1. Of old the gods | made feast together,

And drink they sought | ere sated they were;

Twigs they shook, | and blood they tried:

Rich fare in Ægir's | hall they found.

2. The mountain-dweller | sat merry as boyhood,

But soon like a blinded | man he seemed;

The son of Ygg | gazed in his eyes:

"For the gods a feast | shalt thou forthwith get."

3. The word-wielder toil | for the giant worked,

And so revenge | on the gods he sought;

He bade Sif's mate | the kettle bring:

"Therein for ye all | much ale shall I brew."

4. The far-famed ones | could find it not,

And the holy gods | could get it nowhere;

Till in truthful wise | did Tyr speak forth,

And helpful counsel | to Hlorrithi gave.

5. "There dwells to the east | of Elivagar

Hymir the wise | at the end of heaven;

A kettle my father | fierce doth own,

A mighty vessel | a mile in depth."

Thor spake:

6. "May we win, dost thou think, | this whirler of water?"

Tyr spake:

"Aye, friend, we can, | if cunning we are."

7. Forward that day | with speed they fared,

From Asgarth came they | to Egil's home;

The goats with horns | bedecked he guarded;

Then they sped to the hall | where Hymir dwelt.

8. The youth found his grandam, | that greatly he loathed,

And full nine hundred | heads she had;

But the other fair | with gold came forth,

And the bright-browed one | brought beer to her son.

9. "Kinsman of giants, | beneath the kettle

Will I set ye both, | ye heroes bold;

For many a time | my dear-loved mate

To guests is wrathful | and grim of mind."

10. Late to his home | the misshapen Hymir,

The giant harsh, | from his hunting came;

The icicles rattled | as in he came,

For the fellow's chin-forest | frozen was.

11. "Hail to thee, Hymir! | good thoughts mayst thou have;

Here has thy son | to thine hall now come;

(For him have we waited, | his way was long;)

And with him fares | the foeman of Hroth,

The friend of mankind, | and Veur they call him.

12. "See where under | the gable they sit!

Behind the beam | do they hide themselves."

The beam at the glance | of the giant broke,

And the mighty pillar | in pieces fell.

13. Eight fell from the ledge, | and one alone,

The hard-hammered kettle, | of all was whole;

Forth came they then, | and his foes he sought,

The giant old, | and held with his eyes.

14. Much sorrow his heart | foretold when he saw

The giantess' foeman | come forth on the floor;

Then of the steers | did they bring in three;

Their flesh to boil | did the giant bid.

15. By a head was each | the shorter hewed,

And the beasts to the fire | straight they bore;

The husband of Sif, | ere to sleep he went,

Alone two oxen | of Hymir's ate.

16. To the comrade hoary | of Hrungnir then

Did Hlorrithi's meal | full mighty seem;

"Next time at eve | we three must eat

The food we have | {illegible}s the hunting's spoil."

17. ...

Fain to row on the sea | was Veur, he said,

If the giant bold | would give him bait.

Hymir spake:

18. "Go to the herd, | if thou hast it in mind,

Thou slayer of giants, | thy bait to seek;

For there thou soon | mayst find, methinks,

Bait from the oxen | easy to get."

19. Swift to the wood | the hero went,

Till before him an ox | all black he found;

From the beast the slayer | of giants broke

The fortress high | of his double horns.

Hymir spake:

20. "Thy works, methinks, | are worse by far,

Thou steerer of ships, | than when still thou sittest."

...

...

21. The lord of the goats | bade the ape-begotten

Farther to steer | the steed of the rollers;

But the giant said | that his will, forsooth,

Longer to row | was little enough.

22. Two whales on his hook | did the mighty Hymir

Soon pull up | on a single cast;

In the stern the kinsman | of Othin sat,

And Veur with cunning | his cast prepared.

23. The warder of men, | the worm's destroyer,

Fixed on his hook | the head of the ox;

There gaped at the bait | the foe of the gods,

The girdler of all | the earth beneath.

24. The venomous serpent | swiftly up

To the boat did Thor, | the bold one, pull;

With his hammer the loathly | hill of the hair

Of the brother of Fenrir | he smote from above.

25. The monsters roared, | and the rocks resounded,

And all the earth | so old was shaken;

...

Then sank the fish | in the sea forthwith.

26. ...

Joyless as back | they rowed was the giant;

Speechless did Hymir | sit at the oars,

With the rudder he sought | a second wind.

Hymir spake:

27. "The half of our toil | wilt thou have with me,

And now make fast | our goat of the flood;

Or home wilt thou bear | the whales to the house,

Across the gorge | of the wooded glen?"

28. Hlorrithi stood | and the stem he gripped,

And the sea-horse with water | awash he lifted;

Oars and bailer | and all he bore

With the surf-swine home | to the giant's house.

29. His might the giant | again would match,

For stubborn he was, | with the strength of Thor;

None truly strong, | though stoutly he rowed,

Would he call save one | who could break the cup.

30. Hlorrithi then, | when the cup he held,

Struck with the glass | the pillars of stone;

As he sat the posts | in pieces he shattered,

Yet the glass to Hymir whole they brought.

31. But the loved one fair | of the giant found

A counsel true, | and told her thought:

"Smite the skull of Hymir, | heavy with food,

For harder it is | than ever was glass."

32. The goats' mighty ruler | then rose on his knee,

And with all the strength | of a god he struck;

Whole was the fellow's | helmet-stem,

But shattered the wine-cup | rounded was.

Hymir spake:

33. "Fair is the treasure | that from me is gone,

Since now the cup | on my knees lies shattered;"

So spake the giant: | "No more can I say

In days to be, | 'Thou art brewed, mine ale.'

34. "Enough shall it be | if out ye can bring

Forth from our house | the kettle here."

Tyr then twice | to move it tried,

But before him the kettle | twice stood fast.

35. The father of Mothi | the rim seized firm,

And before it stood | on the floor below;

Up on his head | Sif's husband raised it,

And about his heels | the handles clattered.

36. Not long had they fared, | ere backwards looked

The son of Othin, | once more to see;

From their caves in the east | beheld he coming

With Hymir the throng | of the many-headed.

37. He stood and cast | from his back the kettle,

And Mjollnir, the lover | of murder, he wielded;

...

So all the whales | of the waste he slew.

38. Not long had they fared | ere one there lay

Of Hlorrithi's goats | half-dead on the ground;

In his leg the pole-horse | there was lame;

The deed the evil | Loki had done.

39. But ye all have heard,-- | for of them who have

The tales of the gods, | who better can tell?

What prize he won | from the wilderness-dweller,

Who both his children | gave him to boot.

40. The mighty one came | to the council of gods,

And the kettle he had | that Hymir's was;

So gladly their ale | the gods could drink

In Ægir's hall | at the autumn-time.