Old Norse shares with Old English a common background. Both of the languages and their respective literatures developed out of the same Germanic history, and some heroes and their exploits are referred to in the writings of both languages. As with surviving Old English literature, what we have of it in Old Norse was written late--much of it dating from the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries.

Two of the most important works of Old Norse literature share the curious name Edda, a word of uncertain origin and meaning. The first is a collection of around forty mythological and heroic poems generally known as The Elder Edda or The Poetic Edda. The second, based in part upon the earlier Edda, is known as The Younger Edda or The Prose Edda. It was compiled in the early thirteenth century by Snorri Sturluson.

Sturluson (1179-1241) was a major figure in medieval Iceland, a politician, poet and historian. Besides his Edda, he wrote Heimskringla, a history of the kings of Norway, and he is believed also to have written Egil's Saga, one of the greatest of the Icelandic family sagas. Sturluson's Edda is made up of four parts, a Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skaldskaparmal, and Hattatal. Most translations into English include only the Prologue and Gylfaginning, or "The Deluding of Gylfi," which tells of a Swedish king named Gylfi who hears stories of the Old Norse Gods. Gylfaginning is the most extensive account of Norse myths and legends that has survived, and the basis for much of our present knowledge of Old Norse mythology. Skaldskaparmal is a long essay on the language of poetry, while Hattatal discusses the categories of verse-forms.

Tolkien studied and taught Old Norse, both the language and its literature, for many years, but he published virtually nothing in this field. From 1926 through the early 1930s Tolkien shared the Eddas and several of the Icelandic sagas with his friends, including C. S. Lewis, in a group called the Kolbítar ("Coal-biters"), where each person read aloud sections from these works, translating impromptu. There are many elements in Old Norse literature that will be familiar to readers of Tolkien, heroes fighting dragons, riddle-matches, dwarfs, Light-Elves and Dark-Elves, and the divine Æsir who resemble Tolkien's Valar.

For space considerations, I did not include any of the poems from The Poetic Edda in The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader (ISBN 1593600119), but I did included the Prologue and Gylfaginning from The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning itself quotes some of the poems from The Poetic Edda, including "Voluspá" with its famous list of dwarf-names from which Tolkien lifted most of the dwarf-names in The Hobbit. Below is the full version of "Voluspá," followed by the full version of "Fáfnismál," one of the poems which tells part of the story of the hero Sigurd/Sigurth, who has encountered the dragon Fáfnir. The conversation between the hero and the dragon will remind you of the conversation between Bilbo and Smaug in The Hobbit.

The full story of Sigurd/Sigurd is told in the Saga of the Volsungs, which I plan to post in the future.

-- Turgon

"Voluspá" from The Poetic Edda, translated by Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

"The Prophecy of the Seeress"

Hearing I ask     from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons,      both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather,      that well I relate
Old tales I remember     of men long ago.

I remember yet     the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread     in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew,      the nine in the tree
With mighty roots     beneath the mold.

Of old was the age     when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves     nor sand there were;
Earth had not been,      nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap,      and grass nowhere.

Then Bur's sons lifted     the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty     there they made;
The sun from the south     warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground     with growing leeks.

The sun, the sister     of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast     over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had     where her home should be,
The moon knew not     what might was his,
The stars knew not     where their stations were.

Then sought the gods     their assembly-seats,
The holy ones,      and council held;
Names then gave they     to noon and twilight,
Morning they named,      and the waning moon,
Night and evening,      the years to number.

At Ithavoll met     the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples     they timbered high;
Forges they set, and     they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought,      and tools they fashioned.

In their dwellings at peace     they played at tables,
Of gold no lack     did the gods then know, --
Till thither came     up giant-maids three,
Huge of might,      out of Jotunheim.

Then sought the gods     their assembly-seats,
The holy ones,      and council held,
To find who should raise     the race of dwarfs
Out of Brimir's blood     and the legs of Blain.

There was Motsognir     the mightiest made
Of all the dwarfs,      and Durin next;
Many a likeness     of men they made,
The dwarfs in the earth,      as Durin said.

Nyi and Nithi,      Northri and Suthri,
Austri and Vestri,      Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar and Nain,      Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bofur,      Bombur, Nori,
An and Onar,      Ai, Mjothvitnir.

