Page:Poeticedda00belluoft.djvu/538

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

Poetic Edda

They thought not of craft  from the guests who had come;The gifts did they take  that the noble one gave them,On the pillars they hung them,  no fear did they harbor.
6.[1] Forth did Kostbera, wife  of Hogni, then come,Full kindly she was,  and she welcomed them both;And glad too was Glaumvor,  the wife of Gunnar,She knew well to care  for the needs of the guests.
7.[2] Then Hogni they asked  if more eager he were,Full clear was the guile,  if on guard they had been;Then Gunnar made promise,  if Hogni would go,And Hogni made answer  as the other counseled.
8.[3] Then the famed ones brought mead,  and fair was the feast,

    Some editors assume a gap after this stanza.

  1. Some editions place this stanza between stanzas 7 and 8. Kostbera ("The Giver of Food") and Glaumvor ("The Merry"): presumably creations of the poet. Both: Atli's two emissaries, Vingi and the one here unnamed (Knefröth ?).
  2. It is altogether probable that a stanza has been lost between stanzas 6 and 7, in which Gunnar is first invited, and replies doubtfully. Made promise: many editions emend the text to read "promised the journey." The text of line 4 is obscure; the manuscript reads "nitti" ("refused"), which many editors have changed to "hlitti," which means exactly the opposite.
  3. No gap is indicated in the manuscript; Bugge adds (line

[502]