117-476: Völuspá (also Vǫluspá , Vǫlospá , or Vǫluspǫ́ ; Old Norse : 'Prophecy of the völva , a seeress') is the best known poem of the Poetic Edda . It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of the creation of the world, its coming end , and its subsequent rebirth that is related to the audience by a völva addressing Odin . Her name is given twice as Heiðr . The poem
234-479: A creation myth , mentioning Ymir and that the world was nothing but the magical void, Ginnungagap , until the sons of Burr lifted the earth out of the sea. The Æsir then established order in the cosmos by finding places for the sun, the moon, and the stars, thereby starting the cycle of day and night. A golden age ensued in which the Æsir had plenty of gold and they happily constructed temples and made tools. But then three mighty maidens came from Jötunheimar and
351-603: A "tangler" may be the etymological meaning of Loki's name. In various poems from the Poetic Edda (stanza 2 of Lokasenna , stanza 41 of Hyndluljóð , and stanza 26 of Fjölsvinnsmál ), and sections of the Prose Edda (chapter 32 of Gylfaginning , stanza 8 of Haustlöng , and stanza 1 of Þórsdrápa ) Loki is alternatively referred to as Loptr , which is generally considered derived from Old Norse lopt meaning "air", and therefore points to an association with
468-507: A "terrible requital": having to wade in the river Vadgelmir , and that their suffering will be long. Loki looks over the gold that Andvari possesses, and after Andvari hands over all of his gold, Andvari holds on to but a single ring; the ring Andvarinaut , which Loki also takes. Andvari, now in the form of a dwarf, goes into a rock, and tells Loki that the gold will result in the death of two brothers, will cause strife between eight princes, and will be useless to everyone. Loki returns, and
585-446: A basin beneath the dripping venom, yet when the basin became full, she carried the poison away; and during this time the poison dripped on to Loki, causing him to writhe with such violence that all of the earth shook from the force, resulting in what are now known as earthquakes. In the poem Þrymskviða , Thor wakes and finds that his powerful hammer, Mjöllnir , is missing. Thor turns to Loki first, and tells him that nobody knows that
702-452: A bridal gift from "Freyja", and the jötnar bring out Mjöllnir to "sanctify the bride", to lay it on her lap, and marry the two by "the hand" of the goddess Vár . Thor laughs internally when he sees the hammer, takes hold of it, strikes Þrymr, beats all of the jötnar, and kills the "older sister" of the jötnar. Loki appears in both prose and the first six stanzas of the poem Reginsmál . The prose introduction to Reginsmál details that, while
819-727: A change known as Holtzmann's law . An epenthetic vowel became popular by 1200 in Old Danish, 1250 in Old Swedish and Old Norwegian, and 1300 in Old Icelandic. An unstressed vowel was used which varied by dialect. Old Norwegian exhibited all three: /u/ was used in West Norwegian south of Bergen , as in aftur , aftor (older aptr ); North of Bergen, /i/ appeared in aftir , after ; and East Norwegian used /a/ , after , aftær . Old Norse
936-506: A deceased völva in Hel , and questions her repeatedly about his son Baldr 's bad dreams. Loki is mentioned in stanza 14, the final stanza of the poem, where the völva tells Odin to ride home, to be proud of himself, and that no one else will come visit until "Loki is loose, escaped from his bonds" and the onset of Ragnarök . Loki is referenced in two stanzas in Völuspá hin skamma , found within
1053-417: A female raven or a male crow. All neuter words have identical nominative and accusative forms, and all feminine words have identical nominative and accusative plurals. The gender of some words' plurals does not agree with that of their singulars, such as lim and mund . Some words, such as hungr , have multiple genders, evidenced by their determiners being declined in different genders within
1170-412: A front vowel to be split into a semivowel-vowel sequence before a back vowel in the following syllable. While West Norse only broke /e/ , East Norse also broke /i/ . The change was blocked by a /w/ , /l/ , or /ʀ/ preceding the potentially-broken vowel. Some /ja/ or /jɔ/ and /jaː/ or /jɔː/ result from breaking of /e/ and /eː/ respectively. When a noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb has
1287-409: A given sentence. Nouns, adjectives, and pronouns were declined in four grammatical cases – nominative , accusative , genitive , and dative – in singular and plural numbers. Adjectives and pronouns were additionally declined in three grammatical genders. Some pronouns (first and second person) could have dual number in addition to singular and plural. The genitive
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#17327760956271404-584: A long vowel or diphthong in the accented syllable and its stem ends in a single l , n , or s , the r (or the elder r - or z -variant ʀ ) in an ending is assimilated. When the accented vowel is short, the ending is dropped. The nominative of the strong masculine declension and some i-stem feminine nouns uses one such -r (ʀ). Óðin-r ( Óðin-ʀ ) becomes Óðinn instead of * Óðinr ( * Óðinʀ ). The verb blása ('to blow'), has third person present tense blæss ('[he] blows') rather than * blæsr ( * blæsʀ ). Similarly,
1521-474: A noun must mirror the gender of that noun , so that one says, " heill maðr! " but, " heilt barn! ". As in other languages, the grammatical gender of an impersonal noun is generally unrelated to an expected natural gender of that noun. While indeed karl , "man" is masculine, kona , "woman", is feminine, and hús , "house", is neuter, so also are hrafn and kráka , for "raven" and "crow", masculine and feminine respectively, even in reference to
1638-444: A pike), which Andvari jumps into. The stanzas of the poem then begin: Loki mocks Andvari, and tells him that he can save his head by telling Loki where his gold is. Andvari gives some background information about himself, including that he was cursed by a " norn of misfortune" in his "early days". Loki responds by asking Andvari "what requital" does mankind get if "they wound each other with words". Andvari responds that lying men receive
