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Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar

Bravely ye look,  and little ye fear,The name of the king would I know."
  Atli spake:13.[1] "Helgi his name,  and never thou maystHarm to the hero bring;With iron is fitted  the prince's fleet,Nor can witches work us ill."
  Hrimgerth spake:14. "Who now, thou mighty  man, art thou?By what name art thou known to men?He trusts thee well,  the prince who willsThat thou stand at the stem of his ship."
  Atli spake:15.[2] "Atli am I,  and ill shalt thou find me,Great hate for witches I have;Oft have I been  in the dripping bows,And to dusk-riders death have brought.
16. "Corpse-hungry giantess,  how art thou called?Say, witch, who thy father was!

  1. Iron: the keels of Norse ships were sometimes fitted with iron "shoes" at bow and stern, but it is not certain that this practice much antedated the year 1000, and thus this line has raised some question as to the antiquity of this stanza, if not of the entire Hrimgertharmol, which may have been composed as late as the eleventh century.
  2. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. The pun on "Atli" and "atall" (meaning "ill") is untranslatable.

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