Völuspá

Völuspá (Old Norse Vǫluspá or Vǫluspǫ́, Prophecy of the Völva (Seeress); Modern Icelandic [ˈvœːlʏˌspauː], reconstructed Old Norse [ˈwɔluˌspɑː]) is the first and best known poem of the Poetic Edda. It tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end, related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin. It is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Henry Adam Bellows proposed a 10th-century dating and authorship by a pagan Icelander with knowledge of Christianity. He also assumes the early hearers would have been very familiar with the "story" of the poem and not in need of an explanation.

The poem is preserved whole in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts while parts of it are quoted in the Prose Edda. It consists of approximately 60 fornyrðislag stanzas.

Völuspá is found in the Codex Regius manuscript (ca. 1270) and in Haukr Erlendsson's Hauksbók Codex (ca. 1334), and many of its stanzas are quoted or paraphrased in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (composed ca. 1220, oldest extant manuscript dates from ca. 1300). The order and number of the stanzas varies in these sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The Codex Regius version is usually taken as a base for editions.

The poem consists of some 60 fornyrðislag stanzas. In Sophus Bugge's edition the Hauksbók version has 59 stanzas while the Codex Regius version has 62 stanzas. Each manuscript contains some stanzas not in the other. Bugge's normalized version has 66 stanzas. The poem makes sporadic use of refrains.

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