Poetic Edda
Old Norse mythological and heroic lays preserved in the Codex Regius (c. 1270); textual material reaches back to the 10th c. Contains the Völuspá (the seeress's vision of cosmic origins and Ragnarök), Hávamál (Odin's sayings), and the Sigurd cycle. Henry Adams Bellows's 1923 translation for the American-Scandinavian Foundation.
Source context· Western European stream · Greco-Latin cultural age
- Stream
- Western European
- Cultural age
- Greco-Latin (4th post-Atlantean cultural age)
- Composed
- c. 1270 CE
- Soul-faculty
- Sentient Soul
What this work carries
The Poetic Edda preserves pre-Christian Norse mythological consciousness from oral traditions reaching back to the Migration and Viking Ages. Its cosmogonic and eschatological lays—especially the Völuspá—carry forward a clairvoyant-atavistic picture of world-creation, cosmic catastrophe, and renewal. The Hávamál encodes an initiatory wisdom-tradition associated with Odin's self-sacrifice on the World-Ash.
Language frame
The lays are composed in Old Norse alliterative verse forms (fornyrðislag, ljóðaháttr), encoding Germanic mythological thought in a compact, mnemonic oral-poetic idiom. The Codex Regius compilation (c. 1270) is the primary manuscript witness, preserving Icelandic transmission of materially much older Scandinavian cultural memory.
Steiner’s engagement
- GA 51, 1904-10-25Steiner references the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda together as collections in which the spiritual-cultural productivity of the Germanic-Norse peoples was preserved and transmitted to later centuries.
Cross-tradition congruence
- Vedic cosmogony (Rigveda X.129, Nasadiya Sukta)The Völuspá's opening vision of primordial void (Ginnungagap) before creation shows structural congruence with the Vedic account of non-being preceding cosmic differentiation, both traditions framing creation as emergence from an undifferentiated abyss.
- Greek theogonic tradition (Hesiod, Theogony)The Eddic sequence of cosmic ages, divine conflict, and world-destruction followed by renewal is structurally congruent with Hesiodic accounts of successive divine generations and the eventual dissolution of the present world-order.
- Shamanistic initiation traditionsOdin's self-hanging on Yggdrasil to win the runes (Hávamál 138–141) displays structural congruence with widespread shamanic death-and-resurrection initiation patterns, in which gnosis is obtained through voluntary ordeal.
- 1General Introduction — Bellows's General Introduction
Henry Adams Bellows's 1923 introduction to his English verse translation. The Codex Regius (the principal Eddic manuscript, c. 1270) and its discovery in 1643; the textual transmission; the difference between the Poetic Edda (the verse compilation) and Snorri's Prose Edda; the editorial principles of the translation.
4,827 words - 2Voluspo — Völuspá — the Seeress's Prophecy
The crown of Eddic poetry. The Völva (seeress) summoned by Odin recounts the entire history of the cosmos — the creation from Ginnungagap, the building of Asgard, the killing of Baldr, the binding of Loki, the coming of Ragnarök, the destruction and rebirth of the world. The single most important poem of Norse mythology.
8,319 words - 3Hovamol — Hávamál — the Sayings of the High One
The wisdom-poem in Odin's voice — Hávamál, the sayings of the High One. Practical worldly maxims; gnomic verses on hospitality, friendship, prudence; Odin's three great mysteries — the winning of the mead of poetry, the hanging on Yggdrasill, the learning of the runes. The Norse counterpart of biblical Proverbs.
8,986 words - 4Vafthruthnismol — Vafþrúðnismál — Odin's contest with the wise giant
Odin in disguise enters the hall of the wise giant Vafþrúðnir for a contest of cosmological knowledge. They take turns posing questions; whoever fails the answer forfeits his head. The poem is essentially a mythological catechism delivered through the contest-frame, ending when Odin asks a question only he himself can answer.
3,607 words - 5Grimnismol — Grímnismál — Odin between the fires
Odin, captured and tortured by King Geirrod (placed between two great fires for eight nights), reveals himself in a long monologue. The cosmography of the nine worlds, the halls of the gods, Yggdrasill and its denizens, Valhalla. Closes when Geirrod recognises Odin too late and falls upon his own sword.
