Chapter 21

Stanza 1. _Budkavlen_. Men were summoned to assemblies by staffs that were inscribed with runes and passed from house to house.

7. _på öppet ting_. See canto VIII: 87.

11. _Odens ätt_. See canto I: 35.

16. _böndren_, regular form, _bönderna_.

20. _sköldemör_, shield maidens. The valkyrs were sometimes called norns.

20. _De bygga under tidens träd och ovanför_. This refers to the norns who dwelt at the well of Urd by the world-tree Yggdrasil. But they also determine the fate of men on earth. _Bygga_ means here build and dwell.