Alvíssmál (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

: 'The Song of All-wise' or 'The Words of All-wise') is a poem collected in the ''

Poetic Edda 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 ...

'', probably dating to the 12th century, that describes how the god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

outwits a

dwarf Dwarf or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore * Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...

called

Alvíss Alvíss (Old Norse: ; "All-Wise") was a dwarf in Norse mythology. Thor's daughter, Þrúðr (Old Norse: , "strength"),Lindow (2001:291). sometimes anglicized as Thrúd or Thrud, is a daughter of the major god Thor and the goddess Sif in Nor ...

("All-Wise") who seeks to marry his daughter.

Plot

Alvíss comes to Thor to claim Thor's daughter as his bride, saying that she had been promised to him earlier. Thor refuses as he had not been at home at the time, then tells Alvíss that he may take the young woman if he can correctly answer all of Thor's questions. The dwarf's replies act as an exhaustive list of the sentient mythological entities among men,

Æsir The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...

Vanir In Norse mythology, the Vanir (; Old Norse: , singular Vanr ) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the ...

, jötnar, dwarfs, and

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes ...

. For example, the heavens have the following names, according to Alvíss: Ultimately, Thor confesses he was asking the questions to gain some time for the sun to rise and turn the dwarf into stone.

Dating

It is not known when Alvíssmál was created; analysis of its contents can point to multiple periods depending on which elements are focused upon. One theory is that the use of

and references to mythical beings can be assumed to reflect the culture's religious beliefs, so it would have been created no later than the 10th century before Iceland was Christianized. Another points to the presence of words found only in late skaldic poetry, which would indicate that it came from the 12th-century skaldic poetry revival."Alvíssmál",

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author o ...

and Hermann Pálsson, ''Lexikon der altnordischen Literatur'', Kröners Taschenausgabe 490 , Stuttgart: Kröner, 1987, , p. 9

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

English translation

Alvissmol
Translation and commentary by Henry Adams Bellows

English translation with Old Norse

Alvissmal
The poem in the 12th Poetic Edda in the Codex Regius, broken down into 5 stanza segments so that the Old Norse can match the English translations

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 runi ...

's edition of the manuscript text
Alvíssmál

Guðni Jónsson Guðni Jónsson (22 July 1901 – 4 March 1974) was an Icelandic professor of history and editor of Old Norse texts. Life and career Guðni was born at Gamla-Hraun at EyrarbakkiPáll Lýðsson"GUÐNI JÓNSSON" Minningargreinar, ''Morgunblaði ...

's edition with normalized spelling

Images

MyNDIR
(My Norse Digital Image Repository) illustrations of Alvissmál by W.G. Collingwood from Olive Bray's ''The Elder or Poetic Edda'' (1908). Clicking on a thumbnail brings up the full image and information concerning it. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvissmal Sources of Norse mythology Eddic poetry