“49. Dauði Baldrs ins góða.
Þá
mælti Gangleri: "Hafa nökkur meiri tíðendi orðit með ásunum? Allmikit
þrekvirki vann Þórr í þessi ferð."
Hárr svarar: "Vera mun at segja frá
þeim tíðendum, er meira þótti vert ásunum. En þat er upphaf þeirar sögu, at
Baldr inn góða dreymði drauma stóra ok hættliga um líf sitt. En er hann sagði
ásunum draumana, þá báru þeir saman ráð sín, ok var þat gert at beiða griða
Baldri fyrir allskonar háska, ok Frigg tók svardaga til þess, at eira skyldu
Baldri eldr ok vatn, járn ok alls konar málmr, steinar, jörðin, viðirnir,
sóttirnar, dýrin, fuglarnir, eitrit, ormarnir.
En er þetta var gert ok vitat, þá var þat
skemmtun Baldrs ok ásanna, at hann skyldi standa upp á þingum, en allir aðrir
skyldu sumir skjóta á hann, sumir höggva til, sumir berja grjóti, en hvat sem
at var gert, sakaði hann ekki, ok þótti þetta öllum mikill frami.
En er þetta sá Loki Laufeyjarson, þá líkaði
honum illa, er Baldr sakaði ekki. Hann gekk til Fensalar til Friggjar ok brá
sér í konu líki. Þá spyrr Frigg, ef sú kona vissi, hvat æsir höfðust at á
þinginu. Hon sagði, at allir skutu at Baldri ok þat, at hann sakaði ekki.
Þá mælti Frigg: "Eigi munu vápn eða
viðir granda Baldri. Eiða hefi ek þegit af öllum þeim."
Þá spyr konan: "Hafa allir hlutir eiða
unnit at eira Baldri?"
Þá svarar Frigg: "Vex viðarteinungr
einn fyrir vestan Valhöll. Sá er mistilteinn kallaðr. Sá þótti mér ungr at
krefja eiðsins."
Því næst
hvarf konan á braut, en Loki tók mistiltein ok sleit upp ok gekk til þings. En
Höðr stóð útarliga í mannhringnum, því at hann var blindr.
Þá mælti Loki
við hann: "Hví skýtr þú ekki at Baldri?"
Hann svarar:
"Því, at ek sé eigi, hvar Baldr er, ok þat annat, at ek em
vápnlauss."
Þá mælti
Loki: "Gerðu þó í líking annarra manna ok veit Baldri sæmð sem aðrir menn.
Ek mun vísa þér til, hvar hann stendr. Skjót at honum vendi þessum."
Höðr tók
mistiltein ok skaut at Baldri at tilvísun Loka. Flaug skotit í gegnum Baldr, ok
féll hann dauðr til jarðar, ok hefir þat mest óhapp verit unnit með goðum ok
mönnum.
Þá er Baldr
var fallinn, þá féllust öllum ásum orðtök ok svá hendr at taka til hans, ok sá
hverr til annars, ok váru allir með einum hug til þess, er unnit hafði verkit,
en engi mátti hefna. Þar var svá mikill griðastaðr. En þá er æsirnir freistuðu
at mæla, þá var hitt þó fyrr, at grátrinn kom upp, svá at engi mátti öðrum
segja með orðunum frá sínum harmi. En Óðinn bar þeim mun verst þenna skaða sem
hann kunni mesta skyn, hversu mikil aftaka ok missa ásunum var í fráfalli
Baldrs.
En er goðin
vitkuðust, þá mælti Frigg ok spurði, hverr sá væri með ásum, er eignast vildi
allar ástir hennar ok hylli ok vili hann ríða á helveg ok freista, ef hann fái
fundit Baldr, ok bjóða Helju útlausn, ef hon vill láta fara Baldr heim í
Ásgarð. En sá er nefndr Hermóðr inn hvati, sonr Óðins, er til þeirar farar
varð. Þá var tekinn Sleipnir, hestr Óðins, ok leiddr fram, ok steig Hermóðr á
þann hest ok hleypði braut.
