Voluspá Discussion XXI-XXIII

Voluspá Discussion XXI-XXIII

XXI

I ween the first war          in the world was this,

when the gods Gullveig          gashed with their spears,

and in the hall          of Hár burned her-

three times burned they          the thrice reborn,

ever and anon:          even now she liveth.

XXII

Heith she was hight          where to houses she came,

the wise seeress,          and witchcraft plied-

cast spells where she could,          cast spells on the mind:

to wicked women          she was welcome ever.

Here we have yet another stanza that is referenced many times on the Internet with stories of speculation repeated as fact. Well, the fact is that stanza 21 is the only reference we have to Gullveig, so anything that tells a story of what she did or said is, at best, conjecture, and, at the worst, so much fanciful drivel. Here is what is known. 

• Her name likely means something along the lines of "Gold Drink" or "Gold Might." 


• The first war in the world was when the Gods tried with all their might to destroy her, but still she lives "ever and anon: even now she liveth." 


• Taken in the context of the Voluspá, which is the story of the life cycle of the Gods even unto their deaths, this would seem to indicate that she outlives even them. 


• Stanza 22 goes so far as to call her a witch, and states that she casts spells of the mind, and that she is welcome to wicked women. 

What we have here is not, as some would have us believe, an annoying Goddess of the Vanier who the Æsir decide to kill because she can't stop talking about gold. No, there is no purpose in a story like that, and besides, if talking about gold is annoying enough to kill over, how is it that Loki possibly survived as long as he did? What we have is the spirit of greed and envy taking control of the emotions of the Æsir. They try to control their jealousy of what ever it is that they envy, and the Vanier posses, because it is the Vanier with whom this first war is fought, but the spirit of greed cannot be brought under control, and Gods go to war of that which they covet. 

XXIII

Then gathered together          the gods for council,

the holy hosts,          and held converse:

should the Æsir a truce          with tribute buy,

or should all gods          share in the feast.

Stanza 23 sheds further light on that which is the source of the greed. The Æsir hold council to determine whether they should "buy" a truce with the Vanier, essentially give the Vanier some item in order to end the war, or should the Æsir give in and allow the Vanier to "share in the feast," the feast which is, as stated by Hollander, the sacrificial feast that is offered up to the Gods by mankind...Share the worship with this other pantheon of gods... 

As we can see here, if stanza 21 is to be taken in the context of the following stanzas the mention of Gullveig most likely has nothing to do with some silly tale of gold lust. It is far more likely that after the creation of Ask and Embla, mankind began incorporating worship of the Vanier in to their rituals. Naturally this does make the Æsir jealous because they have already seen their future to an extent, and know that humans are very important to their battle during Ragnarok. 

Now, I do have one point that confuses me a little here. It has been my understanding through reading, as well as descriptions of the Gods and Goddesses of the Vanier, that the Vanier tend to be Gods and Goddesses that are more in the domain of nature...For example, Njord, a God of the sea, Frey, a God of, among other things, the harvest and fertility, and his sister Freyja, a Goddess of love and fertility. My question is, can anyone shed light on why the Hollander translation would refer, in the footnotes, to the Vanier as Gods of commerce? I may have missed something.