Product Details

Although originating in Viking Age Scandinavia, no poem in the Old Norse corpus is more celebrated than the harrowing masterpiece Völuspá, the 'prophecy of the völva,' which contains elements of much earlier origin., a type of seeress esteemed in the pagan period comparable to contemporary notions of a witch. In the poem, the wise warleader and healing god Odin questions an undead völva about the foretold death of his beloved son, Baldr. The völva tells us about the deep past and, along with it, a horrific future followed by green rebirth. This unique and beautiful edition features the work of three translators beside an Old Icelandic edition, as well as numerous additional supplemental items and original commentary.