454
Translation from the Edda.
[Dec.
Both shall walk the way of years
Till the twilight of the Gods.
Till the twilight of the Gods.
Odin. Once again—if thou can tell,
Name the first of Ymer’s sons,
Eldest of the Asa-race?
Name the first of Ymer’s sons,
Eldest of the Asa-race?
Vaft. While the yet unshapen earth
Lay conceal’d in wintry womb,
Bergelmer had long been born:
He from Thrugelmer descends,
Aurgelmer’s unbrother’d son.
Lay conceal’d in wintry womb,
Bergelmer had long been born:
He from Thrugelmer descends,
Aurgelmer’s unbrother’d son.
Odin. Once again—if thou can tell
Whence, the first of all the Jutes,
Father Aurgelmer is sprung?
Whence, the first of all the Jutes,
Father Aurgelmer is sprung?
Vaft. From the arm of Vagom[1] fell
The curdled drops of teeming blood
That grew and form’d the first of Jutes.
Sparks that spurted from the south
Inform’d with life the crimson dew.
The curdled drops of teeming blood
That grew and form’d the first of Jutes.
Sparks that spurted from the south
Inform’d with life the crimson dew.
Odin. Yet a seventh time declare,
If so far thy wisdom reach,
How the Jute begat his brood
Tho’ denied a female’s love?
If so far thy wisdom reach,
How the Jute begat his brood
Tho’ denied a female’s love?
Vaft. Within the hollow of his hands,
To the water-giant grew
Both a male and female seed:
Also foot with foot begat
A son in whom the Jute might joy.
To the water-giant grew
Both a male and female seed:
Also foot with foot begat
A son in whom the Jute might joy.
Odin. I conjure thee tell me now,
What within the bounds of space
First befell of all that's known
What within the bounds of space
First befell of all that's known
Vaft. While the yet unshapen earth
Lay conceal’d in wintry womb,
Bergelmer had long been born;
First of all recorded things,
Is that his gigantic length
Floated on the ocean-wave.
Lay conceal’d in wintry womb,
Bergelmer had long been born;
First of all recorded things,
Is that his gigantic length
Floated on the ocean-wave.
Odin. Once again, if thou can say
And so far thy wisdom reach,
Tell me whence proceeds the wind
O’er the earth and o’er the sea
That journeys viewless to mankind?
And so far thy wisdom reach,
Tell me whence proceeds the wind
O’er the earth and o’er the sea
That journeys viewless to mankind?
Vaft. Hræsvelger[2] is the name of him,
Who sits beyond the ends of heaven,
And winnows wide his eaglewings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth.
Who sits beyond the ends of heaven,
And winnows wide his eaglewings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth.
Odin. If thy all-embracing mind
Know the whole lineage of the gods,
Tell me whence is Niord sprung?
Holy hills and halls hath he
Tho’ not born of Asa-race.
Know the whole lineage of the gods,
Tell me whence is Niord sprung?
Holy hills and halls hath he
Tho’ not born of Asa-race.
Vaft. For him the deftly-delving showers
In Vaunheim scop’d a wat’ry home,
And pledg’d it to the upper Gods:
But when the smoak of ages climbs
He with his Vauns shall stride abroad,
Nor spare the long-respected shore.
In Vaunheim scop’d a wat’ry home,
And pledg’d it to the upper Gods:
But when the smoak of ages climbs
He with his Vauns shall stride abroad,
Nor spare the long-respected shore.
Odin. If thy all-embracing mind
Know the whole of mystic lore,
Tell me how the chosen heroes[3]
Live in Odin's shield-deck’d hall
Till the ruin of ruin’d gods.
Know the whole of mystic lore,
Tell me how the chosen heroes[3]
Live in Odin's shield-deck’d hall
Till the ruin of ruin’d gods.
Vaft. All the chosen guests of Odin
Daily ply the trade of war:
From the fields of festal fight
Swift they ride in gleaming arms,
And gaily at the board of gods
Quaff the cup of sparkling ale,
And eat Sæhrimni’s vaunted flesh.
Daily ply the trade of war:
From the fields of festal fight
Swift they ride in gleaming arms,
And gaily at the board of gods
Quaff the cup of sparkling ale,
And eat Sæhrimni’s vaunted flesh.
Odin. Twelfthly, tell me, king of Jutes,
What of all thy Runic lore
Is most certain, sure, and true?
What of all thy Runic lore
Is most certain, sure, and true?
Vaft. I am vers’d in Runic lore
And the counsels of the gods;
For I’ve wander’d far and wide,
Nine the nations I have known;
And in all, that overarch
The murky mists and chills of hell,[4]
Men are daily seen to die.
And the counsels of the gods;
For I’ve wander’d far and wide,
Nine the nations I have known;
And in all, that overarch
The murky mists and chills of hell,[4]
Men are daily seen to die.
Odin. Far I’ve wander’d much sojourn
In the kingdoms of the earth;
But I’ve still a wish to know
How the sons of men shall live,
When the iron winter comes?
In the kingdoms of the earth;
But I’ve still a wish to know
How the sons of men shall live,
When the iron winter comes?
Vaft. Life and warmth shall hidden lie
In the well-head that Mimis[5] feeds,
With dews of morn and thaws of eve:
These again shall wake mankind.
In the well-head that Mimis[5] feeds,
With dews of morn and thaws of eve:
These again shall wake mankind.
Odin. Far I’ve wander’d much sojourn’d
In the kingdoms of the earth,
But I’ve still a wish to know
Whence, to deck the empty skies,
Shall another sun be drawn,
When the jaws of Fenrir ope
To ingorge the lamp of day?
In the kingdoms of the earth,
But I’ve still a wish to know
Whence, to deck the empty skies,
Shall another sun be drawn,
When the jaws of Fenrir ope
To ingorge the lamp of day?
- ↑ Vagom, waves, ocean. The waves, the subjects of Niord the sea-god, are often personified in Scaldic song; and are called Vanes and Vauns in Percy’s Mallet. For what reason two words have been contracted into one to form the proper name Elivogi appears not: yet Goranson and all the authorities countenance Mr. Cottle’s interpretation of this passage.
- ↑ Hræsvelger, corse-greedy.
- ↑ The Danish interpreters render Einheriar by Monoheroes, whereas it seems rather to answer, to the Teutonic Anherr, patriarch, ancestor, forefather. What idea should be annexed to this newly minted term monohero? That of Champion, perhaps of a warrior, who, by solitary exploits and without co-operation, attains the heroic rank: In this case it were a fit epithet for but few of the inmates of Valhalla. For Starkader, indeed, the Samson or Herkules of the north.
- ↑ The Niflhel of the text is probably an erroneous reading for Nifelheim, home of mists, which was the favourite epithet of the Goths for the nether world. Does Vafthruni mean by the nine nations, the nine, regions subject to Hela?
- ↑ The giant Mimis, and the spring which he has in custody, are mentioned in the eighth fable of the newer Edda: to this fountain-head the words bod mimis seem to allude. Gräter translates—“Life and warmth shall lie hidden in the flesh of the earth.” See Nordische Blumen, p. 141.
- ↑ The Goths make the sun feminine, and the moon masculine. This is natural in a
