Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/270

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Poetic Edda

  Svipdag spake:
5. "Charms full good  then chant to me, mother,
And seek thy son to guard;
For death do I fear  on the way I shall fare,
And in years am I young, methinks."

  Groa spake:
6.[1] "Then first I will chant thee  the charm oft-tried,
That Rani taught to Rind;
From the shoulder whate'er  mislikes thee shake,
For helper thyself shalt thou have.

7.[2] "Then next I will chant thee,  if needs thou must travel,
And wander a purposeless way:
The bolts of Urth  shall on every side
Be thy guards on the road thou goest.

8.[3] "Then third I will chant thee,  if threatening streams
The danger of death shall bring:


    his search for Mengloth ("Necklace-Glad"). This name has suggested that Mengloth is really Frigg, possessor of the famous Brisings' necklace, or else Freyja (cf. Lokasenna, 20, note).

  1. For this catalogue of charms (stanzas 6-14) cf. the Ljothatal (Hovamol, 147-165). Rani and Rind: the manuscripts have these words in inverse relation; I have followed Neckel's emendation. Rind was the giantess who became the mother of Vali, Othin's son, the one-night-old avenger of Baldr (cf. Voluspo, 33-34, and Baldrs Draumar, 11 and note). Rani is presumably Othin, who, according to a skaldic poem, won Rind by magic.
  2. Urth: one of the three Norns, or Fates; cf. Voluspo, 20.

[236]