völuspá - the prediction of the prophetess old norse and english...

Völuspá - The prediction of the prophetess Old Norse and English versions with commentaries

It is also supplemented, after the poem, by historical indications on Verden massacre

and citations of Gautrek’s saga

and

Refutes 19 argument claiming a Christian influences, all due to academic

specialists.

Here is an nth translation of Völuspá, a poem of poetic Edda. It is

essentially different from the others in that it provides information on the

suspicions of Christian influences associated to one or another of its stanzas

... and that it shows that, most often, these so-called suspicions are based on

commonalities of words used in very different contexts in Völuspá and in

the Christians texts supposed to have been inspiring it.

On ‘Christian influences’

It is clear that all the manuscripts of the poetic Edda were written in a social context

where being Christian was compulsory and paganism banned. Their content has thus been

more than less overseen by Church authorities. Looking for ‘Christian influences’ in these

texts is to behave as a supposed civilization carrier sifting the good Christian wheat from the

pagan chaff. Colonizers mistreated ‘prime’ civilizations in good conscience in the name of

the intellectual superiority of European thought. Modern commentators looking for

Christian influences in Eddic texts mistreat them by challenging their authenticity. For

example, the myth of ‘Baldr’s death’ is classically supposed to have received a Christian

influence due to his ‘obvious’ similarity with Christ and Frigg’s cries? Indeed, Frigg cries

for her bloody son. And his father also mourns his son - all this can reflect a Christian

behavior. His father, however, has Baldr's assassin killed by another of his sons. Do you see

there a negligible gory heathenish detail to be carefully forgotten ?

More generally, recall the profusion of texts, mostly medieval ones, dealing with the

problem of human destiny and the end of the world. This topic of thought is called an

“eschatology.” There are therefore many eschatologies, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist

ones etc. each inspired by the worldview of the religion that produced it.

Völuspá describes an ancient Norse eschatology named ‘Ragnarök’, which means ‘the

judgment of the powers’, better known thanks to Wagner under the name of ‘twilight of the

gods’. But it can be noted immediately that the word ‘eschatology’ has just been improperly

used, since an eschatology deals with the destiny of humankind while Ragnarök deals with

the destiny of ‘god-kind’. That is why it is not very logical to speak of a Norse eschatology.

Anyhow, the vast majority of readers of ancient Norse texts live in true Christian eschatology

and use it to understand a Norse ‘non-eschatology’. It is not surprising that they find there a

multitude of what they feel as Christian-likeness they call ‘influence’. Already in Völuspá s.

1 we will meet such a misunderstanding with the word spjall that we translate like everyone

else by ‘knowledge’, whereas its real meaning is closer to ‘incantation’ or ‘saying’.

Another famous example of an ill-treated Norse word is the one of ‘siðr’ that we

translate as ‘religion’ (alternatively, we could also say that the word ‘religion’ does not exist

in Old Norse). In fact, ‘siðr’ refers to a custom or a behavior rather than religion, by which

the old religion is called forn siðr and the new one became nýr siðr (Christian ‘religion’).

Old custom describes old behaviors rather than faith. This is why the dates of

Christianization (when words have taken their Christian meaning) of a country are much

later than those of the corresponding conversion (when speaking is still a pagan one). This

also explains why it so easy to misunderstand the content of Völuspá.

This poem is the one that raised the largest suspicion concerning ‘Christian

influences’. Quite often these accusations are uttered as insults, which does not lead to

honest discussion. It turns out that a fairly recent book, The Nordic Apocalypse, edited by

Terry Gunnell and Annette Lassen (2013), took stock of these influences. All the articles in

this book, except the one of Lassen (who exposes a history of the past scholarly reactions to

this poem) and Gunnell (who describes how the poem could be declaimed and 'played'), have

explicitly taken a stand in favor of the existence of these influences. We thus have here a sort

of academic summary of the positions of these supporters of influences, which enables a

calm discussion that has been undertaken in parallel to a personal translation of the poem. To

avoid lengthy references repetition, a special form of quotation is used here: Author name

(GL 2013, pp. Number of the pages cited). For example, Gunnell's poetic contribution would

be presented as: Gunnell (GL 2013, pp. 70-72). In order not to confuse this discussion with

those related to the translation itself, they are framed in a visible way below the

corresponding stanza, as below a particularly complicated argumentation that will be further

detailed:

Ursula Dronke (1997, pp. 99-104) studied the possibility of Christian influences

linked to similarities between Völuspá and the Sibylline Oracles, very popular in the

Middle Ages ...

but Karl G. Johansson (GL 2013, pp. 161-184) disputed some of her points and he

refined Dronke's analysis using the Tiburtine Oracle ...

but Stephen J. Shoemaker (ref: http in bibliography), reports that many

modifications to the known texts of the Oracles of Tibur are in progress.

This ends up having no more interest than a discussions on the gender of angels.

A few words on presentation and translation

A personal presentation of Hávamál (available on Akademia.edu) is done in a similar

spirit, but in a less argumentative way since all the attempts to spot Christian influences in

Hávamál have been ridiculed by several scholars (see the 2nd interlude associated to s. 21).

On the contrary, and relatively recently, Völuspá became for most people a very

Christianized piece of lore, yet another incredible miracle.

In what follows, no Scandinavian name or concept will appear without explanation.

Once explained, I will use some of these names as if they were well-known.

When dealing with Eddic poems, we must remember that they are known by a

remarkably small number of manuscripts which however present different versions. I will

use here as reference Codex Regius, in the version published by Hans Kuhn, Carl Winter,

Heidelberg 1962. Kuhn presents a great number of variations which are in the various

manuscripts, but I will not give these details. For reasons of the convenience, I will keep the

letter ö, used to represent an ‘o tailed’ in Kuhn’s edition.

Once that a manuscript is chosen, the Old Norse language of poetry is hard to

understand. For my translation, I used De Vries’ etymological dictionary (noted ‘de Vries’),

Cleasby-Vigfusson’s Icelandic-English dictionary (noted C. -V. ) and very often also,

Sveinbjön Egilsson’s Lexicon poëticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis (noted as LexPoet).

This last provides the meaning of a greater number of words than C. -V. , associated a

variety of quotations illustrating the use of the words, mainly in poetry. I also built a reliable,

readable and cherchable list of irregular verbs, made available at IRREGULAR VERBS .

Some useful preliminary explanations

A prophetess was called a völva that gives völu in the singular genitive: this is the

“völu” in völuspá (‘spá of a völva’). She practised a kind of shamanism which resembles

much that of North American Indians, which became so popular since a few years. This kind

of Scandinavian shamanism is called seiðr or seið – often spelled ‘seidr’. In spite of the

scarcity of available testimony, we know that a völva practised seiðr outside, on a kind of

wooden platform, surrounded by all her helpers and customers, and she required someone

singing a special song. There is also a solitary form of practice, called “útiseta” (outside sat)

to which Völuspa seems to refer.

It seems that seidr was practised primarily by women since it is known that the practice

of the seidr ‘to perfection’ makes the men impotent where this word can also be understood

as ‘homosexual’.

Thus, what had been in the past a highly respected ability, since it was reserved to

women or to effeminate men (or, according to my personal interpretation: reserved to the

female side of men - and women!), became gradually scorned, and is often used as an insult

in texts and runic inscriptions

Note that we will always speak of the mythic Giants and Dwarves in order to single

them out of the tall or short individuals. Likewise the word god will never carry a capital

letter in order to differentiate it from God.

Óðinn (often written: Odin, or Odhin, or Odhinn) is the main of the Scandinavian gods,

the Æsir. There was also another kind of gods, the Vanir who might have been more ancient,

but they will be reconcile with the Æsir, after a war evoked below in stanzas 21-26. Lastly,

the Giants are also supra human beings who seem to be irreducible enemies to the Æsir.

They will cause Ragnarök as described in stanzas 44 to 58

Old Norse civilization was equipped with a spirituality associated to an ancestors’

worship, to which poems and sagas refer. This worship is also firmly proven by the multitude

of offerings found in the howes of the powerful ones and close to the tombs of humble ones,

and by the meetings held around these sites during hundreds of years.

VÖLUSPÁ

(The Seeress Prophecy)

file:///C:/WS_FTP-OLD/MNG/IrregulFinalEng.pdf

Old Norse (ON)

from the Codex

Regius

Litteral meaning followed by an

English translation

Comments

Stanza 1

Old Norse

1. Hlióðs bið ec

allar kindir

meiri oc minni,

mögo Heimdalar;

vildo at ec, Valföðr, vel fyrtelia forn spiöll fira, þau er fremst um man.

Literal translation orð eptir orð (word

for word)

followed by an English one

(Your) listening beg I

from all the family high ones and low ones, children of Heimdalr;

you want that I, Killed-ones’ Father,

well to tell

old knowledge of the people,

those the ‘most forward’ (that) I remember

Explanations and comments

The first line is a ritual formula used to ask

silence at the beginning of the Icelandic

general meeting, or before declaming

poetry.

