Prophecy of the Seeress

Poetic Edda Trans. Irmin Vinson

Vluspa, which opens the Old Norse Poetic Edda, was likely composed in Iceland shortly before AD 1000 d rin! a period of transition when "hristianity was replacin! the traditional beliefs of the North# $he poem%s anonymo s a thor seems to ha&e concei&ed Vluspa as a literary response to the decline of the old reli!ion, a reassertion of the old !ods in the face of their imminent demise as ob'ects of li&in! worship#Vluspa%s all si&e and often elliptical style implies the poet%s e(pectation that his a dience wo ld be intimately familiar with the tales and cosmolo!y of Northern pa!anism# $wo complete &ersions of Vluspa are e(tant) $he best is in the "ode( *e!i s, which dates to the thirteenth cent ry, and there is another, with some si!nificant &ariations and fo r additional strophes, in the +a ksbok man script# E(tensi&e , otations also appear in the Gylfaginning -.$he Del din! of /ylfi.0 of the Icelandic anti, arian Snorri St rl son -11123 14510# $he translation below is based on Neckel and 6 hn%s standard edition of the Edda -+eidelber!) "arl 7inter, 12890# In the poem%s dramatic conte(t -see sts# 483420 Odin has ' st , estioned the Seeress -a vlva, lit# .wand3bearer,. a woman who carries a ma!ical staff0 abo t the past and especially the f t re, and Vluspa -the Prophecy or Soothsayin! of the :;l&a0 is her spoken reply, directed to both !ods -.the hallowed kindred.0 and mankind -.+eimdall%s children.0#

Strophe 1 Silence I bid of all the hallowed kindred And high and low of Heimdall's children: At your will, Valfather, I shall relate Ancient tales of the world, the oldest I remember Silence I bid: !he Seeress' call for silence suggests that she is acting in a priestly capacity !acitus reports that public assemblies among the "ermans were presided o#er by priests, who called for silence at the outset: $%hen the assembled crowd thinks fit, they take their seats fully

armed Silence is then commanded by the priests, who on such occasions ha#e power to enforce obedience$ &Germania 11' Silence during the assembly is thus a religious obligation Heimdall: watchman of the gods who stands guard at the foot of (ifrost, the flaming rainbow)bridge between Asgard and *idgard, hea#en and earth respecti#ely Himinb+org, his hall, is beside (ifrost, so that he can guard the bridge against giants %ith his horn "+all, Heimdall will sound the alarm that alerts the gods at the beginning of ,agnarok &str -.', but in the interim the "+allarhorn ser#es as a drinking horn in *imir's %ell &str /0' Although Heimdall is one of 1din's sons, he is here called the ancestor of humanity &$Heimdall's children$', perhaps ancestor of all the other gods as well He was mysteriously born of nine sisters at the edge of the world, and he is the $whitest of the gods$ and $knows well the future$ &Gylf 23 Gylfaginning4 /05 Hyndluliod 675 Thrymskvida 17' Heimdall was born at the beginning &i ardaga', and in Rigsthula he appears as the literal progenitor of both mankind and the human social order and is identified by the Irish name for king &Rigr' All of this suggests an earlier role as a primordial god 8f str .7 below Valfather: 1din as $father of the slain $ 1ld 9orse &19' valr 3 $slaughter, corpses, those slain in battle,$ cognate with 1ld :nglish &1:' wl $21din4 is called 'Valfather' because all who fall in battle are his adopted sons5 he assigns them places in Valhalla 2'Hall of the Slain'4 and they are then called :inher+ar$ &Gylf /;' &:lsewhere we learn that <rey+a recei#es half of the slain 2Grimnismal 1-4, though Egil s Saga 0= implies that she recei#es women ' Since V!lus"a is addressed to both gods and men, we should perhaps #isuali>e the gods and the :inher+ar assembled together in 1din's hall as they await the Seeress' inspired predictions

Strophe / I remember giants from earliest times, !hey who reared me long ago5 9ine worlds I remember, nine great abodes, *ighty %orld)!ree deep below the earth giants ### reared me long ago: i e the Seeress is immensely old, her direct knowledge of the cosmos going back almost to its beginning, far back to the era of the prime#al giants who raised her, well before the creation of mankind She is clearly not a mere $witch$ or $wise woman$ in the normal sense of the terms nine worlds ### nine great abodes: !he nine worlds of 9orse mythology,

although they are ne#er fully listed, are *idgard, Asgard, Vanaheim, ?otunheim, 9iflheim, *uspellsheim, Alfheim, S#artalfheim, and @tgard Hel &str 6=' and "imli &str .-' could also be included, though the former is often synonymous with 9iflheim &$*ist)%orld$' (ut these nine worlds ### nine great abodes &$nine roots$ in the inferior Hauksbok recension' are parts of the %orld)!ree as it reaches beneath the earth, and they eAisted before the creation of most of the 9orse cosmos !hey must be nine locations within the underworld )) 9iflheim, the land of the dead )) which the VBl#a has clearly #isited and in which, apparently, she now li#es &str ..' :lsewhere the wise giant Vafthrudnir eAplains that he gained his occult knowledge from #isits to the $nine worlds$ of 9iflheim: $I ha#e tra#eled through nine worlds down to the *isty Hel 29iflhel45 there men die from Hel$ &Vafthrudnismal -6' !he topography of the 9orse afterlife is #ague, but the underworld, which eAisted long before the creation of the earth &Gylf -', seems to contain a series of large rooms or worlds, the deepest and darkest being the ninth: $:#il men go to Hel and thence down to the *isty Hel5 that is down in the ninth world$ &Gylf 6' Cassing from Hel to *isty Hel is like a second death, but it appears that the eAperience also confers special wisdom upon anyone who returns $orld%Tree: Dggdrasil, the cosmic ash)tree or pillar whose upper branches reach into the sky and whose roots, nourished by sacred wells, eAtend deep into the earth $!he Ash is greatest of all trees and best: its limbs spread out o#er all the world and stand abo#e hea#en !hree roots of the tree uphold it and stand eAceeding broad: one is among the Aesir5 another among the <rost)"iants and the third stands o#er 9iflheim$ &Gylf 175 cf Grimnismal 61' 1din, a magician king, acEuired the runes by a ritual self)sacrifice )) $myself to myself$ )) on Dggdrasil &Havamal 16=)1-1' !hus Dggdrasil 3 $1din's horse$ because Dgg &3 1din' hung there, as if riding &drasill 3 horse' on a gallows)tree Around 1;0; Adam of (remen, in his account of the Swedish pagan temple at @ppsala, described a tall e#ergreen with a fountain or well at its foot, to which worshippers brought offerings !his sacred tree clearly ser#ed as a ceremonial counterpart to the %orld)!ree, the a&is mundi of 9orthern religion !rees were re#ered in "ermanic paganism, and sacred gro#es were regular centers of worship 8hristian missionaries often cut down sacred trees as part of their effort to con#ert the heathen &e g Fonar's 1ak in Hessen, felled in 0/7 by St (oniface '

Strophe 6 Dears ago, when Dmir li#ed,

!here was no sand, no sea, no cold wa#es5 :arth was not, nor hea#en abo#e, (ut only a yawning gap, and nowhere grass 'mir: autochthonous frost)giant, probably hermaphrodite &cf Vafthrudnismal 66' All giants are descended from Dmir !he name Dmir, which can be etymologi>ed as $!win,$ links him with other Indo) :uropean &I:' primal twin figures, notably "ermanic !uisto and Vedic Dama &!he latter was the first man to die and thus became the ruler of the realm of the dead, where he presides o#er an Indo)Aryan paradise together with his twin sister, Dami !heir brother is *anu 2$*an$4, first father of humanity5 manava or $descended from *anu$ 3 human ' yawning ga": "innungagap, the gaping abyss that stretched between the land of ice and darkness in the north &9iflheim' and the land of fire in the south &*uspelsheim' Dmir, who arose from melted ice in "innungagap, was thus formed from a union of opposites Hesiod's account of creation also begins with a cosmic #oid, "k chaos, a #ast dark space or chasm between hea#en and earth &Theogony 11.'

