THE INTERLINEAR POETIC EDDA
by William P. Reaves
© 2014 |
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Völuspá
The Völva's Prophecy
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Normalized 1
Codex Regius 1
Hauksbók 1
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1/1
A hearing I
ask
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Hljóðs |
bið |
ek
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hearing; a hearing, listening,
silence |
to beg, pray |
I |
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271 |
62 |
124 |
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biðja |
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1/2
R: all kind,
H: all holy kind,
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allar |
H: helgar* |
kindir
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all, entire, the whole |
holy |
—kind, kin, kith
—offspring (collectively), scion |
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16 |
248 |
338
LP 338 |
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allr |
heilagr |
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*helgar, holy:
only present in Hauksbók; not found in Codex Regius.
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1/3
greater and lesser,
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meiri |
ok |
minni |
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more
and superl.
most, greater, greatest |
and |
lesser, smaller, and superl. least, smallest
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423 |
465 |
429 |
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1/4
sons of Heimdall;
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mögu |
Heimdallar |
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prop. a boy, youth;
& so a son |
Heimdall |
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443 |
LP 238 |
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mögr |
The gods' guardian |
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1/5
R:
You wish, Valfather, that I
H: You wish that I Woe-father´s
R: vildu
H: villtu* |
at |
ek |
R: Valföðr**
H: váföðrs |
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| you wish |
that |
I |
R: Father of the slain
H: the father of woe, calamity,
danger
(possessive) |
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706 |
29 |
124 |
R:
676: valr
LP 589
H:
683 vá |
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| vilja |
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R: Odin
H: Loki's (?) |
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*2nd pers. vildu, wilt
thou [R], the same as villtu [H].
**Valföðr, used of Odin in Grímnismál
48. |
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1/6
R: well recount,
H: wile recount
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vel / vél* |
fyr telja** |
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vel: well
vél: a wile,
device, trick |
to tell, say, mention; fyr
telja (Dan. fortælle) |
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692 |
628 |
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*Since the texts do not contain
diacritical marks, both readings are possible.
**U. Dronke, PE II, p. 108: fyr
telia, 'expound before this audience'. The phrase,
common in prose, but not found elsewhere in verse, implies
the setting out of the facts of a case. |
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1/7
R: the living´s ancient lore,
H: the living's ancient damage,
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forn |
spjöll |
fíra
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old, ancient,
time-honoured |
—a 'spell.' saw,
saying; words tidings, lore*
—a 'spell,' mischief, damage;
a flaw |
"the living"
cp. fjör
poët. men, people |
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165 |
583 |
156
LP 133 |
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spjall |
fírar |
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U. Dronke, PE II, p. 108: "forn spiöll fira, it is
not possible to render adequately this ambiguous, seemingly
colloquial phrase"; "spjöll signifies 'things
told': reports of happenings, news, information";
*Cleasby/Vigfusson: forn spjöll, old
words, old lore, of bygone days, Vsp 1.
S. Nordal, Vsp: "forn spjöll: tales of ancient
events"; "firar: living beings: usually men, but
here (as in rök fira of Alvíssmál 9, etc.) both
gods and men."
—With Hauksbók 1/5 reading vaföðrs vél,
possibly "the ancient damage to men" caused by the
wiles of the Woe-father (Loki).
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1/8
R: that is furthest in memory.
H: that I foremost remember.
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R:
þau er
H: þau ek |
fremst* |
of man |
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R: that I
H: that is |
III. superl. foremost |
to call to mind, remember |
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731 |
170 |
437 |
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þat |
framr |
muna |
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*S. Nordal, Vsp:
"As its context shows,
fremst, here
means 'furthest back in time'. |
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Codex Regius [R]
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1. A hearing I pray
all kind
1
greater and lesser,
sons of Heimdall2
you wish, Valfather,
that I
should recount,
the living´s ancient lore,
that is furthest (back)
in memory.
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1. all progeny, all men.
2. Sons of Heimdall, the human race; S. Nordal: "This kenning is
the more remarkable in that it is unique. So as is known,
no other poet has tried to indicate the human race by reference
to Heimdallr (or Rígr), great though the need for a variety of
kennings was considered to be. If Rígsþula had been lost there
would be no means of elucidating it." |
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Hauksbók [H]
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1. A hearing I pray all
holy kind,1
greater and smaller,
sons of Heimdall,
you wish that I
Woe-father´s
wile2 recount,
the living´s ancient damage
that I foremost remember.
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1.
Vigfusson/Cleasby: helgar kindir, 'holy-kind' = the gods, Vsp. 1, opp.
to mann-kind, mankind.
Sigurd Nordal, Vsp.: "Some commentators think that these
words refer to men, not gods; ...However, the excitement of
the poet, who knows that he is beginning a poem about the
fate of all gods and men, impells him to make address all
the beings who have a stake in the matter. From the poet's
vantage point, "there is a wide view over every world." So
just as a court poet looked round the royal hall and called
for silence from king and court, the sibyl surveys the
worlds of gods and men as she begins her prophecy."
U. Dronke, PE II, p. 106: "'all the hallowed families (of
men)'. ...The senses of kind (cognate with
Latin gens) range from 'begotten being', 'progeny'
...to 'species', 'race' in sg. only. ...The pl.
kindir is not recorded used of the gods. To interpret
the phrase as relating to the gods would be contextually and
idiomatically incorrect."
2. Vaföðrs vél: the wile of the Woe-father, Loki (?) |
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