6,221 words - 6Skirnismol — Skírnismál — Skírnir's wooing of Gerd for Freyr
Freyr sees Gerd the giantess in the distance and is filled with desperate love. His servant Skírnir undertakes the wooing-journey on Freyr's behalf; the long magical-coercive curse-passage by which Gerd is forced to consent. The marriage of god and giantess; one of the strangest and most morally ambiguous of the Eddic poems.
3,188 words - 7Harbarthsljoth — Hárbarðsljóð — Thor and the ferryman flytting
Thor returning from the east meets a churlish ferryman (Hárbarðr — gray-bearded, actually Odin in disguise) who refuses him passage and engages him in a flytting — a ritual exchange of insults and boasts. Each god vaunts his exploits; the contrasting characters of Thor and Odin clarified through the abuse.
3,825 words - 8Hymiskvitha — Hymiskviða — Thor fishes for the Midgard Serpent
Thor accompanies the giant Hymir on a fishing expedition. Baits the line with an ox-head; catches the Midgard Serpent itself; nearly hauls it from the sea before Hymir cuts the line in terror. The encounter that prefigures Thor's final battle with the Serpent at Ragnarök.
3,588 words - 9Lokasenna — Lokasenna — Loki's flyting at Ægir's hall
The great divine flytting. Loki crashes the gods' feast in the hall of Ægir and accuses each god and goddess in turn of cowardice, fornication, incest, or impotence — uncovering the gods' shadow side in cumulative insult. Closes with his binding and the prophecy of his release at Ragnarök.
5,439 words - 10Thrymskvitha — Þrymskviða — Thor in drag retrieves Mjǫllnir
The comic-heroic poem. The giant Þrymr steals Thor's hammer Mjǫllnir and demands Freyja as ransom. Heimdallr proposes that Thor go in Freyja's place, dressed as the bride. The plan executed; the giants undone when Thor recovers his hammer at the feast and slays them all.
2,236 words - 11Alvissmol — Alvíssmál — Thor's interrogation of the dwarf Alvíss
Thor finds the dwarf Alvíss come to claim Thor's daughter as bride. He keeps Alvíss talking through the night by demanding the dwarf list the alternative names by which earth, heaven, moon, sun, etc., are known in the languages of gods, men, Vanir, dwarves, elves, giants. At sunrise Alvíss turns to stone.
2,533 words - 12Baldrs Draumar — Baldrs Draumar — the dreams of Baldr
Baldr the beloved is troubled by dreams of his death. Odin rides to Hel and raises a long-dead seeress to learn the meaning. The prophecy of Baldr's slaying at the hand of Hodr, of the vengeance to be taken by Váli son of Rindr — the seeds of Ragnarök sown in advance.
1,441 words - 13Rigsthula — Rígsþula — the social-class origins
The god Ríg (identified with Heimdallr) wanders among men. At three successive houses (poor, middling, prosperous), he sleeps three nights with the wife and engenders the founder of the three social classes — Thrall (slave), Karl (free farmer), and Jarl (noble). The mythological origin of the Norse three-estate society.
4,462 words - 14Hyndluljoth — Hyndluljóð — the lay of Hyndla
Freyja awakens the giantess Hyndla to recite the genealogy of her favourite Óttar — long lineages from gods and heroes. Closes with the Short Vǫluspá — a separate prophecy of cosmic doom embedded within the poem. Important for the comparative-mythological detail of its many family-trees.
4,492 words - 15Svipdagsmol — Svipdagsmál — Svipdag and Menglǫð
A two-part poem (Grógaldr + Fjǫlsvinnsmál). The hero Svipdag, sent by a wicked stepmother to seek the maiden Menglǫð, raises his dead mother Gróa from her grave to learn protective charms. He then makes his way to Menglǫð's hall, questions the gatekeeper Fjǫlsviðr, and is admitted to her embrace.