Strophe @ntil (urr's sons raised the lands, Shaped magnificent *idgard Sun shone from the south on halls of stone5 1n the ground then grew green herbs (urr s sons: namely 1din, Vili and Ve !heir mother is (estla, daughter of the giant (olthorn (uri, (urr's father and the progenitor of the gods, was licked out of the prime#al frost by the cow Audhumla, who also nurtured Dmir in his infancy &Gylf .' raised the lands: 1din and his brothers kill Dmir and drag his body across "innungagap, thus $rais2ing4 the lands$ and shaping the world Dmir's flesh becomes land, his blood fills the abyss and becomes seas, his bones become mountains, and his skull becomes the sky &Grimnismal -;)-15Vafthrudnismal /1' !he creation of the world through the killing and dismemberment of a primal anthropomorphic figure, with the #ictim's body furnishing the material for creation, reflects an ancient Aryan creation myth In Rig Veda 1; G;, the famous )arusasukta &$Hymn of *an$', the Vedic gods dismember the giant Carusa &sometimes identified with the creator god Cra+apati', his eyes becoming the sun, his head the sky, his breath the wind, and so forth *idgard: middle)earth, formed from Dmir's eyelashes *idgard is the center of the earth where men li#e, located between 9iflheim and

*uspellsheim It is also often simply the world as a whole 1riginally *idgard was likely thought of as a wall or fence enclosing mankind's li#ing space from the hostile, non)human world beyond Sun shone ### on halls of stone: !he sun warms and #i#ifies the stony earth In this we can perhaps glimpse a reflection of the oldest Aryan creation myth )) the marriage of Sky and :arth &Fyaus and Crithi#i in the Rig Veda' green herbs: lit $green leeks,$ here a synecdoche for luAuriant #erdure, contrasting with the stark absence of #egetation &$nowhere grass$' in the preceding strophe Heeks had magical properties in 9orse religion !he l) rune can be interpreted as lauka+, leek

Strophe 7 Sun turned from the south together with *oon @ntil her right arm rested o#er hea#en's rim Sun knew not where her own hall was5 !he stars knew not their own places5 *oon knew not his own power her right arm rested over heaven s rim: so that she could turn the sky, thereby setting time in motion !he gods will assemble to demarcate the times &9ight's children' in the neAt strophe

8hariot of the Sun &ca 1-;; (8', reco#ered in 1G;/ from !rundholm *arsh in

Fenmark !he Sun is a bron>e disk co#ered with gold leaf, drawn on wheels by a horse

!he gods Sun &Sol' and *oon &*ani' are the offspring of the obscure *undilfari &Vafthrudnismal /6'5 his name suggests time &19 mund 3 $time, moment$' Sol is called $the bride of the sky$ &Grimnismal 6G', across which she +ourneys daily in a chariot drawn by the horses Ar#ak and Als#id, the chariot itself fashioned by the gods from a spark that flew out of *uspellsheim &Grimnismal 605 Gylf 11' !he (ron>e Age !rundholm sun)chariot indicates that the daily +ourney of Sun's horse) drawn chariot was an important component in 9orthern :urope's ancient sun)cult ?ulius 8aesar, in his simplified account of "ermanic religion, reports that the "ermans worshipped fire &or Vulcan', together with the sun and the moon &,e (ello Gallico . /1', an indication &among many others' that solar religion must ha#e been more significant in earlier periods Sol will be swallowed at ,agnarok by the wolf SkollI<enrir &Grimnismal 6G5 Gylf 1/5 Vafthrudnismal -.', but her daughter will e#entually take her place in the reordered world &Vafthrudnismal -0' In the language of men the sun is called Sol5 in the language of the gods she is called Sunna &-lvissmal 1.', which is also her name in the Second *erseburg 8harm

Strophe . !hen went all the powers to their fate)chairs, !he holy gods gathered in council: 9ight and her children were gi#en names5 !hey named them *orning and *idday, Afternoon and :#ening, for the reckoning of time "owers: 19 regin, an old name for the 9orse gods It occurs most notably in ragnarok, the fateful doom of the gods, the great eschatological battle on the massi#e field of Vigrid, fought between the di#ine powers and their enemies ragna 3 of the powers, gods5 rok 3 +udgment, fate fate%chairs: the rokstolar, the thrones on which the 9orse gods sit in +udgment !hey were among the gods' first creations: $It was their first work to make that court in which their twel#e seats stand, and another, the high)seat which Allfather 21din4 himself has !hat house is the best) made of any on earth, and the greatest5 without and within, it is all like one piece of gold5 men call it "ladsheim$ &Gylf 1-' .ight: Hike other !eutons, the 9orse counted the passage of time in nights, not days 9ight &9ott' therefore subsumes smaller units like morning, midday, etc , which are times of night rather than times of day

Accordingly Fay's mother is 9ight &Gylf 1;' $!hey do not reckon time by days, as we 2,omans4 do, but by nights All their engagements and appointments are made on this system 9ight is regarded as ushering in the day$ &Germania 11' Fay was also a child of 9ight among the "reeks &Theogony 1/-'

Strophe 0 !he Aesir met on the shining Ida)plain %here altar and temple they timbered high !hey built forges, smithied treasure5 !ongs they shaped and tools they wrought -esir: *ost of the ma+or 9orse gods belong to the Aesir, the gods of war and power, 1din and !hor being their most prominent members5 the Vanir are the gods of wealth and fertility !heir ri#alry will be described in subseEuent strophes, where the Vanir, despite their normally unwarlike acti#ities as gods, are not notably peaceful -esir can also be a generic term for all gods Singular as 3 god, and the word itself is cognate with Hittite hassus &$king$' and with Vedic asura &asu 3 $#ital breath, creati#e force$' altar and tem"le: horg oc hof A "ermanic altar &19 horgr' could be merely a pile of stones &e g Hyndluliod 1;' located in a sacred gro#e or some holy place where a god was thought to reside 1: hearg 3 altar, temple5 gro#e So !acitus, Germania G: $their holy places are woods and gro#es $ (ut the Aesir's high)timbered temple &hof' suggests a large sacral building, perhaps resembling the 9orwegian sta#e churches of the post) pagan era !here is a detailed description of an Icelandic temple, a hof dedicated to !hor, in Eyrbygg/a Saga Ida%"lain: meeting)place in Asgard, apparently in the center of the Aesir's city After ,agnarok the sur#i#ing gods will assemble there &str .;'

Strophe = ?oyfully they played at tables in the meadow5 "old they lacked not, @ntil there came three thurs)maidens <ull of might from ?otunheim "layed at tables: some board game played on golden tables, which will be redisco#ered after ,agnarok &str .1'

three thurs%maidens: the 9orns, the 9ordic <ates whose names are listed in strophe /; 19 thurs is a pe+orati#e for $giant$ &/otun', perhaps used here metaphorically 1: thyrs 3 giant, monster &e g (eowulf -/., referring to "rendel, and *a&ims / -/: $the thyrs must dwell in the fen$' 9orns are also linked with giants in Vafthrudnismal -G, as if they were their offspring (ut $there are also other norns who #isit e#eryone when they are born to shape their li#es,$ and these lesser norns descend from gods, el#es and dwar#es &Gylf 17' In V!lus"a the arri#al of the three principal 9orns signals the end of a golden age, perhaps because the gods ha#e now become sub+ect to destiny, incapable of e#ading certain ominous e#ents !he eAistence of a threatening, self)determined fate is an important theme in 9orthern literature 8f (eowulf -77: $$yrd always goes as she must $ 0otunheim: Hand of the "iants east of *idgard, separated from the world of men by se#eral ri#ers and the forest ?arn#id &str -;' !hor regularly +ourneys east in his eApeditions against giants

