Chapter XXV: Canto XXII

Stanza 1. _Budkavlen_. Men were summoned to assemblies by staffs that were inscribed with runes and passed from house to house.

7. _på öppet ting_. See canto VIII: 87.

11. _Odens ätt_. See canto I: 35.

16. _böndren_, regular form, _bönderna_.

20. _sköldemör_, shield maidens. The valkyrs were sometimes called norns.

20. _De bygga under tidens träd och ovanför_. This refers to the norns who dwelt at the well of Urd by the world-tree Yggdrasil. But they also determine the fate of men on earth. _Bygga_ means here build and dwell.

CANTO XXIII.

Stanza 2. _o, den som, aldrig gungat däruppå_! Note how Fritiof has changed his mind regarding life on the sea. Contrast this with canto XII: 143 seq.; XIV: 65 seq.; XIX: 27 seq.

5. _Nidhögg_, a dragon that was continually gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil in order to bring about the destruction of the gods.

5. _mörkrets värld_, Nifelhem.

7. _fromme gud_, Balder.

9. _Angantyr_, a great warrior, who fell in a duel and was buried together with his famous sword, Tyrfing. His daughter Hervor appealed to him to give her the sword. This he did, at the same time predicting that it would some day bring disaster upon her and upon her people.

13. _Breidablick_, Balder's glittering palace, the most beautiful hall in Valhall. Its purity was such that nothing common or unclean could endure within its confines.

14. _bäst som_, just as.

15. _mör från tidens källa_. See canto XXII: 20.