Voluspo and Hovamol: Selections from the Poetic Edda, Part 1 of 2

The old Norse religion is the ancient religion of the North Germanic people, who lived in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark. A central concept is Yggdrasil, or the Norse Tree of Life, whose branches connect the nine realms (or worlds) where all beings live. This includes Asgard, the realm of the Gods; Midgard, the realm of human beings; Alfheim, the “World of the Elves”; Niðavellir, the “Field of the Dwarves”; Jothnheim, the “World of the Giants” as well as the underworld. The teachings were passed down for centuries through minstrel poems orally sung by singers and poets. The Poetic Edda from Iceland, a manuscript recorded between 1000 and 1300 C.E., is one of the earliest written compilations of these poems and a primary source of Norse religious Text.

Today, we are pleased to present “Voluspo” from the Poetic Edda, translated by Henry Adams Bellows. The “Voluspo” details the story of creation, the dwarfs, the effects of the first war, and the renewal of Earth.

Voluspo The Wise-Woman’s Prophecy

“Hearing I ask from the holy races, From Heimdall’s sons, both high and low; Thou will, Valfather, that well I relate Old tales I remember of men long ago. I remember yet the giants of yore, Who gave me bread in the days gone by; Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree With mighty roots beneath the mold. Of old was the age when Ymir lived; Sea nor cool waves nor sand there were; Earth had not been, nor Heaven above, But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere. Then Bur’s sons lifted the level land, Midgard the mighty there they made; The Sun from the south warmed the stones of Earth, And green was the ground with growing leeks. […]”

“The war I remember, the first in the world. […] On the host his spear did Odin hurl, Then in the world did war first come; The wall that girdled the gods was broken, And the field by the warlike Wanes was trodden. […] In anger smites the warder of Earth, Forth from their homes must all men flee […] The Sun turns black, Earth sinks in the sea, The hot stars down from Heaven are whirled; Fierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame, Till fire leaps high about Heaven itself. […]”