Strophe G !hen went all the powers to their fate)chairs, !he holy gods gathered in council: %ho should make the dwar#es' lord <rom (rimir's blood and (lain's limbsJ make the dwarves lord: !he Aesir decide to create the first dwarf, hence dwar#es as a race As in !olkien, the creation of dwar#es precedes the creation of men (rimir s blood and (lain s limbs: i e from the remains of Dmir &str -', like the rest of the world &Grimnismal -;)-15 Vafthrudnismal /1' Specifically, dwar#es were formed from the sea &Dmir's blood' and from stone &Dmir's limbs', the latter accounting for the dwar#es' preferred residences today )) inside mountains and behind rocks &e g str -=' According to the interpolated ,vergatal 1$8atalogue of Fwar#es$', of which this is the introductory strophe, the first two dwar#es created others by shaping their bodies from the earth Snorri's )rose Edda gi#es a much different account: $!he dwar#es had first recei#ed shape and life in the flesh of Dmir, and were then maggots5 but by decree of the Aesir had become conscious with the intelligence of men, and had human shape And ne#ertheless they dwell in the earth and in stones *odsognir was the first, and Furin the second$ &Gylf 1-' !he remainder of the ,vergatal &omitted here' follows in strophes 1;)1.

Strophe 10 !hen three gods went out from the throng, Cowerful and merciful Aesir from the gods' home !hey found on the land, of little might, Ash and :lm, fateless yet three gods: namely 1din, Hoenir and Hodur Hoenir will play a prominent role after ,agnarok &str .6' !he obscure Hodur may be Hoki, the trickster god, here playing a positi#e role, as he sometimes does -sh and Elm: Ask and :mbla are two tree trunks that the gods find washed up on the shore, from which they will form man and woman respecti#ely, as described in the neAt strophe !he origin of men from ash)trees is an ancient :uropean belief, recorded in Hesiod &$orks 2 ,ays 1-7' and alluded to elsewhere, sometimes with the oak as humanity's raw material &e g Iliad // 1/.5 3dyssey 1G 1./)1.65 -eneid = 6175 ?u#enal . 1/' !he early SaAon kings of Kent &the Aescingas' traced their line back to an Asc &$Ash)!ree$', the son of the legendary twin) figure Hengest &(ede, Hist# Eccles / 7', which suggests that #ersions of the 9orse story of Ash and :lm were once widespread in the "ermanic world Hifthrasir and Hif, a man and woman who during ,agnarok find shelter inside the trunk of the %orld)!ree &Hoddmimir's Holt' and subsist on its dew, will sur#i#e the conflagration and e#entually repopulate the earth, thus reenacting the original creation of mankind from trees &Gylf 765 Vafthrudnismal -7' fateless yet: Ash and :lm are as yet without orlog, fate or destiny, the absence of which is almost tantamount to noneAistence !o be human is to be the incarnation of a specific fate

Strophe 1= !hey had no breath, no reason, no warmth, 9either #oice nor beauty 1din ga#e them breath, Hoenir ga#e reason, Hodur ga#e warmth and beauty 3din ### beauty: 8f Gylf G, where the creator gods are 1din, Vili and Ve: $%hen the sons of (orr 2i e (urr4 were walking along the sea)strand, they found two trees, and took up the trees and shaped men of them: the first ga#e them breath and life5 the second, understanding and power of mo#ement5 the third, form, speech, hearing, and sight !hey ga#e them clothing and names: the male was called Ask, and the female :mbla, and

of them was mankind begotten $ 3din gave them breath: breath &ond' as life)gi#ing and life)sustaining, thus roughly $soul $

Strophe 1G An Ash I know called Dggdrasil, A tall tree sprinkled with white waters: !hence come the dews that fall in the dales :#ergreen it always stands abo#e @rd's %ell dews that fall: i e the %orld)!ree pro#ides precious moisture )) perhaps a mead )) that nourishes the earth $!he dew which falls from it to the earth is called honey)dew by men, and the bees feed on it$ &Gylf 1.' 4rd s $ell: a sacred fountain of wisdom, beside which the gods assemble daily for their court of law 19 urdr 3 fate, cognate with 1: wyrd and 1ld SaAon wurd !he %ell of <ate &@rdarbrunn' is located in Asgard beneath a root of the %orld)!ree, and nearby the 9orns ha#e their hall $!he 9orns who dwell by @rd's %ell take water from the %ell e#ery day, and with it that clay which lies about the %ell, and they sprinkle it o#er the Ash, to the end that its limbs shall not wither nor rot5 for that water is so holy that all things which come there into the %ell become as white as the film which lies within the egg)shell$ &Gylf 1.' (ut the neAt strophe indicates that the 9orns li#e in the %ell, from which they emerge to perform their daily libations to Dggdrasil

Strophe /; !hence come three wise maidens <rom the pool beneath the !ree: 1ne is named @rd, another Verdandi, Skuld the third !hey scored the runes, laid down laws, allotted li#es5 1f the children of men they set their fates 4rd5 Verdandi5 2 Skuld: Cast &or <ate', Cresent and <uture 8ollecti#ely the 9orns determine human destiny Hence the aptness of the story of Ash and :lm, formed from trees As runes are car#ed on wood, so the 9orns inscribe orlog on men It is possible that Verdandi and Skuld are poetic elaborations of an earlier 9orse conception in which @rd as <ate alone resided in &or near' @rd's %ell Skuld appears as the name of a #alkyrie in strophe 6;

Strophe /1 I remember the first war in the world, %hen the Aesir had thrust "ull#eig with spears And burned her in one)eyed 1din's hall !hrice burned, thrice reborn again )) 1ft not seldom, yet still she li#es I remember: lit $she remembers,$ as elsewhere below !he Seeress often describes her #ision in the third person first war in the world: the war between Aesir and Vanir !he most prominent Vanir gods are the sea)god 9+ord and his son <rey and daughter <rey+a !he Vanir represent the 9orse #ersion of the third function of Indo):uropean mythology !hey are the patrons of wealth and fecundity, as well as beauty and sensuality !he Aesir represent the first two functions: &1' magical and +uridical so#ereignty &1din and !yr'5 &/' physical force &!hor' In I: myth the first two functions often stand in opposition to the third, as in strophes /1)/- In Indo)Aryan social terms, brahmins &priests' and kshatriyas &warriors' come into conflict with #aisyas &herders, culti#ators' !he need for the harmonious coeAistence of all three complementary functions is the central lesson of I: mythology !he Swedish pagan temple at @ppsala, as described around 1;0; by Adam of (remen, was reportedly adorned with gold and housed cult statues of %odan &1din', !hor, and <ricco &<rey', gods representing the three I: functions, namely so#ereignty, force and fecundity !he corresponding functional triad in early ,ome, before :truscan intrusion, was ?upiter, *ars and Luirinus In Vedic India it was *itra)Varuna, Indra and the 9asatya twins, the As#ins Gullveig: Vanir seeress or witch, practitioner of seid, perhaps an aspect of <rey+a According to Snorri Sturluson, the Vanir goddess <rey+a first brought magic and sorcery &seid' to the Aesir: $It was she who first taught the Aesir magic such as was practiced among the Vanir$ &'nglinga Saga -' Seid is, ne#ertheless, a low magic, often feared and re#iled, in contrast to the noble magic of 1din &but see 6okasenna /-' "ull#eig is probably not the Seeress who speaks V!lus"a, though some scholars &"rimm among them' ha#e argued that the two are the same "ull#eig 3 $gold &gull' drunkenness,$ hence $power of gold &to intoAicate the mind',$ and she was apparently sent by the Vanir, dispensers of riches, to corrupt the Aesir, who unmask her !he Aesir's unsuccessful attempts to destroy "ull#eig prompt the war between the two ri#al families of gods, which will e#entually conclude with their union in a single pantheon !here is a much different #ersion of this story in SaAo "rammaticus' Gesta

