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Völundarkvitha

house, and he himself wore the sword that Völund had had. The queen spake:

18.[1] "The glow of his eyes  is like gleaming snakes,His teeth he gnashes  if now is shownThe sword, or Bothvild's  ring he sees;Let them straightway cut  his sinews of strength,And set him then  in Sævarstath."

So was it done: the sinews in his knee-joints were cut, and he was set in an island which was near the mainland, and was called Sævarstath. There he smithied for the king all kinds of precious things. No man dared to go to him, save only the king himself. Völund spake:

19.[2] "At Nithuth's girdle  gleams the swordThat I sharpened keen  with cunningest craft,(And hardened the steel  with highest skill;)The bright blade far  forever is borne,(Nor back shall I see it  borne to my smithy;)Now Bothvild gets  the golden ring (That was once my bride's,—  ne'er well shall it be.)"
  1. ↑ In the manuscript lines 2-3 stand before line 1; many editors have made the transposition here indicated. Some editors reject line 3 as spurious. Sævarstath: "Sea-Stead."
  2. ↑ This stanza is obviously in bad shape. Vigfusson makes two stanzas of it by adding a first line: "Then did Völund speak,  sagest of elves." Editors have rejected various lines, and some have regrouped the last lines with the first two of

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