NOTES
[[122]]
[Prose]. Harbarth (“Gray-Beard”): Othin. On the nature of the prose notes found in the manuscripts, cf. Grimnismol, introduction. Thor: the journeys of the thunder-god were almost as numerous as those of Othin; cf. Thrymskvitha and Hymiskvitha. Like the Robin Hood of the British ballads, Thor was often temporarily worsted, but always managed to come out ahead in the end. His “Journey in the East” is presumably the famous episode, related in full by Snorri, in the course of which he encountered the giant Skrymir, and in the house of Utgartha-Loki lifted the cat which turned out to be Mithgarthsorm. The Hymiskvitha relates a further incident of this journey. [[123]]
[2]. The superscriptions to the speeches are badly confused in the manuscripts, but editors have agreed fairly well as to where they belong.
[3]. From the fact that in Regius line 3 begins with a capital letter, it is possible that lines 3–4 constitute the ferryman’s reply, with something lost before stanza 4.
[4]. Thy mother: Jorth (Earth).
[5]. Some editors assume a lacuna after this stanza.
[6]. Three good dwellings: this has been generally assumed to mean three separate establishments, but it may refer simply to [[124]]the three parts of a single farm, the dwelling proper, the cattle-barn and the storehouse; i.e., Thor is not even a respectable peasant.
[8]. Hildolf (“slaughtering wolf”): not elsewhere mentioned in the Edda. Rathsey (“Isle of Counsel”): likewise not mentioned elsewhere.
[9]. In danger: Thor is “sekr,” i.e., without the protection of any law, so long as he is in the territory of his enemies, the [[125]]giants. Meili: a practically unknown son of Othin, mentioned here only in the Edda. Magni: son of Thor and the giantess Jarnsaxa; after Thor’s fight with Hrungnir (cf. stanza 14, note) Magni, though but three days old, was the only one of the gods strong enough to lift the dead giant’s foot from Thor’s neck. After rescuing his father, Magni said to him: “There would have been little trouble, father, had I but come sooner; I think I should have sent this giant to hell with my fist if I had met him first.” Magni and his brother, Mothi, inherit Thor’s hammer.
[12]. This stanza is hopelessly confused as to form, but none of the editorial rearrangements have materially altered the meaning. Doomed to die: the word “feigr” occurs constantly in the Old Norse poems and sagas; the idea of an inevitable but unknown fate seems to have been practically universal throughout the pre-Christian period. On the concealment of names from enemies, cf. Fafnismol, prose after stanza 1. [[126]]
[13]. This stanza, like the preceding one, is peculiarly chaotic in the manuscript, and has been variously emended.
[14]. Hrungnir: this giant rashly wagered his head that his horse, Gullfaxi, was swifter than Othin’s Sleipnir. In the race, which Hrungnir lost, he managed to dash uninvited into the home of the gods, where he became very drunk. Thor ejected him, and accepted his challenge to a duel. Hrungnir, terrified, had a helper made for him in the form of a dummy giant nine miles high and three miles broad. Hrungnir himself had a three-horned heart of stone and a head of stone; his shield was of stone and his weapon was a grindstone. But Thjalfi, Thor’s servant, told him the god would attack him out of the ground, wherefore Hrungnir laid down his shield and stood on it. The hammer Mjollnir shattered both the grindstone and Hrungnir’s [[127]]head, but part of the grindstone knocked Thor down, and the giant fell with his foot on Thor’s neck (cf. note on stanza 9). Meanwhile Thjalfi dispatched the dummy giant without trouble.
[16]. Fjolvar: not elsewhere mentioned in the poems; perhaps the father of the “seven sisters” referred to in stanza 18. Algrön “The All-Green”: not mentioned elsewhere in the Edda.
[17]. Thor is always eager for stories of this sort; cf. stanzas 31 and 33.
[18]. Lines 1–2 are obscure, but apparently Harbarth means that the women were wise to give in to him cheerfully, resistance to his power being as impossible as (lines 3–4) making ropes of sand or digging the bottoms out of the valleys. Nothing further is known of these unlucky “seven sisters.” [[128]]
[19]. Thjazi: this giant, by a trick, secured possession of the goddess Ithun and her apples (cf. Skirnismol, 19, note), and carried her off into Jotunheim. Loki, through whose fault she had been betrayed, was sent after her by the gods. He went in Freyja’s “hawk’s-dress” (cf. Thrymskvitha, 3), turned Ithun into a nut, and flew back with her. Thjazi, in the shape of an eagle, gave chase. But the gods kindled a fire which burnt the eagle’s wings, and then they killed him. Snorri’s prose version does not attribute this feat particularly to Thor. Thjazi’s daughter was Skathi, whom the gods permitted to marry Njorth as a recompense for her father’s death. Alvaldi: of him we know only that he was the father of Thjazi, Ithi and Gang, who divided his wealth, each taking a mouthful of gold. The name is variously spelled. It is not known which stars were called “Thjazi’s Eyes.” In the middle of line 4 begins the fragmentary version of the poem found in the Arnamagnæan Codex.
