Vafþrúðnismál
© 2023 Edward Pettit, CC BY-NC 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0308.03
Vafþrúðnismál (Vm.) ‘The Sayings of Vafþrúðnir’ is found complete in R (fol. 7v–8v). Stt. 20 (partial) to 55 also appear in A (fol. 3r–v), between Skírnismál (this manuscript’s name for FSk.) and Grm.; the previous folio of this manuscript is lost. Nine stanzas from Vm. are quoted and others paraphrased in SnEGylf.
The poem is mainly in ljóðaháttr, a common Eddic metre for dialogues, though sometimes in a lengthened form (as in stt. ?38, 55). Ljóðaháttr is also used for the poem’s only narrative stanza (5). Stt. 42–43 show the expanded type called galdralag.
Vm.’s date of composition is uncertain, as is the case for all the poems in this book. Although some metrical features may suggest a fairly early date and the poem’s subject matter suggests a predominantly heathen milieu, the possibility exists that it is wholly or partly an antiquarian work from the Christian period. It is most likely of Norwegian or Icelandic origin.
This is the third poem in R to concern Óðinn and giantish wisdom: in Vsp. the god seeks wisdom from a seeress raised by the giants; in Háv. he gains the mead of poetry and mighty incantations from the giants. Although in Vm. Óðinn’s declared motivations are a desire merely to test his wisdom against Vafþrúðnir and to see this giant’s hall, his final questions about the future suggest that here, too, he seeks information to help him avert his fate or cast doubt on its inevitability.
The poem consists mainly of two dialogues (1–4, 6–55). In the first, Óðinn asks for, but pays no heed to, advice from his wife, Frigg, regarding his proposed journey to Vafþrúðnir’s hall. As in Vsp. 53, Frigg seems genuinely concerned for her husband. Nonetheless, their difference of opinion might broadly reflect marital tension that is explicit elsewhere. Most notably, in the prologue to Grm., Óðinn and Frigg foster different contenders for the throne, and Óðinn is tortured at his wife’s instigation. More distantly, in the seventh-century Origo gentis Langobardum ‘Origin of the Langobardic People’, and again in Paul the Deacon’s eighth-century Historia Langobardum ‘History of the Langobards’, Godan (equivalent to Óðinn) and his wife Frea (equivalent to Frigg) support opposing sides in a battle between Langobards and Vandals.
The second dialogue is a question-and-answer series between Óðinn and Vafþrúðnir about wisdom—an ancient genre with medieval representatives such as BDr. and the Old English dialogues of Solomon and Saturn. More precisely, it is a contest of wits, and so may broadly be compared to Old Norse flytings, such as that between Óðinn and Þórr in Hrbl. and between Loki and the gods in Ls. Aspects of this dialogue also merit comparison with other Old Norse texts, especially Grm., the Gátur Gestumblinda ‘Riddles of Gestumblindi’ in the thirteenth-century Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks ‘Saga of Hervǫr and Heiðrekr’, and, if a recent interpretation is broadly correct, an obscure (and partly Eddic) inscription on the c. 800 Rök runestone from Sweden.1 The dialogue of Óðinn and Vafþrúðnir, however, is unknown outside this poem and derived passages in SnEGylf—as is the giant himself, except for his inclusion in a þula ‘versified list of names’ appended to SnESkáld (SPSMA III, 715).
In Grm. the antagonism between Óðinn and Frigg is followed, as in Vm., by the threat of physical harm to Óðinn. The god—disguised as so often in Old Norse literature—is tortured between two fires by King Geirrøðr, the namesake of a famous giant. Óðinn enumerates much mythological lore, including a wealth of names, and at last declares his true identity. Upon hearing this, Geirrøðr tries to take Óðinn from the fires, but it is too late—the king stumbles and falls upon his sword. In Vm. death similarly awaits Vafþrúðnir for his failure to recognize his opponent.
In Gátur Gestumblindi, Óðinn, disguised as Gestumblindi ‘Blind/Hidden Guest’, engages in a riddle contest to escape the judgement of King Heiðrekr’s wise men. The riddles are unlike the questions of Vm., except for Gestumblindi’s last, which is not a true riddle: ‘What did Óðinn say in Baldr’s ear before he was carried to the fire?’ This is also Óðinn’s last question in Vm., and again it results in an epiphany: ‘Only you know that, wicked creature!’ Heiðrekr draws his sword and strikes at Óðinn, who has turned himself into a hawk. As a result, Óðinn loses his tailfeathers, but Heiðrekr, rather than dying upon his own sword (as was probably the case in an earlier version of the story) lives on—for the moment.
Alv. also furnishes a useful parallel. In this poem, Þórr, in an uncharacteristically Óðinn-like role, lures the dwarf Alvíss ‘All-Wise’ into a vain display of linguistic terminology; the dwarf’s claim to Þórr’s foster(?)-daughter will supposedly be upheld if he tells Þórr everything he wants to know. However, Álviss, like Vafþrúðnir, excels in hollow nomenclature, rather than wisdom. Rather as the giant fails to recognize Óðinn despite numerous hints, so the dwarf fails to notice that day has dawned while he has been talking, whereupon, we are probably to understand, the sun turned him to stone.
As Snorri’s considerable use of Vm. in his Prose Edda suggests, the poem has great value as a source of, and guide to, Norse mythology, from the Creation to Ragnarok and its aftermath, especially as it appears largely free of editorialization and Christianization.2 Clive Tolley observes that Vm. can be loosely categorized as a ‘cosmic history’, and warrants comparison with Vsp.’s tighter treatment of the same concerns and with Grm.’s ‘cosmic description’.3 The differences from Vsp.’s accounts of the creation of the world and of life after Ragnarok demonstrate the diversity of Norse mythology.
Synopsis
Óðinn asks his wife, Frigg, for advice about his desire to test his wisdom against the wise giant Vafþrúðnir (1). She tries to dissuade him, because Vafþrúðnir is the most powerful of giants (2). He nevertheless persists (3). She wishes him luck and strength of mind (4).
Óðinn travels to Vafþrúðnir’s hall and enters (5). After some unfriendly introductory words in which Óðinn, disguised as Gagnráðr ‘Contrary (or Gainful) Counsellor’, challenges his host’s wisdom, and is in turn threatened with death unless he proves the wiser (6–10), Vafþrúðnir asks him four questions about mythological names, all of which he answers (11–18). Vafþrúðnir then tells Óðinn to take a seat on the bench and instigates a formal death-match: they will wager their heads upon their wisdom (19).
The rest of the poem comprises Óðinn’s eighteen questions (the first twelve of which are numbered) for Vafþrúðnir on mythological topics and the giant’s answers. Óðinn asks ten questions about the origins of the earth and sky, the moon and sun, day and night, summer and winter, the giants, the wind and the god Njǫrðr, all of which Vafþrúðnir answers (20–39). His answer to the last alludes to Ragnarok, which, together with its aftermath, is the theme of Óðinn’s next seven questions, all of which Vafþrúðnir again answers (40–53). Finally, Óðinn asks what he said in his son Baldr’s ear before Baldr was burnt on the pyre (54). Only Óðinn knows this, so Vafþrúðnir, at last recognizing his adversary, concedes defeat (55).
