Teutonic Mythology
TO HIS MAJESTY KING OSCAR II.,
THE RULER OF THE ARYAN PEOPLE OF THE SCANDINAVIAN
PENINSULA,
THE PROMOTER OF THE SCIENCES,
THE CROWNED POET,
THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR,
AND TRANSLATOR,
VIKTOR RYDBERG.
RASMUS B. ANDERSON.
STOCKHOLM, November 20, 1887.
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON,
United States Minister, Copenhagen, Denmark.
DEAR SIR,
It gives me pleasure to authorise you to translate into English my work entitled
"Researches in Teutonic Mythology," being convinced that no one could be
found better qualified for this task than yourself. Certainly no one has taken a
deeper interest than you in spreading among our Anglo-Saxon kinsmen, not
only a knowledge of our common antiquity, but also of what modern
Scandinavia is contributing to the advancement of culture—a work in which
England and the United States of America are taking so large a share.
Yours faithfully,
VIKTOR RYDBERG.
INTRODUCTION.
A. THE ANCIENT ARYANS.
1.
THE WORDS GERMAN AND GERMANIC.
ALREADY at the beginning of the Christian era the name Germans was
applied by the Romans and Gauls to the many clans of people whose main
habitation was the extensive territory east of the Rhine, and north of the
forest-clad Hercynian Mountains. That these clans constituted one race was
evident to the Romans, for they all had a striking similarity in type of body;
moreover, a closer acquaintance revealed that their numerous dialects were
all variations of the same parent language, and finally, they resembled each
other in customs, traditions, and religion. The characteristic features of the
physical type of the Germans were light hair, blue eyes, light complexion, and
tallness of stature as compared with the Romans.
Even the saga-men, from whom the Roman historian Tacitus gathered the
facts for his German ia—an invaluable work for the history of civilisation—
knew that in the so-called Svevian Sea, north of the German continent, lay
another important part of Germany, inhabited by Sviones, a people divided
into several clans. Their kinsmen on the continent described them as rich in
weapons and fleets, and in warriors on land and sea (Tac., Germ., 44). This
northern sea-girt portion of Germany is called Scandinavia—Scandeia by
other writers of the Roman Empire; and there can be no doubt that this name
referred to the peninsula
which, as far back as historical monuments can be found, has been inhabited
by the ancestors of the Swedes and the Norwegians. I therefore include in the
term Germans the ancestors of both the Scandinavian and Gothic and
German (tyske) peoples. Science needs a sharply - defined collective noun for
all these kindred branches sprung from one and the same root, and the name
by which they make their first appearance in history would doubtless long
since have been selected for this purpose had not some of the German
writers applied the terms German and Deutsch as synonymous. This is
doubtless the reason why Danish authors have adopted the word "Goths" to
describe the Germanic nations. But there is an important objection to this in
the fact that the name Goths historically is claimed by a particular branch of
the family—that branch, namely, to which the East and West Goths belonged,
and in order to avoid ambiguity, the term should be applied solely to them. It is
therefore necessary to re-adopt the old collective name, even though it is not
of Germanic origin, the more so as there is a prospect that a more correct use
of the words German and Germanic is about to prevail in Germany itself, for
the German scholars also feel the weight of the demand which science makes
on a precise and rational terminology.*
* Viktor Rydberg styles his work Researches in Germanic Mythology, but after
consultation with the Publishers, the Translator decided to use the word
Teutonic instead of Germanic both in the title and in the body of the work. In
English, the words German, Germany, and Germanic are ambiguous.. The
Scandivanians and Germans have the words Tyskland, tysh, Deutschland
deutsch, when they wish to refer to the present Germany, and thus it is easy
for them to adopt the words Germnan and Germanisk to describe the
Germanic or Teutonic peoples collectively. The English language applies the
above word Dutch not to Germany, but to Holland, and it is necessary to use
the words German and Germany in translating deutsch, Deutschland, tysk,
and Tyskland. Teutonic has already been adopted by Max Müller and other
scholars in England and America as a designation of all the kindred branches
sprung from one and the same root, and speaking dialects of the same
original tongue. The words Teuton, Teutonic, and Teutondom also have the
advantage over German and Germanic that they are of native growth and not
borrowed from a foreign language. In the following pages, therefore, the word
Teutonic will be used to describe Scandivanians, Germans, Anglo-Saxons,
&c., collectively, while German will line used exclusively in regard to Germany
proper.— TRANSLATOR.
2.
THE ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES.
It is universally known that the Teutonic dialects are related to the Latin, the
Greek, the Slavic, and Celtic languages, and that the kinship extends even
beyond Europe to the tongues of Armenia, Irania, and India. The holy books
ascribed to Zoroaster, which to the priests of Cyrus and Darius were what the
Bible is to us; Rigveda’s hymns, which to the people dwelling on the banks of
the Ganges are God’s revealed word, are written in a language which points
to a common origin with our own. However unlike all these kindred tongues
may have grown with the lapse of thousands of years, still they remain as a
sharply-defined group of older and younger sisters as compared with all other
language groups of the world. Even the Semitic languages are separated
therefrom by a chasmn so broad and deep that it is hardly possible to bridge
it.
This language-group of ours has been named in various ways. It has been
called the Indo-Germanic, the Indo-European, and the Aryan family of
tongues. I have adopted the last designation. The Armenians, Iranians, and
Hindoos I call the Asiatic Aryans; all the rest I call the European Aryans.
Certain it is that these sister-languages have had a common mother, the
ancient Aryan speech, and that this has had a geographical centre from which
it has radiated. (By such an ancient Aryan language cannot, of course, be
meant a tongue stereotyped in all its inflections, like the literary languages of
later times, but simply the unity of those dialects which were spoken by the
clans dwelling around this centre of radiation.) By comparing the grammatical
structure of all the daughters of this ancient mother, and by the aid of the laws
hitherto discovered in regard to the transition of sounds from one language to
another, attempts have been made to restore this original tongue which many
thousand years ago ceased to vibrate. These attempts cannot, of course, in
any sense claim to reproduce an image corresponding to the lost original as
regards syntax and inflections. Such a task would be as impossible as to
reconstruct, on the basis of all the now spoken languages derived from the
Latin, the dialect used in Latium. The purpose is simply to present as faithful
an idea of the ancient tongue as the existing means permit.
In the most ancient historical times Aryan-speaking people were found only in
Asia and Europe. In seeking for the centm and the earliest conquests of the
ancient Aryan language, th scholar may therefore keep within the limits of
these two con tinents, and in Asia he may leave all the eastern and the most c
the southern portion out of consideration, since these extensiv regions have
from prehistoric times been inhabited by Mongolian and allied tribes, and may
for the present be regarded as the cradle of these races. It may not be
necessary to remind the reader that the question of the original home of the
ancient Aryan tongue is not the same as the question in regard to the cradle
of the Caucasian race. The white race may have existed, and may have been
spread over a considerable portion of the old world, before a language
possessing the peculiarities belonging to the Aryan bad appeared; and it is a
known fact that southern portions of Europe, such as the Greek and Italian
peninsulas, were inhabited by white people before they were conquered by
Aryans.
3.
THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE ASIATIC ORIGIN OF THE
ARYANS.
When the question of the original home of the Aryan language and race was
first presented, there were no conflicting opinions on the main subject.* All
who took any interest in the problem referred to Asia as the cradle of the
Aryans. Asia had always been regarded as the cradle of the human race. In
primeval time, the yellow Mongolian, the black African, the American redskin,
and the fair European had there tented side by side. From some common
centre in Asia they had spread over the whole surface of the inhabited earth.
Traditions found in the literatures of various European peoples in regard to an
immigration from the East supported this view. The progenitors of the Romans
were said to have come from Troy. The fathers of the Teutons were reported
to have immigrated from Asia, led by Odin. There was also the original home
of the domestic animals and of the cultivated plants. And when the startling
discovery was made that the sacred books of the Iranians and Hindoos were
written in languages related to
*Compare O. Schrader, Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte (1883).
the culture languages of Europe, when these linguistic monuments betrayed a
wealth of inflections in comparison with which those of the classical languages
turned pale, and when they seemed to have the stamp of an antiquity by the
side of which the European dialects seemed like children, then what could be
more natural than the following conclusion: The original form has been
preserved in the original home; the farther the streams of emigration got away
from this home, the more they lost on the way of their language and of their
inherited view of the world that is, of their mythology, which among the
Hindoos seemed so original and simple as if it had been watered by the dews
of life’s dawn.
To begin with, there was no doubt that the original tongue itself, the mother of
all the other Aryan languages, had already been found when Zend or Sanscrit
was discovered. Fr. v. Schlegel, in his work published in 1808, on the
Language and Wisdom of the Hindoos, regarded Sanscrit as the mother of the
Aryan family of languages, and India as the original honie of the Aryan family
of peoples. Thence, it was claimed, colonies were sent out in prehistoric ages
to other parts of Asia and to Europe; nay, even missionaries went forth to
spread the language and religion of the mother-country among other peoples.
Schlegel’s compatriot Link looked upon Zend as the oldest language and
mother of Sanscrit, and the latter he regarded as the mother of the rest; and
as the Zend, in his opinion, was spoken in Media and surrounding countries, it
followed that the highlands of Media, Armenia, and Georgia were the original
home of the Aryans, a view which prevailed among the leading scholars of the
age, such as Anquetil-Duperron, Herder, arid Heeren, and found a place in
the historical text-books used in the schools from 1820 to 1840.
Since Bopp published his epoch-making Comparative Grammar the illusion
that the Aryan mother-tongue had been discovered had, of course, gradually
to give place to the conviction that all the Aryan languages, Zend and Sanscrit
included, were relations of equal birth. This also affected the theory that the
Persians or Hindoos were the original people, and that the cradle of our race
was to be sought in their homes.
On the other hand, the Hindooic writings were found to contain evidence that,
during the centuries in which the most of the Rigveda songs were produced,
the Hindooic Aryans were possess only of Kabulistan and Pendschab,
whence, either expelling subjugating an older black population, they had
advanced towa the Ganges. Their social condition was still semi-nomadic, at
least in the sense that their chief property consisted in herds, and the feuds
between the clans had for their object the plundering of su possessions from
each other. Both these facts indicated that the Aryans were immigrants to the
Indian peninsula, but not the aborigines, wherefore their original home must
be sought elsewhere The strong resemblance found between Zend and
Sanscrit, and whi makes these dialects a separate subdivision in the Ayran
family languages, must now, since we have learned to regard them sistertongues, be interpreted as a proof that the Zend people Iranians and the
Sanscrit people or Hindoos were in ancient times one people with a common
country, and that this union must have continued to exist long after the
European Aryans were parted from them and had migrated westwards. When,
then, the question wa asked where this Indo-Iranian cradle was situated, the
answer wa thought to be found in a chapter of Avesta, to which the German
scholar Rhode had called attention already in 1820. To him seemed to refer to
a migration from a more northerly and colder country. The passage speaks of
sixteen countries created by th fountain of light and goodness, Ormuzd (Ahura
Mazda), and o sixteen plagues produced by the fountain of evil, Ahrimnan
(Angra Mainyn), to destroy the work of Ormuzd. The first country wa a
paradise, but Ahriman ruined it with cold and frost, so that it had ten months of
winter and only two of summer. The second country, in the name of which
Sughda Sogdiana was recognised was rendered uninhabitable by Ahriman by
a pest which destroyed the domestic animals. Ahriman made the third (which,
by the way, was recognised as Merv) impossible as a dwelling on account of
never-ceasing wars and plunderings. In this manner thirteen other countries
with partly recognisable names are enumerated as created by Ormuzd, and
thirteen other plagues produced by Ahriman. Rhode’s view, that these sixteen
regions were stations in the migration of the Indo-Iranian people from their
original country became universally adopted, and it was thought that the track
of the migration could now be followed back through Persis, Baktria, and
Sogdiana, up to the first region created by Ormuzd, which, accordingly, must
have been situated in the interior highlands of Asia, around the sources of the
Jaxartes and Oxus. The reason for the emigration hence was found in the
statement that, although Ormuzd had made this country an agreeable abode,
Ahriman had destroyed it with frost and snow. In other words, this part of Asia
was supposed to have had originally a warmer temperature, which suddenly
or gradually became lower, wherefore the inhabitants found it necessary to
seek new homes in the West and South.
The view that the sources of Oxus and Jaxartes are the original home of the
Aryans is even now the prevailing one, or at least the one most widely
accepted, and since the day of Rhode it has been supported and developed
by several distinguished scholars. Then Julius v. Klaproth pointed out, already
in 1830, that, among the many names of various kinds of trees found in India,
there is a single one which they have in common with other Aryan peoples,
and this is the name of the birch. India has many kinds of trees that do not
grow in Central Asia, but the birch is found both at the sources of the Oxus
and Jaxartes, and on the southern spurs of the Himalaya mountains. If the
Aryan Hindoos immigrated from the highlands of Central Asia to the regions
through which the Indus and Ganges seek their way to the sea, then it is
natural, that when they found on their way new unknown kinds of trees, then
they gave to these new names, but when they discovered a tree with which
they had long been acquainted, then they would apply the old familiar name to
it. Mr. Lassen, the great scholar of Hindooic antiquities, gave new reasons for
the theory that the Aryan Hindoos were immigrants, who tbrough the western
pass of Hindukush and through Kabulistan came to Pendschab, and thence
slowly occupied the Indian peninsula. That their original home, as well as that
of their Iranian kinsmen, was that part of the highlands of Central Asia pointed
out by Rhode, he found corroborated by the circumstance, that there are to be
found there, even at the present time, remnants of a people, the so-called
Tadchiks, who speak Iranian dialects. According to Lassen, these were to be
regarded as direct descendants of the original Aryan people, who remained in
the original home, while other parts of the same people migrated to Baktria or
Persia and became Iranians, or migrated down to Pendschab and became
Hindoos, or migrated to Europe and became Celts, Greco-Italians, Teutons,
and Slays. Jacob Grimm, whose name will always be mentioned with honour
as the great pathfinder in the field of Teutonic antiquities, was of the same
opinion; and that whole school of scientists who were influenced by
romanticism and by the philosophy of Schelling made haste to add to the real
support sought for the theory in ethnological and philological facts, a support
from the laws of natural analogy and from poetry. A mountain range, so it was
said, is the natural divider of waters. From its fountains the streams flow in
different directions and irrigate the plains. In the same manner the highlands
of Central Asia were the divider of Aryan folk-streams, which through Baktria
sought their way to the plains of Persia, through the mountain passes of
Hindukush to India, through the lands north of the Caspian Sea to the
extensive plains of modern Russia, and so on to the more inviting regions of
Western Europe. The sun rises in the east, ex oriente lux; the-highly gifted
race, which was to found the European nations, has, under the guidance of
Providence, like the sun, wended its way from east to west. In taking a grand
view of the subject, a mystic harmony was found to exist between the
apparent course of the sun and the real migrations of people. The minds of
the people dwelling in Central and Eastern Asia seemed to be imbued with a
strange instinctive yearning. The Aryan folk-streams, which in prehistoric
times deluged Europe, were in this respect the forerunners of the hordes of
Huns which poured in from Asia, and which in the fourth century gave the
impetus to the Teutonic migrations and of the Mongolian hordes which in the
thirteenth century invaded our continent. The Europeans themselves are led
by this same instinct to follow the course of the sun: they flow in gre at
numbers to America, and these folk-billows break against each other on the
coasts of the Pacific Ocean. "At the breast of our Asiatic mother," thus
exclaimed, in harmony with the romantic school, a scholar with no mean
linguistic attainments "at the breast of our Asiatic mother, the Aryan people of
Europe have rested; around her as their mother they have played as children.
There or nowhere is the playground; there or nowhere is the gymnasium of
the first physical and intellectual efforts on the part of the Aryan race."
The theory that the cradle of the Aryan race stood in Central Asia near the
sources of the Indus and Jaxartes had hardly been contradicted in 1850, and
seemed to be secured for the future by the great number of distinguished and
brilliant names which had given their adhesion to it. The need was now felt of
clearing up the order and details of these emigrations. All the light to be
thrown on this subject had to come from philology and from the geography of
plants and animals. The first author who, in this manner and with the means
indicated, attempted to furnish proofs in detail that the ancient Aryan land was
situated around the Onus river was Adolphe Pictet. There, he claimed, the
Aryan language had been formed out of older non-Aryan dialects. There the
Aryan race, on account of its spreading over Baktria and neighbouring
regions, had divided itself into branches of various dialects, which there, in a
limited territory, held the same geographical relations to each other as they
hold to each other at the present time in another and immuensely larger
territory. In the East lived the nomadic branch which later settled in India in the
East, too, but farther north, that branch herded their flocks, which afterwards
became the Iranian and took possession of Persia. West of the ancestors of
the Aryan Hindoos dwelt the branch which later appears as the Greco-Italians,
and north of the latter the common progenitors of Teutons and Slays had their
home. In the extreme West dwelt the Celts, and they were also the earliest
emigrants to the West. Behind them marched the ancestors of the Teutons
and Slays by a more northern route to Europe. The last in this procession to
Europe were the ancestors of the Greco-Italians, and for this reason their
languages have preserved more resemblance to those of the Indo-Iranians
who migrated into Southern Asia than those of the other European Aryans .
For this view Pictet gives a number of reasons. According to him, the
vocabulary common to more or less of the Aryan branches preserves names
of minerals, plants, and animals which are found in those latitudes, and in
those parts of Asia which he calls the original Aryan country.
The German linguist Schleicher has to some extent discussed the same
problem as Pictet in a series of works published in the fifties and sixties. The
same has been done by the famous GermanEnglish scientist Max Müller.
Sehleicher’s theory, briefly stated, is
the following. The Aryan race originated in Central Asia. There, in the most
ancient Aryan country, the original Aryan tongue was spoken for many
generations. The people multiplied and enlarged their territory, and in various
parts of the country t.hey occupied, the language assumed various forms, so
that there were developed at least two different languages before the great
migrations began. As the chief cause of the emigrations, Schleicher regards
the fact that the primitive agriculture practised by the Aryans, including the
burning of the forests, impoverished the soil and had a bad effect on the
climate. The principles he laid down and tried to vindicate were: (1) The
farther East an Aryan people dwells, the more it has preserved of the
peculiarities of the original Aryan tongue. (2) The farther West an Aryanderived tongue and daughter people are found, the earlier this language was
separated from the mother-tongue, and the earlier this people became
separated from the original stock. Max Müller holds the common view in
regard to the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. The main difference between him
and Schleicher is that Müller assumes that the Aryan tongue originally divided
itself into an Asiatic and an European branch. He accordingly believes that all
the Aryan-European tongues amid all the Aryan-European peoples have
developed from the same European branch, while Schleicher assumes that in
the beginning the division produced a Teutonic and LettoSlavic branch on the
one hand, and an Indo-Iranian, Greco-Italic, and Celtic on the other.
This view of the origin of the Aryans bad scarcely met with any opposition
when we entered the second half of our century. We might add that it had
almost ceased to be questioned. The theory that the Aryans were cradled in
Asia seemed to be established as an historical fact, supported by a mass of
ethnographical, linguistic, and historical arguments, and vindicated by a host
of brilliant scientific names.
4.
THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN ORIGIN OF THE
ARYANS.
In the year 1854 was heard for the first time a voice of doubt. The sceptic was
an English ethnologist, by name Latham, who had spent many years in
Russia studying the natives of that country. Latham was unwilling to admit that
a single one of the many reasons given for the Asiatic origin of our family of
languages was conclusive, or that the accumulative weight of all the reasons
given amounted to real evidence. He urged that they who at the outset had
treated this question had lost sight of the rules of logic, and that in explaining
a fact it is a mistake to assume too many premises. The great fact which
presents itself and which is to be explained is this: There are Aryans in
Europe and there are Aryans in Asia. The major part of Aryans are in Europe,
and here the original language has split itself into the greatest number of
idioms. From the main Aryan trunk in Europe only two branches extend into
Asia. The northern branch is a new creation, consisting of Russian
colonisation from Europe ; the southern branch, that is, the Iranian-Hindooic,
is, on the other hand, prehistoric, but was still growing in the dawn of history,
and the branch was then growing from West to East, from Indus toward
Ganges. When historical facts to the contrary are wanting, then the root of a
great family of languages should naturally be looked for in the ground which
supports the trunk and is shaded by the crown, and not underneath the ends
of the farthest-reaching branches. The mass of Mongolians dwell in Eastern
Asia, and for this very reason Asia is accepted as the original home of the
Mongolian race. The great mass of Aryans live in Europe, and have lived
there as far back as history sheds a ray of light. Why, then, not apply to the
Aryans and to Europe the same conclusions as hold good in the case of the
Mongolians and Asia? And why not apply to ethnology the same principles as
are admitted unchallenged in regard to the geography of plants and animals?
Do we not in botany and zoology seek the original home and centre of a
species where it shows the greatest vitality, the greatest power of multiplying
and producing varieties? These questions, asked by Latham, remained for
some time unanswered, but finally they led to a more careful examination of
the soundness of the reasons given for the Asiatic hypothesis.
The gist of Latham’s protest is, that the question was decided in favour of Asia
without an examination of the other possibility, and that in such an
examination, if it were undertaken, it would appear at the very outset that the
other possibility—that is, the European origin of the Aryans—is more
plausible, at least from the standpoint of methodology.
This objection on the part of an English scholar did not even produce an echo
for many years, and it seemed to be looked upon simply as a manifestation of
that fondness for eccentricity which we are wont to ascribe to his nationality.
He repeated his protest in 1862, but it still took five years before it appeared to
have made any impression. In 1867, the celebrated linguist Whitney came
out, not to defend Latham’s theory that Europe is the cradle of the Aryan race,
but simply to clear away the widely spread error that the science of languages
had demonstrated the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. As already indicated, it was
especially Adolphe Pictet who had given the first impetus to this illusion in his
great work Origines indo-européennes. Already, before Whitney, the Germans
Weber and Kuhn had, without attacking the Asiatic hypothesis, shown that the
most of Pictet’s arguments failed to prove that for which they were intended.
Whitney now came and refuted them all without exception, and at the same
time he attacked the assumption made by Rhode, and until that time
universally accepted, that a record of an Aryan emigration from the highlands
of Central Asia was to be found in that chapter of Avesta which speaks of the
sixteen lands created by Ormuzd for the good of man, but which Ahriman
destroyed by sixteen different plagues. Avesta does not with a single word
indicate that the first of these lands which Ahriman destroyed with snow and
frost is to be regarded as the original home of the Iranians, or that they ever in
the past emigrated from any of them. The assumption that a migration record
of historical value conceals itself within tbis geographical mythological sketch
is a mere conjecture, and yet it was made the very basis of the hypothesis so
confidently built upon for years about Central Asia as the starting-point of the
Aryans.
The following year, 1868, a prominent German linguist—Mr. Benfey—came
forward and definitely took Latham’s side. He remarked at the outset that
hitherto geological investigations had found the oldest traces of human
existence in the soil of Europe, and that, so long as this is the case, there is
no scientific fact which can admit the assumption that the present European
stock has immigrated from Asia after the quaternary period. The mothertongues of many of the dialects which from time immemona1 have been
spoken in Europe may just as well have originated on this continent as the
mother-tongues of the Mongolian dialects now spoken in Eastern Asia have
originated where the descendants now dwell. That the Aryan mother-tongue
originated in Europe, not in Asia, Benfey found probably on the following
grounds: In Asia, lions are found even at the present time as far to the north
as ancient Assyria, and the tigers make depredations over the highlands of
Western Iran, even to the coasts of the Caspian Sea. These great beasts of
prey are known and named even among Asiatic people who dwell north of
their habitats. If, therefore, the ancient Aryans had lived in a country visited by
these animals, or if they had been their neighbours, they certainly would have
had names for them; but we find that the Aryan Hindoos call the lion by a word
not formed from an Aryan root, and that the Aryan Greeks borrowed the word
lion (       ) from a Semitic language. (There is, however, division of
opinion on this point.) Moreover, the Aryan languages have borrowed the
word camel, by which the chief beast of burden in Asia is called. The home of
this animal is Baktria, or precisely that part of Central Asia in the vicinity of
which an effort has been made to locate the cradle of the Aryan tongue.
Benfey thinks the ancient Aryan country has been situated in Europe, north of
the Black Sea, between the mouth of the Danube and the Caspian Sea.
Since the presentation of this argument, several defenders of the European
hypothesis have come forward, among them Geiger, Cuno, Friedr. Müller,
Spiegel, Pösche, and more recently Schrader and Penka. Schrader’s work,
Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichie, contains an excellent general review of
the history of the question, original contributions to its solution, and a critical
but cautious opinion in regard to its present position. In France, too, the
European hypothesis has found many adherents. Geiger found, indeed, that
the cradle of the Aryan race was to be looked for much farther to the west
than Benfey and others had supposed. His hypothesis, based on the evidence
furnished by the geography of plants, places the ancient Aryan land in
Germany. The cautious Schrader, who dislikes to deal with conjectures,
regards the question as undecided, but he weighs the arguments presented
by the various sides, and reaches the conclusion that those in favour of the
European origin of the Aryans are the stronger, but that they are not
conclusive.
Schrader himself, through his linguistic and historical investigations, has been
led to believe that the Aryans, while they still were one people, belonged to
the stone age, and had not yet become acquainted with the use of metals.
5.
THE ARYAN LAND OF EUROPE.
On one point—and that is for our purpose the most important one — the
advocates of both hypotheses have approached each other. The leaders of
the defenders of the Asiatic hypothesis have ceased to regard Asia as the
cradle of all the dialects into which the ancient Aryan tongue has been
divided. While they cling to the theory that time Aryan inhabitants of Europe
have immigrated from Asia, they have well — nigh entirely ceased to claim
that these peoples, already before their departure from their Eastern home,
were so distinctly divided linguistically that it was necessary to imagine certain
branches of the race speaking Celtic, others Teutonic, others, again, GrecoItalian, even before they came to Europe. The prevailing opinion among the
advocates of the Asiatic hypothesis now doubtless is, that the Aryans who
immigrated to Europe formed one homogeneous mass, which gradually on
our continent divided itself definitely into Celts, Teutons, Slays, and GrecoItalians. The adherents of both hypotheses have thus been able to agree that
there has been a European-Aryan country. And the question as to where it
was located is of the most vital importance, as it is closely connected with the
question of the original home of the Teutons, since the ancestors of the
Teutons must have inhabited this ancient European-Aryan country.
Philology has attempted to answer the former question by comparing all the
words of all the Aryan - European languages. The attempt has many
obstacles to overcome ; for, as Schrader has remarked, the ancient words
which to-day are common to all or several of these languages are presumably
a mere remnant of the ancient European-Aryan vocabulary. Nevertheless, it is
possible to arrive at important results in this manner, if we draw conclusions
from the words that remain, but take care not to draw conclusions from what is
wanting. The view gained in this manner is, briefly stated, as follows
The Aryan country of Europe has been situated in latitudes where snow and
ice are common phenomena. The people who have emigrated thence to more
southern climes have not forgotten either the one or the other name of those
phenomena. To a comparatively northern latitude points also the
circumstance that the ancient European Aryans recognised only three
seasons—winter, spring, and summer. This division of the year continued
among the Teutons even in the days of Tacitus. For autumn they had no
name.
Many words for mountains, valleys, streams, amid brooks common to all the
languages show that the European-Aryan land was not wanting in elevations,
rocks, and flowing waters. Nor has it been a treeless plain. This is proven by
many names of trees. The trees are fir, birch, willow, elm, elder, hazel, and a
beech called bhaga, which means a tree with eatable fruit. From this word
bhaga is derived the Greek    ó the Latin fagus, the German Buche, and
the Swedish bok. But it is a remarkable fact that the Greeks did not call the
beech but the oak    ó , while the Romans called the beech fagus. From
this we conclude that the European Aryans applied time word bhaga both to
the beech and the oak, since both bear similar fruit; but in some parts of the
country the name was particularly applied to the beech, in others to the oak.
The beech is a species of tree which gradually approaches the north. On the
European continent it is not found east of a line drawn from Königsberg
across Poland and Podolia to Crimea. This leads to the conclusion that the
Aryan country of Europe must to a great extent have been situated west of
this line, and that the regions inhabited by the ancestors of the Romans, and
north of them b the progenitors of the Teutons, must be looked for west of this
botanical line, and between the Alps and the North Sea.
Linguistic comparisons also show that the Aryan territory of Europe was
situated near an ocean or large body of water. Scandinavians, Germans,
Celts, and Romans have preserved a common name for the ocean—the Old
Norse mar, the Old High German mari the Latin mare. The names of certain
sea-animals are also common to various Aryan languages. The Swedish
hummer (lobster) corresponds to the Greek Kauá   , and the Swedish säl
(seal) to the Greek        .
In the Aryan country of Europe there were domestic animals— cows, sheep,
and goats. The horse was also known, hut it is uncertain whether it was used
for riding or driving, or simply valued on account of its flesh and milk. On the
other hand, the ass was not known, its domain being particularly the plains of
Central Asia. The bear, wolf, otter, and beaver certainly belonged to the fauna
of Aryan Europe. The European Aryans must have cultivated at least one,
perhaps two kinds of grain; also flax, the name of which is preserved in the
Greek  í   (linen), the Latin linum, and in other languages.
The Aryans knew the art of brewing mead from honey. That they also
understood the art of drinking it even to excess may be taken for granted. This
drink was dear to the hearts of the ancient Aryans, and its name has been
faithfully preserved both by the tribes that settled near the Ganges, and by
those who emigrated to Great Britain. The Brahmin by the Ganges still knows
this beverage as madhu, the Welchman has known it as meda, the Lithuanian
as mnedus; and when the Greek Aryans came to Southern Europe and
became acquainted with wine, they gave it the name of mead (    ).
It is not probable that the European Aryans knew bronze or iron, or, if they did
know any of the metals, had any large quantity or made any daily use of them,
so long as they linguistically formed one homogeneous body, and lived in that
part of Europe which we here call the Aryan domain. The only common name
for metal is that which we find in the Latin aes (copper), in the Gothic aiz, and
in the Hindooic áyas. As is known, the Latin aes, like the Gothic aiz, means
both copper and bronze. That the word originally meant copper, and
afterwards came to signify bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, seems
to be a matter of course, and that it was applied only to copper and not to
bronze among the ancient Aryans seems clear not only because a common
name for tin is wanting, but also for the far better and remarkable reason
particularly pointed out by Schrader, that all the Aryan European languages,
even those which are nearest akin to each other and are each other’s
neighbours, lack a common word for the tools of a smith and the inventory of
a forge, and also for the various kinds of weapons of defence and attack. Most
of all does it astonish us, that in respect to weapons the dissimilarity of names
is so complete in the Greek and Roman tongues. Despite this fact, the ancient
Aryans have certainly used various kinds of weapons—the club, the hammer,
the axe, the knife, the spear, and the crossbow. All these weapons are of such
a character that they could be made of stone, wood, and horn. Things more
easily change names when the older materials of which they were made give
place to new, hitherto unknown materials. It is, therefore, probable that the
European Aryans were in the stone age, and at best were acquainted with
copper before and during the period when their language was divided into
several dialects.
Where, then, on our continent was the home of this Aryan European people in
the stone age? Southern Europe, with its peninsulas extending into the
Mediterranean, must doubtless have been outside of the boundaries of the
Aryan land of Europe. The Greek Aryans have immigrated to Hellas, and the
Italian Aryans are immigrants to the Italian peninsula. Spain has even within
historical times been inhabited by Iberians and Basques, and Basques dwell
there at present. If, as the linguistic monuments seem to prove, the European
Aryans lived near an ocean, this cannot have been the Mediterranean Sea.
There remain the Black and Caspian Sea on the one hand, the Baltic and the
North Sea on the other. But if, as the linguistic monuments likewise seem to
prove, the European Aryans for a great part, at least, lived west of a botanical
hue indicated by the beech in a country producing fir, oak, elm, and elder,
then they could not have been limited to the treeless plains which extend
along the Black Sea from the mouth of the Danube, through Dobrudscha,
Bessarabia, and Cherson, past the Crimea. Students of early Greek history do
not any longer assume that the Hellenic immigrants found their way through
these countries to Greece, but that they came from the north-west and
followed the Adriatic down to Epirus; in other words, they came the same way
as the Visigoths under Alarik, and the Eastgoths under Theodoric in later
times. Even the Latin tribes came from the north. The migrations of the Celts,
so far as history sheds any light on the subject, were from the north and west
toward the south and east. The movements of the Teutonic races were from
north to south, and they migrated both eastward and westward. Both
prehistoric and historic facts thus tend to establish the theory that the Aryan
domain of Europe, within undefinable limits, comprised the central and north
part of Europe; and as one or more seas were known to these Aryans, we
cannot exclude from the limits of this knowledge the ocean penetrating the
north of Europe from the west.
On account of their undeveloped agriculture, which compelled them to depend
chiefly on cattle for their support, the European Aryans must have occupied
an extensive territory. Of the mutual position and of the movemnents of the
various tribes within this territory nothing can be stated, except that sooner or
later, but already away back in prehistoric times, they must have occupied
precisely the position in which we find them at the dawn of history and which
they now hold. The Aryan tribes which first entered Gaul must have lived west
of those tribes which became the progenitors of the Teutons, and the latter
must have lived west of those who spread an Aryan language over Russia.
South of this line, but still in Central Europe, there must have dwelt another
body of Aryans, the ancestors of the Greeks and Romans, the latter west of
the former. Farthest to the north of all these tribes must have dwelt those
people who afterwards produced the Teutonic tongue.
B. ANCIENT TEUTONDOM (GERMANIEN).
6.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF ANCIENT TEUTONDOM. THE
STONE AGE OF PREHISTORIC TEUTONDOM.
The northern position of the ancient Teutons necessarily had the effect that
they, better than all other Aryan people, preserved their original race-type, as
they were less exposed to mixing with non-Aryan elements. In the south,
west, and east, they had kinsmen, separating them from non-Aryan races. To
the north, on the other hand, lay a territory which, by its very nature, could be
but sparsely populated, if it was inhabited at all, before it was occupied by the
fathers of the Teutons. The Teutonic type, which doubtless also was the
Aryan in general before much spreading and consequent mixing with other
races had taken place, has, as already indicated, been described in the
following manner: Tall, white skin, blue eyes, fair hair. Anthropological science
has given them one more mark—they are dolicocephalous, that is, having
skulls whose anterioposterior diameter, or that from the frontal to the occipital
bone, exceeds the transverse diameter. This type appears most pure in the
modern Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and to some extent the Dutch; in the
inhabitants of those parts of Great Britain that are most densely settled by
Saxon and Scandinavian emigrants; and in the people of certain parts of
North Germany. Welcker’s craniological measurements give the following
figures for the breadth and length of Teutonic skulls:
Swedes and Hollanders....75—71
Icelanders and Danes....76—71
Englishmen....76—73
Holsteinians....77—71
Hanoverians, (The vicinity of Jena, Bonn, and Cologne)....77—72
Hessians....79—72
Swabians....79—73
Bavarians....80—74
Thus the dolicocephalous form passes in Middle and Southern Germany into
the brachycephalous. The investigations made at the suggestion of Virchow in
Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria, in regard to blonde and brunette
types, are of great interest. An examination of more than nine million
individuals showed the following result:
Germany 31.80% blonde, 14.05% brunette, 54.15% mixed.
Austria 19.79% blonde, 23.17 % brunette, 57.04 % mixed.
Switzerland 11.10% blonde, 25.70 % brunette, 61.40% mixed.
Thus the blonde type has by far a greater number of representatives in
Germany than in the southern part of Central Europe, though the latter has
German-speaking inhabitants. In Germany itself the blonde type decreases
and the brunette increases from north to south, while at the same time the
dolicocephalous gives place to the brachycephalous. Southern Germany has
25 % of brunettes, North Germany only 7%
If we now, following the strict rules of methodology which Latham insists on,
bear in mind that the cradle of a race- or language-type should, if there are no
definite historical facts to the contrary, especially be looked for where this type
is most abundant and least changed, then there is no doubt that the part of
Aryan Europe which the ancestors of the Teutons inhabited when they
developed the Aryan tongue into the Teutonic must have included the coast of
the Baltic and the North Sea. This theory is certainly not contradicted, but, on
the other hand, supported by the facts so far as we have any knowledge of
them. Roman history supplies evidence that the same parts of Europe in
which the Teutonic type predominates at the present time were Teutonic
already at the beginning of our era, and that then already the Scandinavian
peninsula was inhabited by a North Teutonic people, which, among their
kinsmen on the Continent, were celebrated for their wealth in ships and
warriors. Centuries must have passed ere the Teutonic colonisation of the
peninsula could have developed into so much strength—centuries during
which, judging from all indications, the transition from the bronze to the iron
age in Scandinavia must have taken place. The painstaking investigations of
Montelius, conducted on the principle of methodology, have led him to the
conclusion that Scandinavia and North Germany formed during the bronze
age one common domain of culture in regard to weapons and implements.
The manner in which the other domains of culture group themselves in
Europe leaves no other place for the Teutonic race than Scandinavia and
North Germany, and possibly Austria-Hungary, which the Teutonic domain
resembles most. Back of the bronze age lies the stone age. The
examinations, by v. Düben, Gustaf Retzius, and Virchow, of skeletons found
in northern graves from the stone age prove the existence at that time of a
race in the North which, so far as the characteristics of the skulls are
concerned, cannot be distinguished from the race now dwelling there. Here it
is necessary to take into consideration the results of probability reached by
comparative philology, showing that the European Aryans were still in the
stone age when they divided themselves into Celts, Teutons, &c., and
occupied separate territories, and the fact that the Teutons, so far back as
conclusions may be drawn from historical knowledge, have occupied a more
northern domain than their kinsmen. Thus all tends to show that when the
Scandinavian peninsula was first settled by Aryans—doubtless coming from
the South by way of Denmark—these Aryans belonged to the same race,
which, later in history, appear with a Teutonic physiognomy and with Teutonic
speech, and that their immigration to and occupation of the southern parts of
the peninsula took place in the time of the Aryan stone age.
For the history of civilisation, and particularly for mythology, these results are
important. It is a problem to be solved by comparative mythology what
elements in the various groups of Aryan myths may be the original common
property of the race while the race was yet undivided. The conclusions
reached gain in trustworthiness the further the Aryan tribes, whose myths are
compared, are separated from each other geographically. If, for instance, the
Teutonic mythology on the one hand and the Asiatic Aryan (Avesta and
Rigveda) on the other are made the subject of comparative study, and if
groups of myths are found which are identical not only in their general
character and in many details, but also in the grouping of the details and the
epic connection of the myths, then the probability that they belong to an age
when the ancestors of the Teutons and those of the Asiatic Aryans dwelt
together is greater, in the same proportion as the probability of an intimate
and detailed exchange of ideas after the separation grows less between these
tribes on account of the geographical distance. With all the certainty which it is
possible for research to arrive at in this field, we may assume that these
common groups of myths—at least the centres around which they revolveoriginated at a time when the Aryans still formed, so to speak, a geographical
and linguistic unity—in all probability at a time which lies far back in a common
Aryan stone age. The discovery of groups of myths of this sort thus sheds
light on beliefs and ideas that existed in the minds of our ancestors in an age
of which we have no information save that which we get from the study of the
finds. The latter, when investigated by painstaking and penetrating
archæological scholars, certainly give us highly instructive information in other
directions. In this manner it becomes possible to distinguish between older
and younger elements of Teutonic mythology, and to secure a basis for
studying its development through centuries which have left us no literary
monuments.
II.
A. MEDIÆAL MIGRATION SAGAS. THE LEARNED SAGA IN REGARD TO
THE EMIGRATION FROM TROY ASGARD.
7.
THE SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA.
In the preceding pages we have given the reasons which make it appear
proper to assume that ancient Teutondom, within certain indefinable limits,
included the coasts of the Baltic and the North Sea, that the Scandinavian
countries constituted a part of this ancient Teutondom, and that they have
been peopled by Teutons since the days of the stone age.
The subject which I am now about to discuss requires an investigation in
reference to what the Teutons themselves believed, in regard to this question,
in the earliest times of which we have knowledge. Did they look upon
themselves as aborigines or as immigrants in Teutondom? For the mythology,
the answer to this question is of great weight. For pragmatic history, on the
other hand, the answer is of little importance, for whatever they believed gives
no reliable basis for conclusions in regard to historical facts. If they regarded
themselves as aborigines, this does not hinder their having immigrated in
prehistoric times, though their traditions have ceased to speak of it. If they
regarded themselves as immigrants, then it does not follow that the traditions,
in regard to the immigration, contain any historical kernel. Of the former we
have an example in the case of the Brahmins and the higher castes in India:
their orthodoxy requires them to regard themselves as aborigines of the
country in which they live, although there is evidence that they are immigrants.
Of the latter the Swedes are an example: the people here have been taught to
believe that a greater or less portion of the inhabitants of Sweden are
descended from immigrants who, led by Odin, are supposed to have come
here about one hundred years before the birth of Christ, and that this
immigration, whether it brought many or few people, was of the most decisive
influence on the culture of the country, so that Swedish history might properly
begin with the moment when Odin planted his feet on Swedish soil.
The more accessible sources of the traditions in regard to Odin’s immigration
to Scandinavia are found in the Icelandic works, Heimskringla and the Prose
Edda. Both sources are from the same time, that is, the thirteenth century,
and are separated by more than two hundred years from the heathen age in
Iceland.
We will first consider Heimskringla’s story. A river, by name Tanakvisl, or
Vanakvisl, empties into the Black Sea. This river separates Asia from Europe.
East of Tanakvisl, that is to say, then in Asia, is a country formerly called
Asaland or Asaheim, and the chief citadel or town in that country was called
Asgard. It was a great city of sacrifices, and there dwelt a chief who was
known by the namne Odin. Under him ruled twelve men who were high-priests
and judges. Odin was a great chieftain and conqueror, and so victorious was
he, that his men believed that victory was wholly inseparable from him. If he
laid his blessing hand on anybody’s head, success was sure to attend him.
Even if he was absent, if called upon in distress or danger, his very name
seemed to give comfort. He frequently went far away, and often remained
absent half-a-year at a time. His kingdom was then ruled by his brothers Vile
and Ve. Once he was absent so long that the Asas believed that he would
never return. Then his brothers married his wife Frigg. Finally he returned,
however, and took Frigg back again.
The Asas had a people as their neighbours called the Vans. Odin made war
on the Vans, but they defended themselves bravely. When both parties had
been victorious and suffered defeat, they grew weary of warring, made peace,
and exchanged hostages. The Vans sent their best son Njord and his son
Frey, and also Kvaser, as hostages to the Asas; and the latter gave in
exchange Honer and Mimir. Odin gave Njord and Frey the dignity of priests.
Frey’s sister, too, Freyja, was made a priestess. The Vans treated the
hostages they had received with similar consideration, and created loner a
chief and judge. But they soon seemed to discover that Honer was a stupid
fellow. They considered themselves cheated in the exchange, and, being
angry on this account, they cut off the head, not of Honer, but of his wise
brother Mimir, and sent it to Odin. He embalmed the head, sang magic songs
over it, so that it could talk to him and tell him many strange things.
Asaland, where Odin ruled, is separated by a great mountain range from
Tyrkland, by which Heimskringla means Asia Minor, of which the celebrated
Troy was supposed to have been the capital. In Tyrkland, Odin also had great
possessions. But at that time the Romans invaded and subjugated all lands,
and many rulers fled on that account from their kingdoms. And Odin, being
wise and versed in the magic art, and knowing, therefore, that his
descendants were to people the northern part of the world, he left his kingdom
to his brothers Vile and Ve, and migrated with many followers to Gardarike,
Russia. Njord, Frey, and Freyja, and the other priests who had ruled under
him in Asgard, accompanied him, and sons of his were also with him. From
Gardarike he proceeded to Saxland, conquered vast countries, and made his
sons rulers over them. From Saxland he went to Funen, and settled there.
Seeland did not then exist. Odin sent the maid Gefion north across the water
to investigate what country was situated there. At that time ruled in Svithiod a
chief by name Gylfe. He gave Gefion a ploughland,* and, by the help of four
giants changed into oxen, Gefion cut out with the plough, and dragged into
the sea near Funen that island which is now called Seeland. Where the land
was ploughed away there is now a lake called Logrin. Skjold, Odin’s son, got
this land, and married Gefion. And when Gefion informed Odin that Gylfe
possessed a good land, Odin went thither, and Gylfe, being unable to make
resistance, though he too was a wise man skilled in witchcraft and sorcery, a
peaceful compact was made, according to which Odin acquired a vast territory
around Logrin; and in Sigtuna he established a great temple, where sacrifices
henceforth were offered according to the custom of the Asas. To his priests he
gave dwellings—Noatun to Njord, Upsala to Frey, Himminbjorg to Heimdal,
Thrudvang to Thor, Breidablik to Balder, &c. Many new sports came to the
North with Odin, and he and the Asas taught them to the people. Among other
things, he taught them poetry and runes. Odin himself always talked in
measured rhymes. Besides, he was a most excellent sorcerer. He could
change shape, make his foes in a conflict blind and deaf; he was a wizard,
and could wake the dead. He owned the ship Skidbladner, which could be
folded as a napkin. He had two ravens, which he had taught to speak, and
they brought him tidings from all lands. He knew where all treasures were hid
in the earth, and could call them
*As much land as can be ploughed in a day.
forth with the aid of magic songs. Among the customs he introduced in the
North were cremation of the dead, the raising of mounds in memory of great
men, the erection of bauta-stones in commemoration of others; and he
introduced the three great sacrificial feasts—for a good year, for good crops,
and for victory. Odin died in Svithiod. When he perceived the approach of
death, he suffered himself to be marked with the point of a spear, and
declared that he was going to Gudheim to visit his friends and receive all
fallen in battle. This the Swedes believed. They have since worshipped him in
the belief that he had an eternal life in the ancient Asgard, and they thought
he revealed himself to them before great battles took place. On Svea’s throne
he was followed by Njord, the progenitor of the race of Ynglings. Thus
Heimskringla. We now pass to the Younger Edda,* which in its Foreword
gives us in the style of that time a general survey of history and religion.
First, it gives from the Bible the story of creation and the deluge. Then a long
story is told of the building of the tower of Babel. The descendants of Noah’s
son, Ham, warred against and conquered the sons of Sem, and tried in their
arrogance to build a tower which should aspire to heaven itself. The chief
manager in this enterprise was Zoroaster, and seventy-two master-masons
and joiners served under him. But God confounded the tongues of these
arrogant people so that each one of the seventy-two masters with those under
him got their own language, which the others could not understand, and then
each went his own way, and in this manner arose the seventy-two different
languages in the world. Before that time only one language was spoken, and
that was Hebrew. Where they tried to build the tower a city was founded and
called Babylon There Zoroaster became a king and ruled over many Assyrian
nations, among which he introduced idolatry, arid which worshiped him as
Baal. The tribes that departed with his master-workmen also fell into idolatry,
excepting the one tribe which kept the Hebrew language. It preserved also the
original and pure faith. Thus, while Babylon became one of the chief altars of
heathen worship, the island Crete became another. There was
* A translation of the Younger or Prose Edda was edited by R. B. Anderson
and published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago, in 1881.
born a man, by name Saturnus, who became for the Cretans and
Macedonians what Zoroaster was for the Assyrians. Saturnus’ knowledge and
skill in magic, and his art of producing gold from red-hot iron, secured him the
power of a prince on Crete; and as he, moreover, had control over all invisible
forces, the Cretans and Macedonians believed that he was a god, and he
encouraged them in this faith. He had three sons—Jupiter, Neptunus, and
Plutus. Of these, Jupiter resembled his father in skill and magic, and he was a
great warrior who conquered many peoples. When Saturnus divided his
kingdom among his sons, a feud arose. Plutus got as his share hell, and as
this was the least desirable part he also received the dog named Cerberus.
Jupiter, who received heaven, was not satisfied with this, but wanted the earth
too. He niade war against his father, who had to seek refuge in Italy, where
he, out of fear of Jupiter, changed his name and called himself Njord, and
where he became a useful king, teaching the inhabitants, who lived on nuts
and roots, to plough and plant vineyards.
Jupiter had many sons. From one of them, Dardanus, descended in the fifth
generation Priamus of Troy. Priamus’ son was Hektor, who in stature and
strength was the foremost man in the world. From the Trojans the Romans
are descended; and when Rome had grown to be a great power it adopted
many laws and customs which had prevailed among the Trojans before them.
Troy was situated in Tyrkland, near the centre of the earth. Under Priamus,
the chief ruler, there were twelve tributary kings, and they spoke twelve
languages. These twelve tributary kings were exceedingly wise men; they
received the honour of gods, and from them all European chiefs are
descended. One of these twelve was called Munon or Mennon. He was
married to a daughter of Priamus, and had with her the son Tror, "whom we
call Thor ". He was a very handsome man , his hair shone fairer than gold,
and at the age of twelve he was full-grown, and so strong that he could lift
twelve bear-skins at the same time. He slew his foster-father and fostermother, took possession of his foster-father’s kingdom Thracia, "which we call
Thrudheim," and thenceforward he roamed about the world, conquering
berserks, giants, the greatest dragon, and other prodigies. In the North he met
a prophetess by name Sibil (Sibylla), "whom we call Sif," and her he married.
In the twentieth generation froni this Thor, Vodin descended, " whom we call
Odin," a very wise and well-informed man, who married Frigida, "whom we
call Frigg ".
At that time the Roman general Pompey was making wars in the East, and
also threatened the empire of Odin. Meanwhile Odin and his wife had learned
through prophetic inspiration that a glorious future awaited them in the
northern part of the world. He therefore emigrated from Tyrkland, and took
with him many people, old and yOung, men and women, and costly treasures.
Wherever they came they appeared to the inhabitants more like gods than
men. And they did not stop before they came as far north as Saxland. There
Odin remained a long time. One of his sons, Veggdegg, he appointed king of
Saxland. Another son, Beldegg, "whom we call Balder," he made king in
Westphalia. A third son, Sigge, became king in Frankland. Then Odin
proceeded farther to the north and came to Reidgothaland, which is now
called Jutland, and there took possession of as much as he wanted. There he
appointed his son Skjold as king; then he came to Svithiod.
Here ruled king Gylfe. When he heard of the expedition of Odin and his
Asiatics he went to nieet them, and offered Odin as much land and as much
power in his kingdom as he might desire. One reason why people everywhere
gave Odin so hearty a welcome and offered him land and power was that
wherever Odin and his men tarried on their journey the people got good
harvests and abundant crops, and therefore they believed that Odin and his
men controlled the weather amid the growing grain. Odin went with Gylfe up
to the lake "Logrin" and saw that the land was good; and there he chose as
his citadel the place which is called Sigtuna, founding there the same
institutions as had existed in Troy, and to which the Turks were accustomed.
Then he organised a council of twelve men, who were to make laws and settle
disputes. From Svithiod Odin went to Norway, and there made his son
Sæming king. But the ruling of Svithiod he had left to his son Yngve, from
whom the race of Ynglings are descended. The Asas and their sons married
the women of the land of which they had taken possession, and their
descendants, who preserved the language spoken in Troy, multiplied so fast
that the Trojan language displaced the old tongue and became the speech of
Svithiod, Norway, Denmark, and Saxland, and thereafter also of England.
The Prose Edda’s first part, Gylfaginning, consists of a collection of
mythological tales told to the reader in the form of a conversation between the
above-named king of Sweden, Gylfe, and the Asas. Before the Asas had
started on their journey to the North, it is here said, Gylfe had learned that
they were a wise and knowing people who had success in all their
undertakings. And believing that this was a result either of the nature of these
people, or of their peculiar kind of worship, he resolved to investigate the
matter secretly, and therefore betook himself in the guise of an old man to
Asgard. But the foreknowing Asas knew in advance that he was coming, and
resolved to receive him with all sorts of sorcery, which might give him a high
opinion of them. He finally came to a citadel, the roof of which was thatched
with golden shields, and the hall of which was so large that he scarcely could
see the whole of it. At the entrance stood a man playing with sharp tools,
which he threw up in the air and caught again with his hands, and seven axes
were in the air at the same time. This man asked the traveller his name. The
latter answered that he was named Ganglere, that he had made a long
journey over rough roads, and asked for lodgings for the night. He also asked
whose the citadel was. The juggler answered that it belonged to their king,
and conducted Gylfe into the hail, where many people were assembled. Some
sat drinking, others amused themselves at games, and still others were
practising with weapons. There were three high-seats in the hall, one above
the other, and in each high-seat sat a man. In the lowest sat the king; and the
juggler informed Gylfe that the king’s name was Har; that the one who sat
next above him was named Jafnhar; and that the one who sat on the highest
throne was named Thride (þridi). Har asked the stranger what his errand was,
and invited him to eat and drink. Gylfe answered that he first wished to know
whether there was any wise man in the hall. Har replied that the stranger
should not leave the hall whole unless he was victorious in a contest in
wisdom. Gylfe now begins his questions, which all concern the worship of the
Asas, and the three men in the high-seats give him answers. Already in the
first answer it appears that the Asgard to which Gylfe thinks he has come is, in
the opinion of the author, a younger Asgard, and presumably the same as the
author of Heimskringla places beyond the river Tanakvisl, but there had
existed an older Asgard identical with Troy in Tyrkland, where, according to
Heimskringla, Odin had extensive possessions at the time when the Romans
began their invasions in the East. When Gylfe with his questions had learned
the most important facts in regard to the religion of Asgard, and had at length
been instructed concerning the destruction and regeneration of the world, he
perceived a mighty rumbling and quaking, and when he looked about him the
citadel and hall had disappeared, and he stood beneath the open sky. He
returned to Svithiod and related all that he had seen and heard among the
Asas; but when he had gone they counselled together, and they agreed to call
themselves by those names which they used in relating their stories to Gylfe.
These sagas, remarks Gylfaginning, were in reality none but historical events
transformed into traditions about divinities. They described events which had
occurred in the older Asgard— that is to say, Troy. The basis of the stories
told to Gylfe about Thor were the achievements of Hektor in Troy, and the
Loki of whom Gylfe had heard was, in fact, none other than Ulixes (Ulysses),
who was the foe of the Trojans, and consequently was represented as the foe
of the gods.
Gylfaginning is followed by another part of the Prose Edda called Bragaroedur
(Brage’s Talk), which is presented in a similar form. On Lessö, so it is said,
dwelt formerly a man by name Ægir. He, like Gylfe, had heard reports
concerning the wisdom of the Asas, and resolved to visit them. He, like Gylfe,
comes to a place where the Asas receive him with all sorts of magic arts, and
conduct him into a hall which is lighted up in the evening with shining swords.
There he is invited to take his seat by the side of Brage, and there were
twelve high-seats in which sat men who were called Thor, Njord, Frey, &c.,
and women who were called Frigg, Freyja, Nanna, &c. The hall was splendidly
decorated with shields. The mead passed round was exquisite, and the
talkative Binge instructed the guest in the traditions concerning the Asas’ art
of poetry. A postscript to the treatise warns young skalds not to place
confidence in the stories told to Gylfe and Ægir. The author of the postscript
says they have value only as a key to the many metaphors which occur in the
poems of the great skalds, but upon the whole they are deceptions invented
by the Asas or Asiamen to make people believe that they were gods. Still, the
author thinks these falsifications have an historical kernel. They are, he thinks,
based on what happened in the ancient Asgard, that is, Troy. Thus, for
instance, Ragnarok is originally nothing else than the siege of Troy; Thor is,
as stated, Hektor; the Midgard-serpent is one of the heroes slain by Hektor;
the Fenris-wolf is Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin); and Vidar,
who survives Ragnarok, is Æneas.
8.
THE TROY SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA (continued).
The sources of the traditions concerning the Asiatic immigration to the North
belong to the Icelandic literature, and to it alone. Saxo’s Historia Danica, the
first books of which were written toward the close of the twelfth century,
presents on this topic its own peculiar view, which will be discussed later. The
Icelandic accounts disagree only in unimportant details; the fundamental view
is the same, and they have flown froni the same fountain vein. Their contents
may be summed up thus:
Among the tribes who after the Babylonian confusion of tongues emnigrated
to various countries, there was a body of people who settled and introduced
their language in Asia Minor, which in the sagas is called Tyrkland; in Greece,
which in the sagas is called Macedonia; and in Crete. In Tyrkland they
founded the great city which was called Troy. This city was attacked by the
Greeks during the reign of the Trojan king Priam. Priam descended from
Jupiter and the latter’s father Saturnus, and accordingly belonged to a race
which the idolaters looked upon as divine. Troy was a very large city; twelve
languages were spoken there, and Priam had twelve tributary kings under
him. But however powerful the Trojans were, and however bravely they
defended themselves under the leadership of the son of Priam’s daughter,
that valiant hero Thor, still they were defeated. Troy was captured and burned
by the Greeks, and Priam himself was slain. Of the surviving Trojans two
parties emigrated in different directions. They seem in advance to have been
well informed in regard to the quality of foreign lands; for Thor, the son of
Priam’s daughter, had made extensive expeditions in which he had fought
giants and monsters. On his journeys he had even visited the North, and there
he had met Sibil, the celebrated prophetess, and married her. One of the
parties of Trojan emigrants embarked under the leadership of Æneas for Italy,
and founded Rome. The other party, accompanied by Thor’s son, Loride, went
to Asialand, which is separated from Tyrkland by a mountain ridge, and from
Europe by the river Tanais or Tanakvisl. There they founded a new city called
Asgard, and there preserved the old customs and usages brought from Troy.
Accordingly, there was organised in Asgard, as in Troy, a council of twelve
men, who were high priests and judges. Many centuries passed without any
political contact between the new Trojan settlements in Rome and Asgard,
though both well remembered their Trojan origin, and the Romans formed
many of their institutions after the model of the old fatherland. Meanwhile,
Rome had grown to be one of the mightiest empires in the world, and began
at length to send armies into Tyrkland. At that time there ruled in Asgard an
exceedingly wise, prophetic king, Odin, who was skilled in the magic arts, and
who was descended in the twentieth generation from the above-mentioned
Thor. Odin had waged many successful wars. The severest of these wars was
the one with a neighbouring people, the Vans; but this had been ended with
compromise and peace. In Tyrkland, the old niother country, Odin had great
possessions, which fell into the hands of the Romans. This circumstance
strengthened him in his resolution to emigrate to the north of Europe. The
prophetic vision with which he was endowed had told him that his
descendants would long flourish there. So he set out with his many sons, and
was accompanied by the twelve priests and by many people, but not by all the
inhabitants of the Asa country and of Asgard. A part of the people remained at
home; and among them Odin’s brothers Vile and Ve. The expedition
proceeded through Gardarike to Saxland; then across the Danish islands to
Svithiod and Norway. Everywhere this great multitude of migrators was well
received by the inhabitants. Odin’s superior wisdom and his marvellous skill in
sorcery, together with the fact that his progress was everywhere attended by
abundant harvests, caused the peoples to look upon him as a god, and to
place their thrones at his disposal He accordingly appointed his sons as kings
in Saxland, Denmark, Svithiod, and Norway. Gylfe, the king of Svithiod,
submitted to his superiority and gave him a splendid country around Lake
Mæler to rule over. There Odin built Sigtuna, the institutions of which were an
imitation of those in Asgard and Troy. Poetry and many other arts came with
Odin to the Teutonic lands, and so, too, the Trojan tongue. Like his ancestors,
Saturnus and Jupiter, he was able to secure divine worship, which was
extended even to his twelve priests. The religious traditions which he
scattered among the people, and which were believed until the introduction of
Christianity, were misrepresentations spun around the memories of Troy’s
historical fate and its destruction, and around the events of Asgard.
9.
SAXO'S RELATION OF THE STORY OF TROY.
Such is, in the main, the story which was current in Iceland in the thirteenth
century, and which found its way to Scandinavia through the Prose Edda and
Heimskringla, concerning the immigration of Odin and the Asas. Somewhat
older than these works is Historia Danica, by the Danish chronicler Saxo.
Sturlason, the author of Heimskringla, was a lad of eight years when Saxo
began to write his history, and be (Sturlason) had certainly not begun to write
history when Saxo had completed the first nine books of his work, which are
based on the still-existing songs and traditions found in Denmark, and of
heathen origin. Saxo writes as if he were unacquainted with Icelandic theories
concerning an Asiatic immigration to the North, and he has not a word to say
about Odin’s reigning as king or chief anywhere in Scandinavia. This is the
more remarkable, since he holds the same view as the Ice-landers and the
chroniclers of the Middle Ages in general in regard to the belief that the
heathen myths were records of historical events, and that the heathen gods
were historical persons, men changed into divinities; and our astonishment
increases when we consider that he, in the heathen songs and traditions on
which he based the first part of his work, frequently finds Odin’s name, and
consequently could not avoid presenting him in Danish history as an important
character. In Saxo, as in the Icelandic works, Odin is a human being, and at
the same time a sorcerer of the greatest power. Saxo and the Icelanders also
agree that Odin came from the East. The only difference is that while the
Icelandic hypothesis makes him rule in Asgard, Saxo locates his residence in
Byzantium, on the Bosphorus; but this is not far from the ancient Troy, where
the Prose Edda locates his ancestors. From Byzantium, according to Saxo,
the fame of his magic arts and of the miracles he performed reached even to
the north of Europe. On account of these miracles he was worshipped as a
god by the peoples, and to pay him honour the kings of the North once sent to
Byzantium a golden image, to which Odin by magic arts imparted the power of
speech. It is the myth about Mimir’s head which Saxo here relates. But the
kings of the North knew him not only by report; they were also personally
acquainted with him. He visited Upsala, a place which "pleased him much ".
Saxo, like the Heimskrimigla, relates that Odin was absent from his capital for
a long time; and when we examine his statements on this point, we find that
Saxo is here telling in his way the myth concerning the war which the Vans
carried on successfully against the Asas, and concerning Odin’s expulsion
from the mythic Asgard, situated in heaven (Hist. Dan., pp. 42-44; vid. No.
36). Saxo also tells that Odin’s son, Balder, was chosen king by the Danes
"on account of his personal merits and his respect-commanding qualities ".
But Odin himself has never, according to Saxo, had land or authority in the
North, though he was there worshipped as a god, and, as already stated,
Saxo is entirely silent in regard to immigration of an Asiatic to Scandinavia any
people under the leadership of Odin.
A comparison between him and the Icelanders will show at once that,
although both parties are Euhemerists, and make Odin a man changed into a
god, Saxo confines himself more faithfully to the popular myths, and seeks as
far as possible to turn them into history; while the Icelanders, on the other
hand, begin with the learned theory in regard to the original kinship of the
northern races with the Trojans and Romans, and around this theory as a
nucleus they weave about the same myths told as history as Saxo tells.
10.
THE OLDER PERIODS OF THE TROY SAGA.
How did the belief that Troy was the original home of the Teutons arise? Does
it rest on native traditions? Has it been inspired by sagas and traditions
current among the Teutons them-selves, and containing as kernel "a faint
reminiscence of an immigration from Asia" or is it a thought entirely foreign to
the heathen Teutonic world, introduced in Christian times by Latin scholars?
These questions shall now be considered.
Already in the seventh century—that is to say, more than five hundred years
before Heimskringla and the Prose Edda were written—a Teutonic people
were told by a chronicler that they were of the same blood as the Romans,
that they had like the Romans emigrated from Troy, and that they had the
same share as the Romans in the glorious deeds of the Trojan heroes. This
people were the Franks. Their oldest chronicler, Gregorius, bishop of Tours,
who, about one hundred years before that time—that is to say, in the sixth
century—wrote their history in ten books, does not say a word about it. He,
too, desires to give an account of the original home of the Franks (Hist.
Franc., ii. 9), and locates it quite a distance from the regions around the lower
Rhine, where they first appear in the light of history; but still not farther away
than to Pannonia. Of the coming of the Franks from Troy neither Gregorius
knows anything nor the older authors, Sulpicius Alexander and others, whose
works he studied to find information in regard to the early history of the
Franks. But in the middle of the following century, about 650, an unknown
author, who for reasons unknown is called Fredegar, wrote a chronicle, which
is in part a reproduction of Gregorius’ historical work, but also contains various
other things in regard to the early history of the Franks, and among these the
statenient that they emigrated from Troy. He even gives us the sources from
which he got this information. His sources are, according to his own
statement, not Frankish, not popular songs or traditions, but two Latin
authors— the Church father Hieronymus and the poet Virgil. If we, then, go to
these sources in order to compare Fredegar’s statenient with his authority, we
find that Hieronymus once names the Franks in passing, but never refers to
their origin from Troy, and that Virgil does not even mention Franks.
Nevertheless, the reference to Virgil is the key to the riddle, as we shall show
below. What Fredegar tells about the emigration of the Franks is this: A
Frankish king, by name Priam, ruled in Troy at the time when this city was
conquered by the cunning of Ulysses. Then the Franks emigrated, and were
afterwards ruled by a king named: Friga. Under his reign a dispute arose
between them, and they divided themselves into two parties, one of which
settled in Macedonia, while the other, called after Friga’s name Frigians
(Phrygians), migrated through Asia and settled there. There they were again
divided, amid one part of them migrated under king Francio into Europe,
travelled across this continent, and settled, with their women and children,
near the Rhine, where they began building a city which they called Troy, and
intended to organise in the manner of the old Troy, but the city was not
completed. The other group chose a king by name Turchot, and were called
after him Turks. But those who settled on the Rhine called themselves Franks
after their king Francio, and later chose a king named Theudemer, who was
descended from Priam, Friga, and Francio. Thus Fredegar’s chronicle.
About seventy years later another Frankish chronicle saw the light of day—the
Gesta regum Francorum In it we learn more of the emigration of the Franks
fromn Troy. Gesta regum Francorum (i.) tells the following story: In Asia lies
the city of the Trojans called Ilium, where king Æneas formerly ruled. The
Trojans were a strong and brave people, who waged war against all their
neighbours. But then the kings of the Greeks united and brought a large army
against Æneas, king of the Trojans. There were great battles and much
bloodshed, and the greater part of the Trojans fell. Æneas fled with those
surviving into the city of Ilium, which the Greeks besieged and conquered after
ten years. The Trojans who escaped divided themselves into two parties. The
one under king Æneas went to Italy, where he hoped to receive auxiliary
troops. Other distinguished Trojans becamne the leaders of the other party,
which numbered 12,000 men. They embarked in ships and came to the banks
of the river Tanais. They sailed farther and came within the s of Pannonia,
near the Moeotian marshes (navigantes pervenerunt intra terminos
Pannoniarum juxta Moeotidas paludes), where they founded a city, which they
called Sicambria, where they remained many years and became a mighty
people. Then came a time when the Roman emperor Valentinianus got into
war with that wicked people called Alamanni (also Alani). He led a great army
against them. The Alamanni were defeated, and fled to the Moeotian
marshes. Then said the emperor, "If anyone dares to enter those marshes
and drive away this wicked people, I shall for ten years make him free from all
burdens ". When the Trojans heard this they went, accompanied by a Roman
army, into the marshes, attacked the Alamanni, and hewed them down with
their swords. Then the Trojans received from the emperor Valentinianus the
name Franks, which, the chronicle adds, in the Attic tongue means the savage
(feri), "for the Trojans had a defiant and indomitable character ".
For ten years afterwards the Trojans or Franks lived undisturbed by Romnan
tax-collectors; but after that the Roman emperor demanded that they should
pay tribute. This they refused, and slew the tax-collectors sent to them. Then
the emperor collected a large army under the command of Aristarcus, and
strengthened it with auxiliary forces from many lands, and attacked the
Franks, who were defeated by the superior force, lost their leader Priam, and
had to take flight. They now proceeded under their leaders Markomir, Priam’s
son, and Sunno, son of Antenor, away from Sicainbria through Germany to
the Rhine, and located there. Thus this chronicle.
About fifty years after its appearance—that is, in the time of Charlemagne,
and, to be more accurate, about the year 787—the well-known Longobardian
historian Paulus Diaconus wrote a history of the bishops of Metz. Among
these bishops was the Frank Arnulf, from whom Charlemagne was descended
in the fifth generation. Arnulf had two sons, one of whom was named
Ausgisel, in a contracted form Ausgis. When Paulus speaks of this be remarks
that it is thought that the name Ansgis comes from the father of Æneas,
Anchises, who went froni Troy to Italy; and he adds that according to evidence
of older date the Franks were believed to be descendants of the Trojans.
These evidences of older date we have considered above—Fredegar’s
Chronicle and Gesta regum Francorum. Meanwhile this shows that the belief
that the Franks were of Trojan descent kept spreading with the lapse of time.
It hardly needs to be added that there is no good foundation for the derivation
of Ansgisel or Ansgis from Anchises. Ausgisel is a genuine Teutonic name.
(See No. 123 concerning Ausgisel, the emigration chief of the Teutonic myth.)
We now pass to the second half of the tenth century, and there we find the
Saxon chronicler Widukind. When he is to tell the story of the origin of the
Saxon people, he presents two conflicting accounts. The one is from a Saxon
source, from old native traditions, which we shall discuss later; the other is
from a scholastic source, and claims that the Saxons are of Macedonian
descent. According to this latter account they were a remnant of the
Macedonian army of Alexander the Great, which, as Widukind had learned,
after Alexander’s early death, had spread over the whole earth. The
Macedonians were at that time regarded as Hellenicised Trojans. In this
connection I call the reader’s attention to Fredegar’s Chronicle referred to
above, which tells that the Trojans, in the time of king Friga, disagreed among
themselves, and that a part of them emnigrated and settled in Macedonia. In
this manner the Saxons, like the Franks, could claim a Trojan descent; and as
England to a great extent was peopled by Saxon conquerors, the same
honour was of course claimed by her people. In evidence of this, and to show
that it was believed in England during the centuries immediately following
Widukind’s time, that the Saxons and Angles were of Trojan blood, I will
simply refer here to a pseudo-Sibylline manuscript found in Oxford and written
in very poor Latin. It was examined by the French scholar Alexandre
(Excursus ad Sibyllina, p. 298), and in it Britain is said to be an island
inhabited by the survivors of the Trojans (insulam reliquiis Trojanorum inha
bitatam). In another British pseudo-Sibylline document it is stated that the
Sibylla was a daughter of king Priam of Troy; and an effort has been made to
add weight and dignity to this document by incorporating it with the works of
the well-known Church historian Beda, and thus date it at the beginning of the
eighth century, but the manuscript itself is a compilation from the time of
Frederik Barbarossa (Excurs ad Sib., p. 289). Other pseudo-Sibylline
documents in Latin give accounts of a Sibylla who lived and prophesied in
Troy. I make special mention of this fact, for the reason that in the Foreword of
the Prose Edda it is similarly stated that Thor, the son of Priam’s daughter,
was married to Sibil (Sibylla).
Thus when Franks and Saxons had been made into Trojans— the former into
full-blooded Trojans and the latter into Hellenicised Trojans - it could not take
long before their northern kinsmen received the same descent as a heritage.
In the very nature of things the beginning must be made by those Northmen
who became the conquerors and settlers of Normandy in the midst of "
Trojan"
Franks. About a hundred years after their settlement there they produced a
chronicler, Dudo, deacon of St. Quentin. I have already shown that the
Macedonians were regarded as Hellenicised Trojans. Together with the
Hellenicising they had obtained the name Danai, a term applied to all Greeks.
In his Norman Chronicle, which goes down to the year 996, Dudo relates (De
moribus et gestis, &c., lib. i.) that the Norman men regarded themselves as
Danai, for Danes (the Scandinavians in general) and Danai was regarded as
the same race name. Together with the Normans the Scandinavians also,
from whom they were descended, accordingly had to be made into Trojans.
And thus the matter was understood by Dudo’s readers ; and when Robert
Wace wrote his rhymed chronicle, Roman de Rou, about the northern
conquerors of Normandy, and wanted to give an account of their origin, he
could say, on the basis of a common tradition:
"When the walls of Troy in ashes were laid, And the Greeks exceedingly glad
were made, Then fled from flames on the Trojan strand The race that settled
old Denmark’s land And in honour of the old Trojan reigns, The People called
themselves the Danes".
I have now traced the scholastic tradition about the descent of the Teutonic
races from Troy all the way froni the chronicle where we first find this tradition
recorded, down to the time when Are, Iceland’s first historian, lived, and when
the Icelander Sæmund is said to have studied in Paris, the samne century in
which Sturlason, Heimskringla’s author, developed into manhood. Saxo
rejected the theory current among the scholars of his time, that the northern
races were Danni-Trojans. He knew that Dudo in St. Quentin was the
authority upon which this belief was chiefly based, and he gives his Danes an
entirely different origin, quanquam Dudo, rerum Aquitanicarum scriptor, Danos
a Danais ortos nuncupatosque recenseat. The Icelanders, on the other hand,
accepted and continued to develop the belief, resting on the authority of five
hundred years, concerning Troy as the starting-point for the Teutonic race and
in Iceland the theory is worked out and systematised as we have already
seen, and is made to fit in a frame of the history of the world. The accounts
given imi Heimskringla arid the Prose Edda in regard to the emigration from
Asgard form the natural denouement of an era which had existed for
centuries, and in which the events of antiquity were able to group themselves
around a common centre. All peoples and families of chiefs were located
around the Mediterranean Sea, and every event and every hero was
connected in some way or other with Troy.
In fact, a great part of the lands subject to the Roman sceptre were in ancient
literature in some way connected with the Trojan war and its consequences:
Macedonia and Epirus through the Trojan emigrant Helenus; Illyria and
Venetia through the Trojan emigrant Antenor; Rhetia and Vindelicia through
the Amazons, allies of the Trojans, from whom the inhabitants of these
provinces were said to be descended (Servius ad Virg., i. 248) Etruria through
Dardanus, who was said to have emigrated from there to Troy; Latium and
Campania through the Æneids Sicily, the very home of the Ænean traditions,
through the relation between the royal families of Troy and Sicily; Sardinia
(see Sallust); Gaul (see Lucanus arid Ammnianus Marcellinus); Carthage
through the visit of Æneas to Dido; and of course all of Asia Minor. This was
not all. According to the lost Argive History by Anaxikrates, Scaniandrius, son
of Hektor and Andromache, came with emigrants to Scythia and settled on the
banks of the Tanais; and scarcely had Germany become known to the
Romans, before it, too, became drawn into the cycle of Trojan stories, at least
so far as to make this country visited by Ulysses on his many journeys and
adventures (Tac., Germ.). Every educated Greek and Roman person’s fancy
was filled from his earliest school-days with Troy, and traces of Dardanians
and Danaians were found everywhere, just as the English in our time think
they have found traces of the ten lost tribes of Israel both in the old and in the
new world.
In the same degree as Christianity, Church learning, and Latin manuscripts
were spread among the Teutonic tribes, there were disseminated among them
knowledge of and an interest in the great Trojan stories. The native stories
telling of Teutonic gods and heroes received terrible shocks from Christianity,
but were rescued in another form on the lips of the people, and continued in
their new guise to command their attention arid devotion. In the class of Latin
scholars which developed among the Christianised Teutons, the new stories
learned froni Latin literature, telling of Ilium, of the conflicts between Trojans
and Greeks, of migrations, of the founding of colonies on foreign shores and
the creating of new empires, were the things which especially stimulated their
curiosity and captivated their fancy. The Latin literature which was to a greater
or less extent accessible to the Teutonic priests, or to priests labouring among
the Teutons, furnished abundant materials in regard to Troy both in classical
and pseudo-classical authors. We need only call attention to Virgil and his
commentator Servius, which became a mine of learning for the whole middle
age, and among pseudo-classical works to Dares Phrygius’ Historia de
Excidio Trojæ (which was believed to have been written by a Trojan and
translated by Cornelius Nepos !), to Dictys Cretensis’ Ephemeris belli Trojani
(the original of which was said to have been Phoenician, and found imi Dictys’
alleged grave after an earthquake in the time of Nero !), and to " Pindari
Thebani," Epitome Iliados Homeri.
Before the story of the Trojan descent of the Franks had been created, the
Teuton Jordanes, active as a writer in the middle of the sixth century, had
already found a place for his Gothic fellow-countrymen in the events of the
great Trojan epic. Not that he made the Goths the descendants either of the
Greeks or Trojans. On the contrary, lie maintained the Goths’ own traditions in
regard to their descent and their original home, a matter which I shall discuss
later. But according to Orosius, who is Jordanes’ authority, the Goths were the
same as the Getæ, and when the identity of these was accepted, it was easy
for Jordanes to connect the history of the Goths with the Homeric stories. A
Gothic chief marries Priam’s sister and fights with Achilles and Ulysses (Jord.,
c. 9), and Ilium, having scarcely recovered from the war with Agamemnon, is
destroyed a second time by Goths (c. 20).
11.
THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY IN REGARD TO THE TROJAN DESCENT OF
THE FRANKS.
We must now return to the Frankish chronicles, to Fredegar’s and Gesta
regum Francorum, where the theory of the descent from Troy of a Teutonic
tribe is presented for the first time, and thus renews the agitation handed
down from antiquity, which attempted to make all ancient history a system of
events radiating from Troy as their centre. I believe I am able to point out the
sources of all the statements made in these chronicles in reference to this
subject, amid also to find the very kernel out of which the illusion regarding the
Trojan birth of the Franks grew.
As above stated, Fredegar admits that Virgil is the earliest authority for the
claim that the Franks are descended from Troy. Fredegar’s predecessor,
Gregorius of Tours, was ignorant of it, aud, as already shown, the word
Franks does not occur anywhere in Virgil. The discovery that be nevertheless
gave information about the Franks and their origin must therefore have been
made or known in the time intervening between Gregorius’ chronicle and
Which, then, passage Virgil’s Inedegar’s.can be the in poems in which the
discoverer succeeded in finding the proof that the Franks were Trojans? A
careful examination of all the circumstances connected with the subject leads
to the conclusion that the passage is in Æneis, lib. i., 242 ff.:
"Antenor potuit, mediis clapsus Achivis, Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima
tutus Regna Liburnorum, et fonteim superare Timavi Unde per ora novem
vasto eum rnurmere montis It mare proruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti.
Hic tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit Teucrorum."
"Antenor, escaped from amidst the Greeks, could with safety penetrate the
Illyrian Gulf and the inmost realms of Liburnia, and overpass the springs of
Timavus, whence, through nine mouths, with loud echoing from tIme
mountain, it bursts away, a sea impetuous, and sweeps the fields with a
roaring deluge. Yet there he built the city of Padua and established a Trojan
settlement."
The nearest proof at hand, that this is really the passage which was
interpreted as referring to the ancient history of the Franks, is based on the
following circumstances
Gregorius of Tours had found in the history of Sulpicius Alexaminder accounts
of violent conflicts, on the west bank of the Rhine, between the Romans and
Franks, the latter led by the chiefs Markomir and Sunno (Greg., Hist., ii. 9).
From Gregorius, Gesta regum Francorum has taken both these names
According to Gesta, the Franks, under the command of Markomir amid
Sunno, emigrate from Pannonia, near the Moeotian marshes, amid settle on
the Rhine. The supposition that they had
lived in Pannonia before their coming to the Rhine, the author ( Gesta had
learned from Gregorius. In (Gesta, Markomir is made son of the Trojan Priam,
and Sunno a son of the Trojan Antenor.
From this point of view, Virgil’s account of Antenor’s and hi Trojans’ journey to
Europe from fallen Tray refers to the emigration of the father of the Frankish
chief Sunno at the head of a trib of Franks. And as Gesta’s predecessor, the
so-called Fredegar, appeals to Virgil as his authority for this Frankish
emigration, an as the wanderings of Antenor are nowhere else mentioned by
th Roman poet, there can be no doubt that the lines above quoted were the
very ones which were regarded as the Virgilian evidence in regard to a
Frankish emigration from Troy. But how did it conic to be regarded as an
evidence?
Virgil says that Antenor, when he had escaped the Achivians, succeeded in
penetrating Illymricos sinus, the very heart of Illyria, The name Illyricum
served to designate all the regions inhabited by kindred tribes extending from
the Alps to the mouth of the Danube and from the Danube to the Adriatic Sea
and Hæmus (cp. Marquardt Röm. Staatsrerwalt, 295). To Illyricum belonged
the Roman provinces Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia, and the Pannonians
were an Illyrian tribe. In Pannonia Gregorius of Tours had located the Franks
in early times. Thus Antenor, with his Trojans, on their westward journey,
traverses the same regions from which, according to Gregorius, the Franks
had set out for the Rhine.
Virgil also says that Antenor extended his journeys to the Liburnian kingdoms
(regna Liburnorum). From Servius’ commen— tarv on this passage, the
middle age knew that the Liburnian kingdoms were Rhetia and Vindelicia
(Rhetia Vindelici ipsi sunt Liburni). Rhetia and Vindelicia separate Pannonia
from the Rhine. Antenor, accordingly, takes the same route toward the West
as the Franks must have taken if they came from Pannonia to the Rhine.
Virgil then brings Antenor to a river, which, it is true, is called Timavus, but
which is described as a mighty stream, coming thundering out of a
mountainous region, where it has its source, carrying with it a mass of water
which the poet compares with a sea, forming before it reaches the sea a delta,
the plains of which are deluged by the billows, and finally emptying itself by
many outlets into the ocean. Virgil says nine; but Servius interprets this as
meaning many: "finitus est numerus pro infinito".
We must pardon the Frankish scribes for taking this river to be the Rhine ; for
if a water-course is to be looked for in Europe west of the land of the
Liburnians, which answers to the Virgilian description, then this must be the
Rhine, on whose banks the ancestors of the Franks for the first time appear in
history.
Again, Virgil tells us that Antenor settled near this river and founded a
colony—Patavium—on the low plains of the delta. The Salian Franks acquired
possession of the low and flat regions around the outlets of the Rhine (Insula
Batavorum) about the year 287, and also of the land to the south as far as to
the Scheldt ; arid after protracted wars the Romans had to leave them the
control of this region. By the very occupation of this low country, its
conquerors might properly be called Batavian Franks. It is only necessary to
call attention to the similarity of the words Patavi arid Batavi, in order to show
at the same time that the conclusion could scarcely be avoided that Virgil had
reference to the immigration of the Franks when he spoke of the wanderings
of Anitenor, the more so, since from time out of date the pronunciation of tire
initials B and P have been interchanged by tire Germans. In tire conquered
territory the Franks founded a city (Amurinan. Marc., xvii. 2, 5).
Thus it appears that the Franks were supposed to have migrated to the Rhine
under the leadership of Antenor. The first Frankish chiefs recorded, after their
appearance there, are Markomir and Sunno. Frorii this the conclusion was
drawn that Sunno was Anterior’s son ; and as Markomir ought to be the son of
some celebrated Trojan chief, he was made the son of Priam. Thus we have
explained Fredegar’s statement that Virgil is his authority for the Trojan
descent of these Franks. This seemed to be established for all time.
The wars fought around the Moetian marshes between the emperor
Valentinianus, the Alamanni, and the Franks, of which Gesta speaks, are riot
wholly inventions of the fancy. The historical kernel in this confused semimythical narrative is that Valentinianus really did fight with the Alamanni, amid
that the Franks for sonic time were allies of the Romans, amid came into
conflict with those sariie Alamanni (Ammian.. Marc., libs. xxx., xxxi.). But the
scene of these battles was not the Moeotian marshes and Pannonia, as Gesta
supposes, but the regions on the Rhine.
The unhistorical statement of Gregorius that the Franks came from Pan nonia
is based only on the fact that Frankish warriors for some time formed a.
Sicambra cohors, which about the year 26 was incorporated with the Roman
troops stationed in Pannonia and Thracia. The cohort is believed to have
remained in Hungary and formed a colony, where Buda now is situated. Gesta
makes Pannonia extend from the Moeotian marshes to Tanais, since,
according to Gregorius and earlier chroniclers, these waters were the
boundary between Europe and Asia, and since Asia was regarded as a
synonym of the Trojan empire. Virgil had called the Trojan kingdom Asia
Postquam res Asiec Priamique evertere gentem, &c. (Æneid, iii. 1).