1755-612: A pisspot", urinating in his mouth (an otherwise unattested comment). Njörðr responds that this was his reward when he was sent as a hostage to the Æsir, and that he fathered his son (Freyr), whom no one hates, and is considered a prince of the Æsir. Loki tells Njörðr to maintain his moderation, and that he will not keep it secret any longer that Njörðr fathered this son with his sister (unnamed), although one would expect him to be worse than he turned out. The god Tyr defends Freyr, to which Loki replies that Tyr should be silent, for Tyr cannot "deal straight with people", and points out that it
1872-401: A prose section details that after Loki left the hall, he disguised himself as a salmon and hid in the waterfall of Franangrsfors , where the Æsir caught him. The narrative continues that Loki was bound with the entrails of his son Nari , and his son Narfi changed into a wolf. Skaði fastened a venomous snake over Loki's face, and from it poison dripped. Sigyn, his spouse, sat with him holding
1989-588: A reward for his lies. Loki replies that Bragi is brave when seated, calling him a "bench-ornament", and that Bragi would run away when troubled by an angry, spirited man. The goddess Iðunn interrupts, asking Bragi, as a service to his relatives and adopted relatives, not to say words of blame to Loki in Ægir's hall. Loki tells Iðunn to be silent, calling her the most "man-crazed" of all women, and saying that she placed her washed, bright arms around her brother's slayer. Iðunn says that she will not say words of blame in Ægir's hall, and affirms that she quietened Bragi, who
2106-536: A second time, and states that Tyr's wife (otherwise unattested) had a son by Loki, and that Tyr never received any compensation for this "injury", further calling him a "wretch". Freyr himself interrupts at this point, and says that he sees a wolf lying before a river mouth, and that, unless Loki is immediately silent, like the wolf, Loki shall also be bound until Ragnarök . Loki retorts that Freyr purchased his consort Gerðr with gold, having given away his sword, which he will lack at Ragnarök . Byggvir (referred to in
2223-476: A similar development influenced by Middle Low German . Various languages unrelated to Old Norse and others not closely related have been heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman language ; to a lesser extent, Finnish and Estonian . Russian, Ukrainian , Belarusian , Lithuanian and Latvian also have a few Norse loanwords. The words Rus and Russia , according to one theory, may be named after
2340-490: A variety of media in modern popular culture. The etymology of the name Loki has been extensively debated. The name has been associated with the Old Norse word logi ('flame') at times, but there doesn't seem to be a sound linguistic basis for this. Rather, the later Scandinavian variants of the name (such as Faroese Lokki , Danish Lokkemand , Norwegian Loke and Lokke , Swedish Luki and Luku ) point to an origin in
2457-608: A voiced velar fricative [ɣ] in all cases, and others have that realisation only in the middle of words and between vowels (with it otherwise being realised [ɡ] ). The Old East Norse /ʀ/ was an apical consonant , with its precise position unknown; it is reconstructed as a palatal sibilant . It descended from Proto-Germanic /z/ and eventually developed into /r/ , as had already occurred in Old West Norse. The consonant digraphs ⟨hl⟩ , ⟨hr⟩ , and ⟨hn⟩ occurred word-initially. It
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#17327760956272574-467: A vowel or semivowel of a different vowel backness . In the case of i-umlaut and ʀ-umlaut , this entails a fronting of back vowels, with retention of lip rounding. In the case of u-umlaut , this entails labialization of unrounded vowels. Umlaut is phonemic and in many situations grammatically significant as a side effect of losing the Proto-Germanic morphological suffixes whose vowels created
2691-448: A word. Strong verbs ablaut the lemma 's nucleus to derive the past forms of the verb. This parallels English conjugation, where, e.g., the nucleus of sing becomes sang in the past tense and sung in the past participle. Some verbs are derived by ablaut, as the present-in-past verbs do by consequence of being derived from the past tense forms of strong verbs. Umlaut or mutation is an assimilatory process acting on vowels preceding
2808-446: Is "much imbued with malice", that no worse woman has ever been among the "Æsir's children", and calling her a bad "serving-wench". Thor arrives, and tells Loki to be silent, referring to him as an "evil creature", stating that with his hammer Mjöllnir he will silence Loki by hammering his head from his shoulders. Acknowledging that Thor has arrived, Loki asks Thor why he is raging, and says that Thor will not be so bold to fight against
2925-402: Is also called Váli . The goddess Skaði is responsible for placing a serpent above him while he is bound. The serpent drips venom from above him that Sigyn collects into a bowl; however, she must empty the bowl when it is full and the venom that drips in the meantime causes Loki to writhe in pain, thereby causing earthquakes. Loki is foretold to eventually break free from his bonds and, among
3042-423: Is brought to marry Þrymr. The two return to Freyja, and tell her to dress herself in a bridal head dress, as they will drive her to Jötunheimr. Freyja, indignant and angry, goes into a rage, causing all of the halls of the Æsir to tremble in her anger, and her necklace, the famed Brísingamen , falls from her. Freyja pointedly refuses. As a result, the gods and goddesses meet and hold a thing to discuss and debate
3159-544: Is classified as Old West Norse, and Old West Norse traits were found in western Sweden . In what is present-day Denmark and Sweden, most speakers spoke Old East Norse. Though Old Gutnish is sometimes included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations, it developed its own unique features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th-century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes , Norwegians , Icelanders , and Danes spoke
3276-475: Is cursed as Andvari is, and that it will be the death of Hreidmar and Regin both. Hreidmar responds that if he had known this before, he would have taken their lives, yet that he believes those are not yet born whom the curse is intended for, and that he does not believe him. Further, with the hoard, he will have red gold for the rest of his life. Hreidmar tells them to leave, and the poem continues without further mention of Loki. In Baldr draumar , Odin has awoken