Further Reading
Chadwick, H. M., The Cult of Othin: An Essay in the Ancient Religion of the North (London: C. J. Clay, 1899; rpt. Stockholm: Looking Glass Press, 1994).
Ciklamini, M., ‘Óðinn and the Giants’, Neophilologus 46 (1962), 145–58.
Ciklamini, M., ‘Journeys to the Giant-Kingdom’, SS 40 (1968), 95–110.
Eldevik, R., ‘Less Than Kind: Giants in Germanic Tradition’, in T. Shippey, ed., The Shadow-Walkers: Jacob Grimm’s Mythology of the Monstrous (Turnhout: Brepols, 2005), pp. 83–110.
Finlay, A., ‘Risking One’s Head: Vafþrúðnismál and the Mythic Power of Poetry’, in D. Anlezark, ed., Myths, Legends, and Heroes: Essays on Old Norse and Old English Literature in Honour of John McKinnell (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011), pp. 91–108, https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442662056-008
Fulk, R. D., ‘An Eddic Analogue to the Scyld Scefing Story’, Review of English Studies 40 (1989), 313–22.
Grundy, S., The Cult of Óðinn: God of Death? (New Haven, CT: Troth Publications, 2014).
Gunnell, T., The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (Woodbridge: D. S. Brewer, 1995).
Hultgård, A., ‘Om Vafþrúðnismál’, Scripta Islandica 70 (2019), 7–16 [with English summary].
Hultgård, A., The End of the World in Scandinavian Mythology: A Comparative Perspective on Ragnarök (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022).
Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson, ‘Hræsvelgr, the Wind-Giant, Reinterpreted’, in Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson, A Piece of Horse Liver: Myth, Ritual and Folklore in Old Icelandic Sources (Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 1990), pp. 13–32.
Kershaw, K., The One-Eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbünde (Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Man, 2000).
Larrington, C., ‘Vafþrúðnismál and Grímnismál: Cosmic History, Cosmic Geography’, in P. Acker and C. Larrington, ed., The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology (New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 59–77.
Lassen, A., Odin’s Ways: A Guide to the Pagan God in Medieval Literature (New York: Routledge, 2022).
Machan, T. W., ed., Vafþrúðnismál, 2nd edn (Durham: Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2008).
Martin, J. S., Ragnarok: An Investigation into Old Norse Concepts of the Fate of the Gods (Assen: Van Gorcum and Co., 1972).
Martin, J. S., ‘From Godan to Wotan: An Examination of Two Langobardic Mythological Texts’, in G. Barnes and M. Clunies Ross, ed., Old Norse Myths, Literature and Society: Proceedings of the 11th International Saga Conference 2–7 July 2000, University of Sydney (Sydney: University of Sydney, 2000), pp. 303–15.
McGillivray, A., Influences of Pre-Christian Mythology and Christianity on Old Norse Poetry: A Narrative Study of ‘Vafþrúðnismál’ (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2018), https://doi.org/10.1515/9781580443364
McKinnell, J., Both One and Many: Essays on Change and Variety in Late Norse Heathenism (Rome: Il Calamo, 1994) [with Appendix by M. E. Ruggerini, ‘A Stylistic and Typological Approach to Vafþrúðnismál’, pp. 139–87]; chapter 4 is revised as ‘The Paradox of Vafþrúðnismál’, in J. McKinnell, Essays on Eddic Poetry, ed. D. Kick and J. D. Shafer (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2014), pp. 153–71, https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442669260-008
Motz, L., ‘The Families of Giants’, ANF 102 (1987), 216–36.
Motz, L., ‘Old Icelandic Giants and their Names’, Frühmittelalterliche Studien 21 (1987), 295–317.
Quinn, J., ‘Liquid Knowledge: Traditional Conceptualisations of Learning in Eddic Poetry’, in S. Rankovic, L. Melve and E. Mundal, ed., Along the Oral-Written Continuum: Types of Texts, Relations and Their Implications (Turnhout: Brepols, 2010), pp. 175–217, https://doi.org/10.1484/m.usml-eb.3.4283
Schulz, K., Riesen: Von Wissenshütern und Wildnisbewohnern in Edda und Saga (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2004).
Sverdlov, I. V., ‘Ok dulða ek þann inn alsvinna jǫtun: Some Linguistic and Metrical Aspects of Óðinn’s Win over Vafþrúðnir’, Saga-Book 35 (2011), 39–72.
Tolley, C., ‘The Mill in Norse and Finnish Mythology’, Saga-Book 24 (1995), 63–82.
Turville-Petre, [E. O.] G., ‘The Cult of Óðinn in Iceland’, in [E. O.] G Turville-Petre, Nine Norse Studies (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1972), pp. 1–19.
Von See, K., B. La Farge and K. Schulz, Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda. Band I: Götterlieder, II (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2019).
Vafþrúðnismál
Óðinn kvað:
1. ‘Ráð þú mér nú, Frigg, allz mik fara tíðir
at vitja Vafþrúðnis;
forvitni mikla kveð ek mér á fornum stǫfum
við þann inn alsvinna jǫtun!’
Frigg kvað:
2. ‘Heima letja ek mynda Herjafǫðr
í gǫrðum goða,
þvíat engi jǫtun ek hugða jafnramman
sem Vafþrúðni vera!’
Óðinn kvað:
3. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaða,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin;
hitt vil ek vita, hvé Vafþrúðnis
salakynni sé.’
Frigg kvað:
4. ‘Heill þú farir, heill þú aptr komir,
heill þú á sinnum sér!
Œði þér dugi, hvars þú skalt, Aldafǫðr,
orðum mæla jǫtun!’
5. Fór þá Óðinn at freista orðspeki
þess ins alsvinna jǫtuns;
at hǫllu hann kom, ok átti Íms faðir,
inn gekk Yggr þegar.
Óðinn kvað:
6. ‘Heill þú nú, Vafþrúðnir! Nú em ek í hǫll kominn,
á þik sjálfan at sjá;
hitt vil ek fyrst vita, ef þú fróðr sér
eða alsviðr, jǫtunn!’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
7. ‘Hvat er þat manna, er í mínum sal
verpumk orði á?
Út þú né kømir órum hǫllum frá,
nema þú inn snotrari sér!’
Óðinn kvað:
8. ‘Gagnráðr ek heiti; nú emk af gǫngu kominn
þyrstr til þinna sala;
laðar þurfi hefi ek lengi farit
ok þinna andfanga, jǫtunn!’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
9. ‘Hví þú þá, Gagnráðr, mælisk af gólfi fyrir?
Farðu í sess í sal!
Þá skal freista, hvárr fleira viti,
gestr eða inn gamli þulr.’
Óðinn kvað:
10. ‘Óauðigr maðr, er til auðigs kømr,
mæli þarft eða þegi;
ofrmælgi mikil hygg ek at illa geti,
hveim er við kaldrifjaðan kømr.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
11. ‘Segðu mér, Gagnráðr, allz þú á gólfi vill
þíns um freista frama,
hvé sá hestr heitir er hverjan dregr
dag of dróttmǫgu.’
