The very bareness of the outline is sufficient proof
that the material is not new. The framework is apparently imitated from
that of the poem known as _Baldr's Dreams_, some lines from which are
inserted in _Voeluspa_. This older poem describes Odin's visit to the
Sibyl in hell-gates to inquire into the future. He rides down to her
tomb at the eastern door of Nifl-hell and chants spells, until she
awakes and asks: "What man unknown to me is that, who has troubled me
with this weary journey? Snow has snowed on me, rain has beaten me,
dew has drenched me, I have long been dead." He gives the name Wegtam,
or Way-wise, and then follow question and answer until she discovers
his identity and will say no more. In _Voeluspa_ there is no descriptive
introduction, and no dialogue; the whole is spoken by the Sibyl,
who plunges at once into her story, with only the explanatory words:
"Thou, Valfather, wouldst have me tell the ancient histories of men as
far as I remember." She describes the creation of the world and sky
by Bor's sons; the building by the Gods of a citadel in Ida-plain,
and their age of innocence till three giant-maids brought greed of
gold; the creation of the dwarfs; the creation of the first man and
woman out of two trees by Odin, Hoeni and Lodur; the world-ash and
the spring beside it where dwell the three Norns who order the fates
of men. Then follows an allusion to the war between the Aesir and the
Vanir, the battle with the giants who had got possession of the goddess
Freyja, and the breaking of bargains; an obscure reference to Mimi's
spring where Odin left his eye as a pledge; and an enumeration of his
war-maids or Valkyries.
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