Poetic EddaNorse MythologyAncient Myth / ComparativeOld NorseSharePoetic Edda 5Bellows - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableBellowsLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Poetic Edda 1Poetic Edda 2Poetic Edda 3Poetic Edda 4Poetic Edda 5Poetic Edda 6Poetic Edda 7Poetic Edda 8Poetic Edda 9Poetic Edda 10Poetic Edda 11Poetic Edda 12Poetic Edda 13Poetic Edda 14Poetic Edda 15Poetic Edda 16Poetic Edda 17Poetic Edda 18Poetic Edda 19Poetic Edda 20Poetic Edda 21Poetic Edda 22Poetic Edda 23Poetic Edda 24Poetic Edda 25Poetic Edda 26Poetic Edda 27Poetic Edda 28Poetic Edda 29Poetic Edda 30Poetic Edda 31Poetic Edda 32Poetic Edda 33Poetic Edda 34Poetic Edda 35Poetic Edda 36Poetic Edda 37Poetic Edda 38Poetic Edda 39Poetic Edda 40Poetic Edda 41Poetic Edda 42Poetic Edda 43Poetic Edda 44Poetic Edda 45Poetic Edda 46Poetic Edda 47Poetic Edda 48Poetic Edda 49Poetic Edda 50Poetic Edda 51Poetic Edda 52Poetic Edda 53Poetic Edda 54Poetic Edda 55Poetic Edda 56Poetic Edda 57Poetic Edda 58Poetic Edda 59Poetic Edda 60Poetic Edda 61Poetic Edda 62Poetic Edda 63Poetic Edda 64Poetic Edda 65Poetic Edda 66Poetic Edda 67Poetic Edda 68Poetic Edda 69Poetic Edda 70Poetic Edda 71Poetic Edda 72Poetic Edda 73Poetic Edda 74Poetic Edda 75Poetic Edda 76Poetic Edda 77Poetic Edda 78Poetic Edda 79Poetic Edda 80Poetic Edda 81Poetic Edda 82Poetic Edda 83Poetic Edda 84Poetic Edda 85Poetic Edda 86›Introductory NotePoetic Edda 5ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1The Vafthruthnismol follows the Hovamol in the Codex Regius. From stanza 20 on it is also included in the Arnamagnæan Codex, the first part evidently having appeared on a leaf now lost. Snorri quotes eight stanzas of it in the Prose Edda, and in his prose text closely paraphrases many others. 2The poem is wholly in dialogue form except for a single narrative stanza (stanza 5). After a brief introductory discussion between Othin and his wife, Frigg, concerning the reputed wisdom of the giant Vafthruthnir, Othin, always in quest of wisdom, seeks out the giant, calling himself Gagnrath. The giant immediately insists that they shall demonstrate which is the wiser of the two, and propounds four questions (stanzas 11, 13, 15, and 17), each of which Othin answers. It is then the god’s turn to ask, and he begins with a series of twelve numbered questions regarding the origins and past history of life. These Vafthruthnir answers, and Othin asks five more questions, this time referring to what is to follow the destruction of the gods, the last one asking the name of his own slayer. Again Vafthruthnir answers, and Othin finally propounds the unanswerable question: “What spake Othin himself in the ears of his son, ere in the bale-fire he burned?” Vafthruthnir, recognizing his questioner as Othin himself, admits his inferiority in wisdom, and so the contest ends. 3The whole poem is essentially encyclopædic in character, and thus was particularly useful to Snorri in his preparation of the Prose Edda. The encyclopædic poem with a slight narrative outline seems to have been exceedingly popular; the Grimnismol and the much later Alvissmol represent different phases of the same type. The Vafthruthnismol and Grimnismol together, indeed, constitute a fairly complete dictionary of Norse mythology. There has been much discussion as to the probable date of the Vafthruthnismol, but it appears to belong to about the same period as the Voluspo: in other words, the middle of the tenth century. While there may be a few interpolated passages in the poem as we now have it, it is clearly a united whole, and evidently in relatively good condition. 41. “Counsel me, Frigg, | for I long to fare, And Vafthruthnir fain would find; In wisdom old | with the giant wise Myself would I seek to match.” 52. “Heerfather here | at home would I keep, Where the gods together dwell; Amid all the giants | an equal in might To Vafthruthnir know I none.” 63. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got from the gods; And fain would I know | how Vafthruthnir now Lives in his lofty hall.” 74. “Safe mayst thou go, | safe come again, And safe be the way thou wendest! Father of men, | let thy mind be keen When speech with the giant thou seekest.” 85. The wisdom then | of the giant wise Forth did he fare to try; He found the hall | of the father of Im, And in forthwith went Ygg. 96. “Vafthruthnir, hail! | to thy hall am I come, For thyself I fain would see; And first would I ask | if wise thou art, Or, giant, all wisdom hast won.” 107. “Who is the man | that speaks to me, Here in my lofty hall? Forth from our dwelling | thou never shalt fare, Unless wiser than I thou art.” 118. “Gagnrath they call me, | and thirsty I come From a journey hard to thy hall; Welcome I look for, | for long have I fared, And gentle greeting, giant.” 129. “Why standest thou there | on the floor whilst thou speakest? A seat shalt thou have in my hall; Then soon shall we know | whose knowledge is more, The guest’s or the sage’s gray.” 1310. “If a poor man reaches | the home of the rich, Let him wisely speak or be still; For to him who speaks | with the hard of heart Will chattering ever work ill.” 1411. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the steed | that each morn anew The day for mankind doth draw?” 1512. “Skinfaxi is he, | the steed who for men The glittering day doth draw; The best of horses | to heroes he seems, And brightly his mane doth burn.” 1613. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the steed | that from East anew Brings night for the noble gods?” 1714. “Hrimfaxi name they | the steed that anew Brings night for the noble gods; Each morning foam | from his bit there falls, And thence come the dews in the dales.” 1815. