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Poetic Edda
Alvis spake:
7. "Thy good-will now shall I quickly get,
And win the marriage word;
I long to have, and I would not lack,
This snow-white maid for mine."
7. "Thy good-will now shall I quickly get,
And win the marriage word;
I long to have, and I would not lack,
This snow-white maid for mine."
Thor spake:
8.[1] "The love of the maid I may not keep thee
From winning, thou guest so wise,
If of every world thou canst tell me all
That now I wish to know.
8.[1] "The love of the maid I may not keep thee
From winning, thou guest so wise,
If of every world thou canst tell me all
That now I wish to know.
9. "Answer me, Alvis! thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the earth, that lies before all,
In each and every world?"
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the earth, that lies before all,
In each and every world?"
Alvis spake:
10.[2] "'Earth' to men, 'Field' to the gods it is,
'The Ways' is it called by the Wanes;
10.[2] "'Earth' to men, 'Field' to the gods it is,
'The Ways' is it called by the Wanes;
- ↑ Every world: concerning the nine worlds, cf. Voluspo, 2 and note. Many editors follow this stanza with one spoken by Alvis, found in late paper manuscripts, as follows: "Ask then, Vingthor, since eager thou art / The lore of the dwarf to learn; / Oft have I fared in the nine worlds all, / And wide is my wisdom of each."
- ↑ Men, etc.: nothing could more clearly indicate the author's mythological inaccuracy than his confusion of the inhabitants of the nine worlds. Men (dwellers in Mithgarth) appear in each of Alvis's thirteen answers; so do the gods (Asgarth) and the giants (Jotunheim). The elves (Alfheim) appear in eleven
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