Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/324

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

Poetic Edda

  Sigar spake:
39.[1] "In the morn he fell  at Frekastein,
The king who was noblest  beneath the sun;
Alf has the joy  of victory all,
Though need therefor  is never his."

  Helgi spake:
40. "Hail to thee, Svava!  thy sorrow rule,
Our meeting last  in life is this;
Hard the wounds  of the hero bleed,
And close to my heart  the sword has come.

41.[2] "I bid thee, Svava,—  weep not, bride,—
If thou wilt hearken  to these my words,
The bed for Hethin  have thou ready,
And yield thy love  to the hero young."

  Svava spake:
42. "A vow I had  in my dear-loved home,
When Helgi sought  with rings to have me,
That not of my will,  if the warrior died,
Would I fold in my arms  a man unfamed."

  Hethin spake:
43.[3] "Kiss me, Svava,  I come not back,

  1. ↑ Frekastein ("Wolf-Crag"): the name appears several times in the Helgi lays applied to battlefields; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 46 and 55, and II, 18 and 24. Need: i. e., Alf deserves no credit for the victory, which was due to the troll-woman's magic.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑

[288]

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.