41. "Of plants I dreamed, | in the garden drooping,
That fain would I have | full high to grow;
Plucked by the roots, | and red with blood,
They brought them hither, | and bade me eat.

42. "I dreamed my hawks | from my hand had flown,
Eager for food, | to an evil house;
I dreamed their hearts | with honey I ate,
Soaked in blood, | and heavy my sorrow.

43. "Hounds I dreamed | from my hand I loosed,
Loud in hunger | and pain they howled;
Their flesh methought | was eagles' food,
And their bodies now | I needs must eat."

Guthrun spake:

44. "Men shall soon | of sacrifice speak,
And off the heads | of beasts shall hew
Die they shall | ere day has dawned,
A few nights hence, | and the folk shall have them."

Atli spake:

45. "On my bed I sank, | nor slumber sought,
Weary with woe,-- | full well I remember.
. . . . . . . . . .

[41. In stanzas 41-43 Atli's dreams forecast the death of his two sons, whose flesh Guthrun gives him to eat (cf. Atlakvitha, 39, and Atlamol, 78).

44. This stanza is evidently Guthrun's intentionally cryptic interpretation of Atli's dreams, but the meaning of the original is more than doubtful. The word here rendered "sacrifice" may mean "sea-catch," and the one rendered "beasts" may mean "whales." None of the attempted emendations have rendered the stanza really intelligible, but it appears to mean that Atli will soon make a sacrifice of beasts at night, and give their bodies to the people. Guthrun of course has in mind the slaying of his two sons.

45. With these two lines the poem abruptly ends; some editors assign the speech to Atli (I think rightly), others to Guthrun. Ettmüller combines the lines with stanza 38. Whether stanzas 38-45 originally belonged to Guthrun's lament, or were interpolated here in place of the lost conclusion of that poem from another one dealing with Atli's dreams (cf. note on stanza 37), it is clear that the end has been lost.]

41. "Hugða ek hér í túni teina fallna,
þá er ek vildak vaxna láta,
rifnir með rótum, roðnir í blóði,
bornir á bekki, beðit mik at tyggva.

42. Hugða ek mér af hendi hauka fljúga
bráðalausa bölranna til;
hjörtu hugða ek þeira við hunang tuggin,
sorgmóðs sefa, sollin blóði.

43. Hugða ek mér af hendi hvelpa losna,
glaums andvana, gylli báðir;
hold hugða ek þeira at hræum orðit,
nauðigr nái nýta ek skyldak."

Guðrún kvað:

44. "Þar munu seggir of sæing dæma
ok hvítinga höfði næma;
þeir munu feigir fára nátta
fyrir dag litlu, drótt of bergja."

Atli kvað:

45. "Lægja ek síðan, né ek sofa vildak,
þrágjarn í kör; þat man ek görva."