SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETHY
And spake, and mild entreated her, and said:— 530
"0 Hela, wherefore should the Gods declare
Their errands to each other, or the ways
They go? the errand and the way is known.
Thai know'st, thou know'st, what grief we have in
Heaven
For Balder, whom thou hold'st by right below. 535
Restore him! for what part fulfils he here?
Shall he shed cheer over the cheerless seats,
And touch the apathetic ghosts with joy ?
Not for such end, O queen, thou hold'st thy realm.
For Heaven was Balder born, the city of Gods 540
And Heroes, where they live in light and joy,
Thither restore him, for his place is there!"
He spoke; and grave replied the solemn queen : —
"Hermod, for he thou art, thou son of Heaven !
A strange unlikely errand, sure, is thine. 545
Do the Gods send to me to make them blest?
Small bliss my race hath of the Gods obtained.
Three mighty children to my father Lok
Did Angerbode, the giantess, bring forth—
Fenris the wolf, the Serpent huge, and Me.
Of these the Serpent in the sea ye cast,
Who since in your despite hath wax'd amain,
And now with gleaming ring enfolds the world :
Me on this cheerless nether world ye threw,
And gave me nine unlighted realms to rule: 555
While on his island in the lake, afar.
Made fast to the bored crag, by wile not strength
Subdued, with limber chains lives Fenris bound.
Lok still subsists in Heaven, our father wise,
Your mate, though loathed, and feasts in Odin's hall :
But him too foes await, and netted snares, 561
And in a cave a bed of needle-rocks,