Atlamál En Grönlenzku, a reading
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
6
sentences flagged
Toxicity
21
sentences flagged
Hate speech
43
sentences flagged
Summary
The Ballad of Atli is one of the most famous ballads in the Greenlandic epic tradition. Written in the late 11th century, it tells the story of the Gjukings and Atli, the tale of the death of the Burgundian King Attila, and the murder of his wife, Guthrun.
Transcript
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Atle Mall in Groenlin school, the Greenland Ballad of Atri,
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Many of the chief facts regarding the Atlemar, which follows the Atlecvitha in the Codex Regius,
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are outlined in the introductory note to the earlier Atlele.
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That the superscription in the manuscript is correct, and that the poem was actually composed in Greenland, is generally accepted.
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The specific reference to polar bears, stanza 17, and the general color of the entire poem make this origin exceedingly likely.
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Most critics, again, agree in dating the poem nearer 1100 than on 1050.
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As to its state of preservation, there is some dispute, but barring one or two possible gaps of some importance, and the usual number of passages in which the interpolation or omission of one or two lines may be suspected, the Atlamal has clearly come down to us in fairly good shape.
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Throughout the poem, the epic quality of the story itself is overshadowed by the romantically sentimental tendencies of the poet,
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and by his desire to adapt the narrative to the understanding of his fellow Greenlanders.
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The substance of the poem is the same as that of the Adla Kvitha.
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It tells of Adli's message to the sons of Gyuki, their journey to Adli's home,
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Guthrun's bitterness over the death of her brothers,
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Thus, in its bare outline, the Atomal represents simply the
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Frankish blending of the legends of the slaughter of the Burgundians
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The poet has added characters, apparently of his own creation, for the sake of episodes which would appeal to both the men and the women of Greenland Settlement.
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Sea voyages take the place of journeys by land.
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Atli is reproached, not for cowardice in battle, but for weakness at the thing, or great counsel.
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The editions made by the poet are responsible for the art emol being the longest of all the heroic poems in the edit collection, and they give it a kind of emotional vividness, but it has little of the compressed intensity of the older poems.
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Its greatest interest lies in its demonstration of the manner in which a story brought to the North from the South's Romantic lungs could be adapted to the understanding and tastes of its 11th century hearers without any material change of the basic narrative.
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In what form or forms the story of the Gjukings and Atli reached the Greenland poet cannot be determined,
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but it seems likely that he was familiar with the older poems on the subject and possibly with the Atlequitha itself.
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But the details which are peculiar to the Atlamal,
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But the son of Hogni, who aids Guthrun in the slaying of Adli,
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And it is impossible to say just how much the poet relied
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on his own imagination, and how far he found suggestions and hints
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in the prose or verse stories of Atli with which he was familiar.
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The poem is in Malahatar, see the introduction, throughout,
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the verse being far more regular in the Alakvitha.
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The compilers of the Volsunga saga evidently knew it in very much the form in which we now have it,
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For, in the main, it is paraphrased with great fidelity.
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There are many who know, how of old did men in council gather, little good did they get.
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In secret they plotted, it was sore for them later, and for Gukki's sons, whose trust they deceived.
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Fate grew for the princes, to death they were given
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Ill counsel was Otley's, though keenness he had
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He felled his staunch bulwark, his own sorrow fashioned
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Soon a message he sent, that his kinsmen should seek him
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home. She saw well what meant all they said in secret. From her heart it was hid how help
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she might render. The sea they should sail, while herself should go not.
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Runes did she fashion, but false Vingi made them. The spear of hatred e'er to give them
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he sought. Then soon fared the warriors whom Atli had sent, and to Limefjord came, to the
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home of the kings. They were kindly with ale, and fires were they kindled. They thought
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not of craft from the guests who had come. The gifts did they take, that the noble one
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gave them. On the pillars they hung them, no fear did they harbor.
