Baldrs Draumar / Baldr's Dreams
本页收录 Henry Adams Bellows 1923 年英译本。Bellows 译本已进入公有领域；本站保留其诗篇导言、英译正文和注释，不收现代中译或现代校勘文本。
Bellows 1923 英译
BALDR’S DREAMS
Bellows Introductory Note
Baldrs Draumar is found only in the Arnamagnæan Codex, where it follows
the Harbarthsljoth fragment. It is preserved in various late paper
manuscripts, with the title Vegtamskvitha (The Lay of Vegtam), which
has been used by some editors.
The poem, which contains but fourteen stanzas, has apparently been
preserved in excellent condition. Its subject-matter and style link it
closely with the Voluspo. Four of the five lines of stanza 11 appear,
almost without change, in the Voluspo, 32–33, and the entire poem is
simply an elaboration of the episode outlined in those and the
preceding stanzas. It has been suggested that Baldrs Draumar and the
Voluspo may have been by the same author. There is also enough
similarity in style between Baldrs Draumar and the Thrymskvitha (note
especially the opening stanza) to give color to Vigfusson’s guess that
these two poems had a common authorship. In any case, Baldrs Draumar
presumably assumed its present form not later than the first half of
the tenth century.
Whether the Volva (wise-woman) of the poem is identical with the
speaker in the Voluspo is purely a matter for conjecture. Nothing
definitely opposes such a supposition. As in the longer poem she
foretells the fall of the gods, so in this case she prophesies the
first incident of that fall, the death of Baldr. Here she is called up
from the dead by Othin, anxious to know the meaning of Baldr’s evil
dreams; in the Voluspo it is likewise intimated that the Volva has
risen from the grave.
The poem, like most of the others in the collection, is essentially
dramatic rather than narrative, summarizing a story which was doubtless
familiar to every one who heard the poem recited.
1. Once were the gods | together met,
And the goddesses came | and council held,
And the far-famed ones | the truth would find,
Why baleful dreams | to Baldr had come.
2. Then Othin rose, | the enchanter old,
And the saddle he laid | on Sleipnir’s back;
Thence rode he down | to Niflhel deep,
And the hound he met | that came from hell.
3. Bloody he was | on his breast before,
At the father of magic | he howled from afar;
Forward rode Othin, | the earth resounded
Till the house so high | of Hel he reached.
4. Then Othin rode | to the eastern door,
There, he knew well, | was the wise-woman’s grave;
Magic he spoke | and mighty charms,
Till spell-bound she rose, | and in death she spoke:
5. “What is the man, | to me unknown,
That has made me travel | the troublous road?
I was snowed on with snow, | and smitten with rain,
And drenched with dew; | long was I dead.”
Othin spake:
6. “Vegtam my name, | I am Valtam’s son;
Speak thou of hell, | for of heaven I know:
For whom are the benches | bright with rings,
And the platforms gay | bedecked with gold?”
The Wise-Woman spake:
7. “Here for Baldr | the mead is brewed,
The shining drink, | and a shield lies o’er it;
But their hope is gone | from the mighty gods.
Unwilling I spake, | and now would be still.”
Othin spake:
8. “Wise-woman, cease not! | I seek from thee
All to know | that I fain would ask:
Who shall the bane | of Baldr become,
And steal the life | from Othin’s son?”
The Wise-Woman spake:
9. “Hoth thither bears | the far-famed branch,
He shall the bane | of Baldr become,
And steal the life | from Othin’s son.
Unwilling I spake, | and now would be still.”
Othin spake:
10. “Wise-woman, cease not! | I seek from thee
All to know | that I fain would ask:
Who shall vengeance win | for the evil work,
Or bring to the flames | the slayer of Baldr?”
The Wise-Woman spake:
11. “Rind bears Vali | in Vestrsalir,
And one night old | fights Othin’s son;
His hands he shall wash not, | his hair he shall comb not,
Till the slayer of Baldr | he brings to the flames.
Unwilling I spake, | and now would be still.”
