Anonymous, Völundarkviða

Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1275

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

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Völundarkviða

is an Old Norse eddic poem, tenth in line in the Codex Regius MS (GKS 2365 4to) of the Poetic Edda (from c. 1275-1280). The poem has a short prose prologue and then 41 verses, mostly in

fornyrðislag

. The prose prologue is also preserved in the AM 748 I 4to fragment from c. 1300.

Völundarkviða

is sometimes regarded as one of the heroic eddic poems because it has some of the same themes, and yet it is positioned before the mythological poem

Alvíssmál

in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment contains only mythological poems.

Völundarkviða relates the story of Völundr the smith (Wieland, Weland, Welund and Velent in other sources) who is well-known from various Old English and Old High German sources as the Germanic counterpart to the Roman god of

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911 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Völundarkviða". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 March 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40985, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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