[17]. Two lines may have been lost after line 2, but the Volsungasaga paraphrase gives no clue. Ice-bear: polar bears, common in Greenland, are very rarely found in Iceland, and never in Norway, a fact which substantiates the manuscript’s reference to Greenland as the home of the poem.
[18]. The manuscript indicates no gap, but most editors assume the loss of a line after line 1 or 2; Grundtvig adds, after line 1: “Black were his feathers, | with blood was he covered.” Atli’s spirit: the poet’s folk-lore seems here a bit weak. Presumably he means such a female following-spirit (“fylgja”) as appears in Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar, prose following stanza 34 (cf. note thereon), but the word he uses, “hamr” (masculine) means “skin,” “shape.” He may, however, imply that Atli had assumed the shape of an eagle for this occasion.
[19]. The manuscript indicates line 4 as beginning a new stanza. [[507]]
[20]. The manuscript indicates no gap, but none of the many attempted emendations have made sense out of the words as they stand. The proper location for the missing words is sheer guesswork. Two roads: probably the meaning is that their way (i.e., their success) would be doubtful.
[21]. The manuscript does not indicate the speakers in this dialogue (stanzas 21–26). No gap is indicated after line 2. Most editors assume the loss of two lines or of a full stanza after [[508]]stanza 21 giving Gunnar’s interpretation of Glaumvor’s dream, but the Volsungasaga gives no clue, as it does not mention this first dream at all. Grundtvig suggests as Gunnar’s answer: “Banners are gleaming, | since of gallows didst dream, / And wealth it must mean | that thou serpents didst watch.” Gods’ doom: an odd, and apparently mistaken, use of the phrase “ragna rök” (cf. Voluspo, introductory note).
[23]. Perhaps two lines have been lost after line 2. Possibly the concluding phrase of line 2 should be “bloody spears,” as in the Volsungasaga paraphrase.
[24]. Again Gunnar’s interpretation is missing, and most editors either assume a gap or construct two Malahattr lines out of the Volsungasaga prose paraphrase, which runs: “The grain shall [[509]]flow, since thou hast dreamed of rivers, and when we go to the fields, often the chaff rises above our feet.”
[25]. The meaning of line 4 is uncertain, but apparently it refers to the guardian spirits or lesser Norns (cf. Fafnismol, 12–13 and notes).
[26]. Possibly a line has been lost from this stanza.
[27]. Five: Gunnar, Hogni, and the three mentioned in stanza 28.