Skáldskaparmál

213

Himinhrjódr (1) and Apli, (2)
Arfr (3) and Arfuni. (4)

These are names of serpents: Dragon, Fáfnir, Mighty Monster, Adder, Nídhöggr,
Lindworm, She-Adder, Góinn, (5) Móinn, (5) Grafvitnir, (5) Grábakr, (5) Ófnir,
(5) Sváfnir, (5) Hooded One.

     Neat-Cattle: Cow, calf, oxen, heifer, yearling, steer, bull.
     Sheep: Ram, buck, ewe, lamb, wether.
     Swine: Sow, she-pig, boar, hog, suckling.

LVIII. "What are the names of the air and of the winds? Air is called Yawning
Void and Middle World, Bird-Abode, Wind-Abode. Wind is called Storm, Breeze,
Gale, Tempest, Gust, Blowing. Thus does one read in Alsvinnsmál:

     Wind 't is called among menfolk,
     And Waverer with the gods,-
     Neigher the great powers name it;
     Shrieker the giants,
     And Shouter elves call it;
     In Hel Clamorer 't is called.

The Wind is also called Blast.

LIX. "Two are those birds which there is no need to periphrase otherwise than
by calling blood and corpses their Drink and Meat: these are the raven and the
eagle. All other male birds may be periphrased in metaphors of blood

1. Heaven-Bellowing, or perhaps Heaven-Destroyer.
2. Calf.
3. Bull; properly cattle, pecus, fee; hence, inheritance.
4. Heir; cf. with 3.
5. For these names and their meanings, see Gylfag., ch. xvi.


214

or corpses and then their names are terms of the eagle or the raven. As
Thjódólfr sang:

     The Prince with Eagle's Barley
     Doth feed the bloody moor-fowl:
     The Hörd-King bears the sickle
     Of Odin to the gory Swan's crop;
     The Sater of the Vulture
     Of the Eagle's Sea of corpses
     Stakes each shoal to the southward
     Which he wards, with the spear-point.

These are names of the raven: Crow, Huginn, (1) Muninn, (1)
Bold of Mood, Yearly Flier, Year-Teller, Flesh-Boder.
Thus sang Einarr Tinkling-Scale:

     With flesh the Host-Convoker
     Filled the feathered ravens:
     The raven, when spears were screaming,
     With the she-wolf's prey was sated.

Thus sang Einarr Skúlason:

     He who gluts the Gull of Hatred,
     Our precious lord, could govern
     The sword; the hurtful raven
     Of Huginn's corpse-load eateth.

And as he sang further:

     But the King's heart swelleth,
     His spirit flushed with battle,

1. For the meaning of these names (which are those of Odin's Ravens), see
Gylfag., ch. xxxviii.


215

     Where heroes shrink; dark Muninn
     Drinks blood from out the wounds.

As Víga-Glúmr sang:

     When stood the shielded Maidens
     Of the gory sword, strife-eager,
     On the isle; the Bold of Mood then
     Received the meat of wound-blood.

As Skúli Thorsteinsson sang:

     Not the hindmost in the hundred
     Might Hlökk of horns have seen me,
     Where to the Yearly Flier
     I fed the wounds full grievous.

The erne is called Eagle, Old One, Storm-Shearer, Inciter, Soarer, Wound-
Shearer, Cock. As Einarr sang:

     With blood the lips he reddened
     Of the black steed of Járnsaxa;
     With steel Erne's meat was furnished:
     The Eagle slit the Wolf's Bait.

As Óttarr sang:

     The Erne swills corpse-drink,
     The She-wolf is sated,
     The Eagle there feedeth,
     Oft the wolf his fangs reddens.


216

As Thjódólfr sang:

     The Spoiler of the Lady
     Swiftly flew with tumult
     To meet the high God-Rulers,
     Long hence, in Old One's plumage. (1)

And as stands here:

     With skill will I rehearse
     Of the Storm-Shearer my verse.

And again as Skúli sang:

     Early and late with sobbing
     I wake, where well is sated
     The hawk of the Cock's blood-ocean:
     Then the bard heareth good tidings.

LX. "What are the names of the Sea? It is called Ocean, Main, Wintry, Lee,
Deep, Way, Weir, Salt, Lake, Furtherer. As Arnórr sang, and as we have written
above:

     Let men hear how the Earls' King,
     Hardy of mind, the Sea sought;
     The overwhelming Ruler
     Failed not to resist the Main. (2)

Here it is named Sea, and Main also
"Ocean, as Hornklofi sang:

     When the man-scathing Meeter
     Of the Mansion of the Rock-Reefs

1. See page 130.
2. See page 198.



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