Skirnir's Ride

1 SKADI: Arise, Skirnir, ride now Swiftly to Frey, my son, And ask him this: with whom is the wise one So angry, so sad at heart?

2 SKIRNIR: A grim answer I shall get, Skadi, I fear, from Frey, your son, If I ask him this: at whom is the wise one So angry, so sad at heart?

3 Tell me, Frey, first of the gods, That which I long to learn: Why do you sit and sulk in your hall Alone, my lord, all day?

4 FREY: Why should I tell you what is the cause Of the great grief that casts Gloom on my mind, though the Glory of Elves Lights up the daytime hours.

5 SKIRNIR: No grief, Prince, is so great that you May not tell it to me: In the days of our youth we were young together, Each can trust the other.

6 FREY: I saw a girl in Gymir's courts, A girl for whose love I long: Air and water took on a radiance From the light of her lovely arms.

7 As dear to no man in days past Was maid as she is to me: But no elf, no god, will grant my prayer That I may lie with her.

8 SKIRNIR: Give me a mare that will gallop through The wall of flickering flame, And the sword that slays by itself when battle Is joined with the race of giants.

9 FREY: I will give you a mare that will gallop through The wall of flickering flame, And the sword that slays by itself if brave The warrior be who wields it.

10 SKIRNIR: Night has fallen: now we must ride Over the misty mountains, The fells of the troll-folk; We shall both arrive or both fall into The hands of the horrible giant.

11 Hail, herdsman, howe-watcher, Looking this way and that! By what means can I speak, despite his hounds, With Gymir's daughter, Gerd.

12 HERDSMAN: Are you doomed to death, or dead already? Barred shall you ever be from speech With Gymir's daughter, Gerd.

13 SKIRNIR: To stake life on the luck of the dice Is better than to be a coward: The day of my death is By Fate my time is fixed.

14 GERD: What is the noise which now I hear, That din throughout our halls? Earth trembles, everything shakes In the wide garths of Gymir.

15 HERDSMAN: A man on a mare: he dismounts and leads her Unbridled to graze the grass.

16 GERD: Go, let him in; bid him enter our hall And drink a draught of mead, Though my heart forebodes that my brother's killer Darkens the door with his shadow.

17 Are you one of the elves, are you one of the gods, Or one of the wise Vanes? Why have you ridden through wildfire Hither to visit our halls?

18 SKIRNIR: I am not an elf, I am not a god, Nor one of the wise Vanes, Though well I have ridden through wildfire Hither to visit your halls. Eleven apples, all of gold, Lo, I will give them you, Gerd, To look on Frey with friendly eyes, Call him your dearest dear.

19 GERD: No, your apples I will never take At any wooer's wish, Nor look on Frey with friendly eyes, Nor call him my dearest dear.

20 SKIRNIR: This bracelet I'll give you, that was burned on the pyre Of Baldur, Odin's boy: It drops eight of equal thickness Every ninth night.

21 GERD: I refuse the bracelet, though burned on the pyre Of Baldur, Odin's boy: I need no gold in Gymir's court; His wealth is at my command.

22 SKIRNIR: Do you see this sword, slender, inwrought, This sword I hold in my hand? I will hack your head from your haughty neck Unless you pledge your love.

23 GERD: No threat of force shall frighten me To yield to a wooer's wish: If Gymir, my father, finds you here, Short shrift you will get.

24 SKIRNIR: Do you see this sword, slender, inwrought, This sword I hold in my hand? Beneath its edge will the old one kneel, It dooms your father to die.

25 With a taming wand I shall teach you swiftly, Make you, maiden, obey.

26 You shall be sent where no son of man Or god shall see you again, With earth behind you, on an eagle's mound, Facing Hel, for ever sit. Fouler to you shall food look Than the snake seems to warriors. A sight you shall become ere you come out.

Hrimnir shall leer at you, everyone jeer at you, A more famous figure you'll be Than the god's watchman when you gape through the fence.

May error and terror, blotches and blains, Grow on you, grief with tears. Crouch low while the curse I pronounce, Heavy torment and twofold grief. Orcs shall pinch you the whole day long In the grim garths of the giants, Every day to the halls of Frost You shall creep, crawl without choice, Without any hope of choice

Lamentation not laughter know, Dejection instead of joy. With three-headed trolls shall your time be spent, Never shall a man come near you, May your senses be numbed, your sadness weep, May you be as the thistle, thoughtlessly crushed Underfoot at the gate of the garth.

To the woods I went, through the wet trees, For a spell-binding branch, And a fitting branch I found. Odin is angry, angry is Thor, All the gods shall hate you Base maiden, you have brought on yourself The anger of all the gods.

Hear me, giants, hear me frost-trolls, Sons of Suttung, hear me, What I forebode, what I forbid, Joy of man to this maid, Love of man to this maid.

Hrimgrimir shall have you, the hideous troll, Beside the doors of the dead, Under the tree-roots ugly scullions Pour you the urine of goats; Nothing else shall you ever drink, Never what you wish, Ever what I wish. I score troll-runes, then I score three letters, Filth, frenzy, lust: I can score them off as I score them on, If I find sufficient cause.

27 GERD: You h'ave conquered, warrior. This cup I pledgeyou, Full of foaming mead, Little did I dream my love would ever Be vowed to a son of the Vanes.

28 SKIRNIR: More must I know for the message I bear When I ride from Gymir's garth. Where will you meet, when will you give Yourself to the Son of Njörd?

29 GERD: In the woods of Barn which we both know, A peaceful, secluded place, After nine nights to Njörd's Son Gerd will give herself.

30 FREY: Answer me, Skirnir, ere you dismount Or step a foot further: Is it joyful news from Gianthome You bring with you or bad?

31 SKIRNIR: In the woods of Barri which we both know, A peaceful, secluded place, After nine nights to Njbrd's Son Gerd will give herself.

32 FREY: Long is one night, longer are two, Endless the thought of three. Many a month has moved more swiftly Than this half of a bridal eve.