The Faroese Riddle Ballad (G·Tu Rìma)

1. Guest goes wandering from the hall,
Silent and blind is he;
Meets he with an eldern man
All with hair so grey.

2. Meets he with an eldern man,
All with hair so grey;
"Why art thou so silent, Guest the Blind,
And wherefore dost thou stray?"

3. "It is not so wonderful
Though I of speech am slow;
For riddles have brought me to an evil pass,
And I lose my head tomorrow.

4. "It is not so wonderful
Though mournful am I and slow;
For riddles have brought me to an evil pass,
And I lose my life tomorrow."

5. "How much of the red, red gold
Wilt thou give to me,
If I go in before King Heithrek
And ask thy riddles for thee?"

6. "Twelve marks of the red, red gold
Will I give to thee,
If thou wilt go in before King Heithrek,
And ransom my head for me."

7. "Go thou into thy courtyard
And look to thy dwelling, thou,
While I go in before King Heithrek,
And ask him riddles now."

8. "Thirty are the riddles
And one will I propose ...
(_Riddles lost._)

9. (_First two lines lost._)
Thunder is the red drum
Which beats over all the world."

10. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
Where dost thou know the neighbours,
Both of whom use the same door,
And neither one knows the other?"

11. "My thought and thy thought,
No neighbour is one to other;
Both of them use the same door,
Yet neither knows the other."

12. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
Where dost thou know the brothers
Who roll far away on the outer reefs,
And have neither fathers nor mothers?"

13. "The Western flow and the Eastern flow,
Well may they be called brothers;
They roll far away on the outer reefs
And have neither fathers nor mothers."

14. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
And what can this be now?--
Soft as down and hard as horn,
And white as glistening snow!"

15. "Hear thou this now, Guest the Blind;
This riddle I understand.--
The sea it is both soft and hard,
And flings white spray upon the land."

16. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
Where does the sapling grow,--
Its root is turned towards high Heaven,
And its head turned down below?"

17. "The icicle on the high crags,
No sapling it is I trow,
Yet its root is turned towards high heaven,
And its head turned down below."

18. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
Where does that forest grow,--
It is cut on every holy day,
And yet there is wood enow?"

19. "The beard which grows on each man's chin,
No forest is that I trow,
Though shaved on every holy day,
And yet there is wood enow."

20. "O hearken now, Heithrek my King,
Where dost thou know the brothers,--
Both of them live in the same hall,
And have neither fathers nor mothers?"

21. "Turf clods and brimstones,
Neither of the twain are brothers.
Both of them live in the same hall,
And have neither fathers nor mothers."

22. "The sow she wanders to her sty,
She wallows on the green, green earth.
The boar he grunts and the little pigs squeak,
And each makes music with his mouth."

23. "O well do I know thy riddle,
And well it shall be spoke;
The hammer is raised in every smithy,
And falls with even stroke."

24. "O well do I know thy riddle,
Though thereof no boast make I.
It is Othin who rides upon his steed,
By land and eke by sea.

25. "O well do I know thy riddle,
Yet of wisdom I make no display.
Othin he rides upon his steed
By night and eke by day."

26. Othin has turned into a wild fowl,
And flown out from the hall;
And therein King Heithrek has been burnt,
He and his nobles all.

27. Othin has turned into a wild fowl,
And has flown far out to sea;
He has burnt King Heithrek in his hall,
And all his company.