ood-wives have no husbands. King Heithrek, read me this
riddle!

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
Those are billows like the last.

Gestumblindi said:

Who are the brides who go about the reefs and trail along the
firths? These white-hooded ladies have a hard bed and do not
play much when the weather is calm. King Heithrek read me this
riddle.

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
Those again are AEgir's maidens; but your pleading has now
become so weak that you will have to stand trial by the
judges.

Gestumblindi said:

I am loath to do so; and yet I fear that it will very soon
come to that. I saw a barrow-dweller pass by, a corpse
sitting on a corpse, the blind riding on the blind towards
the ocean-path. Lifeless was the steed. King Heithrek, read me
this riddle!

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
It is that you came to a river; and an ice-floe was floating
along the stream, and on it a dead horse was lying, and on the
horse was a dead snake; and thus the blind was carrying the
blind when they were all three together.

Gestumblindi said:

What is that beast which slays people's flocks and is girt
around with iron? It has eight horns, yet no head, and it runs
when it can. King Heithrek, read me this riddle!

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
That is the _Hunn_ in chess. It has the same name as a bear.
It runs as soon as it is thrown.

Gestumblindi said:

What is that beast which protects the Danes? Its back is
bloody, but it shields men, encounters spears and saves men's
lives. Man fits his hand to its body. King Heithrek, read me
this riddle!

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
That is a shield. It protects many people and often has a
bloody back.

Gestumblindi said:

A 'nose-goose' (i.e. duck) in former days had grown very
big when eager for young. She gathered together her building
timber: 'biters of straw' sheltered her, and 'drink's echoing
cavern' was above her. King Heithrek, read me this riddle!

Heithrek replied:

Your riddle is a good one, Gestumblindi. I have guessed it.
There a duck was sitting o