Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/494
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Poetic Edda
For mingled therein was magic earth,
Ice-cold sea, and the blood of swine.
Ice-cold sea, and the blood of swine.
23.[1] In the cup were runes of every kind,
Written and reddened, I could not read them;
A heather-fish from the Haddings' land,
An ear uncut, and the entrails of beasts.
Written and reddened, I could not read them;
A heather-fish from the Haddings' land,
An ear uncut, and the entrails of beasts.
24.[2] Much evil was brewed within the beer,
Blossoms of trees, and acorns burned,
Dew of the hearth, and holy entrails,
The liver of swine,— all grief to allay.
Blossoms of trees, and acorns burned,
Dew of the hearth, and holy entrails,
The liver of swine,— all grief to allay.
25.[3] Then I forgot, when the draught they gave me,
There in the hall, my husband's slaying;
On their knees the kings all three did kneel,
Ere she herself to speak began:
There in the hall, my husband's slaying;
On their knees the kings all three did kneel,
Ere she herself to speak began:
- ↑ The Volsungasaga quotes stanzas 23-24. Heather-fish: a snake. Haddings' land: the world of the dead, so called because, according to Saxo Grammaticus, the Danish king Hadingus once visited it. It is possible that the comma should follow "heather-fish," making the "ear uncut" (of grain) come from the world of the dead.
- ↑ Dew of the hearth: soot.
- ↑ In the manuscript, and in some editions, the first line is in the third person plural: "Then they forgot, when the draught they had drunk." The second line in the original is manifestly in bad shape, and has been variously emended. I forgot: this emendation is doubtful, in view of stanza 30, but cf. note to stanza 22. The kings all three: probably Atli's emissaries, though the interpolated lines of stanza 20 name four of them. I suspect that line 4 is wrong, and should read: "Ere he himself (Atli) to speak began." Certainly stanzas 26-27
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