r stayed to hear what the youth would say,
But into the forest sped;
While in Hervoer's breast rose proud and high
Her hard-knit heart, as she saw near by
The dwellings of the dead.

She could now see the fires of the barrows and the ghosts standing
outside; and she approached the barrows fearlessly and passed through
the fires as if they had been merely smoke, until she reached the
barrow of the berserks. Then she cried:

V. Awaken, Angantyr, hearken to me!
The only daughter of Tofa and thee
Is here and bids thee awake!
Give me from out the barrow's shade
The keen-edged sword which the dwarfs once made
For Svafrlami's sake.

Hervarth, Hjoervarth, Angantyr,
And Hrani, under the tree-roots here,
I bid you now appear;--
Clad in harness and coat of mail,
With shield and broadsword of biting steel,
Helmet and reddened spear!

The sons of Arngrim are changed indeed
To heaps of dust, and Eyfura's seed
Has crumbled into mould.--
In Munarvagar will no one speak
To her who has come thus far to seek
Discourse with the men of old?

Hervarth, Hjoervarth, Angantyr
And Hrani, great be your torment here
If ye will not hear my words.
Give me the blade that Dvalin made;
It is ill becoming the ghostly dead
To keep such costly swords!

In your tortured ribs shall my curses bring
A maddening itch and a frenzied sting,
Till ye writhe in agonies,
As if ye were laid to your final rest
Where the ants are swarming within their nest,
And revelling in your thighs!

Then answered Angantyr:

O Hervoer, daughter, why dost thou call
Words full of cursing upon us all?
Thou goest to meet thy doom!
Mad art thou grown, and thy wits are fled;
Thy mind is astray, that thou wak'st the dead
--The dwellers in the tomb.

No father buried me where I lie,
Nor other kinsman[1] ...
The only two who remained unslain
Laid hold on Tyrfing, but now again
One only possesses the sword.

She answered:

Nought save the truth shalt thou tell to me!
May the ancient gods deal ill with thee
If thou harbour Tyrfing there!
Thine only daughter am I, and yet
Unwilling thou art that I should get
That which belongs to thine heir!

It now seemed as if the barrows, which had opened, w