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  "work": {
    "slug": "poetic-edda",
    "name": "Poetic Edda"
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      "name": "The Eddas",
      "url": "/sources/edda/"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 4,
    "slug": "06-vafthruthnismol",
    "title": "Vafthruthnismol",
    "of": 37,
    "words": 3607,
    "text": "## Vafthruthnismol\n\n\n\n\n#### The Ballad of Vafthruthnir\n\n### INTRODUCTORY NOTE\n\nThe 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 leaf now lost. Snorri quotes eight stanzas of it in the *Prose Edda*, and in his prose text closely paraphrases many others.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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, in deed, 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.\n\n*\n\nOthin spake*:\n1, \"Counsel me, Frigg, for I long to fare,\nAnd Vafthruthnir fain would find;\nfit wisdom old with the giant wise\nMyself would I seek to match.\"\n*\n\nFrigg spake:*\n2. \"Heerfather here at home would I keep,\nWhere the gods together dwell;\nAmid all the giants an equal in might\nTo Vafthruthnir know I none.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n3. \"Much have I fared, much have I found.\nMuch have I got from the gods;\nAnd fain would I know how Vafthruthnir now\nLives in his lofty hall.\"\n*\n\nFrigg spake:*\n4. \"Safe mayst thou go, safe come again,\nAnd safe be the way thou wendest!\nFather of men, let thy mind be keen\nWhen speech with the giant thou seekest.\"\n\n5. The wisdom then of the giant wise\n\n[1. The phrases \"Othin spake,\" \"Frigg spake,\" etc., appear in abbreviated form in both manuscripts. *Frigg*: Othin's wife; cf. *Voluspo*, 34 and note. *Vafthruthnir* (\"the Mighty in Riddles\"): nothing is known of this giant beyond what is told in this poem.\n\n2. *Heerfather* (\"Father of the Host\"): Othin.\n\n3. This single narrative stanza is presumably a later [fp. 70] interpolation. *Im*: the name appears to be corrupt, but we know nothing of any son of Vafthruthnir. *Ygg* (\"the Terrible\"): Othin.]\n\n\nForth did he fare to try;\nHe found the hall | of the father of Im,\nAnd in forthwith went Ygg.\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n6. \"Vafthruthnir, hail! | to thy hall am I come,\nFor thyself I fain would see;\nAnd first would I ask | if wise thou art,\nOr, giant, all wisdom hast won.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n7. \"Who is the man | that speaks to me,\nHere in my lofty hall?\nForth from our dwelling | thou never shalt fare,\nUnless wiser than I thou art.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n8. \"Gagnrath they call me, | and thirsty I come\nFrom a journey hard to thy hall;\nWelcome I look for, | for long have I fared,\nAnd gentle greeting, giant.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n9. \"Why standest thou there | on the floor whilst thou speakest?\nA seat shalt thou have in my hall;\n\n[8. *Gagnrath* (\"the Gain-Counsellor\"): Othin on his travels always assumes a name other than his own.]\n\n\nThen soon shall we know | whose knowledge is more,\nThe guest's or the sage's gray.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n10. \"If a poor man reaches | the home of the rich,\nLet him wisely speak or be still;\nFor to him who speaks | with the hard of heart\nWill chattering ever work ill.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n11. \"Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor\nThou wouldst thy wisdom make known:\nWhat name has the steed | that each morn anew\nThe day for mankind doth draw?\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n12. \"Skinfaxi is he, | the steed who for men\nThe glittering day doth draw;\nThe best of horses | to heroes he seems,\nAnd brightly his mane doth burn.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n13. \"Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor\n\n[10. This stanza sounds very much like many of those in the first part of the *Hovamol*, and may have been introduced here from some such source.\n\n12. *Skinfaxi*: \"Shining-Mane.\"]\n\n\nThou wouldst thy wisdom make known:\nWhat name has the steed | that from East anew\nBrings night for the noble gods?\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n14. \"Hrimfaxi name they | the steed that anew\nBrings night for the noble gods;\nEach morning foam | from his bit there falls,\nAnd thence come the dews in the dales.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n15. \"Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor\nThou wouldst thy wisdom make known:\nWhat name has the river | that 'twixt the realms\nOf the gods and the giants goes?\"\n*\n\nOthin spoke:*\n16. \"Ifing is the river | that 'twixt the realms\nOf the gods and the giants goes;\nFor all time ever | open it flows,\nNo ice on the river there is.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n17. \"Speak forth now, Gagnrath, | if there from the floor\n\n[13. Here, and in general throughout the poem, the two-line introductory formulæ are abbreviated in the manuscripts.