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Poetic Edda

9.[1] Mighty he grew  in the midst of his friends,
The fair-born elm,  in fortune's glow;
To his comrades gold  he gladly gave,
The hero spared not  the blood-flecked hoard.

10.[2] Short time for war  the chieftain waited,
When fifteen winters  old he was;
Hunding he slew,  the hardy wight
Who long had ruled  o'er lands and men.

11. Of Sigmund's son  then next they sought
Hoard and rings,  the sons of Hunding;
They bade the prince  requital pay
For booty stolen  and father slain.

12.[3] The prince let not  their prayers avail,
Nor gold for their dead  did the kinsmen get;
Waiting, he said,  was a mighty storm
Of lances gray  and Othin's grimness.

13.[4] The warriors forth  to the battle went,
The field they chose  at Logafjoll;

  1. ↑ Elm: a not uncommon word for "man." Blood-flecked: i.e., won in battle.
  2. ↑ Fifteen: until early in the eleventh century a Norwegian or Icelandic boy became "of age" at twelve, and Maurer cites this passage as added proof of the poem's lateness. Hunding: the annotator (introductory prose to Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II) calls him king of Hundland, which shows no great originality. Saxo mentions a Hunding who was a Saxon king ruling in Jutland, probably the origin of Helgi's traditional foe.
  3. ↑ Storm, etc.: war.
  4. ↑ Logafjoll ("Flame-Mountain"): a mythical name. Frothi:

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