More than a thousand years ago, an Icelandic poet imagined a seeress called from the dead to answer the questions of the god Odin. In language that is by turns fierce and breathtakingly tender, she tells the entire story of the Norse cosmos: the first giants rising from the emptiness of Ginnungagap, the gods building their golden halls, the shaping of the first humans from trees on the seashore, the death of the shining god Baldr, and the great final battle of Ragnarok, when the sun turns black and the world burns. And still, she says, the earth will rise again from the sea. This faithful modern-English edition renders the poem's haunting alliterative rhythms into clear, present-day English, while staying true to its meaning and spirit. With an introduction, a glossary of names, and guidance for first-time readers, it is the perfect doorway into the great prophetic poem of the Viking world. Part of The World Scriptures Library.