\n\n14. *Hrimfaxi*: \"Frosty-Mane.\"\n\n16. *Ifing*: there is no other reference to this river, which never freezes, so that the giants cannot cross it.]\n\n\nThou wouldst thy wisdom make known:\nWhat name has the field | where in fight shall meet\nSurt and the gracious gods?\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n18. \"Vigrith is the field | where in fight shall meet\nSurt and the gracious gods;\nA hundred miles | each way does it measure.\nAnd so are its boundaries set.\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n19. \"Wise art thou, guest! | To my bench shalt thou go,\nIn our seats let us speak together;\nHere in the hall | our heads, O guest,\nShall we wager our wisdom upon.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n20. \"First answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails,\nAnd thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nIn earliest time | whence came the earth,\nOr the sky, thou giant sage?\"\n\n[17. *Surt*: the ruler of the fire-world (Muspellsheim), who comes to attack the gods in the last battle; cf. Voluspo, 52.\n\n18. *Vigrith*: \"the Field of Battle.\" Snorri quotes this stanza. A hundred miles: a general phrase for a vast distance.\n\n19. With this stanza Vafthruthnir, sufficiently impressed with his guest's wisdom to invite him to share his own seat, resigns the questioning to Othin.\n\n20. The fragmentary version of this poem in the *Arnamagnæan Codex* begins in the middle of the first line of this stanza.]\n\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n21. \"Out of Ymir's flesh | was fashioned the earth,\nAnd the mountains were made of his bones;\nThe sky from the frost-cold | giant's skull,\nAnd the ocean out of his blood.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n22. \"Next answer me well, | if thy wisdom avails,\nAnd thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhence came the moon, | o'er the world of men\nThat fares, and the flaming sun?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n23. \"Mundilferi is he | who begat the moon,\nAnd fathered the flaming sun;\nThe round of heaven | each day they run,\nTo tell the time for men.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n24. \"Third answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhence came the day, | o'er mankind that fares,\nOr night with the narrowing moon?\"\n\n[21. Ymir: the giant out of whose body the gods made the world; cf. Voluspo, 3 and note.\n\n22. In this and in Othin's following questions, both manuscripts replace the words \"next,\" \"third,\" \"fourth,\" etc., by Roman numerals.\n\n23. *Mundilferi* (\"the Turner\"?): known only as the father of Mani (the Moon) and Sol (the Sun). Note that, curiously [fp. 75] enough, Mani is the boy and Sol the girl. According to Snorri, Sol drove the horses of the sun, and Mani those of the moon, for the gods, indignant that they should have been given such imposing names, took them from their father to perform these tasks. Cf. *Grimnismol*, 37.]\n\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n25. \"The father of day | is Delling called,\nAnd the night was begotten by Nor;\nFull moon and old | by the gods were fashioned,\nTo tell the time for men.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n26. \"Fourth answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhence did winter come, | or the summer warm,\nFirst with the gracious gods?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n27. \"Vindsval he was | who was winter's father,\nAnd Svosuth summer begat;\"\n.    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .\n.    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .\n\n[25. *Delling* (\"the Dayspring\"? Probably another form of the name, Dogling, meaning \"Son of the Dew\" is more correct): the husband of Not (Night); their son was Dag (Day); cf. Hovamol, 161. Nor: Snorri calls the father of Night Norvi or Narfi, and puts him among the giants. Lines 3-4: cf. Voluspo, 6.\n\n27. Neither the *Regius* nor the *Arnamagnæan Codex* indicates a lacuna. Most editors have filled out the stanza with two lines from late paper manuscripts: \"And both of these shall ever be, / Till the gods to destruction go.\" Bugge ingeniously paraphrases Snorri's prose: \"Vindsval's father was Vosuth called, / And rough is all his race.\" *Vindsval*: \"the Wind-Cold,\" also called Vindljoni, \"the Wind-Man.\" *Svosuth*: \"the Gentle.\"]\n\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n28. \"Fifth answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhat giant first | was fashioned of old,\nAnd the eldest of Ymir's kin?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n29. \"Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made\nWas the birth of Bergelmir;\nThruthgelmir's son | was the giant strong,\nAnd Aurgelmir's grandson of old.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n30. \"Sixth answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhence did Aurgelmir come | with the giants' kin,\nLong since, thou giant sage?