Valföðr = Killed-ones’ Father = Óðinn

the ‘most forward’ = the oldest? It normally

means ‘most future’, i. e. here: ‘all of them’

English Translation

I beg you to listen ,

you all of the family,

higher and lower ones,

children of Heimdalr;

You want, Valföðr, that

I properly tell

ancient knowledge

remotest that I remember.

Another Eddic poem, Rigsþula, also tells us

that all kinds of human ones are Heimdall’s

sons.

In the first line, the fact of “begging for listening” from her audience instead of

imposing silence to them illustrates a typical Norse behavior that - with all due respect to

the poet and the völva- indicates a form of modesty often absent among the religion

preachers.

Spjall is indeed ‘a knowledge, a saying’ in our civilization, but it also carries the

meaning of magical incantation in Old Norse.

It is a little surprising that, in the second part of this stanza, the völva says that

Óðinn asked her to tell the old incantations, the ‘old ways of speech’ and that this covers

what we call an eschatology. We see that some ways of Norse speaking became foreign to

ours.

Stanza 2

Old Norse

2. Ec man iötna

ár um borna,

þá er forðom mic

fœdda höfðo;

nío man ec heima,

nío íviði,

miötvið mœran

fyr mold neðan.

Literal translation

I remember the giants

in old times born,

those who in the past me

nourished to someone adult;

nine remember I countries,

nine Giantesses (or ogresses) the measure-master famous

toward the ground under.


The two words ‘giantess’ and ‘ogress’ are more or

less equivalent in the Norse langage.

Here, the master of measurement can only be

Yggdrasill, which is still growing under the

ground.

English I remember the giants

in old times born,

those who in the past

nourished me to become an

adult;

I remember nine countries,

nine Giantesses

and the famous measure-master

still under the ground.

This title has been used in Old English to point at

God. Yggdrasill is certainly no proper ‘god’

though this way of speech attributes to it a

primary role in Norse mythology.

Additional comments

In short, in the second stanza, the völva describes what have been the oldest

times she had known: Nine distinct worlds inhabited by “Giants and Giantesses”

able to raise their children. The gods and the humans did not exist yet and it seems

that the völva was herself of Giant ancestry. This explains that Óðinn had to awaken

a Giantess to learn about the origins of the Norse worlds. The lines “I remember

nine countries and nine giants” underline the fact that the Giants then occupied all

existing territories.

We cannot avoid noticing here the huge difference, relative to the organization

of the living beings, between the Christian tradition and the Norse one. In the Norse

tradition, the first inhabitants were Giants and, equally important in the poem,

Giantesses. This overall equality between males and females opposes the biblical

description of the first earth inhabitants. The same occurs for humankind: As we

shall see in s. 17 and 18, men and women have been both simultaneously gifted with

the same abilities by the Powers, which again opposes the biblical legend of

humankind’s creation.

The last two lines introduce us to a ‘being’ that is so absent from our

consciousness that we tend to somewhat forget the existence of an ancient tree who

gives the good measure to a world-wide orchestra. He/She/It was ‘still under the

earth’ as stated by line 8 of this stanza, implying that, during these remote times, the

‘good measure’ was not yet available. This means that these ancient times were

times of wild immoderation.

Stanza 3

Old Norse

3. Ár var alda,

þar er Ymir bygði,

vara sandr né sær

né svalar unnir,

iörð fannz æva

né upphiminn,

gap var ginnunga

enn gras hvergi.

Literal translation

The year was old, there Ymir had settled,

there were sand nor sea

nor fresh waves,

ground was never

nor sky above,

abyss was gigantic

and grass none.


This is a way to say “in olden days. ”

Ymir is the name of the primary Giant who has

been the first living being in the universe, (and

thus before the gods).

“the ground could not be found”

“ nothing existed but a huge pit”

English

In these old times

when Ymir had settled there

there were neither sand nor sea

nor chilly waves;

Ground did not exist

nor sky above,

only one immense pit

and no grass at all.

Stanza 4

Old Norse

4. Áðr Burs synir

biöðum um ypþo,

þeir er miðgarð

mœran scópo;

sól scein sunnan

á salar steina,

þá var grund gróin

grœnom lauki.

Literal translation

At first sons of Burr grounds over up-

lifted/exalted,

there is miðgarðr,

magnificently shaped by magic means;

sun shone from the South

on a hall of stone,

then were ground grown

green leeks.


ypþo = yppðu is the preterit plural of verb yppa, to

raise, exalt.

Burr is Óðinn’s father. Snorra Edda reports that

Auðumla, the primitive cow, after having licked

the ice surrounding Giant Ymir, licked out also

the first god, Burr; out of the ice.

Miðgarðr is the residence of human beings, our

world.

English

At first Burr’s sons ,

raised and exalted the grounds,

where Miðgarðr stands,

Verb skapa does skópu in the preterit plural

(spelled scópo here). It can simply mean ‘to

make’ but its proper meaning is ‘to shape’, and it

can also mean ‘to use magic for shaping’ which

magnificently magic-shaped;

The sun was shining from the South

on a hall of stone,

then were growing on the ground

green leeks.

suits well the present context.

The “green leeks” of the text point at the very first

grass. Thus, in Scandinavian mythology, the leek carries

a mystical importance that is difficult to render

within the modern world.

Earth formation: a process of ‘birth delivery’ or of ‘things reordering’?

Because of her incredible culture, and the respect it inspires, Ursula Dronke had an

incredibly strong influence within the scholarly community specialized in ancient

Scandinavian culture. She takes this opportunity to support a Christian understanding of the

texts. The lines above: “The sons of Burr (Norse gods) have raised the land” obviously

evokes a planet Earth emerging from the waters. It should be noted that the same type of

description takes place in s. 59 that says: “upp koma ... iörð ór ægi (upward comes ... the

land out of the ocean). We thus understand that the Gimle ‘new earth’, following Ragnarok,

will also come out of the waters.

Ursula Dronke states she has looked for another example of such an emergence

of the Earth and modestly confesses that the only allusion to such a phenomenon she

could find is in Genesis 1, 9. Indeed, the lines 9 and 10 of Genesis 1 state:

(9) Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the

dry land appear.’ And it was so.

(10) God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he

called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

It seems quite clear that Genesis does not describe an emergence of Earth out of

the waters but a splitting between the waters and the land and the waters are relocated.

In fact, ‘God’ piles up the waters in one place and calls 'Earth' what is left, while the

sons of Burr have ‘raised’ the earth (the one to be moved) so that it appears in (or out

of?) Ginnungagap. On the whole, Earth actually starts to exist in both cases, but it is as

a result of two different actions, one being to move away the waters and the other to

expose Earth. The image evoked by the Norse myth is that of maternal waters giving

birth to the earth. Genesis 1 evokes Earth establishment since ‘God’ separated the

waters from earth.

Stanza 5

Old Norse

5. Sól varp sunnan

sinni mána

hendi inni hœgri

um himiniöður;

sól þat né vissi

hvar hón sali átti,

stiörnor þat ne visso

Literal translation

(she) Sun threw from the South

(to) her moon

a hand (for) a comfortable home

around the edge of the sky;

sun did not know

which her residence had,

the stars did not know


Sun is a feminine word in Old Norse and she

‘throws’ her hand to sinni (dative feminine) the moon.

She obviously acts to help moon so that one can

understand that sun ‘gave moon a hand’.

Eddic poetry does not hesitate to play with the

word ordering in order to comply to poetic

composition rules, such as Snorri granted them to

hvar þær staði átto,

máni þat né vissi

hvat hann megins átti.

which housing they had,

(he) moon did not know

which he power had.

us. Here, we could translate “sinni mána” by “her

moon” which would not have much meaning, this

is why we associate “sinni” with “hendi” in next

line which gives “her hand. ”

English

The sun, from the South,

stretched her hand

to the moon (to get) a comfortable

home

all around the sky;

sun did not know

which residence she had,

the stars did not know

which housing they had,

moon did not know

which power he had.

I preserved the sequence of “átti, átto” and of

“þat born vissi, þat born visso” of the original

though it may can appear a little heavy for us. The

reason for that is there exists a style of scaldic

poetry dedicated to magic verses, and this style is

called Galdralag, “poetic incantation. ” It relies

on words repetition, as here.

Stanza 6

Old Norse

6. Þá gengo regin öll á röcstóla, ginnheilög goð, oc um þat gættuz: nótt oc niðium nöfn um gáfo, morgin héto oc miðian dag, undorn og aptan, árom at telia.

Literal translation

Then went powers all

on judgement seats

supreme divinities gods,

and from that obtained:

to night and her offspring

names allotted,

the morning named

and the median (of) day

hours of the day and the evening

with the years to be counted.


The word ‘rök’ will be met again in stanzas 9, 23

and 25, always with the significance of a place

where a wise decision is done.

