Page:The Elder Edda and the Younger Edda - tr. Thorpe - 1907.djvu/114



22. Be silent, Odin! Thou never couldst allot conflicts between men: oft hast thou given to those to whom thou oughtest not—victory to cowards.

23. Knowest thou that I gave to those I ought not—victory to cowards? Thou wast eight winters on the earth below, a milch cow and a woman, and didst there bear children. Now that, methinks, betokens a base nature.

24. But, it is said, thou wentest with tottering steps in Samso, and knocked at houses as a Vala. In likeness of a fortune teller, thou wentest among people. Now that, methinks, betokens a base nature.

25. Your doings ye should never publish among men, what ye, Æsir twain, did in days of yore. Ever forgotten be men's former deeds!

26. Be thou silent, Frigg! Thou art Fiorgyn's daughter, and ever hast been fond of men, since Ve and Vili, it is said, thou, Vidrir's wife, didst both to thy bosom take.

27. Know thou that if I had, in Œgir's halls, a son like Baldr, out thou shouldst not go from the Æsir's sons: thou should'st have heen fiercely assailed. 88