The Galdr of Óðinn's raven is an Old Norse poem whose date of composition is disputed: was it written before the 14^th century, or is it a 'forgery' of the 16-17^th? My goal is not to take sides in this dispute, but to try understanding what the unknown author meant, regardless of the period the text was written in. This poem is well-known for being particularly obscure. How do I hope to do better than my forecomers, most of them vastly more knowledgeable than me in the Old Norse language? I will simply start with non-classical axioms.

Firstly, the traditional scholarly attitude which strives for a unique translation of the skaldic poems is not very imaginative. It reminds me of my Latin professors who gave bad marks if we did not interpret the text exactly they way they did. If this were to be true, let then this boring old poetry lie in its noble dust! It so happens that every time I could do a personal translation on top of the existing ones, I was overwhelmed by the multiplicity of the possible meanings of the poem. Whenever I can, and when my version changes the meaning of this poem, I will try to share in this multiplicity.

Secondly, a skaldic poem is supposed to reflect the Middle Age Scandinavian myths as we know them through the skaldic and eddic poems, the sagas and the works of Snorri Sturluson. This poem obviously does not fit into this scheme, and so it should not be linked it to them too closely. My working hypothesis is that it is a tragic version of the Apples of Youth myth, either an unknown or 'forged' one. The starting point (first stanza excepted) is similar to this well-known myth where the Goddess Idun (Íðunn) goes away from Asgard (Ásgarðr). The rest has very little to do with this myth and is rather linked to the myth of Ragnarök (I note ö the 'tailed o' that does not exist in most fonts).

Finally, skaldic poetry is not usually seen as feminist writing to say the least. However, working under the assumption that this poem is presenting a feminist view will help us to unravel some of its oddities.

This version of the “Song of Óðinn's raven” finds its source in two online versions:

Thorpe's , http://www.squirrel.com/squirrel/asatru/hrafnagaldr.txt

Eysteinn Björnsson and William P. Reaves' (formerly available at) http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/hrg/main.html

The last seems to be no longer accessible, but part of it is still available at http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/, together with a specialized lexicon giving Björnsson's view of the words meaning. I used the ON version given on this site. Another version is available at: http://home.nvg.org/~gjerde/norn/Bugge/forspjal.html.

You can consult yet another English translation available at http://www.stavacademy.co.uk/mimir/elder1.htm.

A very odd version, due to Elsa-Brita Titchenell, is available at http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/odin/odin-27.htm.

I owe many thanks to William P. Reaves for his insightful comments.

When my translation differs from these three, I try to explain why. Most of the sources I use for a new understanding of the text are unfortunately not available in English. The main one is Jan de Vries' Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Leiden 1961. I also use the Kurzes Wörterbuch that Hans Kuhn associated to his edition of Codex Regius (Carl Winter - Universität Verlag, 1968). Similarly, I use the anthology of skaldic poetry of Kock and Meissner, Skaldisches Lesebuch (Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1931). It includes a dictionary specialized in the skaldic language, Teil 2 : Wörterbuch (217 pages). Sveinbjörn Egilsson's Danish dictionary (in spite of its Latin title) Lexicon Poeticum Antiquae Linguae Septentrionalis, has been reedited by Finnur Jónsson as Ordbog over det norsk-ilsandske Skjalesprog Copenhague, 1931. I have limited access to it, and I use it only to confirm hypotheses. It also happened that I could not find a few words in these dictionaries, in which case I then used Cleasby's Icelandic-English dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1962.

