ODE S, ND AND OTHER ANCIENT POEM S. I THOUGHT proper to fubjoin to the EDDA the following pieces, felected out of that vaft multitude of verfes, which we find preferved in the ancient Chronicles. Thefe are fuch as appeared to me most expreffive of the genius and manners of the ancient inhabitants of the north, and most proper to confirm what I had advanced in the preceding Volume; as alfo to fhew that the Mythology contained in the EDDA, hath been that of all the northern Poets, and the religion of many nations drest out with fictions and allegories. I fhall first of all prefent the ODE which Regner Lodbrog compofed in the torments preceding his death. This Ode was dictated by the Fanaticism of Glory, VOL. II. е ani animated by that of Religion. Regner, who was a celebrated Warrior, Poet and Pirate, reigned in Denmark about the beginning of the ninth century: after a long series of maritime expeditions into the most diftant countries, his fortune at length failed him in England. Taken prisoner in battle by his adverfary Ella, who was king. of a part of that ifland, he perished by the bite of ferpents, with which they had filled the dungeon he was confined in. He left behind him feveral fons, who revenged this horrible death, as Regner himself had foretold in the following verfes. There is fome reafon, however, to conjecture that this prince did not compofe more than one or two ftanzas of this Poem, and that the reft were added, after his death, by the Bard, whofe function it was, according to the cuftom of thofe times, to add to the funeral fplendor, by finging verfes to the praife of the deceafed. Be that as it may, this Cde is found in feveral Icelandic Chronicles, and its verfification, language and tile, leave us no room to doubt of its antiquity. Wormius has given us the text in Runic Characters, accompanied with a Latin Verfion, and large notes in his Lituratura Runica. Vid. p. 197. It is alfo met with in M. Biorners's collection. Out of the twenty-nine ftrophes, of which it con confifts, I have only chofen the following, as being what I thought the generality of my readers would perufe with most pleafure. I have not even always translated entire ftanzas, but have fometimes reduced two stanzas into one, in order to spare the Reader fuch paffages as appeared to me uninteresting and obscure ** * Our elegant Author having taken great liberties in his Tranflation of this and the following - ODES, in order to accommodate them to the tafte of Erench Readers; it was once intended here, inftead of copying the French, to have given extracts from the more But an ingenious Friend having tranflated from the French this part of M. Mallet's Book, I have got leave to infert his Verfion, and shall take the liberty to refer the more curious Reader to the pamphlet above-mentioned; which the Tranf lator profeffes he occafionally confulted in the following pages. There the ODES here abridged may be feen at large, confronted with the Icelandic Originals, and accompanied with two other ancient Pieces of Northern Poetry. T. EXTRACTS FROM THE ODE OF KING REGNER LODBROG. ، W * * E fought with fwords †, when, in my early youth, I went to"wards the eaft to prepare a bloody prey "for the ravenous wolves: ample food "for the yellow-footed eagle.' The whole + WE FOUGHT WITH SWORDS. The Icelandic original biuggum or huiggum, is a word of the fame origin, as the Anglo-Saxon heawan. Germ. bouwen. Low Dutch, hauwen, bouwen. Engl. to hew. From the fame root comes alfo our Ruftic word to hough. The paffage therefore of the text might perhaps have been rendered more |