Poetic Edda - Cottle Trans.
GANRADE.
Vafthrudnis! tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
Whence at the first came winter's snow,
And whence the summer's sultry glow;
Spreading their influence thro' the skies,
Over the sage divinities?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
(13) Vindsualer first bade snow arise:
(14) Suasuder fires the summer skies:
These two shall hold alternate reign,
Long as the Gods their faith maintain.
GANRADE.
This fifth thing tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
Who, eldest in the Asori clime,
Issued at the birth of time?
And who 'mong Ymer's progeny?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
When wintry storms o'erspread the sky,
E'er yet from ocean rose the earth,
Great (15) Bergelmer had his birth:
(16) Thrudgelmer was his father's name ---
He from great (17) Aurgelmer came.
GANRADE.
This sixth thing tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
Whence, number'd mongst the Jötni sons,
Of eldest birth Aurgelmer comes?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
From eastern (18) Elivagi strands,
Black drops of venom dy'd the lands;
Strait from the widely moist'ned earth
A teeming giant took his birth.
(19) But quickly sparks of fire flew
From southern climes ---- a wonder new ---
And gave to winter's driving sleet
The animating power of heat.
GANRADE.
This seventh thing tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
How from that hoary-headed man
A race of giants first began;
Since wives of gigantean race
Had never felt his fierce embrace?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
O Ganrade! hear --- a maid and son
From under his wide pinions sprung;
His feet, as ancient legends say,
Next their genial power display,
And forth a (20) second issue came,
Rejoicing in their parent's fame.
GANRADE.
This eighth thing tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
What new born onjects round thine eye
Arose at thy nativity?
For Giant! thou canst wisdom boast.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
Far back on times (21) remotest coast,
Before the Gods had form'd the earth,
Great Bergelmer had his birth: ---
This I remember --- He was wise,
And guarded by fond Deities;
Who safe embark'd him on the tide,
And bade him safe the tempest ride.
GANRADE.
This ninth thing tell, since thou art wise,
And sacred truth thy speech supplies;
Whence come the winds that o'er the deep,
On their unseen pinion sweep?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
Where the heavens remotest bound,
With darkness is encircled round;
There (22) Hræsvelger sits and swings
The tempest from his eagle wings.
GANRADE.
Begin, for Sage! thou knowest well,
The origin of Gods to tell: ---
Whence, among the Asori state,
Did great (23) Niorder being take?
Many a dome of sacred fame,
Him for their protector claim.
No Asi Sire the chief begot.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
Among the (24) Vani 'twas his lot,
To spring from Ancestors divine,
An hostage at their sacred shrine:
He'll be when time has run his round,
Again among the Vani found.
GANRADE.
Vafthrudnis now th' eleventh tell,
Since thou comprehendest well,
Whence the source of Godhead springs,
And all the mystic cause of things;
In what renown'd terific field
Their swords, the (25) Monoheroes wield;
Who oft with valor's keen delight,
In dreadful recreation fight;
While Gods behold.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
In Odin's field,
Their swords the Monoheroes wield;
And daily on each other bear,
The dread conflicting storm of war.
Scarr'd in the fight, the chiefs divide,
And home on stately steeds they ride;
Then with the Gods in splendid halls,
Drink oblivion to their brawls:
Sæhrimner's flesh a feast affords,
And concord reigns around their boards.
GANRADE.
Vafthrudnis! now the twelfth thing tell,
Since thou comprehendest well,
Whence the source of Godhead springs,
And all the mystic cause of things;
What secrets to the Gods belong,
What to the gigantean throng.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
What secrets to the Gods belong,
And to the gigantean throng
I will unfold --- In ev'ry world,
I my banners have unfurl'd:
Behold! nine travers'd spheres above,
Th' extent of my researches prove:
Beneath the shades of (26) Niflhil lie ---
There the men of Hela die.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient myst'ry grown;
Tell me alas! what men survive,
(27) When Winter o'er the world shall drive?
