Baldrs Draumar
The Eddic poem Baldrs Draumar (Balder’s Dreams) describes how the god Balder dreamed that his life was threatened and how his father, Odin, rode to Hel to investigate. He finds the grave of a völva and resurrects her. Their conversation follows, where the völva tells Odin about Baldr’s fate. Gealdýr’s rendition is based on the first few stanzas of the poem.
Lyrics
Senn váru æsir allir á þingi ok ásynjur allar á máli,
ok um þat réðu ríkir tívar,
hví væri Baldri ballir draumar.
Þá reið Óðinn fyrir austan dyrr,
þar er hann vissi völu leiði;
nam hann vittugri valgaldr kveða,
unz nauðig reis, nás orð of kvað:
“Hvat er manna þat mér ókunnra,
er mér hefir aukit erfitt sinni?
Var ek snivin snævi ok slegin regni
ok drifin döggu, dauð var ek lengi.”
Once all the Gods met for a conference, all the Goddesses met for a conference, and the mighty Gods talked about
why Balder was having bad dreams.
Then Odin rode east of the door to Hel,
and there he found the grave of a witch,
and then the battle God spoke a spell,
till her corpse was forced to rise, and spoke:
“Who is this man, unknown to me,
who has brought me back to a loathsome life? I was buried in snow, pelted by rain,
drowned in dew, I was dead a long time.”