Skáldskaparmál

105


     Let silence, then, be granted,
     While we sing the loss of thanes.

And as Eyvindr sang:

     A hearing I crave
     For the High One's Liquor,
     While I utter
     Gillingr's Atonement;
     While his kin
     In the Kettle-Brewing
     Of the Gallows-Lord
     To the gods I trace.

Even as Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:

     The Wave of Odin surges;
     Of Ódrerir's Sea a billow
     'Gainst the tongue's song-glade crashes;
     Aye our King's works are goodly.

And as he sang further:

     Now that which Bodn's Billow
     Bodes forth will straight be uttered:
     Let the War-King's host make silence
     In the hall, and hear the Dwarves' Ship.

And as Eilífr Gudrúnarson sang:

     Grant shall ye gifts of friendship,
     Since grows of Són the Seedling
     In our tongue's fertile sedge-bank:
     True praise of our High Lord.




106

Even as Völu-Steinn sang:

     Egill, hear the Heart-streams
     Of Odin beat in cadence
     'Gainst my palate's skerry;
     The God's Spoil to me is given.

Thus sang Ormr Steinthórsson:

     No verse of mine men need to fear,
     No mockery I intertwine
     In Odin's Spoil; my skill is sure
     In forging songs of praise.

Thus sang Úlfr Uggason:

     I show to host-glad Áleifr
     The Heart-Fjord's Shoal of Odin,-
     My song: him do I summon
     To hear the Gift of Grímnir.

Poesy is called Sea, or Liquid of the Dwarves, because Kvasir's blood was
liquid in Ódrerir before the mead was made, and then it was put into the
kettle; wherefore it is called Odin's Kettle-Liquor, even as Eyvindr sang and
as we have recorded before:

     While his kin
     In the Kettle-Brewing
     Of the Gallows-Lord
     To the gods I trace. (1)

1. See page 105.


107

Moreover, poesy is called Ship or Ale of the Dwarves: ale is líđ, and liđ is a
word for ships; therefore it is held that it is for this reason that poesy is
now called Ship of the Dwarves, even as this verse tells:

     The wit of Gunnlöd's Liquor
     In swelling wind-like fullness,
     And the everlasting Dwarves' Ship
     I own, to send the same road.

IV. "'What figures should be employed to periphrase the name of Thor? Thus: one
should call him Son of Odin and of Jörd, Father of Magni and Módi and Thrúdr,
Husband of Sif, Stepfather of Ullr, Wielder and Possessor of Mjöllnir and of
the Girdle of Strength, and of Bilskirnir; Defender of Ásgard: and of Midgard,
Adversary and Slayer of Giants and Troll-Women, Smiter of Hrungnir, of Geirrödr
and of Thrívaldi, Master of Thjálfi and Röskva, Foe of the Midgard Serpent.
Foster-father of Vingnir and Hlóra. So sang Bragi the Skald:

     The line of Odin's Offspring
     Lay not slack on the gunwale,
     When the huge ocean-serpent
     Uncoiled on the sea's bottom.

Thus sang Ölvir Cut-Nose-and-Crop-Ears:

     The encircler of all regions
     And Jörd's Son sought each other.




108

Thus sang Eilífr:

     Wroth stood Röskva's Brother,
     And Magni's Sire wrought bravely:
     With terror Thor's staunch heart-stone
     Trembled not, nor Thjálfi's.

And thus sang Eysteinn Valdason:

     With glowing eyes Thrúdr's Father
     Glared at the sea-road's circler,
     Ere the fishes' watery dwelling
     Flowed in, the boat confounding.

Eysteinn sang further:

     Swiftly Sif's Husband bouned him
     To haste forth with the Giants
     For his hardy fishing:
     Well sing we Hrímnir's horn-stream.

Again he sang:

     The earth-fish tugged so fiercely
     That Ullr's Kinsman's clenched fists
     Were pulled out past the gunwale;
     The broad planks rent asunder.

Thus sang Bragi:

     The strong fiend's Terrifier
     In his right hand swung his hammer,
     When he saw the loathly sea-fish
     That all the lands confineth.




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