Prose Edda — Old Norse facing a living language
En at morgni, þegar dagaði, stendr Þórr upp ok þeir félagar, klæða sik ok eru búnir braut at ganga. Þá kom þar Útgarða-Loki ok lét setja þeim borð. Skorti þá eigi góðan fagnað, mat ok drykk. En er þeir hafa matazt, þá snúast þeir til ferðar.
In the morning, as soon as it grew light, Thor and his companions got up, dressed, and made ready to leave. Utgard-Loki came and had a table set for them — there was no shortage of good food and drink. Once they'd eaten, they set off.
Útgarða-Loki fylgir þeim út, gengr með þeim braut ór borginni, en at skilnaði þá mælti Útgarða-Loki til Þórs ok spyrr, hvernig honum þykkir ferð sín orðin, eða hvárt hann hefir hitt ríkara mann nökkurn en sik. Þórr segir, at eigi mun hann þat segja, at eigi hafi hann mikla ósæmð farit í þeira viðskiptum, - "en þó veit ek, at þér munuð kalla mik lítinn mann fyrir mér, ok uni ek því illa."
Utgard-Loki walked with them out of the stronghold, and at parting he turned to Thor and asked how he thought his trip had gone, and whether he'd ever met a mightier man than himself. Thor said he couldn't deny he'd suffered a good deal of humiliation in their dealings — "though I know you'll call me a small man for it, and that sits badly with me." Utgard-Loki said: "Now I'll tell you the truth, since you're out of the stronghold — and if I have my way, you'll never come inside it again.
Þá mælti Útgarða-Loki: "Nú skal segja þér it sanna, er þú ert út kominn ór borginni, at ef ek lifi ok megak ráða, þá skaltu aldri oftar í hana koma. Ok þat veit trúa mín, at aldri hefðir þú í hana komit, ef ek hefða vitat áðr, at þú hefðir svá mikinn kraft með þér ok þú hafðir svá nær haft oss mikilli ófæru.
And I promise you, you'd never have gotten in at all, if I'd known beforehand how much strength you actually carry, and how close you came to bringing real disaster down on us. I worked illusions against you the whole time.
En sjónhverfingar hef ek gert þér, svá at fyrsta sinn á skóginum kom ek til fundar við yðr, ok þá er þú skyldir leysa nestbaggann, þá hafðak bundit hann með grésjárni, en þú fannt eigi, hvar upp skyldi lúka. En því næst laust þú mik með hamrinum þrjú högg, ok var it fyrsta minnst ok var þó svá mikit, at mér mundi endast til bana, ef á hefði komit.
The first was in the forest, when I came to meet you, and when you tried to untie the food-bag, I'd bound it with iron wire, and you couldn't find where to open it. Then you struck me three blows with the hammer — the first was the lightest, and it would still have killed me outright if it had actually landed. Where you saw a saddle-shaped ridge near my hall, cut into three square valleys, one deeper than the rest — those were your hammer's marks.
En þar er þú sátt hjá höll minni setberg ok þar sáttu ofan í þrjá dali ferskeytta ok einn djúpastan, þar váru hamarspor þín. Setberginu brá ek fyrir höggin, en eigi sást þú þat. Svá var ok of leikana, er þér þreyttuð við hirðmenn mína, þá var þat it fyrsta er, Loki gerði. Hann var mjök soltinn ok át títt, en sá er Logi hét, þat var villieldr, ok brenndi hann eigi seinna trogið en slátrit.
I shifted that ridge in front of the blows, though you never saw it happen. It was the same with the games you tried against my men. The first was Loki's: he was ravenous, and ate fast, but the one called Logi was wildfire itself, and burned through the trough no slower than the meat. When Thjalfi raced against the one called Hugi, that was my own thought — and Thjalfi could never have matched speed with that.
En er Þjálfi þreytti rásina við þann, er Hugi hét, þat var hugr minn, ok var Þjálfa eigi vænt at þreyta skjótfæri við hann. En er þú drakkt af horninu ok þótti þér seint líða, en þat veit trúa mín, at þá varð þat undr, er ek mynda eigi trúa, at vera mætti.
When you drank from the horn, and it seemed to go so slowly — that, I promise you, was a wonder I'd never have believed possible myself. The other end of that horn reached out to the sea, though you never saw it, and now, when you come to the shore, you'll be able to see how much you've drained from the ocean — people call that the tides now."
Annarr endir hornsins var úti í hafi, en þat sáttu eigi, en nú, er þú kemr til sjávarins, þá muntu sjá mega, hvern þurrð þú hefir drukkit á sænum. Þat eru nú fjörur kallaðar." Ok enn mælti hann: "Eigi þótti mér hitt minna vera vert, er þú lyftir upp kettinum, ok þér satt at segja, þá hræddust allir þeir, er sá, er þú lyftir af jörðu einum fætinum. En sá köttr var eigi sem þér sýndist.
And he went on: "I thought it just as remarkable when you lifted the cat, and to tell you the truth, everyone who saw you get even one paw off the ground was afraid. That cat wasn't what it looked like — it was the Midgard Serpent, which lies around every land, and it barely had length enough left for its head and tail to reach the earth on both sides — you reached up so high that there was hardly any distance left to the sky.
Þat var Miðgarðsormr, er liggr um öll lönd, ok vannst honum varliga lengð til, at jörðina tæki sporðr ok höfuð, svá langt seildist þú upp, at skammt var þá til himins.
And it was just as great a wonder about the wrestling, that you held out so long and fell no further than one knee, grappling with Elli — because no one has ever managed that, and no one ever will, if he lives long enough for old age to catch him, since old age brings everyone down in the end.
En hitt var ok mikit undr um fangit, er þú stótt svá lengi við ok fellt eigi meir en á kné öðrum fæti, er þú fékkst við Elli, fyrir því at engi hefir sá orðit ok engi mun verða, ef svá gamall verðr, at elli bíðr, at eigi komi ellin öllum til falls. Ok er nú þat satt at segja, at vér munum skiljast, ok mun þá betr hvárratveggju handar, at þér komit eigi oftar mik at hitta.
And now it's time to tell you plainly: we must part ways, and it will go better for both sides if you never come looking for me again.
Ek mun enn annat sinn verja borg mína með þvílíkum vélum eða öðrum, svá at ekki vald munuð þér á mér fá." En er Þórr heyrði þessa tölu, greip hann til hamarsins ok bregðr á loft, en er hann skal fram reiða, þá sér hann þar hvergi Útgarða-Loka. Ok þá snýst hann aftr til borgarinnar ok ætlast þá fyrir at brjóta borgina. Þá sér hann þar völlu víða ok fagra, en enga borg.
I'll defend my stronghold another time with tricks like these, or others, so that you'll never get the better of me." When Thor heard this speech, he grabbed for the hammer and swung it up — but when he went to bring it down, he found Utgard-Loki nowhere in sight. He turned back toward the stronghold, meaning to smash it to pieces, but all he saw was open, beautiful country, and no stronghold at all.
Snýst hann þá aftr ok ferr leið sína, til þess er hann kom aftr í Þrúðvanga. En þat er satt at segja, at þá hafi hann ráðit fyrir sér at leita til, ef saman mætti bera fundi þeira Miðgarðsorms, sem síðar varð. Nú ætla ek engan kunna þér sannara at segja frá þessi ferð Þórs."
So he turned around and went on his way, until he came back to Thrudvangar. But it's a true story that from that day he resolved to find some way to bring about a meeting between himself and the Midgard Serpent — which later came to pass. Now, I don't think anyone can give you a truer account of Thor's journey than this."