Vígríðr
In Norse mythology, Vígríðr or Óskópnir is a large field foretold to host a battle between the forces of the gods and the forces of Surtr as part of the events of Ragnarök. The field is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, and in the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. The Poetic Edda briefly mentions the field as where the two forces will battle, whereas the Prose Edda features a fuller account, foretelling that it is the location of the future death of several deities (and their enemies) before the world is engulfed in flames and reborn.
Etymology
The Old Norse place name Vígríðr means "battle-surge" or "place on which battle surges".[1] The name Vígríðr is sometimes modernly anglicized as Vigrid, Vigrith,[2] or Wigrid.[3] The etymology of the name Óskópnir is a matter of scholarly debate, but has been proposed as meaning "the (not yet) created", "not made" or "mismade".[4]
Attestations
Poetic Edda
In the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál, the god Odin, disguised as "Gagnráðr" faces off with the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir in a battle of wits. Among numerous other questions, Vafþrúðnir asks Odin to tell him what the name of the plain is where the gods and Surtr will meet. Odin responds that the name of the plain is Vígríðr, and that the size of the field is 100 leagues in every direction:
- Benjamin Thorpe translation:
- Vafthrûdnir.
- Tell me, Gagnrâd! since on the floor thou wilt
- prove they proficiency,
- how that plain is called, where in fight shall meet
- Surt and the gentle Gods?
- Gagnrâd.
- Vigrid the plain is called,
- where in fight shall meet Surt and the gentle Gods;
- a hundred rasts it is on every side.
- That plain is to them decreed.[5]
- Henry Adams Bellows translation:
- Vafthrudnir spake:
- "Speak forth now, Gagnrath, if there from the floor
- Thou wouldst thy wisdom make known:
- What name has the field where in fight shall meet
- Surt and the gracious gods?"
- Othin spake:
- "Vigrith is the field where in fight shall meet
- Surt and the gracious gods;
- A hundred miles each way does it measure,
- And so are its boundaries set."[6]
In his translation notes for these stanzas, Henry Adams Bellows notes that "a hundred miles" is a "general phrase for a vast distance".[6]
In the Poetic Edda poem
Prose Edda
In the
As these forces gather, the god
Odin will make directly for Fenrir and the god
Later in the same chapter, High quotes Odin's response from the above-mentioned chapter of Vafþrúðnismál.[10]
Notes
- ^ For "battle-surge", see Orchard (1997:175). For "place on which battle surges", see Simek (2007:361).
- ^ For Vigrid, see Orchard (1997:175). For Vigrith, see Bellows (1923:73).
- ^ Wihlem Wagner, M.W. MacDowall (1886). Asgard and the gods: the tales of our Northern Ancestors. London: Swan Sonnenschenin, Le Bas & Lowrey.
- ^ For "the (not yet) created" see Simek (2007:254). For "not made", see Bellows (1923:376). For "mismade", see Larrington (1999:160).
- ^ Thorpe (1866:14).
- ^ a b Bellows (1923:73).
- ^ Bellows (1923:376).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:54—55).
- ^ a b Faulkes (1995:54).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:54—54).
References
- Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1923). The Poetic Edda. The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. ISBN 0-460-87616-3
- Larrington, Carolyne (Trans.) (1999). The Poetic Edda. ISBN 0-19-283946-2
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
- ISBN 0-85991-513-1
- Thorpe, Benjamin (Trans.) (1866). The Elder Edda of Saemund Sigfusson. Norrœna Society.