As far as I know, we have mainly six anthologies of skaldic verses, three complete, three incomplete. Because of the aforementioned dispute, the Galdr of Óðinn's raven is not included in them.
1. the web provides a wonderful new edition of the corpus of medieval skaldic poetry at http://www.skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/. It is still without a translation.
2. The most complete edition is Finnur Jónsson's Den norsk-islandske Skaldedigtning . Volumes A1 and A2 present the Old Norse poems, with all the observed variations. Volumes B1 and B2 provide a synthesized edition with a proposal for a 'standard' word order, and a Danish translation.
3. Ernst A. Kock: Den Norsk-Isländska Skaldediktningen. Its two volumes present also all the Old Norse poems, but without the observed variations.
4. Kock and Meissner's anthology shows a few stanzas of the most famous poems (in Old Norse, no translation) but also attempts to give a good idea of many poets, together with a dictionary. Implicitly, it is a compilation of the critics Kock addresses to Jónsson. Without Jónsson's edition, only the dictionary part is useful.
5. and 6. There are two very incomplete anthologies. In English, E. O. G. Turville-Petre Scaldic poetry, Clarendon Press, 1976 : English and Old Norse versions given in parallel. In French, P. Renauld-Krantz Anthologie de la poésie scaldique ancienne Paris Gallimard, 1964 is an interesting attempt at a word-for-word-yet-poetical translation, but with no Old Norse version (I may look fussily academic here, but the ON texts are often so strongly emended that a translation becomes indeed incomprehensible beside the 'wrong' ON version).
Apart from the anthologies, the books of L. M. Hollander (The skalds, 1968) and of R. Boyer (La poésie scaldique, 1990) provide many explanations about the structure of skaldic poetry, and some examples of translations.
For the kennings, I use what seems to be still today the best reference: Rudolf Meissner's Die Kenningar der Skalden, Berlin 1921.

01
Alföður orkar,        Allfather is able,        
álfar skilja,              Elves analyze,        
vanir vitu,              Vanir know,        
vísa nornir,            Norns show,        
elur íviðja,             Iviðja begets,        
aldir bera,              humans carry,        
þreyja þursar,       Thurses crave,        
þrá valkyrjur.       Valkyries long.        
                

This first verse is overflowing with allusions which would have been immediately understandable to the reader of the time. I will try to explain those I am able to. To be brief, I have rather abusively simplified the myths.

Óðinn is considered as the father of all the gods, called the Aesir, therefore he is the 'all father'. The poem Völuspa (this name is the one of the seeress (völva) who speaks throughout the poem), verse 17, says that the first couple of humans, Asc and Embla, were lítt megandi and ørlöglausa before the Gods had given them real life. These two features must be very important in the Nordic culture since they are part of what makes a real human. Ørlöglausa means 'destiny-less', we will come back to this concept below. Lítt megandi means 'of little ability' and Óðinn being the epitome of the Nordic man, he has to be able (to act). The verb orka means to work, to be able.

The Elves are divinities that are not very well known (as opposed to popular belief), and not so different from the 'dwarves' who are definitively not short malformed beings. Elves are often seen as servants to the Aesir. The verb skilja means to divide, to split (even to divorce), to discern, to understand. This ability is known in our language as the one of analysis (as opposed to the synthesis). This is why that the poem says that they 'analyze'.

The Vanir are the Gods of one generation before the Aesir, who were at first fighting the Aesir before they made their peace with them. They are actually quite knowledgeable, and they also know about the art of seið or seiðr, a shamanic method of their own that lets them know. The verb vita means to know, to receive knowledge.

Note that the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is called, in Völuspa s. 21, a fólcvíg, i.e., a folk-war, and not any ordinary war.

The Norns are three giantesses mastering the destiny of humans and Gods. They are respected by the Gods. They know the past and they are supposed to forge the future, they show what will be.

Iviðja means 'she-dweller of the wood.' She is certainly the mother of the wolf Fenrir and she begot a large amount of other monsters.

Humans carry their destiny, this is an essential feature of humanity in the Nordic myths. As we pointed out just above, Asc and Embla were without destiny before they receive their humanity. In fact, the concept of ørlög has in common with the Greek myths that nobody can avoid his or her destiny. In the Nordic context, however, 'bearing' is to be taken more like 'to bear with pride or even haughtiness' rather than 'to bear with relinquishment' this is why the poem says they 'carry' their destiny more than they bear it. Not only you carry your destiny, but also you accept it (instead of fighting it uselessly as in the Greek myths), and you bear it with pride.