Vigg and Gandalf,      Vindalf, Thrain,
Thekk and Thorin,      Thror, Vit and Lit,
Nyr and Nyrath, --     now have I told--
Regin and Rathsvith--     the list aright.

Fili, Kili,      Fundin, Nali,
Heptifili,      Hannar, Sviur,
Frar, Hornbori,      FrÆg and Loni,
Aurvang, Jari,      Eikinskjaldi.

The race of the dwarfs     in Dvalin's throng
Down to Lofar     the list must I tell;
The rocks they left,      and through wet lands
They sought a home     in the fields of sand.

There were Draupnir     and Dolgthrasir,
Hor, Haugspori,      Hlevang, Gloin,
Dori, Ori,      Duf, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir,      Skafith, Ai.

Alf and Yngvi,      Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalar and Frosti,      Fith and Ginnar;
So for all time     shall the tale be known,
The list of all     the forbears of Lofar.

Then from the throng     did three come forth,
From the home of the gods,      the mighty and gracious;
Two without fate     on the land they found,
Ask and Embla,      empty of might.

Soul they had not,      sense they had not,
Heat nor motion,      nor goodly hue;
Soul gave Othin,      sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur     and goodly hue.

An ash I know,      Yggdrasil its name,
With water white     is the great tree wet;
Thence come the dews     that fall in the dales,
Green by Urth's well     does it ever grow.

Thence come the maidens     mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling     down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named,      Verthandi the next, --
On the wood they scored, --     and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there,      and life allotted
To the sons of men,      and set their fates.

The war I remember,      the first in the world,
When the gods with spears     had smitten Gollveig,
And in the hall     of Hor had burned her,
Three times burned,      and three times born,
Oft and again,      yet ever she lives.

Heith they named her     who sought their home,
The wide-seeing witch,      in magic wise;
Minds she bewitched     that were moved by her magic,
To evil women     a joy she was.

On the host his spear     did Othin hurl,
Then in the world     did war first come;
The wall that girdled     the gods was broken,
And the field by the warlike     Wanes was trodden.

Then sought the gods     their assembly-seats,
The holy ones,      and council held,
Whether the gods     should tribute give,
Or to all alike     should worship belong.

Then sought the gods     their assembly-seats,
The holy ones,      and council held,
To find who with venom     the air had filled,
Or had given Oth's bride     to the giants' brood.

In swelling rage     then rose up Thor, --
Seldom he sits     when he such things hears, --
And the oaths were broken,      the words and bonds,
The mighty pledges     between them made.

I know of the horn     of Heimdall, hidden
Under the high-reaching     holy tree;
On it there pours     from Valfather's pledge
A mighty stream:      would you know yet more?

Alone I sat     when the Old One sought me,
The terror of gods,      and gazed in mine eyes:
"What hast thou to ask?      why comest thou hither?
Othin, I know     where thine eye is hidden."

I know where Othin's     eye is hidden,
Deep in the wide-famed     well of Mimir;
Mead from the pledge     of Othin each morn
Does Mimir drink     would you know yet more?

Necklaces had I     and rings from Heerfather,
Wise was my speech     and my magic wisdom;
… … … … … …
Widely I saw     over all the worlds.

On all sides saw I     Valkyries assemble,
Ready to ride     to the ranks of the gods;
Skuld bore the shield,      and Skogul rode next,
Guth, Hild, Gondul,      and Geirskogul.
Of Herjan's maidens     the list have ye heard,
Valkyries ready     to ride o'er the earth.

I saw for Baldr,      the bleeding god,
The son of Othin,      his destiny set:
Famous and fair     in the lofty fields,
Full grown in strength     the mistletoe stood.

From the branch which seemed     so slender and fair
Came a harmful shaft     that Hoth should hurl;
But the brother of Baldr     was born ere long,
And one night old     fought Othin's son.

His hands he washed not,      his hair he combed not,
Till he bore to the bale-blaze     Baldr's foe.
But in Fensalir     did Frigg weep sore
For Valhall's need:      would you know yet more?

One did I see     in the wet woods bound,
A lover of ill,      and to Loki like;
By his side does Sigyn     sit, nor is glad
To see her mate:      would you know yet more?

