16. "The gold was not | on Grani's way,
Far, methinks, is our realm | from the hills of the Rhine;
I mind me that treasures | more we had
When happy together | at home we were."

17. Without stood the wife | of Nithuth wise,
And in she came | from the end of the hall;
On the floor she stood, | and softly spoke:
"Not kind does he look | who comes from the wood."

King Nithuth gave to his daughter Bothvild the gold ring that he had taken from the bast rope in Völund's house, and he himself wore the sword that Völund had had. The queen spake:

18. "The glow of his eyes | is like gleaming snakes,
His teeth he gnashes | if now is shown
The sword, or Bothvild's | ring he sees;
Let them straightway cut | his sinews of strength,
And set him then | in Sćvarstath."

So was it done: the sinews in his knee-joints were cut, and he was set in an island which
was near the mainland, and was called Sćvarstath. There he smithied for the king all kinds
of precious things. No man dared to go to him, save only the king himself. Völund spake:

19. "At Nithuth's girdle | gleams the sword
That I sharpened keen | with cunningest craft,
(And hardened the steel | with highest skill;)
The bright blade far | forever is borne,
(Nor back shall I see it | borne to my smithy;)
Now Bothvild gets | the golden ring
(That was once my bride's,-- | ne'er well shall it be.)"

20. He sat, nor slept, | and smote with his hammer,
Fast for Nithuth | wonders he fashioned;
Two boys did go | in his door to gaze,
Nithuth's sons, | into Sćvarstath.

[16. The manuscript definitely assigns this stanza to Völund, but many editors give the first two lines to Nithuth. In the manuscript {footnote p. 260} stanza 16 is followed by the two lines of stanza 2, and many editions make of lines 3-4 of stanza 16 and stanza 2 a single speech by Völund. Grani's way: Grani was Sigurth's horse, on which he rode to slay Fafnir and win Andvari's hoard; this and the reference to the Rhine as the home of wealth betray the southern source of the story. If lines 1-2 belong to Völund, they mean that Nithuth got his wealth in the Rhine country, and that Völund's hoard has nothing to do with it; if the speaker is Nithuth, they mean that Völund presumably has not killed a dragon, and that he is far from the wealth of the Rhine, so that he must have stolen his treasure from Nithuth himself.

17. Line 1 is lacking in the manuscript, lines 2-4 following immediately after the two lines here given as stanza 2. Line 1, borrowed from line I of stanza 32, is placed here by many editors, following Bugge's suggestion. Certainly it is Nithuth's wife who utters line 4. Who comes from the wood: Völund, noted as a hunter. Gering assumes that with the entrance of Nithuth's wife the scene has changed from Völund's house to Nithuth's, but I cannot see that this is necessary.

Prose. The annotator inserted this note rather clumsily in the midst of the speech of Nithuth's wife.

18. In the manuscript lines 2-3 stand before line 1; many editors have made the transposition here indicated. Some editors reject line 3 as spurious. Sćvarstath: "Sea-Stead."

19. This stanza is obviously in bad shape. Vigfusson makes two stanzas of it by adding a first line: "Then did Völund speak, | sagest of elves." Editors have rejected various lines, and some have regrouped the last lines with the first two of {footnote p. 262} stanza 20. The elimination of the passages in parenthesis produces a four-line stanza which is metrically correct, but it has little more than guesswork to support it.

20. The editions vary radically in combining the lines of this stanza with those of stanzas 19 and 21, particularly as the manuscript indicates the third line as the beginning of a stanza. The meaning, however, remains unchanged.]

16. [Úti stóđ kunnig kván Níđađar],
hon inn of gekk endlangan sal,
stóđ á golfi, stillti röddu:
"Er-a sá nú hýrr, er ór holti ferr."

Níđuđr konungr gaf dóttur sinni, Böđvildi gullhring ţann, er hann tók af bastinu at Völundar, en hann sjálfr bar sverđit, er Völundr átti. En dróttning kvađ:

17. "Ámun eru augu ormi ţeim inum frána,
tenn hánum teygjask, er hánum er tét sverđ
ok hann Böđvildar baug of ţekkir;
sníđiđ ér hann sina magni
ok setiđ hann síđan í Sćvarstöđ."

Svá var gert, at skornar váru sinar í knésfótum, ok settr í hólm einn, er ţar var fyrir landi, er hét Sćvarstađr. Ţar smíđađi hann konungi alls kyns görsimar. Engi mađr ţorđi at fara til hans nema konungr einn.

18. "Skínn Níđađi sverđ á linda,
ţat er ek hvessta, sem ek hagast kunna
ok ek herđak, sem mér hćgst ţótti;
sá er mér fránn mćkir ć fjarri borinn,
sékk-a ek ţann Völundi til smiđju borinn.

19. Nú berr Böđvildr brúđar minnar
- bíđk-a ek ţess bót, -
bauga rauđa."

20. Sat hann, né hann svaf, ávallt
ok hann sló hamri;
vél gerđi hann heldr hvatt Níđađi.
Drifu ungir tveir á dýr séa
synir Níđađar, í Sćvarstöđ.