( 202 )
wished, that the possessors of such a treasure could be induced to esteem the communication of it to the world, the greatest advantage they can reap from it; and they are now urged, in the name of the public, to this generous action. Be that as it may, the admirers of the antiquities of the north have, in the fragments of this work, which may be seen and consulted, sufficient to reward their researches. The remainder is probably less interesting; and this may perhaps have been the cause of its being consigned to oblivion.
THE first of these pieces is that which I
have so often quoted under the title of
Voluspa; a word which signifies the Oracle,
or the Prophesy of Vola. It is well known,
that there were among the Celtic nations,
women who foretold future events, uttered
oracles, and maintained a strict commerce
with the Divinity. Tacitus makes frequent
mention of one of them, named Velleda,
who was in high repute among the Bructeri,
a people of Germany, and who was
afterwards carried to Rome. There was one in
Italy, whose name had a still nearer affinity
to this of Vola, viz. that Sibyl, whom
Horace (Epod. V.) calls Ariminensis Folia.
Vola or Folia might perhaps be a
general name for all the women of this kind.
As these names are evidently connected with