“regin” is a plural word meaning “the powers,”

with the original meaning of “the advisers. ”

The feminine word nótt does also nótt in the

dative singular. It is thus ‘to the night’ that the

gods gave her name. We have no clear

information relative to Night’s offspring. It might

be a poetical way of speech to evoke all the

‘nightly beings’.

English

Then all the powers went

sitting on their judgement seats

supreme divinities gods,

and from that they obtained:

to night and her offspring

they allotted their names,

named the morning

and the median of the day

the hours of the day and the

evening

and how to count the years.

The redundancy of the vocabulary designating the

primitive gods and their sacred features shows

that the poet who wrote Völuspá made a point of

stressing the gods’ importance at the beginning

times. The poem tells their ending times, with no

hint that they might have demeaned themselves.

Stanza 7

Old Norse

7. Hittuz æsir

á Iðavelli,

þeir er hörg oc

hof

há timbroðo;

afla lögðo,

auð smíðoðo,

tangir scópo,

oc tól gorðo.

literal translation AND English

Met the Æsir

on Iðavöllr, ‘Fulfillments Plain’,

there are their sanctuary and homes

high ‘timbered’ ones;

forging hearths laid,

richness forged

blacksmith clenches shaped,

and tools made.


The word ‘ið ’ indicates a work, an achievement. It does

its plural genitive in ‘a’: iða. This describes gods’ housing

as a place where they perform serious work.

Dronke did another choice by reading iða-völlr, iða =

eddy. In this case, eddy has to be understood as a modifier

of völlr, she accordingly translates by “eddying plain. ”

This describes god’s housing as a moving unsafe place.

"hörg oc hof ” is better understood by considering

archaeological discoveries. It was noted that certain

particularly majestic buildings (hof) were also places of

worship (hörgr), either inside them, or in the near vicinity.

Stanza 8

Old Norse

8. Teflðo í túni,

teitir vóro,

var þeim vættergis

vant ór gulli,

unz þriár qvómo

þursa meyiar

ámátcar miöc

ór iötunheimom.

literal translation

Plaid tafl in the hedged meadow,

merry they were,

were they nothing

in want from gold.

until three came ,

of giants’ maidens,

detestable and over powerful,

from giant-homes.

Comments and explanations

Tafl is a game similar to checkers. To learn the

rules of this game, consult

http://www. irminsul. org/arc/002sg. html

or

http://www. vikinganswerlady. com/games. shtml .

It is usually understood that these three giant

girls, “þursa meyiar ”, coming from giants’

country, “iötunheimr, ” are the three Norns.

English

They plaid tafl in the hedged meadow,

merry they were,

in noway they were

in want from gold.

until three came,

from giant-dwellings.

giant born maidens,

quite detestable and over-powerful ones.

The end of the stanza seems to say that the gods

were merry until (!) Norns arrival.

A short vocabulary note about “ámátcar” (hateful and over powerful)

It is necessary to go through LexPoet in order to

understand the kind of play word associated to ámátcar.

This dictionary presents two similar words, amátligr (=

monstrous, hateful) and ámáttigr (= over-powerful – ‘á’ –

can be an intensifier). You see that ámátcar lacks the ‘a’

beginning amátligr and ‘tt’ in ámáttigr. The translators

http://www.irminsul.org/arc/002sg.htmlhttp://www.vikinganswerlady.com/games.shtml

often select ‘over-powerful’ but the context of “merry

…until” casts a negative aspect upon these three women,

hence the present translation.

Stanza 9

Old Norse

9. Þá gengo regin öll

á röcstóla,

ginnheilog goð,

oc um þat gættuz,

hverr scyldi dverga

dróttin scepia

ór Brimis blóði

oc ór Bláins leggiom.

literal translation

Then went divinities all

on judgement-stools,

sacred saint gods,

and from this got,

that shall dwarves

a (noble) household to (magically) shape

from Brimir blood

and from Bláinn legs


In “ginnheilog” what ‘ginn’ exactly means is in

fact unknown. This word applies only to the gods.

Brimir and Bláinn are two other names given to

the primitive Giant, Ymir, which was killed by

the “sons of Burr” (thus, in particular by Óðinn),

and whose body was used to create the world.

English

Then all divinities went

on their judgement-stools,

sacred saint gods,

and from this they got

that shall a (noble) household

of dwarves (magically) shape…

(OR

that they shall (magically) shape

the (noble) household of Dwarves)

from Brimir blood

and from Bláinn legs.

The Dwarves are thus created from elements that

come from Ymir’s body. Ymir is called Brimir

(brim = surf, sea) when his body created the seas.

We expect that his legs are used to create the

earth but name Bláinn is ambiguous. The radical

‘‘blá’ may mean ’blue’ and it again evokes a

marine element. It is also often used to mean

‘dark blue, black’ which evokes then a terrestrial

element.

Comment: A serious vocabulary problem and a secondary grammar problem

Vocabulary problem

The verb skepja (written scepia above) is an old form of the verb skapa which means:

to work, make, form, assign a destiny, to fix. When a meaning as ‘to make’ is not utterly

ridiculous, the translators objectively use it since it is the most neutral meaning. In the

context of the creation of a new ‘race’ of living beings, we cannot not honestly avoid evoking

magic. That the gods created Dwarves by using their magic is exactly what scepia indicates.

Grammar problem

I also want to clarify an interesting grammatical ambiguity that changes this stanza

comprehension.

The word for ‘a noble household’, dróttin, is obviously feminine nominative, subject of

skepja, it is thus ‘a noble household’ (here the gods) that will skepja.

The word for ‘Dwarf’ is a masculine, dvergr, and it does dverga in the plural genitive

and accusative. Similarly, the singular and plural preterit subjunctive of skulu are identical. If

dverga is a plural accusative, then “the noble household created the Dwarves. ” If it is a

plural genitive, we can then read that ‘they’ (the gods) created “a household of Dwarves. ”

Both say the same significant thing, namely that the Dwarves were created by the gods.

**************************************************

Follow the famous and ‘boring’ lists of Dwarves names. Experts

have been looking for their meaning by using the Norse words they

evoke, and their etymology. I believe firmly that these lists were

intended to help memorizing this large number of names, by the

music of their words and the measure of poetry. This is why, when I

have been able to, I give a name that is phonetically obvious by

association to a familiar word even if etymology suggests something

else.

Stanza 10

Old Norse

10. Þar Mótsognir

mæztr um orðinn

dverga allra

en Durinn annarr;

þeir manlícon

mörg um gorðo,

dvergar, ór iörðo,

sem Durinn sagði.

literal translation

There Mótsognir

most famous ‘spoken of’

Dwarves all

and Durinn the other one;

they human-shapes

many made,

Dwarves, out of ground,

as Durinn had said.


Mótsognir, or Móðsognir = Meeting Sucker

(‘sucker’ in the way an ebbing tide ‘sucks’

sand)

Durinn = Drowsing The context leads us to believe that these shapes will

be used to create the Dwarves since the lists that

follows in s. 11-13 provides lists of the Dwarves.

Inversely, the way of speech “human-shapes”

suggests that these shapes might have been also used

English

There Mótsognir

most famous mentioned

of all Dwarves

and Durinn after him;

Dwarves made many

human shapes,

out of ground,

as Durinn had said.

for creating the two first human beings: That Ask and

Embla are shaped from pieces of wood is suggested

by other texts, not by Völuspá.

It is also quite possible that Völuspá simply stresses

the similarity between the Dwarves and mankind.

Stanza 11

Old Norse

11. Nýi oc Niði,

Norðri oc Suðri,

‘translation’

Nýi and Niði,

Meaning of names

Nýi = New Moon, Niði = No Moon,

Austri oc Vestri,

Alþiófr, Dvalinn,

Bívorr, Bávorr,

Bömburr, Nóri,

Án oc Ánarr,

Ái, Miöðvitnir.

Norðri and Suðri,

Austr and Vestri,

Alþiófr, Dvalinn,

Bívörr, Bávörr,

Bömburr, Nóri,

Án and Ánarr,

Ái, Miöðvitnir.

Nordri = Northern, Sudri = Southern,

Austri = Eastern, Vestri = Western,

Alþiófr = Allthief, Dvalinn = Plodder,

Bívörr = Shiverly, Bávörr = Tumbler

Bömburr = Druming or Noisy, Nóri = Tiny,

Án = ‘without’ = Lacking, Ánarr = ‘Lack-producer’,

Ái = Ancestor, Miöðvitnir = Mead-bewitched-wolf

Stanza 12

Old Norse

12. Veigr oc Gandálfr,

Vindálfr, Þráinn,

Þeccr oc Þorinn,

Þrór, Vitr oc Litr,

Nár oc Nýráðr -

nú hefi ec dverga

- Reginn oc Ráðsviðr -

rétt um talða.

