Helvegen [Skaldic Version] [English translation]

I sought the songs

I sent the songs

The the deepest of wells

Gave me drops so harsh

From the Father of the Slain's pledge1

I know it all, Odin

Where you hid your eye2

Who will sing for me?

Who will throw me in the sleep of death?

When I walk the path to Hell

And I trade your steps

It's cold, so cold

Early or by the end of days

Only the reven knows if I'll fall

When you stand by the gates of Hell

And you must tear yourself away from life

I'll be following you

Across Gjallarbrú with my song3

You'll be undone from the binds that bind you

You're undone from the binds that bound you

Cattle die

Friends die

And you will die as well

But never shall die the fame

Of those who built a good one

Cattle die

Friends die

And you will die as well

But I know something

That never shall die:

The judgement about those who died4

1. One of Odin's many names. The pledge named in the lyrics is the eye that Odin left in Mímir's spring (or well) of knowledge (see following lines). Odin offered it to Mímir in exchange for permission to drink from the well. So, the drops named in the lyrics are actually Odin's tears.2. Norwegian translation of two lines from stanza 28 in the Völuspá ("Prophecy of the Seeress"), first poem from the Poetic Edda.3. Bridge that spans above the river Gjöll and divides the world of the living from Hel: the underworld of Norse mythology.4. While the first part of the song is in nynorsk Norwegian, the bits in italic are stanzas 76 and 77 of Hávamál ("Speech of Hávi"), second poem from the Poetic Edda, and they were left in Old Norse.