Svipdag spake:

"What giant is here, | in front of the house,
And around him fires are flaming?"

Fjolsvith spake:

2. "What seekest thou here? | for what is thy search?
What, friendless one, fain wouldst thou know?
By the ways so wet | must thou wander hence,
For, weakling, no home hast thou here."

Svipdag spake:

3. "What giant is here, | in front of the house,
To the wayfarer welcome denying?"

Fjolsvith spake:

"Greeting full fair | thou never shalt find,
So hence shalt thou get thee home.^*

4. Fjolsvith am I, | and wise am I found,
But miserly am I with meat;
Thou never shalt enter | within the house,--
Go forth like a wolf on thy way!"

Svipdag spake:

5. "Few from the joy | of their eyes will go forth,
When the sight of their loves they seek;
Full bright are the gates | of the golden hall,
And a home shall I here enjoy."

[1. Most editors have here begun a new series of stanza numbers, but if the Grougaldr and the Fjolsvinnsmol are to be considered. as a single poem, it seems more reasonable to continue the stanza numbers consecutively. Bugge thinks a stanza has been lost before 1, including Fjolsvith's name, so that the "he" in line 1 might have something to refer to. However, just such a prose link as I have suggested in the note on stanza 16 of Svipdagsmál I: Grógaldr:

'16. "Bear hence, my son, | what thy mother hath said,
And let it live in thy breast;
Thine ever shall be the | best of fortune,
So long as my words shall last."'

would serve the purpose. Editors have suggested various rearrange merits in the lines of stanzas 1-3. The substance, however, is clear enough. The giant Fjolsvith ("Much-Wise"), the warder of the house in which Mengloth dwells, sees Svipdag coming and stops him with the customary threats. The assignment of the speeches in stanzas 1-4, in the absence of any indications in the manuscripts, is more or less guesswork.

^* The manuscript does not indicate who the speakers are or which of them says what. Bellows disagrees with the editor of the Old Norse at various points, such as in the second half of this stanza. No changes have been made to Bellows' text in these cases, but it causes his translation to not completely match the Old Norse text. For the same reason, the Old Norse calls Svipdag by different names: at first simply "the arriving man."]

2. Hvers þú leitar, eða hvers þú á leitum ert,
eða hvat viltu, vinlaus, vita?
Úrgar brautir árnaðu aftr heðan;
átt-at-tu hér, verndar vanr, veru."

Kómumaðr kvað:

3. "Hvat er þat flagða, er stendr fyr forgarði
ok býðr-at líðöndum löð?
Sæmðarorðalauss hefir þú, seggr, of lifat,
ok haltu heim heðan!"

Borgarvörðr kvað:

4. "Fjölsviðr ek heiti, en ek á fróðan sefa,
þeygi em ek míns mildr matar;
innan garða þú kemr hér aldregi,
ok dríf þú nú, vargr, at vegi!"

Kómumaðr kvað:

5. "Augna gamans fýsir aftr at fá,
hvars hann getr svást at sjá;
garðar glóa mér þykkja of gullna sali;
hér mynda ek eðli una."