[Clings to her end hides his face in her lap. A long silence. The sun rises.
Footnotes:
109. Mountains and glaciers.
110. Mountains and glaciers.
111. So in original.
112. “Angst”—literally, “dread” or “terror”—probably means here something like “conviction of sin.” The influence of the Danish theologian, Sören Kierkegård, may be traced in this passage.
113. Literally, “Are set on screws.”
114. “Tolder,” the biblical “publican.”
116. A mountain in the Jotunheim. The name means “glittering peak.”
117. “Den tid den sorg”—literally, “That time that sorrow” or “care.”
119. See Appendix.
122. “Digter”; means also “poet.”
124. In the original, “Personlighed”—personality.
125. This and the following line, literally translated, run thus: “Life“Life, as it’s called, has a fox behind its ear. But when one grasps at him, Reynard takes to his heels.” “To have a fox behind the ear” is a proverbial expression for insincerity, double-dealing.
128. See Introduction.
129. “Pöl,” otherwise “Svovlpöl”—the sulphur pool of hell.
131. Literally, “With Peter and Paul.”
132. The Royal Mint is at Kongsberg, a town in southern Norway.
134. “Hun gik nu for koldt vand og lud”—literally, “to live on cold water and lye”—to live wretchedly and be badly treated.
135. Literally, “Wrote my motto behind your ear.”
136. Clearly the troll-substitute for “in black and white.”
137. Literally, “On a naked hill.”
138. So in original.
139. Literally, “the ashes.”
140. So in original.
141. So in original.
142. Literally, “knock out that tooth.”
143. “Bra litet rolig.”
144. So in original.
145. “Selvejer-Adlen.” “Selvejer” (literally, “self-owner”) means a freeholder, as opposed to a “husmand” or tenant. There is of course a play upon words in the original.
146. “I min Tro, i mit Håb og i min Kjærlighed.”
We have entirely sacrificed the metre of the line, feeling it impossible to mar its simplicity by any padding. “Kjærlighed” also means “charity,” in the biblical sense.