Prose Edda — Old Norse facing a living language
Þá mælti Gangleri: "Hverr á þann hest, Sleipni, eða hvat er frá honum at segja?" Hárr segir: "Eigi kanntu deili á Sleipni, ok eigi veiztu atburði, af hverju hann kom, en þat mun þér þykkja frásagnar vert.
Then Gangleri asked: "Who owns that horse Sleipnir, and what's to be said of him?" High said: "You know nothing about Sleipnir, and you don't know the story of how he was born — but it's a tale worth hearing.
Þat var snimma í öndverða byggð goðanna, þá er goðin höfðu sett Miðgarð ok gert Valhöll, þá kom þar smiðr nökkurr ok bauð at gera þeim borg á þrim misserum svá góða, at trú ok örugg væri fyrir bergrisum ok hrímþursum, þótt þeir kæmi inn um Miðgarð, en hann mælti sér þat til kaups, at hann skyldi eignast Freyju, ok hafa vildi hann sól ok mána.
It happened early on, when the gods were first settling their home, right after they had built Midgard and made Valhalla. A certain builder showed up and offered to build them a stronghold in three seasons, so strong and sure that it would hold against mountain-giants and rime-giants even if they broke through into Midgard. But he asked, in payment, to have Freyja for himself — and he wanted the sun and the moon too.
Þá gengu æsirnir á tal ok réðu ráðum sínum, ok var þat kaup gert við smiðinn, at hann skyldi eignast þat, er hann mælti til, ef hann fengi gert borgina á einum vetri, en inn fyrsta sumarsdag, ef nökkurr hlutr væri ógerr at borginni, þá skyldi hann af kaupinu. Skyldi hann af engum manni lið þiggja til verksins.
So the Aesir talked it over and reached a bargain with him: he would get what he asked for, if he finished the stronghold within a single winter. But on the first day of summer, if any part of the stronghold was left unfinished, the deal was off. He was to take help from no one in the work.
Ok er þeir sögðu honum þessa kosti, þá beiddist hann, at þeir skyldu lofa, at hann hefði lið af hesti sínum, er Svaðilfari hét, en því réð Loki, er þat var til lagt við hann. Hann tók til inn fyrsta vetrardag at gera borgina, en of nætr dró hann til grjót á hestinum. En þat þótti ásunum mikit undr, hversu stór björg sá hestr dró, ok hálfu meira þrekvirki gerði hestrinn en smiðrinn.
When they told him these terms, he asked leave to have the help of his stallion, called Svadilfari, and since Loki was the one who urged it, they agreed. He set to work on the first day of winter building the stronghold, and by night he hauled stone with the horse. It seemed a great marvel to the Aesir, the size of the rocks that horse could drag — the horse did fully half again the work the builder did himself.
En at kaupi þeira váru sterk vitni ok mörg særi, fyrir því at jötnum þótti ekki tryggt at vera með ásum griðalaust, ef Þórr kæmi heim, en þá var hann farinn í austrveg at berja tröll. En er á leið vetrinn, þá sóttist mjök borgargerðin, ok var hon svá há ok sterk, at eigi mátti á þat leita. En þá er þrír dagar váru til sumars, þá var komit mjök at borghliði.
Their bargain was sealed with strong oaths and many pledges, since the giant felt it wasn't safe to be among the Aesir without a truce, in case Thor came home — but Thor was away in the east at the time, fighting trolls. As winter wore on, the building of the stronghold went forward fast, and it grew so tall and so strong that nothing could break through it. When summer was three days off, the work had nearly reached the gate.
Þá settust goðin á dómstóla sína ok leituðu ráða ok spurði hverr annan, hverr því hefði ráðit at gifta Freyju í Jötunheima eða spilla loftinu ok himninum svá, at taka þaðan sól ok tungl ok gefa jötnum.
Then the gods sat down in judgment and looked for a way out, and asked each other who had thought it wise to marry Freyja off into Jotunheim, or to wreck the sky and the air by taking the sun and moon from it and handing them to the giants.
