Page:The Prose Edda (1916 translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur).pdf/158

 :The fair warriors of the Æsir,
 * In battle wise, fast waded,
 * And the surging pool, sward-sweeping,
 * Streamed: the earth-drift's billow,
 * Blown by the mighty tempest,
 * Tugged with monstrous fury
 * At the terrible oppressor
 * Of the earth-born tribe of cave-folk.


 * Till Thjálfi came uplifted
 * On his lord Thor's wide shield-strap:
 * That was a mighty thew-test
 * For the Prop of Heaven; the maidens
 * Of the harmful giant stiffly
 * Held the stream stubborn against them;
 * The Giantess-Destroyer
 * With Grídr's staff fared sternly.


 * Nor did their hearts of rancor
 * Droop in the men unblemished,
 * Nor courage 'gainst the headlong
 * Fall of the current fail them:
 * A fiercer-daring spirit
 * Flamed in the dauntless God's breast,&mdash;
 * With terror Thor's staunch heart-stone
 * Trembled not, nor Thjálfi's.


 * And afterward the haters
 * Of the host of sword-companions,
 * The shatterers of bucklers,
 * Dinned on the shield of giants,
 * Ere the destroying peoples
 * Of the shingle-drift of monsters
 * Wrought the helm-play of Hedinn
 * 'Gainst the rock-dwelling marksmen.