Bror skal bekæmpe
bror,
søskende bryde
slægtsbånd,
hårdhed skal herske
og hor;
Krigstid, kamptid,
kløvede skjolde,
ulvetid, stormtid
til verden ender
og ingen skåner nogen.

The poem of »Vølvens Spådom« is one of the great »God Poems« (gudedigt, eddadigt) of Norse culture. It is available freely and in its entirety here. However, I managed to find a nice physical copy of it at an antikvariat - a store for used and old books.

The foreword is not really what I expected, almost an essay by author Brøgger of how our ancient stories make it possible it dive into the shared past of our people and also ourselves, to understand the primeval drives we only recognize subconsiously. The poem itself is as expected, a classic, yet reimagined in a more acessible language. A pleasent read about the end of the World.

Terms

A list of terms I discovered - either by direct reference or from tumbling down the rabbit hole.