CANTO VI.
THE SPELLS UNRAVELLED.

When now from subterranean gloom
Emerged, again the hero stood
Amidst the plain where flow’rets bloom,
With joy the azure sky he view’d:
His hammer shed around a light;
His armour seem’d on fire:
He feels once more his wonted might
Through all his veins transpire.
He waved his hammer. Utgard’s lord
At once in him could recognize
The god by Jotunheim abhorr’d,
The god, whose thunders shake the skies:
His hair now stood upright with fear,
His heart began to beat,
For though in Utgard’s nether sphere
The chief had met defeat,
He fear’d, that when the bright domain
Of Asgard Thor again should reach,
Odin would all the spells explain,
And surest means of vengeance teach.
“That fatal consequence to thwart
I must some scheme devise:
Were it not best myself t’ impart
To Thor those mysteries,
And frankly thus at once reveal
How all things happen’d there below?
The key to each enchanted spell
’Twere better he from us should know,
Than learn it elsewhere; this would move
Still more the Asar’s wrath,
And hard would then the contest prove
’Gainst Thor and Odin both.”
Thus to himself thought Utgard Lok:
Then full of cunning and deceit
To Thor he thus embarrass’d spoke:
“Tis well for us, thou hast thought fit
To leave our kingdom: thou shalt ne’er
With my consent return;
Much from thy visit did I fear,
We might have cause to mourn.
“But now that for our giant race
All danger’s past, will I relate
Frankly, how all things came to pass:
And here, O chief! thy prowess great
We all confess, and all admire;
Thy sword and hammer bright
All foes with terror must inspire,
When thou appearst in sight.
“I learn’d with much astonishment
And no small dread, O chief! that thou
Hadst form’d a project of descent
From Valaskialf to earth below.
But when thy further views I learn’d
To visit Utgard’s realm,
Methought, O chief! thy brain was turn’d
To harbour such a scheme.
“Doubtless, I did not dare offend
A god as frank as he is strong;
I only sought my realm to fend
By wizard spell and mystic song:
The winds and waves in wild commotion
I urged from pole to pole;
But neither winds nor waves of Ocean
Have power to daunt thy soul.
“I straight assumed a shape, of more
Than human size or human strength;
Upon the ground I ’gan to snore,
With all my limbs stretch’d out at length:
I thought to fright thee from the heath,
And check thy bold advance;
But vain my threat’ning size and teeth
Against thy sword and lance.
“I trembled for thy hammer too
Forged in the gloomy dwarfs’ abode;
He whom that strikes, full well I know,
Is forthwith deluged in his blood.
By strange illusions I inclined
To give thy nerves a shock;
But it ne’er enter’d in my mind
So brave a chief to mock.
“What I had plann’d, I did fulfil
Forthwith; but thou wert naught afeard:
Naught didst thou else, but closer still
Thy belt around thy body gird:
But I acknowledge, when I view’d
Thy footsteps turn my way,
A cold sweat all my limbs bedew’d,
As on the grass I lay.
“Thy eyes were thus deceived: the blow
That first thy hammer gave my head,
Though not thy heaviest, would, I trow,
If felt, have my quietus made:
When I beheld thee raise thy arm,
My limbs with terror shook,
I conjured by a powerful charm
Thy blow against that rock.”
At this discourse Thor stood aghast,
Then hied the rock to scrutinize;
He there beheld three caverns vast
Hewn in the rock before his eyes.
While Thor with wonder view’d this cave,
The giant humbly said:
“Behold! the blows thy hammer gave
Those caverns three have made.
“But still th’ illusion to maintain,
And further still thy sense deceive,
I rubb’d my brow and feign’d some pain
At every blow thou thoughtst to give.
I must confess thy hammer’s shock
Could lay the mightiest low;
But thou didst split the granite rock,
Instead of Skrymur’s brow.
“I thought to lead thee ’stray amidst
The mountain’s windings intricate;
By my contrivance ’twas thou didst
Arrive at pale-blue Hela’s gate.
I thought to frighten thee away
From our snow-cover’d zone;
But fear to thee, I needs must say,
Is utterly unknown.
“And now will I relate to ye
How all occurr’d in my domain:
Then listen to my words, I pray,
While those enigmas I explain.
