VÖLUSPÁ
Prophecy of the Seeress (völva)
from the body of mytho-poetic verse called Elder Edda,
mainly preserved in Codex Regius (1270-1280),
translated from Old Icelandic
by Nathan Paul Hillman
All sacred children, great and small,
children of Heimdallr*, lend your ears.
Father of the Slain*, you desired me to tell
the tales of beings, farthest back I* know.
1`World-Brightener’, warden on the rainbow bridge to the upperworld.2 Óðinn, a chief divining elitist god;shamanic; lord of those slain while fighting3 the seeress, the poem’s narrator, invoked by Óðinn
I remember Giants, born of yore,
those who nursed me in ancient times;
Nine worlds I remember, nine trollwives,*
Famous Tree of Fate* below the earth.
1 íviðjur: female forest giants
2 mjötviðr: ‘ fate-dealing tree’, the cosmic axis
When ages were young and Ymir* lived,
No sand, nor sea, nor cool swell heaved.
Earth and Upheaven, both were unfound,
Grass was nowhere; Gaping Gap yawned.
1 ‘wailer’, ‘howler’; a giant
[From Vafþrúðnismál 31, 33, 21:
Up from Sleet Stream popped venom drops;
it grew and grew, became a giant.*
1 Ymir
Under its armpit grew a girl with a boy, ...
the wise giant’s thigh coupled with thigh,
two legs begat his six-headed son.
The earth was formed from Ymir’s flesh
and from his bones the mountains;
sky came from skull of the ice-cold giant,
and from his blood the sea. ]
First Burr’s sons* lifted up lands,
those who shaped the Middle World;
From the South shone the sun on halls of stone,
the soil was sprouted with green shoots.
1 Óðinn, Lóðurr and Hœnir (belong to a god family named Æsir)
Sun, path-fellow of Moon,
threw her right arm over the sky-rim;
Sun did not know what hall she had,
stars did not know what place they had,
Moon did not know what might he had.
Then all the Powers came, sacrosanct gods,
to their doom-seats to take council:
They gave names to Night, and to her offspring,
called one Morning, another Midday,
Forenoon and Afternoon, to count the years.
The Æsir* met on Splendor Plain;*
Bloodshrines and temples, they built them high.
They founded forges and wrought wealth,
shaped tongs, fashioned tools.
1 a particular family of gods; sing. Ás
2 Iðavöll
Glad they played at games in meadow,
not a bit of gold they lacked,
until three came, all main powerful,
maidens from Jötunheimr* of giant kin.
1 Giant Realm
She* remembers the world’s first war,
when Gullveig* was propped with spears,
and they burned her in High One’s* hall.
Three times burned her, the three times born one,
often, unseldom, though she lives yet.
1 the seeress herself2 'Gold Liqueur’; likely the name of the narrator herself, the völva (seeress)3 name for Óðinn
Wherever she visited, they named her Clear One;*
the fairspoken seeress, she cast wand-spells;
She entranced wherever she could, entangled the charm-led mind.
She was sweetest smell to evil wives.
1 Heiðr (which puns with ‘heath’ and ‘heathen’ in Old Norse)
Then all the Powers came, sacrosanct gods,
to their doom-seats to decide
whether Æsir should hand over tributes,
or all the gods offer and feast for peace.
Óðinn flung his spear, hurled it into the host,
and war wore on, the first in the world.
The stronghold's shield shattered, defense of the gods,The war-boding Vanir* reared up on the plain.
1 rival tribe of gods (probably includes Gullveig); associated with regenerative cycles
of birth and death, mirrored by soil, sea, water cycles, esp sexual union.
Then three came home, strong and loving,
gods from the host of Æsir;
they found on the earth, little able,
Askr and Embla*, devoid of destiny.
1 `Ash’ (masculine) and ‘ Elm’ (feminine); two trees, pre-humans
They had not breath, they had not soul,
Blood nor voice, nor blushing face;
Óðinn gave breath, Hœnir gave soul,
Lóðurr gave blood and blushing face.
An ash I know, named Yggdrasill*,
a towering tree, libated with loam;
It trickles with white dews which wet the dale,
Green it stands always over Fate’s Well*.
1 'Steed of Awe’, or ‘Steed of Yggr, Óðinn’2 Urðar brunni, ‘Well of Weird (Urð)’, of ‘That Which Must Be’. From verða, ‘to become’
From the well come three allwise maidens,
up from the sea-encircled tree*;
they write out runes on sticks;
One’s named Urð*, the second Verðandi*,
the third is Skuld*;
They laid laws, allowed life
or destined death, foretold the lot of humankind.
