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Sigrdrifumol

30.[1] Brawls and ale  full oft have been An ill to many a man,Death for some,  and sorrow for some; Full many the woes of men.
31.[2] Then seventh I rede thee,  if battle thou seekest With a foe that is full of might;It is better to fight  than to burn alive In the hall of the hero rich.
32. Then eighth I rede thee,  that evil thou shun, And beware of lying words;Take not a maid,  nor the wife of a man, Nor lure them on to lust.
33. Then ninth I rede thee:  burial render If thou findest a fallen corpse,Of sickness dead,  or dead in the sea, Or dead of weapons' wounds.
34.[3] A bath shalt thou give them  who corpses be,

    ished with the lost eight-leaf folio (cf. Introductory Note). The rest of stanza 29, and stanzas 30-37, are added from later paper manuscripts, which were undoubtedly copied from an old parchment, though probably not from the complete Regius. The Volsungasaga paraphrases these additional stanzas.

  1. ↑ Probably an interpolation.
  2. ↑ The meaning is that it is better to go forth to battle than to stay at home and be burned to death. Many a Norse warrior met his death in this latter way; the burning of the house in the Njalssaga is the most famous instance.
  3. ↑ Probably an interpolation.

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