And first, O Lok! I gave to thee
A dish well fill’d with meat;
Thou didst thy duty manfully,
’Twas sport to see thee eat.
“Though thou with all thy force didst eat,
And we thy powers did much admire,
Yet how couldst thou escape defeat,
When thy competitor was Fire?
For thus the goblin fierce we call
With ever-craving maw:
What wonder, that bones, dish, and all,
He should consume like straw?
“And, Tialfe! though in racing thou
Didst manifest a wondrous speed,
Yet to thy rival thou must bow,
His swiftness far did thine exceed;
But where’s the wonder that sharp elf
Should first the goal embrace?
For know! it was my Thought itself,
The dwarf,[35] who won the race:
“All things in swiftness Thought excels:
Who can so plain a truth gainsay?
And mine I charged with magic spells,
To lead thee from the course astray.
Yet though but ill-success ye’ve met
On Utgard’s gloomy shore,
Believe me, we shall ne’er forget
The mighty deeds of Thor.
“I cannot from thy praise restrain,
O Asa! for thy powers of drink;
For though the horn thou couldst not drain,
Thou didst not from the effort shrink.
Each of my vassals stood aghast
At such a bold essay;
For one end of that horn so vast,
Think! in the ocean lay!
“While thou didst so much water quaff,
O Asa! we could well perceive
The horn by suction did one half
The sea of its contents bereave:
Dost thou of my assertion doubt?
Go to yon cliff’s high brink,
And see how much thy drinking bout
Has made old Ocean shrink!”
Now Asa-Thor moved towards the sea;
Him follow’d Roska, Lok, and Tialf:
They lean’d upon their swords to see
The ocean; it had sunk one half.
The depth immense they all admire
From a stupendous height;
But terrified, they quick retire
From the appalling sight.
Then thus the chief of Utgard: “Thor,
I hope, will bear me no ill-will;
I trust he hath absolved me, for
I’ve giv’n him scope to prove his skill:
My spells have only served to show
His powers in clearer light;
The sands from whence the waters flow
Have testified his might.
“When thou, great chieftain, shalt return
To thy bright dome in Trudvang’s grove,
There shalt thou find that drinking-horn:
Accept it as a pledge of love.
’Twill serve thy visit to recall
To Utgard-Lok’s abode,
And cause, when drinking in thy hall,
The daily ebb and flood.”[36]
Then Thor: “In fraud and artifice
Thou art a most accomplish’d elf;
Methinks it would not be amiss
To try my strength upon thyself.
Thou dost deserve with broken head
Thy treason to deplore,
And that this hand be tinged with red,
And moisten’d with thy gore.”
Then Utgard’s chief to sigh began,
With quiv’ring lip and falt’ring tone:
“It would not, sure, the stronger man
Become to slay the weaker one:
Thy struggle with the cat we saw
To raise it towards the roof;
When it began to spit and claw,
With fear we stood aloof.
“With all thy thund’ring from the sky,
Thou ne’er hast caused such fear as then;
For know, the cat, that thou didst try
To bear aloft with effort vain,
Was the enormous serpent fell
That Midgard’s sphere enfolds,
And circling all the earth, its tail
In its own mouth it holds!
“Proud of thy strength of heavenly proof,
Thou strov’st the struggling beast to raise,
And high as the vast cavern’s roof
Thou seem’dst to lift it up with ease:
But still, however high from earth
Thou strov’st to lift it up,
With angry tail it lash’d the hearth,
And made thy prowess droop.
“And lastly, the old wrinkled dame,
Who, wrestling, show’d such skill and power,
Weak and decrepit though she seem,
Had strength enough thy crest to lower.
But where’s the wonder that her arm
Should conquer Thor sublime?
To conquer all the fatal charm
She boasts: her name is Time.
“That crone so greedy, gaunt, and grim,
Wanders about with hungry mouth;
Old though she seem in face and limb,
Yet still she boasts eternal youth.
In every clime she proves her pow’r
By great Alfader’s doom;
And though she every thing devour,
She nothing does consume.
“One day her grinders will devour,
I tell ye truth, our giant breed;
She’ll likewise crush the Asars’ power,
For thus the Nornor have decreed.
