Svipdagsmál II: Fjölsvinnsmá
The poem is found only in manuscript antedating the seventeeth century
1. Before the house | he beheld one coming
To the home of the giants high.
Svipdag spake:
“What giant is here, | in front of the house,
And around him fires are flaming?”
Fjolsvith spake:
2. “What seekest thou here? | for what is thy search?
What, friendless one, fain wouldst thou know?
By the ways so wet | must thou wander hence,
For, weakling, no home hast thou here.”
Svipdag spake:
3. “What giant is here, | in front of the house,
To the wayfarer welcome denying?”
Fjolsvith spake:
“Greeting full fair | thou never shalt find,
So hence shalt thou get thee home.*
4. Fjolsvith am I, | and wise am I found,
But miserly am I with meat;
Thou never shalt enter | within the house,–
Go forth like a wolf on thy way!”
Svipdag spake:
5. “Few from the joy | of their eyes will go forth,
When the sight of their loves they seek;
Full bright are the gates | of the golden hall,
And a home shall I here enjoy.”
Fjolsvith spake:
6. “Tell me now, fellow, | what father thou hast,
And the kindred of whom thou camst.”
Svipdag spake:
“Vindkald am I, | and Varkald’s son,
And Fjolkald his father was.
7. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
Who is it that holds | and has for his own
The rule of the hall so rich?”
Fjolsvith spake:
8. “Mengloth is she, | her mother bore her
To the son of Svafrthorin;
She is it that holds | and has for her own
The rule of the hall so rich.”
Svipdag spake:
9. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the gate? | for among the gods
Ne’er saw man so grim a sight.”
Fjolsvith spake:
10. “Thrymgjol they call it; | ’twas made by the three,
The sons of Solblindi;
And fast as a fetter | the farer it holds,
Whoever shall lift the latch.”
Svipdag spake:
11. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the house? | for no man beheld
‘Mongst the gods so grim a sight.”
Fjolsvith spake:
12.”Gastropnir is it, | of old I made it
From the limbs of Leirbrimir;
I braced it so strongly | that fast it shall stand
So long as the world shall last.”
Svipdag spake:
13. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the hounds, | that before the house
So fierce and angry are?”
Fjolsvith spake:
14. “Gif call they one, | and Geri the other,
If now the truth thou wouldst know;
Great they are, | and their might will grow,
Till the gods to death are doomed.”
Svipdag spake:
15. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
May no man hope | the house to enter,
While the hungry hounds are sleeping?”
Fjolsvith spake:
16. “Together they sleep not, | for so was it fixed
When the guard to them was given;
One sleeps by night, | the next by day,
So no man may enter ever.”
Svipdag spake:
17. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
Is there no meat | that men may give them,
And leap within while they eat?”
Fjolsvith spake:
18. “Two wing-joints there be | in Vithofnir’s body,
If now the truth thou wouldst know;
That alone is the meat | that men may give them,
And leap within while they eat.”
Svipdag spake:
19. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the tree | that casts abroad
Its limbs o’er every land?”
Fjolsvith spake:
20. “Mimameith its name, | and no man knows
What root beneath it runs;
And few can guess | what shall fell the tree,
For fire nor iron shall fell it.”
Svipdag spake:
21. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What grows from the seed | of the tree so great,
That fire nor iron shall fell?”
Fjolsvith spake:
22. “Women, sick | with child, shall seek
Its fruit to the flames to bear;
Then out shall come | what within was hid,
And so is it mighty with men.”
Svipdag spake:
23. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What cock is he | on the highest bough,
That glitters all with gold?”
Fjolsvith spake:
24. “Vithofnir his name, | and now he shines
Like lightning on Mimameith’s limbs;
And great is the trouble | with which he grieves
Both Surt and Sinmora.”
Svipdag spake:
25. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What weapon can send | Vithofnir to seek
The house of Hel below?”