En æsirnir
tóku lík Baldrs ok fluttu til sævar. Hringhorni hét skip Baldrs. Hann var allra
skipa mestr. Hann vildu goðin fram setja ok gera þar á bálför Baldrs, en skipit
gekk hvergi fram. Þá var sent í Jötunheima eftir gýgi þeiri, er Hyrrokkin hét.
En er hon kom ok reið vargi ok hafði höggorm at taumum, þá hljóp hon af
hestinum, en Óðinn kallaði til berserki fjóra at gæta hestsins, ok fengu þeir
eigi haldit, nema þeir felldi hann. Þá gekk Hyrrokkin á framstafn nökkvans ok
hratt fram í fyrsta viðbragði, svá at eldr hraut ór hlunnunum ok lönd öll
skulfu. Þá varð Þórr reiðr ok greip hamarinn ok myndi þá brjóta höfuð hennar,
áðr en goðin öll báðu henni friðar. Þá var borit út á skipit lík Baldrs, ok er
þat sá kona hans, Nanna Nepsdóttir, þá sprakk hon af harmi ok dó. Var hon borin
á bálit ok slegit í eldi. Þá stóð Þórr at ok vígði bálit með Mjöllni. En fyrir
fótum honum rann dvergr nökkurr; sá er Litr nefndr; en Þórr spyrnði fæti sínum
á hann ok hratt honum í eldinn, ok brann hann. En þessa brennu sótti margs
konar þjóð, fyrst at segja frá Óðni, at með honum fór Frigg ok valkyrjur ok
hrafnar hans, en Freyr ók í kerru með gelti þeim, er Gullinbursti heitir eða
Slíðrugtanni, en Heimdallr reið hesti þeim, er Gulltoppr heitir, en Freyja ók
köttum sínum. Þar kom ok mikit fólk hrímþursa ok bergrisar. Óðinn lagði á bálit
gullhring þann, er Draupnir heitir. Honum fylgði sú náttúra, at ina níundu
hverja nótt drupu af honum átta gullhringar jafnhöfgir. Hestr Baldrs var leiddr
á bálit með öllu reiði.
En þat er at
segja frá Hermóði, at hann reið níu nætr dökkva dala ok djúpa, svá at hann sá
ekki, fyrr en hann kom til árinnar Gjallar ok reið á Gjallarbrúna. Hon var þökð
lýsigulli.
Móðguðr er
nefnd mær sú, er gætir brúarinnar. Hon spurði hann at nafni eða at ætt ok
sagði, at inn fyrra dag riðu um brúna fimm fylki dauðra manna - "en eigi
dynr brúin minnr undir einum þér, ok eigi hefir þú lit dauðra manna. Hví ríðr
þú hér á helveg?"
Hann svarar,
at -"ek skal ríða til Heljar at leita Baldrs, eða hvárt hefir þú nakkvat
sét Baldr á helvegi?"
En hon sagði,
at Baldr hafði þar riðit um Gjallarbrú, "en niðr ok norðr liggr
helvegr."
Þá reið
Hermóðr, þar til er hann kom at helgrindum. Þá sté hann af hestinum ok gyrði
hann fast, steig upp ok keyrði hann sporum, en hestrinn hljóp svá hart ok yfir
grindina, at hann kom hvergi nær. Þá reið Hermóðr heim til hallarinnar ok steig
af hesti, gekk inn í höllina, sá þar sitja í öndugi, Baldr bróður sinn, ok
dvalðist Hermóðr þar um nóttina. En at morgni þá beiddist Hermóðr af Helju, at
Baldr skyldi ríða heim með honum, ok sagði, hversu mikill grátr var með ásum.
En Hel sagði,
at þat skyldi svá reyna, hvárt Baldr var svá ástsæll - "sem sagt er. Ok ef
allir hlutir í heiminum, kykvir ok dauðir, gráta hann, þá skal hann fara til
ása aftr, en haldast með Helju, ef nakkvarr mælir við eða vill eigi
gráta."
