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Poetic Edda

  Othin spake:8. "Wise-woman, cease not!  I seek from theeAll to know  that I fain would ask:Who shall the bane  of Baldr become,And steal the life  from Othin's son?"
  The Wise-Woman spake:9.[1] "Hoth thither bears  the far-famed branch,He shall the bane  of Baldr become,And steal the life  from Othin's son.Unwilling I spake,  and now would be still."
  Othin spake:10.[2] "Wise-woman, cease not!  I seek from theeAll to know  that I fain would ask:Who shall vengeance win  for the evil work,Or bring to the flames  the slayer of Baldr?"
  The Wise-Woman spake:11.[3] "Rind bears Vali  in Vestrsalir,And one night old  fights Othin's son;
  1. ↑ Concerning the blind Hoth, who, at Loki's instigation, cast the fatal mistletoe at Baldr, cf. Voluspo, 32-33 and notes. In the manuscript the last line is abbreviated, as also in stanza 11.
  2. ↑ In the manuscript lines 1-2 are abbreviated, as also in stanza 12.
  3. ↑ Rind: mentioned by Snorri as one of the goddesses. Concerning her son Vali, begotten by Othin for the express purpose of avenging Baldr's death, and his slaying of Hoth the day after his birth, cf. Voluspo, 33-34, where the lines of this stanza appear practically verbatim. Vestrsalir ("The Western Hall"): not elsewhere mentioned in the poems.

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