The Poetic Edda
Page 11
I know that you fathered that son,
Frey, with your own sister,
and I expect you’ve done even worse.”
Tyr said:
[37] “Frey is the best
of all the gods
in the holy halls of Asgard.
He doesn’t make girls weep
nor cause trouble for women;
he frees captives from their chains.”
Loki said:
[38] “Silence, Tyr.
You don’t know how to
settle disputes between men.
I’m thinking
of your right hand,
which Fenrir, my son, bit off.”
Tyr said:
[39] “I lost that hand,
you lost that son;
we both suffered loss.
Your son isn’t doing well, either;
he remains forever in chains,
waiting for Ragnarok.”
Loki said:
[40] “Silence, Tyr,
or don’t you know your own wife
had a son by me?
You poor fool,
I’ll never pay you a penny
in compensation for that.”
{109} Frey said:
[41] “I see that wolf
sitting and drooling
till Ragnarok comes.
And you’ll be the next one
chained up, you evildoer,
if you don’t close your mouth.”
Loki said:
[42] “You had to pay money
to get yourself a bride,
and you gave up your famous sword.
When the giants
ride to Asgard,
you won’t be able to fight.”
Byggvir said:
[43] “If I had a noble family
and a grand hall
like Frey does,
I’d beat this liar
down to his marrow,
break every bone and limb in him.”
Loki said:
[44] “Who’s this little fellow
wagging his tail,
scavenging for master’s scraps?
You’re always in your master’s ear,
always twittering away
while doing your mindless work.”
Byggvir said:
[45] “I am named Byggvir,
and all the gods and men
say I’m brave.
I’m proud to say
that all the gods
are enjoying their beer here.”
{110} Loki said:
[46] “Silence, Byggvir.
You don’t even know
how to serve food to guests.
And worse than that,
I know that we can find you
hiding in the straw when battles start.”
Heimdall said:
[47] “You’re drunk, Loki,
drunk to the point of foolishness.
Why don’t you control yourself?
This kind of drunkenness
makes every man
say more than he means to.”
Loki said:
[48] “Silence, Heimdall.
In the old days
a miserable fate was assigned to you:
You have to stand all the time,
stay watchful all the time,
as the guardian of the gods.”
Skathi said:
[49] “This is fun for you, Loki,
but you won’t be speaking
as a free man much longer.
The gods will
bind you to the rock,
with the cold guts of your own son.”
Loki said:
[50] “You know, even if the gods
were going to bind me to the rock
with the cold guts of my own son,
I was still first and last
on the battlefield
when we fought your father Thjassi.”
{111} Skathi said:
[51] “You know, even if you were
first and last on the battlefield
when the gods fought against Thjassi,
you will never be welcome
in any home or other place
where I have power.”
Loki said:
[52] “You had kinder words for me
when you were begging me
to join you in your bed.
But one expects as much
when one speaks openly
about such hidden shames.”
Then Sif came forward and offered Loki a drink of mead and said:
[53] “Hail to you now, Loki,
take this drink I offer you
of our good old mead.
Do this, rather than find fault
with me, alone among
all the gods and goddesses.”
Loki drained the drink, and said:
[54] “You would be unique, Sif,
if you actually were
wary and unwelcoming to other men.
But I alone know
how you were unfaithful
to your husband Thor—
and I was the one you slept with.”
Beyla said:
[55] “Listen! All the mountains
are shaking, I think
Thor is coming home.
He’ll close this mouth
that’s slandering
all the gods and men.”
{112} Loki said:
[56] “Silence, Beyla.
You’re Byggvir’s wife—
and you have plenty of other faults.
There’s no greater beast
among the gods here tonight,
you lowly milkmaid.”
Then Thor came and said:
[57] “Silence, you sissy,
or I’ll let my hammer
silence you instead.
I’ll knock your head
off your shoulders,
and then you’ll be silent—and dead.”
Loki said:
[58] “Thor has come to the hall.
But why are you making
such a big show of yourself, Thor?
I don’t think you’ll look
half so daring at Ragnarok,
when the wolf swallows your father.”
Thor said:
[59] “Silence, you sissy,
or I’ll let my hammer
silence you instead.
I’ll throw you out of here
into Jotunheim,
and no one will ever see you again.”
