And view’d forth crawling from a nook
A strange and dwarfish elf advance!
Though little strength he seem’d to boast,
Yet supple as a bow was he:
A veil enveloping his bust
His features none allow’d to see.
“I see his body swells or shrinks,”
Quoth Tialf, “at pleasure ’fore the wind;
In elasticity, methinks,
He leaves all creatures far behind.