Óðinn kvað:
12. ‘Skinfaxi heitir, er inn skíra dregr
dag um dróttmǫgu;
hesta beztr þykkir hann með Hreiðgotum,
ey lýsir mǫn af mari.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
13. ‘Segðu þat, Gagnráðr, allz þú á gólfi vill
þíns um freista frama,
hvé sá jór heitir er austan dregr
nótt of nýt regin.’
Óðinn kvað:
14. ‘Hrímfaxi heitir, er hverja dregr
nótt of nýt regin;
méldropa fellir hann morgin hvern,
þaðan kømr dǫgg um dala.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
15. ‘Segðu þat, Gagnráðr, allz þú á gólfi vill
þíns um freista frama,
hvé sú á heitir er deilir með jǫtna sonum
grund ok með goðum.’
Óðinn kvað:
16. ‘Ífing heitir á, er deilir með jǫtna sonum
grund ok með goðum;
opin renna hon skal um aldrdaga,
verðrat íss á á.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
17. ‘Segðu þat, Gagnráðr, allz þú á gólfi vill
þíns um freista frama,
hvé sá vǫllr heitir er finnask vígi at
Surtr ok in svásu goð.’
Óðinn kvað:
18. ‘Vígríðr heitir vǫllr, er finnask vígi at
Surtr ok in svásu goð;
hundrað rasta hann er á hverjan veg —
sá er þeim vǫllr vitaðr.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
19. ‘Fróðr ertu nú, gestr! Far þú á bekk jǫtuns,
ok mælumk í sessi saman;
hǫfði veðja vit skulum hǫllu í,
gestr, um geðspeki!’
Capitulum
Óðinn kvað:
20. ‘Segðu þat it eina, ef þitt œði dugir
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan jǫrð um kom eða upphiminn
fyrst, inn fróði jǫtunn.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
21. ‘Ór Ymis holdi var jǫrð um skǫpuð,
en ór beinum bjǫrg,
himinn ór hausi ins hrímkalda jǫtuns,
en ór sveita sjór.’
Óðinn kvað:
22. ‘Segðu þat annat, ef þitt œði dugir
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan Máni um kom, svá at ferr menn yfir,
eða Sól it sama.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
23. ‘Mundilfœri heitir, hann er Mána faðir,
ok svá Sólar it sama;
himin hverfa þau skulu hverjan dag,
ǫldum at ártali.’
Óðinn kvað:
24. ‘Segðu þat it þriðja, allz þik svinnan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir,
hvaðan Dagr um kom, sá er ferr drótt yfir,
eða Nótt með niðum.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
25. ‘Dellingr heitir, hann er Dags faðir,
en Nótt var Nǫrvi borin;
ný ok nið skópu nýt regin
ǫldum at ártali.’
Óðinn kvað:
26. ‘Segðu þat it fjórða, allz þik fróðan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan Vetr um kom eða varmt Sumar
fyrst með fróð regin.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
27. ‘Vindsvalr heitir, hann er Vetrar faðir,
en Svásuðr Sumars.’
Óðinn kvað:
28. ‘Segðu þat it fimmta, allz þik fróðan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hverr Ása elztr eða Ymis niðja
yrði í árdaga.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
29. ‘Ørófi vetra áðr væri jǫrð skǫpuð,
þá var Bergelmir borinn;
Þrúðgelmir var þess faðir,
en Aurgelmir afi.’
Óðinn kvað:
30. ‘Segðu þat it sétta, allz þik svinnan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan Aurgelmir kom með jǫtna sonum
fyrst, inn fróði jǫtunn.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
31. ‘Ór Élivágum stukku eitrdropar,
svá óx unz varð ór jǫtunn;
þar órar ættir kvómu allar saman,
því er þat æ allt til atalt.’
Óðinn kvað:
32. ‘Segðu þat it sjaunda, allz þik svinnan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvé sá bǫrn gat, inn baldni jǫtunn,
er hann hafðit gýgjar gaman.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
33. ‘Undir hendi vaxa kváðu hrímþursi
mey ok mǫg saman;
fótr við fœti gat ins fróða jǫtuns
sexhǫfðaðan son.’
Óðinn kvað:
34. ‘Segðu þat it átta, allz þik svinnan kveða,
ok þú, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvat þú fyrst mant eða fremst um veizt,
þú ert alsviðr, jǫtunn!’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
35. ‘Ørófi vetra áðr væri jǫrð um skǫpuð,
þá var Bergelmir borinn;
þat ek fyrst um man, er sá inn fróði jǫtunn
var á lúðr um lagiðr.’
Óðinn kvað:
36. ‘Segðu þat it níunda, allz þik svinnan kveða,
ok þú, Vafðrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan vindr um kømr, svá at ferr vág yfir,
æ menn hann sjálfan um sjá.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
37. ‘Hræsvelgr heitir, er sitr á himins enda,
jǫtunn í arnar ham;
af hans vængjum kveða vind koma
alla menn yfir.’
Óðinn kvað:
38. ‘Segðu þat it tíunda, allz þú tíva rǫk
ǫll, Vafþrúðnir, vitir:
hvaðan Njǫrðr um kom með Ása sonum;
hofum ok hǫrgum hann ræðr hunnmǫrgum,
ok varðat hann Ásum alinn.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
39. ‘Í Vanaheimi skópu hann vís regin,
ok seldu at gíslingu goðum;
í aldar rǫk hann mun aptr koma
heim með vísum Vǫnum.’
Óðinn kvað:
40. ‘Segðu þat it ellipta: hvar ýtar túnum í
hǫggvask hverjan dag.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
41. ‘Allir einherjar Óðins túnum í
hǫggvask hverjan dag;
val þeir kjósa ok ríða vígi frá,
sitja meirr um sáttir saman.’
Óðinn kvað:
42. ‘Segðu þat it tólfta, hví þú tíva rǫk
ǫll, Vafþrúðnir, vitir;
frá jǫtna rúnum ok allra goða
segir þú it sannasta,
inn alsvinni jǫtunn.’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
43. ‘Frá jǫtna rúnum ok allra goða
ek kann segja satt,
þvíat hvern hefi ek heim um komit;
níú kom ek heima fyr Niflhel neðan,
hinig deyja ór Helju halir.’
Óðinn kvað:
44. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hvat lifir manna, þá er inn mæra líðr
Fimbulvetr með firum?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
45. ‘Líf ok Lífðrasir, en þau leynask munu
í holti Hoddmímis;
morgindǫggvar þau sér at mat hafa,
þaðan af aldir alask.’
Óðinn kvað:
46. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hvaðan kømr Sól á inn slétta himin,
þá er þessa hefir Fenrir farit?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
47. ‘Eina dóttur berr Álfrǫðull,
áðr hana Fenrir fari;
sú skal ríða, þá er regin deyja,
móður brautir mær.’
Óðinn kvað:
48. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hverjar ru þær meyjar er líða mar yfir,
fróðgeðjaðar fara?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
49. ‘Þrjár þjóðár falla þorp yfir
meyja Mǫgþrasis;
hamingjur einar þeira í heimi eru,
þó þær með jǫtnum alask.’
