Völuspá, one of the most famous and widely discussed poems of the Old Norse literary canon, is often the first work encountered by readers. One of the things that makes it most striking is that it is spoken by a female narrator; a völva (seeress) whose identity hovers somewhere between the living, the dead and the paranormal. It is not known exactly who she was meant to be, or who (if any one figure) may have inspired her, but her voice is still highly relevant to modern audiences today, and she has inspired countless artists.

Transcending time and space, the poem recounts the origins of the cosmos, ending with a vision of the fiery chaos of Ragnarök and the rebirth of the second world. Performance poet and scholar Dr. Clare Mulley will now present her own creative rendition of this poem and its speaker, translated from the Old Norse. This spellbinding piece originally premiered at the Oxford Story Museum, and was awarded an honorarium for a repeat performance at The Aarhus Old Norse Mythology Conference, Denmark.

About Clare:

Dr. Clare Mulley is a professional poet, performance artist and creative writer from the University of Oxford. She is one of the convenors of the global ‘Old Norse Poetry in Performance’ conference and research group (ONPIP). Over the past decade, she has worked with numerous UK charities and heritage sites to lead creative writing sessions for children and adults across the UK, has written lyrics for and performed with Katie Melua, and has held residencies at the UK Battlefields trust, in Svalbard and at the Scottish Creative Writing Centre. Her work has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Vanguard Press, The Salzburg Poetry Review, The Stockholm Review of Literature, The Spectator, and The Skinny.