A contest of cosmic fathers

God and giant in Vafþruðnismal

Armann Jakobsson

Received: 22 February 2006 / Accepted: 15 May 2006 / Published online: 5 July 2007

� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Abstract The Eddic poem Vafþruðnismal depicts a contest of wisdom between

Oðinn and a wise giant. It re-enacts the conflict between gods and giants which seems

to lie at the heart of the heathen world view, as reflected in 13th century sources.

The present author suggests that paternity is a major theme in the poem. Oðinn’s

quest for knowledge of the origins and the end of the world form the poem’s core.

The relationship of gods and giants is complex. The giants are the ancestors of the

gods (including Oðinn himself) and of the world. Their Otherness is entwined with

proximity. The giant’s foremost attribute is his extreme old age and wisdom,

whereas his size may be secondary to his paternal role.

When Oðinn has plied the giant for information about the past, he turns to the

future, the impending last battle of gods and giants and how he himself will meet his

end. He then wins the wager by asking a dishonest last question about what he

whispered in his own son’s ear. The death of the giant goes hand in hand with Oðinn

being established as the new father, and his growing awareness of his own mortality.

Keywords Vafþruðnismal � Oðinn � Giants � Riddles � Cosmology �Death

Introduction

Oðinn, the wandering high god of Old Norse heathenism, informs his wife Frigg

that he wishes to engage in a battle of wits against a giant (iotvnn) called

A. Jakobsson (&)

Hverfisgotu 49, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland

e-mail: armannja@hi.is

Present address

A. Jakobsson

Arnastofnun, Suðurgotu, 101 Reykjavık, Iceland

123

Neophilologus (2008) 92:263–277

DOI 10.1007/s11061-007-9056-x

Vafþruðnir. Frigg warns that Vafþruðnir is the mightiest of giants. She is, however,

soon persuaded that this quest is necessary for Oðinn, and the rest of the poem

Vafþruðnismal takes place in Vafþruðnir’s hall, where Vafþruðnir first has to

discover whether his disguised guest is a worthy adversary. Then god and giant

engage in a contest of wisdom where, according to stanza 19, the stake seems to be

the loser’s head (h fði veðia / við scolom h llo i, / gestr! vm getspeki) (we shall

wager our heads in the hall, guest, on our wisdom). This drama with two main

characters is relatively lucid, as Eddic poems go, but there are no descriptions of

scene; it is left to the audience to stage the duel in their own heads and, as is so often

the case with the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda, Vafþruðnismal seems to

refer to a lost mythical world. The poem is not obscure in itself, but perhaps it has

been made so by a loss of context.

Vafþruðnismal is in the Codex Regius manuscript (dated to around 1280), often

known simply as the Poetic Edda, but it is one of few Eddic poems also found

elsewhere. Eight whole stanzas and one half are in the various manuscripts of Snorri

Sturluson’s Edda, which is commonly dated to the 1220s or 1230s.1 Both texts date

from the 13th century in their present form but Vafþruðnismal is usually regarded as

old, even originating from before the Christianization of Iceland in 1000 (but cf.

Sprenger, 1985). It is one of several gnomic poems in the Poetic Edda, composed in

ljoðahattur, the metre of wisdom poetry.2 All the verses but one are spoken by the

protagonists, making it dramatic in form, regardless of whether it was ever

performed.3

Vafþruðnismal is particularly significant when it comes to 13th century

perceptions of giants. Only two poems in the Poetic Edda include the name of a

giant in their title; the other is Þrymskviða. Both involve a duel between a god and a

giant but of the two, Vafþruðnismal is more solemn and serious. It also has a

distinguished place in the Codex Regius MS, coming directly after the well-known

and obviously significant poems Voluspa and Havamal. Furthermore, it was

regarded as important by no lesser authority than Snorri Sturluson (d. 1241) who

included nine of its verses in his mythological narrative, Gylfaginning.

Vafþruðnismal is thus important for an understanding the role of the giant in Old

Norse mythology, which may sometimes seem opaque.

However, first we will have to determine the significance of the giant Vafþruðnir,

not only to Oðinn in the poem, but also to the poem’s presumed creator or creators

and its 13th century audience. Scholars have studied the large presence of giants in

Old Norse texts and noticed the variety of ways in which they are depicted, and their

debatable religious or mythological function.4 It seems therefore prudent to start

with an investigation on a smaller scale, keeping in mind that as an old and

1 These are stanzas 18, a part of 30 (only in the Regius MS), 31, 35, 37, 41, 45, 47 and 51. See Finnur

Jonsson (1931, p. 13, 14, 26, 44, 74–76). Most are Vafþruðnir’s answers to Oðinn’s questions.2 Einar Olafur Sveinsson (1962, p. 275) considered the poem regular, as if made by a ruler. Cf. Sigurður

Nordal (1970, p. 104). On the structure of the poem, see esp. Machan (1988, pp. 33–38), Ruggerini

(1994), McKinnell (1994, pp. 87–93).3 For an argument that Vafþruðnismal is a dramatic text, see Gunnell (1995, pp. 185–194, 232–233, 237–

238, 275–281).4 See e.g. Motz (1987), Cohen (1999, pp. 1–28), Schulz (2004).