Loki said:
[60] “You’ll probably never
tell any human beings
what you’ve done in Jotunheim.
I remember when you
sat trembling in a giant’s glove;
you didn’t look much like Thor then.”
{113} Thor said:
[61] “Silence, you sissy,
or I’ll let my hammer
silence you instead.
With my right hand
I’ll beat you,
break every bone in you.”
Loki said:
[62] “I expect I’ll live
a long time still, even if
you threaten me with that hammer.
You thought Utgartha-Loki’s
food-bag was challenge enough,
and you left that contest still hungry.”
Thor said:
[63] “Silence, you sissy,
or I’ll let my hammer
silence you instead.
I plan to send you
straight to Hel
beyond the corpse-gates.”
Loki said:
[64] “I’ve spoken to the gods,
and the gods’ sons,
said everything I dared to say.
But it’s because of you, Thor,
that I’ll leave. I know you,
and you alone, mean your threats.
[65] “Y
ou made beer,
Aegir, but you’ll never again
host a feast here.
Everything you own
will burn up—
and you will feel flames
on your back.”
Concerning Loki
{114} After this, Loki hid in the Falls of Frananger in the shape of a salmon, but the gods caught him. He was tied up with the intestines of his son Nari, and his son Narvi was turned into a wolf. Skathi took a poisonous snake and tied it up over Loki; poison dripped on his face from its mouth. Loki’s wife Sigyn sat there and caught the poison in a jar. But when the jar filled, she had to empty it, and when she did, poison dripped on Loki’s face. And this hurt him so badly that he trembled, and all the world with him. This is what is called an earthquake.
{115} Thrymskvitha (The Theft of Mjollnir)
Thrymskvitha (literally “Thrym’s Poem”) tells one of the most popular stories in the Eddic poems, presenting a humorous depiction of the masculine Thor dressing up as a bride to recover his hammer Mjollnir from the giant Thrym who has stolen it.
Thrymskvitha
[1] THOR WAS ANGRY
when he awoke
and found his hammer
had gone missing.
He wrung his beard,
he wrung his hair,
the great Thor
searched all around.
[2] And the first thing
that he said was this:
“Listen to me, Loki,
listen to this:
something never known
before, in Midgard
or in Asgard, has happened:
Mjollnir’s been stolen!”
[3] Then they went
to Freyja’s lovely home,
and the first thing
Loki said was this:
“Freyja, would you lend me
your feather-suit
to help us get
Thor’s hammer back?”
Freyja said:
[4] “I would give it to you,
even if it were made of gold,
{116} I would loan it to you,
even if it were made of silver.”
[5] Then Loki flew,
wearing Freyja’s feather-suit—
its feathers whistled in the air—
till he left Asgard
and came within
Jotunheim.
[6] There Thrym sat on a mound,
a king of giants;
he was fastening golden chains
on his dogs’ necks,
and he was combing
the manes of his horses.
Thrym said:
[7] “What news from the gods?
What news from the elves?
Why have you come alone
into Jotunheim, Loki?”
Loki said, “Bad news from the gods!
Bad news from the elves!
Have you hidden
the mighty Thor’s hammer?”
[8] Thrym said, “I have hidden
the mighty Thor’s hammer
eight miles
beneath the earth.
No one will ever see
that hammer again
unless Freyja
is brought here as my bride.”
[9] Then Loki flew,
wearing Freyja’s feather-suit—
its feathers whistled in the air—
till he left Jotunheim
and came into
{117} Asgard.
He met Thor
in the center of Asgard,
and the first thing
Thor said was this:
[10] “Were your efforts
rewarded on this journey?
Stay in the air, and tell me
what news you have.
Stories are often forgotten
when the teller sits down,
and lies are often told
when people lie down.”
[11] Loki said, “My efforts
were rewarded with this news:
Thrym, a king among giants,
has your hammer,
No one will ever find
that hammer again
unless Freyja
is brought to him for his bride.”
[12] Then they went
to find lovely Freyja,
and the first thing
Thor said was this:
“Freyja, put on a
wedding dress!
The two of us, man and woman,
are going to Jotunheim.”
[13] Freyja was angry;
she snorted so hard
that the homes of the gods
shook all around them,
her necklace Brisingamen
trembled on her neck:
“They would call me
a lewd, loose woman
{118} if I went with you
to Jotunheim!”
