Poetic Edda, Runy i Mitologia Nordycka [Runes and Norse mythology]
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Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða
The Edda
Of Sæmund The Learned
From
The Old Norse Or Icelandic
With
A Mythological Index
Part I
Benjamin Thorpe
1866
Preface
(Chiefly from the Vita Sæamundi Multiseii volgo Froda, Autore Arna Magnæo, prefixed to
the Copenhagen edition.)
Sæmund, son of Sigfus, the reputed collector of the poems bearing his name, which is
sometimes also called the Elder, and the Poetic, Edda, was of a highly distinguished family,
being descended in a direct line from King Harald Hildetönn. He was born at Oddi, his
paternal dwelling in the south of Iceland, between the years 1054 and 1057, or about 50 years
after the establishment by law of the Christian religion in that island; hence it is easy to
imagine that many heathens, or baptized favourers of the old mythic songs of heathenism,
may have lived in his days and imparted to him the lays of the times of old, which his
unfettered mind induced him to hand down to posterity.
The youth of Sæmund was passed in travel and study, in Germany and France, and,
according to some accounts, in Italy. His cousin John Ögmundson, who later became first
bishop of Holum, and after his death was received among the number of saints, when on his
way to Rome, fell in with his youthful kinsman, and took him back with him to Iceland, in the
year 1076. Sæmund afterwards became a priest at Oddi, where he instructed many young men
in useful learning; but the effects of which were not improbably such as to the common
people might appear as witchcraft or magic: and, indeed, Sæmund´s predilection for the sagas
and songs of the old heathen times (even for the magical ones) was so well known, that
among his countrymen there were some who regarded him as a great sorcerer, though chiefly
in what is called white or innocuous and defensive sorcery, a repute which still clings to his
memory among the common people of Iceland, and will long adhere to it through the
numerous and popular stories regarding him (some of them highly entertaining) that are orally
transmitted from generation to generation.
(1.)
Sæmund died at the age of 77, leaving behind him a work on the history of Norway and
Iceland, which is now entirely lost.
The first who ascribed to Sæmund the collection of poems known as the Poetic Edda,
(2)
was Brynjolf Sveinsson, bishop of Skalholt. This prelate, who was a zealous collector of
ancient manuscripts, found in the year 1643, the old vellum codex, which is the most
complete of all the known manuscripts of the Edda; of this he caused a transcript to be made,
which he entitled Edda Sæmundi Multiseii. The transcript came into the possession of the
royal historiographer Torfæus; the original, together with other MSS., was presented to the
King of Denmark, Frederick III., and placed in the royal library at Copenhagen, where it now
is.
(3)
As many of the Eddaic poems appear to have been orally transmitted in an imperfect
state, the collector has supplied the deficiencies by prose insertions, whereby the integrity of
the subject is to a certain degree restored.
The collection called Sæmund´s Edda consists of two parts, viz., the Mythological and
the Heroic. It is the former of these which is now offered to the public in an English version.
In the year 1797, a translation of this first part, by A.S. Cottle, was published at Bristol. This
work I have never met with; nor have I seen any English version of any part of the Edda,
which the exception of Gray´s spirited but free translation of the Vegtamskvida. The present
volume closes with a translation of the Solarlioð, a poem in which the religion of the country
appears in a transition state from Heathenism to Christianity.
(4)
Some readers will, I doubt not, be desirous of ampler illustration of the mythological
poems of the Edda than that which is afforded by the Index to this volume; to such I would
recommend the translation of the Prose Edda, in Mallet´s “Northern Antiquities”, published
by Bohn, and Thorpe´s “Northern Mythology and Popular Traditions,” in 3 vols. Small 8, the
1st vol. Of which contains a good and satisfactory compendium of the Odinic religion. The
German scholar will find ample and valuable information on the same subject in the
“Altnordische Mythologie” prefixed to Professor Lünings editions of the Edda, a work which
I have principally used while revising the present translation, and which I regard as
unquestionably the best existing.
From a memorandum made at the time, I find that this volume was ready for press in the year
1856, though the idea of offering it to the public was not entertained until about two years
ago. On intimating my intention to one or two persons, I was informed that an edition was
already in the press, and, consequently, I withdrew from the field. But as that edition seems to
be postponed
sine die,
or I had been misinformed regarding it, I have resolved on sending
forth my humble production. It is needless to inform my readers that it has no pretension to
elegance; but I believe it to be a faithful though homely representation of the original, and
may, at all events serve as a stop-gap until made to give place to a worthier work; for that the
lack of an edition of the Edda seems a chasm in our literaeniture cannot be denied.
If a not unfavourable reception is given it by the British public, the Second, or Heroic
part shall be immediately sent to press.
The Editor
Endnotes
1.
The following, the first among many, may serve as a specimen.
