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Happily Heathen: Know Your Lore — The Poetic Edda

Happily Heathen: Know Your Lore — The Poetic Edda

Last updated on: May 27, 2016 at 4:00 pm by Cara Freyasdaughter

Happily Heathen: Know Your Lore — The Poetic Edda 2016-05-27T10:26:16+00:00 Cara Freyasdaughter

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As a new Heathen, people are often told to read “the sagas and the Eddas”. However, this can be a bit overwhelming to those unfamiliar with Old Norse spelling and pronunciation. This situation is further worsened by the somewhat stilted, archaic-sounding translations of the key texts. So what’s a newbie Heathen to do?

Unfortunately, you do kinda need to read the sagas and Eddas (at least some of them)—and by that I mean read academic translations of the primary texts, not some modern person’s creative retelling of the myths that may leave out key details. However, I realize that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. To that end, I’ve decided to start an irregular series on the various pieces of the Lore—an informal “cliff notes for Heathens”, if you will—that will hopefully give new people a place to start when looking for information relevant to their interests. Are you interested in learning more about Freyr? Read the Skirnismal. Do you want to hear the dish on all of the Gods? Read the Lokasenna. Do you want to know all of the gory details of Ragnarok? Read the Voluspa. All of which, by the way, are located in today’s topic, the Poetic Edda.

Battle of the Doomed Gods by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine (1845-1921). Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Poetic Edda

Brunhilde knelt at his feet by Ferdinand Leeke – Ferdinand Leeke, 1905, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Poetic Edda, also known as the “Elder Edda”, is one of the primary texts that modern Heathens rely on when reconstructing the beliefs and practices of the Viking Age. Along with the Prose Edda, which was written/compiled by Snorri Sturlson, it comprises “the Eddas” that everyone tells you to read. The Poetic Edda is a collection of 39 poems composed by a variety of anonymous Icelandic authors. These poems were found in a document called the Codex Regius (“The Royal Book”, or Konungsbók in Icelandic) that was discovered in Denmark in the 1600s. These poems were believed to have been composed between 800-1100 CE, but given that the pre-Christian cultures in the north did not have a tradition of written documents, they were likely not written down until post-conversion (probably between 1050-1150 CE). In addition to the poems I highlight below, this work also contains much of the material for Wagner’s Ring Cycle (the ongoing saga of Sigurd Völsung’s family).

(A hint on pronunciation—with the exception of a few special characters, most Old Norse words are pronounced exactly they way they are spelled in modern English.) For more specic details, check out sacred-texts.com’s pronunciation guide: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe38.htm).

Völuspá (“vo-LU-spa”) “The Prophecy of the Seeress”; early 10th century. Odin, in his ever-present quest for knowledge, asks a seeress (known as a völva) to tell him about the beginning and ending of the world, which she does From this poem we get much of our knowledge of how the world came into being and how the various races (Aesir, giants, elves, etc.) were created. This poem also contains the story of Ragnarok (how the world ends) and the stories of the burning of Gullveig; the Aesir-Vanir war; and the death of Balder. Outside of Heathen communities, this poem is probably the most famous poem in Poetic Edda.

The Stranger at the Door, an illustration in the Hávamál by W.G. Collingwood (1854 – 1932). Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Hávamál (“HAH-vah-mal”) “The Sayings of Har”, or “The Sayings of the High One”; various authors and dates. This is probably the most well-known poem in Heathen circles; this is where the “Cattle die, kinsmen die/One day you youself shall die” quote comes from. Also, unlike several other poems in the Poetic Edda, the Codex Regius is the only source we have for the this poem.
The Havamal can be divided into roughly five sections, though most Heathens usually list the various sections by the stanza numbers rather than terms.

Gestaþáttr, (stanzas 1-80) General life advice on how to be a good guest and a good host and how to deal with relatives, friends, and strangers. (Reading it, it literally feels as if your grandfather had decided to sit you down one holiday and bequeath to you all of his hard-earned life lessons.)
(stanzas 96-102) Odin describes how he won the mead of poetry from Gunnlöð. He also includes a rant about how he was unsuccessful in winning over Billingr, a giantess (?) whom he desired.
Loddfáfnismál (stanzas 111-138) More life lessons from grandpa, addressed to a wandering singer named Loddfafnir. (Most stanzas begin with “I rede thee, Loddfafnir! and hear thou my rede”). These lessons deal mainly with Odin’s advice on friendship and romantic love.
Rúnatal (stanzas 139-146)—A description of how Odin won the runes.

