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Poetic Edda

  The ferryman spake:
6.[1] "Three good dwellings,  methinks, thou hast not;
Barefoot thou standest,  and wearest a beggar's dress;
Not even hose dost thou have."

  Thor spake:
7. "Steer thou hither the boat;  the landing here shall I show thee;
But whose the craft  that thou keepest on the shore?"

  The ferryman spake:
8.[2] "Hildolf is he  who bade me have it,
A hero wise;  his home is at Rathsey's sound.
He bade me no robbers to steer,  nor stealers of steeds,
But worthy men,  and those whom well do I know.
Say now thy name,  if over the sound thou wilt fare."

  Thor spake:
9.[3] "My name indeed shall I tell,  though in danger I am,

  1. ↑ Three good dwellings: this has been generally assumed to mean three separate establishments, but may refer simply to the three parts of a single farm, the dwelling proper, the cattle-barn and the storehouse; i.e., Thor is not even a respectable peasant.
  2. ↑ Hildolf ("slaughtering wolf"): not elsewhere mentioned in the Edda. Rathsey ("Isle of Counsel"): likewise not mentioned elsewhere.
  3. ↑ In danger: Thor is "sekr," i.e., without the protection of any law, so long as he is in the territory of his enemies, the

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