Poetic Edda - Cottle Trans.
ALVISS
Men call the winds o'er earth that fly,
Contending brethren of the sky:
Gods, who on their bosom glide,
Name them their soft etherial tide:
Lesser deities, who rove
By hill, by fountain, or by grove,
And love the gentle pure serene,
Call them the noisy sons of spleen:
Giants, when they thunder by,
Name them the clarions of the sky:
Duergi, view a wreathing snake,
When eddying gusts a whirlwind make.
THOR
Alviss! lift the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides.
What are the names that ocean bore,
Since man advent'rous ploughed it o'er?
ALVISS
Man, who within its bosom pries,
Call it the (5) mirror of the skies:
Gods, that thro' all nature view,
The eternal source of rain and dew:
Vani, the vagrant of the shores,
Meand'ring thro' a thousand pores:
Giants, the stormy ocean make,
The wide dominions of (6) the snake:
Alsi, name the ocean bed,
Source of ev'ry fountain head:
Duergi sons, who o'er it sweep,
Call it the unfathomable deep.
THOR
Alviss! lift the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides:
The names of Fire now recite,
That cheers the gloomy brow of night.
ALVISS
Mortals know it by the name
Of soul-invigorating flame:
Alsi, call the glowing hearth,
Centre of convivial mirth:
Vani sons, the latent tide,
That flows thro' all creation wide:
Giants, the unconquerable power,
Doom'd creation to devour:
Duergi sons, a prisoner mild,
But freed from chains, a maniac wild;
Hela, the tyrant of a day,
Ruling with resistless sway.
THOR
Alviss! lift the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides:
Tell me what names to woods belong,
Resounding oft with vocal song?
ALVISS
Men call the wild impervions wood,
The empire of the shaggy brood:
Heroes of celestial birth,
The bristles of the monster earth:
The infernal train that Hela fills,
The unshorn honors of the hills:
Giants call each woodland maze,
Food of all-consuming blaze:
Alsi, nymphs whose spreading arms,
Shine annually with vernal charms:
Vani, call the cloud-capt pine,
Wand of potentates divine.
THOR
Alviss! list the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides:
What titles by the night are claim'd,
Offspring of black Norver nam'd.
ALVISS
Mortals proclaim the pitchy night,
Day of fanciful delight:
Gods declare the sullen hour,
Dewy nurse of plant and flower:
Giants, call it time obscure,
When Genii to destruction lure:
Alsi, the dark mysterious womb,
Whence dreams in bright succession come.
Duergi, hag, whose mystic sweep,
Weaves the subtle web of sleep.
THOR
Alviss! lift the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides.
Tell me what names the harvest yields,
That waves o'er bright autumnal fields.
ALVISS
Mortals call the auspicious grain,
Golden effluence of the plain:
Gods, that roll the circling sphere,
The last, best bounty of the year:
Vani, wealth, with sweat and toil,
Extracted from the stubborn soil:
Giants, who delight in blood,
Call the harvest, courser's food:
Alsi, who at feasts regale,
Name it stamina of ale:
Duergi, call the golden leas,
Bending path-ways of the breeze.
THOR
Alviss! lift the veil that hides,
Where nature secretly resides:
Say what denotes the mantling ale,
On which the sons of earth regale?
ALVISS
Mortals call it liquor rare,
To soothe the sullen brow of care:
Alsi, drink of power divine,
To make the face of sorrow shine:
Vani, call the amber bowl,
Source of vigor to the soul:
Giant sons, the potent charm,
That stimulates to fight the arm:
Hela's race, the noblest meed,
That Gods to mortals have decreed:
Suttungi sons, the beverage praise,
And call it length'ner of days.
THOR
Alviss! I've never seen I vow,
A mortal half so wise as thou:
But still thy wisdom could not see,
The depth of my duplicity.
Haste, Dwarf! up eastern hills afar
Dellinger drives his glittering car.
Notes:
5. "Mirror of the skies" --- Nuper me in littore vidi Quum placidum ventis staret mare. VIRGIL. eij ala dercomena, ta de nin kala kumala fainei asmca kaclazonla, ep aigialoio deousan. Theocritus. [Back]
6. "Of the snake." --- The serpent of Midgard. [Back]
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