Óðinn kvað:
50. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hverir ráða Æsir eignum goða,
þá er sloknar surtalogi?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
51. ‘Víðarr ok Váli byggja vé goða,
þá er sloknar surtalogi;
Móði ok Magni skulu Mjǫllni hafa
ok vinna at vígþroti.’
Óðinn kvað:
52. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hvat verðr Óðni at aldrlagi,
þá er rjúfask regin?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
53. ‘Úlfr gleypa mun Aldafǫðr,
þess mun Víðarr vreka;
kalda kjapta hann klyfja mun
vitnis vígi at.’
Óðinn kvað:
54. ‘Fjǫlð ek fór, fjǫlð ek freistaðak,
fjǫlð ek reynda regin:
hvat mælti Óðinn, áðr á bál stigi,
sjálfr, í eyra syni?’
Vafþrúðnir kvað:
55. ‘Ey manni þat veit, hvat þú í árdaga
sagðir í eyra syni;
feigum munni mælta ek mína forna stafi
ok um ragna rǫk.
Nú ek við Óðin deildak mína orðspeki;
þú ert æ vísastr vera!’
The Sayings of Vafþrúðnir
Óðinn said:
1. ‘Advise me now, Frigg,4 since I want to go
to visit Vafþrúðnir;5
I declare my great curiosity to contend in ancient staves6
with the all-wise giant!’
2. ‘I would keep Herjafǫðr7 at home
in the courts of the gods,
for I have considered no giant to be as strong
3. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;8
I want to know this,
what Vafþrúðnir’s household is like.’
4. ‘May you travel safe, may you come back safe,
may you be safe in your fellowship!
May your mind be strong,9 Aldafǫðr,10
wherever you have to speak words to a giant!’
5. Then Óðinn went to test the word-wisdom
of that one, of the all-wise giant;
he came to a hall, and Ímr’s father owned it;11
Yggr12 went in at once.
Óðinn said:
6. ‘Hail to you now, Vafþrúðnir! Now I have come into your hall
to see you yourself;
I want to know this first, whether you are knowledgeable13
or all-wise, giant!’
7. ‘What kind of man is it at whom
I shall hurl speech in my house?
May you not come out from our halls,
unless you are the wiser!’
8. ‘I’m called Gagnráðr;14 I’ve come thirsty now from
my journey to your halls;15
I have travelled long in need of an invitation
and your hospitality, giant!’
9. ‘Why then, Gagnráðr, do you speak before [me] from the floor?
Go to a seat in the hall!
Then it shall be tested, which of us two knows more,
the guest16 or the ancient sage.’17
10. ‘A poor man, when he comes to a rich man’s house,
should say something useful or be silent;18
I think excessive talking19 ill rewards
whoever comes up against a cold-ribbed one.’20
Vafþrúðnir said:
11. ‘Tell me, Gagnráðr, since you want to test
your talent on the floor,
what the horse is called which hauls
each day over host-men.’21
12. ‘He’s called Skinfaxi,22 who hauls the shining
day over host-men;
he’s thought the best of horses among the Hreiðgotar,23
light always shines from the steed’s mane.’24
13. ‘Say this,25 Gagnráðr, since you want to test
your talent on the floor,
what the horse is called which hauls night
from the east over the able powers.’26
14. ‘He’s called Hrímfaxi,27 who hauls each
night over the able powers;
he lets bit-drops28 fall each morning,
from there comes dew over dales.’29
15. ‘Say this, Gagnráðr, since you want to test
your talent on the floor,
what the river is called which divides the earth
among the sons of giants and among the gods.’
Óðínn said:
16. ‘The river’s called Ífing30 which divides the earth
among the sons of giants and among the gods;
it shall run freely during life-days,31
ice doesn’t form on the river.’32
17. ‘Say this, Gagnráðr, since you want to test
your talent on the floor,
what the field is called on which Surtr33 and the sweet gods
will encounter each other in battle.’
18. ‘The field’s called Vígríðr34 on which Surtr and the sweet gods
will encounter each other in battle;
it’s a hundred leagues in every direction —
that’s the field determined for them.’35
19. ‘You’re wise now, guest! Go to the giant’s bench,
and let’s talk together on the seat;
we two shall wager our heads in the hall,
guest, on mind-wisdom!’
Capitulum36
20. ‘Say this as the first thing, if your mind is strong
whence the earth and sky above
first came, O wise giant.’
Vafþrúðnir said:
21. ‘From Ymir’s flesh the earth was formed,
and from his bones boulders,
the sky from the skull of the frost-cold giant,
and from his “sweat”37 the sea.’38
22. ‘Say this secondly, if your mind is strong
whence Máni39 came, so that he journeys over men,
and Sól40 the same.’
23. ‘He’s called Mundilfæri,41 he’s the father of Máni,
they must turn the sky each day,
as a year-reckoning for men.’42
24. ‘Say this as the third thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
whence Dagr43 came, the one who travels over men,
and Nótt44 with dark moons.’45
25. ‘He’s called Dellingr,46 he’s the father of Dagr,
but Nótt was born to Nǫrr;47
the able powers made full moon48 and dark moon49
as a year-reckoning for men.’
Óðinn said:
26. ‘Say this as the fourth thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
whence Vetr50 and warm Sumar51
first came among the wise52 gods.’
27. ‘He’s called Vindsvalr,53 he’s the father of Vetr,
28. ‘Say this as the fifth thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
who was the oldest of the Æsir56 or of Ymir’s kin57
in early days.’
29. ‘Countless years before the earth was created,
Þrúðgelmir was the father of that one,
and Aurgelmir his grandfather.’ 58
30. ‘Say this as the sixth thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
from where Aurgelmir first came with the sons of giants,
O wise giant.’59
Vafþrúðnir said:
31. ‘From Élivágar60 venom-drops sprang out,
[and] so grew until a giant emerged therefrom;61
all our families came from there,
which is why they are always too fierce.’62
32. ‘Say this as the seventh thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
how he begot children, that bold giant,
when he didn’t have a giantess’s love-play.’
33. ‘They said that under the frost-giant’s arm grew
a girl and a boy together;
leg upon leg63 of the wise64 giant begot
a six-headed son.’65
34. ‘Say this as the eighth thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
what you first remember or know from farthest back,66
you are all-knowing, giant!’
35. ‘Countless years before the earth was created,
the first thing I remember was when that wise67 giant
was laid on a mill-frame.’68
Óðinn said:
36. ‘Say this as the ninth thing, since they call you wise,
and you, Vafþrúðnir, may know:
whence the wind comes, so that it moves over wave,
people never see it itself.’
37. ‘He’s called Hræsvelgr, who sits at the sky’s end,69
a giant in eagle’s shape;
from his wings, they say, the wind comes
over all people.’70
38. ‘Say this as the tenth thing, since you, Vafþrúðnir,
may know all the fates of the gods:
whence Njǫrðr71 came among the sons of the Æsir;72
he rules a hundred temples and altars,73
and he was not born to the Æsir.’