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significant source in which a giant is central to the plot, Vafþruðnismal is an ideal

place to begin. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to determine with certainty

whether the poem should be taken as a genuine heathen relic, or as representing 13th

century Christian views of giants, or something in-between. We have to proceed

without that certainty.

The quest

Most studies of Vafþruðnismal concentrate on two aspects: the wisdom contained in

the poem, which concerns important parts of heathen cosmology, and the duel itself

and its significance.5 My main concern will be the figure of Vafþruðnir, or how the

poem re-enacts the fundamental conflict between the gods and the giants which seems

to lie at the heart of the heathen world view, as reflected in 13th century sources.6

Jeffrey Jerome Cohen has claimed that in Vafþruðnismal ‘‘constructing an identity for

the subject and composing a history for the world are two versions of the same

process’’.7 It is precisely this process I am interested in. Without Vafþruðnismal the

importance of giants in the Eddic cosmos would be far less clearly defined. Their

presence in Voluspa is less marked before the ragnarok and only Vafþruðnismalprovides us with an actual contest in verse between the high god himself and a giant.

This battle is a duel of words, which concerns knowledge and the cosmos.

The first four or five verses are a prelude to the contest and yet contribute much to

the poem’s overall meaning, since they establish the contest as a quest. Oðinn

begins by informing Frigg that he wants to seek out Vafþruðnir and claims that he is

‘‘curious’’ about the ancient knowledge this all-knowing giant may possess:

‘‘forvitni micla / qveþ ec mer a fornom st fom / við þann inn alsvinna iotvn’’ (I’ve

a great curiosity to contend in ancient matters with that all-wise giant).8 Frigg sees

fit to dissuade him, as Vafþruðnir is to her mind the mightiest of giants: ‘‘engi iotvn

/ ec hvgða iafnramman / sem Vafðrvðni vera’’ (I have always thought no giant is as

powerful as Vafthrudnir is). The use of the verbs freista and reyna (try and test) in

stanzas 3 and 5 suggest that from Oðinn’s point of view, the journey is a test, a

game, a rite of passage. Oðinn needs to face the giant, to conquer him and to acquire

knowledge from him. It is not clear why Oðinn needs to do this and wherein

Vafþruðnir’s significance to him lies, but the poem impresses upon us that Oðinn is

interested in the contest: it is he who starts it and who needs it. Oðinn is the

aggressor, whereas Vafþruðnir merely accepts his guest as an adversary. However,

the reason given for Oðinn’s eagerness is the figure of Vafþruðnir. To fathom the

quest it is important to understand who he is and what he means to Oðinn. The

answer is complex and indeed the giant of the Eddic world is a complex figure. I

will argue that the poem nevertheless provides us with some of the main aspects of

the giant and at the same time of Oðinn himself.

5 See e.g. Ejder (1960), Machan (1988), Larrington (2001).6 See e.g. Clunies-Ross (1994, pp. 48–79), Lindow (1997, pp. 13–20).7 Cohen (1999, p. 12). Cf. Jon Karl Helgason (1997).8 References to Vafþruðnismal are to Bugge (1965, pp. 65–74). The translation used is Larrington (1996,

pp. 39–49).

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The verses which form an interlude to the actual contest provide some clues to

the framework which enables us to understand the nature of the duel and of Oðinn’s

quest. The word ‘‘iotvnn’’ (giant) occurs four times (in stanzas 1, 2, 5 and 6), as if to

establish that it is important that Vafþruðnir is a giant. Thrice (in st. 1, 5 and 6) it is

coupled with the descriptive epithet ‘‘alsviþr’’ (all-wise or very wise), to emphasize

that wisdom is the giant’s most important quality. This may seem strange in light of

later folktales, where trolls and other relatives of giants are presented at stupid but

stupidity is rarely an attribute of Eddic giants.9 There is also an emphasis on the

giant’s strengh, as the word ‘‘iafnrammr’’ suggests (st. 2). It is not clear whether this

is pure physical strength or the strength that lies in magical wisdom; the word

‘‘rammr’’ (powerful) is often conjoined with ‘‘galdr’’ or ‘‘galdrar’’ (sorcery or

witchcraft) in Old Norse texts.10 It remains to be seen what kind of wisdom the giant

possesses and how it is important to our perception of him.