3393-402: Is due to her having not consumed anything for eight entire days before arriving due to her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr then lifts "Freyja's" veil and wants to kiss "her" until catching the terrifying eyes staring back at him, seemingly burning with fire. Loki states that this is because "Freyja" had not slept for eight nights in her eagerness. The "wretched sister" of the jötnar appears, asks for
3510-465: Is expected to exist, such as in the male names Ragnarr , Steinarr (supposedly * Ragnarʀ , * Steinarʀ ), the result is apparently always /rː/ rather than */rʀ/ or */ʀː/ . This is observable in the Runic corpus. In Old Norse, i/j adjacent to i , e , their u-umlauts, and æ was not possible, nor u/v adjacent to u , o , their i-umlauts, and ǫ . At
3627-481: Is hidden and how he gave it up in exchange for knowledge. In several refrains she asks him whether he understands or whether he would like to hear more. In the Codex Regius version, the völva goes on to describe the slaying of Baldr , best and fairest of the deities and the enmity of Loki , and of others. Then the völva prophesies the destruction of the deities where fire and flood overwhelm heaven and earth as
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3744-405: Is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Nari and Váli . By the jötunn Angrboða , Loki is the father of Hel , the wolf Fenrir and the world serpent Jörmungandr . In the form of a mare , Loki was impregnated by the stallion Svaðilfari and gave birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipnir . Like other gods, Loki is a shape shifter and in separate sources appears in
3861-584: Is more common in Old West Norse in both phonemic and allophonic positions, while it only occurs sparsely in post-runic Old East Norse and even in runic Old East Norse. This is still a major difference between Swedish and Faroese and Icelandic today. Plurals of neuters do not have u-umlaut at all in Swedish, but in Faroese and Icelandic they do, for example the Faroese and Icelandic plurals of the word land , lond and lönd respectively, in contrast to
3978-517: Is one of the most important primary sources for the study of Norse mythology. Parts of the poem appear in the Prose Edda , but the earliest known wholly-preserved version of the poem is in the Codex Regius and Hauksbók manuscripts. Many of stanzas of Völuspá appear first in the Prose Edda (composed c. 1220 , of which the oldest extant manuscript dates from the beginning of
4095-488: Is otherwise unattested. Njörðr (Freyja and Freyr's father) says that it is harmless for a woman to have a lover or "someone else" beside her husband, and that what is surprising is a "pervert god coming here who has borne children". Loki tells Njörðr to be silent, recalling Njörðr's status as once having been a hostage from the Vanir to the Æsir during the Æsir-Vanir War , that the "daughters of Hymir" once used Njörðr "as
4212-417: Is quite a bit of evidence that Loki in premodern society was thought to be the causer of knots/tangles/loops, or himself a knot/tangle/loop. Hence, it is natural that Loki is the inventor of the fishnet, which consists of loops and knots, and that the word loki ( lokke , lokki , loke , luki ) is a term for makers of cobwebs: spiders and the like." Though not prominent in the oldest sources, this identity as
4329-425: Is said to be speedy. Loki tells him to be silent, that Byggvir does not know how to apportion food among men, and that he hides among the straw and dais when men go to battle. The god Heimdallr says that Loki is drunk and witless, and asks Loki why he will not stop speaking. Loki tells Heimdallr to be silent, that he was fated a "hateful life", that Heimdallr must always have a muddy back, and serve as watchman of
4446-459: Is that the nonphonemic difference between the voiced and the voiceless dental fricative is marked. The oldest texts and runic inscriptions use þ exclusively. Long vowels are denoted with acutes . Most other letters are written with the same glyph as the IPA phoneme, except as shown in the table below. Ablaut patterns are groups of vowels which are swapped, or ablauted, in the nucleus of
4563-557: Is unclear whether they were sequences of two consonants (with the first element realised as /h/ or perhaps /x/ ) or as single voiceless sonorants /l̥/ , /r̥/ and /n̥/ respectively. In Old Norwegian, Old Danish and later Old Swedish, the groups ⟨hl⟩ , ⟨hr⟩ , and ⟨hn⟩ were reduced to plain ⟨l⟩ , ⟨r⟩ , ⟨n⟩ , which suggests that they had most likely already been pronounced as voiceless sonorants by Old Norse times. The pronunciation of ⟨hv⟩
4680-563: Is unclear, but it may have been /xʷ/ (the Proto-Germanic pronunciation), /hʷ/ or the similar phoneme /ʍ/ . Unlike the three other digraphs, it was retained much longer in all dialects. Without ever developing into a voiceless sonorant in Icelandic, it instead underwent fortition to a plosive /kv/ , which suggests that instead of being a voiceless sonorant, it retained a stronger frication. Primary stress in Old Norse falls on
4797-535: The Latin alphabet , there was no standardized orthography in use in the Middle Ages. A modified version of the letter wynn called vend was used briefly for the sounds /u/ , /v/ , and /w/ . Long vowels were sometimes marked with acutes but also sometimes left unmarked or geminated. The standardized Old Norse spelling was created in the 19th century and is, for the most part, phonemic. The most notable deviation
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4914-542: The Poetic Edda and dates to the tenth century, the century before the Christianization of Iceland . In March 2018, a team of medieval historians and scientists from the University of Cambridge suggested that the Icelandic poem, Vǫluspá, that is estimated to date from 961 was a roughly contemporary chronicle of the eruption of the volcano Eldgjá in 939. These researchers suggested that the dramatic imagery of
5031-427: The Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , a völva tells Odin that, among many other things, she sees Sigyn sitting very unhappily with her bound husband, Loki, under a "grove of hot springs ". In stanza 51, during the events of Ragnarök , Loki appears free from his bonds and is referred to as the "brother of Býleistr " (here transcribed as Byleist ): A ship journeys from the east, Muspell's people are coming, over
