1.
Wroth was Vingthor[1]
when awakening he
Mjolnir[2]
misses his
mighty hammer;
his
beard gan shake,
his shaggy head,
Fjorgyn's first-born[3]--
he fumbled about him.
2.
These words then first
fell from his lips:
"Hear thou, Loki,
what loss I have,
which no wight knows--
neither on earth
nor
in heaven: my
hammer is stolen!"
3.
To Freya's[4]
bower they
bent thier steps.
These words then first
fell from his lips:
"Wilt thou, Freya,
thy feather coat lend me,
my
hammer to seek,
if haply I find it?"
Freya said:
4.
"Though of gold it were
I gave it to thee,
and
for thy sake,
though of silver it were."
5.
Flew then Loki
the feather coat whirred,
left
behind him
the halls of the gods,
and
winged his way
to the world of etins.
6.
On a mound sat Thrym,[5]
the thurses' lord;
golden halters
for his hounds he twined,
and
sleeked the manes
of slender horses.[6]
7.
Thrym said:
"What ails the Æsir,
what ails the alfs?[7]
Why
art thou come to
etin-home?"
Loki
said:
"'Tis ill with the AEsir,
(ill with the alfs):[8]
dost
hide Hlorrithi's[9]
hammer with thee?"
Thrym said:
8.
"Hlorrithi's hammer
I hide with me
full
eight rosts[10]
deep the
ground beneath;
Mjolnir no wight
may win from me
but
he Freya bring
as bride to me."[11]
9.
Flew then Loki,
the feather coat whirred,
left
behind him
the home of the etins,
and
winged his way to the world of the
gods.
Him
Thor met there
in middle court.
These words then first
fell from his lips:
10.
"What welcome word
rewards thy toil?
Tell
while aloft
thy long tidings:[12]
sitting, one oft
his errand forgets,
and
lying, tells
lies altogether."
Loki
said:
11.
"A welcome word
rewards my toil:
Thrym has thy hammer,
the thurses' lord.
Mjolnir no wight
may win from him,
but
he Freya bring
as bride with him."
12.
To Freya's bower they
bent their steps.
These words then first
fell from his lips:
"Busk the, Freya,
in bridal linen,
we
twain shall wend
to the world of etins."
13.
Wroth grew Freya,
foamed with rage,
the
shining halls
shook with her wrath,
the
Brisings' necklace[13]
burst asunder;
"Most mad after men
thou mayst call me,
if I
wend with thee
to the world of etins."
14.
To the Thing forthwith
fared all godheads,
and
all goddesses
gathered together.
Among them mooted
the mighty gods
how
they Hlorrithi's
hammer'd win back.
15.
Whereon Heimdall,[14]
whitest of the Gods--
he
fathomed the future
as foreknowing Van--[15]
"Busk we Thor then
in bridal linen,
and
buckle on him
the Brisings' necklace.
16.
"Let a housewife's door keys
dangle about him,[16]
let
woman's weeds
be worn by him.
Let
him bear on his breast
bridal jewels,
a
hood on his head,
as behooves a bride."
17.
Then this spake Thor,
the thewful god:
"A
craven wretch
may call me the gods
if I
busk me in
bridal linen."
18.
Then quoth Loki,
Laufey's offspring:[17]
"Hush thee now, Thor,
and heed these words"
soon
will the etins
in Asgarth[18]
dwell,
but
thou fetch home
the hammer from them."
19.
Busked by Thor then
in bridal linen,
buckled on him
the Brisings' necklace,
let
a housewife's door keys
dangle about him,
and
women's weeds
be worn by him:
on
his breast he bore
bridal jewels,
a
hood on hie head
as behooves a bride.
20.
Then quoth Loki,
Laufey's offspring:
"With thee I will,
to wait on thee;
we
twain shall wend
to the world of etins."
21.
Then home the goats[19]
to the hall were driven,
haltered with ropes to
run with the wain:
the
mountains brake,
the earth burned with fire,
rode
Othin's son[20]
to etin-world.
22.
Said Thrym these words,
the thurses' lord:
"Stand up, etins,
put straw on benches:[21]
to
be my bride
they bring me Freya,
Njorth daughter
ftom Noátún.[22]
23.
"In my garth there graze
golden-horned kine,
oxen
all black,
for etins a joy;
many
rings have I,
many riches have I,
Freya alone I
lack, methinks."
