# The Poetic Edda (tr. Bellows)/Skirnismol

SKIRNISMOL The Ballad of Skirnir
Introductory Note
The Skirnismol is found complete in the Codex Regius, and through stanza 27 in the Arnamagnæan Codex. Snorri quotes the concluding stanza. In Regius the poem is entitled "For Scirnis" ("Skirnir's Journey").
The Skirnismol differs sharply from the poems preceding it, in that it has a distinctly ballad quality. As a matter of fact, however, its verse is altogether dialogue, the narrative being supplied in the prose "links," concerning which cf. introductory note to the Grimnismol. The dramatic effectiveness and vivid characterization of the poem seem to connect it with the Thrymskvitha, and the two may possibly have been put into their present form by the same man. Bugge's guess that the Skirnismol was the work of the author of the Lokasenna is also possible, though it has less to support it.
Critics have generally agreed in dating the poem as we now have it as early as the first half of the tenth century; Finnur Jonsson puts it as early as 900, and claims it, as usual, for Norway. Doubtless it was current in Norway, in one form or another, before the first Icelandic settlements, but his argument that the thistle (stanza 31) is not an Icelandic plant has little weight, for such curse-formulas must have traveled freely from place to place. In view of the evidence pointing to a western origin for many or all of the Eddic poems, Jonsson's reiterated "Digtet er sikkert norsk og ikke islandsk" is somewhat exasperating. Wherever the Skirnismol was composed, it has been preserved in exceptionally good condition, and seems to be practically devoid of interpolations or lacunæ.
Freyr, the son of Njorth, had sat one day in Hlithskjolf, and looked over all the worlds. He looked into Jotunheim, and saw there a fair maiden, as she went from her father's house to her bower. Forthwith he felt a mighty ​love-sickness. Skirnir was the name of Freyr’s servant; Njorth bade him ask speech of Freyr. He said:
1."Go now, Skirnir!   and seek to gain Speech from my son; And answer to win,   for whom the wise one Is mightily moved."
Skirnir spake: 2."Ill words do I now   await from thy son, If I seek to get speech with him, And answer to win,   for whom the wise one Is mightily moved." ​
Skirnir spake: 3."Speak prithee, Freyr,   foremost of the gods, For now I fain would know; Why sittest thou here   in the wide halls, Days long, my prince, alone?"
Freyr spake: 4."How shall I tell thee,   thou hero young, Of all my grief so great? Though every day   the elfbeam dawns, It lights my longing never."
Skirnir spake: 5."Thy longings, methinks,   are not so large That thou mayst not tell them to me; Since in days of yore   we were young together, We two might each other trust."
Freyr spake: 6."From Gymir's house   I beheld go forth A maiden dear to me; Her arms glittered,   and from their gleam Shone all the sea and sky. ​
7."To me more dear   than in days of old Was ever maiden to man; But no one of gods   or elves will grant That we both together should be."
Skirnir spake: 8."Then give me the horse   that goes through the dark And magic flickering flames; And the sword as well   that fights of itself Against the giants grim."
Freyr spake: 9."The horse will I give thee   that goes through the dark And magic flickering flames, And the sword as well   that will fight of itself If a worthy hero wields it." ​
Skirnir spake to the horse: 10."Dark is it without,   and I deem it time To fare through the wild fells, (To fare through the giants' fastness;) We shall both come back,   or us both together The terrible giant will take."
Skirnir rode into Jotunheim to Gymir’s house. There were fierce dogs bound before the gate of the fence which was around Gerth’s hall. He rode to where a herdsman sat on a hill, and said:
11."Tell me, herdsman,   sitting on the hill, And watching all the ways, How may I win   a word with the maid Past the hounds of Gymir here?"
The herdsman spake: 12."Art thou doomed to die   or already dead, Thou horseman that ridest hither? Barred from speech   shalt thou ever be With Gymir's daughter good."
Skirnir spake: 13."Boldness is better   than plaints can be For him whose feet must fare; ​To a destined day has mine age been doomed, And my life's span thereto laid."
Gerth spake: 14."What noise is that which now so loud I hear within our house? The ground shakes, and the home of Gymir Around me trembles too."
The Serving-Maid spake: 15."One stands without who has leapt from his steed, And lets his horse loose to graze;" -lacuna- -lacuna-
Gerth spake: 16."Bid the man come in, and drink good mead Here within our hall; Though this I fear, that there without My brother's slayer stands. ​
17."Art thou of the elves   or the offspring of gods, Or of the wise Wanes? How camst thou alone   through the leaping flame Thus to behold our home?"
