Asatru Ring Frankfurt & Midgard
Leben with the Gods. Leben for the Gods. Living
through the Gods.
The
Poetic Edda Online
In the translation of
Bellows
Lays of the Gods
Grimmnismol
The Ballad of Grimnir
1. Hot art thou, fire!
too fierce by far;
Get ye now gone, ye flames!
The mantle is burnt, though I bear it aloft,
And the fire scorches the fur.
2. 'Twixt the fires now
eight nights have I sat,
And no man brought meat to me,
Save Agnar alone, and alone shall rule
Geirröth's son o'er the Goths.
3. Hail to thee, Agnar!
for hailed thou art
By the voice of Veratyr;
For a single drink shalt thou never receive
A greater gift as reward.
4. The land is holy
that lies hard by
The gods and the elves together;
And Thor shall ever in Thruthheim dwell,
Till the gods to destruction go.
5. Ydalir call they
the place where Ull
A hall for himself hath set;
And Alfheim the gods to Freyr once gave
As a tooth-gift in ancient times.
6. A third home is
there, with silver thatched
By the hands of the gracious gods:
Valaskjolf is it, in days of old
Set by a god for himself.
7. Sökkvabekk is the
fourth, where cool waves flow,
And amid their murmur it stands;
There daily do Othin and Saga drink
In gladness from cups of gold.
8. The fifth is
Glathsheim, and gold-bright there
Stands Valhall stretching wide;
And there does Othin each day choose
The men who have fallen in fight.
9. Easy is it to know
for him who to Othin
Comes and beholds the hall;
Its rafters are spears, with shields is it roofed,
On its benches are breastplates strewn.
10. Easy is it to know
for him who to Othin
Comes and beholds the hall;
There hangs a wolf by the western door,
And o'er it an eagle hovers.
11. The sixth is
Thrymheim, where Thjazi dwelt,
The giant of marvelous might;
Now Skathi abides, the god's fair bride,
In the home that her father had.
12. The seventh is
Breithablik; Baldr has there
For himself a dwelling set,
In the land I know that lies so fair,
And from evil fate is free.
13. Himinbjorg is the
eighth, and Heimdall there
O'er men holds sway, it is said;
In his well-built house does the warder of heaven
The good mead gladly drink.
14. The ninth is
Folkvang, where Freyja decrees
Who shall have seats in the hall;
The half of the dead each day does she choose,
And half does Othin have.
15. The tenth is
Glitnir; its pillars are gold,
And its roof with silver is set;
There most of his days does Forseti dwell,
And sets all strife at end.
16. The eleventh is
Noatun; there has Njorth
For himself a dwelling set;
The sinless ruler of men there sits
In his temple timbered high.
17. Filled with growing
trees and high-standing grass
Is Vithi, Vithar's land;
But there did the son from his steed leap down,
When his father he fain would avenge.
18. In Eldhrimnir
Andhrimnir cooks
Sæhrimnir's seething flesh,--
The best of food, but few men know
On what fare the warriors feast.
19. Freki and Geri
does Heerfather feed,
The far-famed fighter of old:
But on wine alone does the weapon-decked god,
Othin, forever live.
20. O'er Mithgarth Hugin
and Munin both
Each day set forth to fly;
For Hugin I fear lest he come not home,
But for Munin my care is more.
21. Loud roars Thund,
and Thjothvitnir's fish
joyously fares in the flood;
Hard does it seem to the host of the slain
To wade the torrent wild.
22. There Valgrind
stands, the sacred gate,
And behind are the holy doors;
Old is the gate, but few there are
Who can tell how it tightly is locked.
23. Five hundred doors
and forty there are,
I ween, in Valhall's walls;
Eight hundred fighters through one door fare
When to war with the wolf they go.
24. Five hundred rooms
and forty there are
I ween, in Bilskirnir built;
Of all the homes whose roofs I beheld,
My son's the greatest meseemed.
25. Heithrun is the goat
who stands by Heerfather's hall,
And the branches of Lærath she bites;
The pitcher she fills with the fair, clear mead,
Ne'er fails the foaming drink.
26. Eikthyrnir is the
hart who stands by Heerfather's hall
And the branches of Lærath he bites;
From his horns a stream into Hvergelmir drops,
Thence all the rivers run.
27. Sith and Vith,
Sækin and Ækin,
Svol and Fimbulthul, Gunnthro, and Fjorm,
Rin and Rinnandi,
Gipul and Gopul, Gomul and Geirvimul,
That flow through the fields of the gods;
Thyn and Vin, Thol and Hol,
Groth and Gunnthorin.
28. Vino is one,
Vegsvin another,
And Thjothnuma a third;
Nyt and Not, Non and Hron,
Slith and Hrith, Sylg and Ylg,
Vith and Von, Vond and Strond,
Gjol and Leipt, that go among men,
And hence they fall to Hel.
29. Kormt and Ormt and
the Kerlaugs twain
Shall Thor each day wade through,
(When dooms to give he forth shall go
To the ash-tree Yggdrasil;)
For heaven's bridge burns all in flame,
And the sacred waters seethe.
