_Thor_.
7. Steer hitherward thy boat; I will direct thee where to land. But who owns this skiff, which by the strand thou holdest?
_Harbard_.
8. Hildolf fie is named who bade me hold it, a man in council wise, who dwells in Radso sound. Robbers he bade me not to ferry, or horse-stealers, but good men only, and those whom I well knew. Tell me then thy name, if thou wilt cross the sound.
_Thor_.
9. I my name will tell, (although I am an outlaw) and all my kin: I am Odin"s son, Meili"s brother, and Magni"s sire, the G.o.ds" mighty leader: With Thor thou here mayest speak. I will now ask how thou art called.
_Harbard_.
10. I am Harbard called; seldom I my name conceal.
_Thor_.
11. Why shouldst thou thy name conceal, unless thou crime hast perpetrated?
_Harbard_.
12. Yet, though I may crime have perpetrated, I will nathless guard my life against such as thou art; unless I death-doomed am.
_Thor_.
13. It seems to me a foul annoyance to wade across the strait to thee, and wet my garments: but I will pay thee, mannikin! for thy sharp speeches, if o"er the sound I come.
_Harbard_.
14. Here will I stand, and here await thee. Thou wilt have found no stouter one since Hrungnir"s death.
_Thor_.
15. Thou now remindest me how I with Hrungnir fought, that stout-hearted Jotun, whose head was all of stone; yet I made him fall, and sink before me. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
16. I was with Fiolvari five winters through, in the isle which Algron hight. There we could fight, and slaughter make, many perils prove, indulge in love.
_Thor_.
17. How did your women prove towards you?
_Harbard_.
18. Sprightly women we had, had they but been meek; shrewd ones we had, had they but been kind. Of sand a rope they twisted, and from the deep valley dug the earth: to them all I alone was superior in cunning. I rested with the sisters seven, and their love and pleasures shared. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
19. I slew Thia.s.si, that stout-hearted Jotun: up I cast the eyes of Allvaldi"s son into the heaven serene: they are signs the greatest of my deeds. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
20. Great seductive arts I used against the riders of the night,[36]
when from their husbands I enticed them. A mighty Jotun I believed Hlebard to be: a magic wand he gave me, but from his wits I charmed him.
_Thor_.
21. With evil mind then thou didst good gifts requite _Harbard_.
22. One tree gets that which, is from another sc.r.a.ped: each one in such case is for self. What meanwhile didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
23. In the east I was, and slew the Jotun brides, crafty in evil, as they to the mountain went. Great would have been the Jotun race, had they all lived; and not a man left in Midgard. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
24. I was in Valland, and followed warfare; princes I excited, but never reconciled. Odin has all the jarls that in conflict fall; but Thor the race of thralls.
_Thor_.
25. Unequally thou wouldst divide the folk among the aesir, if thou but hadst the power.
_Harbard_.
36. Thor has strength over-much, but courage none; from cowardice and fear, thou wast crammed into a glove, and hardly thoughtest thou wast Thor. Thou durst not then, through thy terror, either sneeze or cough, lest Fialar it might hear.
_Thor_.
27. Harbard, thou wretch! I would strike thee dead, could I but stretch my arm across the sound.
_Harbard_.
28. Why wouldst thou stretch thy arm across the sound, when there is altogether no offence? But what didst thou, Thor?
_Thor_.
39. In the east I was, and a river I defended, when the sons of Svarang me a.s.sailed, and with stones pelted me, though in their success they little joyed: they were the first to sue for peace. What meanwhile didst thou, Harbard?
_Harbard_.
30. I was in the east, and with a certain la.s.s held converse; with that fair I dallied, and long meetings had. I that gold-bright one delighted; the game amused her.
_Thor_.
31. Then you had kind damsels there?
_Harbard_.