Prose Edda - Brodeur Trans.
Skáldskaparmál
Thrust the Forecastle-AdderIn the following verse it is called Lake as well: thus sang Einarr:
And the skiff out on the Ocean.
The Lake doth bathe the vessel,Here it is called Flood also. Thus sang Refr, as was said before:
Where the sea 'gainst each side beateth,
And the bright wind-vanes rattle;
The surf washes the Flood-Steeds.
Wintry One's (1) wet-cold Spae-WifeDeep, as Hallvardr sang:
Wiles the Bear of Twisted Cables
Oft into Ægir's wide jaws,
Where the angry billow breaketh. (2)
The Sword-Shaker bids be pointedWay, as here:
The prow of the hardy ship-steed
Westward in the girdle
Of all lands, the Watery Deep.
On our course from land we glided,Weir, as Egill sang:
On the Way to the coast of Finland:
I see from the Ship's Road, eastward,
The fells with radiance gleaming.
1. Gymir. See Gering, Die Edda, p. 53, note 2.
2. See page 138.
218
I sailed o'er the WeirOcean, as Einarr sang:
To the West: I bear
Òdin's Heart-Sea.
So it stands with me.
Many a day the cold OceanSalt, as Arnórr sang:
Washes the swarthy deck-planks
'Neath the gracious Prince; and Snow-Storm
Furrows Mona's Girdle.
The hardy King the Salt plowedFurtherer, as Bölverkr sang:
From the east with hull ice-laden:
Brown tempests tossed the Lessener
Of Surf-Gold toward Sígtún.
Thou didst summon from fair NorwayHere the sea is called Din-Surf also.
A levy the next season,
With Din-Surf's ships the Furtherer
Didst shear; o'er decks the sea poured.
Wide One, as Refr sang:
To its breast the Stay's steed taketh
The Home of Planks, beak-furrowed,
And tosses the Wide One over
The hard side; the wood suffers.
219
Dusky One, as Njáll of the Burning sang:
We sixteen pumped, my Lady,These are other names for the Sea, such as it is proper to use in periphrasing ships or gold.
In four oar-rooms, but the surge waxed:
The Dusky One beat over
The hull of the driven sea-ship.
"Rán, it is said, was Ægir's wife, even as is written here:
To the sky shot up the Deep's Gledes,The daughters of Ægir and Rán are nine, and their names arc recorded before: Himinglæva, (1) Dúfa, (2) Blódughadda, (3) Hefring, (4) Udr, (5) Hrönn, (6) Bylgja, (7) Dröfn, (8) Kólga. (9) Einarr Skúlason recorded the names of six of them in this stanza, beginning:
With fearful might the sea surged:
Methinks our stems the clouds cut,-
Rán's Road to the moon soared upward.
Himinglæva sternly stirreth,
And fiercely, the sea's wailing.
Welling Wave, (10) as Valgardr sang:
Foam rested in the Sea's bed:1. That through which one can see the heaven (Jónsson).
Swollen with wind, the deep played,
2. The Pitching One (Jónsson).
3. Bloody-Hair.
4. Riser.
5. Frothing Wave.
6. Welling Wave.
7. Billow.
8. Foam-Fleck.
9. Poetical term for Wave. "The Cool One" (Jónsson).
10. In the following stanzas, for the sake of consistency, I have been obliged to
translate the names, since they are employed in the stanzas as common nouns, rather than as proper names. It is beyond my ability to translate Himinglæva briefly.
220
And the Welling Waves were washingBillow, as Óttarr the Swarthy sang:
The awful heads of the war-ships.
Ye shear with shaven rudderFoam-Fleck, as Ormr sang:
Billows moisty-deep; the broad sheet,
Which girls spun, on the mast-head
With the Roller's Reindeer sported.
The hawk-like, heedful LadyWave-Borne, as Thorleikr the Fair sang:
Has every virtue: Lofn
Of the Foam-Fleck's flame-gold, faithful
As a friend, all faults renounceth.
The sea wails, and the Wave-BorneShoal, as Einarr sang:
Bears bright froth o'er the red wood,
Where gapes the Roller's Brown Ox,
With mouth gold-ornamented.
Nor met the Forward-Minded,Fullness, as Refr sang:
Where the fierce sea on our friends falls;
I think the Shoal becalmed not
The Ship, Wood of the Waters.
<< Previous Page Next Page >>
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|