Poetry
The Lay of Vafthrudnir
Vafþrúðnismál
Anonymous · 950
Opening lines
Óðinn
"Ráð þú mér nú, Frigg,
alls mik fara tíðir
at vitja Vafþrúðnis;
“Counsel me now, Frigg,
since I long to go
and visit Vafþrúðnir;
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from heimskringla.no
Synopsis
Despite Frigg's advice, Odin goes under the name of Gagnráðr to the giant Vafþrúðnir, famed for his knowledge, and engages him in a contest of questions in which each stakes his head. The giant first questions his guest about Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi, the horses that draw the day and the night, about the river Ífingr and about the last battle; then Odin questions him in turn about the earth and sky fashioned from the flesh of Ymir, about the moon and the sun, the first giants, Njörðr, the Einherjar and the end of the world.
Context
The poem has fifty-five stanzas, mostly in ljóðaháttr: the first four are a dialogue between Odin and Frigg, the fifth sets him on his way, and the following ones belong to the contest. It is preserved in full in the Codex Regius, of which it is the third poem, and in part, from the twentieth stanza onwards, in another manuscript; stanzas 40 and 41 pose problems of transmission. It is usually dated to the tenth century, but some see in it an antiquarian work of the Christian period. Snorri made wide use of it and quotes it in his Edda.
Who it is for
A contest of questions and answers, dense in proper names; the commentary is indispensable to follow it.
Prizes and reception
One of the major sources of Norse cosmogony, and one of the poems that Snorri follows most closely.