Prose Edda - Brodeur Trans.
Skáldskaparmál
Let silence, then, be granted,And as Eyvindr sang:
While we sing the loss of thanes.
A hearing I craveEven as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:
For the High One's Liquor,
While I utter
Gillingr's Atonement;
While his kin
In the Kettle-Brewing
Of the Gallows-Lord
To the gods I trace.
The Wave of Odin surges;And as he sang further:
Of Ódrerir's Sea a billow
'Gainst the tongue's song-glade crashes;
Aye our King's works are goodly.
Now that which Bodn's BillowAnd as Eilífr Gudrúnarson sang:
Bodes forth will straight be uttered:
Let the War-King's host make silence
In the hall, and hear the Dwarves' Ship.
Grant shall ye gifts of friendship,
Since grows of Són the Seedling
In our tongue's fertile sedge-bank:
True praise of our High Lord.
106
Even as Völu-Steinn sang:
Egill, hear the Heart-streamsThus sang Ormr Steinthórsson:
Of Odin beat in cadence
'Gainst my palate's skerry;
The God's Spoil to me is given.
No verse of mine men need to fear,Thus sang Úlfr Uggason:
No mockery I intertwine
In Odin's Spoil; my skill is sure
In forging songs of praise.
I show to host-glad ÁleifrPoesy is called Sea, or Liquid of the Dwarves, because Kvasir's blood was liquid in Ódrerir 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:
The Heart-Fjord's Shoal of Odin,-
My song: him do I summon
To hear the Gift of Grímnir.
While his kin1. See page 105.
In the Kettle-Brewing
Of the Gallows-Lord
To the gods I trace. (1)
107
Moreover, poesy is called Ship or Ale of the Dwarves: ale is líð, and lið 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:
The wit of Gunnlöd's LiquorIV. "'What figures should be employed to periphrase the name of Thor? Thus: one should call him Son of Odin and of Jörd, Father of Magni and Módi and Thrúdr, Husband of Sif, Stepfather of Ullr, Wielder and Possessor of Mjöllnir and of the Girdle of Strength, and of Bilskirnir; Defender of Ásgard: and of Midgard, Adversary and Slayer of Giants and Troll-Women, Smiter of Hrungnir, of Geirrödr and of Thrívaldi, Master of Thjálfi and Röskva, Foe of the Midgard Serpent. Foster-father of Vingnir and Hlóra. So sang Bragi the Skald:
In swelling wind-like fullness,
And the everlasting Dwarves' Ship
I own, to send the same road.
The line of Odin's OffspringThus sang Ölvir Cut-Nose-and-Crop-Ears:
Lay not slack on the gunwale,
When the huge ocean-serpent
Uncoiled on the sea's bottom.
The encircler of all regions
And Jörd's Son sought each other.
108
Thus sang Eilífr:
Wroth stood Röskva's Brother,And thus sang Eysteinn Valdason:
And Magni's Sire wrought bravely:
With terror Thor's staunch heart-stone
Trembled not, nor Thjálfi's.
With glowing eyes Thrúdr's FatherEysteinn sang further:
Glared at the sea-road's circler,
Ere the fishes' watery dwelling
Flowed in, the boat confounding.
Swiftly Sif's Husband bouned himAgain he sang:
To haste forth with the Giants
For his hardy fishing:
Well sing we Hrímnir's horn-stream.
The earth-fish tugged so fiercelyThus sang Bragi:
That Ullr's Kinsman's clenched fists
Were pulled out past the gunwale;
The broad planks rent asunder.
The strong fiend's Terrifier
In his right hand swung his hammer,
When he saw the loathly sea-fish
That all the lands confineth.
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