If thou hadst not mocked at my might.”
Then Regin went up to Fafnir and cut out his heart with his sword, that was named Rithil, and then he drank blood from the wounds. Regin said:
[a]31]. “Sit now, Sigurth, | for sleep will I,
Hold Fafnir’s heart to the fire;
For all his heart | shall eaten be,
Since deep of blood I have drunk.”
Sigurth took Fafnir’s heart and cooked it on a spit. When he thought that it was fully cooked, and the blood foamed out of the heart, then he tried it with his finger to see whether it was fully cooked. He burned his finger, and put it in his mouth. But when Fafnir’s heart’s-blood came on his tongue, he understood the speech of birds. He heard nut-hatches chattering in the thickets. A nut-hatch said:
[32]. “There sits Sigurth, | sprinkled with blood,
And Fafnir’s heart | with fire he cooks; [[381]]
Wise were the breaker | of rings, I ween,