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Poetic Edda

24.[1] The venomous serpent  swiftly upTo the boat did Thor,  the bold one, pull;With his hammer the loathly  hill of the hairOf the brother of Fenrir  he smote from above.
25.[2] The monsters roared,  and the rocks resounded,And all the earth  so old was shaken;................Then sank the fish  in the sea forthwith.
26.[3] ................Joyless as back  they rowed was the giant;Speechless did Hymir  sit at the oars,With the rudder he sought  a second wind.
  Hymir spake:27.[4] "The half of our toil  wilt thou have with me,
  1. ↑ Hill of the hair: head,—a thoroughly characteristic skaldic phrase. Brother of Fenrir: Mithgarthsorm was, like the wolf Fenrir and the goddess Hel, born to Loki and the giantess Angrbotha (cf. Voluspo, 39 and note), and I have translated this line accordingly; but the word used in the text has been guessed as meaning almost anything from "comrade" to "enemy."
  2. ↑ No gap is indicated in the manuscripts, but that a line or more has been lost is highly probable. In Snorri's version, Thor pulls so hard on the line that he drives both his feet through the flooring of the boat, and stands on bottom. When he pulls the serpent up, Hymir cuts the line with his bait-knife, which explains the serpent's escape. Thor, in a rage, knocks Hymir overboard with his hammer, and then wades ashore. The lines of stanzas 25 and 26 have been variously grouped.
  3. ↑ No gap is indicated in the manuscripts, but line 2 begins with a small letter. A second wind: another direction, i. e., he put about for the shore.
  4. ↑

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