Thus we have exhibited the seed out of which the fable about the Trojan
descent of the Franks grew into a tree spreading its branches over all
Teutonic Europe, in the same manner as the earlier fable, which was at least
developed if not born in Sicily, in regard to the Trojan descent of the Romans
had grown into a tree overshadowing all the lands around the Mediterranean,
and extending one of its branches across Gaul to Britain and Ireland. The first
son of the Britons, "Brutus," was, according to Galfred, great-grandson of
Æneas, and migrated from Alba Longa to Ireland.
So far as the Gauls are concerned, the incorporation of Cis-Alpine Gaul with
the Roman Empire, and the Romanising of the Gauls dwelling there, had at an
early day made way for the belief that they had the same origin and were of
the same blood as the Romans. Consequently they too were Trojans. This
view, encouraged by Roman politics, gradually found its way to the Gauls on
the other side of the Rhine ; and even before Cæsar’s time the Roman senate
had in its letters to the Æduans, often called them the " brothers and kinsmen"
of the Romans (fratres consanguineique—Cæsar, Dc Bell. Gall., i. 33, 2). Of
the Avernians Lucanus sings (i. 427) Averni ... ausi Latio se fingere fratres,
sanguine ab Iliaco populi.
Thus we see that when the Franks, having made themselves masters of the
Romanised Gaul, claimed a Trojan descent, then this was the repetition of a
history of which Gaul for many centuries previously had been the scene. After
the Frankish conquest
the population of Gaul consisted for the second time of two nationalities unlike
in language and customs, and now as before it was a political measure of no
slight importance to bring these two nationalities as closely together as
possible by the belief in a common descent. The Roman Gauls and the
Franks were represented as having been one people in the time of the Trojan
war. After the fall of the comnion fatherland they were divided into two
separate tribes, with separate destinies, until they refound each other in the
west of Europe, to dwell together again in Gaul. This explains how it came to
pass that, when they thought they had found evidence of this view in Virgil,
this was at once accepted, and was so eagerly adopted that the older
traditions in regard to the origin and migrations of the Franks were thrust aside
and consigned to oblivion. History repeats itself a third time when the
Normans conquered and became masters of that part of Gaul which after
them is called Normandy. Dudo, their chronicler, says that they regarded
themselves as being ex Antenore progenitos, descendants of Antenor. This is
sufficient proof that they had borrowed from the Franks the tradition in regard
to their Trojan descent.
12.
WHY ODIN WAS GIVEN ANTENOR’S PLACE AS LEADER OF THE
TROJAN EMIGRATION.
So long as the Franks were the only ones of the Teutons who claimed Trojan
descent, it was sufficient that the Teutonic-Trojan immigration had the father
of a Frankish chief as its leader. But in the same degree as the belief in a
Trojan descent spread among the other Teutonic tribes and assumed the
character of a statement equally important to all the Teutonic tribes, the idea
would naturally present itself that the leader of the great immigration was a
person of general Teutonic importance. There was no lack of names to
choose from. Most conspicuous was the mythical Teutonic patriarch, whom
Tacitus speaks of and calls Mannus (Germania, 2), the grandson of the
goddess Jord (Earth). There can be no doubt that he still was remembered by
this (Mann) or some other name (for nearly all Teutonic mythic persons have
several names), since he reappears in the beginning of the fourteenth century
in Heinrich Frauenlob as Mennor, the patriarch of the German people and
German tongue.* But Mannus had to yield to another universal Teutonic
mythic character, Odin, and for reasons which we shall now present.
As Christianity was gradually introduced among the Teutonic peoples, the
question confronted them, what manner of beings those gods had been in
whom they and their ancestors so long had believed. Their Christian teachers
had two answers, and both were easily reconcilable. The common answer,
and that usually given to the converted masses, was that the gods of their
ancestors were demons, evil spirits, who ensnared men in superstition in
order to become worshipped as divine beings. The other answer, which was
better calculated to please the noble-born Teutonic families, who thought
themselves descended from the gods, was that these divinities were originally
human persons—kings, chiefs, legislators, who, endowed with higher wisdom
and secret knowledge, made use of these to make people believe that they
were gods, and worship them as such. Both answers could, as stated, easily
be reconciled with each other, for it was evident that when these proud and
deceitful rulers died, their unhappy spirits joined the ranks of evil demons, and
as demons they continued to deceive the people, in order to maintain through
all ages a worship hostile to the true religion. Both sides of this view we find
current among the Teutonic races through the whole middle age. The one
which particularly presents the old gods as evil demons is found in popular
traditions from this epoch. The other, which presents the old gods as mortals,
as chiefs and lawmakers with magic power, is more commonly reflected in the
Teutonic chronicles, and was regarded among the scholars as the scientific
view.
Thus it followed of necessity that Odin, the chief of the Teutonic gods, and
from whom their royal houses were fond of tracing their descent, also must
have been a wise king of antiquity and skilled in the magic arts, and
information was of course sought with the greatest interest in regard to the
place where he had reigned, and in regard to his origin. There were two
sources of
* " Mennor der erste was genant, Dem dintische rede got tet bekant."Later on
in this work we shall discuss the traditions of the Mannussaga found in
Scandinavia and Germany.
investigation in reference to this matter. One source was the treasure of
mythic songs and traditions of their own race. But what might be history in
these seemed to the students so involved in superstition and fancy, that not
much information seemed obtamable from them. But there was also another
source, which in regard to historical trustworthiness seemed incomparably
better, and that was the Latin literature to be found in the libraries of the
convents. During centuries when the Teutons had employed no other art than
poetry for preserving the memory of the life and deeds of their ancestors, the
Romans, as we know, had had parchment and papyrus to write on, and had
kept systematic annals extending centuries back. Consequently this source
must be more reliable. But what had this source—what had the Roman annals
or the Roman literature in general to tell about Odin? Absolutely nothing, it
would seem, inasmuch as the name Odin, or Wodan, (does not occur in any
of the authors of the ancient literature. Put this was only an apparent obstacle.
The ancient king of our race, Odin, they said, has had many names—one
name among one people, and another among another, and there can be no
doubt that he is the same person as the Romans called Mercury and the
Greeks Hermes.
The evidence of the correctness of identifying Odin with Mereurv and Hermes
the scholars might have found in Tacitus’ work on Germany, where it is stated
in the ninth chapter that the chief god of the Germans is the same as Mercury
among the Romans. But Tacitus was almost unknown in the convents and
schools of this period of the middle age. They could not use this proof, but
they had another and completely compensating evidence of the assertion.
Originally the Romans did not divide time into weeks of seven days. Instead,
they had weeks of eight days, and the farmer worked the seven days and
went on the eighth to the market. But the week of seven days had been in
existence for a very long time among certain Semitic peoples, and already in
the time of the Roman republic many Jews lived in Rome and in Italy. Through
them the week of seven days became generally known. The Jewish custom of
observing the sacredness of the Sabbath, the first day of the week, by
abstaining from all labour, could not fail to be noticed by the strangers among
whom they dwelt. The Jews bad, however, no special name for each day of
the week. But the Oriental, Egyptian, and Greek astrologers and astronomers,
who in large numbers sought their fortunes in Rome, did more than the Jews
to introduce the week of seven days among all classes of the metropolis, and
the astrologers had special names for each of the seven days of the week.
Saturday was the planet’s and the planet-god Saturnus’ day; Sunday, the
sun’s; Monday, the moon’s; Tuesday, Mars’; Wednesday, Mercury’s;
Thursday, Jupiter’s; Friday, Venus’ day. Already in the beginning of the
empire these names of the days were quite common in Italy. The astrological
almanacs, which were circulated in the name of the Egyptian Petosiris among
all families who had the means to buy them, contributed much to bring this
about. From Italy both the taste for astrology and the adoption of the week of
seven days, with the above-mentioned names, spread not only into Spain and
Gaul, but also into those parts of Germany that were incorporated with the
Roman Empire, Germania superior and inferior, where the Romanising of the
people, with Cologne (Civitas Ubiorum) as the centre, made great progress.
Teutons who had served as officers and soldiers in the Roman armies, and
were familiar with the everyday customs of the Romans, were to be found in
various parts of the independent Teutonic territory, and it is therefore not
strange if the week of seven days, with a separate name given to each day,
was known and in use more or less extensively throughout Teutondom even
before Christianity had taken root east of the Rhine, and long before Rome
itself was converted to Christianity. But from this introduction of the seven-day
week did not follow the adoption of the Roman names of the days. The
Teutons translated the names into their own language, and in so doing chose
among their own divinities those which most nearly corresponded to the
Roman. The translation of the names is made with a discrimination which
seems to show that it was made in the Teutonic country, governed by the
Romans, by people who were as familiar with the Roman gods as with their
own. ln that land there must have been persons of Teutonic birth who
officiated as priests before Roman altars. The days of the sun and moon were
permitted to retain their names. They were called Sunday and Monday. The
day of the war-god Mars became the day of the war-god Tyr, Tuesday. The
day of Mercury became Odin’s day,
Wednesday. The day of the lightning-armed Jupiter became tIme day of the
thundering Thor, Thursday. The day of the goddess of love Venus became
that of the goddess of love Freyja, Friday. Saturnus, who in astrology is a
watery star, and has his house in the sign of the waterman, was anmong the
Romans, and before them among the Greeks and Chaldæans, the lord of the
seventh day. Among the North Teutons, or, at least, among a part of them, his
day got its name from laug,* which means a bath, and it is worthy of notice in
this connection that the author of the Prose Edda’s Foreword identifies
Saturnus with the sea-god Njord.
Here the Latin scholars had what seemed to them a complete proof that the
Odin of which their stories of the past had so much to tell was—and was so
recognised by their heathen ancestors—the same historical person as the
Romans worshipped by the name Mercury.
At first sight it may seem strange that Mercury and Odin were regarded as
identical. We are wont to conceive Hermes (Mercury) as the Greek sculptors
represented him, the ideal of beauty and elastic youth, while we imagine Odin
as having a contemplative, mysterious look. And while Odin in the Teutonic
mythology is the father and ruler of the gods, Mercury in the Roman has, of
course, as the son of Zeus, a high rank, but his dignity does not exempt him
from being the very busy messenger of the gods of Olympus. But neither
Greeks nor Romans nor Teutons attached much importance to such
circumstances in the specimens we have of their comparative mythology. The
Romans knew that the same god among the same people might be
represented differently, and that the local traditions also sometimes differed in
regard to the kinship and rank of a divinity. They therefore paid more attention
to what Tacitus calls vis numinis— that is, the significance of the divinity as a
symbol of nature, or its relation to the affairs of the community and to human
culture. Mercury was the symbol of wisdom and intelligence; so was Odin.
Mercury was the god of eloquence; Odin likewise. Mercury had introduced
poetry and song among men; Odin also. Mercury had taught men the art of
writing; Odin had given them the runes. Mercury did not hesitate to apply
cunning when it was needed to
* Saturday is in the North called Löverdag, Lördag—that is, Laugardag=
bathday. —TR.
secure him possession of something that he desired; nor was Odin particularly
scrupulous in regard to the means. Mercury, with wings on his hat and on his
heels, flew ever the world, and often appeared as a traveller among men;
Odin, the ruler of the wind, did the same. Mercury was the god of martial
games, and still he was not really the war-god; Odin also was the chief of
martial games and combats, but the war-god’s occupation he had left to Tyr.
In all important respects Mercury and Odin, therefore re.. sembled each other.
To the scholars this must have been an additional proof that this, in their eyes,
historical chief, whom the Romans called Mercury and the Teutons Odin, had
been one and the same human person, who had lived in a distant past, and
had alike induced Greeks, Romans, and Goths to worship him as a god. To
get additional and more reliable information in regard to this Odin-Mercury
than what the Teutonic heathen traditions could impart, it was only necessary
to study and interpret correctly what Roman history had to say about Mercury.
As is known, somne mysterious documents called the Sibylline books were
preserved in Jupiter’s temple, on the Capitoline Hill, in Rome. The Roman
State was the possessor, and kept the strictest watch over them, so that their
contents remained a secret to all excepting those whose position entitled them
to read them. A college of priests, men in high standing, were appointed to
guard them and to consult them when circumstances demanded it. The
common opinion that the Roman State consulted them for information in
regard to the future is incorrect. They were consulted only to find out by what
ceremonies of penance and propitiation the wrath of the higher powers might
be averted at times when Rome was in trouble, or when prodigies of one kind
or another had excited the people and caused fears of impending misfortune.
Then the Sibylline books were produced by the properly-appointed persons,
and in some line or passage they found which divinity was angry and ought to
be propitiated. This done, they published their interpretation of the passage,
but did not make known the words or phrases of the passage, for the text of
the Sibylline books must not be known to the public. The books were written in
the Greek tongue.
The story telling how these books came into the possession of the Roman
State through a woman who sold them to Tarquin— according to one version
Tarquin the Elder, according to another Tarquin the Younger—is found in
Roman authors who were well known and read throughout the whole middle
age. The woman was a Sibylla, according to Varro the Erythreian, so called
from a Greek city in Asia Minor; according to Virgil the Cumæan, a prophetess
from Cumæ in southern Italy. . Both versions could easily be harnionised, for
Cumæ was a Greek colony from Asia Minor; and we read in Servius’
commentaries on Virgil’s poems that the Ervthreian Sibylla was by many
regarded as identical with the Cumæan. From Asia Minor she was supposed
to have come to Cumæ.
In western Europe the people of the middle age claimed that there were
twelve Sibyllas: the Persian, the Libyan, the Delphian, the Cimmerinean, the
Erythreian, the Samian, the Cumæan, the Hellespontian or Trojan, the
Phrygian and Tiburtinian, and also the Sibylla Europa and the Sibylla Agrippa.
Authorities for the first ten of these were the Church father Lactantius and the
West Gothic historian Isodorus of Sevilla. The last two, Europa and Agrippa,
were simply added in order to make the number of Sibyllas equal to that of the
prophets and the apostles.
But the scholars of the middle ages also knew from Servius that the Cumæan
Sibylla was, in fact, the same as the Erythreian; and from the Church father
Lactantius, who was extensively read in the middle ages, they also learned
that the Erythreian was identical with the Trojan. Thanks to Lactantius, they
also thought they could determine precisely where the Trojan Sibylla was
born. Her birthplace was the town Marpessus, near the Trojan Mount Ida.
From the same Church father they learned that the real contents of the
Sibylline books had consisted of narrations concerning Trojan events, of lives
of the Trojan kings, &c., and also of prophecies concerning the fall of Troy and
other coming events, and that the poet Homer in his works was a mere
plagiator, who had found a copy of the books of the Sibylla, had recast and
falsified it, and published it in his own name in the form of heroic poems
concerning Troy.
This seemed to establish the fact that those books, which the woman from
Cumæ had sold to the Roman king Tarquin, were written by a Sibylla who was
born in the Trojan country, and that the books which Tarquin bought of her
contained accounts and prophecies—accounts especially in regard to the
Trojan chiefs and heroes afterwards glorified in Homer’s poems. As the
Romans came from Troy, these chiefs and heroes were their ancestors, and
in this capacity they were entitled to the worship which the Romans
considered due to the souls of their forefathers. From a Christian standpoint
this was of course idolatry; and as the Sibyllas were believed to have made
predictions even in regard to Christ, it might seem improper for them to
promote in this manner the cause of idolatry. But Lactantius gave a
satisfactory explanation of this matter. The Sibylla, he said, had certainly
prophesied truthfully in regard to Christ; but this she did by divine compulsion
and in moments of divine inspiration. By birth and in her sympathies she was
a heathen, and when under the spell of her genuine inspirations, she
proclaimed heathen and idolatrous doctrines.
In our critical century all this may seem like mere fancies. But careful
examinations have shown that an historical kernel is not wanting in these
representations. And the historical fact which lies back of all this is that the
Sibylline hooks which were preserved in Rome actually were written in Asia
Minor in the ancient Trojan territory; or, in other words, that the oldest known
collection of so-called Sibylline oracles was made in Marpessus, near the
Trojan mountain Ida, in the time of Solon. From Marpessus the collection
came to the neighbouring city Gergis, and was preserved in the Apollo temple
there; from Gergis it came to Cumæ, and from Cumæ to Rome in the time of
the kings. How it came there is not known. The story about the Cumæan
woman and Tarquin is an invention, and occurs in various forms. It is also
demonstrably an invention that the Sibylline books in Rome contained
accounts of the heroes in the Trojan war. On the other hand, it is absolutely
certain that they referred to gods and to a worship which in the main were
unknown to the Romans before the Sibylline books were introduced there,
and that to these books must chiefly be attributed the remarkable change
which took place in Roman mythology during the republican centuries. The
Roman mythology, which from the beginning had but few gods of clear identity
with the Greek, was especially during this epoch enlarged, and received gods
and goddesses who were worshipped in Greece and in the Greek and
Hellenised part of Asia Minor where the Sibylline books originated. The way
this happened was that whenever the Romans in trouble or distress consulted
the Sibylline books they received the answer that this or that Greek-Asiatic
god or goddess was angry and must be propitiated. In connection with the
propitiation ceremonies the god or goddess was received in the Roman
pantheon, and sooner or later a temple was built to him; and thus it did not
take long before the Romans appropriated the myths that were current in
Greece concerning these borrowed divinities. This explains why the Roman
mythology, which in its oldest sources is so original and so unlike the Greek,
in the golden period of Roman literature comes to us in an almost wholly
Greek attire; this explains why Roman and Greek mythology at that time might
be regarded as almost identical. Nevertheless the Romans were able even in
the later period of antiquity to discriminate between their native gods and
those introduced by the Sibylline books. The former were worshipped
according to a Romnan ritual, the latter according to a Greek. To the latter
belonged Apollo, Artemis, Latona, Ceres, Hermes-Mercury, Proserpina,
Cybile, Venus, and Esculapius; and that the Sibylline books were a GreekTrojan work, whose original home was Asia Minor and the Trojan territory,
was well known to the Romans. When the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter
was burned down eighty-four years before Christ, the Sibylline books were
lost. But the State could not spare them. A new collection had to be made,
and this was mainly done by gathering the oracles which could be found one
by one in those places which the Trojan or Erythreian Sibylla had visited, that
is to say, in Asia Minor, especially in Erythræ, and in Ilium, the ancient Troy.
So far as Hermes-Mercury is concerned, the Roman annals inform us that he
got his first lectisternium in the year 399 before Christ by order from the
Sibylline books. Lectisternium was a sacrifice: the image of the god was laid
on a bed with a pillow under the left arm, and beside the image was placed a
table and a meal, which as a sacrifice was offered to the god. About one
hundred years before that time, Hermes-Mercury had received his first temple
in Rome.
Hermes-Mercury seemed, therefore, like Apollo, Venus, Esculapius, and
others, to have been a god originally unknown to the Romans, the worship of
whom the Trojan Sibylla had recommended to the Romans.
This was known to the scholars of the middle age. Now, we must bear in mind
that it was as certain to them as an undoubted scientific fact that the gods
were originally men, chiefs, and heroes, and that the deified chief whom the
Romans worshiped as Mercury, and the Greeks as Hermes, was the same as
the Teutons called Odin, and from whom distinguished Teutonic families
traced their descent. We must also remember that the Sibylla who was
supposed to have recommended the Romans to worship the old king Odin-
Mercurius was believed to have been a Trojan woman, and that her books
were thought to have contained stories about Troy’s heroes, in addition to
various prophecies, and so this manner of reasoning led to the conclusion that
the gods who were introduced in Rome through the Sibylline books were
celebrated Trojans who had lived and fought at a time preceding the fall of
Troy. Another inevitable and logical conclusion was that Odin had been a
Trojan chief, and when he appears in Teutonic mythology as the chief of gods,
it seemed most probable that he was identical with the Trojan king Priam, and
that Priam was identical with Hermes-Mercury.
Now, as the ancestors of the Romans were supposed to have emigrated from
Troy to Italy under the leadership of Æneas, it was necessary to assume that
the Romans were not the only Trojan emigrants, for, since the Teutons
worshipped Odin-Priamus-Hermes as their chief god, and since a number of
Teutonic families traced their descent from this Odin, the Teutons, too, must
have emigrated from Troy. But, inasmuch as the Teutonic dialects differed
greatly from the Roman language, the Trojan Romans and the Trojan Teutons
must have been separated a very long time.
They must have parted company immediately after the fall of Troy and gone in
different directions, and as the Romans had taken a southern course on their
way to Europe, the Teutons must have taken a northern. It was also apparent
to the scholars that the Romans had landed in Europe many centuries earlier
than the Teutons, for Rome had been founded already in 754 or 753 before
Christ, but of the Teutons not a word is to be found in the annals before the
period immediately preceding the birth of Christ. Consequently, the Teutons
must have made a halt somewhere on their journey to the North. This halt
must have been of several centuries’ duration, and, of course, like the
Romans, they must have founded a city, and from it ruled a territory in
commemoration of their fallen city Troy. In tnat age very little was known of
Asia, where this Teutonic-Trojan colony was supposed to have been situated,
but, both from Orosius and, later, from Gregorius of Tours, it was known that
our world is divided into three large divisions— Asia, Europe, and Africa—and
that Asia and Europe are divided by a river called Tanais. And having learned
from Gregorius of Tours that the Teutonic Franks were said to have lived in
Pannonia in ancient times, and having likewise learned that the Moeotian
marshes lie east of Pannonia, and that the Tanais empties into these
marshes, they had the course marked out by which the Teutons had come to
Europe—that is, by way of Tanais and the Moeotian marshes. Not knowing
anything at all of importance in regard to Asia beyond Tanais, it was natural
that they should locate the colony of the Teutonic Trojans on the banks of this
river.
I think I have now pointed out the chief threads of the web of that scholastic
romance woven out of Latin convent learning concerning a Teutonic
emigration from Troy and Asia, a web which extends from Fredegar’s
Frankish chronicle, through the following chronicles of the middle age, down
into Heimskringla and the Foreword of the Younger Edda. According to the
Fraiikish chronicle, Gesta regum Francorum, the emigration of the Franks
from the Trojan colony near the Tanais was thought to have occurred very late
; that is, in the time of Valentinianus I., or, in other words, between 364 and
375 after Christ. The Icelandic authors very well knew that Teutonic tribes had
been far into Europe long before that time, and the reigns they had
constructed in regard to the North indicated that they must have emigrated
from the Tanais colony long before the Franks. As the Roman attack was the
cause of the Frankish emigration, it seemed probable that these worldconquerors had also caused the earlier emigration from Tanais; and as
Pompey’s expedition to Asia was the most celebrated of all the expeditions
made by the Romans in the East—Pompey even entered Jerusalem and
visited its Temple— it was foumid most convenient to let the Asas emigrate in
the time of Pompey, but they left a remnant of Teutons near the Tanais, under
the rule of Odin’s younger brothers Vile and Ve, in order that this colony might
continue to exist until the emigration of the Franks took place.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the Trojan migration saga, as born and
developed in antiquity, does not indicate by a single word that Europe was
peopled later than Asia, or that it received its population from A.sia. The
immigration of the Trojans to Europe was looked upon as a return to their
original homes. Dardanus, the founder of Troy, was regarded as the leader of
an emigration from Etruria to Asia (Æneid, iii. 165 ff., Serv. Comm.). As a rule
the European peoples regarded themselves in antiquity as autochtones, if
they did not look upon themselves as immigrants from regions within Europe
to the territories they inhabited in historic times.
13.
THE MATERIALS OF THE ICELANDIC TROY SAGA.
We trust the facts presented above have convinced the reader that the saga
concerning the immigration of Odin and the Asas to Europe is throughout a
product of the convent learning of the middle ages. That it was born and
developed independently of the traditions of the Teutonic heathendom shall
be made still more apparent by the additional proofs that are accessible in
regard to this subject. It may, however, be of some interest to first dwell on
sonic of the details in the Heimskringla and in the Younger Edda and point out
their source.
It should be borne in mind that, according to the Younger Edda, it was
Zoroaster who first thought of building the Tower of Babel, and that in this
undertaking he was assisted by seventy-two master-masons. Zoroaster is, as
is well known, another form for the Bactrian or Iranian name Zarathustra, the
name of the prophet and religious refornier who is praised on every page of
Avesta’s holy books, and who in a prehistoric age founded the religion which
far down in our own era has been confessed by the Persians, and is still
confessed by their descendants in India, and is marked by a most serious and
moral view of the world. In the Persian and in the classical literatures this
Zoroaster has naught to do with Babel, still less with the Tower of Babel. But
already in the first century of Christianity, if not earlier, traditions became
current which made Zoroaster the founder of all sorcery, magic, and astrology
(Plinius, Hist. Nat., xxx. 2); and as astrology particularly was supposed to
have had its centre and base in Babylon, it was natural to assume that Babel
had been the scene of Zoroaster’s activity. The Greek-Roman chronicler
Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived in the fourth century after Christ, still knows
that Zoroaster was a man from Bactria, not from Babylon, but he already has
formed the opinion that Zoroaster had gotten niuch of his wisdom from the
writings of the Babylonians. In the Church fathers the saga is developed in
this direction, and from the Church fathers it got into the Latin chronicles. The
Christian historian Orosius also knows that Zoroaster was from Bactria, but lie
already connects Zoroaster with the history of Nineveh and Babylon, and
niakes Ninus make war against him and conquer him. Orosius speaks of him
as the inventor of sorcery and the magic arts. Gregorius of Tours told in his
time that Zoroaster was identical with Noah’s grandson, with Chus, the son of
Ham, that this Chus went to the Persians, and that the Persians called him
Zoroaster, a name supposed to mean "the living star ". Gregorius also relates
that this Zoroaster was the first person who taught nien the arts of sorcery and
led them astray into idolatry, and as he knew the art of making stars and fire
fall from heaven, men paid him divine worship. At that time, Gregorius
continues, men desired to build a tower which should reach to heaven. But
God confused their tongues and brought their project to naught. Nimrod, who
was supposed to have built Babel, was, according to Gregorius, a son of
Zoroaster.
If we compare this with what the Foreword of the Younger Edda tells, then we
find that there, too, Zoroaster is a descendant of Noah’s son Chain and the
founder of all idolatry, and that he himself was worshipped as a god. It is
evident that the author of the Foreword gathered these statements from some
source related to Gregorius’ history. Of the 72 master-masons who were said
to have helped Zoroaster in building the tower, and from whom the 72
languages of the world originated, Gregorius has nothing to say, but the saga
about these builders was current everywhere during the middle ages. In the
earlier Anglo-Saxon literature there is a very naïve little work, very
characteristic of its age, called "A Dialogue between Saturn and Solomon," in
which Saturnus tests Solomon’s knowledge and puts to him all sorts of biblical
questions, which Solomon answers partly from the Bible and partly from
sagas connected with the Bible. Among other things Saturnus informs
Solomon that Adam was created out of various elements, weighing altogether
eight pounds, and that when created he was just 116 inches long. Solomon
tells that Shem, Noah’s son, had thirty sons, Chain thirty, and Japhet twelve—
making 72 grandsons of Noah; and as there can be no doubt that it was the
author’s opinion that all the languages of the world, thought to be 72,
originated at the Tower of Babel, and were spread into the world by these 72
grandsons of Noah, we here find the key to who those 72 master-masons
were who, according to the Edda, assisted Zoroaster in building the tower.
They were accordingly his brothers. Luther’s contemporary, Henricus
Cornelius Agrippa, who, in his work Dv occulta Philosophia, gathered
numerous data in regard to the superstition of all ages, has a chapter on the
power and sacred meaning of various numbers, and says in speaking of the
number 72 : " The number 72 corresponds to the 72 languages, the 72 elders
in the synagogue, the 72 commentators of the Old Testament, Christ’s 72
disciples, God’s 72 names, the 72 angels who govern the 72 divisions of the
Zodiac, each division of which corresponds to one of the 72 languages ". This
illustrates sufficiently how widespread was the tradition in regard to the 72
master-masons during the centuries of the middle ages. Even Nestor’s
Russian chronicle knows the tradition. It continued to enjoy a certain authority
in the seventeenth century. An edition of Sulpicius Severus’ Opera Omnia,
printed in 1647, still considers it necessary to point out that a certain
commentator had doubted whether the number 72 was entirely exact. Aniong
the doubters we find Rudbeck in his Atlantica.
What the Edda tells about king Saturnus and his son, king Jupiter, is found in
a general way, partly in the Church-father Lactantius, partly in Virgil’s
commentator Servius, who was known and read during the middle age. As the
Edda claims that Saturnus knew the art of producing gold from the molten
iron, and that no other than gold coins existed in his time, this must be
considered an interpretation of the statement made in Latin sources that
Saturnus’ was the golden age—aurea secula, aurea regna. Among the
Romans Saturnus was the guardian of treasures, and the treasury of the
Romans was in the temple of Saturnus in the Forum.
The genealogy found in the Edda, according to which the Trojan king Priam,
supposed to be the oldest and the proper Odin, was descended in the sixth
generation from Jupiter, is taken fromn Latin chronicles. Herikon of the Edda,
grandson of Jupiter, is the Roman-Greek Erichtonius; the Edda’s Lamedon is
Laomedon. Then the Edda has the difficult task of continuing the genealogy
through the dark centuries between the burning of Troy and the younger
Odin’s immigration to Europe. Here the Latin sources naturally fail it entirely,
and it is obliged to seek other aid. It first considers the native sources. There it
finds that Thor is also called Lorride, Indride, and Vingthor, and that he had
two soils, Mode and Magne; but it also finds a genealogy made about the
twelfth century, in which these different names of Thor are applied to different
persons, so that Lorride is the son of Thor, Indride the son of Lorride, Vingthor
the son of Indride, &c. This mode of making genealogies was current in
Iceland in the twelfth century, and before that time among the Christian AngloSaxons. Thereupon the Edda continues its genealogy with the names Bedvig,
Atra, Itrman, Heremod, Skjaldun or Skold, Bjæf, Jat, Gudolf, Fjarlaf or Fridleif,
and finally Odin, that is to say, the younger Odin, who had adopted this name
after his deified progenitor Hermes-Priam. This whole genealogy is taken from
a Saxon source, and can be found in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle name for
name. From Odin the genealogy divides itself into two branches, one from
Odin’s son, Veggdegg, and another from Odin’s son, Beldegg or Balder. The
one branch has the names Veggdegg, Vitrgils, Ritta, Heingest. These names
are found arranged into a genealogy by the English Church historian Beda, by
the English chronicler Nennius, and in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. From one
of these three sources the Edda has taken them, and the only difference is
that the Edda must have made a slip in one place and changed the name
Vitta to Ritta. The other branch, which begins with Balder or Beldegg,
embraces eight names, which are found in precisely the same order in the
Anglo-Saxon chronicle.
In regard to Balder, the Edda says that Odin appointed him king in
Westphalia. This statement is based on the tradition that Balder was known
among the heathen Germans and Scandinavians by the name Fal (Palm., see
No. 92), with its variation Fol. In an age when it was believed that Sweden got
its name from a king Sven, Götaland from a king Göt, Danmark from a king
Dan, Angeln from a king Angul, the Franks from a duke Francio, it might be
expected that Falen (East- and West-Phalia) had been named after a king Fal.
That this name was recognised as belonging to Balder not only in Germany,
but also in Scandinavia, I shall give further proof of in No. 92.
As already stated, Thor was, according to the Edda, married to Sibil, that is to
say, the Sibylla, and the Edda adds that this Sibil is called Sif in the North. In
the Teutonic mythology Thor’s wife is the goddess Sif. It has already been
mentioned that it was believed in the middle age that the Cumæan or
Erythreian Sibylla originally came from Troy, and it is not, therefore, strange
that the author of the Younger Edda, who speaks of the Trojan descent of
Odin and his people, should marry Thor to the most famous of Trojan women.
Still, this marriage is not invented by the author. The statement has an older
foundation, and taking all circumstances into consideration, may be traced to
Germany, where Sif, in the days of heathendom, was as well known as Thor.
To the northern form Sif corresponds the Gothic form Sibba, the Old English
Sib, the Old Saxon Sibbia, and the Old High German Sibba, and Sibil, Sibilla,
was thought to be still another form of the sanie name. The belief, based on
the assumed fact that Thor’s wife Sif was identical with the Sibylla, explains a
phenomenon not hitherto understood in the saga-world and church sculpture
of the middle age, and on this point I now have a few remarks to make.
In the Norse mythology several goddesses or discs have, as we know, feather
— guises, with which they fly through space. Freyja has a falcon-guise;
several discs have swan-guises (Volundarkv. Helreid. Brynh., 6). Among
these swan-maids was Sif (see No. 123). Sif could therefore present herself
now in human form, and again in the guise of the most beautiful swimming
bird, the swan.
A legend, the origin of which may be traced to Italy, tells that when the queen
of Saba visited king Solomon, she was in one place to cross a brook. A tree or
beam was thrown across as a bridge. The wise queen stopped, and would not
let her foot touch the beam. She preferred to wade across the brook, and
when she was asked the reason for this, she answered that in a prophetic
vision she had seen that the time would come when this tree would be made
into a cross on which the Saviour of the world was to suffer.
The legend came also to Germany, but here it appears with the addition that
the queen of Saba was rewarded for this piety, and was freed while wading
across the brook from a bad blemish. One of her feet, so says the German
addition, was of human form, but the other like the foot of a water-bird up to
the moment when she took it out of the brook. Church sculpture sometimes in
the middle age represented the queen of Saba as a woman well formed,
except that she had one foot like that of a water-bird. How the Germans came
to represent her with this blemish, foreign to the Italian legend, has not
heretofore been explained, although the influence of the Greek-Roman
mythology on the legends of the Romance peoples, aiid that of the Teutonic
mythology on the Teutonic legends, has been traced in numerous instances.
During the middle ages the queen of Saba was called queen Seba, on
account of the Latin translation of the Bible, where she is styled Regina Seba,
and Seba was thought to be her name. The name suggested her identity, on
the one hand, with Sibba, Sif, whose swan-guise lived in the traditions ; on the
other hand, with Sibilla, and the latter particularly, since queen Seba had
proved herself to be in possession of prophetic inspiration, the chief
characteristic of the Sibylla. Seba, Sibba, and Sibilla were in the popular fancy
blended into one. This explains how queen Seba among the Germans, but not
among the Italians, got the blemish which reminds us of the swan-guise of
Thor’s wife Sibba. And having come to the conclusion that Thor was a Trojan,
his wife Sif also ought to be a Trojan woman. And as it was known that the
Sibylla was Trojan, and that queen Seba was a Sibylla, this blending was
almost inevitable. The Latin scholars found further evidence of the correctness
of this identity in a statement drawn origin ally from Greek sources to the
effect that Jupiter had had a Sibylla, by name Lamia, as mistress, and had
begotten a daughter with her by name Herophile, who was endowed with her
mother’s gift of prophecy. As we know, Mercury corresponds to Odin, and
Jupiter to Thor, in the names of the days of the week. It thus follows that it
was Thor who stood in this relation to the Sibylla.
The character of the anthropomorphosed Odin, who is lawgiver and king, as
represented in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda, is only in part based on
native northern traditions concerning the heathen god Odin, the ruler of
heaven. This younger Odin, constructed by Christian authors, has received
his chief features from documents found in the convent libraries. When the
Prose Edda tells that the chief who proceeded from Asgard to Saxland and
Scandinavia did not really bear the name Odin, but had assumed this name
after the elder and deified Odin-Priam of Troy, to niake people believe that he
was a god, then this was no new idea. Virgil’s commentator, Servius, remarks
that ancient kings very frequently assumed names which by right belonged
only to the gods, amid he blames Virgil for making Saturnus come from the
heavenly Olympus to found a golden age in Italy. This Saturnus, says Servius,
was not a god from above, but a mortal king from Crete who had taken the
god Saturnus’ name. The manner in which Saturnus, on his arrival in Italy and
the vicinity of Rome, was received by Janus, the king ruling there, reminds us
of the manner in which Odin, on his arrival in Svithiod, was received by king
Gylfe. Janus is unpretentious enough to leave a portion of his territory and his
royal power to Saturnus, and Gylfe makes the same concessions to Odin.
Saturnus thereupon introduces a higher culture among the people of Latium,
and Odin brings a higher culture to the inhabitants of Scandinavia. The
Church father Lactantius, like Servius, speaks of kings who tried to
appropriate the name and worship of the gods, and condemns them as foes of
truth and violators of the doctrines of the true God.
In regard to one of them, the Persian Mithra, who, in the middle age, was
confounded with Zoroaster, Tertulianus relates that he (Mithra), who knew in
advance that Christianity would come, resolved to anticipate the true faith by
introducing sonic of its customs. Thus, for example, Mithra, according to
Tertulianus, introduced the custom of blessing by laying the hands on the
head or the brow of those to whom he wished to insure prosperity, and he
also adopted among his mysteries a practice resembling the breaking of the
bread in the Eucharist. So far as the blessing by the laying on of hands is
concerned, Mithra especially used it in giving courage to the men whom he
sent out as soldiers to war. With these words of Tertulianus it is interesting to
compare the following passage in regard to Odin in the Heimskringla " It was
his custom when he sent his men to war, or on some errand, to lay his hands
on their head and give them bjannak ". Bjannak is not a Norse word, not even
Teutonic, and there has been uncertainty in regard to its significance. The
well-known Icelandic philologist, Vigfusson, has, as I believe, given the correct
definition of the word, having referred it to the Scottish word bannock and the
Gaelic bangh, which means bread. Presumably the author of Heimskringla
has chosen this foreign word in order riot to wound the religious feelings of
readers with a native term, for if bjannak really means bread, and if the author
of Heimskringla desired in this way to indicate that Odin, by the aid of sacred
usages, practised in the Christian cult—that is, by the laying on of hands and
the breaking of bread—had given his warriors the assurance of victory, then it
lay near at hand to modify, by the aid of a foreign word for bread, the
impression of the disagreeable similarity between the heathen and Christian
usages. But at the seine time the complete harmony between what
Tertulianus tells about Mithra and Heimskringla about Odin is manifest.
What Heimnskringla tells about Odin, that his spirit could leave the body and
go to far-off regions, and that his body lay in the meantime as if asleep or
dead, is told, in the middle age, of Zoroaster and of Hermes-Mercurius. New
Platonian works had told much about an originally Egyptian god, whom they
associated with the Greek Hermes and called Hermes-Trismegistus—that is,
the thrice greatest and highest. The name Hermes-Trismegistus became
known through Latin authors even to the scholars in the middle age convents,
amid, as a matter of course, those who believed that Odin was identical with
Hermes also regarded him as identical with Hermes-Trismegistus. When
Gylfe sought Odin amid his men he came to a citadel which, according to the
statenient of the gatekeeper, belonged to king Odin, but when he had entered
the hall he there saw not one throne, but three thrones, the one above the
other, and upon each of the thrones a chief. When Gylfe asked the names of
these chiefs, he received an answer that indicates that none of the three
alone was Odin, but that Odin the sorcerer, who was able to turn mnen’s
vision, was present in them all. One of the three, says the door— keeper, is
named Hár, the second Jafnhár, and the one on the highest throne is þriði. It
seems to me probable that what gave rise to this story was the surname " the
thrice-highest," which in the middle age was ascribed to Mercury, and,
consequently, was regarded as one of the epithets which Odin assumed. The
names Third and High seem to point to the phrase " the thrice-highest".
It was accordingly taken for granted that Odin had appropriated this name in
order to anticipate Christianity with a sort of idea of trinity, just as Zoroaster,
his progenitor, had, under the name Mithra, in advance imitated the Christian
usages.
The rest that Heimskringla and the Younger Edda tell about the king Odin who
immigrated to Europe is mainly taken from the stories embodied in the
mythological songs and traditions in regard to the god Odin who ruled in the
celestial Valhal. Here belongs what is told about the war of Odin and the
Asiatics with the Vans. In the myth, this war was waged around the walls built
by a giant around the heavenly Asgard (Völusp., 25). The citadel in which
Gylfe finds the triple Odin is decorated in harmony with the Valhal described
by the heathen skalds. The men who drink and present exercises in arms are
the einherjes of the myth. Gylfe himself is takeii from the mythology, but, to all
appearances, lie did not play the part of a king, but of a giant, dwelling in
Jotunheim. The Fornmanna sagas make him a descendant of Fornjótr, who,
with his sons, Hléir, Logi, and Kári, and his descendants, Jökull , Snær, Geitir,
&c., doubtless belong to Jotunheim. When Odin and the Asas had been made
immigrants to the North, it was quite natural that the giants were made a
historical people, and as such were regarded as the aborigines of the North—
an hypothesis which, in connection with the fable about the Asiatic emigration,
was accepted for centuries, arid still has its defenders. The story that Odin,
when lie perceived death drawing near, marked himself with the point of a
spear, has its origin in the words which a heathen song lays on Odin’s lips : " I
know that I hung on the wind-tossed tree nine nights, by my spear wounded,
given to Odin, myself given to myself" (Havam., 138).
14.
THE RESULT OF THE FOREGOING INVESTIGATIONS.
Herewith I close the examination of the sagas in regard to the Trojan descent
of the Teutons, and in regard to the immigration of Odin and his Asia-men to
Saxland, Denmark, and the Scandinavian peninsula. I have pointed out the
seed from which the sagas grew, the soil in which the seed could be
developed, and how it gradually grew to be what we find these sagas to be in
Heimskringla and the Younger Edda. I have shown that. they do not belong to
the Teutonic heathendom, but that they were born, as it were of necessity, in
a Christian time, among Teutons converted to Christianity, and that they are
throughout the work of the Latin scholars in the middle age. The assumption
that they concealed within themselves a tradition preserved for centuries
among the Teutons themselves of an ancient emigration from Asia is
altogether improbable, and is completely refuted by the genuine migration
sagas of Teutonic origin which were rescued from oblivion, and of which I
shall give an account below. In my opinion, these old and genuine Teutonic
migration sagas have, from a purely historical standpoint, but little more claim
than the fables of the Christian age in regard to Odin’s emigration from Asia to
be looked upon as containing a kernel of reality. This must in each case be
carefully considered. But that of which they furnish evidence is, how entirely
foreign to the Teutonic heathens was the idea of an immigration from Troy or
Asia, and besides, they are of great interest on account of their connection
with what the myths have to say imi regard to the oldest dwellingplaces,
history, and diffusion of the human race, or at least of the Teutonic part of it.
As a rule, all the old migration sagas, no matter from what race they spring,
should be treated with the utmost caution. Large portions of the earth’s
surface may have been appropriated by various races, not by the sudden
influx of large masses, but by a gradual increase of the population and
consequent moving of their boundaries, and there need not have been any
very remarkable or memorable events in connection therewith. Such an
expansion of the territory may take place, and be so little remarked by the
people living around the centre, that they actually do not need to be aware of
it, and much less do they need to remember it in sagas and songs. That a few
new settlers year by year exteiid the boundaries of a race has no influence on
the imagination, and it can continue generation after generation, and produce
as its finial result an immense expansion, and yet the separate generations
may scarcely have been conscious of the change in progress. A people’s
spreading over new territory may be compared with the movement of the
hour-hand on a clock. It is not perceptible to the eye, and is only realised by
continued observation.
In many instances, however, immigrations have taken place in large masses,
who have left their old abodes to seek new homes. Such undertakings are of
themselves worthy of being remembered, and they are attended by results
that easily cling to the memory. But even in such cases it is surprising how
soon the real historical events either are utterly forgotten or blended with
fables, which gradually, since they appeal more to the fancy, monopolise the
interest. The conquest and settlement of England by Saxon and Scandinavian
tribes—and that, too, in a time when the art of writing was known — is a most
remarkable instance of this. Hengist, under whose command the Saxons,
according to their own immigration saga, are said to have planted their feet on
British soil, is a saga-figure taken from mythology, and there we shall find him
later on (see No. 123). No wonder, then, if we discover in mythology those
heroes under whose leadership the Longobardians and Goths believed they
had emigrated from their original Teutonic homes.
B. REMINISCENCES IN THE POPULAR TRADITIONS OF THE MIDDLE
AGES OF THE HEATHEN MIGRATION SAGA.
15.
THE LONGOBARDIAN MIGRATION SAGA.
What there still remains of migration sagas from the middle ages, taken from
the saga-treasure of the Teutons themselves, is, alas! but little. Among the
Franks the stream of national traditions early dried up, at least among the
class possessing Latin culture. Among the Longobardians it fared better, and
among them Christianity was introduced later. Within the ken of Roman
history they appear in the first century after Christ, when Tiberius invaded their
boundaries.
Tacitus speaks of them with admiration as a small people whose paucity, he
says, was balanced by their unity and warlike virtues, which rendered them
secure in the midst of the numerous and mighty tribes around them. The
Longobardians dwelt at that time in the most northern part of Germany, on the
lower Elbe, probably in Luneburg. Five hundred years later we find them as
rulers in Pannonia, whence they invade Italy. They had then been converted
to Christianity. A hundred years after they had become settled in North Italy,
one of their Latin scholars wrote a little treatise, De Origine Longobardorum,
which begins in the following manner: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Here begins the oldest history of our Longobardian people. There is an island
called Skadan, far in the north. There dwelt many peoples. Among them was
a little people called the Vinnilians, and among the Vinnilians was a woman by
name Gambara. Gambara had two sons: one by name Ibor, the other named
Ajo. She and these sons were the rulers among the Vinnilians. Then it came
to pass that the Vandals, with their dukes Ambri and Assi, turned against the
Vinnilians, and said to them: ‘Pay ye tribute unto us. If ye will not, then arm
yourselves for war!’ Then made answer Ibor and Ajo and their mother
Gambara: ‘It is better for us to arm ourselves for war than to pay tribute to the
Vandals’. When Ambri and Assi, the dukes of the Vandals, heard this, they
addressed themselves to Odin (Goðan) with a prayer that he should grant
them victory. Odin answered and said: ‘Those whom I first discover at the
rising of the sun, to them I shall give vie tory’. But at the same time Ibor and
Ajo, the chiefs of the Vinnilians, and their mother Gambara, addressed
themselves to Frigg (Frea), Odin’s wife, beseeching her to assist them. Then
Frigg gave the advice that the Vinnilians should set out at the rising of the sun,
and that the women should accompany their husbands and arrange their hair
so that it should hang like a beard under their chins. When the sky cleared
and the sun was about to rise, Frigg, Odin’s wife, went to the couch where her
husband was sleeping and directed his face to the east (where the Vinnilians
stood), and then she waked him. And as he looked up he saw the Vinnilians,
and observed the hair hanging down from the faces of their women. And then
said he: ‘What long-beards are they?’ Then said Frigg to Odin:
‘My lord, as you now have named them, you must also give them victory!’ And
he gave them victory, so that they, in accordance with his resolve, defended
themselves well, and got the upper hand. From that day the Vinnilians were
called Longobardians— that is to say, long-beards. Then the Longobardians
left their country and came to Golaida, and thereupon they occupied Aldonus,
Anthaib, Bainaib, and Burgundaib."
In the days of Charlemagne the Longobardians got a historian by name
Paulus Diaconus, a monk in the convent Monte Cassino, and he was himself
a Longobardian by birth. Of the earliest history of his people he relates the
following: The Vinnilians or Longobardians, who ruled successfully in Italy, are
of Teutonic descent, and came originally from the island Scandinavia. Then
he says that he has talked with persons who had been in Scandinavia, and
from their reports he gives some facts, from which it is evident that his
informants had reference to Scania with its extensive coast of lowlands and
shallow water. Then he continues: "When the population on this island had
increased beyond the ability of the island to support them, they were divided
into three parts, and it was determined by lot which part should emigrate from
the native land amid seek new homes. The part whose destiny it became to
leave their native land chose as their leaders the brothers Ibor and Ajo, who
were in the bloom of manhood and were distinguished above the rest. Then
they bade farewell to their friends and to their country, and went to seek a
land in which they might settle. The mother of these two leaders was called
Gambara, who was distinguished among her people for her keen
understanding and shrewd advice, and great reliance was placed on her
prudence in difficult circumstances." Paulus makes a digression to discuss
many remarkable things to be seen in Scandinavia: the light summer nights
and the long winter nights, a maelstrom which in its vortex swallows vessels
and sometimes throws them up again, an animal resembling a deer hunted by
the neighbours of the Scandinavians, the Scritobinians (the Skee* Finns), and
a cave in a rock where seven men in Roman clothes have slept for centuries
(see Nos. 79-81, and No. 94). Then he relates that the Vinnilians left
Scandinavia and came to a country called Scoringia, and there was fought the
aforesaid battle, in which, thanks to Frigg’s help, the Vinnilians conquered the
Vandals, who demanded tribute from them. The story is then told how this
occurred, and how the
* The snow-skate, used so extensively in the north of Europe, is called Ski in
the Norse, and I have taken the liberty of introducing this word here and
spelling it phonetically—skee, pl. skees. The words snow-shoes, snow-skates,
hardly describe sufficiently these skees used by the Finns, Norsernen, and
Icelanders. Compare the English word skid, the drag applied to a
coachwheel.—TR.
Vinnilians got the name Longobardians in a manner corresponding with the
source already quoted, with the one addition, that it was Odin’s custom when
he awoke to look out of the window, which was open, to the east toward the
rising sun. Paulus Diaconus finds this Longobardian folk-saga ludicrous, not in
itself, but because Odin was, in the first place, he says, a man, not a god. In
the second place, Odin did not live among the Teutons, but among the
Greeks, for he is the same as the one called by the Romans Mercury. In the
third place, Odin-Mercury did not live at the time when the Longobardians
emigrated from Scandinavia, but much earlier. According to Paulus, there
were only five generations between the emigration of the Longobardians and
the time of Odoacer. Thus we find in Paulus Diaconus the ideas in regard to
Odin-Mercury which I have already called attention to. Paulus thereupon
relates the adventures which happened to the Longobardians after the battle
with the Vandals. I shall refer to these adventures later on. They belong to the
Teutonic mythology, and reappear in mythic sources (see No. 112), but in a
more original from, and as events which took place in the beginning of time in
a conflict between the Asas and Vans on the one hand, and lower beings on
the other hand; lower, indeed, but unavoidable in connection with the
wellbeing of nature and man. This conflict resulted in a terrible winter and
consequent famine throughout the North. In this mythological description we
shall find Ajo and Ibor, under whose leadership the Longobardians emigrated,
and Hengist, under whom the Saxons landed in Britain.
It is proper to show what form the story about the Longobardian emigration
had assumed toward the close of the twelfth century in the writings of the
Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus. The emigration took place, he says, at a
time when a Danish king, by name Snö, ruled, and when there occurred a
terrible famine. First, those starving had resolved to kill all the aged and all
children, but this awful resolve was not carried out, thanks to a good and wise
woman, by name Gambaruc, who advised that a part of the people should
emigrate. This was done under the leadership of her sons Aggo and Ebbo.
The emigrants came first to Blekingia (Blekinge), then they sailed past
Moringia (Möre) and came to Gutland, where they had a contest with the
Vandals, and by the aid of the goddess Frigg they won the victory, and got the
name Longobardians. From Gutland they sailed to Rugen, and thence to the
German continent, and thus after many adventures they at length became
masters of a large part of Italy.
In regard to this account it must be remarked that although it contains many
details not found in Paulus Diaconus, still it is the same narrative that has
come to Saxo’s knowledge. This Saxo also admits, and appeals to the
testimony of Paulus Diaconus. Paulus’ Gambara is Saxo’s Gambaruc; Ajo and
Ibor are Aggo and Ebbo. But the Longobardian monk is not Saxo’s only
source, and the brothers Aggo and Ebbo, as we shall show, were known to
him from purely northern sources, though not as leaders of the
Longobardians, but as mythic characters, who are actors in the great winter
which Saxo speaks of.
The Longobardian emigration saga—as we find it recorded in the seventh
century, and then again in the time of Charlemagne— contains unmistakable
internal evidence of having been taken from the people’s own traditions. Proof
of this is already the circumstance, that although the Longobardians had been
Christians for nearly 200 years when the little book De Origine
Longobardorum appeared, still the long-banished divinities, Odin and Frigg,
reappear and take part in the events, not as men, but as divine beings, and in
a manner thoroughly corresponding with the stories recorded in the North
concerning the relations between Odin and his wife. For although this relation
was a good and tender one, judging from expressions in the heathen poems
of the North (Völusp., 51; Vafthr., 1-4), and although the queen of heaven,
Frigg, seems to have been a good mother in the belief of the Teutons, this
does not hinder her from being represented as a wily person, with a will of her
own which she knows how to carry out. Even a Norse story tells how Frigg
resolves to protect a person whom Odin is not able to help; how she and he
have different favourites among men, and vie with each other in bringing
greater luck to their favourites. The story is found in the prose introduction to
the poem "Grimnismál," an introduction which in more than one respect
reminds us of the Longobardian emigration saga. In both it is mentioned how
Odin from his dwelling looks out upon the world and observes what is going
on. Odin has a favourite by name Geirrod. Frigg, on the other hand, protects
Geirrod’s brother Agnar. The man and wife find fault with each other’s
proteges. Frigg remarks about Geirrod, that he is a prince, "stingy with food,
so that be lets his guests starve if they are many ". And the story goes on to
say that Geirrod, at the secret command of Odin, had pushed the boat in
which Agnar was sitting away from shore, and that the boat had gone to sea
with Agnar and had not returned. The story looks like a parable founded on
the Longobardian saga, or like one grown in a Christian time out of the same
root as the Longobardian story. Geirrod is in reality the name of a giant, and
the giant is in the myth a being who brings hail and frost. He dwells in the
uttermost North, beyond the mythical Gandvik (Thorsdrapa, 2), and as a
mythical winter symbol he corresponds to king Snö in Saxo. His "stinginess of
food when too many guests come" seems to point to lack of food caused by
the unfavourable weather, which necessitated emigrations, when the country
became over-populated. Agnar, abandoned to the waves of the sea, is
protected, like the Longobardians crossing the sea, by Frigg, and his very
name, Agnar, reminds us of the names Aggo, Acho, and Agio, by which Ajo,
one of the leaders of the Longobardians, is known. The prose introduction has
no original connection with Grimnismál itself, and in the form in which we now
have it, it belongs to a Christian age, and is apparently from an author
belonging to the same school as those who regarded the giants as the original
inhabitants of Scandinavia, and turned winter giants like Jökull, Snær, &c.,
into historical kings of Norway.
The absolutely positive result of the Longobardian narratives written by
Longobardian historians is that the Teutonic race to which they belonged
considered themselves sprung, not from Troy or Asia, but from an island,
situated in the ocean, which washes the northern shores of the Teutonic
continent, that is to say, of Germany.
16.
THE SAXON AND SWABIAN MIGRATION SAGA.
From the Longobardians I now pass to the great Teutonic group of peoples
comprised in the term the Saxons. Their historian, Widukind, who wrote his
chronicle in the tenth century, begins by telling what he has learned about the
origin of the Saxons. Here, he says, different opinions are opposed to each
other. According to one opinion held by those who knew the Greeks and
Romans, the Saxons are descended from the remnants of Alexander the
Great’s Macedonian army; according to the other, which is based on native
traditions, the Saxons are descended from Danes and Northmen. Widukind so
far takes his position between these opinions that he considers it certain that
the Saxons had come iii ships to the country they inhabited on the lower Elbe
and the North Sea, and that they landed in Hadolaun, that is to say, in the
district Hadeln, near the mouth of the Elbe, which, we may say in passing, still
is distinguished for its remarkably vigorous population, consisting of peasants
whose ancestors throughout the middle ages preserved the communal liberty
in successful conflict with the feudal nobility. Widukind’s statement that the
Saxons crossed the sea to Hadeln is found in an older Saxon chronicle,
written about 860, with the addition that the leader of the Saxons in their
emigration was a chief by name Hadugoto.
A Swabian chronicle, which claims that the Swabians also came from the
North and experienced about the same adventures as the Saxons when they
came to their new home, gives from popular traditions additional details in
regard to the migration and the voyage. According to this account, the
emigration was caused by a famine which visited the Northland situated on
the other side of the sea, because the inhabitants were heathens who
annually sacrificed twelve Christians to their gods. At the time when the
famine came there ruled a king Rudolph over that region in the Northland
whence the people emigrated. He called a convention of all the most noble
men in the land, and there it was decided that, in order to put an end to the
famine, the fathers of families who had several sons should slay them all
except the one they loved most. Thanks to a young man, by name Ditwin, who
was himself included in this dreadful resolution, a new convention was called,
and the above resolution was rescinded, and instead, it was decided to
procure ships, and that all they who, according to the former resolution, were
doomed to die, should seek new homes beyond the sea. Accompanied by
their female friends, they embarked, and they had not sailed far before they
were attacked by a violent storm, which carried them to a Danish harbour near
a place, says the author, which is called Slesvik. Here they went ashore, and
to put an end to all discussion in regard to a return to the old dear fatherland,
they hewed their ships into pieces. Then they wandered through the country
which lay before them, and, together with much other booty, they gathered
20,000 horses, so that a large number of the men were able to ride on
horseback. The rest followed the riders on foot. Armed with weapons, they
proceeded in this mariner through the country ruled by the Danes, and they
came to the river Alba (Elbe), which they crossed; after which they scattered
themselves along the coast. This Swabian narrative, which seems to be
copied from the Saxon, tells, like the latter, that the Thuringians were rulers in
the land to which the immigrants came, and that bloody battles had to be
fought before they got possession of it. Widukind’s account attempts to give
the Saxons a legal right, at least to the landing-place and the immediate
vicinity. This legal right, he says, was acquired in the following manner. While
the Saxons were still in their ships in the harbour, out of which the Thuringians
were unable to drive them, it was resolved on both sides to open negotiations,
and thus an understanding was reached, that the Saxons, on the condition
that they abstained from plundering and murder, might remain and buy what
they needed and sell whatever they could. Then it occurred that a Saxon man,
richly adorned with gold and wearing a gold necklace, went ashore. There a
Thuringian met him and asked him: "Why do you wear so much gold around
your lean neck ?" The youth answered that he was perishing from hunger,
and was seeking a purchaser of his gold ornaments. "How much do you ask
?" inquired the Thuringian. "What do you bid?" answered the Saxon. Near by
was a large sand-hill, and the Thuringian said in derision: " I will give you as
niuch sand as you can carry in your clothes ". The Saxon said he would
accept this offer. The Thuringian filled the skirts of his frock with sand; the
Saxon gave him his gold ornaments and returned to the ships. The
Thuringians laughed at this bargain with contempt, and the Saxons found it
foolish; but the youth said : " Go with me, brave Saxons, and I will show you
that my foolishness will be your advantage ". Then he took the sand he had
bought and scattered it as widely as possible over the ground, covering in this
manner so large an area that it gave the Saxons a fortified camp. The
Thuringians sent messengers and complained of this, but the Saxons
answered that hitherto they had faithfully observed the treaty, and that they
had not taken more territory than they had purchased with their gold. Thus the
Saxons got a firm foothold in the land.
Thus we find that the sagas of the Saxons and the Swabians agree with those
of the Longobardians in this, that their ancestors were supposed to have
come from a northern country beyond the Baltic. The Swabian version
identifies this country distinctly enough with the Scandinavian peninsula. Of an
immigration from the East the traditions of these tribes have not a word to say.
17.
THE FRANKISH MIGRATION SAGA.
We have already stated that the Frankish chronicles, unlike those of the other
Teutonic tribes, wholly ignore the traditions of the Franks, and instead present
the scholastic doctrine concerning the descent of the Franks from Troy and
the Moeotian marshes. But I did not mean to say that we are wholly without
evidence that another theory existed among the Franks, for they, too, had
traditions in harmony with those of the other Teutonic tribes. There lived in the
time of Charlemagne and after him a Frankish man whose name is written on
the pages of history as a person of noble character and as a great educator in
his day, the abbot in Fulda, later archbishop in Mayence, Hrabanus Maurus, a
scholar of the distinguished Aleuin, the founder of the first library and of the
first large convent school in Germany. The fact that he was particularly a
theologian and Latinist did not prevent his honouring and loving the tongue of
his fathers and of his race. He encouraged its study and use, and he
succeeded in bringing about that sermons were preached in the churches in
the Teutonic dialect of the church-goers. That a Latin scholar with so wide a
horizon as his also was able to comprehend what the majority of his
colleagues failed to understand—viz., that sonie value should be attached to
the customs of the fathers and to the old memories from heathen times—
should not surprise us. One of the proofs of his interest in this matter lie has
given us in his treatise De invocatione linguarum, in which he has recorded a
Runic alphabet, and added the information that it is the alphabet used by the
Northmen and by other heathen tribes, and that songs and formulas for
healing, incantation, and prophecy are written with these characters. When
Hrabanus speaks of the Northmen, he adds that those who speak the German
tongue trace their descent from the Northmen. This statement cannot be
harmonised with the hypothesis concerning the Asiatic descent of the Franks
and other Teutons, except by assuming that the Teutons on their immigration
from Asia to Europe took a route so far to the north that they reached the
Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark without touching Germany and Central
Europe, and then came from the North to Germany. But of such a view there
is not a trace to be found in the middle age chronicles. The Frankish
chronicles make the Franks proceed from Pannonia straight to the Rhine. The
Icelandic imitations of the hypothesis make Odin and his people proceed from
Tanais to Saxland, and found kingdoms there before he comes to Denmark
and Sweden. Hrabanus has certainly not heard of any such theory. His
statement that all the Teutons came from the North rests on the same
foundation as the native traditions which produced the sagas in regard to the
descent of the Longobardians, Saxons, and Swabians from the North. There
still remains one trace of the Frankish migration saga, and that is the
statement of Paulus Diaconus, made above, concerning the supposed identity
of the name Ansgisel with the name Anchises. The identification is not made
by Paulus himself, but was found in the Frankish source which furnished him
with what he tells about the ancestors of Charlemagne, and the Frankish
source, under the influence of the hypothesis regai the Trojan descent of the
Franks, has made an emigration leader mentioned in the popular traditions
identical with the Trojan Anchises. This is corroborated by the Ravenna
geographer, who also informs us that a certain Anschis, Ansgisel, was a
Teutonic emigration leader, and that he was the one under whose leadership
the Saxon tribes left their old homes. Thus it appears that, according to the
Frankish saga, the Franks originally emigrated under the same chief as the
Saxons. The character and position of Ansgisel in the heathen myth will be
explained in No. 123.
JORDANES ON THE EMIGRATION OF THE GOTHS, GEPIDÆ, AND
HERULIANS. THE MIGRATION SAGA OF THE BURGUNDIANS. TRACES
OF AN ALAMANNIC MIGRATION SAGA.
The most populous and mighty of all the Teutonic tribes was during a long
period the Gothic, which carried victorious weapons over all eastern and
southern Europe and Asia Minor, and founded kingdoms between the Don in
the East and the Atlantic ocean and the Pillars of Hercules in the West and
South. The traditions of the Goths also referred the cradle of the race to
Scandinavia. Jordanes, a Romanised Goth, wrote in the sixth century the
history of his people. In the North, he says, there is a great ocean, and in this
ocean there is a large island called Scandza, out of whose loins our race burst
forth like a swarm of bees and spread over Europe. In its capacity as cradle of
the Gothic race, and of other Teutonic tribes, this island Scandza is clearly of
great interest to Jordanes, the more so since he, through his father Vamod or
Alano-Vamut, regarded himself as descended from the same royal family as
that from which the Amalians, the famous royal family of the East Goths,
traced their ancestry. On this account Jordanes gives as coniplete a
description of this island as possible. He first tells what the Greek and Roman
authors Claudius Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela have written about it, but he
also reports a great ninny things which never before were known in literature,
unless they were found in the lost Historia Gothorum by Cassiodorus—things
which either Jordanes himself or Cassiodorus had learned from Northmen
who were members of the large Teutonic armies then in Italy. Jordanes also
points out, with an air of superiority, that while the geographer Ptolemy did not
know more than seven nations living on the island Scandza, he is able to
enumerate many more. Unfortunately several of the Scandinavian tribenames given by him are so corrupted by the transcriber that it is useless to try
to restore them. It is also evident that Jordanes himself has had a confused
notion of the proper geographical or political application of the names. Some
of them, however, are easily recognisable as the names of tribes in various
parts of Sweden and Norway, as, for instance, Vagoth, Ostrogothæ,
Finnaithæ (in habitants of Finved), Bergio, Hallin, Raumaricii, Ragnaricii, Rani
He gives us special accounts of a Scandinavian people, which he calls
sometimes Svehans and sometimes Svethidi, and with these words there is
every reason to believe that he means the Swedes in the wider or more
limited application of this term. This is what he tells about the Svehans or
Svethidi: The Svehans are in connection with the Thuringians living on the
continent, that Teutonic people which is particularly celebrated for their
excellent horses. The Svehans are excellent hunters, who kill the animals
whose skins through countless hands are sent to the Romans, and are
treasured by them as the finest of furs. This trade cannot have made the
Svehans rich. Jordanes gives us to understand that their economnical
circumstances were not brilliant, but all the more brilliant were their clothes.
He says they dressed ditissime. Finally, he has been informed that the
Svethidi are superior to other races in stature and corporal strength, and that
the Danes are a branch of the Svethidi. What Jordanes relates about the
excellent horses of the Swedes is corroborated by the traditions which the
Icelanders have preserved. The fact that so many tribes inhabited the island
Scandza strengthens his conviction that this island is the cradle of many of the
peoples who made war on and invaded the Roman Empire. The island
Scandza, he says, has been officina gentium, vagina nationum—the source of
races, the mother of nations. And thence—he continues, relying on the
traditions and songs of his own people—the Goths, too, have emigrated. This
emigration occurred under the leadership of a chief named Berig, and he
thinks he knows where they landed when they left their ships, and that they,
like the Longobardians, on their progress came in conflict with the Vandals
before they reached the regions north of the Black Sea, where they afterwards
founded the great Gothic kingdom which flourished when the Huns invaded
Europe.
The saga current among the Goths, that they had emigrated from
Scandinavia, ascribed the same origin to the Gepidæ. The Gepidæ were a
brave but rather sluggish Teutonic tribe, who shared the fate of the Goths
when the Huns invaded Europe, and, like the Goths, they cast off the Hunnish
yoke after the death of Attila. The saga, as Jordanes found it, stated that when
the ancestors of the Goths left Scandza, the whole number of the emigrants
did not fill more than three ships. Two of them came to their destination at the
same time; but the third required more time, and therefore the first-comers
called those who arrived last Gepanta (possibly Gepaita), which, according to
Jordanes, means those tarrying, or the slow ones, and this name changed in
course of time into Gepidæ. That the interpretation is taken from Gothic
traditions is self-evident.
Jordanes has heard a report that even the warlike Teutonic Herulians had
come to Germany from Scandinavia. According to the report, the Herulians
had not emigrated voluntarily from the large island, but had been driven away
by the Svethidi, or by their descendants, the Danes. That the Herulians
themselves had a tradition concerning their Scandinavian origin is
corroborated by history. In the beginning of the sixth century, it happened that
this people, after an unsuccessful war with the Longobardians, were divided
into two branches, of which the one received land from the emperor
Anastasius south of the Danube, while the other made a resolve, which has
appeared strange to all historians, viz., to seek a home on the Scandinavian
peninsula. The circumstances attending this resolution make it still more
strange. When they had passed the Slays, they came to uninhabited
regions—uninhabited, probably, because they had been abandoned by the
Teutons, and had not yet been occupied by the Slays. In either case, they
were open to the occupation of the Herulians; but they did not settle there. We
misunderstand their character if we suppose that they failed to do so from fear
of being disturbed in their possession of them. Among all the Teutonic tribes
none were more distinguished than the Herulians for their indomitable desire
for war, and for their rash plans. Their conduct furnishes evidence of that
thoughtlessness with which the historian has characterised them. After
penetrating the wilderness, they came to the landmarks of the Varinians, and
then to those of the Panes. These granted the Herulians a free passage,
whereupon the adventurers, in ships which the Panes must have placed at
their disposal, sailed over the sea to the island "Thule," and remained there.
Procopius, the East Romnan historian who records this (De Bello Coth., ii.
15), says that on the immense island Thule, in whose northern part the
midnight sun can be seen, thirteen large tribes occupy its inhabitable parts,
each tribe having its own king.
Excepting the Skee Finns, who clothe themselves in skins and live from the
chase, these Thulitic tribes, he says, are scarcely to be distinguished from the
people dwelling farther south in Europe. One of the largest tribes is the Gauts
(the Götar). The Herulians went to the Gauts and were received by them.
Some decades later it came to pass that the Herulians remaining in South
Europe, and dwelling in Illyria, were in want of a king. They resolved to send
messengers to their kinsmen who had settled in Scandinavia, hoping that
some descendant of their old royal family might be found there who was
willing to assume the dignity of king among them. The messengers returned
with two brothers who belonged to the ancient family of rulers, and these were
escorted by 200 young Scandinavian Herulians.
As Jordanes tells us that the Herulians actually were descended from the
great northern island, then this seems to me to explain this remarkable
resolution. They were seeking new homes in that land which in their old songs
was described as having belonged to their fathers. In their opinion, it was a
return to the country which contained the ashes of their ancestors. According
to an old middle age source, Vita Sigismundi, the Burgundians also had old
traditions about a Scandinavian origin. As will be shown further on, the
Burgundian saga was connected with the same emigration chief as that of the
Saxons and Franks (see No. 123).
Reminiscences of an Alamannic migration saga can be traced in the traditions
found around the Vierwaldstädter Lake. The inhabitants of the Canton Schwitz
have believed that they originally came from Sweden. It is fair to assume that
this tradition in the form given to it in literature has suffered a change, and that
the chroniclers, on account of the similarity between Sweden and Schwitz,
have transferred the home of the Alamannic Switzians to Sweden, while the
original popular tradition has, like the other Teutonic migration sagas, been
satisfied with the more vague idea that the Schwitzians came from the country
in the sea north of Germany when they settled in their Alpine valleys. In the
same regions of Switzerland popular traditions have preserved the memory of
an exploit which belongs to the Teutonic mythology, and is there performed by
the great archer Ibor (see No. 108), and as he reappears in the Longobardian
tradition as a migration chief, the possibility lies near at hand, that he originally
was no stranger to the Alamannic migration saga.
19.
THE TEUTONIC EMIGRATION SAGA FOUND IN TACITUS.
The migration sagas which I have now examined are the only ones preserved
to our time on Teutonic ground. They have come down to us from the
traditions of various tribes. They embrace the East Goths, West Goths,
Longobardians, Gepidæ, Burgundians, Herulians, Franks, Saxons, Swabians,
and Alamannians. And if we add to these the evidence of Hrabanus Maurus,
then all the German tribes are enibraced in the traditions. All the evidences
are unanimous in pointing to the North as the Teutonic cradle. To these
testimonies we must, finally, add the oldest of all—the testimony of the
sources of Tacitus from the time of the birth of Christ and the first century of
our era.
The statements made by Tacitus in his masterly work concerning the various
tribes of Germany and their religion, traditions, laws, customs, and character,
are gathered from men who, in Germany itself, had seen and heard what they
reported. Of this every page of the work bears evidence, and it also proves its
author to have been a man of keen observation, veracity, and wide
knowledge. The knowledge of his reporters extends to the myths and heroic
songs of the Teutons. The latter is the characteristic means with which a
gifted people, still leading their primitive life, makes compensation for their
lack of written history in regard to the events and exploits of the past. We find
that the man he interviewed had informed himself in regard to the contents of
the songs which described the first beginning and the most ancient
adventures of the race, and he had done this with sufficient accuracy to
discover a certain disagreement in the genealogies found in these songs of
the patriarchs and tribe heroes of the Teutons—a disagreement which we
shall consider later on. But the man who had done this had heard nothing
which could bring him, and after him Tacitus, to believe that the Teutons had
immigrated from some remote part of the world to that country which they
occupied immediately before the birth of Christ—to that Germany which
Tacitus describes, and in which he embraces that large island in the North
Sea where the seafaring and warlike Sviones dwelt. Quite the contrary. In his
sources of information Tacitus found nothing to hinder him from assuming as
probable the view he expresses—that the Teutons were aborigines,
autochthones, fostered on the soil which was their fatherland. He expresses
his surprise at the typical similarity prevailing among all the tribes of this
populous people, and at the dissimilarity existing between them on the one
hand, and the non-Teutonic peoples on the other; and he draws the
conclusion that they are entirely unmixed with other races, which, again,
presupposes that the Teutons from the most ancient times have possessed
their country for themselves, and that no foreign element has been able to get
a foothold there. He remarks that there could scarcely have been any
immigrations from that part of Asia which was known to him, or from Africa or
Italy, since the nature of Germany was not suited to invite people from richer
and more beautiful regions. But while Tacitus thus doubts that non-Teutonic
races ever settled in Germany, still he has heard that people who desired to
exchange their old homes for new ones have come there to live. But these
settlements did not, in his opinion, result in a mixing of the race. Those early
immigrants did not come by land, but in fleets over the sea ; and as this sea
was the boundless ocean which lies beyond the Teutonic continent and was
seldom visited by people living in the countries embraced in the Roman
empire, those immigrants must themselves have been Teutons. The words of
Tacitus are (Germ., 2): Germnanos indigenas crediderim minimeque aliarum
gentium. adventibus et hospitiis mixtos, quia nec terra olim sed classibus
advehebantur qui mutare sedes quærebant, et immensus ultra atque ut sic
dixerim, adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur. "I should think
that the Teutons themselves are aborigines, and not at all mixed through
immigrations or connection with non-Teutonic tribes. For those desiring to
change homes did not in early times come by land, but in ships across the
boundless and, so to speak, hostile ocean—a sea seldom visited by ships
from the Roman world." This passage is to be compared with, and is
interpreted by, what Tacitus tells when he, for the second time, speaks of this
same ocean in chapter 44, where he relates that in the very midst of this
ocean lies a laud inhabited by Teutonic tribes, rich not only in men and arias,
but also in fleets (præter viros armaque elassibus valeut), and having a
stronger and better organisation than the other Teutons. These people formed
several communities (civitates). He calls them the Sviones, and describes
their ships. The conclusion to be drawn from his words is, in short, that those
immigrants were Northmen belonging to the same race as the continental
Teutons. Thus traditions concerning immigrations from the North to Germany
have been current among the continental Teutons already in the first century
after Christ.
But Tacitus’ contribution to the Teutonic migration saga is not limited to this. In
regard to the origin of a city then already ancient and situated on the Rhine,
Asciburgium (Germ., 3), his reporter had heard that it was founded by an
ancient hero who had come with his ships from the German Ocean, and had
sailed up the Rhine a great distance beyond the Delta, and had then
disembarked and laid the foundations of Asciburgium. His reporter had also
heard such stories about this ancient Teutonic hero that persons acquainted
with the Greek-Roman traditions (the Romans or the Gallic neighbours of
Asciburgium) had formed the opinion that the hero in question could be none
else than the Greek Ulysses, who, in his extensive wanderings, had drifted
into the German Ocean and thence sailed up the Rhine. In weighing this
account of Tacitiis we must put aside the Roman-Gallic conjecture concerning
Ulysses’ visit to the Rhine, and confine our attention to the fact on which this
conjecture is based. The fact is that around Asciburgium a tradition was
current concerning an ancient hero who was said to have come across the
northern ocean with a host of immigrants and founded the above-named city
on the Rhine, and that the songs or traditions in regard to this ancient hero
were of such a character that they who knew the adventures of Ulysses
thought they had good reason for regarding him as identical with the latter.
Now, the fact is that the Teutonic mythology has a hero who, to quote the
words of an ancient Teutonic document, "was the greatest of all travellers,"
and who on his journeys met with adventures which in sonic respects remind
us of Ulysses’. Both descended to Hades; both travelled far and wide to find
their beloved. Of this mythic hero and his adventures see Nos. 96-107, and
No. 107 about Asciburgium in particular.
It lies outside the limits of the present work to investigate whether these
traditions contain any historical facts. There is need of caution in this respect,
since facts of history are, as a rule, short-lived among a people that do not
keep written annals. The historical songs and traditions of the past which the
Scandinavians recorded in the twelfth century do not go further back in time
than to the middle of the ninth century, and the oldest were already mixed with
stories of the imagination. The Hellenic historical records fromn a pre-literary
time were no older; nor were those of the Romans. The question how far
historically important emigrations from the Scandinavian peninsula and
Denmark to Germany have taken place should in my opinion be considered
entirely independent of the old migration traditions if it is to be based on a
solid foundation. If it can be answered in the affirmative, then those
immigrations must have been partial returns of an Aryan race which, prior to
all records, have spread from the South to the Scandinavian countries. But the
migration traditions themselves clearly have their firmest root in myths, and
not in historical memories ; and at all events are so closely united with the
myths, and have been so transformed by song and fancy, that they have
become useless for historical purposes. The fact that the sagas preserved to
our time make nearly all the most important and most numerous Teutonic
tribes which played a part in the destiny of Southern Europe during the Empire
emigrants from Scandinavia is calculated to awaken suspicion.
The wide diffusion this belief has had among the Teutons is sufficiently
explained by their common mythology—particularly by the myth concerning
the earliest age of man or of the Teutonic race. As this work of mine
advances, I shall find opportunity of presenting the results of my investigations
in regard to this myth. The fragments of it must, so to speak, be exhumed
from various mounds, and the proofs that these fragments belong together,
and once formed a unit, can only be presented as the investigation
progresses. In the division "The Myth concerning the Earliest Period and the
Emigrations from the North," I give the preparatory explanation and the
general résumé (Nos. 20-43). For the points which cannot there be
demonstrated without too long digressions the proofs will be presented in the
division "The Myth concerning the Race of Ivalde" (Nos. 96-123).
III.
THE MYTH CONCERNING THE EARLIEST PERIOD AND THE
EMIGRATIONS FROM THE NORTH.
20.
THE CREATION OF MAN. THE PRIMEVAL COUNTRY. SCEF THE
BRINGER OF CULTURE.
The human race, or at least the Teutonic race, springs, according to the myth,
from a single pair, and has accordingly had a centre from which their
descendants have spread over that world which was embraced by the
Teutonic horizon. The story of the creation of this pair has its root in a myth of
ancient Aryan origin, according to which the first parents were plants before
they became human beings. The Iranian version of the story is preserved in
Bundehesh, chap. 15. There it is stated that the first human pair grew at the
time of the autumnal equinox in the form of a rheum ribes with a single stalk.
After the lapse of fifteen years the bush had put forth fifteen leaves. The man
and woman who developed in and with it were closely united, forming one
body, so that it could not be seen which one was the man and which one the
woman, and they held their hands close to their ears. Nothing revealed
whether the splendour of Ahuramazda—that is to say, the soul—was yet in
them or not. Then said Ahuramazda to Mashia (the man) and to Mashiana
(the woman): "Be human beings; become the parents of the world !" And from
being plants they got the form of human beings, and Ahuramazda urged them
to think good thoughts, speak good words, and do good deeds. Still, they
soon thought an evil thought and became sinners. The rheum ribes from
which they sprang had its own origin in seed from a primeval being in human
form, Gaya Maretan (Gayomert), which was created from perspiration (cp.
Vafthrudnersmal, xxxiii. 1-4), but was slain by the evil Angra Mainyu.
Bundehesh then gives an account of the first generations following Mashia
and Mashiana, and explains how they spread over the earth and became the
first parents of the human race.
The Hellenic Aryans have known the myth concerning the origin of man from
plants. According to Hesiodus, the men of the third age of the world grew from
the ash-tree (        ) compare the Odyssey, xix. 163.
From this same tree came the first man according to the Teutonic myth. Three
asas, mighty and worthy of worship, came to Midgard (at húsi, Völusp., 16;
compare Völusp., 4, where Midgard is referred to by the word salr) and found
a landi Ask and Embla. These beings were then "of little might" (litt megandi)
and "without destiny" (örlögslausir); they lacked önd, they lacked óðr, they had
no lá or læti or litr goa, but Odin gave them önd, Honer gave them óðr, Loder
gave them lá and litr goða. In reference to the meaning of these words I refer
my readers to No. 95, simply noting here that litr goða, hitherto defined as
"good colour" (gor litr), signifies "the appearance (image) of gods ". From
looking like trees Ask and Embla got the appearance which before them none
but the gods had assumed. The Teutons, like the Greeks and Romans,
conceived the gods in the image of men.
Odin’s words in Havamál, 43, refer to the same myth. The passage explains
that when the Asa-god saw the modesty of the new-made humnan pair he
gave them his own divine garments to cover them. When they found
themselves so beautifully adorned it seems to indicate the awakening sense
of pride in the first human pair. The words are: "In the field (velli at) I gave my
clothes to the two wooden men (tveim tremönnum). Heroes they seemed to
themselves when they got clothes. The naked man is embarrassed."
Both the expressions á landi and velli at should be observed. That the trees
grew on the ground, and that the acts of creating and clothing took place there
is so self-evident that these words would be meaningless if they were not
called for by the fact that the authors of these passages in Havamál and
Völuspá had in their minds the ground along the sea, that is, a sea-beach.
This is also clear from a tradition given in Gylfaginning, chapter 9, according
to which the three asas were walking along the sea-beach (med
sævarströndu) when they found Ask and Embla, and created of them the first
human pair.
Thus the first human pair were created on the beach of an ocean. To which
sea can the myth refer? The question does not concern the ancient Aryan
time, but the Teutonic antiquity, not Asia, but Europe; and if we furthermore
limit it to the Christian era there can be but one answer. Germany was
bounded in the days of Tacitus, and long before his dine, by Gaul, Rhoetia,
amid Pannonia on the west and south, by the extensive territories of the
Sarmatians and Dacians on the east, and by the ocean on the north. The socalled German Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic, was then the only body
of water within the horizon of the Teutons, the only one which in the days of
Jordanes, after the Goths long had ruled north of the Black Sea, was thought
to wash the primeval Teutonic strands. The myth must therefore refer to the
German Ocean. It is certain that the s of this ocean where the myth has
located the creation of the first human pair, or the first Teutonic pair, was
regarded as the centre from which their descendants spread over mnore and
more territory. Where near the North Sea or the Baltic was this centre located.
Even this question can be answered, thanks to the mythic fragments
preserved. A feature common to all well-developed mythological systems is
the view that the human race in its infancy was under the special protection of
friendly divinities, and received from them the doctrines, arts, amid trades
without which all culture is impossible. The same view is strongly developed
among the Teutons. Anglo-Saxon documents have rescued the story telling
how Ask’s and Embla’s descendants received the first blessings of culture
from the benign gods. The story has come to us through Christian hands,
which, however, have allowed enough of the original to remain to show that its
main purpose was to tell us how the great gifts of culture came to the human
race. The saga names the land where this took place. The country was the
most southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and especially the part of it
ing on the western sea. Had these statements come to us only from northern
sources, there would be good reason for doubting their originality and general
application to the Teutonic tribes. The Icelandic-Norwegian middle-age
literature abounds in evidence of a disposition to locate the events of a myth
and the exploits of mythic persons in the author’s own land and town. But in
this instance there is no room for the suspicion that patriotism has given to the
southernmost part of the Scandinavian peninsula a so conspicuous
prominence in the earliest history of the myth. The chief evidence is found in
the traditions of the Saxons in England, and this gives us the best clue to the
unanimity with which the sagas of the Teutonic continent, from a time prior to
the birth of Christ far down in the middle ages, point out the great peninsula in
the northern sea as the land of the oldest ancestors, in conflict with the
scholastic opinion in regard to an emigration from Troy. The region where the
myth locate the first dawn of human culture was certainly also the place which
was regarded as the cradle and centre of the race.