Þá stóð
Hermóðr upp, en Baldr leiddi hann út ór höllinni ok tók hringinn Draupni ok
sendi Óðni til minja, en Nanna sendi Frigg rifti ok enn fleiri gjafar. Fullu
fingrgull. Þá reið Hermóðr aftr leið sína ok kom í Ásgarð ok sagði öll tíðendi,
þau er hann hafði séð ok heyrt. Því næst sendu æsir um allan heim erendreka at
biðja, at Baldr væri grátinn ór helju, en allir gerðu þat, mennirnir ok kykvendin
ok jörðin ok steinarnir ok tré ok allr málmr, svá sem þú munt sét hafa, at
þessir hlutir gráta þá, er þeir koma ór frosti ok í hita.
Þá er sendimenn fóru heim ok höfðu vel rekit
sín erendi, finna þeir í helli nökkurum, hvar gýgr sat. Hon nefndist Þökk. Þeir
biðja hana gráta Baldr ór Helju. Hon segir:
54.
"Þökk
mun gráta
þurrum
tárum
Baldrs
bálfarar;
kyks
né dauðs
nautk-a
ek Karls sonar,
haldi
Hel því, er hefir."
En
þess geta menn, at þar hafi verit Loki Laufeyjarson, er flest hefir illt gert með
ásum."
“XLIX. Then spake Gangleri: "Have any more
matters of note befallen among the Æsir? A very great deed of valor did Thor
achieve on that journey." Hárr made answer: "Now shall be told of
those tidings which seemed of more consequence to the Æsir. The beginning of
the story is this, that Baldr the Good dreamed great and perilous dreams
touching his life. When he told these dreams to the Æsir, then they took
counsel together: and this was their decision: to ask safety for Baldr from all
kinds of dangers. And Frigg took oaths to this purport, that fire and water
should spare Baldr, likewise iron and metal of all kinds, stones, earth, trees,
sicknesses, beasts, birds, venom, serpents. And when that was done and made
known, then it was a diversion of Baldr's and the Æsir, that he should stand up
in the Thing, and all the others should some shoot at him, some hew at him,
some beat him with stones; but whatsoever was done hurt him not at all, and
that seemed to them all a very worshipful thing.
"But when Loki Laufeyarson saw this, it pleased
him ill that Baldr took no hurt. He went to Fensalir to Frigg, and made himself
into the likeness of a woman. Then Frigg asked if that woman knew what the Æsir
did at the Thing. She said that all were shooting at Baldr, and moreover, that
he took no hurt. Then said Frigg: 'Neither weapons nor trees may hurt Baldr: I
have taken oaths of them all.' Then the woman asked: 'Have all things taken
oaths to spare Baldr?' and Frigg answered: 'There grows a tree-sprout alone westward
of Valhall: it is called Mistletoe; I thought it too young to ask the oath of.'
Then straightway the woman turned away; but Loki took Mistletoe and pulled it
up and went to the Thing.
"Hödr stood outside the ring of men, because he
was blind. Then spake Loki to him: 'Why dost thou not shoot at Baldr?' He
answered: 'Because I see not where Baldr is; and for this also, that I am
weaponless.' Then said Loki: 'Do thou also after the manner of other men, and
show Baldr honor as the other men do. I will direct thee where he stands; shoot
at him with this wand.' Hödr took Mistletoe and shot at Baldr, being guided by
Loki: the shaft flew through Baldr, and he fell dead to the earth; and that was
the greatest mischance that has ever befallen among gods and men.
"Then, when Baldr was fallen, words failed all
the, Æsir, and their hands likewise to lay hold of him; each looked at the
other, and all were of one mind as to him who had. wrought the work, but none
might take vengeance, so great a sanctuary was in that place. But when the Æsir
tried to speak, then it befell first that weeping broke out, so that none might
speak to the others with words concerning his grief. But Odin bore that
misfortune by so much the worst, as he had most perception of how great harm
and loss for the Æsir were in the death of Baldr.
