Vafþrúþnismǫ́l
The Lay of Vafthruthnir
Old Norse Poetry
English translation (1928) by Lee M Hollander.
Transcription by Eiður Eyþórsson.
I
About this translation
This Lee M. Hollander’s translation of Vafþrúðnismál comes from his 1928, 1st edition of The Poetic Edda. In that work, the poem is presented in English translation, accompanied by Hollander’s notes and commentary.
Hollander’s work has been preserved as closely as possible to the form in which it was originally presented. The poem and its accompanying commentary remain unchanged. Even minor errors like Vafþrúðnir being spelled as “Vawthrúthnir” in st. 25 has been kept in.
Hollander’s notes on individual stanzas have been moved, so that they now appear directly beneath the relevant stanza; in the printed edition they were placed at the bottom of each page. At the end of this page you will find Hollander’s original introductory to Vafþrúðnismál.
Here Begins Vafþrúðnismál
1
Óthin said:
“Give rede now, Frigg,² to fare me listeth
to wise Vafthrúthnir.
Much I wonder if in wisdom my like
the all-wise etin be.”
² ‘Beloved’, Óthin’s wife.
2
Frigg said:
“At home had I Heriafather³ rather,
in the garth of the gods;
there’s no match in might among thurses
to that all-wise etin.”
³ ‘Father of Hosts’, Óthin.
3
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
and have striven in strength with gods;
now I wish to know how Vafthrúthnir
lives in his high-timbered hall.”
4
Frigg said:
“All hail to thy going! all hail to thy coming!
all hail to thee, hence and hither!
May thy wit not fail thee, Father of Men,⁴
if with words ye war.”
⁴ Óthin.
5
Went then Óthin his wisdom to match
with the all-wise etin:
came to the hall of Hym’s father.⁵
In went Ygg⁶ forthwith.
⁵ Not to be confused with Hymir (of the Hymiskviða). Nothing is known of this son of Vafthrúthnir.
⁶ ‘The Terrible One’, Óthin.
6
Óthin said:
“Hail, Vafthrúthnir! to thy hall I am come
to see thee, etin, myself;
to know me listeth if lore thou hast,
or art all-wise, etin.”
7
Vafthrúthnir said:
“What wayfaring wight such words dareth
hurl at me in my hall?
Alive shalt thou never leave this hall
if thou showest thee lesser in lore.”
8
Óthin said:
“Gagnráth⁷ my name; as guest I come
to thy threshold thirsty, oh thurs!
Needful of welcome I wandered long;
now I hope thou’lt harbor me.”
⁷ ‘Giving Good Counsel’, i.e. for victory.
9
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Why then, Gagnráth, greet me from floor?
In the hall seat thee on settle!
Moot then may we who most knoweth,
whether guest or grizzled thul.⁸”
⁸ Cf. Hǫ́r., note 1 ͣ .
10
Óthin said:
“In want who comes to a wealthy man—
let him say what is needful, or naught!
Too much babbling is bad for him
to cold-hearted host who comes.”
11
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Say then, Gagnráth, as unseated thou wilt
match thy lore with mine:
how the horse is hight which heavenward brings
every day at dawn to mankind?”
12
Óthin said:
“He is Skinfaxi⁹ hight which skyward brings
every day at dawn to mankind;
of horses best he to heroes seems,
his mane glisters like gold.”
⁹ ‘Shiny-Mane’; the Sun-horse.
13
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Say then, Gagnráth, as unseated thou wilt
match thy lore with mine:
how the horse is hight which the hallowed night
doth bring to the blessed gods?”
14
Óthin said:
“He is Hrímfaxi¹⁰ hight which the hallowed night
doth bring to the blessed gods.
As he fares, foam doth fall from his bit;
thence cometh the dew in the dales.”
¹⁰ “Rime-Mane.”
15
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Say then, Gagnráth, since unseated thou wilt
match thy lore with mine:
how the flood is hight which flows between
the garth of the gods and the etins?”
16
Óthin said:
“Is hight Ifing the flood which flows between
the garth of the gods and the etins;
will it ever and ay unfrozen stay,
ice there is never on it.”
17
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Say then, Gagnráth, since unseated thou wilt
match thy lore with mine:
how the field is hight where as foes will meet
Surt¹¹ and the sacred gods?”
¹¹ The god of fire; cf. Vsp. 44, note.
18
Óthin said:
“Is hight Vígríth¹² the field where as foes will meet
Surt and the sacred gods;
a hundred leagues in length it is;
far doth stretch that field.”
¹² ‘Field of Battle’;
19
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Wise art, wayfarer! On Vafthrúthnir’s bench
let us sit, and speak in the seat.
Let our heads be stakes, my hall within,
and wins he whose wisdom is greater.”