Othin spake:
12. “Wise-woman, cease not! | I seek from thee
All to know | that I fain would ask:
What maidens are they | who then shall weep,
And toss to the sky | the yards of the sails?”
The Wise-Woman spake:
13. “Vegtam thou art not, | as erstwhile I thought;
Othin thou art, | the enchanter old.”
Othin spake:
“No wise-woman art thou, | nor wisdom hast;
Of giants three | the mother art thou.”
The Wise-Woman spake:
14. “Home ride, Othin, | be ever proud;
For no one of men | shall seek me more
Till Loki wanders | loose from his bonds,
And to the last strife | the destroyers come.”
Bellows Notes
1. Lines 1–3 are identical with Thrymskvitha, 13, 1–3. Baldr:
concerning this best and noblest of the gods, the son of Othin and
Frigg, who comes again among the survivors after the final battle, cf.
Voluspo, 32 and 62, and notes. He is almost never mentioned anywhere
except in connection with the story of his death, though Snorri has one
short passage praising his virtue and beauty. After stanza 1 two old
editions, and one later one, insert four stanzas from late paper
manuscripts.
2. Sleipnir: Othin’s eight-legged horse, the son of Loki and the
stallion Svathilfari; cf. Lokasenna, 23, and Grimnismol, 44, and notes.
Niflhel: the murky (“nifl”) dwelling of Hel, goddess of the dead. The
hound: Garm; cf. Voluspo, 44.
3. Father of magic: Othin appears constantly as the god of magic. Hel:
offspring of Loki and the giantess Angrbotha, as were the wolf Fenrir
and Mithgarthsorm. She ruled the world of the unhappy dead, either
those who had led evil lives or, according to another tradition, those
who had not died in battle. The manuscript marks line 3 as the
beginning of a stanza, and thus the editions vary in their grouping of
the lines of this and the succeeding stanzas.
6. The manuscript has no superscriptions indicating the speakers.
Vegtam (“The Wanderer”): Othin, as usual, conceals his identity,
calling himself the son of Valtam (“The Fighter”). In this instance he
has unusual need to do so, for as the wise-woman belongs apparently to
the race of the giants, she would be unwilling to answer a god’s
questions. Heaven: the word used includes all the upper worlds, in
contrast to hell. Benches, etc.: the adornment of the benches and
raised platforms, or elevated parts of the house, was a regular part of
the preparation for a feast of welcome. The text of the two last lines
is somewhat uncertain.
7. Grundtvig, followed by Edzardi, thinks a line has been lost between
lines 3 and 4.
9. Concerning the blind Hoth, who, at Loki’s instigation, cast the
fatal mistletoe at Baldr, cf. Voluspo, 32–33 and notes. In the
manuscript the last line is abbreviated, as also in stanza 11.
10. In the manuscript lines 1–2 are abbreviated, as also in stanza 12.
11. Rind: mentioned by Snorri as one of the goddesses. Concerning her
son Vali, begotten by Othin for the express purpose of avenging Baldr’s
death, and his slaying of Hoth the day after his birth, cf. Voluspo,
33–34, where the lines of this stanza appear practically verbatim.
Vestrsalir (“The Western Hall”): not elsewhere mentioned in the poems.
12. The manuscript marks the third line as the beginning of a stanza;
something may have been lost. Lines 3–4 are thoroughly obscure.
According to Bugge the maidens who are to weep for Baldr are the
daughters of the sea-god Ægir, the waves, whose grief will be so
tempestuous that they will toss the ships up to the very sky. “Yards of
the sails” is a doubtfully accurate rendering; the two words, at any
rate in later Norse nautical speech, meant respectively the “tack” and
the “sheet” of the square sail.
13. Possibly two separate stanzas. Enchanter: the meaning of the
original word is most uncertain.
14. Concerning Loki’s escape and his relation to the destruction of the
gods, cf. Voluspo, 35 and 51, and notes. While the wise-woman probably
means only that she will never speak again till the end of the world,
it has been suggested, and is certainly possible, that she intends to
give Loki her counsel, thus revenging herself on Othin.