Poetic EddaNorse MythologyAncient Myth / ComparativeOld NorseSharePoetic Edda 9Bellows - 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›Introductory NotePoetic Edda 9ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1The Skirnismol is found complete in the Codex Regius, and through stanza 27 in the Arnamagnæan Codex. Snorri quotes the concluding stanza. In Regius the poem is entitled “For Scirnis” (“Skirnir’s Journey”). 2The Skirnismol differs sharply from the poems preceding it, in that it has a distinctly ballad quality. As a matter of fact, however, its verse is altogether dialogue, the narrative being supplied in the prose “links,” concerning which cf. introductory note to the Grimnismol. The dramatic effectiveness and vivid characterization of the poem seem to connect it with the Thrymskvitha, and the two may possibly have been put into their present form by the same man. Bugge’s guess that the Skirnismol was the work of the author of the Lokasenna is also possible, though it has less to support it. 3Critics have generally agreed in dating the poem as we now have it as early as the first half of the tenth century; Finnur Jonsson puts it as early as 900, and claims it, as usual, for Norway. Doubtless it was current in Norway, in one form or another, before the first Icelandic settlements, but his argument that the thistle (stanza 31) is not an Icelandic plant has little weight, for such curse-formulas must have traveled freely from place to place. In view of the evidence pointing to a western origin for many or all of the Eddic poems, Jonsson’s reiterated “Digtet er sikkert norsk og ikke islandsk” is somewhat exasperating. Wherever the Skirnismol was composed, it has been preserved in exceptionally good condition, and seems to be practically devoid of interpolations or lacunæ. 4Freyr, the son of Njorth, had sat one day in Hlithskjolf, and looked over all the worlds. He looked into Jotunheim, and saw there a fair maiden, as she went from her father’s house to her bower. Forthwith he felt a mighty love-sickness. Skirnir was the name of Freyr’s servant; Njorth bade him ask speech of Freyr. He said: 51. “Go now, Skirnir! | and seek to gain Speech from my son; And answer to win, | for whom the wise one Is mightily moved.” 62. “Ill words do I now | await from thy son, If I seek to get speech with him, And answer to win, | for whom the wise one Is mightily moved.” 73. “Speak prithee, Freyr, | foremost of the gods, For now I fain would know; Why sittest thou here | in the wide halls, Days long, my prince, alone?” 84. “How shall I tell thee, | thou hero young, Of all my grief so great? Though every day | the elfbeam dawns, It lights my longing never.” 95. “Thy longings, methinks, | are not so large That thou mayst not tell them to me; Since in days of yore | we were young together, We two might each other trust.” 106. “From Gymir’s house | I beheld go forth A maiden dear to me; Her arms glittered, | and from their gleam Shone all the sea and sky. 117. “To me more dear | than in days of old Was ever maiden to man; But no one of gods | or elves will grant That we both together should be.” 128. “Then give me the horse | that goes through the dark And magic flickering flames; And the sword as well | that fights of itself Against the giants grim.” 139. “The horse will I give thee | that goes through the dark And magic flickering flames, And the sword as well | that will fight of itself If a worthy hero wields it.” 14Skirnir spake to the horse: 1510. “Dark is it without, | and I deem it time To fare through the wild fells, (To fare through the giants’ fastness;) We shall both come back, | or us both together The terrible giant will take.” 16Skirnir rode into Jotunheim to Gymir’s house. There were fierce dogs bound before the gate of the fence which was around Gerth’s hall. He rode to where a herdsman sat on a hill, and said: 1711. “Tell me, herdsman, | sitting on the hill, And watching all the ways, How may I win | a word with the maid Past the hounds of Gymir here?” 1812. “Art thou doomed to die | or already dead, Thou horseman that ridest hither? Barred from speech | shalt thou ever be With Gymir’s daughter good.” 1913. “Boldness is better | than plaints can be For him whose feet must fare; To a destined day | has mine age been doomed, And my life’s span thereto laid.” 2014. “What noise is that | which now so loud I hear within our house? The ground shakes, | and the home of Gymir Around me trembles too.” 2115. “One stands without | who has leapt from his steed, And lets his horse loose to graze;” . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2216. “Bid the man come in, | and drink good mead Here within our hall; Though this I fear, | that there without My brother’s slayer stands. 2317. “Art thou of the elves | or the offspring of gods, Or of the wise Wanes? How camst thou alone | through the leaping flame Thus to behold our home?” 2418. “I am not of the elves, | nor the offspring of gods, Nor of the wise Wanes; Though I came alone | through the leaping flame Thus to behold thy home. 2519. “Eleven apples, | all of gold, Here will I give thee, Gerth, To buy thy troth | that Freyr shall be Deemed to be dearest to you.” 2620. “I will not take | at any man’s wish These eleven apples ever; Nor shall Freyr and I | one dwelling find So long as we two live.” 2721. “Then do I bring thee | the ring that was burned Of old with Othin’s son; From it do eight | of like weight fall On every ninth night.” 2822. “The ring I wish not, | though burned it was Of old with Othin’s son; In Gymir’s home | is no lack of gold In the wealth my father wields.” 2923. “Seest thou, maiden, | this keen, bright sword That I hold here in my hand? Thy head from thy neck | shall I straightway hew, If thou wilt not do my will.” 3024. “For no man’s sake | will I ever suffer To be thus moved by might; But gladly, methinks, | will Gymir seek To fight if he finds thee here.” 3125. “Seest thou, maiden, | this keen, bright sword That I hold here in my hand? Before its blade | the old giant bends,— Thy father is doomed to die. 3226. “I strike thee, maid, | with my magic staff, To tame thee to work my will; There shalt thou go | where never again The sons of men shall see thee. 3327. “On the eagle’s hill | shalt thou ever sit, And gaze on the gates of Hel; More loathsome to thee | than the light-hued snake To men, shall thy meat become. 3428. “Fearful to see, | if thou comest forth, Hrimnir will stand and stare, (Men will marvel at thee;) More famed shalt thou grow | than the watchman of the gods! Peer forth, then, from thy prison. 3529. “Rage and longing, | fetters and wrath, Tears and torment are thine; Where thou sittest down | my doom is on thee Of heavy heart And double dole. 3630. “In the giants’ home | shall vile things harm thee Each day with evil deeds; Grief shalt thou get | instead of gladness, And sorrow to suffer with tears. 3731. “With three-headed giants | thou shalt dwell ever, Or never know a husband; (Let longing grip thee, | let wasting waste thee,—) Be like to the thistle | that in the loft Was cast and there was crushed. 3832. “I go to the wood, | and to the wet forest, To win a magic wand; . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . I won a magic wand. 3933. “Othin grows angry, | angered is the best of the gods, Freyr shall be thy foe, Most evil maid, | who the magic wrath Of gods hast got for thyself. 4034. “Give heed, frost-rulers, | hear it, giants, Sons of Suttung, And gods, ye too, How I forbid | and how I ban The meeting of men with the maid, (The joy of men with the maid.) 4135. “Hrimgrimnir is he, | the giant who shall have thee In the depth by the doors of Hel; To the frost-giants’ halls | each day shalt thou fare, Crawling and craving in vain, (Crawling and having no hope.) 4236. “Base wretches there | by the root of the tree Will hold for thee horns of filth; A fairer drink | shalt thou never find, Maid, to meet thy wish, (Maid, to meet my wish.) 4337. “I write thee a charm | and three runes therewith, Longing and madness and lust; But what I have writ | I may yet unwrite If I find a need therefor.” 4438. “Find welcome rather, | and with it take The frost-cup filled with mead; Though I did not believe | that I should so love Ever one of the Wanes.” 4539. “My tidings all | must I truly learn Ere homeward hence I ride: How soon thou wilt | with the mighty son Of Njorth a meeting make.” 4640. “Barri there is, | which we both know well, A forest fair and still; And nine nights hence | to the son of Njorth Will Gerth there grant delight.” 47Then Skirnir rode home. Freyr stood without, and spoke to him, and asked for tidings: 4841. “Tell me, Skirnir, | ere thou take off the saddle, Or farest forward a step: What hast thou done | in the giants’ dwelling To make glad thee or me?” 4942. “Barri there is, | which we both know well, A forest fair and still; And nine nights hence | to the son of Njorth Will Gerth there grant delight.” 5043. “Long is one night, | longer are two; How then shall I bear three? Often to me | has a month seemed less Than now half a night of desire.” ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 8Next chapterPoetic Edda 10›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