3,889 words - 16Völundarkvitha — Vǫlundarkviða — Wayland the Smith
The dark heroic legend. The smith Vǫlund (Wayland), captured by King Níðuðr and hamstrung, takes revenge by killing the king's two sons, fashioning brooches from their eyes and a cup from their skull, and seducing the king's daughter Bǫðvildr before flying away on cunningly-made wings. One of the most savage of the Eddic legends.
4,992 words - 17Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar — Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar — Helgi son of Hjǫrvarðr
First of the three Helgi-poems. Helgi son of Hjǫrvarðr loves the valkyrie Sváva, fights and slays his foes, falls to his enemy Álfr. The closing prose note tells of his rebirth as the Helgi of the next poem. The doctrine of heroic reincarnation that links the three Helgi-poems.
5,620 words - 18Helgakvitha Hundingsbana I — Helgakviða Hundingsbana I — the first Helgi-poem
Helgi the Hunding's-bane (slayer of Hundingr) — the hero of the Vǫlsung cycle. His youthful exploits, his battles, his winning of Sigrún (rebirth of Sváva). The first of two parallel poems on the same hero — partly overlapping, partly complementary, illustrating Eddic compilation practice.
4,981 words - 19Helgakvitha Hundingsbana II — Helgakviða Hundingsbana II — second Helgi-poem; the burial-mound visit
The second poem on Helgi the Hunding's-bane. Continues from the first; ends with the famous scene of Sigrún visiting Helgi in his burial mound and spending a final night with him before he returns to his ride at the head of Odin's host. One of the most touching moments in all Eddic poetry.
6,076 words - 20Fra Dautha Sinfjotla — Frá Dauða Sinfjǫtla — the death of Sinfjötli
Short prose chapter on the death of Sinfjötli, son of Sigmund the Vǫlsung. Poisoned by his stepmother Borghild; Odin himself comes to carry his body away by boat over a fjord. The transition-piece linking the Helgi cycle to the great Sigurðr cycle that follows.
1,691 words - 21Gripisspo — Grípisspá — the prophecy of Grípir
The youthful Sigurðr visits his maternal uncle Grípir, the wisest of seers, and asks him to foretell his whole life. Grípir's reluctance, then his reluctant complete revelation — Sigurðr's slaying of Fáfnir, his winning of the Niflung gold, his love for Brynhildr, his betrayal, his death. The frame-poem for the Sigurðr cycle.
4,738 words - 22Reginsmol — Reginsmál — Sigurðr fostered by Reginn
Sigurðr fostered at the court of King Hjálprek by the dwarf-smith Reginn. The back-story of the gold of Andvari — Loki's killing of Otr, the gold paid in compensation to Hreiðmarr, the curse Andvari laid on the ring. Reginn forges the sword Gram for Sigurðr.
3,875 words - 23Fafnismol — Fáfnismál — Sigurðr slays the dragon
Sigurðr slays Fáfnir (Reginn's brother, who had taken the form of a dragon to guard the cursed gold). The dying dragon's wisdom-speeches; the roasting of the dragon-heart; the drop of dragon-blood on Sigurðr's tongue that lets him understand the speech of birds; the killing of Reginn the treacherous smith.
3,836 words - 24Sigrdrifumol — Sigrdrífumál — the waking of the valkyrie
Sigurðr rides up to a fire-encircled hall on a mountain and finds the valkyrie Sigrdrífa (often identified with Brynhildr) in magical sleep, locked in mail. He cuts the mail; she awakens and instructs him in runes, wisdom-counsels, and the practices of the heroic life.
4,073 words - 25Brot Af Sigurtharkvithu — Brot af Sigurðarkviðu — fragment of a Sigurðr-poem
A fragment of a longer Sigurðr-poem whose opening has been lost. The killing of Sigurðr by his sworn-brother Gunnarr (or his brother Guthormr) at Brynhildr's instigation; the lament of Guðrún over his body; Brynhildr's terrible cold satisfaction at the murder.
2,558 words - 26Guthrunarkvitha I — Guðrúnarkviða I — Guðrún's lament
The first of three poems on Guðrún (Sigurðr's wife). The famous lament — Guðrún unable to weep until the women around her tell their own losses to free her tears. One of the most moving passages of female grief in any tradition; the Eddic counterpart of Greek tragic threnos.
