THE VERSE-FORMS OF THE EDDIC POEMS
The many problems connected with the verse-forms found in the Eddic poems have been analyzed in great detail by Sievers, Neckel, and others. The three verse-forms [[xxiv]]exemplified in the poems need only a brief comment here, however, in order to make clear the method used in this translation. All of these forms group the lines normally in four-line stanzas. In the so-called Fornyrthislag (“Old Verse”), for convenience sometimes referred to in the notes as four-four measure, these lines have all the same structure, each line being sharply divided by a cæsural pause into two half-lines, and each half-line having two accented syllables and two (sometimes three) unaccented ones. The two half-lines forming a complete line are bound together by the alliteration, or more properly initial-rhyme, of three (or two) of the accented syllables. The following is an example of the Fornyrthislag stanza, the accented syllables being in italics:
Vreiþr vas Vingþórr, | es vaknaþi
ok síns hamars | of saknaþi;
skegg nam hrista, | skǫr nam dýja,
réþ Jarþar burr | umb at þreifask.
In the second form, the Ljothahattr (“Song Measure”), the first and third line of each stanza are as just described, but the second and fourth are shorter, have no cæsural pause, have three accented syllables, and regularly two initial-rhymed accented syllables, for which reason I have occasionally referred to Ljothahattr as four-three measure. The following is an example:
Ar skal rísa | sás annars vill
fé eþa fjǫr hafa;
liggjandi ulfr | sjaldan láer of getr
né sofandi maþr sigr.
In the third and least commonly used form, the Malahattr (“Speech Measure”), a younger verse-form than [[xxv]]either of the other two, each line of the four-line stanza is divided into two half-lines by a cæsural pause, each half-line having two accented syllables and three (sometimes four) unaccented ones; the initial rhyme is as in the Fornyrthislag. The following is an example:
Horsk vas húsfreyja, | hugþi at mannviti,
lag heyrþi orþa, | hvat á laun máeltu;
þá vas vant vitri, | vildi þeim hjalpa:
skyldu of sáe sigla, | en sjǫlf né kvamskat.
A poem in Fornyrthislag is normally entitled -kvitha (Thrymskvitha, Guthrunarkvitha, etc.), which for convenience I have rendered as “lay,” while a poem in Ljothahattr is entitled -mol (Grimnismol, Skirnismol, etc.), which I have rendered as “ballad.” It is difficult to find any distinction other than metrical between the two terms, although it is clear that one originally existed.
Variations frequently appear in all three kinds of verse, and these I have attempted to indicate through the rhythm of the translation. In order to preserve so far as possible the effect of the Eddic verse, I have adhered, in making the English version, to certain of the fundamental rules governing the Norse line and stanza formations. The number of lines to each stanza conforms to what seems the best guess as to the original, and I have consistently retained the number of accented syllables. In translating from a highly inflected language into one depending largely on the use of subsidiary words, it has, however, been necessary to employ considerable freedom as to the number of unaccented syllables in a line. The initial-rhyme is generally confined to two accented syllables in each line. As in the original, all initial vowels are allowed to rhyme interchangeably, [[xxvi]]but I have disregarded the rule which lets certain groups of consonants rhyme only with themselves (e.g., I have allowed initial s or st to rhyme with sk or sl). In general, I have sought to preserve the effect of the original form whenever possible without an undue sacrifice of accuracy. For purposes of comparison, the translations of the three stanzas just given are here included:
Fornyrthislag:
Wild was Vingthor | when he awoke,
And when his mighty | hammer he missed;
He shook his beard, | his hair was bristling,
To groping set | the son of Jorth.
Ljothahattr:
He must early go forth | who fain the blood
Or the goods of another would get;
The wolf that lies idle | shall win little meat,
Or the sleeping man success.
Malahattr:
Wise was the woman, | she fain would use wisdom,
She saw well what meant | all they said in secret;
From her heart it was hid | how help she might render,
The sea they should sail, | while herself she should go not.