Hverr er sá inn mikli, er mörgu ræðr,
ok horfir til heljar hálfr?
*Öldum bergr en við jörð sakaz,
ef hann hefir sér vel traustan vin.
Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
Hverr er sá inn mikli, er ræðr mörgu, ok horfir hálfr til heljar? Bergr *öldum en sakaz við jörð, ef hann hefir sér vel traustan vin. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
Who is that, the great one, who governs much, and half [of him] turns to Hel? He protects men but contends with the earth, if he has for himself a well-trusted friend. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.
[3] til heljar ‘to Hel’: See Note to Heiðr 32/1. Here in the sense ‘to the realm of the dead’ (LP:1. hel, Hel 1), i.e. the fluke (ON fleinn) fastens into the bed of a body of water (grunnr in the prose solution) pointing downwards. Cf. Gestumbl Heiðr 8/4-5 (Heiðr 55), which describes a leek pointing á helvega ‘towards the roads to Hel’ with its head.