Editing Völuspá (section)

== Reception ==
''Völuspá'' is one of the most discussed poems of the ''Poetic Edda'' and dates to the tenth century, the century before the [[Christianization of Iceland]].<ref name="auto1">Den poetiska Eddan, övers. Björn Collinder (tryckt 1972) s.296</ref> In March 2018, a team of medieval historians and scientists from the University of Cambridge suggested that the Icelandic poem, Vǫluspá, that is estimated to date from 961 was a roughly contemporary chronicle of the eruption of the volcano [[Eldgjá]] in 939.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dockrill |first=Peter |date=2018-03-20 |title=A Volcanic Explosion 1,000 Years Ago Was So Brutal, It Slayed Icelandic Gods |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/how-a-volcanic-outburst-1-000-years-ago-was-so-brutal-it-slayed-gods-ragnarok-norse-voluspa-eldgja |website=ScienceAlert |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216013109/https://www.sciencealert.com/how-a-volcanic-outburst-1-000-years-ago-was-so-brutal-it-slayed-gods-ragnarok-norse-voluspa-eldgja |archive-date= Dec 16, 2023 }}</ref> These researchers suggested that the dramatic imagery of the Eldgjá eruption was purposefully invoked in order to accelerate the Christianization of Iceland.

Some scholars hold that there are Christian influences in the text, emphasizing parallels with the [[Sibylline Oracles|Sibylline Prophecies]].<ref>on Christian influences, see the following articles: "The Background and Scope of Vǫluspá" by Kees Samplonius, "Vǫluspá and the Sibylline Oracles with a Focus on the ‘Myth of the Future’" by Gro Steinsland, "Vǫluspá, the Tiburtine Sibyl, and the Apocalypse in the North" by Karl G. Johansson, and "Manifest and Latent Biblical Themes in Vǫluspá" by Pétur Pétursson, all articles in ''The Nordic Apocalypse: Approaches to Völuspa and Nordic Days of Judgement.'' Edited by Terry Gunnell  and Annette Lassen, eds. 2013. Brepols Publishers.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jfr.sitehost.iu.edu/review.php?id=1785|title= Review for The Nordic Apocalypse: Approaches to Völuspa and Nordic Days of Judgement |first1=David |last1=Elton Gay |date= February 11, 2015 |website=Journal of Folklore Research |access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=2020-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425184253/https://jfr.sitehost.iu.edu/review.php?id=1785|url-status=dead}}</ref> Henry Adams Bellows stated in 1936 that the author of ''Völuspá'' would have had knowledge of Christianity and infused it into the poem. Bellows dates the poem to the tenth century that was a transitional period between paganism and Christianity and the two religions would have co-existed before Christianity was declared the official religion of Iceland and after which the old paganism was tolerated if practiced in private. He suggests that this infusion allowed the pagan traditions to survive to an extent in Iceland, unlike in mainland [[Scandinavia]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe03.htm|title=The Poetic Edda: Voluspo|website=Internet Sacred Text Archive |date=1936 |translator-first1=Henry Adams |translator-last1=Bellows |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119055801/https://sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe03.htm |archive-date= Jan 19, 2024 }}</ref> Several researchers have suggested that the entire ''Dvergatal'' section and references to the "mighty one who rules over all" are later insertions.<ref name="auto1"/> Although some have identified the latter figure with Jesus, Bellows thought this was not necessarily the case.<ref name="auto"/>