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From “Gylfaginning,” in original Old Icelandic/Old Norse:

Gylfi sá mann í hallardurunum, ok lék at handsöxum ok hafði sjau senn á lopti. Sá spurði hann fyrr at nafni. Hann nefndisk Gangleri ok kominn af refilstigum ok beiddisk at sœkja til náttstaðar, ok spurði hverr höllina ætti. Hann svarar at þat var konungr þeira, ‘en fylgja má ek þér at sjá hann. Skaltu þá sjálfr spyrja hann nafns,’
From Snorri Sturluson’s Gylfaginning in Edda, as transcribed in Codex Regius (GKS 2367 4°)

Why is it refilstigum and not refilstigr in the passage above?

The stem of the masculine noun refilstigr is refilstig. In this sentence — kominn af refilstigum — the word ends in -um because the noun is in the plural dative case. Without being an expert I’ll venture to say that the noun is in it’s dative case because it follows the preposition af.

Examples of how refilstigr (refilstigum) has been translated from this passage above:

  1. Here’s an early Swedish translation (Göransson 1746) where the translator doesn’t even attempt a translation, but simply keeps the word (almost) as it is in the original text (saying he has come by way of Rifelstigarna):

    Gylfe såg en man i palatsets dör, som lekte med staekota verjor, ok voro VII i senner i luftene. Denne sporde dem förra efter hans namn: han nåmndes Ganglere, ok kommen af Rifelstigarna: og spör, hvilken palatset åtte. Ha sade, at den var deras kong: ok mån jag fölgja dig, at se honnom.

    (pp.9-10)

  2. This French translation from 1763 (by Paul Henri Mallet), also chooses to pretend Riphil is the name of a location (“rochers de Riphil” would be something like “the rocks of Riphil”. Indeed that was the phrase rendered in a 1770 English translation of this French book.):

    A l'entrée de ce Palais, Gylfe rencontra un homme qui s'exerçoit à lancer en l'air sept fleurets à la fois qu'il recevoit ensuite l-un après l'autre. Cet homme lui ayant demandé son nom, le Roi déguifé répondit qu'il se nommoit Gangler, & qu'il venoit des rochers de Riphil: ensuite il demanda à son tour à qui appartenoit le Palais qu'il voyoit, & sur le champ l'autre répliqua qu'il étoit à leur Roi, & qu'il l'y introduiroit pour le lui montrer.

    (p.54)

  3. Rasmus Nyerup translated the passage in Edda — eller Skandinavernes hedenske Gudelære (Kjøbenhavn, 1808) and somehow sidesteps the word refilstigum. He writes that Gylfe says he has come from afar:

    I Indgangen saae Gylfe en Mand som legede med Smaa-Sværd saa behændig, at syv af dem paa eengang vare i Luften. Denne spurgde ham ad, hvad han hed. Gylfe svarede, at hans Navn var Gangler, at han var kommen langvejs fra, og bad om Natteherberg. Tillige spurgde han, hvem der ejede Borgen. Svaret var, at det var Kongens; og vilde han følge Gangler hen til ham, saa kunde han selv spørge ham om hans Navn.
    (p.52)

  4. Frederich Rühs’s German translation from 1812 also uses he has come from afar:

    Im Eingang sah Gylfen einen Mann, der mit kleinen Schwertern so behende spielte, daß ihrer sieben zugleich in der Luft waren. Dieser fragte nach seinem Namen. Gylfe antwortete, er heiße Gangler und sey fern hergekommen; er bat um Nachtquartier. Zugleich fragte er, wem die Burg gehöre? Die Antwort war, dem Könige, und da ich dich zu ihm führen will, kannst du ihn selbst nach seinem Namen fragen.
    (p.164)

  5. This Spanish translation from 1856 (D. A. de las Ríos) goes the same route (he has come from afar):

    Gilfo vió en el patio de este palacio un hombre que jugaba con unas espeditas pequeñas, pero con tanta destreza, que siete espadas estaban constantamente en el aire. Esto hombre preguntó el nombre del viajero, y Gilfo respondió que se llamaba Gangler, que venia de muy lejos, y pedia hospitalidad para la noche; ademas deseaba saber á quién pertenecia el palacio. ‘Al Rey,’ contestó el hombre de las espadas pequeñas; ‘voy á conducrite ante él, para que tú mismo puedas perguntarle su nombre.’

    (pp.28-29)

  6. In Younger Edda translator Rasmus B. Anderson (Chicago: S.C. Griggs and Company, 1880) sidesteps the word, too, like Rasmus Nyerup, Frederich Rühs, and D. A. de las Ríos before him (see above):

    In the door of the hall Gylfe saw a man who played with swords so dexterously that seven were in the air at one time. That man asked him what his name was. Gylfe answered that his name was Ganglere; that he had come a long way, and that he sought lodgings for the night. He also asked who owned the burg. The other answered that it belonged to their king: I will go with you to see him and then you may ask him for his name yourself.
    (p.52)

  7. Finnur Jónsson, translating into Danish (Den gamle nordiske gudelære, 1902), says Gylfe went by unknown paths:

    Gylfe saa en Mand i Hallens Dør, der legede med Haandsakse; han havde 7 i Luften paa engang. Denne spurgte ham først om Navn. Han kaldte sig Gangtræt og sagde, at han var gaaet ad ukendte Stier og ønskede at faa Nattely, og spurgte, hvem der ejede Hallen. Den anden svarede, at det gjorde deres Konge — ‘jeg kan følge dig til ham; saa kan du selv spørge ham om hans Navn’.
    (p.52)

  8. Perhaps one of my favorites is Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916):

    In the hall-doorway Gylfi saw a man juggling with anlaces, having seven in the air at one time. This man asked of him his name. He called himself Gangleri, and said he had come by the paths of the serpent, and prayed for lodging for the night, asking: ‘Who owns the hall?’ The other replied that it was their king; ‘and I will attend thee to see him; then shalt thou thyself ask him concerning his name;’
    (p.15).

