111. It is time to chant | from the chanter's stool;
By the wells of Urth I was,
I saw and was silent, | I saw and thought,
And heard the speech of Hor.
(Of runes heard I words, | nor were counsels wanting,
At the hall of Hor,
In the hall of Hor;
Such was the speech I heard.)
112. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,---
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Rise not at night, | save if news thou seekest,
Or fain to the outhouse wouldst fare.
113. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Beware of sleep | on a witch's bosom,
Nor let her limbs ensnare thee.
114. Such is her might | that thou hast no mind
For the council or meeting of men;
Meat thou hatest, | joy thou hast not,
And sadly to slumber thou farest.
115. I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Seek never to win | the wife of another,
Or long for her secret love.
[111. With this stanza begins the Loddfafnismol (stanzas 111-138). Loddfafnir is apparently a wandering singer,
who, from his "chanter's stool," recites the verses which he claims to have received from Othin. Wells of Urth:
cf. Voluspo, 19 and note. Urth ("the Past") is one of the three Norns. This stanza is apparently in corrupt form,
and editors have tried many experiments with it, both in rejecting lines as spurious and in rear ranging the words
and punctuation. It looks rather as though the first four lines formed a complete stanza, and the last four had
crept in later. The phrase translated "the speech of Hor" is "Hova mol," later used as the title for the entire poem.
112. Lines 1-3 are the formula, repeated (abbreviated in the manuscript) in most of the stanzas, with which Othin
prefaces his counsels to Loddfafnir, and throughout this section, except in stanzas 111 and 138, Loddfafnir represents
himself as simply quoting Othin's words. The material is closely analogous to that contained in the first eighty stanzas
of the poem. In some cases (e. g., stanzas 117, 119, 121, 126 and 130) the formula precedes a full four-line stanza
instead of two (or three) lines.]
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111. Mál er at þylja þular stóli á
Urðarbrunni at, sá ek ok þagðak,
sá ek ok hugðak,
hlýdda ek á manna mál;
of rúnar heyrða ek dæma,
né of ráðum þögðu
Háva höllu at, Háva höllu í,
heyrða ek segja svá:
112. Ráðumk þér, Loddfáfnir, en þú ráð nemir, -
njóta mundu, ef þú nemr,
þér munu góð, ef þú getr -:
nótt þú rís-at nema á njósn séir
eða þú leitir þér innan út staðar.
113. Ráðumk þér, Loddfáfnir, en þú ráð nemir, -
njóta mundu, ef þú nemr,
þér munu góð, ef þú getr -:
fjölkunnigri konu skal-at-tu í faðmi sofa,
svá at hon lyki þik liðum.
114. Hon svá gerir, at þú gáir eigi
þings né þjóðans máls;
mat þú vill-at né mannskis gaman,
ferr þú sorgafullr at sofa.
115. Ráðumk þér, Loddfáfnir,
en þú ráð nemir, -
njóta mundu, ef þú nemr, þér munu góð,
ef þú getr -:
annars konu teygðu þér aldregi eyrarúnu at.
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