THE VIKING PROPHECY (III), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

According to the Völuspá, Odin, the leader of the Æsir gods, as the most important and mightiest family was called, was always eager for knowledge. 

He asks a völva, an ancient seeress, to rise from the grave and tell him, the father of the slain (Valfǫþr) -because he takes warriors into his famous hall of Valhalla- stories of the past. She answers him by mentioning the nine worlds that make up the universe and the ash-tree Yggdrasil, as well as Ymir, a giant out of whose limbs the universe was made.

There was a yawning gap at the beginning of time. The creation of the universe seems to have been the work of the sons of Borr: Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé, whose names we know from another poem called the Lokasenna. The three brothers shape the earth, take their assembly seats, and then name the stars in the skies, thus giving an order to the universe. The gods meet at Ithavoll, a mysterious place only mentioned twice in the poem, where they set forges and make tools and set up temples.

At their dwelling, three giant-maids arrive, a possible reference to the Norns. The Norns were creatures even more powerful than the gods since they decided the fate of everyone. A council is held during which we are given a catalogue of the race of dwarves; very few of them are mentioned elsewhere.

One of them, Gandalf, was turned into a wizard by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. Another one, Dvalin, is important, too, since he seems to have given the dwarves magic runes which made them very skillful, as told in the second poem of the Edda, the Hávamál. Then we have Andvari, the one who tells in a poem called Reginsmál about how Loki, the trickster god, stole his wealth, causing him to curse the treasure that brought the death of Sigurd. Sigurd is the tragic legendary hero who killed a dragon with a cursed treasure, inspiring many authors among whom, once again, Tolkien.

After this section with the many dwarves, three gods, Odin, Hönir, and Lothur, continue their work and create mankind out of two trees, ash and elm (Ask and Embla). The fates reappear in stanza 20, where they carved runes on wood and made laws.

 

Álfr ok Yngvi, Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalarr ok Frosti, Finnr ok Ginnarr;
þat man æ uppi, meðan öld lifir,
langniðja tal Lofars hafat.

Unz þrír kvámu ór því liði
öflgir ok ástkir æsir at húsi,
fundu á landi lítt megandi
Ask ok Emblu örlöglausa.

Önd þau ne áttu, óð þau ne höfðu,
lá né læti né litu góða;
önd gaf Óðinn, óð gaf Hœnir,
lá gaf Lóðurr ok litu góða.

Ask veit ek standa, heitir Yggdrasill
hár baðmr, ausinn hvíta auri;
þaðan koma döggvar þærs í dala falla;
stendr æ yfir grœnn Urðar brunni.

Þaðan koma meyjar margs vitandi
þrjár, ór þeim sal er und þolli stendr;
Urð hétu eina, aðra Verðandi,
skáru á skíði, Skuld ina þriðju;
þær lög lögðu, þær líf kuru
alda börnum, örlög seggja.

Þat man hon fólkvíg fyrst í heimi,
er Gullveig geirum studdu
ok í höll Hárs hana brendu;
þrysvar brendu þrysvar borna,
opt, ósjaldan, þó hon enn lifir.

Heiði hana hétu, hvars til húsa kom,
völu velspá, vitti hon ganda,
seið hon hvars hon kunni, seið hon hugleikin,
æ var hon angan illrar brúðar.

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hvárt skyldu æsir afráð gjalda
eða skyldu goðin öll gildi eiga.

Fleygði Óðinn ok í fólk um skaut,
þat var enn fólkvíg fyrst í heimi;
brotinn var borðveggr borgar ása,
knáttu vanir vígská völlu sporna.

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hverr hefði lopt allt lævi blandit
eða ætt jötuns Óðs mey gefna.

Alf and Yngvi,Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalar and Frosti, Fith and Ginnar;
So for all time, shall the tale be known,
The list of all, the forbears of Lofar.

Then from the throng, did three come forth,
From the home of the gods, the mighty and gracious;
Two without fate, on the land they found,
Ask and Embla, empty of might.

Soul they had not, sense they had not,
Heat nor motion, nor goodly hue;
Soul gave Othin, sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur and goodly hue.

An ash I know, Yggdrasil its name,
With water white, is the great tree wet;
Thence come the dews, that fall in the dales,
Green by Urth's well, does it ever grow.

Thence come the maidens, mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling, down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named, Verthandi the next,--
On the wood they scored, and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there, and life allotted
To the sons of men, and set their fates.