,anorum &1 0 1', where "ull#eig appears as a golden statue which corrupts 1din's wife

Strophe // Heid she was named when houses she #isited, A good prophesying seeress skilled in sorcery Spells she cast and minds she bewitched, And always she was the delight of wicked women Heid: "ull#eig's new name after her successi#e rebirths, which may ha#e increased her magical powers 19 heidr 3 $bright &one'$ but can also ser#e as an epithet for a witch !hus $Heid she was named$ could simply mean $she was &now' called %itch $ houses she visited: 8f 7latey/arbok, 1 6-.: $At that time wise women used to go about the land !hey were called 'spae)wi#es' 2i e seeresses4 and they foretold people's futures <or this reason folk used to in#ite them to their houses and gi#e them hospitality, and bestow gifts on them at parting $ In "ermanic paganism women were belie#ed to ha#e a special affinity for magic and di#ination, and prophecy was largely female terrain !acitus reports: $!hey belie#e that there resides in women an element of holiness and a gift of prophecy5 and so they do not scorn to ask their ad#ice, or lightly disregard their replies$ &Germania =' !he famous first)century seeress Veleda $dwelt in a lofty tower, and one of her relati#es, chosen for the purpose, con#eyed, like the messenger of a di#inity, the Euestions and answers$ &!acitus, Historiae - .7' !here is a detailed account of the practices of a Scandina#ian seeress in Eirik s Saga wicked women: !his must be read in social terms !he cult of the Vanir, with Heid as its indestructible priestess, finds many female adherents, thus dangerously di#iding human society !he $wickedness$ of the Vanir's followers reflects, of course, the perspecti#e of the Aesir

Strophe /6 !hen went all the powers to their fate)chairs, !he holy gods gathered in council: Should the Aesir repair the wrong with tribute, And should all the gods recei#e worshipJ should all the gods receive worshi"8: i e $should the Vanir acEuire eEual di#ine rank with their ri#alsJ,$ which they ha#e apparently demanded as

reparation for the Aesir's crimes against "ull#eig !he Aesir initially choose war, as the neAt strophe recounts

Strophe /1din hurled his spear among the host5 !hus came the world's first war (roken were the ramparts of the Aesir's fortress5 (y their battle)magic #ictorious Vanir trod the field 3din hurled his s"ear9 dedicating the fallen to himself, an act of so#ereign magic 8asting a spear o#er the enemy was a common 9orse practice, here performed for the first time &the Seeress tells us' by 1din himself (ut clearly 1din's magic does not produce the eApected result, as the neAt lines indicate battle%magic: <rom the eAample of "ull#eig we can plausibly infer that the Vanir, gods of magic and sorcery, ha#e made themsel#es imper#ious to in+ury victorious Vanir trod the field: thus enabling di#ine reconciliation $1din went out with a great army against the Vanaland people 2i e the Vanir45 but they were well prepared, and defended their land5 so that #ictory was changeable, and they ra#aged the lands of each other, and did great damage !hey tired of this at last, and on both sides appointed a meeting for establishing peace, made a truce, and eAchanged hostages$ &'nglinga Saga -' Among the Vanir's hostages are 9+ord, <rey and &apparently' <rey+a, though she is not specifically listed In the neAt strophe we find her li#ing among the Aesir, an indication of the union of the two di#ine families As "eorges FumM>il has copiously documented, the fusion and symbiosis of two contrasted sets of gods, following a series of conflicts, is a common Indo):uropean theme, dating back to earlier traditions of Aryan antiEuity and appearing in homologous forms in different Indo) :uropean cultures !he e#entual union of all the gods demonstrates that the initial opposition that di#ided them was also an essential complementarity !he combined pantheon represents a necessary completion of the di#ine world, rectifying a deficiency See esp FumM>il, $!he "ods: Aesir and Vanir,$ in Gods of the -ncient .orthmen, ed :inar Haugen &(erkeley: @ni#ersity of 8alifornia Cress, 1G06', 6)/7

Strophe /7 !hen went all the powers to their fate)chairs,

!he holy gods gathered in council: %ho had tainted the air with treachery, And offered 1d's wife to the giantsJ tainted the air with treachery: as though treachery had permeated and corrupted the atmosphere 3d s wife: namely <rey+a, who weeps golden tears o#er her husband 1d's mysterious disappearance &Gylf 67' !he gods, at Hoki's suggestion, offered <rey+a &together with the sun and the moon' to a giant $master) builder$ in eAchange for constructing a stone fortification in Asgard, e#idently to replace the walls damaged by the Vanir in strophe /-, and by a stratagem they reneged on their agreement !hor then killed the giant &Gylf -/' )) the fateful #iolation of a solemn compact, as the neAt strophe suggests

Strophe /. !hor alone fought there, filled with swelling anger )) Seldom he sits Euiet when such he hears Sworn oaths and pledges were broken, !he binding compact made between them oaths ### broken: by #iolating their agreement, the gods incur the hatred of the giants, who will be among their many enemies at ,agnarok In the poet's #ision the folkloric story of the master)builder becomes the gods' original sin, a moral failure lying behind subseEuent e#ents

Strophe /0 I know where Heimdall's horn is hidden: @nder the sky)reaching holy !ree5 @pon it I see a stream flowing from Valfather's pledge %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ where Heimdall s horn is hidden: namely in *imir's %ell, a fountain located in the realm of the frost)giants beneath a root of the %orld)!ree !he Aesir god *imir, already noted for his wisdom, was decapitated by the Vanir, but 1din preser#ed his head $and spoke charms o#er it, gi#ing it magic power so that it would answer him and tell him many hidden things$ &'nglinga Saga -' 9ow ensconced in the %ell, *imir's head $drinks from the fountain out of 2Heimdall's4 horn "+all$ and is therefore $full of ancient lore$ &Gylf 17' An alternati#e interpretation would ha#e Heimdall placing one of his ears, instead of the "+allarhorn, in *imir's

%ell in order to acEuire his eAcellent hearing: He can hear wool growing on a sheep !he 19 word here translated as horn &hl/od' can also mean $hearing,$ hence &perhaps' $ear $ Valfather s "ledge: 1din &as recounted in the neAt strophe' placed one of his eyes in *imir's %ell in eAchange for a drink from its magical waters $!he loss of a bodily eye was the means by which the magician)god acEuired in eAchange a spirit eye, the power of second sight, and all the supernatural powers that its possession brings$ &FumM>il, *itra%Varuna, trans Ferek 8oltman 29ew Dork: None (ooks, 1G==4, 1-; ' In strophe -. 1din will confer with *imir's head

