Voluspa - Norse Mythology Book - Verse 24

“Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,

The holy ones, and council held,

Whether the gods should tribute give,

Or to all alike should worship belong.”

Bellows Translation

I’ve been fascinated with heraldry and symbols for awhile now. As I continue to delve into the language of the Voluspa and the art I’m prompted to make; I find that certain verses conjure symbolic representations rather than illustrations or scenes. This verse was one of those.

In Verse 24 the Vanir defeat the Aesir and the tribes of gods come to a peace. Both groups will be equally worshiped and they will exchange members of their groups to cement the peace. I started with the silhouette of the boat based on ancient art. The boat and the sun wheel are symbols important to all germanic people, but they’re particularly connected to the Vanic gods. The Sun Wheel is made up of sword and spear to show the connection to the recent war of the gods. The boar is a symbol of Frey and Freya, of the Vanir. The Wolf a symbol of Odin, of the Aesir. The Rune Ansuz represents the gods and spirituality, i.e. worship. The three interlocked triangles is the Valknut, another of Odin’s symbols. The dragon encircles both symbols, one with body, the other in it’s horns. Creating an infinity symbol. The Boar is pierced twice and the wolf three times. This serves dual purpose. The Aesir lost, and therefore injured more damage, but in the exchange between tribes the Aesir receive 3 gods and the Vanir receive 2.