From the east there pours     through poisoned vales
With swords and daggers     the river Slith.
… … … … … …
… … … … … …

Northward a hall     in Nithavellir
Of gold there rose     for Sindri's race;
And in Okolnir     another stood,
Where the giant Brimir     his beer-hall had.

A hall I saw,      far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands,      and the doors face north,
Venom drops     through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls     do serpents wind.

I saw there wading     through rivers wild
Treacherous men     and murderers too,
And workers of ill     with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked     the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men;      would you know yet more?

The giantess old     in Ironwood sat,
In the east, and bore     the brood of Fenrir;
Among these one     in monster's guise
Was soon to steal     the sun from the sky.

There feeds he full     on the flesh of the dead,
And the home of the gods     he reddens with gore;
Dark grows the sun,     and in summer soon
Come mighty storms:     would you know yet more?

On a hill there sat,     and smote on his harp,
Eggther the joyous,     the giants' warder;
Above him the cock     in the bird-wood crowed,
Fair and red     did Fjalar stand.

Then to the gods     crowed Gollinkambi,
He wakes the heroes     in Othin's hall;
And beneath the earth     does another crow,
The rust-red bird     at the bars of Hel.

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.

Brothers shall fight     and fell each other,
And sisters' sons     shall kinship stain;
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.

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.

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.

How fare the gods?     how fare the elves?
All Jotunheim groans,     the gods are at council;
Loud roar the dwarfs     by the doors of stone,
The masters of the rocks:     would you know yet more?

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.

From the east comes Hrym     with shield held high;
In giant-wrath     does the serpent writhe;
O'er the waves he twists,     and the tawny eagle
Gnaws corpses screaming;     Naglfar is loose.

O'er the sea from the north     there sails a ship
With the people of Hel,     at the helm stands Loki;
After the wolf     do wild men follow,
And with them the brother     of Byleist goes.

Surt fares from the south     with the scourge of branches,
The sun of the battle-gods     shone from his sword;
The crags are sundered,     the giant-women sink,
The dead throng Hel-way,     and heaven is cloven.

Now comes to Hlin     yet another hurt,
When Othin fares     to fight with the wolf,
And Beli's fair slayer     seeks out Surt,
For there must fall     the joy of Frigg.

Then comes Sigfather's     mighty son,
Vithar, to fight     with the foaming wolf;
In the giant's son     does he thrust his sword
Full to the heart:     his father is avenged.

Hither there comes     the son of Hlothyn,
The bright snake gapes     to heaven above;
… … … … … …
Against the serpent     goes Othin's son.

In anger smites     the warder of earth, --
Forth from their homes     must all men flee;
Nine paces fares     the son of Fjorgyn,
And, slain by the serpent,     fearless he sinks.

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.

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.

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.

The gods in Ithavoll     meet together,
Of the terrible girdler     of earth they talk,
And the mighty past     they call to mind,
And the ancient runes     of the Ruler of Gods.

In wondrous beauty     once again
Shall the golden tables     stand mid the grass,
Which the gods had owned     in the days of old,
… … … … … …
… … … … … …

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?

Then Hönir wins     the prophetic wand,
… … … … … …
And the sons of the brothers     of Tveggi abide
In Vindheim now:     would you know yet more?

More fair than the sun,     a hall I see,
Roofed with gold,     on Gimle it stands;
There shall the righteous     rulers dwell,
And happiness ever     there shall they have.

There comes on high,     all power to hold,
A mighty lord,     all lands he rules.
… … … … … …
… … … … … …

From below the dragon     dark comes forth,
Nithhogg flying     from Nithafjoll;
The bodies of men on     his wings he bears,
The serpent bright:     but now must I sink.

"Fáfnismál" from The Poetic Edda, translated by Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

"The Lay of Fafnir"

Sigurth and Regin went up to the Gnitaheith, and found there the track that Fafnir made when he crawled to water. Then Sigurth made a great trench across the path, and took his place therein. When Fafnir crawled from his gold, he blew out venom, and it ran down from above on Sigurth's head. But when Fafnir crawled over the trench, then Sigurth to the heart. Fafnir writhed and struck out with his head and tail. Sigurth leaped from the trench, and each looked at the other. Fafnir said:

"Youth, oh, youth!     of whom then, youth, art thou born?
Say whose son thou art,
Who in Fafnir's blood     thy bright blade reddened,
And struck thy sword to my heart."

