''Hrafnagaldr Óðins'' ("
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
's raven-
galdr
A (plural ') or (plural ) refers to a spell or incantation in Old Norse and Old English respectively; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.The article ''Galder'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1992)
Etymology
and or ...
") or ''Forspjallsljóð'' ("prelude poem") is an
Icelandic poem in the style of the ''
Poetic Edda
The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...
''. It is preserved only in late paper manuscripts. In his influential 1867 edition of the ''Poetic Edda'',
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 ...
reasoned that the poem was a 17th-century work, composed as an introduction to ''
Baldrs draumar''. Since then it has not been included in editions of the ''Poetic Edda'' and not been extensively studied.
But prior to Bugge's work the poem was considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda'' and included, for example, in the English translations of
A. S. Cottle (1797) and
Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature.
Biography
In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...
(1866) as well as
Karl Simrock
Karl Joseph Simrock (28 August 1802 – 18 July 1876) was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of ''Das Nibelungenlied'' into modern German.
Life
He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher. He s ...
's influential German translation (1851). In 1852,
William and Mary Howitt characterized it as "amongst the most deeply poetical and singular hymns of the Edda".
Date
In 2002,
Jónas Kristjánsson in the Icelandic daily ''
Morgunblaðið
''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record.
Hi ...
'' argued in favor of an earlier dating than Bugge, perhaps to the 14th century, based on linguistic evidence and the seemingly corrupt state of the text.
However, metrical, linguistic, and stylistic evidence all point towards a date in the 16th century at the earliest, and the scholarly consensus has rested on the seventeenth. Annette Lassen, in her preliminary assessment (2006) had stated conservatively that this poem should not be subject to greater skepticism than e.g. ''
Fjölsvinnsmál
''Fjölsvinnsmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Fjölsvinn') is the second of two Old Norse poems commonly published under the title ''Svipdagsmál'' "The Lay of Svipdagr". These poems are found together in several 17th-century paper manuscripts with ' ...
'' and ''
Sólarljóð The ''Sólarljóð'' (''The Song of the Sun'') is an Old Norse poem, written in Iceland ca 1200. It is written in the traditional metric style of the ''Poetic Edda'', but with content from Christian visionary poems.
The poem is anonymous, even thou ...
'' (other Eddic poems thought to be of later authorship and exist only in paper manuscripts).
But in her 2011 critical edition with accompanying translation (rendered into English by Anthony Faulkes), she states unequivocally that the poem "is a postmedieval poem" probably composed soon after "the rediscovery of the Codex Regius of the Elder Edda in 1643".
Elsewhere she assigns a
terminus post quem
A ''terminus post quem'' ('limit after which', sometimes abbreviated TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ('limit before which', abbreviated TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items..
A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest date t ...
to when the Icelanders were familiarized with
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
's ''
Adagia
''Adagia'' (singular ''adagium'') is the title of an annotated collection of Greek language, Greek and Latin proverbs, compiled during the Renaissance by Dutch Humanism, humanist Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus. Erasmus' repository of p ...
'' (1500), which she says must have been the conduit through which the poet learned the adage ''in nocte consilium'' which is adapted into the poem in st. 22. Another dating clue is the occurrence of the word ''máltíd'' st. 20, a
Middle Low German
Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...
loanword, used in Iceland after the middle of the 14th century, though the poem can "hardly be as old as that."
Contents
The poem consists of 26 ''
fornyrðislag
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...
'' eight-line stanzas. It involves several known figures from
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, including
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
,
Iðunn
In Norse mythology, Iðunn is a goddess associated with apples and youth. Iðunn is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri S ...
,
Heimdallr
In Norse mythology, Heimdall (from Old Norse Heimdallr; modern Icelandic language, Icelandic Heimdallur) is a Æsir, god. He is the son of Odin and nine mothers. Heimdall keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himi ...
,
Loki
Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...
and
Bragi
Bragi (Old Norse) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology.
Etymology
The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun ''bragr'', which can be translated in Old Norse as 'poetry' (cf. Icelandic ''bragur'' 'poem, melody, wise' ...
