Völuspá
Völuspá (Prophecy of the Völva) is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end related by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology.
The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the Prose Edda. It consists of approximately 60 fornyrðislag stanzas.
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Preservation
Völuspá is found in the Codex Regius manuscript (ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's Hauksbók Codex (ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (composed ca. 1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1300). The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The Codex Regius version is usually taken as a base for editions.
Structure
The poem consists of some 60 fornyrðislag stanzas. In Sophus Bugge's edition the Hauksbók version has 59 stanzas while the Codex Regius version has 62 stanzas. Each manuscript contains some stanzas not in the other. Bugge's normalized version has 66 stanzas. The poem makes sporadic use of refrains.
Synopsis
The poem starts with the völva requesting silence from "the sons of Heimdallr" (human beings) and asking Odin whether he wants her to recite ancient lore. She says she remembers giants born in antiquity who reared her.
She then goes on to relate a creation myth; the world was empty until the sons of Burr lifted the earth out of the sea. The Æsir then established order in the cosmos by finding places for the sun, the moon and the stars, thereby starting the cycle of day and night. A golden age ensued where the Æsir had plenty of gold and happily constructed temples and made tools. But then three mighty giant maidens came from Jötunheimar and the golden age came to an end. The Æsir then created the dwarves, of whom Mótsognir and Durinn are the mightiest.
At this point ten of the poem's stanzas are over and six stanzas ensue which contain names of dwarves. This section, sometimes called Dvergatal (catalogue of dwarves), is usually considered an interpolation and sometimes omitted by editors and translators.
After the Dvergatal, the creation of the first man and woman are recounted and Yggdrasill, the world-tree, is described. The seer recalls the events that led to the first ever war, and what occurred in the struggle between the Æsir and Vanir.
The seeress then reveals to Odin that she knows some of his own secrets, of what he sacrificed of himself in pursuit of knowledge. She tells him she knows where his eye is hidden and how he gave it up in exchange for knowledge. She asks him in several refrains if he understands, or if he would like to hear more.
The seeress goes on to describe the slaying of Baldr, best and fairest of the gods and the enmity of Loki, and of others. Then she prophesizes the destruction of the gods where fire and flood overwhelm heaven and earth as the gods fight their final battles with their enemies. This is the "fate of the gods" - Ragnarök. She describes the summons to battle, the deaths of many of the gods and how Odin, himself, is slain.
Finally a beautiful reborn world will rise from the ashes of death and destruction where Baldr will live again in a new world where the earth sprouts abundance without sowing seed. A final stanza describes the sudden appearance of Nidhogg the dragon, bearing corpses in his wings, before the seeress emerges from her trance.
References
- Bugge, Sophus (1867). Norræn fornkvæði. Christiania: Malling. Available online at http://etext.old.no/Bugge/
- Dronke, Ursula (1997). The Poetic Edda : Volume II : Mythological Poems. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Eysteinn Björnsson (ed.). Völuspá. http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/vsp3.html
- Sigurður Nordal (1952). Völuspá. Reykjavík: Helgafell.
- Thorpe, Benjamin (tr.) (1866). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða : The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned. (2 vols.) London: Trübner & Co. Available online at http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/000.php
External links
English translations
- Voluspo Translation and commentary by Henry A. Bellows
- Völuspá Bellows' translation with clickable names
- Völuspa Translation by Benjamin Thorpe
- Voluspá Translation by Lee M. Hollander
- The Song of the Sybil Translation by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor
- Faroese Post Office. Völuspá Translations, interpretations and artwork
Old Norse editions
- Völuspá Sophus Bugge's edition and commentary with manuscript texts
- Völuspá Eysteinn Björnsson's edition with manuscript texts
- Völuspá Guðni Jónsson's edition
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