“I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.”
– On the Final Judgment, Matthew 25:43, The Bible
…”he was wearing a blue cloak and said his name was Grimnir but would say nothing further about himself when he was asked. The king said he would be forced to speak and set him between two fires; and he sat there for eight nights. King Geirrod had a son ten years old and had named him Agnar after his own brother.
Agnar went to see Grimnir and brought him a horn full of wine to drink and said that the king did wrong to torment him for no reason. Grimnir emptied the horn. The fire was by that time so close that it was burning Grimnir’s cloak.
He said:
Fire, you’re too hot, and much too fierce,
take your flames further away!
My cloak is singed though I hold it high;
sparks fly against the fur.Eight nights I sat bound between these fires
denied all food and drink
til Agnar come— and he alone,
Geirrod’s son, shall rule the Goths.You’ll live happy Agnar; Odin, lord of men,
will grant you all good fortune.
You won’t again for just one drink
receive so great a reward.—
My name is Grim, my name is Gangleri,
Herjan and Hjalmberi,
Thekk and Thridi, Thund and Ud,
Helblindi and Har.Sath and Svipal and Sanngetal,
Herteit and Hnikar-
I’ve never been known by one name only
since I have wandered the world.Too much ale, Geirrod, muddles your mind,
trusted friends betray you;
I can see the sword you carry,
with its blade all wet with blood.Ygg will soon summon the slain;
your life won’t last much longer.
The Norns don’t smile on you- now you see I’m Odin!
Come close to me, if you can!”King Geirrod was sitting down with a half-sheathed sword on his lap. When he heard that his visitor was Odin, he stood up, intending to take Odin away from the fires. The sword slipped out of his hand and fell, hilt down. The king stumbled and fell forward against the point of the sword; and so he died. Odin vanished. Then Agnar was king in that land for a long time.”
– Grímnismál
