Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/223
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Alvissmol
Thor spake:
17. "Answer me, Alvis! thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the clouds, that keep the rains,
In each and every world?"
17. "Answer me, Alvis! thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the clouds, that keep the rains,
In each and every world?"
Alvis spake:
18. "'Clouds' men name them, 'Rain-Hope' gods call them.
The Wanes call them 'Kites of the Wind';
'Water-Hope' giants, 'Weather-Might' elves,
'The Helmet of Secrets' in hell."
18. "'Clouds' men name them, 'Rain-Hope' gods call them.
The Wanes call them 'Kites of the Wind';
'Water-Hope' giants, 'Weather-Might' elves,
'The Helmet of Secrets' in hell."
Thor spake:
19. "Answer me, Alvis! thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the wind, that widest fares,
In each and every world?"
19. "Answer me, Alvis! thou knowest all,
Dwarf, of the doom of men:
What call they the wind, that widest fares,
In each and every world?"
Alvis spake:
20.[1] "'Wind' do men call it, the gods 'The Waverer,'
'The Neigher' the holy ones high;
20.[1] "'Wind' do men call it, the gods 'The Waverer,'
'The Neigher' the holy ones high;
- ↑ Snorri quotes this stanza in the Skaldskaparmal. Waverer: the word is uncertain, the Prose Edda manuscripts giving it in various forms. Blustering Blast: two Prose Edda manuscripts give a totally different word, meaning "The Pounder."
sun "deceives" him because, like the other dwarfs living underground, he cannot live in its light, and always fears lest sunrise may catch him unaware. The sun's rays have power to turn the dwarfs into stone, and the giantess Hrimgerth meets a similar fate (cf. Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, 30). Alvis suffers in the same way; cf. stanza 35.
[189]