NOTES TO THE EIGHTH CANTO.
Specimen of the original.
Gud Thor, den Understaerke,
Var ti̱t i̱ Hu saa gram;
Han lod sig i̱ntet maerke,
Dog tyktes det ham Skam,
At Jetter ham turde giaekke, etc.
By way of variety, I have adopted a trochaic metre for my translation of this Canto.
[39] The serpent Jormundgard, type of humidity and its dangerous effects; it is a happy idea of the poet to imagine all the serpent kind engendered by him.
In every mythology the serpent seems to be the emblem of humidity and its noxious qualities. The fable of Jormundgard has evidently given rise to the supposed existence of the kraken, or monstrous sea-serpent.