Baldrsdraumar

[Baldr’s dreams] is a mythological eddic poem composed in

fornyrðislag

[old story metre]. The poem is divided into 15 stanzas, and survives in a vellum manuscript, AM 748 I a 4to, from c. 1300. In several paper manuscripts from later dates

Baldrsdraumar

bears the title

Vegtamskviða

[Vegtamr’s poem], derived from the name Óðinn provides when asked by the seeress for the identity of the one who has awoken her from the dead (stanza 6).

Baldrsdraumar displays notable similarities to Völuspá [Seeress’s prophecy]. Formally, in both poems Óðinn questions a seeress and then receives information from her about the future, though in Völuspá Óðinn’s questioning is implicit, as that text takes the form of a monologue delivered by the seeress. Linguistically, lines

1324 words

Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Baldrsdraumar". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 June 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41005, accessed 12 October 2024.]

41005 Baldrsdraumar 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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