[14] Soon all the gods
met for a conference,
all the goddesses
met for a conference,
and the mighty gods
spoke a long time about
how they might get
Thor’s hammer back.
[15] Then Heimdall spoke,
the handsomest of gods,
as one of the Vanir
he could see the future:
“Let’s put a wedding dress
on Thor! Let him
wear Freyja’s necklace,
the Brisingamen.
[16] “Let’s hang keys
from his belt,
let’s drape a woman’s dress
down to his knees,
let’s place jewels
on his chest,
and wrap a pretty headdress
around his head.”
[17] Then Thor,
the strong god, spoke:
“All the Aesir
would call me a sissy
if I let you
put a wedding dress on me.”
[18] Then Loki,
son of Laufey, spoke:
“Silence, Thor!
No more of that talk!
Unless you can get
{119} your hammer back,
the giants will soon
live in Asgard!”
[19] So they put
a wedding dress on Thor,
they put the Brisingamen
on his neck,
they put a chain of
jingling keys at his belt,
they draped a woman’s dress
down to his knees,
they placed jewels
on his chest,
they wrapped a pretty headdress
around his head.
[20] Then Loki,
son of Laufey, said:
“Now I’ll go
as your serving-woman—
the two of us, man and woman,
are going to Jotunheim.”
[21] Then they took
Thor’s goats,
and made them
pull the wagon.
Mountains crumbled,
and the ground burst in flame,
as Odin’s son
drove into Jotunheim.
[22] Then Thrym,
king of giants, spoke:
“Stand up, giants!
Spread hay on the seats!
Bring Freyja,
daughter of Njorth,
lord of Noatun,
closer to me, as my bride.
{120} [23] “Here at my home,
we giants have gold-horned cows
and black oxen
for our dinners,
I have plenty of treasures,
plenty of necklaces—
the only thing
I think I lack is Freyja.”
[24] Early in the evening
the giants gathered
and ale was brought
to all of them.
All on his own
Thor ate a whole ox,
eight salmon,
all the delicacies
reserved for the women,
and drank three whole kegs of mead.
[25] Then Thrym,
king of giants, spoke:
“Who has ever seen
a woman eat like this?
I never saw a woman
take bites that big,
nor a girl who drinks
so much mead.”
[26] But Loki,
Thor’s clever bridesmaid,
found words to answer
the giant’s suspicions:
“Freyja could not eat
at all for eight nights;
that’s just how eager she was
to come here to Jotunheim.”
[27] The giant lifted the veil,
hoping for a kiss,
but then he leapt back
{121} the full length of the hall:
“Why are Freyja’s eyes
so fierce and grim?
It seems to me that fire
is burning in those eyes.”
[28] But Loki,
Thor’s clever bridesmaid,
found words to answer
the giant’s suspicions:
“Freyja could not sleep
at all for eight nights;
that’s just how eager she was
to come here to Jotunheim.”
[29] Then the giant’s
poor sister came in,
she thought she would claim
the customary gift from the bride:
“Give me some
of your golden rings,
if you want to win
my love,
my affection,
a good welcome from me.”
[30] Then Thrym,
king of giants, spoke:
“Bring in the hammer
to bless the bride,
lay Mjollnir
on the bride’s knees.
May Var, goddess of
wedding vows, bless us.”
[31] Then Thor,
that tough-minded fighter,
laughed with a full heart
gripping his hammer.
First he killed Thrym,
king of giants,
{122} then he crippled
all the giant’s kin.
[32] Then he killed
the giant’s old sister,
the one who had asked him
for the customary gift—
she received a blow
instead of money,
a hammer to her head
instead of golden rings—
and this is the way Odin’s son
got his hammer back.
{123} Volundarkvitha (The Escape of Volund the Smith)
Volundarkvitha fits somewhat uncertainly between the poems about the gods and the poems about the heroes. It tells of the famously cunning smith Volund (known in England as Wayland, in Germany as Velent); his marriage to a Valkyrie; his mauling, imprisonment, and enslavement by King Nithuth; and finally his revenge on that king, which takes the form of murdering his sons and raping his daughter Bothvild before Volund escapes on a flying machine he has constructed for himself. Volund is the only significant speaking character in a classical Old Norse text who is identified as an elf (alfr). The prose introduction is original to the manuscript.