How many Vǫluspá? The Hauksbók version, as compared to Codex Regius and Snorra Edda.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to show that Vǫluspá, an Eddic poem recorded in three different versions in Codex Regius, Hauksbók and Snorra Edda, should be understood as a collaboration between two cultures: one essentially oral and one essentially literate. The Hauksbók version will be used as reference witness to which the other readings will be compared. Both compositional and textual variants will be taken into consideration, in order to try to distinguish between oral and scribal variation. My starting point will be that variations should be accepted as they are, as it is impossible for any modern scholar to do better than the available sources, and because any written poem should be read taking into account the context in which it was created. Moreover, the existence of several written versions of Vǫluspá is hard to explain leaving aside the notion of a traditional oral background, much older than any of the written versions of the poem. The acceptance of an oral background for Vǫluspá means that the older generation of scholars’ idea of an original poem, composed by a single poet, should be abandoned.