men lay
Bonds on my limbs;
I sing (incantations) so
That I can walk;
The fetter flies off my feet,
And the shackles off my hands.
The fifth I know,
If I see an arrow flying,
Shot to harm in the array;
It flies not so fast
That I cannot stay it
If I get sight of it.
The sixth I know,
If a man wounds me
With the roots of a young tree;136
Illness shall eat
The man
That lays spells on me,
Rather than me.
The seventh I know,
If I see a hall burning
Round the sitting men;
It burns not so broadly
That I cannot save them;
Such an incantation can I sing.
The eighth I know,
Which for every one is
Useful to learn;
Where hate arises
Among sons of kings
I can allay it soon.
The ninth I know,
If I am in need
To save my ship afloat,
I hush the wind
On the waves,
And calm all the sea.
The tenth I know,
If I see hedge-riders137
Playing in the air,
I cause that
They go astray
Out of their skins,
Out of their minds.
The eleventh I know,
If I shall to battle
Lead my old friends,
I sing under the shields,
And they go with might
Safe to the fray,
Safe out of the fray,
Safe wherever they come from.
The twelfth I know,
If I see on a tree
A halter-corpse138 swinging;
I carve so
And draw in runes,
That the man shall walk
And talk to me.
The thirteenth I know,
If I do on a young thegn139
Water sprinkle;
He will not fall
Though he go into battle;
That man sinks not by swords.
The fourteenth I know,
If I shall reckon up
The gods for the host of men;
Asar and Alfar140
I know all well;
Few unwise know so much.
The fifteenth I know,
That which Thjodreyrir141 sang,
The Dverg, before the door of Delling;142
He sang strength to the Asar
And fame to the Alfar,
Wisdom to Hroptayr.143
The sixteenth I know,
If of the comely maiden
I want all the heart and the love,
I change the mind
Of the white-armed woman
And turn all her heart.
The seventeenth I know,
That the youthful maiden
Will late forsake me.
These songs
Wilt thou Loddfafnir144
Long have lacked,
Though they are good if thou takest them,
Useful if thou learnest them,
Profitable if thou takest them.
I know the eighteenth,
Which I will never tell
To maiden or man’s wife,
Except to her alone
That holds me in her arms,
Or is my sister;
All is better
That one alone only knows.145
This is the end of the song.
Now the song of Har is sung,
In the hall of Har;
Very useful to the sons of men,
Useless to the sons of Jötnar.146
Hail to him who sang!
Hail to him who knows!
May he who has learned profit by it!
Hail to those who have listened!
“Atli was a great, powerful, and wise king; he had many men with him, and took counsel with them how he should get the gold; he knew that Gunnar and Högni were owners of so much property147 that no man had the like of it; he sent men to the brothers and invited them to a feast in order to give them many gifts; Vingi was the leader of the messengers. The queen knew of their secret talk, and suspected treachery against her brothers. She cut runes, took a gold ring, and tied on it a wolf’s hair; she gave this to the king’s messengers. They went as the king had told them, and before they landed Vingi saw the runes and changed them so that they meant that Gudrún wished them to come to Atli. They came to the hall of Gunnar and were well received; large fires were made before them; there they drank merrily the best drinks. Vingi said: ‘King Atli sent me hither and wanted you to visit him to get honour and large gifts, helmets and shields, swords and coats-of-mail, gold and good clothes, warriors and horses and large estates, and he says he would rather let you than any others have his realm.’ Then Gunnar turned his head and said to Högni: ‘What shall we accept of this offer? He offers us a large realm, but I know no kings owning as much gold as we, for we own all the gold which lay on Gnitaheath, and large skemmas (rooms) filled with gold and the best cutting weapons and all kinds of war-clothes; I know my horse to be the best, my sword the keenest, my gold the most renowned.’ Högni answered: ‘I wonder at his offer, for this he has seldom done, and it is unadvisable to go to him. I am surprised that among the costly things which Atli sent to us I saw a wolf’s hair tied on a gold ring, and it may be that Gudrún thinks he has a wolf’s mind (mind of a foe) towards us, and that she wants us not to go.’ Then Vingi showed him the runes which he said Gudrún had sent. The men now went to sleep, while they continued drinking with some others. Then Högni’s wife, Kostbera, a most handsome woman, went to them and looked at the runes. She and Gunnar’s wife, Glaumvör, a very accomplished woman, brought drink. The kings became very drunk.