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Hamthesmol

"To the timid 'tis ill  the way to tell."A bastard they  the bold one called.
17.[1] From their sheaths they drew  their shining swords,Their blades, to the giantess  joy to give;By a third they lessened  the might that was theirs,The fighter young  to earth they felled.
18.[2] Their cloaks they shook,  their swords they sheathed,The high-born men  wrapped their mantles close.
19.[3] On their road they fared  and an ill way found,And their sister's son  on a tree they saw,On the wind-cold wolf-tree  west of the hall,And cranes'-bait crawled;  none would care to linger.
  1. ↑ The manuscript does not indicate line 1 as beginning a stanza. The giantess: presumably the reference is to Hel, goddess of the dead, but the phrase is doubtful.
  2. ↑ In the manuscript these two lines are followed by stanza 19 with no indication of a break. Some editions insert here lines 2-3 of stanza 12, while others assume the loss of two or more lines.
  3. ↑ Cf. note on stanza 18. Ill way: very likely the road leading through the gate of Jormunrek's town at which Svanhild was trampled to death. Sister's son: many editors change the text to read "stepson," for the reference is certainly to Randver, son of Jormunrek, hanged by his father on Bikki's advice (cf. Guthrunarhvot, introductory note). Wolf-tree: the gallows, the wolf being symbolical of outlaws. Cranes'-bait: presumably either snakes or worms, but the passage is doubtful.

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