1 þollr, specifically ‘fir tree’, here a poetic word for 'tree'
2,3,4 ’Has Come to Be’, ‘Is Coming to Be’, ‘Obliged to Be’
She* knows the ear of Heimdallr’s hid
beneath the holy light-loving tree.
She sees the pledge, the eye of Valföðr,*
libating the tree in loamy streams*.
Did you already know?
1 the seeress2 `Father of the Slain’, Óðinn; so called since his hall, Valhöll, fills with his chosen
reborn dead.
3 One-eyed Óðinn's deposited eye spills mead which washes and waters the World Tree.
She sat out alone when the Agéd One* came;
the Dread among gods looked in his own eye:
‘Why do you ask me, why do you tempt me?
I fully know, Óðinn, where you hid your eye* –
in the famous Well of Mímir.'*
Every morning Mímir drinks mead
from the eye of Valföðr – Did you already know?
1 Óðinn2 Óðinn gave his eye to Mímir in exchange for wisdom. His eye emits nourishing honeywine.3 Mímir = ‘mindful’, ‘ponderer’; a giant or a Vanr; he exists as a dismembered wise head.
Herföðr* provided rings and neckrings
to get her* sage tales and divining wands;
Wide wide went her sight into each world.
1 `Father of the Host’, Óðinn2 the seeress's
She saw Valkyries* come from afar,
geared up to ride to the Gothic clan;
Skuld held one shield, Skögul another,
Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul and Geirskögul;*
Now are tallied the handmaids of Herjan,*
Valkyries rigged to ride the earth.
1 valkyrjur, ‘choosers of the slain’ (on behalf of Óðinn & Freyja)2 `obligation’, ‘shaker’, ‘war’, ‘battle’, ‘wand-wielder’, ‘spear-shaker’3 `the Harrier’, Óðinn
I* saw Baldr, the bloodied god,
the child of Óðinn, his fate hidden.
Higher than the plain; slender, lovely,
grew a mistletoe.
1 the seeress
It* seemed slender, but the stalk was grief,
a dangerous dart, heaved by Höðr*.
Baldr’s brother* was timely born –
Óðinn’s son, one-night old, went avenging.
1 the mistletoe2 Baldr’s blind brother3 Baldr's other (not blind) brother, Váli below. Váli is a half-brother.
He* never washed hands, never combed his head,
till Baldr’s dead foe* he bore to the pyre.
But Frigg* she wept in Halls of Fen
for Valhöll’s woe – Did you already know?
1 Baldr's unblind half-brother, Váli2 Baldr's blind brother, Höðr
3 Baldr's mother, who loses her dearest son (Baldr) as well as her other son, Höðr.
A bloodfeud extending to bloodbound brothers marks the end of the world.
Váli* twisted hard cords from innards,
vaunted with fetters, mercilessly made.*
1 son of Óðinn by the giantess Rindr and therefore Baldr's half-brother. Baldr's parents
are two gods - Óðinn and Frigg. Óðinn's father, however, is a giant.2 made for Loki, Baldr’s ráðbani, slayer by plot. Höðr is the handbani, slayer by hand.
She saw under grove of steaming springs
a baleful body in Loki’s likeness.
There Sigyn* sits, she’s not a bit happy
about her husband*. Did you already know?
1`Victory Girlfriend’
2 Loki. From Snorri's Prose Edda we know that Váli bound Loki with cords made from the
innards of Loki's own son. A viper drips venom down onto Loki, as Sigyn catches the
poison in a bowl to protect him.
Then all the Powers came, sacrosanct gods,
to their doom-seats to discover
who had stirred with poison all the air,
and given Óðr’s girl* to Giants.
1 the goddess lover of Óðr, ‘ frenzy ’, 'seized inspiration' , is Freyja, the Nordic Venus,
here defruited and made barren by cold titans; she was born into the Æsir, but her father
is a Vanr.
Þórr alone thrashed back, swollen with rage,
he seldom sits when he hears the like;
oaths were voided, words and promises,
all solemn speech once said between them.
A river from the East, Slíðr* its name,
rives with knives and falls with swords.
1 `cruel’, ‘sharp’
The hall of gold of Sindri’s people*
stands in the North on Dark-of-Moon Plains;
On Never Cooling another stood,
a beerhall of Giants, Brimir* it’s called.
1 dwarves2 ‘Brim’, ‘Sea’
Upon Corpse Strand, far from the sun,
she saw a hall – its doors open North;
Its roof shafts dripped with venom drops –
That hall’s wound with spines of serpents.
