A few centuries after the age of these daring seamen, traders, and explorers, some Icelanders wrote down such poems remembered from ancestors.
This collection of poems is called the Edda, and it is our most precious source of information about what the myths of the Northmen might have looked like.
It is written in Old Norse, the language people used to speak in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark up until the 15th century CE.
These poems are found in two manuscripts, the Codex Regius (King's book) and another book called the Hauksbók, but the order of the stanzas, the groups of four lines making up the poems, seems more logical in the first book.
The first poem of the collection is the Völuspá, meaning the prophecy of the völva.
Snorri Sturluson, a 13th-century CE Icelandic scholar, also wrote a version of these tales, quoting much of the poems in his book. The version he knew, however, seems different, indicating that the poems of the Edda were very popular among the Vikings.
Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk;
nátt ok niðjum nöfn um gáfu,
morgin hétu ok miðjan dag,
undorn ok aptan, árum at telja.
Hittusk æsir á Iðavelli,
þeir er hörg ok hof hátimbruðu,
afla lögðu, auð smíðuðu,
tangir skópu ok tól görðu.
Tefldu í túni, teitir váru,
var þeim vettugis vant ór gulli;
unz þrjár kvámu þursa meyjar
ámátkar mjök ór jötunheimum.
Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hverr skyldi dverga drótt um skepja
ór brimi blóðgu ok ór Bláins leggjum.
Þar var Móðsognir mæztr um orðinn
dverga allra, en Durinn annarr;
þeir mannlíkun mörg um görðu
dvergar í jörðu, sem Durinn sagði.
Nýi, Niði, Norðri, Suðri,
Austri, Vestri, Alþjófr, Dvalinn,
Nár ok Náinn, Nípingr, Dáinn,
Bifurr, Bafurr, Bömburr, Nori,
Ánn ok Ánarr, Óinn, Mjöðvitnir.
Veggr ok Gandálfr, Vindálfr, Þorinn,
Þrár ok Þráinn, Þekkr, Litr ok Vitr,
Nýr ok Nýráðr, nú hefi ek dverga,
Reginn ok Ráðsviðr, rétt um talða.
Fili, Kili, Fundinn, Nali, Hepti,
Vili, Hanarr, Svíurr, Billingr, Brúni,
Bildr ok Buri, Frár, Hornbori, Frægr ok Lóni,
Aurvangr, Jari, Eikinskjaldi.
Mál er dverga í Dvalins liði
ljóna kindum til Lofars telja,
þeir er sóttu frá salar steini
Aurvanga sjöt til Jöruvalla.
Þar var Draupnir ok Dólgþrasir,
Hár, Haugspori, Hlévangr, Glóinn,
Dori, Ori, Dúfr, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir, Skafiðr, Ai.
Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held;
Names then gave they, to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, and the waning moon,
Night and evening, the years to number.
At Ithavoll met, the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples, they timbered high;
Forges they set, and, they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, and tools they fashioned.
In their dwellings at peace, they played at tables,
Of gold no lack, did the gods then know,
Till thither came, up giant-maids three,
Huge of might, out of Jotunheim.
Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
To find who should raise, the race of dwarfs
Out of Brimir's blood, and the legs of Blain.
There was Motsognir, the mightiest made
Of all the dwarfs, and Durin next;
Many a likeness, of men they made,
The dwarfs in the earth, as Durin said.
Nyi and Nithi, Northri and Suthri,
Austri and Vestri, Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar and Nain, Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori,
An and Onar, Ai, Mjothvitnir.
Vigg and Gandalf, Vindalf, Thrain,
Thekk and Thorin, Thror, Vit and Lit,
Nyr and Nyrath, now have I told
Regin and Rathsvith, the list aright.
Fili, Kili, Fundin, Nali,
Heptifili, Hannar, Sviur,
Frar, Hornbori, Fræg and Loni,
Aurvang, Jari, Eikinskjaldi.
The race of the dwarfs, in Dvalin's throng
Down to Lofar, the list must I tell;
The rocks they left, and through wet lands
They sought a home, in the fields of sand.
There were Draupnir, and Dolgthrasir,
Hor, Haugspori, Hlevang, Gloin,
Dori, Ori, Duf, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir, Skafith, Ai.
Tеnkje som ti
Eg kunne òg trengе
Å fylgje din sti
Strong in mind
Think like ten
I might also need
To follow your path
Wardruna