The giant father

When Oðinn comes to Vafþruðnir’s hall, it is said to belong to ‘‘ıms faðir’’ (Im’s

father). This must refer to Vafþruðnir but this Imr is otherwise unknown, although

the name resembles giant-names.11 If we accept that Imr is unimportant himself, the

line might serve the main purpose of establishing that Vafþruðnir is a father. Not,

however, the only father in the duel. In the prose of the Snorra-Edda, Oðinn is

frequently titled the father of all the gods.12 In Vafþruðnismal, stanza 4, Frigg also

calls Oðinn ‘‘Aldaf þr’’ (Father of Men).13 The contest is established as a contest

of fathers before it begins. This makes it an attractive possibility that paternity might

be a major theme of this particular poem, and perhaps lie at the heart of the giant’s

significance in Old Norse mythology. The quest is for a showdown between the

Father of Men and the Father of Imr, a conflict which may be characterized as

oedipal (not necessarily in the Freudian sense), with Oðinn as acting out the role of

the son, since in the Snorra-Edda Oðinn is, on his mother’s side, the grandson of a

giant.14 Of the two fathers, one is as a son as well, and the two represent different

worlds.

But which two worlds? Considering the giants’ close relationship to nature that

many scholars have noted,15 our first assumption might be that the god and the giant

9 In fact, Schulz (2004, p. 56 and 61) has demonstrated that wisdom is one of the most frequently

mentioned giant attributes in Eddic sources. See also Motz (1987, pp. 222–230), Clunies Ross (1994,

p. 50, pp. 60–66), Jon Hnefill Aðalsteinsson (1990, pp. 12–13).10 See examples in Fritzner (1973, pp. 30–31). Cf. Schulz (2004, p. 61).11 See Finnur Jonsson (1934–1935, pp. 297–304).12 See e.g. Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 10 and 27).13 On this stanza, see Laffler (1913), Salberger (1974).14 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 14).15 See e.g. Motz (1984). She argues that at some somewhat unspecific time, the giants were primarily

regarded as genii loci. Their names may be found in landscape and are drawn from nature and the

elements, they are depicted as rulers of mountains and valleys and with a special relationship with

animals and the elements.

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represent the opposing forces of nature and civilization. Oðinn’s first questions to

Vafþruðnir concern the elements of nature and questions about giants and natural

elements are interwoven in the poem. After Oðinn has asked Vafþruðnir about the

origins of the sun and the moon, day and night and winter and summer, he turns

suddenly to the origins of the oldest living being, Ymir (or Aurgelmir, as the giants

call him). He asks about his origins and how he proliferated. Then he asks how

Vafþruðnir can know all this, and then he turns again to the wind. The answers

sometimes involve giants as well, which is best exemplified when Oðinn asks about

the origins of the wind and Vafþruðnir reveals that its originator is a giant in the

shape of an eagle, called ‘‘Hresvelgr’’ (Corpse-swallower) (stanzas 36 and 37).16

We do not know to what extent it is justifiable to juxtapose Oðinn and Vafþruðnir

as representatives of civilization and nature. In narratives such as romances and

folktales, giants dwell on the periphery, in the wilderness.17 Whether Vafþruðnir

rules over a distant kingdom in a spectacular landscape is unclear, it is merely

established that the giant possesses knowledge about nature. He lives in a ‘‘sal’’

(stanza 7) in a ‘‘h ll’’ (stanza 5 and 6) (both can be translated as hall) which does

not suggest the wilderness. While Oðinn has to travel to get there, it is not revealed

how lengthy his journey is, or whether Vafþruðnir lives in the ‘‘Vtgarðr’’ where

giants reside, according to Snorra-Edda.18 It has to be kept in mind, though, that

Snorri Sturluson is unspecific about geography in general, and about the abode of

giants in particular: He starts by saying that the sea surrounds the land and the giants

live ‘‘með þeiri siavar str ndv’’ (at this coast), then he places giantesses with

wolves in the East and refers to something called ‘‘Iotvnheimar’’ which may be in

the East, and a place where the ‘‘hrimþvrsar’’ (frost-giants) live (which may be

anywhere), and where Mımisbrvnnr is to be found—and all this information is given

in the very first chapters of Gylfaginning.19

It may be precisely the status of the giant as a father that makes Vafþruðnir

knowledgeable about nature and the elements, as nature is often seen as preceding

civilization. In Snorra-Edda and Vafþruðnismal, giants are close to earth in the way

that they are its originators: the earth is made out of a giant, as Vafþruðnir tells

Oðinn at the start of their wager (stanzas 20 and 21).20 Vafþruðnismal never really

discloses how big the giant is. Size is a perpetual problem in Old Norse gigantology,

but enormity in size does not seem to have been the defining fact about giants. There

16 On Hræsvelgr, see Jon Hnefill Aðalsteinsson (1990, pp. 15–20). On the relationship between the giants

and the wind, ice, snow, and darkness, see Ciklamini (1962, p. 150).17 See examples collected by Motz (1984). On the binary of Miðgarðr and Utgarðr as centre and

periphery, see Gurevich (1969). Hastrup (1985, pp. 145–151). Cf. Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 50–56).

