Volundarkvitha
Nithuth was the name of a king in Sweden. He had two sons and a daughter named Bothvild.
There were three brothers, sons of King Finni: one was named Slagfinn, the other Egil, the third Volund. They skied and hunted, and when they came to Ulfdalir they made themselves houses there. There is a lake called Ulfsja there. Early in the morning they found three women at the lakeshore who were spinning thread. There were swan-skins near them, since the women were Valkyries. Two of them were daughters of King Hlothver, and these were Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the Wise. The third was Olrun, daughter of Kjar, king of France. The men took these three women home with them. Egil married Olrun, Slagfinn took Hlathguth, and Volund took Hervor. They lived like this for seven winters. But then the women left them in order to visit battlefields, and never came home again. Egil and Slagfinn skied away to search for their wives, but Volund stayed home in Ulfdalir. He was, as far as men know, the most capable with his hands of all the people in the old sagas. King Nithuth had him seized, and this poem is about that:
[1] WOMEN FLEW FROM THE SOUTH
through Mirkwood,
those young Valkyries
who choose mens’ fates.
{124} These southern ladies
paused to rest on a lakeshore,
they spun and weaved
precious threads.
[2] Egil took one
for his wife,
he took that beauty
in his embrace.
Slagfinn took Hlathguth,
clad in swan-feathers,
and the third,
their sister, took
Volund’s handsome neck
in her embrace.
[3] Afterwards they stayed
for seven winters,
but in the eighth
they became anxious,
and in the ninth
they had to depart.
Those ladies yearned
for Mirkwood,
those Valkyries
were eager to judge wars.
[4] The sharp-eyed archer Egil
and his brother Slagfinn
came home from hunting
and found their homes empty.
They went in and out
and looked all around,
but finally Egil skied east
to look for Olrun,
and Slagfinn skied south
to look for Hlathguth.
[5] But Volund sat
alone in Ulfdalir;
he worked gold
and colorful jewels,
{125} he assembled rings
and strung them on ropes.
In this way
he waited
to see whether his
lady would return.
[6] Nithuth learned this,
the lord of Njari,
he heard that Volund
was alone in his valley.
He sent men in the night
wearing well-made armor,
their shields glimmered
in the light of the waning moon.
[7] They dismounted
at Volund’s doorstep,
they went inside
his vast home.
They saw Volund’s
golden rings,
seven hundred altogether,
strung on a rope.
[8] They took them in hand,
then put them back,
but stole a single one
before they stepped out.
Then the keen-eyed archer
Volund came home.
He had traveled
a long way that day.
[9] He started to roast
the meat of a brown bear.
The kindling burned,
the dry wood burned,
the wind-dry logs burned,
and it warmed Volund.
{126} [10] Volund the elf
sat on the bearskin
and counted his rings,
but noticed one missing.
He thought it must be
Hervor, his wife—
he thought she’d come back,
and taken the ring.
[11] He sat waiting for her
so long he fell asleep,
and when he awoke
he was bound in chains.
He saw the heavy chains
restraining his hands,
and on his feet
there were also solid locks.
[12] He called out,
“Who are the kings
who have put chains on me,
who has tied me up?”
[13] Nithuth, lord of Njari,
gave him an answer:
“Volund, you crafty elf,
where did you find
our treasures
in your valley?”
[14] Volund said, “It was hardly
a hoard such as Sigurth’s gold—
my home was not near
the mountains of the Rhine.
I remember
that we used to have yet more,
when we were a happy family
at home in Ulfdalir.
[15] “Hlathguth and Hervor
were daughters of Hlothver.
{127} Olrun, Kjar’s daughter,
was a cunning sorceress.”
[16] Nithuth’s queen came in
to the magnificent hall.
She stood proudly on the floor
and spoke: “This man,
who came in from the woods,
will not be happy.”
King Nithuth gave his daughter the gold ring that he had taken from Volund. He himself carried Volund’s sword. And the queen said:
[17] “Volund shows his teeth
every time he sees that sword,
or when Bothvild wears
that ring in his presence.
His eyes are as cruel
as a glistening snake’s.
Cut his sinews,
rob his strength,
and put him away
in Saevarstoth.”
