Source text: “The Song of the Sun”

Sólarljóð

Read the English translation and, where available, the Old Norse original using the buttons above. Your choice is saved for all source pages on this site.

English translation made by AI from the Old Norse.

1

Of wealth and life
that grim Grepp
robbed the sons of men;
along the roads
he watched,
no one passed alive.

2

He ate alone
very often,
never inviting anyone to share his food,
until, weary
and weak,
Gest came along the road.

3

The exhausted man said
he needed a drink
and had not eaten enough;
with a frightened heart
he said he trusted the man
who had formerly been cruel.

4

He gave food and drink
to the weary man,
wholeheartedly;
he kept God in mind
and treated him kindly,
for he thought himself a sinful man.

5

The other rose,
with evil in mind;
the kindness was poorly repaid;
his sin swelled;
he murdered the sleeping man,
wise and well on his guard.

6

He prayed to the God of heaven
to help him
when he woke, mortally wounded;
but the other took
his sins upon himself,
having betrayed an innocent man.

7

Holy angels
came down from heaven
and took his soul into their keeping;
in a life of purity
it shall live
forever with almighty God.

8

Neither wealth nor health
can anyone command,
though things go well for him;
what he least expects
befalls many a man;
no one determines his own lot.

9

Unnar and Saevaldi
never thought
their good fortune would fail;
they were stripped naked
and deprived of everything,
and ran like wolves to the woods.

10

The power of desire
has brought grief to many;
women often bring torment;
harmful they became,
though mighty God
created them pure.

11

Svafad and Skarthedin
were friends;
neither could do without the other,
until they went mad
for one woman:
she was destined to bring them disgrace.

12

For that fair maiden
they cared for neither
pleasure nor the light of day;
no other thing
could they keep in mind
but that radiant body.

13

Dreary for them
were the dark nights;
they could sleep no sweet sleep;
and from that sorrow
hatred arose
between devoted friends.

14

Outrageous deeds
are in most places
cruelly repaid;
they went to duel on an island
for that beautiful woman,
and both met their death.

15

No one should
practice arrogance;
this I have truly seen,
for those who follow it
mostly turn
away from God.

16

Powerful were
Radny and Vebodi,
and thought they did only good;
now they sit
and turn their wounds
toward different fires.

17

They trusted in themselves
and thought themselves alone
above all other people;
yet their condition
appeared otherwise
to almighty God.

18

They indulged themselves
in many ways
and took their pleasure in gold;
now they are repaid,
when they must walk
between frost and flame.

19

Never trust
your enemies,
though they speak you fair;
promise what is good;
it is good to take another's
punishment as a warning.

20

So it went
for Sorli, wise in counsel,
when he put himself in Vigulf's power;
he firmly trusted
his brother's killer,
but the other proved treacherous.

21

He granted them peace
in good faith,
and they promised him gold in return;
they professed friendship
while they drank together,
yet treachery came to light.

22

Then afterward,
on the following day,
when they had ridden into Rygjardal,
they wounded with swords
the innocent man
and took his life.

23

They dragged his body
along a hidden path
and hacked it up into a well;
they wished to conceal it,
but the holy Lord
saw from heaven.

24

The true God
bade his soul
enter into his joy;
but his murderers,
I think, will only late
be called away from torment.
II.

25

Pray that the maidens
of the Lord's word
be kindly disposed toward you;
a week later
everything you desire
will go as you wish.

26

The angry deeds
that you have done,
do not compound with evil;
with good things you must comfort
those you have made weep;
this, they say, befits the soul.

27

One must call on God
for good things,
on him who created humankind;
everyone falls
far behind
who is slow to find the Father.

28

It helps to ask,
with special care,
for what you think you lack;
whoever asks for nothing
misses everything;
few consider a silent person's need.

29

Late I came,
though called early,
to the Judge's doors;
there I intend to go,
for I was promised:
whoever asks receives a feast.

30

Sins cause us
to depart sorrowfully
from the world of terror;
no one fears
unless he does evil;
it is good to be blameless.

31

Like wolves
seem all those
whose hearts are fickle;
such will be the lot
of those who must walk
those blazing roads.

32

Friendly counsels,
bound together with wisdom,
I teach you, seven in all;
remember them well
and never lose them;
all are useful to learn.
III.

33

This must be told:
how happy I was
in the world of delight,
and also this:
how the sons of men
unwillingly become corpses.

34

Desire and delusion
beguile the sons of men
who hunger for wealth;
bright coins
turn to lasting grief;
wealth has made fools of many.

35

Men thought me
glad of many things,
for I had little foresight;
the Lord has made
the world where we sojourn
very full of delight.

36

Bowed down I sat;
long I lay leaning;
then I yearned greatly to live;
but he who was mighty
ruled;
ahead lie the doomed man's roads.

37

Hel's ropes
came tightly
wound around my sides;
I wanted to break them,
but they were tough;
it is easy to travel free.

38

I alone knew
how on every side
sorrows seethed within me;
Hel's maidens
invited me, with shudders,
home each evening.

39

I saw the sun,
the true star of day,
sinking in the resounding worlds;
but from another direction
I heard Hel's gate
thundering heavily.

40

I saw the sun
marked with bloody signs;
then I was slipping far from the world;
mighty it appeared
in many ways,
changed from what it had been before.

41

I saw the sun;
it seemed to me
as though I saw glorious God;
I bowed to it
for the last time
in the world of men.

