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Deep the incantation wrought;
Then the maid sepulchral sought.
From the hollow tomb beneath,
Volva’s voice was heard to breathe!
Then the maid sepulchral sought.
From the hollow tomb beneath,
Volva’s voice was heard to breathe!
VOLVA.
What mortal he who dares invade
The dwelling where my bones are laid?
The snows of ages long I’ve worn;
Long the driving tempest borne;
Long the rains have drench’d my head;
Long I’ve moulder’d with the dead.
What mortal he who dares invade
The dwelling where my bones are laid?
The snows of ages long I’ve worn;
Long the driving tempest borne;
Long the rains have drench’d my head;
Long I’ve moulder’d with the dead.
from poison, to relieve women in labor, to cure bodily diseases, to dispel evil thoughts from the mind, to dissipate melancholy, and to soften the severity of a cruel mistress. They employed pretty near the same characters for all these different purposes, but varied the order and combination of the letters. They wrote them either from right to left, or from top to bottom, or in form of a circle, or contrary to the course of the sun. Odin therefore is represented as using a similar expedient.
