398 POETRY OR SCALDSHIP, MUSIC AND MENTAL EXERCISES. 



Oest. 



What wonder is it 

 I saw outside 



Before the doors of Belling ? 

 It turns its head 

 On the way to Hel 

 And its feet to the sun. 



Heidrek. 



The head of the leek turns 

 Towards the bosom of the earth 

 And its leaves into the air. 



Oest. 



What wonder is it 



I saw outside 



Before the doors of Belling ? 



Harder than horn, 



Blacker than raven, 



Brighter than shield, 



Straighter than shaft. 



Heidrek. 



Now thy riddle-making 

 Begins to slacken ; 

 Why should a ready man tarry? 

 Thou looker! st on the roads, 

 There lay raven-flint, 

 Glittering in a sunbeam. 



Oest. 



Two bondwomen, 



Light-haired maidens, 



Carried alu 



To the skemrna ; l 



It was not touched with hand, 



N >r with hammer shaped ; 



The wave-breasting one who made it 



Was outside the islands. 2 



Heidrek. 



White-feathered skin 

 Have the swans 



Which by islands 

 Sit on the sea; 

 Nests they built, 

 Had no hands, 

 With other swans 

 Eggs begat. 3 



Gest. 



What beast is that 

 Which defends the Banes? 

 It has a bloody back 

 And shelters men, 

 Meets the weapons, 

 Exposes its life, 

 Man lays his body 

 Against its palm. 



Heidrek. 



The shields shine 



In the battles, 



And protect those who wield them. 



Oest. 



Who are the play sisters 

 That pass over lands 

 And play much at will ? 

 They wear a white shield 

 In winter, 

 But a dark one 

 In summer. 



Heidrek. 

 Ptarmigans call 

 The sons of men 

 Feather-wearing birds ; 

 Their feathers become black 

 In summer-time, 

 But white during the bear's night. 4 



Oest. 



Who are the maidens 

 That sorrowful go 

 To seek their father? 



1 Woman's house. 



2 On the sea. 



3 The swans swim to their nests 

 and lay eggs ; the shell of the eggs is 

 neither made by hand nor shaped by 



hammer, but. the swan with whom they 

 beget the eggs is "breasting the waves 

 outside the islands. 



J The bears of the North sleep all 

 winter. 