5148-819: The Prose Edda and Heimskringla , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson ; the Norwegian Rune Poems , in the poetry of skalds , and in Scandinavian folklore. Loki may be depicted on the Snaptun Stone , the Kirkby Stephen Stone and the Gosforth Cross . Scholars have debated Loki's origins and role in Norse mythology, which some have described as that of a trickster god . Loki has been depicted in, or referenced in,
5265-667: The Rus' people , a Norse tribe, probably from present-day east-central Sweden. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi , respectively. A number of loanwords have been introduced into Irish , many associated with fishing and sailing. A similar influence is found in Scottish Gaelic , with over one hundred loanwords estimated to be in the language, many of which are related to fishing and sailing. Old Norse vowel phonemes mostly come in pairs of long and short. The standardized orthography marks
5382-668: The word stem , so that hyrjar would be pronounced /ˈhyr.jar/ . In compound words, secondary stress falls on the second stem (e.g. lærisveinn , /ˈlɛːɾ.iˌswɛinː/ ). Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark , runic Old Norse was originally written with the Younger Futhark , which had only 16 letters. Because of the limited number of runes, several runes were used for different sounds, and long and short vowels were not distinguished in writing. Medieval runes came into use some time later. As for
5499-598: The "wolf's father") may sit at the feast, and so that he may not speak words of blame to the gods in Ægir's hall. Víðarr stands and pours a drink for Loki. Prior to drinking, Loki declaims a toast to the gods, with a specific exception for Bragi. Bragi responds that he will give a horse, sword, and ring from his possessions so that he does not repay the gods "with hatred". Loki responds that Bragi will always be short of all of these things, accusing him of being "wary of war" and "shy of shooting". Bragi responds that, were they outside of Ægir's hall, Bragi would be holding Loki's head as
5616-557: The 11th century in most of Old East Norse. However, the distinction still holds in Dalecarlian dialects . The dots in the following vowel table separate the oral from nasal phonemes. Note: The open or open-mid vowels may be transcribed differently: Sometime around the 13th century, /ɔ/ (spelled ⟨ǫ⟩ ) merged with /ø/ or /o/ in most dialects except Old Danish , and Icelandic where /ɔ/ ( ǫ ) merged with /ø/ . This can be determined by their distinction within
5733-979: The 12th-century First Grammatical Treatise but not within the early 13th-century Prose Edda . The nasal vowels, also noted in the First Grammatical Treatise, are assumed to have been lost in most dialects by this time (but notably they are retained in Elfdalian and other dialects of Ovansiljan ). See Old Icelandic for the mergers of /øː/ (spelled ⟨œ⟩ ) with /ɛː/ (spelled ⟨æ⟩ ) and /ɛ/ (spelled ⟨ę⟩ ) with /e/ (spelled ⟨e⟩ ). Old Norse had three diphthong phonemes: /ɛi/ , /ɔu/ , /øy ~ ɛy/ (spelled ⟨ei⟩ , ⟨au⟩ , ⟨ey⟩ respectively). In East Norse these would monophthongize and merge with /eː/ and /øː/ , whereas in West Norse and its descendants
5850-668: The 13th century there. The age of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland is strongly contested, but Swedish settlement had spread the language into the region by the time of the Second Swedish Crusade in the 13th century at the latest. The modern descendants of the Old West Norse dialect are the West Scandinavian languages of Icelandic , Faroese , Norwegian , and the extinct Norn language of Orkney and Shetland , although Norwegian
5967-599: The Eldgjá eruption was purposefully invoked in order to accelerate the Christianization of Iceland. Some scholars hold that there are Christian influences in the text, emphasizing parallels with the Sibylline Prophecies . Henry Adams Bellows stated in 1936 that the author of Völuspá would have had knowledge of Christianity and infused it into the poem. Bellows dates the poem to the tenth century that
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#17327760956276084-572: The Faroe Islands, Faroese has also been influenced by Danish. Both Middle English (especially northern English dialects within the area of the Danelaw ) and Early Scots (including Lowland Scots ) were strongly influenced by Norse and contained many Old Norse loanwords . Consequently, Modern English (including Scottish English ), inherited a significant proportion of its vocabulary directly from Norse. The development of Norman French
6201-517: The Germanic root * luk -, which denoted things to do with loops (like knots, hooks, closed-off rooms, and locks). This corresponds with usages such as the Swedish lockanät and Faroese lokkanet ('cobweb', literally 'Lokke's web') and Faroese lokki ~ grindalokki ~ grindalokkur , 'daddy-long-legs' referring both to crane flies and harvestmen , as well as modern Swedish lockespindlar ("Locke-spiders"). Some Eastern Swedish traditions referring to
6318-473: The Swedish plural land and numerous other examples. That also applies to almost all feminine nouns, for example the largest feminine noun group, the o-stem nouns (except the Swedish noun jord mentioned above), and even i-stem nouns and root nouns , such as Old West Norse mǫrk ( mörk in Icelandic) in comparison with Modern and Old Swedish mark . Vowel breaking, or fracture, caused
6435-516: The air. The name Hveðrungr (Old Norse '?roarer') is also used in reference to Loki, occurring in names for Hel (such as in Ynglingatal , where she is called hveðrungs mær ) and in reference to Fenrir (as in Völuspa ). In the Poetic Edda , Loki appears (or is referenced) in the poems Völuspá , Lokasenna , Þrymskviða , Reginsmál , Baldrs draumar , and Hyndluljóð . In stanza 35 of
6552-541: The beginning of words, this manifested as a dropping of the initial /j/ (which was general, independent of the following vowel) or /v/ . Compare ON orð , úlfr , ár with English word, wolf, year . In inflections, this manifested as the dropping of the inflectional vowels. Thus, klæði + dat -i remains klæði , and sjáum in Icelandic progressed to sjǫ́um > sjǫ́m > sjám . The * jj and * ww of Proto-Germanic became ggj and ggv respectively in Old Norse,
6669-533: The children of the Æsir, she is singularly blameless. Loki "takes the horn", drinks it, and says that she would be, if it were so, and states that Sif and Loki had been lovers, despite her marriage to Thor (an affair that is otherwise unattested). Beyla (referred to in the prose introduction to the poem as a servant of Freyr) says that all of the mountains are shaking, that she thinks Thor must be on his way home, and when Thor arrives he will bring peace to those that quarrel there. Loki tells Beyla to be silent, that she
