ABSTRACT
Alvíssmál is the last of the mythological poems in the principal manuscript of Eddic poetry, the Codex Regius. The poem is a dialogue in Ijóðaháttr meter between a dwarf named Alvíss (All-Knowing) and the less than omniscient god of the Æsir, Þórr. The poem imparts a kind of wisdom. Alvíss tells Þórr the names given by various classes of beings (men, gods, dwarves, giants) to the same basic elements of creation with which (in Vǫluspá) the mythological poems of the Edda began: earth, sea, sky, moon, sun, night (but not day; see below), as well as clouds, wind, calm, fire, forest, and two products of human cultivation, grain and ale. Whether the often fanciful names recounted by the dwarf (wind-weaver for the sky; dream-goddess for night) constitute any practical wisdom is doubtful. Earlier scholars thought these terms might reflect ancient tabu names; more recent scholars stress their poetic qualities (Moberg), even while acknowledging that the idea of different languages for gods and men (expressed via poetic vs. prosaic words) has mythological resonances found in other Indo-European traditions (Watkins). That the poem in effect compiles various heiti or poetic terms, much as Snorri does in his Edda and the Þulur or lists appended to it, has suggested to many (e.g. Heusler) that the poem should be dated comparatively late, perhaps ca. 1200 (that is, not long before Snorri quoted from it ca. 1220–1241).
