Then Loki went into the hall, but when they who were there saw who had entered, they were all silent.
Loki spake:
6. "Thirsty I come | into this thine hall,
I, Lopt, from a journey long,
To ask of the gods | that one should give
Fair mead for a drink to me.
7. "Why sit ye silent, | swollen with pride,
Ye gods, and no answer give?
At your feast a place | and a seat prepare me,
Or bid me forth to fare."
Bragi spake:
8. "A place and a seat | will the gods prepare
No more in their midst for thee;
For the gods know well | what men they wish
To find at their mighty feasts."
Loki spake:
9. "Remember, Othin, | in olden days
That we both our blood have mixed;
Then didst thou promise | no ale to pour,
Unless it were brought for us both."
Othin spake:
10. "Stand forth then, Vithar, | and let the wolf's father
Find a seat at our feast;
Lest evil should Loki | speak aloud
Here within Ægir's hall."
[6. Lopt: like Lothur (cf. Voluspo, 18) another name for Loki; cf. Hyndluljoth, 43, and Svipdagsmol, 42.
7. in the manuscript this stanza begins with a small letter, and Heinzel unites it with stanza 6.
9. Bragi: cf. note on introductory prose. Why Loki taunts him with cowardice (stanzas 11-13-15) is not clear, for poetry, of which Bragi was the patron,
was generally associated in the Norse mind with peculiar valor, and most of the skaldic poets were likewise noted fighters.
9. There exists no account of any incident in which Othin and Loki thus swore blood-brotherhood, but they were so often allied in enterprises that
the idea is wholly reasonable. The common process of "mingling blood" was carried out quite literally, and the promise of -which Loki speaks is
characteristic of those which, in the sagas, often accompanied the ceremony; cf. Brot af Sigurtharkvithu, 18 and note.
10. In stanzas 10-31 the manuscript has nothing to indicate the identity of the several speakers, but these are uniformly clear enough
through the context. Vithar: cf. note on introductory prose. The wolf's father: Loki; cf. Voluspo, 39 and note.]
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Síðan gekk Loki inn í höllina. En er þeir sá, er fyrir váru, hverr inn var kominn, þögnuðu þeir allir.
Loki kvað:
6. "Þyrstr ek kom þessar hallar til,
Loftr, um langan veg ásu at biðja,
at mér einn gefi mæran drykk mjaðar.
7. Hví þegið ér svá, þrungin goð,
at þér mæla né meguð?
Sessa ok staði velið mér sumbli at
eða heitið mik heðan."
Bragi kvað:
8. "Sessa ok staði velja þér sumbli at
æsir aldregi, því at æsir vitu,
hveim þeir alda skulu gambansumbl of geta."
Loki kvað:
9. "Mantu þat, Óðinn, er vit í árdaga
blendum blóði saman?
Ölvi bergja lézktu eigi mundu,
nema okkr væri báðum borit."
Óðinn kvað:
10. "Rístu þá, Viðarr, ok lát ulfs föður
sitja sumbli at, síðr oss Loki
kveði lastastöfum Ægis höllu í."
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