Sigurth concealed his name because it was believed in olden times that the word of a dying man might have great power if he cursed his foe by his name. He said:

"The Noble Hart     my name, and I go
A motherless man abroad;
Father I had not,     as others have,
And lonely ever I live."

Fafnir spake:
"If father thou hadst not,     as others have,
By what wonder wast thou born?
(Though thy name on the day     of my death thou hidest,
Thou knowest now thou dost lie.)"

Sigurth spake:
"My race, methinks,     is unknown to thee,
And so am I myself;
Sigurth my name,     and Sigmund's son,
Who smote thee thus with the sword."

Fafnir spake:
"Who drove thee on?     why wert thou driven
My life to make me lose?
A father brave     had the bright-eyed youth,
For bold in boyhood thou art."

Sigurth spake:
"My heart did drive me,     my hand fulfilled,
And my shining sword so sharp;
Few are keen     when old age comes,
Who timid in boyhood be."

Fafnir spake:
"If thou mightest grow     thy friends among,
One might see thee fiercely fight;
But bound thou art,     and in battle taken,
And to fear are prisoners prone."

Sigurth spake:
"Thou blamest me, Fafnir,     that I see from afar
The wealth that my father's was;
Not bound am I,     though in battle taken,
Thou hast found that free I live."

Fafnir spake:
"In all I say     dost thou hatred see,
Yet truth alone do I tell;
The sounding gold,     the glow-red wealth,
And the rings thy bane shall be."

Sigurth spake:
"Some one the hoard     shall ever hold,
Till the destined day shall come;
For a time there is     when every man
Shall journey hence to hell."

Fafnir spake:
"The fate of the Norns     before the headland
Thou findest, and doom of a fool;
In the water shalt drown     if thou row 'gainst the wind,
All danger is near to death."

Sigurth spake:
"Tell me then, Fafnir,     for wise thou art famed,
And much thou knowest now:
Who are the Norns     who are helpful in need,
And the babe from the mother bring?"

Fafnir spake:
"Of many births     the Norns must be,
Nor one in race they were;
Some to gods, others     to elves are kin,
And Dvalin's daughters some."

Sigurth spake:
"Tell me then, Fafnir,     for wise thou art famed,
And much thou knowest now:
How call they the isle     where all the gods
And Surt shall sword-sweat mingle?"

Fafnir spake:
"Oskopnir is it,     where all the gods
Shall seek the play of swords;
Bilrost breaks     when they cross the bridge,
And the steeds shall swim in the flood.

"The fear-helm I wore     to afright mankind,
While guarding my gold I lay;
Mightier seemed I     than any man,
For a fiercer never I found."

Sigurth spake:
"The fear-helm surely     no man shields
When he faces a valiant foe;
Oft one finds,     when the foe he meets,
That he is not the bravest of all."

Fafnir spake:
"Venom I breathed     when bright I lay
By the hoard my father had;
(There was none so mighty     as dared to meet me,
And weapons nor wiles I feared.)"

Sigurth spake:
"Glittering worm,     thy hissing was great,
And hard didst show thy heart;
But hatred more     have the sons of men
For him who owns the helm."

Fafnir spake:
"I counsel thee, Sigurth,     heed my speech,
And ride thou homeward hence,
The sounding gold,     the glow-red wealth,
And the rings thy bane shall be."

Sigurth spake:
"Thy counsel is given,     but go I shall
To the gold in the heather hidden;
And, Fafnir, thou     with death dost fight,
Lying where Hel shall have thee."

Fafnir spake:
"Regin betrayed me,     and thee will betray,
Us both to death will he bring;
His life, methinks,     must Fafnir lose,
For the mightier man wast thou."

Regin had gone to a distance while Sigurth fought Fafnir, and came back while Sigurth was wiping the blood from his sword. Regin said:

"Hail to thee, Sigurth!     Thou victory hast,
And Fafnir in fight hast slain;
Of all the men     who tread the earth,
Most fearless art thou, methinks."

Sigurth spake:
"Unknown it is,     when all are together,
(The sons of the glorious gods,)
Who bravest born shall seem;
Some are valiant     who redden no sword
In the blood of a foeman's breast."

Regin spake:
"Glad art thou, Sigurth,     of battle gained,
As Gram with grass thou cleansest;
My brother fierce     in fight hast slain,
And somewhat I did myself."