6786-411: The cluster */Crʀ/ cannot be realized as /Crː/ , nor as */Crʀ/ , nor as */Cʀː/ . The same shortening as in vetr also occurs in lax = laks ('salmon') (as opposed to * lakss , * laksʀ ), botn ('bottom') (as opposed to * botnn , * botnʀ ), and jarl (as opposed to * jarll , * jarlʀ ). Furthermore, wherever the cluster */rʀ/
6903-429: The deities fight their final battles with their enemies. This is the "fate of the gods", Ragnarök . She describes the summons to battle, the deaths of many of the deities, including the death of Odin, who is slain by Fenrir , the great wolf. The god of thunder and sworn protector of the earth, Thor , faces the world serpent Jörmungandr and wins, but Thor is only able to take nine steps afterward before collapsing due to
7020-449: The diphthongs remained. Old Norse has six plosive phonemes, /p/ being rare word-initially and /d/ and /b/ pronounced as voiced fricative allophones between vowels except in compound words (e.g. veðrabati ), already in the Proto-Germanic language (e.g. * b *[β] > [v] between vowels). The /ɡ/ phoneme was pronounced as [ɡ] after an /n/ or another /ɡ/ and as [k] before /s/ and /t/ . Some accounts have it
7137-409: The earth sprouts abundance without sowing seed. The surviving Æsir reunite with Hœnir and meet together at the field of Iðavöllr , discussing Jörmungandr, great events of the past, and the runic alphabet. A final stanza describes the sudden appearance of the dragon Nidhogg , bearing corpses in his wings, after which the völva emerges from her trance. Völuspá is one of the most discussed poems of
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#17327760956277254-445: The earth, and that she had once taken Odin's brothers Vili and Vé into her embrace. Frigg responds that if there was a boy like her now-deceased son Baldr in the hall, Loki would not be able to escape from the wrath of the gods. Loki reminds Frigg that he is responsible for the death of her son Baldr. The goddess Freyja declares that Loki must be mad, stating that Frigg knows all fate, yet she does not speak it. Loki claims each of
7371-438: The entire Dvergatal section and references to the "mighty one who rules over all" are later insertions. Although some have identified the latter figure with Jesus, Bellows thought this was not necessarily the case. Old Norse Old Norse , also referred to as Old Nordic , or Old Scandinavian , was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse
7488-442: The existing sources. Some editors and translators have further rearranged the material. The poem starts with the völva requesting silence from "the sons of Heimdallr " (human beings) and she then asks Odin whether he wants her to recite ancient lore based on her memory. She says she remembers jötnar born in antiquity who reared her, nine worlds, and the tree of life (Mjötviður mær, or axis mundi). The völva proceeds to recite
7605-399: The falls, Ótr (in the form of an otter) catches a salmon and eats it on a river bank, his eyes shut, when Loki hits and kills him with a stone. The gods think that this is great, and flay the skin from the otter to make a bag. That night, the three gods stay with Hreidmar (the father of Regin, Andvari, and the now-dead Ótr) and show him their catches, including the skin of the otter. Upon seeing
7722-449: The fates of men may equal Odin's own. Loki says that Odin does a poor job in handing out honor in war to men, and that he's often given victory to the faint-hearted. Odin responds that even if this is true, Loki (in a story otherwise unattested) once spent eight winters beneath the earth as a woman milking cows, and during this time bore children. Odin declares this perverse. Loki counters that Odin once practiced seiðr (a type of sorcery) on
7839-417: The feast, and that, before the end of the feast, he will induce quarrelling among the gods, and "mix their mead with malice". Eldir responds that "if shouting and fighting you pour out on" to the gods, "they'll wipe it off on you". Loki then enters the hall, and everyone there falls silent upon noticing him. Breaking the silence, Loki says that, thirsty, he had come to these halls from a long way away to ask
7956-434: The feather cloak whistling, away from Jötunheimr and back to the court of the gods. Thor asks Loki if his efforts were successful, and that Loki should tell him while he is still in the air as "tales often escape a sitting man, and the man lying down often barks out lies". Loki states that it was indeed an effort, and also a success, for he has discovered that Þrymr has the hammer, but that it cannot be retrieved unless Freyja
8073-408: The forces of the jötnar , to go to battle with the gods, during which time his children play a key role in the destruction of all but two humans over the events of Ragnarök . Loki has a particular enmity with the god Heimdallr . The two are in fact prophesied to kill one another during Ragnarök. Loki is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources:
8190-415: The form of a salmon , a mare , a fly , and possibly an elderly woman named Þökk (Old Norse 'thanks'). While sometimes friendly with the gods, Loki engineers the death of the beloved god Baldr . For this, Odin 's specially engendered son Váli binds Loki with the entrails of one of his sons, where he writhes in pain. In the Prose Edda , this son, Nari or Narfi, is killed by another of Loki's sons, who
8307-570: The fourteenth century ( c. 1300 ) in which the stanzas are quoted or paraphrased. The full poem is found in the Icelandic Codex Regius manuscript ( c. 1270 ) and in the Haukr Erlendsson Hauksbók Codex ( c. 1334 ) and the later thirteenth century Codex Regius version is usually taken as a base for editions of the poem. The order and number of the stanzas varies in
8424-494: The gates of Nágrind . In response to Thor, Loki says that he "spoke before the Æsir", and "before the sons of the Æsir" what his "spirit urged" him to say, yet before Thor alone he will leave, as he knows that Thor does strike. Loki ends the poetic verses of Lokasenna with a final stanza: Ale you brewed, Ægir, and you will never again hold a feast; all your possessions which are here inside— may flame play over them, and may your back be burnt! Following this final stanza
