Gold is called 'Fróði's meal': King Fróði makes the giantesses Fenja and Menja grind gold and peace on the magic mill Grótti, but allows them no rest — so they grind out an army that kills him instead. The sea-king Mýsingr takes the mill and has salt ground until his ship sinks — hence the sea's salt water.
Hví er gull kallat mjöl Fróða? Til þess er saga sjá, at Skjöldr hét sonr Óðins, er Skjöldungar eru frá komnir. Hann hafði atsetu ok réð löndum, þar sem nú er kölluð Danmörk, en þá var kallat Gotland. Skjöldr átti þann son, er Friðleifr hét, er löndum réð eftir hann. Sonr Friðleifs hét Fróði. Mann tók konungdóm eftir föður sinn í þann tíð, er Ágústus keisari lagði frið of heim allan. Þá var Kristr borinn. En fyrir því at Fróði var allra konunga ríkastr á Norðlöndum, þá var honum kenndr friðrinn um alla danska tungu, ok kalla menn það Fróðafrið. Engi maðr grandaði öðrum, þótt hann hitti fyrir sér föðurbana eða bróðurbana lausan eða bundinn. Þá var ok engi þjófr eða ránsmaðr, svá at gullhringr einn lá á Jalangrsheiði lengi.
Why is gold called Fróði's meal? There is this story to it, that Skjöldr was the name of a son of Óðinn, from whom the Skjöldungs are descended. He had his residence and ruled the lands where now it is called Denmark, but was then called Gotland. Skjöldr had a son named Friðleifr, who ruled the lands after him. Friðleifr's son was named Fróði. He took the kingship after his father at the time when the emperor Augustus laid peace over all the world. Then Christ was born. And because Fróði was the mightiest of all kings in the Northlands, the peace was attributed to him throughout the whole Danish tongue, and men call it the Fróði-peace. No man harmed another, even if he met the slayer of his father or brother, free or bound. There was then no thief or robber either, so that a single gold ring lay long on Jalangrsheiðr.
Fróði konungr sótti heimboð í Svíþjóð til þess konungs, er Fjölnir er nefndr. Þá keypti hann ambáttir tvær, er hétu Fenja ok Menja. Þær váru miklar ok sterkar.
King Fróði went to a feast in Svíþjóð with the king named Fjölnir. There he bought two bondmaids named Fenja and Menja. They were big and strong.
Í þann tíma fundust í Danmörku kvernsteinar tveir svá miklir, at engi var svá sterkr, at dregit gæti. En sú náttúra fylgði kvernunum, at þat mólst á kverninni, sem sá mælti fyrir, er mól. Sú kvern hét Grótti. Hengikjöftr er sá nefndr, er Fróða konungi gaf kvernina.
At that time there were found in Denmark two millstones so large that no one was strong enough to turn them. But this nature accompanied the mill: that whatever the one who ground spoke over it was ground out on it. That mill was called Grótti. He is named Hengikjaptr who gave King Fróði the mill.
Fróði konungr lét leiða ambáttirnar til kvernarinnar ok bað þær mala gull, ok svá gerðu þær, mólu fyrst gull ok frið ok sælu Fróða. Þá gaf hann þeim eigi lengri hvílð eða svefn en gaukrinn þagði eða hljóð mátti kveða. Þat er sagt, at þær kvæði ljóð þau, er kallat er Gróttasöngr, ok er þetta upphaf at:
King Fróði had the bondmaids led to the mill and bade them grind gold, and so they did — first they ground gold and peace and prosperity for Fróði. Then he gave them no longer rest or sleep than while the cuckoo was silent or a song could be sung. It is said that they sang the poem called Gróttasöngr, and this is the beginning of it:
Ok áðr létti kvæðinu, mólu þær her at Fróða, svá at á þeiri nótt kom þar sá sækonungr, er Mýsingr hét, ok drap Fróða, tók þar herfang mikit. Þá lagðist Fróðafriðr. Mýsingr hafði með sér Grótta ok svá Fenju ok Menju ok bað þær mala salt. Ok at miðri nótt spurðu þær, ef eigi leiddist Mýsingi salt. Hann bað þær mala lengr. Þær mólu litla hríð, áðr niðr sökk skipit, ok var þar eftir svelgr í hafinu, er særinn fellr í kvernaraugat. Þá varð sær saltr.
And before the poem ended, they ground an army against Fróði, so that on that night there came the sea-king named Mýsingr, who killed Fróði and took great booty. Then the Fróði-peace ended. Mýsingr took Grótti with him, and Fenja and Menja too, and bade them grind salt. And at midnight they asked whether Mýsingr was not weary of salt. He bade them grind on. They ground a little while before the ship sank, and there was left a whirlpool in the sea where the sea falls into the eye of the mill. Then the sea became salt.
Skaldic quotations
Gróttasöngr (Fenja och Menja)
Nú erum komnar til konungs húsa framvísar tvær, Fenja ok Menja; þær eru at Fróða Friðleifs sonar máttkar meyjar at mani hafðar.
Now we two, foreseeing, have come to the king's house, Fenja and Menja; they are held as bondmaids at Fróði's, son of Friðleifr, the mighty maidens.