2,456 words - 27Sigurtharkvitha En Skamma — Sigurðarkviða en skamma — the short Sigurðr-poem
The short (in fact the longest) Sigurðr-poem. The full elaborated account of Sigurðr's death; Brynhildr's death-speech in which she predicts the further history of the family before throwing herself on Sigurðr's funeral pyre. The pivot from the heroic age into the Niflung tragedy proper.
6,136 words - 28Helreith Brynhildar — Helreið Brynhildar — Brynhildr's Hel-ride
Brynhildr's ride to Hel after her death on Sigurðr's pyre. On the road she meets a giantess who rebukes her; Brynhildr defends her actions in a great speech that recounts her own life-story from the perspective of the dead. The Eddic complement to Sigrún's mound-visit in Helgakviða II.
1,352 words - 29Drap Niflunga — Dráp Niflunga — the slaying of the Niflungs
Short prose chapter — the slaying of the Niflungs (Gunnarr, Hǫgni, Guthormr) at the hand of Atli (Attila). Guðrún, now married to Atli, has plotted vengeance for her brothers' killing of Sigurðr but finds the vengeance pulled out of her hands by Atli's own treachery. The transition into the Atli-poems.
901 words - 30Guthrunarkvitha II, En Forna — Guðrúnarkviða II, en forna — the second (older) Guðrún-poem
The second poem on Guðrún. After the Niflungs' fall, her marriage to Atli; her vision of the slaughter to come; the dreams that foretell Atli's slaying of her brothers. The expansion of the female perspective on the male heroic catastrophe.
4,039 words - 31Guthrunarkvitha III — Guðrúnarkviða III — Guðrún's third lament
The third Guðrún-poem. A late composition. Guðrún under accusation by her serving-women defends her honour by the ordeal of boiling water — passing it without injury. The forensic-poem of female vindication, sharply different in tone from the other Guðrún-poems.
1,080 words - 32Oddrunargratr — Oddrúnargrátr — Oddrún's lament
The lament of Oddrún, sister of Atli — who had loved Gunnarr the Niflung and was unable to save him from her brother's hatred. Oddrún tells her story to Borgný, whom she has just helped through difficult childbirth with her magic. The poem of the woman who loved the doomed enemy of her own house.
3,034 words - 33Atlakvitha En Grönlenzka — Atlakviða en grönlenzka — the Greenland lay of Atli
The older of the two Atli-poems. Atli summons Gunnarr and Hǫgni to a feast; warned by their sister, they nonetheless ride to their certain death. Their killing — Gunnarr in the snake-pit, Hǫgni's heart cut from his living body — and Guðrún's terrible revenge: killing her sons by Atli and feeding them to Atli, then burning the hall.
5,276 words - 34Atlamol En Grönlenzku — Atlamál en grönlenzku — the Greenland sayings of Atli
The longer, later treatment of the same Atli material. More dialogue, more interior characterisation, the same brutal events. A masterpiece of late Eddic narrative compression — the bourgeois-domestic register applied to the heroic catastrophe, more dreadful for being made everyday.
9,480 words - 35Guthrunarhvot — Guðrúnarhvǫt — Guðrún's whetting
Guðrún whets her surviving sons Hamðir and Sǫrli (by her third husband Jónakr) to ride against King Jǫrmunrekkr, who has had her daughter Svanhildr (by Sigurðr) trampled to death by horses. The mother arms her sons for the final vengeance that will end her line as it has ended every other.
2,649 words - 36Hamthesmol — Hamðismál — the death of Hamðir and Sǫrli
The closing poem of the Codex Regius. Hamðir and Sǫrli ride to Jǫrmunrekkr's hall; they wound the king terribly but fall themselves under his guards' stones. The end of the Vǫlsung-Niflung line; the closing of the whole heroic cycle that began with Sigurðr.
2,994 words - 37Pronouncing Index Of Proper Names — Bellows's pronouncing index
Henry Adams Bellows's pronouncing index of the proper names in the Poetic Edda. With phonetic guidance for the Old Norse names and brief identifying notes — a useful reference apparatus for the English reader navigating the dense onomastic of the Eddic poems.
7,675 words
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