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Forth did Kostbera, wife of Hogni, then come. Full kindly she was, and she welcomed them
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both. And glad too was Glamvor, the wife of Gunnar. She knew well to care for the needs
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Then Hogni they asked, if more eager he were, for clearer was the guile, if on guard they
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Then Gunnar made promise if Hogni would go, and Hogni made answer as the others counseled.
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Then though famed ones brought mead, and fairer was the feast, for many were the horns, till
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the men had drunk deep, then the mates made ready their beds for resting.
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Wise was Cospera and Cunningham Runecraft, the letters which she read by the light of
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the fire, put full quickly her tongue to her pallid clave, so strange did they seem that
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The clear-souled one dreamed, and her dream she kept not.
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To the warrior the wise one spake when she wakened.
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Thou would go hence, Hogni, but heed my counsel, known to few other runes, and put off thy
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I have read now the runes that thy sister wrote, and this time the Bright One did not
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For much do I wonder, nor well can I see, Why the woman wise so wildly hath written.
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But to me it seems that the meaning beneath Is that both shall be slain, if soon ye shall
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go, but one rune she missed, or else others have marred it.
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All women are fearful, not so do I fear, ill I seek not, till I soon must avenge it.
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The king now will give us the glow-ruddy gold, I never shall fear, though of dangers I know.
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Prospera spake, Endanger ye fair, if forth ye go hither,
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No welcoming friendly, this time shall ye find, For I dream now, Hogni, and nought will I
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Thy bed-covering saw I in the flames burning, And the fire burst high through the walls
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Hogni spake, Yon garment of linen lies little worth,
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Till soon be burned, so thou saw'st the bed-cover.
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Prospera spake, a bear saw enter the pillars he broke, and he brandished his claws, so
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With his mouth seized he many, and nought was our might, and loud was the tumult, not
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Ogni spake, now a storm is brewing, and wild it grows swiftly.
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The dream of an ice bear means a gale from the east.
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Cospera spake, an evil I saw flying from the inn through the house.
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Our fate must be boughed, for with blood he sprinkled us,
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From the evil I fear that twas aughty spirit.
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Pogni spake, they will slaughter soon, and so blood do we see,
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Of the oxen it means, when of eagerness one dreams.
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Then silent they were, and not further they said.
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The highborn ones wakened, and little speech they had.
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Then did Glamvor tell how in terror she dreamed, Gunnar two roads they should go.
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A gallows saw I ready, Thou didst go to thy hanging.
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Thy flesh serpents ate, And yet living I found thee.
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The gods doom descended, Now say what it boded.
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Since a dream is hard, oh, a husband to tell, A spear stood, methought, though thy body
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thrust, And in head and feet the wolves were howling.
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The hounds are running, loud their barking is, Oft hounds' clamor follows the flying
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Glamvor spake, a river the length of the hall saw I run, full swiftly it roared, or the
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benches it swept, or the feet did it break of ye brothers twain.
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The water would yield not some meaning there was.
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I dreamed that by night came dead woman hither.
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Sad were their garments, and thee were they seeking.
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They bade thee come swiftly forth to their benches, and nothing, methinks, could the
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Too late is thy speaking, for so it is settled.
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the firing I turn not, the going is fixed, though likely it is that our lives shall be
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Then bright shone the morning, the men all were ready, they said, yet each would the
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Five were the warriors, and their followers all but twice as many.
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Snivar and Soluar, they were the sons of Hogni.
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Orkning was he called, who came with the others.
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Blythe was the shield-tree and brother of Kostbera.
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The fair-decked ones followed till the fjord divided them.
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Full hard did they plead, but the others would hear not.
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Then did Glamvor speak forth, the wife of Gunnar, To Vingi said, that which wise to
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her seemed, I know not if well thou requitest our welcome,
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Then did Vingi swear, and full glib was his speech, May giants now take me, if lies I
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I have told ye, and the gallows of hostile thought did I have.
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Then did Bera speak forth, and fair was her thought.
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May ye sail now happy, and victory have, to fair as I bid ye, may not your way bar.
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Take courage, ye wise ones, whatsoever may come.
