Early Viking History: Voluspa
Voluspa is the first poem
contained in the Codex
Regius manuscript of the
Poetic Edda, written down
around 1270 A.D. The book
was discovered in Iceland in
the Renaissance and
presented to the Danish king
in 1643. It was returned to
Iceland in the 1960s.
It is the only source for most
of the poems it contains.
Brief Review of Dates
• 2500 BCE Proto-Germans separate from IndoEuropean groups and settle in southern Scandinavia.
• 500 BCE Proto-Germans displace Celts in northern
Germany.
• 120 BCE Germanic tribes Cimbri and Teutoni
invade Roman Empire.
• 9 CE Cheruscan chieftain Arminius (Hermann)
defeats Roman legions commanded by Quintilius
Varus, end of Roman attempts to conquer Germanic
territory.
• 100 CE Tacitus writes Germania, describing the
lands and tribes of Germany.
Dates of Völkerwanderung I
• 341 Bishop Ulfilas converts Visigoths to Aryan
sect of Christianity, translates bible into Gothic.
• 375 Huns appear in eastern Europe, overrun the
Ostrogothic King Ermenrichus. He is the basis for
Jormunrek of the Volsungasaga. Beginning of
dissolution of Roman Empire.
• 375 CE Migration Period begins with the arrival
of the Huns.
• 378 Battle of Adrianople, defeat of Roman army
by Gothic forces led by Fritigern. Roman borders
are no longer secure after this battle.
Dates of Völkerwanderung II
• 436 Romans and their allies the Huns battle
Burgundians in the Rheinland.
• 437 Burgundian King Gundaharius dies. He is the
basis for Gunnar of the Volsungasaga.
• 449 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes travel to Britain as
mercenaries (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).
• 453 Attila the Hun dies (possibly) at the hands of his
new wife, the Germanic Ildico, a diminuitive form of
Hild. Attila is the basis for the fictional Atli of the
Volsungasaga, or Etzel of the Nibelungenlied.
Dates of Völkerwanderung III
• 476 Scirian chieftain Odovacar deposes last Roman
Emperor, Romulus Augustulus; end of Roman
Empire.
• 489 Theoderic (Dietrich von Bern) deposes
Odovacar, establishes Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
Hildebrand is one of Theoderic’s most famous
retainers.
• c. 550 Migration Period ends.
• Beginning of medieval societies and states in Europe.
Migration Routes of Germanic Tribes
Early Viking History I
• 700 Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf composed. It
contains references to the Volsung legend.
• 715 Willibrord leads first (unsuccessful) Christian
mission to southern Scandinavia.
• 750 Swedish Vikings establish Staraja Ladoga, a
Viking colony in Russia.
• 783 First Viking raid recorded in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle.
• 793 Vikings loot monastery on Lindisfarne, the
Holy Island off the east coast of England.
• After 795 Viking attacks on Ireland and Scotland
become almost annual events for the next century.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• “A.D. 793 This year came dreadful forewarnings
over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the
people most woefully; these were immense sheets
of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds,
and fiery dragons flying across the firmament.
These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a
great famine, and not long after, on the sixth day
before the ides of January in the same year, the
harrowing inroads of heathen men made
lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holyisland, by rapine and slaughter…”
Early Viking History II
• 800 Earliest Skaldic poetry.
Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor,
controls most of the European continent.
• 839 Swedish Vikings reach Constantinople.
• 841Viking base of Dublin established in Ireland.
• 844 First Viking raid on Spain.
• 860 Swedish Vikings, the Rus, attack
Constantinople.
• 862 Rurik, a Swedish Viking, becomes ruler of
Novgorod, establishes Rus dynasty (Russia).
• 862 Finns and Slavs “invite” Rurik and the Rus to
rule over them, origin of Russian state.
Early Viking History III
• 870 Vikings begin settlement of Iceland.
• 1000 Conversion of Iceland to Christianity.
• 1066 Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings: End
of the Viking Age.
• 1125 Icelandic Landnamabok, Book of Settlements,
written, chronicles the Age of Settlement in Iceland.
• 1200 Oldest Icelandic family sagas written.
• 1220 Snorri Sturluson writes the Prose Edda.
• 1270 Codex Regius manuscript of the Poetic Edda
written down.
Gokstad ship from
Museum in Oslo, Norway
Voluspa
“The Seeress’s Prophesy”
• Possibly a sacred text recording the central
elements of Norse cosmology – a cosmogonic or
aetiological poem.
• An ancient text, original material dates at least to
the 10th century CE, when belief in the old gods
was being supplanted by Christianity.
• Unclear if the author of the poems still believes in
the gods.
• Two versions of text preserved; Snorri quotes
extensively from the poem in his own Edda.
Voluspa
• Written in fornyrdislag meter, typical for narrative
poems, especially heroic poems.
x
x
Her ma Hodbroddr
x
x
Flotta traudan
x
x
hann hefir edli
x x
arf Fiorsunga
x
x
Helga kenna
x
x
i flota midiom;
x
x
ættar thinnar
x
x
und sic thrungit.
Here Hodbrodd may recognize Helgi,
The fighter who does not flee in the midst of the fleet;
The homeland of your kin,
The inheritance of the Fiorsungs he has conquered.
Voluspa
• Odin interrogates a Volva, or shamaness /
seeress, about the doom of the gods.
• Odin is a magician himself and is able to
compel her to speak, though she appears to
do so reluctantly.
• She is able to see back to the beginning of
time and forward to the end of time.
• She recounts aspects of several Norse myths
known (at least partially) from other
sources.
• Voluspa describes the world of the Norse:
The Norse Cosmos-Yggdrasil
The great ash
tree and the
three levels of
the Norse
cosmos.