The non-Scandinavian sources in question are: Beowulf’s poem, Ethelwerdus,
Willielmus Malmesburiensis, Simeon Dunelmensis, and Matthæus
Monasteriensis. A closer examination of them reveals the fact that they have
their information from three different sources, which again have a common
origin in a heathen myth. If we bring together what they have preserved of the
story we Oct the following result :*
One day it came to pass that a ship was seen sailing near the coast of
Scedeland or Scani,‡ and it approached the land without being propelled
either by oars or sails. The ship came to the sea-beach, and there was seen
lying in it a little boy, who was sleeping with his head on a sheaf of grain,
surrounded by treasures and tools, by glaives and coats of mail. The boat
itself was stately and beautifully decorated. Who he was and whence he came
nobody had any idea, but the little boy was received as if he had been a
kinsman, and he received the most constant and tender care. As he came
with a sheaf of grain to their country the people called him Scef, Sceaf. (The
Beowulf poem calls him Scyld, son of Sceaf, and gives Scyld the son Beowulf,
which origin ally was another name of Scyld.) Scef grew up among this
people, became their benefactor and king, and ruled most honourably for
niany years. He died far advanced in age. In accord-alice with his own
directions, his body was borne down to the
* Geijer has partly indicated its significance in Svea Bikes Häfder, where he
says "The tradition anent Sceaf is remarkable, as it evidently has reference to
the introduction of agriculture, and shows that it was first introduced in the
most southern part of Scandinavia".
‡ The Beowulf poem has the name Scedeland (Scandia): compare the name
Skâdan in De origine Longobordorum. Ethelwerd writes : " Ipse Skef cum uno
dromone advectus est in insulam Oceani, quæ dicitur Scani, armis
circumdatus," &c.
‡‡ Matthæus Westmonast translates this name with frumenti manipulus, a
sheaf.
strand where he had landed as a child. There in a little harbour lay the same
boat in which he had come. Glittering from hoarfrost and ice, and eager to
return to the sea, the boat was waiting to receive the dead king, and around
him the grateful and sorrowing people laid no fewer treasures than those with
which Scef had come. And when all was finished the boat went out upon the
sea, and no one knows where it landed. He left a son Scyld (according to the
Beowulf poem, Beowulf son of Scyld), who ruled after him. Grandson of the
boy who came with the sheaf was Healfdene—Halfdan, king of the Danes
(that is, according to the Beowulf poem).
The myth gives the oldest Teutonic patriarchs a very long life, in the same
manner as the Bible in the case of Adam and his descendants. ‘They lived for
centuries (see below). The story could therefore make the culture imitroduced
by Scef spread far and wide during his own reign, arid it could make his realm
increase with the culture. According to scattered statements traceable to the
Scef-saga, Denmark, Angeln, and at least the northern part of Saxland, have
been populated by people who obeyed his sceptre. In the North Götaland and
Svealand were subject to him.
The proof of this, so far as Denmark is concerned, is that, according to the
Beowulf poem, its first royal family was descended from Scef through his son
Scyld (Skjold). In accordance herewith, Danish and Icelandic genealogies
make Skjold the progenitor of the first dynasty in Denmark, and also make him
the ruler of the land to which his father came, that is, Skane. His origin as a
divinely-born patriarch, as a hero receiving divine worship, arid as the ruler of
the original Teutonic country, appears also in Fornmannasögur, v. 239, where
lie is styled Skáninga go the god of the Scanians.
Matthæus Westmonast. informs us that Scef ruled in Angeln. According to the
Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the dynasty of Wessex came from Saxland, and its
progenitor was Scef.
If we examine the northern sources we discover that the Scef myth still may
be found in passages which have been unnoticed, and that the tribes of the
far North saw in the boy who came with the sheaf and the tools the divine
progenitor of their celebrated dynasty in Upsala. This can be found in spite of
the younger saga-geological layer which the hypothesis of Odin’s and his
Trojan Asas’ immigration has spread over it sinice the introduction of
Christianity. Scef’s personality comes to the surface, we shall see, as Skefill
and Skelfir.
In the Fornalder-sagas, ii. 9, amid in Flateyarbók, i. 24, Skelfir is mentioned as
family patriarch and as Skjold’s father, the progenitor of the Skjoldungs. There
can, therefore, be no doubt that Scef, Scyld’s father, and through him the
progenitor of the Skjoldungs, originally is the same as Skelfir, Skjold’s father,
and progenitor of the Skjoldungs in these Icelandic works.
But he is not only the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, but also of the Ynglings.
The genealogy beginning with him is called in the Flateyarbók, Skilfinga ætt
edr skjoldunga ætt. The Younger Edda also (i. 522) knows Skelfir, and says
he was a famous king whose genealogy er köllut skilvinga ætt. Now the
Skilfing race in the oldest sources is precisely the same as the Yngling race
both from an Anglo-Saxon and from a heathen Norse standpoint. The Beowulf
poem calls the Swedish kings scilfingas, and according to Thjodulf, a kinsman
of the Ynglings and a kinsman of the Skilfing, Skilifinga niðr, ir, are identical
(Ynglingatal, 30). Even the Younger Edda seems to be aware of this. It says in
the passage quoted above that the Skilfing race er i Austrvegum. In the
Thjodulf strophes Austrvegar means simply Svealand, and Austrkonungur
means Swedish king.
Thus it follows that the Scef who is identical with Skelfir was in the heathen
saga of the North the common progenitor of the Ynglinga and of the
Skjoldunga race. From his dignity as original patriarch of the royal families of
Sweden, Denmark, Angeln, Sax-land, and England, he was displaced by the
scholastic fiction of the middle ages concerning the immigration of Trojan
Asiatics under the leadership of Odin, who as the leader of the immigration
also had to be the progenitor of the most distinguished families of tIne
immigrants. This view seems first to have been established in England after
this country had been converted to Christianity and conquered by the Trojan
immigration hypothesis. Wodan is there placed at the head of the royal
genealogies of the chronicles, excepting in Wessex, where Scef is allowed to
retain his old position, and where Odin must coiitent himself with a secondary
place in the genealogy. But in the Beowulf poem Scef still retains his dignity
as ancient patriarch of the kings of Denmark.
From England this same distortion of the myth comes to the North in
connection with the hypothesis concerning the immigra tion of the " Asiamen,
" and is there finally accepted in the most unconcerned manner, without the
least regard to the mythic records which were still well known . Skjold, Scef’s
son, is without any hesitation changed into a son of Odin (Ynglingasaga, 5 ;
Foreword to Gylfag., 11). Yngve, who as the progenitor of the Ynglings is
identical with Scef, and whose very name, perhaps, is or has been conceived
as an epithet indicating Scef’s tender age when lie came to the coast of
Scandia—Yngve-Scef is confounded with Frey, is styled Yngve-Frey after the
appellation of the Vanagod Ingunar Frey, and he, too, is called a son of Odin
(Foreword to Gylfag., c. 13), although Frey in the myth is a son of Njord and
belongs to another race of gods than Odin. The epithet with which Are Frode
in his Schedæ characterises Yngve, viz., Tyrkiakonungr, Trojan king, proves
that the lad who came with the sheaf of grain to Skane is already in Are
changed into a Trojan.
21.
SCEF THE AUTHOR OF CULTURE IDENTICAL WITH HEIMDAL-RIG, THE
ORIGINAL PATRIARCH.
But in one respect Are Frode or his authority has paid attention to the genuine
mythic tradition, and that is by making the Vana-gods the kinsmen of the
descendants of Yngve. This is correct in the sense that Scef-Yngve, the son
of a deity transformed into a man, was in the myth a Vana-god. Accordingly
every member of the Yngling race and every descendant of Scef may be
styled a son of Frey (Freys áttungr), epithets applied by Thjodulf in Ynglingatal
in regard to the Upsala kings. They are gifts from the Vana-gods - the
implements which point to the opulent Njord, and the grain sheaf which is
Frey’s symbol—which Scef-Yngve brings with him to the ancient people of
Scandia, and his rule is peaceful and rich in blessings.
Scef-Yngve comes across the ocean. Vanaheim was thought to be situated
on the other side of it, in the sanie direction as Ægir’s palace in the great
western ocean and in the outermost domain of Jormunigrund (see 93). This is
indicated in Lokasenna, 34, where Loki in Ægir’s hall says to the Van Njord : "
You were sent from here to the East as a hostage to the gods" (Þu vart o ustr
hedangisl um sendr at godum). Thus Njord’s castle Noatun is situated in the
West, on a strand outside of which the swans sing (Gylfag., 23). In the faded
memory of Scef, preserved in the saga of the Lower Rhine and of the
Netherlands, there comes to a poverty-stricken people a boat in which there
lies a sleeping youth. The boat is, like Scef’s, without sails or oars, but is
drawn over the billows by a swan. From Gylfaginning, 16, we learn that there
are myths telling of the origin of the swans. They are all descended from that
pair of swans which swim in the sacred waters of Urd’s fountain. Thus the
descendants of these swans that sing outside of the Vana-palace Noatun and
their arrival to the shores of Midgard seem to have some connection with the
coming of the Van Scef and of culture.
The Vans most prominent in the myths are Njord, Frey, and Heimdal. Though
an Asa-god by adoption, Heimdal is like Njord and Frey a Vana-god by birth
and birthplace, and is accordingly called both áss and vanr (Thrymnskv., 15).
Meanwhile these three divinities, definitely named Vans, are only a few out of
many. The Vans have constituted a numerous clan, strong enough to wage a
victorious war against the Asas (Völusp.). Who among them was Scef-Yngve?
The question can be answered as follows:
(1) Of Heimdal, and of him alone among the gods, it is related that he lived for
a time among men as a man, and that he performed that which is attributed to
Scef—that is, organised and elevated hunian society and became the
progenitor of sacred families in Midgard.
(2) Rigsthula relates that the god Heimdal, having assumed the name Rig,
begot with an earthly woman the son Jarl-Rig, who in turn became the father
of Konr-Rig. Konr-Rig is, as the very name indicates and as Vigfusson already
has pointed out, the first who bore the kingly name. In Rigsthula the Jarl
begets the king, as in Ynglingasaga the judge (Dómarr) begets the first king.
Rig is, according to Ynglingasaga, ch. 20, grandfather to Dan, who is a
Skjoldung. Heimdal-Rig is thins the father of the progenitor of the Skjoldungs,
and it is the story of the divine origin of the Skjoldungs Rigsthula gives us
when it sings of Heimdal as Jarl’s father amid the first king’s grandfather. Bitt
the progenitor of the Skjoldungs is, according to both Anglo-Saxon and the
northern sources above quoted Scef Thus Heimdal and Scef are identical.
These proofs are sufficient. More can be presented, and the identity will be
established by the whole investigation.
As a tender boy, Heimdal was sent by the Vans to the southern shores of
Scandinavia with the gifts of culture. Hyndla’s lay tells how these friendly
powers prepared the child for its important mission, after it was born in the
outermost s of the earth (við jarðar þraum), in a wonderful manner, by nine
sisters (Hyndla’s Lay, 35 ; Heimdallar Galdr., in the Younger Edda; compare
No. 82, where the ancient Aryan root of the myth concerning Heimdal’s nine
mothers is pointed out).
For its mission the child had to be equipped with strength, endurance, and
wisdom. It was given to drink jarðar magn scalkaldr sær and Sonar dreyri. It is
necessary to comnpare these expressions with Urðar magn, svalkaldr seer
and Sónar dreyri in Guðrunarkvida, ii. 21, a song written in Christian times,
where this reminiscence of a triple heathen-mythic drink reappears as a potion
of forgetfulness allaying sorrow. The expression Sónar dreyri shows that the
child had tasted liquids froni the subterranean fountains which water Yggdrasil
and sustain the spiritual and physical life of the universe (cp. Nos. (63 and
93). Són contains the mead of inspiration and wisdom. In Gylfaginning, which
quotes a satire of late origin, this name is given to a jar in which Suttung
preserves this valuable liquor, but to the heathen skalds Són is the name of
Mimir’s fountain, which contains the highest spiritual gifts, and around whose
rush-ed edge the reeds of poetry grow (Eilif Gudrunson, Skaldskaparmál).
The child Heimndal has, therefore, drunk from Mimir’s fountain. Jarðar magn
(the earth’s strength) is in reality the same as Urðar magn, the strength of the
water in Urd’s fountain, which keeps the world-tree ever green and sustains
the physical life of creation (Völusp.). The third subterranean fountain is
Hvergelmer, with hardening liquids. From Hvergelmer comes the river Sval,
and the venom-cold Elivogs (Grimner’s Lay, Gylfaginning). Svalkaldar sær,
cool sea, is an appropriate designation of this fountain.
When the child has been strengthened in this manner for its great mission, it
is laid sleeping in the decorated ship, gets the grain-sheaf for its pillow, and
numerous treasures are placed around it. It is certain that there were not only
weapons and (ornaments, but also workmen’s tools among the treasures. It
should be borne in mind that the gods made on the plains of Ida not only
ornaments, but also tools (tangir skópu ok tol görðu). Evidence is presented in
No. 82 that Scef-Heimdal brought the fire-auger to primeval man who until that
time had lived without the blessings produced by the sacred fire.
The boy grows up among the inhabitants on the Scandian coast, and, when
he has developed into manhood, human culture has germinated under his
influence and the beginnings of classes in society with distinct callings appear.
In Rigsthula, we find himn journeying along " green paths, from house to
house, in that land which his presence has blessed ". Here he is called Rigr—
it is true of him as of nearly all mythological persons, that he has several
names—but the introduction to the poem informs us that the person so called
is the god Heimdal (einhverr. af asum sá er Heimdallr het). The country is
here also described as situated near the sea. Heimdal journeys framm mum
sjofarströndu. Culture is in complete operation. The people are settled, they
spin and weave, perform handiwork, and are smiths, they plough and bake,
and Heimdal has instructed them in runes. Different homes show different
customs and various degrees of wealth, but happiness prevails everywhere.
Heimdal visits Ai’s and Edda’s unpretentious home, is hospitably received,
and remains three days. Nine months thereafter the son Träl (thrall) is born to
this family. Heimdal then visits Ave’s and Amma’s well-kept and cleanly
house, and nine months thereafter the son Karl (churl) is born in this
household. Thence Rig betakes himself to Faðir’s and Moðir’s elegant home.
There is born, nine months later, the son Jarl. Thus the three Teutonic
classes—the thralls, the freemen, aiid the nobility—have received their divimie
sanction from Heimdal-Rig, and all three have been honoured with divine
birth.
In the account of Rig’s visit to the three different homes lies the mythic idea of
a common fatherhood, an idea which must not be left out of sight when
human heroes are described as sons of gods in the mythological and heroic
sagas. They are sons of the gods and, at the same time, from a genealogical
standpoint, men. Their pedigree, starting with Ask and Embla, is not
interrupted by the intervention of the visiting god, nor is there developed by
this intervention a half-divine, half-human middle class or bastard clan. The
Teutonic patriarch Mannus is, according to Tacitus, the son of a god and the
grandson of the goddess Earth. Nevertheless he is, as his name indicates, in
the full physical sense of the word, a man, and besides his divine father he
has had a human father. They are the descendants of Ask and Embla, men of
all classes and conditions, whom Völuspa’s skald gathered around the
seeress when she was to present to them a view of the world’s development
and commanded silence with the formula: " Give ear, all ye divine races, great
and small, sons of Heimdal ". The idea of a common fatherhood we find again
in the question of Faðir's grandson, as we shall show below. Through him the
families of chiefs get the right of precedence before both the other classes.
Thor becomes their progenitor. While all classes trace their descent from
Heimdal, the nobility trace theirs also from Thor, and through him from Odin.
Heimdal-Rig’s and Faðir’s son, begotten with Móðir, inherits in Rigsthula the
name of the divine co-father, and is called Rig Jarl. Jarl’s son, Kon, gets the
same name after he has given proof of his knowledge in the runes introduced
among the children of men by Heimdal, and has even shown himself superior
to his father in this respect. This view that the younger generation surpasses
the older points to the idea of a progress in culture among men, during a time
when they live in peace and happiness protected by Heimdal’s fostering care
and sceptre, but must not be construed into the theory of a continued
progress based on the law and nature of things, a theory alike strange to the
Teutons and to the other peoples of antiquity. Heimdal-Rig’s reign must be
regarded as the happy ancient age, of which nearly all mythologies have
dreamed. Already in the next age following, that is, that of the second
patriarch, we read of men of violence who visit the peaceful, and under the
third patriarch begins the "knife-age, and axe-age with cloven shields," which
continues through history and receives its most terrible development before
Ragnarok.
The more common mythical names of the persons appearing in Rigsthula are
not mentioned in the song, not even Heimdal’s. In strophe 48, the last of the
fragment, we find for the first time words which have the character of names—
Danr and Danpr. A crow sings from the tree to Jarl’s son, the grandson of
Heimdal, Kon, saving that peaceful amusement (kyrra fugla) does not become
him longer, but that he should rather mount his steed and fight against men;
and the crow seeks to awaken his ambition or jealousy by saying that "Dan
and Danp, skilled in navigating ships and wielding swords, have more
precious halls and a better freehold than you ". The circumstance that these
names are mentioned makes it possible, as shall be shown below, to establish
in a more satisfactory manner the connection between Rigsthula and other
accounts which are found in fragments concerning the Teutonic patriarch
period.
The oldest history of man did not among the Teutons begin with a paradisian
condition. Some time has elapsed between the creation of Ask and Embla,
and Heimdal’s coming among men. As culture begins with Heimdal, a
condition of barbarism must have preceded his arrival. At all events the first
generations after Ask and Embla have been looked upon as lacking fire;
consequently they have been without the art of the smith, without metal
implements, and without knowledge of agriculture. Hence it is that the Vanachild comes across the western sea with fire, with implements, and with the
sheaf of grain. But the barbarous condition may have been attended with
innocence and goodness of heart. The manner in which the strange child was
received by the inhabitants of Scandia’s coast, and the tenderness with which
it was cared for (diligenti animo, says Ethelwerd) seem to indicate this.
When Scef-Heimdal had performed his mission, and when the beautiful boat
in which he came had disappeared beyond the western horizon, then the
second mythic patriarch-age begins.
22.
HEIMDAL’S SON BORGAR-SKJOLD, THE SECOND PATRIARCH.
Ynglingasaga, ch. 20, contains a passage which is clearly connected with
Rigsthula or with some kindred source. The passage mentions three persons
who appear in Rigsthula, viz., Rig, Danp, and Dan, and it is there stated that
the ruler who first possessed the kingly title in Svithiod was the son of a chief,
whose name was Judge (Dómarr), and Judge was married to Drott (Drótt), the
daughter of Danp.
That Domar and his royal son, the latter with the epithet Dyggvi, "the worthy,"
"the noble," were afterwards woven into the royal pedigree in Ynglingasaga, is
a matter which we cannot at present consider. Vigfusson (Corpus Poet. Boy.)
has already shown the mythic symbolism and unhistorical character of this
royal pedigree’s Visburr, the priest, son of a god; of DómaldrDómvaldr, the
legislator ; of Dómarr, the judge and of Dyggvi, the first king. These are not
historical Upsala kings, but personified myths, symbolising the development of
human society on a religious basis into a political condition of law culminating
in royal power. It is in short the same chain of ideas as we find in Rigsthula,
where Heimdal, the son of a god and the founder of culture, becomes the
father of the Jarl-judge, whose son is the first king. Dómarr, in the one version
of the chain of ideas, corresponds to Rig Jarl in the other, and Dyggvi
corresponds to Kon. Heimdal is the first patriarch, the Jarl-judge is the
second, and the oldest of kings is the third.
Some person, through whose hands Ynglingasaga has passed before it got
its present form in Heimskringla, has understood this correspondence
between Dómarr and Rig-Jarl, and has given to the former the wife which
originally belonged to the latter. Rigsthula has been rescued in a single
manuscript. This manuscript was owned by Arngrim Jonsson, the author of
Supplementum Historiec Norvegia, and was perhaps in his time, as Bugge
(Norr. Fornkv.) conjectures, less fragmentary than it now is. Arngrim relates
that Rig Jarl was married to a daughter of Danp, lord of Danpsted. Thus the
representative of the Jarl’s dignity, like the representative of the Judge’s
dignity in Ynglingasaga, is here married to Danp’s daughter.
In Saxo, a man by name Borgar (Borcarus—Hist. Dan., 336-354) occupies an
important position. He is a South Scandinavian chief, leader of Skane’s
warriors (Borcarus cum Scanico equitatu, p. 350), but instead of a king’s title,
he holds a position answering to that of the jarl. Meanwhile he, like Skjold,
becomes the founder of a Danish royal dynasty. Like Skjold he fights beasts
and robbers, and like him he wins his bride, sword in hand. Borgar’s wife is
Drott (Drotta, Drota), the same name as Danp’s daughter. Skjold’s son Gram
and Borgar’s son Halfdan are found on close examination (see below) to be
identical with each other, and with king Halfdan Berggram in whomn the
names of both are united. Thus we find:
(1) That Borgar appears as a chief in Skane, which in the myth is the cradle of
the human race, or of the Teutonic race. As such he is also mentioned in
Script, rev. Dan. (pp. 16-19, 154), where he is called Burgarus and Borgardus.
(2) That he has performed similar exploits to those of Skjold, the son of ScefHeimdal.
(3) That he is not clothed with kingly dignity, but has a son who founds a royal
dynasty in Denmark. This corresponds to Heimdal’s son Rig Jarl, who is not
himself styled king, but whose son becomes a Danish king and the progenitor
of the Skjoldungs.
(4) That he is married to Drott, who, according to Ynglingasaga, is Danp’s
daughter. This corresponds to Heimdal’s son Rig Jarl, who takes a daughter
of Danp as his wife.
(5) That his son is identical with the son of Skjold, the progenitor of the
Skjoldungs.
(6) That this son of his is called Halfdan, while in the Anglo-Saxon sources
Scef, through his son Scyld (Skjold), is the progenitor of Denmark’s king
Healfdene.
These testimonies contain incontestible evidence that Skjold, Borgar, and Rig
Jarl are names of the same mythic person, the son of the ancient patriarch
Heimdal, and himself the second patriarch, who, after Heimdal, determines
the destiny of his race. The name Borgarr is a synonym of Skjöldr. The word
Skjöldr has from the beginning had, or has in the lapse of past ages acquired,
the meaning "the protecting one," "the shielding one," and as such it was
applied to the common defensive armour, the shield. Borgarr is derived from
bjarga (past. part. borginn; cp. borg), and thus has the same meaning, that is,
"the defending or protecting one ". From Norse poetry a multitude of examples
can be given of the paraphrasing of a name with another, or even several
others, of similar meaning.
The second patriarch, Heimdal’s son, thus has the names Skjold, Borgar, and
Rig Jarl in the heathen traditions, and those derived therefrom. In German
poems of the middle age (" Wolfdieterich," "König Rather," and others) Borgar
is remembered by the name Berchtung, Berker, and Berther. His mythic
character as ancient patriarch is there well preserved. He is der grise mann, a
Teutonic Nestor, wears a beard reaching to the belt, and becomes 250 years
old.
He was fostered by a king Auzius, the progenitor of the Amelungs (the
Amalians). The name Anzius points to the Gothic ansi (Asagod). Borgar’s
fostering by "the white Asa-god" has accordingly not been forgotten. Among
the exercises taught him by Auzius are daz werfen mit dem messer und
schissen zu dem zil (compare Rig Jarl’s exercises, Rigsthula, 35). Like
Borgar, Berchtung is not a king, but a very noble and greatly-trusted chief,
wise and kind, the foster-father and counsellor of heroes and kings. The
Norse saga places Borgar, and the German saga places Berchtung, in close
relation to heroes who belong to the race of Hildings. Borgar is, according to
Saxo, the stepfather of Hildeger; Berchtung is, according to "Wolfdieterich,"
Hildebrand’s ancestor. Of Hildeger Saxo relates in part the same as the
German poem tells of Hildebrand. Berchtung becomes the foster-father of an
Amalian prince; with Borgar’s son grows up as foster-brother Hamal (Helge
Hund., 2; see Nos. 29, 42), whose name points to the Amalian race. The very
name Borgarr, which, as indicated, in this form refers to bjarga, may in an
older form have been related to the name Berchter, Berchtung.
23.
BORGAR-SKOLD'S SON HALFDAN, THE THIRD PATRIARCH. The Identity
of Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson.
In the time of Borgar and his son, the third patriarch, many of the most
important events of the myth take place. Before I present these, the chain of
evidence requires that I establish clearly the names applied to Borgar in our
literary sources. Danish scholars have already discovered what I pointed out
above, that the kings Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan
Borgarson mentioned by Saxo, and referred to different generations, are
identical with each other and with Halfdan the Skjoldung and Halfdan the Old
of the Icelandic documents. The correctness of this view will appear from the
following parallels: *
* The first nine books of Saxo formn a labyrinth constructed out of myths
related as history, hut the thread of Ariadne seems to be wanting. On this
account it might be supposed that Saxo had treated the rich mythical
materials am his command in an arbitrary and unmethodical manner; and we
must bear in mind that these mythic materials were far more abundant in his
time than they
1st
Saxo: Gram, slays king Sictrugus, and marries Signe, daughter of Sumblus,
king of the Finns.
Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung slays king Sigtrygg, and marries Almveig with
the consent of Eymund.
Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and marries Alveig,
daughter of Eyvind.
Fornald. S. : Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and marries Alfny, daughter
of Eymund.
were in the following centuries, when they were to be recorded by the
Icelandic authors. This supposition is however, wrong. Saxo has examined his
sources methodically and with scrutiny, and has handled them with all due
reverence, when he assumed the desperate task of constructing, by the aid of
the mythic traditions and heroic poems at hand, a chronicle spanning several
centuries—a chro. nicle in which fifty to sixty successive rulers were to be
brought upon the stage
and off again, while myths and heroic traditions embrace but few generations,
and most mythic persons continue to exist through all ages. In the very nature
of the case, Saxo was obliged, in order to solve this problem, to put his
material on the rack; but a thorough study of the above-mentioned books of
his history shows that he treated the delinquent with consistency. The
simplest of the rules he followed was to avail himself of the polyonomy with
which the myths and heroic poems are overloaded, and to do so in the
following manner:
Assume that a person in the mythic or heroic poems had three or four uames
or epithets (he may have had a score). We will call this person A, and the
different forms of his name A’, A", A"’. Saxo’s task of producing a chain of
events running through many centuries forced him to consider the three
names A’, A", and A"’ as originally three persons, who had performed certain
similar exploits, and therefore had, in course of time, been confounded with
each other, and blended by the authors of myths and stories into one person
A. As best he can, Saxo tries to resolve this mythical product, composed, in
his opinion, of historical elennents, and to distribute the exploits attributed to A
between A’, A", and A"’. It may also be that one or more of the stories applied
to A were found more or less varied in different sources. In such cases he
would report the same stories with slight variations about A’, A", and A''' The
similarities remaining form one important group of indications which he has
furnished to guide us, but which can assure us that our investigtition is in the
right course only when corroborated by indications belonging to other groups,
or corroborated by statements preserved in other sources.
But in the events which Saxo in this manner relates about A’, A", and A"’,
other persons are also mentioned. We will assume that in the myths and
heroic poems these have been named B and C. These, too, have in the songs
of the skalds had several names and epithets. B has also been called B’, B",
B"’. C has also been styled C’, C", C"’. Out of this one subordinate person B,
Saxo, by the aid of the abundance of names, makes as many subordinate
Persons-B’, B", and B"’—as he made out of the original chief person A—that
2nd
Saxo : Gram, son of Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.
Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldtung, son or descendant of Skjold, is the progenitor
of the Skjoldungs, Ynglings, Odlungs, &c.
Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old is the progenitor of the Hildings, Ynglings,
Odlungs, &c.
Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson is the progenitor of a royal family of Denmark.
3rd
Saxo :Gram uses a club as a weapon. He kills seven brothers and nine of
their half—brothers.
Saxo : Halfdan Berggram uses an oak as a weapon. He kills seven brothers.
Saxo : Halfdan Borgarson uses an oak as a weapon. He kills twelve brothers.
is, the chief persons A’, A", and A"’. Thus also with C, and in this way we get
the following analogies:
A’ is to B’ and C’ as
A" ,, B" ,, C" and as
A"’ ,, B"’ ,, C"’.
By comparing all that is related concerning these nine names, we are enabled
gradnally to form a more or less correct idea of what the original myth has
contained in regard to A, B, and C. If it then happens—as is often the case—
that two or more of the names A.’, B’, C’, &c., are found in Icelandic or other
documents, and there belong to persons whose adventures are in some
respects the same, and in other respects are made clearer and more
complete, by what Saxo tells about A’, A", and A"’, &c., then it is proper to
continue the investigation in the direction thus started. If, then, every new
stein brings forth new confirmations from various sources, and if a myth thus
restored easily dovetails itself into an epic cycle of myths, and there forms a
necessary link in the chain of events, then the investigation has produced the
desired result.
An aid in the investigation is not unfrequently the circumstance that the names
at Saxo’s disposal were not sufficient for all points in the ahove scheme. We
then find analogies which open for us, so to speak, short cuts—for instance,
as follows:
A’ is to B’ and C’ as
A’ ,, B’ ,, C" and as
A’" ,, B" ,, C’.
The parallels given in the text above are a concrete example of the above
scheme. For we have seen— A = Halfdan, trebled in A’ = Gram, A" Halfdan
Beggram, A"’ = Halfdan Borgarson. B = Ebbo (Ebur, Ibor, Jöfurr), trebled in
B’= Henricus, B"= Ebbo, B"’= Sivarus, C doubled in C’ = Svipdag, and C"=
Ericus.
4th
Saxo: Gram secures Groa and slays Henricus on his wedding-day.
Saxo: Halfdan Berggram marries Sigrutha, after having slain Ebbo on his
wedding-day.
Saxo Halfdan Borgarson marries Guritha, after having killed Sivarus on his
wedding-day.
5th
Saxo : Gram, who slew a Swedish king, is attacked in war by Svipdag.
Saxo: Halfdan Bcrggram, who slew a Swedish king, is attacked by Ericas.
Combined Sources Svipdag is the slain Swedish king’s grandson (daughter’s
son).
Saxo : Ericus is the son of the daughter of the slain Swedish king.
These parallels are sufficient to show the identity of Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan
Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson. A closer analysis of these sagas, the
synthesis possible on the basis of such an analysis, and the position the saga
(restored in this manner) concerning the third patriarch, the son of SkjoldBorgar, and the grandson of Heimdal, assumes in the chain of mythic events,
gives complete proof of this identity.
24.
HALFDAN'S ENMITY WITH ORVANDEL AND SVIPDAG (cp. No. 33).
Saxo relates in regard t(m Gram that he carried away the royal daughter
Groa, though she was already bound to another man, and that he slew her
father, whereupon he got into a feud with Svipdag, an irreconcilably bitter foe,
who fought against him with varying success of arias, and gave himself no
rest until he had taken Gram’s life and realm. Gram left two sons, whom
Svipdag treated in a very different manner. The one named Guthornius (Gud
hormr who was a soii of Groa, he received into his good graces. To the other,
named Hadingus, Hading, or Hadding, and who was a son of Signe, he
transferred the deadly hate lie had cherished towards the father. The cause of
the hatred of Svipdag against Gram, and which could not he extinguished in
his blood, Saxo does not mention but this point is cleared up by a comparison
with other sources. Nor does Saxo mention who the person was from whom
Grain robbed Groa, but this, too, we learn in another place.
The Groa of the myth is mentioned in two other places: in Groagalder and in
Gylfaginning. Both sources agree in representing her as skilled in good,
healing, harm-averting songs ; both also in describing her as a tender person
devoted to the members of her family. In Gylfaginning she is the loving wife
who forgets every-thing in her joy that her husband, the brave archer
Orvandel, has been saved by Thor from a dangerous adventure. In
Groagalder she is the mother whose love to her son conquers death and
speaks consoling and protecting words from the grave. Her husband is, as
stated, Orvandel ; her son is Svipdag.
If we compare the statements in Saxo with those in Groagalder and
Gylfaginning we get the following result
Saxo : King Sigtrygg has a daughter Groa.
Gylfaginning : Groa is married to the brave Orvandel.
Groagalder: Groa has a son Svipdag.
Saxo : Groa is robbed by Gram-Halfdan.
Saxo : Hostilities on account of the robbing of the
Hyndluljod : woman. Gram-Halfdan kills Groa’s
Skaldskapmal: father Sigtrygg.
Saxo: With Gram-Halfdan Groa has the son Gudhorm. Gram-Halfdan is
separated froma Groa. He courts Signe (Almveig in Hyndluljod; Alveig in
Skaldskaparmal), daughter of Sumbel, king of the Finns.
Groagalder : Groa with her son Svipdag is once more with her first husband.
Groa dies. Svipdag’s father Orvandel marries a second time. Before her death
Groa has told Svipdag that lie, if need requires her help, must go to her grave
and wake her out of the sleep of death.
The stepmother gives Svipdag a task which he thinks surpasses his strength.
He then goes to his mother’s grave. From the grave Groa sings protectiiig
incantations over her son.
Saxo: Svipdag attacks Gram-Halfdan. After several conflicts he succeeds in
conquering him and gives him a deadly wound. Svipdag pardons the soii
Gram-Halfdan has had with Groa, but persecutes his son with Signe (Alveig).
In this connection we find the key to Svipdag’s irreconcilable conflict with
Gram—Halfdan. He must revenge himself on him on his father’s and mother’s
account. He must avenge his mother’s disgrace, his grandfather Sigtrygg’s
death, and, as a further investi— gation shows, the murder also of his father
Orvandel. We also find why he pardons Gudhorm : he is his own half-brother
and Groa’s son.
Sigtrygg, Groa, Orvandel, and Svipdag have in the myth belonged to the
pedigree of the Ynglings, and hence Saxo calls Sigtrygg king in Svithiod.
Concerning the Ynglings, Ynglingasaga remarks that Yngve was the name of
everyone who in that time was the head of the family (Yngl., p. 20). Svipdag,
the favourite hero of the Teutonic mythology, is accordingly celebrated in song
under the name Yngve, and also under other names to which I shall refer
later, when I am to give a full account of the myth concerning him.
25.
HALFDAN’S IDENTITY WITH MANNUS IN "GERMANIA".
With Gram-Halfdan the Teutonic patriarch period ends. The human race had
its golden age under Heimdal, its copper age under Skjold-Borgar, and the
beginning of its iron age under Halfdan. The Skilfinga-Ynglinga race has been
named after HeimdalSkelfir himself, and he has been regarded as its
progenitor. His son Skjold-Borgar has been considered the founder of the
Skjoldungs. With Halfdan the pedigree is divided into three through his
stepson Yngve-Svipdag, the latter’s half-brother Gudhorm, and Gudhorm’s
half-brother Hading or Hadding. The war between these three—a continuation
of the feud beween Halfdan and Svipdag—was the subject of a cycle of songs
sung throughout Teutondom, songs which continued to live, though greatly
changed with the lapse of time, on the lips of Germans throughout the middle
ages (see Nos. 36-43).
Like his father, Halfdan was the fruit of a double fatherhood, a (divine amid a
human. Saxo was aware of this double fatherhood, and relates of his Halfdan
Berggram that he, although the son of a human prince, was respected as a
son of Thor, and honoured as a god among that people who longest remained
heathen ; that is to say, the Swedes (Igitur apud sveones tantus haberi ri
coepit, ut magni Thor filitus existimatus, divinis a populo honoribus donaretur
ac publico dignus libamine censeretur). In his saga, as told by Saxo, Thor
holds his protecting hand over Halfdan like a father over his son.
It is possible that both the older patriarchs originally were regarded rather as
the founders and chiefs of the whole human race than of the Teutons alone.
Certain it is that the appellation Teutonic patriarch belonged more particularly
to the third of the series. We have a reminiscence of this in Hyndluljod, 14-16.
To the question, " Whence canie the Skjoldungs, Skilfings, Andlungs, and
Ylfings, and all the free—born and gentle-born ? "the song answers by
pointing to "the foremost among the Skjolduugs "—Sigtrygg’s slayer
Halfdan—a statement which, after the memory of the myths had faded and
become confused, was magnified in the Younger Edda into the report that he
was the father of eighteen sons, nine of which were the founders of the heroic
families whose names were at that time rediscovered in the heathen-heroic
songs then extant.
According to what we have now stated in regard to Halfdan’s genealogical
position there can no longer be any doubt that he is the same patriarch as the
Mannus mentioned by Tacitus in Germania, ch. 2, where it is said of the
Germans : " In old songs they celebrate Tuisco, a god born of Earth (Terra;
compare the goddess Terra Mater ch. 40), and his son Mannus as the source
and founder of the race. Mannus is said to have had three sons, after whose
names those who dwell nearest the ocean are called Ingævonians
(Ingavones), those who dwell in the centre Hermionians (Hermiones,
Herminones), and the rest Istævonians (Istavones)." Tacitus adds that there
were other Teutonic tribes, such as the Marsians, the Gambrivians, the
Svevians, and the Vandals, whose names were derived from other heroes of
divine birth.
Thus Mannus. though human, amid the source and founder of the Teutonic
race, is also the soii of a god. The mother of his divine father is the goddess
Earth, mother Earth. In our native myths we rediscover this goddess—
polyonomous like nearly all mythic beings—in Odin’s wife Frigg, also called
Fjorgyn and only The Hlodyn As sons of her and Odin or (Völusp.) and Balder
(Lokasenna) are definitely mentioned.
In regard to the goddess Earth (Jord), Tacitus states (ch. 40), as a
characteristic trait that she is believed to take a lively interest arid active part
in the affairs of men and nations (vain intervenire rebus hominum, invehi
populis arbitrantur), and lie informs us that she is especially worshipped by the
Longobardians and some of their neighbours near the sea. This statement,
compared with the emigration saga of the Longobardians (No. 15), confirms
the theory that the goddess Jord, who, in the days of Tacitus, was celebrated
in song as the mother of Mannus’ divine father, is identical with Frigg. In their
emigration saga the Longobardians have great faith in Frigg, and trust in her
desire and ability to intervene when the fate of a nation is to be decided by
arms. Nor are they deceived in their trust in her ; she is able to bring about
that Odin, without considering the consequences, gives the Longobardians a
new name; and as a christening present was in order, and as the
Longobardians stood arrayed against the Vandals at the moment when they
received their new name, the gift could be no other than victory over their
foes. Tacitus’ statement, that the Longobardians were one of the races who
particularly paid worship to the goddess Jord, is found to be imitiniately
connected with, and to be explained by, this tradition, which continued to be
reniembered among the Longobardians long after they became converted to
Christianity, down to the time when Origo Longobardorum was written.
Tacitus calls the goddess Jord Nertlius. Vigfusson (and before him J. Grimm)
and others have seen in this name a feminine version of Njördr. Nor does any
other explanation seem possible. The existence of such a form is not more
surprising than that we have in Freyja a feniinine form of Frey, and in FjorgynFrigg a feminine form of Fjörgynr. In our mythic documents neither Frigg nor
Njord are of Asa race. Njord is, as we know, a Van. Frigg’s father is Fjörgynr
(perhaps the sanie as Parganya in the Vedic songs), also called Annarr,
Ánarr, and Ónarr, and her mother is Narve’s daughter Night. Frigg’s high
position as Odin’s real and lawful wife, as the queen of the Asa world, and as
mother of the chief gods Thor and Balder, presupposes her to be of the
noblest birth which the myth could bestow on a being born outside of time Asa
clan, and as tIme Vans conic next after the Asas in the mythology, and were
united with them from the beginning of time, as hostages, by treaty, by
marriage, a ncl by adoption, probability, if no other proof could be found,
would favour the theory that Frigg is a goddess of the race of Vans, and that
her father Fjörgyn is a clan-chief among the Vans. This view is corroborated in
two ways. The cosmogony makes Earth and Sea sister and brother. The
same divine mother Night (Nat), who hears the goddess Jord, also bears a
son Uðr, Unnr, the ruler of the sea, also called Auðr (Rich), the personifcation
of wealth. Both these names are applied among the gods to Njord alone as
the god of navigation, commerce, and wealth. (In reference to wealth compare
the phrase auðigr sem Njörðr as Njord.) Thus Frigg is Njord’s sister. This
explains the attitude given to Frigg in the war between the Asas and Vans by
Völuspa, Saxo, and the author of Ynglingasaga, where the tradition is related
as history. In the form given to this tradition in Christian times amid in Saxo’s
hands, it is disparaging to Frigg as Odin's wife ; but the pith of Saxo’s
narrative is, that Frigg in the feud between the Asa.s and Vans did not side
with Odin but with the Vans, and contributed towards making the latter lords of
Asgard. When the purely heathen documents (Völusp., Vafthr., Lokas.)
describe her as a tender wife and mother, Frigg’s taking part with tIme Vans
against her owii husband can scarcely be explained otherwise than by the
Teutonic principle, that the duties of the daughter and sister are above the
wife’s, a view plainly presented in Saxo (p. 353), and illustrated by Gudrun’s
conduct toward Atle.
Thus it is proved that the god who is the father of the Teutonic patriarch
Mannus is himself the son of Frigg, the goddess of earth, and must, according
to the mythic records at hand, be either Thor or Balder. The name given him
by Tacitus, Tuisco, does not determine which of the two. Tuisco has the form
of a patronymic adjective, and reappears in the Norse Tívi an old name of
Odin, related to   ó , divus, and devas, froni which all the sons of Odin arid
gods of Asgard received the epithet tívar. But in the songs learned by Saxo in
regard to time northern race-patriarch and his divine father, his place is
occupied by Thor, not by Balder, and " "Jord’s son " is in Norse poetry an
epithet particularly applied to Thor.
Mannus has three sons. So has Halfdan. While Mannus has a son Ingævo,
Halfdan has a stepson Yngve, Inge (Svipdag). The sccoiid son of Mannus is
named Hermio. Halfdan’s son with Groa is called Guðhormr. The second part
of this name has, as Jessen has already poiiited out, nothing to do with ormr.
It may be that the name should be divided Gud— hormr, and that hormr
should be referred to Hermio. Mannus’ third son is Istævo. The Celtic scholar
Zeuss has connected this name with that of the Gothic (more properly Vandal)
heroic race Azdingi, and Grimni has again connected Azdingi with Hazdiggo
(Haddingr). Halfdan’s third son is in Saxo called Hadingus. Whether the
comparisons made by Zeuss and Grimm are to the point or not (see further,
No. 43) makes but little difference here. It nevertheless remains as a result of
the investigation that all that is related by Tacitus about the Teutonic patriarch
Mannus has its counterpart in the question concerning Halfdan, and that both
in the myths occupy precisely the same place as sons of a god and as
founders of Teutonic tribes and royal families. The pedigrees are:
Tacitus.
Norse documents.
Tivi and the goddess Jord.
Tivi= Odin and the goddess Jord.
|
|
Tivi’s son (Tiusco).
Tivi’s son Thor.
|
|
Mannus, progenitor of the Tentonic tribes. Halfdan, progenitor of the royal families.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ingævo.
Hermio.
Istævo.
Yngve.
Guðhormnr. Hadding.
26.
THE SACRED RUNES LEARNED FROM HEIMDAL.
The mythic ancient history of the human race and of the Teutons may, in
accordance with the analysis above given, be divided into the following
epochs :—(l) From Ask and Embla’s creation until Heimdal’s arrival (2) from
Heimdal’s arrival until his departure; (3) the age of Skjold-Borgar; (4)
Halfdan’s tinie; (5) The time of Halfdan’s sons. And now we will discuss the
events of the last three epochs.
In the days of Borgar the moral condition of men grows worse, and an event in
nature takes place threatening at least the northern part of the Teutonic world
with destruction. The myth gives the causes of both these phenomena. The
moral degradation has its cause, if not wholly, yet for the greater part, in the
activity among men of a female being from the giant world. Through her men
become acquainted with the black ait, the evil art of sorcery, which is the
opposite of the wisdom drawn from Mimir’s holy fountain, the knowledge of
runes, and acquaintance with the application of nature’s secret forces for good
ends (see Nos. 34, 35).
The sacred knowledge of runes, the " "fimbul—songs," the white art, was,
according to the myth, originally in the possession of Mimir. Still he did not
have it of himself, but got it from the subterranean fountain, which he guarded
beneath the middle root of the world-tree (see No. 63) a fountain whose veins,
together with tIme deepest root of the world—tree. extends to a depth which
not even Odin’s thought can penetrate (Havam., 138). By self— sacrifice in
his youth Odin received from Bestla’s brother (Mimir; see No. 88) a drink from
the precious liquor of this fountain and nine fimbul—songs (Havam., 140 ; cp.
Sigrdr., 14), which were the basis of time divine magic, of the application of
the power of the word and of the rune over spiritual and natural forces, in
prayer, in sacrifices and in other religious acts, in investigations, in the
practical affairs of life, in peace amid in war (Havam., 144 ff ; Sigrdr., 6 ff). The
character amid purpose of these songs are clear from the fact that at the head
is placed " help’s fimbul—song," which is able to allay sorrow aiid cure
diseases (Havam., 146).
In the hands of Odin they are a means for the protection of the power of time
Asa—gods, and enable them to assist their worshippers in danger and
distress. To these beloing the fimbul-song of the runes of victory ; and it is of
no little interest that we, in Havamál, 156, find w hat Tacitus tells about the
barditus of the Germans, the shield—song with which they went to meet their
foes—a song which Ammianus Paulus himself has heard, and of which he
gives a vivid description. When time Teutonic forces advanced to battle the
warriors raised their shields up to a level with time upper lip, so that time
round of time shield formed a soit of sounding-board for their song. This
began in a low voice and preserved its subdued colour, but the sound
gradually increased, and at a distance it resembled the roar ot the breakers of
the sea. Tacitus says that the Teutons predicted time result of the battle from
the impression the song as a whole made upon themselves it might sound in
their ears in such a manner that they thereby became more terrible to their
enemies, or in such a manner that they were overcome by despair. The
above-mentioned strophe of Havamál gives us an explanation of this the
warriors were roused to confidence if they, in the harmony of time subdued
song increasing in volume, seemed to perceive Valfather’s voice blended with
their own. The strophe makes Odin say Ef cc seed til orrostu leiÞa langvini,
undir randir cc gel, en þeir meþ ríki heilir hildar til, heilir hildi frá—" If I am to
lead those to battle whom I have long held in friendship, then I sing under their
shields. With success they go to the conflict, and successfully they go out of
it." Völuspa also refers to time shield-son, in 47, where it makes the stormgiant, Hrymr, advancing against the gods, "lift his shield before him" (hefiz lind
fyrir) an expression which certainly has another significance than that of
unnecessarily pointing out that lie has a shield for protection. Time runes of
victory were able to arrest weapons in their flight and to make those whom
Odin loved proof against sword-edge and safe against ambush (Havam., 148,
150). Certain kinds of runes were regarded as producing victory and were
carved on the hilt and on the blade of the sword, and while they were carved
Tyr’s name was twice named (Sigrdr., 6).
Another class of runes (brimrúnar, Sigrdr., 10; Havam., 150) controlled the
elements, purified the air from evil beings (Havam., 155), gave power over
wind and waves for good purposes— as, for instance, when sailors in distress
were to be rescued—or power over time flames when they tlmreatened to
destroy human dwellings (Havam., 152). A third kind of runes (málrúnar) gave
speech to the mute and speechless, even to those whose lips were sealed in
death (see No. 70). A fourth kind of runes could free the limbs from bonds
(Havam., 149). A fifth kind of runes protected against witchcraft (Havam.,
151). A sixth kind of runes (ölránar) takes time strength froni the love -potion
prepared by another imman’s wife, amid from every treachery mingled therein
(Sigrdr., 7, 8). A seventh kind (bjargrúnar and limrúnar) helps in childbirth and
heals wounds. Aim eighth kind gives wisdom and knowledge (hugrúnar,
Sigrdr., 13 ; cp. Havam., 159). A ninth kind extinguishes enmity aimd hate,
and produces friendship and love (Havam., 153, 161). Of great value, and a
great honour to kings and chiefs, was the possession of healing runes and
healing hands ; and that certain noble-born families inherited the power of
these runes was a belief which has been handed down even to our time.
There is a distinct consciousness that the runes of this kind were a gift of the
blithe gods. In a strophe, which sounds as if it were taken from an ancient
hymn, the gods are beseechied for runes of wisdom arid healing:" Hail to the
gods Hail to the goddesses Hail to the bounteous Earth (the goddess Jord).
Words and wisdom give unto us, and healing hands while we live ." (Sigrdr.,
4).
In ancient times arrangements were made for spreading the knowledge of the
good runes among all kinds of beings. Odin taught them to his own clan ;
Dáinn taught them to the Elves Dvalinn among the dwarfs ; Ásvinr (see No.
88) among the giants (Havam., 143). Even the last-named became
participators in the good gift, which, mixed with sacred mead, was sent far and
wide, and it has since been among the Asas, among the Elves, among the
wise Vans, and among the children of men (Sigrdr., 18). The above-named
Dvalinn, who taught the runes to his clan of ancient artists, is the father of
daughters, who, together with discs of Asa and Vana birth, are in possession
of bjargrúnar, and employ them in the service of man (Fafnism., 13).
To men the beneficent runes came through the same god who as a child
came with the sheaf of grain and the tools to Scandia. Hence the belief
current among the Franks and Saxons that the alphabet of the Teutons, like
the Teutons themselves, was of northern origin. Rigsthula expressly presents
Heimdal as teaching runes to the people whom he blessed by his arrival in
Midgard. The noble - born are particularly his pupils in runic lore. Of Heimdal’s
grandson, the son of Jarl Borgar, named Kon-Halfdan, it is said:
En Konr engr
kunni runar,
æfinrunar
ok alldrrunar.
Meir kunni hann
mönnum bjarga
eggjar deyfa,
ægi legia,
klök nam fugla,
kyrra ellda,
sæva ok svfia,
sorgir lægia.
But Kon the young
taught himself runes,
runes of eternity
and runes of earthly life.
Then he taught himself
men to save,
the sword—edge to deaden,
the sea to quiet,
bird-song to interpret,
fires to extinguish,
to soothe and comfort,
sorrows to allay.
The fundaniental character of this rune-lore beams distinctly the stamp of
nobility. The runes of eternity united with those of the earthly life can scarcely
have any other reference than to the heathen doctrines concerning religion
and morality. These were looked upon as being for all time, and of equal
importance to the life hereafter. Together with physical runes with magic
power— that is, runes that gave their possessors power over the hostile
forces of nature—we find runes intended to serve the cause of sympathiy and
mercy.
27.
SORCERY THE REVERSE OE THE SACRED RUNES. GULLVEIG-HEIðR,
THE SOURCE OF SORCERY. THE MORAL DETERIORATION OF THE
ORIGINAL MAN.
But already in the beginning of time evil powers appear for the purpose of
opposing and ruining the good influences from the world of gods upon
mankind. Just as Heimdal, "the fast traveller," proceeds from house to house,
forming new ties in society and giving instruction in what is good and useful,
thus we soon find a messenger of evil wandering about between the houses
in Midgard, practising the black art and stimulating the worst passions of the
human soul. The messenger comes from the powers of frost, the enemies of
creation. It is a giantess, the daughter of the giant Hrimnir (Hyndlulj., 32),
known aniong the gods as Gulveig and by other names (see Nos. 34, 35), but
on her wanderings on earth called Heir. "Heid they called her (Gulveig) when
she came to the children of men, the crafty, prophesying vala, who practised
sorcery (vitti ganda), practised the evil art, caused by witchcraft misfortunes,
sickness, and death (leikin, see No. 67), and was always sought by bad
women." Thus Völuspa describes her. The important position Heid occupies in
regard to the corruption of ancient man, and the consequences of her appearance for the gods for man, amid for nature (see below), have led Völuspa’s
author, in spite of his general poverty of words, to describe her with a certain
fulness, pointing out among other things that she was the cause of the first
war in the world. That the time of her appearance was during the life of Borgar
and his son shall be demonstrated below.
In connection with this moral corruption, and caused by the same powers
hostile to the world, there occur in this epoch such disturbances in nature that
the original home of man and culture—nay, all Midgard—is threatened with
destruction on account of long, terrible winters. A series of connected myths
tell of this. Ancient artists—forces at work in the growth of nature—
personifications of the same kind as Rigveda’s Ribhus, that had before
worked in harmony with the gods, become, through the influence of Loki, foes
of Asgard, their work becoming as harniful as it before was beneficent, and
seek to destroy what Odin had created (see Nos. 111 and 112). Idun, with her
life-renewing apples, is carried by Thjasse away from Asgard to the
northernmost wilderness of the world, and is there concealed. Freyja, the
goddess of fertility, is robbed and falls into the power of giants. Frey, the god
of harvests, falls sick. The giant king Snow and his kinsmen þorri (Black
Frost), Jökull (the Glacier), &c., extend their sceptres over Scandia.
Already during Heimdal’s reign, after his protégé Borgar had grown up,
something happens which forebodes these terrible times, but still has a happy
issue.
28A.
HEIMDAL AND THE SUN-DIS (Dis = goddess).
In Saxo’s time there was still extant a myth telling bow Heimdal, as the ruler of
the earliest generation, got himself a wife. The myth is found related as history
in Historia Danica, pp. 335-337. Changed into a song of chivalry in middle age
style, we find it on German soil in the poem concerning king Ruther.
Saxo relates that a certain king Alf undertook a perilous journey of courtship,
and was accompanied by Borgar. Alf is the more noble of the two; Borgar
attends him. This already points to the fact that the mythic figure which Saxo
has changed into a historical king must be Heimdal, Borgar’s co-father, his
ruler and fosterer, otherwise Borgar himself would be the chief person in his
country, and could not be regarded as subject to anyone else. Alf's identity
with Heimdal is corroborated by "King Ruther," and to a degree also by the
description Saxo makes of his appearance, a description based on a definite
mythic prototype. Alf, says Saxo, had a fine exterior, and over his hair, though
he was young, a so remarkably white splendour was diffused that rays of light
seemed to issue from his silvery locks (cujus etiam insignem candore
cæsariem tantus comæ decor asperierat, ut argenteo crine nitere putaretur).
The Heimdal of the myth is a god of light, and is described by the colour
applied to pure silver in the old Norse literature to distinguish it from that which
is alloyed; he is hvíti áss (Gylfag., 27) and hvítastr ása (Thrymskvida, 5); his
teeth glitter like gold, and so does his horse. We should expect that the maid
whom Alf, if he is Heimdal, desires to possess belongs like himself to the
divinities of light. Saxo also says that her beauty could make one blind if she
was seen without her veil, and her name Alfhild belongs, like Alfsol, Hild,
Alfhild Solglands, Svanhild Guldfjæder, to that class of names by which the
sun-dises, mother and daughter, were transferred from mythology to history.
She is watched by two dragons. Suitors who approach her in vain get their
heads chopped off and set up on poles (thus also in " King Ruther "). Alf
conquers the guarding dragons; but at the advice of her mother Alfhild takes
flight, puts on a man’s clothes and armour, and becomes a female warrior,
fighting at the head of other Amazons. Alf and Borgar search for and find the
troop of Amazons amid ice and snow. It is conquered and flies to "Finnia ". Alf
and Borgar pursue them thither. There is a new conflict. Borgar strikes the
helmet from Alfhild’s head. She has to confess herself conquered, and
becomes AIf’s wife.
In interpreting the mythic contents of this story we must remember that the lad
who came with the sheaf of grain to Scandia needed the help of the sun for
the seed which he brought with him to sprout, before it could give harvests to
the inhabitants. But the saga also indicates that the sun-dis had veiled herself,
and made herself as far as possible unapproachable, and that when Heimdal
had forced himself into her presence she fled to northern ice-enveloped
regions, where the god and his foster-son, sword in hand, had to fetch her,
whereupon a happy marriage between him and the sun-dis secures good
weather and rich harvests to the land over which he rules. At the first glance it
might seem as if this myth had left no trace in our Icelandic records. This is,
however, not the case. Its fundamental idea, that the sun at one time in the
earliest ages went astray from southern regions to the farthest north and
desired to remain there, but that it was brought back by the might of the gods
who created the world, and through them received, in the same manner as
Day and Night, its course defined and regularly established, we find in the
Völuspa strophe, examined with so great acumen by Julius Hoffory, which
speaks of a bewilderment of this kind on the part of the sun, occurring before
it yet "knew its proper sphere," and in the following strophe, which tells how
the all-holy gods thereupon held solemn council and so ordained the activity
of these beings, that time can be divided and years be recorded by their
course. Nor is the marriage into which the sun-dis entered forgotten.
Skaldskaparmal quotes a strophe from Skule Thorsteinson where Sol * is
called Glenr’s wife. That he whom the skald characterises by this epithet is a
god is a matter of course. Glenr signifies "the shining one," and this epithet
was badly chosen if it did not refer to "the most shining of the Asas," hvítastr
ása—that is, Heimdal.
The fundamental traits of "King Ruther" resemble Saxo’s story. There, too, it is
a king who undertakes a perilous journey of courtship and must fight several
battles to win the wondrous fair maiden whose previous suitors had had to
pay for their eagerness by having their heads chopped off and fastened on
poles. The king is accompanied by Berter, identical with Berchtung-Borgar,
but here, as always in the German story, described as the patriarch and
adviser. A giant, Vidolt—Saxo’s Vitolphus, Hyndluljod’s Viðlfr—accompanies
Ruther and Berter on the journey; and when Vitolphus in Saxo is mentioned
under circumstances which show that he accompanied Borgar on a warlike
expedition, and thereupon saved his son Halfdan’s life, there is no room for
doubt that Saxo’s saga and "King Ruther" originally flowed from the same
mythic source. It can also be demonstrated that the very name Ruther is one
of those epithets which belong to Heimdal. The Norse Hrútr is, according to
the Younger Edda (i. 588, 589), a synonym of
* Sol is feminine in the Teutonic tongues.—TR.
Heimdali, and Heimdali is another form of Heimdall (Isl., i. 231). As Hrútr
means a ram, and as Heimdali is an epithet of a ram (see Younger Edda, i.
589), light is thrown upon the bold metaphors, according to which "head,"
"Heimdal’s head," and "Heimdal’s sword" are synonyms (Younger Edda, i.
100, 264; ii. 499). The ram’s head carries and is the ram’s sword. Of the age
of this animal symbol we give an account in No. 82. There is reason for
believing that Heimdal’s helmet has been conceived as decorated with ram’s
horns.* A strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 608) mentions Heimdal’s
helmet, and calls the sword the fylir of Heimdal’s helmet, an ambiguous
expression, which may be interpreted as that which fills Heimdal’s helmet; that
is to say, Heimdal’s head, but also as that which has its place on the helmet.
Compare the expression fyllr hilmis stóls as a metaphor for the power of the
ruler.
28B.
LOKI CAUSES ENMITY BETWEEN THE GODS AND THE ORIGINAL
ARTISTS (THE CREATORS OF ALL THINGS GROWING). THE
CONSEQUENCE IS THE FIMBUL-WINTER AND EMIGRATIONS.
The danger averted by Heimdal when he secured the sun-dis with bonds of
love begins in the time of Borgar. The corruption of nature and of man go
hand in hand. Borgar has to contend with robbers (pugiles and piratæ), and
among them the prototype of pirates — that terrible character, remembered
also in Icelandic poetry, called Roði (Saxo, Hist., 23, 354). The moderate laws
given by Heimdal had to be made more severe by Borgar (Hist., 24, 25).
While the moral condition in Midgard grows worse, Loki carries out in Asgard
a cunningly-conceived plan, which seems to be to the advantage of the gods,
but is intended to bring about the ruin of both the gods and man. His purpose
is to cause enmity
* That some one of the gods has worn a helmet with such a crown can he
seen on one of the golden horns found near Gallehuus. There twice occurs a
being wearing a helmet furnished with long, curved, sharp pointed horns. Near
him a ram is drawn, and in his hand he has something resembling a staff
which ends in a circle, and possibly is intended to represent Heimdal’s horn.
between the original artists themselves and between them and the gods.
Among these artists the sons of Ivalde constitute a separate group. Originally
they enjoyed the best relations to the gods, and gave them the best products
of their wonderful art, for ornament and for use. Odin’s spear Gungnir, the
golden locks on Sif’s head, and Frey’s celebrated ship Skidbladner, which
could hold all the warriors of Asgard and always had favourable wind, but
which also could be folded as a napkin and be carried in one’s pocket
(Gylfaginning), had all come from the workshop of these artists.
Ivalda synir
gengu i ardaga
Seidbladni at skapa,
scipa bezt,
scirom Frey,
nytom. Njardar bur.
The sons of Ivalde
went in ancient times
to make Skidbladner,
among ships the best,
for the shining Frey,
Njord’s useful son.
(Grimnismal.)
Another group of original artists were Sindre and his kinsmen, who dwelt on
Nida’s plains in the happy domain of the lower world (Völusp., Nos. 93, 94).
According to the account given in Gylfagiuning, ch. 37, Loki meets Sindre’s
brother Brok, and wagers his head that Sindre cannot make treasures as
good as the above-named gifts from Ivalde’s sons to the Asas. Sindre then
made in his smithy the golden boar for Frey, the ring Draupner for Odin, from
which eight gold rings of equal weight drop every ninth night, and the
incomparable hammer Mjolner for Thor. When the treasures were finished,
Loki cunningly gets the gods to assemble for the purpose of deciding whether
or not he has forfeited his head. The gods cannot, of course, decide this
without at the same time passing judgment on the gifts of Sindre and those of
Ivalde’s sons, and showing that one group of artists is inferior to the other.
And this is done. Sindre’s treasures are preferred, and thus the sons of Ivalde
are declared to be inferior in comparison. But at the same time Sindre fails,
through the decision of the gods, to get the prize agreed on. Both groups of
artists are offended by the decision.
Gylfaginning does not inform us whether the sons of Ivalde accepted the
decision with satisfaction or anger, or whether any noteworthy consequences
followed or not. An entirely similar judgment is mentioned in Rigveda (see No.
111). The judgmacnt there has the most important consequences: hatred
toward the artists who were victorious, and toward the gods who were the
judges, takes possession of the ancient artist who was defeated, and nature is
afflicted with great suffering. That the Teutonic mythology has described
similar results of the decision shall be demonstrated in this work.
Just as in the names Alveig and Almveig, Bil-röst and Bif-röst, Arinbjörn and
Grjótbjörn, so also in the name Ivaldi or Ivaldr, the latter part of the word forms
the permanent part, corresponding to the Old English Valdere, the German
Walther, the Latinised Waltharius.* The former part of the word may change
without any change as to the person indicated: Ivaldi, Allvaldi, Ölvaldi,
Auðvaldi, may be names of one and the same person. Of these variations
Ivaldi and Allvaldi are in their sense most closely related, for the prefixed Í (Ið)
and All may interchange in the language without the least change in meaning.
Compare all-líkr, ílikr, and idlikr; all-lítill and ilitill; all-nóg, ígnog, and idgnog.
On the other hand, the prefixes in Ölvaldi and Auðvaldi produce different
meanings of the compound word. But the records give most satisfactory
evidence that Olvaldi and Auðvaldi nevertheless are the same person as
Allvaldi (Ivaldi). Thjasse’s father is called in Harbardsljod (19) Allvaldi; in the
Younger Edda (i. 214) Ölvaldi and Auðvaldi. He has three sons, Ide, Gang,
also called Urner (the Grotte-song), and the just-named Thjasse, who are the
famous ancient artists, "the sons of Ivalde" (Ivalda synir). We here point this
out in passing. Complete statement and proof of this fact, so important from a
mythological standpoint, will be given in Nos. 113, 114, 115.
Nor is it long before it becomes apparent what the consequences are of the
decision pronounced by the Asas on Loki’s advice upon the treasures
presented to the gods. The sons of
* Elsewhere it shall be shown that the heroes mentioned in the middle age
poetry under the names Valdere, Walther, Waitharius manufortis, and
Valthere of Vaskasten are all variations of the name of the same mythic type
changed into a human hero, and the same, too, as Ivalde of the Norse
documents (see No. 123).
Ivalde regarded it as a mortal offence, born of the ingratitude of the gods.
Loki, the originator of the scheme, is caught in the snares laid by Thjasse in a
manner fully described in Thjodolf’s poem "Haustlaung," and to regain his
liberty he is obliged to assist him (Thjasse) in carrying Idun away from Asgard.
Idun, who possesses "the Asas’ remedy against old age," and keeps the
apples which symbolise the ever - renewing and rejuvenating force of nature,
is carried away by Thjasse to a part of the world inaccessible to the gods. The
gods grow old, and winter extends its power more and more beyond the limits
prescribed for it in creation. Thjasse, who before was the friend of the gods, is
now their irreconcilable foe. He who was the promoter of growth and the
benefactor of nature—for Sif’s golden locks, and Skidbladner, belonging to the
god of fertility, doubtless are symbols thereof—is changed into "the mightiest
foe of earth," dolg ballastan vallar (Haustl., 6), and has wholly assumed the
nature of a giant.
At the same tinie, with the approach of the great winter, a terrible earthquake
takes place, the effects of which are felt even in heaven. The myth in regard to
this is explained in No. 81. In this explanation the reader will find that the great
earthquake in primeval time is caused by Thjasse’s kinswomen on his
mother’s side (the Grotte-song)—that is, by the giantesses Fenja and Menja,
who turned the enormous world-mill, built on the foundations of the lower
world, and working in the depths of the sea, the prototype of the mill of the
Grotte-song composed in Christian times; that the world-mill has a möndull,
the mill-handle, which sweeps the uttermost rim of the earth, with which
handle not only the mill-stone but also the starry heavens are made to whirl
round; and that when the mill was put in so violent a motion by the angry
giantesses that it got out of order, then the starry constellations were also
disturbed. The ancient terrible winter and the inclination of the axis of heaven
have in the myth been connected, and these again with the close of the
golden age. The mill had lip to this time ground gold, happiness, peace, and
good-will among men; henceforth it grinds salt amid dust.
The winter must of course first of all affect those people who inhabited the
extensive Svithiod north of the original country and over which another
kinsman of Heimdal, the first of the race of Skilfings or Ynglings, ruled. This
kinsman of Heimdal has an important part in the mythology, and thereof we
shall give an account in Nos. 89, 91, 110, 113-115, and 123. It is there found
that he is the same as Ivalde, who, with a giantess, begot the illegitimate
children Ide, Urner, and Thjasse. Already before his sons he became the foe
of the gods, and from Svithiod now proceeds, in connection with the spreading
of the fimbul-winter, a migration southward, the work at the same time of the
Skilfings and the primeval artists. The list of dwarfs in Völuspa has preserved
the record of this in the strophe about the artist migration from the rocks of the
hall (Salar steinar) and from Svarin’s mound situated in the north (the Völuspa
strophe quoted in the Younger Edda; cp. Saxo., Hist., 32, 33, and Helg.
Hund., i. 31, ii. to str. 14). The attack is directed against aurvanga sjöt, the
land of the clayey plains, and the assailants do not stop before they reach
Jöruxalla, the Jara plains, which name is still applied to the south coast of
Scandinavia (see No. 32). In the pedigree of these emigrants— þeir er sóttu
frá Salar steina (or Svarins haugi) aurvanga sjöt til Jöruvalla— occur the
names Álfr and Yngvi, who have Skilfing names; Fjalarr, who is Ivalde’s ally
and Odin’s enemy (see No. 89); Finnr, which is one of the several names of
Ivalde himself (see No. 123); Frosti, who symbolises cold; Skirfir, a name
which points to the Skilfings; and Virfir, whom Saxo (Hist. Dan., 178, 179)
speaks of as Huyrvillus, and the Icelandic records as Virvill amid Vifill
(Fornalders. ii. 8; Younger Edda, i. 548). In Fornalders. Vifill is an emigration
leader who married to Loge’s daughter Eymyrja (a metaphor for fire—Younger
Edda, ii. 570), betakes himself from the far North and takes possession of an
island on the Swedish coast. That this island is Oland is clear from Saxo, 178,
where Huyrvillus is called Holandiæ princeps. At the same time a brother-inlaw of Virfir takes possession of Bornholm, and Gotland is colonised by
Thjelvar (Thjálfi of the myth), who is the son of Thjasse’s brother (see Nos.
113, 114, 115). Virfir is allied with the sons of Finnr (Fyn— Saxo, Hist., 178).
The saga concerning the emigration of the Longobardians is also connected
with the myth about Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 112-115).
From all this it appears that a series of emigration and colonisation tales have
their origin in the myth concerning the fimbul-winter caused by Thjasse and
concerning the therewith connected attack by the Skilfings and Thjasse’s
kinsmen on South Scandinavia, that is, on the clayey plains near Jaravall,
where the second son of Heimdal, Skjold-Borgar, rules. It is the remembrance
of this migration from north to south which forms the basis of all the Teutonic
middle-age migration sagas. The migration saga of the Goths, as Jordanes
heard it, makes them emigrate from Scandinavia under the leadership of
Berig. (Ex hac igitur Scandza insula quasi officina gentium aut certe velut
vagina nationum cumn rege suo Berig Gothi quondam memorantur egressi—
De Goth. Orig., c. 4. Meminisse debes, me de Scndzæ insulæ gremnio
Gothos dixisse egressos cum Berich suo rege—c. 17.) The name Berig, also
written Bench and Berigo, is the same as the German Berker, Berchtung, and
indicates the same person as the Norse Borgarr. With Berig is connected the
race of the Amalians; with Borgar the memory of Hamal (Amala), who is the
foster-brother of Borgar’s son (cp. No. 28 with Helge Hund., ii.). Thus the
emigration of the Goths is in the myth a result of the fate experienced by
Borgar and his people in their original country. And as the Swedes constituted
the northernmost Teutonic branch, they were the ones who, on the approach
of the fimbul-winter, were the first that were compelled to surrender their
abodes and secure more southern habitations. This also appears from saga
fragments which have been preserved; and here, but not in the circumstances
themselves, lies the explanation of the statements, according to which the
Swedes forced Scandinavian tribes dwelling farther south to emigrate.
Jordanes (c. 3) claims that the Herulians were driven from their abode in
Scandza by the Svithidians, and that the Danes are of Svithidian origin—in
other words, that an older Teutonic population in Denmark was driven south,
and that Denmark was repeopled by emigrants from Sweden. And in the
Norse sagas themselves, the centre of gravity, as we have seen, is continually
being moved farther to the south. Heimdal, under the name Scef-Skelfir,
comes to the original inhabitants in Scania. Borgar, his son, becomes a ruler
there, but founds, under the name Skjold, the royal dynasty of the Skjoldungs
in Denmark. With Scef and Skjold the Wessex royal family of Saxon origin is
in turn connected,, and thus the royal dynasty of the Goths is again connected
with the Skjold who emigrated from Scandza, and who is identical with Borgar.
And finally there existed in Saxo’s time mythic traditions or songs which
related that all the present Germany came under the power of the Teutons
who emigrated with Borgar; that, in other words, the emigration from the North
carried with it the hegemony of Teutonic tribes over other tribes which before
them inhabited Germany. Saxo says of Skjold-Borgar that omnem
Alamannorum gentem tributaria ditione perdomuit; that is, "he made the whole
race of Alamanni tributary ". The name Alamanni is in this case not to be
taken in an ethnographical but in a geographical sense. It means the people
who were rulers in Germany before the immigration of Teutons from the
North.
From this we see that migration traditions remembered by Teutons beneath
Italian and Icelandic skies, on the islands of Great Britain and on the German
continent, in spite of their wide diffusion and their separation in time, point to a
single root: to the myth concerning the primeval artists and their conflict with
the gods; to the robbing of Idun and the fimbul-winter which was the result.
The myth miiakes the gods themselves to be seized by terror at the fate of the
world, amid Mimir makes arrangements to save all that is best and purest on
earth for an expected regeneration of the world. At the very beginning of the
fimbul-winter Mimner opens in his subterranean grove of immortality an
asylum, closed against all physical and spiritual evil, for the two children of
men, Lif and Lifthrasir (Vafthr., 45), who are to be the parents of a new race of
men (see Nos. 52, 53). The war begun in Borgar’s time for the possession of
the ancient country continues under his son Halfdan, who reconquers it for a
time, invades Svithiod, and repels Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 32, 33).
29.
EVIDENCE THAT HALFDAN IS IDENTICAL WITH HELGE
HUNDINGSBANE.
The main outlines of Halfdan’s saga reappear related as history, and more or
less blended with foreign elements, in Saxo’s accounts of the kings Gram,
Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson (see No. 23). Contributions to the
saga are found in Hyndluljod (str. 14, 15, 16) and in Skaldskaparmal (Younger
Edda, i. 516 if.), in what they tell about Halfdan Skjoldung and Halfdan the
Old. The juvenile adventures of the hero have, with some modifications,
furnished the materials for both the songs about Helge Hundingsbane, with
which Saxo’s story of Helgo Hundingicida (Hist., 80-110) and Volsungasaga’s
about Helge Sigmundson are to be compared. The Grotte-song also (str. 22)
identifies Helge Hundingsbane with Halfdan.
For the history of the origin of the existing heroic poems from mythic sources,
of their relation to these and to each other, it is important to get the original
identity of the hero-myth, concerning Halfdan and the heroic poems
concerning Helge Hundingsbane, fixed on a firm foundation. The following
parallels suffice to show that this Helge is a later time’s reproduction of the
mythic Halfdan:
Halfdan-Gram, sent on a warlike expedition, meets Groa, who is mounted
on horseback and accompanied by other women on horseback (Saxo, 26,
27).
The meeting takes place in a forest (Saxo, 26).
Halfdan-Gram is on the occasion completely wrapped in the skin of
a wild beast, so that even his face is concealed (Saxo, 26)
Conversation is begun between Halfdan-Gram and Groa. Halfdan
pretends to be a person who is his brother-at-arms (Saxo, 27).
Groa asks Halfdan-Gram:
Quis, rogo, vestrum dirigit agmen, quo duce signa bellica fertis?
(Saxo, 27.)
Halfdan-Gram invites Groa to accompany him. At first invitation is
refused (Saxo, 27).
Groa's father had already given her hand to another (Saxo, 26).
Halfdan-Gram explains that this rival ought not to cause them should
not cause them to fear to fear (Saxo, 28).
Halfdan-Gram makes war on Groa's father, on his rival, and on the
Helge Hundingsbane, sent on
mounted on horseback and is
(Helge Hund., i. 16;Volsung
The meeting takes place i
Helge is on the occasion d
guise" (Helge Hund., i. 16
in Saxo, where Halfdan ap
Conversation is begun be
to be a person who is his
Sigrun asks Helge:
Hverir lata fijota fley vi bac
Hund., ii. 5.)
Helge invites Sigrun to ac
rebuked (Helge Hund., i. 1
Sigrun's father had alread
18).
Helge explains that this riv
kinsmen of the latter (Saxo, 32).
Hund., i., ii.).
Halfdan-Gram slays Groa's father and betrothed, and and suitors,
Helge makes war on Sigru
and many heroes who belonged to his circle of kinsmen or were
of the latter (Helge Hund.,
subject to him (Saxo, 32).
Helge kills Sigrun's father
Halfdan-Gram marries Groa (Saxo, 33).
the brothers or allies of his
Halfdan-Gram conquers a conquers Ring's sons king Ring (Saxo,
Helge marries Sigrun (Hel
32).
Borgar's son has defeated and slain king Hun ding (Saxo, 362; cp.
Saxo, 337).
Halfdan - Gram has felled Svarin and many of his brothers. Svarin
was viceroy under Groa's father (Saxo, 32).
Halfdan-Grain is slain by Svipdag, who is armed with an is armed
with an Asgard weapon compared with other sources. See Nos. 33,
98, 101, 103).
Halfdan- Berggram's father is slain by his brother Frode, who took
his took his kingdom (Saxo, 320).
Halfdan Berggram and his brother were in their childhood protected
by Regno (Saxo, 320).
Halfdan Berggram and his brother burnt Frode to death in his house
(Saxo, 323).
Halfdan Berggramn as a youth left the kingdom to his brother and
went warfaring (Saxo,320 ff.).
During Halfdan's absence Denmark is attacked by an enemy, who
conquers his brother in three battles and slays him in a fourth (Saxo,
325).
Helge conquers Ring's so
Helge has slain king Hund
Hundingsbane (Helge Hun
Helge's rival and the many
Svarin's grave-mound. Th
Helge is slain by Dag, who
Hund., ii.).
Helge's father was slain b
took his kingdom (Rolf Kra
Helge and his brother wer
childhood protected by Re
Helge and his brothers bu
Krake's saga).
Helge Hundingsbane as a
went warfaring (Saxo, 80)
During Helge Hundings-ba
enemy, who conquers his
fourth (Saxo, 82).
Halfdan, the descendant of Scef and Scyld, becomes the father of
Helge Hundingsbane the f
Rolf (Beowulf poem).
Krake's saga).
Halfdan had a son with his own sister Yrsa (Grotte-song, 22: mon
Helge Hundingsbane bad
Yrsu sonr vid Halfdanna hefna Froda; sa mun hennar hcitinn vcrþa
The son was Rolf (compa
börr oc bróþir).
A glance at these parallels is sufficient to remove every doubt that the hero in
the songs concerning Helge Hundingsbane is originally the same mythic
person as is celebrated in the song or songs from which Saxo gathered his
materials concerning the kings, Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan Berggram, and
Halfdan Borgarson. It is the ancient myth in regard to Halfdan, the son of
Skjold-Borgar, which myth, after the introduction of Christianity in
Scandinavia, is divided into two branches, of which the one continues to be
the saga of this patriarch, while the other utilises the history of his youth and
tranforms it into a new saga, that of Helge Hundingsbane. In Saxo’s time, and
long before him, this division into two branches had already taken place. How
this younger branch, Helge Hundingsbane’s saga, was afterwards partly
appropriated by the all-absorbing Sigurdsaga and became connected with it in
an external and purely genealogical manner, and partly did itself appropriate
(as in Saxo) the old Danish local tradition about Rolf, the illegitimate son of
Halfdan Skjoldung, and, in fact, foreign to his pedigree; how it got mixed with
the saga about an evil Frode and his stepsons, a saga with which it formerly
had no connection ;—all these are questions which I shall discuss fully in a
second part of this work, and in a separate treatise on the heroic sagas. For
the present, my task is to show what influence this knowledge of Halfdan and
Helge Hundingsbane’s identity has upon the interpretation of the myth
concerning the antiquity of the Teutons.
30.
HALFDAN’S BIRTH AND THE END OF THE AGE OF PEACE. THE FAMILY
NAMES YLFING, HILDING, BUDLUNG.
The first strophes of the first song of Helge Hundingsbane distinguish
themselves in tone and character and broad treatment from the continuation
of the song, and have clearly belonged to a genuine old mythic poem about
Halfdan, and without much change the compiler of the Helge Hunbingsbane
song has incorporated them into his poem. They describe Halfdan’s (" Helge
Hundingsbane’s ") birth. The real niythic names of his parents, Borgar and
Drott, have been retained side by side with the names given by the compiler,
Sigmund and Borghild.
Ár var alda,
hnigo heilog votn
þat yr arar gullo,
af himinfjollum;
þá hafþi Helga
inn hugom stora
Borghildr borit
i Bralundi.
Nott varþ i bee,
nornir qvomo,
þer er auþlingi
aldr um scopo ;
þann baþo fylci
frægstan verþa
oc buþlanga
beztan ticcia.
Snero þer af afli
aurlaugþátto,
þa er Borgarr braut
i Brálundi;
þer um greiddo
gullin simo
oc und manasal
miþian festo.
þer austr oc vestr
enda fálo:
þar átti lofdungr
land a milli;
brá nipt Nera
a nordrvega
einni festi
ey baþ hon halda.
Etti var at angri
Ylfinga niþ
oc þeirre meyio
yr nunuþ fæddi;
It was time’s morning,
eagles screeched,
holy waters fell
from the heavenly mountains.
Then was the mighty
Helge born
by Borghild
in Bralund.
It was night,
norns came,
they who did shape
the fate of the nobleman
they proclaimed him
best among Budlungs,
and most famed
among princes.
With all their might the threads
of fate they twisted,
when Borgar settled
in Bralund
of gold they made
the warp of the web,
and fastened it directly
‘neath the halls of the moon.
In the east and west
they hid the ends:
there between
the chief should rule
Nere’s * kinswoman
northward sent
one thread and bade it
hold for ever.
One cause there was
of alarm to the Yngling (Borgar),
and also for her
who bore the loved one.
hrafn gvaþ at hrafni
—sat a hám meiþi
andvanr áto :—
"Ec veit noceoþ !
Hungry cawed
raven to raven
in the high tree:
"Hear what I know
*Urd, the chief goddess of fate. See the treatise "Mythen cm Underjorden ".
"Stendr i brynio
burr Sigmundar,
dægrs eins gamall,
nu er dagr kominn;
hversir augo
sem hildingar,
sa er varga vinr,
viþ scolom teitir.
Drótt þotti sa
dauglingr vera
quado meþ gumnom
god-ár kominn;
sialfr gece visi
or vig þrimo
ungom færa
itrlauc grami.
"In coat of mail
stands Sigmund’s son,
one day old,
now the day is come;
sharp eyes of the Hildings
has he, and the wolves’
friend he becomes,
"We shall thrive."
Drott, it is said, saw
In him a dayling,*
saying, "Now are good seasons
come among men";
to the young lord
from thunder-strife
came the chief himself
with a glorious flower.
Halfdan’s (" Helge Hundingsbane’s ") birth occurs, according to the contents
of these strophes, when two epochs meet. His arrival announces the close of
the peaceful epoch and the beginning of an age of strife, which ever since has
reigned in the world. His significance in this respect is distinctly manifest in the
poem. The raven, to whom the battle-field will soon be as a well-spread table,
is yet suffering from hunger (andvanr átu) but from the high tree in which it
sits, it has on the day after the birth of the child, presumably through the
window, seen the newcomer, and discovered that he possessed "the sharp
eyes of the Hildings," and with prophetic vision it has already seen him clad in
coat of mail. It proclaims its discovery to another raven in the same tree, and
foretells that theirs and the age of the wolves has come: "We shall thrive ".
The parents of the child heard and understood what the raven said. Among
the runes which Heimdal, Borgar’s father, taught him, and which the son of
the latter in time learned, are the knowledge of bird-speech (Konr ungr klök
nam fugla—Rigsthula, 43, 44). The raven’s appearance in the song of Helge
Hundings
*‘Dayling = bright son of day or light.
bane is to be compared with its relative the crow in Rigsthula; the one foretells
that the new-born one’s path of life lies over battlefields, the other urges the
grown man to turn away from his peaceful amusements. Important in regard
to a correct understanding of the song and characteristic of the original
relation of the strophes quoted to the myth concerning primeval time, is the
circumstance that Halfdan’s (" Helge Hundingsbane’s ") parents are not
pleased with the prophecies of the raven; on the contrary they are filled with
alarm. Former interpreters have been surprised at this. It has seemed to them
that the prophecy of the lad’s future heroic and blood-stained career ought, in
harmony with the general spirit pervading the old Norse literature, to have
awakened the parents’ joy and pride. But the matter is explained by the mythic
connection which makes Borgar’s life constitute the transition period from a
happy and peaceful golden age to an age of warfare. With all their love of
strife and admiration for warlike deeds, the Teutons still were human, and
shared with all other people the opinion that peace and harmony is something
better and more desirable than war and bloodshed. Like their Aryan kinsmen,
they dreamed of primeval Saturnia regna, and looked forward to a
regeneration which is to restore the reign of peace. Borgar, in the myth,
established the community, was the legislator and judge. He was the hero of
peaceful deeds, who did not care to employ weapons except against wild
beasts and robbers. But the myth had also equipped him with courage and
strength, the necessary qualities for inspiring respect and interest, and had
given him abundant opportunity for exhibiting these qualities in the promotion
of culture and the maintenance of the sacredness of the law. Borgar was the
Hercules of the northern myth, who fought with the gigantic beasts and
robbers of the olden time. Saxo (Hist., 23) has preserved the traditions which
tell how he at one time fought breast to breast with a giant bear, conquering
him and bringing him fettered into his own camp.
