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and Heathenry
The Völuspá
Here follows an ancient
Norse poem called The Völuspá. It tells
the story of the creation and destruction (ragnarok) of the world. It is a story of birth, death and rebirth
given by a völva (seeress) to Odin.
If you are unfamiliar with
the names mentioned in the poem there is a link at the bottom of this page for
a site that presents the poem in Old Norse, English and also gives some details
as to the names and meaning of some of the more obscure verses.
This is just one
translation of the Völuspá – there are many.
Some translations miss verses entirely in an attempt to make the poem
easier to follow but this version includes all verses.
Völuspá - The prediction of the prophetess
1.
Silence I ask of all the sacred folk,
high and low ones,
Silence of the kin of Heimdall:
At your will, Valföđr,
I shall relate
The songs of men,
the oldest I remember.
2.
I recall of giants from primordial times.
Those who gave me birth in former days:
Nine worlds I can reckon, nine huge expanses,
And the glorious tree of the world,
Deep
under the ground
3.
It was in the bed of years flowing,
Ymir was settled there,
No sand nor sea, no cold waves.
No earth nor heaven above,
But a widely open gap and grass nowhere.
4.
Then Bur's sons
Built the steady ground,
Created Midgard
Magnificent place;
The sun shone from the South
On the hall stones,
From the ground grew
Green leeks.
5.
Sun turned from the south, sister of Moon,
Her right arm rested on the rim of the sky;
She had no inkling where her hall was,
Nor Moon a notion of his might,
The stars did not know of their places.
6.
The gods gathered in council
In their hall of judgement, supreme divinities;
To Night and to growing Moon their names gave,
They
named Morning and Mid-Day,
Dawn and Twilight, for the assigning of time.
7.
The Aesir made haste to Iđavöllr,
They timbered sanctuary and farm,
Set up a smithy to forge jewels,
They fashioned tongs and wrought tools.
8.
Played chess in the grove, cheerful were;
Gold they lacked not;
Until three came,
Thurs maidens,
Full of strength,
From Giant-home.
9.
The high Gods gathered in council.
In their hall of judgement;
Which kind the dwarves should craft
From Brimi's blood and Blain's limbs?
10.
Mótsognir
became the greatest of the dwarves,
And
Durinn after him;
The dwarves did as Durinn directed, of the earth,
They
made a large number of human shapes.
11.
Nýi and Niđi,
Norđri and Suđri,
Austr and Vestri,
Alţiófr, Dvalinn,
Bívörr, Bávörr,
Bömburr, Nóri,
Án and Ánarr,
Ái, Miöđvitnir.
12.
Veigr and Gandálfr,
Vindálfr, Ţráinn,
Ţekkr and Ţorinn (or Ţroinn),
Ţrór, Vitr and Litr,
Nár and Nýráđr -
Here are the dwarves
- Reginn and Ráđsviđr -
Rightly accounted.
13.
Fíli, Kíli,
Fundinn, Náli,
Hepti, Víli,
Hanarr, Svíorr,
Frár, Hornbori,
Frćgr and Lóni,
Aurvangr, Iari,
Eikinskjaldi.
14.
Humans, know of Dvalin' s line
That
goes down to Lofar's time,
They went to Iörovellir and Aurvangar,
Leaving
their dwellings under the stone.
15.
There was Draupnir
and Dólgţrasir,
Hár, Haugspori,
Hlévangr, Glói,
Skirvir, Virvir,
Skáfiđr, Ái,
16.
Álfr and Yngvi
Eikinskjaldi,
Fialarr and Frosti,
Finnr and Ginnarr;
As long as men will remember,
The line will go down to Lofarr.
17.
Until
three went out of the host,
Powerful, merciful, Aesir in their home God's,
They found Ash and Elm on earth,
Hardly with strength, deprived of a destiny.
18.
T hey had no breath, nor senses, nor blood,
Nor sound, nor life-hue:
Óđinn gave them breath, Haenir senses,
Lothur gave blood and life hue.
19.
I know that stands an ash tree,
Named
Yggdrasil,
The high tree, sprinkled with white mud;
From there comes the dew
That falls in the vale;
Forever green it raises itself
Above Urd's well.
