The Poetic Edda Read online

  tell the time and season.”

  {53} Odin said:

  [24] “Tell me this third,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  How did the day come to be,

  or the night which passes above,

  with its waxing and waning moon?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [25] “Delling is the name

  of the father of the day,

  and the night is Norvi’s daughter.

  The waxing and waning of the moon

  was designed by the gods

  to help tell the time and season.”

  Odin said:

  [26] “Tell me this fourth,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  How did the winter come to be,

  or the warm summer,

  when did they first come about?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [27] “Vindsval is the name

  of the father of winter,

  and Svasuth’s the father of summer.”

  Odin said:

  [28] “Tell me this fifth,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  Who was the oldest being,

  whether god or giant,

  who appeared in the oldest times?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [29] “Untold years ago,

  before the earth was made,

  Bergelmir was born.

  {54} His father was

  Thruthgelmir, and Thruthgelmir’s

  father was Aurgelmir.”

  Odin said:

  [30] “Tell me this sixth,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  How did Aurgelmir come to be,

  what was the origin

  of that first giant?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [31] “Drops of poison

  fell from Elivagar,

  they gelled, and formed the giant.

  All the families of us giants

  have our origin there;

  that’s why we’re bad, through and through.”

  Odin said:

  [32] “Tell me this seventh,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  How did that giant,

  Ymir, have children,

  if he had no woman to share his bed?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [33] “They say two giants,

  a man and a woman,

  grew under his armpits—

  one foot had a child

  with the other foot,

  and their son had six heads.”

  Odin said:

  [34] “Tell me this eighth,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  What is your first memory,

  {55} the earliest thing you remember?

  I suspect you’re all-knowing, giant.”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [35] “My very first memory

  is of Bergelmir,

  untold years

  before the earth was formed.

  I remember the wise giant

  laid out in his coffin.”

  Odin said:

  [36] “Tell me this ninth,

  if you want to be called wise,

  if you know it, Riddle-Weaver:

  How did the wind come to be,

  the wind that blows over the sea?

  It’s something that is seldom seen.”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [37] “There is a giant eagle

  named Hraesvelg,

  who sits at the sky’s end.

  They say that it’s

  from his wings

  the wind is blown.”

  Odin said:

  [38] “Tell me this tenth—

  you must know the fate

  of all the gods, wise Riddle-Weaver:

  How did Njorth come to be

  among the Aesir?

  He has hundreds

  of temples and altars—

  but he was not born among the Aesir.”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [39] “Wise Vanir created him

  in Vanaheim, and gave him

  as a hostage to the Aesir.

  At Ragnarok

  {56} he will go back home

  to the wise Vanir.”

  Odin said:

  [40] “Tell me this eleventh:

  Where is the hall where men

  fight each other every day?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [41] “All the Einherjar

  in Odin’s hall

  fight each other every day.

  They kill each other,

  but then ride back from battle

  and sit in the evening as friends.”

  Odin said:

  [42] “Tell me this twelfth—

  you must know the fate

  of all the gods, wise Riddle-Weaver:

  Tell me the truth

  about the secrets of the giants

  and the gods, you wise giant.”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [43] “I can tell you the truth

  about the secrets of the giants

  and all the gods,

  for I have visited them all at home.

  I’ve been to nine realms

  beneath Hel, to realms

  where the dead travel after Hel.”

  Odin said:

  [44] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  Will any humans remain alive

  after Fimbulveter

  has passed over Midgard?”

  {57} Riddle-Weaver said:

  [45] “Life and Pulsing-with-Life

  will survive; they will hide

  in Hoddmimir’s forest.

  They will eat

  the morning dew,

  and renew the human race.”

  Odin said:

  [46] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  How will there still be a sun

  when the wolf has eaten

  the one that now flies in heaven?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [47] “The sun

  will have a daughter

  before Fenrir eats her.

  And that young sun

  will travel on her mother’s path

  when the gods have all died.”

  Odin said:

  [48] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  Who are those young women

  who fly above the sea,

  who travel in the air with their craft?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [49] “There are three rivers

  that fall over

  those young women of Mogthrasir.

  Their only happiness

  is in Midgard,

  though they were born among giants.”

  {58} Odin said:

  [50] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  Which gods

  will inherit Asgard,

  when the fires of Ragnarok go out?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [51] “Vithar and Vali

  will inhabit Asgard

  when the fires of Ragnarok go out.

  Mothi and Magni

  will inherit Mjollnir

  after Thor is killed.”