As is well known, the family names Ylfings, Hildings, Budlungs, &c., have in
the poems of the Christian skalds lost their specific application to certain
families, and are applied to royal and princely warriors in general. This is in
perfect analogy with the Christian Icelandic poetry, according to which it is
proper to take the name of any viking, giant, or dwarf, and apply it to any
special viking, giant, or drawf, a poetic principle which scholars even of our
time claim can also be applied in the interpretation of the heathen poems. In
regard to the old Norse poets this method is, however, as impossible as it
would be in Greek poetry to call Odysseus a Peleid, or Achilleus a Laertiatid,
or Prometheus Hephæstos, or Hephæstos Dædalos. The poems concerning
Helge Hundingsbane are compiled in Christian times from old songs about
Borgar’s son Halfdan, and we find that the patronymic appellations Ylfing,
Hilding, Budlung, and Lofdung are copiously strewn on "Helge
Hundingsbane". But, so far as the above-quoted strophes are concerned, it
can be shown that the appellations Ylfing, Hilding, and Budlung are in fact old
usage and have a mythic foundation. The German poem "Wolfdieterich und
Sabin" calls Berchtung (Borgar) Potelung—that is, Budlung the poem
"Wolfdieterich" makes Berchtung the progenitor of the Hildings, and adds:
"From the same race the Ylfings have come to us "—von dem selbe geslehte
sint uns die wilfinge kumen (v. 223).
Saxo mentions the Hilding Hildeger as Halfdan’s half-brother, and the tradition
on which the saga of Asmund Kæmpebane is based has done the same
(compare No. 43). The agreement in this point between German, Danish, and
Icelandic statements points to an older source common to them all, and
furnishes an additional proof that the German Berchtung occupied in the
mythic genealogies precisely the same place as the Norse Borgar.
That Thor is one of Halfdan’s fathers, just as Heimdal is one of Borgar’s, has
already been pointed out above (see No. 25). To a divine common fatherhood
point the words: "Drott, it is said, saw in him (the lad just born) a dayling (son
of a god of light), a son divine ". Who the divine partner-father is is indicated
by the fact that a storm has broken out the night when Drott’s son is born.
There is a thunder-strife vig þrimo, the eagles screech, and holy waters fall
from the heavenly mountains (from the clouds). The god of thunder is present,
and casts his shadow over the house where the child is born.
31.
HALFDAN’S CHARACTER. THE WEAPON-MYTH.
The myths and heroic poems are not wanting in ideal heroes, who are models
of goodness of heart, justice, and the most sensitive nobleness. Such are, for
example, the Asa-god Balder, his counterpart among heroes, Helge
Hjorvardson, Beowulf, and, to a certain degree also, Sigurd Fafnesbane.
Halfdan did not belong to this group. His part in the myth is to be the personal
representative of the strife-age that came with him, of an age when the
inhabitants of the earth are visited by the great winter and by dire
mimisfortunes, when the demoralisation of the world has begun along with
disturbances in nature, and when the words already are applicable, " hart er i
heimi" (hard is the world). Halfdan is guilty of the abduction of a woman—the
old custom of taking a maid from her father by violence or cunning is
illustrated in his saga. It follows, however, that the myth at the same time
embellished him with qualities which made him a worthy Teutonic patriarch,
and attractive to the hearers of the songs concerning him. These qualities are,
besides the necessary strength and courage, the above-mentioned
knowledge of runes, wherein he even surpasses his father (Rigsth.), great
skaldic gifts (Saxo, Hist., 325), a liberality which makes him love to strew gold
about him (Helge Hund., i 9), and an extraordinary, fascinating physical
beauty—which is emphasised by Saxo (Hist., 30), and which is also evident
from the fact that the Teutonic myth makes him, as the Greek myth makes
Achilleus, on one occasion don a woman’s attire, and resemble a valkyrie in
this guise (Helge Hund., ii.). No doubt the myth also described him as the
model of a faithful foster-brother in his relations to the silent Hamal, who
externally was so like him that the one could easily be taken for the other (cp.
Helge Hund., ii. 1, 6). In all cases it is certain that the myth made the fosterbrotherhood between Halfdan and Hamal the basis of the unfailing fidelity with
which Hamal’s descendants, the Amalians, cling to the son of Halfdan’s
favourite Hadding, and support his cause even amid the most difficult
circumstances (see Nos. 42, 43). The abduction of a woman by Halfdan is
founded in the physical interpretation of the myth, and can thus be justified.
The wife he takes by force is the goddess of vegetation, Groa, and he does it
because her husband Orvandel has made a compact with the powers of frost
(see Nos. 33, 38, 108, 109).
There are indications that our ancestors believed the sword to be a later
invention than the other kinds of weapons, and that it was from the beginning
under a curse. The first and most important of all sword-smiths was, according
to the myth, Thjasse,* who accordingly is called fadir mörna, the father of the
swords (Haustlaung, Younger Edda, 306). The best sword made by him is
intended to make way for the destruction of the gods (see Nos. 33, 98, 101,
103). After various fortunes it comes into the possession of Frey, but is of no
service to Asgard. It is given to the parents of the giantess Gerd, and in
Ragnarok it causes the death of Frey.
Halfdan had two swords, which his mother’s father, for whom they were made,
had buried in the earth, and his mother long kept the place of concealment
secret from him. The first time he uses one of them he slays in a duel his
noble half-brother Hildeger, fighting on the side of the Skilfings, without
knowing who he is (cp. Saxo, Hist., 351, 355, 356, with Asmund
Kæmpebane’s saga). Cursed swords are several times mentioned in the
sagas.
Halfdan’s weapon, which he wields successfully in advantageous exploits, is,
in fact, the club (Saxo, Hist., 26, 31, 323, 353). That the Teutonic patriarch’s
favourite weapon is the club, not the sword; that the latter, later, in his hand,
sheds the blood of a kinsman; and that he himself finally is slain by the sword
forged by Thjasse, and that, too, in conflict with a son (the step-son Svipdag—
see below), I regard as worthy of notice from the standpoint of the views
cherished during some of the centuries of the Teutonic heathendom in regard
to the various age and sacredness of the different kinds of weapons. That the
sword also at length was looked upon as sacred is plain from the fact that it
was adopted and used by the Asa-gods. In Ragnarok, Vidar is to avenge his
father with a hjörr and pierce Fafuer’s heart (Völuspa).
Hjörr may, it is true, also mean a missile, but still it is probable that it, in
Vidar’s hand, means a sword. The oldest and most sacred weapons were the
spear, the hammer, the club, and the axe. The spear which, in the days of
Tacitus, and much later, was the chief weapon both for foot-soldiers and
cavalry in the Teutonic armies, is wielded by the Asa-father himself, whose
Gunguer was forged for him by Ivalde’s sons before the dreadful enmity
between the gods and them had begun. The hammer is Thor’s most sacred
weapon. Before Sindre
* Proofs of Thjasse’s original identity with Volund are given in Nos. 113-115.
forged one for him of iron (Gylfaginning), lie wielded a hammer of stone. This
is evident from the very name hamarr, a rock, a stone. The club is, as we
have seen, the weapon of the Teutonic patriarch, and is wielded side by side
with Thor’s hammer in the conflict with the powers of frost. The battle-axe
belonged to Njord. This is evident from the metaphors found in the Younger
Edda, p. 346, and in Islend. Saga, 9. The mythological kernel in the former
metaphor is Njördr klauf Herjan's hurir, i.e., "N cleaved Odin’s gates" (when
the Vans conquered Asgard); in the other the battle - axe is called Gaut’s
meginhurdar galli, i.e., "the destroyer of Odin’s great gate ". The bow is a
weapon employed by the Asa-gods Hödr and Ullr, but Balder is slain by a shot
from the bow, and the chief archer of the myth is, as we shall see, not an Asagod, but a brother of Thjasse. (Further discussion of the weapon-myth will be
found in No. 39.)
32.
HALFDAN’S CONFLICTS INTERPRETED AS MYTHS OF NATURE. THE
WAR WITH THE HEROES FROM SVARIN’S MOUND. HALFDAN’S
MARRIAGE WITH DISES OF VEGETATION.
In regard to the significance of the conflicts awaiting Halfdan, and occupying
his whole life, when interpreted as myths of nature, we must remember that
he inherits from his father the duty of stopping the progress southward of the
giant-world’s wintry agents, the kinsmen of Thjasse, and of the Skilfing
(Yngling) tribes dwelling in the north. The migration sagas have, as we have
seen, shown that Borgar and his people had to leave the original country and
move south to Denmark, Saxland, and to those regions on the other side of
the Baltic in which the Goths settled. For a time the original country is
possessed by the conquerors, who, according to Völuspa, "from Svarin’s
Mound attacked and took (sótti) the clayey plains as far as Jaravall ". But
Halfdan represses them. That the words quoted from Völuspa really refer to
the same mythic persons with whom Halfdan afterwards fights is proved by
the fact that Svarin and Svarin’s Mound are never named in our documents
except in connection with Halfdan’s saga. In Saxo it is Halfdan Gram who
slays Svarin and his numerous brothers; in the saga of "Helge Hundingsbane"
it is again Halfdan, under the name Helge, who attacks tribes dwelling around
Svarin’s Mound, and conquers them. To this may be added, that the compiler
of the first song about Helge Hundingsbane borrowed from the saga-original,
on which the song is based, names which point to the Völuspa strophe
concerning the attack on the south Scandinavian plains. In the category of
names, or the genealogy of the aggressors, occur, as has been shown
already, the Skilfing names Alf and Yngve. Thus also in the Helge-song’s list
of persons with whom the conflict is waged in the vicinity of Svarin’s Mound. In
the Völuspa’s list Moinn is mentioned among the aggressors (in the variation
in the Prose Edda); in the Helge-song, strophe 46, it is said that HelgeHalfdan fought á Móinsheimom against his brave foes, whom he afterwards
slew in the battle around Svarin’s Mound. In the Völuspa’s list is named
among the aggressors one Haugspori, "the one spying from the mound"; in
the Helge-song is mentioned Sporvitnir, who from Svarin’s Mound watches
the forces of Helge-Halfdan advancing. I have already (No. 28B) pointed out
several other names which occur in the Völuspa list, and whose connection
with the myth concerning the artists, frost-giants, and Skilfings of antiquity,
and their attack on the original country, can be shown.
The physical significance of Halfdan’s conflicts and adventures is apparent
also from the names of the women, whom the saga makes him marry. Groa
(grow), whom he robs and keeps for some time, is, as her very name
indicates, a goddess of vegetation. Signe-Alveig, whom he afterwards
marries, is the same. Her name signifies "the nourishing drink ". According to
Saxo she is the daughter of Sumblus, Latin for Sumbi, which means feast, ale,
mead, and is a synonym for Ölvaldi, Ölmódr, names which belonged to the
father of the Ivalde sons (see No. 123).
According to a well-supported statement in Forspjallsljod (see No. 123), Ivalde
was the father of two groups of children. The mother of one of these groups is
a giantess (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). With her he has three sons, viz., the
three famous artists of antiquity—Ide, Gang-Urnir, and Thjasse. The mother of
the other group is a goddess of light (see No. 123). With her he has
daughters, who are goddesses of growth, among them Idun and Signe-Alveig.
That Idun is the daughter of Ivalde is clear from Forspjallsljod (6), álfa ættar
Iþunni héto Ivallds ellri yngsta barna.
Of the names of their father Sumbl, Ölvaldi, Ölmódr, it may be said that, as
nature-symbols, "öl" (ale) and "mjöd" (mead), are in the Teutonic mythology
identical with somna and somamadhu in Rigveda and haoma in Avesta, that
is, they are the strength-developing, nourishing saps in nature. Mimir’s
subterranean well, from which the world-tree draws its nourishment, is a
mead-fountain. In the poem "Haustlaung" Idun is called Ölgefn; in the same
poem Groa is called Ölgefion. Both appellations refer to goddesses who give
the drink of growth and regeneration to nature and to the gods. Thus we here
have a family, the names and epithets of whose members characterise them
as forces, active in the service of nature and of the god of harvests. Their
names and epithets also point to the family bond which unites them. We have
the group of names, Ivaldi, Ii, Iunn, and the group, Ölvaldi (Ölmódr), Ölgefn,
and Ölgefion, both indicating members of the same family. Further on (see
Nos. 113, 114, 115) proof shall be presented that Groa’s first husband,
Orvandel the brave, is one of Thjasse’s brothers, and thus that Groa, too, was
closely connected with this family.
As we know, it is the enmity caused by Loki between the Asa-gods and the
lower serving, yet powerful, divinities of nature belonging to the Ivalde group,
which produces the terrible winter with its awful consequences for man, and
particularly for the Teutonic tribes. These hitherto beneficent agents of growth
have ceased to serve the gods, and have allied themselves with the frostgiants. The war waged by Halfdan must be regarded from this standpoint.
Midgard’s chief hero, the real Teutonic patriarch, tries to reconquer for the
Teutons the country of which winter has robbed them. To be able to do this,
be is the son of Thor, the divine foe of the frost-giants, and performs on the of
Midgard a work corresponding to that which Thor has to do in space and in
Jotunheim. And in the same manner as Heimdal before secured favourable
conditions of nature to the original country, by uniting the sun-goddess with
himself through bonds of love, his grandson Halfdan now seeks to do the
same for the Teutonic country, by robbing a hostile son of Ivalde, Orvandel, of
his wife Groa, the growth—giver, and thereupon also of Alveig, the giver of the
nourishing sap. A symbol of nature may also be found in Saxo’s statement,
that the king of Svithiod, Sigtrygg, Groa’s father, could not be conquered
unless Halfdan fastened a golden ball to his club (Hist., 31). The purpose of
Halfdan’s conflicts, the object which the norns particularly gave to his life, that
of reconquering from the powers of frost the northernmost regions of the
Teutonic territory and of permanently securing them for culture, and the
difficulty of this task is indicated, it seems to me, in the strophes above
quoted, which tell us that the norns fastened the woof of his power in the east
and west, and that he from the beginning, and undisputed, extended the
sceptre of his rule over these latitudes, while in regard to the northern
latitudes, it is said that Nere’s kinswoman, the chief of the norns (see Nos. 5764, 85), cast a single thread in this direction and prayed that it might hold for
ever:
þer austr oc vestr enda fâlo, þar átti lofdungr land a milli; brá nipt Nera a
nordrvega einni festi, ey baþ hon halda.
The norns’ prayer was heard. That the myth made Halfdan proceed
victoriously to the north, even to the very starting-point of the emigration to the
south caused by the fimbul-winter, that is to say, to Svarin’s Mound, is proved
by the statements that he slays Svarin and his brothers, and wins in the
vicinity of Svarin’s Mound the victory over his opponents, which was for a time
decisive. His penetration into the north, when regarded as a nature-myth,
means the restoration of the proper change of seasons, and the rendering of
the original country and of Svithiod inhabitable. As far as the hero, who
secured the "giver of growth" and the "giver of nourishing sap," succeeds with
the aid of his father Thor to carry his weapons into the Teutonic lands
destroyed by frost, so far spring and summer again extend the sceptre of their
reign. The songs about Helge Hundingsbane have also preserved from the
myth the idea that Halfdan and his forces penetrating northward by land and
by sea are accompanied in the air by "valkyries," "goddesses from the south,"
armed with helmets, coats of mail, and shining spears, who fight the forces of
nature that are hostile to Halfdan, and these valkyries are in their very nature
goddesses of growth, from the manes of whose horses falls the dew which
gives the power of growth back to the earth and harvests to men. (Cp. HeIg.
Hund., i 15, 30; ii., the prose to v. 5, 12, 13, with Helg. Hjörv., 28.) On this
account the Swedes, too, have celebrated Halfdan in their songs as their
patriarch and benefactor, and according to Saxo they have worshipped him as
a divinity, although it was his task to check the advance of the Skilfings to the
south.
Doubtless it is after this successful war that Halfdan performs the great
sacrifice mentioned in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 64, in order that he may retain his
royal power for three hundred years. The statement should be compared with
what the German poems of the middle ages tell about the longevity of
Berchtung-Borgar and other heroes of antiquity. They live for several
centuries. But the response Halfdan gets from the powers to whom he
sacrificed is that he shall live simply to the age of an old man, and that in his
family there shall not for three hundred years be born a woman or a fameless
man.
33.
REVIEW OF THE SVIPDAG MYTH AND ITS POINTS OF CONNECTION
WITH THE MYTH ABOUT HALFDAN (cp. No. 24).
When Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride of Orvandel the
brave, and the first son she bore in Halfdan’s house was not his, but
Orvandel’s. The son’s name is Svmpdag. He develops into a hero who, like
Halfdan himself, is the most brilliant and most beloved of those celebrated in
Teutonic songs. We have devoted a special part of this work to him (see Nos.
96-107). There we have given proofs of various mythological facts, which I
now already must incorporate with the following series of events in order that
the epic thread may not be wanting:
(a) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, Hist. Dan., 34).
(b) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, Hist. Dan., 33). She returns to
Orvandel, and brings with her her own and his son Svipdag.
(e) Halfdan marries Signe-Alveig (Hyndluljod, 15; Prose Edda, i. 516; Saxo,
Hist., 33), and with her becomes the father of the son Hadding (Saxo, Hist.
Dan., 34).
(d) Groa dies, and Orvandel marries again (Grógaldr, 3). Before her death
Groa has told her son that if he needs her help he must go to her grave and
invoke her (Grógaldr, 1).
(e) It is Svipdag’s duty to revenge on Halfdan the disgrace done to his mother
and the murder of his mother’s father Sigtrygg. But his stepmother bids
Svipdag seek Menglad, "the one loving ornaments" (Grógaldr, 3).
(f) Under the weight of these tasks Svipdag goes to his mother’s grave, bids
her awake from her sleep of death, and from her he receives protecting
incantations (Grógaldr, 1).
(g) Before Svipdag enters upon the adventurous expedition to find Menglad,
he undertakes, at the head of the giants, the allies of the Ivaldesons (see
Fjölsvinsm, 1, where Svipdag is called Þursaþjoar sjólr), a war of revenge
against Halfdan (Saxo, 33 ff., 325; cp. Nos. 102, 103). The host of giants is
defeated, and Svipdag, who has entered into a duel with his stepfather, is
overcome by the latter. Halfdan offers to spare his life and adopt him as his
son. But Svipdag refuses to accept life as a gift from him, and answers a
defiant no to the proffered father-hand. Then Halfdan binds him to a tree and
leaves him to his fate (Saxo, Hist., 325 ; cp. No. 103).
(h) Svipdag is freed from his bonds through one of the incantations sung over
him by his mother (Grógaldr, 10).
(i) Svipdag wanders about sorrowing in the land of the giants. Gevarr-Nökkve,
god of the moon (see Nos. 90, 91), tells him how he is to find an irresistible
sword, which is always attended by victory (see No. 101). The sword is forged
by Thjasse, who intended to destroy the world of the gods with it; but just at
the moment when the smith had finished his weapon he was surprised in his
sleep by Mimir, who put him in chains and took the sword. The latter is now
concealed in the lower world (see Nos. 98, 101, 103).
(j) Following Gevarr-Nökkve’s directions, Svipdag goes to the northernmost
edge of the world, and finds there a descent to the lower world; he conquers
the guard of the gates of Hades, sees the wonderful regions down there, and
succeeds in securing the sword of victory (see Nos. 53, 97, 98, 101, 103,
112).
(k) Svipdag begins a new war with Halfdan. Thor fights on his son’s side, but
the irresistible sword cleaves the hammer Mjolner; the Asa-god himself must
yield. The war ends with Halfdan’s defeat. He dies of the wounds he has
received in the battle (see Nos. 101, 103; cp. Saxo, Hist., 34).
(l) Svipdag seeks and finds Menglad, who is Freyja who was robbed by the
giants. He liberates her and sends her pure and undefiled to Asgard (see Nos.
96, 98, 100, 102).
(m) Idun is brought back to Asgard by Loki. Thjasse, who is freed from his
prison at Mimir’s, pursues, in the guise of an eagle, Loki to the walls of
Asgard, where he is slain by the gods (see the Eddas).
(n) Svipdag, armed with the sword of victory, goes to Asgard, is received
joyfully by Freyja, becomes her husband, and presents his sword of victory to
Frey. Reconciliation between the gods and the Ivalde race. Njord marries
Thjasse’s daughter Skade. Orvandel’s second son Ull, Svipdag’s half-brother
(see No. 102), is adopted in Valhal. A sister of Svipdag is married to Forsete
(Hyndluljod, 20). The gods honour the memory of Thjasse by connecting his
name with certain stars (Harbardsljod, 19). A similar honour had already been
paid to his brother Orvandel (Prose Edda).
From this series of events we find that, although the Teutonic patriarch finally
succumbs in the war which he waged against the Thjasse-race and the frostpowers led by Thjasse’s kinsmen, still the results of his work are permanent.
When the crisis had reached its culminating point; when the giant hosts of the
fimbulwinter had received as their leader the son of Orvandel, armed with the
irresistible sword; when Halfdan’s fate is settled; when Thor himself, Midgard’s
veorr (Völusp.), the mighty protector of earth arid the human race, must
retreat with his lightning hammer broken into pieces, then the power of love
suddenly prevails and saves the world. Svipdag, who, under the spell of his
deceased mother’s incantations from the grave, obeyed the command of his
stepmother to find and rescue Freyja from the power of the giants, thereby
wins her heart and earns the gratitude of the gods. He has himself learned to
love her, and is at last compelled by his longing to seek her in Asgard. The
end of the power of the fimbul-winter is marked by Freyja’s and Idun’s return
to the gods by Thjasse’s death, by the presentation of the invincible sword to
the god of harvests (Frey), by the adoption of Thjasse’s kinsmen, Svipdag, Ull,
and Skade in Asgard, and by several marriage ties celebrated in
commemoration of the reconciliation between Asgard’s gods and the kinsmen
of the great artist of antiquity.
34.
THE WORLD WAR. ITS CAUSE. THE MURDER OF GULLVEIG-HEIDR. THE
VOICE OF COUNSEL BETWEEN THE ASAS AND THE VANS.
Thus the peace of the world and the order of nature might seem secured. But
it is not long before a new war breaks out, to which the former may be
regarded as simply the prelude. The feud, which had its origin in the judgment
passed by the gods on Thjasse’s gifts, and which ended in the marriage of
Svipdag and Freyja, was waged for the purpose of securing again for
settlement and culture the ancient domain and Svithiod, where Heimdal had
founded the first community. It was confined within the limits of the North
Teutonic peninsula, and in it the united powers of Asgard supported the other
Teutonic tribes fighting under Half-dan. But the new conflict rages at the same
time in heaven and in earth, between the divine clans of the Asas and the
Vans, and between all the Teutonic tribes led into war with each other by
Halfdan’s sons. From the standpoint of Teutonic mythology it is a world war;
and Völuspa calls it the first great war in the world— folevig fyrst i heimi (str.
21, 25).
Loki was the cause of the former prelusive war. His feminine counterpart and
ally Gullveig-Heidr, who gradually is blended, so to speak, into one with him,
causes the other. This is apparent from the following Völuspa strophes:
Str. 21. þat man hon folevig fyrst i heimi er Gullveig geirum studdu oc i haull
Hárs hana brendo.
Str. 22. þrysvar brendo þrysvar borna opt osialdan þo hon en lifir.
Str. 23. Heia hana heto hvars til husa com vólo velspá vitti hon ganda sei hon,
kuni seid hon Leikin, e var hon angan illrar brudar.
Str. 24. þá gengo regin oll a raukstola ginheilog god oc um þat gettuz hvart
scyldo esir afra gialda eþa scyldo goin aull gildi ciga.
Str. 25. Eleyge Odin oc ifole um seáut þat var en folevig fyrst i heimi. Brotin
var borvegr borgar asa knatto vanir vigspa vollo sporna.
The first thing to be established in the interpretation of these strophes is the
fact that they, in the order in which they are found in Codex Regius, and in
which I have given them, all belong together and refer to the same mythic
event—that is, to the origin of the great world war. This is evident from a
comparison of strophe 21 with 25, the first and last of those quoted. Both
speak of the war, which is called fólkvig fyrst í heimi. The former strophe
informs us that it occurred as a result of, and in connection with, the murder of
Gulveig, a murder committed in Valhal itself, in the hail of the Asa-father,
beneath the roof where the gods of the Asaclan are gathered around their
father. The latter strophe tells that the first great war in the world produced a
separation between the two god-claus, the Asas and Vans, a division caused
by the fact that Odin, hurling his spear, interrupted a discussion between
them; and the strophe also explains the result of the war: the bulwark around
Asgard was broken, and the Vans got possession of the power of the Asas.
The discussion or council is explained in strophe 24. It is there expressly
emphasised that all the gods, the Asas and Vans, regin oll, godin aull,
solemnly assemble and seat themselves on their raukstola to counsel
together concerning the murder of Gullveig-Heidr. Strophe 23 has already
described who Gulveig is, and thus given at least one reason for the hatred of
the Asas towards her, and for the treatment she receives in Odin’s ball. It is
evident that she was in Asgard under the name Gulveig, since Gulveig was
killed and burnt in Valhal; but Midgard, the abode of man, has also been the
scene of her activity. There she has roamed about under the name Heidr,
practising the evil arts of black sorcery (see No. 27) and encouraging the evil
passions of mankind: æ var hon angan illrar bruar. Hence Gulveig suffers the
punishment which from time immemorial was established among the Aryans
for the practice of the black art; she was burnt. And her mysteriously terrible
and magic nature is revealed by the fact that the flames, though kindled by
divine hands, do not have the power over her that they have over other
agents of sorcery. The gods burn her thrice; they pierce the body of the witch
with their spears, and hold her over the flames of the fire. All is in vain. They
cannot prevent her return and regeneration. Thrice burned and thrice born,
she still lives.
After Völuspa has given an account of the vala who in Asgard was called
Gullveig and on earth Heir, the poem speaks, in strophe 24, of the dispute
which arose among the gods on account of her murder. The gods assembled
on and around the judgment seats are divided into two parties, of which the
Asas constitute the one. The fact that the treatment received by Gulveig can
become a question of dispute which ends in enmity between the gods is a
proof that only one of the god-clans has committed the murder; and since this
took place, not in Njord’s, or Frey’s, or Freyja’s halls, but in VaIhal, where
Odin rules and is surrounded by his sons, it follows that the Asas must have
committed the murder. Of course, Vans who were guests in Odin’s hall might
have been the perpetrators of the murder; but, on the one hand, the poem
would scarcely have indicated Odin’s ball as the place where Gulveig was to
be punished, unless it wished thereby to point out the Asas as the doers of the
deed; and, on the other hand, we cannot conceive the murder as possible, as
described in Völuspa, if the Vans were the ones who committed it, and the
Asas were Gulveig’s protectors; for then the latter, who were the lords in
Valhal, would certainly not have permitted the Vans quietly and peaceably to
subject Gulveig to the long torture there described, in which she is spitted on
spears and held over the flames to be burnt to ashes.
That the Asas committed the murder is also corroborated by Völuspa’s
account of the question in dispute. One of the views prevailing in the
consultation and discussion in regard to the matter is that the Asas ought to
afrád gjalda in reference to the murder committed. In this afrá gjalda we meet
with a phrase which is echoed in the laws of Iceland, and in the old codes of
Norway and Sweden. There can be no doubt that the phrase has found its
way into the language of the law from the popular vernacular, and that its legal
significance was simply more definite and precise than its use in the
vernacular. The common popular meaning of the phrase is to pay
compensation. The compensation may be of any kind whatsoever. It may be
rent for the use of another’s field, or it may be taxes for the enjoyment of
social rights, or it may be death and wounds for having waged war. In the
present instance, it must mean compensation to be paid by the Asas for the
slaying of Gullveig-Heidr. As such a demand could not be made by the Asas
themselves, it must have been made by the Vans and their supporters in the
discussion. Against this demand we have the proposition from the Asas that
all the gods should gildi eiga. In regard to this disputed phrase at least so
much is clear, that it must contain either an absolute or a partial counterproposition to the deniand of the Vans, and its purpose must be that the Asas
ought not—at least, not alone—to pay the compensation for the murder, but
that the crime should be regarded as one in reference to which all the gods,
the Asas and the Vans, were a like guilty, and as one for which they all
together should assume the responsibility.
The discussion does not lead to a friendly settlement. Something must have
been said at which Odin has become deeply offended, for the Asa-father,
distinguished for his wisdom and calmness, hurls his spear into the midst of
those deliberating—a token that the contest of reason against reason is at an
end, and that it is to be followed by a contest with weapons. The myth
concerning this deliberation between Asas and Vans was well known to Saxo,
and what he has to say about it (Hist., 126 if.), turning myth as usual into
history, should be compared with Völuspa’s account, for both these sources
complement each other.
The first thing that strikes us in Saxo’s narrative is that sorcery, the black art,
plays, as in Völuspa, the chief part in the chain of events. His account is taken
from a mythic circumstance, mentioned by the heathen skald Kormak (sei
Yggr til Rindar— Younger Edda, i. 236), according to which Odin, forced by
extreme need, sought the favour of Rind, and gained his point by sorcery and
witchcraft, as he could not gain it otherwise. According to Saxo, Odin touched
Rind with a piece of bark on which he had inscribed magic songs, and the
result was that she became insane (Rinda . . . quam Othinus cortice
carminibus adnotato contingens lymphanti similem reddidit). In immediate
connection herewith it is related that the gods held a council, in which it was
claimed that Odin had stained his divine honour, and ought to be deposed
from his royal dignity (dii . . . Othinum variis majestatis detrimentis divinitatis
gloriam. maculasse cernentes, collegio suo submocendum duxerunt—Hist.,
129). Among the deeds of which his opponents in this council accused him
was, as it appears from Saxo, at least one of which he ought to take the
consequences, but for which all the gods ought not to be held responsible (. . .
ne vet ipsi, alieno crimine implicati, insontes nocentis crimine punirentur—
Hist., 129; in omnium caput unius culpam recidere putares, Hist., 130). The
result of the deliberation of the gods is, in Saxo as in Völuspa, that Odin is
banished, and that another clan of gods than his holds the power for some
time. Thereupon he is, with the consent of the reigning gods, recalled to the
throne, which he henceforth occupies in a brilliant manner. But one of his first
acts after his return is to banish the black art and its agents from heaven and
from earth (Hist., 44).
Thus the chain of events in Saxo both begins and ends with sorcery. It is the
background on which both in Saxo and in Völuspa those events occur which
are connected with the dispute between the Asas and Vans. In both the
documents the gods meet in council before the breaking out of the enmity. In
both the question turns on a deed done by Odin, for which certain gods do not
wish to take the responsibility. Saxo indicates this by the words: Ne vel ipsi,
alieno crimine implicati, innocentes nocentis crimine punirentur. Völuspa
indicates it by letting the Vans present, against the proposition that godin öll
skyldu gildi eiga, the claim that Odin’s own clan, and it alone, should afrá
gjalda. And while Völuspa makes Odin suddenly interrupt the deliberations
and hurl his spear among the deliberators, Saxo gives us the explanation of
his sudden wrath. He and his clan had slain and burnt Gulveig-Heid because
she practised sorcery and other evil arts of witchcraft. And as he refuses to
make compensation for the murder and demands that all the gods take the
consequences and share the blame, the Vans have replied in council, that he
too once practised sorcery on the occasion when he visited Rind, and that, if
Gulveig was justly burnt for this crime, then he ought justly to be deposed
from his dignity stained by the same crime as the ruler of all the gods. Thus
Völuspa’s and Saxo’s accounts supplement and illustrate each other.
One dark point remains, however. Why have the Vans objected to the killing
of Gulveig-Heid? Should this clan of gods, celebrated in song as benevolent,
useful, and pure, be kindly disposed toward the evil and corrupting arts of
witchcraft? This cannot have been the meaning of the myth. As shall be
shown, the evil plans of Gulveig-Heid have particularly been directed against
those very Vana-gods who in the council demand compensation for her death.
In this regard Saxo has in perfect faithfulness toward his mythic source
represented Odin on the one hand, and his opponents among the gods on the
other, as alike hostile to the black art. Odin, who on one occasion and under
peculiar circumstances, which I shall discuss in connection with the Balder
myth, was guilty of the practice of sorcery, is nevertheless the declared enemy
of witchcraft, and Saxo makes him take pains to forbid and persecute it. The
Vans likewise look upon it with horror, and it is this horror which adds strength
to their words when they attack and depose Odin, because he has himself
practised that for which he has punished Gulveig.
The explanation of the fact is, as shall be shown below, that Frey, on account
of a passion of which he is the victim (probably through sorcery), was driven
to marry the giant maid Gerd, whose kin in that way became friends of the
Vans. Frey is obliged to demand satisfaction for a murder perpetrated on a
kinswoman of his wife. The kinship of blood demands its sacred right, and
according to Teutonic ideas of law, the Vans must act as they do regardless of
the moral character of Gulveig.
35.
GULLVEIG-HEIDR. HER IDENTITY WITH AURBODA, ANGRBODA,
HYRROKIN. THE MYTH CONCERNING THE SWORD GUARDIAN AND
FJALAR.
The duty of the Vana-deities becomes even more plain, if it can be shown that
Gulveig-Heid is Gerd’s mother; for Frey, supported by the Vana-gods, then
demnands satisfaction for the murder of his own mother-in-law. Gerd’s mother
is, in Hyndluljod, 30, called Aurboda, and is the wife of the giant Gymer:
Freyr atti Gerdi, Hon vor Gymis dottir, iotna ættar ok Aurbodu.
It can, in fact, be demonstrated that Aurboda is identical with Gulveig-Heid.
The evidence is given below in two divisions.
(a) Evidence that Gulveig-Heid is identical with Angerboda, "the ancient one in
the Ironwood"; (b) evidence that Gulveig-HeidAngerboda is identical with
Aurboda, Gerd’s mother.
(a) Gulveid-Heid identical with Angerboda. Hyndluljod, 40, 41, says: ol ulf Loki
vid Angrbodu, (enn Sleipni gat vid Svadilfara); eitt þotti skars allra feikna.zst
þat var brodur fra Byleistz komit. Loki af hiarta lindi brendu, fann hann
haalfsuidinn hugstein konu; yard Loptr kvidugr af konu illri; þadani er aa folldu
fiagd hvert komit.
From the account we see that an evil female being (ill kona) had been burnt,
but that the flames were not able to destroy the seed of life in her nature. Her
heart had not been burnt through or changed to ashes. It was only half-burnt
(hálfsvidinn hugsteinn), and in this condition it had together with the other
remains of the cremated woman been thrown away, for Loki finds and
swallows the heart.
Our ancestors looked upon the heart as the seat of the life principle, of the
soul of living beings. A number of linguistic phrases are founded on the idea
that goodness and evil, kindness and severity, courage and cowardice, joy
and sorrow, are connected with the character of the heart; sometimes we find
hjarta used entirely in the sense of soul, as in the expression hold ok hjarta,
soul and body. So long as the heart in a dead body had not gone into decay, it
was believed that the principle of life dwelling therein still was able, under
peculiar circumstances, to operate on the limbs and exercise an influence on
its environment, particularly if the dead person in life had been endowed with
a will at once evil and powerful. In such cases it was regarded as important to
pierce the heart of the dead with a pointed spear (cp. Saxo, Hist., 43, and No.
95).
The half-burnt heart, accordingly, contains the evil woman’s soul, and its
influence upon Loki, after he has swallowed it, is most remarkable. Once
before when he bore Sleipner with the giant horse Svadilfare, Loki had
revealed his androgynous nature So he does now. The swallowed heart
redeveloped the feminine in him (Loki lindi af brendu hjarta). It fertilised him
with the evil purposes which the heart contained. Loki became the possessor
of the evil woman (kvidugr. af konu illri), and became the father of the children
froni which the trolls (flagd) are come which are found in the world. First
among the children is mentioned the wolf, which is called Fenrir, and which in
Ragnarok shall cause the death of the Asa- father. To this event point Njord’s
words about Loki, in Lokasenna, str. 33: ass ragr er hefir born of borit. The
woman possessing the half-burnt heart, who is the mother or rather the father
of the wolf, is called Angerboda (ól ulf Loki vi Angrbodu). N. M. Petersen and
other mythologists have rightly seen that she is the same as "the old one,"
who in historical times and until Ragnarok dwells in the Ironwood, and "there
fosters Fenrer’s kinsmen" (Völuspa, 39), her own offspring, which at the close
of this period are to issue from the Iron-wood, and break into Midgard and dye
its citadels with blood (Völuspa, 30).
The fact that Angerboda now dwells in the Ironwood, although there on a
former occasion did not remain more of her than a half-burnt heart, proves
that the attempt to destroy her with fire was unsuccessful, and that she arose
again in bodily form after this cremation, and became the mother and
nourisher of were-wolves. Thus the myth about Angerboda is identical with the
myth about Gulveig-Heid in the two characteristic points
1. Unsuccessful burning of an evil woman.
2. Her regeneration after the cremation.
These points apply equally to Gulveig-Heid and to Angerboda, "the old one in
the Ironwood ". The myth about Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, as it was
remnembered in the first period after the introduction of Christianity, we find in
part recapitulated in Helgakvida Hundingsbane, i. 37-40, where Sinfjotle
compares his opponent Gudmund with the evil female principle in the heathen
mythology, the vala imi question, and where Gudmund in return compares
Sinfjotle with its evil masculine principle, Loki.
Sinfjotle says:
þu vart vaulra I Varinseyio, scollvis kona bartu scrauc saman; þu vart, en
sceþa, scass valkgria, autul, amátlig at Alfaudar ; mundo einherjar allir beriaz,
svevis koua, um sakar þinar. Nio atta viþ a neri Sagu ulfa alna cc var einn
faþir þeirra.
Gudmund’s answer begins:
Fadir varattu fenirisulfa...
The evil woman with whom one of the two heroes compares the other is said
to be a vala, who has practised her art partly on Varin’s Isle, partly in Asgard
at Alfather’s, and there she was the cause of a war in which all the warriors of
Asgard took part. This refers to the war between the Asas and Vans. It is the
second feud among the powers of Asgard.
The vala must therefore be Gulveig-Heid of the myth, on whose account the
war between the Asas and Vans broke out, according to Völuspa. Now it is
said of her in the lines above quoted, that she gave birth to wolves, and that
these wolves were fenrisulfar ". Of Angerboda we already know that she is the
mother of the real Fenris—wolf, and that she, in the Ironwood, produces other
wolves which are called by Fenrer’s name (Fenris kindir—Völuspa). Thus the
identity of Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda is still further established by the fact
that both the one and the other is called the mother of the Fenris family.
The passage quoted is not the only one which has preserved the memory of
Gulveig-Heid as mother of the were-wolves. Volsungasaga (c. ii. 8) relates
that a giantess, Hrímnir’s daughter, first dwelt in Asgard as the maid-servant
of Frigg, then on earth, and that she, during her sojourn on earth, became the
wife of a king, and with him the mother and grandmother of were-wolves, who
infested the woods and murdered men. The fantastic and horrible saga about
these were-wolves has, in Christian times and by Christian authors, been
connected with the poems about Helge Hundingsbane and Sigurd
Fafnersbane. The circumstance that the giantess in question first dwelt in
Asgard and thereupon in Midgard, indicates that she is identical with GulveigHeid, and this identity is confirmed by the statement that she is a daughter of
the giant Hrímnir.
The myth, as it has come down to our days, knows only one daughter of this
giant, and she is the same as Gimlveig-Heid. Hyudluljod states that Heidr is
Hrimnir's daughter, and mentions no sister of hers, but, on the other hand, a
brother Hrossþiofr (Heidr ok Hrorsþiofr Hrimnis kinidar—Hyndl., 30). In
allusion to the cremation of Gulveig-Heid fire is called in Thorsdrapa Hrimmis
drósar lyptisylgr, "the lifting drink of Hrimner’s daughter," the drink which Heid
lifted up on spears had to drink. Nowhere is any other daughter of Hrimner
mentioned. And while it is stated in the above-cited strophe that the giantess
who caused the war in Asgard and became the mother of fenriswolves was a
vala on Varin’s Isle (vaulva i Varinseyio), a comparison of Helgakv.. Hund., i.
26, with Volsungasaga, c. 2, shows that Varin’s Isle and Varin’s Fjord were
located in that very country, where Hrimner’s daughter was supposed to have
been for some time the wife of a king and to have givemi birth to were-wolves.
Thus we have found that the three characteristic points— unsuccessful
cremation of an evil giantess, her regeneration after the cremation, the same
woman as mother of the Fenrer race— are common to Gulveig—Heid and
Angerboda. Their identity is apparent from various other circumstances, but
may be regarded as completely demonstrated by the proofs given. Gulveig’s
activity in anitiquity as the founder of the diabolical magic art, as one who
awakens man’s evil passions and produces strife in Asgard itself, has its
complement in Angemboda’s activity as the mother and nourisher of that class
of beings in whose members witchcraft, thirst for blood, and hatred of the
gods are personified. Tine activity of the evil principle has, in the great epic of
the myth, formed a continuity spanning all ages, amid this continuous thread
of evil is twisted from the treacherous deeds of Gulveig and Loki, the feminine
and the masculine representatives of the evil principhe. Both appear at the
dawn of mankind : Loki has already at the beginning of time secured access
to Alfather (Lokasenna, 9), and Gulveig deceives the sons of men already in
the time of Heimdal’s son Borgar. Loki entices Idun from the secure grounds
of Asgard, and treacherously delivers her to the powers of frost ; Gulveig, as
we shall see, plays Freyja into the hands of the giants. Loki plans enmity
between the gods and the forces of nature, which hitherto had been friendly,
and which have their personal representatives in Ivalde’s sons ; Gulveig
causes the war between the Asas and Vans. The interference of both is
interrupted at the close of the mythic age, when Loki is chained, and Gulveig,
in the guise of Angerboda, is aii exile in the Ironwood. Before this they have
for a time been blended, so to speak, into a single being, in which the
feminine assuming masculineness, and the masculine effemninated, bear to
tine world an offspring of foes to tine gods and to creation. Both finally act
their paints in the destruction of the world. Before that crisis comes
Aingerboda has fostered that host of "sons of world-ruin" which Loki is to lead
to battle, and a magic sword which sine has kept in tIne Ironwood is given to
Surt, in whose hand it is to be the death of Frey, the lord of harvests (see Nos.
89, 98, 101, 103).
That the woman whno in antiquity, in various guises, visited Asgard and
Midgard was believed to have had her home in tine Ironwood* of the East
during the historical age down to Ragnarok
* In Völuspa the wood is called both Jarnvidr Gaglvidr (Cod. Reg.), and
Gulgvidr (Cod. Hank.). It may be that we here have a fossil word preserved in
Völuspa meaning metal. Perhaps the wood was a copper or bronze forest
before it became an iron wood. Compare ghalgha, ghalghi (Fick., ii. .578)
metal, which, again, is to be compared with    ko = copper, bronze.
is explained by what Saxo says—viz., that Odin, after his return and
reconciliation with the Vans, banished the agents of the black art both from
heaven and from earth. Here, too, the connection between Gulveig-Heid and
Angerboda is manifest. The war between the Asas and Vans was caused by
the burning of Gulveig by the former. After the reconciliation with the Asas this
punishment cannot again be inflicted on the regenerated witch. The Asas
must allow her to live to tine end of time; but both the clans of gods agree that
she must not show her face again in Asgard or Midgard. The myth concerning
the banishment of the fatuous vala to the Ironwood, and of the Loki progeny
which she there fosters, has been turned into history by Jordanes in his De
Goth. Origine, ch. 24, where it is stated that a Gothic king compelled the
suspected valas (haliorunas) found among his people to take their refuge to
the deserts in the East beyond the Moeotian Marsh, where they mixed with
tine wood-sprites, and this became the progenitors of the Huns. In this
manner the Christian Goths got from their mythic traditions an explanation of
the source of the eastern hosts of horsemen, whose ugly faces and barbarous
manners seemed to them to prove an other than purely human origin. The
vala Gulveig-Heid and her like become in Jordanes these haliorunæ; Lake
and the giants of the Ironwood become these wood-sprites the Asa-god who
caused the banishment becomes a king, son of Gandaricus Magnus (the
great ruler of the Gandians, Odin), and Loki’s and Angerboda’s wonderful
progeny beconne the Huns.
Stress should be laid on the fact that Jordanes and Saxo have in tine same
manner preserved the tradition that Odin and the Asas, after making peace
and becoming reconciled with the Vans, do not apply the death-penalty and
burning to Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda and her kith and kin, but, instead,
sentence them to banishment from the domains of gods and en That the
tradition preserved in Saxo amid Jordanes corresponded with the myth is
proved by the fact that we there rediscover Gulveig-Heid-Amigerboda with her
offspring in tine Ironwood, which was thought to be situated in the utmost
East, far away from the human world, and that she remains there undisturbed
until the destruction of the world. The reconciliation between tine Asas and
Vans has, as this conclusively shows, been based on an admission on the
part of the Asas that the Vans had a right to find fault with amid demand
satisfaction for the murder of Gulveig-Heid. Thus the dispute which caused
the war between Asas and Vans was at last decided to the advantage of the
latter, while they on their part, after being satisfied, reinstate Odin in his dignity
as universal ruler and father of the gods.
(b) Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda identical with Aurboda.
In the Ironwood dwells Angerboda, together with a giant, who is gygjar hirdir,
the guardian and watcher of the giantess. He has charge of her remarkable
herds, and also guards a sword brought to the Ironwood. This vocation has
given him the epithet Egther (Egþerr—Völuspa), which means swordguardian. Saxo speaks of him as Egtherus, an ally of Finns, skilled in magic,
and a chief of Bjarmians, equally skilful in magic (cp. Hist., 248, 249, with Nos.
52, 53). Bjarmians and Finns are in Saxo made the heirs of the wicked
inhabitants of Jotunheim. Vilkinasaga knows him by the name Etgeir, who
watches over precious implements in Isung’s wood. Etgeir is a corruption of
Egther, and Isung’s wood is a reminiscence of Isarnvidr, Isarnho, the
Ironwood. In the Vilkinasaga he is the brother of Vidolf. According to
Hyndluljod, all the valas of the myth come from Vidolf. As Gulveig-HeidAngerboda is the chief of all valas, and the teacher of the arts practised by the
valas, this statement in Hyndluljod makes us think of her particularly; and as
Hrimnir’s daughter has been born and burnt several timnes, she may also
have had several fathers. Among them, then, is Vidolf, whose character, as
described by Saxo, fits well for such a daughter. He is a master in sorcery,
and also skilful in the art of medicine. But the medical art he practises in such
a tnanner that those who seek his help receive from him such remedies as do
harm instead of good. Only by threats can he be made to do good with his art
(Hist., 323, 324). The statemnent in Vilkinasaga compared with that in
Hyndluljod seems therefore to point to a near kinship between Angerboda and
her sword-guard. She appears to be the daughter of his brother.
In Völuspa’s description of the approach of Ragnarok, Egther, Angerboda’s
shepherd, is represented as sitting on a mound—like Aurboda’s shepherd in
Skirnisför—and playing a harp, happy over that which is to happen. That the
giant who is hostile to the gods, and who is the guardian of the strange herds,
does not play an idyl on the strings of his harp does not need to be stated. He
is visited by a being in the guise of the red cock. The cock, says Völuspa, is
Fjalarr (str. 44). What the heathen records tell us about Fjalar is the following:
(a) He is the same giant as the Younger Edda (i. 144 ff.) calls Utgard-Loki.
The latter is a fire - giant, Loge’s, the fire’s ruler (Younger Edda, 152), the
cause of earthquakes (Younger Edda, 144), and skilled in producing optical
delusions. Fjalar’s identity with Utgard-Loki is proved by Harbardsljod, str. 26,
where Thor, on his way to Fjalar, meets with the same adventures as,
according to the Younger Edda, lie met with on his way to Utgard-Loke.
(b) He is the same giant as the one called Suttung. The giant from whom Odin
robs the skaldic mead, and whose devoted daughter Gunlad he causes bitter
sorrow, is called in Havamál sometimes Fjalar and sometimes Suttung (cp.
strs. 13, 14, 104, 105).
(c) Fjalar is the son of the chief of the fire-giants, Surtr, and dwells in the
subterranean dales of the latter. A full account of this imi No. 89. Here it will
suffice to point out that when Odin flies out of Fjalar’s dwelling with the skaldic
mead, it is "from Surt’s deep dales" that he "flying bears" the precious drink
(hinn er Surts or sökkdölum farmagnur fljúgandi bar, a strophe by Eyvind,
quoted in the Younger Edda, p. 242), and that this drink while it remained with
Fjalar was "the drink of Surt’s race" Sylgr Surts ættar, Fornms., iii. 3).
(d) Fjalar, with Froste, takes part in the attack of Thjasse’s kinsmen and the
Skilfings from Svarin’s Mound against "the land of the clayey plains, to
Jaravall" (Völuspa, 14, 15 ; see Nos. 28, 32). Thins he is allied with the
powers of frost, who are foes of the gods, and who seek to conquer the
Teutonic domain. The approach of the fimbul-winter was also attended by an
earthquake (see Nos. 28, 81).
When, therefore, Völuspa makes Fjalar on his visit to the sword-guardian in
the Ironwood appear in the guise of the red cock, then this is in harmony with
Fjalar’s nature as a fire—giant and as a son of Surt.
* In Bragerædur's pseudo-mythic account of the Skaldic mead (Younger
Edda, 216 ff.) the name Fjalarr also appears. In regard to tire value of this
account, see tire investigation in No. 89.
Sat þar a haugi oc sló haurpo gygjar hirþir gladr Egþer. Gol um hanom i
galgviþi fagrraudr hani sa er Fjalar heitir (Völusp., 41).
The red cock has from time immemorial been the symbol of fire as a
destructive power. That what Odin does against Fjalar—when he robs him of
the mead, which in the myth is the most precious of all drinks, and when he
deceived his daughter—is calculated to awaken Fjalar’s thirst for revenge and
to bring about a satisfaction sooner or later, lies in the very spirit of Teutonic
poetry and ethics, especially since Odin’s act, though done from a good
motive, was morally reprehensible. What Fjalar’s errand to Angerboda’s
sword-guard was appears from the fact that when the last war between the
gods and their enemies is fought a short time afterwards, Fjalar’s father, the
chief of the fire-giants, Surt, is armed with the best of the mythical weapons,
the sword which had belonged to a valtivi, one of the gods of Asgard (Völusp.,
50), and which casts the splendour of the sun upon the world. The famous
sword of the myth, t.hat which Thjasse finished with a purpose hostile to the
gods (see No. 87 and elsewhere), the sword concealed by Mimir (see Nos.
87, 98, 101), the sword found by Svipdag (see Nos. 89, 101, 103), the sword
secured through him by Frey, the one given by Frey to Gymer and Aurboda in
exchange for Gerd,—this sword is found again in the Ragnarok conflict,
wielded by Surt, and causes Frey’s death (Völuspa), it having been secured
by Surt’s son, Fjalar, in the Ironwood from Angerboda’s sword-guard.
Gulli keypta leztu Gym is dotturoc seldir þitt sva sverþ; Enn er Muspells synir
ria myreviþ yfir veizta þu þu, vesall, hve þa vegr (Lokas., 42).
This passage not only tells us that Frey gave his sword in exchange for Gerd
to the parents of the giantess, Gymer and Aurboda, but also gives us to
understand that this bargain shall cause his death in Ragnarok. This bridepurchase is fully described in Skirnismal, in which poem we learn that the
gods most unwillingly part with the safety which the incomparable sword
secured to Asgard. They yield in order to save the life of the harvest-god, who
was wasting away with longing and anxiety, but not until the giants had
refused to accept other Asgard treasures, among them the precious ring
Draupner, which the Asa-father once laid on the pulseless breast of his
favourite son Balder. At the approach of Ragnarok, Surt’s son, Fjahar, goes to
the Ironwood to fetch for his father the sword by which Frey, its former
possessor, is to fall. The sword is then guarded by Angerboda’s shepherd,
and consequently belongs to her. In other words, the sword which Aurboda
enticed Frey to give her is now found in the possession of Angerboda. This
circumstance of itself is a very strong reason for their identity. If there were no
other evidence of their identity than this, a sound application of methodology
would still bid us accept this identity rather than explain the matter by
inventing a new, nowhere-supported myth, and thus making the sword pass
from Aurboda to another giantess.
When we now add the important fact in the disposition of this matter, that
Aurboda’s son-in-law, Frey, demands, in behalf of a near kinsman,
satisfaction from the Asas when they had killed and burnt Gulveig-HeidAngerboda, then it seems to me that there can be no doubt in regard to the
identity of Aurboda and Angerboda, the less so, since all that our mythic
fragments have to tell us about Gymer’s wife confirms tlne theory that she is
the same person. Aurboda has, like Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, practised the
arts of sorcery: she is one of the valas of the evil giant world. This is told to us
in a strophe by the skald Refr, who calls her "Gymer’s primeval cold vala"
(ursvöl Gymnis völva—Younger Edda, i. 326, 496). She might be called
"primeval cold" (ursvöl) from the fact that the fire was not able to pierce her
heart and change it to ashes, in spite of a threefold burning. Under all
circumstances, the passage quoted informs us that she is a vala.
But have our mythic fragments preserved any allusion to show that Aurboda,
like Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda. ever dwelt among the gods in Asgard ? Asgard
is a place where giants are refused admittance. Exceptions fromn this
prohibition must have been very few, and the myths must have given good
reasons for them. We k-now in regard to Loki’s appearance in Asgard, that it
is based on a promise given to him by the Asa-father in time’s morning ; and
the promise was sealed with blood (Lokasenna, 9). If, now, this Aurboda, who,
like Angerboda, is a vala of giant race, and, like Angerboda, is the owner of
Frey’s sword, and, like Angerboda, is a kinswoman of the Vans—if now this
same Aurboda, in further likeness with Angerboda, was one of the certainly
very few of the giant class who was permitted to enter within the gates of
Asgard, then it must be admitted that this fact absolutely confirms their
identity.
Anrboda did actually dwell in Asgard. Of this we are assured by the poem "
Fjölsvinsmal ". There it is related that when Svipdag came to the gates of
Asgard to seek and find Menglad-Freyja, who was destined to be his wife (see
Nos. 96, 97), he sees Menglad sitting on a hill surrounded by goddesses,
whose very names, Eir, Bjöört, Blid, and Frid, tell us that they are goddesses
of lower or higher rank. Eir is an asynja of the healing art (Younger Edda, i.
114). Björt, Blid, and Frid are the dises of splendour, benevolence, and
beauty. They are mighty beings, and can give aid in distress to all who
worship them (Fjolsv., 40). But in the midst of this circle of dises, who
surround Menglad, Svipdag also sees Aurboda (Fjolsv., 38).
Above them Svipdag sees Mimir’s tree—the world-tree (see No. 97),
spreading its all-embracing branches, on which grow fruits which soothe
kelisjukar konur and lighten the entrance upon terrestrial life for the children of
men (Fjolsv., 22). Menglad-Freyja is, as we know, the goddess of love and
fertility, and it is Frigg s and her vocation to dispose of these fruits for the
purposes for which they are intended.
The Volsungasaga has preserved a record concerning these fruits, and
concerning the giant-daughter who was admitted to Asgard as a maid-servant
of the goddesses. A king and queen had long been married without getting
any children. They beseeched the gods for an heir. Frigg heard their prayers
and sent them in the guise of a crow the daughter of the giant Hrimner, a
giantess who had been adopted in Asgard as Odin’s wish—may ". Hrimner’s
daughter took an apple with her, and when the queen had eaten it, it was not
long before she perceived that her wish would come to pass (Volsungasaga,
pp. 1, 2). Hrimner’s daughter is, as we know, Gulveig-Heid.
Thus the question whether Aurboda ever dwelt in Asgard is answered in the
affirmative. We have discovered her, though she is the daughter of a giant, in
the circle around Menglad-Freyja, where she has occupied a subordinate
position as maid-servant. At the same time we have found that Gulveig-Heid
has for some time had an occupation in Asgard of precisely the same kind as
that which belongs to a dis serving under the goddess of fertility. Thus the
similarity between Aurboda and Gulveig-Heid is not confined to the fact that
they, although giantesses, dwelt in Asgard, but they were employed there in
the same manner.
The demonstration that Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is identical with Aurboda
may now be regarded as completed. Of the one as of the other it is related
that she was a vala of giant-race, that she nevertheless dwelt for some time in
Asgard, aiid was there employed by Frigg or Freyja in the service of fertility,
and that she possessed the sword, which had formerly belonged to Frey, and
by which Frey is to fall. Aurboda is Frey’s mother-in-law, consequently closely
related to him ; and it must have been in behalf of a near relation that Frey
and Njord demnanded satisfaction from the Asas when the latter slew
Gulveig-Heid. Under such circumstances it is utterly impossible from a
methodological standpoint to regard them otherwise than identical. We must
consider that nearly all mythic characters are polyonomous, and that the
Teutonic mythology particularly, on account of its poetics, is burdened with a
highly-developed polyonomy.
But of Gulveig-Heid’s and Aurboda’s identity there are also other proofs
which, for the sake of completeness, we will riot omit.
So far as the very names Gulveig and Aurboda are concerned the one can
serve as a paraphrase of the other. The first part of the name Aurboda, the
aur of many significations may be referred to eyrir, pl. aurar, which nieans
precious metal, and is thought to be borrowed from the Latin aurum (gold).
Thus Gull and Aur correspond. In tIme same manner veig in Gulveig can
correspond to boda Aurboda. Veig means a fermenting liquid; boda has two
significations. It can be the feminine form of bodi, meaning fer—menting
water, froth, foam. No other names compounded with boa occur in Norse
literature than Aurboa and Angrboda.
Ynglingasaga * (ch. 4) relates a tradition that Freyja kendi fyrst med Asum
seid, that Freyja was the first to practise sorcery in Asgard. There is no doubt
that the statement is correct. For we have seen that Gulveig-Heid, the
sorceress and spreader of sorcery in antiquity, succeeded in getting
admission to Asgard, and that Aurboda is mentioned as particularly belonging
to the circle of serving dises who attended Freyja. As this giantess was so
zealous in spreading her evil arts among the inhabitants of Midgard, it would
be strange if the myth did not make her, after she had gained Freyja’s
confidence, try to betray her into practising the same arts. Doubtless Voluspa
and Saxo have reference to Guiveig~Heid-Aurboda when they say that
Freyja, through some treacherous person among her attendants, was
delivered into the hands of the giants.
In his historical account relating how Freyja (Syritha) was robbed from Asgard
and came to the giants but was afterwards saved from their power, Saxo
(Hist., 331; cp. No. 100) tells that a woman, who was secretly allied with a
giant, had succeeded in ingratiating herself in her favour, and for sonie time
performed the duties of a maid-servant at her borne; but this she did in order
to entice her in a cunning manner away froni her safe home to a place where
the giant lay in ambush and carried her away to the recesses of his mountain
country. (Gigas fæminam subornat, quæ cum obtenta virginis familiaritate,
ejus aliquamdiu pedissequam egisset, hanc tandem a paternis procul
penatibus, quæsita callidius digres— sione, reduxit; quam ipse max irruens in
arctiora montauæ erepidi— nis septa devexit.) Thus Saxo informs us that it
was a woman among Freyja's attendants who betrayed her, and that this
woman was allied with the giant world, which is hostile to the gods, while she
held a trusted servant’s place with the goddess. Aurboda is the only woman
connected with the giants in regard to whom our mythic records inform us that
she occupied such a position with Freyja; and as Aurboda’s character and
part, played in the
* Ynglingasaga is the opening chapters of Snorre Sturlason’s Heimskringla
(see No. 7). R. B. Anderson now has in press an English translation of the
whole Heimskringla, to be issued in the course of the winter (1889), in four
volumes, by John C. Nimmo, London.
epic of the myth, correspond with such an act of treason, there is no reason
for assuming the mere possibility, that the betrayer of Freyja may have been
some one else, who is neither mentioned nor known.
With this it is important to compare Voluspa, 26, 27, which not only mentions
the fact that Freyja came into the power of the giants through treachery, but
also informs us how the treason was punished:
þa gengo regin oll A ráukstola, ginheilog god oc um þat gettuz hverir hefi lopt
alt levi blandit eþa ett iotuns Oþs mey gefna þorr ein þar va þrungin modi,
hann sialdan sitr er hann slict um fregn.
These Voluspa lines stand in Codex Regius in immediate connection with the
above-quoted strophes which speak of GulveigHeid and of the war caused by
her between the Asas and Vans. They inform us that the gods assembled to
hold a solemn counsel to find out "who had filled all the air with evil," or "who
had delivered Freyja to the race of giants" ; and that the person found guilty
was at once slain by Thor, who grew most angry.
Now if this person is Gulveig-Aurboda, then it follows that she received her
death-blow from Thor’s hammer, before the Asas made in common the
unsuccessful attempt to change her body into ashes. We also find elsewhere
in our mythic records that an exceedingly dangerous woman met with
precisely this fate. There she is called Hyrrokin. A strophe by Thorbjorn
Disarskald, preserved in the Younger Edda, states that Hyrrokin was one of
the giantesses slain by Thor. But the very appellation Hyrrokin, which must be
an epithet of a giantess known by seine other more common name, indicates
that some effort worthy of being remembered in the myth had been made to
burn her, but that the effort resulted in her being smoked (rökt) rather than that
she was burnt; for the epithet Hyrrokin means the "fire-smoked ". For those
familiar with the contents of the myth, this epithet was regarded as plain
enough to indicate who was meant. If it is not, therefore, to be looked upon as
an unhappy and misleading epithet, it must refer to the thrice in vain burnt
Gulveig. All that we learn about Hyrrokin confirms her identity with Aurboda. In
the symnbolic-allegorical work of art, which toward the close of the tenth
century decorated a hall at Hjardarholt, and of which I shall give a fuller
account elsewhere, the storm which from the land side carried Balder’s ship
out on the sea is represented by the giantess Hyrrokin. In the same capacity
of storm-giantess carrying sailors out upon the ocean appears Gymer’s wife,
Aurboda, in a poem by Refr:
Færir björn, þar er bára brestr, undinna festa, Opt i Ægis kjopta úrsvöl Gymis
völva.
"Gymer’s ancient-cold vala often carries the ship amid breaking billows into
the jaws of Ægir." Gymer, Aurboda’s husband, represents in the physical
interpretation of the myth the east wind coming from the Ironwood. From the
other side of Eystrasalt (the Baltic) Gymer sings his song (Ynglingasaga, 36) ;
and the same gale belongs to Aurboda, for Ægir, into whose jaws she drives
the ships, is the great open western ocean. That Aurboda represents the gale
from the east finds its natural explanation in her identity with Angerboda "the
old," who dwells in the Ironwood in the uttermost east. "Austr byr hin alldna i
iarnviþi (Völusp.).
The result of the investigation is that Gullveig-Heidr, Aurboda, and Angrboa
are different names for the different hypostases of the thrice-born and thriceburnt one, and that Hyrrokin, "the firesmoked," is an epithet common to all
these hypostases.
36.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). THE BREACH OF PEACE BETWEEN ASAS
AND VANS. FRIGG, SKADE, AND ULL IN THE CONFLICT. THE SIEGE OF
ASGARD. THE VAFERFLAMES. THE DEFENCE AND SURROUNDINGS OF
ASGARD. THE VICTORY OF THE VANS.
When the Asas had refused to give satisfaction for the murder of Gulveig, and
when Odin, by hurling his spear, had indicated that the treaty of peace
between him and the Vans was broken, the latter leave the assembly hall and
Asgard. This is evident from the fact that they afterwards return to Asgard and
attack the citadel of the Asa clan. The gods are now divided into two hostile
camps: on the one side Odin and his allies, among whom are Heimdal (see
Nos. 38, 39, 40) and Skade; on the other Njord, Frigg (Saxo, Hist., 42-44),
Frey, Ull (Saxo, Hist., 130, 131), and Freyja and her husband Svipdag,
besides all that clan of divinities who were not adopted in Asgard, but belong
to the race of Vans and dwell in Vanaheim.
So far as Skade is concerned the breach between the gods seems to have
furnished her an opportunity of getting a divorce from Njord, with whom she
did not live on good terms. According to statements found in the myths,
Thjasse’s daughter and he were altogether too different in disposition to dwell
in peace together. Saxo (Hist., 53 ff.) and the Younger Edda (p. 94) have both
preserved the record of a song which describes their different tastes as to
home and surroundings. Skade loved Thrymheim, the rocky home of her
father Thjasse, on whose snow-clad plains she was fond of running on skees
and of felling wild beasts with her arrows; but when Njord had remained nine
days and nine nights among the mountains he was weary of the rocks and of
the howling of wolves, and longed for the song of swans on the sea-strand.
But when Skade accompanied hini thither she could not long endure to be
awakened every morning by the shrieking of sea-fowls. In Grimnismal, 11, it is
said that Skade "now" occupies her father’s "ancient home" in Thrymheim, but
Njord is not there iiamed. In a strophe by Thord Sjarekson (Younger Edda,
262) we read that Skade never became devoted to the Vana-god (nama snotr
una godbrúdr Vani), and Eyvind Skaldaspiller relates in Haleygjatal that there
was a time when Odin dwelt i Manhei mum together with Skade, and begat
with her many sons. With Manheimar is meant that part of the world which is
inhabited by man; that is to say, Midgard and the lower world, where are also
found a race of menskim menn (see Nos. 52, 53, 59, 63), and the
topographical counterpart of the word is Asgardr. Thus it must have been after
his banishment from Asgard, while he was separated from Frigg and found
refuge somewhere in Manheimar, that Odin had Skade for his wife. Her
epithet in Grimnismal, skír brúdrgoa, also seems to indicate that she had
conjugal relations with more than one of the gods.
While Odin was absent and deposed as ruler of the world, Ull has occupied so
important a position among the ruling Vans that, according to the tradition
preserved in Saxo, they bestowed upon him the task and honour which until
that time had belonged to Odin (Dii . . . Ollerum quendam non soluma in regni,
sed etiam in divinitatis infulas subrogavere—Hist., 130). This is explained by
the fact that Njord and Frey, though valtivar and brave warriors when they are
invoked, are in their very nature gods of peace and promoters of wealth and
agriculture, while Ull is by nature a warrior. He is a skilful archer, excellent in a
duel, and hefir hermanns atgervi (Younger Edda, i. 102), Also, after the
reconciliation between the Asas and Vans, Thor’s stepson Ull has held a high
position in Asgard, as is apparently corroborated by Odin’s words in
Grimnismal, 41 (Ullar hylli ok allra góa).
From the mythic accounts in regard to the situation and environment of
Asgard we may conclude that the siege by the Vans was no easy task. The
home of the Asas is surrounded by the atmospheric ocean, whose strong
currents make it difficult for the mythic horses to swim to it (see Nos. 65, 93).
The bridge Bifrost is not therefore superfluous, but it is that connection
between the lower worlds and Asgard which the gods daily use, and which
must be captured by the enemy before the great cordon which encloses the
shining halls of the gods can be attacked. The wall is built of "the limbs of
Lerbrimer" (Fjolsv., 1), and constructed by its architect in such a manner that it
is a safe protection against mountain-giants and frost-giants (Younger Edda,
134). In the wall is a gate wondrously made by the artist-brothers who are
sons of "Solblinde" (Valgrind—Grimnism., 22; þrymgjöll—Fjölsvimsm., 10).
Few there are who understand the lock of that gate, and if anybody brings it
out of its proper place in the wall-opening where it blocks the way for those
who have no right to enter, then the gate itself beconies a chain for him who
has attempted such a thing (Porn yr su grind, enn þat fáir vito, hor hve er i lás
um lokin— Grimn., 22. Fjöturr fastr,. verdr vid faranda hvern er hana hefr frá
hlidi—Fjölsv., 10).
Outside of the very high Asgard cordon and around it there flows a rapid river
(see below), the moat of the citadel. Over the eddies of the stream floats a
dark, shining, ignitible mist. If it is kindled it explodes in flames, whose
bickering tongues strike their victims with unerring certainty. It is the vaferloge,
"the bickering flame," "the quick fire," celebrated in ancient songs—vafrlogi,
cafreyi, skjótbrinni. It was this fire which the gods kindled around Asgard when
they saw Thjasse approaching in eagle guise. In it their irreconcilable foe
burnt his pinions, and fell to the around. "Haustlaung," Thjodolf’s poem, says
that when Thjasse approached the citadel of the gods "the gods raised the
quick fire and sharpened their javelins "—Hófu skjót; en skófu sköpt; ginnregin
brinna. The "quick fire," skjót-brinni, is the vaferloge.*
The material of which the ignitible mist consists is called "black terror-gleam ".
It is or odauccom; that is to say, ofdauecoat ognar ljoma (Fafn., 40) (cp.
myrckvan vafrloga—Skirn., 8, 9; Fjolsv., 31). It is said to be "wise," which
implies that it consciously aims at him for whose destruction it is kindled.
How a water could be conceived that evaporates a dark ignitible mist we find
explained in Thorsdrapa. The thunder-storm is the storm of the vaferfire," and
Thor is the "ruler of the chariot of the vaferfire-storm " (vafr-eyda hreggs
húfstjóri). Thus the thundercloud comitains the water that evaporates a dark
material for lightning. The dark metallic colour which is peculiar to the thundercloud was regarded as coming from that very material which is the black
terror-gleam" of which lightning is formed. When Thor splits the cloud he
separates the two component parts, the water and the vafermist; the former
falls down as rain, the latter is ignited and rushes away in quick, bickering,
zigzag flames—the vaferfires. That these are "wise’ was a common Aryan
belief. They do not proceed blindly, but know their mark and never miss it.
The river that foams around Asgard thus has its source in the thunder-clouds;
not as we find them after they have been split by Thor, but such as they are
originally, swollen with a celestial water that evaporates vafermist. All
waters—subterranean, terrestrial, and celestial—have their source in that
great subterranean fountain Hvergelmer. Thence they come and thither they
return (Grimn., 26; see Nos. 59, 63, 33).
* The author of Bragarædur in the Younger Edda has understood this
passage to mean that the Asas, when they saw Thjasse approaching, carried
out a lot of shavings, which were kindled (!).
Hvergelmer’s waters are sucked up by the northern root of the world-tree ;
they rise through its trunk spread into its branches and leaves, and evaporate
from its crown into a water-tank situated on the top of Asgard, Eikþyrnir, in
Grimnismal, str. 26, symbolised as a "stag "* who stands on the roof of Odin’s
hall and out of whose horns the waters stream down into Hvergelmer.
Eikthyrnir is the great celestial water-tank which gathers and lets out the
thunder-cloud. In this tank the Asgard river has its source, and hence it
consists not only of foaming water but also of ignitible vafermists. In its
capacity of discharger of the thunder-cloud, the tank is called Eikthyrrnir, the
oak-stinger. Oaks struck by lightning is no unusual occurrence. The oak is,
according to popular belief based on observation, that tree which the lightning
most frequently strikes.
But Asgard is not the only citadel which is surrounded by vafermists. These
are also found enveloping the home where dwelt the storm-giant Gymer and
the storm-giantess Aurboda, the sorceress who knows all of Asgard’s secrets,
at the time when Frey sent Skirner to ask for the hand of their daughter Gerd.
Epics which in their present form date from Christian times make vaferflames
burn around castles, where goddesses, pricked by sleep-thorns, are
slumbering. This is a belief of a later age.
To get over or through the vaferflame is, according to the myth, impossible for
anyone who has not got a certain mythical horse to ride—probably Sleipner,
the eight-footed steed of the Asa-father, which is the best of all horses
(Grimn., 44). The quality of this steed, which enables it to bear its rider
unscathed through the vaferflame, makes it indespensable when this obstacle
is to be overcome. When Skirner is to go on Frey’s journey of courtship to
Gerd, he asks for that purpose mar þann er mic um myrckvan beri visan
vafrloga, and is allowed to ride it on and for the journey (Skim., 5, 9).
* In the same poem the elf-artist, Dáinn, and the " dwarf "-artist, Dvalinn, are
symbolised as stags, the wanderer Ratr (see below) as a squirrel, the wolfgiant Grofvitner’s sons as serpents, the bridge Bifrost as a fish (see No. 93),
&c. Fortunately for the comprehension of our mythic records such svmbolising
is confined to a few strophes in the poem named, and these strophes appear
to have belonged originally to an independent song which made a speciality of
that sort of symbolism, and to have been incorporated in Grimnismal in later
times.
This horse must accordingly have been in the possession of the Vans when
they conquered Asgard, an assumption confirmed by what is to be stated
below. (In the great epic Sigurd’s horse Grane is made to inherit the qualities
of this divine horse.)
On the outer side of the Asgard river, and directly opposite the Asgard gate,
lie projecting ramparts (forgardir) to protect the drawbridge, which from the
opening in the wall can be dropped down across the river (see below). When
Svipdag proceeded toward Menglad’s abode in Asgard, he first came to this
forgarir (Fjöls., i. 3). There he is hailed by the watch of the citadel, and thence
he gets a glimpse over the gate of all the glorious things which are hid behind
the high walls of the citadel. Outside the river Asgard has fields with groves
and woods (Younger Edda, 136, 210).
Of the events of the wars waged around Asgard, the mythic fragments, which
the Icelandic records have preserved, give us but very little information,
though they must have been favourite themes for the heathen skaldic art,
which here had an opportunity of describing in a characteristic manner all the
gods involved, and of picturing not only their various characters, but also their
various weapons, equipments, and horses. In regard to the weapons of attack
we must remember that Thor at the outbreak of the conflict is deprived of the
assistance of his splendid hammer : it has been broken by Svipdag’s sword of
victory (see Nos. 101, 103)—a point which it was necessary for the myth to
assume, otherwise the Vans could hardly be represented as conquerors. Nor
do the Vans have the above-mentioned sword at their disposal: it is already in
the power of Gymer and Aurboda. The irresistible weapons which in a purely
mechanical manner would have decided the issue of the war, were disposed
of in advance in order that the persons themnselves, with their varied warlike
qualities, might get to the foreground and decide the fate of the conflict by
heroism or prudence, by prescient wisdom or by blind daring. In this war the
Vans have particularly distimiguished themselves by wise and well calculated
undertakings. This we learn from Völuspa, where it makes the final victors
conquer Asgard through vígspá, that is, foreknowledge applied to warlike
ends (str.. 26). The Asas, as we might expect from Odin’s brave sons, have
especially distinguished themselves by their strength and courage. A record
26; see Nos. 59, 63, 33). Hvergelmer’s waters are sucked up by the northern
root of the world-tree; they rise through its trunk, spread into its branches and
leaves, and evaporate from its crown into a water-tank situated on the top of
Asgard, Eikþyrnir, in Grimnismal, str. 26, symbolised as a "stag "* who stands
on the roof of Odin’s hall and out of whose horns the waters stream down into
Hvergelmer. Eikihyrnir is the great celestial water-tank which gathers and lets
out the thunder-cloud. In this tank the Asgard river has its source, and hence it
consists not only of foaming water but also of ignitible vafermists. In its
capacity of discharger of the thunder-cloud, the tank is called Eikthyrnir, the
oak-stinger. Oaks struck by lightning is no unusual occurrence. The oak is,
according to popular belief based on observation, that tree which the lightning
most frequently strikes.
But Asgard is not the only citadel which is surrounded by vafermists. These
are also found enveloping the home where dwelt the storm-giant Gymer and
the storm-giantess Aurboda, the sorceress who knows all of Asgard’s secrets,
at the time when Frey sent Skirner to ask for the hand of their daughter Gerd.
Epics which in their present form date from Christian times make vaferflames
burn around castles, where goddesses, pricked by sleep-thorns, are
slumbering. This is a belief of a later age.
To get over or through the vaferflame is, according to the myth, impossible for
anyone who has not got a certain mythical horse to ride—probably Sleipner,
the eight-footed steed of the Asa-father, which is the best of all horses
(Grimn., 44). The quality of this steed, which enables it to bear its rider
unscathed through the vafer-flame, makes it indespeasable when this
obstacle is to be overcome. When Skirner is to go on Frey’s journey of
courtship to Gerd, he asks for that purpose mar þann er mic um myrckvan beri
visan vafrloga, and is allowed to ride it on and for the journey (Skirn., 8, 9).
* In the same poem the elf-artist, Dáinn, and the "dwarf "-artist, Dvalinn, are
symbolised as stags, the wanderer Ratr (see below) as a squirrel, the wolfgiant Grafvitner’s sons as serpents, the bridge Bifrost as a fish (see No. 93),
&c. Fortunately for the comprehension of our mythic records such symbolising
is confined to a few strophes in the poem namned, and these strophes appear
to have belonged originally to an independent song which made a speciality of
that sort of symbolism, and to have been incorporated in Grimnismal in later
times.
This horse must accordingly have been in the possession of the Vans when
they conquered Asgard, an assumption confirmed by what is to be stated
below. (In the great epic Sigurd’s horse Grane is made to inherit the qualities
of this divine horse.)
On the outer side of the Asgard river, and directly opposite the Asgard gate,
lie projecting ramparts (forgarðir) to protect the drawbridge, which from the
opening in the wall can be dropped down across the river (see below). When
Svipdag proceeded toward Menglad’s abode in Asgard, he first came to this
forgarðir (Fjöls., i. 3). There he is hailed by the watch of the citadel, and
thence he gets a glimpse over the gate of all the glorious things which are hid
behind the high walls of the citadel. Outside the river Asgard has fields with
groves and woods (Younger Edda, 136, 210).
Of the events of the wars waged around Asgard, the mythic fragments, which
the Icelandic records have preserved, give us but very little information,
though they must have been favourite themes for the heathen skaldic art,
which here had an opportunity of describing in a characteristic manner all the
gods involved, and of picturing not only their various characters, but also their
various weapons, equipments, and horses. In regard to the weapons of attack
we must remember that Thor at the outbreak of the conflict is deprived of the
assistance of his splendid hammer : it has been broken by Svipdag’s sword of
victory (see Nos. 101, 103)—a point which it was necessary for the myth to
assume, otherwise the Vans could hardly be represented as conquerors. Nor
do the Vans have the above-mentioned sword at their disposal : it is already in
the power of Gymer and Aurboda. The irresistible weapons which in a purely
mechanical manner would have decided the issue of the war, were disposed
of in advance in order that the persons themselves, with their varied warlike
qualities, might get to the foreground and decide the fate of the conflict by
heroism or prudence, by prescient wisdom or by blind daring. In this war the
Vans have particularly distinguished themselves by wise and well calculated
undertakings. This we learn from Völuspa, where it makes the final victors
conquer Asgard through vígspá, that is, foreknowledge applied to warlike
ends (str. 26). The Asas, as we might expect from Odin’s brave sons, have
especially distinguished themselves by their strength and courage. A record of
this is found in the words of Thorbjorn Disarskald (Younger Edda, 256) :
Pórr hefir Yggs med ed árum Ásgarð of þrek varðan.
"Thor with Odin’s clan-men defended Asgard with indomitable courage."
But in number they must have been far inferior to their foes. Simply the
circumstance that Odin and his men had to confine themselves to the defence
of Asgard shows that nearly all other divinities of various ranks had allied
themselves with his enemies. The ruler of the lower world (Mimir) and Honer
are the only ones of whom it can be said that they remained faithful to Odin;
and if we can trust the Heimskringla tradition, which is related as history and
greatly corrupted, then Mimir lost his life in an effort at mediation between the
contending gods, while he and Honer were held as hostages among the Vans
(Yaglingas., ch. 4).
Asgard was at length conquered. Völuspa, str. 25, relates the final
catastrophe :
brotin var bordvegr borgar asa knatto vanir vigspa vollo sporna. Broken was
the bulwark of the asaburg;
Through warlike prudence were the Vans able its fields to tread.
Völuspa’s words seem to indicate that the Vans took Asgard by strategy; and
this is confirmed by a source which shall be quoted below. But to carry out the
plan which chiefly involved the finding of means for crossing the vaferflames
kindled around the citadel and for opening the gates of Asgard, not only
cunning but also courage was required. The myth has given the honour of this
undertaking to Njord, the clan-chief of the Vans and the commander of their
forces. This is clear from the above-quoted passage : Njorðr kla uf Herjans
hurðir—" Njord broke Odin’s doors open," which should be compared with the
poetical paraphrase for battle-axe : Gauts megin-hurðar galli—"the destroyer
of Odin’s great gate,"—a paraphrase that indicates that Njord burst the
Asgard gate open with the battle-axe. The conclusion which must be drawn
from these utterances is confirmed by an account with which the sixth book of
Saxo begins, and which doubtless is a fragment of the myth concerning the
conquest of Asgard by the Vans corrupted and told as history. The event is
transferred by Saxo to the reign of King Fridlevus
II. It should here be remarked that every important statement made by Saxo
about this Fridlevus, on a closer examination, is found to be taken from the
myth concerning Njord.
There were at that time twelve brothers, says Saxo, distinguished for courage,
strength, and fine physical appearance. They were "widely celebrated for
gigantic triumphs ". To their trophies and riches many peoples had paid
tribute. But the source from which Saxo received information in regard to
Fridlevus’ conflict with them did not mention more than seven of these twelve,
and of these seven Saxo gives the names. They are called Bjorn, Asbjorn,
Gunbjorn, &c. In all the names is found the epithet of the Asa-god Bjorn.
The brothers had had allies, says Saxo further, but at the point when the story
begins they had been abandoned by them, and on this account they had been
obliged to confine themselves on an island surrounded by a most violent
stream which fell from the brow of a very high rock, and the whole surface of
which glittered with raging foam. The island was fortified by a very high wall
(præaltum vallum), in which was built a remarkable gate. It was so built that
the hinges were placed near the ground between the sides of the opening in
the wall, so that the gate turning thereon could, by a movement regulated by
chains, be lowered and form a bridge across the stream.
Thus the gate is, at the same time, a drawbridge of that kind with which the
Germans became acquainted during the war with the Romans already before
the time of Tacitus (cp. Annal., iv 51, with iv. 47. Within the fortification there
was a most strange horse, and also a remarkably strong dog, which formerly
had watched the herds of the giant Offotes. The horse was celebrated for his
size and speed, and it was the only steed with which it was possible for a rider
to cross the raging stream around the island fortress.
King Fridlevus now surrounds this citadel with his forces. These are arrayed at
some distance from the citadel, and in the beginning nothing else is gained by
the siege than that the besieged are hindered from making sallies into the
surrounding territory. The citadel cannot be taken unless the above-mentioned
horse gets into the power of Fridlevus. Bjorn, the owner of the horse, makes
sorties from the citadel, and in so doing he did miot always take sufficient
care, for on one occasion when he was on the outer side of the stream, and
had gone some distance away from his horse, he fell into an ambush laid by
Fridlevus. He saved hiimself by rushing headlong over the bridge, which was
drawn up behind him, but the precious horse became Fridlevus’ booty. This
was of course a severe loss to the besieged, and must have dimi-nished
considerably their sense of security. Meanwhile, Fridlevus was able to
manage the matter in such a way that the accident served rather to lull them
into increased safety. During the following night the brothers found their horse,
safe and sound, back on the island. Hence it must have swum back across
the stream. And when it was afterwards found that the dead body of a man,
clad in the shining robes of Fridlevus, floated on the eddies of the stream, they
took it for granted that Fridlevus himself had perished in the stream.
But the real facts were as follows : Fridlevus, attended by a single companion,
had in the night ridden from his camp to the river. There his companion’s life
had to be sacrificed, in order that the king’s plan might be carried out.
