Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/563
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Atlamol
76.[1] "I have seldom slept since the hour they were slain,
Baleful were my threats, now I bid thee recall them;
Thou didst say it was morning,— too well I remember,—
Now is evening come, and this question thou askest.
Baleful were my threats, now I bid thee recall them;
Thou didst say it was morning,— too well I remember,—
Now is evening come, and this question thou askest.
77.[2] "Now both of thy sons thou hast lost...
....... as thou never shouldst do;
The skulls of thy boys thou as beer-cups didst have,
And the draught that I made thee was mixed with their blood.
....... as thou never shouldst do;
The skulls of thy boys thou as beer-cups didst have,
And the draught that I made thee was mixed with their blood.
78.[3] "I cut out their hearts, on a spit I cooked them,
I came to thee with them, and calf's flesh I called them;
Alone didst thou eat them, nor any didst leave.
I came to thee with them, and calf's flesh I called them;
Alone didst thou eat them, nor any didst leave.
- ↑ Morning: Guthrun refers to Atli's taunt in stanza 64.
- ↑ The manuscript indicates no gap (lines 1-2), and most editions make a single line, despite the defective meter: "Thy sons hast thou lost as thou never shouldst lose them." The second part of line 2 is in the original identical with the second half of line 3 of stanza 80, and may perhaps have been inserted here by mistake. Skulls: it is possible that line 3 was borrowed from a poem belonging to the Völund tradition (cf. Völundarkvitha, 25 and 37), and the idea doubtless came from some such source, but probably the poet inserted it in a line of his own composition to give an added touch of horror. The Volsungasaga follows the Atlamol in including this incident.
- ↑
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