  Odin said:

  [52] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  How will Odin

  lose his life

  at
Ragnarok?”

  Riddle-Weaver said:

  [53] “A wolf

  will swallow Odin,

  but Vithar will avenge him.

  He’ll cut open

  the wolf’s cold jaws,

  kill the killer of his father.”

  Odin said:

  [54] “I have traveled so much,

  I have tried much,

  and I have often tested the mighty.

  What did Odin whisper

  in Balder’s ear,

  before he placed him on the pyre?”

  {59} Riddle-Weaver said:

  [55] “No one knows

  what you said

  in those ancient days, in your son’s ear.

  I have spoken my aged wisdom,

  I have told you of Ragnarok,

  I have spoken with a doomed mouth.

  [56] “Now I know that I wagered

  my head against Odin’s in wisdom—

  but you, Odin, are forever the wisest of all.”

  {60} Grimnismal (The Words of Odin in Disguise)

  Grimnismal is similar to Vafthruthnismal, being mostly a compilation of mythological lore and having a frame story involving Odin. In this case, Odin disguises himself under the name “Shadowed-Face” (Old Norse Grimnir, literally the “Cloaked One”). He is held captive in the court of a king he once favored, and delivers his mythic lore to the king’s merciful young son after eight nights of being starved between two bonfires. The prose prologue and epilogue are original. Grimnismal appears in both the Codex Regius and in the manuscript AM 748 I 4to.

  Grimnismal

  Concerning the sons of King Hrauthung

  King Hrauthung had two sons. One was named Agnar and the other Geirroth. Agnar was ten years old, and Geirroth was eight. The two of them rowed out in a boat with their fishing tackle and hoped to catch some small fish, but the wind drove them far out into the sea. In the dark night they wrecked and went up on to the land, where they met a poor farmer, and they stayed there with him over the winter. The farmer’s old wife fostered Agnar, but the farmer fostered Geirroth and tutored him. Early in the spring the man gave them a boat, and when he and his wife followed them down to the shore, the man spoke to Geirroth in secrecy.

  The boys departed, and the wind was favorable. They came to their father’s harbor, and then Geirroth, who stood foremost in the boat, sprang up on land and shoved the boat back out to sea and said: “Go wherever the trolls take you!”

  The boat drifted far out to sea with Agnar, but Geirroth went inland to his father’s hall. He was received well, but he learned that his father had died. So Geirroth was taken as king, and he became a famous man.

  Odin and Frigg sat in Hlithskjalf and looked out over all the worlds. Odin said, “Look how your foster-son Agnar sits and fathers children on a trollwoman in a cave, while my foster-son Geirroth is king and rules the land.”

  {61} Frigg said, “But Geirroth is so stingy with food that he starves his guests, if he thinks there are too many.”

  Odin said that this was a tremendous lie, and so he and Frigg made a wager about it. Then Frigg sent her servant Fulla to Geirroth, and had Fulla warn him that a sorceror had come to the land, but that this sorceror could be recognized by the fact that even the fiercest dog would not attack him.

  It was, in fact, an idle rumor that Geirroth was miserly with his food. All the same, he ordered any man who would not be attacked by any dog to be apprehended. Odin came wearing a blue cape, and called himself Shadowed-Face, but said nothing more of himself even when asked, so the king had him tortured in an effort to extract more information from him, and had him placed between two burning fires, where he sat for eight nights.

  King Geirroth had a ten-year-old son, named Agnar after the king’s brother. Agnar went to this “Shadowed-Face” and gave him a full horn to drink and said he thought his father was behaving poorly, to torture a man without cause. Shadowed-Face drank, and by then the fire had grown so large that it had begun to burn his cloak. Then Shadowed-Face said:

  [1] “YOU’RE HOT, FIRE,

  and much too big—

  get away from me, flames!

  My coat is getting burned,

  even though I’m holding it up!

  My clothing is on fire!

  [2] “I’ve sat between the fires here

  for eight nights, and no one

  offered or gave me food,

  except Agnar alone.

  Now Agnar will be the sole ruler

  of the land of the Goths.

  [3] “Hail, Agnar,

  it’s the chief of the gods

  who’s wishing you well!

  You will never be repaid

  so well for one drink,

  no matter how long you live.

  {62} [4] “I see a holy land

  which lies near those

  of the gods and the elves.

  In that place, Thruthheim,

  Thor will live

  till Ragnarok.

  [5] “Ull has built

  good halls for himself

  in Ydalir.

  The gods gave Frey

  the land of Alfheim

  long ago, as a gift in his youth.”

