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Poetic Edda

Seven hundred  there were in the hall,Ere the queen her hand  in the kettle thrust.
8. To the bottom she reached  with hand so bright,And forth she brought  the flashing stones:"Behold, ye warriors,  well am I clearedOf sin by the kettle's  sacred boiling."
9. Then Atli's heart  in happiness laughed,When Guthrun's hand  unhurt he saw;"Now Herkja shall come  the kettle to try,She who grief  for Guthrun planned."
10.[1] Ne'er saw man sight  more sad than this,How burned were the hands  of Herkja then;In a bog so foul  the maid they flung,And so was Guthrun's  grief requited.

    to consecrate the kettle used in the test. The ordeal by boiling water followed closely the introduction of Christianity, which took place around the year 1000. Some editions make two stanzas out of stanza 7, and Müllenhoff contends that lines 1-2 do not constitute part of Guthrun's speech.

  1. ↑ The word "requited" in line 4 is omitted in the manuscript, but it is clear that some such word was intended. The punishment of casting a culprit into a bog to be drowned was particularly reserved for women, and is not infrequently mentioned in the sagas.

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