extraction.norse.poetic_edda.voluspo_yggdrasil_cosmic_origins
---
record_id: extraction.norse.poetic_edda.voluspo_yggdrasil_cosmic_origins
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/norse/project-gutenberg/poetic-edda-bellows.md
passage_locator:
label: Voluspo 1-6
translation: Henry Adams Bellows, The Poetic Edda
notes: Initial Wave 2 extraction from the public-domain Bellows translation.
canonical_text:
quote: Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree / With mighty roots beneath the
mold.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker asks for hearing from holy races and remembers old tales.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker says she knew nine worlds in a tree with roots beneath the mold.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Before earth, heaven, sea, waves, sand, and grass, there is a yawning gap.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Burs sons lift land, make Mithgarth, and establish ordered time through named
lights and seasons.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Volva
description: Prophetic speaker who remembers ancient worlds and addresses Valfather.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Valfather
description: Addressee of the prophetic speech, identified in notes and context
with Othin.
role_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Burs sons
description: Divine agents who lift land and make Mithgarth.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
roles:
- id: role:1
label: prophetic_rememberer
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker recalls old tales and knows the nine worlds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: world_ordering_agents
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: They lift land, make Mithgarth, and participate in ordering the cosmos.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: nine worlds
literal_form: nine worlds
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: tree with roots
literal_form: tree with mighty roots beneath the mold
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: yawning gap
literal_form: yawning gap
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: named time
literal_form: noon, twilight, morning, moon, night, evening, and years named by
the gods
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Voluspo opening cosmic memory
summary: A prophetic speaker addresses Valfather, remembers ancient beings and nine
worlds in a rooted tree, then describes the pre-cosmic gap and the ordering of
land and time.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: sacred_tree_axis
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: The passage links multiple worlds to a tree with deep roots.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The later note names Yggdrasil explicitly; this extraction stays with
the opening passage wording.
- id: motif:2
label: chaos_before_order
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
basis: The world begins from an absence of land, sea, heaven, and grass, described
as a yawning gap.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: This is a formal cosmogonic pattern, not a claim of direct relation to
any other cosmogony.
- id: motif:3
label: world_center
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
basis: The tree functions as an organizing image for nine worlds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The spatial system is inferred from the passage's tree-and-world imagery.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage is a strong Norse witness for the world-tree or axis-mundi family
of motifs.
claim_level: same_motif
target: patterns/sacred-tree-axis-mundi.md
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
limitations: This identifies motif family fit only; it does not assert historical
borrowing from other tree or axis traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: Voluspo 1
quote_or_summary: Hearing I ask from the holy races; the speaker offers old tales
remembered from long ago.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/norse/project-gutenberg/poetic-edda-bellows.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: Voluspo 2
quote_or_summary: Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree / With mighty roots beneath
the mold.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/norse/project-gutenberg/poetic-edda-bellows.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: Voluspo 3
quote_or_summary: Earth had not been, nor heaven above, / But a yawning gap, and
grass nowhere.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/norse/project-gutenberg/poetic-edda-bellows.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: Voluspo 4-6
quote_or_summary: Burs sons raise land and make Mithgarth; the gods then name lights,
night, evening, and the years.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/norse/project-gutenberg/poetic-edda-bellows.md
rights_note: Public-domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Clear motif evidence from a canonical opening passage in Voluspo.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Needs scholarly review before being treated as final.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Wave 2 Norse extraction seed.