Strophe /= Alone I sat outside when the 1ld 1ne came5 !he Aesir's dread lord ga>ed into my eyes I said: $%hat do you ask meJ %hy do you comeJ I know, 1din, where your eye is hidden: In the famed %ell of *imir :ach morning *imir drinks mead from Valfather's pledge $ %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ -lone I sat outside: %ith strophe /= we arri#e at the dramatic conteAt for the Seeress' prophecy !here is no e#idence in the poem that 1din has magically raised the Seeress from the dead, as in (alder s ,reams, where a reluctant seeress tells 1din of (alder's impending death He has, rather, sought her out for her knowledge of ,agnarok, and he has disco#ered her $sitting out,$ as though she were awaiting his arri#al 9orse seeresses often sat in open)air seance &utiseta' to commune with the spirit world and acEuire their supernatural #isions %e should perhaps imagine the Seeress clad in a dark)blue cloak and seated in some secluded location, like a crossroads or a gra#eyard She is then brought before the gods and men assembled in 1din's hall, as strophe 1 implies

Strophe /G %ar)<ather 1din ga#e me rings and necklaces !o gain my lore and my prophecy <or I see far and wide o#er all the worlds see over all the worlds: !he Seeress is here audaciously claiming an all)seeing power eAercised by 1din himself, who from his towering throne Hlidsk+alf can sur#ey all the worlds &Gylf 10' and whose ra#ens Hugin

&!hought' and *unin &*emory' whisper $into his ear all the tidings which they see or hear$ &Gylf 6='

Strophe 6; I saw #alkyries coming from afar, :agerly riding toward the gods: Skuld bore a shield, Skogul another, "unn, Hild, "ondul and "eirskogul <or thus are named Her+an's maidens %ho ride o#er the earth, #alkyries valkyries: 1din's maidens, who summon men killed in battle to Valhalla, the hall for slain heroes, where they ser#e the warriors beer and mead Grimnismal 6. gi#es an alternate list of their names Here they are riding toward the home of the gods for (alder's funeral feast (alder's death will be described in the neAt strophes, but in the Seeress' supernatural #ision the aftermath of the e#ent precedes its occurrence Valkyr/ur 3 $those who choose the slain $ !hey were originally corpse goddesses, to whom the dead belonged in the same sense &as !olkien pointed out' that the human carrion on the battlefield is the property of the ra#ens, 1din's birds In the remarkable ,arradarl/od &$Forrud's Hay,$ eAtant only in ./al s Saga 170' the #alkyries' prerogati#e of choosing the slain includes the power to $wea#e the web of battle,$ thereby determining the outcome Her/an: $leader of the host,$ 1din as lord or commander of the :inher+ar

9inth)century picture stone from the island of "otland, Sweden: A #alkyrie with a drinking)horn greets 1din as he arri#es at Valhalla astride Sleipnir, his eight)legged horse, on which he will fight at ,agnarok

Strophe 61 I saw (alder, the blood)stained god, Saw the hidden fate of 1din's son High abo#e fields there grew a plant Slender and most fair, mistletoe (alder: son of 1din and <rigg $He is best and all praise him5 he is so fair of feature and so bright that light shines from him A certain plant 2the oA)eye daisy4 is so white that it is called after (alder's eyelash It is the whitest of all plants, and from this you can tell his beauty both of hair and body He is the wisest of the Aesir, and the fairest)spoken and most merciful5 but that Euality attends him, that none of his decisions can be fulfilled He dwells in the place called (reidablik 2$(road)"leaming$4, which is in hea#en5 in that place may nothing unclean be$ &Gylf //' FumM>il interprets (alder as the 9orse counterpart of the Vedic so#ereign gods Aryaman and (haga, both listed among the adityas5 the former is the deified personification of the Arya, the Indo)Aryan people blood%stained god ### hidden fate: !he Seeress sees (alder as predestined to die (alder's fate was to become $the blood)stained god $ !his fate &orlog' was hidden and unpredictable, though it was #isible to the Seeress $(lood)stained god$ &blodgum tivur' may suggest a necessary

di#ine death5 1: tifer 3 sacrifice mistletoe: difficult to classify, therefore dangerous <rigg eAtracted oaths from all things not to harm (alder, but neglected to ask the mistletoe, thinking it too insignificant Hoki, disco#ering her omission, maliciously directed the blind god Hod to hurl a spear cut from a mistletoe)sprout at (alder, killing him $!hat was the greatest mischance that has e#er befallen among gods and men 1din bore that misfortune by so much the worst, as he had most perception of how great harm and loss for the Aesir were in the death of (alder$ &Gylf -G' Since mistletoe is neither coniferous nor deciduous, it escapes normal systems of classification, much as dawn and dusk are neither day nor night It grows on deciduous trees and looks like an e#ergreen, but it is neither *istletoe challenges boundaries and categories Hence its liberating role in 8hristmas traditions, and here its fatal role as (alder's bane (ut like the mistletoe, which sur#i#es death in winter, (alder will return to a reborn earth &str ./'

Strophe 6/ <rom that slender sprig which seemed so fair 8ame the fatal shaft that Hod flung (alder's brother, 1din's son, was born soon after, And killed him, though only one night old (alder s brother: namely Vali, son of 1din and the giantess ,ind, born to take #engeance on Hod &(alder s ,reams 115 Gesta ,anorum 6 - 15 Hyndluliod /G' Since Hod was the handbani &$killer by hand,$ i e the actual killer' of (alder, he was technically guilty of the crime Vali will sur#i#e ,agnarok &Vafthrudnismal 71'

Strophe 66 He neither washed his hands nor combed his hair @ntil (alder's killer was borne to the funeral)fire (ut in her <en)Halls <rigg wept Valhalla's woe %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ neither washed ### nor combed: i e Vali does not enter into the world of the gods and its normal social practices until he has accomplished his mission, killing Hod, the purpose for which he was born 8f Germania 61: $!here is one custom )) sometimes practiced by other "erman tribes, though rarely, and only as an eAhibition of indi#idual daring )) that has

become a general rule among the 8hatti As soon as they reach manhood they let their hair and beard grow as they will !his fashion of co#ering the face is assumed in accordance with a #ow pledging them to the ser#ice of Valor5 and only when they ha#e slain an enemy do they lay it aside Standing o#er the bloody corpse they ha#e despoiled, they re#eal their faces to the world once more, and proclaim that they ha#e at last repaid the debt they owe for being brought into the world and ha#e pro#ed themsel#es worthy of their nati#e land and parents !he coward who will not fight must stay unshorn $ 7en%Halls: <ensalir %hy <rigg would choose a marsh for her hall is unclear Valhalla s woe: (alder's death, by bringing mortality into the world of the gods, begins the process that will end in the destruction of the present order

Strophe 6!hen did Vali twist mighty bonds, Strong fetters made of guts Then ### guts: a short account of Vali's binding of Hoki Strophe 6- is probably an interpolation, and it reEuires an emendation to make Vali the sub+ect of the sentence !he binding of Hoki is described much differently, and at greater length, in Gylf 7;

Strophe 67 I saw bound in a gro#e under boiling springs A capti#e like loathsome Hoki in looks5 !here sits unhappy Sigyn by her mate %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ unha""y Sigyn: Hoki's wife In punishment Hoki is bound, with the intestines of his son 9arfi, and a poisonous snake is fastened o#er him Sigyn catches in a bowl the poison that drips down on her husband $%hen the basin becomes full she goes away to empty it, but in the meantime the #enom drips on to his face and then he shudders so #iolently that the whole earth shakes )) you call that an earthEuake !here he will lie in bonds until ,agnarok$ &Gylf 7;' In the prose epilogue to 6okasenna, as well as Gylf 7;, it is Skadi, 9+ord's wife, who fastens the snake o#er Hoki !here is a different account of Hoki's imprisonment in SaAo "rammaticus' Gesta ,anorum = 17 =

