(II)

11. "Yet Hrothmar still the hoard doth hold, The wealth that once our kinsmen wielded; Full seldom care the king disturbs, Heir to dead men he deems himself."

Hjorvarth answered that he would give Helgi a following if he fain would avenge his mother's father. Then Helgi got the sword that Svava had told him of. So he went, and Atli with him, and they slew Hrothmar, and they did many great deeds.

(III)

He slew the giant Hati, whom he found sitting on a certain mountain. Helgi and Atli lay with their ships in Hatafjord. Atli kept watch during the first part of the night. Hrimgerth, Hati's daughter, spake:

12. "Who are the heroes | in Hatafjord? The ships are covered with shields; Bravely ye look, | and little ye fear, The name of the king would I know."

Atli spake:

13. "Helgi his name, | and never thou mayst Harm to the hero bring; With iron is fitted | the prince's fleet, Nor can witches work us ill."

Hrimgerth spake:

14. "Who now, thou mighty | man, art thou? By what name art thou known to men? He trusts thee well, | the prince who wills That thou stand at the stem of his ship."

Atli spake:

15. "Atli am I, | and ill shalt thou find me, Great hate for witches I have; Oft have I been | in the dripping bows, And to dusk-riders death have brought.

[Prose. The manuscript does not indicate any break, but the episode which forms the basis of the Hrimgertharmol (stanzas 12-30) clearly begins with the slaying of the giant Hati ("The Hateful" ). Hatafjord: "Hati's Fjord." Hrimgerth: "Frost Shrouded"

13. Iron: the keels of Norse ships were sometimes fitted with iron "shoes" at bow and stern, but it is not certain that this practice much antedated the year 1000, and thus this line has raised some question as to the antiquity of this stanza, if not of the entire Hrimgertharmol, which may have been composed as late as the eleventh century.

15. The manuscript does not indicate the speaker. The pun on "Atli" and "atall" (meaning "ill") is untranslatable.]

 



(II)

11. En Hróðmarr skal hringum ráða,
þeim er áttu órir niðjar;
sá sésk fylkir fæst at lífi,
hyggsk aldauða arfi at ráða."

(III)

Hjörvarðr svarar, at hann mundi fá lið Helga, ef hann vill hefna móðurföður síns. Þá sótti Helgi sverðit, er Sváfa vísaði hánum til. Þá fór hann ok Atli ok felldu Hróðmar ok unnu mörg þrekvirki. Hann drap Hata jötun, er hann sat á bergi nökkuru. Helgi ok Atli lágu skipum í Hatafirði. Atli helt vörð inn fyrra hluta nætrinnar. Hrímgerðr Hatadóttir kvað:

[Hrímgerðarmál]

12. "Hverir ro hölðar í Hatafirði?
Skjöldum er tjaldat á skipum;
fræknliga látið, fátt hygg ek yðr séask,
kennið mér nafn konungs."

Atli kvað:

13. "Helgi hann heitir, en þú hvergi mátt
vinna grand grami;
járnborgir ro of öðlings flota;
knegu-t oss fálur fara."

Hrímgerðr kvað:

14. "Hvé þik heitir, halr inn ámáttki,
hvé þik kalla konir?
Fylkir þér trúir, er þik í fögrum lætr
beits stafni búa."

Atli kvað:

15. "Atli ek heiti, atall skal ek þér vera,
mjök em ek gífrum gramastr;
úrgan stafn ek hefi oft búit
ok kvalðar kveldriður.






 


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