Editing Rán (section)

===''Poetic Edda''===
[[File:Ögir und Ran by F. W. Heine.jpg|thumb|Rán pulls her net beside her husband Ægir as depicted by [[Friedrich Wilhelm Heine]] (1845–1921) after an original by [[Friedrich Wilhelm Engelhard]] (1813–1902)]]
Rán receives three mentions in the ''Poetic Edda''; twice in poetry and once in prose. The first mention occurs in a stanza in ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana I]]'', when the [[valkyrie]] [[Sigrún]] assists the ship of the hero [[Helgi Hundingsbane]] as it encounters ferocious waters:
<blockquote>
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<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation</small>
:But from above did Sigrun brave
:Aid the men and all their faring;
:Mightily came from the claws of Ron
:The leader's sea-beast off Gnipalund.<ref name="BELLOWS-1936-299-300">Bellows (1936: 299–300). Bellows renders Old Norse ''Rán'' as ''Ron'' throughout his translation.</ref>
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<small>Carolyne Larrington translation</small>
:And Sigrun above, brave in battle,
:protected them and their vessel;
:the king's sea-beasts twisted powerfully,
:out of Ran's hand toward Gnipalund.<ref name="LARRINGTON-1999-118">Larrington (1999 [1996]: 118).</ref>
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|}
</blockquote>
In the notes for her translation, Larrington says that Rán "seeks to catch and drown men in her net" and that "to give someone to the sea-goddess is to drown them."<ref name="LARRINGTON-1999-280">Davidson (1999 [1996]: 279, 280).</ref>

The second instance occurs in a stanza found in ''[[Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar]]''. In this stanza, the hero Atli references Rán while [[flyting]] with [[Hrímgerðr]], a female [[jötunn]]:
<blockquote>
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<small>[[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] translation:</small>
:"Witch, in front of the ship thou wast,
:And lay before the fjord;
:To Ron wouldst have given the ruler's men,
:If a spear had not stuck in thy flesh."<ref name-"BELLOWS-1936-281">Bellows (1936: 281).</ref>
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<small>Carolyne Larrington translation:</small>
:'Ogress, you stood before the prince's ships
:and blocked the fjord mouth;
:the king's men you were going to give to Ran,
:if a spear hadn't lodged in your flesh.'<ref name="DAVIDSON-1999-127">Davidson (1999 [1996]: 127).</ref>
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</blockquote>
Finally, in the prose introduction to ''[[Reginsmál]]'', Loki visits Rán (here rendered as ''Ron'') to borrow her net:
:[Odin and Hœnir] sent Loki to get the gold; he went to Ron and got her net, and went then to Andvari's fall and cast the net in front of the pike, and the pike leaped into the net.<ref name="BELLOWS-1936-358-359">Bellows (1936: 358–359).</ref>

Translator [[Henry Adams Bellows (businessman)|Henry Adams Bellows]] notes how this version of the narrative differs from how it appears in other sources, where Loki catches the pike with his own hands.<ref name="BELLOWS-1936-358-359"/>