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Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar

All thy words  shall I think on well,
But I want them not  if I win not thee."

  The Valkyrie spake:
8.[1] "Swords I know lying  in Sigarsholm,
Fifty there are  save only four;
One there is  that is best of all,
The shield-destroyer,  with gold it shines.

9.[2] "In the hilt is fame,  in the haft is courage,
In the point is fear,  for its owner's foes;
On the blade there lies  a blood-flecked snake,
And a serpent's tail  round the flat is twisted."

[3]Eylimi[4] was the name of a king, whose daughter was Svava; she was a Valkyrie, and rode air and sea. She gave Helgi this name, and shielded him oft thereafter in battle. Helgi spake:

10.[5] "Hjorvarth, king,  unwholesome thy counsels,
Though famed thou art  in leading the folk,


    of a child, but the practice frequently obtained when a permanent epithet was added to the name of an adult.

  1. Sigarsholm ("Isle of Sigar"): a place not identified, but probably related to the Sigarsvoll where Helgi was slain (stanza 35).
  2. The sword is carved with magic runes and with snakes. Fame: the original word is uncertain.
  3. Prose.
  4. Eylimi: this name is another link with the Sigurth story, as it is likewise the name of the father of Sigurth's mother, Hjordis.
  5. With this stanza begins a new episode, that of Helgi's

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