CANTO III.
Line 1. Voro nu satta i hög. Were interred.
2. fjärden. In this case Sognefjord.
6. fäste i lugn sin boning på Framnäs. Took up his abode on Framnäs. This probably lay on the south side of Sognefjord.
9. de kullarnas topp. De is seldom used in this way. Here supplied for the sake of the meter.
15. som längta till stävan. That yearn to be milked.
23. till tio tolfter på hundrat. A so-called storhundrade or great hundred was 120.
26. högsätespelare, the posts of the seat of honor. On it were carved images of Oden and Frej.
28. Frej med solen på hatten. Frej was the sun god and was pictured with a sun on his helmet.
34. Östervåg, Eastern billow, the Baltic. Västersaltet, Western salt, the North Sea, Gandvik, the White Sea.
36. Brage, the god of poetry and music.
38. Mimers evigt sorlande våg. Mimer's ever rippling fountain. The god Mimer guarded the fountain of wisdom. Oden once pawned one of his eyes for a drink out of this fountain.
52. visthus. These were small houses, separated from the main building, in which food was kept.
58. Österland, Asia.
59. dvärgarnas eld. The dwarfs were supposed to be most skillful smiths.
61. Gröningasund, a sound between Seeland, Moen and Falster in Denmark.
62. het, abbrev. for hette.
63. Ulleråker, a royal estate near Uppsala, where judicial assemblies were held.
68. Järnhös. The word means iron skull.
76. vid solens portar, in Asia.
79. Hildur, the goddess of war. "Hildur's lek" means war.
84. Vaulund was the most skillful smith among the dwarfs. He is called haltande, lame or limping, because Mimer's wife, who was his bitter enemy, had cut the tendons of his knees.
85. Tre mark höll han i vikt. It weighed three marks. A mark was approximately one half kilogram.
88. Alfhem, the realm of air between heaven and earth, was the home of the elves and of Frej.
90. Saga, wife of Oden and goddess of history. She dwelt in Sökvabäck beneath the stream of time and events, taking note of all she saw. Here Oden visited her daily to drink the pure water from golden beakers and listen to her songs about former days.
99. After the death of Balder (see note, canto I: 22) his body was burned on a great funeral pyre.
100. Glitner, "glittering hall," the home of Forsete, the god of justice.
110. Bretland, England.
111. satt sig med skepp, interred with ship and all.
114. draken. The viking ships were so called because in the prow were placed carved images of the dragon's head and the stern was made to resemble the dragon's tail.
164. Ägir, the god of the stormy sea.
171. vingarna. The sails.
172. blev efter. Was left behind in the race.
179. Var han ej konungason. Even though he was not a king's son.
186. blandat blod med varandra. A solemn compact of brotherhood was sealed by the parties to it causing their blood to flow together from self-inflicted wounds while they made the promises that are stated in the text.