Thou wert compell’d to bend the knee
Before that ancient dame;
Let that defeat a warning be,
And thy presumption tame!”
Now Aukthor’s eyes with fury glare;
He rais’d his mace, and fain would slay
The fiend; but he, dissolv’d in air,
Had fled to Utgard far away.
The god no longer now beheld
A mountain o’er his head:
He stands upon a spacious field
With clover thick o’erspread.

CANTO VII.
THE RETURN HOME.

Girding his belt still closer round
His loins, the chief his way pursued:
Towards eve a meadow vast he found,
Where herds of cattle grazing stood.
Still moving on with soul on fire,
His eyes a distant dwelling reach,
The humble cot of Tialfe’s sire
Embosom’d in a grove of beech.
Then Tialfe blush’d, and towards the cot
Ran lustily along the grass:
Him follow’d Roska light of foot
With streaming hair and rosy face.
To view the spot how great their joy,
Where first the breath of life they drew!
Shouts of delight reveal the boy;
Roska shed tears like morning dew.
Close to the cottage-door outspread
A linden-tree its branches wide:
The peasant there beneath its shade
Sat with his consort by his side.
Soon as the children met their eyes,
High beat their hearts with ecstacy;
“Lo! there is Tialf!” the Gaffer cries:
“Lo! there is Roska!” echoes she.
The dame gave vent to many a tear,
When clasping Roska in her arms:
Much wonder caused the shield and spear,
And eye that spoke of war’s alarms.
The ancient dame felt never tired
Upon her daughter’s charms to dwell;
Her size improved she much admired,
Her slender waist, and bosom’s swell.
“I scarcely can believe, that I
Gave birth to such a daughter brave:
Whence gottest thou that flashing eye?
And who that shining corslet gave?”
Young Roska gravely thus replied:
“My gracious master Asa-Thor
The corslet shield and sword supplied:
His lessons fit my soul for war.”
Then the old man with locks so grey
In close embrace his Tialfe held:
The youth with self-esteem swell’d high,
Proud of his casque, his lance and shield.
“My darling boy! in truth, ’tis strange,”
Thus sobbing did the parent say:
“Whence comes so wonderful a change?
Thou wert a child but yesterday.
“Whence gottest thou that martial brow,
And strength the toils of war to brave?
Who gave thee force to bend the bow,
And who that glitt’ring armour gave?”
Then Tialfe: “Thor my gracious lord
Gave me these arms; the art of war
From him I learn; to wield the sword,
And poise the lance, and mount the car.”
When to his parents Tialf reveal’d
The presence of the puissant Thor,
The old man and his consort kneel’d,
Inspired with awe, the god before:
With timid sigh the old man said:
“O god! whose fame the world doth fill,
Thy car is safe beneath my shed,
And thy two goats are living still.”
This speech the Asa’s nerves restored;
His wrath quick vanish’d like the wind:
Reflecting on the giant’s word,
He felt consoled in heart and mind.
Now to the stable straight he goes,
And opes the door: with joy he swell’d,
And quick forgot all cares and woes,
When he his goats and car beheld.
And now the giant queller took
(His custom ’twas) his hammer bright;
A well directed blow he struck,
And slew his goats of colour white.
Now jump’d th’ old woman up in haste,
Upon the board to spread the cloth;
While Lok began the meat to baste,
And feed the fire, and mix the broth.
Lo! from the wood the peasant’s son,
Laden with faggots, now appears;
He piles them on the hearth: anon
The smoking flesh the trav’llers cheers:
No dish had they; Thor’s buckler broad
This want supplied: and now they feed
With hearty zest, while the goats’ blood
Furnish’d, as wont, delicious mead.
No sooner was the supper past,
Thor rose observant of his rite;
The bones within the skins he cast:
But Tialfe’s father at the sight,
Mindful of what before was done,
Quits hastily the festive hearth,
And grasping by the arm his son,
Into the forest leads him forth.
Then Thor, the mighty, cried aloud:
“Why dost thou lead that youth away?”
But the old peasant only bow’d,
And to the grove pursued his way:
“What once he did, I recollect,”
Quoth he; “I must not hesitate;
I’m fearful, if he be not check’d,
He may his former trick repeat.”