39. ‘In Vanaheimr74 wise powers created him,
and gave him as a hostage to the gods;75
at the age’s end he will come back
home among wise Vanir.’76
40. ‘Say this as the eleventh thing:
where men fight each other in enclosed fields77 every day.’78
Vafþrúðnir said:
41. ‘All the unique champions in Óðinn’s enclosed fields
fight each other every day;
they choose the slain and ride from battle;79
thereafter they sit together in peace.’80
42. ‘Say this as the twelfth thing: how you,81
Vafþrúðnir, may know all the fates of the gods;
about the secrets82 of giants and of all gods
you tell the absolute truth,83
O all-wise giant.’
43. ‘About the secrets of giants and of all gods
I can tell the truth,
because I have come to each world;
I came to nine worlds beneath Niflhel;84
humans die there from Hel.’85
44. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
which people will live when the famous Fimbulvetr86
moves among men?’87
45. ‘Líf and Lífþrasir,88 and they will hide themselves
in Hoddmímir’s wood;89
morning-dews they will have for their food,90
from there human beings will be born.’91
Óðinn said:
46. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
whence will Sól92 come [back] to the smooth sky,
once Fenrir has destroyed this one?’93
47. ‘Álfrǫðull94 will bear one daughter
that girl must ride, when the powers die,
the paths of her mother.’95
48. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
who are those maidens who move over the sea,
journey with wise minds?’96
49. ‘Three mighty rivers fall over the village
of the maidens of Mǫgþrasir;97
their guardian-spirits are alone in the world(?),98
though they99 are born among the giants.’
50. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
which Æsir100 will rule the gods’ possessions,
when the dark flame101 has died?’
Vafþrúðnir said:
51. ‘Víðarr and Váli will settle in the gods’ sanctuaries
when the dark flame dies;102
Móði and Magni103 will have Mjǫllnir104
and work at the war’s end.105
52. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
what will bring Óðinn to his life’s end,
when the powers are ripped apart?’
53. ‘The wolf will swallow Aldafǫðr,106
Víðarr will avenge this;107
he will cleave the cold jaws
of the wolf in battle.’108
54. ‘Much have I travelled, much have I tried,
much have I tested the powers;
what did Óðinn say, before he stepped onto the pyre,109
himself, into his son’s ear?’110
55. ‘No one knows that, what you in early days111
said in your son’s ear;
with a doomed mouth have I have spoken my ancient staves112
and about the doom of the powers.
Now I have shared my word-wisdom with Óðinn;
you are always the wisest of beings!’113
Textual Apparatus to Vafþrúðnismál
Vafþrúðnismál] The title is rubricated but illegible in the photograph in the facsimile volume of R; this edition therefore relies on the transcription therein
Speech directions (e.g., Óðinn kvað ‘Óðinn said’) appear in both R and A, but are lacking in R for stt. 1–17
1/1 Ráð] The first letter is large, inset and rubricated (but faded) in R
2/5 jafnramman] R iafnrammann
4/5 skalt] R scalt or
11/6 of] R oc
12/5 Hreiðgotum] R reið gotom
13/2–3 allz þú á gólfi vill þíns um freista frama] In R greatly abbreviated (so too in stt. 15 and 17); expanded on the model of st. 11
13/6 of] R oc
14/3 of] R oc
16/2 jǫtna] R written in the outer margin as a correction of alda ‘of men’
Capitulum] Rubricated
20/2 œði] A’s text begins with this word
20/3 ok] A .æ. (abbreviation for eða)
22/2–3] R and A abbreviated
22/4 um] A of
23/1 Mundilfœri] A Mvndilfæri
24/3 ok] A .æ. (abbreviation for eða)
24/5 drótt] so A; R drot
25/3 Nótt] so A; R not
26/2–3] R and A abbreviated here and subsequently
26/6 með] A vm
29/2 jǫrð] A iorð vm
29/3 var] A absent
30/2 svinnan] A f. (abbreviation for froðan)
31/3] varð ór] A or varð
31/4–6] R and A absent; lines supplied after Machan, Vafþrúðnismál, 64, 88 from SnEGylf, one manuscript of which has komnar ‘have come’ for komu
32/5 baldni] R aldni ‘old’, here emended for alliteration; A balldni
33/4 fótr] A fot
33/5 gat] A absent
33/6 sexhǫfðaðan] so A; R ser hǫfðaþann
34/2 svinnan] R and A f (abbreviation for fróðan ‘wise’), here amended for alliteration
34/4 fyrst] A fyrst of
34/5 fremst] A fræms
34/5 um] A of
35/4 um] A of
35/6 var á] A a var
36/3 ok] R e (abbreviation for eða)
36/5 svá at] A sa ær ‘the one which’
36/6 æ ... sjá] A æ. maðr vm sialfan hann sær ‘one never sees it itself’
37/4 hans] so A; R haN
38/4 um] A of
38/8 varðat] A varat ‘was not’
39/5 hann mun] A mvn hann
40/1–3] Stanza incomplete in R and A, the latter having only 40/1
41/1 einherjar] A eins hæriar
41/1-3] R absent; supplied from A and SnEGylf
42/1 þat] A absent
43/4 um] A of
44/2 freistaðak] A fræistaða
44/3 ek] A ec of
45/1 Lífðrasir] A and some manuscripts of SnEGylf have Læifþrasir ‘Persistent Remnant’, ‘Enduring Survival’; another SnEGylf variant is Leidþrasir ‘Persistent Way’
45/3 holti] A holldi ‘flesh’
45/6 þaðan] A (also manuscripts of SnEGylf) ænn þaþan
46/1–3] R and A abbreviated here and subsequently
46/6 þá] R þa þa
49/5 þeira] A þær ær
51/6 ok vinna] A (and manuscripts of SnEGylf) Vingnis
53/3 vreka] R reca; A ræka
53/6 vitnis] so A; R vingnis
54/5 stigi] A stigi ok
55/5 ek] A æk um
55/6 um] A o
1 It includes a series of numbered questions and some passages may be concerned with mythological matters relating to the sun and the moon, Óðinn (Yggr) and Ragnarok—interests shared with Vm. See P. Holmberg, B. Gräslund, O. Sundqvist and H. Williams, ‘The Rök Runestone and the End of the World’, Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies 9–10 (2018–19), 7–38, https://doi.org/10.33063/diva-401040, the argument of which is refined in P. Holmberg, ‘Rök Runestone Riddles Revisited’, Maal og Minne 112 (2020), 37–55.
2 An exception may be the apocalyptic surtalogi ‘dark flame’ of stt. 50–51.
3 C. Tolley, ‘The Adaptability of Myth in Old Norse and Finnish Poetry’, in G. Barnes and M. Clunies Ross, ed., Old Norse Myths, Literature and Society: Proceedings of the 11th International Saga Conference 2–7 July 2000, University of Sydney (Sydney: University of Sydney, 2000), pp. 498–510 at 508–09.
4 Óðinn’s wife, a goddess.
5 Vafþrúðnir is a giant whose name might mean ‘Wrapping/Entanglement-Powerful One’ or ‘Hesitation-Mighty One’. Except for a reference preceding a quotation from Vm. in SnEGylf (5, p. 10) and the inclusion of his name in a versified list of giant-names (SPSMA III, 715), he appears nowhere else.
6 I.e., points of wisdom, conceptually related to rune-staves (runic letters).
7 ‘Father of Armies’, an alias of Óðinn.
