house | does the warder of heaven The good mead gladly drink.
14. The ninth is Folkvang, | where Freyja decrees Who shall have seats in the hall; The half of the dead | each day does she choose, And half does Othin have.
15. The tenth is Glitnir; | its pillars are gold, And its roof with silver is set; There most of his days | does Forseti dwell, And sets all strife at end.
16. The eleventh is Noatun; | there has Njorth For himself a dwelling set; The sinless ruler | of men there sits In his temple timbered high.
17. Filled with growing trees | and high-standing grass Is Vithi, Vithar’s land; But there did the son | from his steed leap down, When his father he fain would avenge.
18. In Eldhrimnir | Andhrimnir cooks Sæhrimnir’s seething flesh,— The best of food, | but few men know On what fare the warriors feast.
19. Freki and Geri | does Heerfather feed, The far-famed fighter of old: But on wine alone | does the weapon-decked god, Othin, forever live.
20. O’er Mithgarth Hugin | and Munin both Each day set forth to fly; For Hugin I fear | lest he come not home, But for Munin my care is more.
21. Loud roars Thund, | and Thjothvitnir’s fish Joyously fares in the flood; Hard does it seem | to the host of the slain To wade the torrent wild.
22. There Valgrind stands, | the sacred gate, And behind are the holy doors; Old is the gate, | but few there are Who can tell how it tightly is locked.
23. Five hundred doors | and forty there are, I ween, in Valhall’s walls; Eight hundred fighters | through one door fare When to war with the wolf they go.
24. Five hundred rooms | and forty there are I ween, in Bilskirnir built; Of all the homes | whose roofs I beheld, My son’s the greatest meseemed.
25. Heithrun is the goat | who stands by Heerfather’s hall, And the branches of Lærath she bites; The pitcher she fills | with the fair, clear mead, Ne’er fails the foaming drink.
26. Eikthyrnir is the hart | who stands by Heerfather’s hall And the branches of Lærath he bites; From his horns a stream | into Hvergelmir drops, Thence all the rivers run.
27. Sith and Vith, | Sækin and Ækin, Svol and Fimbulthul, | Gunnthro and Fjorm, Rin and Rinnandi, Gipul and Gopul, | Gomul and Geirvimul, That flow through the fields of the gods; Thyn and Vin, | Thol and Hol, Groth and Gunnthorin.
28. Vino is one, | Vegsvin another, And Thjothnuma a third; Nyt and Not, | Non and Hron, Slith and Hrith, | Sylg and Ylg, Vith and Von, | Vond and Strond, Gjol and Leipt, | that go among men, And hence they fall to Hel.
29. Kormt and Ormt | and the Kerlaugs twain Shall Thor each day wade through, (When dooms to give | he forth shall go To the ash-tree Yggdrasil;) For heaven’s bridge | burns all in flame, And the sacred waters seethe.
30. Glath and Gyllir, | Gler and Skeithbrimir, Silfrintopp and Sinir, Gisl and Falhofnir, | Golltopp and Lettfeti, On these steeds the gods shall go When dooms to give | each day they ride To the ash-tree Yggdrasil.
31. Three roots there are | that three ways run ’Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil; ’Neath the first lives Hel, | ’neath the second the frost-giants, ’Neath the last are the lands of men.
32. Ratatosk is the squirrel | who there shall run On the ash-tree Yggdrasil; From above the words | of the eagle he bears, And tells them to Nithhogg beneath.
33. Four harts there are, | that the highest twigs Nibble with necks bent back; Dain and Dvalin, |...Duneyr and Dyrathror.
34. More serpents there are | beneath the ash Than an unwise ape would think; Goin and Moin, | Grafvitnir’s sons, Grabak and Grafvolluth, Ofnir and Svafnir | shall ever, methinks, Gnaw at the twigs of the tree.
35. Yggdrasil’s ash | great evil suffers, Far more than men do know; The hart bites its top, | its trunk is rotting, And Nithhogg gnaws beneath.
36. Hrist and Mist | bring the horn at my will, Skeggjold and Skogul; Hild and Thruth, | Hlokk and Herfjotur, Gol and Geironul, Randgrith and Rathgrith | and Reginleif Beer to the warriors bring.
37. Arvak and Alsvith | up shall drag Weary the weight of the sun; But an iron cool | have the kindly gods Of yore set under their yokes.
38. In front of the sun | does Svalin stand, The shield for the shining god; Mountains and sea | would be set in flames If it fell from before the sun.
39. Skoll is the wolf | that to Ironwood Follows the glittering god, And the son of Hrothvitnir, | Hati, awaits The burning bride of heaven.
40. Out of Ymir’s flesh | was fashioned the earth, And the ocean out of his blood; Of his bones the hills, | of his hair the trees, Of his skull the heavens high.
41. Mithgarth the gods | from his eyebrows made, And set for the sons of men; And out of his brain | the baleful clouds They made to move on high.
42. His the favor of Ull | and of all the gods Who first in the flames will reach; For the house can be seen | by the sons of the gods If the kettle aside were cast.
43. In days of old | did Ivaldi’s sons Skithblathnir fashion fair, The best of ships | for the bright god Freyr, The noble son of Njorth.
44. The best of trees | must Yggdrasil be, Skithblathnir best of boats; Of all the gods | is Othin the greatest, And Sleipnir the best of steeds; Bilrost of bridges, | Bragi of skalds, Hobrok of hawks, | and Garm of hounds.
45. To the race of the gods | my face have I raised, And the wished-for aid have I waked; For to all the gods | has the message gone That sit in Ægir’s seats, That drink within Ægir’s doors.
46. Grim is my name, | Gangleri am I, Herjan and Hjalmberi, Thekk and Thrithi, | Thuth and Uth, Helblindi and Hor; 47. Sath and Svipal | and Sanngetal, Herteit and Hnikar, Bileyg, Baleyg, | Bolverk, Fjolnir, Grim and Grimnir, | Glapsvith, Fjolsvith.
48. Sithhott, Sithskegg, | Sigfather, Hnikuth, Allfather, Valfather, | Atrith, Farmatyr: A single name | have I never had Since first among men I fared.
49. Grimnir they call me | in Geirröth’s hall, With Asmund Jalk am I; Kjalar I was | when I went in a sledge, At the council Thror am I called, As Vithur I fare to the fight; Oski, Biflindi, | Jafnhor and Omi, Gondlir and Harbarth midst gods.
50. I deceived the giant | Sokkmimir old As Svithur and Svithrir of yore; Of Mithvitnir’s son | the slayer I was When the famed one found his doom.
51. Drunk art thou, Geirröth, | too much didst thou drink,...Much hast thou lost, | for help no more From me or my heroes thou hast.