"Now when the gods had come to themselves, Frigg
spake, and asked who there might be among the Æsir who would fain have for his
own all her love and favor: let him ride the road to Hel, and seek if he may
find Baldr, and offer Hel a ransom if she will let Baldr come home to Ásgard.
And he is named Hermódr the Bold, Odin's son, who undertook that embassy. Then
Sleipnir was taken, Odin's steed, and led forward; and Hermódr mounted on that
horse and galloped off.
"The Æsir took the body of Baldr and brought it
to the sea. Hringhorni is the name of Baldr's ship: it was greatest of all
ships; the gods would have launched it and made Baldr's pyre thereon, but the
ship stirred not forward. Then word was sent to Jötunheim after that giantess
who is called Hyrrokkin. When she had come, riding a wolf and having a viper
for bridle, then she leaped off the steed; and Odin called to four berserks to
tend the steed; but they were not able to hold it until they had felled it.
Then Hyrrokkin went to the prow of the boat and thrust it out at the first
push, so that fire burst from the rollers, and all lands trembled. Thor became
angry and clutched his hammer, and would straightway have broken her head, had
not the gods prayed for peace for her.
"Then was the body of Baldr borne
out on shipboard; and when his wife, Nanna the daughter of Nep, saw that,
straightway her heart burst with grief, and she died; she was borne to the
pyre, and fire was kindled. Then Thor stood by and hallowed the pyre with
Mjöllnir; and before his feet ran a certain dwarf which was named Litr; Thor
kicked at him with his foot and thrust him into the fire, and he burned. People
of many races visited this burning: First is to be told of Odin, how Frigg and
the Valkyrs went with him, and his ravens; but Freyr drove in his chariot with
the boar called Gold-Mane, or Fearful-Tusk, and Heimdallr rode the horse called
Gold-Top, and Freyja drove her cats. Thither came also much people of the
Rime-Giants and the Hill-Giants. Odin laid on the pyre that gold ring which is
called Draupnir; this quality attended it, that every ninth night there dropped
from it eight gold rings of equal weight. Baldr's horse was led to the
bale-fire with all his trappings.
"Now this is to be told concerning
Hermódr, that he rode nine nights through dark dales and deep, so that he saw
not before he was come to the river Gjöll and rode onto the Gjöll-Bridge; which
bridge is thatched with glittering gold. Módgudr is the maiden called who
guards the bridge; she asked him his name and race, saying that the day before
there had ridden over the bridge five companies of dead men; but the bridge
thunders no less under thee alone, and thou hast not the color of dead men. Why
ridest thou hither on Hel-way?' He answered: 'I am appointed to ride to Hel to
seek out Baldr. Hast thou perchance seen Baldr on Hel-way?' She said that Baldr
had ridden there over Gjöll's Bridge,--'but down and north lieth Hel-way.'
'Then Hermódr rode on till he came to
Hel-gate; he dismounted from his steed and made his girths fast, mounted and
pricked him with his spurs; and the steed leaped so hard over the gate that he
came nowise near to it. Then Hermódr rode home to the hall and dismounted from
his steed, went into the hall, and saw sitting there in the high-seat Baldr,
his brother; and Hermódr tarried there overnight. At morn Hermódr prayed Hel
that Baldr might ride home with him, and told her how great weeping was among
the Æsir. But Hel said that in this wise it should be put to the test, whether
Baldr were so all-beloved as had been said: 'If all things in the world, quick
and dead, weep for him, then he shall go back to the Æsir; but he shall remain
with Hel if any gainsay it or will not weep.' Then Hermódr arose; but Baldr led
him out of the hall, and took the ring Draupnir and sent it to Odin for a
remembrance. And Nanna sent Frigg a linen smock, and yet more gifts, and to
Fulla a golden finger-ring.
"Then Hermódr rode his way back,
and came into Ásgard, and told all those tidings which he had seen and heard.
