Iðavöllr

Iðavöllr (Old Norse Iðavǫllr, possibly "splendour-plain"[1]) is a location referenced twice in Völuspá, the first poem in the Poetic Edda, as a meeting place of the gods.

Attestations

In a stanza early in the poem Völuspá, the völva who is the narrator recounts how, early in the mythological timeline, the gods met together at Iðavöllr and constructed hörgrs and hofs:

At Ithavoll met the mighty gods;
Shrines and temples they timbered high;
Forges they set, and they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, and tools they fashioned.[2]

Iðavöllr is again mentioned at the end of the poem in verse 60, after the events of Ragnarök. It is once again a meeting place for the gods; however, most of them having been killed in the battle, few of the same gods return to the field. These survivors build a new city on Iðavöllr, starting with Gimlé:

The gods in Ithavoll meet together,
Of the terrible girdler of earth they talk,
And the mighty past they call to mind,
And the ancient runes of the Ruler of Gods.[3]

Theories

Several etymologies of Iðavöllr have been proposed, and the meaning of the name is considered unclear. If Iðavöllr is amended to *Ið[is]avöllr, the location name corresponds precisely to Idisiaviso, the amended location name where on the Weser river forces commanded by Arminius fought those commanded by Germanicus at the Battle of the Weser River in 16 CE, attested in chapter 16 of book II of Tacitus' Annales.[4]

Notes
  1. Orchard (1997:95).
  2. Bellows (1936:5).
  3. Bellows (1936:24–25).
  4. Simek (1997:171).
gollark: As I SAID, silicon fabrication is literally the most capital-intensive industry in existence.
gollark: I mean, more macroscale parts, but easier to make.
gollark: Nope!
gollark: > Because smaller groups are shafted by the government.No, the government can't really stop you from forming small organizations and getting equipment and stuff, the issue is that research now requires lots of specialized expensive stuff and lots of people with deep knowledge of subjects together.
gollark: I mean, I think getting something which technically counts as a shelter is possible fairly easily, but not something nice and pleasant like a modern house.

References
  • Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). The Poetic Edda. Princeton University Press. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
  • Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
  • Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1
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