Sæmund was residing, in the south of Europe, with a famous Master, by whom he was
instructed in every kind of lore; while, on the other hand, he forgot (apparently
through intense study) all that he had previously learned, even to his own name; so
that when the holy man John Ögmundson came to his abode, he told him that his name
was Koll; but on John insisting that he was no other than Sæmund Sigfusson, born at
Oddi in Iceland, and relating to him many particulars regarding himself, he at length
became conscious of his own identity, and resolved to flee from the place with his
kinsman. For the purpose of deceiving the Master, John continued some time in the
place, and often came to visit him and Sæmund: till at last, on dark night, they betook
themselves to flight. No sooner had the Master missed them than he sent in pursuit of
them; but in vain, and the heavens were too overcast to admit, according to his
custom, of reading their whereabouts in the stars. So they traveled day and night and
all the following day. But the next night was clear, and the Master at once read in the
stars where they were, and set out after them at full speed. Then Sæmund, casting his
eyes up at the heavens, said: ‘Now is my Master in chase of us, and sees where we
are.’ And on John asking what was to be done, he answered: ‘Take one of my shoes
off; fill it with water, and set it on my head.’ John did so, and at the same moment, the
Master, looking up at the heavens, says to his companion: ‘Bad news: the stranger
John has drowned my pupil; there is water about his forehead.’ And thereupon
returned home. The pair now again prosecute their journey night and day; but, in the
following night, the Master again consults the stars, when, to his great amazement, he
sees the star of Sæmund directly above his head, and again sets out after the fugitives.
Observing this, Sæmund says: ‘The astrologer is again after us, and again we must
look to ourselves: take my shoe off again, and with your knife stab me in the thigh: fill
the shoe with blood, and place it on the top of my head.’ John does as directed, and the
Master again gazing at the stars, says: ‘There is blood now about the star of Master
Koll, and the stranger has for certain murdered him’: and so returns home. The old
man now has once more recourse to his art; but on seeing Sæmund’s star shining
brightly above him, he exclaimed: ‘My pupil is still living: so much the better. I have
taught him more than enough; for he outdoes me both in astrology and magic. Let
them now proceed in safety; I am unable to hinder their departure.’
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2) Bishop P.E. Müller supposes the greater number of the Eddaic poems to be of the
8th century. Sagabibliothek II, p.131.
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3) Codex Regius, No. 2365, 4. The handwriting of this MS. is supposed to be of the
beginning of the 14th century.
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4) The Solarlioð is by some supposed to be the composition of Sæmund himself.
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Introduction
to the Völuspa
As introductory to the Völuspa, the following description of a wandering Vala or
prophetess may be thought both desirable and interesting: “We find them present at the birth
of children, when they seem to represent the Norns. They acquired their knowledge either by
means of
seid
, during the night, which all others in the house were sleeping, and uttered their
oracles in the morning; or they received sudden inspirations during the signing of certain
songs appropriated to the purpose, without which the sorcery could not perfectly succeed.
These seid-women were common over all of the North. When invited by the master of a
family, they appeared in a peculiar costume, sometimes with a considerable number of
followers, e.g. with fifteen young men and fifteen girls. For their soothsaying they received
money, gold rings, and other precious things. Sometimes it was necessary to compel them to
prophesy. An old description of such a Vala, who went from guild to guild telling fortunes,
will give the best idea of these women and their proceedings: -
Thorbiörg, nicknamed the little Vala, during the winter attended the guilds, at the
invitation of those who desired to know their fate, or the quality of the coming year.
Everything was prepared in the most sumptuous manner for her reception. There was an
elevated seat, on which lay a cushion stuffed with feathers. A man was sent to meet her. She
came in the evening dressed in a blue mantle fastened with thongs and set with stones down to
the lap; round her neck she had a necklace of glass beads, on her head a hood of black
lambskin lined with white catskin; in her hand a staff, the head of which was mounted with
brass and ornamented with stones; round her body she wore a girdle of agaric (knöske), from
which hung a bag containing her conjuring apparatus; on her feet were rough calfskin shoes
with long ties and tin buttons, on her hands catskin gloves, white and hairy within. All bade
her welcome with a reverent salutation; the master himself conducted her by the hand to her
seat. She undertook no prophecy on the first day, but would first pass a night there. In the
evening of the following day she ascended her elevated seat, caused the women to place
themselves round her, and desired them to sing certain songs, which they did in a strong, clear
voice. She then prophesied of the coming year, and afterwards, all that would advanced and
asked her such questions as they thought proper, to which they received plain answers.”
Northern Mythology I. p.214, Den Ældre Edda I. p. 6.
In the following grand and ancient lay, dating most probably from the time of heathenism, are
set forth, as the utterances of a Vala, or wandering prophetess, as above described, the story of
the creation of the world from chaos, of the origin of the giants, the gods, the dwarfs, and the
human race, together with other events relating to the mythology of the North, and ending
with the destruction of the gods and the world, and their renewal.
Völuspa
The Vala´s Prophecy.
Page 1
1. For silence I pray all
sacred children,
great and small,
sons of Heimdall
they will that I Valfather´s
deeds recount,
men´s ancient saws,
those that I best remember.
2. The Jötuns I remember
early born,
those who me of old
have reared.
I nine worlds remember,
nine trees,
the great central tree,
beneath the earth.
3. There was in times of old,
where Ymir dwelt,
nor sand nor sea,
nor gelid waves;
earth existed not,
nor heaven above,
‘twas a chaotic chasm,
and grass nowhere.
4. Before Bur´s sons
raised up heaven´s vault,
they who the noble
mid-earth shaped.
The sun shone from the south
over the structure´s rocks:
then was the earth begrown
with herbage green.
5. The sun from the south,
the moon´s companion,
her right hand cast
about the heavenly horses.
The sun knew not
where she a dwelling had,
the moon knew not
what power he possessed,
the stars knew not
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