Vafþrúðnismál

Othin spake:

"Counsel me, Frigg, for I long to fare,

And Vafthruthnir fain would find;

fit wisdom old with the giant wise

Myself would I seek to match."

Frigg spake:

"Heerfather here at home would I keep,

Where the gods together dwell;

Amid all the giants an equal in might

To Vafthruthnir know I none."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared, much have I found.

Much have I got from the gods;

And fain would I know how Vafthruthnir now

Lives in his lofty hall."

Frigg spake:

"Safe mayst thou go, safe come again,

And safe be the way thou wendest!

Father of men, let thy mind be keen

When speech with the giant thou seekest."

The wisdom then of the giant wise

Forth did he fare to try;

He found the hall

of the father of Im,

And in forthwith went Ygg.

Othin spake:

"Vafthruthnir, hail!

to thy hall am I come,

For thyself I fain would see;

And first would I ask

if wise thou art,

Or, giant, all wisdom hast won."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Who is the man

that speaks to me,

Here in my lofty hall?

Forth from our dwelling

thou never shalt fare,

Unless wiser than I thou art."

Othin spake:

"Gagnrath they call me,

and thirsty I come

From a journey hard to thy hall;

Welcome I look for,

for long have I fared,

And gentle greeting, giant."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Why standest thou there

on the floor whilst thou speakest?

A seat shalt thou have in my hall;

Then soon shall we know

whose knowledge is more,

The guest's or the sage's gray."

Othin spake:

"If a poor man reaches

the home of the rich,

Let him wisely speak or be still;

For to him who speaks

with the hard of heart

Will chattering ever work ill."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Speak forth now, Gagnrath,

if there from the floor

Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:

What name has the steed

that each morn anew

The day for mankind doth draw?"

Othin spake:

"Skinfaxi is he,

the steed who for men

The glittering day doth draw;

The best of horses

to heroes he seems,

And brightly his mane doth burn."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Speak forth now, Gagnrath,

if there from the floor

Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:

What name has the steed

that from East anew

Brings night for the noble gods?"

Othin spake:

"Hrimfaxi name they

the steed that anew

Brings night for the noble gods;

Each morning foam

from his bit there falls,

And thence come the dews in the dales."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Speak forth now, Gagnrath,

if there from the floor

Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:

What name has the river

that 'twixt the realms

Of the gods and the giants goes?"

Othin spoke:

"Ifing is the river

that 'twixt the realms

Of the gods and the giants goes;

For all time ever

open it flows,

No ice on the river there is."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Speak forth now, Gagnrath,

if there from the floor

Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:

What name has the field

where in fight shall meet

Surt and the gracious gods?"

Othin spake:

"Vigrith is the field

where in fight shall meet

Surt and the gracious gods;

A hundred miles

each way does it measure.

And so are its boundaries set."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Wise art thou, guest!

To my bench shalt thou go,

In our seats let us speak together;

Here in the hall

our heads, O guest,

Shall we wager our wisdom upon."

Othin spake:

"First answer me well,

if thy wisdom avails,

And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

In earliest time

whence came the earth,

Or the sky, thou giant sage?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Out of Ymir's flesh

was fashioned the earth,

And the mountains were made of his bones;

The sky from the frost-cold

giant's skull,

And the ocean out of his blood."

Othin spake:

"Next answer me well,

if thy wisdom avails,

And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

Whence came the moon,

o'er the world of men

That fares, and the flaming sun?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Mundilferi is he

who begat the moon,

And fathered the flaming sun;

The round of heaven

each day they run,

To tell the time for men."

Othin spake:

"Third answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

Whence came the day,

o'er mankind that fares,

Or night with the narrowing moon?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"The father of day

is Delling called,

And the night was begotten by Nor;

Full moon and old

by the gods were fashioned,

To tell the time for men."

Othin spake:

"Fourth answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

Whence did winter come,

or the summer warm,

First with the gracious gods?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Vindsval he was

who was winter's father,

And Svosuth summer begat;"

Othin spake:

"Fifth answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

What giant first

was fashioned of old,

And the eldest of Ymir's kin?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Winters unmeasured

ere earth was made

Was the birth of Bergelmir;

Thruthgelmir's son

was the giant strong,

And Aurgelmir's grandson of old."

