[8]. Bragi: cf. note on introductory prose. Why Loki taunts him with cowardice (stanzas 11–13–15) is not clear, for poetry, of which Bragi was the patron, was generally associated in the Norse mind with peculiar valor, and most of the skaldic poets were likewise noted fighters.
[9]. There exists no account of any incident in which Othin and Loki thus swore blood-brotherhood, but they were so often allied in enterprises that the idea is wholly reasonable. The common process of “mingling blood” was carried out quite literally, and the promise of which Loki speaks is characteristic of those which, in the sagas, often accompanied the ceremony; cf. Brot af Sigurtharkvithu, 18 and note.
[10]. In stanzas 10–31 the manuscript has nothing to indicate the identity of the several speakers, but these are uniformly clear [[156]]enough through the context. Vithar: cf. note on introductory prose. The wolf’s father: Loki; cf. Voluspo, 39 and note.
[13]. Sijmons makes one line of lines 4–5 by cutting out a part of each; Finnur Jonsson rejects 5 as spurious.
[14]. The text of line 4 is somewhat obscure, and has been [[157]]variously emended, one often adopted suggestion making the line read, “Little is that for thy lies.”
[15]. Adorner of benches: this epithet presumably implies that Bragi is not only slothful, but also effeminate, for a very similar word, “pride of the benches,” means a bride.
[16]. Ithun: Bragi’s wife; cf. note on introductory prose. The goddesses who, finding that their husbands are getting the worst of it, take up the cudgels with Loki, all find themselves confronted with undeniable facts in their own careers; cf. stanzas 26 (Frigg), 52 (Skathi) and 54 (Sif). Gefjun and Freyja are silenced in similar fashion. Wish-son: adopted son; Loki was the son of the giant Farbauti and the giantess Laufey, and hence was not of the race of the gods, but had been virtually adopted by Othin, who subsequently had good reason to regret it. [[158]]
[17]. We do not even know who Ithun’s brother was, much less who slew him.
[19]. Gefjun: a goddess, not elsewhere mentioned in the poems, who, according to Snorri, was served by the women who died maidens. Beyond this nothing is known of her. Lines 3–4 in the manuscript are puzzling, and have been freely emended.
[20]. Nothing is known of the incident here mentioned. There is a good deal of confusion as to various of the gods and goddesses, and it has been suggested that Gefjun is really Frigg under another name, with a little of Freyja—whose attributes were frequently confused with Frigg’s—thrown in. Certainly Othin’s [[159]]answer (stanza 21, lines 3–4) fits Frigg perfectly, for she shared his knowledge of the future, whereas it has no relation to anything known of Gefjun. As for the necklace (line 3), it may be the Brisings’ necklace, which appears in the Thrymskvitha as Freyja’s, but which, in some mythological writings, is assigned to Frigg.