Iðavöllr (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

Iðavǫllr, possibly "splendour-plain"Orchard (1997:95).) is a location referenced twice in ''

Völuspá ''Völuspá'' (also ''Vǫluspá'', ''Vǫlospá'', or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of ...

'', the first poem in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

'', as a meeting place of the gods.

Attestations

In a stanza early in the poem ''

'', the

völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer" and "sorceress", and they are frequently calle ...

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.Bellows (1936:5).

Iðavöllr is again mentioned at the end of the poem in verse 60, after the events of

Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...

. 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 In Norse mythology, Gimlé (alternately Gimli as in Icelandic) is a place where the worthy survivors of Ragnarök are foretold to live. It is mentioned in the ''Prose Edda'' and the Eddic poem "Völuspá" and described as the most beautiful plac ...

: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 Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
of the Ruler of Gods.Bellows (1936:24–25).

Theories

Several etymologies of ''Iðavöllr'' have been proposed, and the meaning of the name is considered unclear. If Iðavöllr is amended to ''*Ið svöllr'', the location name corresponds precisely to '' Idisiaviso'', the amended location name where on the

Weser river The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Br ...

forces commanded by

Arminius Arminius (; 18/17 BC–AD 21) was a chieftain of the Germanic peoples, Germanic Cherusci tribe who is best known for commanding an alliance of Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, in which three Roman legions under th ...

fought those commanded by

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

at the Battle of the Weser River in 16 CE, attested in chapter 16 of book II of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

' ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

''.Simek (1997:171). But since Snorri says that

Asgard In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr''; "Garden of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in several Old Norse sagas and mythological texts, including the Eddas, however it has also been suggested to be refe ...

was actually

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

it would make sense that Idavollr be

Mount Ida In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida' ...

which is right next to the city.

Notes

References

* Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1936). ''The Poetic Edda''.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation. * Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. Cassell. * Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. D. S. Brewer. {{DEFAULTSORT:Idavollr Places in Norse mythology