Skáldskaparmál

217

     Thrust the Forecastle-Adder
     And the skiff out on the Ocean.

In the following verse it is called Lake as well: thus sang Einarr:

     The Lake doth bathe the vessel,
     Where the sea 'gainst each side beateth,
     And the bright wind-vanes rattle;
     The surf washes the Flood-Steeds.

Here it is called Flood also. Thus sang Refr, as was said before:

     Wintry One's (1) wet-cold Spae-Wife
     Wiles the Bear of Twisted Cables
     Oft into Ćgir's wide jaws,
     Where the angry billow breaketh. (2)

Deep, as Hallvardr sang:

     The Sword-Shaker bids be pointed
     The prow of the hardy ship-steed
     Westward in the girdle
     Of all lands, the Watery Deep.

Way, as here:

     On our course from land we glided,
     On the Way to the coast of Finland:
     I see from the Ship's Road, eastward,
     The fells with radiance gleaming.

Weir, as Egill sang:

1. Gymir. See Gering, Die Edda, p. 53, note 2.
2. See page 138.


218

     I sailed o'er the Weir
     To the West: I bear
     Ňdin's Heart-Sea.
     So it stands with me.

Ocean, as Einarr sang:

     Many a day the cold Ocean
     Washes the swarthy deck-planks
     'Neath the gracious Prince; and Snow-Storm
     Furrows Mona's Girdle.

Salt, as Arnórr sang:

     The hardy King the Salt plowed
     From the east with hull ice-laden:
     Brown tempests tossed the Lessener
     Of Surf-Gold toward Sígtún.

Furtherer, as Bölverkr sang:

     Thou didst summon from fair Norway
     A levy the next season,
     With Din-Surf's ships the Furtherer
     Didst shear; o'er decks the sea poured.

Here the sea is called Din-Surf also.
Wide One, as Refr sang:

     To its breast the Stay's steed taketh
     The Home of Planks, beak-furrowed,
     And tosses the Wide One over
     The hard side; the wood suffers.


219

Dusky One, as Njáll of the Burning sang:

     We sixteen pumped, my Lady,
     In four oar-rooms, but the surge waxed:
     The Dusky One beat over
     The hull of the driven sea-ship.

These are other names for the Sea, such as it is proper to use in periphrasing
ships or gold.
"Rán, it is said, was Ćgir's wife, even as is written here:

     To the sky shot up the Deep's Gledes,
     With fearful might the sea surged:
     Methinks our stems the clouds cut,-
     Rán's Road to the moon soared upward.

The daughters of Ćgir and Rán are nine, and their names arc recorded before:
Himinglćva, (1) Dúfa, (2) Blódughadda, (3) Hefring, (4) Udr, (5) Hrönn, (6)
Bylgja, (7) Dröfn, (8) Kólga. (9) Einarr Skúlason recorded the names of six of
them in this stanza, beginning:
Himinglćva sternly stirreth,
And fiercely, the sea's wailing.

Welling Wave, (10) as Valgardr sang:


     Foam rested in the Sea's bed:
     Swollen with wind, the deep played,

1. That through which one can see the heaven (Jónsson).
2. The Pitching One (Jónsson).
3. Bloody-Hair.
4. Riser.
5. Frothing Wave.
6. Welling Wave.
7. Billow.
8. Foam-Fleck.
9. Poetical term for Wave. "The Cool One" (Jónsson).
10. In the following stanzas, for the sake of consistency, I have been obliged
to
translate the names, since they are employed in the stanzas as common nouns,
rather than as proper names. It is beyond my ability to translate Himinglćva
briefly.


220

     And the Welling Waves were washing
     The awful heads of the war-ships.

Billow, as Óttarr the Swarthy sang:

     Ye shear with shaven rudder
     Billows moisty-deep; the broad sheet,
     Which girls spun, on the mast-head
     With the Roller's Reindeer sported.

Foam-Fleck, as Ormr sang:

     The hawk-like, heedful Lady
     Has every virtue: Lofn
     Of the Foam-Fleck's flame-gold, faithful
     As a friend, all faults renounceth.

Wave-Borne, as Thorleikr the Fair sang:

     The sea wails, and the Wave-Borne
     Bears bright froth o'er the red wood,
     Where gapes the Roller's Brown Ox,
     With mouth gold-ornamented.

Shoal, as Einarr sang:

     Nor met the Forward-Minded,
     Where the fierce sea on our friends falls;
     I think the Shoal becalmed not
     The Ship, Wood of the Waters.

Fullness, as Refr sang:



                     <<_Previous_Page        Next_Page_>>