416 



SORROW AND MOURNING. 



we shall sit at the drinking at his arveU Egil said it was 

 unlikely that he could make a poem then, even if he tried, but 

 he would make an attempt " (Egil's Saga). 



I give the leading stanzas of the poem. 



SONA-TORREK (the loss of sons). 1 



It is very difficult 



To move my tongue, 



Or the heavy air 



Of the steel-yard of sound. 2 



Now there is little hope 



Of the theft of Vidrir, 3 



Nor is it easy to draw it 



For my kin 



Has come near to its end 



Like the death-beaten 



Branches in the forest. 



The man is not merry 



Who carries 



The bones of his kinsmen 



Out of the hiding-place of the mind. 4 From the place of dead bodies. 10 



The silent find 5 



Of the kinsmen of Thriggi, 6 



Brought of yore 



From Jotunheimar 



Is not easily driven 



From the abode of the mind. 



Heavy sorrow 



Is the cause. 



The blameless Bragi 



Got famous 



On the boat 



Of Nokkver (a Dverg) ; ? 



The wound 8 of the neck of the Jotun 



Roars 



Down at the door 



Of the house of my kinsman. 9 



Nevertheless 



I recall first 



The death of my father, 



The death of my mother. 



That timber of song, 11 



With words for leaves, 12 



I bring out 



Of the temple of speech. 13 



Cruel was the gate 

 Which Hronn 14 broke 

 On the kin-wall 15 

 Of my father. 

 I see the place of my son, 

 Made waste by sea, 

 Stand empty 

 And open. 16 



1 He had a son called Gunnar, who 

 had died a short time before. The 

 best stanzas only are given. 



2 I.e., tongue. The heavy air of the 

 tongue = breath. 



3 Odin's the t = poetry. 



4 The breast. The people believed 

 that thought came from the breast. 



5 The mead, stolen by Odin, poetry, 

 song. See the later Edda. 



8 T 'e kinsmen of Odin are the Asar. 



7 Boat of theDvergar, the poetical mead. 



8 Ymir's blood, the sea. Egil thinks 

 he hears the roar of the surf near the 

 mound of the drowned son ; it intensifies 

 his sorrow. 



of my kinsmen, the mound 

 son with other kinsmen was 



9 House 

 where his 

 buried. 



10 The shore bringing the bodies of the 

 drowned. 



11 As timber is the material for work- 

 manship, so " timber of songs " means 

 the subject from which the song is made. 



12 As the leaves hang on the branches 

 of the trees, so the words hang on the 

 timber of song. 



13 The mouth. 



14 Daughter of /Egir. 



15 Meaning that his kinsmen are round 

 him like a sheltering wall. 



16 I.e., he sees the seat of his son empty. 