Othin spake:

"Sixth answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

Whence did Aurgelmir come

with the giants' kin,

Long since, thou giant sage?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Down from Elivagar

did venom drop,

And waxed till a giant it was;

And thence arose

our giants' race,

And thus so fierce are we found."

Othin spake:

"Seventh answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

How begat he children,

the giant grim,

Who never a giantess knew?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"They say 'neath the arms

of the giant of ice

Grew man-child and maid together;

And foot with foot

did the wise one fashion

A son that six heads bore."

Othin spake:

"Eighth answer me well,

if wise thou art called,

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

What farthest back

dost thou bear in mind?

For wide is thy wisdom, giant!"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Winters unmeasured

ere earth was made

Was the birth of Bergelmir;

This first knew I well,

when the giant wise

In a boat of old was borne."

Othin spake:

"Ninth answer me well,

if wise thou art called

If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:

Whence comes the wind

that fares o'er the waves

Yet never itself is seen?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"In an eagle's guise

at the end of heaven

Hræsvelg sits, they say;

And from his wings

does the wind come forth

To move o'er the world of men."

Othin spake:

"Tenth answer me now,

if thou knowest all

The fate that is fixed for the gods:

Whence came up Njorth

to the kin of the gods,

(Rich in temples

and shrines he rules,)

Though of gods he was never begot?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"In the home of the Wanes

did the wise ones create him,

And gave him as pledge to the gods;

At the fall of the world

shall he fare once more

Home to the Wanes so wise."

Othin spake:

"Eleventh answer me well,

who issue forth from the stronghold

to hack each other every day?

Slaughter they choose

and ride to war

sit the glorious ones in reconciliation together."

Vafthruthnir spake:

"All the champions every day contend in Óðin's courtyard;

they choose the slaughter and ride from the field,

thenceforth sit reconciled."

Othin spake:

"Twelfth answer me now

how all thou knowest

Of the fate that is fixed for the gods;

Of the runes of the gods

and the giants' race

The truth indeed dost thou tell,

(And wide is thy wisdom, giant!)"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"Of the runes of the gods

and the giants' race

The truth indeed can I tell,

(For to every world have I won;)

To nine worlds came I,

to Niflhel beneath,

The home where dead men dwell."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got of the gods:

What shall live of mankind

when at last there comes

The mighty winter to men?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"In Hoddmimir's wood

shall hide themselves

Lif and Lifthrasir then;

The morning dews

for meat shall they have,

Such food shall men then find."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got of the gods:

Whence comes the sun

to the smooth sky back,

When Fenrir has snatched it forth?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"A daughter bright

Alfrothul bears

Ere Fenrir snatches her forth;

Her mother's paths

shall the maiden tread

When the gods to death have gone."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got of the gods:

What maidens are they,

so wise of mind.

That forth o'er the sea shall fare?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"O'er Mogthrasir's hill

shall the maidens pass,

And three are their throngs that come;

They all shall protect

the dwellers on earth,

Though they come of the giants' kin."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got of the gods:

Who then shall rule

the realm of the gods,

When the fires of Surt have sunk?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"In the gods' home Vithar

and Vali shall dwell,

When the fires of Surt have sunk;

Mothi and Magni

shall Mjollnir have

When Vingnir falls in fight."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got of the gods:

What shall bring the doom

of death to Othin,

When the gods to destruction go?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"The wolf shall fell

the father of men,

And this shall Vithar avenge;

The terrible jaws

shall he tear apart,

And so the wolf shall he slay."

Othin spake:

"Much have I fared,

much have I found,

Much have I got from the gods:

What spake Othin himself

in the ears of his son,

Ere in the bale-fire he burned?"

Vafthruthnir spake:

"No man can tell

what in olden time

Thou spak'st in the ears of thy son;

With fated mouth

the fall of the gods

And mine olden tales have I told;

With Othin in knowledge

now have I striven,

And ever the wiser thou art."