Stewart (1993, p. 71) characterizes the relationship as us being ‘‘enveloped by the gigantic, surrounded by

it, enclosed within its shadow’’.18 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 53).19 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 15, 18, 20, 22, 50). See Jon Hnefill Aðalsteinsson (1990, p. 11–12). I will be

reviewing Snorri’s views on the abode of the giants in another article.20 Several Germanic sources reveal such a close relationship between giants and origins, reflected in the

words used about their traces in the landscape, enormous edifices called ‘‘enta geweorc’’ in the Old

English poems The Wanderer and The Ruin, see Krapp and Dobbie (1936, p. 136 and 227). Cf. Cohen

(1999, pp. 5–12).

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are instances, where giants seems very big as well as others where they appear

human-size.21

That there is an ongoing conflict between the gods and the giants is asserted early

in Vafþruðnismal, when Vafþruðnir asks Oðinn about the name of the river which

divides the earth between the two races. This river turns out to be called ‘‘Ifing’’

(which means strife), it flows freely all year round and ice never forms on it (stanzas

15 and 16).22 To judge by its name, the river may be interpreted as a metaphor for

the perpetual gap and discord between gods and giants, a conflict evident from

Snorra-Edda and various Eddic poems.

Vafþruðnismal also reflects the fact that giants are the main antagonists of the

gods.23 However, the relationship is complicated by the fact that they are also their

ancestors. In Oðinn’s case this ancestry is direct (see above).24 Giants are also

known as ancestors of royal families in other sources (Flateyjarbok is the best

example, and it also establishes the giant Dofri as a fosterfather of King Haraldr, the

legendary founding father of Norway).25 The enemy of the gods turns out to be their

grandfather. Furthermore, the enemy of the cosmos (the Earth) is its own past self,

the giants descending from Ymir, whose body has now been transformed into the

Earth.26 The enormity of giants is easily explained as a secondary trait which goes

with their ancestral role—in the eyes of small children, their parents are giants.27

Which means that monstrous enormity may go hand in hand with proximity.28 It is

important to keep in mind that no matter how large giants are, they are never as

distant as, for example, a giant spider, a modern contruction. A giant spider is a

representation of absolute Otherness in gigantic proportions, but the Giant remains

partly Us, partly the Other.

21 This has been recently reviewed by Schulz (2004, pp. 62–64), see also Motz (1982, pp. 72–75). In

Eddic sources, only Ymir the old giant and the illusional giant Skrymir are extremely big. Apart from

that, size is not really an issue when it comes to giants in the Eddas. Cf. Cohen (1999, pp. 1–28).22 The meaning of the name is disputed (see Machan, 1988, p. 77).23 Margaret Clunier Ross has analyzed some of the most important conflicts between the two kinds

(1994). For Vafþruðnismal as mimetic of the perpetual stuggle between gods and giants, see esp.

Kragerud (1981), Larrington (2001). It has been suggested that Old Norse sources may reflect a time

when giants were rival cult figures or older types of gods which were pushed into the background, see

Ciklamini (1962), Motz (1982), Steinsland (1986). Cf. Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 48–50).24 In addition to the family ties that are mentioned in the Prose Edda, Mundal (1990, pp. 8–12) has drawn

attention to the fact that some of the names of Oðinn are also giant names, reflecting his half-giant status.

Ciklamini (1962, p. 152) goes even further: ‘‘Though Oðinn professes to be a giant hater, his attitude

towards the defeated race is flexible and tolerant’’, she believe that his use of giant names constitutes an

acknowledgement of his mixed blood.25 The genealogical link between gods, giants and royal families in Eddic sources and kings’ sagas has

been explored by e.g. Motz (1982), Steinsland (1991), Mundal (2003), and Schulz (2004, pp. 256–286).

Meyer (1907) argued that Ymir was orginally a Tuisto-figure, i.e. the ancestor of the human race.26 See Cohen (1999, p. 10).27 See Warner (1998, p. 1).28 See Cohen (1999, pp. 1–12). He speaks of the ‘‘intimate alterity’’ of the giant (p. 4). Cf. Eldevik

(2005, pp. 107–110).

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In Vafþruðnismal, Otherness is entwined with proximity. The giant is not just an

alien.29 The frequent use of the word father forces us to regard the contest in

Vafþruðnismal as a generational conflict, a battle between the past and the present,

the old and the young.30 We might characterize this conflict as oedipal or look to the

myth of Kronos/Saturn, which was known in mediaeval Iceland, and used in Snorri

Sturluson’s Heimskringla.31 The choice of father-son conflict seems to depend on

the point of view: Oðinn being akin to Oedipos in seeking out and killing a father

figure, Vafþruðnir a Kronos-like figure who poses a threat to his offspring.32

In Greek mythology, Kronos was the father of Zeus who devoured his own

children, only to be at last toppled, castrated and exiled by Zeus. In Old Norse

mythology, this deposed and exiled ancestor (represented by the descendants of

Ymir) has not yet admitted defeat and is an exile only in that he seems mostly to live

on the outskirts of the known world, and continues to be a thorn in the side of the

current rulers of the world. With he emphasis on his age and wisdom, Vafþruðnir

acquires a Kronos-like role as a father whom Oðinn (the new father) must outwit

and perhaps symbolically castrate (behead) in order to gain the full extent of

patriarchical authority.33 Oðinn plays the role of Zeus in Vafþruðnismal, although

other Old Norse sources sometimes equate him with Mercury, Þorr with Zeus and

the god Freyr with Kronos/Saturn.34 The relationship with the Kronos/Oedipos-

myths is further complicated by the fact that it does at first not seem right to regard

Vafþruðnir as the aggressor in the struggle, he is a father figure who is sought out

and defeated.

