This is an old ballad modernized by Levertin, its legendary style being
rather too fantastical for present-day verse.
16. _Betslet är en blomsterrad_--the reins, not the bit, forming a
festoon of flowers, _betsel_ (bit) is a metonym for _tyglar_ (reins).
20. _guldsmidd_ is here used in two senses--"gold-mounted" and "hammered
out of gold."
29. Spelt was the common variety of wheat in early times. It is still
grown on poor soils in Germany and Switzerland.
35. _huvut_, contraction of _huvudet_, the _t_ representing the definite
suffix, not a consonantal change.