24.
Soon had the sun
set in that land;[23]
then
ale was borne
on the etins' table;
ate
there an ox
and eight salmons,
bolted all dainties
dealt for women,
three measures of mead
drank Mjolnir's wielder.
25.
Said Thrym these words,
the thurse' lord:
"Where sawest thou bride
bite more sharply?
never saw I bride
bite more broadly,
nor
more of mead
a maiden drink."
26.
The waiting maid wise
these words then found,
to
the etin this
she answer made:
"Naught ate Freya
for full eight nights,
so
eager was she
for etin-world."
27.
He looked 'neath the veil,
longed to kiss her:
back
reeled the rash one
through roomy hall:
"Why
are so fearful
Freya's eyes?
Methinks that fire
flames in her eyes."
28.
The waiting maid wise
these words then found:
to
the etin thus
she answer made:
"Slept not Freya
for full eight nights,
so
eager was she
for etin-world."
29.
In stepped the ettins'
starveling sister,[24]
a
bridal gift she
dared beg from her:
"Rings of red gold give
thou to me,
if
fain would'st have
my friendship and love,
all
my friendship
and fondness too."
30.
Said Thrum these words,
the thurses' lord:
"Bring the hammer
the bride to bless;
on
the maiden's lap
lay ye Mjolnir;[25]
in
Vór's[26]
name then our
wedlock hallow!"
31.
Laughed Hlorrithi's
heart within him
when
the hammer beheld
the hardy one:
Thyrm he slew first,
the thurses' lord,
then
crushed he all
the etins' kin,
32.
Slew eke the old
sister of etins,
her
who had begged for
bridal gift.
For
shillings she gor
a shock of the hammer,
a
grinding blow
for golden rings.
Thus
Hlorrithi his
hammer got him.
[1]
“Consecration-Thór” see St.
30.
[2] “The
Crusher” (?); or, possibly, related to Russian molnya,
“lightning.” It never misses its aim and always returns into
Thór’s hands.
[3] Thór.
See “Hárbarzljóð,” Note 4.
[4] The
goddess of fertility and love. See “Grímnismál,”
St.
14 and Note 21.
[6] A
Homeric situation. The action (like the fashioning of bow
and arrow—see “Rígsþula,” St. 28) is one typical of the lord; so is sitting on a
mound.
[7] See
“Völuspá,”
St. 47 and Note 67.
[8]
Supplied by all editors.
[11] That
is, however long they be.
[12] The
meaning of these curious lines may be that the longer the
delay, the less accurate the report—a night’s sleep may
pervert it utterly—out of regard for the host? The pun
exists in the original.
[13] The
Bringa men (“the shining Necklace”) was a torque fashioned
(according to the late Sörla þáttr) by four dwarfs. It is no
dobt identical with the precious Brosinga mene in
Beowulf (Line 1199)
[14] As to
Heimdall, see “Völuspá,” St.
1 and Note 2.
[15] We are
not told elsewhere that the Vanir gods were prophetic (as
were some of the Æsir, Óthin, Frigg, Gefjon, for instance)
[16] See
“Rigsþula,”
St. 23
[17] See
“Lokasenna,”
St. 52 and Note 48.
[18] The
habitation of the Æsir. See “Völuspá,”
St. 24 and Note 23.
[19] They
draw Thór’s wain. See “Hymniskviða,” Note 30.
[20] Thór,
by the giantess Fjorgyn or Hlóthyn. There is a definate
resemblance between lines 3 and 4 of the original and
Stanzas 15 and 16 of the poem “Haustlong” by the skald
Thjóthólf ór Hvini (ninth century)
[21] This
was done on festive occassions. See “Baldrs draumar,” St. 6,
and St. 1 of the (anonymous) skaldic poem Eiríksmál.
[22] See
“Grímnismál,”
St. 16.
[23]
Because of the location of the frost-giants in the far North
(east); but the line is susceptible of the translation:
Early at eve they had come in.
[24] “The
etin’s sister” is probably a kenning for “giantess.”
[25] A
consecration with the hammer is known from elsewhere. The
hammer is a phallic symbol of fertility, like the lingam
of the Hindus.
[26] “Vow,”
“pledge,” a goddess, probably a hypostatis of Frigg, goddess
of marriage.