Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Lausavísur — Herv LvVIII (Heiðr)

Hervǫr

Hervǫr, Lausavísur — Vol. 8 — Hannah Burrows

Hannah Burrows (forthcoming), ‘ Hervǫr, Lausavísur’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3135> (accessed 25 April 2024)

 

Áka ek várri         vegsemð hrósa,
þótt hefði Fróðmars         fengit hylli.
Föður hugðumz ek         fræknan eiga;
nú er sagðr fyrir mér:         svína hirðir.
 
‘I cannot praise our honour, though I might have gained Fróðmarr’s favour. I thought myself to have a brave father; now it is said before me: a herder of swine.
Nú fýsir mik,         fóstri, at vitja
framgenginna         frænda minna.
Auð mundu þeir         eiga nógan;
þann skal ek öðlaz,         nema ek áðr förumz.
 
‘Now I am eager, foster-father, to visit my deceased kinsmen. They must own abundant wealth; I shall inherit it, unless I die first.
Skal skjótliga         um skör búa
blæjulíni        áðr braut fari.
Mikit býr í því,         er á morgin skal
skera bæði mér         skyrtu ok ólpu.
 
‘[I] must quickly dress my hair with a head covering of coloured cloth, before I go away. Much depends on it, that both shirt and cloak shall be cut for me in the morning.
Bú þú mik at öllu,         sem þú hraðast kunnir,
sannfð kona,         sem þú son myndir.
Satt eitt mun mér         í svefn bera;
fæ ek ekki hér         ynði it næsta.
 
‘Dress me in all respects, as quickly as you can, truly-wise woman, as you would a son. The truth alone will be brought to me in a dream; I will not get happiness here in the near future.
Munkat ek ganga         gistingar til,
því at ek engan kann         eyjarskeggja.
Segðu hraðliga,         áðr heðan líðir:
hvar eru Hjörvarði         haugar kendir?
 
‘I will not go to lodging, because I know no island-beard. Say quickly, before you pass from here: where are the mounds named after Hjǫrvarðr?
Men bjóðum þér         máls at gjöldum;
muna drengja vin         dælt at letja.
Fær engi nú         svá fríðar hnossir
fagra bauga,         at ek fara eigi.
 
‘We [I] offer you a necklace as reward for your word; it will not be easy to hold back the friend of the valiant ones. None can give now such beautiful treasures, fair rings, that I will not go.
Hirðumat fælaz         við fnösun slíka,
þótt um alla ey         eldar brenni.
Látum okkr eigi         liðna rekka
skjótla skelfa;         skulum við talaz.
 
‘Let us not care to be frightened at such roaring, though fires may burn around all the island. Let us not allow dead men to frighten us quickly; we must talk about it.
Vaki þú, Angantýr;         vekr þik Hervör,
eingadóttir         ykkr Sváfu.
Selðu mér ór haugi         hvassan mæki,
þann er Svafrlama         slógu dvergar.
 
‘Waken, Angantýr; Hervǫr wakes you, only daughter to you and Sváfa. Give me from the mound the sharp sword which dwarfs forged for Svafrlami.
Hervarðr, Hjörvarðr,         Hrani, Angantýr,
vek ek yðr alla         undir viðar rótum,
hjálmi ok með brynju,         hvössu sverði,
rönd ok með reiði,         roðnum geiri.
 
‘Hervarðr, Hjǫrvarðr, Hrani, Angantýr, I wake you all under the roots of the tree, with helmet and with mail-shirt, with sharp sword, with shield and with war-gear, with decorated spear.
Mjök eruð orðnir,         Arngríms synir,
megir meingjarnir         at moldarauka,
er engi skal         sona Eyfuru
við mik mæla         í Munarvági.
 