‘translation’

12. Veigr and Gandálfr,

Vindálfr, Þráinn,

Þekkr and Þorinn (or Þroinn),

Þrór, Vitr and Litr,

Nár and Nýráðr -

Here are the Dwarves

- Reginn et Ráðsviðr -

properly reckoned.

Meaning of names

Veigr : IF Veggr = Wall, IF veig = Strong drink or

‘Magic Potion’, Gandálfr = Magic-stick Elf,

Vindálfr = Wind Elf, Þráinn = Stubborn or Needy

Þekkr = Pleasing, Þorinn = He-dares,

Þrór =Tough, Healthy , Vitr = Wise, Litr = Hued,

Nár = Corpse, Nýráðr = New adviser,

Obviously, Reginn is here a name meaning ‘the gods’

as word regin. It carries also the meaning of being

powerful.

Reginn = gods or Powers, Ráðsviðr = Advice-Wise .

Stanza 13

Old Norse

13. Fíli, Kíli,

Fundinn, Náli,

Hepti, Víli,

Hanarr, Svíurr,

Frár, Hornbori,

Frægr oc Lóni,

Aurvangr, Iari,

Eikinscjaldi.

Meaning of names

Fíli = Fat Flesh, Kíli = Inlet, Canal,

Fundinn = Found, Náli = Needle

Hepti =Hefti = Chained, Víli = Miserable,

Hanarr = Skilful, Svíurr = Pain Releaser

Frár = Fast, Hornbori = Pierced Horn,

Frægr = Famous, Lóni = Islet,

Aurvangr = Pebbly Wetland or Wetground Meadow, Iari = Fighter

Eikinskjaldi = Oakenshield.

Stanza 14

Old Norse

litteral translation

Meaning of names

14. Mál er dverga

í Dvalins liði

lióna kindom

til Lofars telia,

þeir er sótto

frá salar steini

Aurvanga siöt

til Iörovalla.

Time (or measure) of Dwarves

in Dvalinn’s ‘joint’ (kindred)

of mankind’s (for the) kin

until Lofarr enumerate,

they who looked for

from the hall in stone

of Aurvangar the dwelling

until Iörovellir.

Dvalinn = Plodder (s. 11)

‘arbitrator’s progeny ’: liónar =

arbitrator or simply people (de

Vries).

Aurvangr = Pebbly Wetlands or

Wetground Meadow (s. 13)

Iörovalla = Fightvalley (cf. Iari,

s. 13)

English

It is time that Dwarves,

Dvalinn’s kindred,

be listed until Lofarr

for mankind’s kin,

they who moved (looked for’)

from the dwellings

of Aurvangar’s stone hall

until Jörovellir.


This stanza tells us that all Dwarves’ kindred goes up to

Lofarr and that it has to be taught to mankind, and s. 16 will

confirm it. The need for mankind’s survival to receive this

kind of inheritance, hence to memorize this list of Dwarves, is

hinted at in this stanza. S. 16 will explicitly state that

mankind’s survival depends on performing this memorial

duty.

That must thus be very significant in the old Scandinavian

tradition, but we lost why this is so important for us.

Note on the Dwarves’ move

The choice of names Aurvangar and Jörovellir can help us guessing why they moved.

Aurvangar has two possible meanings: Pebbly Wetlands or Wetground Meadow and, for

Jörovellir I only proposed Fightvalley. The text describes Aurvangar as “the residences of

the stony rooms” i. e. a rock environment which suits well ‘Pebbly Wetlands’. The Dwarves

leave this place to join Fightvalley. In the context of a near Ragnarök, this points at them as

fighter joining combat, certainly on the gods’ side, as the myth of their creation suggests it.

Dronke gives two different names and an almost opposite conclusion to ours “… the

dwarf material preserved in Völuspá are allusions to… their migration from rocky regions to

fertile plains, so it would seem; 14)” p. 122. She translate Aurvangr “Loam Lee” and reads

Jörovellir as Jörðvellir ‘Earth Plains’ since Jörð means Earth. This explains her conclusion.

Gaining better ground is certainly a good motive for people moves but I find it somewhat

trifling in the context of Völuspá.

Stanza 15

Old Norse

15. Þar var Draupnir

oc Dólgþrasir,

Hár, Haugspori,

Hlévangr, Glói,

‘translation’ There were Draupnir

and Dólgþrasir,

Hár, Haugspori,

Hlévangr, Glói,

Skirvir, Virvir,

Meaning of names

Draupnir = Dripping (from drjúpa, pret. draup)

Dólgþrasir = Monster Fighter,

Hár = High, Haugspori : If : Haug-spori = Burial-mound-spur

else: Haugs-por(r)i = Burial-mound-one-eyed-person

Hlévangr =-Garden Shelter, Glói = Shiny

Skirvir = Skirpir = from skyrpa, Spitting ? Virvir,Virfir, Virfill

Scirvir, Virvir,

Scáfiðr, Ái,

Skáfiðr, Ái,

= Penis ? [Dronke gives ‘Groiner’… a modest way of saying penis. ]

Skáfiðr = Skáviðr = Twisted-tree, Ái = Ancestor (as in s. 11)

Stanza 16

Old Norse

16. Álfr oc Yngvi

Eikinscialdi,

Fialarr oc Frosti,

Finnr oc Ginnarr;

þat mun uppi,

meðan öld lifir,

langniðia tal

Lofars hafat.


Álfr and Yngvi

Eikinskjaldi,

Fialarr and Frosti,

Finnr andGinnarr;

this remembered up,

as long as humankind lives

of offsprings list descendants

of Lofarr had.

Meaning of names

Álfr = Elf, Yngvi = King, Eikinskjaldi =

Oak-shield,

Fialarr = He-of-the-cliff OR (fjöl) He-of-

the-skis, Frosti = Frost, Finnr = Hunter or

Saami, Ginnarr = Cheater or Powerful.

Lofarr = Praiser

English

The record of Lofarr’s offsprings

is rembered at the top (as highly

important),

as long as humnakind lives.


Lofarr’s progeny will be remembered

“as long as mankind lives. ”

This implies implies that forgetting these

names is one of the conditions for

mankind extinction.

A commentary on the four last lines translation

Here are three other versions of s. 16 last four lines

Dronke

Uplifted in memory

as long as the world

lives

will be this list

of Praiser’s lineage.

Orchard

there will remain in

memory

while the world lasts,

the lineage of Praiser,

properly listed.

Boyer

Always will come back

As long as mankind lives

These generations

Up to Lofarr.

These three translations come from the same Old Norse version and probably share the

same literal meaning, similar to the one just above given. Note that American people forget

to specifically refer to humans (they speak of the ‘world’) so that the burden of maintaining

this list is not attributed to humankind. Boyer forgets the memorization, well emphasized by

Americans, so that the concomitance of the memory of Lotarr’s line and humankind survival

appears as a mere coincidence, while the poem implies that they are each other related.

******************

Fate related stanzas: 17-20 and 31

Stanza 17

The völva’s account stops at stanza 9 and is followed by a string of 9 stanzas giving the

list of dwarf names. Thus, this account begins again at s 17: Everything happened as

described in s. 1-8, until…

17.

Unz þrír kvámu 1. Until three came

ór því liði 2. out of their people (family place)

öflgir ok ástkir 3. strong-always and loving-always

æsir at húsi, 4. æsir to (mankind’s) house,

fundu á landi 5. they found on the ground

lítt megandi 6. little having might

Ask ok Emblu 7. Ask(r) and Embla

örlöglausa 8. örlög-less (deprived of örlög).

Comment on the vocabulary

Line 2. lið means a host/people. The ‘three’, in the first line left their ‘people’, i. e. the

Æsir.

Line 3. afl-gir is an adjective derivation of afl-gi = force-always. The same for ást = a

lover.

Line 5. The word land describes the ground as opposite to the sea, “where the sea

stops,” wherefrom comes the traditional image of the beach where Ask and Embla were

found.

Line 7. The names of the first two human persons are here in the accusative (direct

object complement of verb ‘found’). We can read the name of the man as Ask or Askr which

are identical in the accusative. Askr means ash-tree but the experts vainly sought a name of

tree (or anything else), which could be linked to the name Embla. Some translators claim to

have found a solution, which reflects nothing but their personal beliefs. A traditional example

is that of a shoot of vine, which is supposed to find its support on the solid ash, image of the

fragile woman being carried by her strong man. All this is ridiculous also from the point of

view of the name ‘Embla’.

Comment on the meaning of the stanza

Honesty however leads to point out that line of 17 speaks of an ‘askr’ who is a man and

that 19 begins by saying that Yggdrasill is also an ‘askr’, which gives to it/him a kind of

status of a pillar. In fact, if we closely examine the structure of the Icelandic married couple,

it seems that indeed the man is an (often disputed) pillar in the outer world whereas the

woman is the (uncontested) pillar of an inner world represented by the family dwelling.

This stanza gives us also three invaluable indications on what defines a ‘true’ human

being.