Strophe 6. <rom the east there flows, !hrough #alleys of #enom, A cutting ri#er called Slid, <ull of daggers and swords Slid: a ri#er in the underworld It originates from H#ergelmir, the ancient well beneath Dggdrasil in 9iflheim $It was many ages before the earth was shaped that 9iflheim was made5 and midmost within it lies the well that is called H#ergelmir, from which spring the ri#ers called S#ol, "unnthra, <+orm, <imbulthul, Slid and Hrid, Sylg and Dlg, Vid, Heiptr5 "+oll is hard by Hel)gates$ &Gylf -'

Strophe 60 9orth in the dark fields of 9ida#ellir Stands the golden hall of Sindri's kin5 And in uncold 1kolnir stands another, !he giant (rimir's beer)hall Sindri s kin: i e dwar#es Sindri &19 sindr 3 sinders' and his brother (rokk are the dwar#ish blacksmiths who forged, among other treasures, 1din's golden arm)ring &Fraupnir' and !hor's hammer &*+ollnir' uncold 3kolnir: Although both halls in Strophe 60 are located in the cold north, thus close to Hel, they are places of light and warmth, suggesting their future roles in the reborn earth &Gylf 7/' (rimir s beer%hall: not the (rimir of strophe G

Strophe 6= Another hall I saw standing on the Shore of Feath <ar from the sun, and its doors face north: Venom)drops fall down from its roof And serpents' spines entwine its walls Shore of ,eath: sunless 9astrond, the site of Hel's hall Hel is both a location, the realm of the dead in 9iflheim, and the goddess, Hoki's daughter, who presides o#er it $Hel he 2i e 1din4 cast into 9iflheim, and ga#e to her power o#er nine worlds, to apportion all abodes among those

that were sent to her: that is, men dead of sickness or of old age She has great possessions there5 her walls are eAceeding high and her gates great Her hall is called Sleet)8old5 her dish, Hunger5 <amine is her knife5 Idler, her thrall5 Slo#en, her maidser#ant5 Cit of Stumbling, her threshold, by which one enters5 Fisease, her bed5 "leaming (ale, her bed)hangings She is half blue)black and half flesh)color &by which she is easily recogni>ed', and #ery lowering and fierce$ &Gylf 6-' Hel the goddess may, howe#er, be a late personification of Hel the place, which is at once an $otherworld$ far away in the north and an $underworld$ deep below the earth from its roof: i e through the building's smoke)hole

Strophe 6G I saw there, wading in hea#y streams, 1athbreakers, murderous outlaws, and adulterers5 !here the dragon 9idhogg sucks blood from the dead And the wolf rends men %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ I saw there: i e in the weapon)bearing ri#er described in strophe 6. Slid is clearly a place of punishment, to which the worst classes of criminals are consigned after death .idhogg: a corpse)tearing dragon or serpent who li#es in H#ergelmir and rips at Dggdrasil's roots, causing the %orld !ree $more anguish than men percei#e$ &Grimnismal 675 Gylf 17)1.' 9idhogg will sur#i#e ,agnarok &str ..' the wolf: namely <enrir &3 J $fen)dweller$'

Strophe -; :astward in Ironwood an old crone sat And fed there <enrir's brood5 1ne from all of these, in troll's skin, %ill one day swallow the sun Ironwood: ?arn#id $!o the east of *idgard in a forest called Ironwood li#es a giantess !he troll women known as ?arn#id+ur li#e in that forest !he aged giantess ga#e birth to many giant sons, all of them in the shape of wol#es$ &Gylf 1/' !his old crone is the giantess Angrboda, mother of the wolf <enrir Hoki is the father Hoki and Angrboda &$(oder of "rief$' are also the parents of Hel and the *idgard Serpent

in troll s skin: describing the monstrous shape of a wolf whose mother is a giant and whose father is a god swallow the sun: 19 tungl 3 &some' hea#enly body, often the moon, but here it must mean $sun $

Strophe -1 He feeds on the flesh of doomed men5 %ith their blood he reddens the home of the powers Sunlight in summers shall be black thereafter, And all weathers bad %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ all weathers bad: the beginning of <imbul#etr, the "reat %inter when the sun becomes black, which presages ,agnarok $!here shall come that winter which is called <imbul#etr: in that time snow shall dri#e from all Euarters5 frosts shall be great then, and winds sharp5 there shall be no #irtue in the sun !hose winters shall proceed three in succession, and no summer between5 but first shall come three other winters, such that o#er all the world there shall be mighty battles In that time brothers shall slay each other for greed's sake, and none shall spare father or son in manslaughter and in incest !hen shall happen what seems great tidings: the %olf shall swallow the sun5 and this shall seem to men a great harm$ &Gylf 71'

Strophe -/ !here on a mound, striking his harp, "lad :ggther sat, herdsman of the she)giants5 Abo#e him crowed in the birdwood <+alar, the bright red cock Glad Eggther: a harp)playing giant who guards the troll women of Ironwood, here called glad because he is certain of his side's imminent #ictory He is presumably seated on a burial)mound birdwood: perhaps the haunt of ra#ens, traditional harbingers of slaughter !he Hauksbok manuscript has $gallows wood,$ which is more attracti#e poetically crowed ### 7/alar: apparently to awaken the giants Since <+alar is elsewhere used as a name for #arious giants, his allegiance is clear

Strophe -6 !o the gods crowed golden)combed "ullinkambi, %akens %ar)<ather 1din's warriors in Valhalla5 And another crows beneath the earth, A soot)red cock in the halls of Hel $akens 3din s warriors: the Seeress' #ision is now clearly shifting from mythological geography to 9ordic eschatology, for the crowing of the cock "ullinkambi signals the imminent arri#al of ,agnarok Hence 1din's army, the :inher+ar in the Hall of the Slain, must prepare to fight the giants and the chaotic forces of the underworld, the purpose for which 1din selected them, though he knew that his defeat was ine#itable !his resistance in the face of certain defeat is an eAample of what !olkien called the 9orthern theory of courage 8f % C Ker, The ,ark -ges &1G;-5 9ew Dork: *entor, 1G7=', -- : $%hat is distinctly 9orthern in the myth of the !wilight of the "ods is the strength of its theory of life It is this intensity of courage that distinguishes the 9orthern mythology &and Icelandic literature generally' from all others !he last word of the 9orthmen before their entry into the larger world of Southern culture, their last independent guess at the secret of the @ni#erse, is gi#en in the !wilight of the "ods As far as it goes, it is absolutely impregnable It is the assertion of the indi#idual freedom against all the terrors and temptations of the world It is absolute resistance, perfect because without hope !he 9orthern gods ha#e an eAultant eAtra#agance in their warfare which makes them more like !itans than 1lympians5 only they are on the right side, though it is not the side that wins !he winning side is 8haos and @nreason5 but the gods, who are defeated, think that defeat is not a refutation !he latest mythology of the 9orth is an allegory of the !eutonic self)will, carried to its noblest terms $

Strophe -"arm howls loudly before "nipahellir, His fetters will break and the ra#ener will run free *uch more I know, for farther forward I can see ,agnarok, doomsday of the #ictory)gods Garm: Hel's hound, who will kill &and in turn be killed by' !yr at ,agnarok &Gylf 71' He is probably the same dog that 1din encountered at the outset of his +ourney into the underworld &(alder s ,reams /)6' Gni"ahellir: likely a ca#e at the entrance to Hel, though its eAact location is not specified

