The Comparative Völuspá

The Viking Age Prophecy of Birth, Death, & Rebirth

Bellows, Bray, Thorpe, & More

“There feeds he full on the flesh of the dead,
And the homes of the gods he reddens with gore;
Dark grows the sun, and in summer soon
Come mighty storms: would you know yet more?”

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Originating in Viking Age Scandinavia but containing elements of much earlier origin, no poem in the Old Norse corpus is more celebrated than the harrowing masterpiece Völuspá, the 'prophecy of the völva', a type of seeress esteemed in the pagan period comparable to contemporary notions of a witch. In the poem, the wise warleader and healing god Odin questions an undead völva about the foretold death of his beloved son, Baldr. The völva tells us about the deep past and along with it a horrific future followed by green rebirth. This unique and beautiful edition features the work of three translators beside an Old Icelandic edition, as well as numerous additional supplemental items and original commentary.

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