17. Then from the throng | did three come forth,
From the home of the gods, | the mighty and gracious;
Two without fate | on the land they found,
Ask and Embla, | empty of might.

18. Soul they had not, | sense they had not,
Heat nor motion, | nor goodly hue;
Soul gave Othin, | sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur | and goodly hue.

19. An ash I know, | Yggdrasil its name,
With water white | is the great tree wet;
Thence come the dews | that fall in the dales,
Green by Urth's well | does it ever grow.

20. Thence come the maidens | mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling | down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named, | Verthandi the next,--
On the wood they scored,-- | and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there, and life allotted
To the sons of men, and set their fates.

[15. Andvari: this dwarf appears prominently in the Reginsmol, which tells how the god Loki treacherously robbed him of his wealth; the curse which he laid on his treasure brought about the deaths of Sigurth, Gunnar, Atli, and many others.

17. Here the poem resumes its course after the interpolated section. Probably, however, something has been lost, for there is no apparent connection between the three giant-maids of stanza 8 and the three gods, Othin, Hönir and Lothur, who in stanza 17 go forth to create man and woman. The word "three" in stanzas 9 and 17 very likely confused some early reciter, or perhaps the compiler himself. Ask and Embla: ash and elm; Snorri gives them simply as the names of the first man and woman, but says that the gods made this pair out of trees.

18. Hönir: little is known of this god, save that he occasion ally appears in the poems in company with Othin and Loki, and {footnote p. 9} that he survives the destruction, assuming in the new age the gift of prophesy (cf. stanza 63). He was given by the gods as a hostage to the Wanes after their war, in exchange for Njorth (cf. stanza 21 and note). Lothur: apparently an older name for Loki, the treacherous but ingenious son of Laufey, whose divinity Snorri regards as somewhat doubtful. He was adopted by Othin, who subsequently had good reason to regret it. Loki probably represents the blending of two originally distinct figures, one of them an old fire-god, hence his gift of heat to the newly created pair.

19. Yggdrasil: cf. stanza 2 and note, and Grimnismol, 29-35 and notes. Urth ("The Past"): one of the three great Norns. The world-ash is kept green by being sprinkled with the marvelous healing water from her well.

20. The maidens: the three Norns; possibly this stanza should follow stanza 8. Dwelling: Regius has "sć" (sea) instead of "sal" (hall, home), and many editors have followed this reading, although Snorri's prose paraphrase indicates "sal." Urth, Verthandi and Skuld: "Past," "Present" and "Future." Wood, etc.: the magic signs (runes) controlling the destinies of men were cut on pieces of wood. Lines 3-4 are probably interpolations from some other account of the Norns.]

17. Unz ţrír kvámu ór ţví liđi
öflgir ok ástkir ćsir at húsi,
fundu á landi lítt megandi
Ask ok Emblu örlöglausa.

18. Önd ţau ne áttu, óđ ţau ne höfđu,
lá né lćti né litu góđa;
önd gaf Óđinn, óđ gaf Hœnir,
lá gaf Lóđurr ok litu góđa.

19. Ask veit ek standa, heitir Yggdrasill
hár bađmr, ausinn hvíta auri;
ţađan koma döggvar ţćrs í dala falla;
stendr ć yfir grœnn Urđar brunni.

20. Ţađan koma meyjar margs vitandi
ţrjár, ór ţeim sal er und ţolli stendr;
Urđ hétu eina, ađra Verđandi,
skáru á skíđi, Skuld ina ţriđju;
ţćr lög lögđu, ţćr líf kuru
alda börnum, örlög seggja.