CANTO II.
Stanza 1. bonde. This term is generally translated by the word peasant. The word yeoman is often used as an equivalent term and sometimes the original Scandinavian form bonde is used in English. A bonde was an independent land-holder, liberty-loving, and, as a rule, an active participant in public affairs.
3. mjöd, mead, a fermented drink made of water, honey and hops with a flavoring of spices.
5. altarrunden. The pagan temples had no altars. The figure is borrowed from the modern temple.
5. offerlunden. The Norse temples were usually surrounded by sacred groves.
8. hon; antecedent is endräkt.
8. som ringen på lansen. This refers to the metal ring that served to hold the point of the lance to the lance itself and thus gave it greater strength.
11. På pelarstoder fyra. According to Scandinavian mythology the heavens were supported by four dwarfs, Austre, East, Västre, West, Nordre, North, and Södre, South.
13. Nog svika lungans tecken i offrad falk. This assumes that the Norsemen read signs by observing the entrails of animals. Authorities differ on this point. Some maintain that the poet has here merely borrowed from classical mythology.
13. flärd är mången runa, som skärs på balk. Meaningless or deceptive is many a rune that is cut in the staff. The early Northmen believed that the will of the gods could be ascertained by writing runes on sticks of wood which then were thrown on the ground and read by the priests.
18. hur vis han het (heter). Expression is equivalent to "Hur vis han än må heta."
18. högbänk. In the primitive Scandinavian homes benches were placed along the four walls. The men had their places along the long walls (långsidor) and the women along the end walls (kortsidor). At the center of the two long walls were high seats of honor. The master of the house occupied the one on the north side and the chief guest the one on the south side.
21. till Oden gå, to die.
22. Odens fåglar. Oden is represented as having two birds, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory or, according to some authorities, the longing that impels Oden to activity), which are dispatched to the earth at every day-break and in the evening return to Oden and whisper into his ears the news of the day's happenings.
26. ty vädret rår för årsväxt och vind för lycka. Equivalent to saying that man is not himself the absolute master of his own destiny. The forces of nature can thwart all his plans.
28. Throughout this canto Tegnér draws freely from Havamal, the "Song of Oden" or the "Song of the Most High," which is replete with precepts on morality and wisdom. In this stanza this ancient Scandinavian song is followed very closely. Note the frequent sarcastic references to woman in the Saga.
32. norna. The norns, three in number, weave the fate of men and gods. Urda was the norn of the past, Verdandi of the present, and Skulda of the future.
32. hon stötte på sköld. The meaning is: Wherever fate threatened with some danger it was met by courage and vigilance.
33. de asasöner. See note, canto I: 35.
33. Nordlands kungar, the kings of the Northland.
38. bautasten. A monument erected in honor of rulers or heroes.
39. Frej, the god of sunshine and warm summer showers, hence also the god of harvests.