THE COMPARATIVe VǪLUSPÁ
Stanzas 46-48
Joseph S. Hopkins for Mimisbrunnr.info, August 2022
The present page consists of an entry of Mimisbrunnr.info’s The Comparative Vǫluspá. The Mimisbrunnr.info team designed The Comparative Vǫluspá as a resource to assist in the study of both the poem and its English language translations. You can read about the project’s approach and goals here.
The Comparative Vǫluspá features six public domain English editions of Vǫluspá presented in reverse chronological order, specifically those of Lee M. Hollander (first edition, 1928), Henry Adams Bellows (1923), Olive Bray (1908), Guðbrandur Vigfússon and York Powell (1883), Benjamin Thorpe (1866), and Sharon Turner (1836). We precede these with Gustav Neckel’s 1914 Old Norse edition of the poem, which is also in the public domain in the United States, and which we’ve used as a basis for the project’s stanza order.
Please note that if this is your first encounter with the poem, The Comparative Vǫluspá can serve as an introduction, but you stand to benefit from Carolyne Larrington’s revised edition (2014) as your foundation. Not only do Larrington’s notes reflect contemporary scholarship but her revised edition contains two separate translations of the poem from two notably different manuscripts of the poem. Translators often combine these manuscripts and this can lead to significant confusion for non-specialists.
STANZA 46:
Leika Míms synir
x. Neckel’s Old Norse edition, 1914:
Leika Míms synir, en miǫtuðr kyndiz
at ino gamla Giallarhorni;
hátt blæss Heimdallr, hron er á lopti,
mælir Óðinn við Míms hǫfuð;
Mímir's sons dance; the doom doth break
when blares the gleaming old Giallar-horn;
loud blows Heimdall, the horn is aloft,
in Hel's dark hall horror spreadeth.
Fast move the sons of Mim, and fate
Is heard in the note of the Gjallarhorn;
Loud blows Heimdall, the horn is aloft.
In fear quake all who on Hel-roads are.
Mim’s sons arise; the Fate Tree kindles
at the roaring sound of Gjalla-horn.
Loud blows Heimdal, the horn is aloft,
and Odin speaks with Mimir’s head.
c. Guðbrandur Vigfússon & York Powell, 1883:
The sons of Mimi are astir, the Judge is moving
at the blast of the Horn of Roaring.
Loud blows Heimdal, the Horn is on high,
Woden talks with Mimi’s head,
Mim's sons dance, but the central tree takes fire,
at the resounding Giallar-horn. Loud blows Heimdall,
his horn is raised; Odin speaks with Mim's head.
a. Turner, 1836:
The sons of Mimur will sport;
But the bosom of the earth will burn;
Hear the sound of the Mystic horn,
Heimdallur will blow on high
The elevated horn.
Odin will speak by the head of Mimer.
STANZA 47:
skelfr Yggdrasils askr
x. Neckel’s Old Norse edition, 1914:
skelfr Yggdrasils askr standandi,
ymr it aldna tré, en iǫtunn losnar.
Trembles the towering tree Yggdrasil,
its leaves sough loudly; unleashed is the etin;
Yggdrasil shakes, and shiver on high
The ancient limbs, and the giant is loose;
d. Bray, 1908:
Groans the Ancient Tree, Fenrir is freed,—
shivers, yet standing, Yggdrasil’s ash.
c. Guðbrandur Vigfússon & York Powell, 1883:
sh Yggdrasil quivers, the aged tree groans,
the Giants have broken loose.—
Trembles Yggdrasil's ash yet standing;
groans that aged tree, and the jötun is loosed.
The ancient tree will sound ominously.
The Jotun will be dissolved.
STANZA 48:
Hvat er með
x. Neckel’s Old Norse edition, 1914:
Hvat er með ásom? hvat er með álfom?
gnýr allr iǫtunheimr, æsir ro á þingi;
stynia dvergar fyr steindurom,
veggbergs vísir — vitoð ér enn, eða hvat?
What ails the æsir and what the alfs?
In uproar all etins— are the æsir met.
At the gates of their grots the wise of dwarfs groan
in their fell-fastedness: wit ye further, or how?
How fare the gods? how fare the elves?
All Jotunheim groans, the gods are at council;
Loud roar the dwarfs by the doors of stone,
The masters of the rocks: would you know yet more?
d. Bray, 1908:
How do the gods fare, how do the elves fare?
All Jötunheim rumbles, the gods are in council;
before the stone doors the dwarfs are groaning,
a rock-wall finding —Would ye know further, and what?
c. Guðbrandur Vigfússon & York Powell, 1883:
How do the Anses fare? How do the elves fare?
All Giant-land is rumbling from end to end.
The Anses are assembled. The Dwarves are moaning
before their doors of stone, the inmates of the rocks.—Know ye yet or what?
How is it with the Æsir? How with the Alfar?
All Jötunheim resounds; the Æsir are in council.
The dwarfs groan before their stony doors,
the sages of the rocky walls. Understand ye yet, or what?
What is there among the Asæ?
What among the Elfi?
All the house of the Jotun trembles:
The Dvergi (the dwarfs) groan
Before the doors of the rocks:
Their stony asylum.
Know you more? What is it?