Divination of the Volva in a nutshell

The Brief Vision of the Völva ( dr. Scand. Völuspá hin skamma ) is a Scandinavian poem preserved as a handful of stanzas in Song of Hündle ( Elder Edda ) and one stanza in Vision of Gülvi of Younger Edda by Snorri Sturlus . The name of the poem is known only from " Younger Edda ":

[...] ok var sá nefndr Ymir, en hrímþursar kalla hann Aurgelmi, ok eru þaðan komnar ættir hrímþursa, svá sem segir í Völuspá inni skömmu: Eru völur allar frá Viðolfi, vitkar allir frá Vilmeiði, en seiðberendr frá Svarthöfða, jötnar allir frá Ymi komnir [1] .

[...] and that man was Ymir , and the frosty giants call him Aurgelmir. It was from him that the entire tribe of frosty giants went, as it is said in “Brief Prophecy of the Velva”: From Vidolva his kind all the Wolves lead from Wilmeida all the seers lead and all sorcerers - from the Black Head, and the giants from Ymir root.

Other stanzas are preserved in the Song of Hündle . According to Henry Adams Bellows , “A Brief Divination of the Velva” was written in the 12th century and is “a late and very nasty imitation of the older Divination of the Velva ”. He also suggested that “A Brief Divination of the Völva” appeared in the text of “Songs of Hündle” due to the mistake of the scribe, who confused it with a more complete version of the Divination of Völva .