How the Original Accounts Differ

Can different gods appear in accounts of the same event?

The gods who create humans differ between the original accounts. In The Seeress’s Prophecy, they are Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur. In The Deluding of Gylfi, they are Bor’s sons: Odin, Vili, and Ve. Even the story of humanity’s beginnings has a different cast of characters.

We can also compare who steers the ship at the end of the world. In The Seeress’s Prophecy, Loki takes the helm. In The Deluding of Gylfi, Hrym steers Naglfar. The role of steering the ship belongs to different figures in the two accounts.

The origin of some stars differs, too. In Harbard’s Song, Thor turns Thjazi’s eyes into stars. In The Language of Poetry, Odin does this. Even when explaining the stars shining in the sky, the accounts name different gods. Stories of the same event do not always agree on who does what.

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