Rígsþula
The Lay of Rig
Old Norse Poetry
English translation (1928) by Lee M Hollander.
Transcription by Eiður Eyþórsson.
I
About this translation
This translation of Rígsþula by Lee M Hollander is taken from his 1928 1st edition of The Poetic Edda. In that work, the poem appears in English translation alongside Hollander’s notes and commentary.
The wording of the poem and its accompanying commentary has been preserved without alteration. Minor adjustments have been made to the layout for readability: line breaks within stanzas have been expanded where necessary, and notes that originally appeared at the bottom of each page have been repositioned to appear directly beneath the relevant stanza.
At the end of this page, you will find Hollander’s original introductory to Rígsþula.
Here Begins Rígsþula
It is told by men in olden tales that one of the gods whose name was Heimdall, fared forth along the seashore until he came to a farm. There he called himself Ríg.¹ Of this the following song dealeth:
¹In no other source does Heimdall bear this name, which is probably Celtic, meaning ‘king’. The fact that in Vsp. 1 ‘all hallowed beings’ (men?) are mentioned as his children, ‘high and low’, has led to the conjecture that the author took these lines as his ‘text’.
1
In old times, say they, on earth-paths green
there wended his way a wise god ancient,
rugged and mighty,— Ríg was he hight.
2
Walked unwearied in middle ways;²
to a dwelling he came, was the door let down.³
In gan he go, on the ground was a fire,⁴
at the hearth, hoary, sate husband and wife—
Ái and Edda,⁵ in old head-gear.
²Generally understood as ‘in the middle of the way’. It may mean, here, ‘on earth’.
³Uncertain. Cf. 26, note.
⁴In Old Germanic times the hearth-fire was built on the ground, the smoke escaping through the louver.
⁵Still used in Modern Icelandic for ‘grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’.
3
Well knew Ríg wisely to counsel;
on middle seat he sate him down,
betwixt the twain of the toft benched him.
4
Then took Edda a thick loaf heavy
of bread hard-baked and full of bran;
a bowl then bore on the board Edda,
filled with the broth of boiled meat.
5
Well knew Ríg wisely to counsel;
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
on middle bedstead his berth he made,
betwixt the twain of the toft laid him.⁶
⁶In the oldest times it was not uncommon in the North, as is still the case among primitive races, for the host to offer his wife or daughter to the honored guest.
6
And there stayed he three nights⁷ together;
then walked unwearied in middle ways.
Moons full nine went meanwhile by.
⁷Guests generally remained three days.
7
Gave Edda birth to a boy-child then,
in clouts she swathed the swarthy-skinned one.
Thrall they called him, and cast on him waters⁸
(dark was his hair and dull his eyes).⁹
⁸This is the old Germanic baptismal ceremony of ‘name-fastening’ which had grown up (probably) independently of the Christian rite. Cf. Hǫ́v. 159.
⁹Supplied after Sijmons’ suggestion, to correspond with the description in stanzas 21 and 34. The stanza is more defective than shown in the translation.
8
On his hand the skin was scraggy and wrinkled,
(nasty his nails),¹⁰ his knuckles gnarled,
his fingers thick, his face ugly,
his back (hulky), his heels were long.
¹⁰Supplied after Grundtvig’s suggestion. Sallow complexion, dull eyes, and an unlovely appearance in general, are the standing characteristics of the slave in Old Norse tradition.
9
He gan to grow and gain in strength,
and eke did take to try his might:
bast-ropes to bind, burdens to pack,
to bear faggots home the whole day long.
10
Came to his cot a crook-legged wench—
full sore her soles, and sun-burned her arms,
her nose bent downward; her name was Thír.¹¹
¹¹‘Drudge’.
11
On middle seat she sate her down,
by her side did sit the son of the house;
whispered and laughed and lay together
Thrall and Thír whole days through.
12
In their hut, happy, they had a brood:
I ween they were hight¹² Haygiver, Howler,
Bastard, Sluggard, Bent-back and Paunch,
Stumpy, Stinker, Stableman, Swarthy,
Longshanks and Lout: they laid fences,
put dung on fields, fattened the swine,
herded the goats, and grubbed up peat.¹³
¹²Some of the names in this list, as well as in those following, are doubtful. The translator has not followed the order of the original.
¹³In the Orkneyinga-saga chap. 7 we are told that it was Earl Einar, the Norwegian ruler of the Orkneys in the Ninth Century, who first taught the islanders how to use peat. But the digging of peat was probably very old in the treeless portions of the North. Already Pliny (Hist. nat. XVI, 1) describes the method of curing it as practiced on the shores of the North Sea.
13
Their daughters were: Drudge and Daggle-Tail,
Slattern, Serving-Maid, and Cinder-Wench,
Stout-Leg, Shorty, Stumpy and Dumpy,
Spindleshanks eke, and Sputterer:
thence are sprung the breed of thralls.
14
At his staff Ríg strode, and straight forth fared;
to a dwelling he came, were the doors let down.¹⁴
In gan he go, on the ground was a fire,
Afi and Amma¹⁵ owned that house.
¹⁴Doubtfully, as above.
¹⁵‘Grandfather’ and ‘Grandmother’.
