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Poetic Edda

of his father. They ran into a great storm,[1] and were off a certain headland. A man[2] stood on the mountain, and said:

16.[3] "Who yonder rides  on Rævil's steeds,
O'er towering waves  and waters wild?
The sail-horses all  with sweat are dripping,
Nor can the sea-steeds  the gale withstand."

  Regin answered:
17.[4] "On the sea-trees here  are Sigurth and I,
The storm wind drives us  on to our death;
The waves crash down  on the forward deck,
And the roller-steeds sink;  who seeks our names?"

  The Man spake:
18.[5] "Hnikar I was  when Volsung once
Gladdened the ravens  and battle gave;
Call me the Man  from the Mountain now,
Feng or Fjolnir;  with you will I fare."

  1. ↑ The fleet, and the subsequent storm, are also reminiscent of the Helgi cycle; cf. Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I, 29-31, and II, prose after stanza 16.
  2. ↑ A man: Othin.
  3. ↑ Rævil's steeds (Rævil was a sea-king, possibly the grandson of Ragnar Lothbrok mentioned in the Hervararsaga), sail-horses and sea-steeds all mean "ships."
  4. ↑ Sea-trees and roller-steeds (the latter because ships were pulled up on shore by means of rollers) both mean "ships."
  5. ↑ The Volsungasaga quotes this stanza. Hnikar and Fjolnir: Othin gives himself both these names in Grimnismol, 47; Feng ("The Seizer") does not appear elsewhere. According to the Volsungasaga, no one knew Othin's name when he came to Volsung's house and left the sword there for Sigmund.

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