Grímnismǫ́l
The Lay of Grimnir
Old Norse Poetry
English translation (1928) by Lee M Hollander.
Transcription by Eiður Eyþórsson.
I
About this translation
This Lee M. Hollander’s translation of Grímnismál comes from his 1928, 1st edition of The Poetic Edda. In that work, the poem is presented in English translation, accompanied by Hollander’s notes and commentary.
Hollander’s work has been preserved as closely as possible to the form in which it was originally presented. The poem and its accompanying commentary remain unchanged. During transcription, a few minor irregularities were noted, such as gaps in the numbering of notes, with entries like 49, 52, 56, and 77 either missing or skipped.
We have moved Hollander’s notes on individual stanzas so that they now appear directly beneath the relevant stanza; in the printed edition they were placed at the bottom of each page. At the end of this page you will find Hollander’s original introductory to Grímnismál.
Here Begins Grímnismál
King Hrauthung¹ had two sons, Agnar and Geirrœth.² Agnar was ten years old, Geirrœth eight. One day they were rowing in a boat with their tackle, to catch small fry, when the wind blew them out to sea. In the darkness of night they were dashed against the land. They made the shore and found a cotter. They stayed there that winter. The goodwife fostered Agnar, the goodman, Geirrœth and taught him his lore. In spring he got them a boat, and when he and his wife led them down to the shore he spoke secretly with Geirrœth. They had a fair wind and came to their father’s landing-place. Geirrœth was forward in the boat. He lept out on shore and thrust the boat back into the sea and said: “Now go where all trolls may take thee!” Agnar drifted out to sea; but Geirrœth went up to the people. He was warmly welcomed, and as his father had died he was made king and became a great leader.
One day, Óthin and Frigg were sitting in Hlithskialf³ and were looking out upon all the worlds. Then said Óthin: “Canst thou see Agnar, thy foster-son, how he begets children with an ogress in a cave? But Geirrœth, my foster-son, is king in the land.” Frigg answered: “He is so grudging about his food⁴ that he lets his guests die of hunger when he thinks too many have come.” Óthin said that this was a big lie, and so they laid a wager about this matter. Frigg sent her chambermaid Fulla to Geirrœth to tell him to beware lest he be bewitched by a warlock who was then come into the land. She told him that he could be told by this that no dog was so fierce as to rush at him. But it was evil slander, to say that King Geirrœth was not generous about his food. Yet he had that man taken captive whom his dogs would not set on. He was clad in a blue cloak and gave his name as Grímnir,⁵ and said no more about himself though he was asked. The king tortured him to make him speak, by setting him between two fires; and there he sate for eight nights. Geirrœth had a son ten years old, who was named Agnar after his brother. Agnar went up to Grímnir and gave him a full horn to drink from and said that the king did ill to torture one who had done no wrong. Grímnir emptied it. By that time the fire had come so near him that his cloak began to burn. He said:
ͣ Detter-Heinzel II, 172.
¹ Cf. Hynd. 26.
² Spear-peace’ (?), i.e. peace gained by the spear.
³ ‘Hall of Gates’ or ‘Gate-Tower’, Óthin’s seat in Valholl. “When he seats himself in the high-seat he can see all the world and the doings of every man.” Gylfag. chap. 9.
⁴ A cardinal sin in a king, according to Old Norse conceptions.
⁵ ‘The Masked One’, Óthin. He is frequently pictured as concealing his countenance by a wide cowl.
1
Hot art thou, blaze, and too high, withal!
Get, fire, thee farther away!
My frieze-coat is singed though I flung it aloft,
flares up the fur in the flames.
2
Eight nights famished ’twixt the fires I sate,
nor did any one fetch me food,
but Agnar only who after shall rule,
Geirrœth’s son, o’er the Goths.⁶
⁶ Here, as frequently, used in a general and honorific sense for ‘warriors’.
3
All hail to thee, for happiness
is given thee, Agnar, by Óthin.
Better reward, I ween, shalt never
have for one beaker of beer.
4
The land is holy which lies yonder,
near to æsir and alfs;
in Thrútheim,⁷ there shall Thór aye dwell,
till draws nigh the doom of the gods.
