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Poetic Edda

33. Thus was he there  for three nights long, Then forward he went  on the midmost way, And so nine months  were soon passed by.
34.[1] A son had Mothir,  in silk they wrapped him,With water they sprinkled him,  Jarl he was;Blond was his hair,  and bright his cheeks,Grim as a snake's  were his glowing eyes.
35.[2] To grow in the house  did Jarl begin,Shields he brandished,  and bow-strings wound,Bows he shot,  and shafts he fashioned,Arrows he loosened,  and lances wielded,Horses he rode,  and hounds unleashed,Swords he handled,  and sounds he swam.
36.[3] Straight from the grove  came striding Rig,Rig came striding,  and runes he taught him;By his name he called him,  as son he claimed him,

    ital preceded by a period, which has led to all sorts of strange stanza-combinations and guesses at lost lines in the various editions. The confusion includes stanza 33, wherein no line is marked in the manuscript as beginning a stanza.

  1. ↑ Jarl: "Nobly-Born."
  2. ↑ Various lines have been regarded as interpolations, 3 and 6 being most often thus rejected.
  3. ↑ Lines 1, 2, and 5 all begin with capitals preceded by periods, a fact which, taken in conjunction with the obviously defective state of the following stanza, has led to all sorts of conjectural emendations. The exact significane of Rig's giving his own name to Jarl (cf. stanza 46), and thus recognizing him, potentially at least, as a king, depends on the conditions under

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