It has often been argued that the giants represent chaos, which in the beginning

was embodied in the giant Ymir whom the gods had to kill in order to make the

present world (cosmos).35 However, since the giants were not all drowned, they

have continued to be a destructive and chaotic force, opposing the natural order of

the gods, and waging war on them.36 Vafþruðnismal may be seen as a re-enactment

of this struggle—between two all-wise fathers, order and chaos. At stake is the head

of one of the contestants but the death of both of them looms over the poem. And yet

29 In recent years, scholars have increasingly started to look at the ties between supernatural Otherness

and other kinds of Otherness, e.g. ethnic Otherness, see esp. Lindow (1995), Hermann Palsson (1997),

Sverrir Jakobsson (2005, pp. 246–276). While I focus on the personal aspect of the giant, I do not think it

rules out such an interpretation.30 In V., the antagonists are both males, but that is not always the case in conflicts between gods and

giants, whether in the mythological sources or later texts, see Mundal (2002), Steinsland (1991, pp. 275–

286), McKinnell (2005), Kroesen (1996).31 As Randi Eldevik (2005) has argued, there is little reason to see the Germanic giants as entirely

separate from their Greco-Roman counterparts.32 There is a further link between Oedipos and Oðinn in that both are disabled, as has been recently

explored by Bragg (2004, pp. 17–135).33 On the head motif in V., see Jon Karl Helgason (1997).34 I discuss the Kronos myth in Old Norse sources in more detail in a recent article (Armann Jakobsson,

2005, pp. 312–314). Cf. Warner (1998, pp. 48–77).35 Cf. Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 144–186).36 The Old Norse word ‘‘bond’’ (which means fetters or bonds as well as gods) is certainly suggestive

(see e.g. Fritzner, 1973, p. 110). On giants as representing chaos, see e.g. Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 197–

198, 262–263), Kroesen (1996, p. 59).

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the contest is acted out as a civilized game. Wherever Vafþruðnir may live, he has a

great hall, and the contest between him and his guest follows set rules. In addition,

the duel is not one of brawns but of brains: the representatives of the two striving

groups are the wisest of their race. This elevates the giants above the state of

animals or wildmen. And yet the wager is barbaric in that the loser has to die.37

But is the civilized nature of the contest a facade? How monstrous is Vafþruðnir?

He does not come accross as dangerous to Oðinn who has aggressively sought him

out. On the whole, everything is fairly dignified apart from the nature of the wager

and the content of the stanzas, the last of which deal with the savage death of the

gods at the hand of the giants and other monsters. The monstrosity is not in the duel

itself but all around, enchancing its significance, as is also the case in the dialogue

between Sigurðr and Fafnir in Fafnismal.38 The monstrous character of the giant is

not at all absent, but there is an ambivalence which makes the whole poem different

from Snorra-Edda, where it often (though not always) seems easier to regard the

giants as raw, uncivilized and primitive.

The ambivalence is further intensified by the fact that in his answers, Vafþruðnir

is allowed to reflect the viewpoint of the giants, rarely seen in Snorra-Edda(although the clever Vtgarþaloki not only gets the better of Þorr but is allowed to

explain how and thus to give us a glimpse of the mind of the giant).39 For example,

Vafþruðnir proudly recounts his own genealogy (stanza 29), which he later calls

‘‘orar ettir’’ (our clan) (stanza 31), which he admits are aggressive. He also calls

both Aurgelmir (Ymir) and Bergelmir ‘‘inn froþi iotvnn’’ (the wise giant) (stanzas

33 and 35). The giant is himself respectful and the audience must listen in respect to

the voice of the giant.

The enormity of the giant, his extreme old age and his relationship to nature may

thus be regarded as traits of his fundamental paternal role. The dual role of the

ancestor as the enemy is less easy to understand. The fact that both gods and giants

have a strong, if ill-defined relationship with kingship40 may be partly explained by

the social dynamics between fathers who ruled and sons who gradually became

adults without reaching the zenith of their masculinity in their father’s lifetime, and

thus sometimes end up by opposing and occasionally overthrowing their fathers.41

Vafþruðnismal might also depict such an exchange of power. The poem certainly

concerns the relationship of extreme old age, an insight into the future and the

negative nature of our ancestors.