8 Óðinn’s frequent travelling is well-attested, but his testing of the regin ‘(ruling) powers’ is not. The regin are presumably the gods collectively.
9 Or ‘May your mind avail you’.
10 ‘Father of Men/Ages’, an alias of Óðinn.
11 Ímr’s father is Vafþrúðnir. Ímr ‘Embers’ also appears in versified lists of giant-names and has cognates in giant-names such as Ími and Ímgerðr. This line lacks alliteration, unless ‘h’ (dropped in pronunciation?) alliterates exceptionally with a vowel or the Í- in Íms was aspirated; it might therefore be faulty.
12 ‘Terrible/Fear-Inducing One’, an alias of Óðinn.
13 The implication is ‘merely knowledgeable’.
14 ‘Contrary Counsellor’ or ‘Gain(ful) Counselor’. The name is not found elsewhere, except perhaps in a derived passage in SnEGylf (5, p. 10; see notes on pp. 58, 74 therein). A versified list records a similar name, Gangráðr ‘Travel Counsellor’ or ‘Walk-Enjoying One’; SPSMA III, 739.
15 Arguably, Óðinn is thirsty not just for drink but also for (debate about) knowledge; the two are closely related in Old Norse mythological thought. Cf. Ls. 6.
16 Since Vafþrúðnir apparently does not yet recognize his visitor, it may be ironic that he addresses him as gestr ‘guest’, because Gestr is elsewhere an alias of Óðinn.
17 As Óðinn is probably also an old þulr ‘sage’ (cf. Hav. 80, 111, 134(?), 142), this term, by which Vafþrúðnir describes himself, also appears unconsciously ironic.
18 Cf. Hav. 19.
19 Or ‘boasting’.
20 I.e., a giant. Frost-giants inhabited the frozen wilderness, but kaldr ‘cold’ also has connotations of malice, cunning and ill-fortune.
21 I.e., over warriors of an army, or over humankind.
22 ‘Shining Mane’. SnEGylf (10, p. 13), identifies Skinfaxi as the horse of Dagr ‘Day’ and says its mane illuminates all the sky and earth. Skinfaxi is also mentioned in a versified list of horse-names (SPSMA III, 935, 939). SnESkáld (I, 58, p. 90, and p. 211 n.) records an alternative name for this horse, or perhaps the name of its partner: Glaðr ‘Glad’. Cf. Grm. 37.
23 ‘Nest/Homeland Goths’, an emendation of dat. pl. Reiðgotum ‘Riding Goths’. Here the need to restore the initial H- for alliteration suggests a fairly early date of composition, possibly in Norway.
24 This stanza is paraphrased in SnEGylf (9, p. 13). Cf. Grm. 37 (and SnEGylf 11, pp. 13–14), where the horses Árvakr ‘Early Waker’ and Alsviðr ‘All Swift’ drag the sun up; also Vsp. 5. The notion of the sun being pulled by a horse (or horses) dates from at least the early Bronze Age in northern Europe: the Danish Trundholm chariot is a model of a horse pulling a gold-plated bronze disk, arguably in a two-wheeled chariot.
25 Literally, ‘it’ or ‘that’.
26 I.e., the gods.
27 ‘Frost Mane’. SnEGylf (10, p. 13) identifies Hrímfaxi as the horse of Nótt ‘Night’, and says that drops of foam fall from its bit as dew on to the earth each day. Hrímfaxi is also mentioned in a versified name-list; SPSMA III, 939. SnESkáld (I, 58, p. 90, and p. 211 n.) records an alternative name for this horse, or perhaps the name of its partner: Fjǫrsvartnir ‘Life-Blackened’.
28 I.e., drops of foam from the horse’s bit (mél); alternatively, meldropa ‘honey-drops’, ‘honeydew’; cf. OE meledeaw ‘honeydew’. Note also Vsp. 19, as Yggdrasill was imagined as a horse-tree.
29 Cf. HHv. 28.
30 Or Ifing. The meaning might be ‘Violent One’, ‘Rippling One’ or ‘Yew River’; otherwise unknown.
31 I.e., forever, or at least until Ragnarok.
32 Possibly, if it had frozen, the giants would have been able to invade the land of the gods.
33 An apocalyptic fire-demon; see Vsp. 51.
34 Perhaps ‘(Place Where) Battle Rides (Out)’; otherwise unknown.
35 Or ‘that is the field known to them’. This stanza is quoted in SnEGylf (51, pp. 52–53). Cf. Fm. 14–15.
36 Latin for ‘chapter’; it marks the beginning of a new section of the poem.
37 Here ‘sweat’ is interpretable as a term for ‘blood’, as elsewhere.
38 Cf. Grm. 40–41, SnEGylf (8, pp. 11–12).
39 ‘Moon’.
40 ‘Sun’.
41 Cf. SnEGylf (11, p. 13).
42 In other words, as a means by which people can measure time. The key to understanding this stanza is the name Mundilfæri, which seems to mean ‘Mill-Handle-Mover’. Its first element, mundil-, looks akin to mǫndull ‘handle of a handmill’, and perhaps plays on the words mund ‘hand’ and mund ‘time’; the second element, -færi, probably means ‘mover’, ‘carrier’ or ‘device (for moving something)’. Mundilfæri might therefore denote a personified mill-like device that, when operated by Máni and Sól, turns the sky by means of a handle, the sky being imagined as the upper of two millstones, of which the lower is the earth.
43 ‘Day’.
44 ‘Night’.
45 A reference to the moon’s invisible (dark/new) phase or waning.
46 SnEGylf (10, p. 13) says Dellingr, probably ‘Gleaming One’, is of the kindred of the gods and married to Nótt.
47 ‘Narrow (One)’. Cf. Alv. 29. In SnEGylf (10, p. 13) Nótt is the daughter of a giant called Nǫrfi or Narfi, Nǫrfi being the dat. of Nǫrr.
48 Or pl. ON ný means literally ‘new moon’, but the reference is to the waxing or full moon, not what is now known in English as the new moon, which is the moon during its invisible phase.
49 Or pl.
50 ‘Winter’.
51 ‘Summer’.
52 Or ‘fertile’.
53 ‘Wind Cool’, the name of a giant in SnESkáld (I, 75, p. 111). According to SnEGylf (19, p. 21), Vetr’s father is called Vindlóni ‘Wind Still/Stop(?)’ or Vindsvalr ‘Wind Cool’. SnESkáld (I, 29, p. 39) also identifies winter as the son of Vindsvalr.
54 Probably ‘Sweet/Mild South’, the name of a giant in SnESkáld (I, 75, p. 111). SnEGylf (19, p. 21) adds that ‘he has such a blissful life that it is from his name that what is pleasant is called sváslig “delightful”.’ SnESkáld (I, 30, p. 39) also identifies summer as the son of Svásuðr.
55 The second half of this stanza is missing in both R and A; later, paper manuscripts complete it with the words ár of bæði þau skulu ey fara / unz rjúfask regin ‘Years shall always journey from both, until the powers are ripped apart.’ Cf. SnEGylf (19, p. 21).