Strophe -7 (rothers will fight and slay each other, Sisters' sons will betray their kin5 Hard it is on earth, great whoredom, AAe)age, sword)age, shields are clo#en, %ind)age, wolf)age, until the world perishes5 9o man will then spare another Sisters sons: !hroughout the "ermanic world there was a strong relationship between an uncle and his sister's son, first noted by !acitus: $!he sons of sisters are as highly honored by their uncles as by their own fathers Some tribes e#en consider the former tie the closer and more sacred of the two, and in demanding hostages prefer nephews to sons, thinking that this gi#es them a firmer grip on men's hearts and a wider hold on the family$ &Germania /;' !he #iolation of bonds of kinship by sisters sons is therefore an especially disturbing eAample of the social anarchy &a criminal wolf%age' that the Seeress predicts

Strophe -. *imir's sons dance and destiny kindles %hen old "+allarhorn sounds5 Houd blows Heimdall, raises his horn aloft 1din speaks with *imir's head *imir s sons: !he names of these sons of *imir are unknown !hey e#idently look forward to the coming conflagration !hey may be giants, reflecting an alternate account of *imir's ancestry *imir, though counted among the Aesir, may be the giantess (estla's brother, from whom 1din &his sister's son' acEuired magical lore &Havamal 1-;' *imir s sons would then be giants, enemies of the gods 6oud blows Heimdall: to summon the gods to council &Gylf 71', an immediate result of $destiny's kindling $

Strophe -0 !owering Dggdrasil trembles, !he ancient Ash groans as the giant breaks loose5 All shudder on Hel's ,oad, @ntil black Surt's flames engulf it

the giant breaks loose: perhaps Hoki, but more likely the wolf <enrir, hitherto bound by a magical fetter manufactured by the dwar#es <enrir will swallow 1din &Vafthrudnismal 76' Surt s flames: lit $Surt's kin $ Surt is a fire)giant from the south He will kill <rey and his fire will burn hea#en and earth $!he first world to eAist was *uspell in the southern hemisphere5 it is light and hot and that region flames and burns so that those who do not belong to it and whose nati#e land it is not, cannot endure it !he one who sits there at land's end to guard it is called Surt5 he has a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he will come and harry and will #anEuish all the gods and burn the whole world with fire$ &Gylf -' It is not clear what Surt s flames are here consuming Hel's ,oad or Hel itself seem most likely, but Dggdrasil is another possibility

Strophe -= How fare the AesirJ How fare the el#esJ All ?otunheim resounds5 Aesir meet in council5 %ise dwar#es groan before their doors of stone, *asters of the mountains %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ elves: here good creatures associated with the gods, as they often are In the )rose Edda the home of the Hight):l#es is in the hea#ens in Alfheim &:lf)Home', where (alder's hall is located &Gylf 10' :l#es are noted for their beauty Icelanders spoke of an attracti#e woman as 7rid sem alkona, $as fair as an elf,$ and in 1ld :nglish the ad+ecti#e aelfscyne 3 elf)beautiful (ut el#es can be hostile as well: Among the malign descendants of 8ain in (eowulf are eotenas ond ylfe ond orcneas, $ogres and el#es and orcs$ &(eowulf 11/', and the heathen Anglo)SaAons belie#ed in $elf)shots,$ in#isible darts shot by el#es that caused #arious ailments Snorri, howe#er, distinguishes light)el#es from dark el#es: $2in4 Alfheim dwell the folk called Hight):l#es5 but the Fark):l#es 2perhaps dwar#es4 dwell down in the earth, and they are unlike them in appearance, but by far more unlike them in nature !he Hight):l#es are fairer to look upon than the sun, but the Fark):l#es are blacker than pitch$ &Gylf 10' dwarves groan: as subterranean creatures, the dwar#es can sense re#erberations on the ground abo#e

Strophe 7;

<rom the east comes Hrym And lifts up his linden)shield Huge ?ormungand writhes in giant)rage5 !he Serpent churns the wa#es A pale eagle screeches with +oy, %hose beak will rend the dead 9aglfar is loose 0ormungand: the *idgard serpent that inhabits the ocean surrounding the earth, which it en#elops with its coils $21din4 cast the Serpent into the deep sea, where he lies about all the land5 and this Serpent grew so greatly that he lies in the midst of the ocean encompassing all the land, and bites upon his own tail$ &Gylf 6-' !hor will, at the cost of his own life, #anEuish ?ormungand at the end of this world5 near its beginning his Indo)Aryan counterpart Indra, also a thunder god, killed the drought serpent Vritra !here can be no doubt that these are both refleAes of a common Aryan proto)myth .aglfar: the largest of all ships &Gylf -6', here helmed by Hoki &str 71', in the )rose Edda by the giant Hrym $It is made of dead men's nails5 wherefore a warning is desirable, that if a man die with unshorn nails, that man adds much material to the ship 9aglfar, which gods and men were fain to ha#e finished late$ &Gylf 71' !he corpse)ship 9aglfar will be released by ?ormungand's churning of the wa#es, which will flood the earth

Strophe 71 !he ship sails from the east5 1#er the sea Hoki steers *uspell's people, Sons of fiends who follow the ra#ening %olf, (yleist's brother with them *us"ell s "eo"le: *uspell is a "ermanic term for the conflagration that will destroy the earth 1ld High "erman mus"illi 3 doomsday Here it must be understood as the name of a fire)giant from *uspellsheim (yleist s brother: namely Hoki

Strophe 7/ (lack Surt fares from the south, (rings the destroyer of branches5 His sword shines like the sun

,ocky crags crash down, troll)wi#es fall, %arriors tread Hel's ,oad, hea#en is clo#en destroyer of branches: kenning for fire heaven is cloven: $In this din shall the hea#en be clo#en, and the Sons of *uspell ride thence: Surt shall ride first, and both before him and after him burning fire5 his sword is eAceeding good: from it radiance shines brighter than from the sun5 when they ride o#er (ifrost, then the bridge shall break !he Sons of *uspell shall go forth to that field which is called Vigrid, thither shall come <enris)%olf also and the *idgard Serpent5 then Hoki and Hrym shall come there also, and with him all the <rost)"iants All the champions of Hel follow Hoki5 and the Sons of *uspell shall ha#e a company by themsel#es, and it shall be #ery bright !he field Vigrid is a hundred leagues wide each way$ &Gylf 71'

Strophe 76 !hen comes Hlin's second sorrow %hen 1din fares forth to fight the %olf And bright <rey, (eli's bane, fares against Surt 9ow must fall <rigg's delight Hlin: <rigg as protectress Hlin mistakenly appears in the )rose Edda as a separate goddess under <rigg's control: $She is established as keeper o#er those men whom <rigg desires to preser#e from any danger$ &Gylf 67' second sorrow: 1din's death while fighting <enrir, <rigg's first sorrow being the death of (alder (eli s bane: namely <rey (eli was a giant, perhaps "erd's brother &cf Skirnismal 1.', killed by <rey with a stag's antler &Gylf 60' At ,agnarok <rey is without his sword, which he lent to his ser#ant Skirnir for his wooing)by)proAy of "erd, so he must fight Surt without a weapon &6okasenna -/5 Skirnismal =)G' 7rigg s delight: namely 1din

Strophe 77 !hen comes tall Vidar, the Victory)<ather's son, <ights <enrir, the corpse)sca#enger %ith his hand he strikes his sword Into the heart of roaring Hoki's son