Fjolsvith spake:
26. “Lævatein is there, | that Lopt with runes
Once made by the doors of death;
In Lægjarn’s chest | by Sinmora lies it,
And nine locks fasten it firm.”
Svipdag spake:
27. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
May a man come thence, | who thither goes,
And tries the sword to take?”
Fjolsvith spake:
28. “Thence may he come | who thither goes,
And tries the sword to take,
If with him he carries | what few can win,
To give to the goddess of gold.”
Svipdag spake:
29. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What treasure is there | that men may take
To rejoice the giantess pale?”
Fjolsvith spake:
30. “The sickle bright | in thy wallet bear,
Mid Vithofnir’s feathers found;
To Sinmora give it, | and then shall she grant
That the weapon by thee be won.”
Svipdag spake:
31. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the hall, | encompassed here
With flickering magic flames?”
Fjolsvith spake:
32. “Lyr is it called, | and long it shall
On the tip of a spear-point tremble;
Of the noble house | mankind has heard,
But more has it never known.”
Svipdag spake:
33. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What one of the gods | has made so great
The hall I behold within?”
Fjolsvith spake:
34. “Uni and Iri, | Bari and Jari,
Var and Vegdrasil,
Dori and Ori, | Delling, and there
Was Loki, the fear of the folk.”
Svipdag spake:
35. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What call they the mountain | on which the maid
Is lying so lovely to see?””
Fjolsvith spake:
36. “Lyfjaberg is it, | and long shall it be
A joy to the sick and the sore;
For well shall grow | each woman who climbs it,
Though sick full long she has lain.”
Svipdag spake:
37. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
What maidens are they | that at Mengloth’s knees
Are sitting so gladly together?”
Fjolsvith spake:
38. “Hlif is one named, | Hlifthrasa another,
Thjothvara call they the third;
Bjort and Bleik, | Blith and Frith,
Eir and Aurbotha.”
Svipdag spake:
39. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
Aid bring they to all | who offerings give,
If need be found therefor?”
Fjolsvith spake:
40. “Soon aid they all | who offerings give
On the holy altars high;
And if danger they see | for the sons of men,
Then each from ill do they guard.”
Svipdag spake:
41. “Now answer me, Fjolsvith, | the question I ask,
For now the truth would I know:
Lives there the man | who in Mengloth’s arms
So fair may seek to sleep?”
Fjolsvith spake:
42. “No man there is | who in Mengloth’s arms
So fair may seek to sleep,
Save Svipdag alone, | for the sun-bright maid
Is destined his bride to be.””
Svipdag spake:
43. “Fling back the gates! | make the gateway wide!
Here mayst thou Svipdag see!
Hence get thee to find | if gladness soon
Mengloth to me will give.”
Fjolsvith spake:
44. “Hearken, Mengloth, | a man is come;
Go thou the guest to see!
The hounds are fawning, | the house bursts open,–
Svipdag, methinks, is there.”
Mengloth spake:
45. “On the gallows high | shall hungry ravens
Soon thine eyes pluck out,
If thou liest in saying | that here at last
The hero is come to my hall.”
Mengloth spake:
46. “Whence camest thou hither? | how camest thou here?
What name do thy kinsmen call thee?
Thy race and thy name | as a sign must I know,
That thy bride I am destined to be.”
Svipdag spake:
47. “Svipdag am I, | and Solbjart’s son;
Thence came I by wind-cold ways;
With the words of Urth | shall no man war,
Though unearned her gifts be given.”
Mengloth spake:
48. “Welcome thou art, | for long have I waited;
The welcoming kiss shalt thou win!
For two who love | is the longed-for meeting
The greatest gladness of all.
49. Long have I sat | on Lyfjaberg here,
Awaiting thee day by day;
And now I have | what I ever hoped,
For here thou art come to my hall.”
50. Alike we yearned; | I longed for thee,
And thou for my love hast longed;
But now henceforth | together we know
Our lives to the end we shall live.”