Hymiskviða

Of old the gods

made feast together,

And drink they sought

ere sated they were;

Twigs they shook,

and blood they tried:

Rich fare in Ægir's

hall they found.

The mountain-dweller

sat merry as boyhood,

But soon like a blinded

man he seemed;

The son of Ygg

gazed in his eyes:

"For the gods a feast

shalt thou forthwith get."

The word-wielder toil

for the giant worked,

And so revenge

on the gods he sought;

He bade Sif's mate

the kettle bring:

"Therein for ye all

much ale shall I brew."

The far-famed ones

could find it not,

And the holy gods

could get it nowhere;

Till in truthful wise

did Tyr speak forth,

And helpful counsel

to Hlorrithi gave.

"There dwells to the east

of Elivagar

Hymir the wise

at the end of heaven;

A kettle my father

fierce doth own,

A mighty vessel

a mile in depth."

Thor spake:

"May we win, dost thou think,

this whirler of water?"

Tyr spake:

"Aye, friend, we can,

if cunning we are."

Forward that day

with speed they fared,

From Asgarth came they

to Egil's home;

The goats with horns

bedecked he guarded;

Then they sped to the hall

where Hymir dwelt.

The youth found his grandam,

that greatly he loathed,

And full nine hundred

heads she had;

But the other fair

with gold came forth,

And the bright-browed one

brought beer to her son.

"Kinsman of giants,

beneath the kettle

Will I set ye both,

ye heroes bold;

For many a time

my dear-loved mate

To guests is wrathful

and grim of mind."

Late to his home

the misshapen Hymir,

The giant harsh,

from his hunting came;

The icicles rattled

as in he came,

For the fellow's chin-forest

frozen was.

Hail to thee, Hymir!

good thoughts mayst thou have;

Here has thy son

to thine hall now come;

(For him have we waited,

his way was long;)

And with him fares

the foeman of Hroth,

The friend of mankind,

and Veur they call him.

"See where under

the gable they sit!

Behind the beam

do they hide themselves."

The beam at the glance

of the giant broke,

And the mighty pillar

in pieces fell.

Eight fell from the ledge,

and one alone,

The hard-hammered kettle,

of all was whole;

Forth came they then,

and his foes he sought,

The giant old,

and held with his eyes.

Much sorrow his heart

foretold when he saw

The giantess' foeman

come forth on the floor;

Then of the steers

did they bring in three;

Their flesh to boil

did the giant bid.

By a head was each

the shorter hewed,

And the beasts to the fire

straight they bore;

The husband of Sif,

ere to sleep he went,

Alone two oxen

of Hymir's ate.

To the comrade hoary

of Hrungnir then

Did Hlorrithi's meal

full mighty seem;

"Next time at eve

we three must eat

The food we have

{illegible}s* the hunting's spoil."

*********

Fain to row on the sea

was Veur, he said,

If the giant bold

would give him bait.

Hymir spake:

"Go to the herd,

if thou hast it in mind,

Thou slayer of giants,

thy bait to seek;

For there thou soon

mayst find, methinks,

Bait from the oxen

easy to get."

Swift to the wood

the hero went,

Till before him an ox

all black he found;

From the beast the slayer

of giants broke

The fortress high

of his double horns.

Hymir spake:

"Thy works, methinks,

are worse by far,

Thou steerer of ships,

than when still thou sittest."

*********

*********

The lord of the goats

bade the ape-begotten

Farther to steer

the steed of the rollers;

But the giant said

that his will, forsooth,

Longer to row

was little enough.

Two whales on his hook

did the mighty Hymir

Soon pull up

on a single cast;

In the stern the kinsman

of Othin sat,

And Veur with cunning

his cast prepared.

The warder of men,

the worm's destroyer,

Fixed on his hook

the head of the ox;

There gaped at the bait

the foe of the gods,

The girdler of all

the earth beneath.

The venomous serpent

swiftly up

To the boat did Thor,

the bold one, pull;

With his hammer the loathly

hill of the hair

Of the brother of Fenrir

he smote from above.

The monsters roared,

and the rocks resounded,

And all the earth

so old was shaken;

*********

Then sank the fish

in the sea forthwith.

*********

Joyless as back

they rowed was the giant;

Speechless did Hymir

sit at the oars,

With the rudder he sought

a second wind.

Hymir spake:

"The half of our toil

wilt thou have with me,

And now make fast

our goat of the flood;

Or home wilt thou bear

the whales to the house,

Across the gorge

of the wooded glen?"

Hlorrithi stood

and the stem he gripped,

And the sea-horse with water

awash he lifted;

Oars and bailer

and all he bore

With the surf-swine home

to the giant's house.

His might the giant

again would match,

For stubborn he was,

with the strength of Thor;

None truly strong,

though stoutly he rowed,

Would he call save one

who could break the cup.

Hlorrithi then,

when the cup he held,

Struck with the glass

the pillars of stone;

As he sat the posts

in pieces he shattered,

Yet the glass to Hymir whole they brought.

But the loved one fair

of the giant found

A counsel true,

and told her thought:

"Smite the skull of Hymir,

heavy with food,

For harder it is

than ever was glass."

The goats' mighty ruler

then rose on his knee,

And with all the strength

of a god he struck;

Whole was the fellow's

helmet-stem,

But shattered the wine-cup

rounded was.

Hymir spake:

"Fair is the treasure

that from me is gone,

Since now the cup

on my knees lies shattered;"

So spake the giant:

"No more can I say

In days to be,

'Thou art brewed, mine ale.'"

"Enough shall it be

if out ye can bring

Forth from our house

the kettle here."

Tyr then twice

to move it tried,

But before him the kettle

twice stood fast.

The father of Mothi

the rim seized firm,

And before it stood

on the floor below;

Up on his head

Sif's husband raised it,

And about his heels

the handles clattered.

Not long had they fared,

ere backwards looked

The son of Othin,

once more to see;

From their caves in the east

beheld he coming

With Hymir the throng

of the many-headed.

He stood and cast

from his back the kettle,

And Mjollnir, the lover

of murder, he wielded;

*********

So all the whales

of the waste he slew.

Not long had they fared

ere one there lay

Of Hlorrithi's goats

half-dead on the ground;

In his leg the pole-horse

there was lame;

The deed the evil

Loki had done.