Vanir, the battle with the giants who had got possession of the goddess
Freyja, and the breaking of bargains; an obscure reference to Mimi's
spring where Odin left his eye as a pledge; and an enumeration of his
war-maids or Valkyries. Turning to the future, the Sibyl prophesies
the death of Baldr, the vengeance on his slayer, and the chaining of
Loki, the doom of the Gods and the destruction of the world at the
coming of the fire-giants and the release of Loki's children from
captivity. The rest of the poem seems to be later; it tells how the
earth shall rise again from the deep, and the Aesir dwell once more
in Odin's halls, and there is a suggestion of Christian influence in
it which is absent from the earlier part.

Of the other general poems, the next four were probably composed before
950; in each the setting is different. _Vafthrudnismal_, a riddle-poem,
shows Odin in a favourite position, seeking in disguise for knowledge
of the future. Under the name of Gangrad (Wanderer), he visits the
wise giant Vafthrudni, and the two agree to test their wisdom: the one
who fails to answer a question is to forfeit his head. In each case
the questions deal first with the past. Vafthrudni asks about Day and
Night, and the river which divides the Giants from the Gods, matters of
common knowledge; and then puts a question as to the future: "What is
the plain where Surt and the blessed Gods shall meet in battle?" Odin
replies, and proceeds to question in his turn; first about the creation
of Earth and Sky, the origin of Sun and Moon, Winter and Summer, the
Giants and the Winds; the coming of Njörd the Wane to the Aesir as
a hostage; the Einherjar, or chosen warriors of Valhalla. Then come
prophetic questions on the destruction of the Sun by the wolf Fenri,
the Gods who shall rule in the new world after Ragnarök, the end of
Odin. The poem is brought to a close by Odin's putting the question
which only himself can answer: "What did Odin say in his son's ear