Sigurth spake:
"Afar didst thou go     while Fafnir reddened
With his blood my blade so keen;
With the might of the dragon     my strength I matched,
While thou in the heather didst hide."

Regin spake:
"Longer wouldst thou     in the heather have let
Yon hoary giant hide,
Had the weapon availed not     that once I forged,
The keen-edged blade thou didst bear."

Sigurth spake:
"Better is heart     than a mighty blade
For him who shall fiercely fight;
The brave man well     shall fight and win,
Though dull his blade may be.

"Brave men better     than cowards be,
When the clash of battle comes;
And better the glad     than the gloomy man
Shall face what before him lies.

"Thy rede it was     that I should ride
Hither o'er mountains high;
The glittering worm     would have wealth and life
If thou hadst not mocked at my might."

Then Regin went up to Fafnir and cut out his heart with his sword, that was named Rithil, and then he drank blood from the wounds. Regin said:

"Sit now, Sigurth,     for sleep will I,
Hold Fafnir's heart to the fire;
For all his heart     shall eaten be,
Since deep of blood I have drunk."

Sigurth took Fafnir's heart and cooked it on a spit. When he thought that it was fully cooked, and the blood foamed out of the heart, then he tried it with his finger to see whether it was fully cooked. He burned his finger, and put it in his mouth. But when Fafnir's heart's-blood came on his tongue, he understood the speech of birds. He heard nut-hatches chattering in the thickets. A nut-hatch said:

"There sits Sigurth,     sprinkled with blood,
And Fafnir's heart     with fire he cooks;
Wise were the breaker     of rings, I ween,
To eat the life-muscles     all so bright."

A second spake:
"There Regin lies,     and plans he lays
The youth to betray     who trusts him well;
Lying words     with wiles will he speak,
Till his brother the maker     of mischief avenges."

A third spake:
"Less by a head     let the chatterer hoary
Go from here to hell;
Then all of the wealth     he alone can wield,
The gold that Fafnir guarded."

A fourth spake:
"Wise would he seem     if so he would heed
The counsel good     we sisters give;
Thought he would give,     and the ravens gladden,
There is ever a wolf     where his ears I spy."

A fifth spake:
"Less wise must be     the tree of battle
Than to me would seem     the leader of men,
If forth he lets     one brother fare,
When he of the other     the slayer is."

A sixth spake:
"Most foolish he seems     if he shall spare
His foe, the bane of the folk,
There Regin lies,     who hath wronged him so,
Yet falsehood knows he not."

A seventh spake:
"Let the head from the frost-cold     giant be hewed,
And let him of rings be robbed;
Then all the wealth     which Fafnir's was
Shall belong to thee alone."

Sigurth spake:
"Not so rich a fate     shall Regin have
As the tale of my death to tell;
For soon the brothers     both shall die,
And hence to hell shall go."

Sigurth hewed off Regin's head, and then he ate Fafnir's heart, and drank the blood of both Regin and Fafnir. Then Sigurth heard what the nut-hatch said:

"Bind, Sigurth, the golden     rings together,
Not kingly is it     aught to fear;
I know a maid,     there is none so fair,
Rich in gold,     if thou mightest get her.

"Green the paths     that to Gjuki lead,
And his fate the way     to the wanderer shows;
The doughty king     a daughter has,
That thou as a bride     mayst, Sigurth, buy."

Another spake:
"A hall stands high     on Hindarfjoll,
All with flame     is it ringed without;
Warriors wise     did make it once
Out of the flaming     light of the flood.

"On the mountain sleeps     a battle-maid,
And about her plays     the bane of the wood;
Ygg with the thorn     hath smitten her thus,
For she felled the fighter     he fain would save.

"There mayst thou behold     the maiden helmed,
Who forth on Vingskornir     rode from the fight;
The victory-bringer     her sleep shall break not,
Thou heroes' son,     so the Norns have set."

Sigurth rode along Fafnir's trail to his lair, and found it open. The gate-posts were of iron, and the gates; of iron, too, were all the beams in the house, which was dug down into the earth. There Sigurth found a mighty store of gold, and he filled two chests full thereof; he took the fear-helm and a golden mail-coat and the sword Hrotti, and many other precious things, and loaded Grani with them, but the horse would not go forward until Sigurth mounted on his back.

* *

--Turgon