Fridlevus exchanged clothes with the dead man, who, in the king’s splendid
robes, was cast into the stream. Then Fridlevus gave spur to the steed which
he had captured, and rode through the eddies of the stream. Having passed
this obstacle safely, he set the horse at liberty, climbed on a ladder over the
wall, stole into the hall where the brothers were wont to assemble, hid himself
under a projection over the hall door, listened to their conversation, saw them
go out to reconnoitre the island, and saw them return, secure in the conviction
that there was no danger at hand. Then he went to the gate and let it fall
across the stream. His forces had, during the night, advanced toward the
citadel, and when they saw the drawbridge down and the way open, they
stormed the fortress and captured it.
The fact that we here have a transformation of the myth, telling how Njord at
the head of the Vans conquered Asgard, is evident from the following
circumstances :
(a) The conqueror is Fridlevus. The most of what Saxo relates about this
Fridlevus is, as stated, taken from the myth about Njord, and told as history.
(b) The brothers were, according to Saxo, originally twelve, which is the wellestablished number of Odin’s clansmen : his sons, and the adopted Asa-gods.
But when the siege in question takes place, Saxo finds in his source only
seven of the twelve mentioned as enclosed in the citadel besieged by
Fridlevus. The reason for the diminishing of the number is to be found in the
fact that the adopted gods—Njord, Frey, and Ull—had left Asgard, and are in
fact identical with the leaders of the besiegers. If we also deduct Balder and
Höðr, who, at the time of the event, are dead and removed to the lower world,
then we have left the number seven given. The name Bjorn, which they all
bear, is an Asa epithet (Younger Edda, i. 553). The brothers have formerly
had allies, but these have abandoned theni (deficientibus a se sociis), and it is
on this account that they must confine themselves within their citadel. The
Asas have had the Vans and other divine powers as allies, but these abandon
them, and the Asas must defend themselves on their own fortified ground.
(c) Before this the brothers have made themselves celebrated for
extraordinary exploits, amid have enjoyed a no less extraordinary power. They
shone on account of their giganteis triumphis—an ambiguous expression
which alludes to the mythic sagas concerning the victories of the Asas over
Jotunheim’s giants (gigantes), and nations have submitted to them as victors,
and enriched them with treasures (trophæis gentium celebres, spoliis
locupletes).
(d) The island on which they are confined is fortified, like the Asa citadel, by
an immensely high wall (præaltum vallum), and is surrounded by a stream
which is impassable unless one possesses a horse which is found among the
brothers. Asgard is surrounded by a river belt covered with vaferflames, which
cannot be crossed unless one has that single steed which um myrckvan beri
visan vafrloga, and this belongs to the Asas.
(e) The stream which roars around the fortress of the brothers comes ex
summis montium cacuminibus. The Asgard stream comes from the collector
of the thunder-cloud, Eikþynir’, who stands on the summit of the world of the
gods. The kindled vaferflames, which did not suit an historical narration, are
explained by Saxo to be a spumeus candor, a foaming whiteness, a shining
froth, which in uniform, eddying billows everywhere whirl on the surface of the
stream (iota alvei tractu undis uniformiter turbidatis spumeus ubique candor
exuberat).
(f) The only horse which is able to run through the shining and eddying foam
is clearly one of the mythic horses. It is named along with another prodigy
from the animal kingdom of mythology, viz., the terrible dog of the giant
Offotes. Whether this is a reminiscence of Fenrir which was kept for some
time in Asgard, or of Odin’s wolf-dog Freki, or of some other saga-animal of
that sort, we will not now decide.
(g) Just as Asgard has an artfully contrived gate, so has also the citadel of the
brothers. Saxo’s description of the gate implies that any person who does not
know its character as a drawbridge, but lays violent hands on the mechanism
which holds it in an upright position, falls, and is crushed under it. This
explains the words of Fjölsvinnsmal about the gate to that citadel, within which
Freyja-Menglad dwells: Fjöturr fastr verr vid faranda hvern, er hana hefr frá
hlidi.
(h) In the myth, it is Njord himself who removes the obstacle, "Odin’s great
gate," placed in his way. In Saxo’s account, it is Fridlevus himself who
accomplishes the same exploit.
(i) In Saxo’s narration occurs an improbability, which is explained by the fact
that he has transformed a myth into history. When Fridlevus is safe across the
streani, he raises a ladder against the wall and climbs up on to it. Whence did
he get this ladder, which must have been colossal, since the wall he got over
in this manner is said to be præaltum? Could he have taken it with him on the
horse’s back ? Or did the besieged themselves place it against the wall as a
friendly aid to the foe, who was already in possession of the only means for
crossing the stream ? Both assumptions are alike improbable. Saxo hind to
take recourse to a ladder, for he could not, without damaging the "historical"
character of his story, repeat the myth’s probable description of the event. The
horse which can gallop through the bickering flame can also leap over the
highest wall. Sleipner's ability in this direction is demonstrated in the account
of how it, with Hermod in the saddle, leaps over the wall to Balder’s high hail
in the lower world (Younger Edda, 178). The impassibility of the Asgard wall is
limited to mountain-giants and frost-giants; for a god riding Odin’s horse the
wall was no obstacle. No doubt the myth has also stated that the Asas, after
Njord had leaped over the wall and sought out the above-mentioned place of
concealment, found within the wall their precious horse again, which lately
had become the booty of the enemy. And where else should they have found
it, if we regard the stream with the bickering flames as breaking against the
very foot of the wall?
Finally, it should be added, that our myths tell of no other siege than the one
Asgard was subjected to by the Vans. If other sieges have been mentioned,
they cannot have been of the same importance as this one, and consequently
they could not so easily have left traces in the mythic traditions adapted to
history or heroic poetry; nor could a historicised account of a mythic siege
which did not concern Asgard have preserved the points here pointed out,
which are in harmony with the story of the Asgard siege.
When the citadel of the gods is captured, the gods are, as we have seen,
once more in possession of the steed, which, judging from its qualities, must
be Sleipner. Thins, Odin has the means of escaping from the enemy after all
resistance has proved impossible. Thor has his thundering car, which,
according to the Younger Edda, has room for several besides the owner, and
the other Asas have splendid horses (Grimnism., Younger Edda), even
though they are not equal to that of their father. The Asas give up their thione
of power, and the Vans now assume the rule of the world.
37.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CONFLICT
FROM A RELIGIOUS-RITUAL STANDPOINT.
In regard to the significance of the change of administration in the world of’
gods, Saxo has preserved a tradition which is of no small interest. The
circumstance that Odin and his sons had to surrender the reign of the world
did not imply that mankind should abandon their faith in the old gods and
accept a new religion. Hitherto the Asas and Vans had been worshipped in
common.
Now, when Odin was deposed, his name, honoured by the nations, was not to
be obliterated. The name was given to Ull, and, as if he really were Odin, he
was to receive the sacrifices and prayers that hitherto had been addressed to
the banished one (Hist., 130). The ancient faith was to be maintained, and the
shift involved nothing but the person; there was no change of religion. But in
connection with this information, we also learn, from another statement in
Saxo, that the myth concerning the war between Asas and Vans was
connected with traditions concerning a conflict between various views among
the believers in the Teutonic religion concerning offerings and prayers. The
one view was more ritual, and demanded more attention paid to sacrifices.
This view seenis to have gotten the upper band after the banishment of Odin.
It was claimed that sacrifices and hymns addressed at the same time to
several or all of the gods, did not have the efficacy of pacifying and reconciling
angry deities, but that to each one of the gods should be given a separate
sacrificial service (Saxo, Hist., 43). The result of this was, of course, an
increase of sacrifices and a more highly-developed ritual, which from its very
nature might have produced among the Teutons the same hierarchy as
resulted from an excess of sacrifices among their Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen. The
correctness of Saxo’s statement is fully confirmed by strophe 145 in Havamál,
which advocates the opposite and incomaparably more moderate view in
regard to sacrifices. This view came, according to the strophe, from Odin’s
own lips. He is made to proclaim it to the people "after his return to his ancient
power ".
Betr’a er obeþit en se ofbloþit ey ser til gildis giuf; betrec en’ osennt enn se
ofsóit. Sva þundr urn reist fyr þioþa raue, þar huann up um reis er hann aptr of
kom.
The expression,þar hann up urn reis, er hann apter of kom, refers to the fact
that Odin had for some time been deposed from the administration of the
world, but had returned, and that he then proclaimed to the people the view in
regard to the real value of prayers and sacrifices which is laid down in the
strophe. Hence it follows that before Odin returned to his throne another more
exacting doctrine in regard to sacrifices had, according to the myth, secured
prevalence. This is precisely what Saxo tells us. It is difficult to repress the
question whether an historical reminiscence is not concealed in these
statements. May it not be the record of conflicting views within the Teutonic
religion—views represented in the myth by the Vana-gods on the one side
and the Asas on the other ? The Vana views, I take it, represented tendencies
which, had they been victorious, would have resulted in hierarchy, while the
Asa doctrine represented the tendencies of the believers in the time-honoured
Aryan custom of those who maintained the priestly authority of the father of
the family, and who defended the efficacy of the simple hymns and sacrifices
which from time out of mind had been addressed to several or all of the gods
in comnion. That the question really has existed among the Teutonic peoples,
at least as a subject for reflection, spontaneously suggests itself in the myth
alluded to above. This myth has discussed the question, and decided it in
precisely the same manner as history has decided it among the Teutonic
races, among whom priestcraft and ritualism have held a far less important
position than among their western kinsmen, the Celts, and their eastern
kinsmen, the Iranians and Hindoos. That prayers on account of their length, or
sacrifices on account of their abundance, should give evidence of greater
piety and fear of God, and should be able to secure a macre ready hearing, is
a doctrine which Odin himself rejects in the strophe above cited. He
understands human nature, and knows that when a man brings abundant
sacrifices he has the selfish purpose in view of prevailing on the gods to give
a more abundant reward—a purpose prompted by selfishness, not by piety.
38.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). THE WAR IN MIDGARD BETWEEN
HALFDAN’S SONS. GROA’S SONs AGAINST ALVEIG’S. LOKI’S
APPEARANCE ON THE STAGE. HADDING’S YOUTHFUL ADVENTURES.
The conflict between the gods has its counterpart in, and is connected with, a
war between all the Teutonic races, and the latter is again a continuation of
the feud between Halfdan and Svipdag. The Teutonic race comes to tine front
fighting under three racerepresentatives—(1) Yagve-Svipdag, the son of
Orvandel and Groa; (2) Gudhorm, the son of Halfdan and Groa, consequently
Svipdag’s half-brother; (3) Hadding, the son of Halfdan and Alveig (in Saxo
called Signe, daughter of Sumbel), consequently Gudhorm’s half-brother.
The ruling Vans favour Svipdag, who is Freyja’s husband and Frey’s brotherin-law. The banished Asas support Hadding from their place of refuge. The
conflict between the gods and the war between Halfdan’s successor and heir
are woven together. It is like the Trojan war, where the gods, divided into
parties, assist the Trojans or assist the Danai. Odin, Thor, and Heimdal
interfere, as we shall see, to protect Hadding. This is their duty as kinsmen;
for Heimdal, having assumed human nature, was the lad with the sheaf of
grain who came to the primeval country and became the father of Borgar, who
begat the son Halfdan. Thor was Halfdan’s associate father; hence he too had
duties of kinship toward Hadding and Gudhorm, Halfdan’s sons. The gods, on
the other hand, that favour Svipdag are, in Hadding’s eyes, foes, and Hadding
long refuses to propitiate Frey by a demanded sacrifice (Saxo, Hist., 49, 50).
This war, simultaneously waged between the clans of the gods on the one
hand, and between the Teutonic tribes on the other, is what the seeress mu
Völuspa calls "the first great war in the world ". She not only gives an account
of its outbreak and events among the gods, but also indicates that it was
waged on the earth. Then—
sa hon valkyrior
vitt um komnar
gaurvar’ at rida
til Goþjodar
saw she valkyries
far travelled
equipped to ride
to Goththjod.
Goththjod is the Teutonic people and the Teutonic country.
When Svipdag had slain Halfdan, and when the Asas were expelled, the sons
of the Teutonic patriarch were in danger of falling into the power of Svipdag.
Thor interested himself in their behalf; and brought Gudhorm and Hadding to
Jotunheim, where he concealed them with the giants Hafie and Vagnhofde—
Gudhorm in Hafle’s rocky gard amid Hadding in Vagnhofde’s. In Saxo, who
relates t.his story, the Asa-god Thor appears partly as Thor deus and Thoro
pugil, Halfdan’s protector, whom Saxo himself identifies as the god Thor
(Hist., 324), and partly as Brac and Brache, which name Saxo formed from
Thor’s epithet, Asa-Brayr. It is by the name Brache that Thor appears as the
protector of Halfdan’s sons. The giants Hafle and Vagnhofde dwell, according
to Saxo, in "Svetia " probably, since Jotunheim, the northernmost Sweden,
and the most distant east were called Sviþiod hinn kalda.*
Svipdag waged war against Halfdan, since it was his duty to avenge the
disgrace of his mother Groa, and also that of his mother’s father, and, as shall
be shown later, the death of his father Orvandel (see Nos. 108, 109). The
revenge for bloodshed was sacred in the Teutonic world, amid this duty he
performed when he with his irresistible sword felled his stepfather. But thereby
the duty of revenge for bloodshed was transferred to Halfdan’s sons— less to
Gudhorm, who is himself a son of Groa, but with all its weight to Hadding, the
son of Alveig, and it is his bounden duty to bring about Svipdag’s death, since
Svipdag had slain Halfdan. Connecting itself with Halfdan’s robbery of Groa,
the goddess of growth, the red thread of revenge for bloodshed extends
throughout the great hero-saga of Teutonic mythology.
Svipdag makes an effort to cut the thread. He offers Gudhorm and Hadding
peace and friendship, and promises them kingship among the tribes subject to
him. Groa’s son, Gudhorm, accepts the offer, and Svipdag makes him ruler of
the Danes; but Hadding sends answer that he prefers to avenge his father’s
death to accepting favours from an enemy (Saxo, Hist., 35, 36).
Svipdag’s offer of peace and reconciliation is in harmony, if not with his own
nature, at least with that of his kinsmen, the reigning Vans. If the offer to
Hadding had been accepted, we might have looked for peace in the world.
Now the future is threatened with the devastations of war, and the bloody
thread of revenge shall continue to be spun if Svipdag does not prevent it by
overpowering Hadding. The myth may have contained much information
* Filii Gram, Guthormus et Hadingus, quorum alterum Gro, alterum Signe
enixa est, Svipdagero Daniam obtinente, per educatorem suum. Brache nave
Svetiam deportati, Vegnophto et Haphlio gigantibus non solum alendi, verum
etiam defensandi traduntur (Saxo, Hist., 34).
about the efforts of the one camp to capture him and about con trivances of
the other to frustrate these efforts. Saxo has preserved a pantial record
thereof. Among those who plot against Hadding also Loki (Lokerus—Saxo,
Hist., 40, 41),* the banished ally of Aurboda. His purpose is doubtless to get
into the favour of the reigning Vans. Hadding is no longer safe in Vagnhofde’s
mountain home The lad is exposed to Loki’s snares. From one of these he is
saved by the Asa-father himself. There came, says Saxo, on this occasior a
rider to Hadding. He resembled a very aged man, one of whose eyes was lost
(grandævus quidam altero orbus oculo). He placed Hadding in front of himself
on the horse, wrapped his mantle about him, and rode away. The lad became
curious and wanted to see whither they were going. Through a hole in the
mantle he got an opportunity of looking down, amid found to his astonishment
and fright that land and sea were far below the hoofs of the steed. The rider
niust have noticed his fright, for he forbade him to look out any more.
The rider, the one-eyed old man, is Odin, and the horse is Sleipner, rescued
froni the captured Asgard. The place to which the lad is carried by Odin is the
place of refuge secured by the Asas during their exile i Manheimum. In perfect
harmony with the myths, Saxo refers Odin’s exile to the tinie preceding
Hadding’s juvenile adventures, and makes Odin’s return to power
simultaneous with Hadding’s great victory over his enemies (Hist., 42-44).
Saxo has also found in his sources that sword-slain men, whom Odin chooses
during "the first great war in the world," cannot come to Valhal. The reason for
this is that Odin is not at that time the ruler there. They have dwelling-places
and plains for their warlike amusements appointed in the lower world (Hist.,
51).
The regions which, according to Saxo, are the scenes of Hadding's juvenile
adventures lie on the other side of the Baltic down toward the Black Sea. He
is associated with " Curetians" and " Hellespontians," doubtless for the reason
that the myth has referred those adventures to the far east.
* The form Loki is also duplicated by the form Lokr. The latter is preserved in
the sense of ‘‘ effeminated man,’’ found in myths concerning" loke. Compare
the phrase " veykr Loka with "hinn vegki Loki ".
The one-eyed old man is endowed with wonderful powers. When he landed
with the lad at his home, he sang over him prophetic incantations to protect
him (Hist., 40), and gave him a drink of the "most splendid sort," which
produced in Hadding enormous physical strength, and particularly made him
able to free himself from bonds and chains. (Compare Havamal, str. 149,
concerning Odin’s freeing incantations by which "fetters spring from the feet
and chains from the hands ".) A comparison with other passages, which I shall
discuss later, shows that the potion of which the old man is lord contains
something which is called "Leifner’s flames," and that he who has been
permitted to drink it, and over whom freeing incantations have simultaneously
been sung, is able with his warm breath to free himself from every fetter which
has been put on his enchanted limbs (see Nos. 43, 96, 103).
The old man predicts that Hadding will soon have an opportunity of testing the
strength with which the drink and the magic songs have endowed him. And
the prophecy is fulfilled. Hadding falls into the power of Loki. He chains him
and threatens to expose him as food for a wild beast—in Saxo a lion, in the
myth presumably some one of the wolf or serpent prodigies that are Loki’s
offspring. But when his guards are put to sleep by Odin’s magic song, though
Odin is far away, Hadding bursts his bonds, slays the beast, and eats, in
obedience to Odin’s instructions, its heart. (The saga of Sigurd Fafuersbane
has copied this feature. Sigurd eats the heart of the dragon Fafner and gets
wisdom thereby.)
Thus Hadding has become a powerful hero, and his task to make war on
Svipdag, to revenge on him his father’s death, and to recover the share in the
rulership of the Teutons which Halfdan had possessed, now lies before him as
the goal he is to reach.
Hadding leaves Vagnhofde’s home. The latter’s daughter, Hardgrep, who had
fallen in love with the youth, accompanies him. When we next find Hadding he
is at the head of an army. That this consisted of the tribes of Eastern
Teutondom is confirmed by documents which I shall hereafter quote ; but it
also follows from Saxo’s narrative, although he has referred the war to
narrower limits than were given to it in the myth, since he, constructing a
Danish history from mythic traditions, has his eves fixed chiefly on Denmark.
Over the Scandian tribes and the Danes rule, according to Saxo’s own
statement, Svipdag, and as his tributary king in Denmark his half-brother
Gudhorm. Saxo also is aware that the Saxons, the Teutonic tribes of the
German lowlands, on one occasion were the allies of Svipdag (Hist., 34).
From these parts of Teutondom did not conne Hadding’s friends, but his
enemies; and when we add that the first battle which Saxo mentions in this
war was fought among the Curetians east of the Baltic, then it is clear that
Saxo, too, like the other records to which I am coming later, has conceived the
forces under Haddiag’s banner as having been gathered in the East. From
this it is evident that the war is one between the tribes of North Teutondom,
led by Svipdag and supported by the Vans on the one side, and the tribes of
East Teutondom, led by Hadding and supported by the Asas on the other. But
the tribes of the western Teutonic continent have also taken part in the first
great war of mankind. Gudhorm, whom Saxo makes a tributary king in YngveSvipdag’s most southern domain, Denmark, has in the mythic traditions had a
much greaten’ empire, and has ruled over the tribes of Western and Southern
Teutondom, as shall be shown below.
39.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). THE POSITION OF THE DIVINE CLANS TO
THE WARRIORS.
The circumstance that the different divine clans had their favourites in the
different camps gives the war a peculiar character. The armies see before a
battle supernatural forms contending with each other in the starlight, and
recognise in them their divine friends and opponents (Hist., 48). The elements
are conjured on one and the other side for the good or harm of the contending
brother-tribes. When fog and pouring rain suddenly darken the sky and fall
upon Hadding’s forces from that side where the fylkings of the North are
arrayed, then the one-eyed old man comes to their rescue and calls forth dark
masses of clouds from the other side, which force back the rain-clouds and
the fog (Hist., 53). In these cloud-masses we must recognise the presence of
the thundering Thor, the son of the one-eyed old man.
Giants also take part in the conflict. Vagnhofde and Hardgrep,
the latter in a nian’s attire, contend on the side of the foster-son and the
beloved Hadding (Hist., 45, 38). From Icelandic records we learn that Hafle
and the giantesses Fenja and Menja fight under Gudhorm’s banners. In the
Grottesong (14, 15) these maids sing:
En vit siþan a Sviioþu framvisar tvær i folk stigum; beiddum biornu, en brutum
skioldu gengum igegnum graserkiat lit. Steyptom stilli, studdum annan,
veittum goþum Guthormi lid.
That the giant Hafle fought on the side of Gudhorm is probable from the fact
that lie is his foster-father, and it is confirmed by the fact that Thor
paraphrased (Grett., 30) is called fangvinr Hafia, "he who wrestled with Hafle
". Since Thor and Hafle formerly were friends—else the former would not have
trusted Gudhorm to the care of the latter—their appearance afterwards as
foes can hardly be explained otherwise than by the war between Thor’s
protégé Hadding and Hafle’s foster-son Gudhorm. And as Had-ding’s fosterfather, the giant Vagnhofde, faithfully supports the young chief whose
childhood he protected, then the myth could scarcely avoid giving a similar
part to the giant Hafle, and thus make the foster-fathers, like the foster-sons,
contend with each other. The heroic poems are fond of parallels of this kind.
When Svipdag learns that Hadding has suddenly made his appearance in the
East, and gathered its tribes around him for a war with Gudhornn, he
descends from Asgard and reveals himself in the primeval Teutonic country
on the Scandian peninsula, and requests its tribes to join the Danes and raise
the banner of war against Halfdan’s and Alveig’s son, who, at the head of the
eastern Teutons, is marching against their half- brother Gudhorni. The friends
of both parties among the gods, men and giants, hasten to attach themselves
to the cause which they have espoused as their own, and Vagnhofde among
the rest abandons his rocky home to fight by the side of his foster-son and
daughter.
This mythic situation is described in a hitherto unexplained strophe in the Old
English song concerning the names of the letters in the runic alphabet. In
regard to the rune which answers to I there is added the following lines:
Ing väs ærest mid Eástdenum geseven seegum od he siddan eást ofer’ væg
gevât. Væn æfter ran; þus Heardingas þone häle nerndon.
"Yngve (Inge) was first seen among the East-Danemen. Then be betook
himself eastward over the sea. Vagn hastened to follow: Thus the Heardings
called this hero."
The Heardings are the Haddings—that is to say, Hadding himself, the
kinsmen and friends who embraced his cause, and the Teutonic tribes who
recognised him as their chief. The Norse Haddingr is to the Anglo-Saxon
Hearding as the Norse haddr to the Anglo-Saxon hear’d. Vigfusson, and
before him J. Grimm, have already identified these forms.
Ing is Yngve-Svipdag, who, when he left Asgard, "was first seen among the
East-Danemen ". He calls Swedes and Danes to arms against Hadding’s
tribes. The Anglo-Saxon strophe confirms the fact that they dwell in the East,
separated by a sea from the Scandian tribes. Ing, with his warriors, "betakes
himself eastward over the sea" to attack them. Thus the armies of the Swedes
and Danes go by sea to the seat of war. What the authorities of Tacitus heard
among the continental Teutons about the mighty fleets of the Swedes may be
founded on the heroic songs about the first great war not less than on fact. As
the army which was to cross the Baltic must be regarded as Immensely large,
so the myth, too, has represented the ships of the Swedes as numerous, and
in part as of immense size. A confused record from the songs about the
expedition of Svipdag and his friends against the East Teutons, found in
Icelandic tradition, occurs in Fornald., pp. 406-407, where a ship called Gnod,
and capable of carrying 3000 men, is mentioned as belonging to a King
Asmund.
Odin did not want this monstrous ship to reach its destination, but sank it, so it
is said, in the Lessö seaway, with all its men and contents. The Asmund who
is known in the heroic sagas of heathen times is a son of Svipdag and a king
among the Sviones (Saxo, Hist., 44). According to Saxo, he has given brilliant
proofs of his bravery in the war against Hadding, and fallen by the weapons of
Vagnhofde and Hadding. That Odin in the Icelandic tradition appears as his
enemy thus corresponds with the myth. The same Asmund may, as Gisle
Brynjulfsson has assumed, be meant in Grimnersmal (49), where we learn
that Odin, concealing himself under the name Jalk, once visited Asmund.
The hero Vagn, whom "the Haddings so called," is Hadding’s foster-father,
Vagnhofde. As the word höfdi constitutes the second part of a mythic name,
the compound form is a synonym of that name which forms the first part of the
composition. Thins Svarthöfdi is identical with Svartr, Surtr. In Hyndluljod, 33,
all the mythical sorcerers (seidberendr) are said to be sprung from Svarthöfdi.
In this connection we must first of all think of Fjalar, who is the greatest
sorcerer in mythology. The story about Thor’s, Thjalfe’s, and Loki’s visit to him
is a chain of delusions of sight and hearing called forth by Fjalar, so that the
Asa-god and his companions always mistake things for something else than
they are. Fjalar is a son of Surtr (see No. 89). Thins the greatest a gent of
sorcery is descended from Surtr, Svartr, and, as Hyndluljod states that all
magicians of mythology have come of some Svarthöfdi, Svartr and Svarthöfdi
must be identical. And so it is with Vagn and Vagnhöfdi; they are different
names for the same person.
When the Anglo-Saxon rune-strophe says that Vang "made haste to follow"
after Ing had gone across the sea, then this is to be compared with Saxo’s
statement (Hist., 45), where it is said that Hadding in a battle was in greatest
peril of losing his life, but was saved by the sudden and miraculous landing of
Vagnhofde, who came to the battle-field and placed himself at his side. The
Scandian fylkings advanced against Hadding’s; and Svipdag’s son Asmund,
who fought at the head of his men, forced his way forward against Hadding
himself, with his shield thrown on his back, and with both his hands on the hilt
of a sword which felled all before it.
Then Hadding invoked the gods who were the friends of himself and his race
(Hadingo familiarium sibi numinum præsidia postulante subito Vagnophtus
partibus ejus propugnatiurus advehitur), and then Vagnhofde is brought
(advehitur) by sonic one of these gods to the battle-field and suddenly stands
by Hadding’s side, swinging a crooked sword * against Asmund, while
Hadding hurls his spear against him. This statement in Saxo corresponds with
and explains the old English strophe’s reference to a quick journey which
Vagn made to help Heardingas against Ing, and it is also illustrated by a
passage in Grimnismal, 49, which, in connection with Odin’s appearance at
Asmund’s, tells that he once by the name Kjalar "drew Kjalki " (mic heto Jale
at Asmundar, cnn þa Kialar, er ec Kialka dró). The word amid name Kjálki, as
also Sledi, is used as a paraphrase of the word and name Vagn.‡ Thus Odin
has once "drawn Vagn" (waggon). The meaning of this is clear from what is
stated above. Hadding calls on Odin, who is the friend of him and of his
cause, and Odin, who on a former occasion has carried Hadding on Sleipner’s
back through the air, now brings, in the same or a similar manner, Vagnhofde
to the battle-field, and places him near his foster-son. This episode is also
interesting froni the fact that we can draw from it the conclusion that the
skalds who celebrated the first great war in their songs made the gods
influence the fate of the battle, not directly but indirectly. Odin mnight himself
have saved his favourite, arid he might have slain Svipdag’s son Asmund with
his spear Gungner; but lie does not do so; instead, he brings Vagnhofde to
protect him. This is well calculated from an epic standpoint, while dii ex
machina, when they appear in person on the battle-field with their
superhuman strength, diminish the effect of the deeds of mortal heroes, and
deprive every distress in which they have taken part of its more earnest
significance. Homer never violated this rule without injury to the honour either
of his gods or of his heroes.
* Time crooked sword, as it appears from several passages in the sagas, has
long been regarded by our heatben ancestors as a foreign form of weapon,
used by the giants, but not by the gods or by the heroes of Midgard.
‡ Compare Fornald., ii. 118, where the hero of the saga cries to Gusi, who
comes running after him with " 2 hreina ok vagn "—Skrid du af kjalka, Kyrr du
hreina, seggr sidförull seg hvattu heitir !
40.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). HADDING’S DEFEAT. LOKI IN THE
COUNCIL AND ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. HEIMDAL THE PROTECTOR OF
HIS DESCENDANT HADDING.
The first great conflict in which the warriors of North and West Teutondom
fight with the East Teutons ends with the complete victory of Groa’s sons.
Hadding’s fylkings are so thoroughly beaten and defeated that he, after the
end of the conflict, is nothing but a defenceless fugitive, wandering in deep
forests with no other companion than Vagnhofde’s daughter, who survived the
battle and accompanies her beloved in his wanderings in the wildernesses.
Saxo ascribes the victory won over Hadding to Loki. It follows of itself that, in
a war whose deepest root must be sought in Loki’s and Aurboda’s intrigues,
and in which the clans of gods on both sides take part, Loki should riot be
excluded by the skalds froni influence upon the course of events. We have
already seen that he sought to ruin Hadding while the latter was still a boy. He
afterwards appears in various guises as evil counsellor, as an evil intriguer,
and as a skilful arranger of the fylkings on the field of battle. His purpose is to
frustrate even’y effort to bring about reconciliation, and by means of
persuasion amid falsehoods to increase the chances of enmity between
Halfdan’s descendants, in order that they may mutually destroy each other
(see below). His activity among the heroes is tIme counterpart of his activity
among the gods. The merry, sly, cynical, blameworthy, annd profoundly evil
Mefisto of the Teutonic mythology is bound to bring about the ruin of’ the
Teutonic people like that of the gods of the Teutons.
In the later Icelandic traditions he reveals himself as the evil counsellor of
princes in the forms of Blind ille, Blind bölvise (in Saxo Bolvisus), Bikki; in the
German and Old English traditions as Sibich, Sifeca, Sifka. Bikki is a nameform borrowed froni Germany. The original Norse Loki-epithet is Bekki, which
means the foe," "tIme opponent ". A closer examination shows that
everywhere where this counsellor appears his enterprises have originally
been connected with persons who belong to Borgar’s race. He has wormed
himself into the favour of both the contending parties—as Blind ille with King
Hadding—whereof Hromund Greipson’s saga has preserved a distorted
record—as Bikke, Sibeke, with King Gudhorm (whose identity with Jormunrek
shall be established below). As Blind bölvise he lies in waiting for and seeks to
capture the young "Helge Hundingsbane," that is to say, Halfdan, Hadding’s
father (Helge Hund., ii.). Under his own name, Loki, he lies in waiting for and
seeks to capture the young Hadding, Halfdan’s son. As a cunning general and
cowardly warrior he appears in the German saga-traditions, and there is every
reason to assume that it is his activity in the first great war as the planner of
Gudhorm’s battle-line that in the Norse heathen records secured Loki the
epithets sagna hrærir and sagna sviptir, the header of the warriors forward
and the leader of the warriors back—epithets which otherwise would be both
unfounded and in-comprehensible, but they are found both in Thjodolf’s poem
Haustlamung, and in Eilif Gudrunson’s Thorsdrapa. It is also a noticeable fact
that while Loki in the first great battle which ends with Hadding’s defeat
determines the array of the victorious army— for only on this basis can the
victory be attributed to him by Saxo—it is in the other great battle in which
Hadding is victorious that Odin himself determines how the forces of his
protégé are to be arranged, namely, in that wedge-form which after that time
and for many centuries following was the sacred and strictly preserved rule for
the battle-array of Teutonic forces. Thins the ancient Teutonic saga has
mentioned and conipared with one another two different kinds of battlearrays—the one invented by Loki and the other invented by Odin.
During his wanderings in the forests of the East Hadding has had wonderful
adventures and passed through great trials. Saxo tells one of these
adventures. He amid Hardgrep, Vagnhofde’s daughter, came late one evening
to a dwelling where they got lodgings for the night. The husband was dead,
but not vet buried. For the purpose of learning Hadding’s destiny, Hardgrep
engraved speech-runes (see No. 70) cnn a piece of wood, and asked Hadding
to place it under the tongue of the dead one. The latter would in this wise
recover the power of speech and prophecy. So it came to pass. But what the
dead one sang in an awe-inspiring voice was a curse on Hardgrep, who had
compelled him to return froni life in the lower world to life on earth, amid a
prediction that an avenging Niflheim demon would inflict punishment on her
for what she had done. A following night, when Hadding amid Hardgrep had
sought shelter in a bower of twigs and branches which they had gathered,
there appeared a gigantic hand groping under the ceiling of the bower. The
frightened Haddinng waked Hardgrep. She then nose in all her giant strength,
seized the mysterious hand, and bade Hadding cut it off with his sword. He
attempted to do this, but from the wounds he inflicted on the ghost’s hand
there issued matter or venom more than blood, and the hand seized Hardgrep
with its iron claws and tore her into pieces (Saxo, Hist., 36 ff.).
When Hadding in this manner had lost his companion, he considered himself
abandoned by everybody; but the one-eyed old man had not forgotten his
favourite. He sent him a faithful helper, by name Liserus (Saxo, Hist., 40).
Who was Liserus in our mythology ?
First, as to the name itself: in the very nature of the case it must be the
Latinising of some one of the mythological names or epithets that Saxo found
in the Norse records. But as no such root as lis or lis is to be found in the old
Norse language and as Saxo interchanges the vowels i and y,* we must
regard Liserus as a Latinising of Lysir, " the shining one," "the one giving
light," "the bright one ". When Odin sent a helper thins described to Hadding,
it must have been a person belonging to Odin’s circle and subject to him.
Such a person and described by a similar epithet is hinn hvíti áss, hvitasir ása
(Heimdal). In Saxo’s account, this shining messenger is particularly to oppose
Loki (Hist., 40). And in the myth it is the keen-sighted and faithful Heimdal who
always appears as the opposite of the cunning and faithless Loki. Loki has to
contend with Heimdal when the former tries to get possession of Brisingamen,
and in Ragnarok the two opponents kill each other. Hadding’s shining
protector thus has the same pant to act in the heroic saga as the whitest of
the Asas in the mythology. If we miow add that Heimdal is Hadding’s
progenitor, and on account of blood kinship owes him special protection in a
war in which all the gods have taken part either for or against Halfdan’s and
Alveig’s son, then we are forced by every consideration to regard Liserus and
Heinidal as identical (see further, No. 82).
* Compare the double forms Trigo, Thrygir; Ivarus, Yvarus; Sibbo, Sybbo;
Siritha, syritha; Sivardus, Syvardus ; Hiberniu, Hybernia; Isora, Ysora.
41.
THE WORLD WAR (continued). HADDING’S JOURNEY TO THE EAST.
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE ASAS AND VANS. "THE HUN WAR."
HADDING RETURNS AND CONQUERS. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN
GROA’S DESCENDANTS AND ALVEIG’S. LOKI’s PUNISHMENT.
Sonic time later there has been a change in Hadding’s affairs. He is no longer
the exile wandering about in the forests, but appears once niore at the head of
warlike hosts. But although lie accomplishes various exploits, it still appears
from Saxo’s narrative that it takes a honing tinie before he becomes strong
enough to meet his enemies in a decisive battle with hope of success. In the
meanwhile he has succeeded in accomplishing the revenge of his father and
slaying Svipdag (Saxo, Hist., 42)—this under circumstances which I shall
explain below (No. 106). The proof that the hero-saga has left a long space of
time between the great battle lost by Hadding amid that in which he wins a
decided victory is that he, before this conflict is fought out, has slain a young
grandson (son’s son) of Svipdag, that is, a son of Asmund, who was
Svipdag’s son (Saxo, Hist., 46). Hadding was a mere boy when Svipdag first
tried to capture him. He is a man of years when he, through decided
successes on the battle-field, acquires and secures control of a great part of
tIne domain over which his father, the Teutonic patriarch, reigned. Hence he
must have spent considerable time in the place of refuge which Odin opened
for him, and under the protection of that subject of Odin, called by Saxo
Liserus.
In the time intervening important events have taken place in the world of the
gods. The two clans of gods, the Asas and Vans, have become reconciled.
Odin’s exile hasted, according to Saxo, only ten years, amid there is no
reason for doubting the mythical correctness of this statement. The
reconciliation must have been demanded by the dangers which them’ enmity
caused to the ad— ministration of the world. The giants, whose purpose it is
to destroy tIne world of man, became once more dangerous to the earth on
account of the war among the gods. During this time they niade a desperate
effort to conquer Asgard occupied by the Vans. The memory of this expedition
was preserved during the Christian centuries in the traditions concerning the
great Hun war. Saxo (Hist., 231 if.) refers this to Frotho III.’s reign. What he
relates about this Frotho, son of .Fridlevus (Njord), is for the greatest part a
historicised version of the myth about the Vana-god Frey (see No. 102) ; and
every doubt that his account of the war of the "Huns" against Frotho has its
foundation in mythology, and belongs to the chain of events hero discussed,
vanishes when we learn that tIme attack of the Huns against Frotho-Frey’s
power happened at a tinie when an old prophet, by name Uggerus, "whose
age was unknown, but exceeded every measure of human life," lived in exile,
and belonged to the number of Frotho’s enemies. Ugger’us is a Latinised form
of Odin’s name Yggr, and is the same mythic character as Saxo before
introduced on the scene as ‘the old one-eyed man," Had-ding’s protector.
Although he had been Frotho’s enemy, the aged Yggr comes to him and
informs him what the "Huns" are plotting, and thus Frotho is enabled to resist
their assault.*
When Odin, out of consideration for the common welfare of mankind and the
gods, renders the Vans, who had banished him, this services, and as the
latter are in the greatest need of the assistance of the mighty Asa-father and
his powerful sons in the conflict with the giant world, then these facts explain
sufficiently the reconciliation between the Asas and the Vans. This
reconciliation was also in order on account of the bonds of kinship between
them The chief hero of the Asas, Thor, was the stepfather of Ull, the chief
warrior of the Vans (Younger Edda, i. 252). The record of a friendly settlement
between Thor and Ull is preserved in a paraphrase, by which Thor’ is
described inn Thorsdrapa as "gulli Ullar’," he who with persuasive words
makes Ull friendly. Odin was invited to occupy again the high-seat in Asgard,
with all the prerogatives of a patenfamilias and ruler (Saxo, Hist., 44). But time
dispute which caused the conflict between him and the Vans was at the sanne
time manifestly settled to the advantage of the Vans. They do not assume in
common the responsibility for the murder of Gulveig Angerboda. She is
banished to the Ironwood, but renmains there unharamed until Ragnarok, and
when the destruction of the world approaches, then Njord shall leave the Asas
threatened with
* Deseruit eum (Hun) quoque Uggerus vates, vir ætatis incognitæ et supra
humanum terminum prolixe; qui Frothonem transfugæ titulo petens quidquid a
Hunis parabatur edocuit (Hist., 238).
the ruin they have themselves caused and return to the "wise Vans " (i aldar
rauc hann mun aptr coma heim med visom vaunom—Vafthr., 39). The "Hun
war" has supplied the answer to a question, which those believing in the
myths naturally would ask themselves. That question was: How did it happen
that Midgard was not in historical times exposed to such attacks from the
dwellers in Jotunheim as occurred in anitiquity, amid at that tinie threatened
Asgard itself with destruction ? The "Hun war" was in the myth characterised
by the countless lives lost by the enemy. This we learn from Saxo. The sea,
he says, was so filled with the bodies of the slain that boats could hardly be
rowed through the waves. In the rivers their bodies formed bridges, and on
land a person could make a three days’ journey on horseback without seeing
anything but dead bodies of the slain (Hist., 234, 240). And so the answer to
the question was, that the " Huni war" of antiquity had so weakened the giants
in miuniber and strength that they could not become so dangerous as they
had been to Asgard and Midgard formerly, that is, before the time immediately
preceding Ragnarok, when a new fimbul-winter is to set in, and when the giaiit
world shall rise again in all its ancient might. From the time of the " Hun war"
and until then, Thor’s hammer is able to keep the growth of the giants’ race
within certain limits, wherefore Thor in Harbardsljod explains his attack on
giants and giantesses with micil mundi cit iotna, ef allir lifdi, vetr mandi manna
undir Miþgarþi.
Hadding’s rising star of success must be put in connection with the
reconciliation between the Asas amid Vans. The reconciled gods must lay
aside that seed of new feuds between them which is contained in the war
between Hadding, the favourite of the Asas, and Gudhorm, the favourite of the
Vans. The great defeat once suffered by Hadding must be balanced by a
corresponding victory, and then the contending kinsmen must be reconiciled.
And this happens. Hadding wins a great battle amid enters upomi a secure
reign in his part of Teutondonm. Then are tied new bomids of kinship and
friendship between the hostile races, so that the Teutonic dynasties of chiefs
may trace their descent both from Yngve (Svipdag) and from Borgar’s son
Halfdan. Hadding and a surviving grandson of Svipdag are united inn so
tender a devotion to one another that the latter, upon an unfounded report of
the former’s death, is unable to survive him and takes his own life. And when
Hadding learns this, he does not care to live any longer either, but meets
death volutarily (Saxo, Hist., 59, 60).
After the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans they succeed in capturing
Loki. Saxo relates this in connection with Odin’s return from Asgard, and here
calls Loki Mitothin. In regard to this name, we may, without entering upon
difficult conjectures concerning the first part of the word, be sure that it, too, is
taken by Saxo from the heathen records in which he has found his account of
the first great war, and that it, in accordance with the rule for forming such
epithets, must refer to a mythic person who has had a certain relation with
Odin, and at the same time been his antithesis. According to Saxo, Mitothin is
a thoroughly evil being, who, like Aurboda, strove to disseminate the practice
of witchcraft in the world and to displace Odin. He was compelled to take flight
and to conceal himself from the gods. He is captured and slain, but from his
dead body arises a pest, so that he does no less harni after than before his
death. It therefore became necessary to open his grave, cut his head off, and
pierce his breast with a sharp stick (Hist., 43).
These statements in regard to Mitothin’s death seem at first glance not to
correspond very well with the mythic accounts of Loki’s exit, and thus give
rooni for doubt as to his identity with the latter. It is also clear that Saxo’s
narrative has been influenced by the medieval stories about vampires and evil
ghosts, and about the manner of preventing these from doing harm to the
living. Nevertheless, all that he here tells, the beheading included, is founded
on the mythic accounts of Loki. The place where Loki is fettered is situated in
the extreme part of the hell of tIme wicked dead (see No. 78). The fact that he
is relegated to the realm of the dead, and is there chained in a subterranean
cavern until Ragnarok, when all the dead in the lower world shall return, has
been a sufficient reason for Saxo to represent him as dead and buried. That
he after death causes a pest corresponds with Saxo’s account of
Ugarthilocus, who has his prison in a cave under a rock situated in a sea, over
which darkness broods for ever (the island Iyngvi in Amsvartner’s sea, where
Loki’s prison is—see No. 78). Thie hardy sea-captain, Thorkil, seeks and finds
him in his cave of torture, pulls a hair from tIne beard on his chin and brings it
with him to Denmark. When this hair afterwards is exposed and exhibited, the
awful exhalation from it causes the death of several persons standing near
(Hist., 432, 433). When a hair froni the beard of the tortured Loki (" a hair from
the evil one ") could produce this effect, then his whole body removed to the
kingdom of death must work even greater mischief, until measures were taken
to prevent it. In this connection it is to be remembered that Loki, according to
the Icelandic records, is the father of the feminine demon of epidemics and
diseases, of her who rules in Nifiheim, the home of the spirits of disease (see
No. 60), and that it is Loki’s daughter who rides the three-footed steed, which
appears when an epidemic breaks out (see No. 67). Thus Loki is, according to
the Icelandic mythic fragments, the cause of epideniics. Lakasenna also
states that he lies with a pierced body, although the weapon there is a sword,
or possibly a spear (pie a hiorvi scola binda god—Lakas., 49). That Mitothin
takes flight and conceals himself from the gods corresponds with the myth
about Loki. But that which finally and conclusively confirms the identity of Loki
and Mitothin is that the latter, though a thoroughly evil being and hostile to the
gods, is said to have risen through the enjoyment of divine favour (cælesti
beneficio vegetatus). Among male beings of his character this applies to Loki
alone.
In regard to the statement that Loki after his removal to the kingdom of death
had his head separated from his body, Saxo here relates, though in his own
peculiar manner, what the myth contained about Loki’s ruin, which was a
logical consequence of his acts and happened long after his removal to the
realm of death. Loki is slain in Ragnarok, to which he, freed from his cave of
torture in the kingdom of death, proceeds at the head of the hosts of "the sons
of destruction ". In the midst of tIme conflict he seeks or is sought by his
constant foe, Heimdal. The shining god, the protector of Asgard, the original
patriarch and benefactor of man, contends here for the last time with the
Satan of tIme Teutonic mythology, and Heimdal and Loki mutually slay each
other (Loki á orustu vid Heimdall, ok verdr hvârr annars bani— Younger Edda,
192). In this duel we learn that Heimdal, who fells his foe, was himself pierced
or " struck through " to death by a head (svá er sagt, at hann van’ lostinn
manns höfdi i gögnum— Younger Edda, 264 ; hann var lostinn i hel mid
manns höfdi— Younger Edda, 100, ed. Res). When Heinmidal and Loki
mutually cause each other’s death, this must mean that Loki’s head is that
with which Heimdal is pierced after the latter has cut it off with his sword and
become the bane (death) of his foe. Light is thrown on this episode by what
Saxo tells about Loki’s head. While the demon in chains awaits Ragnarok, his
hair and beard grow in such a manner that "they in size and stiffness
resemble horn-spears " (Ugarthilocus . . . cujus olentes pili tam magni—
tudine quam rigore cor’neas æquaverant hastas—Hist., 431, 432). And thus it
is explained how the myth could make his head act the part of a weapon. That
amputated limbs continue to live and fight is a peculiarity mentioned in other
mythic sagas, and should not surprise us in regard to Loki, the dragon-demon,
the father of the Midgard-serpent (see further, No. 82).
42.
HALFDAN AND HAMAL FOSTER-BROTHERS. THE AMALIANS FIGHT IN
BEHALF OF HALFDAN’S SON HADDING. HAMAL AND THE WEDGEFORMED BATTLE-ARRAY. THE ORIGINAL MODEL OF THE BRAVALLA
BATTLE.
The mythic progenitor of the Amalians, Hamall, has already been mentioned
above as the foster-brother of the Teutonic patriarch, Halfdan (Helge
Hundingsbane). According to Norse tradition, Hannah’s father, Hagall, had
been Halfdan’s foster-father (Helge Hund., ii.), and thins the devoted friend of
Borgar. Thene being so close a relation between the progenitors of these
great hero-families of Teutonic mythology, it is highly improbable that the
Amalians did not also act an important part in the first great world war, since
all the Teutonic tribes, and consequently surely their first families of mythic
origin, took part in it. In the ancient records of time North, we discover a trace
which indicates that the Amalians actually did fight on that side where we
should expect to find them, that is, on Hadding’s, and that Hamal himself was
the field-commander of his fosterbrother. The trace is found in the phrase
fylkj’a Hamalt, occurring several places (Sig. Faf, ii. 23 ; Har. Hardr, ch. 2;
Fornalds. Saga, ii. 40; Fornm., xi. 304). The phrase can only be explained in
one way, " arranged tine battle-array as Hamall first did it ". To Hamal has
also been ascribed the origin of the custom of fastening the shields close
together along the ship’s railing, which appears from the following lines in
Harald Hardrade’s Saga, 63
Hamalt syndiz mér hömlur hildings vinir skilda.
We also learmi in our Norse records that fylkja Hamalt, "to draw up in line of
battle as Hamal did," means the same as svinfylkja, that is, to arrange the
battalions in the foriii of a wedge.* Now Saxo relates (Hist., 52) that Hadding’s
army was time first to draw time forces up in this manner, and that an old man
(Odin) whom he has taken on board on a sea-journey had taught and advised
him to do thiis.‡ Several centuries later Odin, according to Saxo, taught this
art to Harald Hildetand. But tIme mythology has not made Odin teach it twice.
The repetition has its reason in the fact that Harald Hildetand, in one of tine
rccords accessible to Saxo, was a son of Halfdan Borgarson (Hist., 361;
according to other records a son of Borgar himself—Hist., 337), and
consequently a son of Hadding’s father, the consequence of which is that
features of Hadding’s saga have been inicorporated into the saga produced in
a later tinie concerning the saga-hero Harald Hildetand. Thereby the Bravalla
battle has obtained so universal and gigantic a character. It has been turned
into an arbitrarily written version of time battle which ended in Hadding’s
defeat. Swedes, Goths, Norsemen, Curians, and Esthionians here fight omi
that side which, in the original model of the battle, was represented by the
hosts of Svipdag and Gudhorm ; Danes (few in number, according to Saxo),
Saxons (according to Saxo, time niain part of the army), Livonians, and Slays
fight on tIme other side. The fleets and armies are immense on both sides.
Shield-maids (amazons) occupy the position which in time original was held
by the giantesses Hardgrep,
* Compare the passage, Eirikr konungr fylkti svá lidi sinv, at rani (the swinesnout) var á framan á fylkinganni, ok lukt allt útan med skjaldbjorg, (Fornm., xi.
304), with the passage quoted in this connection : hildingr fylkti Hamalt lidi
miklu.
The saga of Sigurd Fafnersbane, which absorbed materials from all older
sagas, has also incorporated this episode. On a sea—journey Sigurd takes on
board a man who calls himself Hnikarr (a name of Odin). He advises him to
Fenja, and Menja. In the saga description produced in Christian times the
Bravalla battle is a ghost of the myth concerning the first great war. Therefore
the nannes of several of the heroes who take part in the battle are an echo
from the myth concerning the Teutonic patriarchs and the great war. There
appear Borgar and Behrgar the wise (Borgar), Haddir (Hadding), Ruthar
(Hrútr-Heimdal, see No. 28a), Od (Odr, a surname of Freyja’s husband,
Svipdag, see Nos. 96-98, 100, 101), Brahi (Brache, Asa-Bragr, see No. 102),
Gram (Halfdan), and Ingi (Yngve), all of which names we recognise from the
patriarch saga, but which, in the manner in which they are presented in the
new saga, show how arbitrarily the mythic records were treated at that time.
The myth has rightly described the wedge-shaped arrangement of the troops
as an ancient custom among the Teutons. Tacitus (Germ., 6) says that the
Teutons arranged their forces in the form of a wedge (acies per cuneos
componitur) , and Cæsar suggests the same (De Bell. Gall., i. 52 : Germani
celeriter cx consuetudine sua phalanga facta . . .). Thus our knowledge of this
custom as Teutonic extends back to the time before the birth of Christ.
Possibly it was then already centuries old. The Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen of the
Teutons had knowledge of it, and the Hindooic law-book, called Manus’,
ascribes to it divine sanctity and divine origin. On the geographical line which
unites Teutoadom with Asia it was also in vogue. According to Ælianus (De
insir. ac., 18), the wedge-shaped array of battle was known to the Scythians
and Thracians.
The statement that Harald Hildetand, son of Halfdan Borgarson, learned this
arrangement of the forces from Odin many centuries after he had taught the
art to Hadding, does not disprove, but on the contrary confirms, the theory that
Hadding, son of Halfdan Borgarson, was not only the first but also the only
one who received this instruction from the Asa-father. And as we now have
side by side the two statements, that Odin gave Hadding this means of
victory, and that Hamal was the first one who arranged his forces in the shape
of a wedge, then it is all the more necessary to assume that these statements
belong together, and that Hamal was Hadding s general, especially as we
have already seen that Hadding’s and Hamal’s families were united by the
sacred ties which connect foster-father with foster-son and foster-brother with
foster-brother.
43.
EVIDENCE THAT DIETERICH "OF BERN" IS HADDING. THE DIETERICH
SAGA THUS HAS ITS ORIGIN IN THE MYTH CONCERNING THE WAR
BETWEEN MANNUS-HALFIIAN’S SONS.
The appearance of Hamal and the Amalians on Hadding’s side ma the great
world war becomes a certainty from the fact that we discover among the
descendants of the continental Teutons a great cycle of sagas, all of whose
events are more or less intimately connected with the mythic kernel: that
Amalian heroes with unflinching fidelity supported a prince who already in the
tender years of his youth had been deprived of his share of his father’s
kingdom, and was obliged to take flight from the persecution of a kinsman and
his assistants to the far East, where he remained a long time, until after
various fortunes of war he was able to return, conquer, and take possession
of his paternal inheritance. And for this he was indebted to the assistance of
the brave Amalians. These are the chief points in the saga cycle about
Dieterich of Bern (þjódrekr, Thidrek, Theodericus), and the fortunes of the
young prince are, as we have thus seen, substantially the same as Hadding’s.
When we compare sagas preserved by the descendants of the Teutons of the
Continent with sagas handed down to us from Scandinavian sources, we must
constantly bear in mind that the great revolution which the victory of
Christianity over Odinism produced in the Teutonic world of thought, inasmuch
as it tore down the ancient mythical structure and applied the fragments that
were fit for use as material for a new saga structure—that this revolution
required a period of more than eight hundred years before it had conquered
the last fastnesses of the Odinic doctrine. On the one side of tbe slowly
advancing s between the two religions there developed and continued a
changing and transformation of the old sagas, the main purpose of which was
to obliterate all that contained too much flavour of heathendom and was
incompatible with Christianity; while, on the other side of the s of faith, the old
mythic songs, but little affected by the tooth of time, still continued to live in
their original form. Thus one might, to choose the nearest example at hand,
sing on the northern side of this faith-, where heathendom still prevailed,
about how Hadding, when the persecutions of Svipdag and his half-brother
Gudhorm compelled him to fly to the far East, there was protected by Odin,
and how he through him received the assistance of Hrútr-Heimdall; while the
Christians, on the south side of this , sang of how Dieterich, persecuted by a
brother and the protectors of the latter, was forced to take flight to the far East,
and how he was there received by a mighty king, who, as he could no longer
be Odin, must be the mightiest king in the East ever heard of—that is, Attila—
and how Attila gave him as protector a certain Rüdiger, whose very name
contains an echo of Ruther (Heimdal), who could not, however, be the white
Asa-god, Odin’s faithful servant, but must be changed into a faithful vassal
and " markgrave" under Attila. The Saxons were converted to Christianity by
fire and sword in the latter part of the eighth century. In the deep forests of
Sweden heathendom did not yield completely to Christianity before the twelfth
century. In the time of Saxo’s father there were still heathen communities in
Smaland on the Danish . It follows that Saxo must have received the songs
concerning the ancient Teutonic heroes in a far more original form than that in
which the same songs could be found in Germany.
Hadding means "the hairy one," "the fair-haired"; Dieterich (þjódrekr) means
"the ruler of the people," "the great ruler ". Both epithets belong to one and the
same saga character. Hadding is the epithet which belongs to him as a youth,
before he possessed a kingdom; Dieterich is the epithet which represents him
as the king of many Teutonic tribes. The Vilkinasaga says of him that he bad
an abundant and beautiful growth of hair, but that he never got a beard. This
is sufficient to explain the name Hadding, by which he was presumably
celebrated in song among all Teutonic tribes; for we have already seen that
Hadding is known in Anglo-Saxon poetry as Hearding, and, as we shall see,
the continental Teutons knew him not only as Dieterich, but also as Hartung. It
is also possible that the name "the hairy" has in the myth had the same
purport as the epithet "the fair-haired" has in the Norse account of Harald,
Norway’s first ruler, and that Hadding of the myth was the prototype of Harald,
when the latter made the vow to let his hair grow until he was king of all
Norway (Harald Har fager’s Saga, 4). The custom of not cutting hair or beard
before an exploit resolved upon was carried out was an ancient one among
the Teutons, and so common and so sacred that it must have had foothold
and prototype in the hero-saga. Tacitus mentions it (Germania, 31); so does
Paulus Diaconus (Hist., iii 7) and Gregorius of Tours (v. 15).
Although it had nearly ceased to be heard in the German saga cycle, still the
name Hartung has there left traces of its existence. "Anhang des
Heldenbuchs" mentions King Hartung aus Reüssenlant; that is to say, a King
Hartung who came from some land in the East. The poem "Rosengarten"
(variant D; cp. W. Grimm, D. Heldensage, 139, 253) also mentions Hartunc,
king von Riuzen. A comparison of the different versions of "Rosengarten" with
the poem "Dieterichs Flucht" shows that the name Hartung von Riuzen in the
course of time becomes Hartnit von Riuzen and Hertnit von Riuzen, by which
form of the name the hero reappears in Vilkinasaga as a king in Russia. If we
unite the scattered features contained in these sources about Hartung we get
the following main outlines of his saga:
(a) Hartung is a king and dwells in an eastern country (all the records).
(b) He is not, however, an independent ruler there, at least not in the
beginning, but is subject to Attila (who in the Dieterich’s saga has supplanted
Odin as chief ruler in the East). He is Attila’s man (" Dieterichs Flucht").
(c) A Swedish king has robbed him of his land and driven him into exile.
(d) The Swedish king is of the race of elves, and the chief of the same race as
the celebrated Velint—that is to say, Volund (Wayland)—belonged to
(Vilkinasaga). As shall be shown later (see Nos. 105, 109), Svipdag, the
banisher of Hadding, belongs to the same race. He is Volund’s nephew
(brother’s son).
(e) Hartung recovers, after the death of the Swedish conqueror, his own
kingdom, and also conquers that of the Swedish king (Vilkinasaga).
All these features are found in the saga of Hadding. Thus the original identity
of Hadding and Hartung is beyond doubt. We also find that Hartung, like
Dieterich, is banished from his country; that he fled, like him, to the East; that
he got, like
him, Attila the king of the East as his protector; that he thereupon returned,
conquered his enemies, and recovered his kingdom. Hadding’s, Hartung’s
and Dieterich’s sagas are, therefore, one and the same in root and in general
outline. Below it shall also be shown that the most remarkable details are
common to them all.
I have above (No. 42) given reasons why Hamal (Amala), the foster-brother of
Halfdan Borgarson, was Hadding’s assistant and general in the war against
his foes. The hero, who in the German saga has the same place under
Dieterich, is the aged "master" Hildebrand, Dieterich’s faithful companion,
teacher, and commander of his troops. Can it be demonstrated that what the
German saga tells about Hildebrand reveals threads that connect him with the
saga of the original patriarchs, and that not only his position as Dieterich’s
aged friend and general, but also his genealogy, refer to this saga ? And can
a satisfactory explanation be given of the reason why Hildebrand obtained in
the German Dieterich saga the same place as Hamal had in the old myth?
Hildebrand is, as his very name shows, a Hilding,* like Hildeger who appears
in the patriarch saga (Saxo, Hist.,356-359). Hildeger was, according to the
tradition in Saxo, the half-brother of Halfdan Borgarson. They bad the same
mother Drot, but not the same father; Hildeger counted himself a Swede on
his father’s side; Halfdan, Borgar’s son, considered himself as belonging to
the South Scandinavians and Danes, and hence the dying Hildeger sings to
Halfdan (Hisi., 357):
Danica te tellus, me Sveticus edidit orbis.
*In nearly all the names of members of this family, Hild- or -brand, appears as
a part of the compound word. All that the names appear to signify is that their
owners belong to the Hildiag race. Examples :—
1. Old High German: Herbrand – Hildebrand – Hadubrand.
2. Wolfdeiterich: Berchtung – Herbrand – Hildebrand.
3. Vilkinasaga: Hildebrand – Alebrand.
4. A Popular Song about Hildebrand: Hildebrand – The Younger Hildebrand.
5. Fundin Noregur: Hildir – Hildebrand – (a) Hildir (b) Herbrand.
6. Flateybook, i. 25: Hildir – Hildebrand – Vigbrand – (a) Hildir (b) Herbrand.
7. Asmund Kæmpbane’s Saga: Hildebrand – Helge – Hildebrand.
Drot tibi maternum, quondam distenderat vber; Hay gentitrici tibi pariter
collacteus exto.*
In the German tradition Hildebrand is the son of’ Herbrand. The Old High
German fragment of the song, about Hildebrand’s meeting with his son
Hadubrand, calls him Heribrantes sunu. Herbrand again is, according to the
poem "Wolfdieterich," Berchtung’s son (concerning Berchtung, see No. 6). In
a Norse tradition preserved by Saxo we find a Hilding (Hildeger) who is
Borgar’s stepson; in the Germami tradition we find a Hilding (Herbrand) who is
Borgar-Berchtung’s son. This already shows that the Gernian saga about
Hildebrand was originally connected with the patriarch saga about Borgar,
Halfdan, and Halfdan’s sons, and that the Hildings from the beginning were
akin to tIme Teutonic patriarchs. Borgar’s transformation froni stepfather to the
father of a Hilding shall be explained below.
Hildeger’s saga and Hildebrand’s are also related in subject niatter. The
fortunes of both the kinsmen are at the same time like each other amid the
antithesis of each other. Hildeger’s character is profoundly tragic; Hildebrand
is happy and secure. Hildeger complains iii his death-song in Saxo (cp.
Asmund Kæmpebane’s saga) that he has fought within and slain his own
beloved son. In the Old High German song-fragment Hildebrand seeks, after
his return from the East, his son Hadubrand, who believed that his father was
dead and calls Hildebrand a deceiver, who has taken the dead man’s name,
and forces him to fight a duel. The fragment ends before we learn the issue of
the duel; but Vilkinasaga and a ballad about Hildebrand have preserved the
tradition in regard to it. When the old "master" has demonstrated that his
Hadubrand is not yet equal to him in arms, father and son ride side by side in
peace and happiness to their home. Both the conflicts between father and
son, within the Hilding family, are pendants and each other’s antithesis.
Hildeger, who passionately loves war and combat, inflicts in his eagerness for
strife a deep
* Compare in Asmund Kæmpebane’s saga the words of the dying hero: dik
Drott of bar af Danmörku en mik sjálfan á Svidiodu.
wound in his own heart when he kills his own son. Hildebrand acts wisely,
prudently, and seeks to ward off and allay the son’s love of combat before the
duel begins, and he is able to end it by pressing his young opponent to his
paternal bosom. On the other hand, Hildeger’s conduct toward his half-brother
Halfdan, the ideal of a noble and generous enemy, and his last words to his
brother, who, ignorant of the kinship, has given hini the fatal wound, and
whose mantle the dying one wishes to wrap himself in (Asmund
Kæmpebane’s saga), is one of the touching scenes in the grand poems about
our earliest ancestors. It seems to have proclammed that blood revenge was
inadmissible, when a kinsman, without being aware of the kinship, slays a
kinsman, and when the latter before lie died declared his devotion to his
slayer. At all events we rediscover the aged Hildebrand as the teacher and
protector of the son of the same Halfdan who slew Hildeger, and not a word is
said about blood revenge between Halfdan’s and Hildeger’s descendants.
The kinship pointed out between the Teutonic patriarchs and the Hildings has
not, however, excluded a relation of subordination of the latter to the former.
In " Wolfdieterich" Hildebrand’s father receives land and fief from Dieterich’s
grandfather and carries his banner in war. Hildebrand himself performs toward
Dieterich those duties which are due from a foster-father, which, as a rule,
show a relation of subordination to the real father of the foster-son. Among the
kindred families to which Dieterich and Hildebrand belong there was the same
difference of nank as between those to which Hadding and Hamal belong.
Hamal’s father Hagal was Halfdan’s foster-father, and, to judge from this,
occupied the position of a subordinate friend toward Halfdan’s father Borgar.
Thus Halfdan and Hamal were foster-brothers, and from this it follows that
Hamal, if he survived Halfdan, was bound to assume a foster-father’s duties
towards the latter’s son Hadding, who was not yet of age. Hamal’s relation to
Hadding is therefore entirely analagous to Hildebrand’s relation to Dieterich.
The pith of that army which attached itself to Dieterich are Amelungs,
Amalians (see " Biterolf ") ; that is to say, members of Hamal’s race. The
oldest and most important hero, the pith of the pith, is old master Hildebrand
himself, Dieterich’s foster-father and general. Persons who in the German
poems have names which refer to their Amalian birth are by Hildebrand
treated as members of a clan are treated by a clan-chief. Thus Hildebrand
brings from Sweden a princess, Amalgart, and gives her as wife to a son of
Amelolt serving among Dieterich’s Amelungs, and to Amelolt Hildebrand has
already given his sister for a wife.
The question as to whether we find threads which connect the Hildebrand of
the German poem with the saga of the mythic patriarchs, and especially with
the Hamal (Amala) who appears in this saga, has now been answered.
Master Hildebrand has in the German saga-cycle received the position and
the tasks which originally belonged to Hamal, the progenitor of the Amalians.
The relation between the kindred families—the patriarch family, the Hilding
family, and the Amal family—has certainly been just as distinctly pointed out in
the German saga- cycle as in time Norse before the German met with a crisis,
which to sonie extent confused the old connection. This crisis came when
Hadding-þjódrekr of the ancient myth was confounded with the historical king
of the East Goths, Theoderich. The East Goth Theoderich counted himself as
belonging to the Anmal family, which had grown out of tIme soil of the myth.
He was, accordimig to Jordanes (De Goth. Orig., 14), a son of Thiudemer,
who traced his ancestry to Amal (Hamal), son of Augis (Hagal).* The result of
the confusion was:
(a) That Hadding-þjódrekr became the son of Thiudemer, and that his descent
from the Teuton patriarchs was cut off.
(b) That Hadding-þjódrekr himself became a descendant of Hamal, whereby
tIne distinction between this race of rulers—the line of Teutonic patriarchs
begun with Ruther Heimdal—together with the Amal family, friendly but
subject to the Hadding family, and the Hilding family was partly obscured and
partly abolished. Dieterich himself became an "Amelung " like several of his
heroes.
(c) That when Hamal thus was changed from an elder contemporary of
Hadding-þjódrekr into his earliest progenitor, separated from him by several
generations of time, he could no longer serve as Dieterich’s foster-father and
general; but this vocation had to be transferred to master Hildebrand, who
also in the myth must have been closely connected with Hadding, and,
together with Hamal, one of his chief and constant helpers.
* The texts of Jordanes often omit the aspirate and write Eruli for Heruli, &c. In
regard to the name-form Amal, Closs remarks, in his edition of 1886 : AMAL,
sic. Ambr. cum Epit. et Pall, nisi quod hi Hamal aspirate.
(d) That Borgar-Berchtung, who in the myth is the grandfather of Haddingþjódrekr, must, as he was not an Amal, resign this dignity and confine himself
to being the progenitor of the Hildings. As we have seen, he is in Saxo the
progenitor of the Hilding Hildeger.
Another result of Hadding-þjórekr’s confusion with the historical Theoderich
was that Dieterich’s kingdom, and the scene of various of his exploits, was
transferred to Italy: to Verona (Bern), Ravenna (Raben), &c. Still the strong
stream of the ancient myths became master of the confused historical
increments, so that the Dieterich of the saga has but little in common with the
historical Theoderich.
After the dissemination of Christianity, the hero saga of the Teutonic myths
was cut off from its roots in the mythology, and hence this confusion was
natural and necessary. Popular tradition, in which traces were found of the
historical Theoderich-Dieterich, was no longer able to distinguish the one
Dieterich from the other. A writer acquainted with the chronicle of Jordanes
took the last step and made Theoderich’s father Thiudemer the father of the
mythic Hadding-þjódrekr.
Nor did the similarity of names alone encourage this blending of the persons.
There was also another reason. The historical Theoderich had fought against
Odoacer. The mythic Haddingþjódrekr had warred with Svipdag, the husband
of Freyja, who also bore the name Ódr and Ottar (see Nos. 96-100). The latter
name-form corresponds to the English and German Otter, the Old High
German Otar, a name which suggested the historical Otacher (Odoacer). The
Dieterich and Otacher of historical traditions became identified with þjódrekr
and Ottar of mythical traditions.
As the Hadding-þjódrekr of mythology was in his tender youth exposed to the
persecutions of Ottar, and had to take flight froni them to the far East, so the
Dieterich of the historical saga also had to suffer persecutions in his tender
youth from Otacher, and take flight, accompanied by his faithful Amalians, to a
kingdom in the East. Accordingly, Hadubrand says of his father Hildebrand,
that, when he betook himself to the East with Dieterich, fioh her’ Otachres nîd,
"he fled from Otacher’s hate ". Therefore, Otacher soon disappears from the
German saga-cycle, for SvipdagOttar perishes and disappears in the myth,
long before Hadding’s victory and restoration to his father’s power (see No.
106.)
Odin and Heimdal, who then, according to the myth, dwelt in the East and
there became the protectors of Hadding, must, as heathen deities, be
removed from the Christian saga, and be replaced as best they could by
others. The famous ruler in the East, Attila, was better suited than anyone
else to take Odin’s place, though Attila was dead before Theoderich was born.
RutherHeimdal was, as we have already seen, changed into Rudiger.
The myth made Hadding dwell in tIme East for many years (see above). The
tea-year rule of the Vans in Asgard must end, and many other events must
occur before the epic connection of the myths permitted Hadding to return as
a victor. As a result of this, the saga of "Dieterich of Bern" also lets him remain
a long time with Attila. An old English song preserved in the Exeter
manuscript, makes Theodric remain þrittig wintra in exile at Mæringaburg. The
song about Hildebrand and Hadubrand make him remain in exile, sumarô enti
wintrô sehstic, and Vilkinasaga makes him sojourn in the East thirty-two
years.
Mæringaburg of the Anglo-Saxon poem is the refuge which Odin opened for
his favourite, and where the former dwelt during his exile in the East.
Mæringaburg means a citadel inhabited by noble, honoured, and splendid
persons: compare the Old Norse mæringr. But the original meaning of mærr,
Old German mâra, is "glittering" "shining" "pure," and it is possible that, before
mæringr received its general signification of a famous, honoured, noble man,
it was used in the more special sense of a man descended from "the shining
one," that is to say, froni Heimdal through Borgar. However this may be, these
"mæringar" have, in the Anglo-Saxon version of the Hadding saga, had their
antitheses in the "baningar," that is, the men of Loki-Bicke (Bekki). This
appears from the expi’ession Bekka veóld Baningum, in Codex Exoniensis.
The Banings are no more than the Mærings, an historical name. The
interpretation of the word is to be sought in the Anglo-Saxon bana, the English
bane. The Banings means " the destroyers," the corrupters," a suitable
appellation of those who follow the source of pest, time all-corrupting Loki. In
time Germani poems, Mæringaburg is changed to Meran, and BorgarBerchtung (Hadding's grandfather in the myth) is Duke of Meran. It is his
fathers who have gone to the gods that Hadding finds again with Odin and
Heimdal in the East.
Despite the confusion of the histomical Theoderich with the mythic Haddingþjódrekr, a tradition has been handed down within the German saga-cycle to
the effect that "Dieterich of Bern" belonged to a genealogy which Christianity
had anathematised. Two of the German Dieterich poems, "Nibelunge Noth"
and Klage," refrain from mentioning the ancestors of their hero. Wilhelm
Grimm suspects that the reason for this is that the authors of these poems
knew something about Dieterich’s descent, which they could not relate without
wounding Christian ears; and he reminds us that, when in the Vilkinasaga
Thidrek (Dieterich) teases Högne (Hagen) by calling him the son of arm elf,
Högne answers that Thidrek has a still worse descent, as he is the son of the
devil himself. The matter, which in Grimm’s eyes is mystical, is explained by
the fact that Hadding-þjódrekr’s father in the myth, Halfdan Borgarson, was
supposed to be descended from Thor, and in his capacity of a Teutonic
patriarch lie had received divine worship (see Nos. 23 and 30). Anhang des
Heldenbuchs says that Dieterich was the son of a "böser geyst ".
It has already been stated (No. 38) that Hadding from Odin received a drink
which exercised a wonderful influence upon his physical nature. It made him
recreatum vegetiori corporis firmitate, and, thanks to it and to the incantation
sung over him by Odin, he was able to free himself from the chains afterwards
put on him by Loki. It has also been pointed out that this drink contained
something called Leifner’s or Leifin’s flames. There is every reason for
assuming that these "flames" had the effect of enabling the person who had
partaken of the potion of Leifner’s flames to free himself from his chains with
his own breath. Groa (Groagalder, 10) gives her son Svipdag " Leifner’s fires
in order that if he is chained, his enchanted limbs may be liberated (ek læt der
Leifnis elda fyr kredinn legg). The record of the giving of this gift to Hadding
meets us in the German saga, in the form that Dieterich was able with his
breath to burn the fetters laid upon him (see "Laurin "), nay, when lie became
angry, he could breathe fire and make the cuirass of his opponent red-hot.
The traditiorn that Hadding by eating, on the advice of Odin, the heart of a wild
beast (Saxo says of a lion) gained extraordinary strength, is also preserved in
the form, that when Dieterich was in distress, God sent him eines löwen kraffi
von herezenlichen zoren (" Ecken Ausfarth ").
Saxo relates that Hadding on one occasion was invited to descend into the
lower world and see its strange things (see No. 47). The heathen lower world,
with its fields of bliss and places of torture, became in the Christian mind
synonymous with hell. Hadding’s descent to the lower world, together with the
mythic account of his journey through the air on Odin’s horse Sleipner, were
remembered in Christian times in the form that he once on a black diabolical
horse rode to hell. This explains the remarkable dénouement of the Dieterich
saga; namely, that he, the magnanimous and celebrated hero, was captured
by the devil. Otto of Friesingen (first half of the twelfth century) states that
Theodoricus vivus equo sedens ad inferos descendit. The Kaiser chronicle
says that "many saw that the devils took Dieterich and carried him into the
mountain to Vulcan ".
In Saxo we read that Hadding once while bathing had an adventure which
threatened him with the most direful revenge from the gods (see No. 106).
Manuscripts of the Vilkinasaga speak of a fateful bath which Thidrek took, and
connects it with his journey to hell. While the hero was bathing there came a
black horse, the largest and stateliest ever seen. The king wrapped himself in
his bath towel and mounted the horse. He found, too late, that the steed was
the devil, and he disappeared for ever.
Saxo tells that Hadding made war on a King Handuanus, who had concealed
his treasures in the bottom of a lake, and who was obliged to ransom his life
with a golden treasure of the same weight as his body (Hist., 41, 42, 67).
Handuanus is a Latinised form of the dwarf name Andvanr, Andvani. The
Sigurd saga has a record of this event, and calls the dwarf Andvari (Sig. Fafn.,
ii.) The German saga is also able to tell of a war which Dieterich waged
against a dwarf king. The war has furnished the materials for the saga of
"Laurin ". Here, too, the conquered dwarf-king’s life is spared, amid Dieterich
gets possession of many of his treasures.
In the German as in the Norse saga, Hadding-þjódrekr's rival to secure the
crown was his brother, supported by Otacher-Ottar (Svipdag). The tradition in
regard to this, which agrees with the myth, was known to the author of
Anhang des Heldenbuchs. But already in an early day the brother was
changed into uncle on account of the intermixing of historical reminiscences.
The brother’s name in the Norse tradition is Gudhormr, in the German
Ermenrich (Ermanaricus). Ermenrich, Jörmunrekr means, like þjódrekr, a ruler
over many people, a great king. Jordanes already has confounded the mythic
Jörmunrekr-Gudhormr with the historical Gothic King Hermanaricus, whose
kingdom was destroyed by the Huns, and has applied to him the saga of
Svanhild and her brothers Sarus (Sörli) and Ammius (Hamdir), a saga which
originally was connected with that of the mythic Jörmunrek. The Sigurd epic,
which expanded with plunder from all sources, has added to the confusion by
annexing this saga.
In the Roman authors the form Herminones is found by the side of Hermiones
as the name of one of the three Teutonic tribes which descended from
Mannus. It is possible, as already indicated, that -horm in Gudhorm is
connected with the form Hermio, and it is probable, as already pointed out by
several linguists, that the Teutonic irmin (jörmun, Goth. airmana) is
linguistically connected with the word Hermino. In that case, the very names
Gudhormr and Jörmunrekr already point as such to the mythic progenitor of
the Hermiones, Herminones, just as Yngve-Svipdag’s name points to the
progenitor of the Ingvæones (Ingævones), and possibly also Hadding’s to that
of the Istævones (see No. 25). To the name Hadding corresponds, as already
shown, the Anglo-Saxon Hearding, the old German Hartung. The Hasdingi
(Asdingi) mentioned by Jordanes were the chief warriors of the Vandals
(Goth. Or’ig., 22), and there may be a mythic reason for rediscovering this
family name among an East Teutonic tribe (the Vandals), since Haddiag,
according to the myth, had his support among the East Teutonic tribes. To the
form Hasdingi (Goth. Hazdiggós) the words istævones, istvæones, might
readily enough correspond, provided the vowel i in the Latin form can be
harmonised with a in the Teutonic. That the vowel i was an uncertain element
may be seen from the genealogy in Codex La Cava, which calls Istævo
Ostius, Hostius.
As to geography, both the Roman and Teutonic records agree that the
northern Teutonic tribes were Ingævones. In the myths they are
Scandiniavians and neighbours to the Ingævones. In the Beowulf poem the
king of the Danes is called codor’ Inguina, the protection of the Ingævones,
and freâ Inguina, the lord of the Ingævones. Tacitus says that they live
nearest to the ocean (Germ., 2); Pliny says that Cimbrians, Teutons, and
Chaucians were Ingævones (Hist. Nat., iv. 28). Pomponius Mela says that the
land of the Cimbrians and Teutons was washed by the Codan bay (iii. 3). As
to the Hermiones and Istævones, the former dwelt along the middle Rhine,
and of the latter, who are the East Teutons of niythology, several tribes had
already before the time of Pliny pressed forward south of the Hermiones to
this river.
The German saga-cycle has preserved the tradition that in the first great battle
in which Hadding-þjódrekr measured his strength with the North and West
Tentons he suffered a great defeat. This is openly avowed in the Dieterich
poem "die Klage ". Those poems, on the other hand, which out of sympathy
for their hero give him victory in this battle (" the Raben battle ") nevertheless
in fact acknowledge that such was not the case, for they niake him return to
the East after the battle and remain there many years, robbed of his crown,
before he niakes his second and successful attempt to regain his kingdom.
Thus the "Raben battle" corresponds to the mythic battle in which Hadding is
defeated by Ingævones and Hermiones. Besides the "Raben battle" has from
a Teutonic standpoint a trait of universality, and the German tradition has
upon the whole faithfully, and in harmony with the myth, grouped the allies
and heroes of the hostile brothers. Dieterich is supported by East Teutonic
warriors, and by non-Teutonic people froni the East—from Poland, Wallachia,
Rnissia, Greece, &c.; Ermenrich, on the other hand, by chiefs from Thuringia,
Swabia, Hessen, Saxony, tIme Netherlands, England, and the North, and,
above all, by the Burgundians, who in the genealogy in the St. Gaelen Codex
are counted among the Hermiones, and in the genealogy in the La Cava
Codex are counted with the Ingævones. For the mythic descent of the
Burgundian dynasty froni an uncle of Svipdag I shall present evidence in my
chapters on the Ivalde race.
The original identity of Hadding’s and Dieterich’s sagas, and their descent
from the myth concerning the earliest antiquity amid the patriarchs, I now
regard as demonstrated and established. The war between Hadding-Dieterich
and Gudhorm-Ermenrich is identical with the conflict begun by Yngve-Svipdag
between the tribes of the Ingævones, Hermiones, and Istævones. It has also
been demonstrated that Halfdan, Gudhorm’s, and Hadding’s father, and
Yngve-Svipdag’s stepfather, is identical with Mannus. One of the results of
this investigation is, therefore, that the songs about Mannus and his sons,
ancient already in the days of Tacitus, have, more or less influenced by the
centuries, continued to live far down in the middle ages, and that, not the
songs themselves, but the main features of their’ contents, have been
preserved to our time, and should again be incorporated in our mythology
together with the myth in regard to the primeval tinie, the niain outline of which
has been restored, and the final episode of which is the first great war in the
world.
The Norse-Icelandic school, which accepted and developed the learned
hypothesis of the middle age in regard to the immigration of Odin and his
Asiamen, is to blame that the myth, in many respects important, in regard to
the olden time and its events in the world of gods and men—among Aryan
myths one of the most important, either from a scientific or poetic point of
view, that could be handed down to our time—was thrust aside and forgotten.
The learned hypothesis and the ancient myth could not be harmonised. For
that reason the latter had to yield. Nor was there anything in this myth that
particularly appealed to the Norse national feeling, and so could claim mercy.
Norway is not at all named in it. Scania, Denmark, Svithiod (Sweden), and
continental Teutondom are the scene of the mythic events. Among the many
causes co-operating in Christian times, in giving what is now called "Norse
mythology" its present character, there is not one which has contributed so
much as the rejection of this myth toward giving "Norse mythology" the stamp
which it hitherto has borne of a narrow, illiberal town mythology, which, built
chiefly on the foundation of the Younger Edda, is, as shall be shown in the
presenit work, in many respects a caricature of the real Norse, amid at the
same time in its main outlines Teutonic, mythology. In regard to the ancient
Aryan elements in the myth here presented, see Nos. 82 and 111.
II.
THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE LOWER WORLD.
44.
MIDDLE AGE SAGAS WITH ROOTS IN THE MYTH CONCERNING THE
LOWER WORLD. ERIK VIDFORLE’S SAGA.
FAR down in Christian times there prevailed among the Scandinavians the
idea that their heathen ancestors had believed in the existence of a place of
joy, from which sorrow, pain, blemishes, age, sickness, and death were
excluded. This place of joy was called Ódáinsakr, the-acre-of-the-not-dead,
Jörd lifanda manna, the earth of living men. It was situated not in heaven but
below, either on the surface of the earth or in the lower world, but it was
separated froni the lands inhabited by men in such a manner that it was not
impossible, but nevertheless exceeding perilous, to get there.
A saga from the fourteenth century incorporated in Flateybook, and with a few
textual modifications in Fornald. Saga, iii., tells the following:
Erik, the son of a petty Norse king, one Christmas Eve, made the vow to seek
out Odainsaker, and the fame of it spread over all Norway. In conipany with a
Danish prince, who also was named Erik, he betook himself first to Miklagard
(Constantinople), where the king engaged the young men in his service, and
was greatly benefited by their warlike skill. One day the king talked with the
Norwegian Erik about religion, and the result was that the latter surrendered
tIme faith of his ancestors amid accepted baptisni. He told his royal teacher of
the vow he had taken to find Odinsaker,— "frá huorcum heyrdi vér sagt a voru
landi,"—and asked him if he knew where it was situated. The king believed
that Odainsaker was identical with Paradise, and said it lies in the East
beyond the farthest boundaries of India, but that no one was able to get there
because it was enclosed by a fire-wall, which aspires to heaven itself. Still Erik
was bound by his vow, and with his Danish namesake he set out on his
journey, after the king had instructed them as well as he was able in regard to
the way, and had given them a letter of recommendation to the authorities and
princes through whose territories they had to pass. They travelled through
Syria and the immense and wonderful India, and came to a dark country
where the stars are seen all day long. After having traversed its deep forests,
they saw when it began to grow light a river, over which there was a vaulted
stone bridge. On the other side of the river there was a plain, from which
came sweet fragrance. Erik conjectured that the river was the one called by
the king in Miklagard Pison, and which rises in Paradise. On the stone bridge
lay a dragon with wide open mouth. The Danish prince advised that they
return, for he considered it impossible to conquer the dragon or to pass it. But
the Norwegian Erik seized one of his men by one hand, and rushed with his
sword in the other against the dragon. They were seen to vanish between the
jaws of the monster. With the other companions the Danish prince then
returned by the sanie route as he had come, and after many years he got
back to his native land.