Firstly, Ask and Embla are found together and we will see that, moreover, all the

features given to them by the gods in stanza 18 are given to both, without reference to their

genre. This unrelentingly separates us from all the cultures where the gods or god allot

qualities to the male, and afterwards to the female. This stanza thus describes, without

reference to sex, what Ask and Embla both miss to be true human beings.

Secondly, they are both ‘lítt megandi’ i. e. ‘having little might’, unable of action.

Thus, a fundamental quality of human is to be able to act on the world.

Thirdly, they are both ‘örlöglauss’, without destiny. Thus, the second fundamental

character defining a human being is to have a destiny. In Anglo-Saxon literature, the wyrd,

fate or destiny, is presented as an unbearable constraint imposed on us (see http://www.

nordic-life. org/nmh/WyrdEng. htm , whereas here, constraint or not, it is one of the two

paramount characters of human beings. To rebel against our destiny is to some extent to leave

our human status. However, the first human capacity, the one of acting, moderates the fate’s

inexorability. Our human destiny is to be wedged between an inexorable outer destiny and

our capacity to act and we have to manage it.

*********************************

Stanza 18

18.

Önd þau né átto, 1. Breath they did not own,

óð þau né höfðo, 2. intelligence they did not have

lá né læti 3. ‘the sea’ [internal waters] does not flow

né lito góða; 4. nor (shows) a hue good (beautiful);

önd gaf Óðinn, 5. breath gave Óðinn

óð gaf Hœnir, 6. intelligence gave Hœnir

lá gaf Lóðurr 7. ‘sea’ gave Lóðurr

oc lito góða. 8. and beautiful hue.

Hœnir: the word hœnir comes from an Indo-European root meaning ‘the high one, the

inflamed one’ to which also one of Óðinn’s names is related, Hár (the High one). De Vries

suggests also that it may be related to word hœna (hen). In stanza 63 (below) Hœnir is one of

the gods surviving Ragnarök and he seems to collect Óðinn magical inheritance. In addition,

he seems to be a silent god of whom we know little.

Lóðurr (and Loki): The word ló means ‘light’ and etymology connects the name

Lóðurr to the one of ‘distributor of fire’ [Note 1]. Theoften met assumption that Lóðurr is

another name of Loki runs up against the fact that ‘wicked’ Loki cannot have given ‘the ‘sea’

and beautiful hue’ to humankind. It should however be remembered that, for a long time,

Loki is nothing but a god embarrassing to the Æsir by its often ambiguous role with respect to

the Giants. Only after Baldr’s murder and his insulting attitude in Lokasenna, he becomes the

‘wicked one’, described by Snorri with such an amount of aggressiveness. In addition to

being a Giant-god, he may have been also an ‘evolving god’ though this hypothesis cannot be

verified.

[Note 1] Loki is very often associated to fire through a pun on his name and the one of a Giant called Logi. As a matter of fact log is a flame and loga means ‘to burn with a flame’. Logi is certainly a representative

of the flames. A paltry pun: Loki/Logi makes them identical. However, the only precise knowledge we have

http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/WyrdEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/WyrdEng.htm

about Logi is an eating competition opposing Loki and Logi, and Logi wins because: “Who eats faster than

Loki? – wild-fire,” as goes a riddle. All this hints at Loki having a power different from the one of fire.

Two triples of gods

We just met a triple of gods, Óðinn, Hœnir and Lóðurr. There is another one : Óðinn,

Vili and Vé. The last is named in Lokasenna where Loki accuses Frigg to marry Vili and Vé

while Óðinn was traveling away.

Vili is undoubtedly related to vil, ‘a wish, a desire’. The word even took the pejorative

meaning of ‘satisfaction of our own yearnings’. Vili is certainly very close to Óðinn since

skaldic poetry created the kenning ‘Vili’s brother’ to indicate Óðinn.

The word vé means sanctuary what gives to Vé a status of a god of consecrated places.

It is associated the verb vígja, to hallow, and as such Vé is linked to Thórr’s hallowing

hammer.

It is tempting to draw relationships between two of Óðinn’s companions in these two

triples, namely between Vili and Hœnir, and between Vé and Lóðurr. However, if these

relations exist, the myths describing them have been lost.


The verbs eiga and hafa, to own and to have, are here in their preterit subjunctive case.

The verb láta, like English ‘to let’, has several meanings. I use one meaning in line 3.

(“to let run/flow”) and I consider that another meaning is implied in line 4. (“to let

appear/show”). It is a subjunctive present: the preterit of the two first lines is not kept.

Lá is the sea water near the seashore. I suppose that this word is used to evoke the

internal liquids that any living being carries inside itself, as opposed to the land (see s. 17) on

which the putative human beings are lying.


This comment cannot be done wihtout taking into account other stanzas associated to

humankind creation and its fate. You will find these commentaries at http://www.nordic-

life.org/nmh/WyrdEng.htm and the 3 files

örlög in Völuspá örlög in Hávamál örlög and sköp in other eddic

poetry .

*********************************

Stanza 19

19.

Ask veit ek standa, An askr know-I stands,

heitir Yggdrasill, it is called Yggdrasill,

http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/WyrdEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/WyrdEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogHavaEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogHavaEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogEddaEng.htmhttp://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogEddaEng.htm

hár baðmr, ausinn high tree, sprinkled

hvíta auri; with white mud;

þaðan koma döggvar wherefrom come the dews

þærs í dala falla, that fall in the vale,

stendur æ yfir grænn it stands up always green above

Urðar brunni. Urðr’s source.


Askr, here in the accusative, ask, means an ash-tree. The saying ‘askr Yggdr]asill’

appears several times in Norse literature. This is why almost everyone claims that the tree of

the world is an ash-tree… with the modern meaning of the word, Fraxinus excelsior. This is a

typical anachronism and I have the feeling that the only goal of the ‘ash-tree-fanatics’ is to

introduce yet another contradiction in our mythology: Everyone knows that an “always green

ash-tree” does not exist. In skaldic poetry, a classical technique is the one of using heiti, i. e.

replacing the name of an object by another of close meaning. For example, stating ‘ash-tree’

instead of ‘tree’. There even exist lists of heiti which indicate which replacements were

successfully used by the old poets. For example the heiti for a tree (“viðar heiti”) contain the

word askr. It means that a traditional way to speak uses the word ‘ash’ to speak of a ‘tree’. In

this list of heiti, we fin also the words sverða, skipa, hesta (sword, boat, horse) which could

express the word tree, according to the context. (Source:Jónsson, Skjaldedigtning B1,

downloadable at http://www. septentrionalia. net/etexts/skjald_b1. pdf ). Here, the word

baðmr of the third line us provides a context pointing at a tree.

Yggdrasill breaks up into yggr = fear and drasill (or drösull) = horse (exclusively in

poetry).

- On yggr. The word yggr does not appear in Cleasby-Vigfusson that gives onlyt

ýgr = wild. It is found in de Vries who associates it to uggr = fear. It is also given by Lexicon

Poeticum which identifies it with ýgr. The last two dictionaries announce that Yggr is one of

the traditional names of Óðinn, which does also C-V but not at the word yggr.

- On drasill. The three dictionaries we use here give the words drasill and drösull

with this spelling. The spelling ‘Yggdrasil’ is how translators write it, reduced to its root and

avoiding to write the letter marking the nominative, here the second ‘l’. Baðmr means tree. In

the manuscript, it is written batmr. Ausinn:The verb ausa = to sprinkle, here in the past

participle, ausinn. Döggvar = old nominative and plural genitive of dögg, dew.


Lines 3-6 describe a way of explaining why dew can settle on grass even from an

uncloudy sky.

By its roots, Yggdrasill is the support of all the Chtonian forces, including Niðhöggr. I

call it the ‘bottom snake’ because I do not put an accent the ‘i’ (níð, slandering, and niðr, the

son or ‘at the bottom’, have very different meanings).

By its trunk, its higher roots and its lower branches, it is the support of the nine

inhabited worlds.

By its high branches and its leaves, it is the carrier of all heavenly forces. The

atmosphere, with or without clouds, contains some amount of moisture that settles in dew.

http://www.septentrionalia.net/etexts/skjald_b1.pdf

The allegory contained in lines 3-6 is thus explained. It nevertheless could also bear a more

mystical meaning, namely that the trees pour down a life source that flows upon our world.

*********************************

Stanza 20

20.

Þaðan koma meyjar

margs vitandi

þrjár ór þeim sæ/sal,

er und þolli stendr;

Urð hétu eina,

aðra Verðandi,

- skáru á skíði, - (örlög seggja, line 12)

Skuld ina þriðju.

Þær lög lögðu,

þær líf kuru

alda börnum, örlög seggja [or

segja?]

