Olive Bray

Commonly Known as Saemund's Edda

The Elder Or Poetic Edda

The Havamal, or Sayings of the High One, is a compendium of wisdom purportedly uttered by the God known to the Norse as Odin, to the Germans as Wotan, and to the English as Woden. The Havamal covers a range of topics - from everyday dealings to mystical knowledge of the Runes - and gives an intriguing glimpse into the traditional lifestyle of Germanic peoples.The Voluspa, or Prophecy of the Seeress, was purportedly spoken by a female shaman and addressed to Odin. The poem addresses the creation, destruction, and recreation of the world and provides us with further knowledge of the Germanic worldview.

The Havamal and the Voluspa

Hávamál, (Old Norse: "Sayings of the High One [Odin]") a heterogeneous collection of 164 stanzas of aphorisms, homely wisdom, counsels, and magic charms that are ascribed to the Norse god Odin. The work contains at least five separate fragments not originally discovered together and constitutes a portion of the Poetic Edda. Most of the poems are believed to have been composed in Norway in the 9th and 10th centuries.The collection begins with poetry concerning rules of social conduct. Of perhaps greater general interest are the myths about Odin's erotic affairs, especially his amorous adventure leading to the theft of the precious mead. In another poem, the VafÞrúðnismál ("Lay of VafÞrúðnir"), Odin engages in a contest of wits with VafÞrúðnir, an immensely wise giant. The poem, in the form of question and answer, tells of the cosmos, gods, giants, the beginning of the world, and its end. The latter part contains the strange myth of how Odin acquired the magical power of the runes (alphabetical characters) by hanging himself from a tree and suffering hunger and thirst for nine nights. The Hávamál ends with a list of magic charms.

Saying of the High One

Havamal

Cecilia Dart-Thornton

W. G. Collingwood

TOLKIEN'S BOOKSHELF #2: THE POETIC EDDA The Poetic Edda, also known as The Elder Edda, is a collection of thirty-four Icelandic poems, interwoven with prose, dating from the 9th century to the 12th. J. R. R. Tolkien readily acknowledged his debt to this source. He was sixteen years old when the Viking Club of London published this beautifully illustrated translation by Olive Bray. Readers of Tolkien's work will easily spot his inspirations - the names of the dwarves in The Hobbit; riddle games; Mirkwood; the Paths of the Dead; an underworld creature being tricked into remaining above-ground until dawn, when sunlight turns him to stone; different races calling a single thing by various names, and more. Illustrator W. G. Collingwood was an English author, artist, antiquary and professor. In 1897 he travelled to Iceland where he spent three months exploring the actual sites that are the settings for the medieval Icelandic sagas. His study of Norse and Anglican archaeology made him widely recognized as a leading authority, and his Art Nouveau-style illustrations for the Bray edition are rich with symbolism. The Poetic Edda, the most important existing source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, is part of the literature that influenced Tolkien's inner world, informing the creation of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Olive Bray

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