Grímnismál and the Poetic Edda

I captured this rare cloud rainbow — a rainbow that forms within the cloud itself, rather than as the familiar arch across the sky.

Scientifically, this phenomenon is known as a cloud iridescence or cloud bow. It occurs when sunlight is diffracted or refracted by tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended inside the cloud. Unlike a standard rainbow, which forms in the sky opposite the sun, a cloud rainbow can appear embedded in the cloud, with its colors spreading subtly across the cloud’s body. The effect is most visible in thin, high-altitude clouds where the droplets are uniform in size, creating delicate pastel bands rather than a full circular arc.

Grímnismál and the Poetic Edda

Grímnismál (“The Sayings of Grímnir”) is one of the central poems of the Poetic Edda, a 13th-century collection of Old Norse poetry that preserves much older oral traditions of the Norse and Icelandic world. The poem is framed as a dialogue between the young Agnar and the disguised god Odin, who takes on the name Grímnir. Captured and tortured by Agnar’s father, Odin speaks at length, imparting wisdom about the cosmos, the gods, and the hidden workings of the world.

The poem is notable for its encyclopedic nature. Through Grímnir’s words, it describes the Nine Worlds of Norse cosmology, the dwellings of gods, giants, and other beings, and the connections between them. These descriptions are often highly symbolic and sometimes list-like, reflecting the poem’s origins in oral recitation, where memory aids such as repetition and structure were essential.

One of the most famous passages describes Bifröst, the rainbow bridge connecting Midgard (Earth) to Asgard (the realm of the gods). While Bifröst is described as a rainbow, it functions mythically as a bridge between realms, a liminal space rather than a naturalistic meteorological phenomenon. This highlights a central feature of Norse poetry: natural imagery is often intertwined with symbolic and cosmological meaning.

Rethinking Bifröst in Grímnismál and the Poetic Edda

In Grímnismál, a poem from the Poetic Edda, Bifröst is described as a bridge between earth and sky:

“Where is the road to the sky from earth?”

“The gods made the bridge Bifröst … you may call it rainbow.”

Most readers imagine Bifröst as a bright, arching rainbow like the ones we see after rain. But after witnessing a cloud rainbow, I began to question this assumption. Could the original Norse poets have been describing something more ethereal and fleeting, like the cloud iridescence I saw?

It is just interesting, not profound but fun to think about.

Practical Tips for Spotting Cloud Iridescence

I sometimes forget just how deeply my ancestors and their communities lived with and experienced nature. For me, much of my interpretation of the natural world is filtered through photos and videos, a lens that inevitably shapes how I perceive and understand it. I can’t help but wonder: if I spent more time immersed in the outdoors, fully present in its rhythms and subtleties, might I grasp the richness and immediacy of ancient texts like Grímnismál more fully? The ways my ancestors observed, interacted with, and reflected on the natural world were shaped by lived experience — something that no image or recording can completely capture.

If you want to see a cloud rainbow yourself, here are some tips:

• Look for thin, high-altitude clouds like cirrus or altostratus on sunny days.

• The sun should be at a low angle, often in the morning or late afternoon.

• Use polarized sunglasses to help spot subtle colors.

• Be patient and watch carefully, as the colors can appear and disappear quickly.