Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/282
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Poetic Edda
Svipdag spake:51. "Now answer me, Fjolsvith, the question I ask, For now the truth would I know:What call they the mountain on which the maid Is lying so lovely to see?"
Fjolsvith spake:52.[1] "Lyfjaberg is it, and long shall it be A joy to the sick and the sore;For well shall grow each woman who climbs it, Though sick full long she has lain."
Svipdag spake:53. "Now answer me, Fjolsvith, the question I ask, For now the truth would I know:What maidens are they that at Mengloth's knees Are sitting so gladly together?"
- ↑ Lyfjaberg ("Hill of Healing"): the manuscripts vary as to this name; I have followed Bugge's suggestion. This stanza implies that Mengloth is a goddess of healing, and hence, perhaps, an hypostasis of Frigg, as already intimated by her name (cf. stanza 3, note). In stanza 54 Eir appears as one of Mengloth's handmaidens, and Eir, according to Snorri (Gylfaginning, 35) is herself the Norse Hygeia. Compare this stanza with stanza 32.
- ↑ The manuscripts and editions show many variations in these names. They may be approximately rendered thus: Helper, Help-Breather, Folk-Guardian, Shining, White, Blithe, Peaceful, Kindly (?), and Gold-Giver.
[248]