Introductory Note
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Bellows, Henry Adams
How warriors helmed | without they beheld:
“Take counsel wise, | for brave ones are come,
Of mighty men | thou the sister didst murder.”
22. Then Jormunrek laughed, | his hand laid on his beard,
His arms, for with wine | he was warlike, he called for;
He shook his brown locks, | on his white shield he looked,
And raised high the cup | of gold in his hand.
23. “Happy, methinks, | were I to behold
Hamther and Sorli | here in my hall; [553]
The men would I bind | with strings of bows,
And Gjuki’s heirs | on the gallows hang.”
24. In the hall was clamor, | the cups were shattered,
Men stood in blood | from the breasts of the Goths.
25. Then did Hamther speak forth, | the haughty of heart:
“Thou soughtest, Jormunrek, | us to see,
Sons of one mother | seeking thy dwelling;
Thou seest thy hands, | thy feet thou beholdest,
Jormunrek, flung | in the fire so hot.”
26. Then roared the king, | of the race of the gods,
Bold in his armor, | as roars a bear:
“Stone ye the men | that steel will bite not,
Sword nor spear, | the sons of Jonak.”
[554]
Sorli spake:
27. “Ill didst win, brother, | when the bag thou didst open,
Oft from that bag | came baleful counsel;
Heart hast thou, Hamther, | if knowledge thou hadst!
A man without wisdom | is lacking in much.”
Hamther spake:
28. “His head were now off | if Erp were living,
The brother so keen | whom we killed on our road,
The warrior noble,— | ’twas the Norns that drove me
The hero to slay | who in fight should be holy.
29. “In fashion of wolves | it befits us not
Amongst ourselves to strive, [555]
Like the hounds of the Norns, | that nourished were
In greed mid wastes so grim.
30. “We have greatly fought, | o’er the Goths do we stand
By our blades laid low, | like eagles on branches;
Great our fame though we die | today or tomorrow;