Note 22 — CANTO II. SPELLS UPON THE HEATH.
William Edward Frye translation
Respecting Skrymur’s wallet, which Thor is unable to untie or open, Finn Magnussen says: “I think this mythe is enigmatical, and alludes to winter (the frost-giant), which may be said to prevent man from getting his food from the earth, by envelopping it in ice.” In the prosaic Edda, Utgard-Lok says, in explaining to Thor his magic spells, “The wallet I gave to you, was made fast with an iron girdle;” now there is a close analogy between the words denoting ice and iron in many of the Gothic languages. Ex: in Icelandic, is (ice) isarn (iron); in German, eis (ice) eisen (iron); in Dutch, ijs (ice) ijzer (iron); in Anglo-Saxon, is (ice) isen (iron).