Idavoll

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Idavoll (probably meaning "Field of Deeds", Old Norse Iðavöllr) is a place mentioned in Völuspá, the first poem in the Norse Poetic Edda, as the meeting place of the gods only written of twice. It is first mentioned at the beginning of the poem as the world is first created (in verse 7) as the mythical plain on which Asgard is built:

At Idavoll met | the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples | they timbered high;
Forges they set, and | they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, | and tools they fashioned.


The Idavoll is again mentioned at the very end of the poem in verse 60, after the events of Ragnarok. It is once again a meeting place for the gods, however, most of them being killed in the battle previous to the return, few of the same gods visit the field twice. These survivors build a new city on Idavoll, starting with Gimlé :

The gods in Idavoll | meet together,
Of the terrible girdler | of earth they talk,
And the mighty past | they call to mind,
And the ancient runes | of the Ruler of Gods.[1]



[edit] References

  1. ^ Völuspá
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