The giant-queller laugh’d amain:
“Nay, father! leave the youth alone;
I wager, Tialfe will ne’er again
Be tempted by a marrow-bone:
To renovate his strength he now
No longer needs to suck the marrow,
As whilom, when he drove the plough,
Or fell’d the wood, or wheel’d the barrow.
Cheer’d by the Asa’s blithesome mood,
The old man let Tialf’s kirtle go:
The trav’llers now, with savoury food
Refresh’d, their thoughts on sleep bestow.
But Thor, the mighty god of war,
Whose soul with thoughts heroick glows,
Doff’d not his armour; in his car
He stepp’d, and there enjoy’d repose.
The morning dawn’d: with choral lay
The feather’d songsters fill the skies:
The sun ascends; the trav’llers gay
From slumbers light refresh’d arise.
To war and bold adventure prone,
Each buckles on his armour strait,
And whets his weapon on the stone,
That stands without the cottage gate.
On the goats’ feet Thor went to nail
The shoes of gold; the silken reins
He fasten’d, and prepared to sail
Across the vast celestial plains.
He grasps his hammer; in the car
His followers place them by his side:
’Midst thunder’s crash and lightning’s glare
They mount, and skyward rapid glide.
The car swift rolling through the sky
The peasant views with mute amaze:
The more he marks them mounting high,
The more he stares with stupid gaze.
Soaring aloft, what words can paint
Roska’s and Tialf’s extreme surprize,
When stretching cross the firmament
The rainbow ring salutes their eyes?
When Asa Thor, the god renown’d,
Arrived within his bright domain,
Behold a purple blush around
Spread itself o’er the azure plain:
Heimdaller, when he view’d the car,
Sounded his horn in glorious style;
And the seven Virgins greeted Thor
With wave of hand and gracious smile.
Then said the Miölner-brandisher
To the young Roska lily-white:
“’Twere best I bring thee strait to her,
Who rules in Folkvang, Freya hight;
For never since the world has been
The world, was female, wife, or maid,
In Trudvang’s warlike castle seen;
Nor will I now that rule evade.”
The dome of Freya, queen of love,
The fairest of the Disar fair,
Stands in a vale, where many a grove
Of rose-trees sweet embalms the air.
From earthly sorrow and annoy
For ever freed, each constant youth
And faithful maid doth there enjoy
The guerdon bright of love and truth.
In that abode of joy and bliss,
Where many a graceful form is seen,
The greatest ornament, I wis,
Is Freya’s self, the lovely queen.
Her golden hair, her eyes deep blue,
Her bosom turn’d with finest swell,
Her slender waist, her skin’s soft hue,
Her teeth which brightest pearls excel,
Her breath of sweetest flower perfume,
Her soul-enchanting smile, her cheek
Which emulates the peach’s bloom,[37]
All these to sing my voice is weak.
In either hand she holds a rose;
Each doth delicious odour spread:
Each with the liveliest colour glows;
One tinges morn, one eve with red.
So gentle is her soul and mind,
All painful cares and griefs she heals:
Her breath, which forms the vernal wind,
The earth with vegetation fills.
When morn displays its roseate hue,
Tears glisten in her orbs so bright;
These fall to earth in shape of dew,
And fill each flow’ret with delight.
Two daughters claim her tend’rest care,
Their faultless forms what graces deck!
Like waterfall, their radiant hair
Streams down their alabaster neck!
Hnos, who the moon’s bright chariot guides,
The paragon of children shines:
Siofna, who over sleep presides,
All hearts to peace and love inclines.
“Folkvangur is the place, methinks.
Most suitable to Roska fair;
From danger, oft I’ve seen, she shrinks,
And fails in strength the shield to bear.”
Thus Thor in disappointment said,
Then from the girl her armour takes:
“Give up thy sword! thou peasant maid!
Such weapons ill become thy sex.
“I’ll lead thee strait to Freya’s grove,
Where every female loves to dwell:
Better wilt thou in sports of love,
Than in the toils of war excel.[38]
Good will and spirit too thou hast,
But oft thy vigour fails at proof:
For thy soft-fibred hand ’twere best
To hold the harp, or weave the woof.”
