''Vǫlundarkviða'' (

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 Völund'; modern Icelandic spelling: ''Völundarkviða'') is one of the mythological poems 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 ...

''. The title is

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

in various ways, including ''Völundarkvitha'', ''Völundarkvidha'', ''Völundarkvida'', ''Volundarkvitha'', ''Volundarkvidha'' and ''Volundarkvida''.

Manuscripts, origins, and analogues

The poem is preserved in its entirety among the mythological poems of the thirteenth-century Icelandic manuscript

Codex Regius Codex Regius (, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; ) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum Vellum ...

, and the beginning of the prose prologue is also found in the

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 74 ...

fragment. The vocabulary and some of the formulaic phrasing of the poem is clearly influenced by

West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

, with the strongest case being for influence specifically from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

(a West Germanic dialect). It is thought likely, therefore, that ''Vǫlundarkviða'' was composed in, or otherwise influenced by traditions from, the Norse diaspora in England. This would suggest origins around the tenth or eleventh century. This fits in turn with the fact that most of the analogues to ''Vǫlundarkviða'' are West-Germanic in origin. In visual sources, the story told in ''Vǫlundarkviða'' seems also to be portrayed on the front panel of the eighth-century Northumbrian

Franks Casket The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Casket) is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bone (not "whalebone" in the sense of baleen) chest (furniture), chest from the early 8th century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut ...

and on the eighth-century

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

ic Ardre image stone VIII, along with a number of tenth-to-eleventh-century carvings from Northern England, including the Leeds Cross, a fragment in

Leeds City Museum Leeds City Museum, established in 1819, is a museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Since 2008 it has been housed in the former Mechanics' institute, Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Squar ...

, and

Sherburn in Elmet Sherburn in Elmet (pronounced ) is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Yorkshire (district), district and county of North Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Selby and south of Tadcaster. It was part of the W ...

fragment
2
an
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In written sources, a largely similar story ('' Velents þáttr smiðs'') is related in the Old Norse '' Þiðrekssaga af Bern'' (translated from lost

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

sources), and an evidently similar story is alluded to in the first two verse-paragraphs of

poem ''

Deor "Deor" (or "The Lament of Deor") is an Old English poem found on folio 100r–100v of the late- 10th-century collection the Exeter Book. The poem consists of a reflection on misfortune by a poet whom the poem is usually thought to name Deor. The ...

''.

Synopsis

The poem relates the story of the artisan Völundr, his capture by Níðuðr, implicitly 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 sou ...

(currently in Sweden), and Vǫlundr's brutal revenge and escape.

Prose introduction

''Vǫlundarkviða'' begins with a prose introduction, setting the scene, giving background about the characters, and partly summarising the poem. It is possible that this passage is much younger than the verse.

Stanzas 1–6

The poem opens by describing the flight of three swan-maidens identified in stanza 1 as ''meyjar'', ''drósir'', ''alvitr'' and ''suðrœnar'' ('young women, stately women, foreign beings, southerners') to a 'sævar strǫnd' ('lake/sea-shore') where they meet the three brothers Egill, Slagfiðr and Vǫlundr. Each maid takes one of the brothers as her own. However, nine winters later, the women leave the brothers. The poem does not explain this, simply saying that the women depart 'ørlǫg drýgja' ('to fulfil their fate'). Slagfiðr and Egill go in search of their women, but Vǫlundr remains at home instead, forging ''baugar'' (‘(arm-)rings’) for his woman.

Stanzas 7–19

Discovering that Vǫlundr is living alone, a local king, Níðuðr, ‘lord of the Njárar’, has him captured in his sleep (stanzas 7–12). Níðuðr takes Vǫlundr's sword and gives one of the rings which Vǫlundr made for his missing bride to his daughter Bǫðvildr, and, at his wife's instigation, he has Vǫlundr's hamstrings cut, imprisoning him on an island called Sævarstaðr, where Vǫlundr makes objects for Níðuðr (stanzas 13–19).

Stanzas 20–41

Vǫlundr takes his revenge on Níðuðr first by enticing Níðuðr's two sons to visit with promises of treasure, killing them, and making jewels of their eyes and teeth (stanzas 20–26). He then entices Bǫðvildr by promising to mend the ring which she was given, getting her drunk, and implicitly having sex with her (stanzas 27–29). The poem culminates in Vǫlundr taking to the air by some means which is not clearly described and telling Níðuðr what he has done, laughing (stanzas 30–39). It focuses finally on the plight of Bǫðvildr, whose lament closes the poem (stanzas 40–41): It relates to type 313 and 313C in the

Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index (ATU Index) is a catalogue of folktale types used in folklore studies. The ATU index is the product of a series of revisions and expansions by an international group of scholars: Originally published in German b ...

. Similar tales have types 400 and 465.

Literary criticism

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 last verse, wherein Bǫðvildr laments, has been called ‘unsurpassable as a conclusion’ by Icelandic philologist

Finnur Jónsson Finnur Jónsson (May 29, 1858 – March 30, 1934) was an Icelandic philologist and Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Copenhagen. He made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature. Finnur Jónsson was born a ...

: :It is true, Nithad, as he said to thee: :I and Wayland stayed together on the islet :for a single heavy moment :—it should never have been! :I knew in no way fight against him, :I could in no way fight against him. Translated by Wikipedia editors

Editions and translations

English translations

* Henry Adams Bellows (trans.), ''The Poetic Edda'', Scandinavian Classics, 21-22 (Princeton .J. Princeton University Press, 1936)
translation only
*

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 ...

(trans.), ''Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða: The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned'', 2 vols (London: Trübner & Co. 1866). Reprinted 1906 as Rasmus B. Anderson & J. W. Buel (Eds.) ''The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson''. London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, New York: Norrœna Society. Available online a
Google Books
Searchable graphic image version requiring DjVu plugin available a
University of Georgia Libraries: Facsimile Books and Periodicals: The Elder Eddas and the Younger Eddas
*

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

and P. B. Taylor (trans.), ''The Elder Edda: A Selection'' (London: Faber, 1969)
here
* Dronke, Ursula (ed. & trans.) (1997). ''The Poetic Edda'', vol. II, ''Mythological Poems''. Oxford: Clarendon. .

Old Norse editions

* Sophus Bugge (ed.), ''Norrœn fornkvæði: Islandsk Samling af Oldtidsdigte om Nordens Guder og Heroer almndelig kaldet Sæmundar Edda hins fróða'' (Oslo: Aschehough, 1926)
Völundarkviða, manuscript spelling
* Guðni Jónsson (ed.), ''Eddukvæði (Sæmundar-Edda)'', 2 vols (Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1949)
Völundarkviða, normalised spelling
* Jón Helgason (ed.), ''Tvær kviður fornar: Vọlundarkviða og Atlakviða'' (Reykjavík: Heimskringla, 1966). *

Ursula Dronke Ursula Miriam Dronke (née Brown, 3 November 1920 – 8 March 2012Heather O'Donoghue"Ursula Dronke obituary: Inspirational teacher of Old Norse literature specialising in the sagas and poetry of medieval Iceland" ''The Guardian'' 25 March 201 ...

(ed. & trans.), ''The Poetic Edda, Volume II:'' ''Mythological Poems'' (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997). .