56 Gods, here perhaps specifically the group led by Óðinn.
57 Giants.
58 The names are of giants, possibly ‘Barley (or Rock) Sheaf/Roarer’, ‘Powerfully Thriving Sheaf/Roarer’ and ‘Ear (of Corn) Sheaf/Roarer’; see note to Vm. 35. SnEGylf (5, p. 10) says Aurgelmir is the frost-giants’ name for Ymir.
59 Translated on the model of Vm. 20 and 42, at the end of which Vafþrúðnir is addressed as a wise giant. Alternatively, translate ‘where Aurgelmir, the wise [or ‘fertile’] giant, first came from with the sons of giants’. The second half of this stanza is quoted in SnEGylf (5, p. 10).
60 ‘(Snow/Hail-)Storm Waves/Seas/Bays’, a collective name for various primaeval rivers in SnEGylf (5, pp. 9–10); cf. Grm. 26–29, Hym. 5.
61 The giant is presumably Aurgelmir.
62 The second half of this stanza is lacking in both R and A; it is supplied from manuscripts of SnEGylf (5, p. 10), which also quotes a form of the first half. Note also the variant in SnEUpp (8, p. 16).
63 Or ‘foot upon foot’.
64 Or ‘fruitful’.
65 R. D. Fulk, ‘An Eddic Analogue to the Scyld Scefing Story’, Review of English Studies 40 (1989), 313–22 at 318 explains this stanza in light of the growth of barley: ‘The “six-headed son” may be identified as an allusion to the spike, which has six rows of kernels in the commonest type of barley, grown in Scandinavia since the Farming Stone Age, and apparently the only type grown there until the Renaissance. Thus the plant is apparently envisaged with its head in the ground, the leaves likened to arms and legs, with the six-headed son growing between the legs. Barley does in fact produce precisely four leaves before tillering. The boy and girl in the giant’s armpit can only be the third and fourth leaves, i.e. the legs themselves. This explains why a point is made of their sexual differentiation, as well as why just one armpit is mentioned.’ See note to Vm. 35. Cf. SnEGylf (5, pp. 10–11).
66 Cf. Vsp. 1.
67 Or ‘fertile’.
68 ON lúðr ‘mill-frame’ denotes more precisely ‘a box or wooden trough, perhaps on legs, in which the stones of a hand-mill sit’ (Fulk, ‘Eddic Analogue’, 316), or, by extension, an entire box-mill. Hence, the giant Bergelmir was presumably ground up, apparently as part of a creation myth comparable to that of Ymir’s dismemberment in Vm. 21 (cf. the implicit reference to a cosmic mill in Vm. 23). The name Bergelmir may well suit this interpretation. At first sight, Ber- invites interpretation as ‘bear’, ‘bare’ or ‘berry’, but the association with milling and the enigmatic Vm. 33 point to the sense ‘barley’, from Germanic *bariz- (although another word, berg ‘rock’, may also spring to mind). The second element, gelmir, may corroborate this by meaning ‘handful or bundle of reaped corn’ (cf. OE gilm/gelm) or simply ‘sheaf’. Bergelmir would then mean ‘Barley Sheaf’; his father, Þrúðgelmir, would be ‘Powerfully Thriving Sheaf’ (cf. ON þróa ‘to thrive’); and his grandfather, Aurgelmir, would be ‘Ear (of Corn) Sheaf’, if Aur- is cognate with OE ear ‘ear of corn’ and is not ON aurr ‘mud, clay’, a word used to denote fertile mud in Vsp. 19 and perhaps found in the giant-names Aurboða, Aurgrímnir, Aurnir and Aurrekr. Against this interpretation of gelmir is its presence in two names associated not with corn or agriculture but with rivers: Hvergelmir in Grm. 26 and Vaðgelmir in Rm. 4, in which it seems to mean ‘roarer’ (cf. ON gjalla ‘to yell’ and the river Gjǫll). This sense would suit Vm.’s giants, since Aurgelmir sprang from stormy rivers in Vm. 31, and several other giants have names indicating noisiness. If so, Bergelmir would be ‘Barley Roarer’, Þrúðgelmir ‘Powerfully Thriving Roarer’, and Aurgelmir ‘Ear (of Corn) Roarer’. It would not be surprising if the original sense of these names were lost on a thirteenth-century audience; if they interpreted them at all, they may well have discerned ‘Rock Roarer’, ‘Powerful Roarer’ and ‘Mud Roarer’, since giants were loud and mighty creatures who lived in mountains and the earth. Additionally, word-play may be entertained. SnEGylf (7, p. 11) quotes this stanza but gives it a different context and interpretation (see also SnEUpp 10, p. 18). According to this account, Ymir was slain by the sons of Borr, and the blood from his wounds drowned the frost-giants—all except Bergelmir and his household, from which the families of frost-giants descend. Bergelmir saved himself from drowning by going up on to his lúðr. Here Snorri seems to interpret lúðr as a sea-going vessel—an ‘ark’ even, as his account appears influenced by Christian traditions of Noah’s Ark and apocryphal ideas about the survival of giants after the Flood. However, Snorri’s placing of the lúðr in an aquatic context may also reflect native tradition, since the magical mill Grotti ended up in the sea in SnESkáld (I, 43, p. 52); a stanza in SnESkáld (I, 25, p. 38) calls the sea an eylúðr ‘island-box-mill’; and lúðr most probably denotes a whirlpool in Gg. 11 and Fj. 30.
69 SnEGylf (18, p. 20) adds that Hræsvelgr ‘Corpse Swallower’ sits á norðanverðum himins enda ‘at the northern end of the sky’. Cf. Hymir’s abode in Hym. 5.
70 This stanza is paraphrased and quoted in SnEGylf (18, p. 20), SnEUpp (25, p. 60). The name Hræsvelgr elsewhere appears only in versified lists of the names of giants and eagles (SPSMA III, 709, 950).
71 One of the Vanir gods. He is the father of Freyr and Freyja. SnEGylf (23, p. 23) says he rules the wind’s movement.
72 This line lacks alliteration and may therefore be corrupt. One way to supply it would be to emend to hvaðan Njǫrðr um kom með niðjum Ása ‘whence Njǫrðr came among the kinsmen of the Æsir’.
73 This line may have been interpolated. The next is also suspect.
74 ‘Home of the Vanir’. The idea that Njǫrðr was created by ‘wise powers’ is otherwise unknown.
75 According to chapter 4 of Ynglinga saga and SnEGylf (23, p. 23), the Vanir gave Njǫrðr to the Æsir as a pledge of faith in settlement of their war; in exchange, the Æsir gave Hœnir to the Vanir. Cf. Vsp. 24, SnESkáld (I, G57, p. 3).
76 This idea is found only here, but compare the post-Ragnarok world of Vsp. 58–64, in which innocent gods—including Hœnir, Njǫrðr’s hostage counterpart—return to live happily.
77 Or ‘home meadows’, ‘abodes’, ‘courtyards’.
78 This stanza appears fragmentary. Late, paper manuscripts have the following stanza: Segðu þat it ellipta, allz þú tíva rǫk / ǫll, Vafþrúðnir, vitir: / hvat einherjar vinna Herjafǫðrs at, / unz rjúfask regin ‘Say this as the eleventh thing, Vafþrúðnir, since you may know all the fates of the gods: what work the unique champions of Herjafǫðr [‘Father of Hosts’, i.e., Óðinn] do until the powers are ripped apart’.