⁷ ‘Land of Strength’.
5
On Ýdal’s⁸ plains Ull hath reared him
his hall timbered on high.
For Frey’s⁹ tooth-fee was fashioned of yore
Alf-home, as gift by the gods.
⁸ ‘Yew dales’. Ull ‘Glorious’ is the god of archery. His weapon, the long-bow, was made of the yew. He is, possibly, a hypostasis of Óthin, or of Týr, the god of war.
⁹ ‘Lord’. He is the god of fertility and prosperity. Like Niorth (cf. Vaf. 39), his father, he is said to be of Van origin. The ‘tooth-fee’ is a gift to an infant when he cuts his first tooth.
6
A third hall still, all thatched with silver,
was built by the blessed gods:
in Valaskialf¹⁰ hall did house himself
Óthin in olden days.
¹⁰ ‘Hall of Slain Warriors’ (?), the first of Óthin’s three halls.
7
Sokkvabekk¹¹ called is the fourth, which cool waters
ripple round about;
there Óthin and Sága¹² drink, all their days,
glad from golden cups.
¹¹ ‘Sunken Hall’ (?). Cf. Fensalir, Vsp. 26.
¹² ‘Seeress’, Frigg. The name is in no wise to be connected with the Norse word for ‘history, story’.
8
Gladhome is hight the fifth where golden-shimm’ring
Valholl¹³ is widely spread out;
here Óthin chooses every day
many war-slain wights.¹⁴
9
Easily known to Ygg’s chosen
are the heavenly halls:
the rafters, spear-shafts; the roofs, shield-shingled;
and the benches strewn with byrnies.
10
Easily known to Ygg’s chosen
are the heavenly halls:
a wolf hangeth o’er the western gate,
and hovers an eagle on high.¹⁵
¹⁵ Wolf and eagle, as scavengers of the battlefield, are symbolic of Óthin’s warlike activities. Their carved images adorn the gable ends of his hall.
11
Thrymheim¹⁶ is hight the sixth, where Thiatsi dwelled,
the etin of awful might;
the god’s bride there her bower hath,
Skathi, where her father before.¹⁷
¹⁶ ‘Storm-Home’.
¹⁷ She is Niorth’s wife; cf. also Hárb. 19, Lok. 50.
12
Breithablik¹⁸ the seventh; there Baldr the good
hath reared him his bright abode:
in that land it lies where least I know
falsehood and faithlessness.
¹⁸ ‘The Far-Shining’; properly the seat of Baldr, the god of innocence, justice, and light.
13
Himinbiorg¹⁹ the eighth; there Heimdall, they say,
guards the holy hall;
there the gods’ warder in goodly stead
the mead drinks, glad in mind.
¹⁹ ‘Heavenly Mountains’; concerning Heimdall, cf. Vsp. 1, note.
14
Folkvang²⁰ the ninth, where Freyja²¹ doth say
who seats shall hold in her hall:
half of the slain are hers each day,
and half are Óthin’s own.
²⁰ ‘Field of Warriors’.
²¹ ‘Mistress, Queen’ (feminine of Frey), the goddess of love. She is the daughter of Niorth and the sister of Frey.
15
Glitnir²² the tenth, which on gold standeth,
and is shingled with shining silver;
there Forseti²³ unflagging sits,
the god that stills all strife.
²² ‘Shining’.
²³ ‘The Presiding One’, Baldr’s and Nanna’s son.
16
Nóatún²⁴ the eleventh, where Niorth hath him
reared his bright abode;
there Skathi’s spouse, the spotless god,
holds sway in high-timbered hall.
²⁴ ‘Ship-stead’; cf. Vaf. 38 and above, 11.
17
Greenwood do grow, and grasses tall,
in Vithi; ²⁵Víthar’s land:
from horseback leaps the hero, eager
his father’s slayer to fell.
18
By Andhrímnir²⁶ (the cook) in Eldhrímnir²⁷ (the kettle)
Sæhrímnir²⁸ (the boar) is boiled,
the best of bacons; though ’tis barely known
what the einheriar²⁸ͣ in Valholl eat.