Thereat to Freya’s blest abode
He march’d, with Roska by his side;
The maid accompanied the god,
With confidence of joy and pride.
The goddess praised her graceful air,
Her shape, her eyes, her youthful bloom
And from that moment Roska fair
Remain’d for aye in Folkvang’s dome.
Now Thor to Valhall hastens on,
With Tialf his swain in armour clad;
Odin beholds him from his throne,
And hails his son with accents glad.
Now the Valkyrior bright advance
With brimming cups of hydromel:
Th’ Einherier all with horse and lance
Now charges make, and now repel.

CANTO VIII.
THOR VISITS THE GIANT HYMIR.

Thor, though vex’d in mind, his anger
Prudently resolv’d to hide;
Thus to be the butt of mock’ry
To the giants gall’d his pride:
Vengeful thoughts his heart corroding
Urge him ’gainst that lawless crew;
Down to Ocean’s deepest cavern
He would fain his foes pursue.
Now to Odin’s throne ascending
In his brazen armour clad,
Low with filial reverence bending,
To Alfader thus he said:
“Force ’gainst giants naught availeth;
Wisdom too must bear its part:
Father! from thy cup of science
Grant one drop to cheer my heart!”
Quaffing now from wisdom’s beaker,
New conceptions fill his brain:
Naught this time to Lok his comrade
Of his plan will Thor explain.
Sole his bold career pursuing,
Think! what joy his bosom feels,
Proudly Dovre’s lofty pine-tops
Crushing with his chariot wheels.
Now the rocky cave approaching,
Near the vast white-foaming sea,
Where for ages Midgard’s serpent
Coil’d amidst the sea-weed lay;
When he view’d it put in motion
Treach’rously the billow blue;
Swell’d his heart with deep emotion;
Glances proud towards heaven he threw.
Monster vile! thou shall no longer
(Thus in thought discourse he holds)
The affrighted earth encircle
With thy venom-swelter’d folds.
Thou shalt cease thy hateful pastime,
Hurling seamen down to Ran:
Thor shall crush thee; from thy fury
Thor shall free the race of man.
Now the god assumes the figure
Of a youthful rustic clown:
Where the whirlwind eddies howling,
There he throws his helmet down.
Like a rock well planed and hollow’d,
Crested with a grove of pine,
Thus the brazen helm and horse-hair
Glitt’ring in the sunbeam shine.
Now his beard he doff’d, and threw it
On a rock; a bush to view,
There it lay: himself moved onward,
Changed to swain in kirtle blue.
Dext’rous was the transformation;
Who could now the Asar know?
Heimdal view’d the change with pleasure,
Perch’d on Bifrost’s radiant bow.
Giant Hymir’s rocky dwelling
Thor proceeded now to find,
With red cheeks and locks so yellow
Streaming ’fore the morning wind:
Round his waist his belt fast girded
Show’d like strip of crimson wool:
Thus the Asa, arm’d with cunning,
Giants shall no more befool.
Like an axe he bore his hammer,
Trudging o’er the dusty plain;
Scarce can he disguise his fierceness,
Scarce his vengeful thoughts restrain.
Entering in a gloomy cavern
Near the rustling waterfall,
In his morning dream indulging,
There he found the giant tall.
Crown’d with dusky hair, his forehead
Seem’d a sea-weed-cover’d rock;
Hard his loins and tough his fibres,
Like the trunk and roots of oak:
In his mouth, which wide extended
Show’d like cavern vast and dark,
Glared three rows of frightful grinders
Like the teeth of rav’nous shark.
Near this cave a fertile meadow
Varies with the rugged scene:
Flowers of divers hues contrasting
With the dew-clad grass so green:
Lambkins frisk and bleat delighted,
Nibbling leaves from ev’ry thorn;
There in richest clover revel
Oxen fat with crumpled horn.
Now the giant woke, and casting
Round his eyes of fiery hue,
In a corner Thor discovered,
Like a weak-limb’d lad to view.
“Ha! who into Hymir’s dwelling
Rashly dares to force his way?
Wretched stripling! for thy boldness
Thou with loss of life shall pay.”
