The Comparative Vǫluspá

Joseph S. Hopkins for Mimisbrunnr.info, August 2022. Updated September 2023.

 “The Comparative Vǫluspá” allows you to quickly compare English language public domain translations of the eddic poem “Vǫluspá”, the most influential and celebrated item in the Old Norse corpus and a major source for what we today call Norse mythology.

Please Note

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Contents

I. Introduction

1. About “The Comparative Vǫluspá”

2. Structure, Manuscripts, Dictionaries, and Further Reading

II. Stanzas

1. Stanzas 1-3

2. Stanzas 4-6

3. Stanzas 7-9

4. Stanzas 10-12

5. Stanzas 13-15

6. Stanzas 16-18

7. Stanzas 19-21

8. Stanzas 22-24

9. Stanzas 25-27

10. Stanzas 28-30

11. Stanzas 31-33

12. Stanzas 34-36

13. Stanzas 37-39

14. Stanzas 40-42

15. Stanzas 43-45

16. Stanzas 46-48

17. Stanzas 49-51

18. Stanzas 52-54

19. Stanzas 55-57

20. Stanzas 58-60

21. Stanzas 61-63

22. Stanzas 64-66

III. Transcriptions

Old Norse

1. Gustav Neckel, 1914

English

1. Lee M. Hollander, “The Prophecy of the Seeress”, 1928

2. Henry Adams Bellows, “Voluspo: The Wise-Woman’s Prophecy”, 1923

3. Olive Bray, “The Soothsaying of the Vala”, 1908

4. Guðbrandur Vigfússon & York Powell, “The Sibyl’s Prophecy”, 1883

5. Benjamin Thorpe, “Voluspa: The Vala’s Prophecy”, 1866

6. Sharon Turner, “The Voluspa”, 1836

See also

• Eddic to English, a comparison of all English language translations of the Poetic Edda

• Edda to English, a comparison of all English language translations of the Prose Edda