So Volund’s hamstrings were cut, and he was placed on a small island next to the land, which was called Saevarstoth. There he made all kinds of treasures for the king, and no one dared to come to the island except the king himself. Volund said:
[18] “My sword
shines on Nithuth’s belt,
the sword I sharpened,
the sword I alone,
the greatest smith, could make,
the sword I hardened
with my unmatched skill.
Now that glistening sword
is always far from my sight,
since Nithuth will not bring
that treasure to my workshop.
His daughter Bothvild
also wears a treasure
{128} never meant for her,
my bride’s golden ring.”
[19] Volund worked, never sleeping,
constantly swinging his hammer.
He thought of a daring plot
to foil Nithuth.
Then Nithuth’s two young sons,
the two boys,
came to see Volund’s treasures
on the Island of Saevarstoth.
[20] They came to the treasure chest,
they asked for the keys.
They realized Volund’s skill
when they peered inside.
The boys saw
many ornaments,
all of them made
of gold and gems.
[21] Volund said, “Come back alone,
just you two, the day after tomorrow.
I will give all this
gold to you if you do.
Don’t tell the ladies,
don’t tell the men—
don’t tell anyone at all
that you’re meeting with me.”
[22] Early on the appointed day,
one boy said to the other:
“Let’
s go see the rings.”
So the two boys came
and asked for the keys.
They realized Volund’s skill
when they peered inside.
[23] He cut off the heads
of those young boys,
he hid their bodies
under his bellows.
{129} But he took their skulls
and scalped them,
set them with silver,
and sent them as cups to Nithuth.
[24] And from the eyes
of those young boys
he made jewels for
their mother, Nithuth’s wife.
And Volund made ornaments
from the teeth
of her own two brothers,
for Bothvild, Nithuth’s daughter.
[25] BOTHVILD PRAISED
a ring Volund had made,
she told him it was broken:
“And I don’t dare to tell it,”
she said, “to anyone but you.”
Volund said:
[26] “I’ll repair it so that
your father on his throne
will look at it—and to him,
and to your mother,
it will look even better,
and you’ll think so too,
when you wear it.”
[27] He gave her beer,
he could easily outdrink her,
and finally she sat in his chair
and she slept. Volund said,
“Now I have avenged
the wrongs done to me,
all except one
of the most wicked.
{130} [28] “I have done well.
I wish I were on my feet,
the ones cut from me
by the wicked men of Nithuth.”
But then, laughing, Volund
launched himself in the air.
Bothvild wept as she left
the island—she wept for
her lover’s departure,
and her father’s anger.
[29] Volund saw where
Nithuth’s queen
stood outside
and went into the hall.
Volund perched
atop the wall and said:
“Are you awake, Nithuth,
lord of Njari?”
[30] Nithuth said, “I am awake.
I have no joy,
I barely sleep
since my sons’ death.
Your cold actions
have chilled me.
Now I wish I had never
dealt with Volund.
[31] “Tell me, Volund,
you crafty elf,
what kind of fate
did my sons meet?”
[32] Volund said, “First,
you must swear many oaths.
Swear by a ship’s board,
by a shield’s edge,
by a horse’s withers,
by a sword’s blade,
that you will not
{131} harm my lover,
nor cause her death,
even if my new bride
is a woman of your kin,
even if she bears my child
inside your own hall.
[33] “Then go to the workshop
that you forced me into.
There you’ll find bags
full of blood.
I cut your boys’
heads off
and left their bodies
beneath the bellows.
[34] “And after I scalped them,
I took the bare skulls
and decorated them with silver
before I sent them to you.
And after I took their
eyes out,
I turned them into jewels
for your crafty queen.
[35] “I made jewels
from the teeth of those two boys,
and I sent those
to your daughter Bothvild.
Now Bothvild
walks about pregnant,
yes, the only daughter
of the two of you.”
[36] The king said,
“You could say nothing
more awful to me,
I would never torture you worse.
There is no man so tall
that he could reach you up there,
nor so good a shot
that he could shoot you down,
{132} there where you hang
among the clouds, Volund.”
[37] Laughing, Volund
flew up and away,
and left the joyless Nithuth
sitting below.
