Alvíssmǫ́l
The Lay of Alvis
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 Alvíssmál 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.
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 Alvíssmál.
Here Begins Alvíssmál
1
Alvís¹ said:
“To put bolster on bench² shall my bride now with me
make haste homeward;
a hasty match this to many will seem:
they’ll not rob me my rest at home.”
2
Thór said:
“What wight is this? Why so wan about thy nose?
Didst dwell with the dead last night?
Akin to thurses methinks thou art,³
nor born to have this bride.”
³ Probably in a general sense: not of divine origin.
3
Alvís said:
“Alvís am I, dwell the earth beneath,
there standeth my house under stones;
for the weapons’ worth⁴ to Valholl I came:
let none his bounden faith break!”
4
Thór said:
“I shall break it; for the bridegroom’s choosing
falls as father on me;
in Valholl I was not when was wedded to thee
among gods whom but I can offer.”
5
Alvís said:
“What man is this, of the winsome maid
who feigns he is father?
Thee feckless fellow but few will know:
what bitch⁵ bore thee, pray?”
⁵ Gering’s emendation.
6
Thór said:
“I am hight Vingthór,⁶ I have wandered far,—
Síthgrani’s⁷ son I am;
by my leave never shalt the maiden take,
and have her as wedded wife.”
⁶ Cf. þrym. 1.
⁷ “Longbeard,” i.e. Óthin.
7
Alvís said:
“Thy leave full soon thou wilt let me have,
to win her as wedded wife;
to marry I mean, nor to remain without,
the slender, snow-white maiden.”
8
Thór said:
“The maiden’s love I shall let thee have,
thou wise guest, as thou wishest,
if of every world⁸ thou canst tell me all
that I list to learn.”⁹
9
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the earth is hight, before all out-spread,
in all the worlds so wide?”
10
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Earth’ among men, among æsir, ‘Land’;
call the vanir it ‘Ways’,
‘All-Green’, the etins, the alfs, ‘Garden’,
the mighty gods, ‘Moist’.”
11
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the heaven is hight that to (Hronn)¹⁰ was born,
in all the worlds so wide?”
¹⁰ Translated according to Bugge’s daring surmise. Hronn ‘billow’ is one of Ægir’s daughters and, hence, may stand for ‘the sea’: in late Classical mythology, the sea-goddess Tethys is the mother of the sky.
12
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Heaven’ among men, ‘High-Arched’ among gods;
call the vanir it ‘Wind-Weaver’,
the etins, ‘Upper World’, the alfs, ‘Fair Roof’,
the dwarfs, ‘Dripping Hall’.”
13
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the moon is hight which men do see,
in all the worlds so wide?”
14
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Moon’ among men, ‘Mild Light’¹¹ among gods;
call the wights in Hel it ‘Wheel’,
the etins, ‘Speeder’, the dwarfs, ‘Splendor’,
and the alfs, ‘Teller-of-Time’.”
¹¹ Conjectural.
15
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the sun is hight which is seen by men,
in all the worlds so wide?”
16
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Sun’ among men, but ‘Sunlight’ among gods;
call the dwarfs it ‘Dvalin’s Doom’,¹²
the etins, ‘Everglow’, the alfs, ‘Fair Wheel’,
‘All-Bright’, the ása-sons.”¹³
¹² Dvalin is a dwarf. The kenning is illustrated by the fate of Alvís himself, 35 below, and H.Hv. 29, 30.
¹³ I.e. the sons of the æsir.
17
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the clouds are hight that carry showers,
in all the worlds so wide?”
18
Alvís said:
“They are hight ‘Clouds’ among men, ‘Rain-carriers’ among gods;
call the vanir them ‘Windblown’,
the etins, ‘Rainhope’, the alfs, ‘Weather-might’,
the Hel-dwellers, ‘Hiding Helm’.”
19
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the wind is hight which widest fares,
in all the worlds so wide?”
20
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Wind’ among men, but ‘Wafter’ among gods;
call the most high it ‘Whinnier’,
the etins, ‘Roarer’, the alfs, ‘Dinfarer’,
the Hel-dwellers, ‘Whistler’.”
21
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the calm is hight which quietly lies,
in all the worlds so wide?”
22
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Calm’ among men, ‘Sea-Quiet’ among gods;
call the vanir it ‘Windlull’,
the etins, ‘Sultry’, the alfs, ‘Day-Balm’,
the dwarfs, ‘Day’s Haven’.”
23
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the sea is hight which is sailed by men,
in all the worlds so wide?”
