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Sigrdrifumol

On the bark shalt thou write,  and on trees that be With boughs to the eastward bent.
11.[1] Speech-runes learn,  that none may seek To answer harm with hate;Well he winds  and weaves them all, And sets them side by side,At the judgment-place,  when justice there The folk shall fairly win.
12.[2] Thought-runes learn,  if all shall think Thou art keenest minded of men.
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13.[3] Them Hropt arranged,  and them he wrote, And them in thought he made,
  1. ↑ Lines 3-6 look like an accidental addition, replacing two lines now lost. They mean, apparently, that the man who interweaves his speech with "speech-runes" when he pleads his case at the "Thing," or popular tribunal, will not unduly enrage his adversary in the argument of the case.
  2. ↑ Here the list of runes breaks off, though the manuscript indicates no gap, and three short passages of a different type, though all dealing with runes, follow.
  3. ↑ Stanzas 13-14 appear to have come from a passage regarding Othin's getting of the runes similar to Hovamol, 139-146. Editors have tried various combinations of the lines in stanzas 12-14. Hropt: Othin; cf. Voluspo, 62. The draught, etc.: apparently the reference is to the head of Mim, from which Othin derived his wisdom in magic (cf. Voluspo, 47 and note); Heithdraupnir ("Light-Dropper") and Hoddrofnir ("Treasure-Opener") seem to be names for Mim.

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