20
Óthin said:
“Say then swiftly, for sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
whence came the earth and the upper heaven
at the outset, etin?”
21
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Of Ymir’s¹³ flesh was the earth then shaped,
the barren hills of his bones;
and of his skull the sky was shaped,
of his blood the briny sea.”
22
Óthin said:
“Say thou this second, for sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
whence the moon did come who rides men above,
and the sun also?”
23
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Mundilferi¹⁴ is hight the Moon’s father,
and the Sun’s also;
they daily wander the welkin about,
to tell the time for men.”
¹⁴ According to Gylfag. chap. 11, he had named his daughter after the sun, and his son after the moon. In order to punish him for his presumption the gods set them to drive the wains of the sun and the moon.
24
Óthin said:
“Say thou this third, in thy thought if it dwells
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
whence the day springeth, in the dales which shines,
and eke the night and new-moon?”
25
Vawthrúthnir said:
“Is one Delling¹⁵ hight, he is Day’s father;
but Night was born to Nor;
waxing and waning moon the wise gods made
to tell the time for men.”
¹⁵ ‘The Shining’. According to Gylfag. chap. 11, a god who with Nótt ‘Night’ engendered a son, Dagr ‘Day’.
26
Óthin said:
“Say thou this fourth, if thou fathom it,
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
whence winter came and warm summer,
in the beginning, for gods?”
27
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Is one Vindsval¹⁶ hight, he is Winter’s father,
and Summer is Svósuth’s son;
(but Vindsval was to Vósuth born:
cold-hearted all that kin.)”¹⁷
¹⁶ ‘Wind-Cold’, a giant, as is Vǫ́suþ ‘Hardship’ (?) and Svǫ́suþ ‘Beloved’, father of Summer.
¹⁷ Supplied with Bugge, after Gylfag. chap. 19.
28
Óthin said:
“Say thou this fifth, if sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
who the oldest etin of Ymir’s kin
was in the world’s first days?”
29
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Ages before the earth was made,
Bergelmir¹⁸ came to be;
Thrúthgelmir was that thurs’ father,
but Aurgelmir oldest of all.”
¹⁸ The meaning of these giant names is not certain.
30
Óthin said:
“Say thou this sixth, if sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir doest wot:
whence Aurgelmir and all his sib
at the outset, wise etin?”
31
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Out of Élivágar¹⁹ spurted venom drops,
and waxed till there was an etin;
’tis thence our kin came altogether;
hence wrathful and rugged our ways.”
¹⁹ ‘Stormy Waves (?)’, imagined as a ‘venom’-cold river in the Far North, Gylfag. chap. 5.
32
Óthin said:
“As a seventh say, if sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
how children gat the grim etin,
as misshapen she-thurs none was?”
33
Vafthrúthnir said:
“The ice-etin’s strong arms beneath
there grew both girl and boy;
one with the other, the wise etin’s shanks
begat a six-headed son.”
34
Óthin said:
“Say as an eighth, if sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
what oldest of eld the earth above;
for all-wise, etin, thou art.”
35
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Ages before the earth was made,
Bergelmir came to be;
that first I wot that the wise etin
lifeless was laid in the grave.”²⁰
²⁰ The interpretation of this line is doubtful.
36
Óthin said:
“Say as a ninth, if sage thou art
and thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
whence the wind cometh o’er the waves which blows,
yet is never seen itself?”
37
Vafthrúthnir said:
“One Hræsvelg²¹ hight sits at heaven’s end,
an etin in eagle’s shape:
from his wings is wafted the wind which blows
over all who live.”
²¹ ‘Corpse-Gulper’.
38
Óthin said:
“Say as the tenth, if the sacred gods’ fate
thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot:
why Niorth²² did come to Nóatún,²³
yet was not begot by gods?”
²² The name of this Van god corresponds exactly to that of the goddess Nerthus ‘Terræ mater’ whose rites are described by Tacitus in the famous 40th chapter of his Germania. Originally doubtless a fertility god, in Old Norse mythology he rules over the wind and the sea.
²³ ‘Ship-stead, harbor’.
39
Vafthrúthnir said:
“In Vanaheim²⁴ Vanir begat him,
and gave him as hostage to gods;
at the world’s last weird he will wend again
home to the wise Vanir.”
²⁴ ‘The Home of the Vanir’. As a return hostage, the Æsir sent Mímir, Vsp. 39, note.
40
Óthin said:
“Say as eleventh where e’er living men
smite each other with swords;
fighting they fall, then fare from battle
and drain goblets together.”
²⁵ ‘Protagonists’, the fallen warriors who are gathered by the valkyries into Óthin’s hall, Valholl (Valhalla).
