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Poetic Edda

More famed shalt thou grow  than the watchman of the gods!
Peer forth, then, from thy prison.

29.[1] "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.

30.[2] "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.

31.[3] "With three-headed giants  thou shalt dwell ever,
Or never know a husband;
(Let longing grip thee,  let wasting waste thee,—)


  1. Three nouns of doubtful meaning, which I have rendered rage, longing, and heart respectively, make the precise force of this stanza obscure. Niedner and Sijmons mark the entire stanza as interpolated, and Jonsson rejects line 5.
  2. In Regius and in nearly all the editions the first two lines of this stanza are followed by lines 3-5 of stanza 35. I have followed Niedner, Sijmons, and Gering. The two words here translated vile things are obscure; Gering renders the phrase simply "Kobolde."
  3. The confusion noted as to the preceding stanza, and a metrical error in the third line, have led to various rearrangements and emendations; line 3 certainly looks like an interpolation. Three-headed giants: concerning giants with numerous heads, cf. Vafthruthnismol, 33, and Hymiskvitha, 8.

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