CANTO IV.
Stanza 2. drakarna. See note, canto III: 114.
3. till gäst. See note, canto I: 33.
4. dess sida. Dess, genitive of den and det, is irregularly used here. The regular form would be hennes.
5. De taltes vid. They talked together.
6. namnen, som grodde i björkens bark. See canto I: 27.
9. Observe in last line the change to direct address.
10. väl, doubtless.
11. dagen om, throughout the day.
16. jagar i molnen. Goes ahunting in the clouds, is dreaming.
18. Den strådöd. For the ancient Northmen it was a great disgrace to die a natural death. Death from self-inflicted wounds was more honorable. The use of den without an adjective is archaic.
18. blåvit Hela. Hela (see note, canto I: 23) was hideous in appearance. Half of her body was livid in color and the other half bore the ghastly pallor of death.
23. jarl, chief of a province. English, earl.
26. Nordlandens drotter, the kings of the Northland.
27. Odensblodet. See note, canto I: 35.
28. man. In this connection man means one of the king's retinue. The bönder rarely sought protection from kings and the proposal of Helge was highly insulting to Fritiof, who himself had a retinue.
30. runorna lågade röda därpå. See canto II: 78-81.
31. svartekung, swartbeard. Helge is given this name, partly because of his swarthy features, partly because he practices black arts. See canto II: 5.