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Page 56
Stanza 1. _Hilding_ was a yeoman or bonde (see note, canto 2: 1) of Sogn
in Norway and fosterfather of Fritiof and Ingeborg. In viking times the
children of kings and great warriors were often entrusted to the care of
less influential and less wealthy friends to be trained by them, thus
removing the young from the temptations and disturbing influences of
court life and warfare. This practice would also remove them from the
danger of being pampered by fond parents or sycophantic servants.
1. _Ej Norden f�rr sett tv� s� sk�na_. The auxiliary _har_ is omitted.
Such omissions are common in subordinate clauses and in poetry.
6. _S�g_. Subjunctive past, regular form _s�ge_.
6. _i Frejas Hus_. Freja, or Fr�ja, wife of �der, was the goddess of
beauty and love. In her abode, Folkvang, were gathered all the lovers who
had been faithful to each other unto death.
7. _�lvkungen_. _�lvor_ or _alfer_ were ethereal beings of great beauty
and with voices that had the clearness of silver. During moonlight nights
especially they danced in dales and groves. _Ljusalfer_, light elves,
personified the benign influences in nature, especially as they manifest
themselves in the realms of light and air. _Svartalfer_, black elves,
lived in the earth and personified the silent forces that operate beneath
its surface. They are perhaps identical with the dwarfs. The elves are
here thought of as having kings and queens just as human beings.
8. _En Kung var ej som han i �ra_. A king was not honored as he.
8. _runan_. The runes were the characters of the early alphabet of the
Germans, Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians. Runic inscriptions were
generally cut into wood, bone or rock.
9. _fick han Ingborg l�ra. Fick_ may mean either that he was permitted to
teach Ingeborg or that he must do it because of an irresistible desire to
do so.
10. _b�d', b�de_.
12. _Det f�rsta ax, vars guld blev moget_. A striking metaphor meaning
"the first head of grain that ripened and assumed a golden color."
13. _innan kort_, before long.
14. _drog p� jakt_. Idiomatic expression for "went hunting."
17. _Valhall(a)_, the home of the gods and the palace of Oden. Hither one
half of the heroes that fell in battle were carried by the valkyrs. Here
they spent their time in feasting and fighting.
18. _ett kornland, som f�r vinden g�r_. A field of grain that waves
before the wind.
19. _Idun(a)_, wife of Brage and keeper of the golden apples of youth.
20. _Frigg(a)_, the wife of Oden and queen of the goddesses. She was the
goddess of conjugal and motherly love.
21. _Gerd(a)_, wife of Frej, was the daughter of a giant, but
nevertheless renowned for her wonderful beauty.
22. _Nanna_, wife of Balder, personified pure and tender love. Balder was
the fair god who loved light and lived a life of purity and innocence.
The evil Loke induced Balder's blind brother, �der, to throw an arrow of
mistletoe at him and he fell dead. When Nanna saw the body of her dead
husband carried out to the funeral pyre, her heart burst with grief.
23. _Hel(a)_, goddess of death and ruler of nine worlds in Nifelhem. She
received all that died of sickness or old age, but it seems that others
also came to her abode. In the deepest abyss of her kingdom was a place
of punishment for the wicked. From her name comes the word "hell" and
Swedish _ihj�l (att sl� ihj�l_, to kill).
32. _Oden_, oldest and highest god of the Northern races. His spirit
pervaded everything. He is the source of the higher forms of life.
33. _Allfader_, Oden. He is so called because he was supposed to be the
father of men and of gods.
33. _till smycke_, as an ornament. This use of _till_ is very common in
Swedish.
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