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Though many may speak, yet is evil oft mighty, and words aver little to lead one homeward.
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They tenderly looked till each turned on his way, then with changing fate were their fairings
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divided. Full stoutly they rowed, and the keel clove asunder. Their backs strained at
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the oars, and their strength was fierce. The oar loops were burst, the thole pins were
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broken. Though the ship made they fast, ere from her they fared. Not long was it after,
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the end must I tell, that the home they beheld that Boothly once had.
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Loud the gates resounded when Hogni smote them, Vigni smake then a word that was better
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Go ye far from the house, for false is its interests.
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Soon shall I burn you, ye are swiftly smitten.
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I bade ye come fairly, but falseness was us under.
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Then Hogni made answer, his heart yielded little,
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And naught did he fear that his fate held in store.
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Seek not to arthritis, thou shalt seldom succeed.
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If thy words are more, then the worst grows thy fate.
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Then Vingy did they smite, and they sent him to hell.
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With their axes they clothed him, while the death-rattle came.
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Utley summoned his men, and mail-coats they hastened.
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Already they came, and between was the courtyard.
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Then came they the words, and full wrathful they were, Long since did he will plan how
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Hogni spake, Little matters, if long ye have planned it.
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For unarmed do ye wait, and one have we felled.
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We smote him to hell, of the your host was he once.
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When all heard his words, their fingers were swift on their bow-strings to seize, for sharply
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In the house came the word, how the heroes without fought in front of the hall.
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With necklaces fair had she flung them all from her,
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The silver she hurled, till the rings burst asunder.
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All fearless she went, and I guess did she welcome,
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To the Nifflung she went, her last greeting it was.
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In her speech truth was clear, and much would she speak.
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For your safety I sought, that at home ye would stay.
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Full wisely she spake, if yet peace they might win.
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But in naught would they hearken, And no, said they all.
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Then the highborn one saw That hard was their battle.
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In fierceness of heart She flung off her mantle.
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Her naked sword grasped she Her kin's lives to guard,
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Not gentle her hands in the hewing of battle.
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Then the daughter of Gyuki, two warriors, smote down.
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Atli's brother she slew, and forth, then they bore him.
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So fiercely she fought that his feet she clove off.
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Another she smote, so that never he stood.
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Full wide was the fame of the battle they fought.
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"'Twas the greatest of deeds of the sons of Kyuki.
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"'Men say that the Nifrungs, while themselves they were living,
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"'mailcoats they sundered, and helms did they hew,
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"'All the morning they fought, until midday shone.
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"'All the dusk is as well, and the dawning of day.
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"'When the battle was ended, the field flowed with blood.
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Ere they fell, eighteen of their foemen were slain, by the two sons of Bera, and her brother
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Then the warrior spake, and wild was his anger, This is evil to see, and thy doing is all.
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Once we were thirty, we thanes came through battle, now eleven are left, and great is
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There were five of us brothers, when briefly we lost, now hell has the half, and two smitten
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A great kinship had I, the truth may I had not, from a wife bringing slaughter, small
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We lay seldom together, since to me thou hast given.
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Now my kin all are gone, of my gold am I robbed.
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Nay, when wast thou didst send my sister to hell.
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Guthrun spake, Hear me now, Atali, the first evil was thine.
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my mother did thou take, and for gold didst murder her.
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My sister's daughter thou didst starve in prison, a jest does it seem, that thy sorrow
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thou tell'st, and good to do I find, it that grief to thee comes."
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Otley spake, Go now, ye warriors, and make greater the grief
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So fierce be thy warring, that Guthrun shall weep, and would gladly behold her happiness
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Seize ye now Hogni, and with knives shall ye hew him, his heart shall ye cut out this
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haste ye to do. And grim-hearted Gunnar shall ye bind on the gallows. Swift shall ye do
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Hogni spake, Do not as thou wilt, for glad I await it. Brave shalt thou find me, and
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I have faced worse before. We held thee at bay, while whole we were fighting. Now with
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And wounds are we spent, so thy will canst thou work.