When Erik and his fellow-countryman had been swallowed by the dragon,
they thought themselves enveloped in smoke; but it was scattered, and they
were unharmed, and saw before them the great plain lit up by the sun and
covered with flowers. There flowed rivers of honey, the air was still, but just
above the ground were felt breezes that conveyed the fragrance of the
flowers. It is never dark in this country, and objects cast no shadow. Both the
adventurers went far into the country in order to find, if possible, inhabited
parts. But the country seenied to be uninhabited. Still they discovered a tower
in the distance. They continued to travel in that direction, and on conning
nearer they found that the tower was suspended in the air, without foundation
or pillars. A ladder led up to it. Within the tower there was a room, carpeted
with velvet, and there stood a beautiful table with delicious food in silver
dishes, and wine in golden goblets. There were also splendid beds. Both the
men were now convinced that they had come to Odainsaker, and they
thanked God that they had reached their destination. They refreshed
themselves and laid themselves to sleep. While Erik slept there came to him a
beautiful lad, who called him by name, and said he was one of the angels who
guarded the gates of Paradise, and also Erik’s guardian angel, who had been
at his side when he vowed to go in search of Odainsaker. He asked whether
Erik wished to remain where he now was or to return home. Erik wished to
return to report what he had seen. The angel informed him that Odainsaker, or
jörd lifanda manna, where he now was, was not the same place as Paradise,
for to the latter only spirits could come, and the hand of the spirits, Paradise,
was so glorious that, in comparison, Odainsaker seemed. like a desert. Still,
these two regions are on each other’s s, and the river which Erik had seen
has its source in Paradise. The angel permitted the two travellers to remain in
Odainsaker for six days to rest themselves. Then they returned by way of
Miklagard to Norway, and there Erik was called vid-förli, the far-travelled.
In regard to Erik’s genealogy, the saga states (Fornald. Saga, iii. 519) that his
father’s name was Thrand, that his aunt (mother’s sister) was a certain
Svanhvit, and that he belonged to the race of Thjasse’s daughter Skade.
Further on in the domain of the real myth, we shall discover an Erik who
belongs to Thjasse’s family, and whose mother is a swan-maid (goddess of
growth). This latter Erik also succeeded in seeing Odainsaker (see Nos. 102,
103).
45.
MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (continued). ICELANDIC SOURCES IN REGARD TO
GUDMUND, KING ON THE GLITTERING PLAINS.
In the saga of Hervor, Odainsaker is mentioned, and there without any visible
addition of Christian elements. Gudmund (Godmundr) was the name of a king
in Jotunheim. His home was called Grund, but the district in which it was
situated was called the Glittering Plains (Glæsisvellir). He was wise and
mighty, and in a heathen sense pious, and he and his men became so old
that they lived many generations. Therefore, the story continues, the heathens
believed that Odainsaker was situated in his country. "That place
(Odainsaker) is for everyone who comes there so healthy that sickness and
age depart, and no one ever dies there."
According to the saga-author, Jotunheim is situated north from Halogaland,
along the shores of Gandvik. The wise and mighty Gudmund died after he had
lived half a thousand years. After his death the people worshipped him as a
god, and offered sacrifices to him.
The same Gudmund is mentioned in Herrod’s and Bose’s saga as a ruler of
the Glittering Plains, who was very skilful in the magic arts. The Glittering
Plains are here said to be situated near Bjarmaland, just as in Thorstein
Bæarmagn’s saga, in which king Gudmund’s kingdom, Glittering Plains, is a
country tributary to Jotunheim, whose ruler is Geirrod.
In the history of Olaf Trygveson, as it is given in Flateybook, the following
episode is incorporated. The Northman Helge Thoreson was sent on a
commercial journey to the far North on the coast of Finmark, but he got lost in
a great forest. There he met twelve red-clad young maidens on horseback,
and the horses’ trappings shone like gold. The chief one of the maidens was
Ingeborg, the daughter of Gudmund on the Glittering Plains. The young
maidens raised a splendid tent and set a table with dishes of silver and gold.
Helge was invited to remain, and he stayed three days with Ingeborg. Then
Gudmund’s daughters got ready to leave; but before they parted Helge
received from Ingeborg two chests full of gold and silver. With these he
returned to his father, but mentioned to nobody how he had obtained them.
The next Yule night there came a great storm, during which two men carried
Helge away, none knew whither. His sorrowing father reported this to Olaf
Trygveson. The year passed. Then it happened at Yule that Helge came in to
the king in the hall, and with him two strangers, who handed Olaf two goldplated horns. They said they were gifts from Gudmund on the Glittering
Plains. Olaf filled the horns with good drink and handed them to the
messengers. Mean. while he had commanded the bishop who was present to
bless the drink. The result was that the heathen beings, who were Gudniund’s
messengers, cast the horns away, and at the same time there was great noise
and confusion in the hall. The fire was extinguished, and Gudmund’s men
disappeared with Helge, after having slain three of King Olaf’s men. Another
year passed. Then there came to the king two men, who brought Helge with
them, and disappeared again. Helge was at that time blind. The king asked
him many questions, and Helge explained that he had spent most happy days
at Gudmund’s; but King Olaf’s prayers had at length made it difficult for
Gudmund and his daughter to retain him, and before his departure Ingeborg
picked his eyes out, mn order that Norway’s daughters should not fall in love
with them. With his gifts Gudmund bad intended to deceive King Olaf; but
upon the whole Helge had nothing but good to report about this heathen.
46.
MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (continued). SAXO CONCERNING THIS SAME
GUDMUND, RULER OF THE LOWER WORLD.
Saxo, the Danish historian, also knows Gudmund. He relates (Hist. Dan., viii.)
that King Gorm had resolved to find a mysterious country in regard to which
there were many reports in the North. Incredible treasures were preserved in
that land. A certain Gemthus, known in the traditions, dwelt there, but the way
thither was full of dangers and well-nigh inaccessible for mortals. They who
had any knowledge of the situation of the land insisted that it was necessary
to sail across the ocean surrounding the earth, leave sun and stars behind,
and make a journey sub Chao, before reaching the land which is deprived of
the light of day, and over whose mountains and valleys darkness broods. First
there was a perilous voyage to be made, and then a journey in the lower
world. With the experienced sailor Thorkillus as his guide, King Gorm left
Denmark with three ships and a numerous company, sailed past Halogaland,
and came, after strange adventures on his way, to Bjarmaland, situated
beyond the known land of the same name, and anchored near its coast. In
this Bjan’mia ulterior it is always cold; to its snow-clad fields there comes no
summer warmth, through its deep wild forests flow rapid foaming rivers which
well forth from the rocky recesses, and the woods are full of wild beasts, the
like of which are unknown elsewhere. The inhabitants are monsters with
whom it is dangerous for strangers to enter into conversation, for from
unconsidered words they get power to do harm. Therefore Thorkillus was to
do the talking alone for all his companions. The place for anchoring he had
chosen in such a manner that they thence had the shortest journey to
Geruthus. In the evening twilight the travellers saw a man of unusual size
coming to meet them, and to their joy he gm’eeted them by name. Thorkillus
informed them that they should regard the coming of this man as a good
omen, for he was the brother of Geruthus, Guthmundus, a friendly person and
the most faithful protector in peril. When Thorkillus had explained the
perpetual silence of his companions by saying that they were too bashful to
enter into conversation with one whose language they did not understand,
Guthmundus invited them to be his guests and led them by paths down along
a river. Then they came to a place where a golden bridge was built across the
river. The Danes felt a desire to cross the bridge and visit the land on the
other side, but Guthmundus warned them that nature with the bed of this
stream has drawn a line between the human and superhuman and
mysterious, and that the ground on the other side was by a sacred order
proclaimed unlawful for the feet of mortals.* They therefore continued the
march on that side of the river on which they had hitherto gone, and so came
to the mysterious dwelling of Guthmundus, where a feast was spread before
them, at which twelve of his sons, all of noble appearance, and as many
daughters, most fair of face, waited upon them.
But the feast was a peculiar one. The Danes heeded the advice of Thorkillus
not to come into too close contact with their strange table-companions or the
servants, and instead of tasting the courses presented of food and drink, they
ate and drank of the provisions they had taken with them from home. This
they did because Thorkillus knew that mortals who accept the courtesies here
offered them lose all memory of the past and remain for ever among "these
non-human and dismal beings". Danger threatened even those who were
weak in reference to the enticing loveliness of the daughters of Guthmundus.
He offered King Gorm a daughter in marriage. Gorm himself was prudent
enough to decline the honour; but four of his men could not resist the
temptation, and had to pay the penalty with the loss of their memory and with
enfeebled minds.
* Cujus transeundi cupidos revocavit, doceas, eo alveo humana a monstrosis
rerum secrevisse naturam, nec mortalibus ultra fas esse vestigiis.
One more trial awaited them. Guthmnundus mentioned to the king that he had
a villa, and invited Gorm to accompany hinn thither and taste of the delicious
fruits. Thorkillus, who had a talent for inventing excuses, now found one for
the king’s lips. The host, though displeased with the reserve of the guests, still
continued to show them friendliness, and when they expressed their desire to
see the domain of Geruthus, he accompanied them all to the river, conducted
them across it, and promised to wait there until they returned.
The land which they now entered was the home of terrors. They had not gone
very far before they discovered before them a city, which seemed to be built of
dark mists. Human heads were raised on stakes which surrounded the
bulwarks of the city. Wild dogs, whose rage Thorkillus, however, knew how to
calm, kept watch outside of the gates. The gates were located high up in the
bulwark, and it was necessary to climb up on ladders in order to get to them.
Within the city was a crowd of beings horrible to look at and to hear, and filth
and rottenness and a terrible stench were everywhere. Further in was a sort of
mountain-fastness. When they had reached its entrance the travellers were
overpowered by its awful aspect, but Thorkillus inspired them with courage. At
the same tinie he warned them most strictly not to touch any of the treasures
that might entice their eyes. All that sight and soul can conceive as terrible
and loathsome was gathered within this rocky citadel. The door-frames were
covered with the soot of centuries, the walls were draped with filth, the roofs
were composed of sharp stings, the floors were made of serpents encased in
foulness. At the thresholds crowds of monsters acted as doorkeepers and
were very noisy. On iron benches, surrounded by a hurdle-work of lead, there
lay giant monsters which looked like lifeless images. Higher up in a rocky
niche sat the aged Geruthus, with his body pierced and nailed to the rock, and
there lay also three women with their backs broken. Thorkillus explained that it
was this Geruthus whom the god Thor had pierced with a red-hot iron; the
women had also received their punishment from the same god.
When the travellers left these places of punishment they came to a place
where they saw cisterns of mead (dolia) in great numhers. These were plated
with seven sheets of gold, and above theni hung objects of silver, round as to
form, froni which shot numerous braids down into the cisterns. Near by was
found a gold-plated tooth of some strange animal, and near it, again, there lay
an immense horn decorated with pictures and flashing with precious stones,
and also an arm-ring of great size. Despite the warnings, three of Gorm’s men
laid greedy bands on these works of art. But the greed got its reward. The
arm-ring changed into a venomous serpent; the horn into a dragon, which
killed their robbers; the tooth became a sword, which pierced the heart of him
who bore it.
The others who witnessed the fate of their comrades expected that they too,
although innocent, should nieet with some misfortune. But their anxiety
seemed unfounded, and when they looked about them again they found the
entrance to another treasury, which contained a wealth of immense weapons,
among which was kept a royal mantle, together with a splendid head-gear and
a belt, the finest work of art. Thorkillus himself could not govern his greed
when he saw these robes. He took hold of the mantle, and thus gave the
signal to the others to plunder. But then the building shook in its foundations;
the voices of shrieking women were heard, who asked if these robbers were
longer to be tolerated; beings which hitherto had been lying as if half-dead or
lifeless started up and joined other spectres who attacked the Danes. The
latter would all have lost their lives had not their retreat been covered by two
excellent archers whom Gorm had with him. But of the men, nearly three
hundred in number, with whom the king had ventured into this part of the
lower world, there remained only twenty when they finally reached the river,
where Guthmundus, true to his promise, was waiting for theni, and carried
them in a boat to his own domain. Here he proposed to them that they should
remain, but as he could not persuade them, he gave them presents amid let
them return to their ships in safety the same way as they had come.
47.
MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (continued). FJALLERUS AND HADINGUS
(HADDING) IN THE LOWER WORLD.
Two other Danish princes have, according to Saxo, been pernutted to see a
subterranean world, or Odainsaker. Saxo calls the one Fjallerus, and makes
him a sub-regent in Scania. The question who this Fjallerus was in the
mythology is discussed in another part of this work (see No. 92). According to
Saxo he wa banished from the realm by King Amlethus, the son of Horven
dillus, and so retired to Undensakre (Odainsaker), "a place which is unknown
to our people" (Hist. Dan., iv.)
The other of these two is King Hadingus (Hist. Dan., i.), the above-mentioned
Hadding, son of Halfdan. One winter’s day while Hadding sat at the hearth,
there rose out of the ground the form of a woman, who had her lap full of
cowbanes, and showed them as if she was about to ask whether the king
would like to see that part of the world where, in the midst of winter, so fresh
flowers could bloom. Hadding desired this. Then she wrapped him in her
mantle and carried him away down into the lower world. "The gods of the
lower world," says Saxo, "must have determined that he should be transferred
living to those places, which are not to be sought until after death." In the
beginning the journey was through a territory wrapped in darkness, fogs, and
mists. Then Hadding perceived that they proceeded along a path "which is
daily trod by the feet of walkers ". The path led to a river, in whose rapids
spears and other weapons were tossed about, and over which there was a
bridge. Before reaching this river Hadding had seen from the path he travelled
a region in which "a few" or "certain" (quidam), but very noble beings
(proceres) were walking, dressed in beautiful frocks and purple mantles.
Thence the woman brought him to a plain which glittered as in sunshine (loca
aprica, translation of "The Glittering Plains "), and there grew the plants which
she had shown him. This was one side of’ the river. On the other side there
was bustle and activity. There Hadding saw two armmes engaged in battle.
They were, his fair guide explained to him, the souls of warriors who had
fallen in battle, and now imitated the sword-games they had played on earth.
Continuing their journey, they reached a place surrounded by a wall, which
was difficult to pass through or to surmount. Nor did the woman make any
effort to enter there, either alone or with him: "It would not have been possible
for the smallest or thinnest physical being ". They therefore returned the way
they had come. But before this, and while they stood near the wall, the woman
denionstrated to Hadding by an experiment that the walled place had a
strange nature. She jerked the head off a chicken which she had taken with
her, and threw it over the wall, but the head came back to the neck of the
chicken, and with a distinct crow it announced "that it had regained its life and
breath ".
48.
MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (continued). A FRISIAN SAGA IN ADAM OF BREMEN.
The series of traditions above narrated in regard to Odainsaker, the Glittering
Plains, and their ruler Gudmund, and also in regard to the neighbouring
domains as habitations of the souls of the dead, extends, so far as the age of
their recording in writing is concerned, through a period of considerable
length. The latest cannot be referred to arm earlier date than the fourteenth
century; the oldest were put in writing toward the close of the twelfth. Saxo
began working on his history between the years 1179 and 1186. Thus these
literary evidences span about two centuries, and stop near the threshold of
heathendom. The generation to which Saxo’s father belonged witnessed the
crusade which Sigurd the Crusader made in Eastern Smaland, in whose
forests the Asa-doctrine until that time seenns to have prevailed, and the
Odinic religion is believed to have flourished in the more remote parts of
Sweden even in Saxo's own time.
We must still add to this series of documents one which is to carry it back
another century, and even more. This document is a saga told by Adam of
Bremen in De Situ Danice. Adam, or, perhaps, before him, his authority
Adalbert (appointed archbishop in the year 1043), has turned the saga into
history, and made it as credible as possible by excluding all distinctly mythical
elements. And as it, doubtless for this reason, neither mentions a place which
can be compared with Odainsaker or with the Glittering Plains, I have omitted
it among the literary evidences above quoted. Nevertheless, it reminds us in
its main features of Saxo’s account of Gorm’s journey of discovery, and its
relation both to it and to the still older myth shall be shown later (see No. 94).
In the form in which Adam heard the saga, its point of departure has been
located in Friesland, not in Denmark. Frisian noblemen make a voyage past
Norway up to the farthest limits of the Artic Ocean, get into a darkness which
the eyes scarcely can penetrate, are exposed to a maelstrom which threatens
to drag them down ad Chaos, but finally come quite unexpectedly out of
darkness and cold to an island which, surrounded as by a wall of high rocks,
contains subterranean caverns, wherein giants lie concealed. At the entrances
of the underground dwellings lay a great number of tubs and vessels of gold
and other metals which "to mortals seem rare and valuable ". As much as the
adventurers could carry of these treasures they took with them and hastened
to their ships. But the giants, represented by great dogs, rushed after them.
One of the Frisians was overtaken and torn into pieces before the eyes of the
others. The others succeeded, thanks to our Lord and to Saint Willehad, in
getting safely on board their ships.
49.
ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN Nos. 44-48.
If we consider the position of the authcrs or recorders of these sagas in
relation to the views they present in regard to Odainsaker and the Glittering
Plains, then we find that they themselves, with or without reason, believe that
these views are from a heathen time and of heathen origin. The saga of Erik
Vidforle states that its hero had in his own native land, and in his heathen
environment, heard reports about Odainsaker. The Miklagard king who
instructs the prince in the doctrines of Christianity knows, on the other hand,
nothing of such a country. He simply conjectures that the Odainsaker of the
heathens must be the same as the Paradise of time Christians, and the saga
later makes this conjecture turn out to be incorrect.
The author of Hervor’s saga mentions Odainnsaker as a heathen belief, and
tries to give reasons why it was believed in heathen times that Odainsaker
was situated within the limits of Gudmund’s kingdom, the Glittering Plains.
The reason is: "Gudmund and his men became so old that they lived through
several generations (Gudmund lived five hundred years), and therefore the
heathens believed that Odainsaker was situated in his domain".
The man who compiled the legend about Helge Thoreson connects it with the
history of King Olaf Trygveson, and pits this first king of Norway, who laboured
for the introduction of Christianity, as a representative of the new and true
doctrine against King Gudmund of the Glittering Plains as the representative
of the heathen doctrine. The author would not have done this if he had not
believed that the ruler of the Glittering Plains had his ancestors in
heathendom.
The saga of Thorstein Bæarmagn puts Gudmund and the Glittering Plains in a
tributary relation to Jotunheim and to Geirrod, the giant, well known in the
mythology.
Saxo makes Gudmund Geirrod’s (Geruthus’) brother, and he believes he is
discussing ancient traditions when he relates Gormn’s journey of discovery
and Hadding’s journey to Jotunheim. Gorm’s reign is referred by Saxo to the
period immediately following the reign of the mythical King Snö (Snow) and
time emigration of the Longobardians. Hadding’s descent to the lower world
occurred, according to Saxo, in an antiquity many centuries before King
Snow. Hadding is,in Saxo, one of the first kings of Denmark, the grandson of
Skjold, progenitor of the Skjoldungs.
The saga of Erik Vidforle makes the way to Odainsaker pass through Syria,
India, and an unknown land which wants the light of the sun, and where the
stars are visible all day long. On the other side of Odainsaker, and ing on it,
lies the land of the happy spirits, Paradise.
That these last ideas have been influenced by Christianity would seem to be
sufficiently clear. Nor do we find a trace of Syria, India, and Paradise as soon
as we leave this saga and pass to the others, in the chain of which it forms
one of the later links. All the rest agree in transferring to the uttermost North
the land which must be reached before the journey can be continued to the
Glittering Plains and Odainsaker. Hervor’s saga says that the Glittering Plains
and Odainsaker are situated north of Halogaland, in Jotunheim; Herrod’s and
Bose’s saga states that they are situated in the vicinity of Bjarmaland. The
saga of Thorstein Bæarmagn says that they are a kingdom subject to Geirrod
in Jotunheim. Gorm's saga in Saxo says it is necessary to sail past
Halogaland north to a Bjarmia ulterior’ in order to get to the kingdoms of
Gudmund and Geirrod. The saga of Helge Thoreson makes its hero meet the
daughters of Gudmund, the ruler of the Glittering Plains, after a voyage to
Finmarken. Hadding’s saga in Saxo makes the Danish king pay a visit to the
unknown but wintry cold land of the "Nitherians," when he is invited to make a
journey to the lower world. Thus the older and common view was that he who
made the attempt to visit the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker must first
penetrate the regions of the uttermost North, known only by hearsay.
Those of the sagas which give us more definite local descriptions in addition
to this geographical information all agree that the region which forms, as it
were, a foreground to the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker is a land over
which the darkness of night broods. As just indicated, Erik Vidforle’s saga
claims that the stars there are visible all day long. Gorm’s saga in Saxo makes
the Danish adventurers heave sun and stars behind to continue the journey
sub Chao. Darkness, fogs, and mists envelop Hadding before he gets sight of
the splendidly-clad proceres who dwell down there, and the shining meadows
whose flowers are never visited by winter. The Frisian saga in Adam of
Bremen also speaks of a gloom which must be penetrated ere one reaches
the land where rich giants dwell in subterranean caverns.
Through this darkness one comes, according to the saga of Erik Vidforle, to a
plain full of flowers, delicious fragrances, rivers of honey (a Biblical idea, but
see Nos. 89, 123), and perpetual light. A river separates this plain from the
land of the spirits.
Through the same darkness, according to Gorm’s saga, one comes to
Gudmund’s Glittering Plains, where there is a pleasure-farm bearing delicious
fruits, while in that Bjarmaland whence the Glittering Plains can be reached
reign eternal winter and cold. A river separates the Glittering Plains from two
or niore other domains, of which at least one is the home of departed souls.
There is a bridge of gold across the river to another region, "which separates
that which is mortal from the superhuman," and on whose soil a mortal being
must not set his foot. Further on one can pass in a boat across the river to a
land which is the place of punishment for the damned and a resort of ghosts.
Through the same darkness one comes, according to Hadding’s saga, to a
subterranean land where flowers grow in spite of the winter which reigns on
the surface of the earth. The land of flowers is separated from the Elysian
fields of those fallen in battle by a river which hurls about in its eddies spears
and other weapons.
These statements from different sources agree with each othem’ in their main
features. They agree that the lower world is divided into two niain parts by a
river, and that departed souls are found only on the farther side of the river.
The other main part on this side the river thus has another purpose than that
of receiving the happy or damned souls of the dead. There dwells, according
to Gorm’s saga, the giant Gudmund, with his sons and daughters. There are
also the Glittering Plains, since these, according to Hervor’s, Herrod’s,
Thorstein Bæarmagn’s, and Helge Thoreson’s sagas, are ruled by Gudmund.
Some of the accounts cited say that the Glittering Plains are situated in
Jotunheim. This statement does not contradict the fact that they are situated
in the lower world. The myths mention two Jotunheims, and hence the Eddas
employ the plural form, Jotunheimar. One of the Jotunheims is located on the
surface of tIme earth in the far North and East, separated from the Midgard
inhabited by man by the uttermost sea or the Elivogs (Gylfaginning, 8).
The other Jotunheim is subterranean. According to Vafthrudnismal (31), one
of the roots of the world-tree extends down "to the frost-giants ". Urd and her
sisters, who guard one of the fountains of Ygdrasil’s roots, are giantesses.
Mimir, who guards another fountain in the lower world, is called a giant. That
part of the world which is inhabited by the goddesses of fate and by Mimir is
thus inhabited by giants, and is a subterranean Jotunheim. Both these
Jotunheims are connected with each other. From the upper there is a path
leading to the lower. Therefore those traditions recorded in a Christian age,
which we are here discussing, have referred to the Arctic Ocean and the
uttermost North as the route for those who have the desire and courage to
visit the giants of the lower world.
When it is said in Hadding’s saga that lie on the other side of the subterranean
river saw the shades of heroes fallen by the sword arrayed in line of battle and
contending with each other, then this is no contradiction of the myth,
according to which the heroes chosen on the battle-field come to Asgard and
play their warlike games on the plains of the world of the gods.
In Völuspa (str. 24) we read that when the first "folk "-war broke out in the
world, the citadel of Odin and his clan was stormed by the Vans, who broke
through its bulwark and captured Asgard. In harmony with this, Saxo (Hist., i.)
relates that at the time when King Hadding reigned Odin was banished from
his power and lived for some time in exile (see Nos. 36-41).
It is evident that no great battles can have been fought, and that there could
not have been any great number of sword-fallen men, before the first great.
"folk "-war broke out in the world. Otherwise this war would not have been the
first. Thus Valhal has not before this war had those hosts of einherjes who
later ai’e feasted in Valfather’s hall. But as Odin, after the breaking out of this
war, is banished from Valhal and Asgard, and does not return before peace is
made between the Asas and Vans, then none of the einnherjes chosen by
him could be received in Valhal during the war. Hence it follows that the
heroes fallen in this war, though chosen by Odin, must have been referred to
some other place than Asgard (excepting, of course, all those chosen by the
Vans, in case they chose einherjes, which is probable, f(rr the reason that the
Vanadis Freyja gets, after the reconciliation with Odin, the right to divide with
him the choice of the slain). This other place can nowhere else be so
appropriately looked for as in the lower world, which we know was destined to
receive the souls of the dead. And as Hadding, who, according to Saxo,
descended to the lower world, is, according to Saxo, the same Hadding during
whose reign Odin was banished from Asgard, then it follows that the
statement of the saga, making him see in the lower world those warlike games
which else are practised on Asgard’s plains, far from contradicting the myth,
on the contrary is a consequence of the connection of the mythical events.
The river which is mentioned in Erik Vidforle’s, Germ’s, and Hadding’s sagas
has its prototype in the mythic records. When Hermod on Sleipner rides to
tIme lower world (Gylfaginning, 10) he first journeys through a dark country
(compare above) and then comes to the river Gjöll, over which there is the
golden bridge called the Gjallar bridge. On the other side of Gjöll is the
Helgate, which leads to the realm of the dead. In Gorm’s saga the bridge
across the river is also of gold, and it is forbidden mortals to cross to the other
side.
A subterranean river hurling weapons in its eddies is mentioned in Völuspa,
33. In Hadding’s saga we also read of a weapon-hurling river which forms the
boundary of the Elyseum of those slain by the sword.
In Vegtamskvida is mentioned an underground dog, bloody about the breast,
coming from Nifelhel, the proper place of punishment. In Gorm’s saga the
bulwark around the city of the damned is guarded by great dogs. The word
"nifel" (nifl, the German Nebel), which forms one part of the word Nifelhel,
means mist, fog. In Gorm’s saga the city in question is most like a cloud of
vapour (vaporanti maxime nubi simile).
Saxo’s description of that house of torture, which is found within the city, is not
unlike Völuspa’s description of that dwelling of torture called Nastrand, In
Saxo the floor of the house consists of serpents wattled together, and the roof
of sharp stings. In Völuspa the hall is made of serpents braided together,
whose heads from above spit venom down on those dwelling there. Saxo
speaks of soot a century old on the door frames; Völuspa of ljórar, air-and
smoke-openings in the roof (see further Nos. 77 and 78).
Saxo himself points out that the Geruthus (Geirrödr) mentioned by him, and
his famous daughters, belong to the myth about the Asa-god Thor. That
Geirrod after his death is transferred to the lower world is no contradiction to
the heathen belief, according to which beautiful or terrible habitations await
the dead, not only of men but also of other beings. Compare Gylfaginning, ch.
46, where Thor with one blow of his Mjolner sends a giant nir undir’ Niflhel
(see further, No. 60).
As Mimir’s and Urd’s fountains are found in the lower world (see Nos. 63, 93),
and as Mimir is mentioned as the guardian of Heimdal’s horn and other
treasures, it might be expected that these circumstances would not be
forgotten in those stories from Christian times which have been cited above
and found to have roots in the myths.
When in Saxo’s saga about Gorm the Danish adventurers had left the horrible
city of fog, they came to another place in the lower world where the goldplated mead-cisterns were found. The Latin word used by Saxo, which I
translate with cisterns of mead, is dolium.. In the classical Latin this word is
used in regard to wine-cisterns of so immense a size that they were counted
among the immovables, and usually were sunk in the cellar floors. They were
so large that a person could live in such a cistern, and this is also reported as
having happened. That the word dolium still in Saxo’s time had a similar
meaning appears from a letter quoted by Du Cange, written by Saxo’s
younger contemporary, Bishop Gebhard. The size is therefore no obstacle to
Saxo ‘s using this word for a wine-cistern to mean the mead-wells in the lower
world of Teutonic mythology. The question now is whether he actually did so,
or whether the subterranean dolia in question are objects in regard to which
our earliest mythic records have left us in ignorance.
In Saxo’s time, and earlier, the epithets by which the meadwells—Urd’s and
Mimir’s—and their contents are mentioned in mythological songs had come to
be applied also to those meadbuckets which Odin is said to have emptied in
the halls of the giant Fjalar or Suttung. This application also lay near at hand,
since these wells and these vessels contained the same liquor, and since it
originally, as appears from the meaning of the words, was the liquor, and not
the place where the liquor was kept, to which the epithets Orærir, Bon, and
Son applied. In Havamál (107) Odin expresses his joy that Orærir has passed
out of the possession of the giant Fjalar and can be of use to the beings of the
upper world. But if we may trust Bragar. (ch. 5), it is the drink and not the
empty vessels that Odin takes with him to Valhal. On this supposition, it is the
drink and not one of the vessels which in Havamál is called Odrærir. In
Havamál (140) Odin relates how he, through self-sacrifice and suffering,
succeeded in getting runic songs up from the deep, and also a drink dipped
out of Odrærir. He who gives hini the songs and the drink, and accordingly is
the ruler of the fountain of the drink, is a man, "Bolthorn’s celebrated son ".
Here again Odrærer is one of the subterranean fountains, and no doubt
Mimir’s, since the one who pours out the drink is a man. But in Forspjalsljod
(2) Urd’s fountain is also called Odrærer (Odhrærir Urdar’). Paraphrases for
the liquor of poetry, such as "Bodn’s growing billow" (Einar Skalaglam) and
"Son’s reed-grown grass edge" (Eihf Gudmason), point to fountains or wells,
not to vessels. Meanwhile a satire was composed before the time of Saxo and
Sturlason about Odin’s adventure at Fjalar’s, and the author of this song, the
contents of which the Younger Edda has preserved, calls the vessels which
Odin empties at the giant’s Odhrærir’, Bodn, and Són (Brogarædur, 6). Saxo,
who reveals a familiarity with the genuine heathen, or supposed heathen,
poems handed down to his time, may thus have seen the epithets Odrærir,
Bon, and Són applied both to the subterranean mead-wells and to a giant’s
mead-vessels. The greater reason he would have for selecting the Latin
dolium to express an idea that cami be accommodated to both these objects.
Over these mead-reservoirs there hang, according to Saxo’s description,
round-shaped objects of silver, which in close braids drop down and are
spread around the seven times gold-plated walls of the mead-cisterns. *
Over Mimir’s and Urd’s fountains hang the roots of the ash Ygdrasil, which
sends its root-knots and root-threads down into their waters. But not only the
rootlets sunk in the water, but also the roots from which they are suspended,
partake of the waters of the fountains. The norns take daily from the water and
sprinkle the stem of the tree therewith, "and the water is so holy," says
Gylfagianing (16), "that everything that is put in the well (consequently, also,
all that which the norns daily sprinkle with the water) becomes as white as the
membrane between the egg and the egg-shell ". Also the root over Mimir’s
fountain is sprinkled with its water (Völusp., Cod. R., 28), and this water, so far
as its colour is concerned, seems to be of the same kind as that in Urd’s
fountain, for the latter is called hvítr aurr (Völusp., 18) and the former runs in
aurgum forsi upon its root of the world-tree (Völusp., 28). The adjective aurigr,
which describes a quality of the water in Mimir’s fountain, is formed from the
noun aurr, with which the liquid is described which waters the root over Urd’s
fountain. Ygdrasil’s roots, as far up as the liquid of the wells can get to them,
thus have a colour like that of "the membrane between the egg and the egg-
shell," and consequently recall both as to position, form, and colour the roundshaped objects "of silver" which, according to Saxo, hang down and are
intertwined in the meadreservoirs of the lower world.
Mimir’s fountain contains, as we know, the purest mead—the liquid of
inspiration, of poetry, of wisdom, of understanding.
Near by Ygdrasil, according to Völuspa (27), Heimdal’s horn is concealed.
The seeress in Völuspa knows that it is hid "beneath the hedgeo’ershadowing holy tree ".
* lnde digressis dolia septem zonis nureis circumligata panduntur, quibus
pensiles ex argento circuli crebros inseruerant nexus.
Veit hon Heimdallar hljod um fólgit undir heidvönum helgum badmi.
Near one of the mead-cisterns in the lower world Gorm’s men see a horn
ornamented with pictures and flashing with precious stones.
Among the treasures taken care of by Mimir is the world’s foremost sword and
a wonderful arm-ring, smithied by the same master as made the sword (see
Nos. 87, 98, 101).
Near the gorgeous horn Gorm’s men see a gold-plated tooth of an animal and
an arm-ring. The animal tooth beconies a sword when it is taken into the
hand.* Near by is a treasury filled with a large number of weapons and a royal
robe. Mimir is known in mythology as a collector of treasures. He is therefore
called Hoddmimir, Hoddropnir, Baugregin.
Thus Gorm and his men have on their journeys in the lower world seen not
only Nastrand’s place of punishment in Nifelhel, but also the holy land, where
Mimir reigns.
When Gorm and his men desire to cross the golden bridge and see the
wonders to which it leads, Gudmund prohibits it. When they in another place
farther up desire to cross the river to see what there is beyond, he consents
and has them taken over in a boat. He does not deem it proper to show them
the unknown land at the golden bridge, but it is within the limits of his authority
to let them see the places of punishment and those regions which contain the
mead-cisterns and the treasure chambers. The sagas call him the king on the
Glittering Plains, and as the Glittering Plains are situated in the lower world,
he must be a lower world ruler.
Two of the sagas, Helge Thoreson’s and Gorm’s, cast a shadow on
Gudmund’s character. In the former this shadow does not produce confusion
or contradiction. The saga is a legend which represents Christianity, with Olaf
Trygveson as its apostle, in conflict with heathenism, represented by
Gudmund. It is therefore natural that the latter cannot be presented in the
most favourable light.
* The word biti = a tooth (cp. bite) becomes in the composition leggbiti, the
name of a sword.
Olaf destroys with his prayers the happiness of Gudmund’s daughter. He
compels her to abandon her lover, and Gudmund, who is unable to take
revenge in any other manner, tries to do so, as is the case with so many of the
characters in saga and history, by treachery. This is demanded by the
fundamental idea and tendency of the legend. What the author of the legend
has heard about Gudmund’s character from older sagamen, or what he has
read in records, he does not, however, conceal with silence, but admits that
Gudmund, aside from his heathen religion and grudge toward Olaf Trygveson,
was a man in whose home one might fare well and be happy.
Saxo has preserved the shadow, but in his narrative it produces the greatest
contradiction. Gudmund offers fruits, drinks, and embraces in order to induce
his guests to remain with him for ever, and he does it in a tempting manner
and, as it seems, with conscious cunning. Nevertheless, line shows unlimited
patience when the guests insult him by accepting nothing of what he offers.
When he comes down to the sea-strand, where Gorm’s ships are anchored,
he is greeted by the leader of the discoverers with joy, because he is "the
most pious being and man’s protector in perils ". He conducts them in safety
to his castle. When a handful of them returns after the attempt to plunder the
treasury of the lower world, he considers the crime sufficiently punished by the
loss of life they have suffered, and takes them across the river to his own safe
home ; and when they, contrary to his wishes, desire to return to their native
land, he loads them with gifts and sees to it that they get safely on board their
ships. It follows that Saxo s sources have described Gudmund as a kind and
benevolent person. Here, as in the legend about Helge Thoreson, the shadow
has been thrown by younger hands upon an older background painted in
bright colours.
Hervor’s saga says that he was wise, mighty, in a heathen sense pious (" a
great sacrificer"), and so honoured that sacrifices were offered to him, and he
was worshipped as a god after death. Herrod’s saga says that he was greatly
skilled in magic arts, which is another expression for heathen wisdom, for
fimbul-songs, runes, and incantations.
The change for the worse which Gudmund’s character seems in part to have
suffered is confirmed by a change connected with, and running parallel to it, in
the conception of the forces in those things which belonged to the lower world
of the Teutonic heathendom and to Gudmund’s domain, In Saxo we find an
idea related to the antique Lethe myth, according to which the liquids and
plants which belong to the lower world produce forgetfulness of the past.
Therefore, Thorkil (Thorkillus) warns his companions not to eat or drink any of
that which Gudmund offers them. In the Gudrun song (ii. 21, 22), and
elsewhere, we meet with the same idea. I shall return to this subject (see No.
50).
50.
ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN Nos. 44-48. THE QUESTION IN
REGARD TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF ODAINSAKER.
Is Gudmund an invention of Christian times, although he is placed in an
environment which in general and in detail reflects the heathen mythology? Or
is there to be found in the mythology a person who has precisely the same
environment and is endowed with the same attributes and qualities?
The latter form an exceedingly strange ensera ble, and can therefore easily be
recognised. Ruler in the lower world, and at the same time a giant. Pious and
still a giant. King in a domain to which winter cannot penetrate. Within that
domain an enclosed place, whose bulwark neither sickness, nor age, nor
death can surmount. It is heft to his power and pleasure to give admittance to
the mysterious meadows, where the mead-cisterns of the lower world are
found, and where the most precious of all horns, a wonderful sword, and a
splendid arm-ring are kept. Old as the hills, but yet subject to death. Honoured
as if he were not a giant, but a divine being. These are the features which
together characterise Gudmund, and should be found in his mythological
prototype, if there is one. With these peculiar characteristics are united
wisdom and wealth.
The answer to the question whether a mythical original of this picture is to be
discovered will be given below. But before that we must call attention to some
points in the Christian accounts cited in regard to Odainsaker.
Odainsaker is not made identical with the Glittering Plains, but is a separate
place on them, or at all events within Gudmund’s domain. Thus according to
Hervor’s saga. The correctness of the statement is confirmed by comparison
with Gorm’s and Hadding’s sagas. The former mentions, as will be
remembered, a place which Gudmund does not consider himself authorised to
show his guests, although they are permitted to see other mysterious places
in the lower world, even the mead-fountains and treasure-chambers. To the
unknown place, as to Balder’s subterranean dwelling, leads a golden bridge,
which doubtless is to indicate the splendour of the place. The subterranean
goddess, who is Hadding’s guide in Hades, shows him both the Glittering
Fields (loca aprica) and the plains of the dead heroes, but stops with him near
a wall, which is not opened for them. The domain surrounded by the wall
receives nothing which has suffered death, and its very proximity seems to be
enough to keep death at bay (see No. 47).
All the sagas are silent in regard to who those beings are for whom this
wonderful enclosed place is intended. Its very name, A crc-of-the-not-dead
(Odainsakr), and The -field-of-the -living (Jörd lifanda manna), however,
makes it clear that it is not intended for the souls of the dead. This Erik
Vidforle’s saga is also able to state, inasmuch as it makes a definite distinction
between Odainsaker and the land of the spirits, between Odainsakr and
Paradise. If human or other beings are found within the bulwark of the place,
they must have come there as living beings in a physical sense; and when
once there, they are protected from perishing, for diseases, age, and death
are excluded.
Erik Vidforle and his companion find on their journey on Odainsaker only a
single dwelling, a splendid one with two beds. Who the couple are who own
this house, and seem to have placed it at the disposal of the travellers, is not
stated. But in the night there came a beautiful lad to Erik. The author of the
saga has made him an angel, who is on duty on the s between Odainsaker
and Paradise.
The purpose of Odainsaker is not mentioned in Erik Vidforle’s saga. There is
no intelligible connection between it and the Christian environment given to it
by the saga. The ecclesiastical belief knows an earthly Paradise, that which
existed in the beginning and was the home of Adam and Eve, but that it is
guarded by the angel with the flaming sword, or, as Erik’s saga expresses it, it
is encircled by a wall of fire. In the lower world the Christian Church knows a
Hades and a hell, but tIme path to them is through the gates of death;
physically living persons, persons who have not paid tribute to death, are not
found there. In the Christian group of ideas there is no place for Odainsaker.
An underground place for physically living people, who are there no longer
exposed to aging and death, has nothing to do in the economy of the Church.
Was there occasion for it among the ideas of the heathen eschatology? The
above-quoted sagas say nothing about the purposes of Odainsaker. Here is
therefore a question of importance to our subject, and one that demands an
answer.
51.
GUDMUND’S IDENTITY WITH MIMIR.
I dare say the most characteristic figure of Teutonic mythology is Mimir, the
lord of the fountain which bears his name. The liquid contained in the fountain
is the object of Odin’s deepest desire He has neither authority nor power over
it. Nor does lie or anyone else of the gods seek to get control of it by force.
Instances are mentioned showing that Odin, to get a drink from it, niust
subject himself to great sufferings and sacrifices (Völuspa, Cod. Reg., 28, 29;
Havamál, 138-140; Gylfag., 15), and it is as a gift or a loan that he afterwards
receives from Mimir the invigorating and soul-inspiring drink (Havamál, 140,
141). Over the fountain and its territory Mimir, of course, exercises unlimited
control, an authority which the gods never appear to have disputed. He has a
sphere of power which the gods recognise as inviolable. The domain of his
rule belongs to the lower world; it is situated under one of the roots of the
world-tree (Völuspa, 28, 29; Gylfag., 15), and when Odin, from the world-tree,
asks for the precious niead of the fountain, he peers downward into the deep,
and thence brings up the runes (nysta ec niþr, nam cc up rrúnar—Havamál,
139). Saxo’s account of the adventure of Hotherus (Hist., pp. 113—115,
Müller’s ed.) shows that there was thought to be a descent to Mimir’s land in
the form of a mountain cave (specus), and that this descent was, like the one
to Gudmund’s domain, to be found in tIme uttermost North, where terrible cold
reigns.
Though a giant, Mimir is the friend of the order of the world and of the gods.
He, like Urd, guards the sacred ash, the world-tree (Völuspa, 28), which
accordingly also bears his name and is called Mimir’s tree (Mimameidr—
Fjolsvinsm, 20; meidr Mima— Fjolsv., 24). The intercourse between the Asafather and him has been of such a nature that the expression "Mimir’s friend"
(Mimsvinr—Sonatorrek, 22; Younger Edda, i. 238, 250, 602) could be used by
the skalds as an epithet of Odin. Of this friendship Ynglingasaga (ch. 4) has
preserved a record. It makes Mimir lose his life in his activity for the good of
the gods, and makes Odin embalm his head, in order that he may always be
able to get wise counsels from its lips. The song about Sigrdrifa (str. 14)
represents Odin as listening to the words of truth which come from Mimir’s
head. Völuspa (str. 45) predicts that Odin, when Ragnarok approaches, shall
converse with Mimir’s head; and, according to Gylfaginning (56), he,
immediately before the conflagration of the world, rides to Mimir’s fountain to
get advice from the deep thinker for himself and his friends. The firm
friendship between Alfather and this strange giant of the lower world was
formed in time’s morning while Odin was still young and undeveloped (Hay.,
141), and continued until the end of the gods and the world.
Mimir is the collector of treasures. The same treasures as Gorm and his men
found in the land which Gudmund let them visit are, according to mythology, in
the care of Mimir. The wonderful horn (Völuspa, 28), the sword of victory, and
the ring (Saxo, Hist., 113, 114; cp. Nos. 87, 97, 98, 101, 103).
In all these points the Gudmund of the middle-age sagas and Mimir of the
mythology are identical. There still remains an important point. In Gudmund’s
domain there is a splendid grove, an enclosed place, from which weaknesses,
age, and death are banished—a Paradise of the peculiar kind, that it is not
intended for the souls of the dead, but for certain lifandi men, yet inaccessible
to people in general. In the myth concerning Mimir we also find such a grove.
52.
MIMIR’S GROVE. LIF AND LEIFTHRASER.
The grove is called after its ruler and guardian, Mimir’s or Treasure-Mimir’s
grove (Mimis holt—Younger Edda, Upsala Codex; Gylfag., 58; Hoddmimis
holt—Vafthrudnism, 45; Gylfag., 58).
Gylfaginning describes the destruction of the world and its regeneration, and
then relates how the earth, rising out of the sea, is furnished with human
inhabitants. "During the conflagration (i Surtarloga) two persons are
concealed in Treasure-Mimir’s grove. Their names are Lif (Lif) and Leifthraser
(Leifþrasir), and they feed on the morning dews. From them come so great an
offspring that all the world is peopled."
In support of its statement Gylfaginning quotes Vafthrudnersmal. This poem
makes Odin and the giant Vafthrudner (Vafþrúdnir) put questions to each
other, and among others Odin asks this question:
Fiolþ ec for, fiolþ ec freistaþac, fiolþ ec um reynda regin: hvat lifir manna, þa
er inn mæra liþr fimbulvetr meþ firom?
"Much I have travelled, much I have tried, much I have tested the powers.
What human persons shall still live when the famous fimbul-winter has been in
the world ?"
Vafthrudner answers:
Lif oc Leifþrasir, enn þau leynaz muno i holti Hoddmimis; morgindauggvar þau
ser at mat hafa enn þadan af aldir alaz.
"Lif and Leifthraser (are still living); they are concealed in HoddMimer’s grove.
They have morning dews for nourishment. Thence (from Hodd-Mimir’s grove
and this buman pair) are born (new) races."
Gylfaginning says that the two human beings, Lif and Leifthraser, who
become the progenitors of the races that are to people the earth after
Ragnarok, are concealed during the conflagration of the world in Hodd-Mimir’s
grove. This is, beyond doubt, in accordance with mythic views. But
mythologists, who have not paid sufficient attention to what Gylfaginning’s
source (Vafthrudnersmal) has to say on the subject, have from the above
expression drawn a conclusion which implies a complete misunderstanding of
the traditions in regard to Hodd-Mimir’s grove and the human pair therein
concealed. They have assumed that Lif and Leifthraser are, like all other
people living at that time, inhabitants of the surface of the earth at the time
when the conflagration of the world begins. They have explained Mimir’s
grove to mean the world-tree, and argued that when Surt’s flames destroy all
other mortals this one human pair have succeeded in climbing upon some
particular branch of the world-tree, where they were protected from the
destructive element. There they were supposed to live on morning dews until
the end of Ragnarok, and until they could come down from their hiding-place
in Ygdrasil upon the earth which has risen from the sea, and there become
the progenitors of a more happy human race.
According to this interpretation, Ygdrasil was a tree whose trunk and branches
could be grasped by human bands, and one or more mornings, with attendant
morning dews, are assumed to have come and gone, while fire and flames
enveloped all creation, and after the sun had been swallowed by the wolf and
the stars had fallen from the heavens (Gylfag., 55; Völusp., 54)! And with this
terrible catastrophe before their eyes, Lif and Leifthraser are supposed to sit in
perfect unconcern, eating the morning dews!
For the scientific reputation of mythical inquiry it were well if that sort of
investigations were avoided when they are not made necessary by the
sources themselves.
If sufficient attention had been paid to the above-cited evidence furnished by
Vafthrudnersmal in this question, the misunderstanding might have been
avoided, and the statement of Gylfaginning would not have been interpreted
to mean that Lif and Leifthraser inhabited Mimir’s grove only during Ragnarok.
For Vafthrudnersmal plainly states that this human pair are in perfect security
in Mimir’s grove, while a long and terrible winter, a fimbul-winter, visits the
earth and destroys its inhabitants. Not until after the end of this winter do
giants and gods collect their forces for a decisive conflict on Vigrid’s plains;
and when this conflict is ended, then comes the conflagration of the world,
and after it the regeneration. Anent the length of the fimbulwinter, Gylfaginning
(oh. 55) claims that it continued for three years "without any intervening
summer".
Consequently Lif and Leifthraser must have had their secure place of refuge
in Mimir’s grove during the fimbul-winter, which precedes Ragnarok. And,
accordingly, the idea that they were there only during Ragnarok, and all the
strange conjectures based thereon, are unfounded. They continue to remain
there while the winter rages, and during all the episodes which characterise
the progress of the world towards ruin, and, finally, also, as Gylfaginning
reports, during the conflagration and regeneration of the world.
Thus it is explained why the myth finds it of importance to inform us how Lif
and Leifthraser support themselves during their stay in Mimir’s grove. It would
not have occurred to the myth to present and answer this question had not the
sojourn of the human pair in the grove continued for some length of time.
Their food is the morning dew. The morning dew from Ygdrasil was, according
to the mythology, a sweet and wonderful nourishment, and in tIme popular
traditions of the Teutonic middle age the dew of the morning retained its
reputation for having strange, nourishing qualities. According to the myth, it
evaporates from the world-tree, which stands, ever green and blooming, over
Urd’s and Mimir’s sacred fountains, and drops thence "in dales" (Voluspa, 18,
28; Gylfag., 16). And as the world-tree is sprinkled and gets its life-giving sap
from these fountains, then it follows that the liquid of its nnorning dew is
substantially the same as that of the subterranean fountains, which contain
the elixir of life, wisdom, and poesy (cp. Nos. 72, 82, and elsewhere).
At what time Mimir’s grove was opened as an asylum for Lif and iLeifthraser,
whether this happened during or shortly before the fimbul-winter, or
perchance long before it, on this point there is not a word in tIme passages
quoted from Vafthrudnersmal. But by the following investigation time problem
shall be solved.
The Teutonic mythology has not looked upon the regeneration of the world as
a new creation. The life which in time’s morning developed out of chaos is not
destroyed by Surt’s flames, but rescues itself, purified, for the coining age of
the world. The world-tree survives the conflagration, for it defies both edge
and fire (Fjolsvinnsm, 20, 21). The Ida-plains are not annihilated. After
Ragnarok, as in the beginning of time, they are the scene of the assemblings
of the gods (Voluspa, 57; cp. 7). Vanaheim is not affected by the destruction,
for Njord shall in aldar rauc (Vafthrudnersmal, 39) return thither "to wise
Vans". Odin’s dwellings of victory remain, and are inhabited after regeneration
by Balder and Hodr (Völuspa, 59). The new sun is the daughter of the old one,
and was born before Ragnarok (Vafthr., 47), which she passes through
unscathed. The ocean does not disappear in Ragnarok, for the present earth
sinks beneath its surface (Voluspa, 54), and the new earth after regeneration
rises from its deep (Völuspa, 55). Gods survive (Völuspa, 53, 56; Vafthr. 51;
Gylfag., 58). Human beings survive, for Lif and Leifthraser are destined to
become the connecting link between the present human race and the better
race which is to spring therefrom. Animals and plants survive—though the
animals and plants on the surface of the earth perish; but the earth risen from
the sea was decorated with green, and there is not the slightest reference to a
new act of creation to produce the green vegetation. Its cascades contain
living beings, and over them flies the eagle in search of his prey (Voluspa, 56;
see further, No. 55). A work of art from antiquity is also preserved in the new
world. The game of dice, with which the gods played in their youth while they
were yet free from care, is found again among the flowers on the new earth
(Voluspa, 8, 58; see further, No. 55).
If the regeneration had been conceived as a new creation, a wholly new
beginning of life, then the human race of the new era would also have started
from a new creation of a human pair. The myth about Lif and Leifthraser
would then have been unnecessary and superfluous. But the fundamental
idea is that the life of the new era is to be a continuation of the present life
purified and developed to perfection, and from the standpoint of this
fundamental idea Lif and Leifthraser are necessary.
The idea of improvement and perfection are most clearly held forth in regard
to both the physical and spiritual condition of the future world. All that is weak
and evil shall be redeemed (bauls mun allz batna—Völuspa, 59). In that
perfection of nature the fields unsown by men shall yield their harvests. To
secure the restored world against relapse into the faults of the former, the
myth applies radical measures—so radical, that the Asa majesty himself,
Valfather, must retire from the scene, in order that his son, the perfectly
blameless Balder, may be the centre in the assembly of the chosen gods. But
the mythology would fail in its purpose if it did not apply equally radical
measures in the choice and care of the human beings who are to perpetuate
our race after Ragnarok; for if the progenitors have within them the seed of
corruption, it will be developed in their descendants.
Has the mythology forgotten to meet this logical claim? The demand is no
greater than that which is made in reference to every product of the fancy of
whatever age. I do not mean to say that a logical claim made on the
mythology, or that a conclusion which may logically be drawn from the
premisses of the mythology, is to be considered as evidence that the claim
has actually been met by the mythology, and that the mythology itself has
been developed into its logical conclusion. I simply want to point out what the
claim is, and in the next place I desire to investigate whether there is evidence
that the claim has been honoured.
From the standpoint that there must be a logical harmony in the mythological
system, it is necessary:
1. That Lif and Leifthraser when they enter their asylum, Mimir’s grove, are
physically and spiritually uncorrupted persons.
2. That during their stay in Mimir’s grove they are protected against:
(a) Spiritual degradation.
(b) Physical degradation.
(c) Against everything threatening their very existence.
So far as the last point (2c) is concerned, we know already from
Vafthrudnersmal that the place of refuge they received in the vicinity of those
fountains, which, with never-failing veins, nourish the life of the world-tree, is
approached neither by the frost of the fimbul-winter nor by the flames of
Ragnarok. This claim is, therefore, met completely.
In regard to the second point (2b), the above-cited mythic traditions have
preserved fronn the days of heathendom the memory of a grove in the
subterranean domain of Gudmund-Mimir, set aside for living men, not for the
dead, and protected against sickness, aging, and death. Thus this claim is
met also.
As to the third point (2a), all we know at present is that there, in the lower
world, is found an enclosed place, the very one which death cannot enter, and
from which even those mortals are banished by divine command who are
admitted to the holy fountains and treasure chambers of the lower world, and
who have been permitted to see the regions of bliss and places of Punishment
theme. It would therefore appear that all contact between those who dwell
there and those who take part in the events of our world is cut off. The realms
of Mimir and the lower world have, according to the sagas—and, as we shall
see later, according to the myths themselves—now and then been opened to
bold adventurers, who have seen their wonders, looked at their remarkable
fountains, their plains for the amusement of the shades of heroes, and their
places of punishment of the wicked. But then’e is one place which has been
inaccessible to them, a field proclaimed inviolable by divine command (Gorm’s
saga), a place surrounded by a wall, which can be entered only by such
beings as can pass through the smallest crevices (Hadding’s saga).* But that
this difficulty of entrance also was meant to exclude the moral evil, by which
the mankind of our age is stained, is not expressly stated.
Thus we have yet to look and see whether the original documents from the
heathen times contain any statements which can shed light on this subject. In
regard to the point (1), the question it contains as to whether the mythology
conceived Lif and Leifthraser as physically and morally undefiled at the time
when they entered Minier’s grove, can only be solved if we, in the old records,
can find evidence that a wise, foreseeing power opened Mimir’s grove as as
asylum for them, at a time when mankind as a whole had not yet become the
prey of physical and moral misery. But in that very primeval age in which time
most of the events of mythology are supposed to have happened, creation
had already become the victim of corruption. There was a time when the life of
the gods was happiness and the joy of youthful activity; the condition of the
world did not cause them anxiety, and, free from care, they amused
themselves with the wonderful dice (Völuspa, 7, 8). But the golden age ended
in physical and moral catastrophies. The air was mixed with treacherous evil;
Freyja, the
* Prodeuntibus murus aditu transcensuque difficilis obsistebat, quem femina
(the subterranean goddess who is Hadding’s guide) nequicquam transilire
conata cum ne corrugati quidem exilitate proficeret (Saxo, Hist. Dan., i. 51).
goddess of fertility and modesty, was treacherously delivered into the hands
of the frost giants; on the earth the sorceress Heid (Hei) strutted about
teaching the secrets of black magic, which was hostile to the gods and hurtful
to man. The first great war broke out in the world (Völuspa, 21, 22, 26). The
effects of this are felt down through the historical ages even to Ragnarok. The
corruption of nature culminates in the fimbul-winter of the last days; the
corruption of mankind has its climax in "the axe- and knife-ages ". The
separation of Lif and Leifthraser from their race and confinement in Mimir’s
grove must have occurred before the above catastrophies in time’s beginning,
if there is to be a guarantee that the human race of the new world is not to
inherit and develop the defects and weaknesses of the present historical
generations.
53.
AT WHAT TIME DID LIF AND LEIFTHRASER GET THEIR PLACE OF
REFUGE IN MIMIR’S GROVE? THE ASMEGIR. MIMIR’S POSITION IN
MYTHOLOGY. THE NUMINA OF THE LOWER WORLD.
It is necessary to begin this investigation by pointing out the fact that there are
two versions of the last line of strophe 45 in Vafthrudnersmal. The version of
this line quoted above was—enn þaan af aldir alaz: "Thence (from Lif and
Leifthraser in Mimir’s grove) races are born ". Codex Upsalensis has
instead—ok þar um alldr alaz: "And they (Lif and Leifthraser) have there (in
Mimir’s grove) their abiding place through ages ". Of course only the one of
these versions can, from a text-historical standpoint, be the original one. But
this does not hinder both from being equally legitimate from a mythological
standpoint, providing both date from a time when the main features of the
myth about Lif and Leifthraser were still remembered. Examples of versions
equally justifiable from a mythological standpoint can be cited from other
literatures than the Norse. If we in the choice between the two versions pay
regard only to the age of the manuscripts, then the one in Codex Upsalensis,
which is copied about the year 1300,* has the preference. It would, however,
hardly be prudent to put the chief emphasis on this fact. Without drawing any
conclusions,
* S. Bugge, Sæmund. Edda, xxvi. Thorl. Jonsson’s Edda, Snorra St., viii.
I simply point out the fact that the oldest version we possess of the passage
says that Lif and Leifthraser live through ages in Mimir’s grove. Nor is the
other version much younger, so far as the manuscript in which it is found is
concerned, and from a mythological standpoint that, too, is beyond doubt
correct.
In two places in the poetic Edda (Vegtamskv, 7, and Fjolsvinnsm., 33) occurs
the word asmegir. Both times it is used in such a manner that we perceive that
it is a mythological terminus technicus having a definite, limited application.
What this application was is not known. It is necessary to make a most
thorough analysis of the passages in order to find the signification of this word
again, since it is of importance to the subject which we are discussing. I shall
begin with the passage in Fjolsvinnsmal.
The young Svipdag, the hero in Grogalder and in Fjolsvinnsmal, is in the latter
poem represented as standing before the gate of a citadel which he never
saw before, but within the walls of which the maid whom fate has destined to
be his wife resides. Outside of the gate is a person who is or pretends to be
the gatekeeper, and calls himself Fjolsvinn. He and Svipdag enter into
conversation. The conversation turns chiefly upon the remarkable objects
which Svipdag has before his eyes. Svipdag asks questions about them, and
Fjolsvinn gives him information. But before Svipdag came to the castle, within
which his chosen one awaits him, he has made a remarkable journey (alluded
to in Grogalder), and he has seen strange things (thus in str. 9, 11, 33) which
he compares with those which he now sees, and in regard to which he also
desires information from Fjolsvinn. When the questions concern objects which
are before him at the time of speaking, he employs, as the logic of language
requires, the present tense of the verb (as in strophe 35—segdu mer hvat þat
bjarg heitir, er ek sé brudi á). When he speaks of what he has seen before
and elsewhere, he employs the past tense of the verb. In strophe 33 he says:
Segdu mér þat, Pjölsvidr, er ek þik fregna mun ok ek vilja vita; hverr þat gordi,
er ek fyr gard sák innan asmaga?
"Tell me that which I ask of you, and which I wish to know, Fjolsvinn: Who
made that which I saw within the castle wall of the asmegir?" *
Fjolsvinn answers (str. 34)
Uni ok In, Ban ok Oni, Varr oh Vegdrasil, Don ok Un; Dellingr ok varar liþsci
alfr, loki.
"Une and Ire, Bare and Ore, Var and Vegdrasil, Dore and Ure, Delling, the
cunning elf, is watchman at the gate." ±
Thus Svipdag has seen a place where beings called 6smegir’ dwell. It is well
enclosed and guarded by the elf Delling. The myth must have laid great stress
on the fact that the citadel was well guarded, since Delling, whose cunning is
especially emphasised, has been entrusted with this task. The citadel must
also have been distinguished for its magnificence and for other qualities, since
what Svipdag has seen within its gates has awakened his
* Looking simply at the form, the strophe may also be translated in the
following manner : "Tell me, Fjolsvinn, what I ask of you, and what I wish to
know. Who of the asmegir made what I saw within the castle wall ?" Against
this formal possibility there are, however, several objections of facts. Svipdag
would then be asking Fjolsvinn who had mnade that which he once in the past
had seen within a castle wall without informing Fjolsvinn in regard to which
particular castle wall he has reference. It also presupposes that Svipdag knew
that the asmegir had made the things in question which were within the castle
wall, and that he only wished to complete his knowledge by finding out which
one or ones of the asmegir it was that had made theni. And finally, it would
follow from Fjolsvinn’s answer that the dwarfs he enumerates are sons of
Asas. The formal possibility pointed out has also a formal probability against
it. The gen. pl. asmaga has as its nearest neighbour gard, not hverr, and
should therefore be referred to gard, not to hverr, even though both the
translations gave an equally satisfactory meaning so far as the facts related
are concerned ; but that is not the ease.
± I follow the text in most of the manuscripts, of which Bugge has given
various versions. One mannscript has in the text, another in the margin,
Lidscialfr, written in one word (instead of liþsci alfr). Of this Munch made
Lidskjalfr. The dative to/ci from to/c, a gate (ep. lu/ca to/ca, to close, enclose),
has been interpreted as Lo/ci, and thus made tine confusion complete.
astonishment and admiration, and caused him to ask Fjolsvinn about the
name of its builder. Fjolsvinu enumerates not less than eight architects. At
least three of these are known by name in other sources — namely, the
"dwarfs" Var (Sn. Edda, ii. 470, 553), Dore; and Ore. Both the last-named are
also found in the list of dwarfs incorporated in Voluspa. Both are said to be
dwarfs in Dvalin’s group of attendants or servants (í Dvalins lidi—Voluspa,
14).
The problem to the solution of which I am struggling on— namely, to find the
explanation of what beings those are which are called asmegir—demands first
of all that we should find out where the myth located their dwelling seen by
Svipdag, a fact which is of mythological importance in other respects. This
result can be gained, providing Dvalin’s and Delling’s real home and the
scene of their activity can be determined. This is particularly important in
respect to Delling, since his office as gate-keeper at the castle of the asmegir
demands that he must have his home where his duties are required. To some
extent this is also true of Dvalin, since the field of his operations cannot have
been utterly foreign to the citadel on whose wonders his sub-artists laboured.
The author of the dwarf-list in Voluspa makes all holy powers assemble to
consult as to who shall create "the dwarfs," the artist-clan of the mythology.
The wording of strophe 10 indicates that on a being by name Mosognir,
Motsognir, was bestowed the dignity of chief * of the proposed artist-clan, and
that he, with the assistance of Dunn (Durinn), carried out the resolution of the
gods, and created dwarfs resembling men. The author of the dwarf list must
have assumed— That Modsogner was one of the older beings of the world,
for the assembly of gods here in question took place in the morning of time
before the creation was completed.
That Modsogner possessed a promethean power of creating.
That he either belonged to the circle of holy powers himself, or stood in a
close and friendly relation to them, since he carried out the resolve of the
gods.
Accordingly, we should take Modsogner to be one of the more remarkable
characters of the mythology. But either he is not
* þar (in the assembly of the gods) var Modsognir mæstr um ordinn dverga
allra.
mentioned anywhere else than in this place—we look in vain for the name
Modsogner elsewhere—or this name is merely a skaldic epithet, which has
taken the place of a more common name, and which by reference to a familiar
nota characteristica indicates a mythic person well known and mentioned
elsewhere. It cannot be disputed that the word looks like an epithet. Egilsson
(Lex. Poet.) defines it as the mead-drinker. If the definition is correct, then the
epithet were badly chosen if it did not refer to Mimir, who originally was the
sole possessor of the mythic mead, and who daily drank of it (Voluspa, 29—
dreckr miód Mimir morgin hverjan). Still nothing can be built simply on the
definition of a name, even if it is correct beyond a doubt. All the indices which
are calculated to shed light on a question should be collected and examined.
Only when they all point in the same direction, and give evidence in favour of
one and the same solution of the problem, the latter can be regarded as
settled.
Several of the "dwarfs" created by Modsogner are named in Voluspa, 11-13.
Among them are Dvalin. In the opinion of the author of the list of dwarfs,
Dvalin must have occupied a conspicuous place among the beings to whom
he belongs, for he is the only one of them all who is mentioned as having a
number of his own kind as subjects (Voluspa, 14). The problem as to whether
Modsogner is identical with Mimir should therefore be decided by the answers
to the following questions: Is that which is narrated about Modsogner also
narrated of Mimir? Do the statements which we have about Dvalin show that
he was particularly connected with Mimir and with the lower world, the realm
of Mimir?
Of Modsogner it is said (Voluspa, 12) that he was mæstr ordinn dverga allra:
he became the chief of all dwarfs, or, in other words, the foremost among all
artists. Have we any similar report of Mimir?
The German middle-age poem, "Biterolf," relates that its hero possessed a
sword, made by Mimir the Old, Mime der alte, who was the most excellent
smith in the world. To be compared with him was not even Wieland (Volund,
Wayland), still less anyone else, with the one exception of Hertrich, who was
Mimir’s co-labourer, and assisted him in making all the treasures he produced:
Zuo siner (Mimir’s) meisterschefte ich nieman kan gelichen in allen fursten
richen an einen, den ich nenne, daz man in dar bi erkenne: Den’ war Hertrich
genant. Durch ir sinne craft so hæten sie geselleschaft an werke und an allen
dingen. (Biterolf, 144.)
Vilkinasaga, which is based on both German and Norse sources, states that
Mimir was an artist, in whose workshop the sons of princes and the most
famous smiths learned the trade of the smith. Among his apprentices are
mentioned Velint (Volund), Sigurd-Sven, and Eckihard.
These echoes reverberating far down in Christian times of the myth about
Mimir, as chief of smiths, we also perceive in Saxo. It should be remembered
what he relates about the imcomparable treasures which are preserved in
Gudmund-Mimir’s domain, among which in addition to those already named
occur arma humanorum corporum habitu grandiora (i., p. 427), and about
Mimingus, who possesses the sword of victory, and an arm-ring which
produces wealth (i. 113, 114). If we consult the poetic Edda, we find Mimir
mentioned as Hodd-Mimir, Treasure-Mimir (Vafthr. 45); as naddgofugr jotunn,
the giant celebrated for his weapons (Grogalder, 14); as Hoddrofnir, or Hodddropnir, the treasure-dropping one (Sigrdr., 13); as Baugreginn, the king of the
gold-rings (Solarlj., 56). And as shall be shown hereafter, the chief smiths are
in the poetic Edda put in connection with Mimir as the one on whose fields
they dwell, or in whose smithy they work.
In the mythology, artistic and creative powers are closely related to each
other. The great smiths of the Rigveda hymns, the Ribhus, make horses for
Indra, create a cow and her calf, make from a single goblet three equally
good, diffuse vegetation over the fields, and make brooks flow in the valleys
(Rigveda, iv. 34, 9; iv. 38, 8; i 20 6, 110, 3, and elsewhere). This they do
although they are "mortals," who by their merits acquire immortality. In the
Teutonic mythology Sindre and Brok forge from a pig skin Frey’s steed, which
looks like a boar, and the sons of Ivalde forge from gold locks that grow like
other hair. The ring Draupnir, which the "dwarfs" Sindre and Brok made,
possesses itself creative power and produces every ninth night eight gold
rings of equal weight with itself (Skaldsk., 37). The "meaddrinker" is the chief
and master of all these artists. And on a closer examination it appears that
Mimir’s mead-well is the source of all these powers, which in the mythology
are represented as creating, forming, and ordaining with wisdom.
In Havamal (138-141) Odin relates that there was a time when he had not yet
acquired strength and wisdom. But by self-sacrifice he was able to prevail on
the celebrated Bolthorn son, who dwells in the deep and has charge of the
mead-fountain there and of the mighty runes, to give him (Odin) a drink from
the precious mead, drawn from Odrærir:
þa nam ec frovaz
oc frodr vera
oc vaxa oc vet hafaz;
ord men’ af ordi
orz leitadi,
verc mer af verki
vercs leitadi.
Then I began to bloom
and to be wise,
and to grow and thrive;
word came to me
from word,
deed came to me
from deed.
It is evident that Odin here means to say that the first drink which he received
from Mimir’s fountain was the turning-point in his life; that before that time he
had not blossomed, had made no progress in wisdom, had possessed no
eloquence nor ability to do great deeds, but that he acquired all this from the
power of the mead. This is precisely the same idea as we constantly meet
with in Rigveda, in regard to the soma-mead as the liquid from which the gods
got creative power, wisdom, and desire to accomplish great deeds. Odin’s
greatest and most celebrated achievement was that he, with his brothers,
created Midgard. Would it then be reasonable to suppose that he performed
this greatest and wisest of his works before he began to develop fruit, and
before he got wisdonu and the power of activity? It must be evident to
everybody that this would be unreasonable. It is equally manifest that among
the works which he considered himself able to perform after the drink from
Mimir’s fountain had given him strength, we must place in the front rank those
for which he is most celebrated: the slaying of the chaos-giant Yimir, the
raising of the crust of the earth, and the creation of Midgard. This could not be
said more clearly than it is stated in the above strophe of Havamal, unless
Odin should have specifically mentioned the works he performed after
receiving the drink. From Mimir’s fountain and from Mimir’s hand Odin has,
therefore, received his creative power and his wisdom. We are thus also able
to understand why Odin regarded this first drink from Odrærer so immensely
important that he could resolve to subject himself to the sufferings which are
mentioned in strophes 138 and 139. But when Odin by a single drink from
Mimir’s fountain is endowed with creative power and wisdom, how can the
conclusion be evaded, that the myth regarded Mimir as endowed with
Promethean power, since it makes him the possessor of the precious
fountain, makes him drink therefrom every day, and places him nearer to the
deepest source and oldest activity of these forces in the universe than Odin
himself? The given and more instantaneous power, thanks to which Odin was
made able to form the upper world, camne from the lower world and from
Mimir. The world-tree has also grown out of the lower world and is Mimir’s
tree, and receives from his hands its value. Thus the creative power with
which the dwarf-list in Voluspa endowed the "mead-drinker" is rediscovered in
Mimir. It is, therefore, perfectly logical when the mythology makes him its first
smith and chief artist, and keeper of treasures and the ruler of a group of
dwarfs, underground artists, for originally these were and remained creative
forces personified, just as Rigveda’s Ribhus, who smithied flowers, and grass,
and animals, and opened the veins of the earth for fertilising streams, while
they at the same time made implements and weapons.
That Mimir was the profound counsellor and faithful friend of the Asas has
already been shown. Thus we discover in Mimir Modsogner’s governing
position among the artists, his creative activity, and his friendly relation to the
gods.
Dvalin, created by Modsogner, is in the Norse sagas of the middle ages
remembered as an extraordinary artist. He is there said to have assisted in
the fashioning of the sword Tyrfing (Fornald. Saga, i. 436), of Freyja’s
splendid ornament Brisingamen, celebrated also in Anglo-Saxon poetry
(Fornald. Saga, i. 391). In the Snofrid song, which is attributed to Harald
Fairhair, the drapa is likened unto a work of art, which rings forth from beneath
the fingers of Dvahin (hrynr fram ur Dvalin’s greip—Fornm. Saga, x. 208; Flat.,
i. 582). This beautiful poetical figure is all the more appropriately applied,
since Dvalin was not only the producer of the beautiful works of the smith, but
also sage and skald. He was one of the few chosen ones who in time’s
morning were permitted to taste of Mimir’s mead, which therefore is called his
drink (Dvalin’s drykkr—Younger Edda, i. 246).
But in the earliest antiquity no one partook of this drink who did not get it from
Mimir himself.
Dvalin is one of the most ancient rune-masters, one of those who brought the
knowledge of runes to those beings of creation who were endowed with
reason (Havamal, 143). But all knowledge of runes came originally from
Mimir. As skald and runic scholar, EDvalin, therefore, stood in the relation of
disciple under the ruler of the lower world.
The myth in regard to the runes (cp. No. 26) mentioned three apprentices,
who afterwards spread the knowledge of runes each among his own class of
beings. Odin, who in the beginning was ignorant of the mighty and beneficent
rune-songs (Havamal, 138-143), was by birth Mimir’s chief disciple, and
taught the knowledge of runes among his kinsmen, the Asas (Havamal, 143),
and among men, his proteges (Sigdrifm., 18). The other disciples were Dam
(Dd.inn) and Dvalin (Dvalinn). Dam, like Dvalin, is an artist created by
Modsogner (Voluspa, 11, Hauks Codex). He is mentioned side by side with
Dvalin, and like him he has tasted the mead of poesy (munnvigg Dáins—
Fornm. Saga, v. 209). Dain and Dvalin taught the runes to their clans, that is,
to elves and dwarfs (Havamal, 143). Nor were the giants neglected. They
learned the runes from Asvir. Since the other teachers of runes belong to the
clans, to which they teach the knowledge of runes—" Odin among Asas, Dam
among elves, Dvalin among dwarfs "—there can be no danger of making a
mistake, if we assume that Asvidr was a giant. And as Mimir himself is a giant,
and as the name Asvidr (= Ásvinr) means Asa-friend, and as no one—
particularly no one among the giants—has so much right as Mimir to this
epithet, which has its counterpart in Odin’s epithet, Minis vinr (Mimir’s friend),
then caution dictates that we keep open the highly probable possibility that
Mimir himself is meannt by Asvidr.
All that has here been stated about Dvalin shows that the mythology has
referred him to a place within the domain of Mimir’s activity. We have still to
point out two statements in regard to him. Sol is said to have been his leika
(Fornald., i. 475; Allvism., 17; Younger Edda, i. 472, 593). Leika, as a feminine
word and referring to a personal object, means a young girl, a maiden, whom
one keeps at his side, and in whose amusement one takes part at least as a
spectator. The examples which we have of the use of the word indicate that
the leika herself, and the person whose leika she is, are presupposed to have
the same home. Sisters are called leikur, since they live together. Parents can
call a foster-daughter their leika. In the neuter gender leika means a plaything,
a doll or toy, and even in this sense it can rhetorically be applied to a person.
In the same manner as Sol is called Dvalin’s leika, so the son of Nat and
Delling, Dag, is called leikr Dvalins, the lad or youth with whom Dvalin amused
himself (Fornspjal., 24).
We have here found two points of contact between the mythic characters
Dvalin and Delling. Dag, who is Dvalin’s leikr, is Pelling’s son. Delling is the
watchman of the castle of the asmegir, which Dvalin’s artists decorated.
Thus the whole group of persons among whom Dvahin is placed
—Mimir, who is his teacher; Sol, who is his leika; Dag, who is his leikr; Nat,
who is the mother of his leikr; Delling, who is the father of his leikr—have their
dwellings in Mimir’s domain, and belong to the subterranean class of the
numina of Teutonic mythology.
From regions situated below Midgard’s horizon, Nat, Sol, and Dag draw their
chariots upon the heavens. On the eastern of the lower world is the point of
departure for their regular journeys over the heavens of the upper world (‘‘the
upper heavens," upphiminn—Völuspa, 3; Vafthr., 20, and elsewhere;
uppheimr’— Alvin., 13). Nat has her home and, as shall be shown hereafter,
liner birthplace in dales beneath the ash Ygdrasil. There she takes her rest
after the circuit of her journey has been completed. In the lower world Sol and
Nat’s son, Dag, also have their halls where they take their rest. But where
Delhing’s wife and son have their dwellings there we should also look for
Delling’s own abode.
As the husband of Nat and the father of Dag, Delling occupies the same place
among the divinities of nature as the dawn and the glow of sunrise among the
phenomena of nature. And outside the doors of Delling, the king of dawn,
mythology has also located the dwarf þjódreyrir (" he who moves the people
"), who sings songs of awakening and blessing upon the world: "power to the
Asas, success to the elves, wisdom to Hroptatyr" (afi asom, enn alfum frama,
hyggio Hroptaty—Havam., 160).
Unlike his kinsmen, Nat, Dag, and Sol, Delling has no duty which requires him
to be absent from home a part of the day. The dawn is merely a reflection of
Midgard’s eastern horizon from Delling’s subterranean dwelling. It can be
seen only when Nat leaves the upper heaven and before Dag and Sol have
come forward, and it makes no journey around the world. From a mythological
standpoint it would therefore be possible to entrust the keeping of the castle of
the asmegir to the elf of dawn. The sunset-glow has another genius, Billing,
and he, too, is a creation of Modsogner, if the dwarf-list is correct (Voluspa,
12). Sol, who on her way is pursued by two giant monsters in wolf-guise, is
secure when she comes to her forest of the Varns behind the western horizon
(til varna vidar—Grimn., 30). There in western halls (Vegtamskv., 11) dwells
Billing, the chief of the Varns (Billing veold Vernum—Cod. Exon., 320). There
rests his daughter Rind bright as the sun on her bed, and his body-guard
keeps watch with kindled lights and burning torches (Havam., 100). Thus
Billing is the watchman of the western boundary of Mimir’s domain, Delling of
the eastern.
From this it follows:
That the citadel of the ásmegir is situated in Mimir’s lower world, and there in
the regions of the elf of dawn.
That Svipdag, who has seen the citadel of the ásmegir, has made a journey in
the lower world before he found Menglad and secured her as his wife.
The conclusion to which we have arrived in regard to the subterranean
situation of the citadel is entirely confirmed by the other passage in the poetic
Edda, where the asmegir are mentioned by this name. Here we have an
opportunity of taking a look withini their castle, and of seeing the hall
decorated with lavish splendour for the reception of an expected guest.
Vegtamskvida tells us that Odin, being alarmed in regard to the fate of his son
Balder, made a journey to the lower world for the purpose of learning from a
vala what foreboded his favourite son. When Odin had rode through Nifelhel
and come to green pastures (foldvegr), he found there below a hall decorated
for festivity, and he asks the prophetess:
hvæim eru bekkir baugum sanir, flæt fagrlig
"For whom are the benches strewn with rings and the gold beautifully
scattered through the rooms?"
And the vala answers:
Her stændr Balldri of bruggin miodr, skirar væigar, liggr skiolldr yfir æn
ásmegir I ofvæni.
"Here stands for Balder mead prepared, pttre drink; shields are overspread,
and the ásmegir are waiting impatiently."
Thus there stands in the lower world a hall splendidly decorated awaiting
Balder’s arrival. As at other great feasts, the benches are strewn (cp. breida
bekki, stra bekki, bua bekki) with costly things, and the pure wonderful mead
of the lower world is already served as an offering to the god. Only the shields
which cover the mead-vessel need to be lifted off and all is ready for the feast.
Who or what persons have, in so good season, made these preparations ?
The vala explains when she mentions the asmegir and speaks of their longing
for Balder. It is this longing which has found utterance in the preparations
already completed for his reception. Thus, when Balder gets to the lower
world, he is to enter the citadel of the asmegir and there be welcomed by a
sacrifice, consisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the strength-giving somamadhu of Teutonic mythology. In the old Norse heathen literature there is only
one more place where we find the word ásmegir, and that is in Olaf
Trygveson’s saga, oh. 16 (Heimskringla). For the sake of completeness this
passage should also be considered, and when analysed it, too, sheds much
and important light on the subject.
We read in this saga that Jarl Hakon proclaimed throughout his kingdom that
the inhabitants should look after their temples and sacrifices, and so was
done. Jarl Hakon’s hird-skald, named Einar Skalaglam, who in the poem
"Vellekla" celebrated his deeds and exploits, mentions his interest in the
heathen worship, and the good results this was supposed to have produced
for the jarl himself and for the welfare of his land. Einar says:
Ok herþarfir hverfa hlakkar móts til blóta, raudbríkar fremst rækir rikr, ásmegir,
sliku. Nu grær jörd sem adan, &c.
Put in prose: Ok herþarfir ásmegir hverfa til blóta; hlakkar móts raudbríkar rikr
rækír fremst sliku. Nu grær jörd sem ádan.
Translation: "And the ásmegir required in war, turn themselves to the
sacrificial feasts. The mighty promoter of the meeting of the red target of the
goddess of war has honour and advantage thereof. Now grows the earth
green as heretofore."
"There can be no doubt that "the ásmegir required in war refer to the men in
the territory ruled by Hakon, and that "the mighty promoter of the meeting of
the red target of the goddess of war" refers to the warlike Hakon himself, and
hence the meaning of the passage in its plain prose form is simply this:
"Hakon’s men again devote themselves to the divine sacrifices. This is both
an honour and an advantage to Hakon, and the earth again yields bountiful
harvests."
To these thoughts the skald has given a garb common in poetry of art, by
adapting them to a mythological background. The persons in this background
are the ásmegir and a mythical being called "the promoter of the red target,"
raudbríkar rækir. The persons in the foreground are the men in Hakon’s realm
and Hakon himself. The persons in the foreground are permitted to borrow the
names of the corresponding persons in the background, but on the condition
that the borrowed names are furnished with adjectives which emphasise the
specific difference between the original mythic lenders and the real borrowers.
Thus Hakon’s subjects are allowed to borrow the appellation ásmegir, but this
is then furnished with the adjective herþarfir (required in war), whereby they
are specifically distinguished from the ásmegir of the mythical background,
and Hakon on his part is allowed to borrow the appellation raudbríkar rækir
(the promoter of the red target), but this appellation is then furnished with the
adjective phrase hlakkar móts (of the meeting of the goddess of war),
whereby Hakon is specifically distinguished from the raudbríkar rækir of the
mythical background.
The rule also requires that, at least on that point of which the skald happens to
be treating, the persons in the mythological background should hold a relation
to each other which resembles, and can be compared with, the relation
between the persons in the foreground. Hakon’s men stand in a subordinate
relation to Hakon himself; and so must the asmegir stand in a subordinate
relation to that being which is called raudbríkar rækir, providing tine skald in
this strophe as in the others has produced a tenable parallel. Hakon is, for his
subjects, one who exhorts them to piety and fear of the gods. Raudbríkar
rækir, his counterpart in the mythological background, must have been the
same for his ásmegir. Hakon’s subjects offer sacrifices, and this is an
advantage and an honour to Hakon, and the earth grows green again. In the
mythology the asmegir must have held some sacrificial feast, and raudbríkar
rækir must have had advantage and honour, and the earth must have
regained its fertility. Only on these conditions is the figure of comparison to the
point, and of such a character that it could be presented unchallenged to
heathen ears familiar with the myths. It should be added that Einar’s
greatness as a skald is not least shown by his ability to carry out logically such
figures of comparison. We shall later on give other examples of this.
Who is, then, this raudbríkar rækir, "the promoter of the red target" ?
In the mythological language raudbrik (red target) can mean no other object
than the sun. Compare rodull, which is frequently used to designate the sun. If
this needed confirmation, then we have it immediately at hand in the manner
in which the word is applied in the continuation of the paraphrase adapted to
Hakon.
A common paraphrase for the shield is the sun with suitable adjectives, and
thus raudbrik is applied here. The adjective phrase is here hlakkar móts, "of
the meeting of the war-goddess" (that is, qualifying the red target), whereby
the red target (= sun), which is an attribute of the mythic rækir of the
background, is changed to a shield, which becomes an attribute of the
historical rækir of the foreground, namely Hakon jarl, the mighty warrior.