24
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Sea’ among men, ‘Wide-Sweeping’ among gods;
call the vanir it ‘Wave’,
the etins, ‘Eelhome’, the alfs, ‘Water’,
call the dwarfs it ‘the Deep’.”
25
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the fire is hight which flames for men,
in all the worlds so wide?”
26
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Fire’ among men, but ‘Flame’ among gods;
call the vanir it ‘Warmth’,¹⁴
the etins, ‘Greedy’, ‘Glut-All’, the dwarfs,
the Hel-wights, ‘Fast Whelmer’.”
¹⁴ Conjectural.
27
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the wood is hight, in men’s world that grows,
in all the worlds so wide?”
28
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Wood’ among men, ‘Earth’s Mane’ among gods;
call the Hel-wights it ‘Seaweed-of-Slopes’,
the etins, ‘Firewood’, the alfs, ‘Fairbough’,
call the vanir it ‘Wand’.”
29
Thór said:
“Tell me Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the night is hight which to Nor¹⁵ was born,
in all the worlds so wide?”
¹⁵ Cf. Vaf. 25.
30
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Night’ among men, but ‘Murk’ among gods;
call the most mighty it ‘Mask’,
the etins, ‘Lightless’, the alfs, ‘Sleep’s Ease’,
the dwarfs, ‘Weaver-of-Dreams’.”
31
Thór said:
“Tell me, Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the seed is hight which is sowed by men,
in all the worlds so wide?”
32
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Barley’ among men, but ‘Bread-stuff’¹⁶ among gods;
call the vanir it ‘Well-Grown’,
the etins, ‘Eating’, the alf-kin, ‘Grain’,¹⁶
the wights of Hel, ‘Waving’.”
¹⁶ Transposed here.
33
Thór said:
“Tell me Alvís, for all the worlds
I deem that, dwarf, thou knowest:
how the beer is hight which is brewed by men,
in all the worlds so wide?”
34
Alvís said:
“’Tis hight ‘Ale’ among men, among æsir, ‘Beer’;
call the vanir it ‘Wassail-Brew’,
‘Clear Must’, the etins, ‘Mead’, the Hel-wights,
the sons of Suttung,¹⁷ ‘Feast-Draught’.”
¹⁷ The giants, cf. Hǫ́v. 104.
35
Thór said:
“I never learned like lore to dwell
in the breast of any wight born;
with wily words outwitted thou art:
above ground finds thee, dwarf, the day;
was the sun seen in thy hall.”
III
Introductory note
Like the Vafþrúþnismǫ́l, this poem has a didactic purpose, viz. to impart, in a form easy to be memorized, a synonymic vocabulary for the use of skalds, of the appellations ‘in all the worlds’ of thirteen common things.¹
The situation which serves as a framework for this versified scholastic lore is pleasingly told: Thór on his return from etin-home meets the dwarf Alvís who, in the Thunderer’s absence, has induced the gods to relinquish to him¹ᵃ Thór’s daughter¹ᵇ and who now precipitately hurries home with her. Thór halts him, but promises his consent providing the dwarf can answer all his questions. With these he delays Alvís until daylight surprises the dwarf and transforms him into stone.
The unusual traits attributed to Thór—cunning and eagerness for knowledge—but ill agree with the established character of the god and render the authenticity of the story questionable: it is no doubt invented ad hoc. Again, the fact that the material is strung along without a purposeful order; that the appellations given the various objects are not uniformly characteristic of the beings said to use them; and that it is almost hopeless to assign consistently the six beings mentioned in each stanza to one of the ‘worlds’, makes the poem approach in character the heitatǫl (versified lists) of the early Icelandic renascene of learning in the Twelfth Century; which is, hence, given by the majority of scholars as the date.
The text is in good condition, due no doubt here as elsewhere to the regular dialogic form (ljóðaháttr). It is handed down in Cod. Reg., but a couple of stanzas are quoted in Skáldskaparmǫ́l.
¹ According to Olrik, these words are not so much skaldic terms as ‘noa’ words for ‘tabu’ objecs, and show similarity to expressionsstill used among Shetland fishermeb. But the reason for putting them together remains the one indicated above.
¹ᵃ In payment for Miolnir? Cf. note on 3.
¹ᵇ Cf. Vsp. 17, 18.
Continue in Hollander's Poetic Edda
Continue through Hollander’s translation of the Poetic Edda, following the sequence of poems as presented in the original 1928 edition.
Compare Translations
Alvíssmál - English Translations
Compare how different translators interpret Alvíssmál.
Keep Exploring
Other Old Norse Poems
Explore other poems from the Poetic Edda and the wider Old Norse corpus.