Genesis

The god Kronos later merged with the figure of Chronos (Time), devourer of all

things.42 Once the contest between Oðinn and Vafþruðnir starts, age is swiftly

37 On the wager as a dramatic element of risk, see McKinnell (1994, p. 99).38 Cf. Kragerud (1981).39 Finnur Jonsson (1931, pp. 48–61).40 See Motz (1996). Cf. Steinsland (1991, pp. 260–274), Motz (1987, pp. 233–235).41 See e.g. Aird (1999).42 On his history, see Klibansky, Panofsky, and Saxl (1964). Cf. Warner (1998, pp. 58–59).

270 A. Jakobsson

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depicted as one of the giant’s most important attributes. In stanza 9, we learn that

the giant is not only all-wise and powerful, he is also ‘‘inn gamli þvlr’’ (the old

sage). And after Vafþruðnir has asked his unknown guest Gagnraðr four preliminary

questions, to determine if the latter is a worthy adversary, the disguised god starts

asking questions that concern the origins of things: The earth and the sky, the moon

and the day, summer and winter, the wind and the god Njorðr, who may be included

since, according to Snorra-Edda, he has control over the elements (the wind, the sea

and fire).43 In between, Oðinn asks about the giants themselves: Who was the oldest

giant, how was he created, how did he himself proliferate and what are Vafþruðnir’s

first memories? Before turning his attention to the future and the fate of the gods and

of the world, Oðinn asks how Vafþruðnir knows all this and to this, Vafþruðnir

replies in stanza 43: ‘‘Fra iotna rvnom / oc allra goða / ec kann segia satt / þviat

hvern hefi ec / heim vm komit: / nio kom oc heima, / fyr niflhel neðan / hinig deyia

or helio halir’’ (Of the secrets of the giants and the gods, I can tell truly, for I have

been in every world; nine worlds I have travelled through to Mist-hell, there men die

down out of hell).

In stanza 35, Vafþruðnir claims that one of his earliest memories is of Bergelmir,

a giant born before the creation of the world: ‘‘Orofi vetra / aþr veri iorð vm

sk pvð, / þa var Bergelmir borinn: / þat ec fyrst vm man, / er sa inn froþi iotvnn / a

var lvðr vm lagiðr’’ (Uncountable winters before the world was made, then

Bergelmir was born; that I remember first when the wise giant was first laid in his

coffin). This Bergelmir also appears in Snorra-Edda, where he plays Noah: when

Oðinn and his brothers kill Ymir, the giant ‘first man’, the other giants drown in the

mighty flood of blood of this first giant, except Bergelmir who survives along with

his wife, according to Snorra-Edda because he crawled upon his ‘‘lvdr’’.44 It is not

clear what this ‘‘lvdr’’ is: in Grottasongr the word signifies a quernstone,45 but it

may have had a wider meaning. But it remains that Vafþruðnir is supposed to

remember the very early days of the world, when Bergelmir lived, who had been

around since before the great flood.

Vafþruðnismal itself does not refer to any great flood and whether Snorri is

influenced by the Bible or both by an old legend about a great flood that killed the

giants, we cannot know.46 But if we accept Snorra-Edda’s version of the creation of

the world, the presence of Vafþruðnir in Bergelmir’s day should perhaps not in itself

make him all that interesting to Oðinn, since the god himself is supposed to be even

older, as it was he who killed Ymir and drowned the giants in his blood. However,

Vafþruðnismal does not ascertain who killed Ymir, and while the wily Oðinn might

be asking the giant about Ymir whilst knowing full well who killed him and created

the world, as it was he himself, it is also possible that an earlier version did not

43 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 30).44 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 14).45 Norrœn fornkvæði, p. 70. Gering and Sijmons suggested that ‘‘lvdr’’ might possibly mean a ship

(1927, p. 172). Holtsmark (1946) suggested bier while Christiansen (1952) gained the middle ground by

suggesting a boat transformed into a bier.46 On the biblical giants which predate the Flood and are drowned by it, see Holtsmark (1946), Ciklamini

(1962, pp. 148–149), Cohen (1999, pp. 13–21).

God and giant in Vafþruðnismal 271

123

subscribe to Snorra-Edda’s version of the events—since why should Oðinn then be

so curious about the ancient past? Yet another possibility is that Oðinn does know

the past himself but nevertheless wants to hear the side of the giants, knowing

perhaps that their version of a the events may be just as important as his.

Whether or not Oðinn is supposed to be ancient himself, his age is not

emphasized in the poem. On the other hand, after Vafþruðnir has refererred to

himself as old in stanza 9, he goes on to answer nine questions about the origins of

the cosmos, cosmic elements and giants, as well as two where he verifies his own

age and experience.47 Along with wisdom, age is Vafþruðnir’s most important

quality. That he may be regarded as a representative of the giants is equally evident:

Oðinn addresses him as ‘‘iotvnn’’ in stanzas 6 and 8, the fourth and fifth occurences

of the word in the poem.

