''Svipdagsmál'' (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: , 'The Lay of Svipdagr') is an
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
poem, sometimes included in modern editions 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 ...
'', comprising two poems, ''
The Spell of Gróa'' and ''
The Lay of Fjölsviðr''.
The two works are grouped since they have a common narrator,
Svipdagr. Moreover, they would appear to have a common origin since they are closely similar in use of language, structure, style and metre (
ljóðaháttr). These two poems are found in several 17th-century paper manuscripts. In at least three of these manuscripts, the poems are in reverse order and separated by a third Eddic poem titled ''
Hyndluljóð''.
[McKinnell (2005:202).] For a long time, the connection between the two poems was not realized, until in 1854
Svend Grundtvig pointed out a connection between the story told in ''Grógaldr'' and the first part of the medieval Scandinavian ballad of ''Ungen Sveidal''/''Herr Svedendal''/''Hertig Silfverdal'' (
TSB A 45,
DgF 70,
SMB 18,
NMB 22). Then in 1856,
Sophus Bugge noticed that the last part of the ballad corresponded to ''Fjölsvinnsmál''. Bugge wrote about this connection in ''Forhandlinger i Videnskabs-Selskabet i Christiania'' 1860, calling the two poems together ''Svipdagsmál''. Subsequent scholars have accepted this title.
[Sveinsson (1975).]
Poems
''Grógaldr''
In the first poem, the young Svipdagr has been compelled to come to Menglöð by his cruel stepmother. To accomplish this seemingly impossible task, he summons the shade of his mother,
Gróa, a
völva or
witch
Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
, to aid him in this task. She casts nine spells (a significant
number in Norse mythology).
''Fjölsvinnsmál''
In the second poem, Svipdag, having survived the rigours of the journey, is confronted by the eponymous giant watchman, Fjölsviðr. Fjölsviðr is one of the names of the principal of the gods of
Asgard,
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 ...
. Fjölsviðr tells him to go away, while asking him his name; Svipdagr wisely conceals his name. A game consisting of question and answer riddles ensues, wherein Svipdagr learns that Menglöð lives in the castle guarded by the Fjölsviðr, and that the castle may not be entered by any save one: Svipdagr. He gives his true name and the gates are opened and Menglöð greets her saviour.
Theories
To date, scholarship has reached no consensus on the meaning of the poems, producing a number of competing theories.
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He formulated Grimm's law of linguistics, and was the co-author of the ''Deutsch ...
(1835) identified Menglöð (Old Norse "the one who takes pleasure in jewels"
[Simek (2007:211).]) with
Freyja.
Viktor Rydberg (1889) identified Svipdagr as Freyja's husband Óðr, Menglöð herself as Freyja, and Fjölsviðr representing Odin. Hjalmar Falk (1893) is inclined to see the influence of
Grail-poems.
[Falk (1893).] Jan de Vries (1941) concluded that the author had formed an Eddic poem out of a fairy story of an enchanted princess and her lover, through borrowing and invention.
Otto Höfler (1952) and
F.R. Schröder (1966) discerned elements of the myth and ritual which treat the reawakening of the earth beneath the rays of the sun each spring.
Einar Ólafur Sveinsson (1975) suggests that the substance of the poem comes from the Irish legend of
Art mac Cuinn.
Lotte Motz (1975) argues that the poem represents the
initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...
of a young hero into a
mother-goddess cult, identifying Svipdagr's mother Gróa with his lover, Menglöð, based primarily on a limited interpretation of the word ''mögr'' in ''Fjölsvinnsmál'' 47. More recently, John McKinnell (2005) has stated: "There is no need to identify Menglöð with Gróa, and the attempt to see Gróa’s spells as an initiatory ritual distorts the obvious meaning of several of them."
[
]
Notes
Bibliography
* Falk, Hjalmar (1893).
Om Svipdagsmål
. '' Arkiv för nordisk filologi'': 311–362. Lund: Berlingska Boktryckeri.
* McKinnell, John (2005). ''Meeting the Other in Old Norse Myth and Legend''. D.S. Brewer
*
* Rydberg, Viktor (1889) translated by Rasmus B. Anderson. ''Teutonic Mythology''. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.
* Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D.S. Brewer
* Einar Ólafur Sveinsson (1975). "Svipdag's Long Journey: Some Observations on Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál". ''Hereditas'': 298–319. Ed. Bo Almqvist et al. Dublin: Folklore of Ireland Society.
External links
Jörmungrund: Svipdagsmál
(Old Norse text with English translation.)
Illustrations of Svipdagsmál from manuscripts and early print books.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svipdagsmal
Eddic poetry