[38] Nithuth said, “Get up,
Thakkrath, my good servant,
go to my pretty daughter Bothvild.
Tell her to come to me
in fine dress,
to come talk to her father.”
[39] The king then said to her,
“Is it true, Bothvild,
what Volund said:
That you and he lay together?”
[40] She said, “It is true, father,
everything he said to you is true.
Volund and I
lay together
on his island
a while—we never should have.
I couldn’t fight him,
father,
I couldn’t withstand him,
father.”
{133} Alvissmal (The Words of All-Wise)
In Alvissmal, a dwarf named “All-Wise” visits the home of Thor with the intent of marrying his daughter. Thor disapproves, and occupies the dwarf by asking him numerous questions of mythological trivia—namely, what various peoples (the Aesir, the Vanir, humans, dwarves, elves, etc.) call different phenomena of heaven and earth. The dwarf successfully answers all of his questions, but at the end it is revealed that Thor has been stalling for time, waiting for the sun to come up and turn the unlucky suitor to stone.
Alvissmal
All-Wise said:
[1] GET THE BENCHES READY!
Now I’m coming home
with a bride in tow.
It may not seem likely
to others around me—
but I won’t sleep when I get home.”
Thor said:
[2] “Who is this man?
Why are you so pale around the nostrils?
Did you spend the night with a corpse?
It seems to me
you have a monster’s appearance,
you have no business seeking a bride.”
All-Wise said:
[3] “I am named All-Wise.
I live beneath the earth
on my underground estate.
I came to visit you, Thor,
no one will make me retract my words.”
Thor said:
[4] “I will decide that,
since I am the bride’s father,
{134} and it’s I who gets to say about her.
I was not home
when she was promised to you;
the girl is my daughter, and a goddess.”
All-Wise said:
[5] “Who is this man
who speaks
for the beautiful lady?
You scoundrel,
probably no one would defend you—
who gave you those rings that you wear?”
Thor said:
[6] “I am named Thor.
I’m a wide-traveled man,
and son of long-bearded Odin.
If I don’t consent,
you’ll never get the girl;
you’ll stay unmarried forever.”
All-Wise said:
[7] “I’d like to have
your consent,
and I’d certainly like the bride!
I would rather have her
than have to live without
that girl, who’s lovely as snow.”
Thor said:
[8] “This girl’s love
will never be yours,
my clever guest,
if you dare to leave this house
without telling me
what I want to know about every realm.
[9] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what is the earth called
{135} that people walk on
in every world?”
All-Wise said:
[10] “Men call it Earth,
the Aesir call it Soil,
the Vanir call it Road,
giants call it Green,
elves call it Grower,
high gods call it Clay.”
Thor said:
[11] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what do they call the sky,
swirling above us,
in every world?”
All-Wise said:
[12] “Humans call it Heaven,
the Aesir call it Wind-land,
the Vanir call it Wind-maker,
giants call it Up-world,
elves say ‘the High Roof,’
dwarves say ‘the Drip-House.’”
Thor said:
[13] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what do they call the moon
(it’s easy to see)
in every world?”
All-Wise said:
[14] “Humans call it Moon,
Gods say ‘Changer,’
in Hel they call it the Turning Wheel,
the giants call it Hurry—
dwarves call it Shiny,
and elves say ‘Year-counter.’”
{136} Thor said:
[15] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what do they call the sun
(it’s easy to see, too)
in every world?”
All-Wise said:
[16] “Humans call it Sun,
Gods say ‘Southern Ball,’
dwarves call it Dvalin’s Toy,
giants say ‘Everglow,’
elves call it the Beautiful Wheel;
the Aesir say ‘All-clear.’”
Thor said:
[17] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what do they call
the rain-making clouds
in every world?”
All-Wise said:
[18] “Humans say ‘Clouds,’
but gods say ‘Hope of Rain,’
the Vanir call them Wind-floats,
giants Hope of Hail,
elves say ‘Weather-Causers,’
in Hel they call them Helmets of the Hidden.”
Thor said:
[19] “Tell me, All-Wise—
since I think you know
everything about everyone, dwarf—
what do they call the wind,
which travels so widely,