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the river | that ’twixt the realms Of the gods and the giants goes?” 1916. “Ifing is the river | that ’twixt the realms Of the gods and the giants goes; For all time ever | open it flows, No ice on the river there is.” 2017. “Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known: What name has the field | where in fight shall meet Surt and the gracious gods?” 2118. “Vigrith is the field | where in fight shall meet Surt and the gracious gods; A hundred miles | each way does it measure, And so are its boundaries set.” 2219. “Wise art thou, guest! | To my bench shalt thou go, In our seats let us speak together; Here in the hall | our heads, O guest, hall we wager our wisdom upon.” 2320. “First answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails, And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: In earliest time | whence came the earth, Or the sky, thou giant sage?” 2421. “Out of Ymir’s flesh | was fashioned the earth, And the mountains were made of his bones; The sky from the frost-cold | giant’s skull, And the ocean out of his blood.” 2522. “Next answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails, And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence came the moon, | o’er the world of men That fares, and the flaming sun?” 2623. “Mundilferi is he | who begat the moon, And fathered the flaming sun; The round of heaven | each day they run, To tell the time for men.” 2724. “Third answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence came the day, | o’er mankind that fares, Or night with the narrowing moon?” 2825. “The father of day | is Delling called, And the night was begotten by Nor; Full moon and old | by the gods were fashioned, To tell the time for men.” 2926. “Fourth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence did winter come, | or the summer warm, First with the gracious gods?” 3027. “Vindsval he was | who was winter’s father, And Svosuth summer begat;” . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3128. “Fifth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: What giant first | was fashioned of old, And the eldest of Ymir’s kin?” 3229. “Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made Was the birth of Bergelmir; Thruthgelmir’s son | was the giant strong, And Aurgelmir’s grandson of old.” 3330. “Sixth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence did Aurgelmir come | with the giants’ kin, Long since, thou giant sage?” 3431. “Down from Elivagar | did venom drop, And waxed till a giant it was; And thence arose | our giants’ race, And thus so fierce are we found.” 3532. “Seventh answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: How begat he children, | the giant grim, Who never a giantess knew?” 3633. “They say ’neath the arms | of the giant of ice Grew man-child and maid together; And foot with foot | did the wise one fashion A son that six heads bore.” 3734. “Eighth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: What farthest back | dost thou bear in mind? For wide is thy wisdom, giant!” 3835. “Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made Was the birth of Bergelmir; This first knew I well, | when the giant wise In a boat of old was borne.” 3936. “Ninth answer me well, | if wise thou art called, If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now: Whence comes the wind | that fares o’er the waves Yet never itself is seen?” 4037. “In an eagle’s guise | at the end of heaven Hræsvelg sits, they say; And from his wings | does the wind come forth To move o’er the world of men.” 4138. “Tenth answer me now, | if thou knowest all The fate that is fixed for the gods: Whence came up Njorth | to the kin of the gods,— (Rich in temples | and shrines he rules,—) Though of gods he was never begot?” 4239. “In the home of the Wanes | did the wise ones create him, And gave him as pledge to the gods; At the fall of the world | shall he fare once more Home to the Wanes so wise.” 4340. “Eleventh answer me well, | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What men . . . . . . | in . . . . . . home Each day to fight go forth?” 4441. “The heroes all | in Othin’s hall Each day to fight go forth; They fell each other, | and fare from the fight All healed full soon to sit.” 4542. “Twelfth answer me now | how all thou knowest Of the fate that is fixed for the gods; Of the runes of the gods | and the giants’ race The truth indeed dost thou tell, (And wide is thy wisdom, giant!)” 4643. “Of the runes of the gods | and the giants’ race The truth indeed can I tell, (For to every world have I won;) To nine worlds came I, | to Niflhel beneath, The home where dead men dwell.” 4744. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What shall live of mankind | when at last there comes The mighty winter to men?” 4845. “In Hoddmimir’s wood | shall hide themselves Lif and Lifthrasir then; The morning dews | for meat shall they have, Such food shall men then find.” 4946. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: Whence comes the sun | to the smooth sky back, When Fenrir has snatched it forth?” 5047. “A daughter bright | Alfrothul bears Ere Fenrir snatches her forth; Her mother’s paths | shall the maiden tread When the gods to death have gone.” 5148. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What maidens are they, | so wise of mind, That forth o’er the sea shall fare?” 5249. “O’er Mogthrasir’s hill | shall the maidens pass, And three are their throngs that come; They all shall protect | the dwellers on earth, Though they come of the giants’ kin.” 5350. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: Who then shall rule | the realm of the gods, When the fires of Surt have sunk?” 5451. “In the gods’ home Vithar | and Vali shall dwell, When the fires of Surt have sunk; Mothi and Magni | shall Mjollnir have When Vingnir falls in fight.” 5552. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got of the gods: What shall bring the doom | of death to Othin, When the gods to destruction go?” 5653. “The wolf shall fell | the father of men, And this shall Vithar avenge; The terrible jaws | shall he tear apart, And so the wolf shall he slay.” 5754. “Much have I fared, | much have I found, Much have I got from the gods: What spake Othin himself | in the ears of his son, Ere in the bale-fire he burned?” 5855. “No man can tell | what in olden time Thou spak’st in the ears of thy son; With fated mouth | the fall of the gods And mine olden tales have I told; With Othin in knowledge | now have I striven, And ever the wiser thou art.” ‹Previous chapterPoetic Edda 4Next chapterPoetic Edda 6›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. 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