Poetic Edda - Thorpe Trans.
Loki
34. Be silent, Niörd!
Thou wast sent eastward hence,
a hostage from the gods.
Hýmir´s daughter had thee
for a utensil,
and flowed into thy mouth.
Niörd
35. ´Tis to me a solace,
as I a long way hence
was sent, a hostage from the gods,
that I had a son,
whom no one hates,
and accounted is a chief among the Æsir.
Loki
36. Cease now, Niörd!
in bounds contain thyself;
I will no longer keep it secret:
it was with thy sister
thou hadst such a son;
hardly worse than thyself.
Tý
37. Frey is best
of all the exalted gods
in the Æsir´s courts:
no maid he makes to weep,
no wife of man,
and from bonds looses all.
Loki
38. Be silent, Tý!
Thou couldst never settle
a strife ´twixt two;
of thy right hand also
I must mention make,
which Fenrir from thee tore.
Tý
39. I of a hand am wanting,
but thou of honest fame;
sad is the lack of either.
Nor is the wolf at ease:
he in bonds must bide,
until the gods´destruction.
Loki
40. Be silent, Tý;
to thy wife it happened
to have a son by me.
Nor rag nor penny ever
hadst thou, poor wretch!
for this injury.
Frey
41. I the wolf see lying
at the river´s mouth,
until the powers are swept away.
So shalt thou be bound,
if thou art not silent,
thou framer of evil.
Loki
42. With gold thou boughtest
Gýmir´s daughter,
and so gavest away thy sword:
but when Muspell´s sons
through the dark forest ride,
thou, unhappy, wilt not
have wherewith to fight.
Byggvir
43. Know that were I of noble race,
like Ingun´s Frey,
and had so fair a dwelling,
than marrow softer I would bray
that ill-boding crow,
and crush him limb by limb.
Loki
44. What little thing is that I see
wagging its tail,
and snapping eagerly?
At the ears of Frey
thou shouldst ever be,
and clatter under mills.
Byggvir
45. Byggvir I am named,
and am thought alert,
by all gods and men;
therefore am I joyful here,
that all the sons of Hropt
drink beer together.
Loki
46. Be silent, Byggvir!
Thou couldst never
dole out food to men,
when, lying in thy truckle bed,
thou wast not to be found,
while men were fighting.
Heimdall
47. Loki, thou art drunk,
and hast lost thy wits.
Why dost thou not leave off, Loki?
But drunkenness
so rules every man,
that he knows not of his garrulity.
Loki
48. Be silent, Heimdall!
For thee in early days
was that hateful life decreed:
with a wet back
thou must ever be,
and keep watch as guardian of the gods.
Skadi
49. Thou art merry, Loki!
Not long wilt thou
frisk with an unbound tail;
for thee, on a rock´s point,
with the entrails of thy ice-cold son,
the gods will bind.
Loki
50. Know, if on a rock´s point,
with the entrails of my ice-cold son,
the gods will bind me,
that first and foremost
I was at the slaying,
when we assailed Thiassi.
Skadi
51. Know, if first and foremost
thou wast at the slaying,
when ye assailed Thiassi,
that from my dwellings
and fields shall to thee
ever cold counsels come.
Loki
52. Milder was thou of speech
to Laufey´s son,
when to thy bed thou didst invite me.
Such matters must be mentioned,
if we accurately must
recount our vices.
Then Sif came forth, and poured out mead for Loki in an icy cup, saying:
53. Hail to thee, Loki!
and this cool cup receive,
full of old mead:
at least me alone,
among the blameless Æsir race,
leave stainless.
He took the horn, drank, and said:
54. So alone shouldst thou be,
hadst thou strict and prudent been
towards thy mate;
but one I know,
and, I think, know him well,
a favoured rival of Hlorridi,
and that is the wily Loki.
Beyla
55. The fells all tremble:
I think Hlorridi
is from journeying home.
He will bid be quiet
him who here insults
all gods and men.
Loki
56. Be silent, Beyla!
Thou art Byggvir´s wife,
and with much evil mingled:
never came a greater monster
among the Æsir´s sons.
Thou art a dirty strumpet.
Thor then came in and said:
57. Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Mjöllnir,
shall stop thy prating.
I will thy head
from thy neck strike;
then will thy life be ended.
Loki
58. Now the son of earth
is hither come.
Why dost thou chafe so, Thor?
Thou wilt not dare do so,
when with the wolf thou hast to fight,
and he the all-powerful father swallows whole.
Thor
59. Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Mjöllnir,
shall stop thy prating.
Up I will hurl thee
to the east region,
and none shall see thee after.
Loki
60. Of thy eastern travels
thou shouldst never
to people speak,
since in a glove-thumb
thou, Einheri! wast doubled up,
and hardly thoughtest thou was Thor.
Thor
61. Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Mjöllnir,
shall stop thy prating;
with this right hand I, Hrugnir´s bane,
will smite thee,
so that thy every bone be broken.
Loki
62. ´Tis my intention
a long life to live,
though with thy hammer
thou dost threaten me.
Skrymir´s thongs
seemed to thee hard,
when at the food thou couldst not get,
when, in full health, of hunger dying.
Thor
63. Silence, thou impure being!
My mighty hammer, Mjöllnir,
shall stop thy prating.
Hrungnir´s bane
shall cast thee down to Hel,
beneath the grating of the dead.
Loki
64. I have said before the Æsir,
I have said before the Æsir´s sons,
that which my mind suggested:
but for thee alone
will I go out;
because I know that thou wilt fight.
65. Ægir! thou hast brewed beer;
but thou never shalt henceforth
a compotation hold.
All thy possessions,
which are herein,
flame shall play over,
and on thy back shall burn thee.
After this Loki, in the likeness of a salmon, cast himself into the waterfall of Franangr, where the Æsir caught him, and bound him with the entrails of his son Nari; but his other son, Narfi, was changed into a wolf. Skadi took a venomous serpent, and fastened it up over Loki’s face. The venom trickled down from it. Sigyn, Loki’s wife, sat by, and held a basin under the venom; and when the basin was full, carried the venom out. Meanwhile the venom dropped on Loki, who shrank from it so violently that the whole earth trembled. This causes what are not called earthquakes.
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