She saw their wading viscous streams
perjured men and murderers,
the beguiler of another’s bosom love;
There Níðhöggr* sucks on bodies died off
a wolf tears into men – Did you already know?
1 'Hateful Striker', an underworld serpent
The old woman* squatted in Ironwood
and suckled there Fenrir’s* children;
Among them stands out one
in troll’s raiment, the moon’s raper.*
1 a troll-crone or female giant. the 'squatting' is probably the upright stance for giving
birth, utilising gravity and conforming to scandinavian custom2 the bound cosmic wolf, child of Loki; destined to swallow Óðinn, who is
Loki’s blood-brother3 possibly Hati (‘Hate’), an astral wolf who will one day eat the moon
He* binges on blood of death-bound men,
reddens with gore the houses of gods;
the sun shines black in following summers,
the weather all bitter – Did you already know?
1 the moon's raper
The troll-crone’s herdsman, happy Eggþér,*
sat on the gravemound and struck his harp;
Near him crowed in Screeking Wood
the bright red cock called Fjalarr.*
1 ‘Sword Servant’2`Concealer’ (why or of what, I don’t know)
Goldencomb* crowed above the Æsir,
rouses the heroes of the Father of Hosts;*
Another screeches beneath the earth,
an ash-red cock at the halls of Hel.*
1 Gullinkambi, an upperworld rooster2 Herjaföðr, Óðinn3 the underworld goddess with her lodge in Niflheim, 'Mist World'; her hall is
sometimes named Hel
[Refrain]
Garmr* bays loudly before Gnipa Caves,
the fetter will break and the Ravener* run free;
Her vast wit lengthens, yet further she* grasps
the crushing fall of the Victory-Gods.
1 ‘Rag’, a huge cosmic hound2 freki, a metaphorical name for Wolf of Fenrir, bound by a magic fetter
3 the seeress
Brother and brother will fight to death,
Cousin and cousin will cut their ties,
It’s hard on the earth, heavy whoredom;
Axe age, sword age, shields are split,
wind age, wolf age, then world tumbles –
not one person will spare the other.
Mímr’s* sons cast spells,
The Fate-Tree* flames up
next to the ancient Gjallarhorn;*
His horn is aloft: Loud blows Heimdallr,
Óðinn speaks with Mímr’s head.
1 Mímr probably same as Mímir2 Yggdrasill, the cosmic axis tree3 `Echo Horn’, Heimdallr’s horn
The upright ash of Yggdrasill* shudders,
the old tree groans; the giant slips loose.
Dread fills all on the paths to Hel
before Surtr’s fire* engulfs the tree.
1 `Steed of Awe’, the cosmic tree; drasill = ‘steed’, Yggr = ‘Awe’,`Terror’, also
an Óðinn name.2 Surtar sefi, ‘Soul of Surtr’, kenning for fire. Surtr means ‘black’, ‘swart’; volcanic
black fire giant; Tolkien's Balrog
Garmr bays loudly before Gnipa Caves,
the fetter will break and the Ravener run free;
Her vast wit lengthens, yet further she grasps
the crushing fall of the Victory-Gods.
Hrymr* rolls from the East, raises his shield,
Whelming Worm* uncoils in giant wrath,
He beats the waves, the eagle screams,
Pale-Beak flays corpses, Nail-Ship* cuts loose.
1`rime’, ‘frost’; maybe ‘ decrepit ’ ; a giant2 Jörmungandr, ‘Enormous Withy’, or ‘ Stupendous Gaper’, the ocean serpent encircling the world3 composed of toe and finger nails
Out of the East come Muspell’s* band,
A ship on water - Loki steers it!
All the troll rogues sail with the Ravener;*
their journey mate is Byleist’s brother.*
1 identified with Surtr; name may imply ‘perdition’; Old High German Muspilli = ‘apocalypse’; here it is probably a place name, referring to the southernmost Fire that met northernmost Ice in the beginning of time. 2 probably Fenrir, maybe Loki himself3 Loki
What’s with the Gods? What’s with the Elves?
All Giant Realm’s aroar, the Æsir assemble;
the Dwarves moan at doors of stone,
the cliff-rock kings – Did you already know?
From the South comes Surtr with branches’ bane*,
his blade mirrors fire, the Sun of Slaughter Gods.*
Boulder crags snap, and hags stride,
Humans walk the Hel-way; sky splits open.
1 sviga lævi; ‘fire’2 Sun of Slaughter Gods is a kenning for 'fire', but who are the 'Slaughter Gods' who wield this fire? Are they fire giants?
