The verses of Völuspá are scattered throughout the
text, but the poem is complete enough to be considered an
original translation. Missing verses have been noted.
1. Give ear
All ye
divine races,
Great and
small,
Sons of
Heimdal!
I am about
to relate
The
wonderful works of Valfather,
The oldest
sayings of men.
The first I
remember.
Verse 2 is missing.
3. It was
Time's morning
When Ymer lived:
There was no sand, no sea,
No cooling billows;
Earth there was none,
No lofty heaven,
Only Ginungagap,
But no grass. (p. 171)
3…There was
nowhere grass (p. 176)
4. Until
Bor's sons
The expanse did raise,
By whom the great
Midgard was made.
From the south the sun
Shone on the walls;
Then did the earth
green herbs produce.
The moon went ahead
The sun followed,
His right hand held
The steeds of heaven.
5. The sun
knew not
His proper sphere;
The stars knew not
Their proper place;
The moon knew not
Where her position was.
6. Then
went the powers all
To their
judgment seats.
The
all-holy gods,
And thereon
held council:
To night
and to the waning moon
Gave names;
Morn they
named
And
mid-day,
Afternoon
and eve,
Whereby to
reckon years.
7. The Asas
met
On Ida's plains ;
They altars raised
And temples built;
Furnaces they established,
Precious things forged,
Their strength they tried
In many ways
When making tongs
And forming tools.
(p. 184)
8. On the
green they played
In joyful mood,
Nor knew at all
The want of gold.
Until there came
Three giant maids
Exceeding strong
From Jotunheim.
(p. 197)
8. On the
green they played
In joyful
mood,
Nor knew at
all
The want of
gold,
Until there
came
Three giant
maids
From
Jotunheim,
(p. 118)
With golden
tablets in the garden
Glad they
played,
Nor was there to the valiant gods
9. Then all
the powers
Went to the throne,
The holy gods,
And held consult
Who should of dwarfs
The race then fashion
From the livid bones
And blood of the giant.
10.
Modsogner, chief
Of the dwarfish race,
And Durin, too,
Were then created ;
And like to men
Dwarfs in the earth
Were formed in numbers
As Durin ordered.
Verses 11-16: The dwarf-list is missing.
17. And
then there came
Out of the ranks,
Powerful and fair,
Three Asas home.
And found
on shore,
In helpless plight,
Ask and Embla*
Without their fate.
18. They
had not yet
Spirit or mind.
Blood or beauty
Or lovely hue.
Odin gave spirit,
Hoener gave mind,
Loder gave blood
And lovely hue.
19. An Ash
know I standing
Named
Ygdrasil
A stately
tree sprinked
With water,
the purest;
Thence come
the dewdrops That fall in the dales
Ever
blooming it stands
O’ver Urdar
fountain
Verses 20-24 are missing, those that deal with the Norns and
Gullveig.
25. Then
went the rulers there,
All gods most holy,
To their Beats aloft,
And counsel together took;
Who all the winsome air
With guile had blended,
Or to the giant's race
Oder's maiden given.*
26. Then
Thor, who was there,
Arose in wrathful mood.
For seldom sits he still
When such things he hears.
Annulled were now all oaths,
And words of promise fair,
And faith not long before
In council plighted.
• Freyja,
whom the gods had promised the giant, was
Oder's wife.
Verse 27 concerning Heimdall’s hearing is missing.
Anderson also cites Benjamin Thorpe’s translation of verse 28 on
p. 229.
28. (last
half).
Full well I
know,
great Odin, where
Thine eye thou lost;
In Mimer's well,
The fountain pure,
Mead Mimer drinks
Each morning new,
With Odin's pledge.
Conceive ye this?
Verse 29 is missing.
30.
Valkyries she saw
That much
had traveled;
Ready they
were
To
Godthjod* to ride.
Skald held
the child,
Skogul
followed
Hild with
Gondul
And
Geirskogul.
Now have I
named
The
valkyries all.
Ready were
Herjan's maids
Over the
earth to ride.
*The divine
race
31. I saw
the concealed
Fate of
Balder,
The
blood-stained god,
The son of
Odin.
In the
fields
There stood
grown up,
Slender and
passing fair.
The
mistletoe.
32. (first
half)
From that
shrub was made,
As to me it seemed,
A deadly noxious dart;
Hoder shot it forth;
(p. 241, attributed to the Lay of Vegtam)
32. (second
half)
Rind a boy
shall bear
In the
wintry halls,
He shall
slay Odin's son
When one
night old.
33. (first
half)
He
a hand will not wash,
Nor his
hair comb,
Ere he to
the pile has borne
Balder's
adversary.
33. (last half)
But Frigg bewailed
In Fensal
Valhal's calamity.
Understand ye yet, or what?
Verses
34-35 are missing, those that concern Vali’s bonds and Loki’s
binding.
Verse 36
concerning the river Slid is missing.
Verse 37
concerning Sindri’s hall and the giant Brimir’s beer-hall in Hel
is missing.
38. Saw a
hall
Far from
the sun,
On the
strand of dead bodies,
With doors
toward the north.
Venom drops
Through the
loopholes;
Formed is
that hall
Of wreathed
serpents
(p. 430)
39. There
saw she wade
Through
heavy streams,
Perjurers
And
murder’s
And
adulterers;
There
Nidhug sucked
The bodies
of the dead
And the
wolf tore them to pieces.
Conceive ye
this or not?
(p. 416)
39. There
saw she wade
In the heavy streams
Men —foul murderers.
And perjurers,
And them
who other's wives
Seduce to sin.