That Winter of disastrous fame,
Which trembling mortals fear to name.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
Hoddmimer is the destin'd hill,
The wasted plains of earth to fill:
In the safe caverns of its side,
Shall (28) Life and Vital Heat reside:
By dew the fugitives be fled,
And thence shall man erect his head.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient mist'ry grown;
Where shall th' extinguih'd sun be found,
Within the azure vault profound,
When (29) Fenrir with his power malign,
Forbids his beams again to shine?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
He shall a blooming virgin raise,
E'er Fenrir shall obscure his rays ---
(30) She like her Goddess mother lives,
(31) When perish lesser Deities.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient mist'ry grown;
What virgins then, Vafthrudnis! say,
Protect the world with gentle sway?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
Among three nations scatter'd wide,
Hostile virgins shall reside;
(32) But others over these shall reign,
And all their deeds malign restrain:
Mortals from them no hardships dread,
Altho' among th' Jötni bred.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient myst'ry grown:
The (33) age of Surtur now no more ---
What chiefs shall rule the Asarian shore,
And o'er the lofty fanes preside
That men for Gods benign provide?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
The age of Surtur now no more---
(34) Vidar and (35) Vali rise to power:
They o'er the temples shall preside,
That men for fav'ring Gods provide.
(36) Modi and (37) Magni then shall reign,
And happily for man obtain
The fatal mallet of Great Thor,
And thro' the world extinguish war.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient myst'ry grown:
From Odin's eye, Vafthrudnis! say,
What fate shall blot the light of day?
VAFTHRUDNIS.
(38) A shaggy monster shall devour,
The (39) parent of the fleeting hour:
Then Vidar shall indignant speed
Vengeance for the guilty deed,
And, wide around, the hateful plain
Shall smoke with blood, for (40) Vitner slain.
GANRADE.
Much have I seen, and much have known,
And wise in ancient myst'ry grown:
Tell me once more, Vafthrudnis! tell,
What secret voice from Odin fell;
When to his son he whisp'ring stood,
E'er the boy clim'd the fatal wood.
VAFTHRUDNIS.
None know since time its race hath run
What Odin whisper'd to his son.
The fate of Gods and mystic lore
With thee no longer I explore.
Thou, by the hand of knowledge led,
The fatal stroke of death hast fled:
And since thy wisdom I have try'd,
Hear Vafthrudnis thus decide ---
In mysteries of every kind,
Thou art the wisest of mankind.
Notes:
13. Vindsualer ---- The Father of Winter. [Back]
14. Suasuder --- The Father of Summer. [Back]
15. Bergelmer --- Noah, from Berg. a mountain, and Gemler, an old man. [Back]
16. Thrudgelmer --- Lamech. [Back]
17. Aurgelmer ---- Adam. [Back]
18. Elivagi --- The streams of the Volga are here supposed to be meant. In this and the following verses the poet explains in a confused manner, the Creation of Man. First, he hints at the materials of creation: then at the creation of man: and thirdly, at the antediluvian world, the wickedness of which occasioned the destruction of the Jötni by a deluge. [Back]
19. "But quickly." --- The writer of the Voluspa thus describes the phenomenon of creation --- In the day-spring of ages, says he, there was neither sea nor shore, nor refreshing breezes. The whole was only one vast abyss, without herb and without seed. The Sun had then no palace: the Moon was ignorant of her power. Towards the south there was a luminous and burning world: from this world flowed out incessantly into the Abyss that laid towards the north torrents of sparkling fire; which, in proportion as they removed far away from their source, congealed as they fell into the Abyss, and so filled it with scum and ice. A warm breath coming from the south, melted the vapours arising from this chaos, and formed of them living drops; whence was born the giant Ymer or Aurgelmer. It is reported that whilst he slept, an extraordinary sweat under his arm-pits produced a male and female; whence sprung the race of the giants; a race evil and corrupt as well as their author. [Back]