1. From there come maids

2. much knowing

3. three out of their sea/hall

4. which below a pine stands;

5. Urðr is called one,

6. the other Verðandi,

7. - they scraped on a wooden tablet - (12) (“the örlög of humankind” as in 12 with seggja=humankind’s)

8. Skuld the third one.

9. They fixed the laws

10. lives they chose

11. of the children of humanity,

12. örlög of_human_ones [or örlög they said].

Norns’ names

The Norns’s names are given in a special order which is certainly significant since the

poem specifies that Urðr “is the one” and Skuld “is the third. ”

The word urðr is one of the Norse words meaning ‘fate’, as örlög and sköp among

others. It is linked to the verb verða, the plural preterit of which is urðu, thus meaning “they

became. ” Due to the high frequency of “spinning of the wyrd” on the worldweb, we should

be weary of possible Greek influences through the Parcae’s roles. This kind of

misunderstanding should be deemed unavoidable since all translators are cultivated persons

whose culture has been influenced by the Greek and Latin civilizations – as I am, though a

feeble instance. Because of the meaning of urðu, we can suppose that Urðr is somewhat

linked to something that happened in the past. Since the Norns do not deal only with

individual destinies, we must understand that this ‘past’ actually is the sum of what happened

to humankind, including our genetic inheritance, and even more generally the result of the

whole evolution of our universe.

Verðandi is also linked to verb verða, now in its present participle tense, thus meaning

‘becoming’. Here, there exists really no link with the Parcae since ‘becoming’ is an action

that takes some time to occur and I feel cheated by people who claim she is the Norn of

present time. Present time is a nice grammatical category but its semantics are almost empty

since it has, so to say, a foot in our past and the other foot in our future. Verðandi is the Norn

of what is presently under transformation and I see her as the Norn of evolution and action.

The word skuld means a debt, i. e. , a commitment that cannot be avoided. When the

saga or poetry characters complain of the unavoidable fate decided by the Norns, they

essentially refer to Skuld. This name is also associated to a verb, skulu (shall and they shall).

Its preterit is skyldi. It thus seems that Skuld is a sort of mix of a present and a past sense. It

very clearly does not refer to any period of time, which confirms the doubts that Greek

categorizations would apply at all to the Norns.

As announced, the ordering of the three Norns in s. 20 should be significant and as

already stated, thus be very weary of an order based on time, namely past, present and future.

We propose instead an ordering such that each Norn plays a specific role, while each is active

in all three segments of time, but based on logical relationships.

The above analysis of name Urðr suggests someone who, as a conscientious doctor

provides a complete check-up, or as an auditor provides an audit on the state of affairs. We

could thus qualify her as being a controlling authority, who builds up a statement of

accounts describing how humankind, and also individuals, have been, and are expected to

manage their existence.

The role of Verðandi is easier to grasp, she is the active authority who decides on the

way the all actors of our universe have behaved and will behave in view of the account

provided by Urðr.

For Skuld also, her name tells of her role: she is who evaluates the debts, and, with

Verðandi’s help sees that the debts are repaid. We could thus call her a repaying authority

(more dignified than a simple collector).

It is understood that these three activities cooperate among them along the line of time.

The order met in s. 20 can be understood as a measure of the amount of direct constraint their

decisions wield on people, even though all three are not easy to stand. Controlling asks for no

more action than being aware of what has been happening. Acting with efficiency implies a

kind of common agreement between the leading authority and the many actors who are

involved. When mistakes have been done, the repaying authority is in charge of forcing on

the actors what and how they should (skuld) repay, they like it or not.

This analysis has been reflected in our view of örlög, ‘produced’ by the Norns, in a text

relative to Örlög in general, with more details in the book Chap I and II of ‘The Magic of

Yggdrasill’.

Commentary on the vocabulary and the stanza structure

Dronke chooses to read sær (an accusative singular) that translates as ‘lake’. She

argues in favor of this translation using mythological reasons of the magic power of female

water beings. Cleasby-Vigfusson, however, insists on the fact that this word is never used for

a lake and always for the sea or the ocean. He provides a long list of compound words that

illustrates that sær always indicates the ocean or the sea. Dronke’s argument still applies to

female marine beings. For example, Anglo-Saxon mythology tells that Beowulf’s only really

dangerous adversary has been Grendel’s mother who dwells under the sea. Similarly,

Scandinavian mythology says that dead sailors do not join the dwellings of the sea god Ægir,

but those of the sea goddess, Rán.

http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/OrlogEng.htm

Note also that salr does sal in its accusative singular and it stays a possible candidate,

even if its mythological power is lower. A standing hall, besides, is more obvious than a

standing lake or sea. We should keep in mind these two meanings.

A þollr is a pine-tree. As already pointed out, skaldic poetry often replaces the more

general, as here ‘tree’ by the more particular, as here ‘pine-tree’. Due to the context, this is an

obvious allusion to the world tree, Yggdrasill.

In stanza 60, we find again this way of speech where the word used, þinurr, has the

same meaning as þollr.

The verb skára, points at the action of mowing, which is not at all adapted to the

context. The experts read skara, which means to scrape/poke and skaru gives ‘they scraped’.

The ON grammatical use of verb skara is similar to the one of English language, someone

‘skarar’ an inscription (direct object - called here ‘accusative’) on a support (indirect object -

called here ‘dative’). You see that in line 7 the verb is followed with a dative and it carries no

accusative, it thus does not specify what the Norns skara.

We must also note that line 7 cuts the list of the names of Norns in an almost ‘rude’

way, where from comes the pair of - - added by the editors of the poem. A detailed

explanation is provided below.

The preposition á followed by a dative means on/upon. Since most translators do not

read line 12 just after line 7, they tend also to forget to translate this slightly useless ‘upon’,

in their understanding of these lines. They thus render the unambiguous dative skíði as an

accusative: “they scrape wooden tablets. ”

Skíð (here in the dative singular) means a piece of wood or a wooden tablet

(incidentally: in another context, it also means ‘ski’). To scrape or incise or carve a tablet or a

twig are typical ways to express the action of writing runes.

The verb leggja does lögðu in its preterit plural; it means

place/lay/take_care/build/settle.

The verb kjósa does kuru in its preterit plural; it means ‘to choose’.

Lastly, the last line has always given serious trouble to the translators.

This ‘seggja’ can be read as the verb segja (to say). With this last choice, örlög is an

accusative related to this verb. It can also be read, as chosen here, as seggja, which makes of

it the genitive plural of seggr, a messenger (who indeed says ‘something’) and, in poetry, a

human person. The choice between the two understandings is complicated because we know

that the Middle Ages copyists themselves hesitated: There are two manuscripts (Codex

Regius and Hauksbók) the first of which gives ‘seggja' and the second one ‘at segja’. I think

that this dilemma has been definitively solved by Elizabeth Jackson in a downloadable paper

available at http://userpage. fu-berlin. de/~alvismal/9scaro. pdf . She proposes an elegant

solution as follows: “The present article will argue, first, that the verb for line 12 is provided

in line 7…)”. This solution consists in keeping seggja and reading line 12 just after line 7:

“skáru á skíði/örlög seggja (they scraped on a wooden tablet/the örlög of the humans). Note

a significant difference between the two versions. If Norns segja (state) the örlög, any logical

http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~alvismal/9scaro.pdf

person will conclude: “they only state, therefore someone else allots these örlög. ” Jackson’s

interpretation makes it clear that the Norns are these who allot humankind’s örlög.

**********

Jackson’s argumentation is based on an analysis of the structure of the lists met in both

writings, Anglo-Saxon and Norse. Before presenting (in a simplified form!) her

argumentation, let us notice that modern writings also show list structures and I just gave you

one example of it.

The comments above are a list of eight items each member of which is separated from

the other by a blank line. I announced the last item list by beginning it with “Lastly, the last

line…” and adding a separating line of ‘*’ before the present paragraph. It thus is apart from

the list above, which is completely implicit but can be easily guessed due to the ‘markers’ I

used.

Mrs. Jackson does not do anything odder, even if I supose she has been looked upon as

one of her kind, than seeking the list markers of a beginning or an ending that provide a

specific list structure, according to the topic of the list. I do not know if she refers to Lévi-

Strauss’s structuralism but I see in her work as being a brillant illustration of the hidden

structures defining relationships in between the lines of a stanza in Skaldic poetry.

She reckons, in the two lists of s. 20, the structural characters similar to the ones of as

in other lists, particularly those of lists describing two joined topics, here a list of Norns

names and a list of Norns’ actions. In particular, line 7, seemingly oddly inserted in the list of

Norns names is an end_of_list marker used elsewhere in much longer lists. The use of ‘at

segja’ in line 12 does not respect this structure and imposes upon us to feel line 7 as not fully

complete.

A small practical conclusion

When a site talks about Germanic mythology and asserts or implies that Norns spin

örlög or wyrd, know that this site confuses Germanic and Greco-Latin mythologies.

