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Vafthruthnismol

  Othin spake:
1.[1] "Counsel me, Frigg,  for I long to fare,
 And Vafthruthnir fain would find;
In wisdom old  with the giant wise
 Myself would I seek to match."

  Frigg spake:
2.[2] "Heerfather here  at home would I keep,
 Where the gods together dwell;
Amid all the giants  an equal in might
 To Vafthruthnir know I none."

  Othin spake:
3. "Much have I fared,  much have I found,
 Much have I got from the gods;
And fain would I know  how Vafthruthnir now
 Lives in his lofty hall."

  Frigg spake:
4. "Safe mayst thou go,  safe come again,
 And safe be the way thou wendest!
Father of men,  let thy mind be keen
 When speech with the giant thou seekest."

5.[3] The wisdom then  of the giant wise

  1. ↑ The phrases "Othin spake," "Frigg spake," etc. appear in abbreviated form in both manuscripts. Frigg: Othin's wife; cf. Voluspo, 34 and note. Vafthruthnir ("the Mighty in Riddles"): nothing is known of this giant beyond what is told in this poem.
  2. ↑ Heerfather ("Father of the Host"): Othin.
  3. ↑ This single narrative stanza is presumably a later interpo-

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