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Rigsthula

And bade him hold  his heritage wide,His heritage wide,  the ancient homes.
37.[1] ..............................Forward he rode  through the forest dark,O'er the frosty crags,  till a hall he found.
38. His spear he shook,  his shield he brandished,His horse he spurred,  with his sword he hewed;Wars he raised,  and reddened the field,Warriors slew he,  and land he won.
39.[2] Eighteen halls  ere long did he hold,Wealth did he get,  and gave to all,Stones and jewels  and slim-flanked steeds,Rings he offered,  and arm-rings shared.
40.[3] His messengers went  by the ways so wet,And came to the hall  where Hersir dwelt;His daughter was fair  and slender-fingered,Erna the wise  the maiden was.

    which the poem was composed (cf. Introductory Note). The whole stanza, particularly the reference to the teaching of magic (runes), fits Othin far better than Heimdall.

  1. ↑ Something—one or two lines, or a longer passage—has clearly been lost, describing the beginning of Jarl's journey. Yet many editors, relying on the manuscript punctuation, make 37 and 38 into a single stanza.
  2. ↑ The manuscript marks both lines 1 and 2 as beginning stanzas.
  3. ↑ Hersir: "Lord"; the hersir was, in the early days before the establishment of a kingdom in Norway, the local chief, and

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