Poetic Edda - Cottle Trans.
Gods pursue the sylvan fight ---
Gods that in fierce war delight.
The chace is o'er, and weary they,
Awhile the banquet's joy delay,
Till the teeming entrails tell,
Truth divin'd by mistic spell.
Their awful wands they now erect;
Now the sacred blood inspect.
Soon by omens sure, 'twas known,
(1) Ager did no cauldron own.
II.
The Gods command --- and thro' the skies,
With eagle speed bold (2) Veorr flies.
In youthful vigor Ager shone,
Sitting on a rocky throne:
Giant terrors deck'd his brow:
Odin's son addresses now ---
'Tis your's for Asi sons with speed,
To spread the banquet late decreed.
III.
Never more ungrateful word,
The one-eyed, sordid monster heard.
Now his angry eye-balls roll;
(3) Dark deceit absorbs his soul.
Veorr quickly, hither bear,
A cauldron thro' the fields of air:
Ale, with speed, I then will brew,
Worthy chiefs like them and you.
IV.
(4) That exploit, the immortals grieve,
Their powers unequal to achieve;
Till (5) Tyr a wond'rous secret told,
Alone, to (6) Elorrid the bold.
V.
Hymer skill'd in magic spells,
'Mong eastern Elivagi dwells ---
He, the father that I boast,
Ranges earth's remotest coast:
His house a cauldron can supply,
Of unexplor'd profundity.
VI.
Think'st thou Hymer wont refuse?
Not if we discretion use.
Swiftly chariotted they ride,
Thro' the earth-spread regions wide:
E'er setting day the night revive,
At the giant's house arrive.
VII.
The trav'llers to the sheep cotes lead,
Their goats with gilded horns to feed:
Soon Hymer's halls their steps resound,
There brave Tyr his grandam found:
She whom ev'ry mortal dreads ---
The monster with nine hundred heads.
VIII.
With eye brows white as purest snow,
His mother came in friendliest show.
Her vest with gold was garnish'd o'er;
Her hands a massy flaggon bore:
Giant sons! she said, regale,
Round our tables crown'd with ale.
IX.
But know that Hymer is not kind!
Fiercest passions rule his mind.
No mortal on his word depends,
And works begun, he seldom ends.
Now from the forest's daily roam,
Hymer slowly sought his home.
X.
Wide flew the doors --- a thund'ring clang,
Thro' his (7) icy mountain rang:
The frozen forest on his chin,
Sent as he strode a hideous din.
XI.
Hail Hymer! hail, with me rejoice ---
These Halls resound a stranger voice.
From travels long on distant bourns,
Our Son, --- our long-lost Son returns:
Veorr, come of gentlest race ---
He too has deign'd our Halls to grace.
XII.
But lo! he hides, and e'en thy son,
The terrors of thy brow to shun:
Yon Pillar's safe-guard fix'd their choice,
Soon as they heard thy awful voice.
The Giant shot an angry look,
The massy pillar instant shook: ---
His eyes upon the ceiling lit,
And ev'ry beam asunder split.
XIII.
Eight cauldrons on the pillar hung,
The fury of his eye balls flung
With deaf'ning uproar thro' the hall:
Seven were broken by the fall.
The eighth uninjur'd by the stroke,
Escap'd the storm the rest had broke.
All trembling now the guests appear:
The Giant Hymer drew more near:
But sudden startled with surprise ---
(8) His old opponent met his eyes.
XIV.
Veorr sadly did forebode,
As the Giant nearer strode.
Of three fat Bulls he thin'd the stall,
To grace for once his niggard hall.
XV.
Kill'd and dress'd, he plac'd them whole,
In a wide extended bowl.
On these the son of Odin fed,
E'er at night he sought his bed:
One suffic'd the guests to treat,
Two the giant Hymer eat.
XVI.
Hymer's wife, with eye-brows hoar,
The waste of food lamented sore:
Our fields, she cry'd, will scarce suffice,
Another day such large supplies.
XVII.
Veorr answer'd he could row,
And far in ocean strait would go,
At fisher's toil to try his fate,
If Hymer would supply the bait.
That I will, the chief reply'd,
And boats to carry us beside.
Let the tamer of mankind
His baits among my pastures find.
XVIII.
Of all the beasts that range the field,
A Bull the choicest bait will yield.
Swift to the woods the hero flew,
And thence the wish'd for victim drew.
XIX.
On his forehead high upborne,
Mid way betwixt each branching horn,
The king of giants dealt a blow,
And laid the bellowing monster low.
Navigator, Hymer cries,
Verily, thy deeds surprise!
But still the happier I had been,
Had I not thy prowess seen.
Notes:
1. Ager. ---- A great Magician, and Lord of Helseyia: coming from Asgard was received by the Asi at a splendid banquet. When he departed, he invited Odin and all the Asi to come to his mansion at a time he then appointed. The Asi were afraid there was no sincerity in his invitation, because there was little dependence to be placed upon the friendship of the Giants. To find if their suspicions were well founded, they made a sacrifice, and examined the entrails of the victim. They found that Ager had no cauldron, and concluded that his invitation was all falacious. The Asi, therefore, sent Veorr to insist upon an immediate banquet, which they knew he could not possibly give. By this means they hoped to find a pretence for quarreling with Ager and spoiling him of his riches. [Back]
2. Veorr. --- One of the names of Thor. [Back]
3. "Dark deceit." --- Ager began to find out the drift of the Asi, and thought to avoid the necessity of giving a banquet, by throwing some difficulty in the way. [Back]
4. "That exploit." --- Thor is now supposed to have returned to the Asi, and to have related to them the success of his mission: but this the poet has left to the judgment of the reader to find out. There are many such quick transitions in this poem, which it is necessary particularly to attend to. [Back]
5. Tyr --- This Tyr is a different person from him who was the son of Odin, and who lost his hand by the bite of the wolf. [Back]
6. Elorrid. --- One of the names of Thor. [Back]
7. "Icy mountain." --- This must be an Hyperbole to express the greyness of his hair, and the vast bulk of his head. [Back]
8. "His old opponent." --- Thor was well known among the Giants as their greatest enemy. Hymer therefore, as we find soon afterwards, was willing to conciliate the favor of one whose power he had so much occasion to dread. [Back]
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