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Valfather fears
Something defective;
He thinks the haminjes[1]
May have departed;
The gods he convenes,
Their counsel craves;
At the deliberation
Much is devised.
Up stood Odin,
Lord of men,
And on Sleipner he
The saddle laid;
Rode he thence down
To Niflheim.
A dog he met,
From Hel coming.
It was blood-stained
On its breast,
On its slaughter-craving throat,
And nether jaw.
It barked
And widely gaped
At the father of magic song:
Long it howled.
Forth rode Odin—
The ground thundered—
Till to Hel's lofty
House he came;
Then rode Ygg (Odin)
To the eastern gate,
Where he knew there was
A vala's grave.
To the prophetess he began
A magic song to chant,
Toward the north looked,
Potent runes applied,
- ↑ Guardian spirits.
