Skírnismál (För Skírnis)

"Go now, Skirnir!

and seek to gain

Speech from my son;

And answer to win,

for whom the wise one

Is mightily moved."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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?"

Freyr spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Freyr spake:

"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."

"To me more dearthan in days of old

Was ever maiden to man;

But no one of godsor elves will grant

That we both together should be."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Freyr spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake to the horse:

"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."

"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?"

The herdsman spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Gerth spake:

"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."

The Serving-Maid spake:

"One stands without who has leapt from his steed,

And lets his horse loose to graze;"

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Gerth spake:

"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."

"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?"

Skirnir spake:

"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."

"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."

Gerth spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Gerth spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Gerth spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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,"

"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."

"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."

"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."

"I go to the wood,

and to the wet forest,

To win a magic wand;

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I won a magic wand."

"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."

"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.)"

"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.)"

"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.)"

"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."

Gerth spake:

"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."

Skirnir spake:

"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."

Then Skirnir rode home. Freyr stood without, and spoke to him, and asked for tidings:

"Tell me, Skimir,

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?"

Skirnir spoke:

"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."