Völuspá

Völuspá (also Vǫluspá, Vǫlospá, or Vǫluspǫ́; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of the creation of the world, its coming end, and its subsequent rebirth that is related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. Her name is given twice as Heiðr. The poem is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Parts of the poem appear in the Prose Edda, but the earliest known wholly preserved version of the poem is in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts.

Preservation

Many parts of Völuspá were first seen in the Prose Edda, written around the year 1220. The oldest copy of this book is from about 1300. The whole poem is in two important old books: the Icelandic Codex Regius from around 1270 and the Haukr Erlendsson Hauksbók Codex from about 1334. Scholars often use the Codex Regius version when they publish the poem.

The way the poems are ordered and how many parts there are can change depending on which old book you look at. Some people who put the poem into books today have changed the order of the parts.

Synopsis

The poem begins with a wise woman, called a völva, asking the god Odin if he wants to hear ancient stories from her memory. She remembers many important things, like the creation of the world from a magical void called Ginnungagap. The world was formed when the gods lifted the earth from the sea, and they created the sun, moon, and stars.

The story talks about many events, including the creation of the first humans and a big war between the gods. The völva tells Odin secrets, like how he lost one of his eyes to gain knowledge. She also speaks about the end of the world, called Ragnarök, where many gods fight their final battles. After the destruction, the world is reborn, and some gods return to live in peace again. The poem ends with the völva coming out of her vision.

Reception

Völuspá is one of the most talked-about poems from the Poetic Edda, and it comes from the tenth century, just before Iceland turned to Christianity. In 2018, some experts thought the poem might describe a big volcano eruption that happened around the year 939 in Eldgjá. They believed the poem’s strong pictures of nature might have been used to help change people’s beliefs in Iceland.

Some scholars believe the poem shows hints of Christianity, like stories from the Sibylline Prophecies. Henry Adams Bellows, writing in 1936, thought the poet might have known about Christianity and added parts of it to the poem. He said this was a time when old beliefs and new Christian ideas lived together in Iceland before Christianity became the main religion. Some parts of the poem, like the Dvergatal section, might have been added later. While some think a powerful figure in the poem is Jesus, Bellows wasn’t sure about this.

In popular culture

The poem Völuspá has inspired many modern stories and songs. The writer J. R. R. Tolkien used names from it for the Dwarves and the Wizard Gandalf in his book The Hobbit. In the TV show Vikings, some parts of Völuspá are sung, and they are also used as battle chants. A 2012 music album called Umskiptar by the band Burzum uses words from Völuspá in its songs. The video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla from 2020 also includes some lines from Völuspá in a song called “Twilight of the Gods”.