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The Poetic Edda: Voluspo · 12 of 16 · tr. Henry Adams Bellows

Section 1l

44. Now Garm howls loud | before Gnipahellir, The fetters will burst, | and the wolf run free; Much do I know, | and more can see Of the fate of the gods, | the mighty in fight. 45. Brothers shall fight | and fell each other, And sisters' sons | shall kinship stain; [43. Gollinkambi ("Gold-Comb"): the cock who wakes the gods and heroes, as Fjalar does the giants. The rust-red bird : the name of this bird, who wakes the people of Hel's domain, is nowhere stated. 44. This is a refrain-stanza. In Regius it appears in full only at this point, but is repeated in abbreviated form before stanzas 50 and 59. In the Hauksbok version the full stanza comes first between stanzas 35 and 42, then, in abbreviated form, it occurs four times: before stanzas 45, 50, 55, and 59. In the Hauksbok line 3 runs: "Farther I see and more can say." Garm : the dog who guards the gates of Hel's kingdom; cf. Baldrs Draumar, 2 ff., and Grimnismol , 44. Gniparhellir ("the Cliff-Cave"): the entrance to the world of the dead. The wolf : Fenrir; cf. stanza 39 and note. 45. From this point on through stanza 57 the poem is quoted by Snorri, stanza 49 alone being omitted. There has been much discussion as to the status of stanza 45. Lines 4 and 5 look like an interpolation. After line 5 the Hauksbok has a line running: "The world resounds, the witch is flying." Editors have arranged these seven lines in various ways, with lacunae freely indicated. Sisters' sons : in all Germanic countries the relations between uncle and nephew were felt to be particularly close.] p. 20 Hard is it on earth, | with mighty whoredom; Axe-time, sword-time, | shields are sundered, Wind-time, wolf-time, | ere the world falls; Nor ever shall men | each other spare. 46. Fast move the sons | of Mim, and fate Is heard in the note | of the Gjallarhorn; Loud blows Heimdall, | the horn is aloft, In fear quake all | who on Hel-roads are. 47. Yggdrasil shakes, | and shiver on high The ancient limbs, | and the giant is loose; To the head of Mim | does Othin give heed, But the kinsman of Surt | shall slay him soon. [46. Regius combines the first three lines of this stanza with lines 3, 2, and I of stanza 47 as a single stanza. Line 4, not found in Regius , is introduced from the Hauksbok version, where it follows line 2 of stanza 47. The sons of Mim : the spirits of the water. On Mini (or Mimir) cf. stanza 27 and note. Gjallarhorn: the "Shrieking Horn" with which Heimdall, the watchman of the gods, calls them to the last battle. 47. In Regius lines 3, 2, and I, in that order, follow stanza 46 without separation. Line 4 is not found in Regius , but is introduced from the Hauksbok version. Yggdrasil : cf. stanza 19 and note, and Grimnismol , 29-35. The giant : Fenrir. The head of Mim : various myths were current about Mimir.
Themes
◆Animismcosmology

The doctrine and worldview that natural phenomena, places, and objects possess inherent spirit, soul, or personality — and that the cosmos is populated by countless local, plural, embodied divine agents: kami in mountain and tree, sidhe in cairn and well, landwights in field and stone, nymphs in spring and grove, haltija in forest and lake, lares and penates in household and threshold, Iamblichean daemons in element and place. Distinct from monotheism (single transcendent God), pantheism (one underlying substance), and emanation_hierarchy (cascading single source); animism's signature is the plurality, locality, and embodied-in-landscape character of the divine.

Note 46 identifies the 'sons of Mim' as spirits of the water, reflecting a worldview where natural elements possess inherent spiritual agents.

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◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The gods are depicted with human kinship dynamics and actions, such as brothers fighting brothers and sisters' sons staining kinship.

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◆Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.

The passage details Ragnarok, the final destruction of the world and gods, which functions as a collective cosmic end-time event.

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◆Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The Seeress claims direct prophetic insight into divine fate, stating 'Much do I know, and more can see Of the fate of the gods.'

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◆Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

Deities like Heimdall and Odin are portrayed as active agents who blow horns, heed counsel, and engage in conflict rather than abstract principles.

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◆Psychopomp Journeycosmology

Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms.

Stanza 46 mentions those 'who on Hel-roads are,' referencing the path souls take to the underworld realm of Hel.

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◆World Tree Axiscosmology

A vertical structure connecting cosmic levels — a tree, pillar, mountain, or ladder linking heaven, earth, and underworld around which the cosmos is organised. Yggdrasil binding the Nine Worlds in Norse cosmology, the Kalevala's Sampo as world-pillar, the Mayan ceiba, the Vedic Aśvattha, the shamanic central tree of Eliade's analyses. Cosmic-structural in character: distinct from sefirot_tree (a kabbalistic emanation diagram) and emanation_hierarchy (an ontological cascade); world_tree_axis is the cosmos's spine rather than the divine's outflow.

Stanza 47 explicitly describes Yggdrasil shaking and its ancient limbs shivering, directly invoking the Norse world tree as the cosmic structural axis.

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