Nevertheless, some of the Eddic songs do seem to give the very form and pressure of the viking period.'
His memory was remarkable, and if the whole of the Eddic poems had been lost, he could have written them down from memory.
Of later poets, down to more recent times, perhaps the best was Sigurd of Broadfirth, many of whose prettiest poems were composed in Greenland like those of Jon Biarnisson before him, c. 1750; John Thorlaksson's translation of Milton's great epic into Eddic verse is praiseworthy in intention, but, as may be imagined, falls far short of its aim.
Another Eddic god, Hoene, is described in phrases from lost poems as " the long-legged one," " lord of the ooze," and his name is connected with that of the crane.
The misuse of the Eddic metaphors made the lyrical and epical poetry of the day hardly intelligible, and, to make matters worse, the language of the poets was mixed up with words of German and Danish origin.