The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson Part 14

_Thor_.

7. Steer hitherward thy boat; I will direct thee where to land. But who owns this skiff, which by the strand thou holdest?

_Harbard_.

8. Hildolf fie is named who bade me hold it, a man in council wise, who dwells in Radso sound. Robbers he bade me not to ferry, or horse-stealers, but good men only, and those whom I well knew. Tell me then thy name, if thou wilt cross the sound.

_Thor_.

9. I my name will tell, (although I am an outlaw) and all my kin: I am Odin's son, Meili's brother, and Magni's sire, the G.o.ds' mighty leader: With Thor thou here mayest speak. I will now ask how thou art called.

_Harbard_.

10. I am Harbard called; seldom I my name conceal.

_Thor_.

11. Why shouldst thou thy name conceal, unless thou crime hast perpetrated?

_Harbard_.

12. Yet, though I may crime have perpetrated, I will nathless guard my life against such as thou art; unless I death-doomed am.

_Thor_.

13. It seems to me a foul annoyance to wade across the strait to thee, and wet my garments: but I will pay thee, mannikin! for thy sharp speeches, if o'er the sound I come.

_Harbard_.

14. Here will I stand, and here await thee. Thou wilt have found no stouter one since Hrungnir's death.

_Thor_.

15. Thou now remindest me how I with Hrungnir fought, that stout-hearted Jotun, whose head was all of stone; yet I made him fall, and sink before me. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?

_Harbard_.

16. I was with Fiolvari five winters through, in the isle which Algron hight. There we could fight, and slaughter make, many perils prove, indulge in love.

_Thor_.

17. How did your women prove towards you?

_Harbard_.

18. Sprightly women we had, had they but been meek; shrewd ones we had, had they but been kind. Of sand a rope they twisted, and from the deep valley dug the earth: to them all I alone was superior in cunning. I rested with the sisters seven, and their love and pleasures shared. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?

_Thor_.

19. I slew Thia.s.si, that stout-hearted Jotun: up I cast the eyes of Allvaldi's son into the heaven serene: they are signs the greatest of my deeds. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?

_Harbard_.

20. Great seductive arts I used against the riders of the night,[36]

when from their husbands I enticed them. A mighty Jotun I believed Hlebard to be: a magic wand he gave me, but from his wits I charmed him.

_Thor_.

21. With evil mind then thou didst good gifts requite _Harbard_.

22. One tree gets that which, is from another sc.r.a.ped: each one in such case is for self. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?

_Thor_.

23. In the east I was, and slew the Jotun brides, crafty in evil, as they to the mountain went. Great would have been the Jotun race, had they all lived; and not a man left in Midgard. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?

_Harbard_.

24. I was in Valland, and followed warfare; princes I excited, but never reconciled. Odin has all the jarls that in conflict fall; but Thor the race of thralls.

_Thor_.

25. Unequally thou wouldst divide the folk among the aesir, if thou but hadst the power.

_Harbard_.

36. Thor has strength over-much, but courage none; from cowardice and fear, thou wast crammed into a glove, and hardly thoughtest thou wast Thor. Thou durst not then, through thy terror, either sneeze or cough, lest Fialar it might hear.

_Thor_.

27. Harbard, thou wretch! I would strike thee dead, could I but stretch my arm across the sound.

_Harbard_.

28. Why wouldst thou stretch thy arm across the sound, when there is altogether no offence? But what didst thou, Thor?

_Thor_.

39. In the east I was, and a river I defended, when the sons of Svarang me a.s.sailed, and with stones pelted me, though in their success they little joyed: they were the first to sue for peace. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?

_Harbard_.

30. I was in the east, and with a certain la.s.s held converse; with that fair I dallied, and long meetings had. I that gold-bright one delighted; the game amused her.

_Thor_.

31. Then you had kind damsels there?

_Harbard_.