42

I saw the sun;
so brightly it shone
that I seemed to know nothing;
but the sea's currents
roared on the other side,
heavily mingled with blood.

43

I saw the sun,
my eyes trembling,
full of fear and bowed down;
for my heart
had utterly
fallen apart into shreds.

44

I saw the sun,
seldom more sorrowful;
I was then far gone from this world;
my tongue
was reckoned as wood,
and my body had grown cold outside.

45

I saw the sun
never again
after that dreary day,
for the mountain waters
closed together before me,
and I departed, called away from torment.

46

The star of hope flew
—then I was born—
away from my breast;
it did not fly high,
nowhere did it settle
where it might find rest.

47

Longer than all others
was that single night
when I lay stiff upon the straw;
then the truth is shown
of what God said:
that man is one with dust.

48

May the mighty God
consider this and know it,
he who made earth and heaven:
how bereft
many depart,
though they part from their kin.

49

Every man reaps
the fruit of his deeds;
blessed is he who does good;
far from wealth,
there was allotted to me
a bed strewn with sand.

50

The hunger of the flesh
often deceives men;
many have too much of it;
bathing water
was to me the most hateful
of all things.

51

On the Norns' seat
I sat for nine days;
from there I was lifted onto a horse;
the giantess's suns
shone fiercely
from the cloud-drooper's clouds.

52

Outside and within
I seemed to travel through all
seven worlds of victory;
up and down
I sought a higher way,
where the paths would be easiest for me.

53

Now I must tell
what I first saw
when I entered the worlds of torment:
singed birds,
which were souls,
flew as thick as midges.

54

From the west I saw
the dragons of Van flying,
and I fell upon the evildoer's road;
they shook their wings
so that far and wide, it seemed to me,
earth and heaven burst apart.

55

The stag of the sun
I saw coming from the south;
two together led him;
his feet
stood upon the earth,
but his antlers reached to heaven.

56

From the north I saw
the sons of the dark moons riding,
and there were seven together;
from full horns
they drank the pure mead
from Baugregin's well.

57

The wind fell silent,
the waters stood still;
then I heard a dreadful din;
for their men
fickle women
ground earth for food.

58

Bloodstained stones
those dark women
dragged sorrowfully;
bloody hearts
hung outside their breasts,
wearied with great grief.

59

Many a man
I saw walking wounded
upon those burning roads;
their faces
all seemed to me
to be reddened with a giantess's blood.

60

Many men
I saw gone to earth
who could not receive the sacraments;
heathen stars
stood above their heads,
painted with dreadful signs.

61

I saw those men
who greatly nurture
envy of another's fortunes;
bloody runes
had been marked upon their breasts
with grievous pain.

62

I saw men there,
many without joy;
they had lost their way;
that is what he earns
who in this world
is led astray by evil.

63

I saw those men
who in many ways
schemed for another's property;
in bands they went
to Fegjarnsborg,
carrying burdens of lead.

64

I saw those men
who had robbed many
of wealth and life;
through the breasts
of those men ran
mighty venomous dragons.

65

I saw those men
who were least willing
to keep the holy days;
their hands
were upon hot stones
cruelly nailed.

66

I saw those men
who in their arrogance
valued themselves beyond their worth;
their clothes
were strangely
wreathed in fire.

67

I saw those men
who had spoken many
lying words against others;
the ravens of Hel
from their heads
fiercely tore their eyes.

68

You cannot know
all the terrors
that those gone to Hel endure;
sweet sins
bring painful penalties;
suffering always follows pleasure.

69

I saw those men
who had given much
according to God's laws;
pure torches
above their heads
were burning brightly.

70

I saw those men
who with generous hearts
helped the poor advance;
angels read holy books
and written hymns
above their heads.

71

I saw those men
who had greatly
afflicted their flesh with hunger;
the angels of God
bowed to them all;
that is the highest joy.

72

I saw those men
who had placed food
in their mother's mouth;
their resting places
upon the beams of heaven
were skillfully arranged.

73

Holy maidens
had washed clean
of sins the souls
of those men
who on many a day
inflict suffering on themselves.

74

Lofty chariots
I saw traveling through the heavens;
their roads lead to God;
men steer them
who have been murdered
for no cause at all.

75

Mighty Father!
Most glorious Son!
Holy Spirit of heaven!
I ask you, who have created us,
to deliver
us all from misery.
IV.

76

Hringvor and Listvor
sit in Herdis's doorway
upon an organ stool;
iron blood
falls from their nostrils;
it awakens hatred among men.

77

Odin's wife
rows in the ship of earth,
eager for pleasure;
her sails
will be furled late,
those that hang upon desire's ropes.

78

My heir, I, your father,
have alone secured for you,
with Solkatla's sons,
the stag's antler
that wise Vigdvalinn
carried from the burial mound.

79

Here are the runes
that have been carved
by Njord's nine daughters:
Bodveig the eldest
and Kreppvor the youngest
and their seven sisters.

80

Every evil
has been wrought
by Svaf and Svaflogi;
they stirred up blood
and sucked wounds,
ever accustomed to evil.
V.

81

This poem,
which I have taught you,
you shall recite before the living:
The Song of the Sun,
which in many things will seem
to contain the fewest lies.

82

Here we two part,
and we shall meet
on mankind's day of joy;
may my Lord
give rest to the dead
and mercy to those who live.