Section 1j

The day after his birth he fought and slew Hoth. 34. Frigg : Othin's wife. Some scholars have regarded her as a solar myth, calling her the sun-goddess, and pointing out that her home in Fensalir ("the sea-halls") symbolizes the daily setting of the sun beneath the ocean horizon. 35. The translation here follows the Regius version. The Hauksbok has the same final two lines, but in place of the first [fp. 16] pair has, "I know that Vali | his brother gnawed, / With his bowels then | was Loki bound." Many editors have followed this version of the whole stanza or have included these two lines, often marking them as doubtful, with the four from Regius . After the murder of Baldr, the gods took Loki and bound him to a rock with the bowels of his son Narfi, who had just been torn to pieces by Loki's other son, Vali. A serpent was fastened above Loki's head, and the venom fell upon his face. Loki's wife, Sigyn , sat by him with a basin to catch the venom, but whenever the basin was full, and she went away to empty it, then the venom fell on Loki again, till the earth shook with his struggles. "And there he lies bound till the end." Cf. Lokasenna , concluding prose.] p. 16 By his side does Sigyn | sit, nor is glad To see her mate: | would you know yet more? 36. From the east there pours | through poisoned vales With swords and daggers | the river Slith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37. Northward a hall | in Nithavellir Of gold there rose | for Sindri's race; And in Okolnir | another stood, Where the giant Brimir | his beer-hall had. [36. Stanzas 36-39 describe the homes of the enemies of the gods: the giants (36), the dwarfs (37), and the dead in the land of the goddess Hel (38-39). The Hauksbok version omits stanzas 36 and 37. Regius unites 36 with 37, but most editors have assumed a lacuna. Slith ("the Fearful"): a river in the giants' home. The "swords and daggers" may represent the icy cold. 37. Nithavellir ("the Dark Fields"): a home of the dwarfs. Perhaps the word should be "Nithafjoll" ("the Dark Crags"). Sindri : the great worker in gold among the dwarfs. Okolnir [fp. 17] ("the Not Cold"): possibly a volcano. Brimir : the giant (possibly Ymir) out of whose blood, according to stanza 9, the dwarfs were made; the name here appears to mean simply the leader of the dwarfs.] p. 17 38. A hall I saw, | far from the sun, On Nastrond it stands, | and the doors face north, Venom drops | through the smoke-vent down, For around the walls | do serpents wind. 39. I saw there wading | through rivers wild Treacherous men | and murderers too, And workers of ill | with the wives of men; There Nithhogg sucked | the blood of the slain, And the wolf tore men; | would you know yet more? [38. Stanzas 38 and 39 follow stanza 43 in the Hauksbok version. Snorri quotes stanzas 39, 39, 40 and 41, though not consecutively.