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Thrymskvitha

27.[1] Thrym looked 'neath the veil,  for he longed to kiss,
But back he leaped  the length of the hall:
"Why are so fearful  the eyes of Freyja?
Fire, methinks,  from her eyes burns forth."

28.[2] Hard by there sat  the serving-maid wise,
So well she answered  the giant's words:
"No sleep has Freyja  for eight nights found,
So hot was her longing  for Jotunheim."

29.[3] Soon came the giant's  luckless sister,
Who feared not to ask  the bridal fee:
"From thy hands the rings  of red gold take,
If thou wouldst win  my willing love,
(My willing love  and welcome glad.)"

30.[4] Then loud spake Thrym,  the giants' leader:
"Bring in the hammer  to hallow the bride;
On the maiden's knees  let Mjollnir lie,
That us both the hand  of Vor may bless."

  1. ↑ For clearness I have inserted Thrym's name in place of the pronoun of the original. Fire: the noun is lacking in the manuscript; most editors have inserted it, however, following a late paper manuscript.
  2. ↑ In the manuscript the whole stanza is abbreviated to initial letters, except for "sleep," "Freyja," and "found."
  3. ↑ Luckless: so the manuscript, but many editors have altered the word "arma" to "aldna," meaning "old," to correspond with line 1 of stanza 32. Line 5 may well be spurious.
  4. ↑ Hallow: just what this means is not clear, but there are

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