Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related Prose Edda, although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse poetry. Several versions of the Poetic Edda exist: especially notable is the medieval Icelandic manuscript Codex Regius, which contains 31 poems.

Quotes

Axe-time, sword-time,
shields are splintered.
Wind-time, wolf-time,
ere the world falls.

• Ek man jǫtna    ár of borna,
  þás forðum mik    fœdda hǫfðu;
  níu mank hęima,    níu ívíði,
  mjǫtvið mæran    fyr mold neðan.
  Ár vas alda    þars Ymir byggði,
  vasa sandr né sær,    né svalar unnir;
  jǫrð fansk æva    né upphiminn;
  gap vas ginnunga,    ęn gras hvęrgi.
  • I remember yet    the giants of yore,
    Who gave me bread    in the days gone by;
    Nine worlds I knew,    the nine in the tree
    With mighty roots    beneath the mold.
    Of old was the age    when Ymir lived;
    Sea nor cool waves    nor sand there were;
    Earth had not been,    nor heaven above,
    But a yawning gap,    and grass nowhere.
  • Völuspá, 2–3, as translated by H. A. Bellows (1923)

• Brœðr muno beriaz    ok at bǫnomverða,    
  muno systrungar    sifiom spilla.    
  Hart er í heimi,    hórdómr mikill.    
  Skeggǫld, skálmǫld,    skildir ro klofnir.    
  Vindǫld, vargǫld,    áðr verǫld steypiz.    
  Mun engi maðr    ǫðrom þyrma.
  • Brothers shall fight    and fell each other,    
    and sisters' sons    shall kinship stain.    
    Hard is it on earth,    with rampant whoredom;    
    Axe-time, sword-time,    shields are splintered.    
    Wind-time, wolf-time,    ere the world falls.    
    Nor ever shall men    each other spare.
  • Völuspá, 45, as translated by H. A. Bellows (1923)

• Eldr er beztr    með ýta sonum
  ok sólar sýn,    heilyndi sitt,
  ef maðr hafa náir,    án við löst at lifa.
  • Fire for men    is the fairest gift,
      And power to see the sun;
    Health as well,    if a man may have it,
      And a life not stained with sin.
  • Hávamál, 68, as translated by H. A. Bellows (1923)