20. "A second issue," which took place in a different manner to what the former creation did. This mode of generation among the Gods, is thus explained by Vossius: "In natura attendentes vim activam et passivam, eam et marem et fminam dixere; marem illud, quod vim in alia exserit; fæminam, quæ vim alienam recipit, et quasi fcundatur." Orpheus, in his Hymn to Nature, has a similar idea. Pantwn men Pathr, mhthr, trofoj, hde tiqhnoj There was a creation also originating from the Cow Andumbla, called the family of Bor, so named from the first of that family, who was the Father of Odin. The sons of Bor flew the giant Ymer, and the blood ran from his wounds in such abundance, that it caused a general inundation, wherein perished all the giants, except one, who saving himself in a bark, escaped with all his family. Then a new world was formed. The sons of Bor, or the Gods, dragged the body of the giant into the Abyss, and of it made the earth, in the way before described. They created four dwarfs to support the heavens, called North, East, West, and South. They fixed tapers in the heavens, and assigned to other fires certain spaces which they were to run through, some of them in heaven, others under the heaven: the days were distinguished, and the years numbered. They made the earth round, and surrounded it with the deep ocean, upon the banks of which they placed the giants. One day as the sons of Bor were taking a walk, they found two pieces of wood floating upon the water; these they took, and out of them formed a man and woman. The eldest of the Gods gave them life and souls; the second motion and knowledge; the third the gift of speech, hearing and sight, to which he added beauty and raiment. From this man and this woman, named Askus and Embla, is descended the race of men who are permitted to inhabit the earth. [Back]
21. Remotest coast, the antartic pole. [Back]
22. Hræsvelger, the name of an Eagle derived from Hræ, a dead body, and Svelger, a glutton. Such a person has seldom a very fastidious taste so the wind renders all places clear and wholesome, by carrying away noxious vapours; ---- Loca venenosa nisi ventosa. [Back]
23. Niorder, the Neptune of the Northern nations who presided over the sea and winds. This is one of those Genii whom the Celts placed in the Elements. The extent of his empire rendered him respectable, and we find in the north to this day, traces of the veneration which was there paid him. Men wwere exhorted to worship him for fear he should do them mischief, a motive like that which caused the Romans to erect Temples to Fever. He was in great estimation among the Vani, though Lok has complimented him in this manner: Taceto Niörde! Tu enim in orientem, hinc Obses ad deos mittebaris. Virgines giganteæ, Te pro matula utebantur, Et tuum in os mingebant. [Back]
24. Vani, a nation dwelling between the Tanais and Volga descended from the Grecians. [Back]
25. Monoheroes. --- Those only whose blood had been shed in battle, might aspire to the pleasures which Odin prepared for them in Valhalla. This hope rendered all the inhabitants of Europe intrepid, and made them not only defy, but seek with ardor the most cruel deaths. Accordingly King Regner Lodbrag when he was going to die, far from uttering groans, or forming complaints, expressed his joy thus: "We are cut to pieces with swords: but this fills me with joy, when I think of the feast that is preparing for me in Odin's palace. Quickly, quickly seated in the splendid habitation of the Gods, we shall drink beer out of the skulls of our enemies. A brave man fears not to die. I shall utter no timorous words as I enter the Hall of Odin." This fanatic hope derived additional force from the ignominy affixed to every kind of death but such as was of a violent nature, and the fear of being sent after such an exit into Niflhil. Consonant to this Lucan thus describes the northern inhabitants of Europe: Certe populi quos despicit arctos Felices errore suo! quos ille timorum Maximus haud urget lethi metus; inde ruendi In ferrum mens prona viris, animæque capaces Mortis: et ignavum redituræ parcere vita. [Back]
26. Niflhil, the northern mythology teaches that the souls of bad men descend into Hela and thence into Niflhil, which is the ninth sphere or world. This bears some analogy to the description Virgil has given of the infernal regions. Fata obstant, tristique palus inamabilis unda Alligat et Novies styx interfusa coercet. This place consisted of nine worlds, reserved for those who died of disease or old age. Hela or Death there exercised her despotic power; her place was Anguish; her table Famine; her waiters were Expectation and Delay; the threshold of the door was Precipice; her bed Leanness: she was livid and ghastly pale; and her very looks inspired horror. [Back]
27. "When Winter." The Northern nations believed that a barbarous age would come, an age of the Sword, as they called it, when iniquity should infest the earth, when brothers should stain themselves with brothers blood, when sons should be the murderers of their fathers, and fathers of their sons, when incest and adultery should be common, when no man should spare his friend. Immediately after that, a desolating winter should succeed, wherein the snow should fall from the four corners of the world, the winds blow with fury, and the whole earth be hard bound in ice. Three such winters should pass away without being softened with one summer. Then should succeed astonishing prodigies: monsters should break their chains and escape; the great dragon should roll himself in the ocean, and with his motions the earth should be shaken; the trees be torn up by