1. "Wake thee, Groa! | wake, mother good!
At the doors of the dead I call thee;
Thy son, bethink thee, | thou badst to seek
Thy help at the hill of death."

Groa spake:

2. "What evil vexes | mine only son,
What baleful fate hast thou found,
That thou callest thy mother, | who lies in the mould,
And the world of the living has left?"

Svipdag spake:

3. "The woman false | whom my father embraced
Has brought me a baleful game;
For she bade me go forth | where none may fare,
And Mengloth the maid to seek."

Groa spake:

4. "Long is the way, | long must thou wander,
But long is love as well;
Thou mayst find, perchance, | what thou fain wouldst have,
If the fates their favor will give."

Svipdag spake:

5. "Charms full good | then chant to me, mother,
And seek thy son to guard;
For death do I fear | on the way I shall fare,
And in years am I young, methinks."

[1. Svipdag ("Swift Day"): the names of the speakers are lacking in the manuscripts.

3. The woman: Svipdag's stepmother, who is responsible for his search for Mengloth ("Necklace-Glad"). This name has suggested that Mengloth is really Frigg, possessor of the famous Brisings' necklace, or else Freyja (cf. Lokasenna, 20: note).²

¹ Bellows is using the name Svipdag whereas the Old Norse uses the term 'the son'. As Bellows notes, the manuscripts do not have any indication of who is speaking.

² Bellows has made a huge error in that Frigg is not the possessor of Brisingamen this is Freyja.]

1. "Vaki þú, Gróa, vaki þú, góð kona,
vek ek þik dauðra dura, ef þú þat mant,
at þú þinn mög bæðir til kumbldysjar koma."

Gróa kvað:

2. "Hvat er nú annt mínum eingasyni,
hverju ertu nú bölvi borinn,
er þú þá móður kallar,
er til moldar er komin
ok ór ljóðheimum liðin?"

Sonr kvað:

3. "Ljótu leikborði skaut fyr mik in lævísa kona,
sú er faðmaði minn föður;
þar bað hon mik koma, er kvæmtki veit,
móti Menglöðu."

Gróa kvað:

4. "Löng er för, langir ro farvegar,
langir ro manna munir, ef þat verðr,
at þú þinn vilja bíðr,
ok skeikar þá Skuld at sköpum."

Sonr kvað:

5. "Galdra þú mér gal, þá er góðir eru,
bjarg þú, móðir, megi;
á vegum allr hygg ek, at ek verða muna,
þykkjumk ek til ungr afi."