15
Sate husband and wife, with their work busy:
a warp-beam he out of wood was shaping—
his beard was brushed, and banged his hair—
sate in kirtle tight; was a trunk on the floor.
16
The good-wife sate and swayed her distaff,
spread out her arms, for spinning made ready,
with a snood¹⁶ on her head and a smock on her breast,
a neckerchief, and clasps on her shoulder.
¹⁶In the original, rather ‘hood’.
17
Well knew Ríg wisely to counsel,
(on middle seat he sate him down,
betwixt the twain of the toft benched him).¹⁷
18
(Then took Amma — — —
— — — — — —)¹⁷
(a full trencher on the table she put
with boiled calf-meat, the best she had.)¹⁷
19
(Well knew Ríg wisely to counsel),¹⁷
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
on middle bedstead his berth he made,
betwixt the twain of the toft laid him.
20
And there stayed he three nights together
(then walked unwearied in middle ways).¹⁷
Moons full nine went meanwhile by.
¹⁷The bracketed portions are supplied, after Bugge’s very plausible suggestion, from the corresponding passages.
21
Gave Amma birth to a boy-child then.
Karl¹⁸ they called him, clothed him in linen;
ruddy his hue, and rapid his eyes.
¹⁸‘Carle’ (free) man of the common people.
22
Then gan he grow and gain in strength,
tamed the oxen and tempered ploughshares,
timbered houses, and barns for the hay,
fashioned carts, and followed the plough.
23
A bride they brought him with bunch of keys dangling,
in goat-skin kirtle, gave her to Karl.
Snœr¹⁹ was she hight and sate under veil,²⁰
[a house they reared them and rings bestowed,]²¹
their linen they spread, and the larder stocked.
¹⁹‘Daughter-in-Law’.
²⁰Cf. the description of Thór as bride, Þrym. 18, 19.
²¹Probably interpolated: the dealing out of rings is typical of the noble, rather (cf. H.H. I, 18 note); the exchange of rings in the Christian marriage ceremony (which has been suggested) seems utterly foreign to the passage.
24
In their homestead, happy, they had a brood,
hight Man and Yeoman, Master, Goodman,
Husbandman, Farmer, Franklin, Crofter,
Bound-Beard, Steep-Beard,²² Broad,²³ Swain, and Smith.
²²Possibly referring to unknown fashions of wearing the beard.
²³Nickname of the burly, proud farmer.
25
By other names were known their daughters:
Woman, Gentlewoman, Wife, Bride, Lady,
Haughty, Maiden, Hussif and Dame:
thence are come the kin of carles.
26
At his staff Ríg strode steadfastly on;
a hall he saw then, was southward the door,
raised on high,²⁴ with a ring in the door-post.
He strode in straightway on the straw of the floor.
²⁴South is the direction of good omen. The Old Icelandic door raised up-and-down, in hinges. It is raised, in the house of the noble, to indicate his hospitality.
27
Sate there the good-folk, gazed at each other,
Father and Mother, with their fingers playing;²⁵
on the bench sate he, a bow-string twining,
bent the elm-wood,²⁶ and arrows shafted.
²⁵Probably as an outward sign of leisure.
²⁶I.e. the bow made of elmwood.
28
Sate the lady, looked at her arms,
stroked the linen, stiffened the sleeves,
with a brooch on her breast, and a bonnet on her head,²⁷
a long train of silk, and sark all blue.
Was her brow brighter, her breast lighter,
her neck whiter,²⁸ than whitest snow.
²⁷Uncertain.
²⁸The rime is not in the original.
29
Well knew Ríg wisely to counsel,
on middle seat he sate him down,
betwixt the twain of the toft he benched him.
30
Of bleached flax then a broidered cloth
did Mother take, and the table covered;
a light-baked loaf she laid on the table,
of wheaten meal, white and thin.
31
A full trencher on the table she put,
wound with silver,²⁹ and set forth then
flitches of bacon, and steaked fowl;
there was wine in a crock, were the cups gold-wound;
they drank and chatted till the day was ended.
²⁹Probably, silver-inlaid.
32
Well could Ríg wisely counsel;
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
(on middle bedstead his berth he made,
betwixt the twain of the toft he laid him.)³⁰
³⁰Supplied from the corresponding passages.
33
And there stayed he three nights together;
then walked unwearied in middle ways.
Full nine months went meanwhile by.
34
A son bore Mother, in silk they swathed him,
sprinkled water on him and called him Earl.
Was his hair flaxen, and fair-hued his cheek,
his eyes awfully like an adder’s, blazed.³¹
³¹Flashing eyes were regarded as a sure token of noble birth. Cf. Tacitus’ acies oculorum of the Teutons.
35
Up grew Earl within the hall,
gan bucklers wield and the bowstring fasten,
gan the elmwood bend and arrows shaft;
gan hurl the spear and speed the lance,
gan hunt with hounds, and horses ride,
gan swing swords eke, and swim in the sea.
36
Out of rough woodland came Ríg striding,
came Ríg striding, and taught him runes;
his own name gave him as heir and son,
bade him make his own the udal lands,
the udal lands and olden manors.
