Genius English Translations
Einar Selvik - Hrafnsmál - The Words of the Raven (English Translation)
Have you heard of the king?
He who lives in Kvinn
Lord of all Norwegian lands
He who rules deep-set keels
Reddened spears
And bloody shields
Tar-soaked oars
And foam-flecked sails

Loaded were they with warriors
And shields of whitened hue
Western spears, I know they were
And Frankish swords all anew
Berserks howled and bit their shields
As battle dawned on the waves
Wolf-men wailed and cried aloud
And waved their spears up high

Glad they are now
As battle nears
Arrows range high
And oars, they swing
Fetters are broken
Oarlocks crushed
Setting forth
For the lord
Of the berserker
I would know more
Those who feed on blood
How one deals with
Such battle-brave warriors?
Those who wade through men

Berserks howled and bit their shields
As battle dawned on the waves
Wolf-men wailed and cried aloud
And waved their spears up high

Fetters are broken
Oarlocks crushed
Setting forth
For the lord