!hus Vidar's father is a#enged Vidar: the silent god, perhaps 1din's successor, ha#ing a#enged his death He will sur#i#e ,agnarok and li#e in $the temples of the gods$ of the new world &Vafthrudnismal 71' In Vafthrudnismal 76 and Gylf 71 Vidar tears the %olf's +aws apart, which must reflect an earlier #ersion of his feat 8f ?aan Cuh#el, :om"arative *ythology &(altimore: ?ohn Hopkins, 1G=0', 7., /;-)/;7: $In the Rig%Veda 2the Indic kshatriya god4 Vishnu is repeatedly praised as the 'three)stepper,' or 'wide)strider,' for taking his crucial primordial three strides that somehow measured out and affirmed the habitable uni#erse for gods and men alike !here is a remarkable onomastic parallel to Vishnu in the 9orse god Vidar, whose #ery name contains the eAhortation 'widerO', e#en as Vishnu is plausibly analy>able simply as '%ide' $5 $Vishnu's specific 9orse comparand is the 'silent god' Vidar, who according to Snorri's Gylfaginning 'has a stout shoe and is almost as strong as !hor !he gods rely on him in all difficult situations ' 1f the latter kind is ,agnarok itself: when <enrir has swallowed and killed 1din, Vidar will stride forth, plant his well)shod foot on the wolf's lower +aw, and with his hand force the upper +aw open until the beast's throat is torn asunder !his is the ultimate mythological eAhortation $%iderO$ which inheres in Vidar's name as well as Vishnu's, only here it is carried out eschatologically and in retribution rather than primordially in mapping out the uni#erse !ypically much of 9orse myth gra#itates away from creation and toward ,agnarok: !hor's showdown with the serpent, Vidar's eAploit of the wide step $ Victory%7ather: one of 1din's many names Sigfodr specifies his role in apportioning #ictory5 it is presumably used in this conteAt with some irony

Strophe 7. !hen comes !hor, :arth's renowned offspring5 1din's son ad#ances to fight the Serpent In his rage *idgard's Crotector strikes5 All men will abandon their homes (ack nine footsteps from the Fragon falls !hor Fying, yet fearing not dishonor Earth s renowned offs"ring: !hor's parents are 1din and ?orth &3 :arth', identified here by her alternate name <+orgyn (ack nine footste"s: i e into the nine abodes of the underworld ,ying: from the Fragon's breath, which is poisonous, a traditional element in dragon lore $!hor shall put to death the *idgard Serpent,

and shall stride away nine paces from that spot5 then shall he fall dead to the earth, because of the #enom which the Snake has blown at him$ &Gylf 71'

Strophe 70 Sun blackens, earth sinks into the sea, (right stars fall from the sky, Smoke and fire surge against Hife's Sustainer, !all flames play against hea#en itself 6ife s Sustainer: Dggdrasil It is not clear whether the %orld)!ree sur#i#es ,agnarok, though the story of Hifthrasir and Hif suggests that it does

Strophe 7G Det I see emerging from the ocean Another earth, once more growing green 1#er cascading waterfalls the eagle flies, And hunts for fish in the fells hunts for fish: i e returns to its normal peacetime pursuits, no longer searching for battle carrion, as in strophe 7; !he eagle, the ra#en and the wolf are the traditional $beasts of battle$ of 9orthern literature

Strophe .; 1n shining Ida)plain the Aesir meet And talk of the great earth)encircling Serpent !hey call to mind their former might And <imbultyr's old runes the -esir meet: $VPdar and Vali shall be li#ing, inasmuch as neither sea nor the fire of Surt shall ha#e harmed them5 and they shall dwell at Ida) plain, where Asgard was before And then the sons of !hor, *odi and *agni, shall come there, and they shall ha#e *+ollnir there After that (alder shall come thither, and Hod, from Hel5 then all shall sit down together and hold speech with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which ha#e been before: of the *idgard Serpent and of <enris %olf !hen they shall find in the grass those golden playing pieces that had belonged to the Aesir$ &Gylf 76'

7imbultyr s old runes: i e the secret wisdom of 1din, acEuired in the preceding age <imbultyr 3 $the mighty god,$ an epithet for 1din

Strophe .1 !here on the grass they will find again %ondrous tables of gold, %hich they had owned in yore)days tables of gold: !he significance of these tables is unclear, but their reappearance recalls the idyllic early days of the elder world and suggests a cyclical progression of time back to an earlier stage, beginning a regenerated #ersion of the old golden age !hroughout the concluding strophes of V!lus"a there is a strong sense not only of change but also of continuity between the old world and the new

Strophe ./ Har#ests will grow on unsown acres5 All ills will be amended5 (alder will return He will dwell with Hod in Hropt's Victory)Hall, Shrine of the battle)gods %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ unsown acres: $In that time the earth shall emerge out of the sea, and shall then be green and fair5 then shall the fruits of it be brought forth unsown$ &Gylf 76' Hro"t s Victory%Hall: Valhalla Hropt 3 1din %e should recall a curious detail in the )rose Edda's description of (alder: $that Euality attends him, that none of his decisions can be fulfilled$ &Gylf //' !his odd trait e#idently anticipates a future time, with (alder reborn and li#ing in Valhalla, when his decisions will finally be fulfilled

Strophe .6 !hen can Hoenir choose blood)wood, And the sons of two brothers li#e in wide Vindheim %ould you know yet moreJ And whatJ choose blood%wood: cast rune lots for prophecy5 runes used in di#ination were often hallowed by sacrificial blood Hoenir is a god of careful deliberation and therefore prudently consults the oracles 8asting lots

was an ancient "ermanic practice: $<or omens and the casting of lots they ha#e the highest regard !heir procedure in casting lots is always the same !hey cut off a branch of a nut)bearing tree and slice it into strips5 these they mark with different signs 2i e di#inatory symbols, runes4 and throw them completely at random onto a white cloth !hen the priest of the state, if the consultation is a public one, or the father of the family if it is pri#ate, offers a prayer to the gods, and looking up at the sky picks up three strips, one at a time 2i e three different runes from among those spread on the white cloth4, and reads their meaning from the signs pre#iously scored on them 2i e combines the three into a single meaning4 If the lots forbid an enterprise, there is no deliberation that day on the matter in Euestion5 if they allow it, confirmation by the taking of auspices is reEuired$ &Germania 1;' the sons of two brothers: the sons of (alder and Hod Significantly, <orseti, son of (alder and his wife 9anna, is a god of law and +ustice Vindheim: %ind Home, i e the hea#ens

Strophe .I see a hall more fair than the sun, !hatched with gold in "imli !herein noble rulers shall dwell And e#ermore delights en+oy Gimli: currently occupied by the Hight):l#es $At the southern end of hea#en is that hall which is fairest of all, and brighter than the sun5 it is called "imli It shall stand when both hea#en and earth ha#e departed5 and good and righteous people shall dwell therein$ &Gylf 10' !he name "imli may mean $fire shelter,$ which could indicate that the new order after ,agnarok will be immune from the chaotic forces that destroyed the old

Strophe .7 !hen comes the Cowerful 1ne: He who go#erns e#erything 8omes from abo#e to the di#ine +udgment the )owerful 3ne: perhaps Heimdall, though this strophe, which does not appear in the 8odeA ,egius, is generally regarded as a 8hristian interpolation, and Snorri has Heimdall and Hoki killing each other at ,agnarok &Gylf 71' 1n the other hand, since Heimdall has nine mothers,

he may also, as !ur#ille)Cetre suggests, ha#e nine li#es

Strophe .. !here comes the dark dragon: !he shining serpent flies up from Fark *ountains5 <lying o#er the field 9idhogg bears corpses on his wings 9ow I must descend ,ark *ountains: 9idaf+oll, probably not the 9ida#ellir of strophe 60, though in the )rose Edda they are treated as the same location .idhogg bears cor"ses: i e carries the corpses back to the underworld, where he will consume them !he poem thus ends on a note of balanced optimism: !he world has been reborn and regenerated, but the dragon 9idhogg sur#i#es, though li#ing in 9idaf+oll, his proper place I must descend: back into the underworld