THE L'U 



in-' <nn\. 



Jiil 



Then I became IVnitt'iil 



And wise : 



I grew ami 1 throve ; 



Word followed word 



With me ; 



Act followed act 



With me. 



Thou wilt liud runes 

 And letters to read, 

 Very large staves, 

 Very strong staves. 

 Which the mighty wise one drew, 

 And the high powers made, 

 And the Jlropt of the gods (Odin) 

 carved. 



Odin (carved runes) among the Astir ;' 



Dain with the Alfar ; 



Dvalin with the Dvergar ; 



Alsvid (the All-wise) 



With the Jotnar; 



Some I carved myself. 



Better 'tis not to invoke 



Than sacrifice too much ; 



A gift always looks for reward ; 



Better not to send 



Than offer too much ; 



Thus Thund 2 carved 



Before the origin of men ; 



He rose there ; 



There he came back. 



I know incantations 



Which no king's wife knows, 



And no man's son. 



Help is the first one called, 



And it will help thee 



Against strife ami sorrows, 



Against all kinds of grief. 



A second I know, 



Which the sons of men need, 



Who would as leeches live. 3 



1 From this stanza we learn which 

 tribes or people knew the art of writing 

 runes. 



" Thund = Odin. 



3 Three last lines ol' >tanxa are missing. 



VOL. T. 



The third I know, 

 If I am in sore need of 

 Bonds for my foes ; 

 I deaden the edges ' 

 i If my foes ; 



Neither weapons nor wiles hurt for 

 them. 



The fourth I know, 



If men lay 



Bonds on my limbs ; 



1 sing (incantations) so 



That 1 can walk ; 



The fetter flies off my feet, 



And the shackles off my hands. 



The fifth I know, 



]f I see an arrow Hying, 



Shot to harm in the array; 



It ilies 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;''' 



Illness shall eat 



The man 



That lays spells on me, 



liather 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 1 know, 

 Which for every one is 

 Useful to learn ; 

 Where hate arises 

 Among sons of kings 

 I can .allav it scon. 



4 The edges of weapons. Some persons 

 were supposed to have the power to 



deaden weapons' edges. 



5 Spells on the roots of a yonny; tree 

 in- stick*. 



