Hollander Translation<\/p>\n
The Rune Poem<\/p>\n
138) I wot that I hung on the wind-tossed tree
\nall of nights nine,
\nwounded by spear, bespoken to \u00d3thin,
\nbespoken myself to myself,
\n[upon that tree of which none telleth
\nfrom what roots it doth rise]<\/p>\n
139) Neither horn they upheld nor handed me bread;
\nI looked below me–
\naloud I cried–
\ncaught up the runes, caught them up wailing,
\nthence to the ground fell again.<\/p>\n
140) From the son of Bolthorn, Bestla’s father,
\nI mastered mighty songs nine,
\nand a drink I had, of the dearest mead,
\ngot from out of \u00d3thr\u00e6rir.<\/p>\n
141) Then began I to grow and gain in insight,
\nto wax eke in wisdom:
\nOne verse led on to another verse,
\none poem led on to the other poem.<\/p>\n
142) Runes wilt thou find, and rightly read,
\nof wondrous weight,
\nof mighty magic,
\nwhich that dyed the dread God,
\nwhich that made the holy hosts,
\nand were etched by \u00d3thin.<\/p>\n
143) \u00d3thin among \u00c6sir, for alfs, Dain,
\nDvalin for the dwarfs,
\nAlsvith among etins, (but for earth-borne men)
\nwrought I some myself.<\/p>\n
144) Know’st how to write, know’st how to read,
\nknow’st how to stain, how to understand,
\nknow’st how to ask, know’st how to offer,
\nknow’st how to supplicate, know’st how to sacrifie?<\/p>\n
145) ‘Tis better unasked than offered overmuch;
\nfor ay doth a gift look for gain;
\n’tis better unasked than offered overmuch:
\nthus did \u00d3thin write ere the earth began,
\nwhen up he rose in after time.<\/p>\n
146) Those spells I know which the spouses of kings
\nwot not, nor earthly wight:
\n“Help” one is hight, with which holpen thou’lt be
\nin sorrow and care and sickness.<\/p>\n
147) That other I know which all will need
\nwho leeches list to be:
\n(on the bark scratch them of bole in the woods
\nwhose boughs bend to the east).<\/p>\n
148) That third I know, if my need be great
\nto fetter a foeman fell:
\nI can dull the swords of deadly foes,
\nthat nor wiles nor weapons avail.<\/p>\n
149) that fourth I know, if foemen have
\nfettered me hand and foot:
\nI chant a charm the chains to break,
\nso the fetters fly off my feet,
\nand off my hands the halter.<\/p>\n
150) That fifth I know, if from foemans’s hand
\nI see a spear sped into throng,
\nnever so fast it flies but its flight I can stay,
\nonce my eye lights on it.<\/p>\n
151) That sixth I know, if me someone wounds
\nwith runes on gnarled root written,
\nor rouses my wrath by reckless speech:
\nhim blights shall blast, not me.<\/p>\n
152) That seventh I know, if o’er sleepers’ heads
\nI behold a hall on fire:
\nhowever bright the blaze I can beat it down–
\nthat mighty spell I can speak.<\/p>\n
153) That eighth I know which to all men is
\nneedful, and good to know:
\nwhen hatred runs high, heroes among,
\ntheir strife I can settle full soon.<\/p>\n
154) That ninth I know: if need there be
\nto guard a ship in a gale,
\nthe wind I can calm, and the waves also,
\nand wholly soothe the sea.<\/p>\n
155) That tenth I know, if night-hags sporting
\nI scan aloft in the sky:
\nI scare them with spells so they scatter abroad,
\nheedless of their hides,
\nheedless of their haunts.<\/p>\n
156) That eleventh I know, if I am to lead
\nold friends to the fray:
\nunder buckler I chant that briskly they fare
\nhale and whole to battle,
\nhale and whole from battle:
\nhale whereever they are.<\/p>\n
157) That twelfth I know, if on tree I see
\na hanged one hoisted on high:
\nthus I write and the runes I stain
\nthat down he drops
\nand tells me his tale.<\/p>\n
158) That thirteenth I know if a thane’s son I shall
\nwet with holy water:
\nnever will he fall, though the fray be hot,
\nnor sink down, wounded by sword.<\/p>\n
159) That fourteenth I know, if to folk I shall
\nsing and say of the Gods:
\n\u00c6sir and alfs know I altogether–
\nof unlearned few have that lore.<\/p>\n
160) That know I fifteenth which Thj\u00f3thr\u00e6rir sang,
\nthe dwarf, before Delling’s door:
\ngave to \u00c6sir strength, to alfs victory
\nby his song, and insight to Othin.<\/p>\n
161) That sixteenth I know, if I seek me some maid,
\nto work my will with her:
\nthe white-armed woman’s heart I bewitch,
\nand toward me I turn her thoughts.<\/p>\n
162) That seventeenth I know, (if the slender maid’s love
\nI have, and hold her to me:
\nthis I sing to her) that she hardly will
\nleave me for other man’s love.<\/p>\n
163) In this lore wilt thou, Loddf\u00e1fnir, be
\nunversed forever and ay:
\nthy weal were it, if this wisdom thine–
\n’tis helpful, if heeded,
\n’tis needful, if known.<\/p>\n
164) That eighteenth I know which to none I will tell,
\nneither maid nor man’s wife–
\n’tis best warded if but one know it:
\nthis speak I last of my spells–
\nbut only to her in whose arms I lie,
\nor else to my sister also.<\/p>\n
165) Now are H\u00e1r’s sayings spoken in H\u00e1r’s hall,
\nof help to the sons of men,
\nof harm to the sons of etins;
\nhail to whoever spoke them, hail to whoever knows them!
\nGain they who grasp them,
\nhappy they who heed them!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n