41
Vafthrúthnir said:
“This all the einheriar²⁵ who in Óthin’s garth
smite each other with swords:
fighting they fall, then fare from battle
and drain goblets together.”
42
Óthin said:
“Say as the twelfth how the sacred gods’ fate
thou, Vafthrúthnir, doest wot?
Of the etins’ lore, and of all godheads,
thou sayest but sooth,
thou all-wise etin!”
43
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Of the etins’ lore, and of all godheads,
sooth, and but sooth, I say,
for in all the worlds I wandered;
Niflhel²⁶ beneath nine worlds I saw,
to which the dead are doomed.”
²⁶ ‘Dark Hel’ or Niflheim, the realm of Hel, the abode of the dead.
44
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:
what wights will live when that winter²⁷ is over,
to earth-dwellers awful?”
²⁷ The so-called fimbulvetr, ‘Chief of Winters’, foretold also Vsp. 33, Vsp. sk. 15, as preceding the end of the world. It consists of three winters with no summer between.
45
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Líf and Lífthrasir²⁸ in the leafage they
will hide of Hoddmímir;²⁹
the morning dews their meat will be,
they will rear the races of men.”
²⁸ ‘Life’ and ‘Longing for Life’ (?).
²⁹ This tree is identical with the world-tree Yggdrasil, Vsp. 3ff., and the ‘Tree of Mímir’, Fj. 14.
46
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:
how soars the sun on the smooth heavens,
when swallowed by Fenrir’s fangs?”³⁰
³⁰ Cf. Vsp. 32.
47
Vafthrúthnir said:
“A daughter orb was to Alfrothul³¹ born,
ere that swallowed her Fenrir’s fangs;
on her mother’s path will the maiden fare,
the time the fair gods fall.”
³¹ ‘Alf-Beam’, a kenning for the sun.
48
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:
what wise maidens, the wide sea over,
full many swiftly fare?”
49
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Three throngs of maidens³² over Mogthrasir’s
thorp do throw themselves:
good hap they bring where to homes they fare,
though of etins’ kin they are.”
³² These maidens are norns who assist at childbirth, cf. Fáfn. 12, 13. Mǫgthrasir ‘Desirous of Sons’ is a symbolic designation for mankind, ‘Mogthrasir’s thorp’, for the world” [F. Jónsson].
50
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:”
of gods that were who will wield the sway,
when Surt’s fire is slaked”?³³
³³ Cf. Vsp. 44ff.
51
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Víthar³⁴ and Víli³⁵ will ward the gods’ homes,
when Surt’s fires are slaked;
Móthi and Magni³⁶ will Miolnir have,
when Thór have thrown it last.”
52
Óthin said:
“Far have I fared, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:
what wight will end All father’s life,
when draws near the dreaded doom?”
53
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Will the Wolf³⁷ swallow Valfather then;
but Víthar will be his bane:
he will smite asunder the slayer’s jaws
and avenge his father’s fall.”
54
Óthin said:
“Far have I wandered, much afield have I been,
have oft striven in strength with gods:
what did Óthin whisper in the ear of his son,
ere Baldr on bale was laid?”³⁸
³⁸ The same question is put by Óthin in the Hervarar saga chap. 9. Cf. Hǫv. 165 and note.
55
Vafthrúthnir said:
“Knows not dweller on earth what in days of yore
thou saidst in the ear of thy son:
with fey mouth fondly I flaunted my lore
and spoke of the day of doom.
With Óthin now my insight I matched:
of all beings thou art wisest born.”
III
Introductory note
This lay is frankly didactic in purpose, offering fragments of cosmogonic and mythological information which is brought out in the course of a senna or ‘flyting’ between the king of the gods and the wise giant Vafthrúthnir.¹ The narrative frame chosen is not unskilfully handled.
Óthin has heard of the wisdom of the giant and, against the wishes of his anxious spouse, fares to see him in his hall, there to match his lore against the giant’s. After an initial test of the ‘wisdom’ of his guest who has, so far, insisted on standing on the floor, Vafthrúthnir urges him to occupy the high-seat, there to continue the wager the stake of which is the loser’s head. Óthin now becomes the interrogator and finally propounds the unanswerable question. Through it, but too late, the doomed giant recognizes who is his opponent.
The measure is ljóðaháttr, the typical vehicle of gnomic poetry, whose regular dialogic form has, in this as in other cases, favored the preservation of the text. It is handed down completely in the Codex Regius, and, partly, in the Codex Arnamagnæanus. Besides, some nine stanzas of it occur in Snorri’s paraphrase in the Gylfag., in various places. There are no clues as to place of origin. The purely heathen tone has led scholars to assign the poem to the Tenth Century; but we may well suspect it to be a later, skaldic, effort.
¹ “Strong in Entangling’, i.e. in questions.
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