Note that Surtr's sword blade MIRRORS the red glint of their flame.
Hlín* is hit with a second grief
when Óðinn goes to fight the Wolf*,
and bright Freyr, Beli’s* bane, flies at Surtr.*
There Frigg’s dear heart* will die.
1 'protectoress'; goddess Frigg, Baldr’s mother2 Fenrir; Fenris-Úlfr, 'Fenris-Wolf
3 ' roarer '; ' fire '; a giant which weaponless Freyr once killed with a stag's antlers.
4 Freyr, Freyja's brother, is the chief norse fertility god, the antithesis of Surtr. Freyr kills him, but dies doing it.
5 her husband, Óðinn, who is swallowed by the Wolf.
So Víðarr*, mighty son of Victory Óðinn,
advances on the Beast of Slaughter.*
He screws open the mouth of Hveðrung’s son*,
sets sword to heart – his father’s avenged.
1 Acc. to Snorri (mediaeval editor), he's the son of Óðinn by the giantess Gríð2 valdýr, Fenrir (cosmic wolf)3 Fenrir
[From Vafþrúðnismál 53:
The Wolf will swallow the Father of Men*.
Víðarr will repay this pain;
He’ll cleave the cold jowls of the Wolf in battle.* ]
1 Aldaföðr (father of the age/life of humankind), Óðinn
2 From other sources (Snorri's Prose Edda), we know that Víðarr jams the jaws open with a
shoe made of all dead men's shoe leather, then torques the jaws to break face and neck.
The Earth’s Girdler* stretches up to the air,
the jaws of the grim worm gape on high.
Óðinn’s son* will meet the serpent,
Víðarr’s kin* will kill that criminal.
1 referring to the World Serpent, the sea-snake encircling the world; also called Jörmungandr
2 Þórr, ‘Thunder’; defends gods against male giants; his father is giantess Jörð, ‘Earth’
3 = Þórr, Víðarr’s half-brother
Then comes Óðinn’s famous son, Hlóðynjar’s* boy,
to wallop the Worm;
Middle World’s warden smites in fury,
everyone must abandon home;
Fjörgynn’s* boy barely staggers
nine steps back from that snake
whose name is never flouted.
1 Þórr’s mother, also known as Jörð, 'Earth'. The boy is Þórr.
2 Þórr’s mother, also known as Jörð. Fjörgynn linguistically evokes an
indo-european lightning and mountain-top god.
Sun turns black, earth seeps into sea,
the white stars wheel from the sky;
Vapour hisses against vital fire,
the heat licks high against heaven itself.
Garmr bays loudly before Gnipa Caves,
the fetter will break and the Ravener run free;
Her vast wit lengthens, yet further she grasps
the crushing fall of the Victory-Gods.
She sees come up a second time,
Earth from sea, ever green;
waterfalls fall, eagle flies over,
the one who hunts fish on the mountain.
Æsir find one other on Splendor Plain,
speak of the awful earth-wrapping snake,*
and there recall their seats of power
and ancient runes of the Fimbul God.*
1 World Serpent
2 ‘Numinous God’ ; either Óðinn (who wields the runes), or the Judeo-Christian deity
Later they* found, golden in grass,
the magical chessmen they’d cherished of old.
1 the reborn gods
Unsown fields will flower,
All bad will be bettered, Baldr* will come.
Höðr* and Baldr, gods of the slain,
will settle down on triumphant turf.
In the home of the gods they live in peace.
1 Baldr, innocent in shameful death, is a pre-Christ, messianic in merging traditions
2 Baldr's blind brother, who killed Baldr on accident when Loki guided his hand.
In a happy game to test Baldr's invulnerability, the blind brother hurled a mistletoe spear.
There Hœnir will choose from prophecy sticks;
the two brothers’ sons* will inhabit the air,
dwell in the wide world of the wind.
Did you already know?
1 sons of Höðr and Baldr
She sees there a hall on Fire-Lee*
fairer than the sun, thatched with gold.
Faithful followers there will dwell,
and through life’s days live in bliss.
1 Gimlé, ‘ flame of protection’
Then from above the Mighty One* comes
to the judgment place of the gods.
Powerful, he rules over all.
1 probably the Judeo-Christian God
There comes the dark dragon,
flying from Fells of the Waning Moon.
Níðhöggr*, gleaming serpent,
carries corpses under wing, flies over the plain –
Now she* will sink.
1 `Malice-Cutter`: serpent in Niflheim (Mist-World, underworld) who gnaws on roots of the cosmic tree
2 the seeress will sink back down to the place Óðinn called her from
