In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse is called thórs ofrunni or thórs ofrúni, "he who made Thor run," or "he who was Thor's friend," and "midjungr," a word the meaning of which it is of no importance to investigate in connection with the question under consideration. Loke is called Loptr, a surname which is applied to him many times, and málunautr hvats midjungs, "he who had journeyed with the female companion of the powerful Midjung (Thjasse)." The female companion (mála) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase refers to the myth telling how Loke carried Idun away from Thjasse's halls, and flew with her to Asgard.
With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a literal translation of the passage:
(Thjasse flew a long way with Loke, so that the latter came near being torn into pieces), "... thereupon (thá = deinde) became he who caused Thor to run (vard Ihórs ofrunni)—or who became Thor's friend (Ihórs ofrúni)—tired out (ofsprúnginn), (for) Lopt was heavy (thúngr var Loptr). He (Loke) who had made a journey with the powerful Midjung's (Thjasse's) female companion (málunautr hvats midjungs) could (now finally) sue for peace (mátti fridar bidja)."
In the lines—
thá vard thórs ofrunni
thúngr var Loptr, ofsprúnginn—
thúngr var Loptr clearly stands as an intermediate sentence, which, in connection with what has been stated above, namely, that Thjasse had been flying a long way with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse, though exceedingly strong, stronger than Hrungnir (the Grotte-song), still was at the point of succumbing from over-exertion. The skald has thus given the reason why Thjasse, "rejoicing in what he had caught," sank to the earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up than was the case. To understand the connection, the word mátti in the third line is of importance. Hitherto the words málunautr hvats mátti midjungs fridar bidja have been interpreted as if they meant that Loke "was compelled" to ask Thjasse for peace. Mátti has been understood to mean coactus est. Finnur Jonsson (Krit. Stud., p. 48) has pointed out that not a single passage can with certainty or probability be found where the verb mega, mátti, means "to be compelled." Everywhere it can be translated "to be able." Thus the words mátti fridar bidja mean that Loke could, was able to, ask Thjasse for peace. The reason why he was able is stated above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of flying with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight and the disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and objects with which he came in contact, he was not able to treat with his capturer; but when the latter had settled on the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and could beg to be spared. The half strophe thus interpreted gives the most logical connection, and gives three causes and three results: (1) Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue in speaking to Thjasse, since the latter ceased to fly before Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor's ofrunni or ofrúni ended his air-journey, because he, though a very powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself; (3) he felt wearied because Loke, with whom he had been flying, was heavy. But from this it follows with absolute certainty that the skald, with Thor's ofrunni or ofrúni, meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been supposed. The epithet Thor's ofrunni, "he who made Thor run," must accordingly be explained by some mythic event, which shows that Thor at one time had to take flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance has come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an opponent, and it is hardly credible that the mythology should allow its favourite to retreat conquered more than once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword, wielded by Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him to retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor's ofrunni. In Haustlaung it is Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surface in these investigations, namely, that the same thing is told of Volund and of Thjasse.
But by the side of ofrunni we have another reading which must be considered. Codex Wormianus has ofrúni instead of ofrunni, and, as Wisén has pointed out, this runni must, for the sake of the metre, be read rúni. According to this reading Thjasse must at some time have been Thor's ofrúni, that is, Thor's confidential friend. This reading also finds its support in the mythology, as shall be demonstrated further on. I may here be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that of two readings only the one can be the original, while both may be justified by the mythology.
(20) In the mythology are found characters that form a group by themselves, and whose characteristic peculiarity is that they practise skee-running in connection with the use of the bow and arrow. This group consists of the brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction to Volundarkvida it is said of the three brothers that they ran on skees in the Wolfdales and hunted. We have already referred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be used on the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in Gylfaginning (Younger Edda, i. 102): "He is so excellent an archer and skee-runner that no one is his equal;" and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could enchant a bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the skee), so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees accordingly have the same qualities as those of his father Egil, namely, that they can also be used on the sea. Ull's skees seem furthermore to have had another very remarkable character, namely, that when their possessor did not need them for locomotion on land or on sea, they could be transformed into a shield and be used in war. In this way we explain that the skalds could employ skip Ullar, Ullar far, knörr Örva áss, as paraphrases for shields, and that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina, Ullr átti skip that, er Skjöldr hét. So far as his accomplishments are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpart of his father Egil, and the same may be said of Skade. While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skade is called "the goddess of the skees," "the dis of the skees," and "the dis of the sea-bone," sævar beins dis, a paraphrase which manifestly has the same origin as Saxo's account of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thjasse's daughter has an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund's kinsmen.
The names also connect those whom we find to be kinsmen of Volund with Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's father; Ivalde is Volund's. Ívaldi is another form for Idvaldi. The long prefixed Í in Ívaldi is explained by the disappearance of d from Idvaldi. Id reappears in the name of Ivalde's daughter Idunn and Thjasse's brother Idi, and these are the only mythological names in which Id appears. Furthermore, it has already been pointed out, that of Alvalde's (Ölvaldi's) three sons there is one who has the epithet Wildboar (Aurnir, Urnir); and that among Ivalde's three sons there is one—namely, Orvandel-Egil—who has the same epithet (Ibor, Ebur, Ebbo); and that among Alvalde's sons one—namely, Thjasse—has the epithet Fjallgyldir, "mountain-wolf" (Haustlaung); while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one—namely, Volund—who has the epithet Ásólfr, which also means "mountain-wolf."