La cave linguistique de Tolkien

Dvergatal

Þar var Mótsognir
mæztr um orðinn
dverga allra,
en Durinn annarr.
Þeir mannlíkön
mörg um gørðu,
dvergar, ór jörðu,
sem Durinn sagði.

Nýi ok Niði,
Norðri ok Suðri,
Austri ok Vestri,
Alþjófr, Dvalinn,
Nár ok Náinn,
Nípingr, Dáinn,
Bífurr, Báfurr,
Bömburr, Nóri,
Án ok Ánarr,
Ái, Mjöðvitnir.

Veigr ok Gandalfr,
Vindalfr, Þráinn,
Þekkr ok Þorinn,
Þrór, Litr ok Vitr,
Nár ok Nýráðr,
nú hefi ek dverga,
Reginn ok Ráðsviðr,
rétt um talða.

Fíli, Kíli,
Fundinn, Náli,
Hepti, Víli,
Hanarr, Svíorr,
Nár ok Náinn,
Nípingr, Dáinn,
Billingr, Brúni,
Bíldr ok Búri,
Frár, Hornbori,
Frægr ok Lóni,
Aurvangr, Jari,
Eikinskjaldi.

Mál er dverga
í Dvalins liði
ljóna kindum
til Lofars telja,
þeir er sóttu
frá salar steini
Aurvanga sjöt
til Jöruvalla.

Þar var Draupnir
ok Dolgþrasir,
Hár, Haugspori,
Hlévangr, Glóinn,
Dóri, Óri,
Dúfr, Andvari,
Skirvir, Virvir,
Skáfiðr, Ái.
Álfr ok Yngvi,
Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalarr ok Frosti,
Finnr ok Ginnarr.

Þat mun uppi,
meðan öld lifir,
langniðja tal
Lofars hafat.

There was Mótsognir
the mightiest made
of all the dwarfs,
and Durinn next;
many a likeness
of men they made,
the dwarfs in the earth,
as Durinn said.

Nýi and Niði,
Norðri and Suðri,
Austri and Vestri,
Alþjófr, Dvalinn,
Nár and Náinn,
Nípingr, Dáinn,
Bífurr, Báfurr,
Bömburr, Nóri,
Án and Ánarr,
Ái, Mjöðvitnir.

Veigr and Gandalfr,
Vindalfr, Þráinn,
Þekkr and Þorinn,
Þrór, Litr and Vitr,
Nár and Nýráðr,
now have I told -
Reginn and Ráðsviðr -
the list aright.

Fíli, Kíli,
Fundinn, Náli,
Hepti, Víli,
Hanarr, Svíorr,
Nár and Náinn,
Nípingr, Dáinn,
Billingr, Brúni,
Bíldr and Búri,
Frár, Hornbori,
Frægr and Lóni,
Aurvangr, Jari,
Eikinskjaldi.

The race of the dwarfs
in Dvalinn's throng
down to Lofarr
the list must I tell;
the rocks they left,
and through wet lands
They sought a home
in the fields of sand.

There were Draupnir
and Dolgþrasir,
Hár, Haugspori,
Hlévangr, Glóinn,
Dóri, Óri,
Dúfr, Andvari,
Skirvir, Virvir,
Skáfiðr, Ái.
Álfr and Yngvi,
Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalarr and Frosti,
Finnr and Ginnarr.

So for all time
shall the tale be known,
the list of all
the forbears of Lofarr.

The Dvergatal ("Reckoning of dwarfs") is a list of dwarf names of Northern mythology, in which Tolkien picked up the names of the members of Thorin's company. The Dvergatal is a part of the Völuspá ("Prophecy of the Seeress"), a most important poem from the Poetic Edda or Elder Edda, an anonymous collection of verse related to the ancient Scandinavian heathenry, gathered and preserved in the Codex Regius, an Icelandic manuscript from the 13th century. The Völuspá tells through the mouth of a wise-woman the fate of the world in a set of great and wild visions; it is both a cosmogony and a eschatology. Snorri Sturluson, the great Icelandic writer of the 13th century, copiously quotes from it in his own digest of Northern mythology, the Prose Edda or Younger Edda.

We know of the Völuspá from the Codex Regius (Konungsbók), the book of Haukr (Hauksbók) and the quotes in the Prose Edda ; the versions are slightly different, for instance regarding the name of some dwarfs. The text given here was reconstituted in the standardised spelling of Old Norse by superposing versions. The English text follows the 1936 translation by Henry Adam Bellows, modified so as to achieve a correspondence with the Norse text given beside.

References

Jörmungrund. Hosted by: Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavík. URL: http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/

The Poetic Edda. Translated by Henry Adams Bellows. Hosted by: Internet Sacred Text Archive. URL: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/index.htm

Quotations of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Édouard Kloczko, Christopher Gilson, Patrick Wynne, Rhona Beare, Thomas Alan Shippey, Charles Kennedy, Elaine Treharne, André Crépin, Régis Boyer, François-Xavier Dillmann, Gabriel Rebourcet, Keith Bosley, Pierre-Yves Lambert, Gwyn Jones, Thomas Jones are under the copyright of their publishers.