The relationship of giants and advanced age is well attested in other Eddic

sources.48 At the very beginning of the Codex Regius manuscript of the Poetic

Edda, Voluspa starts with the sibyl going back to her youth when she was raised by

very ancient giants, and when the world tree Yggdrasill was still not risen from the

earth. According to Snorra-Edda, Oðinn has also lived with giants; before he

created heaven and earth ‘‘var hann með hrimþvsvm’’ (he was with the frost-

giants).49 In Snorra-Edda, we also have several instances where the giants are

claimed to be originators of various cosmic things. There is Ymir whose body is

used to construct the world, there is the eagle-shaped giant who makes the wind by

flapping his wings, there is the ‘‘second ancestor’’ Bergelmir who survived the

flood, and there are the actual ancestors of Oðinn himself and his brothers, who are

not only descended from the first humans Buri and Borr, but whose maternal

grandfather is called ‘‘Bolþorn iotvnn’’.50 It seems safe to assume that the link

between giants and origins is old but Vafþruðnismal is still vigorously driving the

point home, even more so than Snorra-Edda. It is not surprising that Oðinn should

ask the giant about the origins of the world and that he knows all the answers.

Vafþruðnir tells us himself that he was there—his age makes him important.

Oðinn’s quest is for origins. His verbal duel with the giant moves him closer to

his own origins and his very nature, by way of Vafþruðnir’s great age and

experience. The combination of extreme old age and open hostility is interesting in

itself. If the past is the time of the giants,51 this might reflect an ambivalence

towards the past in the mind of mediaeval man, the past somehow being

characterized as monstrously huge and abhorrent.52 But why should the past be

horrible? The answer may not lie in the past but the future, as Vafþruðnir’s age not

only makes him an expert on the long-gone past but also on the fate of the gods.

47 Cf. Salus (1964).48 See Schulz (2004, pp. 56, 60–61 and 65–72).49 Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 11).50 See Finnur Jonsson (1931, p. 14).51 See Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 235–242).52 See Cohen’s interpretation of giants as embodiments of a monstrous past (1999, pp. 1–28).

272 A. Jakobsson

123

Eschaton

Wealth of experience might account for the giant’s knowledge of the past and the

present. It is also gradually revealed that he also knows how the world is going to

end. In the Edda of Snorri, he seems to be a primary source of information about

what happens in the next world, where only a handful of gods remain along with Lıf

and Leifþrasir and the daughter of the old Sun.53 Perhaps most importantly, he also

knows the manner of Oðinn’s death, which might explain the god’s eagerness to

seek him out. That turns indeed out to be Oðinn’s last sincere question to the giant,

although he concludes with a trick question about what he said in Baldr’s ear on the

funeral pyre. And, as this is one thing Vafþruðnir cannot know, he admits defeat and

exclaims that ‘‘feigom mvnni / melta ec mina forna stafi oc vm ragnar c’’ (with

doomed mouth I’ve spoken my ancient lore about the fate of the gods) (stanza 55).

The relationship between extreme old age and a certain expertise regarding the

past seems logical but why seek knowledge about the future from an ancient being?

It seems logical that curiosity about the future is one of the main reasons for Oðinn’s

quest, since after he has collected information about the past, he starts asking about

the future (in stanza 44).54 Before that, however, Vafþruðnir himself has asked

Oðinn about the name of the battlefield where Surtr will fight the gods (stanzas 17

and 18). If Vafþruðnir has any suspicion that his guest is one of the gods, then the

mere name of Surtr, who is later going to destroy the whole world in fire, may be

construed as a subtle threat. On the other hand, Oðinn’s first questions to Vafþruðnir

concern the future of the universe beyond Surtarlogi. Among the information Oðinn

gets are the names of Lıf and Leifþrasir who are to start a new human race (stanzas

44 and 45), knowledge about the new Sun who will succeed her mother when the

latter has been swallowed by ‘‘Fenrir’’ (st. 46 and 47,55 and he learnswhich gods

will survive the Surtarlogi (stanzas 50 and 51).56

There is a symbiosis between the future and the past in the poem, perhaps

inspired by the notion of fate, that the future of the world is predetermined and the

decicions were made long ago, so that a very ancient being is more likely to know

the future than ourselves.57 This might seem to be confirmed by Oðinn’s last

question about what he spoke into his son’s ear before the latter walked on the

funeral pyre. While is usually taken to refer to the Baldr myth, the name of the

particular son is not given,58 and Vafþruðnir curiously assumes that this happened

‘‘i ardaga’’ (in bygone days; literally: in the early days), whereas Snorri Sturluson

53 Finnur Jonsson (1931, pp. 75–76). This part of Snorri’s Edda seems, in fact, to be based primarily on

Vafþruðnismal.54 Most scholars have believed the future verses to be the most important part of the poem, see e.g. Ejder

(1960), Haugen (1983).55 Snorri assigns the blame to two other wolves but perhaps the word ‘‘fenrir’’ is used in Vafþruðnismal

as a synonym for wolf.56 On the survival theme of the poem, see McKinnell (1994, pp. 103–106).57 Cf. Clunies Ross (1994, pp. 242–247).58 Kragerud (1981, p. 35) relates that to the fact that Baldr is possibly the ‘‘trump card’’ of the gods, as he

will survive ragnarok.