20.
From here came the girls
In everything knowledgeable,
Three, coming from the sea
And placed under the tree;
One is called Urđ,
Verđandi the other
- they scored staves -
The third is Skuld:
They made the laws
They fixed the lives
Of the sons of the men
The řrlög of the mortals.
21.
The first war in the world, she well remembers,
When Gullveig was spitted on spear-points
And in Hár's hall, burned her.
Thrice burned, thrice reborn,
Well asserted, she lives yet.
22.
They call her Heidi when she visits their homes,
A far seeing völva, wise in talismans.
Caster of spells, cunning in magic.
To wicked women always welcome.
23.
The gods hastened to their hall of judgement,
Sat in council to decide if
The Aesir would pay a tribute
If all the Gods should receive an offering.
24.
At the host Óđinn hurled his spear
In the first world-battle; broken was the plankwall
Of the gods fortress, the field was left to the winning Vanir.
25.
The gods hastened to their seats of judgement,
Sat in council to discover who
Had tainted all the air with corruption
And Óđ's wife offered to the giants.
26.
Ţórr alone fighted, swolen with anger
- Seldom he stays quiet when of such he hears -
Forgotten the promises, broken oaths and vows,
Solemn agreements sworn between them.
27.
Of Heimdal too and his horn she knows,
Hidden under the holy tree
Accustomed to the clear sky;
It is sprinkled by the muddy cascade
Of Valföđr's pledge.
Well would you know more?
28.
Outside she sat by herself when you came,
Terror of the gods, and gazed in her eyes.
What do you ask of me? Why taunt me?
Óđinn, I know where your eye is hidden,
Hidden away in the well of Mimir.
Mimir each morning his mead drinks
Mead
in Valföđr's pledge.
Well would you know more?
29.
Arm rings and necklaces, Óđinn gave her
To learn her lore, to learn her magic:
Wider and wider through all worlds she lives.
30.
Valkyries she saw, coming from afar,
Eagerly riding towards the Goths [or the Gods];
Skuld bore the shield,
Another
Skogul, Gunn, Hild, Gondul and Geirskögul:
Duly, she named the girls of the Lord of the Armies,
The valiant riders, the Valkyries.
31.
I saw of Baldr, the bleeding God, Óđin's son,
His fate still hidden;
Tall, erected on the plain, a plant grew,
A slender marvel, the mistletoe.
32.
From that shrub, slender as it looked,
Came,
shot by Hödr,
Thefatal
dart that felled the god;
Baldr' s brother was soon born,
Though one night old,
Óđinn's son killed him.
33.
His hands he washed not
Nor
his hair combed.
Till Baldr's killer was not carried to the pyre;
But Frigg was weeping in Fensalir
the woe of Valhöll.
Well, would you know more?
34.
Vali knew how to make the chains of combat,
Strong and rough were
The strings of stretched gut.
Well
would you know more?
35.
I see one in bonds by the grove of boiling springs;
A sly-looking shape, like Loki he looks;
There Sigyn sits by her husband,
Even though she does not rejoice in what happens to him.
36.
From the East through
Flows Slid, a flow of swords and saxes.
37.
North, in Nidavellir,
Stands
the dwelling place of Sindri's kin,
Covered
with gold;
Another hall also in Ókólnir,
The bier hall of the giant called Brimir.
38.
A third I see, that no sunlight reaches,
In Náströnd : the doors face northward,
Through its smoke vent venom drips,
Serpent backbones enskein that hall.
39.
Men wade there tormented by the thick stream,
perjuring men, criminal wolves,
And artful seducers of other men's wives:
Nidhogg sucks blood from the bodies of the dead
The wolf cuts them up.
Well,
would you know more?
40.
In the East a crone is sitting, in Ironwood:
The brood of Fenris are bred there
Wolf-monsters, one of whom
Eventually shall devour the sun.
41.
It gorges upon the flesh of death-promised men,
It bloodies the Gods sit;
Black will shine the sun
During next summers,
Awful all the storms.
