Poetic Edda - Cottle Trans.
XII.
Oft the maiden they invoke: ---
No word oracular she spoke:
A secret grief her eye reveal'd,
While motionless her lips were seal'd.
The Gods in vain attempt to hide
The big drops down their cheeks that glide:
O'er-moisten'd hands at length display
What streams of anguish urge their way.
XIII.
As when from oriental skies,
Where Elivagi streams arise,
The thorny wand, with giant might,
Is brandish'd o'er the realms of night:
(That wand with which the drowsy God
Subdues the nations to his nod,
When in his shadowy car he rides,
And o'er wild phantom'd dreams presides.)
XIV.
Then mortals sink supine to rest,
By unseen opiate charm oppress'd:
The nerveless arm inactive lies,
And daily vigor nightly dies.
(18) Even wakeful Gods its power feel,
And half subdu'd inconscious reel.
Thus Dainer bids the wand of sleep
Nightly o'er the nations sweep:
The dizzy whirlings of his head
On all things round a torpor spread.
XV.
In sullen, silent, abject mood,
As struck by him Joruna stood:
The Gods in moveless, strange surprise,
In vain expected her replies.
More ardent yet her words they sought; ---
Again repulse fresh sorrows brought:
Till vows and tears at last they find
Too weak to move her stedfast mind.
XVI.
Then he who sounds the (19) vocal horn
In Odin's halls, at early morn ---
He, the embassy who bore,
Turn'd his steps nor question'd more.
(20) Nala's son with speed he took,
And sad, Joruna's shrines forsook.
(21) The bard celestial staid behind,
In hopes some favoring hour to find.
XVII.
The chiefs of Vidar thro' the skies
Were borne where (22) Vingolf's towers arise:
(23) The winds of Forniot urg'd their flight,
Before the rapid wheels of night.
There the Asi sons they find,
At banquet, in bright halls reclin'd.
XVIII.
(24) The Gods that holds the scales of right,
And quaffs nectarean bowls each night---
May he, they cried, secure maintain
The sceptre of his guiltless reign;
Long may the Gods his praises tell,
Beneath his auspices, who dwell;
And with immortal Odin share
Pleasures unally'd with care.
XIX.
(25) Baulverker station'd ev'ry guest
That round the immortal banquet press'd.
Fam'd Sæhrimner was the treat ---
The food that Gods delight to eat.
In (26) Mimer's bowls Skögula bore
Brisk metheglin brimming o'er.
XX.
The banquet done --- the immortals grow
Impatient their success to know:
Gods around Heimdaller press ---
(27) Lok, the Goddesses address.
Tell us, they cried, what wond'rous thing
From the prophetic maid you bring,
While shades of night extend their reign
Over the wide etherial plain.
XXI.
Fruitless was our toil they said; ---
Loath to answer was the maid.
The Gods astonish'd, plan again,
How best the answer to obtain.
XXII.
(28) Omi spoke, and still profound
Held the list'ning Gods around:
Let each he cried, this night revolve,
What seems to him the best resolve;
Night, in sable garb array'd,
(29) Will lend to thought propitious aid:
And what to each shall seem best done,
Let him declare by morrow's sun.
XXIII.
On western hills and o'er the main,
Where (30) Rinda's mother holds her reign,
(31) The wolf, refresh'd with evening dews,
Swift the God of day pursues.
Up the thoughtful heroes rose,
And bade each other soft repose;
While (32) Hrimfaxi swiftly flies,
Where Hropter with his consort lies.
XXIV.
With gems adorn'd, (33) Dellinger's son
Drove down the horses of the sun:
Far off their manes in streaky beam,
Shone o'er the plains of Mannaheim.
Now, thro' the western portals far,
Shot rapid the resplendent car.
XXV.
Nymphs that mountain summits love,
And they who Thurssian forests rove,
Soft Genii of the deep and air,
And wandering Nani, now repair
To where the Ash extends its shade,
For sleep and cool refreshment made.
XXVI.
The Dynasts wake from soft repose:
The sun in blushing splendor rose.
Night, with all her shadowy train,
Sunk below the western main.
(34) Ulfurna's son with joy awakes,
And swift his chearful clarion takes;
From dome to dome its call rebounds,
And each celestial rock resounds.
Notes:
18. "Even wakeful Gods." --- Heimdaller is here particularly meant, who was the most vigilant of the Gods. Homer also had his wakeful hero, Upne anax pantwn te dewn pantwn d andrwpwn. [Back]
19. "Vocal horn." --- This was given to Heimdaller by Odin. [Back]
20. Nala. --- She was the mother of Lok. [Back]
21. "The bard celestial." --- Brag, who is celebrated for his poetical talents in the second ode. [Back]
22. Vingolf. --- The mansion of love and conviviality, sacred to the Goddesses; and the abode of the just after death. [Back]
23. "While wings of Forniot." --- The son of this being presided over the winds. It has been supposed that Heimdaller and Lok, in their return, took the form of ravens for the sake of speed, and that hence is derived the title of this ode. [Back]
24. "The God." --- Odin. [Back]
25. Baulverker. --- Odin, who presided at the feast; its literal meaning is, author of calamities: but this must be understood in a limited sense, as confined to those who have merited punishment by their misconduct. [Back]
26. Mimer. --- A name of Odin, derived from mimeomai; because of his dexterity in changing himself into any form. The possession of the bowls is rightly attributed to him who was the master of the feast. [Back]
27. "Lok, the Goddesses." --- It is difficult to account why the female divinities should be particularly fond of Lok, since he was well known among them, as the most mischievous and abandoned of the Gods. [Back]
28. Omi. --- A name of Odin. [Back]
29. "Will lend, &c." --- So in the Iphiginia of Euripides, night is called eufronh. [Back]
30. Rinda, was the daughter of the Sun spoken of by Vafthrudnis in the first Ode. [Back]
31. "The Wolf," --- Fenrir was always supposed to follow the Sun. [Back]
32. Hrimfaxi, means frosty mane. [Back]
33. Dellinger's Son, Dager. [Back]
34. Ulfurna's Son, Heimdaller. [Back]
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