‘Sons of Arngrímr, kinsmen keen on harm, you have greatly become the increase of the earth, since none of the sons of Eyfura will speak with me in Munarvágr.
Hervarðr, Hjörvarðr,         Hrani, Angantýr,
svá sé yðr öllum         innan rifja,
sem þér í maura         mornið haugi,
nema sverð selið,         þat er sló Dvalinn;
samira draugum         dýr vápn fela.
 
‘Hervarðr, Hjǫrvarðr, Hrani, Angantýr, may it be to you all within your ribs as if you rot in an anthill, unless you give [me] the sword, which Dvalinn forged; it is not fitting for revenants to hide precious weapons.
Segir þú eigi satt,         — svá láti áss þik
heilan í haugi —         sem þú hafir eigi
Tyrfing með þér.         Trautt er þér at veita
arfa þínum         einar bænir.
 
‘You do not speak truly, [you speak] as though you do not have Tyrfingr with you; so may the god leave you unharmed in the mound. You are reluctant to grant one boon to your heir.
Brennið eigi svá         bál á nóttum,
at ek við elda         yðra fælumz.
Skelfrat meyju         muntún hugar,
þótt hon draug séi         í durum standa.
 
‘You will not burn blazes at night in such a way that I will be frightened of your fires. The desire-enclosure of the mind [BREAST] of the girl will not tremble, though she sees a revenant stand in the doorway.
Ek vígi svá         virða dauða,
at þér skuluð         allir liggja
dauðir með draugum,         í dys fúnir.
Sel mér, Angantýr,         út ór haugi
hlífum hættan,         Hjálmars bana.
 
‘I curse dead noblemen, so that you will all lie dead with the revenants, rotten in the cairn. Give me, Angantýr, out from the mound, the slayer of Hjálmarr [= Tyrfingr], dangerous to shields.
Maðr þóttumz ek         mennskr til þessa,
áðr ek sali yðra         sækja réðak.
Selðu mér ór haugi,         þann er hatar brynjur,
dverga smíði;         dugira þér at leyna.
 
‘I thought myself a human being until this, before I resolved to seek your halls. Give me from the mound that which hates mail-shirts, smith-craft of dwarfs; it will not help you to hide it.
Ek mun hirða         ok í hendr nema
hvassan mæki,         ef ek hafa mættak.
Uggi ek eigi         eld brennanda;
þegar loga lægir,         er ek lít yfir.
 
‘I will guard the sharp sword and take it in my hands, if I might have it. I do not fear the burning fire; the flame will subside as soon as I look upon it.
Vel gerðir þú,         víkinga niðr,
er þú seldir mér         sverð ór haugi.
Betr þykkjumz nú,         buðlungr, hafa,
en ek Nóregi         næðak öllum.
 
‘You did well, son of vikings, when you gave me the sword from the mound. I feel better now, prince, than if I were to obtain all Norway.
Ek mun ganga         til gjálfrmara;
nú er hilmis mær         í hugum góðum.
Lítt ræki ek þat,         lofðunga niðr,
hvé synir mínir         síðan deila.
 
‘I will go to the sea-horses [SHIPS]; now the prince’s girl is in good spirits. I care little, son of rulers, how my sons contend afterwards.
Búi þér allir         — brótt fýsir mik —
heilir í haugi;         heðan vil ek skjótla.
Helzt þóttumz nú         heima í millim,
er mik umhverfis         eldar brunnu.
 
‘Dwell, all of you, safe in the mound; I long to be away; I wish to go from here quickly. I thought myself now most of all to be between worlds, where fires burned all around me.
Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Information about a text: poem, sequence of stanzas, or prose work

This page is used for different resources. For groups of stanzas such as poems, you will see the verse text and, where published, the translation of each stanza. These are also links to information about the individual stanzas.

For prose works you will see a list of the stanzas and fragments in that prose work, where relevant, providing links to the individual stanzas.

Where you have access to introduction(s) to the poem or prose work in the database, these will appear in the ‘introduction’ section.

The final section, ‘sources’ is a list of the manuscripts that contain the prose work, as well as manuscripts and prose works linked to stanzas and sections of a text.