# HYMISKVITHA (THE LAY OF HYMIR)

1\. Of old the gods | made feast together,  
 And drink they sought | ere sated they were;  
 Twigs they shook, | and blood they tried:  
 Rich fare in Ægir’s | hall they found.

2\. The mountain-dweller | sat merry as boyhood,  
 But soon like a blinded | man he seemed;  
 The son of Ygg | gazed in his eyes:  
 “For the gods a feast | shalt thou forthwith get.”

3\. The word-wielder toil | for the giant worked,  
 And so revenge | on the gods he sought;  
 He bade Sif’s mate | the kettle bring:  
 “Therein for ye all | much ale shall I brew.”

4\. The far-famed ones | could find it not,  
 And the holy gods | could get it nowhere;  
 Till in truthful wise | did Tyr speak forth,  
 And helpful counsel | to Hlorrithi gave.

5\. “There dwells to the east | of Elivagar  
 Hymir the wise | at the end of heaven;  
 A kettle my father | fierce doth own,  
 A mighty vessel | a mile in depth.”

  
Thor spake:

  
6\. “May we win, dost thou think, | this whirler of water?”

  
Tyr spake:

  
 “Aye, friend, we can, | if cunning we are.”

7\. Forward that day | with speed they fared,  
 From Asgarth came they | to Egil’s home;  
 The goats with horns | bedecked he guarded;  
 Then they sped to the hall | where Hymir dwelt.

8\. The youth found his grandam, | that greatly he loathed,  
 And full nine hundred | heads she had;  
 But the other fair | with gold came forth,  
 And the bright-browed one | brought beer to her son.

9\. “Kinsman of giants, | beneath the kettle  
 Will I set ye both, | ye heroes bold;  
 For many a time | my dear-loved mate  
 To guests is wrathful | and grim of mind.”

10\. Late to his home | the misshapen Hymir,  
 The giant harsh, | from his hunting came;  
 The icicles rattled | as in he came,  
 For the fellow’s chin-forest | frozen was.

11\. “Hail to thee, Hymir! | good thoughts mayst thou have;  
 Here has thy son | to thine hall now come;  
 (For him have we waited, | his way was long;)  
 And with him fares | the foeman of Hroth,  
 The friend of mankind, | and Veur they call him.

12\. “See where under | the gable they sit!  
 Behind the beam | do they hide themselves.”  
 The beam at the glance | of the giant broke,  
 And the mighty pillar | in pieces fell.

13\. Eight fell from the ledge, | and one alone,  
 The hard-hammered kettle, | of all was whole;  
 Forth came they then, | and his foes he sought,  
 The giant old, | and held with his eyes.

14\. Much sorrow his heart | foretold when he saw  
 The giantess’ foeman | come forth on the floor;  
 Then of the steers | did they bring in three;  
 Their flesh to boil | did the giant bid.

15\. By a head was each | the shorter hewed,  
 And the beasts to the fire | straight they bore;  
 The husband of Sif, | ere to sleep he went,  
 Alone two oxen | of Hymir’s ate.

16\. To the comrade hoary | of Hrungnir then  
 Did Hlorrithi’s meal | full mighty seem;  
 “Next time at eve | we three must eat  
 The food we have | as the hunting’s spoil.”

17\. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .  
 Fain to row on the sea | was Veur, he said,  
 If the giant bold | would give him bait.

  
Hymir spake:

  
18\. “Go to the herd, | if thou hast it in mind,  
 Thou slayer of giants, | thy bait to seek;  
 For there thou soon | mayst find, methinks,  
 Bait from the oxen | easy to get.”

19\. Swift to the wood | the hero went,  
 Till before him an ox | all black he found;  
 From the beast the slayer | of giants broke  
 The fortress high | of his double horns.

  
Hymir spake:

  
20\. “Thy works, methinks, | are worse by far,  
 Thou steerer of ships, | than when still thou sittest.”  
 . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .  
 . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .

21\. The lord of the goats | bade the ape-begotten  
 Farther to steer | the steed of the rollers;  
 But the giant said | that his will, forsooth,  
 Longer to row | was little enough.

22\. Two whales on his hook | did the mighty Hymir  
 Soon pull up | on a single cast;  
 In the stern the kinsman | of Othin sat,  
 And Veur with cunning | his cast prepared.

23\. The warder of men, | the worm’s destroyer,  
 Fixed on his hook | the head of the ox;  
 There gaped at the bait | the foe of the gods,  
 The girdler of all | the earth beneath.

24\. The venomous serpent | swiftly up  
 To the boat did Thor, | the bold one, pull;  
 With his hammer the loathly | hill of the hair  
 Of the brother of Fenrir | he smote from above.

25\. The monsters roared, | and the rocks resounded,  
 And all the earth | so old was shaken;  
 . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .  
 Then sank the fish | in the sea forthwith.

26\. . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .  
 Joyless as back | they rowed was the giant;  
 Speechless did Hymir | sit at the oars,  
 With the rudder he sought | a second wind.

  
Hymir spake:

  
27\. “The half of our toil | wilt thou have with me,  
 And now make fast | our goat of the flood;  
 Or home wilt thou bear | the whales to the house,  
 Across the gorge | of the wooded glen?”

28\. Hlorrithi stood | and the stem he gripped,  
 And the sea-horse with water | awash he lifted;  
 Oars and bailer | and all he bore  
 With the surf-swine home | to the giant’s house.

29\. His might the giant | again would match,  
 For stubborn he was, | with the strength of Thor;  
 None truly strong, | though stoutly he rowed,  
 Would he call save one | who could break the cup.

30\. Hlorrithi then, | when the cup he held,  
 Struck with the glass | the pillars of stone;  
 As he sat the posts | in pieces he shattered,  
 Yet the glass to Hymir | whole they brought.

31\. But the loved one fair | of the giant found  
 A counsel true, | and told her thought:  
 “Smite the skull of Hymir, | heavy with food,  
 For harder it is | than ever was glass.”

32\. The goats’ mighty ruler | then rose on his knee,  
 And with all the strength | of a god he struck;  
 Whole was the fellow’s | helmet-stem,  
 But shattered the wine-cup | rounded was.

  
Hymir spake:

  
33\. “Fair is the treasure | that from me is gone,  
 Since now the cup | on my knees lies shattered;”  
 So spake the giant: | “No more can I say  
 In days to be, | ‘Thou art brewed, mine ale.’

34\. “Enough shall it be | if out ye can bring  
 Forth from our house | the kettle here.”  
 Tyr then twice | to move it tried,  
 But before him the kettle | twice stood fast.

35\. The father of Mothi | the rim seized firm,  
 And before it stood | on the floor below;  
 Up on his head | Sif’s husband raised it,  
 And about his heels | the handles clattered.

36\. Not long had they fared, | ere backwards looked  
 The son of Othin, | once more to see;  
 From their caves in the east | beheld he coming  
 With Hymir the throng | of the many-headed.

37\. He stood and cast | from his back the kettle,  
 And Mjollnir, the lover | of murder, he wielded;  
 . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . .  
 So all the whales | of the waste he slew.

38\. Not long had they fared | ere one there lay  
 Of Hlorrithi’s goats | half-dead on the ground;  
 In his leg the pole-horse | there was lame;  
 The deed the evil | Loki had done.

39\. But ye all have heard,— | for of them who have  
 The tales of the gods, | who better can tell?—  
 What prize he won | from the wilderness-dweller,  
 Who both his children | gave him to boot.

40\. The mighty one came | to the council of gods,  
 And the kettle he had | that Hymir’s was;  
 So gladly their ale | the gods could drink  
 In Ægir’s hall | at the autumn-time.