²⁶ ‘Sooty in the Face’, the cook of Valholl.
²⁷ ‘Sooty from the Fire’.
²⁸ ‘Sooty Black’ (?).
²⁸ ͣ cf. Vaf. 41.
19
Valfather feeds Freki and Geri²⁹
on the flesh of fallen men;
but the wise war-god by wine only
lives his life alway.
²⁹ Both names signify ‘the Greedy One’. They are Óthin’s two wolves.
20
The whole earth over, every day,
hover Hugin and Munin;³⁰
I dread lest Hugin droop in his flight,
yet I fear me still more for Munin.
³⁰ ‘Thought’ and ‘Remembrance’, Óthin’s ravens which bring him intelligence.
21
Thund³¹ roars loudly; sports Thióthvitnir’s³²
fish in the foaming flood;
the strong stream seems too stiff to wade
for warriors to Valholl bent.³² ͣ
³¹ ‘The Noisy’ (?), a river probably thought to flow around Valholl.
³² The Great Wolf, Fenrir. The passage is of doubtful meaning.
³² ͣ Doubtful.
22
Valgrind³³ is the gate that wards the gods,
holy, nigh holy doors;
old is that bar, ’tis barely known
how that latch is locked.
³³ ‘The Gate of the Battle-slain’.
23
Five hundred doors and forty withal
I ween that in Valholl be:
eight hundred warriors through one door hie them
when they fare forth to fight the Wolf.³⁴
³⁴ Fenrir; cf. Lok. 22, note.
24
Five hundred rooms and forty withal
I ween that in Bilskirnir³⁵ be;
of all the halls which on high are reared
the greatest I see is my son’s.
³⁵ Of uncertain meaning. It is the hall of Thór, who is a son of Óthin.
25
Heithrún, the goat on the hall that stands,
eateth off Lærath’s³⁶ limbs;
the crock she fills with clearest mead,
will that drink not e’er be drained.
³⁶ Lærath seems to be identical with the tree Yggdrasil, which suffers still other harm, cf. 26 and 33ff.
26
Eikthyrnir,³⁷ the hart on the hall that stands,
eateth off Lærath’s limbs;
drops from his horns in Hvergelmir³⁸ fall,
thence wend all the waters their way.
³⁷ ‘Oak antlers’ (?).
³⁸ A well at the foot of Yggdrasil.
27
³⁹Síth and Víth, Sœkin and Eikin,
Svol and Gunnthró, Fiorm and Fimbulthul,
Rín and Rinnandi,
Gipul and Gopul, Gomul and Geirvimul,
all these flow through the garth of the gods;
Thyn and Vin, Tholl and Holl,
Gróth and Gunnthorin.
³⁹ The following catalog of rivers is plainly interpolated. Their names refer, some to swiftness, others to coldness and depth. For Slíth, cf. Vsp. 36; for Leiptr, H.H. II, 30.
28
Vinó is hight one, Vegsvin the other,
the third, Thióthnuma;
Nyt and Not, Nonn and Hronn,
Slíth and Hríth, Sylg and Ylg,
Víl and Vón, Vond and Strond,
Gioll and Leiptr, by the land of men flow,
but hence fall to Hel.
29
Kormt and Ormt and the Kerlaugs twain,
Thór wadeth through
every day, to the doom when he fares
’neath the ash Yggdrasil;
for the bridge of the gods⁴⁰ burneth alway,—
hot are the holy waters.
⁴⁰ The rainbow bridge, Bifrost (or Bilrost), ‘The Road With the Many Colors’. The passage is not clear.
30
⁴¹Glath and Gyllir, Glær and Skeithbrimir,
Silfrintopp and Sinir,
Gísl and Falhófnir, Golltopp and Lettfeti,—
these steeds ride heavenly hosts
every day, to the doom when they fare
’neath the ash Yggdrasil.
⁴¹ The catalog of steeds likewise is interpolated. Their names refer to speed, bright appearance, etc.
