Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/103

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Vafthruthnismol

  Othin spake:1.[1] "Counsel me, Frigg,  for I long to fare,And Vafthruthnir fain would find;In wisdom old  with the giant wiseMyself would I seek to match."
  Frigg spake:2.[2] "Heerfather here  at home would I keep,Where the gods together dwell;Amid all the giants  an equal in mightTo Vafthruthnir know I none."
  Othin spake:3. "Much have I fared,  much have I found,Much have I got from the gods;And fain would I know  how Vafthruthnir nowLives in his lofty hall."
  Frigg spake:4. "Safe mayst thou go,  safe come again,And safe be the way thou wendest!Father of men,  let thy mind be keenWhen speech with the giant thou seekest."
5.[3] The wisdom then  of the giant wise

  1. The phrases "Othin spake," "Frigg spake," etc. appear in abbreviated form in both manuscripts. Frigg: Othin's wife; cf. Voluspo, 34 and note. Vafthruthnir ("the Mighty in Riddles"): nothing is known of this giant beyond what is told in this poem.
  2. Heerfather ("Father of the Host"): Othin.
  3. This single narrative stanza is presumably a later interpo-

[69]