(Also cites Paul Henri Mallet’s translation of verses 40 and 41,
elsewhere in the text)
40. East of
Midgard in the Ironwood
The old
hag* sat,
Fenrer's
terrible
Race she
fostered.
One of them
Shall at
last
In the
guise of a troll
Devour the
moon.
*
Angerboda.
41. It
feeds on the bodies
Of men, when they die:
The seats of the gods
It stains with red blood:
The sunshine blackens
In the summers thereafter
And the weather grows bad —
Know ye now more or not?
42. The
hag's watcher,
The glad Edger,
Sat on the hill-top
And played his harp;
Near him crowed
In the bird-wood
A fair-red cock
Which Fjalar hight.
43. Among
the gods crowed
The gold-combed cock.
He who wakes in Vnilial
The hosts of heroes;
Beneath the earth
Crows another,
The root-red cock,
In the
halls of Hel.
44. Loud
barks Garm
At Gnipa-cave;
The fetters are severed,
The wolf is set free,—
Vala knows the future.
More does she see
Of the victorious gods
Terrible fall.
45.
Brothers slay brothers;
Sisters'
children
Shed each
other's blood.
Hard is the
world ;
Sensual sin
grows huge.
There are
sword-ages, ax-ages;
Shields are
cleft in twain;
Storm-ages,
murder-ages;
Till the
world falls dead,
And men no
longer spare,
Or pity one
another.
46. Mimer's
sons play;
To battle
the gods are railed
By the
ancient
Gjallar-horn.
Loud blows
Heimdal,
His sound
is in the air;
Odin talks
With the
head of Minier.
47. Quivers
then Ygdrasil,
The strong-rooted ash ;
Rustles the .old tree
When the giant gives way.
All things tremble
In the realms of Hel,
Till Surt's son
Swallows up Odin.
48. How
fare the gods?
How fare
the elves?
Jotunheim
shrieks.
The gods
hold Thing;
The dwarfs
shudder
Before
their cleft caverns,
Where
behind rocky walls they dwell.
Know ye now
more or not ?
49. Loud
barks Garm*
At Gnipa-cave;
The fetters are severed.
The wolf is set free,—
Vala knows the future.
More does she see
Of the victorious gods'
Terrible fall.
*Hel’s dog
50. From
the east drives Hrym,
Bears his
child before him ;
Jormungander welters
In giant
fierceness;
The waves
thunder;
The eagle
screams,
Rends the
corpses with pale beak,
And Naglfar
is launched.
51. A ship
from the east nears,
The hosts of Muspel
Come o'er the main,
But Loke is pilot.
All grim and gaunt monsters
Conjoin with the wolf.
And before them all goes
The brother of Byleist.*
*Loki
52. From
the south wends Surt
With seething fire;
The sun of the war-god
Shines in his sword;
Mountains together dash,
And frighten the giant-maids ;
Heroes tread the paths to Hel,
And heaven in twain is rent.
53. Over
Hlin* then shall come
Another woe,
When Odin goes forth
The wolf to combat,
*One of
Frigg’s maid-servants
54. And he*
who Bele slew
'Gainst Surt rides;
Then will Frigg's
Beloved husband† fall.
Loud barks
Garm
At
Gnipa-cave;
The fetters
are severed,
The wolf is
set free,—
Vala knows
the future.
More does
she see
Of the
victorious gods'
Terrible
fall.
* Frey
† Odin
55. Then
Vidar, the great son
Of
Victory's father,
Goes forth
to fight
With the
ferocious beast;
With firm
grasp his sword
In the
giant-born monster's heart
Deep he
plants,
And avenges
his father.
56. Then
the famous son
Of Hlodyn*
comes;
Odin's son
comes
To fight
with the serpent;
Midgard's
ward†
In wrath
slays the serpent.
Nine paces
away
Goes the
son of Fjorgyn ;
He totters,
wounded
By the
fierce Serpent.
* Another
name for Frigg.
† Defender.
57. All men
Abandon the
earth.
The sun
darkens,
The earth
sinks into the ocean;
The lucid
stars
From heaven
vanish ;
Fire and
vapor
Rage toward heaven;
High flames
Involve the skies.
58. Loud
barks Garm
At
Gnipa-cave;
The fetters
are severed.
The wolf is
set free,—
Vala knows
the future.
More does
she see
Of the
victorious gods'
Terrible
fall.
59. She
sees arise
The second time.
From the sea, the earth
Completely green:
Cascades do fall,
The eagle soars,
From lofty mounts
Pursues its prey.
60. The
gods convene
On Ida's
plains,
And talk of
the powerful
Midgard-serpent;
They call
to mind
The
Fenris-wolf
And the
ancient runes
Of the
mighty Odin.
61. Then
again
The
wonderful
Golden
tablets
Are found
in the grass:
In time's
morning
The leader of the god*
And Odin's race
Possessed them.
62. The
fields unsown
Yield their
growth;
All ills
cease;
Balder
comes.
Hoder and
Balder,
Those
heavenly gods.
Dwell
together in Hropt's* halls.
Conceive ye
this or not ?
Verse 63 concerning Hoenir is missing.
64. Sees a
hall called Gimle;
It
outshines the sun
Of gold its
roof;
It stands
in heaven;
The
virtuous there
Shall always dwell,
And evermore
Delights enjoy;
65. Then
comes the mighty one*
To the great judgment;
From heaven he comes.
He who guides all things:
Judgments he utters ;
Strifes he appeases,
Laws he ordains
To flourish forever.
66. There
comes the dark
Dragon flying,
The shining serpent
From the Nida-mountains
In the deep.
Over the
plain it flies;
Dead bodies
Nidhug
Drags in
his whizzing plumage,
Now must
Nidhug sink.