In the crowd of allusions to destiny, a single poem, called Darraðarljóð and contained

in Njáll’s saga, describes the Valkyries (then called 'valfreyur'), and speaks of destiny in the

form of a braiding. Moreover, in this poem, the braided ‘threads’ are the entrails of the dead

warriors, which does not exclude a Latin influence on Darraðarljóð.

Stanza 21

Old Norse 21.

Þat man hón fólcvíg

fyrst í heimi,

er Gullveigo

geirom studdo

oc í höll Hárs

hána brendo;

þrysvar brendo,

þrysvar borna,

opt, ósialdan;


That remember she a war of peoples

first in the world,

is Gullveig

by spears steadied

and in the hall of Hár (High, Óðinn)

she was burned;

three times burned

three times born,

often, non seldom;


‘She’ is here the völva who seems to allude to her

being Gullveig.

Gullveig means “gold power. ” She causes the

war between Æsir and Vanir. She is of Vanr

‘race’, and she visits the Æsir. They burn her

three times, but it is three times born again. The

war probably starts because of these ill treatments

inflicted to Gullveig

þó hón enn lifir. nevertheless she still lives. Hár = the high one, Óðinn

English

She remembers a war of peoples

the first one in the world,

Gullveig is

‘steadied’ (transfixed) by spears

and in High’s hall

she has been burned;

three times burned,

three times born (again),

often, not seldom;

nevertheless she still lives.

Stanza 22

Old Norse

22. Heiði hana héto,

hvars er til húsa kom,

völo velspá,

vitti hon ganda;

seið hon, hvars hon kunni,

seið hon hug leikinn,

æ var hón angan

illrar brúðar.


Heiðr her they called

when toward homes (she) came

völva well--prophecising

wise she about sorcery;

seið she, that she knew,

bewiched she a spirit played with

always was she sweet-smelling

to bad wives.


I suppose that the völva still speaks about herself.

Combined with s. 21 this would mean that Gullveig

and Heiðr are the same person. In regard of Old

Norse spirituality, that of an ancestor cult, this

statement can be rationalized by saying that they

belong to the same family line.

Noun seið means ‘witchcraft’. siða does seið in the preterit, and leika does leikinn in

the past participle.

English

They called her Heiðr,

when she travelled to a dwelling,

as a völva (she was able to) well

prophesize,

she was wise in witchcraft;

Seið, she knew well

she bewitched deluded minds,

her smell always was sweet

to bad wives.

The word heidr has three principal meanings:

shining, heather and honor. This name is often the

one of a witch or a völva

1. A völva who always prophecies that “all will be

well” be really honest.

2. Her magic was intended to delude naive minds.

3. She is a friend to bad wives who deal with magic.

Lines 5 and 6 contain a pun that contains repetitions somewhat characteristic of magic

incantations.

In line 5, seiðr is a direct object complement of the verb kunna (to know) and thus

gives seið.

In line 6, seið is the singular past of verb siða (to magically enchant): ‘she bewitched’.

This repetition is not simple and is extremely prestigious since hard to imagine. It

magically emphasizes the völva’s magic.

Note also its ‘non-rhymed’ alliterative wealth:

seið hon, hvars hon kunni,

-->

seið hon hug leikinn

þat var enn fólcvíg

fyrst í heimi;

brotinn var borðveggr

borgar ása,

knátto vanir vígspá

völlo sporna.

enemy army)

that was a people-war

first in the world ;

broken was the enclosure

of castle of Æsir,

were-able-of Vanir of victory-magic

the field they trod.

who launches his spear above his enemies first

rank, which announces the beginning of the

battle. When Óðinn acts in this way, the army

flown over by his lance is supposed to perish at

once. Here, obviously, that did not happen this

way and Vanir won the war, as said the last four

lines, and confirmed by Snorri’s Edda.

English

Óðinn let fly his spear

beyond the army area,

that was a people-war

the first in the world;

broken was the enclosure

of Æsir’s castle,

Vanir were able of victory-magic

and the field they trod.

This stanza provides a summary of the war

between the Vanir and the Æsir,. The reader is

supposed to know the feature of the following

peace: fusion of the two families, hostage

exchange etc. See HERE a version of this myth.

“They trod the field” is a way of saying that,

instead of being a pack of corpses, as they

‘should’ have been after Óðinn threw his spear,

the Vanir were still living and they were proudly

walking upon the field.

Stanza 25

Old Norse

25. Þá gengo regin öll

á röcstóla,

ginnheilog goð,

oc um þat gættuz,

hverir hefði lopt alt

lævi blandit

eða ætt iötuns

Óðs mey gefna.

Literal translation

Then went the gods all

on judgement-stools

‘sacred’ saints gods

and from that obtained,

who had air all

with evilness blended

and (to) family Giants

of Óðr the maid offered


This stanza refers to the myth of building a wall

protecting Ásgarðr. The reader is supposed to

know the whole story that you will find find

HERE,

The rest of the myth shows that here also, Freyja

is Óðr’s wife.

English

Then all the gods went

to their judgement-stools,

‘sacred’ saints gods,

and from that obtained

who had blended

the whole atmosphere with evilness

and to Giant family

had offered Óðr’s maid.

The last four lines are relative to Ásgarðr’s

ambiance when the Æsir realize that the ‘worker’

will fill up his contract terms, and that they will

have to deliver to him Freyja (Óðr’s wife), Sun

and Moon.

Stanza 26

Old Norse Literal translation Comments and explanations

file:///C:/WS_FTP-OLD/nmh/WarAsirVanir.htmfile:///C:/WS_FTP-OLD/nmh/FortAsgard&SleipnirEng.htm

26. Þórr einn þar vá,

þrunginn móði

hann sialdan sitr

er hann slíct um fregn;

á genguz eiðar,

orð oc sœri,

mál öl meginlig,

er á meðal fóro.

Þórr alone there fought,

full of anger

he seldom sits

when he such be informed.

gone oaths,

words and swearings,

words/measures all powerful

which between (them) travelled.

This stanza describes the end of the myth when

Þórr has killed the Giant.

The first half of the stanza alludes to Þórr’s arrival

when the Æsir realize that their ‘worker’ actually is a

Giant. This why Þórr, who has been away, is

‘informed’ of the situation and he will kill this Giant.

English

Full of anger, Þórr

alone there fought

he seldom stays sitting

when he is informed of such news.

Full gone were oaths,

words and swearings,

all powerful measures

that they had shared.

The Æsir had a deal with this ‘worker-Giant’ that had

been made explicit by a contract. Since he hid that he

was a Giant, this contract does not hold anymore and

the oaths they shared (upon which they ‘travelled’)

are gone away.

A broken oath is nevertheless always a shame and the

Æsir have been shamed on this occasion.

Stanza 27

Old Norse

27. Veit hón Heimdalar

hlióð um fólgit

undir heiðvönom

helgom baðmi;

á sér hón ausaz

aurgom forsi

af veði Valföðrs -

vitoð ér enn, eða hvat?

Literal translation

Knows she (that) Heimdall’s the noise (the

noisy horn) entrusted

under ‘needing- serenity’

sacred tree;

on looks she self-gushing

‘in a’ muddy torrent

off guarantee of Killedfather

You know still, and what?


The four first lines of 27 describe a myth related

to Heimdall and the last four lines refer to various

myths relating to Óðinn, together with stanzas 28,

29, 30.

Heimdall’s horn is hidden in the roots of

Yggdrasill, near to or under Urðr’s well.

The world tree is “in need for serenity” because

of the multiple constraints and hits it undergoes.

English

She knows (that) Heimdall’s noisy

horn has been entrusted

to the ‘in lack of serenity’

sacred tree;

she looks on a muddy torrent

that self-gushes

off Óðinn’s pledge

You still want to know, and what ?

Óðinn entrusted an eye to the source of Urðr

which is the ‘pledge’ he had to provide in order to

be allowed to drink wisdom from this spring.

It is interesting to note that Urðr’s spring, always

presented as a pure and clear water, is here

qualified as muddy. Our stereotypes may need

some revision.

Stanza 28

Old Norse

28. Ein sat hon úti,

þá er inn aldni kom,

Yggiungr ása,oc í augo

leit:

'Hvers fregnit mic,

Hví freistið mín?

alt veit ec, Óðinn,

Hvar þú auga falt:

í inom mæra

Mímis brunni. '

Dreccr miöð,”

morgin hverian

af veði Valföðrs –

Vitoð ér enn, eða hvat? ”

Literal translation

One was sitting she outside,

then him old came,

Dreadful-young of Æsir, and in the eye

looked :

“What ask you to me

why do you try me?

All know I, Óðinn,

where thou (you) eye hid

in it the famous

Mímir’s spring.

Drinks mead Mímir,

morning each one

off the pledge of Valföðr -

You know still, and what?


A way of practicing seið is called ‘útiseta’, that is:

“seta úti = to sit down outside.” The völva

certainly says that she was practicing this form of

seiðr when Óðinn arrived. This is a solitary

practice, in opposition to the public one carried

out on a wooden platform.