Thereupon the Æsir sent over all the world messengers to pray that Baldr be
wept out of Hel; and all men did this, and quick things, and the earth, and
stones,and trees, and all metals,--even as thou must have seen that these
things weep when they come out of frost and into the heat. Then, when the
messengers went home, having well wrought their errand, they found, in a
certain cave, where a giantess sat: she called herself Thökk. They prayed her
to weep Baldr out of Hel; she answered:
Thökk will weep | waterless tears
For Baldr's
bale-fare;
Living or dead, | I loved not the churl's son;
Let Hel hold
to that she hath!
And men deem that she who was there was
Loki Laufeyarson, who hath wrought most ill among the Æsir."
*********************************************************************
52.
Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hvat verðr þá eftir, er brenndr er heimr allr ok dauð goðin öll ok allir Einherjar ok allt mannfólk? ... 53. Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hvárt lifa nökkur goðin þá, eða er þá nökkur jörð eða himinn?"
Hárr segir: "Upp skýtr jörðunni þá ór sænum ok er þá græn ok fögr. Vaxa þá akrar ósánir. Víðarr ok Váli lifa, svá at eigi hefir særinn ok Surtalogi grandat þeim, ok byggja þeir á Iðavelli, þar sem fyrr var Ásgarðr, ok þar koma þá synir Þórs, Móði ok Magni, ok hafa þar Mjöllni. Því næst koma þar Baldr ok Höðr frá Heljar, setjast þá allir samt ok talast við ok minnast á rúnar sínar ok ræða of tíðendi þau, er fyrrum höfðu verit, of Miðgarðsorm ok um Fenrisúlf. Þá finna þeir í grasinu gulltöflur þær, er æsirnir höfðu átt. Svá er sagt:
68.En þar, sem heitir Hoddmímisholt, leynast menn tveir í surtaloga, er svá heita, Líf ok Leifþrasir, ok hafa morgindöggvar fyrir mat, en af þessum mönnum kemr svá mikil kynslóð, at byggvist heimr allr, svá sem hér segir:
Víðarr ok Váli
byggva vé goða,
þá er sortnar Surtalogi;
Móði ok Magni
skulu Mjöllni hafa
Vingnis at vígþroti.
69.Ok hitt mun þér undarligt þykkja, er sólin hefir getit dóttur eigi ófegri en hon er, ok ferr sú þá stigu móður sinnar, sem hér segir:
Líf ok Leifþrasir,
en þau leynask munu
í holti Hoddmímis;
morgindöggvar
þau at mat hafa,
en þaðan af aldir alask.
70.En ef þú kannt lengra fram at spyrja, þá veit ek eigi, hvaðan þér kemr þat, fyrir því at engan mann heyrða ek lengra segja fram aldarfarit, ok njóttu nú sem þú namt."
Eina dóttur
berr alfröðull,
áðr hana fenrir fari;
sú skal ríða,
er regin deyja,
móður brautir mær.
LII. Then said Gangleri: 'What shall come to pass afterward, when all the world is burned, and dead are all the gods and all the champions and all mankind? ..
LIII. Then spake Gangleri: "Shall any of the gods live then, or shall there be then any earth or heaven?" Hárr answered: "In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea, and shall then be green and fair; then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown. Vídarr and Váli shall be living, inasmuch as neither sea nor the fire of Surtr shall have harmed them; and they shall dwell at Ida-Plain, where Ásgard was before. And then the sons of Thor, Módi and Magni, shall come there, and they shall have Mjöllnir there. After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together and hold speech. with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf. Then they shall find in the grass those golden chess-pieces which the Æsir had had; thus is it said:
When the Fire of Surtr is slackened;
Módi and Magni | shall have Mjöllnir
At the ceasing of Thor's strife.
In the Holt of Hoddmímir;
The morning dews | their meat shall be;
Thence are gendered the generations.
And it may seem wonderful to thee, that the sun shall have borne a daughter not less fair than herself; and the daughter shall then tread in the steps of her mother, as is said here:
Ere Fenris drags her forth;
That maid shall go, | when the great gods die,
To ride her mother's road.
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