31
Three roots do spread in threefold ways
beneath the ash Yggdrasil:
dwell etins ’neath one, ’neath the other, Hel,
’neath the third, Mithgarth’s⁴² men.
⁴² ‘Middle World’ or ‘The Enclosure’, viz. against the outer world of giants, monsters, etc.
31 A
⁴³(An eagle sitteth on Yggdrasil’s limbs,
whose keen eyes widely ken;
’twixt his eyes a fallow falcon is perched,
hight Vethrfolnir, and watcheth.)
⁴³ This stanza is lacking in the original. We are able to reconstruct it from Snorri’s close paraphrase, Gylfag. chap. 16.—The eagle and the falcon possibly symbolize the watchfulness of the gods.
32
Ratatosk⁴⁴ the squirrel is hight which runneth ay
about the ash Yggdrasil:
the warning words of the watchful eagle
he bears to Níthhogg⁴⁵ beneath.
33
⁴⁶Four harts also the highest shoots
ay do gnaw from beneath:
Dáin and Dvalin, Duneyr and Dyrathrór.
⁴⁶ The following two stanzas are very likely interpolations.
34
More worms do lie the world-tree beneath
than unwise apes may ween:
Góin and Móin, which are Grafvitnir’s sons,
Grábak and Grafvolluth;
Ófnir and Sváfnir⁴⁷ ay, I fear me,
on that tree’s twigs will batten.
⁴⁷ Several of these names have reference to the burrowing activities of worms and snakes. The last two are names of Óthin; see 54 and note.
35
The ash Yggdrasil doth ill abide,
more than to men is known:
the hart browsing above, its bole rotting,
and Níthhogg gnawing beneath.
36
⁴⁸Hrist and Mist the horn shall bear me,—
Skeggiold and Skogul as well;
but Hild and Thrúth, Hlokk and Herfiotur,
Goll and Geironul,
Randgríth and Rathgríth and Reginleif,
to the einheriar ale shall bear.
⁴⁸ The names of the valkyries indicate their warlike activities, like those Vsp. 23.
37
Árvakr and Alsvith,⁵⁰ they up shall draw
the sun’s wain wearily;
but under their bellies the blessed gods
have hidden the ‘icy irons’.⁵¹
⁵⁰ ‘Early-awake’ and ‘Very Swift’, the sun-horses. cf. Vaf. 12; Sigdr. 17.
⁵¹ Snorri, in his Gylfag. chap. 11, has the following prosy explanation of these: “Under their shoulders the gods placed two bellows to cool them, and in some lays these are called ‘icy irons’ (?).”
38
Svalin⁵² is hight, the Sun before,
a shield from the shining god.
Would smoke and smoulder both sea and land,
if from him it ever should fall.
⁵² ‘Cooling’.
39
Him Skoll, the wolf, in the sky doth dog
to the warding woods;⁵³
but Hati⁵⁴ the other, Hróthvitnir’s son,
follows the fair orb⁵⁴ ͣ too.
⁵³ The passage is of doubtful meaning.
⁵⁴ ‘Hate’, the son of Hróthvitnir ‘the Famous Wolf’, i.e. Fenrir (who according to Vaf. 47 himself swallows the sun).
⁵⁴ ͣ The Moon.
40
Of Ymir’s⁵⁵ flesh the earth was shaped,
of his blood, the briny sea,
of his hair, the trees, the hills of his bones,
out of his skull the sky.
⁵⁵ Cf. Vaf. 21.
41
But of his lashes the loving gods made
Mithgarth for sons of men;
shaped from his brain were the shifting clouds
which in the heavens hover.
42
Will Ull⁵⁷ befriend him, and all the gods,
who first the fire quenches;
for open lie to the æsir all worlds,
when kettles are heaved from the hearth.⁵⁸
⁵⁷ Cf. above, 8.
⁵⁸ The words of the second part of the stanza seem clear, but their meaning has so far resisted convincing explanation.
43
In earliest times Ívaldi’s sons⁵⁹
Skíthblathnir, the ship, did shape,
the best of boats, for beaming Frey,
the noble son of Niorth.
