1. “Youth, oh, youth!	of whom then, youth, art thou born?
Say whose son thou art,
Who in Fafnir’s blood 	thy bright blade reddened,
And struck thy sword to my heart.”

2. “The Noble Hart	my name, and I go
A motherless man abroad;
Father I had not,	as others have,
And lonely ever I live.”

Fafnir spake:
3. “If father thou hadst not,	as others have,
By what wonder wast thou born?
(Though thy name on the day 	of my death thou hidest,
Thou knowest now thou dost lie.)”

Sigurth spake:
4. “My race, methinks, 	is unknown to thee,
And so am I myself;
Sigurth my name, and Sigmund’s son,
Who smote thee thus with the sword.”

Fafnir spake:
5. “Who drove thee on?    why wert thou driven
My life to make me lose?
A father brave		had the bright-eyed youth,
For bold in boyhood thou art.”

Sigurth spake:
6. “My heart did drive me,	my hand fulfilled,
And my shining sword so sharp;
Few are keen	when old age comes,
Who timid in boyhood be.”

Fafnir spake:
7. “If thou mightest grow	thy friends among,
One might see thee fiercely fight;
But bound thou art,	and in battle taken,
And to fear are prisoners prone.”

Sigurth spake:
8. “Thou blamest me, Fafnir,	that I see from afar
The wealth that my father’s was;
Not bound am I, 	though in battle taken,
Thou has found that free I live.”

Fafnir spake:
9. “In all I say	dost thou hatred see,
Yet truth alone do I tell;
The sounding gold,	the glow-red wealth,
And the rings thy bane shall be.”

Sigurth spake:
10. “Some one the hoard	shall ever hold,
Till the destined day shall come;
For a time there is 	when every man
Shall journey hence to Hel.”

Fafnir spake:
11. “The fate of the Norns	before the headland
Thou findest, and doom of a fool;
In the water shalt drown	if thou row ‘gainst the wind,
All danger is near to death.”

Sigurth spake:
12. “Tell me then, Fafnir,	for wise art famed,
And much thou knowest now:
Who are the Norns	who are helpful in need,
And the babe from the mother bring?”

Fafnir spake:
13. “Of many births	the Norns must be,
Nor one in race they were
Some to gods, others	to elves are kin,
And Dvalin’s daughters some.”

Sigurth spake:
14. “Tell me then, Fafnir, 		for wise thou art famed,
And much thou knowest now:
How call they the isle	where all the gods
And Surt shall sword-sweat mingle?”

Fafnir spake:
15. “Oskopnir is it,	where all the gods
Shall seek the play of swords;
Bilrost breaks		when they cross the bridge,
And the steeds shall swim the flood.

16. “The fear-helm I wore	to afright mankind,
While gaurding my gold I lay;
Mightier seemed I	than any man,
For a fiercer never I found.”

Sigurth spake:
17. “The fear-helm surely		no man shields
When he faces a valiant foe;
Oft one finds,		when the foe he meets,
That he is not the bravest of all.”

Fafnir spake:
18. “Venom I breathed	when bright I lay
By the hoard my father had;
(There was none so mighty	as dared to meet me,
And weapons nor wiles I feared.)”

Sigurth spake:
19. “Glittering worm,	thy hissing was great,
And hard dist show thy heart;
But hatred more 	have the sons of men
For him who owns the helm.”

Fafnir spake:
20. “I counsel thee, Sigurth,	heed my speech,
And ride thou homeward hence;
The sounding gold,	the glow-red wealth,
And the rings thy bane shall be.”
(V. “For it often happens that he who gets a deathly 
wound yet avenges himself.”)

Sigurth spake:
21. “Thy counsel is given,	but go I shall
To the gold in the heather hidden;
And, Fafnir, thou	with death dost fight,
Lying where Hel shall have thee.”

Fafnir spake:
22. “Regin betrayed me, 	and thee will betray,
Us both to death will he bring;
His life, methinks,	must Fafnir lose,
For the mightier man wast thou.”

