[7]. Egil: possibly, though by no means certainly, the father of Thor’s servant, Thjalfi, for, according to Snorri, Thor’s first stop on this journey was at the house of a peasant whose children, Thjalfi and Roskva, he took into his service; cf. stanza 38, note. The Arnamagnæan Codex has “Ægir” instead of “Egil,” but, aside from the fact that Thor had just left Ægir’s house, the sea-god can hardly have been spoken of as a goat-herd.
[8]. The youth: Tyr, whose extraordinary grandmother is Hymir’s mother. We know nothing further of her, or of the other, [[142]]who is Hymir’s wife and Tyr’s mother. It may be guessed, however, that she belonged rather to the race of the gods than to that of the giants.
[11]. Two or three editors give this stanza a superscription (“The concubine spake,” “The daughter spake”). Line 3 is commonly regarded as spurious. The foeman of Hroth: of course this means Thor, but nothing is known of any enemy of his by this name. Several editors have sought to make a single word meaning “the famous enemy” out of the phrase. Concerning Thor as the friend of man, particularly of the peasant class, cf. introduction to Harbarthsljoth. Veur: another name, of uncertain meaning, for Thor. [[143]]
[13]. Eight: the giant’s glance, besides breaking the beam, knocks down all the kettles with such violence that all but the one under which Thor and Tyr are hiding are broken.
[14]. Hymir’s wrath does not permit him to ignore the duties of a host to his guests, always strongly insisted on.
[15]. Thor’s appetite figures elsewhere; cf. Thrymskvitha, 24.
[16]. The comrade of Hrungnir: Hymir, presumably simply because both are giants; cf. Harbarthsljoth, 14 and note. [[144]]
[17]. The manuscripts indicate no lacuna, and many editors unite stanza 17 with lines 1 and 2 of 18. Sijmons and Gering assume a gap after these two lines, but it seems more probable that the missing passage, if any, belonged before them, supplying the connection with the previous stanza.
[18]. The manuscripts have no superscription. Many editors combine lines 3 and 4 with lines 1 and 2 of stanza 19. In Snorri’s extended paraphrase of the story, Hymir declines to go fishing with Thor on the ground that the latter is too small a person to be worth bothering about. “You would freeze,” he says, “if you stayed out in mid-ocean as long as I generally do.” Bait (line 4): the word literally means “chaff,” hence any small bits; Hymir means that Thor should collect dung for bait.
[19]. Many editors combine lines 3 and 4 with stanza 20. Fortress, etc.: the ox’s head; cf. introductory note concerning the diction of this poem. Several editors assume a lacuna after stanza 19, but this seems unnecessary. [[145]]