  9. Anne Holtsmark (1950) chooses to translate it as he had lost his way:

    Gylve så en mann stå i døren til hallen, mannen lekte med kniver, og han hadde stadig 7 kniver i luften på en gang. Han spurte Gylve først hva han het, og Gylve kalte seg Ganglere (den gangtrette) og sa at han var kommet på villstrå, spurte om han kunne få hus for natten, og ville vite hvem som eide hallen. Mannen svarte at det var kongen deres. ‘jeg skal følge deg inn så du får se ham, så får du selv spørre ham om navnet hans’.
    (p.15).

  10. In Erik Eggen’s translation into Norwegian Nynorsk (2017; first published in Den norrøne litteraturen 1, 1961) it’s also he had lost his way:

    Ved inngnangen til halla såg Gylve ein mann som leika seg med knivkast, og hadde jamt sju knivar i lufta på same tid. Denne mannen spurde Gylve kva han heitte, og Gylve sa han heitte Ganglere (Vandringsmann); han hadde gått seg vill, og bad om nattstad, og spurde kven som åtte denne halla. Mannen svara at det var kongen deira. ‘Eg skal følgje deg inn til han. Då kan du sjølv spørja han etter namnet.’
    (p.274).

  11. Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges translated parts of the Edda into Spanish, in La alucinación de Gylfi (Madrid: Alianza, 1984), and revived Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur’s “paths of the serpent” from 1916:

    En el portón, Gylfi vio a un hombre que jugaba con clavas y a un tiempo había siete en el aire. Ese hombre le preguntó cómo se llamaba y él contestó que se llamaba Gangleri y que había venido por los caminos de la serpiente y pidió alojamiento por una noche y preguntó de quién era la sala. El otro respondió que era de su rey y que iría con él para presentarlo y para que le peguntara su nombre.
    (p.8).

  12. Here’s from Anthony Faulkes’s translation (London: Everyman, 1987):

    In the doorway of the hall, Gylfi saw a man juggling with knives, keeping seven in the air at a time. This man spoke first and asked him his name. He said it was Gangleri and that he had travelled trackless ways; he requested he might have a night’s lodging there and asked whose hall it was. The man replied that it belonged to their king. ‘And I can take you to see him. Then you can ask him his name yourself.’
    (p.8).

    13. In a glossary appended to an edition published by Oxford University Press in 1982, Faulkes suggests refilstigr (in addition to trackless way) might also be translated as secret path.

  13. And here’s Jesse L. Byock’s translation from 2005 (Penguin):

    Gylfi saw a man in the doorway of the hall. He was juggling short swords and had seven in the air at once. The man spoke first, asking the visitor’s name. Gylfi named himself Gangleri, saying that he had travelled over trackless paths. He asked for a night’s lodging and inquired who owned the hall. The man answered that it belonged to their king. ‘I can take you to see him; Then you can ask him his name yourself.’
    (p.10).

How the word refilstigr is defined in various dictionaries

  1. Oldnordisk ordbog ved det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab by Eiríkur Jónsson (Kjöbenhavn: Qvist, 1863) lists it like this: Refilstigr (efter Eg. af Refill, altsaa Vikingenes Vei), fjern og vildsom Vei. (“Fjern og vildsom Vei” translates into English as a faraway and wild road or route.)

  2. The well-renowned Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English Dictionary (1874) suggests: a serpent-path (?), a hidden, mysterious path;

  3. Die prosaische Edda im Auszuge nebst V'olsunga-saga und Nornagests-tháttr from 1883, defines refilstigr as a masculine noun meaning der Irrweg, die Wildnis (in English: the wrong way, the wilderness). It also suggests, referring to The Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English Dictionary (above), that the stem of the word might be refr (fox) and that this could indicate refilstigr means something like path of the predator. This is an interesting idea, since a fox is a traditional metaphor for a tricky person, a sly indivudal, and so it ties in with the definition of refilstigr as a secret pathway.

  4. Johan Fritzner suggests, in Ordbog over Det gamle norske Sprog (Kristiania, 1867): refilstigr, m. Vej paa hvilken man er faren vild. (In English: Road on which one has gone astray.)

  5. But in a later edition of the same dictionary  (Kristiania, 1886), the definition is : refilstigr, m. Vei paa hvilken man færdes useet, ubemærket ligesom naar man skjuler sig bag et Væggetæppe. (In English: A road on which one travels unseen, unnoticed, like when one hides behind a hanging rug.)

  6. Lexicon Poeticum: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog is a dictionary of words, phrases, and names occuring in Old Icelandic poetry. It is based on Sveinbjörn Egilssons book in Latin, which was published in 1860. It defines refilstigr as a masculine noun meaning vildsom sti (in English: wild path).

  7. August Strindberg refers to refilstigr in Språkvetenskapliga studier (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag, 1920). On page 100 he translates it to the Swedish villoväg (in English: lost or wrong way or astray).

  8. In Geir T. Zoëga’s A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic from 1926 refilstigr is defined as mysterious path.

  9. Íslensk Orðabók (5th. edition) gives this icelandic definition: leynivegir, dularfullar slóðir, villugjarnar götur, glapstigir, which in English should be something akin to secret road, mysterious path or region, streets where it’s easy to lose one’s way, go astray or go wrong.

  10. Íslensk-ensk orðabók / Concise Icelandic-English Dictionary defines the modern Icelandic word refilstigur by example of the phrase “lenda á refilstigum” which they translate as go astray.

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