← Home
The Poetic Edda: Voluspo · 15 of 16 · tr. Henry Adams Bellows

Section 1o

The sun turns black, | earth sinks in the sea, The hot stars down | from heaven are whirled; Fierce grows the steam | and the life-feeding flame, Till fire leaps high | about heaven itself. 58. 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. 59. Now do I see | the earth anew Rise all green | from the waves again; The cataracts fall, | and the eagle flies, And fish he catches | beneath the cliffs. 60. The gods in Ithavoll | meet together, Of the terrible girdler | of earth they talk, [57. With this stanza ends the account of the destruction. 58. Again the refrain-stanza (cf. stanza 44 and note), abbreviated in both manuscripts, as in the case of stanza 49. It is probably misplaced here. 59. Here begins the description of the new world which is to rise out of the wreck of the old one. It is on this passage that a few critics have sought to base their argument that the poem is later than the introduction of Christianity ( circa 1000), but this theory has never seemed convincing (cf. introductory note). 60. The third line of this stanza is not found in Regius . Ithavoll : cf. stanza 7 and note. The girdler of earth : Mithgarthsorm : [fp. 25], who, lying in the sea, surrounded the land. The Ruler of Gods : Othin. The runes were both magic signs, generally carved on wood, and sung or spoken charms.] p. 25 And the mighty past | they call to mind, And the ancient runes | of the Ruler of Gods. 61. In wondrous beauty | once again Shall the golden tables | stand mid the grass, Which the gods had owned | in the days of old, . . . . . . . . . . 62. Then fields unsowed | bear ripened fruit, All ills grow better, | and Baldr comes back; Baldr and Hoth dwell | in Hropt's battle-hall, And the mighty gods: | would you know yet more? 63. Then Hönir wins | the prophetic wand, . . . . . . . . . . And the sons of the brothers | of Tveggi abide In Vindheim now: | would you know yet more? [61. The Hauksbok version of the first two lines runs: "The gods shall find there, | wondrous fair, The golden tables | amid the grass." No lacuna (line 4) is indicated in the manuscripts. Golden tables : cf. stanza 8 and note. 62. Baldr : cf. stanza 32 and note. Baldr and his brother, Hoth, who unwittingly slew him at Loki's instigation, return together, their union being a symbol of the new age of peace. Hropt : another name for Othin. His "battle-hall" is Valhall. 63. No lacuna (line 2) indicated in the manuscripts. Hönir : cf. stanza 18 and note. In this new age he has the gift of foretelling the future. Tveggi ("The Twofold"): another name for [fp. 26] Othin. His brothers are Vili and Ve (cf. Lokasenna , 26, and note). Little is known of them, and nothing, beyond this reference, of their sons. Vindheim ("Home of the Wind"): heaven.] p. 26 p. 27 64.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →
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.

Natural phenomena like the sun and earth act with agency, and the cosmos is populated by plural divine agents such as gods and monsters.

All passages →
Anthropomorphismtheology

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

The gods are depicted meeting together, talking, owning tables, and dwelling in halls with human-like characteristics. [quarantine-w3: anthropomorphism x norse — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]

All passages →
Apocatastasiscosmology

The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.

The text depicts a cyclical restoration where gods meet again and golden tables stand as they did in the days of old.

All passages →
Cosmogonycosmology

Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.

Stanza 59 narrates the origin of the new world rising green from the waves following the destruction of the old.

All passages →
Frashokereticosmology

The final restoration/renovation of the cosmos.

The passage centrally describes the destruction of the old world and its subsequent renovation where the earth rises green and ills grow better.

All passages →
Sacred Namestheology

Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice.

Specific divine and cosmic names like Ithavoll, Gnipahellir, and Midgardorm are invoked with significance in the narrative. [quarantine-w4: sacred_names x norse — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]

All passages →
Word Power Incantationpraxis

The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.

The commentary explicitly identifies runes as sung or spoken charms, and the text references the ancient runes of the Ruler of Gods.

All passages →
Related passages · 13 parallels
western_esoteric|The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite)|Page 38 (part 2)
“The attempt to propitiate the Deity by means of prayers, sacrifices and abstinence, and thus to obtain the Divine assistance for the successful consummation of hideous offences and preposterous or impossible undertakings, is, of course, mad…”
Shared concept: Sacred Names — Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice. (derived)
shinto|The Kojiki: The Beginning of Heaven and Earth|Section 1
“p. 15 RECORDS OF ANCIENT MATTERS [SECT. I.—THE BEGINNING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.] The names of the Deities 1 that were born 2 in the Plain of High Heaven 3 when the Heaven and Earth began were the Deity Master-of-the-August-Centre-of-Heaven, 4…”
Shared concept: Cosmogony — Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. (derived)
hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 8: The Eight Sphere|Section 1a
“That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths <The idea of cyclic change central to CH III, "The Sacred Sermon", also takes center stage here. A current of ancient specula…”
Shared concept: Apocatastasis — The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles. (derived)
egyptian|The Egyptian Heaven and Hell|Chapter 6 (part 5)
“The Rubric had, in fact, so far back as B.C. 2600, become a traditional magical formula of a most powerful character, and it must have been composed at the time when the abode of the blessed was supposed to resemble the "great field" in wh…”
Shared concept: Sacred Names — Divine names or formulas that carry ontological power, used in prayer, liturgy, or magical practice. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 55 (part 11)
“And if Bath-Kol, in Jewish mysticism, is an articulate praeternatural voice from heaven, revealing to the "chosen people" the sacred traditions and laws, it is only because Vach was called, before Judaism, the "Mother of the Vedas," who ent…”
Shared concept: Cosmogony — Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|Introduction-l
“Paul burnt all books which treated of the occult sciences; and in fine, the French Revolution, daughter of the great Johannite Orient and the ashes of the Templars, spoliated the churches and blasphemed the allegories of the Divine Cultus.…”
Shared concept: Apocatastasis — The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 53 (part 11)
“They are never erring, perpetually recurring numbers, unveiling, to him who studies the secrets of Nature, a truly divine System, an intelligent plan in Cosmogony, which results in natural cosmic divisions of times, seasons, invisible influ…”
Shared concept: Animism — 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. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|8. Realization-c
“The Astral Body is not always of the same sex as the terrestrial, that is, the proportions of the two forces, varying from right to left, seem frequently to belie the visible organization, producing seeming aberrations of human passion and…”
Shared concept: Word Power Incantation — The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. (derived)
platonism|Plato: Phaedrus|Section 1r
“But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty; and at first a shudder runs throug…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1c
“For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 12)
“For the third time, and at the end of the world, God will move in the name (quality) of the Holy Spirit, when the world will return into the Ether ( Akasa ), and then its dead will be resurrected." ( Threefold Life , vii. 22.) This may per…”
Shared concept: Frashokereti — The final restoration/renovation of the cosmos. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 6 (part 1)
“p. 122 CHAPTER VI. THE RESTORATION OF NATURE AND THE GENERATION OF MAN. " If we speak about heaven and the birth of the elements, we are then not telling of things that are far away or foreign to us, but of that which is taking place wit…”
Shared concept: Frashokereti — The final restoration/renovation of the cosmos. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Revelations of Divine Love|Chapter XXXII-a
“"There be deeds evil done in our sight, and so great harms taken, that it seemeth to us that it were impossible that ever it should come to good end." "That Great Deed ordained ... by which our Lord God shall make all things well" One time…”
Shared concept: Frashokereti — The final restoration/renovation of the cosmos. (derived)