En þat kom ásamt með öllum, at þessu myndi ráðit hafa sá, er flestu illu ræðr, Loki Laufeyjarson, ok kváðu hann verðan ills dauða, ef eigi hitti hann ráð til, at smiðrinn væri af kaupinu, ok veittu Loka atgöngu. En er hann varð hræddr, þá svarði hann eiða, at hann skyldi svá til haga, at smiðrinn væri af kaupinu, hvat sem hann kostaði til.
And they all agreed that this must have been the doing of the one behind most mischief, Loki Laufeyarson, and they declared he deserved a wretched death if he couldn't find some way to get the builder out of his bargain, and they threatened him with violence. Frightened, he swore an oath that he'd arrange things so the builder lost his payment, whatever it cost him. That very evening, as the builder drove out after stone with the stallion Svadilfari, a mare bolted out of a certain wood toward the stallion and whinnied.
Ok it sama kveld, er smiðrinn ók út eftir grjótinu með hestinn Svaðilfara, þá hljóp ór skógi nökkurum merr ok at hestinum ok hrein við.
When the stallion realized what kind of horse this was, he went wild, snapped his traces, and ran after the mare — and she fled into the woods, with the builder chasing after, trying to catch his horse.
En er hestrinn kenndi, hvat hrossi þetta var, þá æddist hann ok sleit sundr reipin ok hljóp til merarinnar, en hon undan til skógar ok smiðrinn eftir ok vill taka hestinn, en þessi hross hlaupa alla nótt, ok dvelst smíðin þá nótt, ok eftir um daginn varð ekki svá smíðat sem fyrr hafði orðit. Ok þá er smiðrinn sér, at eigi mun lokit verða verkinu, þá færist smiðrinn í jötunmóð.
But the two horses ran all night, and the work stopped for that night, and the next day's building fell far short of what had come before. When the builder saw that the work would never be finished in time, he flew into a giant's rage.
En er æsirnir sá þat til víss, at þar var bergrisi kominn, þá varð eigi þyrmt eiðunum, ok kölluðu þeir á Þór, ok jafnskjótt kom hann, ok því næst fór á loft hamarinn Mjöllnir. Galt hann þá smíðarkaupit ok eigi sól eða tungl, heldr synjaði hann honum at byggva í Jötunheimum ok laust þat it fyrsta högg, er haussinn brotnaði í smán mola, ok sendi hann niðr undir Niflheim.
And once the Aesir saw for certain that a mountain-giant had come among them, their oaths meant nothing anymore — they called on Thor, and he came at once, and the hammer Mjollnir went up into the air a moment later. That was how the builder got paid for his work — not with the sun or the moon, but by being refused any home in Jotunheim at all: Thor's first blow shattered his skull into fragments and sent him down under Niflhel.
En Loki hafði þá ferð haft til Svaðilfara, at nökkuru síðar bar hann fyl. Þat var grátt ok hafði átta fætr, ok er sá hestr beztr með goðum ok mönnum. Svá segir í Völuspá: 52. Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla ginnheilög goð, ok um þat gættusk, hverr hefði loft allt lævi blandit eða ætt jötuns Óðs mey gefna. 53.
But Loki had had such dealings with Svadilfari that, somewhat later, he gave birth to a foal — gray, and with eight legs, and that horse is the finest among gods and men. So it says in Voluspa: Then all the powers went to their thrones of judgment, / the most holy gods, and took counsel: / who had filled the whole sky with malice, / or given Od's bride away to the race of giants?
Á gengusk eiðar, orð ok særi, mál öll meginlig, er á meðal fóru; Þórr einn þar vá þrunginn móði, hann sjaldan sitr, er hann slíkt of fregn."
/ Oaths were broken, / words and promises, / every solemn pact / that had passed between them; / Thor alone struck there, / swollen with rage — / he rarely sits still / when he hears of such things."