''Baldrs draumar'' (Old Norse: '
Baldr
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
's dreams') or ''Vegtamskviða'' is an
Eddic poem
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...
which appears in the manuscript
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. AM 748 I is split into two parts. AM 748 I a 4to is kept in the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen. AM 748 ...
. It describes the myth of
Baldr
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
's death consistently with ''
Gylfaginning
''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with th ...
''. Bellows suggest that the poem was composed in the mid 10th century as well as the possibility that the author also composed ''
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...
'' or at least drew from it, pointing at the similarity of stanza 11 in ''Baldrs draumar'' and stanzas 32-33 in ''Völuspá''.
Synopsis and text
Baldr
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
has been having nightmares.
Odin
Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
rides to
Hel to investigate. He finds the grave of a ''
völva
In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and they are f ...
'' and
resurrects her. Their conversation follows, where the völva tells Odin about Baldr's fate. In the end Odin asks her a question which reveals his identity and the völva tells him to ride home.
Form and date
The poem is one of the shortest Eddic poems, consisting of 14 ''
fornyrðislag
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal ornamental device to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of ...
'' stanzas. Some late paper manuscripts contain about five more stanzas, those are thought to be of young origin.
Sophus Bugge
Elseus Sophus Bugge (5 January 1833 – 8 July 1907) was a Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scholarly 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 ...
believed them to have been composed by the author of ''
Forspjallsljóð'', which is thought to have been written in the 17th century. Bellows, on the other hand, suggests the poem is much older but could not date it earlier than the tenth century.
Influence
The confrontation between The Wanderer (Wotan) and Erda in Act 3, Scene 1 of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's opera
Siegfried
Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace".
The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...
is based upon ''Baldrs draumar''.
The poem inspired a
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, ''
Baldurs draumar
''Baldur's Dreams'' ( no, Baldurs draumar) is a ballet by the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt. It is loosely based on the poem ''Baldrs draumar'' from the ''Poetic Edda''. It has never been staged as an actual ballet. The music was performed by ...
'' (''Baldur's Dreams''), by the
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
Geirr Tveitt
Geirr Tveitt (born Nils Tveit; 19 October 1908 – 1 February 1981) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s.
Life
Early years
Tveitt was born in Be ...
, first staged in 1938.
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
English translations
Baldrs DraumarTranslation and commentary by H. A. Bellows
Old Norse editions
Sophus Bugge
Elseus Sophus Bugge (5 January 1833 – 8 July 1907) was a Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scholarly 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 ...
's edition of the manuscript text
Baldrs draumarGuðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling
Facsimile of the original manuscript
Other links
Baldrs draumar: literally and literarilyArticle by Mats Malm
illustrations from Victorian and Edwardian retellings of Baldrs draumar. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it.
{{Poetic Edda
10th-century poems
Baldr
Eddic poetry
Sources of Norse mythology
Resurrection