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Then did Bates he speak, he was utterly stuart.
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Let us seize now, Hjali, and Ogni spare we.
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Let us feld the sluggard, he is fit for death.
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He has lived to too long, and lazy men call him.
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was the pot-watcher, he fled here and yawn, and crazed with terror, he climbed in the
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Ill for me is the fighting, if I pay for your fierceness, and sad is the day to die
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leaving my spine, and all the fair victuals that of old did I have.
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They seized Book Boothley's cook, And they came with the knife,
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The frightened thrall, howled, Ere the edge did he feel,
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He was willing, he cried, To dung while the courtyard,
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Do the basest of work, If spare him they would,
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Full happy were Yali, If his life he might have.
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When fain was Hogni, there are few would do thus, To beg for the slave, that safe hence
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I would find it far better this knife-play to feel, Why must we all hark to this howling
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Then the brave one they seized, to the warrior's bold, No chance was there left to delay his
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Loud did Hognar laugh, all the sons of day heard him.
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A harp Gunar seized, with his toes he smote it.
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So well did he strike that the women all wept, and the men when clear they heard it lamented.
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Full noble was his song, the rafters burst asunder, And the heroes died, and their day
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was yet come, Their fame did they leave, ever lofty to live.
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Full mighty seemed oddly, as o'er them he stood, The wise one he blamed, and his words reproached
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It is morning, Guthrun, now thy dear ones dost mist.
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But the blame is part thine, that thus sin hath chanced.
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Guthrun spake, Thou art joyous, Otley, for of evil thou tellest.
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The heritage heavy, here can I tell thee, Sorrow never thou losest, and slest I shall
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Away shall I find, That is better by far, off the fairest we shunned.
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With slaves I console thee, With the gems fares to see,
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And with silver snow-white, As thyself thou shalt choose.
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Thy gifts I shall take not, Were quite till I spurned,
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Once grim did I see, But now greater my grimness.
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There was naught seemed too hard while Hogni was living.
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We played many a game in the grove did we grow.
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Thou shalt ne'er make amends for my brother's murder,
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Nor ever shalt win me to think it was well.
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But the fierceness of men rules the fate of women.
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The treetop bows low if bereft of its leaves.
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The tree bends over if the roots are cleft under it.
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Now mayest thou haughty, for all things here rule.
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Full heedless the warrior was that he trusted her.
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So clear was her guile if on guard he had been.
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What crafty was Guthrun, what cunning she spake, Her glance she made pleasant with two shields
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The beer then she brought for her brother's death-feast, And a feast oddly made for his
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No more did they speak, the meat was made ready, Soon the men were gathered with mighty uproar.
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This bitterly planned she, and Bulli's race threatened, and terrible vengeance on her
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The little ones called she, on a block she laid them, afraid were the proud ones, but
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To their mother's arms went they, and asked what she should.
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Guthryn spake, Nay, ask me no more, you both shall I murder.
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Never long have I wished your lives to steal from you.
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The boys spake, Slay the boys as thou wilt, for no one may bar it,
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Short the angry one's peace, if all thou shalt do.
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Then the grim one slew both of the brothers young,
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Full hard were her deed, When their heads she smote off.
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Fain was Otley to know, whither now they were gone, the boys from their sport, from nowhere
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Guthrun spake, My fate shall I seek, all to Otley saying,
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The daughter of Grimhild the deed from thee hides not,
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No joy thou hast Otley, if all thou shalt hear, Great sorrow didst wake,
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I have seldom slept since the hour they were slain.
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Baleful were their threats, now I bid thee recall them.
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Thou didst say it was morning to what I remember.
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Now is evening come, and this question thou askest.
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Now both of thy sons thou hast lost, as thou never shalt do.
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The skulls of thy boys thou as bittercups didst have,
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And the draught that I made thee was mixed with their blood.
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I cut out their hearts, on a spit I cooked them.
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I came to thee with them, and calf's flesh I called them.