23. “Hail to thee, Sigurth! 	Thou victory hast,
And Fafnir in fight hast slain;
Of all the men		who tread the earth,
Most fearless art thou, methinks.”

Sigurth spake:
24. “Unknown it is,	when all are together,
(The sons of the glorious gods,)
Who bravest born shall seem;
Some are valiant	who redden no sword
In the blood of a foeman’s breast.”

Regin spake:
25. “Glad art thou, Sigurth,	of battle gained,
As Gram with grass thou cleanest;
My brother fierce	in fight hast slain,
And somewhat I did myself.”

Sigurth spake:
26. “Afar didst thou go	while Fafnir reddened
With his blood my blade so keen;
With the might of the dragon	my strength I matched,
While thou in the heather didst hide.”

Regin spake:
27. “Longer wouldst thou	in the heather have let
Yon hoary giant hide,
Had the weapon availed not	that once I forged,
The keen-edged blade thou didst bear.”

Sigurth spake:
28. “Better is heart	than a mighty blade
For him who shall fiercely fight;
The brave man well	shall fight and win,
Though dull his blade may be.

29. “Brave men better	than cowards be,
When the clash of battle comes;
And better the glad	than the gloomy men
Shall face what before him lies.

30. “Thy rede it was	that I should ride
Hither o’er mountains high;
The glittering worm	would have wealth and life
If thou hadst not mocked at my might.”

31. “Sit now, Sigurth,	for sleep will I,
Hold Fafnir’s heart to the fire;
For all his heart	shall eaten be,
Since deep of blood I have drunk.”

32. “There sits Sigurth,	sprinkled with blood,
And Fafnir’s heart	with fire he cooks;
Wise were the breaker	of rings, I ween,
To eat the life-muscles	all so bright.”

A second spake:
33. “There Regin lies,	and plans he lays
The youth to betray	who trusts him well;
Lying words	with wiles will he speak,
Till his brother the maker	of mischief avenges.”

A third spake:
34. “Less by a head	let the chatterer hoary
Go from here to Hel;
Then all of the wealth	he alone can wield,
The gold that Fafnir gaurded.”

A forth spake:
35. “Wise would he seem		if so he would heed
The counsel good 	we sisters give;
Thought he would give,	and the ravens gladden,
There is ever a wolf	where his ears I spy.”

A fifth spake:
36. “Less wise must be	the tree of battle
Than to me would seem	the leader of men,
If forth he lets 	one brother fare,
When he of the other	the slayer is.”

A sixth spake:
37. “Most foolish he seems	if he shall spare
His foe, the bane of the folk;
There Regin lies,	who hath wronged him so,
Yet falsehood knows he not.”

A seventh spake:
38. “Let the head from the frost-cold	giant be hewed,
And let him of rings be robbed;
Then all the wealth	which Fafnir’s was
Shall belong to thee alone.”

Sigurth spake:
39. “Not so rich a fate	shall Regin have
As the tale of my death to tell;
For soon the brothers	both shall die,
And hence to Hel shall go.”

40. “Bind, Sigurth, the golden	rings together,
Not kingly is it	aught to fear;
I know a maid, 	there is none so fair,
Rich in gold,	if thou mightest get her.

41. “Green the paths	that to Gjuki lead,
And his fate the way	to the wanderer shows;
The doughty king	a daughter has,
That thou as a bride	mayst, Sigurth, buy.”

Another spake:
42. “A hall stands high	on Hindarfjoll,
All with flame	is it ringed without;
Warriors wise	did make it once
Out of the flaming	light of the flood.

43. “On the mountain sleeps	a battle-maid,
And about her plays	the bane of the wood;
Ygg with the thorn	hath smitten her thus,
For she felled the fighter	he fain would save.

44. “There mayst thou behold	the maiden helmed,
Who forth on Vingskornir	rode from the fight;
The victory-bringer	her sleep shall break not,
Thou heroes’ son,	so the Norns have set.”