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n31. \"Down from Elivagar | did venom drop,\nAnd waxed till a giant it was;\n\n[28. *Ymir's kin*: the giants.\n\n29. *Bergelmir*: when the gods slew Ymir in order to make the world out of his body, so much blood flowed from him that all the frost-giants were drowned except Bergelmir and his wife, who escaped in a boat; cf. stanza 35. Of *Thruthgelmir* (\"the Mightily Burning\") we know nothing, but Aurgelmir was the frost-giants' name for Ymir himself. Thus Ymir was the first of the giants, and so Othin's question is answered.\n\n31. Snorri quotes this stanza, and the last two lines are taken from his version, as both of the manuscripts omit them. *Elivagar* (\"Stormy Waves\"): Mogk suggests that this river may have been the Milky Way. At any rate, the venom carried in its waters [fp. 77] froze into ice-banks over Ginnunga-gap (the \"yawning gap\" referred to in *Voluspo*, 3), and then dripped down to make the giant Ymir.]\n\n\nAnd thence arose | our giants' race,\nAnd thus so fierce are we found.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n32. \"Seventh answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nHow begat he children, | the giant grim,\nWho never a giantess knew?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n33. \"They say 'neath the arms | of the giant of ice\nGrew man-child and maid together;\nAnd foot with foot | did the wise one fashion\nA son that six heads bore.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n34. \"Eighth answer me well, | if wise thou art called,\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhat farthest back | dost thou bear in mind?\nFor wide is thy wisdom, giant!\"\n\n[33. Snorri gives, without materially elaborating on it, the same account of how Ymir's son and daughter were born under his left arm, and how his feet together created a son. That this offspring should have had six heads is nothing out of the ordinary, for various giants had more than the normal number, and Ymir's mother is credited with a little matter of nine hundred heads; cf. *Hymiskvitha*, 8. Of the career of Ymir's six headed son we know nothing; he may have been the Thruthgelmir of stanza 29.]\n\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n35. \"Winters unmeasured | ere earth was made\nWas the birth of Bergelmir;\nThis first knew I well, | when the giant wise\nIn a boat of old was borne.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n36. \"Ninth answer me well, | if wise thou art called\nIf thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:\nWhence comes the wind | that fares o'er the waves\nYet never itself is seen?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n37. \"In an eagle's guise | at the end of heaven\nHræsvelg sits, they say;\nAnd from his wings | does the wind come forth\nTo move o'er the world of men.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n38. \"Tenth answer me now, | if thou knowest all\nThe fate that is fixed for the gods:\n\n[35. Snorri quotes this stanza. *Bergelmir*: on him and his boat cf. stanza 29 and note.\n\n37. Snorri quotes this stanza. *Hræsvelg* (\"the Corpse-Eater\") on this giant in eagle's form cf. Voluspo, So, and Skirnismol, 27.\n\n38. With this stanza the question-formula changes, and Othin's questions from this point on concern more or less directly the great final struggle. Line 4 is presumably spurious. *Njorth*: on Njorth and the Wanes, who gave him as a hostage to the gods at the end of their war, cf. *Voluspo*, 21 and note.]\n\n\nWhence came up Njorth | to the kin of the gods,--\n(Rich in temples | and shrines he rules,--)\nThough of gods he was never begot?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n39. \"In the home of the Wanes | did the wise ones create him,\nAnd gave him as pledge to the gods;\nAt the fall of the world | shall he fare once more\nHome to the Wanes so wise.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n40. \"Eleventh answer me well, |  . . . . . . .\n. . . . . . . . . . . .\nWhat men . . . . . . | in . . . . . . home\nEach day to fight go forth?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n41. \"The heroes all | in Othin's hall\nEach day to fight go forth;\n\n[40. In both manuscripts, apparently through the carelessness of some older copyist, stanzas 40 and 41 are run together: \"Eleventh answer me well, what men in the home mightily battle each day? They fell each other, and fare from the fight all healed full soon to sit.\" Luckily Snorri quotes stanza 41 in full, and the translation is from his version. Stanza 40 should probably run something like this: \"Eleventh answer me well, if thou knowest all / The fate that is fixed for the gods: / What men are they who in Othin's home / Each day to fight go forth?\"\n\n41. *The heroes*: those brought to Valhall by the Valkyries. After the day's fighting they are healed of their wounds and all feast together.]\n\n\nThey fell each other, | and fare from the fight\nAll healed full soon to sit.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n42. \"Twelfth answer me now | how all thou knowest\nOf the fate that is fixed for the gods;\nOf the runes of the gods | and the giants' race\nThe truth indeed dost thou tell,\n(And wide is thy wisdom, giant!)