SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

Voluspci
mey ok mog saman;
f6tr vid fceti
gat ens frMa j otuns
sexhof6al'5an son. 64
105
The descriptions in V oluspd are drawn from a, very
different world.P The earth is not made from Ymir,
but has risen out of the sea; dew is not the drops from the
muzzle of Hrimfaxi but the spray from the holy river
which cascades down over the ash of Yggdrasill; the sun is
not caught by the wolf, it is darkened; Fenrir does not
swallow 6l'5inn, who is killed without further description;
Vil'5arr does not tear Fenrir's jaws apart, but stabs him to
the heart.56 Where the rebirth of the world is described
there emerges a twofold philosophy of life, as will be shown
later. Vaffiruonismdl speaks both of the terrible winter
and of the flame of Surtr without integrating them
(Hoddmimis holt, st. 45, could guard against the winter
but not the burning of the world). In V oluspd the various
ideas about the end of the world are welded into a
consistent whole.
A comparison of V olusPd with the other Eddaic
mythological poems, in so far as it could be carried out,
would produce a similar result. They have little of its
majesty and inspiration. Their appearance is quite
different. It is enough to mention the catalogues of names
in Grimnismdl, the word-count of Alvissmdl, the threats
of Skirnismdl, the humour of Prymskvioa, the mockery
of Hcirbaroslj60 and the scabrousness of Lokasenna. In
Prymskvioa the giant sits on the mound, cuts the manes of
his horses and makes collars for his dogs. In V oluspd he
sits on the mound and - plays the harp! The giants of
V oluspd, Hrymr with his linden shield, Surtr with the
bright sword, are polished personages in comparison with
the giants of popular mythology.
51 VafprMnismlil st. 33.
.. See Olrik, Om Ragnarok, I 269.
5' Cf. VafprMnismlil st. 14, 21, 47 and 53.