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Poetic Edda

Blithe was the shield-tree,  the brother of Kostbera;The fair-decked ones followed,  till the fjord divided them,Full hard did they plead,  but the others would hear not.
29. Then did Glaumvor speak forth,  the wife of Gunnar,To Vingi she said  that which wise to her seemed:"I know not if well  thou requitest our welcome,Full ill was thy coming  if evil shall follow."
30.[1] Then did Vingi swear,  and full glib was his speech,.............."May giants now take me  if lies I have told ye,And the gallows if hostile  thought did I have."
31.[2] Then did Bera speak forth,  and fair was her thought,

    appear only in this poem and in the prose narratives based on it. Lines 2-3 may have been expanded out of one line, or possibly line 3 is spurious. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza, and many editions make a separate stanza out of lines 4-5, many of them assuming the loss of two lines. Shield-tree: warrior (Orkning), here identified as Kostbera's brother. Fair-decked ones: women, i.e., Glaumvor and Kostbera. Fjord: perhaps specifically the Limafjord mentioned in stanza 4.

  1. ↑ The manuscript indicates no gap. Grundtvig inserts (line 2): "The evil was clear  when his words he uttered."
  2. ↑ Bera: Kostbera; the first element in compound feminine

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