_Balks_, pieces of timber used to make a bridge. _Bane_, destruction or a cause of destruction; often used to mean an enemy or slayer, e.g. Sigurd's sword is called "Fafnir's bane," and in the old saga Sigurd himself had the title Fafnir's-Bane. _Barter_, to give in exchange for something else. _Bast_, wrappings made of the soft inner bark of trees. _Bath of the swan_, the sea. _Battle-acre_, field of battle. _Beaker_, a drinking cup. _Befall_, happen. _Begrudge_, to feel unwillingness in giving, to be displeased at another's success. Loki is called the World's Begrudger, because he liked to cause failure and unhappiness, and hated success in others. _Bench-cloths_, coverings for seats. _Bent_, a piece of high ground. _Betide_, p.t. betided; p.p. betid; to happen, come to pass, e.g. "What hath betid?" _Bickering_, stormy, struggling. _Bide_ or _abide_, p.t. abode; p.p. abode; to remain, dwell _Bight_, a bend or curve in a coast or river bank. _Bill_, an axe with a long handle. _Blazoning_, painting, especially the painting of coats of arms or of records of valiant deeds. _Boar of Son_. It was customary when making any solemn vows to lay the hand or sword on a sacred boar called the Boar of Son or the Boar of Atonement. The ceremony seems to have been also accompanied by drinking a draught, called in this poem the Cup of Daring Promise, in honour of one of the gods. _Boding_, a misgiving, a feeling that evil is to come. _Bole_, a tree-trunk. _Bows the acre's face_, bends the growing grain in a harvest-field. _Brand_, a sword. _Bucklers_, shields. _Burg_, a town, a fortress. _Byrny_, a coat of armour for back and breast, made of linked iron rings. _Carles_, peasants; a contemptuous word used for a man who is not a warrior. _Change his life_, die and pass from the life on earth to that in Valhalla or Niflheim. _Chooser_. One of the titles of Brynhild, as she was one of the Valkyries or maidens whom Odin sent into battles to single out for death the men he had chosen to be slain. Victory-Wafter is another title of Brynhild, since she brought victory to those for whom it was appointed and death to others. _Churl_, a grudging, ungracious man. _Clave_, p.p. of cleave, to pierce, hew, cut through. _Cloisters_, a roofed passage running round a court-yard and open on the side towards the court-yard. _Close_, a field. _Cloud-wreath_, the cloud that often gathers about the top of a high mountain. _Compass_, to contrive, accomplish. _Constrain_, to force, to control and guide. _Coping_, the topmost row of bricks in a wall, the top of a wall. _Craft_, skill, knowledge of some particular art, a trade or occupation, e.g. song-craft. _Cull_, to choose, pick out. _Cup of Daring Promise_, see _Boar of Son_. _Dais_, a raised part of the floor at one end of a banquet hall, where the principal persons sat. _Dastard_, a coward. _Dawn-dusk_, the twilight at dawn before the sun is fully risen.