Accordingly, raudbríkar rækir of the mythology must be a masculine divinity
standing in some relation to the sun.
This sun-god must also have been upon the whole a god of peace. Had he
not been so, but like Hakon a war-loving shield-bearer, then the paraphrase
hlakkar móts raudbríkar rækir would equally well designate him as Hakon, and
thus it could not be used to designate Hakon alone, as it then would contain
neither a nota characteristica for him nor a differentia specifica to distinguish
him from the mythic person, whose epithet raudbríkar rækir he has been
allowed to borrow.
This peaceful sun-god must have descended to the lower world and there
stood in the most intimate relation with the ásmegir referred to the domain of
Mimir, for he is here represented as their chief and leader in the path of piety
and the fear of the gods. The myth must have mentioned a sacrificial feast or
sacrificial feasts celebrated by the asmegir. From this or these sacrificial
feasts the peaceful sun-god must have derived advantage and honour, and
thereupon the earth must have regained a fertility, which before that had been
more or less denied it.
From all this it follows with certainty that raubrikar’ rækir of the mythology is
Balder. The fact suggested by the Vellekla strophe above analysed, namely,
that Balder, physically interpreted, is a solar divinity, the mythological scholars
are almost a unit in assuming to be the case on account of the general
character of the Balder myth. Though Balder was celebrated for heroic deeds
he is substantially a god of peace, and after his descent to the lower world he
is no longer connected with the feuds and dissensions of the upper world. We
have already seen that he was received in the lower world with great pomp by
the ásmegir, who impatiently awaited his arrival, and that they sacrifice to him
that bright mead of the lower world, whose wonderfully beneficial and bracing
influence shall be discussed below. Soon afterwards he is visited by Hermod.
Already before Balder’s funeral pyre, Hermod upon the fastest of all steeds
hastened to find him in the lower world (Gylfag., 51, 52), and Hermod returns
from him and Nanna with the ring Draupnir for Odin, and with a veil for the
goddess of earth, Fjorgyn-Frigg. The ring from which other rings drop, and the
veil which is to beautify the goddess of earth, are symbols of fertility. Balder,
the sun-god, had for a long time before his death been languishing. Now in
the lower world he is strengthened with the bracing mead of Mimir’s domain
by the asmegir who gladly give offerings, and the earth regains her green
fields.
Hakon’s men are designated in the strophe as herþarfir ásmegir. When they
are permitted to borrow the name of the ásmegir, then the adjective herþarfir,
if chosen with the proper care, is to contain a specific distinction between
them and the mythological beings whose name they have borrowed. In other
words, if the real asmegir were of such a nature that they could be called
herþarfir, then that adjective would not serve to distinguish Hakon’s men from
them. The word herþarfir means "those who are needed in war," "those who
are to be used in war ". Consequently, the asmegir are beings who are not to
be used in war, beings whose dwelling, environment, and purpose suggest a
realm of peace, from which the use of weapons is banished.
Accordingly, the parallel presented in Einar’s strophe, which we have now
discussed, is as follows:
Mythology
History
Peaceful beings of the lower world (ásmegir), at the
Warlike inhabitants of the earth (h
instigation of their chief, the sun-god Balder (raudbríkar
instigation of their chief, the shiel
rækir) go to offer sacrifices. The peaceful Balder is thereby
(hlakkar móts raudbrikar rækir), g
benefited. The earth grows green again.
shield’s Balder is thereby benefite
ok asmegir, hverfa til blóta; raudbríkar rikr rækir Na grær
jord scm ádan.
green again.
ok herþarfir asmegir hverfa til bló
raudbrikar rikr rækir fremst slika.
In the background which Einar has given to his poetical paraphrase, we thus
have the myth telling how the sun-god Balder, on his descent to the lower
world, was strengthened by the somasacrifice brought him by the ásmegir,
and how he sent back with Hermod the treasures of fertility which had gone
with him and Nanna to the lower world, and which restored the fertility of the
earth.
To what category of beings do the ásmegir’ then belong? We have seen the
word applied as a technical terni in a restricted sense. The possibilities of
application which the word with reference to its definition supplies are:
(1) The word may be used in the purely physical sense of Asa-sons, Asadescendants. In this case the subterranean ásmegir would be by their very
descent members of that god-clan that resides in Asgard, and whose father
and clan-patriarch is Odin.
(2) The word can be applied to nien. They are the children of the Asa-father in
a double sense: the first human pair was created by Odin and his brothers
(Völusp., 16, 17; Gylfag., 9), and their offspring are also in a moral sense
Odin’s children, as they are subject to his guidance and care. He is Alfather,
and the father of the succeeding generations (allfadir, aldafadir). A word
resemblinig ásmegir’ in character is ásasynir, and this is used in Allvismal, 16,
in a manner which shows that it does not refer to any of those categories of
beings that are called gods (see further, No. 62).* The conception of men as
sons of the gods is also implied in the all mankind embracing phrase, megir
Heimdallar (Volusp, 1), with which the account of Rig-Heimdal’s journeys on
the earth and visits to the patriarchs of the various classes is connected.*
Sol heitir med monnom, enn sunna med godum, kalla dvergar Dvalin’s leika
eyglo iotnor, alfar fagra hvel alscir asa synir.
The true meaning of the word in this case is determined by the fact that the
asmegir belong to the dwellers in the lower world already before the death of
Balder, and that Balder is the first one of the Asas and sons of Odin who
becomes a dweller in the lower world. To this must be added, that if asmegir
meant Asas, Einar would never have called the inhabitants of Norway, the
subjects of jarl Hakon, herþarfir ásmegir, for herþarfir the Asas are
themselves, and that in the highest degree. They constitute a body of more or
less warlike persons, who all have been "needed in conflict" in the wars
around Asgard and Midgard, and they all, Balder included, are gods of war
and victory. It would also have been malapropos to compare men with Asas
on an occasion when the former were represented as bringing sacrifices to
the gods; that is, as persons subordinate to them and in need of their
assistance.
The asmegir are, therefore, human beings excluded from the surface of the
earth, from the mankind which dwell in Midgard, and are inhabitants of the
lower world, where they reside in a splendid castle kept by the elf of dawn,
Delling, and enjoy the society of Balder, who descended to Hades. To
subterranean human beings refers also Grimnismal, 21, which says that men
(mennzkir menn) dwell under the roots of Ygdrasil; and Allvismal, 16 (to be
compared with 18, 20, and other passages), and Skirnersmal, 34, which calls
them ásliþar, a word which Gudbrand Vigfusson has rightly assumed to be
identical with ásmegir.
Thus it is also demonstrated that the asmegir are identical with the
subterranean human persons Lif and Leifthraser and their descendants in
Mimir’s grove. The care with which the mythology represents the citadel of the
asmegir kept, shown by the fact that the elf Delling, the counterpart of
Heimdal in the lower world, has been entrusted with its keeping, is intelligible
and proper when we know that it is of the greatest importance to shield Lif and
Leifthraser’s dwelling from all ills, sickness, age, and moral evil (see above). It
is also a beautiful poetic thought that it is the elf of the morning dawn—he
outside of whose door the song of
*Cp. also Gylfag., 9, in regard to Odin: Ok fyrir þvi ma hann heita Allfodr, at
hann er fadir alra godanna ok manna ok alls þess, er af honom ok hans krapti
var fullgjört.
awakening and bliss is sung to the world—who has been appointed to watch
those who in the dawn of a new world shall people the earth with virtuous and
happy races. That the ásmegir in the lower world are permitted to enjoy the
society of Balder is explained by the fact that Lif and Liefthraser and their
offspring are after Ragnarok to acconnpany Balder to dwell under his sceptre,
and live a blameless life corresponding to his wishes. They are to be his
disciples, knowing their master’s commandments and having them written in
their hearts.
We have now seen that the asmegir already before Balder’s death dwell in
Mimir’s grove. We have also seen that Svipdag on his journey in the lower
world had observed a castle, which he knew belonged to the ásmegir. The
mythology knows two fimbul-winters: the former raged in tinie’s morning, the
other is to precede Ragnarok. The fornier occurred when Freyja, the goddess
of fertility, was treacherously delivered into the power of the frost-giants and
all the air was blended with corruption (Volusp., 26); when there canine from
the Elivogs stinging, ice-cold arrows of frost, which put men to death and
destroyed the greenness of the earth (Foraspjallsljod) ; when King Snow
ruled, and there came ma the northern lands a famine which compelled the
people to emigrate to the South (Saxo, i. 415). Svipdag made his journey in
the lower world during the time preceding the first fimbulwinter. This follows
from the fact that it was he who liberated Freyja, the sister of the god of the
harvests, from the power of the frost-giants (see Nos. 96-102). Lif and
Leifthraser were accordingly already at that time transferred to Mimir’s grove.
This ought to have occurred before the earth and her inhabitants were
afflicted by physical and moral evil, while there still could be found undefiled
men to be saved for the world to come; and we here find that the mythology,
so far as the records make it possible for us to investigate the matter, has
logically met this claim of poetic justice.
54.
THE IRANIAN MYTH CONCERNING MIMIR’S GROVE.
In connection with the efforts to determine the age of tIme Teutonic myths,
and their kinship with the other Aryan (Indo European) mythologies, the fact
deserves attention that the myth in regard to a subterranean grove and the
human beings there preserved for a future regenerated world is also found
among the Iranians, an Asiatic race akin to the Teutons. The similarity
between the Teutonic and Iranian traditions is so conspicuous that the
question is irresistible—Whether it is not originally, from the standpoint of
historical descent, one and the samne myth, which, but little affected by time,
has been preserved by the Teutonic Aryans around the Baltic, and by the
Iranian Aryans in Baktria and Persia ? But the answer to the question requires
the greatest caution. The psychological similarity of races may, on account of
the limitations of the human fancy, and in the midst of similar conditions and
environments, create myths which resemble each other, although they were
produced spontaneously by different races in different parts of the earth. This
may happen in the same manner as primitive implements, tools, and dwellings
which resemble each other may have been invented and used by races far
separated from each other, not by the one learning from the other how these
things were to be made, nor on account of a common descent in antiquity.
The similarity is the result of similar circumstances. It was the same want
which was to be satisfied; the same human logic found the manner of
satisfying the want; the same materials offered themselves for the
accomplishment of the end, and the same universal conceptions of form were
active in the development of the problems. Comparative mythology will never
beconne a science in the strict sense of this word before it ceases to build
hypotheses on a solitary similarity, or even on several or many resemblances
between mythological systems geographically separated, unless these
resemblances unite themselves and form a whole, a mythical unity, and
unless it appears that this mythical unity in turn enters as an element into a
greater complexity, which is similar in fundamental structure and similar in its
characteristic details. Especially should this rule be strictly observed when we
compare the myths of peoples who neither by race nor language can be
traced back to a prehistoric unity. But it is best not to relax the severity of the
rules even when we compare the myths of peoples who, like the Teutons, the
Iranians, and the Rigveda-Aryans, have the same origin and same language;
who through centuries, and even long after their separation, have handed
down from generation to generation similar mythological conceptions and
mythical traditions. I trust that, as this work of mine gradually progresses, a
sufficient material of evidence for the solution of the above problem will be
placed in the hands of my readers. I now make a beginning of this by
presenting the Iranian myth concerning Jima’s grove and the subterranean
human beings transferred to it.
In the ancient Iranian religious documents Jima is a holy and mighty ancient
being, who, however, does not belong to the number of celestial divinities
which surround the highest god, Ahuramazda, but must be counted among
"the mortals," to the oldest seers and prophets of antiquity. A hymn of
sacrifice, dedicated to the sacred mead, the liquid of inspiration (homa, the
soma and soma-nnadhu of the Rigveda-Aryans, the last word being the same
as our word mead), relates that Jima and his father were the first to prepare
the mend of inspiration for the material world; that he, Jima, was the richest in
honour of all who had been born, and that he of all mortals most resembled
the sun. In his kingdom there was neither cold nor heat, neither frost nor
drought, neither aging nor death. A father by the side of his son resembled,
like the son, a youth of fifteen years. The evil created by the demons did not
cross the boundaries of Jima’s world (The Younger Jasna, ch. 9).
Jima was the favourite of Ahuramazda, the highest god. Still he had a will of
his own. The first mortal with whonn Ahuramazda talked was Jima, and he
taught him the true faith, and desired that Jima should spread it among the
mortals. But Jima answered:
"I am not suited to be the bearer and apostle of the faith, nor am I believed to
be so" (Vendidad). [In this manner it is explained why the true doctrine did not
become known among men before the reformer Zarathustra came, and why
Jima, the possessor of the mead of inspiration, nevertheless, was in
possession of the true wisdom.]
It is mentioned (in Gôsh Jasht and Râm, Jasht) that Jima held two beings in
honour, which did not belong to Ahuramazda’s celestial circle, but were
regarded as worthy of worship. These two were:
1. The cow (Gosh), that lived in the beginning of time, and whose blood, when
she was slain, fertilised the earth with the seed of life.
2. Vajush, the heavenly breeze. He is identical with the ruler of the air and
wind in Rigveda, the mighty god Vâyu- Vâta.
In regard to the origin and purpose of the kingdom ruled by Jima, in which
neither frost nor drought, nor aging nor death, nor moral evil, can enter,
Vendidad relates the following: *
* The outlines of the contents are given here from the interpretation found in
Hang-West’s Essays on the Sacred Language of the Parsis (London, 1878).
Avesta
Zend
21. A meeting was held with the holy angels of
(as 21 Avesta) A meeting was held with
Ahuramazda, the creator. To this meeting came, with
Jima, the king, the one rich in flocks. To
the best men, Jima, the king rich in flocks.
came, with the holy angels, Ahuramazda
22. Then said Ahuramazda to Jima: "Happy Jima
(as 22 Avesta) In the material world ther
Vîvan- ghana! In the material world there shall come
evil winter, consequently much snow sha
an evil winter, and consequently a hard, killing frost."
highest mountains, on the tops of the ro
23. From three places, O Jima, the cows should be
(as 23 Avesta) From three places, O Jim
driven to well-enclosed shelters; whether they are in
should be driven to well-enclosed shelte
the wildernesses, or on the heights of the mountains,
are in the wilderness, or on the heights o
or in the depths of the valleys.
or in the depths of the valleys.
24. Before the winter this land had meadows. Before
that time the water (the rain) was wont to flow over it,
and the snow to melt; and there was found, 0 Jima,
<large Gap here fill with 24 Avesta >
in the material world, water-soaked places, in which
were visible the footprints of the cattle and their
offspring.
25. Now give this enclosure (above, "the wellenclosed shelters") on each of its four sides
the length of one . . . and bring thither the seed of
your cattle, of oxen, of men, of dogs, and of birds,
(as 25 Avesta) Now give the enclosure t
. . on each of its four sides as a dwelling
give the same length to each of the four
for the cows.
<large Gap here fill with 26 Avesta>
and red blazing fires.
26. Gather water there in a canal, the length of one
27. Bring thither seed of all men and wo
hathra. Place the landmarks there on a gold-coloured largest, best, and most fair on this earth.
spot, furnished with imperishable nourishment. Put
seed of all domestic animals that are the
up a house there of mats and poles, with roof and
and fairest on this earth.
walls.
<large Gap here fill with 27-28 Zend>
29. There shall be no pride, no despondency, no
sluggishness, no poverty, no deceit, no dwarfgrowths, no blemish . . . nor aught else of those
signs which are Angro-mainyush’s curses put on
men.
30. Make, in the uppermost part of that territory, nine
bridges; in the middle, six; in the lowest part, three.
28. Bring thither seed of all plants which
and most fragrant on this earth. Bring th
articles of food which are the best tasting
fragrant on this earth. And make pairs of
unceasingly, in order that these beings m
existence in the enclosures.
To the
bridges of the upper part you must bring seed of a
<large Gap here fill with 29-33 Avesta>
thousand men and women, to those of the middle the
seed of six hundred, to those of the lower, of three
hundred... . And make a door in the enclosure, and a
selfluminous window on the inside.
33. Then Jima made the enclosure.
39. Which are those lights, thou just Ahu
give light in the enclosures made by Jim
40. Ahuramazda answered:
Once (a year) the stars and moon and th
<large Gap here fill with 39-42 Zend>
seen to rise and set.
41. And they (who dwell within Jima’s en
that one year is one day. Every fortieth y
are born by two persons. These persons
greatest bliss in the enclosures made by
42. Just creator! Who preached the pure
enclosures which Jima made? Ahurama
The bird Karshipta.
Jima’s garden has accordingly been formed in connection with a terrible
winter, which, in the first period of time, visited the earth, and it was planned to
preserve that which is noblest and fairest and most useful within the kingdoms
of organic beings. That the garden is situated in the lower world is not
expressly stated in the above-quoted passages from Vendidad; though this
seems to be presupposed by what is stated; for the stars, sun, and moon do
not show themselves in Jima’s garden excepting after long, defined
intervals—at their rising and setting; and as the surface of the earth is
devastated by tIme unparalleled frost, and as the valleys are no more
protected therefrom than the mountains, we cannot without grave doubts
conceive the garden as situated in the upper world. That it is subterranean is,
however, expressly stated in Bundehesh, ch. 30, 10, where it is located under
the mountain Damkan; and that it, in the oldest period of the myth, was looked
upon as subterranean follows from the fact that the Jima of the ancient Iranian
records is identical with Rigveda’s Jama, whose domain and the scene of
whose activities is the lower world, the kingdom of death.
As Jima’s enclosed garden was established on account of the fimbul-winter,
which occurred in time’s morning, it continues to exist after the close of the
winter, and preserves through all the historical ages those treasures of
uncorrupted men, animals, and plants which in the beginning of time were
collected there. The purpose of this is mentioned in Minokhird, a sort of
catechism of the legends and morals of the Avesta religion. There it is said
that after the conflagration of the world, and in the beginning of the
regeneration, the garden which Jima made shall open its gate, and thence
men, animals, and plants shall once more fill the devastated earth.
The lower world, where Jima, according to the ancient Iranian records,
founded this remarkable citadel, is, according to Rigveda, Jama’s kingdom,
and also the kingdom of death, of which Jama is king (Rigv., x. 16, 9; cp. i. 35,
6, and other passages). It is a glorious country, with inexhaustible fountains,
and there is the home of the imperishable light (Rigv., ix. 7, 8; ix. 113, 8).
Jama dwells under a tree "with broad leaves ". There he gathers around the
goblet of mead the fathers of antiquity, and there he drinks with the gods
(Rigv., x. 135,1).
Roth, and after him Abel Bergaigne (Religion Ved., i. 88 ff.), regard Jama and
Mann, mentioned in Rigveda, as identical There are strong reasons for the
assumption, so far as certain passages of Rigveda are concerned; while other
passages, particularly those which mention Mann by the side of Bhriga, refer
to an ancient patriarch of human descent. If the derivation of the word Mimir,
Mimi, pointed out by several linguists, last by Müllenhoff (Deutsche Alt., vol. v.
105, 106), is correct, then it is originally the same name as Manu, and like it is
to be referred to the idea of thinking, remembering.
What the Aryan-Asiatic myth here given has in common with the Teutonic one
concerning the subterranean persons in Mimir’s grove can be summarised in
the following words:
The lower world has a ruler, who does not belong to the group of immortal
celestial beings, but enjoys the most friendly relations with the godhead, and
is the possessor of great wisdom. In his kingdom flow inexhaustible fountains,
and a tree grown out of its soil spreads its foliage over his dwelling, where he
serves the mead of inspiration, which the gods are fond of and which he was
the first to prepare. A terrible winter threatened to destroy everything on the
surface of the earth. Then the ruler of the lower world built on his domain a
well-fortified citadel, within which neither destructive storms, nor physical ills,
nor moral evil, nor sickness, nor aging, nor death can come. Thither he
transferred the best and fairest human beings to be found on earth, and
decorated the enclosed garden with the niost beautiful and useful trees and
plants. The purpose of this garden is not simply to protect the beings collected
there during the great winter ; they are to remain there through all historical
ages. When these come to an end, there comes a great conflagration and
then a regeneration of the world. The renewed earth is to be filled with the
beings who have been protected by the subterranean citadel. The people who
live there have an instructor in the pure worship of the gods and in the
precepts of morality, and in accordance with these precepts they are to live for
ever a just and happy life.
It should be added that the two beings whom the Iranian ruler of the lower
world is said to have honoured are found or have equivalents in the Teutonic
mythology. Both are there put in theogonic connection with Mimir. The one is
the celestial lord of the wind, Vayush, Rigveda’s Vayu-Vata. Vata is thought to
be the same name as Wodan, Oinn (Zimmer. Haupt’s Zeitschr., 1875; cp.
Mannhardt and Kaegi). At all events, Vata’s tasks are the same as Odin’s.
The other is the primeval cow, whose Norse name or epithet, Audhumla is
preserved in Gylfag., 6. Andhunla liberates from the frost-stones in Chaos
Bure, the progenitor of the Asa race, and his son Bor is married to Mimir’s
sister Bestla, and with her becomes the father of Odin (Havam., 140; Gylfag.,
6).
55.
THE PURPOSE OF MIMIR’S GROVE IN THE REGENERATION OF THE
WORLD.
We now know the purpose of Odainsakr, Mimir’s land and Mimir’s grove in the
world-plan of our mythology. We know who the inhabitants of the grove are,
and why they, though dwellers in the lower world, must be living persons, who
did not come there through the gate of death. They must be living persons of
flesh and blood, since the human race of the regenerated earth must be the
same.
Still the purpose of Mimir’s land is not limited to being, through this epoch of
the world, a protection for the fathers of the future world against moral and
physical corruption, and a seminary where Balder educates them in virtue and
piety. The grove protects, as we have seen, the ásmegir during Ragnarok,
whose flames do not penetrate thither. Thus the grove, and the land in which
it is situated, exist after the flames of Ragnarok are extinguished. Was it
thought that the grove after the regeneration was to continue in the lower
world and there stand uninhabited, abandoned, desolate, and without a
purpose in the future existence of gods, men, and things?
The last moments of the existence of the crust of the old earth are described
as a chaotic condition in which all elements are confused with each other. The
sea rises, overflows the earth sinking beneath its billows, and the crests of its
waves aspire to heaven itself (cp. Völusp., 54, 2—Sigr fold i mar, with
Hyndlulj., 42, 1-3—Haf gengr hridum vid himinn sialfann, lidr lond yfir). The
atmosphere, usurped by the sea, disappears, as it were (loft bilar—Hyndlulj.,
42, 4). Its snow and winds (Hyndlulj., 42, 5-6) are blended with water and fire,
and form with them heated vapours, which "play" against the vault of heaven
(Völusp., 54, 7-8). One of the reasons why the fancy has made all the forces
and elements of nature thus contend and blend was doubtless to furnish a
sufficiently good cause for the dissolution and disappearance of the burnt
crust of the earth. At all events, the earth is gone when the rage of the
elements is subdued, and thus it is not impediment to the act of regeneration
which takes its beginning beneath the waves.
This act of regeneration consists in the rising from the depths of the sea of a
new earth, which on its very rising possesses living beings and is clothed in
green. The fact that it, while yet below the sea, could be a home for beings
which need air in order to breathe and exist, is not necessarily to be regarded
as a miracle in mythology. Our ancestors only needed to have seen an airbubble rise to the surface of the water in order to draw the conclusion that air
can be found under the water without mixing with it, but with the power of
pushing water away while it rises to the surface. The earth rising from the sea
has, like the old earth, the necessary atmosphere around it. Under all
circumstances, the seeress in Voluspa sees after Ragnarok— upp koma
audro sinni ior or ægi iþia græna (str. 56).
The earth risen from the deep has mountains and cascades, which, from their
fountains in the fells, hasten to the sea. The waterfalls contain fishes, and
above them soars the eagle seeking its prey (Volusp., 56, 5-8). The eagle
cannot be a survivor of the beings of the old earth. It cannot have endured in
an atmosphere full of fire and steam, nor is there any reason why the
mythology should spare the eagle among all the creatures of the old earth. It
is, therefore, of the same origin as the mountains, the cascades, and the
imperishable vegetation which suddenly came to the surface.
The earth risen from the sea also contains human beings, namely, Lif and
Leifthraser, and their offspring. Mythology did not need to have recourse to
any hocus-pocus to get them there. The earth risen from the sea had been the
lower world before it came out of the deep, and a paradise-region in the lower
world had for centuries been the abode of Lif and Leifthraser. It is more than
unnecessary to imagine that the lower world with this Paradise was duplicated
by another with a similar Paradise, and that the living creatures on the former
were by some magic manipulation transferred to the latter. Mythology has its
miracles, but it also has its logic. As its object is to be trusted, it tries to be as
probable and consistent with its premises as possible. It resorts to miracles
and magic only when it is necessary, not otherwise.
Among the mountains which rise on the new earth are found those which are
called Nida fjöll (Volusp., 62), Nide’s mountains. The very name Nide
suggests the lower world. It means the "lower one ". Among the abodes of
Hades, mentioned in Völuspa, there is also a hall of gold on Nide’s plains (a
Niþa vollom—str. 36), and from Solarljod (str. 56) we learn—a statement
confirmed by much older records—that Nide is identical with Mimir (see No.
87). Thus, Nide’s mountains are situated on Mimir’s fields. Völuspa’s seeress
discovers on the rejuvenated earth Nidhog, the corpse-eating demon of the
lower world, flying, with dead bodies under his wings, away from the rocks,
where he from time immemorial had had his abode, and from which he carried
his prey to Nastrands (Volusp., 39). There are no more dead bodies to be had
for him, and his task is done. Whether the last line of Voluspa has reference to
Nidhog or not, when it speaks of some one "who must sink," cannot be
determined. Mullenhoff (Deutsche Alt.) assumes this to be the case, and he is
probably right; but as the text has hon (she) not han (he) [nu mun hon
seyquas], and as I, in this work, do not base anything even on the most
probable text emendation, this question is set aside, and the more so, since
Völuspa’s description of the regenerated earth under all circumstances shows
that Nidhog has naught there to do but to fly thence and disappear. The
existence of Nide’s mountains on the new earth confirms the fact that it is
identical with Mimir’s former lower world, and that Lif and Leifthraser did not
need to move from one world to another in order to get to the daylight of their
final destination.
Völuspa gives one more proof of this.
In their youth, free from care, the Asas played with strange tablets. But they
had the tablets only í arladaga, in the earliest time (Völusp., 8, 58).
Afterwards, they must in some way or other have lost them. The Icelandic
sagas of the middle ages have remembered this game of tablets, and there
we learn, partly that its strange character consisted in the fact that it could
itself take part in the game and move the pieces, and partly that it was
preserved in the lower world, and that Gudmund-Mimir was in the habit of
playing with tablets (Fornalder Sagas, i. 443; iii. 391-392; iii. 626, &c. In the
last passages the game is mentioned in connection with the other
subterranean treasure, the horn.) If, now, the mythology had no special
reason for bringing the tablets from the lower world before Ragnarok, then
they naturally should be found on the risen earth, if the latter was Mimir’s
domain before. Völuspa (str. 58) also relates that they were found in its grass:
þar’ muno eptir’ undrsamligar gullnar’ taylor i grasi finaz.
"There were the wonderful tablets found left in the grass (finaz eptir)."
Thus, the tablet-game was refound in the grass, in the meadows of the
renewed earth, having from the earliest time been preserved in Mimir’s realm.
Lif and Leifthraser are found after Ragnarok on the earth of the regenerated
world, having had their abode there for a long time in Mimir’s domain. Nide’s
mountains, and Nidhog with them, have been raised out of the sea, together
with the rejuvenated eai’th, since these mountains are located in Mimir’s
realm. The earth of the new era—the era of virtue and bliss—have, though
concealed, existed through thousands of years below the sin-stained earth, as
the kernel within the shell.
Remark.—Völuspa (str. 56) calls the earth rising from the sea ija græna:
Sen’ hon upp koma audro sinni iord or’ aegi iþia graena.
The common interpretation is iþia graena, "the ever green" or very green,"
and this harmonises well with the idea preserved in the sagas mentioned
above, where it was stated that the winter was not able to devastate
Gudmund-Mimir’s domain. Thus the idea contained in the expression
Haddingjalands oskurna ax (see Nos. 72, 73) recurs in Völuspa’s statement
that the fields unsown yield harvests in the new earth. Meanwhile the
composition idja-graena has a perfectly abnormal appearance, and awakens
suspicion. Mullenhoff (Deutsche Alt.) reads idja, graena, and translates "the
fresh, the green ". As a conjecture, and without basing anything on the
assumption, I may be permitted to present the possibility that idja is an old
genitive plural of idu, an eddying body of water. Ia has originally had a j in the
stem (it is related to id and idi), and this j must also have been heard in the
inflections. From various metaphors in the old skalds we learn that they
conceived the fountains of the lower world as roaring and in commotion (e.g.,
Odreris alda þytr in Einar Skalaglam and Bodnar bara ter vaxa in the same
skald). If the conjecture is as correct as it seems probable, then the new earth
is characterised as "the green earth of the eddying fountains," and the
fountains are those famous three which water the roots of the world-tree.
56.
THE COSMOGRAPHY. CRITICISM ON GYLFAGINNING’S
COSMOGRAPHY.
In regard to the position of Ygdrasil and its roots in the universe, there are
statements both in Gylfaginning and in the ancient heathen records. To get a
clear idea, freed from conjectures and based in all respects on evidence, of
how the mythology conceived the world-tree and its roots, is of interest not
only in regard to the cosmography of the mythology, to which Ygdrasil
supplies the trunk and the main outlines, but especially in regard to the mythic
conception of the lower world and the whole eschatology; for it appears that
each one of the Ygdrasil roots stands not alone above its particular fountain in
the lower world but also over its peculiar lower-world domain, which again has
its peculiar cosmological character and its peculiar eschatological end.
The first condition, however, for a fruitful investigation is that we consider the
heathen or heathen-appearing records by themselves without mixing their
statements with those of Gylfaginning. We must bear in mind that the author
of Gylfaginnig lived and wrote in the 13th century, niore than 200 years after
the introduction of Christianity in Iceland, and that his statements accordingly
are to be made a link in that chain of documents which exist for the scholar,
who tries to follow the fate of the myths during a Christian period and to study
their gradual corruption and confusion.
This caution is the more important for the reason that an examination of
Gylfaginning very soon shows that the whole cosmographical and
eschatological structure which it has built out of fragmentary mythic traditions
is based on a conception wholly foreign to Teutonic mythology, that is, on the
conception framed by the scholars in Frankish cloisters, and then handed
down from chronicle to chronicle, that the Teutons were descended from the
Trojans, and that their gods were originally Trojan chiefs and magicians. This
"learned" conception found its way to the North, and finally developed its most
luxurious and abundant blossoms in the Younger Edda preface and in certain
other parts of that work.
Permit me to present in brief a sketch of how the cosmography and
eschatology of Gylfaginning developed themselves out of this assumption :—
The Asas were originally men, and dwelt in the Troy which was situated on
the centre of the earth, and which was identical with Asgard (þar naest gerdu
þeir ser borg i midjum heimi, er kallat er Asgardr ; þat kollum ver Trója; þar
bygdu gudin ok aettir þeirra ok gjördust þudan af morg lidindi ok greinir baedi
a jord ok a lopti—ch. 9).
The first mythic tradition which supplies material for the structure which
Gylfaginning builds on this foundation is the bridge Bifrost. The myth had said
that this bridge united the celestial abodes with a part of the universe situated
somewhere below. Gylfaginning, which makes the Asas dwell in Troy,
therefore makes the gods undertake an enterprise of the greatest boldness,
that of building a bridge from Troy to the heavens. But they are extraordinary
architects and succeed (Gudin gjördu bru til himins af jördu—ch. 13).
The second mythic tradition employed is Urd’s fountain. The myth had stated
that the gods daily rode from their celestial abodes on the bridge Bifrost to
Urd’s (subterranean) fountain. Thence Gylfaginning draws the correct
conclusion that A.sgard was supposed to be situated at one end of the bridge
and Urd’s fountain near the other. But from Gylfaginning’s premises it follows
that if Asgard-Troy is situated on the surface of the earth Urd s fountain niust
be situated in the heavens, and that the Asas accordingly when they ride to
Urd’s fountain must ride upward, not downward. The conclusion is drawn with
absolute consistency (" Hvern dag ria æsir þangat upp um Bifrost "—ch. 15).
The third mythic tradition used as material is the world-tree, which went (down
in the lower world) to Urd’s fountain. According to Völuspa (19), this fountain
is situated beneath the ash Ygdrasil. The conclusion drawn by Gylfaginning by
the aid of its Trojan premises is that since Urd’s fountain is situated in the
heavens, and still under one of Ygdrasil’s roots, this root must be located still
further up in the heavens. The placing of the root is also done with
consistency, so that we get the following series of wrong localisations :—
Down on the earth, Asgard-Troy; thence up to the heavens, the bridge Bifrost;
above Bifrost, Urd’s fountain; high above Urd’s fountain, one of Ygdrasil’s
three roots (which in the mythology are all in the lower world).
Since one of Ygdrasil’s roots thus had received its place far up in the
heavens, it became necessary to place a second root on a level with the earth
and the third one was allowed to retain its position in the lower world. Thus
was produced a just distribution of the roots among the three regions which in
the conception of the middle ages constituted the universe, namely, the
heavens, the earth, and hell.
In this manner two myths were made to do service in regard to one of the
remaining Ygdrasil roots. The one myth was taken from Völuspa, where it was
learned that Mimir’s fountain is situated below the sacred world-tree; the other
was Grininismal (31), where we are told that frost-giants dwell under one of
the three roots. At the time when Gylfaginning was written, and still later,
popular traditions told that Gudmund-Mimir was of giant descent (see the
middle-age sagas narrated above). From this Gylfaginning draws the
conclusion that Mimir was a frost-gin at, and it identifies the root which
extends to the frost-giants with the root that extends to Mimir’s fountain. Thus
this fountain of creative power, of world-preservation, of wisdom, and of poetry
receives from Gylfaginning its place in the abode of the powers of frost, hostile
to gods and to men, in the land of the frost-giants, which Gylfaginning regards
as being Jotunheim, ing on the earth.
In this way Gylfaginning, with the Trojan hypothesis as its starting-point, has
gotten so far that it has separated from the lower world with its three realms
and three fountains Urd’s realm and fountain, they being transferred to the
heavens, and Mimir’s realm and fountain, they being transferred to Jotunheim.
In the mythology these two realms were the subterranean regions of bliss, and
the third, Nifelhel, with the regions subject to it, was the abode of the damned.
After these separations were made, Gylfaginning, to be logical, had to assume
that the lower world of the heathens was exclusively a realm of misery and
torture, a sort of counterpart of the hell of the Church. This conclusion is also
drawn with due consistency, and Ygdrasil’s third root, which in the mythology
descended to the well Hvergelmer and to the lower world of the frost-giants,
Nifelhel, Nifelheim, extends over the whole lower world, the latter being
regarded as identical with Nifelheim and the places of punishment therewith
connected.
This result carries with it another. The goddess of the lower world, and
particularly of its domain of bliss, was in the mythology, as shall be shown
below, the goddess of fate and death, Urd, also called Hel, when named after
the country over which she ruled. In a local sense, the name Hel could be
applied partly to the whole lower world, which rarely happened, partly to Urd’s
and Mimir’s realms of bliss, which was more common, and Hel was then the
opposite of Nifelhel, which was solely the home of misery and torture. Proofs
of this shall be given below. But when the lower world had been changed to a
sort of hell, the name Hel, both in its local and in its personal sense, must
undergo a similar change, and since Urd (the real Hel) was transferred to the
heavens, there was nothing to hinder Gylfaginning from substituting for the
queen of the lower world Loki’s daughter cast down into Nifelhel and giving
her the name Hel and the sceptre over the whole lower world.
This method is also pursued by Gylfaginning’s author without hesitation,
although he had the best of reasons for suspecting its correctness. A certain
hesitancy might here have been in order According to the mythology, the pure
and pious Asa-god Balder comes to Hel, that is to say, to the lower world, and
to one of its realms of bliss. But after the transformation to which the lower
world had been subjected in Gylfaginning’s system, the descent of Balder to
Hel must have meant a descent to and a remaining in the world of misery and
torture, and a relation of subject to the daughter of Loki. This should have
awakened doubts in the mind of the author of Gylfaginning. But even here he
had the courage to be true to his premises, and without even thinking of the
absurdity in which he involves himself, he goes on and endows the sister of
the Midgard-serpent and of the Fenris-wolf with that perfect power which
before belonged to Destiny personified, so that the same gods who before
had cast the horrible child of Loki down into the ninth region of Nifelhel are
now compelled to send a minister-plenipotentiary to her majesty to treat with
her and pray for Balder’s liberation.
But finally, there comes a point where the courage of consistency fails
Gylfaginning. The manner in which it has placed the roots of the world-tree
makes us first of all conceive Ygdrasil as lying horizontal in space. An attempt
to nnake this matter intelligible can produce no other picture of Ygdrasil, in
accord with the statements of Gylfaginning, than the following:
<note view of tree sideways top toward the right and bottom left>
The root over heaven and over Urd’s fountain
The root over Jotunheim and over Mimir’s well
The root over the lower world and over Hvergelmer’s fountain.
Ygdrasil’s t
But Gylfaginning is not disposed to draw this conclusion. On the contrary, it
insists that Ygdrasil stands erect on its three roots. How we, then, are to
conceive its roots as united one with the other and with the trunk of this it very
prudently leaves us in ignorance, for this is beyond the range of human
imagination.
The contrast between the mythological doctrine in regard to the three Ygdrasil
roots, and Gylfaginning’s view of the subject may easily be demonstrated by
the following parallels:
The Eddic Mythology
Gylfaginning
1. Ygdrasil has three roots.
1. Ygdrasil has three roots.
2. All three roots are subterranean.
2. One is in the lower world; a second
3. To each root corresponds a fountain and a realm in
the lower world. The lower world consists of three
realms, each with its fountain and each with its root.
4. Under one of the subterranean roots dwells the
goddess of death and fate, Urd, who is also called Hel,
and in her realm is Urd’s fountain.
5. Under the other (subterranean) root dwells Mimir. In
his realm is Mimir’s fountain and Mimir’s grove, where a
subterranean race of men are preserved for the future
world. This root may, therefore, be said to stand over
mennskir menn (Grimnersmal).
Jotunheim on a level with the earth; a
the heavens.
3. To each root corresponds a founta
realms are the heavens, Jotunheim, a
world, which are located each under
4. Under one of the roots, that is the o
over heaven, dwells Urd the goddess
is Urd’s fountain.
<gap fill with 5 of eddic mythology>
It is said that one of the roots stands
menn (Grimnersmal). By this is mean
Gylfaginning, not the root over Mimir’
<gap fill with 5 of Gylfaginning>
6. Under the third (subterranean) root dwell frost-giants.
Under this root is the well Hvergelmer, and the realm of
over Urd’s fountain, near which the A
assemblies, for the Asas are in reality
on earth in the city of Troy.
the frost-giants is Nifelhel (Nifelheim). Under Nifelhel
6. Under the third (and only subterran
are nine regions of torture.
souls of sinners and those who have
and age. Under this root is the well H
whole lower world. The lower world is
7. The sister of the Midgardserpent and of the Fenriswolf was cast by the gods into the regions of torture
under Nifelhel, and received the rule over the places
where the damned are punished.
8. The name Hel can be applied to the whole lower
world, but means particularly that region of bliss where
Urd’s fountain is situated, for Urd is the personal Hel.
The Lokedaughter in Nifelhel is her slave and must
obey her commands.
Nifelheim, and contains nine places o
7. The sister of the Midgardserpent a
wolf was cast by the gods into the reg
under Nifelhel, and received the rule
lower world, which consists of Nifelhe
regions of torture.
8. As Hel means the lower world, and
the Midgard-serpent governs the who
is meant by the personal Hel.
Gylfaginning does not stop with the above results. It continues the chain of its
conclusions. After Hvergelmer has been selected by Gylfaginning as the only
fountain in the lower world, it should, since the lower world has been made
into a sort of hell, be a fountain of bell, and in this respect easily recognised by
the Christian conception of the middle ages. In this new character Hvergelmer
becomes the centre and the worst place in Gylfaginning’s description of the
heathen Gehenna. No doubt because the old dragon, which is hurled down
into the abyss (Revelation, chap. 20), is to be found in the hell-fountain of the
middle ages, Gylfaginning throws Nidhog down into Hvergelmer, which it also
fills with serpents and dead bodies found in Grimnismal (Str. 34, 35), where
they have no connection with Hvergelmer. According to Völuspa it is in
Nastrands that Nidhog sucks and the wolf tears the dead bodies (náir).
Gylfaginning follows Voluspa in speaking of the other terrors in Nastrands, but
rejects Völuspa’s statements about Nidhog and the wolf, and casts both these
beasts down into the Hvergelmer fountain. As shall be shown below, the
Hvergelmer of the mythology is the mother-fountain of all waters, and is
situated on a high plain in the lower world. Thence its waters flow partly
northward to Nifelheim, partly south to the elysian fields of heathendom, and
the waves sent in the latter direction are shining, clear, and holy.
It was an old custom, at least in Iceland, that booths for the accommodation of
the visitors were built around a remote thing-stead, or place for holding the
parliament. Gylfaginning makes its Trojan Asas follow the example of the
Icelanders, and put up houses around the thing-stead, which they selected
near Urd’s fountain, after they had succeeded in securing by Bifrost a
connection between Troy and heaven. This done, Gylfaginning distributes as
best it can’ the divine halls and abodes of bliss mentioned in the mythology
between Troy on the earth and the thing-stead in heaven.
This may be sufficient to show that Gylfaginning’s pretended account of the
old mythological cosmography is, on account of its making Troy the startingpoint, and doubtless also to some extent as a result of the Christian methods
of thought, with which the author interpreted the heathen myths accessible to
him, is simply a monstrous caricature of the mythology, a caricature which is
continued, not with complacency and assurance, but in a confused and
contradictory manner, in the eschatology of Gylfaginning.
My chief task will now be to review and examine all the passages in the Elder
Edda’s mythological songs, wherein the words Hel and Nifelhel occur, in order
to find out in this manner in which sense or senses these words are there
employed, and to note at the same time all the passages which may come in
my way and which are of importance to the myth concerning the lower world.
57.
THE WORD HEL IN LINGUISTIC USAGE.
The Norse Hel is the same word as the Gothic Halja, the Old High German
Hella, the Anglo-Saxon Hellia, and the English Hell. On account of its
occurrence with similar signification in different Teutonic tongues in their
oldest linguistic monuments, scholars have been able to draw the conclusion
that the word points to a primitive Teutonic Halja, meaning lower world, lower
world divinity. It is believed to be related to the Latin oc-cul-ere, eel-are, clam,
and to mean the one who "hides," "conceals," "preserves".
When the books of the New Testament were for the first time translated into a
Teutonic tongue, into a Gothic dialect, the translator, Ulfilas, had to find some
way of distinguishing with suitable words between the two realms of the lower
world mentioned in the New Testament, Hades and Gehenna (      ).
Hades, the middle condition, and the locality corresponding to this condition,
which contains both fields of bliss and regions of torture, he translated with
Halja, doubtless because the signification of this word corresponded most
faithfully with the meaning of the word Hades. For Gehenna, hell, he used the
borrowed word gaiainna.
The Old High German translation also reproduces Hades with the word Hella.
For Gehenna it uses two expressions compounded with Hella. One of these,
Hellawisi, belongs to the form which afterwards predominated in Scandinavia.
Both the compounds bear testimony that the place of punishment in the lower
world could not be expressed with Hella, but it was necessary to add a word,
which showed that a subterranean place of punishment was meant. The same
word for Gehenna is found among the Christian Teutons in England, namely,
Hellewite; that is to say, the Hellia, that part of the lower world where it is
necessary to do penance (vite) for one’s sins. From England the expression
doubtless came to Scandinavia, where we find in the Icelandic Hel-viti, in the
Swedish Hälvete, and in the Danish Helvede. In the Icelandic literature it is
found for the first time in Hallfred, the same skald who with great hesitation
permitted himself to be persuaded by Olaf Trygveson to abandon the faith of
his fathers.
Many centuries before Scandinavia was converted to Christianity, the Roman
Church had very nearly obliterated the boundary line between the
subterranean Hades and Gehenna of the New Testament. The lower world
had, as a whole, become a realm of torture, though with various gradations.
Regions of bliss were no longer to be found there, and for Hel in the sense in
which Ulfilas used Halja, and the Old High German translation Hella, there
was no longer room in the Christian conception. In the North, Hel was
therefore permitted to remain a heathen word, and to retain its heathen
signification as long as the Christian generations were able or cared to
preserve it. It is natural that the memory of this signification should gradually
fade, and that the idea of the Christian hell should gradually be transferred to
the heathen Hel. This change can be pretty accurately traced in the Old Norse
literature. It came slowly, for the doctrine in regard to the lower world in the
Teutonic religion addressed itself powerfully to the imagination, and, as
appears from a careful examination, far from being indefinite in its outlines, it
was, on the contrary, described with the clearest lines and most vivid colours,
even down to the minutest details. Not until the thirteenth century could such a
description of the heathen Hel as Gylfaginning’s be possible and find readers
who would accept it. But not even then were the memories (preserved in
fragments from the heathen days) in regard to the lower world doctrine so
confused, but that it was possible to present a far more faithful (or rather not
so utterly false) description thereof. Gylfaginning’s representation of the
heathen Hades is based less on the then existing confusion of the traditions
than on the conclusions drawn from the author’s own false premises.
In determining the question, how far Hel among the heathen Scandinavians
has had a meaning identical with or similar to that which Halja and Hella had
among their Gothic and German kinsmen—that is to say, the signification of a
death-kingdom of such a nature that it could not with linguistic propriety be
used in translating Gehenna—we must first consult that which really is the
oldest source, the usage of the spoken language in expressions where Hel is
found. Such expressions show by the very presence of Hel that they have
been handed down from heathendom, or have been formed in analogy with
old heathen phrases. One of these modes of speech still exists: i hjäl (slå ihjäl,
svälta ihjäl, frysa ihjäl, &c.), which is the Old Norse i Hel. We do not use this
expression in the sense that a person killed by a weapon, famine, or frost is
relegated to the abyss of torture. Still less could the heathens have used it in
that sense. The phrase would never have been created if the word Hel had
especially conveyed the notion of a place of punishment. Already in a very
remote age i Hel had acquired the abstract meaning to death, but in such a
manner that the phrase easily suggested the concrete idea—the realm of
death (an example of this will be given below). What there is to be said about i
Hel also applies to such phrases as bida Heljar, to await Hel (death); buash til
Heljar, to become equipped for the journey to Hel (to be shrouded) ; liggja milli
heims oh Heljar, to lie between this world and Hel (between life and death);
liggja a Heljar þremi, to lie on Hel’s threshold. A funeral could be called a
Helfor (a Hel-journey); fatal illness Helsott (Hel-sickness) ; the deceased could
be called Helgengnir (those gone to Hel). Of friends it is said that Hel (death)
alone could separate them (Fornm., vii. 233).
Thus it is evident that Hel, in the more general local sense of the word,
referred to a place common for all the dead, and that the word was used
without any additional suggestion of damnation amid torture in the minds of
those employing it.
58.
THE WORD HEL IN VEGTAMSKVIDA AND IN VAFTHRUDNERSMAL.
When Odin, according to Vegtamskvida, resolved to get reliable information in
the lower world in regard to the fate which threatened Balder, he saddled his
Sleipner and rode thither. On the way he took he came first to Nifelhel. While
he was still in Nifelhel, he met on his way a dog bloody about the breast,
which came from the direction where that division of the lower world is
situated, which is called Hel. Thus the rider and the dog came from opposite
directions, and the former continued his course in the direction whence the
latter came. The dog turned, and long pursued Odin with his barking. Then the
rider reached a foldvegr, that is to say, a road along grass-grown plains. The
way resounded under the hoofs of the steed. Then Odin finally came to a high
dwelling, which is called Heljarrann or Heljar rann. The name of the dwelling
shows that it was situated in Hel, not in Nifelhel. This latter realm of the lower
world Odin now had had behind him ever since he reached the green fields,
and since the dog, evidently a watch of the s between Nifelhel and Hel, had
left him in
peace. The high dwelling was decorated as for a feast, and mead was served.
It was, Odin learned, the abode where the asmegir longingly waited for the
arrival of Balder. Thus Vegtamskvida:
2. Raeid hann (Odin) nidr þaþan Niflhaeljar til, maetti hann hvaelpi þeim aer or
haeliu kom.
3. Sa var blodugr urn briost framan oh galldrs fodur gol urn laengi.
4. Framm raeid Odinn, foldvaegr dundi, han horn at hafu Haeliar ranni.
7. Her standr Balldri of brugginn miodr. Oh asmegir i ofvaeno.
Vegtamskvida distinguishes distinctly between Nifelhel and Hel In Hel is the
dwelling which awaits the son of the gods, the noblest and most pious of all
the Asas. The dwelling, which reveals a lavish splendour, is described as the
very antithesis of that awful abode which, according to Gylfaginning, belongs
to the queen of the lower world.
In Vafthrudnersmal (43) the old giant says:
Fra iotna runom
oc allra goda
ec hann segia satt,
þviat hvern hefi ec
heim um komit:
nio kom ec heima
fyr Niflhel nedan,
hinig deyja or Helio
halir.
Of the runes of giants
and of all the gods
I can speak truly;
for I have been
in every world.
In nine worlds I came
below Nifelhel,
thither die "halir" from Hel.
Like Vegtamskvida, so Vafthrudnersmal also distinguishes distinctly between
Hel and Nifelhel, particularly in those most remarkable words that thither, i.e.,
to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it, die "halir" from Hel. Halir means men,
human beings; applied to beings in the lower world halir means dead men, the
spirits of deceased human beings (cp. Allvism., 18, 6; 20, 6; 26, 6; 32, 6; 34,
6, with 28, 3). Accordingly, nothing less is here said than that deceased
persons who have come to the realm called Hel, may there be subject to a
second death, and that through this second death they come to Nifelhel. Thus
the same sharp distinction is here made between life in Hel and in Nifelhel as
between life on earth and that in Hel. These two subterranean realms must
therefore represent very different conditions. What these different conditions
are, Vafthrudnersmal does not inform us, nor will I anticipate the investigation
on this point; still less will I appeal to Gylfaginning’s assurance that the realms
of torture lie under Nifelhel, and that it is wicked men (vandir menn) who are
obliged to cross the from Hel to Nifelhel. So far it must be borne in mind that it
was in Nifelhel Odin met the bloody dog-demon, who barked at the Asamajesty, though he could not hinder the father of the mighty and protecting
sorceries from continuing his journey; while it was in Hel, on the other hand,
that Odin saw the splendid abode where the ásmegir had already served the
precious subterranean mead for his son, the just Balder. This argues that they
who through a second death get over the from Hel to Nifelhel, do not by this
transfer get a better fate than that to which Hel invites those who have died
the first death. Balder in the one realm, the blood-stained kinsman of
Cerberus in the other—this is, for the present, the only, but not unimportant
weight in the balance which is to determine the question whether that -line
which a second death draws between Hel and Nifelhel is the boundary
between a realm of bliss and a realm of suffering, and in this case, whether
Hel or Nifelhel is the realm of bliss.
This expression in Vafthrudnersmal, hinig deyja or Helio halir, also forces to
the front another question, which, as long as it remains unanswered, makes
the former question more complicated. If Hel is a realm of bliss, and if Nifelhel
with the regions subject thereto is a realm of unhappiness, then why do not
the souls of the damned go at once to their final destination, but are taken first
to the realm of bliss, then to the realm of anguish and pain, that is, after they
have died the second death on the boundary-line between the two? And if, on
the contrary, Hel were the realm of unhappiness and Nifelhel offered a better
lot, then why should they who are destined for a better fate, first be brought to
it through the world of torture, and then be separated from the latter by a
second death before they could gain the more happy goal? These questions
cannot be answered until later on.
59.
THE WORD HEL IN GRIMNERSMAL HVERGELMER’S FOUNTAIN AND ITS
DEFENDERS. THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN HEL AND NIFELHEL. THE
WORD HELBLOTINN IN THORSDRAPA.
In Grimnersmal the word Hel occurs twice (str. 28, 31), and this poem is
(together with Gylfaginning) the only ancient record which gives us any
information about the well Hvergelmer under this name (str. 26 ff.).
From what is related, it appears that the mythology conceived Hvergelmer as
a vast reservoir, the mother-fountain of all the waters of the world (þadan eigo
votn aull vega). In the front rank are mentioned a number of subterranean
rivers which rise in Hvergelmer, and seek their courses thence in various
directions. But the waters of earth and heaven also come from this immense
fountain, and after completing their circuits they return thither. The liquids or
saps which rise in the world-tree’s stem to its branches and leaves around
Herfather’s hall (Valhal) return in the form of rain to Hvergelmer (Grimnersmal,
26).
Forty rivers rising there are named. (Whether they were all found in the
original text may be a subject of doubt. Interpolators may have added from
their own knowledge.) Three of them are mentioned in other records—namely,
Slir in Völuspa, 36, Gjöll in that account of Hermod’s journey to Hel’s realm,
which in its mann outlines was rescued by the author of Gylfaginning (Gylfag.,
ch. 52), and Leiptr in Helge Hund., ii. 31—and all three are referred to in such
a way as to prove that they are subterranean rivers. Slid flows to the reahns of
torture, and whirls weapons in its eddies, presumably to hinder or frighten
anybody from attempting to cross. Over Gjöll there is a bridge of gold to
Balder’s subterranean abode. Leiptr (which name means "the shining one ")
has clear waters, which are holy, and by which solemn oaths are sworn, as by
Styx. Of these last two rivers flowing out of Hvergelmer it is said that they flow
down to Hel (falla til Heljar, str. 28). Thus these are all subterranean. The next
strophe (29) adds four rivers—Kormt and Ormt, and the two Kerlogar, of
which it is said that it is over these Thor must wade every day when he has to
go to the judgment-seats of the gods near the ash Ygdrasil. For he does not
ride like the other gods when they journey down over Bifrost to the thingstead
near Urd’s fountain. The horses which they use are named in strophe 30, and
are ten in number, like the asas, when we subtract Thor who walks, and
Balder and Hodr who dwell in Hel. Nor must Thor on these journeys, in case
he wished to take the route by way of Bifrost, use the thunder-chariot, for the
flames issuing from it might set fire to the Asa-bridge and make the holy
waters glow (str. 29). That the thunder-chariot also is dangerous for higher
regions when it is set in motion, thereof Thjodolf gives us a brilliant description
in the poem Haustlaung. Thor being for this reason obliged to wade across
four rivers before he gets to Urd’s fountain, the beds of these rivers must have
been conceived as crossing the paths travelled by the god journeying to the
thingstead. Accordingly they must have their courses somewhere in Urd’s
realm, or on the way thither, and consequently they too belong to the lower
world.
Other rivers coming from Hvergelmer are said to turn their course around a
place called Hodd-goda (str. 27—þer hverfa um Hodd-goda). This girdle of
rivers, which the mythology unites around a single place, seems to indicate
that this is a realm from which it is important to shut out everything that does
not belong there. The name itself, Hodd-goda, points in the same direction.
The word hodd means that which is concealed (the treasure), and at the same
time a protected sacred place. In the German poem Heliand the word hord,
corresponding to hodd, is used about the holiest of holies in the Jerusalem
temple. As we already know, there is in the lower world a place to which these
references apply, namely, the citadel guarded by Delling, the elf of dawn, and
decorated by the famous artists of the lower world—a citadel in which the
asmegir and Balder—and probably Hodr too, since he is transferred to the
lower world, and with Balder is to return thence— await the end of the
historical time and the regeneration. The word goda in Hodd-goda shows that
the place is possessed by, or entrusted to, beings of divine rank.
From what has here been stated in regard to Hvergelmer it follows that the
mighty well was conceived as situated on a high water-shed, far up in a
subterranean mountain range, whence those rivers of which it is the source
flow down in different directions to different realms of Hades. Of several of
these rivers it is said that they in their upper courses, before they reach Hel,
flow in the vicinity of mankind (gumnom naer—str. 28, 7), which naturally can
have no other meaning than that the high land through which they flow after
leaving Hvergelmer has been conceived as lying not very deep below the
crust of Midgard (the earth). Hvergelmer and this high land are not to be
referred to that division of the lower world which in Grimnersmal is called Hel,
for not until after the rivers have flowed through the mountain landscape,
where their source is, are they said to falla til Heljar.
Thus (1) there is in the lower world a mountain ridge, a high land, where is
found Hvergelmer, the source of all waters; (2) this mountain, which we for the
present nnay call Mount Hvergelmer, is the watershed of the lower world, from
which rivers flow in different directions; and (3) that division of the lower world
which is called Hel lies below one side of Mount Hvergelmer, and thence
receives many rivers. What that division of the lower world which lies below
the other side of Mount Hvergelmer is called is not stated in Grimnersmal. But
from Vafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida we already know that Hel is
bounded by Nifelhel. In Vegtamskvida Odin rides through Nifelhel to Hel; in
Vafthrudnersmal halir die from Hel to Nifelhel. Hel and Nifelhel thus appear to
be each other’s opposites, and to complement each other, and combined they
form the whole lower world. Hence it follows that the land on the other side of
the Hvergelmer mountain is Nifelhel.
It also seems necessary that both these Hades realms should in the
mythology be separated from each other not only by an abstract boundary
line, but also by a natural boundary—a mountain or a body of water—which
might prohibit the crossing of the boundary by persons who neither had a right
nor were obliged to cross. The tradition on which Saxo’s account of Gorm’s
journey to the lower world is based makes Gorm and his men, when from
Gudmund-Mimir’s realm they wish to visit the abodes of the damned, first
cross a river and then come to a boundary which cannot be crossed,
excepting by scalae, steps on the mountain wall, or ladders, above which the
gates are placed, that open to a city "resembling most a cloud of vapour"
(vaporanti maxime nubi simile—i 425). This is Saxo’s way of translating the
name Nifelhel, just as he in the story about Hadding’s journey to the lower
world translated Glaesisvellir (the Glittering Fields) with loca aprica.
In regard to the topography and eschatology of the Teutonic lower world, it is
now of importance to find out on which opposite sides of the Hvergelmer
mountain Hel and Nifelhel were conceived to be situated.
Nifl, an ancient word, related to nebula and       , means fog, mist,
cloud, darkness. Nifelhel means that Hel which is enveloped in fog and
twilight. The name Hel alone has evidently had partly a more general
application to a territory embracing the whole kingdom of death—else it could
not be used as a part of the compound word Nifelhel—partly a more limited
meaning, in which Hel, as in Vafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida, forms a
sharp contrast to Nifelhel, and from the latter point of view it is that division of
the lower world which is not enveloped in mist and fog.
According to the cosmography of the mythology there was, before the time
when "Yimir lived," Nifelheim, a world of fog, darkness, and cold, north of
Ginungagap, and an opposite world, that of fire and heat, south of the empty
abyss. Unfortunately it is only Gylfaginning that has preserved for our time
these cosmographical outlines, but there is no suspicion that the author of
Gylfaginning invented them. The fact that his cosmographic description also
mentions the ancient cow Audhumla, which is nowhere else named in our
mythic records, but is not utterly forgotten in our popular traditions, and which
is a genuine Aryan conception, this is the strongest argument in favour of his
having had genuine authorities for his theo-cosmogony at hand, though he
used them in an arbitrary manner. The Teutons may also be said to have
been compelled to construct a cosmogony in harmony with their conception of
that world with which they were best acquainted, their own home between the
cold North and the warmer South.
Nifelhel in the lower world has its counterpart in Nifelheim in chaos.
Gylfaginning identifies the two (ch. 6 and 34). Forspjallsljod does the same,
and locates Nifelheim far to the north in the lower world (nordr at Nifelheim—
str. 26), behind Ygdrasil’s farthest root, under which the poem makes the
goddess of night, after completing her journey around the heavens, rest for a
new journey. When Night has completed such a journey and come to the
lower world, she goes northward in the direction towards Nifelheim, to remain
in her hall, until Dag with his chariot gets down to the western horizon and in
his turn rides through the "home doors" of Hades into the lower world.
From this it follows that Nifelhel is to be referred to the north of the mountain
Hvergelmer, Hel to the south of it. Thus this mountain is the wall separating
Hel from Nifelhel. On that mountain is the gate, or gates, which in the Gorm
story separates Gudmund-Mimir’s abode from those dwellings which
resemble a "cloud of vapour," and up there is the death boundary, at which
"halir" die for the second time, when they are transferred from Hel to Nifelhel.
The immense water-reservoir on the brow of the mountain, which stands
under Ygdrasil’s northern root, sends, as already stated, rivers down to both
sides—to Nifelhel in the North and to Hel in the South. Of the most of these
rivers we now know only the names. But those of which we do know more are
characterised in such a manner that we find that it is a sacred land to which
those flowing to the South towards Hel hasten their course, and that it is an
unholy land which is sought by those which send their streams to tIne north
down into Nifelhel. The rivers Gjöll and Leiptr fall down into Hel, and Gjöll is,
as already indicated, characterised by a bridge of gold, Leiptr by a shining,
clear, and most holy water. Down there in the South are found the mystic
Hodd-goda, surrounded by other Hel-rivers; Balder’s and the asmegir’s citadel
(perhaps identical with Hodd-goda) ; Mimir’s fountain, seven times overlaid
with gold, the fountain of inspiration and of the creative force, over which the
"overshadowing holy tree" spreads its branches (Voluspa), and around whose
reed-wreathed edge the seed of poetry grows (Eilif Gudrunson); the Glittering
Fields, with flowers which never fade and with harvests which never are
gathered; Urd’s fountain, over which Ygdrasil stands for ever green (Völuspa),
and in whose silver-white waters swans swim; and the sacred thing-stead of
the Asas, to which they daily ride down over Bifrost. North of the mountain
roars the weapon-hurling Slid, and doubtless is the same river as that in
whose "heavy streams" the souls of nithings must wade. In the North solu
fjarri stands, also at Nastrands, that hall, the walls of which are braided of
serpents (Voluspa). Thus Hel is described as an Elysium, Nifelhel with its
subject regions as a realm of unhappiness.
Yet a few words about Hvergelmer, from and to which "all waters find their
way ". This statement in Grimnersmal is of course true of the greatest of all
waters, the ocean. The myth about ilvergelmer and its subterranean
connection with the ocean gave our ancestors the explanation of ebb- and
flood-tide. High up in the northern channels the bottom of the ocean opened
itself in a hollow tunnel, which led down to the "kettle-roarer," "the one roaring
in his basin" (this seems to be the meaning of Hvergelmir: hverr = kettle; galm
= Anglo-Saxon gealm, a roaring). When the waters of the ocean poured
through this tunnel down into the Hades-well there was ebb-tide; when it
returned water from its superabundance there was flood-tide (see Nos. 79, 80,
81).
Adam of Bremen had heard this tunnel mentioned in connection with the story
about the Frisian noblemen who went by sea to the furthest north, came to the
land of subterranean giants, and plundered their treasures (see No. 48). On
the way up some of the ships of the Frisians got into the eddy caused by the
tunnel, and were sucked with terrible violence down into the lower world.*
Charlemagne’s contemporary, Paul Varnefrid (Diaconus), relates in his history
of the Longobardians that he had talked with men who had been in
Scandinavia. Among remarkable reports which they gave him of the regions of
the far north was also that of a maelstrom, which swallows ships, and
sometimes even casts them up again (see Nos. 15, 79, 80, 81).
* "Et ecce instabilis Oceani Euripus, ad initia quaedam fontis sui arcana
recurrens, infelices nautas jam desperatos, immo de morte sola cogitantes,
vehementissimo impetu traxit ad Chaos. Hanc dicunt esse voraginem abyssi,
illud profundum, in quo fama est omnes maris recursus, qui decrescere
videntur, absorberi et denuo remnovi, quod fluctuatio dici solet" (De situ
Daniae, ed. Mad., p. 159).
Between the death-kingdom and the ocean there was, therefore, one
connecting link, perhaps several. Most of the people who drowned did not
remain with Ran. Ægir’s wife received them hospitably, according to the
Icelandic sagas of the middle age. She had a hail in the bottom of the sea,
where they were welcomed and offered sess ok rekkju (seat and bed). Her
realm was only an ante-chamber to the realms of death (Kormak, Sonatorrek).
The demon Nidhog, which by Gylfaginning is thrown into Hvergelmer, is,
according to the ancient records, a winged dragon flying about, one of several
similar monsters which have their abode in Nifelhel and those lower regions,
and which seek to injure that root of the world-tree which is nearest to them,
that is the northern one, which stands over Nifelhel and stretches its rootlets
southward over Mount Hvergelmer and down into its great water-reservoir
(Grimnersmal, 34, 35). Like all the Aryan mythologies, the Teutonic also knew
this sort of monsters, and did so long before the word " dragon" (drake) was
borrowed from southern kinsmen as a name for them. Nidhog abides now on
Nastrands, where, by the side of a wolf-demon, it tortures náir (corpses), now
on the Nida Mountains, whence the vala in Voluspa sees him flying away with
náir under his wings. Nowhere (except in Gylfaginning) is it said that he lives
in the well Hvergelmer, though it is possible that he, in spite of his wings, was
conceived as an amphibious being which also could subsist in the water.
Tradition tells of dragons who dwell in marshes and swamps.
The other two subterranean fountains, Urd’s and Mimir’s, and the roots of
Ygdrasil standing over them, are well protected against the influence of the
foes of creation, and have their separate guardians. Mimir, with his sons and
the beings subject to him, protects and guards his root of the tree, Urd and her
sisters hers, anid to the latter all the victorious gods of Asgard come every day
to hold counsel. Was the northern root of Ygdrasil, which spreads over the
realms of’ the frost-giants, of the demons, and of the damned, and was
Hvergelmer, which waters this root and received so important a position in the
economy of the world-tree, left in the mythology without protection and without
a guardian ? Hvergelmer we know is situated on the watershed, where we
have the death- between Hel and Nifelhel fortified with abysses and gates,
and is consequently situated in the immediate vicinity of beings hostile to gods
and men. Here, if anywhere, there was need of valiant and vigilant watchers.
Ygdrasil needs its northern root as well as the others, and if Hvergelmer was
not allowed undisturbed to conduct the circuitous flow of all waters, the world
would be either dried up or drowned.
Already, long before the creation of the world, there flowed from Hvergelmer
that broad river called Elivágar, which in its extreme north froze into that ice,
which, when it melted, formed out of its dropping venom the primeval giant
Yimir (Vafthr., 31; Gylfag., 5). After creation this river, like Hvergelmer,
whence it rises, and Nifelhel, into which it empties, become integral parts of
the northern regions of the lower world. Elivágar, also called Hraunn, Hronn,
sends in its upper course, where it runs near the crust of the earth, a portion
of its waters up to it, and forms between Midgard and the upper Jotunheim
proper, the river Vimur, which is also called Elivágar and Hraunn, like the
parent stream (cp. Hymerskv., 5, 38; Grimnersm., 28; Skaldskaparm., ch. 3,
16, 18, 19, and Helg. Hj., 25). Elivagar separates the realm of the giants and
frost-giants from the other "worlds ".
South of Elivagar the gods have an "outgard," a "saether" which is inhabited
by valiant watchers—snotrir vikingar they are called in Thorsdrapa, 8—who
are bound by oaths to serve the gods. Their chief is Egil, the most famous
archer in the mythology (Thorsdrapa, 1, 8; cp. Hymiskv., 7, 38; Skaldskap.,
ch. 16). As such he is also called Orvandel (the one busy with the arrow). This
Egil is the guardian entrusted with the care of Hvergelmer and Elivagar.
Perhaps it is for this reason that he has a brother and fellow-warrior who is
called Ide (Idi from ida, a fountain with eddying waters). The "saeter" is called
"Ides sæter" (Thorsdrapa, 1). The services which he as watcher on Mt.
Hvergelmer and on the Elivágar renders to the regions of bliss in the lower
world are so great that, although he does not belong to the race of the gods
by birth or by adoption, he still enjoys among the inhabitants of Hel so great
honour and gratitude that they confer divine honours on him. He is "the one
worshipped in Hel who scatters the clouds which rise storm-threatening over
the mountain of the lower world," helblotinn hneitr undir-fjalfrs bliku (Thorsdr.,
1 9). The storm-clouds which Are, Hraesvelgr, and other storm-demons of
Nifelheim send to the elysian fields of the death-kingdom, must, in order to get
there, surmount Mt. Hver gelmer, but there they are scattered by the faithful
watchman. Now in company with Thor, and now alone, Egil-Orvandel has
made many remarkable journeys to Jotunheirn. Next after Thor, he was the
most formidable foe of the giants, and in connection with Heimdal he
zealously watched their every movement. The myth in regard to him is fully
discussed in the treatise on the Ivalde-sons which forms a part of this work,
and there the proofs will be presented for the identity of’ Orvandel and Egil. I
simply desire to point out here, in order to present complete evidence later,
that Ygdrasil’s northern root and the corresponding part of the lower world
also had their defenders and watchmen, and I also wished to call attention to
the manner in which the name Hel is employed in the word Helblótinn. We find
it to be in harmony with the use of the same word in those passages of the
poetic Edda which we have hitherto examined.
60.
THE WORD HEL IN SKIRNERSMAL DESCRIPTION OF NIFELHEL. THE
MYTHIC MEANING OF NAR, NAIR. THE HADESDIvISION OF THE FROSTGIANTS AND SPIRITS OF DISEASE.
In Skirnersmal (strophe 21) occurs the expression horfa ok snugga Heljar til. It
is of importance to our theme to investigate and explain the connection in
which it is found.
The poem tells that Frey sat alone, silent and longing, ever since he had seen
the giant Gymer’s wonderfully beautiful daughter Gerd. He wasted with love
for her; but he said nothing, since he was convinced in advance that neither
Asas nor Elves would ever consent to a union between him and her. But when
the friend of his youth, who resided in Asgard, and in the poem is called
Skirner, succeeded in getting him to confess the cause of his longing, it was,
in Asgard, found necessary to do something to relieve it, and so Skirner was
sent to the home of the giant to ask for the hand of Gerd on Frey’s behalf. As
bridal gifts he took with him eleven golden apples and the ring Draupnir. He
received one of the best horses of Asgard to ride, and for his defence Frey’s
magnificent sword, "which fights of itself against the race of giants ". In the
poem this sword receives the epithets Tams-vondr (str. 26) and Gambanteinn
(str. 32). Tams-vondr, means the "staff that subdues"; Gambanteinn means
the "rod of revenge" (see Nos. 105, 116). Both epithets are formed in
accordance with the common poetic usage of describing swords by compound
words of which the latter part is vondr or teinn. We find, as names for swords,
benvondr, blódvondr, hjahtvondr, hrídvondr, hvitvondr, mordvondr, sárvondr,
benteinn, eggteinn, hævateinn, hjörteinn, hræteinn, sárteinn, valteinn,
mistelteinn.
Skirner rides over damp fells and the fields of giants, leaps, after a quarrel
with the watchman of Gymer’s citadel, over the fence, comes in to Gerd, is
welcomed with ancient mead, and presents his errand of courtship, supported
by the eleven golden apples. Gerd refuses both the apples and the object of
the errand. Skirner then offers her the most precious treasure, the ring
Draupnir, but in vain. Then he resorts to threats. He exhibits the sword so
dangerous to her kinsmen; with it he will cut off her head if she refuses her
consent. Gerd answers that she is not to be frightened, and that she has a
father who is not afraid to fight. Once more Skirner shows her the sword,
which also may fell her father (ser þu þenna maeki, mey, &c.), and he
threatens to strike her with the "subduing staff," so that her heart shall soften,
but too late for her happiness, for a blow from the staff will remove her thither,
where sons of men never more shall see her.
Tamsvendi ec þic drep, enn ec þic temia mun, mer! at minom munom; þar
skaltu ganga er þic gumna synir siþan eva se (str. 26).
This is the former threat of death repeated in another forni. The fornier did not
frighten her. But that which now overwhelms her with dismay is the description
Skirner gives her of the lot that awaits her in the realm of death, whither she is
destined—she, the giant maid, if she dies by the avenging wrath of the gods
(gambanreidi). She shall then come to that region which is situated below the
Na-gates (fyr nágrindr neþan—str. 35), and which is inhabited by frost-giants
who, as we shall find, do not deserve the name mannasynir, even though the
word menn be taken in its most common sense, and made to embrace giants
of the masculine kind.
This phrase fyr nágrindr neþan. must have been a stereotyped eschatological
term applied to a particular division, a particular realm in the lower world. In
Lokasenna (str. 63), Thor says to Loki, after the latter has emptied his phials
of rash insults upon the gods, that if’ he does not hold his tongue the hammer
Mjolner shall send him to Hel fyr nágrindr neþan. Hel is here used in its widest
sense, and this is limited by the addition of the words "below the Na-gates," so
as to refer to a particular division of the lower world. As we find by the
application of the phrase to Loki, this division is of such a character that it is
intended to receive the foes of the Asas and the insulters of the gods.
The word Nagrind, which is always used in the plural, and accordingly refers
to more than one gate of the kind, has as its first part nar (p1. nair), which
means corpse, dead body. Thus Na-gates means Corpse-gates.
The name must seem strange, for it is not dead bodies, but souls, released
from their bodies left on earth, which descend to the kingdom of death and get
their various abodes there. How far our heathen ancestors had a more or less
material conception of the soul is a question which it is not necessary to
discuss here (see on this point No. 95). Howsoever they may have regarded
it, the very existence of a Hades in their mythology demonstrates that they
believed that a conscious and sentient element in man was in death
separated from the body with which it had been united in life, and went down
to the lower world. That the body from which this conscious, sentient element
fled was not removed to Hades, but went in this upper earth to its
disintegration, whether it was burnt or buried in a mound or sunk to the bottom
of the sea, this our heathen ancestors knew just as well as we know it. The
people of the stone-age already knew this.
The phrase Na-gates does not stand alone in our mythological eschatology.
One of the abodes of torture lying within the Nagates is called Nastrands
(Nástrandir), and is described in Völuspa as filled with terrors. And the victims,
which Nidhog, the winged demon of the lower world, there sucks, are called
nair framgenga, "the corpses of those departed ".
It is manifest that the word nar thus used cannot have its common meaning,
but must be used in a special mythological sense, which bad its justification
and its explanation in the heathen doctrine in regard to the lower world.
It not unfrequently happens that law-books preserve ancient significations of
words not found elsewhere in literature. The Icelandic law-book Gragás (ii.
185) enumerates four categories within which the word nár is applicable to a
person yet living. Gallows-náir can be called, even while living, the person
who is hung; grave-nár, the person placed in a grave; skerry-nár or rock-nár
may, while yet alive, he be called who has been exposed to die on a skerry or
rock. Here the word nár is accordingly applied to persons who are conscious
and capable of suffering, but on the supposition that they are such persons as
have been condemned to a punishment which is not to cease so long as they
are sensitive to it.
And this is the idea on the basis of which the word náir is mythologically
applied to the damned and tortured beings in the lower world.
If we now take into account that our ancestors believed in a second death, in
a slaying of souls in Hades, then we find that this same use of the word in
question, which at first sight could not but seem strange, is a consistent
development of the idea that those banished from Hel’s realms of bliss die a
second time, when they are transferred across the to Nifelhel and the world of
torture. When they are overtaken by this second death they are for the second
time náir. And, as this occurs at the gates of Nifelhel, it was perfectly proper to
call the gates nágrindr.
We may imagine that it is terror, despair, or rage which, at the sight of the Nagates, severs the bond between the damned spirit and his Hades-body, and
that the former is anxious to soar away from its terrible destination. But
however this may be, the avenging powers have runes, which capture the
fugitive, put chains on his Hades-body, and force him to feel with it. The Sunsong, a Christian song standing on the scarcely crossed of heathendom,
speaks of damned ones whose breasts were risted (carved) with bloody
runes, and Havamal of runes which restore consciousness to nair. Such runes
are known by Odin. If he sees in a tree a gallows-nar (virgil-nar), then he can
rist runes so that the body comes down to him and talks with him (see No.
70).
Ef cc se a tre uppi vafa virgilna, sva ec rist oc i runom fac, at sa gengr gumi oc
maelir viþ mic (Havamal, 157).
Some of the subterranean nair have the power of motion, and are doomed to
wade in "heavy streams ". Among them are perjurers, murderers, and
adulterers (Völuspa, 38). Among these streams is Vadgelmer, in which they
who have slandered others find their far-reaching retribution (Sigurdarkv., ii.
4). Other nair have the peculiarity which their appellation suggests, and
receive quiet and immovable, stretched on iron benches, their punishment
(see below). Saxo, who had more elaborate descriptions of the Hades of
heathendom than those which have been handed down to our time, translated
or reproduced in his accounts of Hadding’s and Gorm’s journeys in the lower
world the word náir with exsanguia simulacra (p. 426).
That place after death with which Skirner threatens the stubborn Gerd is also
situated within the Na-gates, but still it has another character than Nastrands
and the other abodes of torture, which are situated below Nifelhel. It would
also have been unreasonable to threaten a person who rejects a marriage
proposal with those punishments which overtake criminals and nithings. The
Hades division, which Skirner describes as awaiting the giant-daughter, is a
subterranean Jotunheim, inhabited by deceased ancestors and kinsmen of
Gerd.
Mythology has given to the giants as well as to men a life hereafter. As a
matter of fact, mythology never destroys life. The horse which was cremated
with its master on his funeral pyre, and was buried with him in his gravemound, afterwards brings the hero down to Hel. When the giant who built the
Asgard wall got into conflict with the gods, Thor’s hammer sent him "down
below Nifelhel" (nidr undir Nifihel—Gylfag., ch. 43). King Gorm saw in the
lower world the giant Geirrod and both his daughters. According to
Grimnersmal (str. 31), frost-giants dwell under one of Ygdrasil’s roots—
consequently in the lower world; and Forspjallsljod says that hags
(giantesses) and thurses (giants), nair, dwarfs, and swarthy elves go to sleep
under the world-tree’s farthest root on the north of Jormungrund * (the lower
world), when Dag on a chariot sparkling with precious stones leaves the lower
world, and when Nat after her journey on the heavens has returned to her
home (str. 24, 28). It is therefore quite in order if we, in Skirner’s description of
the realm which after death awaits the giant-daughter offending the gods,
rediscover that part of the lower world to which the drowned primeval
ancestors of the giant-maid were relegated when Bor’s sons opened the veins
of Yimir’s throat (Sonatorr., str. 3) and then let the billows of the ocean wash
clean the rocky ground of earth, before they raised the latter from the sea and
there created the inhabitable Midgard.
The frost-giants (rimethurses) are the primeval giants (gigantes) of the
Teutonic mythology, so called because they sprang from the frost-being Yimir,
whose feet by contact with each other begat their progenitor, the "strange headed" monster Thrudgelmer (Vafthr., 29, 33). Their original home in chaos
was Nifelheim. From the Hvergelmer fountain there the Elivagar rivers flowed
to the north and became hoar-frost and ice, which, melted by warmth from the
south, were changed into drops of venom, which again became Yimir, called
by the giants Aurgelmer (Vafthr., 31; Gylfag., 5). Thrudgelmer begat
Bergelmer countless winter’s before the earth was made (Vafthr., 29; Gylf.,
ch. 7). Those members of the giant race living in Jotunheim on the surface of
the earth, whose memory goes farthest back in time, can remember
Bergelmer when he a var ludr urn lagir. At least Vafthrudner is able to do this
(Vafthr., 35).
When the original giants bad to abandon the fields populated by Bor’s sons
(Völuspa, 4), they received an abode corresponding as nearly as possible to
their first home, and, as it seems, identical with it, excepting that Nifelheim
now, instead of being a part of chaos, is an integral part of the cosmic
universe, and the extreme north of its Hades. As a Hades-realm it is also
called Nifelhel.
* With this name of the lower world compare Gudmund-Mimir’s abode a
Grund (see No. 45), and Helligrund (Heliand., 44, 22), and neowla grund
(Caedmon, 267, 1, 270, 16).
In the subterranean land with which Skirner threatens Gerd, and which he
paints for her in appalling colours, he mentions three kinds of beings—(1)
frost-giants, the ancient race of giants; (2) demons; (3) giants of the later race.
The frost-giants occupy together one abode, which, judging from its epithet,
hall (holl), is the largest and most important there; while those members of the
younger giant clan who are there, dwell in single scattered abodes, called
gards.* Gerd is also there to have a separate abode (str. 28).
Two frost-giants are mentioned by name, which shows that they are
representatives of them’ clan. One is named Rimgrimner (Hrimgrimnir—str.
35), the other Rimner (Hrímnir—str. 28).
Grimner is one of Odin’s many surnames (Grimnersmal, 47, and several other
places; cp. Egilsson’s Lex. Poet.). Rimgrimner means the same as if Odin had
said Rim-Odin, for Odin’s many epithets could without hesitation be used by
the poets in paraphrases, even when these referred to a giant. But the name
Odin was too sacred for such a purpose. Upon the whole the skalds seem
piously to have abstained from using that name in paraphrases, even when
the latter referred to celebrated princes and heroes. Glum Geirason is the first
known exception to the rule. He calls a king Malm- Odinn. The above epithet
places Rimgrimner in the same relation to the frost-giants as Odin-Grirnner
sustains to the asas: it charactenses him as the race-chief and clan-head of
the former, and in this respect gives him the same place as Thrudgelmer
occupies in Vafthrudnersmal. Yimir cannot be regarded as the special clanchief of the frost-giants, since he is also the progenitor of other classes of
beings (see Vafthr., 33, and Völuspa, 9; cp. Gylfag., oh. 14). But they have
other points of resemblance. Thrudgelmer is "strange-headed" in
Vafthrudnersmal; Rimgrimner is "three- headed" in Skirnersmal (str. 31; cp.
with str. 35). Thus we have in one poem a "strange-headed" Thrudgelmer as
progenitor of the frost-giants; in the other poem a "three-headed" Rimgrimner
as progenitor of the same frost-giants. The "strange-headed" giant of the
former poem, which is a somewhat indefinite or obscure
* Compare the phrase iotna gaurdum i (str. 30, 3) with til hrimdursa hallar (30,
4).
phrase, thus finds in "three-headed" of the latter poem its further definition. To
this is to be added a power which is possessed both by Thrudgelmer and by
Rimgrimner, and also a weakness for which both Thrudgelmer and
Rimgrimner are blamed. Thrudgelmer’s father begat children without
possessing gygjar gaman (Vafthr., 32). That Thrudgelmer inherited this power
from his strange origin and handed it down to the clan of frost-giants, and that
be also inherited the inability to provide for the perpetuation of the race in any
other way, is evident from Allvismal, str. 2. If we make a careful examination,
we find that Skirnersmal presupposes this same positive and negative quality
in Rimgrimner, and consequently Thrudgelmer and Rimgrimner must be
identical.
Gerd, who tries to reject the love of the fair and blithe Vana-god, will,
according to Skirner’s threats, be punished therefor in the lower world with the
complete loss of all that is called love, tenderness, and sympathy. Skirner
says that she either must live alone and without a husband in the lower world,
or else vegetate in a useless cohabitation (nara) with the three-headed giant
(str. 31). The threat is gradually emphasised to the effect that she shall be
possessed by Rimgrimner, and this threat is made immediately after the
solemn conjuration (str. 34) in which Skirner invokes the inhabitants of Nifelhel
and also of the regions of bliss, as witnesses, that she shall never gladden or
be gladdened by a man in the physical sense of this word.
