Efnismál

Efnismál is an Old Norse poem of uncertain authorship and origin. The title roughly translates to “Things’ Talk” or “Speech about things,” reflecting its focus on material things and their value. The poem is preserved only in a small number of medieval Icelandic manuscripts, and scholars date it to the early medieval period, with most estimates placing it somewhere in the late Viking Age to early Middle Ages. Because of its fragmentary transmission, exact dating and attribution remain debated.

In form, efnismál is typically described as concise and gnomic, written in the style associated with Old Norse poetry. It employs typical features of the period, such as compact phrasing and the use of kennings or metaphorical expressions, though it is shorter and less narrative than many of the longer Eddic poems. The diction is emblematic of the archaic vernacular preserved in manuscript tradition, and its compact stanzas invite careful stylistic analysis.

Content-wise, the poem surveys common objects and social values to reflect on wealth, utility, and the worth of material goods. Through its imagery and rhetorical questions, it explores the volatility of possessions and, by extension, the enduring value of wisdom, restraint, and prudence over mere riches. The piece is often interpreted as a meditation on materialism within a broader gnomic or didactic tradition in Old Norse literature.

Scholarly reception treats efnismál as a minor yet revealing example of Old Norse exhortatory poetry. Editions and translations exist in various standard collections of the corpus, where it is discussed in the context of gnomic and riddle-like verse.