Skáldskaparmál

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     With heroes' kin, where the ravens
     Starved not; keen-hearted art thou.

Thorn, as Arnórr sang:

     He gathered, the young Wealth-Thorn,
     Many great heaps of corpses
     For the eagles, and his henchmen
     Guided and helped the hero.

XLVII. "How should battle be periphrased ? By calling it Storm of Weapons or of
Sheltering Shields, or of Odin or the Valkyrs, or of Host-Kings; and Din and
Clashing. Thus sang Hornklofi:

     The king hath held a Spear-Storm
     With heroes, where the eagles
     Screamed at the Din of Skögul;
     The red wounds spat out blood.

Thus sang Eyvindr:

     And that hero
     At Háar's Tempest
     Wore a sark
     Of gray wolf-skin.

Thus sang Bersi:

     In earlier days I seemed not
     To Gunn's War-Bushes useful
     In the Sleet of Hlökk, when younger
     We were: so 't is said.


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Thus sang Einarr:

     The stark prince lets Hildr's Shield-Sails
     Take the sternest crashing Storm-Wind
     Of the Valkyr, where hail of bow-strings
     Drives; the sword-blade hammers.

As Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:

     The mail-sarks of the warriors,
     Firm-woven, did not shelter
     The seemly youths 'gainst Högni's
     Showers of Hákon's onset.

Even as here:

     They set the Point-Net's edge-band
     Against the Point-Crash-Urger.

And again:

     'Neath eagles' claws the king's foes
     Sank at the Clash of Göndul.

XLVIII. "Weapons and armor should be periphrased in figures of battle, and with
reference to Odin and the Valkyrs and host-kings: one should call a helmet
Cowl, or Hood; a birnie, Sark, or Kirtle; a shield, Tent; and a shield-wall is
termed Hall and Roof, Wall and Floor. Shields, periphrased in figures of
warships, are called Sun, or Moon, or Leaf, or Sheen, or Garth, of the Ship;
the shield is also called Ship of Ullr, or periphrased in terms of Hrungnir's
feet, since he stood upon his shield. On ancient shields it


183

was customary to paint a circle, which was called the 'ring,' and shields are
called in metaphors of that ring. Hewing weapons, axes or swords, are called
Fires of Blood, or of Wounds; swords are called Odin's Fires; but men call axes
by the names of troll-women, and periphrase them in terms of blood or wounds or
a forest or wood. Thrusting weapons are properly periphrased by calling them by
names of serpents or fishes. Missile weapons are often metaphorically termed
hail or sleet or storm. Variants of all these figures have been made in many
ways, for they are used chiefly in poems of praise, where there is need of such
metaphors.
So sang Víga-Glúmr:

     With the Hanged-God's helmet
     The hosts have ceased from going
     By the brink; not pleasant
     The bravest held the venture.

Thus sang Einarr Tinkling-Scale:

     Helm-folded strife-bold Búi, -
     Who from the south went forth
     Into Gunn's Crash, - and din-swift
     Sigvaldi offered battle.

Sark of Ródi, as Tindr sang:

     When came the birnied Hákon
     To cast away the ring-rent
     Streaming Sark of Odin,
     Ródi's rocking sea-steeds were cleared.


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Hamdir's Kirtle, as Hallfredr sang:

     The war-sleet hard and streaming
     Of Egill's weapons breaketh
     Fiercely on Hamdir's Kirtles
     Of the foremost wave-deer's warriors.

Sörli's Garments, as he sang further:

     Thence the bright Weeds of Sörli
     In men's blood must be reddened;
     I hear it clearly: Wound-Fire
     In cutting showers of iron.

Shields are called Tents of Hlökk, as Grettír sang:

     Hlökk's Tent-Raisers held their noses
     Together, and the heroes
     Of the Rain-Storm of Hildr's Shield-Wall
     Hewed at each other's beards.

Ródi's Roof, as Einarr sang:

     Ródi's Roof's great Ice-Lump
     For the Rain of Freyja's Eyelids
     Grows not less, my fair axe-head;
     His age my lord so useth.

Wall of Hildr, as Grettir sang, and as we have written before.
Ship-Sun, as Einarr sang:

     In the sea Ólafr's Kinsman
     Reddens the flame of the Ship-Sun.




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