37
The dauntless rode through darkling woods,
over frosty fells, to a far-away hall.
38
Shields he shattered and shafts he hurled,
swung his sword and swiftly rode;
he wakened war and warriors slew,
with wound-red weapons he won him land.
39
He made him master of manors eighteen,
gan share his wealth and shower it on all:
silver and gold and slender steeds;
squandered rings and scattered gold.
40
His heralds drove on dew-wet paths,
and came to the hall where Hersir³² dwelled;
a daughter had he, dainty-fingered,
fair-haired and wise, was she hight Erna.³³
³²‘Lord’, chieftain of a district.
³³‘The Efficient’ (?).
41
For her hand they asked, and home drove her,
gave her to Earl, gowned in linen;
they lived together and loved each other,
had many children, and cheerfully lived.
42
Boy was the oldest, Bairn the second,
then Issue and Child, Youth, Heir, and Squire,
Offspring and Lad— they sports did learn—
Son and Scion— learned swimming and ‘tables’;³⁴
Kund one was called, was Kon³⁵ the youngest.
³⁴This was a board-game, a kind of chess. Cf. the German (Schach-) zabeln. It was a royal accomplishment, like those mentioned above.
³⁵The last two names are etymologically akin and signify ‘noble descendant’. In the original, Kon(r) ungr (Kon the Young) yields Old Norse konungr ‘king’ by juxtaposition (and popular etymology).
43
Up within hall grew Earl’s children;
spearshafts they shook, with shields they fended,
swift steeds bestrode, and straightened arrows.
44
But Kon only could carve runes,
³⁶runes lasting aye, life-keeping runes;
could warriors ward from wounds in battle,
he dulled sword-edges and calmed the sea.
³⁶For this and the following rune-magic cf. Hǫ́v. 148f and Sigrdr. 6f.
45
Knew the calls of birds and quenched fires,
could soothe sorrows and the sick mind heal;
in his arms the strength of eight men had.
46
With Ríg the Earl³⁷ in runes he matched him,
with wiles he warred, and outwitted him;
thus got for him and gained to own,
the name of Ríg, and runes to know.
³⁷Ríg the Earl, viz. his father, the son of Ríg (Heimdall). He now bestows the title of Ríg ‘king’ on Kon as his true heir.
47
Rode Kon the young through copse and woods,
the birds he shot with bow and arrow;
then quoth a crow, cackling on branch:
“why killest thou birds with bow and arrow?
³¹ ‘Alf-Beam’, a kenning for the sun.
48
Rather shouldest thou ride on horses
— — — and slay foemen.
49
“Have Dan and Danp³⁸ a dwelling richer,
and lands larger, than are left to thee;
are they skilled in steering on stormy seas,
in trying swords and slaying heroes.”³⁹
³⁸In all probability these are eponymous kings of Denmark. Cf. Akv. 5.
³⁹The poem ends here abruptly. From the whole tenor of the poem we cannot doubt that Kon follows the advice of the bird (as does Sigurth in Fáfn.), and wins the lands of Dan and Danp. According to the synoptic account of the (lost) Skioldungasaga made by the learned Icelander Arngrim Jónsson (1597), King Ríg marries Dana, the daughter of Danpr of Danpstead; and their son Dan was the mythical king who united Denmark under one rule.
III
Introductory note
The Lay of Ríg fills exactly the last sheet of the Codex Wormianus of Snorri’s Edda. The lost conclusion evidently stood on a following one. However, notwithstanding this fragmentary condition, it is clear that the lay was intended as a glorification of the existing (aristocratic) order in the Scandinavian homeland—not in republican Iceland—whether in Denmark or Norway; and more specially as a vindication of the divine origin of kingship.—But this is as far as agreement among scholars goes: about few Eddic poems has there been such a diversity of opinion in almost every other respect. Thus, one famous scholar is convinced that the author had Norwegian conditions in mind, that the lay is therefore Norwegian, that it dates from the Tenth Century, that the young Kon may represent Harold Hairfair himself. Another scholar agrees that it is composed early in the Tenth Century, as the poem seems to presuppose Heathendom undisturbed, but holds that it is by some Icelandic skald celebrating the Danish royal house,¹ᵃ perhaps King Gorm the Old, or Harold Bluetooth. Still another held the view that the lay had its origin on one of the Scottish islands.
Again, up to the present the lay has been universally regarded as a valuable source of information on social conditions in the earliest times; but this seems open to doubt with the growing feeling that it may be the didactic-antiquarian effort of a learned skald. At any rate, in its list of names (in free fornyrðislag) there is a suspicious similarity to the nafnaþulur (rigmaroles) and the heitatǫl of the Thirteenth Century, and to such a poem as the Alvíssmǫ́l; so that we may not be far wrong in assigning the lay to the Eleventh or Twelfth Century, but hardly later, as serfdom was abolished in Norway at the end of the Twelfth Century. But whatever its authenticity, the lay does stand out as unique among Eddic poems, and will always be read with interest for its vivid and colorful, though brief, contrasted descriptions of the life of the thrall, the freeman, and the noble in ancient Scandinavia.
¹ᵃ See 49, notes.
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