⁵⁹ According to Gylfag. chap. 43, they are skilful dwarves who make a present of the ship Skíthblathnir ‘the Thin-planked’ to Frey. “It is so large that all gods may find room in it with all their equipment.” Also, it has a favorable breeze whenever its sail is raised, and can sail both on sea and over land. It may be laid together like a cloth, and be put in one’s pocket.—Stanzas 43, 44 are evidently interpolated.
44
The ash Yggdrasil is of all trees best;
Skíthblathnir, the best of boats;
of holy gods, Óthin; of horses, Sleipnir;⁶⁰
of bridges, Bilrost;⁶¹ of skalds, Bragi;⁶²
of hawks, Hóbrók;⁶² ͣ of hounds all, Garm.⁶³
⁶⁰ ‘The Runner’, Óthin’s horse. It has eight feet. According to the story in Gylfag. chap. 42 it was begotten on Loki by the stallion of the giant who built the wall around Ásgarth; cf. Vsp. 17, note, and Vsp. sk. 13.
⁶¹ Cf. 29, note.
⁶² The god of poetry and eloquence. Bragr signifies ‘poetry’. It is uncertain whether Bragi Boddason (Ninth Century), the first skald whose name and verses have come down to us, was the prototype of the god.
⁶² ͣ ‘High-leg’.
⁶³ Cf. Vsp. 36.
45
Now my looks have I lifted aloft to the gods:⁶⁴
help will come from on high,
from all the æsir which in shall come
on Ægir’s benches,
at Ægir’s feast.⁶⁵
⁶⁴ The translation here offered is somewhat of a guess, no interpretation being altogether acceptable.
⁶⁵ As in the Hymiskviþa, 1.
46
⁶⁶Grím is my name, and Gangleri,⁶⁷
Herian and Hialmberi,⁶⁸
Thekk and Thrithi,⁶⁹ Thuth and Uth,
Helblindi and Hór.⁷⁰
⁶⁶ The following five stanzas are obviously interpolated.
⁶⁷ Grím=Grímnir, cf. the Prose above.—Gangleri ‘the Way-Weary’ (?).
⁶⁸ ‘War-God’ (?) and ‘Helm-Bearer’.
⁶⁹ ‘The Welcome One’ and ‘the Third’, i.e. with Hór (below) and Iafnhór (49). This trinity seems to betray Christian influence.
⁷⁰ ‘One-Eyed’; but, as evidenced by Iafnhór ‘Equally High’, it was at an early time confused with the homonymous word meaning ‘high’.
47
Sath and Svipal and Sanngetal,⁷¹
Herteith⁷² and Hnikar,
Bileyg, Báleyg,⁷³ Bolverk, Fiolnir,⁷⁴
Grím and Grímnir, Glapsvith, Fiolsvith,⁷⁵
⁷¹ ‘The Truthful’, ‘the Changeable’, and ‘Truthfinder’.
⁷² ‘Glad in Battle’ and ‘(Spear-)thruster’.
⁷³ ‘Fiery-Eyed’.
⁷⁴ ‘Bale-Worker’ and ‘Wise in Lore’.
⁷⁵ ‘The Much-Experienced’.
48
Síthhott, Síthskegg, Sigfather, Hnikuth,
Alfather, Valfather, Atríth, Farmatýr:⁷⁶
by one name was I not welcomed ever,
since among folk I fared.
⁷⁶ In order: ‘Long-Hood’, ‘Long-Beard’, ‘Victory Father’, ‘(Spear-)thruster’, ‘Father of All’, ‘Father of the Battle-slain’, ‘Attacker by Horse’ (?), and ‘Lord of Boat-loads’. The latter epithet shows Óthin in his (historically earlier) rôle as god of the merchants; cf. Mercury—Hermes with whom he shares other important characteristics.
49
Grímnir my name in Geirrœth’s hall,
but Ialk in Ásmund’s.
Was I Kialar hight when the hand-sled I drew,⁷⁹
but Thrór⁸⁰ at things,
Vithur in wars,
Óski and Ómi, Iafnhór, Biflindi,
Gondlir and Hárbarth⁸¹ among gods.
