[Song of Hyndla] is a mythological eddic poem composed in
fornyrðislag[old story metre]. The poem is divided into 50 stanzas. The poem survives in a vellum manuscript, Flateyjarbók (GKS 1005 fol.), composed c. 1387–94. Stanza 33 also appears in manuscripts of
Snorra Edda[Snorri’s Edda], in chapter 5 of the
Gylfaginning[Deluding of Gylfi] section, where the stanza is said to be from a text known as
Völuspáhin skamma[The short Völuspá].
Hyndluljóð’s stanzas are all in the form of direct speech, a dialogue between the goddess Freyja and the giantess Hyndla. The poem follows a pattern familiar to other eddic mythological poems in which a god travels away from Ásgarðr [Home of the gods] to another world, encounters a paranormal being, and aquires knowledge.
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Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Hyndluljóð". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 July 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41006, accessed 21 November 2024.]