God and giant in Vafþruðnismal 273

123

places the death of Baldr at just before ragnarok.59 Is Vafþruðnir now suddenly

acknowledging that Oðinn is older than he is? Or does the god acquire the stature of

the old, of the father, by knowing something that Vafþruðnir doesn’t?

The last few verses of the poem indicate that Oðinn has succeeded in his quest for

the father role. When he asks about his own death, Vafþruðnir answers by using the

term ‘‘Aldaf þr’’ (Father of Men) (st. 53) and then Oðinn, having been accepted as

a father, is able to ask the insoluble question about what he, the father, spoke in his

son’s ear. It is possible that Vafþruðnir has somehow brought this on himself by

referring to Oðinn as a father, although at first sight it seems that Oðinn is just

cheating. The gods, being gods, are allowed to cheat, as is revealed not only in

Vafþruðnismal, but also in Alvıssmal and Heiðreks saga, where Oðinn and Þorr use

trickery to win contests.60 Of course, Oðinn is in disguise during the whole

contest—of the two, only the giant is not misrepresenting himself.

In spite of all their cheating, the Old Norse gods, somewhat uniquely for gods,

nevertheless face extinction in the end: as scholars have noted, the Old Norse end of

the world differs from the Christian in that evil triumphs over good.61 This is logical

if the gods represent order and the giants chaos. The perfect only needs one flaw for

imperfection to win, a tiny chink in the armour of order leads to chaos. While good

must be whole, evil is allowed to be sundered, imperfect and chaotic, and in the end

that may prove to be advantageous. And yet the end is not the end—that is one thing

Oðinn and the audience learn from the wise Vafþruðnir, who does not say much

about ragnarok, but is mainly concerned with what happens after the end.

The world goes on but the individual’s end is final. When Oðinn has learnt that

the world will survive its death, he asks about his own demise. When Vafþruðnir

finally acknowledges Oðinn as a father, he also presents the god with his own death:

‘‘Vlfr gleypa mun / Aldafavþr’’ (The wolf will swallow the Father of Men) (st. 53).

After that, it seems almost a hollow victory when Oðinn draws the unanswerable

question from his hat and Vafþruðnir acknowledges defeat and his own mortality

(using the words ‘‘feigom mvnni’’). He goes on to hail Oðinn as the wisest being in

the world: ‘‘þv ert e visastr vera’’ (you’ll always be the wisest of beings) (st. 55). If

we assume that Vafþruðnir hitherto considered himself the wisest in the world, this

may be seen as a relinguishment of the father role to Oðinn. But at the same time,

the father role is not as desirable as the son has imagined. It is, after all, not only

Vafþruðnir the father who dies at the end of the poem, also Oðinn the father. The

son’s victory over the father is double-edged, for the father role brings with it the

certainty of death. For the son, the father’s death is tantamount to facing his own

mortality.62 With complete autonomy goes the inevitability of the passing of power.

59 See Machan (1988, p. 93).60 On this theme, see Holtsmark (1964), McKinnell (1994, pp. 95–98), Lindow (1997, pp. 45–46). Cf.

Davidson (1983).61 Tolkien, echoing W.P. Ker (1977, p. 21).62 I cannot deny that this analysis is partly informed by the ideas of Freud (1940, pp. 35–66), cf.

Dollimore (1997). Freud, of course, was an avid interpreter of myths and interested in generational

conflict, though his aim was more ambitious than that of the present article.

274 A. Jakobsson

123

Vafþruðnismal presents us with one side of the mythological giants: They are

father figures and as such, symbols of the past and of death. This may explain why

the giants are not just the ancestors of the gods but also their enemies. Being their

father, the giant also signifies their passing. The past is abhorrent for the same

reason: an awareness of the past brings with it an awareness of the passing of the

present and signifies an end which to men is both abhorrent, monstrous and at the

same time the biggest fact of life. The conflicting relationship of fatherhood, past

and future is the glue which hold Vafþruðnismal together: as a journey of the god

towards total supremacy as a father and an awareness of mortality which goes with

the role.

Like a giant, our death is a huge and horrific presence, intertwined with our

creation and being, but negative in that it signifies its end. This may account for the

paradoxical nature of the giant in the Old Norse mythology—it certainly informs

Vafþruðnismal. In the poem, we observe a duel of two fathers to the death but we

also learn about death, where the giant father gets a rare chance to enunciate his own

point of view. He also has the last word, triumphing over Oðinn while he admits his

own defeat.

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