Völundarkviða
Encyclopedia
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
. The term kviða derives from the verb kveða (or kvœtha in Old Swedish
Old Swedish
Old Swedish is the name for two separate stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish , spoken from around 1225 until 1375, and Late Old Swedish , spoken from 1375 until 1526.Old Swedish developed from Old East Norse, the eastern dialect of Old Norse...
) which carried the sense of "to say, to tell" and "to sing" at the same time.
Synopsis
The poem relates the story of the artisan Völundr, also known as Wayland the Smith. In the poem, he is called "prince of the elves" (vísi álfa) and "one of the álfar" or "leader of álfar" (álfa ljóði). He is also mentioned as one of the three sons of the king of the Finns in the poem. His wife Hervör-Alvitr, a valkyrieValkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
, abandons him after nine years, and he is later captured by Níðuðr, a petty-king of Närke
Närke
' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwest, and Värmland to the northwest...
(Sweden) greedy for his gold. Völundr is hamstrung
Hamstringing
Hamstringing is a method of crippling a person or animal so that they cannot walk properly, by cutting the two large tendons at the back of the knees.- Method :...
and put to work on an island making artifacts for the king. Eventually he finds means of revenge and escape. He kills Niðuðr's sons, impregnates his daughter and then flies away laughing.
The poem is appreciated for its evocative images.
- In the night went men,
- in studded corslets,
- their shields glistened
- in the waning moon.
Völundarkviða 6, Thorpe's translation
The Völundr myth appears to have been widespread among the Germanic peoples. It is also related in the Þiðrekssaga af Bern (Velents þáttr smiðs
Velents þáttr smiðs
Velents þáttr smiðs is the name given to the part of the Þiðrekssaga af Bern that deals with Wayland Smith ....
) and it is alluded to in the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
poem The Lament of Deor
Deor
"Deor" is an Old English poem found in the late 10th century collection the Exeter Book. The poem consists of the lament of the scop Deor, who lends his name to the poem, which was given no formal title. Modern scholars do not actually believe Deor to be the author of this poem.In the poem, Deor's...
. It is moreover depicted on a panel of the 7th century Anglo-Saxon Franks Casket
Franks Casket
The Franks Casket is a small Anglo-Saxon whalebone chest from the seventh century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes...
and on the 8th century Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
ic Ardre image stone
Ardre image stone
The Ardre image stones are a collection of ten rune and image stones, dated to the 8th to 11th centuries, that were discovered at a church in Ardre, which is about four kilometers north of Stånga, Gotland County, Sweden.-Description:...
VIII.
The poem is preserved in its entirety among the mythological poems of the Codex Regius
Codex Regius
Cōdex Rēgius is an Icelandic manuscript in which the Poetic Edda is preserved. It is made up of 45 vellum leaves, thought to have been written in the 1270s. It originally contained a further 8 leaves, which are now missing...
and the beginning of the prose prologue is also found in the AM 748 I 4to
AM 748 I 4to
AM 748 I 4to is an Icelandic vellum manuscript fragment containing several Eddaic poems. It dates to the beginning of the 14th century. The six sheets which have been preserved contain the following poems, all mythological.*Grímnismál...
fragment.
English translations
- Völundarkvitha Translation and commentary by Henry Adams BellowsHenry Adams BellowsHenry Adams Bellows was a lawyer, state legislator, and jurist born in Rockingham, Vermont. He was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Littleton, New Hampshire in 1839. He was subsequently elected again to the House from Concord, New Hampshire in 1856–1857, and served as...
- Bellows' translation with facing page Old Norse text
- http://books.google.com/books?id=JcYLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP1&dq=Benjamin+Thorpe,+Edda&hl=en&ei=FCE2TayQFJGrrAfH1-zbCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=There%20was%20a%20king%20in%20Sweden%20named%20Nidud&f=false Translation by Benjamin ThorpeBenjamin ThorpeBenjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
- Völundarkviða Translation by W. H. AudenW. H. AudenWystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
and P. B. Taylor
Old Norse editions
- Völundarkviða Sophus BuggeSophus BuggeSophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...
's edition of the manuscript text - Völundarkviða Guðni Jónsson's edition with normalized spelling