The verb bera means to bear, to bring, to carry, to drive, to discover.

The word ørlög is the plural of ørlag = ør-lag. ør is a prefix meaning 'out' (German : aus) and lag means 'something laying down' that evolved into legen in German and 'lay' in English. What happened to ørlag in these two Germanic tongues? In German, the verb auslegen means to lay out (paint) and edit (a book). In English, it is funny to see that 'outlay'  went far from this meaning, while 'layout' : and 'to lay out' are obvious parents of German 'auslegen'.

Paint, walls, book exist at first and they are laid out or edited afterwards.
This meaning implies that the Norns lay out our fate from existing stuff, they edit the book of our lives, but they do not write it. They show, as this poem says, they do not create.

The Thurs are the ice giants. This name is used to refer to their strength, resistance and meanness. They painfully long for the time when Heimdal will blow his horn (that will happen at the end of the poem) in order to announce the 'beginning of the end,' the Ragnarök when they will fight the Gods for the last time. Meanwhile they are put in check by Thor (Þórr) and his dreadful hammer, this explains why they wait painfully.

The verb Þreyja means to long for painfully (meaning given by Kuhn) , to long for, to yearn for, to spend time.

The Valkyries are Óðinn's servants because he is the God of Battles and the Valkyries choose who will die in battle. They long for the battle where they will show their power.

Þrá can mean to long for, but it also means ambiguously languor, fervor, complaint.

02                
Ætlun æsir           The Aesir guessed that        
illa gátu,                something ill was being planned,        
veður villtu          wind was bewildered        
vættar rúnum;    by the wights with runes;        
Óðhræris skyldi  Óðhrærir in duty        
Urður geyma,      was Urðr to watch,        
máttk at verja     she has power to protect it        
mestum þorra.    from the worse of the winters.        

The Aesir are the main Nordic Gods and they feel the situation is serious (the 'worse of the winters' is coming). The rest of the poem will show how they react.

The sentence “Óðhrærir in duty was Urðr to watch …” follows the Old Norse word ordering but means : “Urðr was put in duty to watch Óðhrærir”.

Óðhrærir is the mead of poetry. Drinking of it gives knowledge, it is also named Ódrœrir. Urd (Urðr) is one of the three Norns. The poem states that she is set to watch the source of knowledge.

Meanwhile, some beings (the 'wights') start to “bewilder the wind,” a process that will unleash uncontrollable forces. Several beings, giants, elves, dwarves, norns, and humans know the power of the runic script. Any of them can be accused of joining the bad wights who bewilder the wind. Óðinn also knows the runes to the perfection, but his role is clearly here one of balance keeper, he cannot be charged with this action.
        
03                
Hverfur því Hugur,    Hugr disappears,         
himna leitar,                looking for heaven,        
grunar guma               suspect humans        
grand ef dvelur;         destruction, if it tarries;        
þótti er Þráins            Þráinn's thought        
þunga draumur,         is a thick dream,        
Dáins dulu                   Dáinn's dream        
draumur þótti.           seems mysterious.        

Hugr is certainly Hugin, 'thought', one of Óðinn's raven.

The sentence “They suspect the humans destruction, if it tarries;” means, I guess, “The humans suspect destruction if it (Hugr) tarries.”

Now, it is high time for Óðinn to send, to gather news, one of the two ravens he uses for his shamanic travels.

The dwarves (who are a kind of Gods – not ill formed subterranean smiths! Remember the poem Völuspa says explicitly they made the human shapes out of which we originate) start loosing their powers; their minds begin to stiffen. We find here an allusion or at least a pun with Hugin's disappearance: the thought of the dwarves seems to disappear as well.

Þráinn is a dwarf and the Hávamál, s. 143, states that Dáinn carved the runes for the elves, he is usually seen as a dwarf but he might be an elf as well.