Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/313

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar

All thy words  shall I think on well,But I want them not  if I win not thee."
  The Valkyrie spake:8.[1] "Swords I know lying  in Sigarsholm,Fifty there are  save only four;One there is  that is best of all,The shield-destroyer,  with gold it shines.
9.[2] "In the hilt is fame,  in the haft is courage,In the point is fear,  for its owner's foes;On the blade there lies  a blood-flecked snake,And a serpent's tail  round the flat is twisted."

[3]Eylimi[4] was the name of a king, whose daughter was Svava; she was a Valkyrie, and rode air and sea. She gave Helgi this name, and shielded him oft thereafter in battle. Helgi spake:

10.[5] "Hjorvarth, king,  unwholesome thy counsels,Though famed thou art  in leading the folk,

    of a child, but the practice frequently obtained when a permanent epithet was added to the name of an adult.

  1. ↑ Sigarsholm ("Isle of Sigar"): a place not identified, but probably related to the Sigarsvoll where Helgi was slain (stanza 35).
  2. ↑ The sword is carved with magic runes and with snakes. Fame: the original word is uncertain.
  3. ↑ Prose.
  4. ↑ Eylimi: this name is another link with the Sigurth story, as it is likewise the name of the father of Sigurth's mother, Hjordis.
  5. ↑ With this stanza begins a new episode, that of Helgi's

[277]

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.