\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n43. \"Of the runes of the gods | and the giants' race\nThe truth indeed can I tell,\n(For to every world have I won;)\nTo nine worlds came I, | to Niflhel beneath,\nThe home where dead men dwell.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n44. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got of the gods:\nWhat shall live of mankind | when at last there comes\nThe mighty winter to men?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n45. \"In Hoddmimir's wood | shall hide themselves\nLif and Lifthrasir then;\n\n[43. Nine worlds: cf. *Voluspo*, 2. *Niflhel*: \"Dark-Hell.\"\n\n44. The mighty winter: Before the final destruction three winters follow one another with no intervening summers.\n\n45. Snorri quotes this stanza. Hoddmimir's wood: probably [fp. 81] this is the ash-tree Yggdrasil, which is sometimes referred to as \"Mimir's Tree,\" because Mimir waters it from his well; cf. *Voluspo*, 27 and note, and *Svipdagsmol*, 30 and note. *Hoddmimir* is presumably another name for Mimir. *Lif* (\"Life\") and *Lifthrasir* (\"Sturdy of Life\"?): nothing further is known of this pair, from whom the new race of men is to spring.]\n\n\nThe morning dews | for meat shall they have,\nSuch food shall men then find.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n46. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got of the gods:\nWhence comes the sun | to the smooth sky back,\nWhen Fenrir has snatched it forth?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n47. \"A daughter bright | Alfrothul bears\nEre Fenrir snatches her forth;\nHer mother's paths | shall the maiden tread\nWhen the gods to death have gone.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n48. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got of the gods:\nWhat maidens are they, | so wise of mind.\nThat forth o'er the sea shall fare?\"\n\n[46. *Fenrir*: there appears to be a confusion between the wolf Fenrir (cf. *Voluspo*, 39 and note) and his son, the wolf Skoll, who steals the sun (cf. *Voluspo*, 40 and note).\n\n47. Snorri quotes this stanza. *Alfrothul* (\"the Elf-Beam\") the sun.]\n\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n49. \"O'er Mogthrasir's hill | shall the maidens pass,\nAnd three are their throngs that come;\nThey all shall protect | the dwellers on earth,\nThough they come of the giants' kin.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n50. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got of the gods:\nWho then shall rule | the realm of the gods,\nWhen the fires of Surt have sunk?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n51. \"In the gods' home Vithar | and Vali shall dwell,\nWhen the fires of Surt have sunk;\nMothi and Magni | shall Mjollnir have\nWhen Vingnir falls in fight.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n52. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got of the gods:\n\n[49. *Mogthrasir* (\"Desiring Sons\"): not mentioned elsewhere in the Eddic poems, or by Snorri. *The maidens*: apparently Norns, like the \"giant-maids\" in *Voluspo*, 8. These Norns, how ever, are kindly to men.\n\n50. *Surt*: cf. *Voluspo*, 52 and note.\n\n51. *Vithar*: a son of Othin, who slays the wolf Fenrir; cf. *Voluspo*, 54 and note. *Vali*: the son whom Othin begot to avenge Baldr's death; cf. *Voluspo*, 33 and note. *Mothi* (\"Wrath\") and *Magni* (\"Might\"): the sons of the god Thor, who after his death inherit his famous hammer, *Mjollnir*. Concerning this hammer cf. especially *Thrymskvitha*, *passim.* *Vingnir* (\"the [fp. 83] Hurler\"): Thor. Concerning his death cf. *Voluspo*, 56. This stanza is quoted by Snorri.]\n\n\nWhat shall bring the doom | of death to Othin,\nWhen the gods to destruction go?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n53. \"The wolf shall fell | the father of men,\nAnd this shall Vithar avenge;\nThe terrible jaws | shall he tear apart,\nAnd so the wolf shall he slay.\"\n*\n\nOthin spake:*\n54. \"Much have I fared, | much have I found,\nMuch have I got from the gods:\nWhat spake Othin himself | in the ears of his son,\nEre in the bale-fire he burned?\"\n*\n\nVafthruthnir spake:*\n55. \"No man can tell | what in olden time\nThou spak'st in the ears of thy son;\nWith fated mouth | the fall of the gods\nAnd mine olden tales have I told;\nWith Othin in knowledge | now have I striven,\nAnd ever the wiser thou art.\"\n\n[53. *The wolf*: Fenrir; cf. *Voluspo*, 53 and 54.\n\n54. *His son*: Baldr. Bugge changes lines 3-4 to run: \"What did Othin speak | in the ear of Baldr, / When to the bale-fire they bore him?\" For Baldr's death cf. *Voluspo*, 3a and note. The question is, of course, unanswerable save by Othin himself, and so the giant at last recognizes his guest.\n\n55. *Fated*: in stanza 19 Vafthruthnir was rash enough to wager his head against his guest's on the outcome of the contest of wisdom, so he knows that his defeat means his death.]",
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