51. O'er the sea from the east | there sails a ship
With the people of Muspell, | at the helm stands Loki;
After the wolf | do wild men follow,
And with them the brother | of Byleist goes.

52. Surt fares from the south | with the scourge of branches,
The sun of the battle-gods | shone from his sword;
The crags are sundered, | the giant-women sink,
The dead throng Hel-way, | and heaven is cloven.

53. Now comes to Hlin | yet another hurt,
When Othin fares | to fight with the wolf,
And Beli's fair slayer | seeks out Surt,
For there must fall | the joy of Frigg.

54. Then comes Sigfather's | mighty son,
Vithar, to fight | with the foaming wolf;
In the giant's son | does he thrust his sword
Full to the heart: | his father is avenged.

55. Hither there comes | the son of Hlothyn,
The bright snake gapes | to heaven above;
. . . . . . . . . .
Against the serpent | goes Othin's son.

[51. ** Bellows's originally had "from the north" it has been changed to "from the east". The second change is "With the people of Hel" it has been edited to "People of Muspell" as it is supposed to be and not freely changed as Bellows tried to grasp geography what follows is Bellows' notes:**
North: a guess; the manuscripts have "east," but there seems to be a confusion with stanza 50, line 1. People of Hel: the manuscripts have "people of Muspell," but these came over the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow), which broke beneath them, whereas the people of Hel came in a ship steered by Loki. The wolf: Fenrir. The brother of Byleist: Loki. Of Byleist (or Byleipt) no more is known.

52. Surt: the ruler of the fire-world. The scourge of branches: fire. This is one of the relatively rare instances in the Eddic poems of the type of poetic diction which characterizes the skaldic verse.

53. Hlin: apparently another name for Frigg, Othin's wife. After losing her son Baldr, she is fated now to see Othin slain by the wolf Fenrir. Beli's slayer: the god Freyr, who killed the giant Beli with his fist; cf. Skirnismol, 16 and note. On Freyr, who belonged to the race of the Wanes, and was the brother of Freyja, see especially Skirnismol, passim. The Joy of Frigg: Othin.

54. As quoted by Snorri the first line of this stanza runs: "Fares Othin's son | to fight with the wolf." Sigfather ("Father of Victory"): Othin. His son, Vithar, is the silent god, famed chiefly for his great shield, and his strength, which is little less than Thor's. He survives the destruction. The giant's son: Fenrir.

55. This and the following stanza are clearly in bad shape. In Regius only lines I and 4 are found, combined with stanza 56 as a single stanza. Line I does not appear in the Hauksbok version, the stanza there beginning with line 2. Snorri, in quoting these two stanzas, omits 55, 2-4, and 56, 3, making a single stanza out of 55, I, and 56, 4, 2, I, in that order. Moreover, the Hauksbok manuscript at this point is practically illegible. The lacuna (line 3) is, of course, purely conjectural, and all sorts of arrangements of the lines have been attempted by editors, Hlothyn: another name for Jorth ("Earth"), Thor's mother; his father was Othin. The snake: Mithgarthsorm; cf. stanza 5c and note. Othin's son: Thor. The fourth line in Regius reads "against the wolf," but if this line refers to Thor at all, and not to Vithar, the Hauksbok reading, "serpent," is correct.]

 




51. Kjóll ferr austan, koma munu Múspells
of lög lýðir, en Loki stýrir;
fara fíflmegir með freka allir,
þeim er bróðir Býleists í för.

52. Surtr ferr sunnan með sviga lævi,
skínn af sverði sól valtíva;
grjótbjörg gnata, en gífr rata,
troða halir helveg, en himinn klofnar.

53. Þá kemr Hlínar harmr annarr fram,
er Óðinn ferr við ulf vega,
en bani Belja bjartr at Surti;
þá mun Friggjar falla angan.

54. Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna, en freki renna;
fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
um ragna rök römm sigtíva

55. Þá kemr inn mikli mögr Sigföður,
Víðarr, vega at valdýri.
Lætr hann megi Hveðrungs mundum standa
hjör til hjarta, þá er hefnt föður.






















 


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