“I ween that I hung | on the windy tree,
Hung there for nights full nine
With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was
To Othin, myself to myself….”
(source)
Ljóðatal (stanzas 147-165)—A collection of charms that Odin knows, which may or many not be connected to the ones described in the various rune poems, but in any event should not be confused with what modern Heathens refer to as the actual rune poems (i.e., the Icelandic, Norse, and Anglo-Saxon rune poems.)

The old man (Odin) places a sword into the tree Barnstokkr after entering the hall of the Völsungs. By Emil Doepler – Doepler, Emil. ca. 1905. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Grímnismál (“GRIM-niz-mal”) “The Lay of Grimnir”; ie, “Odin disguised as a beggar”; date unknown. In this poem’s introduction, Odin and Frigga vie against each other through their chosen heroes, with Frigga coming out as the ultimate victor. The poem section starts after this basic plotline has been laid down, and Odin is already in the middle of being tortured by his former hero. The son of Odin’s hero, following the laws of hospitality, gives Odin a drink, and in return Odin relays the names and locations of the halls of the gods, as well as info about his wolves, ravens, and Yggdrasil itself. “For a single drink | shalt thou never receive | A greater gift as reward,” he says. (The Vafthruthnismol and Alvissmol poems follow a similar format, in that there is little in the way of a plotline but a lot of info is conveyed in a short time.)

Skírnismál (“SKIR-niz-mal”)“Skirnir’s Journey”; date unknown. This myth describes how Freyr won the jotun maiden Gerd for his wife. Sitting on Odin’s High Seat, Freyr sees Gerd and falls “violently” in love with her, and mopes because he knows he can never wed her. Eventually his friend, Skirnir, offers to go win her for him, but only if Freyr gives him the Sword That Fights on Its Own and the Horse That Can Run Through Fire. (This is why Freyr does not have the proper sword to fight Surt with come Ragnarok.) Freyr does this, and after many threats and promises, Skirnir convinces Gerd to leave her father’s hall in Jotunheim and wed Freyr. In addition to being a fascinating story, we learn quite a bit about what Vanic curse magic looks like through the threats that Skirnir uses against Gerd.

Odin and Frigg by H. Clark, 1920. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Lokasenna (“Low-kah-SEN-na”) “The Flyting of Loki”; date unknown. In this poem, Loki essentially gate-crashes a party of the Gods (minus Thor) that is hosted by Aegir. He starts a battle of insults (“a flyting”; kind of like a modern-day roast) with all of the Gods, bringing up a slew of past indiscretions. Eventually Thor shows up and threatens Loki with his hammer, and Loki leaves. While alternately shocking and hilarious, the Lokasenna is filled with tons of tidbits of information that do not exist anywhere else in the surviving lore, leaving us to wonder what other myths and stories did not survive to the modern age. This is where we learn, for example, that Frigga slept with Odin’s brothers at some point, and that Njord married his sister.

Njörðr:
It is no great wonder,
if silk-clad dames
get themselves husbands, lovers;
but ’tis a wonder that a wretched man,
that has borne children,
should herein enter.

Loki:
“Cease now, Njörðr!
in bounds contain thyself;
I will no longer keep it secret:
it was with thy sister
thou hadst such a son
hardly worse than thyself.”

Thor dresses up as a bride and Loki as a bridesmaid. By Carl Larsson (1853-1919) and Gunnar Forssell (1859-1903). Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Thrymskviða (“thrim-SKVEE-dah”) “The Lay of Thrym”, aka “That one time Thor dressed up as a woman”; date unknown. This poem describes that one time that Thor woke up to find his hammer stolen, and he could only get it back by give the jotun Thrym Freya as his bride. Freya, of course, firmly declines the chance to be a jotun’s wife, and Heimdal suggests that Thor dress up and go as Freya instead. Loki agrees, and goes with Thor as his “handmaiden/translator”. Hilarity inevitably ensues. Eventually Thor gets his hammer back and gets to exact revenge on Thrym and his family.

A note on translations: There are only a few translations of the Poetic Edda available. Lee Hollander’s is quite possibly the most-used version in modern Heathenry, followed closely by Caroline Larrington’s translation. Hollander attempts to convey the alliteration of the original poems, but his language is a bit archaic at times. Larrington gives a more literal word-for-word translation and is an easier read, though her translation misses most of the poetic genius of these unknown skaldic poets. Available in full online in full at the Sacred-Texts website is Henry Adams Bellows’ 1936 translation, which conveys the “feel” of the poetry pretty well and is also easier to read than Hollander’s translation. (And it’s free!)

Hopefully this will help newcomers a better idea of where to start. If there are any particular pieces of lore you’d like to see addressed next, please mention them in the comment section below!

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