1.
Three maidens
through Mirkwood flew,
Fair and young,
fate to endure:
Winged maidens
by the water's edge
Peacefully retted
precious flax.2.
Olrun was the first;
she took Egil
for lover.
Swanwhite the second:
she took Slagfidur.
Hervor the third;
she threw
round Völund's
White neck
wanton arms.3.
So they sat
for seven winters,
Then in the eighth
for home they longed,
In the ninth
their dooms drove them apart:
Three maidens
through Mirkwood flew,
Fair and young,
fate to endure.4.
The weather-wise hunters,
[...
...]
Egil, Slagfidur,
Returned from the hunt.
The hall was silent:
They searched all about
but could see no one.
East after Ölrun
Egil rode,
South after Swanwhite
Slagfidur.5.
But Völund sat
in Wolfdale alone.
Red rings he forged,
enriched them with jewels,
Rings he threaded
upon ropes of bast,
Faithfully waiting
for the fair-haired Hervor
to return
to his hearth-side.6.
When the Lord of the Njars,
Nidud, heard
That Völund sat
in Wolfdale alone,
He sent warriors forth:
white their shield-bosses
In the waning moon,
and their mail glittered.7.
They drew rein
when they got to the gabled hall,
In they came
through the end door,
Rings they saw,
on ropes threaded:
Seven hundred,
all owned by Völund.8.
These they unthreaded,
but there they left them,
All but one,
just one they took.
Then the weather-wise hunter,
Völund, came
On light feet back
from a long road.9.
He piled up logs,
prepared for roasting
A brown bear:
well burned the fire
Of wind-dried wood
before Völund's eyes.10.
The lord of the elves
lay on a bearskin,
Counting his rings;
a red one he missed:
He deemed in his mind
that the daughter of Hlovde,
Hervor, had returned
to his hearthside.11.
Long he sat
till asleep he fell;
What he knew
when he woke was not joy:
He saw on his hands
heavy chains,
His feet in fetters
were fast bound.
Then said Völund:
12.
'Who are the men
who my hands have chained?
Who have fettered
my feet together?'13.
Then the lord of the Njars,
Nidud, answered:
'What good have you gotten,
greatest of elves,
From our treasure, Völund,
in Wolfdale?'
Völund said:
14.
'Was there not gold
on Grani's Road [the Rhine River]?
Far thought I
our realm from the Rhine hills.
Greater treasure
we had in olden days,
At home in the hall,
happy together,15.
Hladgud and Hervor,
Hlovde's children,
And wise-counselling Ölrun,
Kjar's daughter.'16.
Without stood the wily one,
wife of Nidud,
In she came
through the end door,
Stood there smiling
and softly whispered:
'Woeful shall be he
who from the wood comes.'
Nidud the king gave his daughter, Bodvild, the gold ring he had taken from the bast at Völund's. And he himself wore the sword which had been Völund's. He said:
17.
"He gnashes his teeth
when he notices the sword,
And on Bodvild's arm
beholds his ring,
His eyes glare,
grim as a snake's:
With a knife they cut
his knee-sinews,
Set him on the island
of Saeverstod."
There he fashioned all sorts of precious things for the king. And no man except the king dared to voyage thither.
Völund said:
18.
'From Nidud's hip
there hangs a sword,
The blade I sharpened
with a sure eye,
The blade tempered
with a true hand;
Now the shining steel
is stolen from me:
Back to my smithy
it shall be born yet.'19.
'Bitterest to bear,
bitterest to behold,
Bodvild wearing
my wife's ring.'20.
Fierce, unsleeping,
at his forge he hammered,
Making for Nidud
marvelous things:
He saw two boys,
the sons of Nidud,
At the door of his smithy
on Saeverstod.21.
They beheld a chest,
they asked for a key.
Evil was on them
as in they looked.
There were gems in plenty,
precious stones,
And red gold
to gladden their eyes.
Völund said:
22.
'Come tomorrow,
but come alone,
Gold and gems
I will give you both.
Tell not the maidens,
tell not the courtiers,
Let no one know
of our next meeting.'23.
So they returned,
the two brothers,
Said to each other:
'Let us see the rings.'
They beheld a chest,
they asked for a key.
Evil was on them
as in they looked.24.
He struck off the heads
of those stalwart boys,
Under soot-blackened bellows
their bodies hid,
From both their skulls
he scraped the hair
And set them in silver
as a sight for Nidud.25.
Of their eyes
he fashioned excellent gems
For his dear neighbor,
Nidud's wife,
And out of the teeth
which were in their mouths
He forged a brooch
to bring Bodvild joy.26.
Precious beyond all price
to Bodvild
Was the ring
she had broken;
she brought it to Völund:
'None but you
are to know of this.'
Völund said:
27.
'Mend it I can
so the marred gold
Shall appear to your father
fairer still,
In your mother's eyes
look much much better,
While to you it will seem
the same as before.'28.
Ale he brought her,
the artful smith:
Long they sat
till asleep she fell.
'Now all but one
for my hurts are paid,
All but the most evil
of women.'29.
'I wish that my knees
be well again,
My limbs that were maimed
by the men of Nidud.'
Laughing rose Völund,
aloft in the air,
Weeping fled Bodvild,
away from the isle,
Afraid of her lover
and her father's wrath.30.
Without stood the wily one,
wife of Nidud,
In she came
through the end door.
The lord of the Njars
lay there resting:
'Nidud, husband,
are you awake?'
Nidud said:
31.
'Awake am I ever
and without joy,
Little I sleep
since my sons are gone,
Cold is my head,
cold were your whisperings,
Now with Völund
I wish to speak.32.
'Learn me, Völund,
lord of the elves:
Where are my boys?
What has befallen them?'
Völund said:
33.
'Oaths first shall
you all swear me,
By ship's-keel,
by shield's rim,
By stallion's-shoulder,
by steel's-edge,
That you will not harm
the wife of Völund
Nor cause the death
of his dear bride,
Who shall in the hall
bring up our child.34.
'Go to my forge
which your folly built,
There find the bellows
blood-bespattered.
I struck off the heads
of your stalwart boys,
Under soot-blackened
bellows their bodies hid,35.
'From both their skulls
I scraped the hair
And set them in silver
as a sight for Nidud,
Of their eyes I fashioned
excellent gems
For my dear neighbor,
Nidud's wife,36.
'And out of the teeth
which were in their mouths
I forged a brooch
to bring Bodvild joy,
Bodvild who goes now
great with child,
Your only daughter,
dear to you both.'
Nidud said:
37.
'Never have words
brought woe more bitter.
For vengeance, Völund,
in vain must I long.
No man is so tall
to take you from your horse,
No sharp-eyed archer
can shoot you down,
There where you hang,
high in the clouds.'38.
Laughing, Völund rose
aloft in the air:
Sorrowing, Nidud
sat there after. '
Nidud said:
39.
Thakrad, best of thralls,
go quickly,
Go to Bodvild,
the bright-browed maiden,
Bid her come forth;
her father awaits her.40.
'Is it true, Bodvild,
as I am told it is,
That you and Völund,
On the lone island, lay together?'
Bodvild said:
41.
'It is true, Nidud,
as you were told it was.
Völund and I,
On the lone island,
lay together.
A day of ill-omen,
Against his wiles
I had no wit to struggle,
Against his will
I did not want to struggle.'