8541-425: The gods and elves that are present have been Freyja's lover. Freyja replies that Loki is lying, that he just wants to "yelp about wicked things" that gods and goddesses are furious with him, and that he will go home thwarted. In response, Loki calls Freyja a malicious witch, and claims that Freyja was once astride her brother Freyr , when all of the other laughing gods surprised her and Freyja then farted. This scenario
8658-747: The gods for a drink of "the famous mead". Calling the gods arrogant, Loki asks why they are unable to speak, and demands that they assign him a seat and a place for him at the feast, or tell him to leave. The skaldic god Bragi is the first to respond to Loki by telling him that Loki will not have a seat and place assigned to him by the gods at the feast, for the gods know what men they should invite. Loki does not respond to Bragi directly, but instead directs his attention to Odin, and states: Do you remember, Odin, when in bygone days we mixed our blood together? You said you would never drink ale unless it were brought to both of us. Odin then asks his silent son Víðarr to stand up, so that Loki (here referred to as
8775-475: The gods. The goddess Skaði says that while Loki now appears light-hearted and "playing" with his "tail-wagging", he will soon be bound with his ice-cold son's guts on a sharp rock by the gods. Loki says that, even if this is his fate, that he was "first and foremost" with the other gods at the killing of Skaði's father, Þjazi . Skaði says that, with these events in mind, "baneful advice" will always come from her "sanctuaries and plains" to Loki. Loki says that Skaði
8892-421: The golden age came to an end. The Æsir then created the dwarfs , of whom Mótsognir and Durinn are the mightiest. At this point ten of the poem's stanzas are considered complete. A section then appears in some versions that usually is considered an interpolation. It is entitled the " Dvergatal " ("Catalogue of Dwarfs") and it contains six stanzas with names of dwarves. The antiquity and role of this section in
9009-460: The hall and to the woods. The gods then return to the hall, and continue drinking. Loki comes out of the woods and meets Eldir outside of the hall. Loki greets Eldir (and the poem itself begins) with a demand that Eldir tell him what the gods are discussing over their ale inside the hall. Eldir responds that they discuss their "weapons and their prowess in war" and yet no one there has anything friendly to say about Loki. Loki says that he will go into
9126-430: The hammer has been stolen. The two then go to the court of the goddess Freyja , and Thor asks her if he may borrow her feather cloak so that he may attempt to find Mjöllnir. Freyja agrees, saying she would lend it even if it were made of silver and gold, and Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling. In Jötunheimr , the jötunn Þrymr sits on a burial mound , plaiting golden collars for his female dogs, and trimming
9243-472: The hero Sigurd was being fostered by Regin , son of Hreidmar , Regin tells him that once the gods Odin, Hœnir , and Loki went to Andvara-falls, which contained many fish. Regin, a dwarf, had two brothers; Andvari , who gained food by spending time in the Andvara-falls in the form of a pike , and Ótr , who would often go to the Andvara-falls in the form of an otter . While the three gods are at
9360-409: The island of Samsey (now Samsø , Denmark), and, appearing as a wizard, traveled among mankind, which Loki condemns as perverse. Frigg , a major deity who is married to Odin, says that what Loki and Odin did in the ancient past should not be spoken of in front of others, and that ancient matters should always remain hidden. Loki brings up that Frigg is the daughter of Fjörgyn , a personification of
9477-636: The jötnar will be able to invade and settle in Asgard . The gods dress Thor as a bride, and Loki states that he will go with Thor as his maid, and that the two shall drive to Jötunheimr together. After riding together in Thor's goat-driven chariot , the two, disguised, arrive in Jötunheimr. Þrymr commands the jötnar in his hall to spread straw on the benches, for Freyja has arrived to marry him. Þrymr recounts his treasured animals and objects, stating that Freyja
9594-399: The long vowels with an acute accent. In medieval manuscripts, it is often unmarked but sometimes marked with an accent or through gemination . Old Norse had nasalized versions of all ten vowel places. These occurred as allophones of the vowels before nasal consonants and in places where a nasal had followed it in an older form of the word, before it was absorbed into a neighboring sound. If
9711-454: The manes of his horses. Þrymr sees Loki, and asks what could be amiss among the Æsir and the Elves ; why is Loki alone in the Jötunheimr? Loki responds that he has bad news for both the elves and the Æsir: that Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir, is gone. Þrymr says that he has hidden Mjöllnir eight leagues beneath the earth, from which it will be retrieved if Freyja is brought to marry him. Loki flies off,
9828-415: The matter. At the thing, the god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that, in place of Freyja, Thor should be dressed as the bride, complete with jewels, women's clothing down to his knees, a bridal head-dress, and the necklace Brísingamen. Thor rejects the idea, and Loki (here described as "son of Laufey ") interjects that this will be the only way to get back Mjöllnir, and points out that without Mjöllnir,
9945-544: The mid- to late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects : Old West Norse (Old West Nordic, often referred to as Old Norse ), Old East Norse (Old East Nordic), and Old Gutnish . Old West Norse and Old East Norse formed a dialect continuum , with no clear geographical boundary between them. Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway , although Old Norwegian
10062-730: The most conservative language, such that in present-day Iceland, schoolchildren are able to read the 12th-century Icelandic sagas in the original language (in editions with normalised spelling). Old Icelandic was very close to Old Norwegian , and together they formed Old West Norse , which was also spoken in Norse settlements in Greenland , the Faroes , Ireland , Scotland , the Isle of Man , northwest England, and in Normandy . Old East Norse