Themes in Voluspa
•
•
•
•
Creation of the Earth
Yggdrasil
Ymir
The Æsir and the
golden age of the gods
• List of dwarfs
• Creation of man and
woman, Ask and
Embla
• Gullveig, a woman
well versed in magic.
• War with Vanir
• Death of Baldr
• Fimbulvetr
• Ragnarok
• Death of Odin and
Thor
• Rebirth after the Fire
Norse Cosmos / Origins
• Ginnungagap, the realm between the ice of the
north (Niflheim, land of fog) and the fire of the
south (Muspellheim), the fusion of both fire and
ice engendered the first life.
• Frost giant Ymir.
• Cow Audhumla, licks Buri from the frost.
• Buri, his son Bur, who married the daughter of a
frost giant, Bestla, and she gave birth to the first
gods, the brothers: Odin, Vili, and Ve.
• The 9 Worlds are fashioned from Ymir’s body.
Images of the three
Norns at the Well of
Urd – Urd, Verdandi,
and Skuld (Fated,
Becoming, Must-be)
I. Asgard
• Yggdrasil – the mighty ash at the center of the
world.
• Asgard is the home of the gods, realm of the Æsir.
• Well of Urd. Three Norns have a hall beside the
well (Urd, Verdandi, Skuld).
• Vanaheim – original home of the Vanir, now at
peace with the Æsir.
• Alfheim – home of the elves, or bright elves.
• Valhalla – hall of the slain warriors (Einheriar),
half chosen by Odin, others to Freja (Volkfangr).
Vigrid – a vast plain, stretching 120 leagues in
every direction, site of Ragnarok.
The First Cow, Audhumla
Asgard
Bifrost and the Norse Gods
II. Midgard
• Midgard is the home of men (literally middle-earth).
• Bifrost – the rainbow bridge (flaming bridge)
connects Midgard to Asgard.
• Spring of Mimir – Odin sacrificed an eye to have a
single draught from it, wisdom.
• Nidavellir – underground land of the dwarves,
dangerous magical goldsmiths.
• Svartalfheim – home of black elves, very different
from bright elves! Dwarves?
• Jotunheim – land of the Frost-Giants, located far to
the east and north, beyond mountains.
III. Niflheim
• Niflheim is the realm of the dead (literally home
of fog) “9 days ride north and down.”
• Hel – the offspring of Loki, half dead and half
living, also her tower/realm.
• Spring of Hvergelmir – a source of 7 rivers, one
of the roots of Yggdrasil.
• Nidhogg – giant dragon gnawing on the roots of
Yggdrasil, with many snakes as well.
• Muspell – land of fire, located to the south.
• Naglfari, largest ship ever built (of dead men’s
finger nails), is in Muspell, will appear at
Ragnarok.
Voluspa Myths
• (17) Ash and Embla, Man and Woman, made from
driftwood.
• (20) Three girls, the three Norns or Fates
• (21) The First War; Gullveig (Bright-One of the
Vanir–Freya?) arrives in Odin’s hall
• (31) Death of Baldr foretold
• (34) Binding of Loki, punishment for Baldr’s
death. Events preceding Ragnarok.
• (43) Cock crows, signals beginning of Fimbulvetr.
• (53) Æsir advance and die, Odin and Thor.
• (59) Rebirth from the ashes, Baldr, Hænir, Hod.
Images of Ragnarok
List of Rig / Rigsthula
• Poem is concerned with explaining the beginnings
of human society.
• An aetiological myth, explaining origins of class.
• Heimdall calls himself “Rig,” a Celtic name for
king (like Latin rex). Originally Odin?
• Heimdall visits three families and engenders three
classes of society, each given symbolic names.
• Fragmentary poem breaks off after the appearance
of the child in the highest class, “king.”
Home of Great-Grandparents
• They serve him a coarse loaf of bread and boiled
calf-meat.
• He sleeps between the two for three nights.
• Nine months later, Great-Grandmother has a boy
named “Thrall” (slave) who grows strong, but is
ugly and dirty.
• Thrall marries “Slavegirl” and she gives birth to
many ill-named sons and daughters (248).
• Thrall and Slavegirl and their family work hard in
the fields and look after animals.
• From these two come the race of slaves.
Home of Grandparents
• Their hut has more possessions and better
furnishings, with industrious owners who wear
nice clothes.
• Heimdall sleeps between the two for the next three
nights, then leaves.
• Nine months later, Grandmother gives birth to
“Farmer,” who is rosy-cheeked and grows strong
and capable.
• He marries a pretty girl called “daughter-in-law”
and has many sons and daughters with beautiful
and happy names (249).
• From these descend the race of farmers—the vast
majority of freemen belonged to this class.
Home of Parents
• Wealthy owners of last home, man busy
with weapons and woman with fine dress.
• They serve him an elegant meal, with silver
dishes and wine, roast birds and light pork.
• Heimdall sleeps between mother and father
for three nights.
• Nine months later, Mother gives birth to
“Lord,” a dashing young boy, who learns to
make and use weapons, hunt, and swim.
Lord and Kin
• Rig (Heimdall) reappears to young Lord, teaches him
runes, gives him a name, tells him that he is his son.
• Rig tells Lord he must reclaim his ancestral territory.
• Lord rides to a hall, begins a battle, reddens the plain
with blood as he fights for his land.
• He rules over many settlements, bestows wealth to his
followers, gains honor and prestige.
• He marries Erna, daughter of Chieftain, who gives birth
to sons and daughters with noble names (251).
• Youngest son, Kin, understands runes and magic,
speaks with birds and charms them. A raven tells Kin
he should be leading armies instead of hunting.
• Final line mentions “Dan,” legendary king of Denmark.