Introductory Note
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Bellows, Henry Adams
Be thy guards on the road thou goest.
8. “Then third I will chant thee, | if threatening streams
The danger of death shall bring: [237]
Yet to Hel shall turn | both Horn and Ruth,
And before thee the waters shall fail.
9. “Then fourth I will chant thee, | if come thy foes
On the gallows-way against thee:
Into thine hands | shall their hearts be given,
And peace shall the warriors wish.
10. “Then fifth I will chant thee, | if fetters perchance
Shall bind thy bending limbs:
O’er thy thighs do I chant | a loosening-charm,
And the lock is burst from the limbs,
And the fetters fall from the feet.
11. “Then sixth I will chant thee, | if storms on the sea
Have might unknown to man:
Yet never shall wind | or wave do harm,
And calm is the course of thy boat.
12. “Then seventh I chant thee, | if frost shall seek
To kill thee on lofty crags:
The fatal cold | shall not grip thy flesh,
And whole thy body shall be.
[238]
13. “Then eighth will I chant thee, | if ever by night
Thou shalt wander on murky ways:
Yet never the curse | of a Christian woman
From the dead shall do thee harm.
14. “Then ninth will I chant thee, | if needs thou must strive
With a warlike giant in words:
Thy heart good store | of wit shall have,
And thy mouth of words full wise.
15. “Now fare on the way | where danger waits,
Let evils not lessen thy love!
I have stood at the door | of the earth-fixed stones,
The while I chanted thee charms.
16. “Bear hence, my son, | what thy mother hath said,
And let it live in thy breast;
Thine ever shall be | the best of fortune,
So long as my words shall last.”
[239]