Skirnir spake: 18."I am not of the elves,   nor the offspring of gods, Nor of the wise Wanes; Though I came alone   through the leaping flame Thus to behold thy home.
19."Eleven apples,   all of gold, Here will I give thee, Gerth, To buy thy troth   that Freyr shall be Deemed to be dearest to you."
Gerth spake: 20."I will not take   at any man's wish These eleven apples ever; Nor shall Freyr and I   one dwelling find So long as we two live."
Skirnir spake: 21."Then do I bring thee   the ring that was burned ​Of old with Othin's son; From it do eight   of like weight fall On every ninth night."
Gerth spake: 22."The ring I wish not,   though burned it was Of old with Othin's son; In Gymir's home   is no lack of gold In the wealth my father wields."
Skirnir spake: 23."Seest thou, maiden,   this keen, bright sword That I hold here in my hand? Thy head from thy neck   shall I straightway hew, If thou wilt not do my will."
Gerth spake: 24."For no man's sake   will I ever suffer To be thus moved by might; But gladly, methinks,   will Gymir seek To fight if he finds thee here."
Skirnir spake: 25."Seest thou, maiden,   this keen, bright sword That I hold here in my hand? ​Before its blade the   old giant bends,— Thy father is doomed to die.
26."I strike thee, maid,   with my magic staff, To tame thee to work my will; There shalt thou go   where never again The sons of men shall see thee.
27."On the eagle's hill   shalt thou ever sit, And gaze on the gates of Hel; More loathsome to thee   than the light-hued snake To men, shall thy meat become.
28."Fearful to see,   if thou comest forth, Hrimnir will stand and stare, (Men will marvel at thee;) ​More famed shalt thou grow   than the watchman of the gods! Peer forth, then, from thy prison,
29."Rage and longing,   fetters and wrath, Tears and torment are thine; Where thou sittest down   my doom is on thee Of heavy heart And double dole.
30."In the giants' home   shall vile things harm thee Each day with evil deeds; Grief shalt thou get   instead of gladness, And sorrow to suffer with tears.
31."With three-headed giants   thou shalt dwell ever, Or never know a husband; (Let longing grip thee,   let wasting waste thee,—) ​Be like to the thistle   that in the loft Was cast and there was crushed.
32."I go to the wood,   and to the wet forest, To win a magic wand; -lacuna- I won a magic wand.
33."Othin grows angry,   angered is the best of the gods, Freyr shall be thy foe, Most evil maid,   who the magic wrath Of gods hast got for thyself.
34."Give heed, frost-rulers,   hear it, giants. Sons of Suttung, And gods, ye too, How I forbid   and how I ban The meeting of men with the maid, (The joy of men with the maid.) ​
35."Hrimgrimnir is he,   the giant who shall have thee In the depth by the doors of Hel; To the frost-giants' halls   each day shalt thou fare, Crawling and craving in vain, (Crawling and having no hope.)
36."Base wretches there   by the root of the tree Will hold for thee horns of filth; A fairer drink   shalt thou never find, Maid, to meet thy wish, (Maid, to meet my wish.)
37."I write thee a charm   and three runes therewith, Longing and madness and lust; But what I have writ   I may yet unwrite If I find a need therefor." ​
Gerth spake: 38."Find welcome rather,   and with it take The frost-cup filled with mead; Though I did not believe   that I should so love Ever one of the Wanes."
Skirnir spake: 39."My tidings all   must I truly learn Ere homeward hence I ride: How soon thou wilt   with the mighty son Of Njorth a meeting make."
Gerth spake: 40.Barri there is,   which we both know well, A forest fair and still; And nine nights hence   to the son of Njorth Will Gerth there grant delight."
Then Skirnir rode home. Freyr stood without, and spoke to him, and asked for tidings:
41."Tell me, Skimir,   ere thou take off the saddle, Or farest forward a step: What hast thou done   in the giants' dwelling To make glad thee or me?"
Skirnir spoke: [
​42."Barri there is,   which we both know well, A forest fair and still; And nine nights hence   to the son of Njorth Will Gerth there grant delight."
Freyr spoke: 43."Long is one night,   longer are two; How then shall I bear three? Often to me   has a month seemed less Than now half a night of desire."