1. Thor was on his way back from a journey in the East, and came to a sound; on the other side of the sound was a ferryman with a boat. Thor called out:

2. "Who is the fellow yonder, on the farther shore of the sound?"

3. The ferryman: "What kind of a peasant is yon, that calls o'er the bay?"

4. Thor: "Ferry me over the sound; I will feed thee therefor in the morning; A basket I have on my back, and food therein, none better; At leisure I ate, ere the house I left, Of herrings and porridge, so plenty I had."

5. The ferryman: "Of thy morning feats art thou proud, but the future thou knowest not wholly; Doleful thine home-coming is: thy mother, me thinks, is dead."

6. Thor: "Now hast thou said what to each must seem The mightiest grief, that my mother is dead."

7. The ferryman: "Three good dwellings, methinks, thou hast not; Barefoot thou standest, and wearest a beggar's dress; Not even hose dost thou have."

8. Thor: "Steer thou hither the boat; the landing here shall I show thee; But whose the craft that thou keepest on the shore?"

9. The ferryman: "Hildolf is he who bade me have it, A hero wise; his home is at Rathsey's sound. He bade me no robbers to steer, nor stealers of steeds, But worthy men, and those whom well do I know. Say now thy name, if over the sound thou wilt fare."

10. Thor: "My name indeed shall I tell, though in danger I am,

11. And all my race; I am Othin's son, Meili's brother, and Magni's father, The strong one of the gods; with Thor now speech canst thou get. And now would I know what name thou hast."

12. The ferryman: "Harbarth am I, and seldom I hide my name."

13. Thor: "Why shouldst thou hide thy name, if quarrel thou hast not?"

14. Harbarth: "And though I had a quarrel, from such as thou art Yet none the less my life would I guard, Unless I be doomed to die."

15. Thor: "Great trouble, methinks, would it be to come to thee, To wade the waters across, and wet my middle; Weakling, well shall I pay thy mocking words, if across the sound I come."

16. Harbarth: "Here shall I stand and await thee here; Thou hast found since Hrungnir died no fiercer man."

17. Thor: "Fain art thou to tell how with Hrungnir I fought, The haughty giant, whose head of stone was made; And yet I felled him, and stretched him before me. What, Harbarth, didst thou the while?"

18. Harbarth: "Five full winters with Fjolvar was I, And dwelt in the isle that is Algron called; There could we fight, and fell the slain, Much could we seek, and maids could master."

19. Thor: "How won ye success with your women?"

20. Harbarth: "Lively women we had, if they wise for us were; Wise were the women we had, if they kind for us were; For ropes of sand they would seek to wind, And the bottom to dig from the deepest dale. Wiser than all in counsel I was, And there I slept by the sisters seven, And joy full great did I get from each. What, Thor, didst thou the while?"

21. Thor: "Thjazi I felled, the giant fierce, And I hurled the eyes of Alvaldi's son To the heavens hot above; Of my deeds the mightiest marks are these, That all men since can see. What, Harbarth, didst thou the while?"

22. Harbarth spoke:

23. "Much love-craft I wrought with them who ride by night, When I stole them by stealth from their husbands; A giant hard was Hlebarth, methinks: His wand he gave me as gift, And I stole his wits away."

24. Thor: "Thou didst repay good gifts with evil mind."

25. Harbarth: "The oak must have what it shaves from another; In such things each for himself. What, Thor, didst thou the while?"

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