[20]. Riders by night: witches, who were supposed to ride on wolves in the dark. Nothing further is known of this adventure. [[129]]
[22]. The oak, etc.: this proverb is found elsewhere (e.g., Grettissaga) in approximately the same words. Its force is much like our “to the victor belong the spoils.”
[23]. Thor killed no women of the giants’ race on the “journey to the East” so fully described by Snorri, his great giant-killing adventure being the one narrated in the Thrymskvitha.
[24]. Valland: this mythical place (“Land of Slaughter”) is elsewhere mentioned, but not further characterized; cf. prose introduction to Völundarkvitha, and Helreith Brynhildar, 2. On the bringing of slain heroes to Othin, cf. Voluspo, 31 and note, [[130]]and, for a somewhat different version, Grimnismol, 14. Nowhere else is it indicated that Thor has an asylum for dead peasants.
[26]. The reference here is to one of the most familiar episodes in Thor’s eastward journey. He and his companions came to a house in the forest, and went in to spend the night. Being disturbed by an earthquake and a terrific noise, they all crawled into a smaller room opening from the main one. In the morning, however, they discovered that the earthquake had been occasioned by the giant Skrymir’s lying down near them, and the noise by his snoring. The house in which they had taken refuge was his glove, the smaller room being the thumb. Skrymir was in fact Utgartha-Loki himself. That he is in this stanza called Fjalar (the name occurs also in Hovamol, 14) is probably due to a confusion of the names by which Utgartha-Loki went. Loki taunts Thor with this adventure in Lokasenna, 60 and 62, line 3 of this stanza being perhaps interpolated from Lokasenna, 60, 4. [[131]]
[29]. The river: probably Ifing, which flows between the land of the gods and that of the giants; cf. Vafthruthnismol, 16. Sons of Svarang: presumably the giants; Svarang is not elsewhere mentioned in the poems, nor is there any other account of Thor’s defense of the passage.
[30]. Othin’s adventures of this sort were too numerous to make it possible to identify this particular person. By stealth: so the Arnamagnæan Codex; Regius, followed by several editors, has “long meeting with her.” [[132]]
[35]. Heel-biter: this effective parallel to our “back-biter” is not found elsewhere in Old Norse.
[37]. Hlesey: “the Island of the Sea-God” (Hler = Ægir), identified with the Danish island Läsö, in the Kattegat. It appears again, much out of place, in Oddrunargratr, 28. Berserkers: originally men who could turn themselves into bears, hence the name, “bear-shirts”; cf. the werewolf or loupgarou. Later the name was applied to men who at times became seized with a madness for bloodshed; cf. Hyndluljoth, 23 and note. The women here mentioned are obviously of the earlier type. [[133]]
[39]. Thjalfi: Thor’s servant; cf. note on stanza 14.
[40]. To what expedition this refers is unknown, but apparently Othin speaks of himself as allied to the foes of the gods.
[41]. Hatred: so Regius; the other manuscript has, apparently, “sickness.”
[42]. Just what Othin means, or why his words should so have enraged Thor, is not evident, though he may imply that Thor is open to bribery. Perhaps a passage has dropped out before stanza 43. [[134]]
[44]. Othin refers to the dead, from whom he seeks information through his magic power.
[48]. Sif: Thor’s wife, the lover being presumably Loki; cf. Lokasenna, 54. [[135]]
[52]. Asathor: Thor goes by various names in the poems: e.g., Vingthor, Vingnir, Hlorrithi. Asathor means “Thor of the Gods.”
[53]. Magni: Thor’s son; cf. stanza 9 and note. [[136]]
[56]. Line 2: the phrases mean simply “a long way”; cf. “over stock and stone.” Verland: the “Land of Men” to which Thor must come from the land of the giants. The Arnamagnæan Codex has “Valland” (cf. stanza 24 and note), but this is obviously an error. Fjorgyn: a feminine form of the same name, which belongs to Othin (cf. Voluspo, 56 and note); here it evidently means Jorth (Earth), Thor’s mother. The road: the rainbow bridge, Bifrost; cf. Grimnismol, 29 and note.
[58]. Line 2: so Regius; the other manuscript has “ere sunrise.” [[137]]
[60]. The Arnamagnæan Codex clearly indicates Harbarth as the speaker of this line, but Regius has no superscription, and begins the line with a small letter not preceded by a period, thereby assigning it to Thor. [[138]]