The war I remember, the first in the world,
When the gods with spears, had smitten Gollveig,
And in the hall, of Hor had burned her,
Three times burned, and three times born,
Oft and again, yet ever she lives.

Heith they named her, who sought their home,
The wide-seeing witch, in magic wise;
Minds she bewitched, that were moved by her magic,
To evil women, a joy she was.

On the host his spear, did Othin hurl,
Then in the world, did war first come;
The wall that girdled, the gods was broken,
And the field by the warlike, Wanes was trodden.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
Whether the gods, should tribute give,
Or to all alike, should worship belong.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
To find who with venom, the air had filled,
Or had given Oth's bride, to the giants' brood.

 

Soli ho kvervar beint i si bane
Honnigdraum lokkar mitt gap og mi gane
Vindane ular og elva ligg still
Eg lyt nok kvile litt til

The sun wheel is steady on her way
Honey dreams spark my throat and palate
The winds still howl and the river stands still
I guess I should return to my rest

Wardruna

THE VIKING PROPHECY (II), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

The Northmen of the 8th or 9th century CE whom we usually call Vikings did not really have any written sources for their religion. 

They carved some images in stone, they made some wooden idols, and they rather recited poems about what they thought the world was like. 

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.

 

Hugsterk i hovud
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

THE VIKING PROPHECY (I), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

Claire Fontaine, The Grandma, Egil and his family (Astrid, Sigurd and Arne) have just arrived to Tromsø where Joseph de Ca'th Lon was waiting for them. 

In this Artic city, they are going to spend some days discovering Norse mythology and learning about it with the Völuspá. Join them in reading the medieval poem of the Poetic Edda, a literary experience that will transport you to the dreamlike and magical world of the Vikings.

In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning prophetess, staff bearer and sorceress, and they are frequently called witches both in early sources and in modern scholarship. In Norse mythology the seeress is usually referred to as völva or vala.

The various names in North Germanic sources may give the impression that there were two types of sorceress, the staff-bearers, or seeresses (vǫlva), and the women who were named for performing magic (seiðkona).

The Völuspá, in Old Norse Vǫluspá, is a medieval poem of the Poetic Edda that describes how the world might have come into shape and would end according to Norse mythology. 

The story of about 60 stanzas is told by a seeress or völva, in Old Norse vǫlva, also called spákona, foretelling woman, summoned by the god Odin, master of magic and knowledge. According to this literary text, the beginning of the world was characterized by nothingness until the gods created the nine realms of Norse cosmology, somehow linked by the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

At the same time, the fate of everything was set in stone by a group of seeresses. In the very beginning, two families of gods were involved in a war, ending with a truce and a wall around their divine citadel of Asgard. However, they would not live in peace forever because the universe has been doomed since the very moment of its creation. Every god has a specific enemy with whom they will do battle and many will be slain, including the chief god Odin. 

 

Hljóðs bið ek allar helgar kindir,
meiri ok minni mögu Heimdallar;
viltu, at ek, Valföðr! vel framtelja forn spjöll fíra,
þau er fremst um man.

Ek man jötna ár um borna,
þá er forðum mik fœdda höfðu;
níu man ek heima, níu íviði,
mjötvið mœran fyr mold neðan.

Ár var alda þar er Ýmir bygði,
vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir,
jörð fannsk æva né upphiminn,
gap var ginnunga, en gras hvergi.

Áðr Burs synir bjöðum um ypðu,
þeir er Miðgarð mœran skópu;
sól skein sunnan á salar steina,
þá var grund gróin grœnum lauki.

Sól varp sunnan, sinni mána,
hendi inni hœgri um himinjódyr;
sól þat ne vissi hvar hon sali átti,
máni þat ne vissi hvat hann megins átti,
stjörnur þat ne vissu hvar þær staði áttu.

Hearing I ask, from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons, both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, that well I relate
Old tales I remember, of men long ago.

I remember yet, the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread, in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree
With mighty roots, beneath the mold.

Of old was the age, when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves, nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere.

Then Bur's sons lifted, the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty, there they made;
The sun from the south, warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground, with growing leeks.

The sun, the sister, of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast, over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had, where her home should be,
The moon knew not, what might was his,
The stars knew not, where their stations were.

 

Fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
Um ragna rök römm sigtíva.

I know many things, I see further ahead
About the arguments of the wise, the wise man.

Wardruna