the roots, and the rocks dashed against each other. From this general destruction a world was to be created where nothing but peace and happiness should reign. --- The Voluspa describes it in this manner: Brdor mono berias, Oc at bönom verda Muno fystrungar Sifiom spilla. Hart er med hauldrom, Herdomr mikill. Skeggöld. Scalmold. Skildir klofnir. Vindold, Wargold, Adr: verold steipiz. Which exactly agrees with what Ovid says, Jupiter antiqui contraxit tempora veris: Perque hyemes, æstusque, & inæquales autumnos, Et breve ver, spatiis exegit quatuor annum. Tum primum siccis aer fervoribus ustus Canduit: & ventis glacies adstricta pependit. Tum primum subiere domos. Domus antra suerunt, Et densi frutices, & vinctæ cortice virgæ, Semina tum primum longis Cerealia sulcis Obruta sunt, pressique jugo gemuere juvenci. Tertia post illas successit ahenea proles, Sævior ingeniis, & ad horrida promptior arma: Nec scelerata tamen. De duro est ultima ferro. Prontinus irrumpit venæ pejoris in ævum Omne nefas: fugere pudor, verumque, fidesque: In quorum subiere locum fraudesque dolique Infidiæque, & vis, & amor sceleratus habendi. Jamque nocens ferrum, ferroque nocentius aurum Prodierat: prodit bellum, quod pugnat utroque: Sanguineaque manu crepitantia concutit arma. Vivitur ex rapto. Non hospes ab hospite tutus, Non socer a genero: fratrum quoque gratia rara est. Imminent exitio vir conjugis, illa mariti; Lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercæ: Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos. Victa jacet pietas; & virgo cæde madentes Ultima clestum terras Astræa reliquit. [Back]
28. "Life and Vital Heat," shall be hid in the body of the renewed earth: these by the means of moisture shall produce man. The opinions of the Sythians and Egyptians were the same. Virgil also says, Cum primum lucem pecudes hausere virumque Ferrea progenies duris caput extulit arvis. Ovid too was of the same opinion. Cætera diversis tellus animalia formis Sponte sua peperit, postquam vetus humor ab igne Percaluit Solis; cnumque, udæque paludes Intumuere æstu: fcundaque semina rerum Vivaci nutrita solo, ceu matris in alvo Crevernnt, faciemque aliquam cepere morando. Quippe ubi temperiem sumsere humorque, calorque, Concipunt: & ab his oriuntur cuncta duobus. Cumque sit ignis aquæ pugnax; vapor humidus omnes Res creat, & discors concordia ftibus apta est. [Back]
29. Fenrir. --- While that Winter last spoken of exists, the wolf Fenrir shall break loose from his chains, where a great river disembogues itself into the Ocean, (by which is meant time and eternity), and open his enormous mouth which reaches from Heaven to Earth; the fire shall flash out from his eyes and nostrils; he shall devour the sun: and the great dragon which follows him, shall vomit forth upon the waters and into the air, great torrents of venom. In this confusion, the stars shall fly from their places, the heavens shall cleave asunder, and the army of evil Genii and Giants, conducted by Surtur (the black), and followed by Lok, shall break in to attack the Gods. [Back]
30. "She like." --- Rinda is the Virgin here understood. [Back]
31. "When perish." --- The first and second order of Deities were supposed never to perish; these, therefore, must mean an inferior order, who shall be absorbed in the great twilight of the Gods. [Back]
32. "But others." --- The meaning of the passage seems to be this: --- The human race shall be divided into three people, who shall take possession of the world rising from the sea, and shall dwell upon it: then all places shall be filled with good Genii, who shall defend the human race from those that are evil. [Back]
33. "Age of Surtur," --- The consummation of all things: This was to take place by means of fire. Similar to this was the opinion of the Stoics as appears from Sophocles. ejai gar ejai ceinoj aiwnwn cronoj otan puroj gemonta qesauron. cash cruswpoj aiqhr. h q boschqeisa flox Apanta tapigeia cai metarsia flexei maneij. In Ovid also we find the same sentiment. Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur affore tempus, Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaq regia cli Ardeat, et mundi moles operosa laboret. [Back]
34. Vidar. He wears thick shoes, but of so wonderful a texture, that by means of them he can walk in air and tread upon water. He is almost as strong as Thor himself, and in all critical conjunctures, affords the Gods great consolation. he is the God of silence. [Back]
35. Vali. --- Son of Odin and Rinda, bold in war, and an excellent archer; he killed Hoder in revenge for Balder's death. [Back]
36. Modi, signifies vigor of mind. [Back]
37. Magni, strength of body. All the preceding, except Vali, were the sons of Thor. [Back]
38. "A shaggy monster." --- Fenrir the wolf. [Back]
39. "The parent." --- Odin the God of the sun, by which time is computed. [Back]
40. Vitner. --- One of the names of Odin. [Back]
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