The ‘old one’ and the ‘young one’ are two faces

of Óðinn.

Dronke acknowledges ignoring what exactly

means the suffix ‘jungr’. A young one is currently

called úngr but júngr is also possible. The völva

calls Óðinn ‘Old one’ as everyone else, but she

may wish to underline that Óðinn, and all Æsir

with him, are much younger

English

She alone was sitting outside,

then came he, the old one,

Æsir’s dreadful young one, and he

looked at me in the eyes:

“What do you asked me

why do you try me?

I know all of it, Óðinn,

where thou hid your eye

in this famous

Mímir’s spring.

Mímir drinks mead,

each morning

off Valföðr’s pledge -

You still want to know, and what ?

than she is. This is indeed plausible if she is a

Giantess born at the origins of the world.

That would also explain why she allows herself to

sometimes treat Óðinn as a young one.

This ‘you’ is in ON an explicit plural. This

suggests that Óðinn is acting as a representative

of the other Æsir.

That Mímir drinks a “morning mead” may hint at

the fact that a sacred drink flows from Mímir’s

spring. Anyhow, this means that, each morning,

Mímir holds a ritual consecrating the new day.

The way of speech “Valföðr’s pledge” is

explained in s. 27 just above.

Stanza 29

Old Norse

29. Valdi henni Herföðr

hringa oc men,

fécc spjöll spaclig

og spáganda,

sá hon vítt oc um vítt

of verold hveria.

Literal translation

Chose for her Her-föðr (Army-father, Óðinn )

rings and necklaces,

he collected spells wise

and vision-sticks,

saw she far and wide

over world all.


The völva tells that Óðinn offered her many

precious jewels in order to learn from her to

‘send’ curses and to foresee the future.

And this teaching enriched her (hon) world-

view, not Óðinn’s.

It seems that he claims that he also enriched

his world-view through a similar process, in

Hávamál 141: “I then became fertile / and

was full of knowledge / and grew and well

throve, / a word, out of my speech, /

English

Óðinn selected for her

rings and necklaces,

he collected wise spells

and ways for magic seeing,

all over the world

she saw wide and far.

looked for another word, / a word, out of my

speech, looked for help / a deed, out of my

deeds, / looked for another deed. ”

Óðinn and this völva therefore are old

acquaintances, another fact that explains her

casualness with Óðinn.

Stanza 30

Old Norse

30. Sá hon valkyrior,

vítt um komnar,

gorvar at ríða

til goðþióðar;

Sculd helt scildi,

enn Scögul önnor,

Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul

oc Geirscögul;

nú ero talðar

nönnor Herians,

gorvar at ríða

grund, valkyrior.

Literal translation – ‘English’

She saw valkyries

from far they came

greedy for riding

towards goth-people (OR god-people) ;

Skuld held a shield,

and Skögul another one,

Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul

and Geirskögul ;

now are counted

the maiden of the War Leader (Óðinn),

greedy for riding

(across) earth, Valkyries.

Commentaries on s. 30

"Goðþióð” is usually translated by “ people of Goths” where goð means a ‘goth’. This

meaning refers to the usual role of a Valkyrie who selects the heroes who will join Valhöll.

In the context of Ragnarök, however, we can understand that the völva speaks of the “people

of the gods” (goð or guð means ‘god '). This version suggests that the Valkyries are ‘eager’ to

get rid of Óðinn’s supervision, as will happen after Ragnarök. The two meanings are then

both possible.

Skuld is also the name of a Norn, and this word means ‘debt’. This role of “who

demands the debts to be paid” can also be the one of a Valkyrie who is not necessarily

confused with Norn Skuld.

Skögul is undoubtedly related to the verb skaga (De Vries) to project, to exceed = ‘who

holds up’ (before launching axe or lance).

Gunnr = Battle, Hildr = Combat, Göndul = “who handles magic, wizard. ” These

names evoke the witches who participated to combat, the ‘alrunæ’.

Geirskögul = “Who holds up a lance. ”

As in the case of Dwarves, the völva simply provides a list of names. The reader is

again supposed to understand the hidden meaning of these names.

This ends the description of Óðinn’s majesty by the völva. The

following stanzas 31, 32 and 33 deal with the myth of Baldr’s death.

They contain the first magic throbbing that will lead the gods

towards Ragnarök.

Stanza 31

31.

Ek sá Baldri, I looked at Baldr

blóðgum tívur, blood-covered divine being,

Óðins barni, Óðinn’s son,

örlög fólgin; (his) örlög hidden;

stóð of vaxinn was standing (fully) grown

völlum hæri in the fields taller

mjór ok mjög fagr slender and very beautiful

mistilteinn. mistletoe.


The verb sjá, to see, gives sá in its preterit first person. The name of god Baldr is in the

dative case so that we must read verb sá á (to ‘see on’ = to look at). This meaning will

expands to the two following lines. On the other hand, örlög in line 4 is in the accusative

case, one must thus understand ‘sá’ alone and the völva says that she saw his hidden örlög.

The declension of tívi as tívur is somewhat irregular. This word is used in general in the

plural and its dative is ‘normally’ tívum. Dronke tries to find an explanation to this variation

and she fails finding a convincing one… I’ll certainly not do better than her!

The verb fela, to hide, confuse/entrust, its past participle is folginn.

The adjective hár, high, does hæri in the comparative. Mistletoe is ‘higher’ that the

other trees or plants.


After being run through by Höðr’s arrow, Baldr’s corpse has certainly been covered

with blood. If we try to see an allusion here, we can reasonably think of no one else than

Óðinn, wounded by a spear while hanging at the world tree. He had also to be blood-covered,

as described in Hávamál stanza 138. In addition, it seems that the warriors who did not die in

combat could nevertheless join Óðinn in Valhöll by being ‘marked’ with “Óðinn’s sign” by a

spear, another bloody process related to Óðinn.

Baldr’s örlög is hidden as everyone’s else. It however seems that Frigg and Óðinn were

informed of anyone’s örlög, as that is noted several times in Eddic poems. Since this stanza

underlines this topic, it must mean that neither Frigg nor Óðinn were able to forsee their

son’s fate, which should surprise us. We already spoke of the gods’ panic when they were

aware of Baldr’s imminent death. Note 3 of the text on “Örlög” http://www. nordic-life.

org/nmh/OrlogEng. htm even says that Óðinn believed that the Hamingjur - certainly those

of the gods’ clan - had left as long as such a disaster could occur. Baldr is the first to die

within the gods’ family and we can easily imagine that his death announces that other Æsir

could die as well. Baldr’s death can thus be looked upon as the first signal of Ragnarök’s

arrival.

The last four last lines further increase the feeling of ‘end of a world’ for the Æsir. One

of the three ‘actors’ in their son’s murder, mistletoe, is proudly standing on the fields, as if

pointing out their ultimate mortality, even if a long-term one. It may seem that the universal

chaos forces have been defeated by the Æsir, but they strikingly, though poetically, force the

Æsir to remember them, through a vigorous mistletoe branch.

We can assume that the name ‘mistletoe’ points at a mythical plant the botanical name

of which is unknown, since it cannot “proudly stand in the fields. ” Celtic religions gave a

mythical status to botanical mistletoe, it quite possible that Norse people chose this name to

point at a magical tree.

A short comment: How happens that Mistletoe appears in Völuspá ?

We will comment later, and more thoroughly, the presence in this stanza of an

aggressively triumphant mistletoe. However, it is also interesting to point out an

interpretation inspired by C. G. Jung’s comments on the links between an ambiguous

maternal archetype and the Frigg-Baldr couple as reported in

https://www.academia.edu/35169010/An_unconscious_mother-

sons_relation_between_Frigg_and_Baldr

This text highlights the possibility for mistletoe to be an unconscious part of Baldr's

psyche, called his ‘shadow’ by Jung. Here this ‘shadow’ grew up and is visibly embodied in

a beautiful tree. We tried to identify this beautiful mistletoe to the person of Christ but it

leads to so many contradictions that this track has been stopped. It is perhaps more necessary

to considerably refine the maternal archetype and probably to link it to Loki to give meaning

to all these myths. This can not be done quickly but it will (hopefully) happen.

Stanza 32

Old Norse

32. Varð af þeim meiði,

er mær (mjór) sýndiz,

harmflaug hættlig,

Höðr nam scióta.

Baldurs bróðir var

of borinn snemma,

sá nam, Óðins sonr,

einnættr vega.

Literal translation

Was of this stick

that slim self-appeared as

harm-elk dangerous

Höðr learned to fling.

Baldur’s brother was

born soon

this one learned, Óðinn’s son,

(in) one night (to) smite.


This stanza appears meaningless if it is not

connected to well-known myths.

The four first lines say that mistletoe, slim and

very beautiful (s. 31) was in fact a “fated missile

of harm. ”

The last four lines directly pass to Höðr’s

punishment.

völuspá - the prediction of the prophetess old norse and english...

Documents