PROPHETESS. In Hoder's hand the hero's doom; His brother sends him to the tomb. Now my weary lips I close: Leave me, leave me to repose. ODIN. Prophetess, my spell obey, Once again arise, and say, Who th' avenger of his guilt, By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt? PROPHETESS. In the caverns of the west, Var. V. 59, 60. Prophetess, &c.] "Once again my call obey, MS. V. 61, 62. Who th' avenger, &c.] These verses are transposed in мs. dress of Thorbiorga, one of these prophetesses, is described at large in Eirik's Rauda Sogu, (apud Bartholin. lib. i cap. iv. p. 688.) "She had on a blue vest spangled all over with stones, a necklace of glass beads, and a cap made of the skin of a black lamb lined with white cat-skin. She leaned on a staff adorned with brass, with a round head set with stones; and was girt with an Hunlandish belt, at which hung her pouch full of magical instruments. Her buskins were of rough calf-skin, bound on with thongs studded with knobs of brass, and her gloves of white cat-skin, the far turned inwards," &c. They were also called Fiolkyngi, os Fiolkunnug, i. e. Multi-scia; and Visindakona, i. e. Oraculorum Mulier; Nornir, i. e. Parcæ. Gray. V. 58. "When my weary lips I close And slumber, 'tis without repose." N. Tate. Poems, p. 90. V. 66. King Harold made (according to the singular custom of his time) a solemn vow never to clip or comb his hair, till he should have extended his sway over the whole country. Herbert. Iceland. Translat. p. 39. In the Dying Song of Asbiorn p. 52: By Odin's fierce embrace comprest, Till he on Hoder's corse shall smile Yet a while my call obey; Prophetess, awake, and say, What virgins these, in speechless woe, Var. V. 65. Wond'rous] Giant. мs. "Know, gentle mother, know, Thou wilt not comb my flowing hair, In Denmark's vallies, Svanvhide fair!" 65 70 75 V. 75. "It is not certain," says Mr. Herbert, "what Odin means by the question concerning the weeping virgins; but it has been supposed that it alludes to the embassy afterwards sent by Frigga to try to redeem Balder from the infernal regions, and that Odin betrays his divinity by mentioning what had not yet happened." Iceland. Translat. p. 48,-The object of this embassy was frustrated by the perfidy of Loke, who having assumed (as was supposed) the shape of an old woman, refused to join in the general petition. "I Lok (she said) will weep with dry eyes the funeral of Balder. Let all things living or dead, weep if they will, but let Hela keep her prey."-After this, Loke hid himself, built a house among the mountains, and made a net. Odin however found out his hiding-place, and the gods assembled to take him. He seeing this, burnt his net, and changed himself into a salmon. After some trouble, Thor caught him by the tail, and this is the reason why salmons, That bend to earth their solemn brow, And snowy veils that float in air? PROPHETESS. Ha! no traveller art thou, King of men, I know thee now; Mightiest of a mighty line ODIN. No boding maid of skill divine Var. V. 77. That, flaxen] Who, flowing. Ms. V. 83. The mightiest of the mighty line. Ms. ever after, have had their tails so fine and thin. They bound him with chains, and suspended the serpent Skada over his head, whose venom falls upon his face drop by drop. His wife Siguna sits by his side, catches the drops as they fall from his face in a basin, which she empties as often as it is filled. He will remain in chains till the end of the world, or as the Icelanders call it, the Twilight of the Gods. To this the prophetess alludes in the last stanza. See Butler. Hor. Bibl. ii. 194. V. 76. This and the following verse are not in the Latin translation. V. 82. "Great Love! I know thee now, Eldest of the Gods, art thou." Dryden. K. Arth. Rogers. V. 86. In the Latin, "mater trium gigantum :" probably Angerbode, who from her name seems to be "no prophetess of good;" and who bore to Loke, as the Edda says, three children, the wolf Fenris, the great serpent of Midgard, and Hela, all of them called giants in that system of mythology. Mason. Sams. Agon. 1247, "I dread him not, nor all his giant brood." Luke. V. 88. In the original, this and the three following lines are represented by this couplet : 80 Art thou, nor prophetess of good; PROPHETESS. Hie thee hence, and boast at home, Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain ; Var. V. 87. Hie thee, Odin, boast. мs. V. 92. Has reassum'd] Reassumes her. Ms. "Et deorum crepusculum 885 90 W. Herbert has published a translation of the introductory lines of this poem, and also much curious information illustrating several passages in the text. See his Select Iceland. Poetry, p. 43. He mentions some little amplifications in Gray, tending to convey notions of the Icelandic mythology, not warranted by the original, as "Coal-black steed;" Ravenhair;' "Thrice he trac'd the Runic rhyme;" "The portals nine of hell;" .99 66 Foam and human gore." V. 89. 66 Xáλкεoç Üπvоg," Hom. "Ferreus somnus," Virg. Æn. xii. 309. "Iron sleep," Dryden. And "An iron slumber shuts my sleeping eyes," Dryden. Georg. iv. 717. V. 90. Lok is the evil being, who continues in chains till the twilight of the gods approaches: when he shall break his bonds, the human race, the stars, and sun, shall disappear; the earth sink in the seas, and fire consume the skies: even Odin himself and his kindred deities shall perish. For a further explanation of this mythology, see 'Introd. à l'Hist. de Dannemarc par Mallet,' 1755, quarto; or rather a translation of it published in 1770, and entitled " Northern Antiquities;" in which some mistakes in the original are judiciously corrected. Mason. THE TRIUMPHS OF OWEN.* A FRAGMENT. FROM THE WELSH. [From Evans. Spec. of the Welsh Poetry, 1764, quarto, p. 25, where is a Prose version of this Poem, and P. 127. Owen succeeded his father Griffith app Cynan in the principality of N. Wales, A. D. 1137. This battle was fought in the year 1157. Jones, Relics, vol. ii. p. 36.] OWEN's praise demands my song, 5 Compare with this poem, " Hermode's Journey to Hell," in Dr. Percy's Translation of Mallet's Northern Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 149. See Beronii Diss. de Eddis Island. p. 153. Mundi credita Kπúρwσiç in qua solem nigrescere, tellurem in mari submersam iri, stellas de cœlo lapsuras, ignem in vetustam orbis molem et fabricam disævituram, v. Sibyll. Velusp. Stroph. liii. *The original Welsh of the above poem was the composition of Gwalchmai the son of Melir, immediately after Prince Owen Gwynedd had defeated the combined fleets of Iceland, Denmark, and Norway, which had invaded his territory on the coast of Anglesea. There is likewise another poem which describes this famous battle, written by Prince Howel, the son of Owen Gwynedd ; a literal translation of which may be seen in Jones. Relics, vol. ii. p. 36. In Mason's edition, and in all the subsequent editions, it is |