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Alone didst thou eat them, nor any didst leave.
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Thou didst greedily bite, and thy teeth were busy.
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Of thy sons now thou knowest, for suffer more sorrow.
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My guilt have I told, Fame I never shall give me.
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Oddly spake, Grim wast thou, Guthryn, and so grievous the deed.
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My draught was the blood of thy boys to mingle.
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Thou slain thy own kin, Most ill it be seen thee,
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And little for me twixt my sorrows thou leavest.
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Gutheran spake, Still more would I seek to slay thee myself.
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Enough ill comes seldom to such as thou art, Thou didst folly of old, such that no one
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shall find, In the whole world of men a match for such madness.
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Now this that of late we learned hast thou added, Great evil hast gasped, and thine own
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Otley spake, With fire shall they burn thee, and first shall they stone thee, so then hast
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Guthrun spake, Such woes for thyself shalt thou say in the morning,
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Together they sat, and full grim were their thoughts,
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Unfriendly to their words, and no joys ever found.
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In hnithlung guru hatred great plans did he have.
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She told him to her well if his vengeance should win.
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So was Otli slain, t'was not slow to await.
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Then the warrior spake as from slumber he wakened.
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Soon he knew for his wounds what the bandage do not.
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what now the truth shalt thou say who has slain bootly's son for sore am i smitten nor hope can i see
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Guthryn spake, Ne'er heard ye from thee hides the daughter
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of Grimhild, I own to the guilt that is ending thy life,
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And the son of Hogni, Dish though thy wounds bleed.
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Oughty spake, To murder hast thou fared, Thou foul, it seemed, must,
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Ill thy friend to betray who trusted thee well.
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Not glad whence I hence thy hand to seek, Guthrum, And thy widowhood feigned.
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But haughty men found thee, my belief did not lie, as now we have learned.
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I brought thee home hither, and the host of women with us.
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Of cattle had we plenty, and greatly we prospered.
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Mighty was our wealth, and many had received it.
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To the fame won, as bridegift I gave jewels of fair, I gave thirty slaves and handmaiden
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There were honor in such gifts, yet the silver was greater.
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But all to thee was as if not if it were, while the land lay before thee that Boothley
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Thou in secret didst work, to the treasure I won not.
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My mother full oft sit weeping dis make, no wedded joy found I in fullness of heart.
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Guthrun spake, Thou liest now, Otley, though little I heed it.
00:35:06.360
Yet brothers fought young, and quarrels brought you to battle,
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And half went to hell of the sons of thy house,
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And all was destroyed that should e'er have done good.
00:35:19.760
My two brothers and I were bold in our thoughts,
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From the land we went forth, with Sigurd we fared,
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Full swiftly we sailed, each one steering his ship.
00:35:31.240
So our fate sought we ever, till we came to the east.
00:35:37.580
First the king did we slay, and the land we seized.
00:35:41.180
The princes did us service, for such was their fear.
00:35:45.000
In the forest we called, then we fain would have guiltless, and rich made we many, who
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Soon happiness vanished, and her grief the widow so young sat weeping.
00:36:06.480
It worse seemed a sorrow to see Achilles' house, A hero was my husband, and hard was
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From the thing came thou never, For thus have we heard,
00:36:23.240
One in thy quarrels are warriors smitten, Full yielding thou wast, never firm was thy
00:36:36.960
Otley spake, Thou liest now, Guthron, but little of good,
00:36:49.400
Let Guthrin yet once be thou kindly of will, for the honor of both, when forth I am home.
00:36:58.040
Guthrin spake, A ship will I buy, and a bright-hued coffin.
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I will wax well the shroud, To wind round thy body,
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For all would like hair, as if dear were we ever.
00:37:19.440
Then did Otley die, and his heir's grief doubled.
00:37:24.220
The high-born one did as to him she had promised.
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Then sought Guthrun the wise to go to her death,
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But for days did she wait, and t'was long ere she died.
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O their children so gallant as Geeky begot,
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