Then the stripling, nothing daunted:
“Here I stand with conscience clear;
Time doth all conditions level;
Nought is to be gain’d by fear.
Though before I never trembled,
Now I well may feel alarm:
Sure, a chief so strong and mighty
Will not deign a boy to harm?
“Much doth it become a giant
Magnanimity to show!
Nought would it, O chief! avail thee,
Should my blood in torrents flow:
Why then should I feel down-hearted?
Thou wouldst but despise me more;
Thinkst thou, I have left my courage
At my father’s cottage-door?
“Pale to turn and fear exhibit
Baseness proves, and naught avails;
See the hedgehog, who a pris’ner
In his bristly castle quails:
Naught he deems himself in safety,
Though his quills erect he rears;
Still to peace and joy a stranger,
E’en the slightest noise he fears.
“Not so acts the little sparrow,
Far more delicate and weak;
Though not cased in mail, in ev’ry
Cleft and nook he shows his beak;
Mark, his bold, advent’rous spirit
Ne’er from danger keeps aloof;
Frank and free, he often perches
Twitt’ring on the peasant’s roof.
“Here I stand, a simple sparrow,
In the giant’s dark abode;
Sure the mighty eagle will not
Deign to shed a sparrow’s blood!
Coarsest food, naught else I ask thee;
Crumbs, that from thy table fall;
And whene’er thou goest a fishing,
I will aid thy net to haul.”
Then the giant, loudly laughing,
Stretch’d his lip from ear to ear:
“Him, who thus implores my pity
Slay I will not; do not fear!”
Much he laugh’d to hear a story
Told in such a simple strain,
And his laugh so wild and boist’rous
Made the forest ring again.
Then said he: “In th’ early morning
Rudely blows the northern blast;
Here thou’rt from its force protected,
Couch’d within this cavern vast.
But when sitting in the fragile
Bark on the tempestuous sea,
If thy sprightliness and courage
There stand by thee, we shall see.”
“Since my nerve thou doubtest, giant,”
Thor replied, “No more delay!
Put me quickly on the trial;
Hast thou any bait, I pray?”
“Friend, the bait that best will suit thee
In my garden thou wilt find;
There doth many a caterpillar
Round the bushes crawl and wind.
“But if on the leaf thou findest
None, of other means I know:
Take thy spade and dig yon barrow,
Worms enough thou’lt find, I trow!
Take thy shirt-pin off and bend it;
Lo! a fish-hook hast thou strait.
Then thou art prepared for fishing;
I myself use eels for bait.”
“Ha! the worm shall not escape me,”
Angry Thor replied, “I know;
Round my arm in anguish writhing,
It shall perish by my blow.
Come, no more delay! allow me
But to take what suits me best.”
“Go and do so,” said the giant;
Off the stripling sets in haste;
To the meadow straight he hies him,
Where the giant’s cattle stood;
There full butt a bull ferocious
Barr’d his way in threat’ning mood.
Now with levell’d horns he rushes
On the youth his rage to wreak;
Thor, its head with both hands seizing,
Tore it from the bleeding neck!
With the head upon his shoulder
Of the proudly-horned bull,
Thor came running ’cross the meadow,
High in glee, of courage full.
With the greatest ease he bore it,
And he needs must run in haste,
For the giant had already
Hoisted in his boat the mast.
When the giant on the shoulder
Of the youth the bull’s head view’d,
Loud he praised his strength and courage,
Much admired his hardihood.
Launching now the sloop for fishing,
Each the oar with ardour plies,
While the keel with noise and creaking
Through the dark blue billow flies.
Then thought Aukthor: To the serpent
Could I once approach as nigh,
So that I could thrust my Miölner
Into his ferocious eye,
This would give me greater pleasure,
Than to hear the clash of arms,
Or to gaze in proud Valhalla
On the bright Valkyrior’s charms.
All the world’s distress and mis’ry[39]
From that serpent fell proceeds:
Couch’d in ambush, on the vitals
Of th’ affrighted earth he feeds:
From his fangs all dire diseases
He to plague mankind distils;
And his venom in vast globules
Sea and land with havock fills.