10179-514: The nasal was absorbed by a stressed vowel, it would also lengthen the vowel. This nasalization also occurred in the other Germanic languages, but were not retained long. They were noted in the First Grammatical Treatise , and otherwise might have remained unknown. The First Grammarian marked these with a dot above the letter. This notation did not catch on, and would soon be obsolete. Nasal and oral vowels probably merged around
10296-641: The other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, and Gaelic ( Scottish and/or Irish ). Although Swedish, Danish and Norwegian have diverged the most, they still retain considerable mutual intelligibility . Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, particularly if speaking slowly. The languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders. This could be because these languages have been mutually affected by each other, as well as having
10413-452: The poem Hyndluljóð . The first stanza notes that Loki produced "the wolf" with the jötunn Angrboða , that Loki himself gave birth to the horse Sleipnir by the stallion Svaðilfari , and that Loki (referred to as the "brother of Býleistr ") thirdly gave birth to "the worst of all marvels". This stanza is followed by: Loki ate some of the heart, the thought-stone of a woman, roasted on a linden-wood fire, he found it half-cooked; Lopt
10530-399: The poem is not clear and sometimes is omitted by editors and translators. The poem continues with the creations of the first humans that are recounted along with a description of the world-tree, Yggdrasil . The völva recalls the burning of Gullveig that led to the first "folk" war, where Heiðr is a name assumed by Gullveig in connection with the war of the deities, and what occurred in
10647-402: The prose introduction to the poem as a servant of Freyr) says that if he had as noble a lineage and as an honorable a seat as Freyr, he would grind down Loki, and make all of his limbs lame. Loki refers to Byggvir in terms of a dog, and says that Byggvir is always found at Freyr's ears, or twittering beneath a grindstone. Byggvir says that he is proud to be here by all the gods and men, and that he
10764-466: The receiving figure responds with a single stanza, and then another figure chimes in. The poem begins with a prose introduction detailing that Ægir , a figure associated with the sea, is hosting a feast in his hall for a number of the gods and elves . There, the gods praise Ægir's servers Fimafeng and Eldir . Loki "could not bear to hear that", and kills the servant Fimafeng. In response, the gods grab their shields, shrieking at Loki, and chase him out of
10881-536: The root vowel, ǫ , is short. The clusters */Clʀ, Csʀ, Cnʀ, Crʀ/ cannot yield */Clː, Csː, Cnː, Crː/ respectively, instead /Cl, Cs, Cn, Cr/ . The effect of this shortening can result in the lack of distinction between some forms of the noun. In the case of vetr ('winter'), the nominative and accusative singular and plural forms are identical. The nominative singular and nominative and accusative plural would otherwise have been OWN * vetrr , OEN * wintrʀ . These forms are impossible because
10998-629: The same figure use forms in n - like Nokk(e) , but this corresponds to the * luk - etymology insofar, as those dialects consistently used a different root, Germanic * hnuk -, in contexts where western varieties used * luk -: " nokke corresponds to nøkkel " ('key' in Eastern Scandinavian) "as loki ~ lokke to lykil " ('key' in Western Scandinavian). While it has been suggested that this association with closing could point to Loki's apocalyptic role at Ragnarök , "there
11115-441: The same language, dǫnsk tunga ("Danish tongue"; speakers of Old East Norse would have said dansk tunga ). Another term was norrœnt mál ("northern speech"). Today Old Norse has developed into the modern North Germanic languages Icelandic , Faroese , Norwegian , Danish , Swedish , and other North Germanic varieties of which Norwegian, Danish and Swedish retain considerable mutual intelligibility . Icelandic remains
11232-415: The serpent's venom. Víðarr faces Fenrir and kicks his jaw open before stabbing the wolf in the heart with his spear. The god Freyr fights the giant Surtr , who wields a fiery sword that shines brighter than the sun, and Freyr falls. Finally, the völva prophesies that a beautiful reborn world will rise from the ashes of death and destruction where Baldr and Höðr will live again in a new world and where
11349-402: The skin, Regin and Hreidmar "seized them and made them ransom their lives" in exchange for filling the otterskin bag the gods had made with gold and covering the exterior of the bag with red gold. Loki is sent to retrieve the gold, and Loki goes to the goddess Rán , borrows her net, and then goes back to the Andvara-falls. At the falls, Loki spreads his net before Andvari (who is in the form of
11466-459: The struggle between the Æsir and Vanir . She then recalls the time the goddess Freyja was given to the jötnar, which is commonly interpreted as a reference to the myth of the jötunn builder , as told in Gylfaginning 42. The völva then reveals to Odin that she knows some of his own secrets and that he sacrificed an eye in pursuit of knowledge. She tells him that she knows where his eye
11583-404: The three gods give Hreidmar the money from the gold hoard and flatten out the otter skin, stretch out its legs, and heap gold atop it, covering it. Hreidmar looks it over, and notices a single hair that has not been covered. Hreidmar demands that it be covered as well. Odin puts forth the ring Andvarinaut, covering the single hair. Loki states that they have now handed over the gold, and that gold
11700-497: The umlaut allophones . Some /y/ , /yː/ , /ø/ , /øː/ , /ɛ/ , /ɛː/ , /øy/ , and all /ɛi/ were obtained by i-umlaut from /u/ , /uː/ , /o/ , /oː/ , /a/ , /aː/ , /au/ , and /ai/ respectively. Others were formed via ʀ-umlaut from /u/ , /uː/ , /a/ , /aː/ , and /au/ . Some /y/ , /yː/ , /ø/ , /øː/ , and all /ɔ/ , /ɔː/ were obtained by u-umlaut from /i/ , /iː/ , /e/ , /eː/ , and /a/ , /aː/ respectively. See Old Icelandic for information on /ɔː/ . /œ/
11817-482: The verb skína ('to shine') had present tense third person skínn (rather than * skínr , * skínʀ ); while kala ('to cool down') had present tense third person kell (rather than * kelr , * kelʀ ). The rule is not absolute, with certain counter-examples such as vinr ('friend'), which has the synonym vin , yet retains the unabsorbed version, and jǫtunn (' giant '), where assimilation takes place even though