⁷⁹ Neither of the two adventures of Óthin alluded to is known.
⁸⁰ ‘Inciter to Strife’ (?). Hárb. 24.
⁸¹ ‘Bearer of the (Magic) Wand’ and ‘Greybeard’.
50
Svithur and Svithrir⁸² at Sokkmímir’s was I,
when the old etin I hid,
and when Mithvitnir’s, the mighty one’s,
son I slew alone.
⁸² Both epithets signify ‘the Wise’. We know nothing of the myth alluded to.
51
Thou art muddled, Geirrœth! Too much thou hast drunk;
(bereft of reason)⁸³ rashly thou lostest
Óthin’s and einheriar’s favor.
⁸³ Added with the Paper Manuscripts.
52
Full long I spake, but little thou mindedst:
faithless friends⁸⁴ betray thee:
before me I see my foster-son’s sword,
its blade all dripping with blood.
⁸⁴ Probably Frigg and her minion who had—we are to understand—made him go counter to Óthin’s instruction to be kind to guests, given Geirrœth the time he was fostered by Óthin.
53
A death-doomed man will soon drink with Ygg:⁸⁵
not long the life which is left thee.
The norns wish thee ill: now Óthin mayst see;
come thou near if thou canst.⁸⁶
⁸⁵ I.e. in Óthin’s (Ygg’s) hall.
⁸⁶ After these words Óthin probably vanished as, in a similar situation, he vanished in the hall of king Heithrek, Hervararsaga chap. 9. The last stanza which botches this excellent ending is no doubt a later addition
54
Now Óthin’s my name. Ygg was I hight,
Thund was my name ere then,—
Vak⁸⁷ and Skilfing, Vófuth and Hrótpatýr,⁸⁸
Gaut⁸⁹ and Ialk among gods.
Ófnir and Sváfnir,⁹⁰ they all have become
one with me, I ween.
⁸⁷ ‘Wakeful’.
⁸⁸ ‘Wayfarer’ and ‘God of Gods’.
⁸⁹ ‘The God of Goths’, i.e. of men (?).
⁹⁰ ‘The Entangler’, i.e. in questions; cf. Vafthrúthnir, Vaf. 1, and ‘He Who Lulls to Sleep or to Dreams’.
King Geirrœth was sitting with his sword on his knees half unsheathed. But when he heard that it was Óthin who had come to him, he arose and wanted to take him from between the fires. His sword slid from his hands with its hilt downward. The king stumbled and fell forward, the sword pierced him and thus became his bane. Then Óthin vanished; but Agnar was king in that land for a long time.
III
Introductory note
Like the foregoing poem, the Grímnismǫ́l has a didactic purpose, instruction in the mythology, the heavenly geography, and the nomenclature of the Northern Olympus. It is conveyed in Óthin’s monologue, addressed first, as a reward, to young Agnar who takes pity on his plight, and finally to his erstwhile favorite Geirrœth, to whom the god gradually reveals his dread identity. The epic framework has elements in common with a fairy-story, still told in our days in northern Norway, of two brothers who sail to a monster-infested island where the one brother abandons the other to his fate in order to claim the kingdom for himself.
“The form of the narrative is very symptomatic. The reader is to gather that the old cotter has given Geirrœth the counsel to make away with his brother; from the conversation between Óthin and Frigg, that it was they who fostered the youths; again, that Frigg, in maligning Geirrœth as a miser had a double purpose—in the first place, to induce Óthin to visit the king whom by her emissary she renders hostile to the disguised god . . . in the second place, to destroy Geirrœth, since Óthin would of course not let his ill treatment go unavenged.” ͣ
The poem has suffered chiefly from accretion: its monologic form no doubt tempted copyists to interpolate stray bits of lore—sometimes of great value—which they were anxious to have preserved within its framework. For the most part, these differ in form from the otherwise regular ljóðaháttr.
There are no positive indications as to time of composition (Tenth Century?) or place of origin. The poem is handed down completely both in the Codex Regius and the Codex Arnamagnæanus; and embedded in Snorri’s paraphrase in the Gylfaginning are preserved some twenty stanzas.
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