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Harbarthsljoth

  The ferryman spake:2.[1] "What kind of a peasant is yon,  that calls o'er the bay?"
  Thor spake:3.[2] "Ferry me over the sound;  I will feed thee therefor in the morning;A basket I have on my back,  and food therein, none better;At leisure I ate,  ere the house I left,Of herrings and porridge,  so plenty I had."
  The ferryman spake:4.[3] "Of thy morning feats art thou proud,  but the future thou knowest not wholly;Doleful thine home-coming is:  thy mother, methinks, is dead."
  Thor spake:5.[4] "Now hast thou said  what to each must seemThe mightiest grief,  that my mother is dead."

[5]

  1. ↑ The superscriptions to the speeches are badly confused in the manuscripts, but editors have agreed fairly well as to where they belong.
  2. ↑ From the fact that in Regius line 3 begins with a capital letter, it is possible that lines 3-4 constitute the ferryman's reply, with something lost before stanza 4.
  3. ↑ Thy mother: Jorth (Earth)
  4. ↑ Some editors assume a lacuna after this stanza.
  5. ↑ Three good dwellings: this has been generally assumed to mean three separate establishments, but it may refer simply to

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