79 This may mean that they kill each other, before being resurrected. Elsewhere in Norse myth, valkyries choose the slain by taking fallen warriors, whom Óðinn has selected, to his hall to join the unique champions.
80 This stanza is quoted in SnEGylf (41, p. 34), SnEUpp (25, p. 58). The einherjar ‘unique/only champions’ are fallen male warriors who, having been chosen by Óðinn, are (elsewhere at least) brought to his hall by valkyries, so they may fight beside him at Ragnarok.
81 Or ‘why you’.
82 Here rúnar apparently means ‘secrets’ or ‘mysteries’, rather than ‘runes’.
83 Literally, ‘you say the most truthful (thing)’.
84 ‘Dark/Mist Hel’. Cf. Vsp. 2.
85 An obscure line. Perhaps Hel (or hel) here denotes not the underworld land of the dead or its presiding lady, but ‘death’. Cf. SnEGylf (3, p. 9), according to which Niflhel is the ninth world, to which wicked people are condemned to descend.
86 ‘Mighty Winter’, the terrible winter that precedes Ragnarok.
87 Cf. Vsp. 40, 44, SnEGylf (51, p. 49).
88 ‘Life’ and ‘Life Impetuousness(?)’, characters unknown outside this stanza (but cf. Fj. 38); for variants see the textual apparatus. The neut. pronoun þau suggests that one is fem. and one masc.
89 With Hoddmímir ‘Hoard Mímir’ and his wood, compare Mimameiðr (or Mímameiðr) ‘Mimi’s/Mími’s Tree’, a likely manifestation of the world-tree, in Fj.
90 Cf. Vm. 14, Vsp. 19 and the Biblical manna.
91 It seems likely that Líf and Lífþrasir will survive Ragnarok and repopulate the world. A version of this stanza is quoted in SnEGylf (53, p. 54); the variant in SnEUpp (31, p. 84) says leynast meyjar í Mímis holdi ‘maidens hide themselves in Mímir’s flesh’, morgin dǫggva ‘bedew the morning’ and þar um aldr alast ‘will be nourished there forever’.
92 The sun is apparently again personified, as in Vm. 22–23.
93 Or ‘overtaken this one [i.e., this sun]’, implicitly in a solar eclipse. Variants of the wolf Fenrir’s swallowing of the sun survive in Vsp. 39–40 (probably), Grm. 39 and SnEGylf (12, p. 14), and on the tenth-century Gosforth Cross from Cumbria, England. Additionally, a fragment of a Viking Age stone cross from Ovingham, Northumbria, England might show a wolf being restrained from swallowing the sun.
94 ‘Elf Disc’, a name for the sun; cf. FSk. 4.
95 This stanza is quoted in SnEGylf (53, p. 54); SnEUpp (31, p. 84) has a metrically deficient second half, sú mun renna eða ríða, / reginbrautir mær ‘that maiden will run or ride divine/mighty-ways’. The daughter is unnamed.
96 An obscure reference, perhaps to personified waves. Alternatively, compare the marlíðendr ‘sea-travelling spirits’ mentioned in chapter 16 of Eyrbyggja saga; also perhaps BDr. 12.
97 Or ‘Three of the host (þjóðar) of maidens fall over (= come upon?) the village(s)/fields of Mǫgþrasir’. Alternatively, again, ‘Three of the maidens of Mǫgþrasir come upon the village(s) of people (þjóðar)’. Mǫgþrasir ‘Persistent Son(?)’ is otherwise unknown (is he a child of st. 45’s Lífþrasir?), but perhaps his ‘village’ is the new, reinhabited world. The whole stanza is obscure.
98 Or ‘only guardian-spirits are in their world’. Either way, the sense is obscure.
99 I.e., the ‘three’ females. Perhaps compare Vsp. 8.
100 Or ‘gods’.
101 An apocalyptic fire, probably of Christian origin, but presumably associated at some stage with the Norse fire-giant Surtr; cf. Vsp. 51–52, 55 and SnEGylf (4, p. 9; 51, pp. 50–53). Alternatively, instead of surtalogi, read Surta logi or Surtalogi ‘Surti’s flame’, *Surti being a grammatically weak form of Surtr. SnEUpp (16, p. 34; 31, p. 84) has svartalogi ‘black flame’.
102 Instead of sloknar ‘goes out, dies’, manuscripts of SnEGylf have sortnar ‘turns black’.
103 Móði ‘Angry One’ (Megi in one manuscript of SnEGylf) and Magni ‘Strong One’ are Þórr’s sons.
104 ‘Miller/Crusher’, Þórr’s hammer.
105 The idea may be that Móði and Magni will use the hammer’s rejenerative power to help create a new world after Ragnarok. Alternatively, translate ‘Móði and Magni will have Mjǫllnir and fight [their enemies] at the end of the war’, thereby bringing Ragnarok to a close. But Vingnis, the reading of A and manuscripts of SnEGylf, is probably superior to R’s ok vinna ‘and work/fight’; it yields the sense ‘Móði and Magni will have Vingnir’s Mjǫllnir at the war’s end’, Vingnir, which may mean ‘Swinger’, being a name of Þórr (on this name, see also note to Vm. 53). SnEGylf (53, p. 54) quotes this stanza; SnEUpp (31, p. 84) has a different, probably corrupt final line, Vignigs synir at vígroði ‘Vignig’s(?) sons in the battle-redness’.
106 Óðinn. Fenrir’s devouring of Óðinn is also described in Ls. 58 and SnEGylf (51, pp. 50–52), and it lies behind Vsp. 52–53. Additionally, it is depicted on a fragment of a tenth-century cross from Kirk Andreas, Isle of Man; arguably on the Ledberg Stone from Östergötland, Sweden; also possibly on the west face of the Gosforth Cross and on the Skipwith Stone from North Yorkshire, England.
107 For this line to alliterate, an East Norse or pre-literary West Norse form of the verb reka is required, namely *vreka, to which the word is emended in this edition; cf. Háv. 32.
108 Cf. Vsp. R 53, H 47, SnEGylf (51, pp. 50–52); it is presumably Víðarr, Óðinn’s son, who is shown stretching the jaws of a wolf-headed serpent on the east side of the Gosforth Cross. A’s reading, vitnis ‘of the wolf’, which is adopted here, appears superior to R’s vingnis ‘of Vingnir’. The name Vingnir is attested as the name of a giant, of Þórr and of Óðinn; here it probably results from textual corruption (see note to Vm. 51).
109 I.e., Baldr’s pyre, perhaps to light it; in Icelandic tradition, Baldr was shot dead by his blind brother Hǫðr at Loki’s instigation; see Vsp. 31–33, BDr. and SnEGylf (49, pp. 45–46). Óðinn asks essentially the same unfair question in chapter 9 of Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks.
110 I.e., Baldr’s ear.
111 Note that, in Vm., a very long time has passed since Baldr’s funeral, and that his death is therefore temporally distanced from Ragnarok.
112 The giant’s ‘(rune)-staves’ are words of wisdom (cf. Alv. 35).
113 Literally, ‘(male) beings’.