Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/420

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

Poetic Edda

And his fate the way  to the wanderer shows;The doughty king  a daughter has,That thou as a bride  mayst, Sigurth, buy."
  Another spake:42.[1] "A hall stands high  on Hindarfjoll,All with flame  is it ringed without;Warriors wise  did make it onceOut of the flaming  light of the flood.
43.[2] "On the mountain sleeps  a battle-maid,And about her plays  the bane of the wood;Ygg with the thorn  hath smitten her thus,For she felled the fighter  he fain would save.
44.[3] "There mayst thou behold  the maiden helmed,Who forth on Vingskornir  rode from the fight;The victory-bringer  her sleep shall break not,Thou heroes' son,  so the Norns have set."

  1. Hindarfjoll: "Mountain of the Hind." Light of the flood: gold; cf. Reginsmol, 1 and note.
  2. Battle-maid: Brynhild, here clearly defined as a Valkyrie. Bane of the wood: fire. Ygg: Othin; cf. Grimnismol, 53. The thorn: a prose note in Sigrdrifumol calls it "sleep-thorn." The fighter: the story of the reason for Brynhild's punishment is told in the prose following stanza 4 of Sigrdrifumol.
  3. Vingskornir: Brynhild's horse, not elsewhere mentioned. Victory-bringer: the word thus translated is in the original "sigrdrifa." The compiler of the collection, not being familiar with this word, assumed that it was a proper name, and in the prose following stanza 4 of the Sigrdrifumol he specifically states that this was the Valkyrie's name. Editors, until recently,

[384]