11934-400: The waves, and Loki steers There are the monstrous brood with all the raveners, The brother of Byleist is in company with them. In stanza 54, after consuming Odin and being killed by Odin's son Víðarr , Fenrir is described as "Loki's kinsman". The poem Lokasenna (Old Norse "Loki's Flyting ") centers around Loki flyting with other gods; Loki puts forth two stanzas of insults while
12051-432: The wolf when he swallows Odin at Ragnarök . Thor again tells Loki to be silent, and threatens him with Mjöllnir, adding that he will throw Loki "up on the roads to the east", and thereafter no one will be able to see Loki. Loki states that Thor should never brag of his journeys to the east, claiming that there Thor crouched cowering in the thumb of a glove, mockingly referring to him as a "hero", and adding that such behaviour
12168-419: Was Loki's son, the wolf Fenrir, who tore Tyr's hand off. (According to the prose introduction to the poem Tyr is now one-handed from having his arm bitten off by Loki's son Fenrir while Fenrir was bound.) Tyr responds that while he may have lost a hand, Loki has lost the wolf, and trouble has come to them both. Further, that Fenrir must now wait in shackles until the onset of Ragnarök . Loki tells Tyr to be silent
12285-404: Was a moderately inflected language with high levels of nominal and verbal inflection. Most of the fused morphemes are retained in modern Icelandic, especially in regard to noun case declensions, whereas modern Norwegian in comparison has moved towards more analytical word structures. Old Norse had three grammatical genders – masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives or pronouns referring to
12402-466: Was a transitional period between paganism and Christianity and the two religions would have co-existed before Christianity was declared the official religion of Iceland and after which the old paganism was tolerated if practiced in private. He suggests that this infusion allowed the pagan traditions to survive to an extent in Iceland, unlike in mainland Scandinavia . Several researchers have suggested that
12519-401: Was all that he was missing in his wealth. Early in the evening, the disguised Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and the assembled jötnar. Thor eats and drinks ferociously, consuming entire animals and three casks of mead . Þrymr finds the behaviour at odds with his impression of Freyja, and Loki, sitting before Þrymr and appearing as a "very shrewd maid", makes the excuse that "Freyja's" behaviour
12636-400: Was also influenced by Norse. Through Norman, to a smaller extent, so was modern French. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system. Contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the vowel phonemes, has changed at least as much in Icelandic as in
12753-583: Was heavily influenced by the East dialect, and is today more similar to East Scandinavian (Danish and Swedish) than to Icelandic and Faroese. The descendants of the Old East Norse dialect are the East Scandinavian languages of Danish and Swedish . Among these, the grammar of Icelandic and Faroese have changed the least from Old Norse in the last thousand years, though their pronunciations both have changed considerably from Old Norse. With Danish rule of
12870-418: Was impregnated by a wicked woman, from whom every ogress on earth is descended. In the second of the two stanzas, Loki is referred to as Lopt . Loki's consumption of a woman's heart is otherwise unattested. In the poem Fjölsvinnsmál , a stanza mentions Loki (as Lopt ) in association with runes . In the poem, Fjölsviðr describes to the hero Svipdagr that Sinmara keeps the weapon Lævateinn within
12987-447: Was made talkative by beer, and that she does not want the two of them to fight. The goddess Gefjun asks why the two gods must fight, saying that Loki knows that he is joking, and that "all living things love him". Loki responds to Gefjun by stating that Gefjun's heart was once seduced by a "white boy" who gave her a jewel, and who Gefjun laid her thigh over. Odin says that Loki must be insane to make Gefjun his enemy, as her wisdom about
13104-535: Was obtained through a simultaneous u- and i-umlaut of /a/ . It appears in words like gøra ( gjǫra , geyra ), from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną , and commonly in verbs with a velar consonant before the suffix like søkkva < *sankwijaną . OEN often preserves the original value of the vowel directly preceding runic ʀ while OWN receives ʀ-umlaut. Compare runic OEN glaʀ, haʀi, hrauʀ with OWN gler, heri (later héri ), hrøyrr/hreyrr ("glass", "hare", "pile of rocks"). U-umlaut
13221-455: Was once gentler in speech to him (referring to himself as the "son of Laufey ") when Skaði once invited him to her bed (an event that is unattested elsewhere), and that such events must be mentioned if they are to recall "shameful deeds". Sif goes forth and pours Loki a glass of mead into a crystal cup in a prose narrative. Continuing the poem, Sif welcomes Loki and invites him to take a crystal cup filled with ancient mead, and says that among
13338-466: Was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age , the Christianization of Scandinavia , and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in
13455-766: Was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Kievan Rus' , eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in various settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language , ranging from Vinland in the West to the Volga River in the East. In Kievan Rus' , it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod , probably lasting into
13572-495: Was unlike Thor. Thor responds by telling Loki to be silent, threatening him with Mjöllnir, and adding that every one of Loki's bones will be broken with it. Loki says he intends to live for a long while yet despite Thor's threats, and taunts Thor about an encounter Thor once had with the Skrýmir ( Útgarða-Loki in disguise). Thor again commands Loki to be silent, threatens Loki with Mjöllnir, and says he will send Loki to Hel , below
13689-443: Was used partitively and in compounds and kennings (e.g., Urðarbrunnr , the well of Urðr; Lokasenna , the gibing of Loki). There were several classes of nouns within each gender. The following is an example of the "strong" inflectional paradigms : Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology . He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn ) and Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr . Loki
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