  [6] “I know a third place

  where happy gods

  live beneath a silver roof.

  It’s called Valaskjalf—

  the place Odin

  made himself in the old days.

  [7] “A fourth hall

  is Sokkvabekk, which

  the cool waves crash upon.

  There Odin and Saga

  drink happily every day

  from golden cups.

  [8] “A fifth land is

  Gladsheim, where gold-bright,

  wide Valhalla stands.

  That is where

  Odin chooses from the men

  killed by weapons every day.

  [9] “Valhalla

  is easily recognized

  if one comes to see it.

  The hall is held up by spearshafts,

  it is roofed by shields,

  chainmail is on the benches.

  {63} [10] “Valhalla

  is easily recognized

  if one comes to see it.

  A wolf hangs above

  the western door,

  and an eagle above him.

  [11] “Thjassi, the mighty giant,

  once lived in the sixth hall,

  now known as Thrymheim.

  And now Skathi,

  bright bride of the gods,

  lives in her father’s old home.

  [12] “Balder built himself

  a hall, and it is called

  Breithablik.

  That’s a place

  where I know

  you’ll find little grief.

  [13] “Heimdall inhabits

  the eighth hall, Himinbjorg,

  that is where he is the master.

  In that pleasant house,

  the watchman of the gods

  happily drinks his good mead.

  [14] “Freyja rules

  in the ninth land, Folkvang—

  that is where she arranges the seats.

  She chooses half the dead

  who die in battle,

  and Odin takes the other half.

  [15] “The tenth hall

  is Glitnir, with gold walls

  and a silver roof.

  The god named Forseti

  is there on most days,

  and he settles disputes.

  {64} [16] “The eleventh hall

  is Njorth’s, which he built

  and named Noatun.

  That flawless

  lord of men

  rules that high-timbered temple.

  [17] “The wide land

  of Vithar is overgrown

  with high grass and weeds.

  That bold son of Odin

  is preparing himself

  to avenge his father on horseback.

  [18] �
�Andhrimnir the cook

  lets the pork from Saehrimnir

  cook in the cauldron Eldhrimnir.

  There is no better meat,

  and there are few who know

  what the Einherjar eat.

  [19] “Battle-winning Odin

  feeds his tamed wolves,

  Geri and Freki.

  But for his part,

  weapon-loving Odin

  lives on wine alone.

  [20] “Thought and Memory,

  my ravens, fly every day

  the whole world over.

  Each day I fear

  that Thought might not return,

  but I fear more for Memory.”

  [21] “The waves thunder,

  and the Midgard-serpent

  makes his home in Fenrir’s sea.

  Dead men will find

  that sea passage

  too wide to wade.

  {65} [22] “Valgrind

  is a holy hall

  with holy doors, upon a field.

  The gate is old,

  and there are few

  who know how it is locked.

  [23] “Thor’s hall, Bilskirnir,

  has six-hundred and forty rooms,

  if all are counted.

  I am certain

  that of all roofed houses,

  Thor’s is the largest.

  [24] “I think Valhalla

  has six-hundred and forty doors,

  if all are counted.

  Eight hundred Einherjar

  will walk through each,

  when the day comes to fight Fafnir.

  [25] “There is a goat named Heithrun

  who stands on Odin’s hall

  and gnaws the limbs of the tree Laerath.

  That goat fills Valhalla’s cups

  with bright mead from her udders,

  and that drink will never diminish.

  [26] “There is a stag named Eikthyrnir

  who stands on Odin’s hall

  and gnaws the limbs of the tree Laerath.

  Drops fall from his horns

  into the well of Hvergelmir;

  that is the origin of all the rivers:

  [27] “The rivers Sith and Vith,

  Saekin and Eikin,

  Svol and Gunnthro,

  Fjorm and Fimbulthul,

  Rhine and Rennandi,

  Gipul and Gopul,

  {66} Gomul and Geirvomul,

  Thyn and Vin,

  Tholl and Holl—

  these conceal the gods’ riches.

  [28] “Another river is Vina,

  another Vegsvinn,

  a third is Thjothnuma,

  and also Nyt and Not,

  Nonn and Hronn,

  Slith and Hrith,

  Sylg and Ylg,

  Vith and Von,

  Vond and Strond,

  Gjoll and Leipt—

  these rivers flow near the men

  who die and go to Hel.

  [29] “Thor will wade

  four rivers every day—

  the ones called Kormt and Ormt,

  and the two rivers Kerlaug—

  when he goes to meetings

  at the tree Yggdrasil.