“Not kind does he look | who comes from the wood.”
King Nithuth gave to his daughter Bothvild the gold ring that he had taken from the bast rope in Völund’s [[261]]house, and he himself wore the sword that Völund had had. The queen spake:
[18]. “The glow of his eyes | is like gleaming snakes,
His teeth he gnashes | if now is shown
The sword, or Bothvild’s | ring he sees;
Let them straightway cut | his sinews of strength,
And set him then | in Sævarstath.”
So was it done: the sinews in his knee-joints were cut, and he was set in an island which was near the mainland, and was called Sævarstath. There he smithied for the king all kinds of precious things. No man dared to go to him, save only the king himself. Völund spake:
[19]. “At Nithuth’s girdle | gleams the sword
That I sharpened keen | with cunningest craft,