[...]
1.
Now are come
to the palace
the foreknowing pair,
Fenja and Menja;
They are at Frode's,
the son of Fridleif,
mighty maidens
Held as helots.2.
Forth to the mill bench
were they brought
To set the grey stone
in motion;
He gave them
no rest nor peace,
Attentive to the creak
of the mill.3.
Their song was a howl,
Shattering silence;
"Lower the bin
and lighten the stones!"
Yet he would have them
grind more.4.
They sang as they swung
and spun the stone
While most of the men
were sleeping;
Then sang Menja, her turn at the mill,
The hardminded maid with thunderous voice:5.
"Goods we grind Frode,
milling out fortune,
Full fare of riches
on the mill of delights;
He shall sit upon gold;
he shall sleep upon down,
And wake with a will,
then is it well ground.6.
"Here shall none
harm another,
nor harbor malice,
Nor bring to bane,
Nor cut with sharp sword,
even should he find
His brother's
bane bound!"7.
The hands stopped, resting;
the quern was quiet;
Then called the king his ancient plaint:
"Sleep no more than the cock is silent,
rest no more
Than the words I speak!"8.
"Frode, you were not
wholly wise,
oh, friend of man,
When you bought these thralls;
You chose us for strength
and bearing,
Not heeding of what race
we are born.9.
"Hard was Rungner,
hard his father;
Tjasse was greater
than both;
Ide and Orner,
sires of our race,
brothers of mountain giants,
These are our forebears.10.
"Grotte had
never risen
from the grey mountain
Earth's hard bedrock,
Nor would be grinding
the mountain-maid,
Did anyone know
her kind.11.
"Nine winters lasted
our playing-time,
Beneath the earth
matured our power;
Great works performed
we constantly;
We moved
the very mountains.12.
"From giants' fields
we tore out boulders;
So the earth trembled,
subsided, and quaked;
We rolled from thence
the singing stone,
The heavy slab,
for men to take.13.
"In the land of Svitjod,
foresighted,
We two joined
the people;
Hunted bears,
broke shields,
Marched through
the ranks of grey.14.
"We destroyed one prince,
supported another,
The good Gothorm
we helped with his horde;
No peace there was till we conquered Knue
There we were stopped and captured.15.
"Such was our progress
in former times,
Well known were we
among warriors;
Then we cut heroes
with sharpened spears,
Wounded and reddened
with fire.16.
"Now we are come
to the house of the king,
In thralldom,
with mercy from none;
Grit tears our feet,
frost freezes our forms
as we turn the peace mill.
It is dreary at Frode's.17.
"Hands shall rest;
the stone shall stop;
I have milled
my whole life's aim.
Yet the hand may not stay
until Frode feels
All has been
fully milled.18.
"The hands shall hold
handles hard,
bloodstained weapons.
Wake up, Frode!
Wake up, Frode,
if you would hear
our songs and
Our sayings of long ago.19.
"Fire I see burning
east of the fort;
Call up the couriers,
call for the beacons!
A warrior horde
shall o'errun this place
And burn
the Budlung's dwelling.20.
"You shall not retain
the throne of Leidre,
Your redgold rings,
or your quern of riches;
Grasp the shaft
more firmly, sister!
We are not warmed
by the blood of the whale!21.
"Surely my father's maid
mightily milled,
For she saw many men
go to their death;
The mill's great props,
though cased in iron,
Burst asunder --
yet more we milled.22.
"Yet still more we milled!
May Yrsa's son,
scion of Halfdan,
Avenge him on Frode;
He may be
held her son,
and also her brother.
We both know this."23.
The maids they milled
with might and main,
Young they were,
in giant-wrath;
The rafters quivered,
the boom was lowered,
With deafening din the boulder burst.24.
So collapsed the former world.
Chanted the mountain-giant's bride:
"We have ground for you, Frode,
as we were forced.
At the quern the women
remained till the end!"
Original English translation by W.H. Auden and P. B. Taylor; that translation is in the public domain. This edition has been extensively edited and corrected and is Copyright © 2001 JJB, used with permission.