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Grimnismol

21.[1] Loud roars Thund,  and Thjothvitnir's fishJoyously fares in the flood;Hard does it seem  to the host of the slainTo wade the torrent wild.
22.[2] There Valgrind stands,  the sacred gate,And behind are the holy doors;Old is the gate,  but few there areWho can tell how it tightly is locked.
23.[3] Five hundred doors  and forty there are,I ween, in Valhall's walls;Eight hundred fighters  through one door fareWhen to war with the wolf they go.
24.[4] Five hundred rooms  and forty there areI ween, in Bilskirnir built;

  1. Thund ("The Swollen" or "The Roaring"): the river surrounding Valhall. Thjothvitnir's fish: presumably the sun, which was caught by the wolf Skoll (cf. Voluspo, 40), Thjothvitnir meaning "the mighty wolf." Such a phrase, characteristic of all Skaldic poetry, is rather rare in the Edda. The last two lines refer to the attack on Valhall by the people of Hel; cf. Voluspo, 51.
  2. Valgrind ("The Death-Gate"): the outer gate of Valhall; cf. Sigurtharkvitha en skamma, 68 and note.
  3. This and the following stanza stand in reversed order in Regius. Snorri quotes stanza 23 as a proof of the vast size of Valhall. The last two lines refer to the final battle with Fenrir and the other enemies.
  4. This stanza is almost certainly an interpolation, brought in through a confusion of the first two lines with those of stanza 23. Its description of Thor's house, Bilskirnir (cf. stanza 4 and

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