30. Glath and Gyllir,
Gler and Skeithbrimir,
Silfrintopp and Sinir,
Gisl and Falhofnir, Golltopp and Lettfeti,
On these steeds the gods shall go
When dooms to give each day they ride
To the ash-tree Yggdrasil.
31. Three roots there
are that three ways run
'Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil;
'Neath the first lives Hel, 'neath the second the frost-giants,
'Neath the last are the lands of men.
32. Ratatosk is the
squirrel who there shall run
On the ash-tree Yggdrasil;
From above the words of the eagle he bears,
And tells them to Nithhogg beneath.
33. Four harts there
are, that the highest twigs
Nibble with necks bent back;
Dain and Dvalin, . . . . . .
Duneyr and Dyrathror.
34. More serpents there
are beneath the ash
Than an unwise ape would think;
Goin and Moin, Grafvitnir's sons,
Grabak and Grafvolluth,
Ofnir and Svafnir shall ever, methinks,
Gnaw at the twigs of the tree.
35. Yggdrasil's ash
great evil suffers,
Far more than men do know;
The hart bites its top, its trunk is rotting,
And Nithhogg gnaws beneath.
36. Hrist and Mist
bring the horn at my will,
Skeggjold and Skogul;
Hild and Thruth, Hlok and Herfjotur,
Gol and Geironul,
Randgrith and Rathgrith and Reginleif
Beer to the warriors bring.
37. Arvak and Alsvith
up shall drag
Weary the weight of the sun;
But an iron cool have the kindly gods
Of yore set under their yokes.
38. In front of the sun
does Svalin stand,
The shield for the shining god;
Mountains and sea would be set in flames
If it fell from before the sun.
39. Skoll is the wolf
that to Ironwood
Follows the glittering god,
And the son of Hrothvitnir, Hati, awaits
The burning bride of heaven.
40. Out of Ymir's flesh
was fashioned the earth,
And the ocean out of his blood;
Of his bones the hills, of his hair the trees,
Of his skull the heavens high.
41. Mithgarth the gods
from his eyebrows made,
And set for the sons of men;
And out of his brain the baleful clouds
They made to move on high.
42. His the favor of Ull
and of all the gods
Who first in the flames will reach;
For the house can be seen by the sons of the gods
If the kettle aside were cast.
43. In days of old did
Ivaldi's sons
Skithblathnir fashion fair,
The best of ships for the bright god Freyr,
The noble son of Njorth.
44. The best of trees
must Yggdrasil be,
Skithblathnir best of boats;
Of all the gods is Othin the greatest,
And Sleipnir the best of steeds;
Bifrost of bridges, Bragi of skalds,
Hobrok of hawks, and Garm of hounds.
45. To the race of the
gods my face have I raised,
And the wished-for aid have I waked;
For to all the gods has the message gone
That sit in Ægir's seats,
That drink within Ægir's doors.
46. Grim is my name,
Gangleri am 1,
Herjan and Hjalmberi,
Thekk and Thrithi, Thuth and Uth,
Helblindi and Hor;
47. Sath and Svipal
and Sanngetal,
Herteit and Hnikar,
Bileyg, Baleyg, Bolverk, Fjolnir,
Grim and Grimnir, Glapsvith, Fjolsvith.
48. Sithhott, Sithskegg,
Sigfather, Hnikuth,
Allfather, Valfather, Atrith, Farmatyr:
A single name have I never had
Since first among men I fared.
49. Grimnir they call me
in Geirröth's hall,
With Asmund Jalk am I;
Kjalar I was when I went in a sledge,
At the council Thror am I called,
As Vithur I fare to the fight;
Oski, Biflindi, Jafnhor and Omi,
Gondlir and Harbarth midst gods.
So. I deceived the giant
Sokkmimir old
As Svithur and Svithrir of yore;
Of Mithvitnir's son the slayer I was
When the famed one found his doom.
51. Drunk art thou,
Geirröth, too much didst thou drink,
. . . . . . . . . .
Much hast thou lost, for help no more
From me or my heroes thou hast.
52. Small heed didst
thou take to all that I told,
And false were the words of thy friends;
For now the sword of my friend I see,
That waits all wet with blood.
53. Thy sword-pierced
body shall Ygg have soon,
For thy life is ended at last;
The maids are hostile; now Othin behold!
Now come to me if thou canst!
54. Now am I Othin,
Ygg was I once,
Ere that did they call me Thund;
Vak and Skilfing, Vofuth and Hroptatyr,
Gaut and Jalk midst the gods;
Ofnir and Svafnir, and all, methinks,
Are names for none but me.
King Geirröth sat and had his sword on his knee, half drawn from its sheath. But when he heard that Othin was come thither, then he rose up and sought to take Othin from the fire. The sword slipped from his hand, and fell with the hilt down. The king stumbled and fell forward, and the sword pierced him through, and slew him. Then Othin vanished, but Agnar long ruled there as king.
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