Poetic Edda/Vafþrúðnismál
Othin spake:
- [1] "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:
- [2] "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:
- [3] "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:
- [4] "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."
- [5] 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:
- [6] "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:
- [7] "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:
- [8] "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:
- [9] "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:
- [10] "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:
- [11] "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:
- [12] "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:
- [13] "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:
- [14] "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:
- [15] "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:
- [16] "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:
- [17] "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:
- [18] "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:
- [19] "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:
- [20] "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:
- [21] "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:
- [22] "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:
- [23] "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:
- [24] "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:
- [25] "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:
- [26] "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:
- [27] "Vindsval he was | who was winter's father,
- And Svosuth summer begat;"
- -lacuna-
- -lacuna-
Othin spake:
- [28] "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:
- [29] "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:
- [30] "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:
- [31] "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:
- [32] "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:
- [33] "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:
- [34] "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:
- [35] "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:
- [36] "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:
- [37] "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:
- [38] "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:
- [39] "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:
- [40] "Eleventh answer me well, | -lacuna- [if thou knowest all]
- -lacuna- [The fate that is fixed for the gods:]
- What men -lacuna- [are they] | in -lacuna- [Othin's] home
- Each day to fight go forth?"
Vafthruthnir spake:
- [41] "The heroes all | in Othin's hall
- Each day to fight go forth;
- They fell each other, | and fare from the fight
- All healed full soon to sit."
Othin spake:
- [42] "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:
- [43] "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:
- [44] "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:
- [45] "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:
- [46] "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:
- [47] "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:
- [48] "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:
- [49] "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:
- [50] "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:
- [51] "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:
- [52] "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:
- [53] "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:
- [54] "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:
- [55] "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."