, but does not appear to describe a myth known from other sources.
The poem begins with five stanzas of ominous introduction, the narrative proper setting in during stanza 6. Idunn falls from the world-tree (stanzas 6-7) and is given a wolfskin to wear (stanza 8).
Alarmed, Odin sends a trio of messengers led by Heimdall to get news from a woman designated as "the doorpost of Gjöll's sun" (''Giallar sunnu gátt'', a kenning for woman) (stanza 9).
The identity of the woman that Heimdall and his companions visit in the lower world is not revealed. She has been variously identified as Idunn, Hela, and as Urd.
The messengers ask her the beginning, duration and end of heaven, the world, and hel (stanza 11). Tears are her only response (stanzas 12-13).
The failed messengers return to Asgard, joining a feast in progress (stanzas 14-15). Heimdall tells the gods of their mission; Loki informs the goddesses (stanzas 16-19).
The festivities conclude (stanza 21), and the onset of night is described in mythological terms (stanzas 22-26).
In the final verse, Heimdall lifts his horn toward heaven.
Manuscript tradition
''Hrafnagaldur Óðins'' is transmitted in a single version, with minimal discrepancies, contained in at least thirty-seven copies dating from the latter half of the 17th century to the 1870s, now housed in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany and the United States.
Annette Lassen used five manuscripts of critical value in her edition. All manuscripts that contain the poem include the subtitle ''Forspjallsljóð''.
* A - Stockholm papp. 8vo nr 15
:
National Library of Sweden
The National Library of Sweden (, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish association published ab ...
ca. 1650-1699.
First brought to Sweden in 1681 by Guðmunður Ólafsson. Base manuscript used by
Jónas Kristjánsson’s text in the newspaper ''
Morgunblaðið
''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record.
Hi ...
'' (2002),
and Lassen's own base text.
* B -
Lbs 1562 4to
:
National Library of Iceland ca. 1650-1799?.
[1650-1799? is the dating a]
handrit.is
database. A portion was written ca. 1673-7 by Ásgeir Jónsson, and the rest written in the 18th century, 8~9 scribes in all, according to Lassen, correcting Páll Eggert Ólason’s catalogue date of 1660.
* C - Stockholm papp. fol. nr 57
:National Library of Sweden. ca. 1650-1699
*D - Thott 1491 4to
:
Royal Library, Denmark
The Royal Library () in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the ...
18th century. The first leaf bears inscription "Skrifud af Diakna Paule", identified by Lassen as Deacon Páll Sveinsson Torfasonar 1704–1784
['s ''Codex Ericianus'' or Codex E employed in the Arnamagnæan also refers to the deacon's manuscript by initial "P.S." and uses variant readings from it.]
*E - Lbs 1441 4to
:
National Library of Iceland ca. 1760
Most other manuscripts of Hrafnagaldur Óðins are derived from A and B. The number and ordering of stanzas is the same in all manuscripts. There are only minor differences in the texts. The text of the poem is cryptic and most probably corrupt. The final stanza does not appear to form a satisfactory conclusion, suggesting that the poem as it has come down to us is incomplete.
According to analysis of the best manuscripts, the various copies all derive from a single archetype. Since it is not transmitted in other than paper manuscripts, the poem is often considered a later work, possibly a post-medieval imitation of an Eddic poem, akin to ''Gunnarslagr'' (or ''Gunnars-slagr''), composed by (1714-1791).
Nevertheless, a vellum manuscript of the poem may once have existed. Árni Magnússon makes reference to the poem in a letter dated June 18, 1729 to Jón Halldórsson, Dean of Hítardalur, raising the possibility that such a manuscript was lost in the
Great Fire in Copenhagen of 1728, which destroyed a large part of Arni's library, including as many as 15 bound manuscripts of Eddic poetry.
Bugge (who concluded the poem was of late authorship) knew the letter but dismissed it as unreliable.
Publication history
The first printed edition of the poem appeared in the so-called
Arnamagnæan edition of ''Edda Sæmundar hinns fróði'' (1787).
