Poetic EddaNorse MythologyAncient Myth / ComparativeOld NorseSharePoetic Edda 18Bellows - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableBellowsLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Poetic Edda 1Poetic Edda 2Poetic Edda 3Poetic Edda 4Poetic Edda 5Poetic Edda 6Poetic Edda 7Poetic Edda 8Poetic Edda 9Poetic Edda 10Poetic Edda 11Poetic Edda 12Poetic Edda 13Poetic Edda 14Poetic Edda 15Poetic Edda 16Poetic Edda 17Poetic Edda 18Poetic Edda 19Poetic Edda 20Poetic Edda 21Poetic Edda 22Poetic Edda 23Poetic Edda 24Poetic Edda 25Poetic Edda 26Poetic Edda 27Poetic Edda 28Poetic Edda 29Poetic Edda 30Poetic Edda 31Poetic Edda 32Poetic Edda 33Poetic Edda 34Poetic Edda 35Poetic Edda 36Poetic Edda 37Poetic Edda 38Poetic Edda 39Poetic Edda 40Poetic Edda 41Poetic Edda 42Poetic Edda 43Poetic Edda 44Poetic Edda 45Poetic Edda 46Poetic Edda 47Poetic Edda 48Poetic Edda 49Poetic Edda 50Poetic Edda 51Poetic Edda 52Poetic Edda 53Poetic Edda 54Poetic Edda 55Poetic Edda 56Poetic Edda 57Poetic Edda 58Poetic Edda 59Poetic Edda 60Poetic Edda 61Poetic Edda 62Poetic Edda 63Poetic Edda 64Poetic Edda 65Poetic Edda 66Poetic Edda 67Poetic Edda 68Poetic Edda 69Poetic Edda 70Poetic Edda 71Poetic Edda 72Poetic Edda 73Poetic Edda 74Poetic Edda 75Poetic Edda 76Poetic Edda 77Poetic Edda 78Poetic Edda 79Poetic Edda 80Poetic Edda 81Poetic Edda 82Poetic Edda 83Poetic Edda 84Poetic Edda 85Poetic Edda 86›NotesPoetic Edda 18ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter11. Vingthor (“Thor the Hurler”): another name for Thor, equivalent to Vingnir (Vafthruthnismol, 51). Concerning Thor and his hammer, Mjollnir, cf. Hymiskvitha, Lokasenna, and Harbarthsljoth, passim. Jorth: Earth, Thor’s mother, Othin being his father. 22. Loki: cf. Lokasenna, passim. 33. Freyja: Njorth’s daughter, and sister of Freyr; cf. Lokasenna, introductory prose and note, also Skirnismol, introductory prose. Freyja’s house was Sessrymnir (“Rich in Seats”) built in Folkvang (“Field of the Folk”); cf. Grimnismol, 14. Feather-dress: this flying equipment of Freyja’s is also used in the story of Thjazi, wherein Loki again borrows the “hawk’s dress” of Freyja, this time to rescue Ithun; cf. Harbarthsljoth, 19 and note. 44. The manuscript and most editions have lines 1–2 in inverse order. Several editors assume a lacuna before line 1, making a stanza out of the two conjectural lines (Bugge actually supplies them) and lines 1–2 of stanza 4. Thus they either make a separate stanza out of lines 3–5 or unite them in a six-line stanza with 5. The manuscript punctuation and capitalization—not wholly trustworthy guides—indicate the stanza divisions as in this translation. 55. Thrym: a frost-giant. Gering declares that this story of the theft of Thor’s hammer symbolizes the fact that thunderstorms rarely occur in winter. 66. Line 1: cf. Voluspo, 48, 1. The manuscript does not indicate Loki as the speaker of lines 3–4. Hlorrithi: Thor. 77. No superscription in the manuscript. Vigfusson made up and inserted lines like “Then spake Loki | the son of Laufey” whenever he thought they would be useful. 89. The manuscript marks line 2, instead of line 1, as the beginning of a stanza, which has caused editors some confusion in grouping the lines of stanzas 8 and 9. 910. No superscription in the manuscript. 1012. Many editors have rejected either line 2 or line 3. Vigfusson inserts one of his own lines before line 4. Brisings’ necklace: a marvelous necklace fashioned by the dwarfs, here called Brisings (i.e., “Twiners”); cf. Lokasenna, 20 and note. 1113. Lines 1–3 are identical with Baldrs Draumar, 1, 1–3. 1214. Heimdall: the phrase “whitest of the gods” suggests that Heimdall was the god of light as well as being the watchman. His wisdom was probably connected with his sleepless watching over all the worlds; cf. Lokasenna, 47 and note. On the Wanes cf. Voluspo, 21 and note. They are not elsewhere spoken of as peculiarly gifted with knowledge of future events. 1316. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza. 1417. Laufey: Loki’s mother, cf. Lokasenna, 52 and note. 1518–19. The manuscript abbreviates all six lines, giving only the initial letters of the words. The stanza division is thus arbitrary; some editors have made one stanza of the six lines, others have combined the last two lines of stanza 19 with stanza 20. It is possible that a couple of lines have been lost. 1621. Goats: Thor’s wagon was always drawn by goats; cf. Hymiskvitha, 38 and note. Jotunheim: the world of the giants. 1722. Njorth: cf. Voluspo, 21, and Grimnismol, 11 and 16. Noatun (“Ships’-Haven”): Njorth’s home, where his wife, Skathi, found it impossible to stay; cf. Grimnismol, 11 and note. 1824. Grundtvig thinks this is all that is left of two stanzas describing Thor’s supper. Some editors reject line 4. In line 3 the manuscript has “he,” the reference being, of course, to Thor, on whose appetite cf. Hymiskvitha, 15. Sif: Thor’s wife; cf. Lokasenna, note to introductory prose and stanza 53. 1927. For clearness I have inserted Thrym’s name in place of the pronoun of the original. Fire: the noun is lacking in the manuscript; most editors have inserted it, however, following a late paper manuscript. 2028. In the manuscript the whole stanza is abbreviated to initial letters, except for “sleep,” “Freyja,” and “found.” 2129. Luckless: so the manuscript, but many editors have altered the word “arma” to “aldna,” meaning “old,” to correspond with line 1 of stanza 32. Line 5 may well be spurious. 2230. Hallow: just what this means is not clear, but there are references to other kinds of consecration, though not of a bride, with the “sign of the hammer.” According to Vigfusson, “the hammer was the holy sign with the heathens, answering to the cross of the Christians.” In Snorri’s story of Thor’s resuscitation of his cooked goat (cf. Hymiskvitha, 38, note) the god “hallows” the goat with his hammer. One of the oldest runic signs, supposed to have magic power, was named Thor’s-hammer. Vor: the goddess of vows, particularly between men and women; Snorri lists a number of little-known goddesses similar to Vor, all of them apparently little more than names for Frigg. 2333. Some editors reject this line, which, from a dramatic standpoint, is certainly a pity. In the manuscript it begins with a capital letter, like the opening of a new stanza. ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 17Next chapterPoetic Edda 19›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg