The Sea is called –

Ymir's blood
Ran's husband
The land of Ægir's daughters
The land of the ships
The sea king's road
The belt of the earth
The house of the sands
The father of the billow
The land of the fishing tackle
The land of the sea birds
The land of the fishes
The land of the keel
The land of the ship's beaks
The father of the nine daughters of Ægir
The glittering home
The clashing chain of the rock
The hidden path
The necklace of the earth
The salmons hall

The sky which hangs over land and water was called –

The tub of the wind
The helmut of the wind
The wash-basin of the winds
The highway of the moon
The tent of the sun
The hall of the moon
The hall of the mountains
The wind weaver
The dripping hall
The sea of mist
The upper world

The wind and storms are called –

Ægir's brother
The brother of fire
The wolf of the earth
The wolf of the sail
The bane of the ships
The bane of the woods
The stone-mad (=very mad)
The coldly dressed
The crasher, clasher

The wind and storms are called (cont.) –

The soother, comforter
The squall maker
The whistler, howler
The breaker of the tree
The dog of the sail
The breaker of the rigging
The shower driver
The one madly rushing
The never silent

The ice against which ships had to contend was called –

The heaven of the deep
The roof of the salmon hall
The elk's gallows

The rocks were called –

The bones of the sea
The bones of the earth

The anchor was called –

The one with the cold nose

The clouds are called –

The harbinger of the shower
The wind floating
The strength of the storm
The hiding helmet

The hail –

The stones of the clouds

The rain

The tears of the clouds

Gold was called –

Ægir's fire
Ran's light

Egil's son Bodvar having been drowned, the old father in his grief over his loss composed a poem about him.



Very roughly has Ran
Handled me,
I am very much bereft
Of beloved friends.
The sea tore asunder
The ties of my kin,
A string twisted1
By myself

Knowest thou that
If I avenged this2 with the sword
Then the ale-smith3
Would be luckless.4
If I could slay
The brother of the upheaver of waves5
I would go and fight
Against the wife of Ægir.

But I did not
Think I had
Strength to fight a battle
Against the plank-bane,6
For the helplessness
Of an old man
Is before the eyes
Of all people.

Ran has me
Robbed of much;
It is bitter to tell
Of a kinsman's death
Since my family-shield7
Parted from life
To the joy-ways.8
(Egil's Saga, c. 81.)


1 He calls his son Bodvar a string of his family, made or twisted by himself.

2 The son's death

3 Ægir who brewed ale for the Asar

4 This passage means – If I could get my son avenged, Ægir would fare badly.

5 The upheaver of the waves was the wind = Kari; his brother was Ægir.

6 Plank-bane = ship – destroyer; ie, Ægir

7 Egil being old, Bodvar is called the family shield or protector.

8 Dwellings of joy (Valhalla).