The tome was a collaboration of several co-editors, but Lassen identifies Guđmundur Magnusson (Gudmundus Magnæus, 1741-1798) as the poem's editor, translator (into Latin), and commentator. The text is that of MS Icel. 47, a manuscript edition made by , which contained variant readings, used in the critical apparatus of the edition. The critical apparatus also made use of commentary by aforementioned , scribbled on the manuscript AM 424 fol.
The poem was published next in ''Edda Sæmundar hinns fróða'', 1818, edited by
Rasmus Rask
Rasmus Kristian Rask (; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist and philologist. He wrote several grammars and worked on comparative phonology and morphology. Rask traveled extensively ...
and
Arvid August Afzelius
Arvid August Afzelius (; 8 October 1785, in Fjällåkra2 September 1871, in Enköping) was a Swedish pastor, poet, historian and mythologist.
Historical background
From 1828 till his death he was parish priest of Enköping. He is mainly know ...
. Hallgrimur Scheving (1837), P.A. Munch (1847), Hermann Lüning (1859),
Theodor Möbius
Theodor Möbius (June 22, 1821 Leipzig - April 25, 1890) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.
Biography
He was a son of German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius. He studied at the Universities of Leipzig (1840–42) ...
(1860), and Frederich Wilhelm Bergmann (1875) also published editions of the poem. Finnur Magnusson (1822),
Karl Simrock
Karl Joseph Simrock (28 August 1802 – 18 July 1876) was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of ''Das Nibelungenlied'' into modern German.
Life
He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher. He s ...
(1851) and Benjamin Thorpe (1865) produced translations into Danish, German and English respectively.
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 ...
in his 1867 edition of the Poetic Edda argued that the poem was a work of the 17th century, and after this, it was mostly ignored by editors and students of the Edda. An exception is
Viktor Rydberg
Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 wa ...
, who in 1886 accepted the poem as authentic and sought to explain its narrative as referring to the time Idun was taken from Asgard by Thjazi.
[Rydberg, ''Undersökningar i Germanisk Mythologi'', I]
Reception
Interest in the poem has been renewed after 1998, when Eysteinn Björnsson and William P. Reaves posted an edition of the poem with English translation and commentary online.
Although this edition was "for the most part removed again in 2002", leaving only the English translation of the poem in its place, Eysteinn Björnsson and Reaves' work on the poem led to the performance of the choral and orchestral work ''
Odin's Raven Magic'' with music by
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band that formed in 1994 in Reykjavík. It comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Jónsi, Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal soun ...
,
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (; born 23 April 1958), also known as HÖH, is a musician, an art director, and '' allsherjargoði'' (''chief goði'') of Ásatrúarfélagið ("the Ásatrú Association").
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was a pioneer in the use ...
, and
Steindór Andersen
Steindór Andersen (2 September 1954 – 12 April 2025) was an Icelandic musician.
Steindór was noted for his ''rímur'' chanting and was most widely known for his collaborations with the band Sigur Rós. Other collaborations include with Hilm ...
.
In support of this, their translation was printed in the programme of the London performance of the work at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
in 2002.
This popular interest in the poem was followed by an Icelandic edition, edited by Icelandic philologist Jónas Kristjansson, former head of the Arni Magnusson Institute, published in the Lesbók of the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðid, 27/4 2002 in which he acknowledges the recent popular works.
Notes
Explanatory notes
Citations
References
;editions
*
*
*
;translations
*
*
*Eysteinn Björnsson and William P. Reaves (eds.), 2006
Hrafnagaldur Óðins /Forspallsljóð*
*
publication notice page*
2nd edition (1855)5th edition (1874) pp. 61-, 407-
;commentary and studies
*Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir, The Werewolf in Medieval Icelandic Literature, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol.106:3 (2007
*
*;
edition of the poem
Sophus Bugge's edition
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Odins_Ravnesang_(FM) Odins ravnes sang] Finnur Magnússon, Finn Magnussen's Danish edition
Odins RabenzauberKarl Simrock's German Translation, 1851.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrafnagaldr Odins
17th-century poems
Eddic poetry