Will you know more?
42.
The giants watchman, joyful Eggthér
Sits on his hillock and harps well;
The red cock, called Fjalarr
Boldly crows from Gallows wood.
43.
Gullinkambi sung at the Aesir's place,
Who wakes the Armies Father's warriors :
A soot red rooster also calls
From Hel's hall, deep under the ground.
44.
Raging howls from Garmr before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, the beast will run:
Many charms I know,
Further
in the future afar I behold
The judgement of the gods who give victory.
45.
Brother shall strike brother and both fall,
Parents shall defile their kin;
Evil be on earth, an age of adultery,
Axe time, sword time,
Of split shields,
A wind-age, a wolf-age till the world caves in;
No man shall show mercy to another.
46.
Mimir's kin might gambol,
Destiny like a fire rages under the lights of Gjallarhorn;
Heimdal winds his horn aloft,
Óđinn discusses with Mimir's head.
47.
Yggdrasil shakes, the erected ash, groans the old trunk;
the giant is loose; all shake on Hel's way,
Before he is swallowed by Surt's kin.
48.
What of the Aesir? What of the elves?
Jötunheimr groans, the Aesir are in council
The dwarves grumble before their door of stone,
Masters of cliffs.
Well, would you know more?
50.
From the East drives Hrym, lifts up his shield;
Jórmungandr squirms with rage
Taken by the giants' frenzy.
The great worm whips the waves
The pale-beaked eagle Niđfölr pecks at the dead,
The ship Naglfari is free.
51.
The ship sails out from the east, at its helm Loki
With the children of Muspell,
Offspring of monsters, allies of the wolf,
All who follow the brother of Býleistr.
52.
Surtr comes from the South
With
the bane of branches
Hel's sword generates the sun,
Crags topple, monsters move,
Men walk on Hel's road,
The
Heavens split open.
53.
A further woe falls upon Hlin
As Óđinn comes forth to fight the wolf;
The shining killer of Beli battles with Surt;
Now shall fall Frigg's beloved.
55.
Now valiant comes Sigföd's son,
Vidarr, to kill the vulture,
Plunges his sword in the heart of Hvedrung 's son,
Avenging his father with a thrust.
55.
High up in the air,
the belt of the earth,
his mouth wide open,
the frightening worm's jaw gapes.
Odin's son will meet the monster's poison
At
Vidar's sons death.
56.
Now comes the son of Hlódyn,
Comes
Óđinn's son, fiercest of warriors
To fight the serpent;
He
mauls in his rage Midgard's "veor",
Men all flee their homesteads;
Fjörgyn's son steps back nine paces
Retreats from the worm
With
no fear of being shamed.
57.
Earth sinks in the sea, the sun turns black,
The shining stars shake in the sky,
Fumes rage, flames grumble,
The sky is scorched with fire.
59.
She sees Earth rising a second time
Out of the foam, fair and green;
Run cascades, over them,
High
in the mountains,
Flies
the fish hunting eagle.
60.
At Ídavöllr the Aesir meet:
They speak of the powerful worm of Midgard,
Remember ancient happenings,
And the ancient runes of Fimbultýr.
61.
Wondeful boards of gold shall be found again in the green grass,
Boards once owned.
62.
Unsown field will bear harvest,
Evil be repaired, Baldr will return;
Baldr
and Hödr will house in Hropt's victory hall,
Lord of the dead warriors' dwelling.
Well, would you know more?
63.
Hśnir knows how to choose the wand of fate,
And the sons of two brothers
Set
up their dwelling in wide Wind-home.
Well, would you know more?
64.
She sees a hall, fairer than sunlight,
Thatched
with gold in Gimlé:
Here in delight shall forever dwell the troop of the faithful.
65.
Now rides down for the last settlement,
The
magnificent powerful, the All-Ruler
66.
Comes flying a dark dragon,
Shining
serpent, coming down from Nidafjöll;
He bears on his feathers - hovering over the plain - corpses, Nidhöggr.
Now she will make herself scarce.
Find out all about Asatru
and Heathenry
For information on the translation of the Voluspa and its
meaning follow this link