Introductory Note
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Bellows, Henry Adams
Or the wife requite | for her husband killed.
19. Ready was Gunnar | gold to give,
Amends for my hurt, | and Hogni too;
Then would she know | who now would go,
The horse to saddle, | the wagon to harness,
(The horse to ride, | the hawk to fly,
And shafts from bows | of yew to shoot).
20. (Valdar, king | of the Danes, was come,
With Jarizleif, Eymoth, | and Jarizskar). [457]
In like princes | came they all,
The long-beard men, | with mantles red,
Short their mail-coats, | mighty their helms,
Swords at their belts, | and brown their hair.
21. Each to give me | gifts was fain,
Gifts to give, | and goodly speech,
Comfort so | for my sorrows great
To bring they tried, | but I trusted them not.
22. A draught did Grimhild | give me to drink,
Bitter and cold; | I forgot my cares; [458]
For mingled therein | was magic earth,
Ice-cold sea, | and the blood of swine.
23. In the cup were runes | of every kind,
Written and reddened, | I could not read them;
A heather-fish | from the Haddings’ land,
An ear uncut, | and the entrails of beasts.
24. Much evil was brewed | within the beer,
Blossoms of trees, | and acorns burned,
Dew of the hearth, | and holy entrails,
The liver of swine,— | all grief to allay.
25. Then I forgot, | when the draught they gave me,
There in the hall, | my husband’s slaying;
On their knees the kings | all three did kneel,
Ere she herself | to speak began:
[459]
26. “Guthrun, gold | to thee I give,
The wealth that once | thy father’s was,
Rings to have, | and Hlothver’s halls,
And the hangings all | that the monarch had.
27. “Hunnish women, | skilled in weaving,
Who gold make fair | to give thee joy,