When a man by ling’ring sickness
Tortured, feels th’ approach of death;
When he, during life’s last struggle,
Faint and fev’rish pants for breath;
When the wife reads in her husband’s
Sunken eye his last farewell;
Then his scales the serpent shaking
Hisses with enjoyment fell.
When the mother views with anguish
At her breast her dying child,
Which but lately, like an apple,
Blooming grew in autumn mild;
When the child will suck no longer,
When life’s strength is vanish’d quite;
Joyous then the serpent rises,
Loudly hissing in the night.
When man’s brain in death is frozen,
Loud he testifies his joy;
Shakes his scales, when from the topmast
Falls the luckless sailor boy.
When a constant swain his darling
Maiden on the pyre beholds,
Foams the ocean, where the serpent
Coils itself in endless folds.
All the serpents foul and frightful,
That infest the lab’ring earth,
Are engender’d by that monster
From the froth it vomits forth:
From it springs the fatal boa
On the distant southern shores,
Which insatiate still with hunger
Oft the biggest ox devours.
Now this snake in motion spiral
Twines itself the trees around;
Now to catch the heedless cattle,
Steals along the swampy ground.
Those of lesser growth with equal
Malice their bright hues display,
And with eyes deceitful gleaming
Askur’s hapless offspring slay.
Beautiful with rings encircled
Are their skins like flowers to view,
Vying oft in brilliant colour
With the rose and violet’s hue:
Vapours poisonous exuding
Under hedges oft they lie;
And the birds upon the branches
Fascinate with magic eye.
Fenris certainly is frightful,
Friend of the malignant night;
Oft he hurls men down to Helheim,
From the steep cliff’s dizzy height:
Oft he guides the midnight robber,
Steel excites him to employ,
And whene’er the robber murders,
Fenris howls with frantic joy.
’Gainst the forest-king the lion
He the tiger fell begot:
Formerly the bear suck’d honey,
Guileless in his mossy grot.
Next engender’d he th’ hyæna,
Lynx, and fox, to plunder given;
And ’gainst these the bear and lion
Are to endless contest driven.
Fenris, when a wounded body
He perceives at midnight hour,
Makes it carrion; but this serpent
Hath a far more dang’rous power:
I will, therefore, quick destroy it;
Man shall cease to be its prey:
Thor shall Askur’s race deliver
From their fiercest enemy.
Blest with health and strength to Freya[40]
Shall they mount to realms on high!
And when they become too numerous,
Let them fight and bravely die!
They should ne’er give way to hatred,
Even where the sword decides:
Wrath becomes not gallant warriors,
Whom the voice of honour guides.
They shall move in ranks to battle.
No sea-serpent cause them fear;
There like merry youths and lusty,
Enter on their bright career:
Manfully rush on each other,
Wave the sword, the pennon spread,
And in fair and open combat
Joy their generous blood to shed.
Then when blood streams forth in torrents
Thor in arms shall tread the sky,
And ’midst thunder’s crash and lightning
Summon them to Valhall high:
There admitted ’mongst the Asar
Shall they quaff delicious mead,
While with heavenly harpings Bragur
Chaunts aloud each glorious deed.
Thus the Asa thought, and onward
’Gan to row with all his might;
With his oar he made the billow
Fly before him foaming white.
Fired with anger, he continued
On with furious zeal to row:
Streams of brine in spray dissolving
Down his back and shoulders flow.
Now the boat half fill’d with water,
Giant Hymir cried in wrath,
“Hold! I bid thee! row no longer!
We shall swamp, and perish both.”
“Nay,” said Thor, “let us go farther!
Soon we’ll make a glorious cast;”
But the giant stamp’d with passion,
Leaning ’gainst the quiv’ring mast.
“If thou rowest any further,”
Said the giant, “we shall reach
Just the spot, where Jormundgardur
His enormous length doth stretch.”
“As for me, I fear no serpents,”
Thor replied, the fisher good;
“Boiling wave and howling tempest
Only serve to cool my blood.”
Now he lifts with all his vigour
Up the giant’s anchor vast,
Fixes the bull’s head upon it,
To his belt then makes it fast:
One end fasten’d to his body,
Now it serves him as a line;
Overboard he throws the anchor,
Trusting to his skill divine.