Hear, ye giants,
Hear, frost-giants,
Ye sons of Suttung—
Nay, thou race of the Asa-god !*how I forbid,
how I banish
man’s gladness from the maid,
man’s enjoyment from the maid!
Rimgrimner is the giant’s name
who shall possess thee
below the Na-gates.
Heyri iotnar,
heyri hrimthursar,
synir Suttunga,
sjalfir asliþar
hve ec fyr byd,
hve ec fyrir banna
manna glaum mani
manna nyt mani.
Hrímgrimner heiter þurs,
er þic hafa seal
fyr nagrindr nean.
* With race of the Asa-god aslidar there can hardly be meant others than the
asmegir gathered in the lower world around Balder. This is the only place
where the word aslidar occurs.
More plainly, it seems to me, Skirner in speaking to Gerd could not have
expressed the negative quality of Rimgrimner in question. Thor also
expresses himself clearly on the same subject when he meets the dwarf Alvis
carrying home a maid over whom Thor has the right of marriage. Thor says
scornfully that he thinks he discovers in Alvis something which reminds him of
the nature of thurses, although Alvis is a dwarf and the thurses are giants, and
he further defines wherein this similarity consists:
þursa lici þicci mer a þer vera; erat þu till brudar borinn:
"Thurs’ likeness you seem to me to have; you were not born to have a bride ".
So far as the positive quality is concerned it is evident from the fact that
Rimgrimner is the progenitor of the frost-giants.
Descended to Nifelhel, Gerd must not count on a shadow of friendship and
sympathy from her kinsmen there. It would be best for her to confine herself in
the solitary abode which there awaits her, for if she but looks out of the gate,
staring gazes shall meet her from Rimner and all the others down there; and
she shall there be looked upon with more hatred than Heimdal, the watchman
of the gods, who is the wise, always vigilant foe of the rimethurses and giants.
But whether she is at home or abroad, demons and tormenting spirits shall
never leave her in peace. She shall be bowed to the earth by tramar (evil
witches). Morn (a Teutonic Eumenides, the agony of the soul personified)
shall fill her with his being. The spirits of sickness—such also dwell there; they
once took an oath not to harm Balder (Gylf., oh. 50)—shall increase her woe
and the flood of her tears. Tope (insanity), Ope (hysteria), Tjausul and Othale
(constant restlessness), shall not leave her in peace. These spirits are also
counted as belonging to the race of thurses, and hence it is said in the runesong that þurs veldr kvenna kvillu, "thurs causes sickness of women ". In this
connection it should be remembered that the daughter of Loki, the ruler of
Nifelhel, is also the queen of diseases. Gerd’s food shall be more loathsome
to her than the poisonous serpent is to man, and her drink shall be the most
disgusting. Miserable she shall crawl among the homes of the Hades giants,
and up to a mountain top, where Are, a subterranean eagle-demon has his
perch (doubtless the same Are which, according to Völuspa (47), is to join
with his screeches in Rymer’s shield-song, when the Midgard-serpent writhes
in giant-rage, and the ship of death, Naglfar, gets loose). Up there she shall sit
early in the morning, and constantly turn her face in the same direction—in the
direction where Hel is situated, that is, south over Mt. Hvergelmer, toward the
subterranean regions of bliss. Toward Hel she shall long to come in vain:
Ara þufo a scaltu ar sitja horfa ok snugga Heljar til.
"On Are’s perch thou shalt early sit, turn toward Hel, and long to get to Hel."
By the phrase snugga Heljar til, the skald has meant something far more
concrete than to "long for death ". Gerd is here supposed to be dead, and
within the Na-gates. To long for death, she does not need to crawl up to "Are’s
perch ". She must subject herself to these nightly exertions, so that when it
dawns in the foggy Nifelhel, she may get a glimpse of that land of bliss to
which she may never come; she who rejected a higher happiness—that of
being with the gods and possessing Frey’s love.
I have been somewhat elaborate in the presentation of this description in
Skirnersmal, which has not hitherto been understood. I have done so,
because it is the only evidence left to us of how life was conceived in the forecourt of the regions of torture, Nifelhel, the land situated below Ygrdrasil’s
northern root, beyond and below the mountain, where the root is watered by
Hvergelmer. It is plain that the author of Skirnersmal, like that of
Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Vegtamskvida, and Thorsdrapa (as we have
already seen), has used the word Hel in the sense of a place of bliss in the
lower world. It is also evident that with the root under which the frost-giant
dwells impossibly can be meant, as supposed by Gylfaginning, that one under
which Mimir’s glorious fountain, and Mimir’s grove, and all his treasures stored
for a future world, are situated.
61.
THE WORD HEL IN VOLUSPA. WHO THE INHABITANTS OF HEL ARE.
We now pass to Völuspa, 40 (Hauk’s Codex), where the word Helvegir
occurs.
One of the signs that Ragnarok and the fall of the world are at hand, is that
the mighty ash Ygdrasil trembles, and that a fettened giant-monster thereby
gets loose from its chains. Which this monster is, whether it is Garm, bound
above the Gnipa cave, or some other, we will not now discuss. The
astonishment and confusion caused by these events among all the beings of
the world, are described in the poem with but few words, but they are
sufficient for the purpose, and well calculated to make a deep impression
upon the hearers. Terror is the predominating feeling in those beings which
are not chosen to take part in the impending conflict. They, on the other hand,
for whom the quaking of Ygdrasil is the signal of battle for life or death, either
arm themselves amid a terrible war-cry for the battle (the giants, str. 41), or
they assemble to hold the last council (the Asas), and then rush to arms.
Two classes of beings are mentioned as seized by terror— the dwarfs, who
stood breathless outside of their stone-doors, and those beings which are a
Helvegum. Helvegir may mean the paths or ways in Hel: there, are many
paths, just as there are many gates and many rivers. Helvegir may also mean
the regions, districts in Hel (cp. Austrvegr, Sudrvegr, Norvegr; and Allvism.,
10, according to which the Vans call the earth vegir, ways). The author may
have used the word in either of these senses or in both, for in this case it
amounts to the same. At all events it is stated that the inhabitants in Hel are
terrified when Ygdrasil quakes and the unnamed giant-monster gets loose.
Skelfr Yggdrasils
askr standandi,
ymr hid alldna tre
enn iotunn losnar;
hraedaz allir
a Helvegurn
adr Surtar þann
Quakes Ygdrasil’s
Ash standing,
The old tree trembles,
The giant gets loose;
All are frightened
On the Helways (in Hel’s regions)
’ere Surt’s spirit (or kinsman)
sevi of gleypir.
swallows him (namely, the giant).
Surt’s spirit, or kinsman (sevi, sefi may mean either), is, as has also hitherto
been supposed, the fire. The final episode in the conflict on Vigrid’s plain is
that the Muspel-flames destroy the last remnant of the contending giants. The
terror which, when the world-tree quaked and the unnamed giant got loose,
took possession of the inhabitants of Hel continues so long as the conflict is
undecided. Valfather falls, Frey and Thor likewise; no one can know who is to
be victorious. But the terror ceases when on the one hand the liberated giantmonster is destroyed, and on the other hand Vidar and Vale, Mode and
Magne, survive the conflict and survive the flames, which do not penetrate to
Balder and Hodr amid their proteges in Hel. The word þann (him), which
occurs in tIme seventh line of the strophe (in the last of the translation) can
impossibly refer to any other than the giant mentioned in the fourth line
(iotunn). There are in the strophe only two masculine words to which the
masculine þann can be referred— iotncnn and Yggdrasils askr. Iotunn, which
stands nearest to þann, thus has the preference ; and as we have seen that
the world-tree falls by neither fire nor edge (Fjolsv., 20), and as it, in fact,
survives the conflagration of Surt, then þann must naturally be referred to the
iotunn.
Here Völuspa has furnished us with evidence in regard to the position of Hel’s
inhabitants towards the contending parties in Ragnarok. They who are
frightened when a giant-monster—a most dangerous one, as it hitherto had
been chained—gets free from its fetters, and they whose fright is allayed
when the monster is destroyed in the conflagration of the world, such beings
can impossibly follow this monster and its fellow warriors with their good
wishes. Their hearts are on the side of the good powers, which are friendly to
mankind. But they do not take an active part in their behalf; they take no part
whatever in time conflict. This is manifest from the fact that their fright does
not cease before the conflict is ended. Now we know that among the
inhabitants in Hel are the asmegir’ Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring, and
that they are not herþarfir; they are not to be employed in war, since their very
destiny forbids their taking an active part in time events of this period of the
world (see No. 53). But the text does not permit us to think of them alone
when we are to determine who the beings a Helvegum are. For the text says
that all, who are a Helvegum, are alarmed until the conflict is happily ended.
What the interpreters of this much abused passage have failed to see, the
seeress in Voluspa has not forgotten, that, namely, during tIme lapse of
countless thousands of years, innumerable children and women, and men
who never wielded the sword, have descended to the kingdom of death and
received dwellings in Hel, and that Hel—in the limited local sense which the
word hitherto has appeared to have in the songs of the gods—does not
contain warlike inhabitants. Those who have fallen on the battle-field come,
indeed, as shall be shown later, to Hel, but not to remain there; they continue
their journey to Asgard, for Odin chooses one half of those slain on the
battlefield for his dwelling, and Freyja the other half (Grimnersmal, 14). The
chosen accordingly have Asgard as their place of destination, which they
reach in case they are not found guilty by a sentence which neutralises the
force and effect of the previous choice (see below), and sends them to die the
second death on crossing the boundary to Nifelhel. Warriors who have not
fallen on the battlefield are as much entitled to Asgard as those fallen by the
sword, provided they as heroes have acquired fame and honour. It might, of
course, happen to the greatest general and the most distinguished hero, the
conqueror in hundreds of battles, that he might die from sickness or an
accident, while, on the other hand, it might be that a man who never wielded a
sword in earnest might fall on the field of battle before he had given a blow.
That the mythology should make the latter entitled to Asgard, but not the
former, is an absurdity as void of support in the records—on the contrary,
these give the opposite testimony— as it is of sound sense. The election
contained for the chosen ones no exclusive privilege. It did not even imply
additional favour to one who, independently of the election, could count on a
place among the einherjes. The election made the person going to battle feigr,
which was not a favour, nor could it be considered the opposite. It might play
a royal crown from the head of the chosen one to that of his enemy, and this
could not well be regarded as a kindness. But for the electing powers of
Asgard themselves the election implied a privilege. The dispensation of life
and death regularly belonged to the norns; but the election partly supplied the
gods with an exception to this rule, and partly it left to Odin the right to
determine the fortunes and issues of battles. The question of the relation
between the power of the gods and that of fate—a question which seemed to
the Greeks and Romans dangerous to meddle with and well-nigh impossible
to dispose of—was partly solved by the Teutonic mythology by the naive and
simple means of dividing the dispensation of life and death between the
divinity and fate, which, of course, did not hinder that fate always stood as the
dark, inscrutable power in the background of all events. (On election see
further, No. 66.)
It follows that in Hel’s regions of bliss there remained, none that were warriors
by profession. Those among them who were not guilty of any of the sins which
the Asa-doctrine stamped as sins unto death passed through Hel to Asgard,
the others through Hel to Nifelhel. All the inhabitants on Hel’s elysian fields
accordingly are the asmegir, and the women, children, and the agents of the
peaceful arts who have died during countless centuries, and who, unused to
the sword, have no place in the ranks of the einherjes, and therefore with the
anxiety of those waiting abide the issue of the conflict. Such is the background
and contents of the Völuspa strophe. This would long since have been
understood, had not the doctrine constructed by Gylfaginning in regard to the
lower world, with Troy as the starting-point, bewildered the judgment.
62.
THE WORD HEL IN ALLVISMAL. THE CLASSES OF BEINGS IN HEL.
In Allvismal occurs the phrases: those i helio and halir. The premise of the
poem is that such objects as earth, heaven, moon, sun, night, wind, fire, &c.,
are expressed in six different ways, and that each one of these ways of
expression is, with the exclusion of the others, applicable within one or two of
the classes of beings found in the world. For example, Heaven is called—
Himinn among men, Lyrner am ong gods, Vindofner among Vans, Uppheim
among giants. Elves say Fager-tak (Fair-roof), dwarfs Drypsal (dropping-hall)
(str. 12).
In this manner thirteen objects are mentioned, each one with its six names. In
all of the thirteen cases man has a way of his own of naming the objects.
Likewise the giants. No other class of beings has any of the thirteen
appellations in common with them. On the other hand, the Asas and Vans
have the same name for two objects (moon and sun); elves and dwarfs have
names in common for no less than six objects (cloud, wind, fire, tree, seed,
mead); the dwarfs and the inhabitants of the lower world for three (heaven,
sea, and calm). Nine times it is stated how those in the lower world express
themselves. In six of these nine cases Allvismal refers to the inhabitants of the
lower world by the general expression "those in Hel"; in three cases the poem
lets "those in Hel" be represented by some one of those classes of beings that
reside in Hel. These three are upregin (str. 10), asasynir (str. 16), and halir
(str. 28).
The name upregin suggests that it refers to beings of a very certain divine
rank (the Vans are in Allvismal called ginnregin, str. 20, 30) that have their
sphere of activity in the upper world. As they none the less dwell in the lower
world, the appellation must have reference to beings which have their homes
and abiding places in Hel when they are not occupied with their affairs in the
world above. These beings are Nat, Bag, Mane, Sol.
Asasynir has the same signification as asmegir. As this is the case, and as the
asmegir dwell in the lower world and the ásasynir likewise, then they must be
identical, unless we should be credulous enough to assume that there were in
the lower world two categories of beings, both called sons of Asas.
Halir, when the question is about the lower world, means the souls of the dead
(Vafthr., 43; see above).
From this we find that Ailvismal employs the word Hel in such a manner that it
embraces those regions where Nat and Dag, Mane and Sol, the living human
inhabitants of Mimir’s grove, and the souls of departed human beings dwell.
Among the last-named are included also souls of the damned, which are
found in the abodes of torture below Nifelhel, and it is within the limits of
possibility that the author of the poem also had them in mind, though there is
not much probability that he should conceive them as having a nomenclature
in common with gods, asmegir, and the happy departed. At all events, he has
particularly—and probably exclusively—had in his mind the regions of bliss
when he used the word Hel, in which case he has conformed in the use of the
word to Völuspa, Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Skirnersmal, Vegtamskvida,
and Thorsdrapa.
63.
THE WORD HEL IN OTHER PASSAGES. THE RESULT OF THE IN
VESTIGATION FOR THE COSMOGRAPHY AND FOR THE MEANING OF
THE WORD HEL. HEL IN A LOCAL SENSE THE KINGDOM OF DEATH,
PARTICULARLY ITS REALMS OF BLISS. HEL IN A PERSONAL SENSE
IDENTICAL WITH THE GODDESS OF FATE AND DEATH, THAT IS, URD.
While a terrible winter is raging, the gods, according to Forspjallshjod,* send
messengers, with Heimdal as chief, down to a lower-world goddess (dis), who
is designated as Gjöll’s (the lower world river’s) Sunna (Sol, sun) and as the
distributor of the divine liquids (str. 9, 11) to beseech her to explain to them
the mystery of creation, the beginning of heaven, of Hel, and of the world, life
and death, if she is able (hlyrnis, heliar, heims of vissi, artid, aefi, aldrtila). The
messengers get only tears as an answer. The poem divides the universe into
three great divisions: heaven, Hel, and the part lying between Hel and
heaven, the world inhabited by mortals. Thus Hel is here used in its general
sense, and refers to the whole lower world. But here, as wherever Hel has this
general signification, it appears that the idea of regions of punishment is not
thought of, but is kept in the background by the definite antithesis in which the
word Hel, used in its more common and special sense of the subterranean
regions of bliss, stands to Nifelhel and the regions subject to it. It must be
admitted that what the anxious gods wish to learn from the wise goddess of
the lower world must, so far as their desire to know and their fears concern
the fate of Hel, refer particularly to the regions where Urd’s and Mimir’s holy
wells are situated, for if the latter, which water the world-tree, pass away, it
would mean nothing less than the end of the world. That the author should
make the gods anxious concerning Loki’s daughter, whom they had hurled
into the deep abysses of Nifelhel, and that he should make the wise goddess
by Gjöll weep bitter tears over the future of the sister of the Fenris-wolf, is
possible in the sense that it cannot be refuted by
* Of the age and genuineness of Forspjallsljod I propose to publish a separate
treatise any definite words of the old records; but we may be permitted to
regard it as highly improbable.
Among the passages in which the word Hel occurs in the poetic Edda’s
mythological songs we have yet to mention liarbardsljod (str. 27), where the
expression drepa i Hel is employed in the same abstract manner as the
Swedes use the expression "at sla ihjal," which means simply "to kill" (it is
Thor who threatens to kill the insulting Harbard); and also Völuspa (str. 42),
Fjöllsvinasmal (str. 25), and Grimnersmal (str. 31).
Völuspa (str. 42), speaks of Goldcomb, the cock which, with its crowing,
wakes those who sleep in Herfather’s abode, and of a sooty-red cock which
crows under the earth near Hel’s halls. In Fjöllsvinnsmal (str. 25), Svipdag
asks with what weapon one might be able to bring down to Hel’s home (a
Heljar sjöt) that golden cock Vidofner, which sits in Mimir’s tree (the worldtree), and doubtless is identical with Goldcomb. That Vidofner has done
nothing for which he deserves to be punished in the home of Loki’s daughter
may be regarded as probable. Hel is here used to designate the kingdom of
death in general, and all that Svipdag seems to mean is that Vidofner, in case
such a weapon could be found, might be transferred to his kinsman, the
sooty-red cock which crows below the earth. Saxo also speaks of a cock
which is found in Hades, and is with the goddess who has the cowbane stalks
when she shows Hadding the flower-meadows of the lower world, the Elysian
fields of those fallen by the sword, and the citadel within which death does not
seem able to enter (see No. 47). Thus there is at least one cock in the lower
world’s realm of bliss. That there should be one also in Nifelhel and in the
abode of Loki’s daughter is nowhere mentioned, amid is hardly credible, since
the cock, according to an ancient and wide-spread Aryan belief, is a sacred
bird, which is the special foe of demons and the powers of darkness.
According to Swedish popular belief, even of the present time, the crowing of
the cock puts ghosts and spirits to flight; and a similar idea is found in Avesta
(Vendidad, 18), where, in str. 15, Ahuramazda himself translates the morning
song of the cock with the following words : "Rise, ye men, and praise the
justice which is the most perfect! Behold the demons are put to flight " Avesta
is naively out of patience with thoughtless persons who call this sacred bird
(Parodarsch) by the so little respect-inspiring name "Cockadoodledoo"
(Kahrkatás). The idea of the sacredness of the cock and its hostility to
demons was also found among the Aryans of South Europe and survived the
introduction of Christianity. Aurelius Prudentius wrote a Hymnus ad galli
cantum, and the cock has as a token of Christian vigilance received the same
place on the church spires as formerly on the world-tree. Nor have the Maypoles forgotten him. But in the North the poets and the popular language have
made the red cock a symbol of fire. Fire has two characters—it is sacred,
purifying, and beneficent, when it is handled carefully and for lawful purposes.
In the opposite case it is destructive. With the exception of this special
instance, nothing but good is reported of the cocks of mythology and poetry.
Grimnersmal (str. 31) is remarkable from two points of view. It contains
inforniation—brief and scant, it is true, but nevertheless valuable—in regard to
Ygdrasil’s three roots, and it speaks of Hel mu an unmistakable, distinctly
personal sense.
In regard to the roots of the world-tree and their positiomi, our investigation so
far, regardless of Grimnersmal (str. 31), has produced the following result
Ygdrasil has a northern root. This stands over the vast reservoir Hvergelmer
and spreads over Nifelhel, situated north of Hvergelmer and inhabited by
frost-giants. There nine regions of punishment are situated, among them
Nastrands.
Ygdrasil’s second root is watered by Mimir’s fountain and spreads over the
land where Mimir’s fountain and grove are located. In Mimir’s grove dwell
those living (not dead) beings called Asmegir and Ásasynir, Lif and Leifthraser
and their offspring, whose destiny it is to people the regenerated earth.
Ygdrasil’s third root stands over Urd’s fountain and the subterranean
thingstead of the gods.
The lower world consists of two chief divisions: Nifelhel (with the regions
thereto belonging) and Hel,—Nifelhel situated north of the Hvergelmer
mountain, and Hel south of it. Accordingly both the land where Mimir’s well
and grove are situated and the laud where Urd’ s fountain is found are within
the domain Hel.
In regard to the zones or climates, in which the roots are located, they have
been conceived as having a southern and northern. We have already shown
that the root over Hvergelmer is the northern one. That the root over Urd’s
fountain has been conceived as the southern one is manifest from the
following circumstances. Eilif Gudrunson, who was converted to Christianity—
the same skald who wrote the purely heathen Thorsdrapa—says in one of his
poems, written after his conversion, that Christ sits sunnr at Urdarbrunni, in
the south near Urd’s fountain, an expression which he could not have used
unless his hearers had retained from the faith of their childhood the idea that
Urd’s fountain was situated south of the other fountains. Forspjallsljod puts
upon Urd’s fountain the task of protecting the world-tree against the
devastating cold during the terrible winter which the poem describes.
Oþhraerir skyldi Urþar geyrna maettk at veria mestum þorra.—" Urd’s Odreirer
(mead-fountain) proved not to retain strength enough to protect against the
terrible cold." This idea shows that the sap which Ygdrasil’s southern root
drew from Urd’s fountain was thought to be warmer than the saps of the other
wells. As, accordingly, the root over Urd’s well was the southern, and that over
Hvergelmer and the frost-giants the northern, it follows that Mimir’s well was
conceived as situated between those two. The memory of this fact
Gylfaginning has in its fashion preserved, where in chapter 15 it says that
Mimir’s fountain is situated where Ginungagap formerly was—that is, between
the northern Nifelheim and the southern warmer region (Gylfaginning’s
"Muspelheim ").
Grimnersmal (str. 31) says:
þriar’ raetr standa
a þria vega
undan asciYggdrasils:
Hel byr und einni,
annari hrimþursar,
þriio mennzkir menn.
Three roots stand
on three ways
below Ygdrasil’s ash:
Hel dwells under one,
under another frost-giants,
under a third human-" men".
The root under which the frost-giants dwell we already know as the root over
Hvergehmer and the Nifelhel inhabited by frostgiants.
The root under which human beings, living persons, mennskir menn, dwell we
also know as the one over Mimir’s well and Mimir’s grove, where the human
beings Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring have their abode, where jörd
lifanda manna is situated.
There remains one root: the one under which the goddess or fate, Urd, has
her dwelling. Of this Grimnersmal says that she who dwells there is named
Hel.
Hence it follows of necessity that the goddess of fate, Urd, is identical with the
personal Hel, the queen of the realm of death, particularly of its regions of
bliss. We have seen that Hel in its local sense has the general signification,
the realm of death, and the special but most frequent signification, the elysium
of the kingdom of death. As a person, the meaning of the word Hel must be
analogous to its signification as a place. It is the same idea having a personal
as well as a local form.
The conclusion that Urd is Hel is inevitable, unless we assume that Urd,
though queen of her fountain, is not the regent of the land where her fountain
is situated. One might then assume Hel to be one of Urd’s sisters, but these
have no prominence as compared with herself. One of them, Skuld, who is the
more known of the two, is at the same time one of Urd’s maid-servants, a
valkyrie, who on the battlefield does her errands, a feminine psychomessenger who shows the fallen the way to Hel, the realm of her sisters,
where they are to report themselves ere they get to their destination. Of
Verdandi the records tell us nothing but the name, which seems to preclude
the idea that she should be the personal Hel.
This result, that Urd is identical with Hel; that she who dispenses life also
dispenses death; that she who with her serving sisters is the ruler of the past,
the present, and the future, also governs and gathers in her kingdom all
generations of the past, present, and future—this result may seem
unexpected to those who, on the authority of Gylfaginning, have assumed that
the daughter of Loki cast into the abyss of Nifelhel is the queen of the
kingdom of death; that she whose threshold is called Precipice (Gylfag., 34)
was the one who conducted Balder over the threshold to the subterranean
citadel glittering with gold; that she whose table is called Hunger and whose
knife is called Famine was the one who ordered the clear, invigorating mead
to be placed before him ; that the sister of those foes of the gods and of the
world, the Midgard-serpent and the Fenris-wolf was entrusted with the care of
at least one of Ygdrasil’s roots; and that she whose bed is called Sickness,
jointly with Urd and Mimir, has the task of caring for the world-tree and seeing
that it is kept green and gets the liquids from their fountains.
Colossal as this absurdity is, it has been believed for centuries. And in dealing
with an absurdity which is centuries old, we must consider that it is a fon’ce
which does not yield to objections simply stated, but must be conquered by
clear and convincing arguments. Without the necessity of travelling the path
by which I have reached the result indicated, scholars would long since have
come to the conviction that Urd and the personal Hel are identical, if
Gylfaginning and the text-books based thereon had not confounded the
judgment, and that for the following reasons:
The name Urdr corresponds to the Old English Vurd, Vyrd, Vird, to the Old
low German Wurth, and to the Old High German Wurt. The fact that the word
is found in the dialects of several Teutonic branches indicates, or is thought by
tIme linguists to indicate, that it belongs to the most ancient Teutonic times,
when it probably had the form Vorthi.
There can be no doubt that Urd also among other Teutonic branches than the
Scandinavian has bad the meaning of goddess of fate. Expressions handed
down from time heathen time and preserved inn Old English documents
characterise Vyrd as tying the threads or weaving the web of fate (Cod. Ex.,
355; Beowulf, 2420), and as the one who writes that which is to happen
(Beowulf, 4836). Here the plural form is also employed, Vyrde, the urds, the
norns, which demonstrates that she in England, as in the North, was
conceived as having sisters or assistants. In the Old Low German poem
"Heliand," Wurth’s personality is equally plain. But at the same time as Vyrd,
Wurth, was the goddess of fate, she was also that of death. In Beowulf (4831,
4453) we find the parallel expressions:
him vas Vyrd ungemete neah: Urd was exceedingly near to him; vas dead
ungemete neah: death was exceedingly near.
And in Heliand, 146, 2; 92, 2
Thiu Wurth is at handun: Urd is near; Dód is at hendi: death is near.
And there are also other expressions, as Thiu Wurth náhida thus:
Urd (death) them approached; Wurth ma benam: Urd (death) took him away
(cp. J. Grimm, Deutsche Myth., i. 373).
Thus Urd, the goddess of fate, was, among the Teutonic branches in
Germany and England, identical with (heath, conceived as a queen. So also in
the North. The norns made laws and chose life and örlög (fate) for the children
of time (Völuspa). The word orlog (Nom. Pl.; the original meaning seems to be
urlagarne, that is, the original laws) frequently has a decided leaning to the
idea of death (cp. Völuspa: Ek sá Baldr’i orlog fólgin). Hakon Jarl’s orlog was
that Kark cut his throat (Nj., 156). To receive the "judgment of the norns" was
identical with being doomed to die (Yng., Heimskringla, ch. 52). Fate and
death were in the idea and in usage so closely related, that they were blended
into one personality in the mythology. The ruler of death was that one who
could resolve death; but the one who could determine the length of life, and
so also could resolve death, and the kind of death, was, of course, the
goddess of fate. They must blend into one.
In the ancient Norse documents we also find the name Urd used to designate
death, just as in Heliand and Beowulf, and this, too, in such a manner that
Urd’s personal character is not emphasised. Ynglingatal (Heimskr., ch. 44)
calls Ingjald’s manner of death his Urdr, and to determine death for anyone
was to draga Urr at him.
Far down in the Christian centuries the memory survived that Urd was the
goddess of the realm of death and of death. When a bright spot, which was
called Urd’s moon, appeared on the wall, it meant the breaking out of an
epidemic (Eyrbyggia Saga, 270). Even as late as the year 1237 Urd is
supposed to have revealed herself, the night before Christmas, to Snobjorn to
predict a bloody conflict, and she then sang a song in which she said that she
went mournfully to the contest to choose a man for death. Saxo translates Ur’r
or Hel with "Proserpina" (Hist., i. 43).
64.
URD’S MAID-SERVANTS: (1) MAID-SERVANTS OF LIFE—NORNS, DISES
OF BIRTH, HAMINGJES, GIPTES, FYLGJES; (2) MAIDSERVANTS OF
DEATH—VALKYRIES, THE PSYCHO-MESSENGERS OF DISEASES AND
ACCIDENTS.
As those beings for whom Urd determines birth, position in life, and death, are
countless, so her servants, who perform the
tasks commanded by her as queen, must also be innumerable. They belong
to two large classes: the one class is active in her service in regard to life, the
other in regard to death.
Most intimately associated with her are her two sisters. With her they have the
authority of judges. Compare Voluspa, 19, 20, and the expressions norna
dómr’, norna kvidr. And they dwell with her under the world-tree, which stands
for ever green over her gold-chad fountain.
As maid-servants under Urd there are countless hamingjes (fylgjes) and
giptes (also called gafes, audnes, heilles). The hamingjes are fostered among
beings of giant-race (who hardly can be others than the norns and Mimir).
Three mighty rivers fall down into the world, in which they have their origin,
and they come wise in their hearts, soaring over the waters to our upper world
(Vafthr., 48, 49). There every child of man is to have a hamingje as a
companion and guardian spirit. The testimony of the Icelandic sagas of the
middle ages in this regard are confirmed by phrases and forms of speech
which have their root in heathendom. The hamingjes belong to that large
circle of feminine beings which are called dises, and they seem to have been
especially so styled. What Urd is on a grand scale as the guardian of the
mighty Ygdrasil, this the hamingje is on a smaller scale when she protects the
separate fruit produced on the world-tree and placed in her care. She does
not appear to her favourite excepting perhaps in dreams or shortly before his
death (the latter according to Helgakv. Hjorv. the prose; Njal, 62; Hallf, ch. 11;
proofs from purely heathen records are wanting). In strophes which occur in
Gisle Surson’s saga, and which are attributed (though on doubtful grounds) to
this heathen skald, the hero of the saga, but the origin of which (from a time
when the details of the myth were still remembered) is fully confirmed by a
careful criticism, it is mentioned how he stood between good and evil
inispirations, and how the draumkona (dream-woman) of the good inspirations
said to him in sleep: " Be not the first cause of a murder! excite not peaceful
men against yourself !—promise me this, thou charitable man! Aid the blind,
scorn not the lame, and insult not a Tyr robbed of his hand !" These are noble
counsels, and that the hamingjes were noble beings was a belief’ preserved
through the Christian centuries in Iceland, where, according to Vigfusson, the
word hamingja is still used in the sense of Providence. They did not usually
leave their favourite before death. But there are certain phrases preserved in
the spoken language which show that they could leave him before death. He
who was abandoned by his hamingje and
gipte was a lost man. If the favourite became a hideous and bad man, then his
hamingja and gipta might even turn her benevolence into wrath, and cause his
well-deserved ruin. Uvar’ ‘ro disir, angry at you are the dises I cries Odin to
the royal nithing Geirrod, and immediately thereupon the latter stumbles and
falls pierced by his own sword. That the invisible hamingje could cause one to
stumble and fall is shown in Forum., iii.
The giptes seem to have carried out such of Urd's resolves, on account of
which the favourite received an unexpected, as it were accidental, good
fortune.
Not omily for separate individuals, but also for families and clans, there were
guardian spirits (kynfylgjur, ættarfylgjur).
Another division of this class of maid-servants under Urd are those who attend
the entrance of the child into the world, and who have to weave the threads of
the new-born babe into the web of the families and events. Like Urd and her
sisters, they too are called norns. If it is a child who is to be a great amid
famous man, Urd herself and her sisters niay be present for the above
purpose (see No. 30 in regard to Halfdan’s birth).
A few strophes incorporated in Fafnersmal from a heathen didactic poem, now
lost (Fafn., 12-15), speak of norns whose task it is to determine and assist the
arrival of the child into this world. Nornir, er naudgaunglar ‘ro oc kjósa mædr
fra maugum. The expression kjósa mædr fra maugum, "to choose mothers
from descendants," seems obscure, and can under all circumstances not
mean simply "to deliver mothers of children ". The word kjósa is never used in
any other sense than to choose, elect, select. Here it must then mean to
choose, elect as mothers; and the expression "from descendants" is
incomprehensible, if we do not on the one hand conceive a crowd of eventual
descendants, who at the threshold of life are waiting for mothers in order to
become born into this world, and on the other hand women who are to be
mothers, but in reference to whoni it has not yet been determined which
descendant each one is to call hers among the great waiting crowd, until
those nomns which we are here discussing resolve on that point, and from the
indefinite crowd of waiting megir choose mothers for those children which are
especially destined for them.
These norns are, according to Fafn., 13, of different birth. Some are Asakinswomen, others of elf-race, and again others are daughters of Dvalin. In
regard to the last-named it should be remembered that Dvalin, their father,
through artists of his circle, decorated the citadel, within which a future
generation of men await the regeneration of the world, and that the mythology
has associated him intimately with the elf of the morning dawn, Delling, who
guards the citadel of the race of regeneration against all that is evil and all that
ought not to enter (see No. 53). There are reasons (see No. 95) for assuming
that these dises of birth were Honer’s maid-servants at the same time as they
were Urd’s, just as the valkyries are Urd’s and Odin’s maid-servants at the
sanie time (see below).
To the other class of Urd’s maid-servants belong those lower-world beings
which execute her resolves of death, and conduct the souls of the dead to the
lower world.
Foremost among the psycho-messengers (psychopomps), the attendants of
tlne dead, we note that group of shield-maids called valkyries. As Odin and
Freyja got the right of choosing on the battlefield, the valkyries have received
Asgard as their abode. There they bring the mead-honus to the Asas and
einherjes, when they do not ride on Valfather’s errands (Völuspa, 31;
Grimnersmal, 36; Eiriksm., 1; Ulf Ugges. Skaldsk., 238). But the third of the
norns, Skuld, is the chief one in this group (Voluspa, 31), and, as shall be
shown below, they for ever remain in the most intimate association with Urd
and the lower world.
65.
ON THE (COSMOGRAPHY. THE WAY OF THOSE FALLEN BY THE
SWORD TO VALHAL IS THROUGH THE LOWER WORLD.
The modern conception of the removal of those fallen by the sword to Asgard
is that the valkyries carried them immediately through blue space to the halls
above. The heathens did not conceive the matter in this manner.
It is true that the mythological horses might carry their riders through the air
without pressing a firm foundation with their hoofs. But such a mode of travel
was not the rule, even among the gods, and, when it did happen, it attracted
attention even among them. Compare Gylfaginning, i. 118, which quotes
strophes from a heathen source. The bridge Bifrost would not have been built
or established for the daily connection between Asgard and Urd’s
subterranean realm if it had been unnecessary in the mythological world of
fancy. Mane’s way in space would not have been regarded as a road inn the
concrete sense, that quakes amid rattles when Thor’s thunder-chariot passes
over it (Haustl., Skaldsk., ch. 16), had it not been thought that Mane was safer
on a firm road than without one of that sort. To every child that grew up in the
homes of our heathen fathers the question must have lain near at hand, what
such roads and bridges were for, if the gods had no advantage froni them.
The mythology had to be prepared for such questions, and in this, as in other
cases, it had answers wherewith to satisty that claim on causality amid
consistency which even the most naive view of the world presents. The
answer was : If the Bifrost bridge breaks under its riders, as is to happen in
course of time, then their horses would have to swim in the sea of air (Bilraust
brotnar, er þeir a brn fara, oc svima i modo marir—Fafn., 15 ; compare a
strophe of Kormak, Kormak’s Saga, p. 259, where the atmosphere is called
the fjord of the gods, Dia fjordr). A horse does not swim as fast and easily as it
runs. The different possibilities of travel are associated with different kinds of
exertion and swiftness. TIne one method is more adequate to the purpose
than the other. The solid connections which were used by the gods amid
which the mythology built in space are, accordingly, objects of advantage and
convenience. The valkyries, riding at the head of their chosen heroes, as well
as the gods, have found solid roads advantageous, amid the course they took
with their favourites was miot the one presented in our mytho— logical textbooks. Grimnersmal (str. 21; see No. 93) informs us that the breadth of tIme
atmospheric sea is too great amid its currents too strong for those riding on
their horses from the battlefield to wade across.
In the 45th chapter of Egil Skallagrimson’s saga we read how Egil saved
himself from men, whom King Erik Blood-axe sent in pursuit of him to Saul
Isle. While they were searching for him there, he had stolen to the vicinity of
the place where tIme boat lay in which those in pursuit had rowed across.
Three warriors guarded the boat. Egil succeeded in surprising them, and in
giving one of theni his death-wound ere the latter was able to defend himself.
The second fell in a duel on the strand. The third, who sprang into the boat to
make it loose, fell there after an exchange of blows. The saga has preserved
a strophe in which Egil mentions this exploit to his brother Thorolf and his
friend Arinbjorn, whomn he met after his flight from Saud Isle. There lie says:
at þrymreynis þjónar þrir nokkurir Hlakkar, til hasalar Heljar helgengnir, for
dvelja.
Three of those who serve the tester of the valkyrie-din (the warlike Erik Bloodaxe) will late return; they have gone to time lower world, to Hel’s high hall."
The fallen ones were king’s men and warriors. They were slain by weapons
and tell at their posts of duty, one from a sudden, unexpected wound, the
others in open conflict. According to the conception of the mythological textbooks, these sword-slain men should have been conducted by valkyries
through the air to Valhal. But the skald Egil, who as a heathen horn about the
year 904, and who as a contemporary of the sons of Harald Fairhair must
have known the mythological views of his fellow-heathen believers better than
the people of our time, assures us positively that these men from King Erik’s
body-guard, instead of going immediately to Valhal, went to the lower world
and to Hel’s high hall there. He certainly would not have said anything of the
sort if those for whom he composed the strophe had not regarded this idea as
both possible and correct.
The question now is : Does this Egil’s statement stand alone and is it in
conflict with those other statements touching the same point which the ancient
heathen records have preserved for us The answer is, that in these ancient
records there is not found a single passage in conflict with Egil’s idea, but that
they all, on the contrary, fully agree with his words, and that this harmony
continues in the reports of the first Christian centuries in regard to this subject.
All the dead and also those fallen by the sword come first to Hel. Thence the
sword-slain conie to Asgard, if they have deserved this destiny.
In Gisle Surson’s saga (ch. 24) is mentioned the custom of binding Hel-shoes
on the feet of the dead. Warriors in regard to whom there was no doubt that
Valhal was their final destiny received Hel-shoes like all others, þat er tiska at
binda monnum helskó, sem menn, skulo á ganga till Valhallar. It would be
impossible to explain this custom if it had not been believed that those who
were chosen for the joys of Valhal were obliged, like all others, to travel á.
Helvegurn. Wherever this custom prevailed, Egil’s view in regard to the fate
which inimediately awaited sword-fallen men was general.
When Herniod betook hiniself to the lower world to find Balder he came, as we
know, to the golden bridge across the river Gjöll. Urd’s maid-servant, who
watches the bridge, mentioned to him that the day before five fylki of dead
men had rode across the same bridge. Consequently all these dead are on
horseback and they do not come separately or a few at a time, but in large
troops called fylki, an expression which, in the Icelandic literature, denotes
larger or smaller divisions of an army—legions, cohorts, maniples or
companies in battle array; and with fylki the verb fylkja, to form an arnmy or a
division of an arnny in line of battle, is most intimately connected. This
indicates with sufficient clearmess that the dead here in question are men who
have fallen on the field of battle and are on their way to Hel, each one riding,
in company with his fallen brothers in arms, with those who belonged to his
own fylki. The account presupposes that men fallen by the sword, whose final
destination is Asgard, first have to ride down to the lower world. Else we
would not find these fylkes on a Hel-way galloping across a subterranean
bridge, into the sanie realm as had received Balder amid Nanna after death.
It has already been pointed out that Bifrost is tIme only connecting link
between Asgard arid the lower regions of the universe. The air was regarded
as aim ether sea which tIme bridge spanmied, and although the horses of’
mythology were able to swim in this sea, the solid connection was of the
greatest importance. Time gods used the bridge every day (Grimnismal,
Gylfagininning). Frost—giants and mountain-giants are anxious to get
possession of it, for it is the key to Asgard. It therefore has its special
watchman in the keen-eyed and vigilant Heimdal. When in Ragnarok the gods
ride to time last conflict they pass over Bifrost (Fafnersmal). The bridge does
not lead to Midgard. Its lower ends were not conceived as situated among
mortal men. It stood outside and below the edge of the earth’s crust both in
the north and in the south. In the south it descended to Urd’s fountain and to
the thingstead of the gods in the lower world (see the accompanying drawing,
intended to make these facts intelligible). From this mythological topographical
arrangement it follows of necessity that the valkyries at the head of the
chosen slain must take their course through the lower world, by tIme way of
Urd’s fountain and the thingstead of the gods, if they are to ride on Bifrost
bridge to Asgard, and not be obliged to betake themselves thither on
swimming horses.
There are still two poems extant from the heathen time, which describe the
reception of sword-fallen kings in Valhal. The one describes the reception of
Erik Blood-axe, the other that of Hakon the Good.
When King Erik, with five other kings and their attendants of fallen warriors,
come riding up thither, the gods hear on their approach a mighty din, as if the
foundations of Asgard trembled. All the benches of Valhal quake and tremble.
What single probability can we now conceive as to what the skald
presupposed? Did he suppose that the chosen heroes came on horses that
swim in the air, and that the movements of the horses in this element
produced a noise that made Valhal tremble? Or that it is Bifrost which
thunders under the hoofs of hundreds of horses, and quakes beneath their
weight? There is scarcely need of an answer to this alternative. Meanwhile the
skald himself gives the answer. For the skald makes Brage say that from the
din and quaking it might be presumed that it was Balder who was returning to
tine halls of the gods. Balder dwells in the lower world ; the connection
between Asgard and the lower world is Bifrost: this connection is of such a
nature that it quakes and trembles beneath the weight of horses and riders,
and it is predicted in regard to Bifrost that in Ragnarok it shall break under the
weight of the host of riders. Thus Brage’s words show that it is Bifrost from
which the noise is heard when Erik and his men ride up to Valhal. But to get to
the southern end of Bifrost, Erik and his ridem’s must have journeyed in Hel,
across Gjoll, and past the thinmgstead of the gods near Urd’s well. Thus it is
by this road that the psychopomps of the heroes conduct their favourites to
their final destination.
In his grand poem "Hakonarmal," Eyvind Skaldaspiller makes Odin send the
valkyries Candul and Skagul "to choose among the kings of Yngve’s race
some who are to come to Odin and abide in Valhal. It is not said by which
road the two valkyries betake themselves to Midgard, but when they have
arrived there they find that a battle is imminent between the Yngve
descendants, Hakon the Good, and the sons of Erik. Hakon is just putting on
his coat-of-mail, and immediately thereupon begins the brilliantlydescribed
battle. The sons of Erik are put to flight, but the victor Hakon is wounded by an
arrow, and after the end of the battle he sits on the battlefield, surrounded by
his heroes, "with shields cut by swords and with byrnies pierced by arrows ".
Gandul and Skagul, maids omi horseback, with wisdom in their countenances,
with helmets on their heads, and with shields before them," are near the king.
The latter hears that Gandul, "leaning on her spear," says to Skagul that the
wound is to cause the king’s death, and now a conversation begins between
Hakon and Skagul, who confirms what Gandul has said, and does so with the
following words:
Rida vit nu skulum, kva hint rika Skagul, græna heima goa Oni at segja, at un
mun allvaldr koma a hann sjalfan at sja.
"We two (Gandul and Skagul) shall now, quoth the mighty Skagul, ride o’er
green realms (or worlds) of the gods in order to say to Odin that now a great
king is coming to see him."
Here we get definite information in regard to which way the valkyries journey
between Asgard and Midgard. The fields through which the road goes, and
which are beaten by the hoofs of their horses, are gr’een realms of the gods
(worlds, heimar).
With these green reahmmms Eyvind has not meant the blue ether. He
distinguishes between blue and green. The sea he calls blue (blamær—see
Heimskringla). What he expressly states, and to which we must confine
ourselves, is that, according to his cosmological conception and that of his
heathen fellow-believers, there were realms clothed in green aud inhabited by
divinities on the route the valkyries had to take when they from a battlefield in
Midgard betook themselves back to Valhal and Asgard. But as valkyries and
the elect ride on Bifrost up to Valhal, Bifrost, which goes down to Urd’s well,
must he the connecting link between the realms decked with green and
Asgard. The grænar heimar through which the valkyries have to pass are
theref ore the realnis of the lower world.
Among the realms or "worlds" which constituted the mythological universe, the
realms of bliss in the lower world were those which might particularly he
characterised as the green. Their groves and blooming meadows and fields of
waving grain were never touched by decay or frost, amid as such they were
cherished by the popular fancy for centuries after the introduction of
Christianity. The Low German language has also rescued the memory thereof
in tIme expression gróni godes wang (Hel., 94, 24). That the green realms of
time lower world ane called realms of the gods is also propel’, for they have
contained and do contain many beings of a higher or lower divine rank. There
dwells the divine mother Nat, worshipped by the Teutons ; there Thor’s
mother and her brother and sister Njord and Fulla are fostered; there Balder,
Nanna, and Hodr a.re to dwell until Ragnarok; there Delling, Billing, Rind,
Dag, Mane, and Sol, and all the clan of artists gathered around Mimir, they
who " smithy" living beings, vegetation, and ornanients, have their halls; there
was born Odin’s son Vale. Of the mythological divinities, only a small number
were fostered in Asgard. When Gandul and Skagul at the head of sword-fallen
men ride "o’er the green worlds of the gods," this agrees with the statement in
the myth about Herniod’s journey to Hel, that "fylkes" of dead riders gallop
over the subterranean gold-bridge, on the other side of which glorious regions
are situated, and with the statement in Vegtamskvida that Odin, when he had
left Nifelhel behind him, came to a foldvegr, a way over green plains, by which
he reaches the hall that awaits Balder.
In the heroic songs of the Elder Edda, and in other poems from the centuries
immediately succeeding the introduction of Christianity, the memory survives
that the heroes journey to the lower world. Sigurd Fafnersbane comes to Hel.
Of one of Atle’s brothers who fell by Gudrun’s sword it is said, i Helju hon
dana hafdi (Atlam., 51). In the same poem, strophe 54, one of the Nifiungs
says of a sword-fallen foe that they had him lam an til Heljar’.
The mythic tradition is supported by linguistic usage, which, in such phrases
as berja i Hel, drepa i Hel, drepa til Heljar, færa til Heljar, indicated that those
fallen by the sword also had to descend to the realni of death.
The memory of valkyries, subordinate to the goddess of fate and death, and
belonging with her to the class of norns, continued to flourish in Christian
times both among Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. Among the former,
valcyrge, valcyrre (valkyrie) could be used to express the Latin parca, and in
Beowulf occur phrases in which Hild and Gud (the valkyries Hildr and Gunnr)
perform the tasks of Vyrd. In Atlamal (28), tIme valkyries are changed into
"dead women," inhabitants of the lower world, who came to choose the hero
and invite him to their halls. The basis of the transformation is the recollection
that the valkyries were not only in Odin’s service, but also in that of the lower
world goddess Urd (compare Atlamal, 16, where they are called norns), and
that they as psychopomps conducted the chosen Heroes to Hel on their way
to Asgard.
66.
THE CHOOSING. THE MIDDLE-AGE FABLE ABOUT "RISTING WITH THE
SPEAR-POINT ".
If death on the battlefield, or as the result of wounds received on the field of
battle, had been regarded as an inevitable condition for the admittance of the
dead into Asgard, and for the honour of sitting at Odin’s table, then the
choosing would under all circumstances have been regarded as a favour from
Odin. But this was by no means time case, nor could it be so when regarded
from a psychological point of view (see above, No. 61). The poems mentioned
above, "Eiriksmal" and "Hakonarmal," give us examples of choosing from a
standpoint quite different from that of favour. When one of the einherjes,
Sigmund, learns from Odin that Erik Blood-axe has fallen and is expected in
Valhal, he asks why Odin robbed Erik of victory and life, although he, Erik,
possessed Odin’s friendship. From Odin’s answer to the question we learn
that the skald did not wish to make Sigmund express any surprise that a king,
whom Odin loves above other kings and heroes, has died in a lost instead of a
won battle. What Sigmund emphasises is, that Odin did not rather take unto
himself a less loved king than the so highly appreciated Erik, and permit the
latter to conquer and live. Odin’s answer is that he is hourly expecting
Ragnarok, and that he therefore made haste to secure as soon as possible so
valiant a hero as Erik among his einherjes. But Odin does not say that lie
feared that he might have to relinquish the hero for ever, in case the latter, not
being chosen on this battlefield, should be snatched away by some other
death than that by the sword.
Hakonarmal gives us an example of a king who is chosen in a battle in which
he is the victor. As conqueror the wounded Hakon remained on the battlefield;
still lie looks upon the choosing as a disfavour. When he had learned from
Gandul’s words to Skagul that the number of the einherjes is to be increased
with him, he blames the valkyries for dispensing to him this fate, and says he
had deserved a better lot from the gods (várun þó verir’ gagns frá godum).
When he enters Valhal line has a keener reproach on his lips to the
welcoming Odin: illudigr mjók þykkir oss Odinn vera, sjám ver hans of hugi.
Doubtless it was for our ancestors a glorious prospect to be permitted to conie
to Odin after death, and a person who saw inevitable death before his eyes
might comfort himself with the thought of soon seeing "the benches of
Balder’s father decked for the feast" (Ragnar’s death-song). But it is no less
certain from all the evidences we have froni the heathen time, that honourable
life was preferred to honourable death, although between the wars there was
a chance of death from sickness. Under these circumstances, tIme mythical
eschatology could not have made death from disease aim insurmountable
obstacle for warriors and heroes on their way to Valhal. In the ancient records
there is not the faintest allusion to such an idea. It is too absurd to have
existed. It would have robbed Valhal of many of Midgard’s most brilliant
heroes, and it would have demanded from faithful believers that they should
prefer death even with defeat to victory and life, since the latter lot was
coupled with the possibility of death from disease. With such a view no army
goes to battle, and no warlike race endowed with normal instincts has even
entertained it and given it expression in their doctrine in regard to future life.
The absurdity of the theory is so manifest that the mythologists who have
entertained it have found it necessary to find some way of making it less
inadmissible than it really is. They have suggested that Odin did not
necessarily fail to get those heroes whom sickness amid age threatened with
a straw-death, nor did they need to relinquish the joys of Valhal, for there
remained to them an expedient to which they under such circumustances
resorted : they risted (marked, scratched) themselves with tIme spear-poinit
(marka sik geirs—oddi).
If there was such a custom, we may conceive it as springing from a
sacredness attending a voluntary death as a sacrifice—a sacredness which in
all ages has been niore or less alluring to religious minds But all the
descriptions we have from Latin records in regard to Teutonic customs, all our
own ancient records froni heathen times, all Northern amid German heroic
songs, are unanimously and stubbornly silent about the existence of tIme
supposed custom of " risting with the spear-point," although, if it ever existed,
it would have been just such a thing as would on the one hand be noticed by
strangers, mind cmi the other hand be remembered, at least for a time, by the
generations converted to Christianity.
But the well-informed persons interviewed by Tacitus, they who presented so
ninny characteristic traits of the Teutons, knew nothing of such a practice;
otherwise they certainly would have mentioned it as something very
remarkable and peculiar to the Teutons. None of the later classical Latin or
middle age Latin records which have made contributions to our knowledge of
the Teutons have a single word to say about it; nor the heroic poems. The
Scandinavian records, amid the more or less historical sagas, tell of many
heathen kings, chiefs, amid warriors who have died on a bed of straw, but not
of a single one who "risted himself with the spear-point ". The fable about this
"risting with the spear-point" has its origin in Ynglingasaga, ch. 10, where
Odin, changed to a king in Svithiod, is said, when death was approaching, to
have let marka sik geirs-oddi. Out of this statement has been constructed a
custom among kings amid heroes of anticipating a straw-death by "risting with
the spear.point," and this for the purpose of getting admittance to Valhal.
Vigfusson (Dictionary) has already pointed out the fact that the author of
Ynglingasaga had no other authority for his statemnent than the passage in
Havamal, where Odin relates that he wounded with a spear, hungering and
thirsting, voluntarily inflicted on himself pain, which moved Bestla’s brother to
give him runes and a drink from the fountain of wisdom. The fable about the
spear-point risting, and its purpose, is therefore quite unlike the source from
which, through ignorance and random writing, it sprang.
67.
THE PSYCHO-IMESSENGERS OF THOSE NOT FALLEN By THE SWORD.
LOKI’S DAUGHTER (PSEUDO-HEL IN GYLFAGINNING) IDENTICAL WITH
LEIKIN.
The psychopomps of those fallen by the sword are, as we have seen, stately
discs, sitting high in the saddle, with helmet, shield, amid spear. To those not
destined to fall by the sword Urd sends other maid-servants, who, like the
former, may come on horseback, amid who, as it appears, are of very different
appearance, varying inn accordance with the manner of death of those
persons whose departure they attend. She who cannes to those who sink
beneath the weight of years has been conceived as a very benevolent dis, to
judge from the solitary passage where she is characterised, that is in
Ynglingatal and in Yngliagasaga, ch. 49, where it is said of the aged and just
king Halfdan Whiteleg, that he was taken hence by the woman, who is helpful
to those bowed and stooping (hallvarps hlífinauma). The burden which Elli
(age), Utgard-Loki’s foster-mother (Gylfag., 47), puts on men, and which
gradually gets too heavy for them to bear, is removed by this kind-hearted dis.
Other psychopomps are of a terrible kind. The most of them. belong to the
spirits of disease dwelling in Nifelhel (see No. 60). King Vanlande is tortured
to death by a being whose epithet, vitta vættr and trollkund, shows that she
belongs to the same group as Heir, the prototype of witches, and who is
contrasted with the valkyrie Hild by the appellation ljóna lids bága Grimhildr
(Yngl., cb. 16). The same vitta vættr came to King Adils when his horse fell
and he himself struck his head against a stone (Yngl., ch. 33). Two kings, who
die on a bed of straw, are nientioned in Ynglingasaga’s Thjodolf-strophes (ch.
20 and 52) as visited by a being called in the one instance Loki’s kinswoman
(Loka mær), and in the other Hvedrung’s kinswoman (Hvedrungs mær). That
this Loki’s kinswoman has no authority to determine life and death, but only
carries out the dispensations of tIme moms, is definitely stated in the Thjodolfstrophe (ch. 52), and also that her activity, as one who brings the invitation to
the realm of death, dues not imply that the person invited is to be counted
among tIne damned, although she herself, the kinswoman of Loki, the
daughter of loke, surely does not belong to the regions of bliss.
Ok til þings þrida jofri hvedrungs mær or’ heimi baud, þa er Hálfdan, sa er á
Holti bjó norna dóms um notit hafdi.
As all the dead, whether they are destined for Valhal or for Hel (in the sense
of the subterranean realms of bliss), or for Nifelhel, must first report
themselves in Hel, their psychopomps, whether they dwell in Valhal, Hel, or
Nifelhel, must do the same.
This arrangement is necessary also from the point of view that the unhappy
who "die from Hel into Nifelhel" (Grimnersmal) must have attendants who
conduct them from the realms of bliss to the Na-gates, and thence to the
realms of torture. Those dead fronn disease, who have the subterranean
kinswoman of Loki as a guide, may be destined for the realms of bliss—then
she delivers them there; or be destined for Nifelbel—then they die under her
care and are brought by her through the Na-gates to the worlds of torture in
Nifelhel.
Far down in Christian times the participle leikinn was used in a manner which
points to something mythical as the original reason for its application. In
Biskupas. (i. 464) it is said of a man that he was leikinn by some magic being
(flagd). Of another person who sought solitude and talked with himself, it is
said in Eyrbyggja (270) that he was believed to be leikinn. Ynglingatal gives
us the mythical explanation of this word.
In its strophe about King Dyggve, who died from disease, this poem says
(Yngling., ch. 20) that, as the lower world dis had chosen him, Loki’s
kinswoman came and made him leikinn (Allvald Yngva þjodar Loka mær um
leikinn hefir). The person who became leikinn is accordingly visited by Loki’s
kinswoman, or, if others have had the same task to perform, by some being
who resembled her, and who brought psychical or physical disease.
In our mythical records there is mention made of a giantess whose very name,
Leikin, Leikn, is immediately connected with that activity which Loki’s
kinswoman—and she too is a giantess— exercises when she makes a person
leikinn. Of this personal Leikin we get the following information in our old
records:
1. She is, as stated, of giant race (Younger Edda, i. 552).
2. She has once fared badly at Thor’s hands. He broke her leg (Leggi brauzt
þu Leiknar—Skaldsk., ch. 4, after a song by Vetrlidi).
3. She is kveldrida. The original and mythological meaning of kveldrida is a
horsewoman of torture or death (from kvelja, to torture, to kill). The meaning, a
horsewoman of the night, is a misunderstanding. Compare Vigfusson’s Dict.,
sub voce "Kveld ".
4. The horse which this woman of torture and death rides is black, untamed,
difficult to manage (styggr), and ugly - grown (ljótvaxinn). It drinks human
blood, and is accompanied by other horses belonging to Leikin, black and
bloodthirsty like it. (All this is stated by Hallfred Vandradaskald.)* Perhaps
these loose horses are intended for those persons whom the horsewoman of
torture causes to die from disease, and whom she is to conduct to the lower
world.
Popular traditions have preserved for our times the remembrance of the "uglygrown" horse, that is, of a three-legged horse, which on its appearance brings
sickness, epidemics, and plagues. The Danish popular belief (Thiele., i. 137,
138) knows this monster, and the word Hel-horse has been preserved in the
vocabulary of the Danish language. The diseases brought by the Hel-horse
are extremely dangerous, but not always fatal. When they are not fatal, the
convalescent is regarded as having ransomed his life with that tribute of loss
of strength and of torture which the disease caused him, and in a symbolic
sense he has then "given death a bushel of oats" (that is, to its horse).
According to popular belief in Slesvik (Arnkiel, i. 55; cp. J. Grimm, Deutsche
Myth., 804), Hel rides in the time of a plague on a three-legged horse and kills
people. Thus the ugly-grown horse is not forgotten in traditions from the
heathen time.
Voluspa informs us that in the primal age of man, the sorceress Heid went
from house to house and was a welcome guest with evil women, since she
seid Leikin (sida means to practise sorcery). Now, as Leikin is the
"horsewoman of torture and death," and rides the Hel-horse, then the
expression sida Leikin can mean nothing else than by sorcery to send Leikin,
the messenger of disease and death, to those persons who are the victims of’
the evil wishes of "evil women"; or, more abstractly, to bring by sorcery
dangerous diseases to men.t
* Tidhoggvit let tiggi Vinhrodigr gaf vida Tryggvar sonr fyrir styggvan visi
margra Frisa Leiknar hest a leiti blokku brunt at derkka ljotvaxinn hrae Saxa.
blod kvellridu stodi.
‡ Voluspa 23, Cod. Reg., says of Heid: seid hon kuni, seid hon Leikin. The
letter u is in this manuscript used for both u and y (compare Bugge, Smeniund
Edd., Preface x., xi), and hence kuni may be read both kuni and kyni. The
latter reading makes logical sense. Kyni is dative of kyn, a neuter noun,
meaning something sorcerous, supernatural, a monster. Kynjamein and
kynjasott mean diseases brought on by sorcery. Seid in both the above lines
is past tense of the verb sida, and not in either one of them the noun seidr.
There was a sacred sorcery and an unholy one, according to the purpose for
which it was practised, and according to the attending ceremonies. The object
of the holy sorcery was to bring about something good either for the sorcerer
or for others, or to find out the will of the gods and future things. The sorcery
practised by Heidr is the unholy one, hated by the gods, and again and again
forbidden in the laws, and this kind of sorcery is designated in Völuspa by the
term sida kyni. Of a thing practised with improper means it is said that it is not
kynja-lauss, kyn-free. The reading in Cod. Hank., seid hon hvars hon. kunni,
seid hon hugleikin, evidently has some "emendator" to thank for its existence
who did not understand the passage and wished to substitute something
easily understood for the obscure lines he thought he had found.
From all this follows that Leikin is either a side-figure to the daughter of Loki,
and like her in all respects, or she and the Loki-daughter are one and the
same person. To determine the question whether they are identical, we must
observe (1) the definitely representative manner in which Völuspa, by the use
of the name Leikin, makes the possessor of this name a mythic person, who
visits men with diseases and death; (2) the manner in which Ynglingatal
characterises the activity of Loki’s daughter with a person doomed to die from
disease; she makes him leikinn, an expression which, without doubt, is in its
sense connected with the feminine name Leikin, and which was preserved in
the vernacular far down in Christian times, and there designated a
supernatural visitation bringing the symptoms of mental or physical illness ; (3)
the Christian popular tradition in which the deformed and disease-bringing
horse, which Leikin rides in the myth, is represented as the steed of "death" or
"Hel"; (4) that change of meaning by which the name Hel, which in the
mythical poems of the Elder Edda designates the whole heathen realm of
death, and especially its regions of bliss, or their queen, got to mean the
abode of torture and misery and its ruler— a transmutation by which the name
Hel, as in Gylfaginning and in the Slesvik traditions, was transferred from Urd
to Loki’s daughter.
Finally, it should. be observed that it is told of Leikin, as of Loki’s daughter,
that she once fared badly at the hands of the gods, who did not, however,
take her life. Loki’s daughter is not slain, but is cast into Nifelhel (Gylfaginning,
oh. 34). From that time she is gnupleit—that is to say, she has a stooping
form, as if her bones had been broken and were unable to keep her in an
upright position. leikin is not slain, but gets her legs broken. All that we learn
of Leikin thus points to the Loki-maid, the Hel, not of the myth, but of Christian
tradition.
68.
THE WAY TO HADES COMMON TO THE DEAD.
It has already been demonstrated that all the dead must go to Hel—not only
they whose destination is the realm of bliss, but also those who are to dwell in
Asgard or in the regions of torture in Nifelheim. Thus the dead tread at the
outset the same road. One and the same route is prescribed to them all, and
the same Helgate daily opens for hosts of souls destined for different lots.
Women and children, men and the aged, they who have practised the arts of
peace and they who have stained the weapons with blood, those who have
lived in accordance with the sacred commandments of the norns and gods
and they who have broken them—all have to journey the same way as Balder
went before them, down to the fields of the fountains of the world. They come
on foot and on horseback—nay, even in chariots, if we niay believe Helreid
Brynhildar, a very unreliable source—guided by various psychopomps: the
beautifully equipped valkyries, the blue-white daughter of Loki, the sombre
spirits of disease, and the gentle maid-servant of old age. Possibly the souls
of children had their special psychopomps. Traditions of mythic origin seem to
suggest this; but the fragments of the myths themselves preserved to our time
give us no information on this subject.
The Hel-gate here in question was situated below the eastern horizon of the
earth. When Thor threatens to kill Loki he says (Lokas., 59) that he will send
him á austrvega. When the author of the Sol-song sees the sun set for the last
time, lie hears in the opposite direction—that is, in the east—the Hel-gate
grating dismally on its hinges (str. 39). The gate has a watchman and a key.
The key is called gillingr, gyllingr (Younger Edda, ii. 494); and hence a skald
who celebrates his ancestors in his songs, and thus recalls to those living the
shades of those in Hades, may say that he brings to the light of day the tribute
paid to Gilling (yppa gillings gjöldum. See Eyvind’s strophe, Younger Edda, i.
248. The paraphrase has hitherto been misunderstood, on account of the
pseudo-myth Bragarædur about the mead.) From this gate the highway of the
dead went below the earth in a westerly direction through deep and dark dales
(Gylfag., ch. 52), and it required several days—for Hermod nine days and
nights—before they came to light regions and to the golden bridge across the
river Gjoll, flowing from north to south (see No. 59). On the other side of the
river the roads forked. One road went directly north. This led to Balder’s
abode (Gylfag., ch. 52); in other words, to Mimir’s realm, to Minier’s grove,
and to the sacred citadel of the ásmegir, where death and decay cannot enter
(see No. 53). This northern road was not, therefore, the road coninnon to all
the dead. Another road went to the south. As Urd’s realm is situated south of
Mimir’s (see Nos. 59, 63), this second road must have led to Urd’s fountain
and to the thingstead of the gods there. From the Sunsong we learn that the
departed had to continue their journey by that road. The deceased skald of
the Sun-song came to the norns, that is to say, to Urd and her sisters, after he
had left this road behind him, and he sat for nine days and nights á norna stoli
before he was permitted to continue his journey (str. 51). Here, then, is the
end of the road common to all, and right here, at Urd’s fountain and at the
thingstead of the gods something must happen, on which account the dead
are divided into different groups, some destined for Asgard, others for the
subterranean regions of bliss, and a third lot for Nifelhel’s regions of torture.
We shall now see whether the mythic fragments preserved to our time contain
any suggestions as to what occurs in this connection. It must be admitted that
this dividing must take place somewhere in the lower world, that it was done
on the basis of the laws which in mythological ethics distinguish between right
and wrong, innocence and guilt, that which is pardonable and that which is
unpardonable, and that the happiness and unhappiness of the dead is
determined by this division.
69.
THE TWO THINGSTEADS OF THE ASAS. THE EXTENT OF THE
AUTHORITY OF THE ASAS AND OF THE DIS OF FATE. THE DOOM OF
THE DEAD.
The Asas have two thingsteads: the one in Asgard, the other in the lower
world.
In the former a council is held and resolutions passed in such matters as
pertain more particularly to the clan of the Asas and to their relation to other
divine clans and other powers. When Balder is visited by ugly dreams,
Valfather assembles the gods to hold counsel, and all the Asas assemble 6
þingi, and all the asynjes a máli (Vegtamskv., 1; Balder’s Dr., 4). In
assemblies here the gods resolved to exact an oath from all things for
Balder’s safety, and to send a messenger to the lower world to get knowledge
partly about Balder, partly about future events. On this thingstead efforts are
made of reconciliation between the Asas and the Vans, after Gulveig had
been slain in Odin’s hall (Völuspa, 23, 24). Hither (a thing goda) comes Thor
with the kettle captured fronu Hymer, and intended for the feasts of the gods
(Hymerskv., 39); and here the Asas hold their last deliberations, when
Ragnarok is at hand (Völuspa, 49 : Æsir ‘ro a þingi). No matters are
mentioned as discussed in this thingstead in which any person is interested
who does not dwell in Asgard, or which are not of such a nature that they
have reference to how the gods themselves are to act under particular
circumstances. That the thingstead where such questions are discussed must
be situated in Asgard itself is a matter of convenience, and is suggested by
the very nature of the case.
It follows that the gods assemble in the Asgard thingstead more for the
purpose of discussing their own interests than for that of judging in the affairs
of others. They also gather there to amuse themselves and to exercise
themselves in arms (Gylfaginning, 50).
Of the other thingstead of the Asas, of the one in the lower world, it is on the
other hand expressly stated that they go thither to sit in judgment, to act as
judges; and there is no reason for taking this word daema, when as here it
means activity at a thingstead, in any other than its judicial and common
sense.
What matters are settled there? We might take this to be the proper place for
exercising Odin’s privilege of choosing heroes to be slain by the sword, since
this right is co-ordinate with that of the norns to determine life and dispense
fate, whence it might seem that the domain of the authority of the gods and
that of the norns here approached each other sufficiently to require
deliberations and decisions in common. Still it is not on the thingstead at Urd’s
fountain that Odin elects persons for death by the sword. It is expressly stated
that it is in his own home inn Valhal that Odin exercises his right of electing
(Grimnersmal, 8), and this right be holds so independently and so absolutely
that he does not need to ask for the opinion of the norns. On the other hand,
the gods have no authority to determine the life and death of the other
mortals. This belongs exclusively to the norns. The norns elect for every other
death but that by weapons, and their decision in this domain is never called a
decision by the gods, but norna domr, norna kvidr, feigar ord, Dauda ord.
If Asas and norns did have a connmon voice in deciding certain questions
which could be settled in Asgard, then it would not be in accordance with the
high rank given to the Asas in mythology to have them go to the norns for the
decision of such questions. On the contrary, the norns would have to come to
them. Urd and her sisters are beings of high rank, but nevertheless they are of
giant descent, like Mimir. The power they have is immense; and on a closer
investigation we find how time mythology in more than one way has sought to
maintain in tine fancy of its believers the independence (at least apparent and
well defined, within certain limits) of the gods—an independence united with
the high rank which they have. It may have been for this veiny reason that the
youngest of the discs of fate, Skuld, was selected as a valkyrie, and as a
maid-servant both of Odin and of her sister Urd.
The questions in which the Asas are judges near Urd’s fountain must be such
as cannot be settled in Asgard, as the lower world is their proper forum, where
both the parties concerned and the witnesses are to be found. The questions
are of great importance. This is evident already from the fact that the journey
to the thingstead is a troublesome one for the gods, at least for Thor, who, to
get thither, must wade across four rivers. Moreover, the questions are of such
a character that they occur every day (Grimnersmal, 29, 31).
At this point of the investigation the results hitherto gained from the various
premises unite themselves in the following manner:
The Asas daily go to the thingstead near Urd’s fountain. At the thingstead
near Urd’s fountain there daily arrive hosts of the dead.
The task of the Asas near Urd’s fountain is to judge in questions of which the
lower world is the proper forum. When the dead arrive at Urd’s fountain their
final doom is not yet sealed. They have not yet been separated into the
groups which are to be divided between Asgard, Hel, and Nifelhel.
This question now is, Can we conceive that the daily journey of the Asas to
Urd’s fountain and the daily arrival there of the dead have no connection with
each other ?—That the judgments daily pronounced by the Asas at this
thingstead, and that the daily event in accordance with which the dead at this
thingstead are divided between the realms of bliss and those of torture have
nothing in common?
That these mythological facts should have no connection with each other is
hard to conceive for anyone who, in doubtful questions, clings to that which is
probable rather than to the opposite. The probability becomes a certainty by
the following circumstances:
Of the kings Vanlande and Halfdan, Ynglingatal says that after death they met
Odin. According to the common view presented in our mythological textbooks, this should not have happened to either of them, since both of them
died from disease. One of them was visited and fetched by that choking spirit
of disease called vitta vaettr, and in this way he was permitted "to meet Odin"
(kom a vit Vilja brodur). The other was visited by Hvedrungs maer, the
daughter of Loki, who "called him from this world to Odin’s Thing ".
Ok til þings þridja jofri Hvedrungs maer or heimi baud.
þing-bod means a legal summons to appear at a Thing, at the seat of
judgment. Bjoda til þings is to perform this legal summons. Here it is
Hvedrung’s kinswoman who comes with sickness and death and þing-bod to
King Halfdan, and summons him to appear before the judgment-seat of Odin.
As, according to mythology, all the dead, and as, according to the
mythological text-books, at least all those who have died from disease must
go to Hel, then certainly King Halfdan, who died from disease, must descend
to the lower world; and as there is a Thing at which Odin and the Asas daily sit
in judgment, it must have been this to which Halfdan was summoned.
Otherwise we would be obliged to assume that Hvedrung’s kinswoman, Loki’s
daughter, is a messenger, not from the lower world and Urd, but from Asgard,
although the strophe further on expressly states that she comes to Halfdan on
account of "the doom of the norns"; and furthermore we would be obliged to
assume that the king, who had died from sickness, after arriving in the lower
world, did not present himself at Odin’s court there, but continued his journey
to Asgard, to appear at some of the accidental deliberations which are held at
the thingstead there. The passage proves that at least those who have died
from sickness have to appear at the court which is held by Odin in the lower
world.
70.
THE DOOM OF THE DEAD (continued). SPEECH-RUNES ORDS TIRR
NAMÆLI.
In Sigrdrifumal (str. 12) we read:
Malrunar skaltu kunna, vilt-ar magni þer heiptom gjaldi harm; þaer um vindr,
þaer um vefr, þær um setr allar saman a þvi þingi, er þjoþir scolo i fulla doma
fara.
"Speech-runes you must know, if you do not wish that the strong one with
consuming woe shall requite you for the injury you have caused. All those
runes you must wind, weave, and place together in that Thing where the host
of people go into the full judgments."
In order to make the significance of this passage clear, it is necessary to
explain the meaning of speech-runes or mal-runes.
Several kinds of runes are mentioned in Sigrdrifumal, all of a magic and
wonderful kind. Among them are mal-runes (speech-runes). They have their
name from the fact that they are able to restore to a tongue mute or silenced
in death the power to mæla (speak). Odin employs mal-runes when he rists i
runom, so that a corpse from the gallows comes and rnælir with him (Havam.,
157). According to Saxo (i. 38), Hadding places a piece of wood risted with
runes under the tongue of a dead man. The latter then recovers
consciousness and the power of speech, and sings a terrible song. This is a
reference to mal-runes. In Gudrunarkvida (i.) it is mentioned how Gudrun,
niute and almost lifeless (hon gordiz at deyja), sat near Sigurd’s dead body.
One of the kinswomen present lifts the napkin off from Sigurd’s head. By the
sight of the features of the loved one Gudrun awakens again to life, bursts into
tears, and is able to speak. The evil Brynhild then curses the being (vettr)
which "gave mal-runes to Gudrun," that is to say, freed her tongue, until then
sealed as in death.
Those who are able to apply these mighty runes are very few. Odin boasts
that he knows them. Sigrdrifva, who also is skilled in them, is a dis, not a
daughter of man. The runes which Had-ding applied were risted by Hardgrep,
a giantess who protected him. But within the court here in question men come
in great numbers (þjódir), and among them there must be but a small number
who have penetrated so deeply into the secret knowledge of runes. For those
who have done so it is of importance and advantage. For by them they are
able to defend themselves against complaints, the purpose of which is "to
requite with consuming woe the harm they have done ". In the court they are
able to mæla (speak) in their own defence.
Thus it follows that those hosts of people who enter this thing-stead stand
there with speechless tongues. They are and reniain mute before their judges
unless they know the mal-runes which are able to loosen the fetters of their
tongues. Of tIme dead man’s tongue it is said in Solarljod (44) that it is til tres
metin ok kolnat alt fyr utan.
The sorrow or harm one has caused is requited in this Thing by heiptir, unless
the accused is able—thanks to the mal-runes— to speak and give reasons in
his defence. In Havamal (151) the word heiptir has the meaning of something
supernatural and magical. It has a similar meaning here, as Vigfusson has
already pointed out. The magical mal-runes, wound, woven, and placed
together, form as it were a garb of protection around the defendant against the
magic heiptir. In the Havamal strophe mentioned the skald makes Odin
paraphrase, or at least partly explain, the word heiptir with mein, which "eat"
their victims. It is in the nature of the myth to regard such forces as personal
beings. We have already seen the spirits of disease appear in this manner
(see No. 60). The heiptir were also personified. They were the Erinnyes of the
Teutonic mythology, armed with scourges of thorns (see below).
He who at the Thing particularly dispenses the law of requital is called magni.
The word has a double meaning, which appears in the verb magna, which
means both to make strong and to operate with supernatural means.
From all this it must be sufficiently plain that the Thing here referred to is not
the Althing in Iceland or the Gulathing in Norway, or any other Thing held cnn
the surface of the earth. The thingstead here discussed must be situated in
one of the mythical realms, between which the earth was established. And it
must be superhuman beings of higher or lower rank who there occupy the
judgment-seats and requite the sins of men with heiptir. But in Asgard men do
not enter with their tongues sealed in death. For the einherjes who are invited
to the joys of Valhal there are no heiptir prepared. Inasmuch as the mythology
gives us information about only two thingsteads where superhuman beings
deliberate and judge—namely, the Thing in Asgard and the Thing near Urd’s
fountain—and inasmuch as it is, in fact, only in the latter that the gods act as
judges, we are driven by all the evidences to the conclusion that Sigrdrifumal
has described to us that very thingstead at which Hvedrung’s kinswoman
summoned King Halfdan to appear after death.
Sigrdrifumal, using the expression á þvi, sharply distinguished this thingstead
or count from all others. The poem declares that it means that Thing where
hosts of people go into full judgments.
"Full" are those judgments against which no formal or real protests can be
made—decisions which are irrevocably valid. The only kind of judgments of
which the mythology speaks in this manner, that is, characterises as
judgments that "never die," are those "over each one dead ".
This brings us to the well-known and frequently-quoted strophes in Havamal:
Str. 76. Deyr fae, deyja frændr, deyr sialfr it sama; enn orztirn deyr aldr’egi
hveim er ser godan getr.
Str. 77. Deyr’ fæ, deyja frændr, deyr’ sialfr it sama; cc veit einn at aldri deyr;
domr urn dauan hvern.
(76) "Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die; you yourself shall die; but
the fair fame of him who has earned it never dies."
(77) "Your cattle shall die; your kindn’ed shall die; you yourself shall die; one
thing I know which never dies: the judgment on each one dead."
Hitherto these passages have been interpreted as if Odin or Havamal’s skald
meant to say—What you have of earthly possessions is perishable; your
kindred and yourself shall die. But I know one thing that never dies: the
reputation you acquired annong men, the posthumous fame pronounced on
your character and on your deeds: that reputation is immortal, that fame is
imperishable.
But can this have been the meaning intended to be conveyed by the skald ?
And could these strophes, which, as it seems, were widely known in the
heathendom of the North, have been thus understood by their hearers and
readers ? Did not Havamal’s author, and the many who listened to and
treasured in their memories these words of his, know as well as all other
persons who have some age and experience, that in the great majority of
cases the fame acquired by a person scarcely survives a generation, and
passes away together with the very memory of the deceased?
Could it have escaped the attention of the Havamal skald and his hearers that
the number of mortals is so large and increases so immensely with the lapse
of centuries that the capacity of the survivors to remember them is utterly
insufficient?
Was it not a well-established fact, especially among the Germans, before they
got a written literature, that the skaldic art waged, so to speak, a desperate
conflict with the power of oblivion, in order to rescue at least the names of the
most distinguished heroes and kings, but that nevertheless thousands of
chiefs and warriors were after the lapse of a few generations entirely
forgotten?
Did not Havamal’s author know that millions of men have, in the course of
thousands of years, left this world without leaving so deep footprints in the
sands of time that they could last even through one generation?
Every person of some age and experience has known this, and Havamál’s
author too. The lofty strains above quoted do not seem to be written by a
person wholly destitute of worldly experience.
The assumption that Havamal with that judgment on each one dead, which is
said to be imperishable, had reference to the opinion of the survivors in regard
to the deceased attains its climax of absurdity when we consider that the
poem expressly states that it means the judgment on every dead person—"
domr um daudan hvern ". In the cottage lying far, far in the deep forest dies a
child, hardly known by others than by its parents, who, too, are soon to be
harvested by death. But the judgment of the survivors in regard to this child’s
character and deeds is to be imperishable, and the good fame it acquired
during its brief life is to live for ever on the lips of posterity! Perhaps it is the
sense of the absurdity to which the current assumption leads on this point that
has induced some of the translators to conceal the word hvern (every) and led
them to translate the words domr um daudan hvern in an arbitrary manner
with "judgment on the dead man".
If we now add that the judgment of posterity on one deceased, particularly if
he was a person of great influence, very seldom is so unanimous, reliable,
well-considered, and free from prejudice that in these respects it ought to be
entitled to permanent validity, then we find that the words of the Havamal
strophes attributed to Odin’s lips, when interpreted as hitherto, are not words
of wisdom, but the most stupid twaddle ever heard declaimed in a solemn
manner.
There are two reasons for the misunderstanding—the one is formal, and is
found in the word ords-tirr (str. 76); the other reason is that Gylfaginning,
which too long has had the reputation of being a reliable and exhaustive
codification of the scattered statements of the mythic sources, has nothing to
say about a court for the dead. It knows that, according to the doctrine of the
heathen fathers, good people come to regions of bliss, the wicked to Nifelhel;
but who he or they were who determined how far a dead person was worthy
of the one fate on’ the other, on this point Gylfaginning has not a word to say.
From the silence of this authority, the conclusion has been drawn that a court
summoning the dead within its forum was not to be found in Teutonic
mythology, although other Aryan and non-Aryan mythologies have presented
such a judgment-seat, and that the Teutonic fancy, though always much
occupied with the affairs of the lower world and with the condition of the dead
in the various realms of death, never felt the necessity of conceiving for itself
clear and concrete ideas of how and through whom the deceased were
determined for bliss or misery. The ecclesiastical conception, which
postpones the judgment to the last day of time, and permits the souls of the
dead to be transferred, without any special act of judgment, to heaven, to
purgatory, or to hell, has to some extent contributed to making us familiar with
this idea which was foreign to the heathens. From this it followed that scholars
have been blind to the passages in our mythical records which speak of a
court in the lower world, and they have either read them without sufficient
attention (as, for instance, the above-quoted statements of Ynglingatal, which
it is impossible to harmonise with the current conception), or interpreted them
in an utterly absurd manner (which is the case with Sigrdrifumal, str. 12), or
they have interpolated assumptions, which, on a closer inspection, are
reduced to nonsense (as is the case with the Havamál strophes), or given
them a possible, but improbable, interpretation (thus Sonatorrek, 19).
The compound ordstirr is composed of ord, gen. ords, and tirr.
The composition is of so loose a character that the two parts are not blended
into a new word. The sign of the gen. -s is retained, and shows that ordstirr,
like lofstirr, is not in its sense and in its origin a compound, hut is written as
one word, probably on account of the laws of accentuation. The more original
meaning of ordstirr is, therefore, to be found in the sense of ords tirr.
Tirr means reputation in a good sense, but still not in a sense so decidedly
good but that a qualifying word, which makes the good meaning absolute, is
sometimes added. Thus in lofs-tirr, laudatory reputation; gódr tirr, good
reputation. In the Havamtil strophe 76, above-quoted, the possibility of an ords
tirr which is not good is presupposed. See the last line of the strophe.
So far as the meaning of ord is concerned, we must leave its relatively more
modern and grammatical sense (word) entirely out of the question. Its older
signification is an utterace (one which may consist of many "words" in a
grammatical sense), a command, a result, a judgment; and these older
significations have long had a conscious existence in the language. Compare
Fornmanna, ii. 237: "The first word: All shall be Christians; the second word:
All heathen temples and idols shall be unholy," &c.
In Völuspa (str. 27) ord is employed in the sense of an established law or
judgment among the divine powers, a gengoz eidar, ord oc saeri, where the
treaties between the Asas and gods, solemnised by oaths, were broken.
When or occurs in purely mythical sources, it is most frequently connected
with judgments pronounced in the lower world, and sent from Urd’s fountain to
their destination. Urdar ord is Urd’s judgment, which must come to pass
(Fjölsvinnsm., str. 48), no matter whether it concerns life or death. Feigdar
ord, a judgment determining death, comes to Fjolner, and is fulfilled "where
Frode dwelt" (Yng-tal, Heimskr., 14). Dauda ord the judgment of death,
awaited Dag the Wise, when he came to Vorva (Yng-tal, Heimskr., 21). To a
subterranean judgment refers also the expression bana-ord, which frequently
occurs.
Vigfusson (Diet., 466) points out the possibility of an etymological connection
between or and Urdr. He compares word (ord) and wurdr (urdr), word and
weird (fate, goddess of fate). Doubtless there was, in the most ancient time, a
mythical idea-association between them.
These circumstances are to be remembered in connection with the
interpretation of ordstirr, ords-tirr in Havamal, 76. The real meaning of the
phrase proves to be: reputation based on a decision, on an utterance of
authority.
When ordstirr had blended into a compound word, there arose by the side of
its literal meaning another, in which the accent fell so heavily on tirr that or is
superfluous and gives no additional meaning of a judgment on which this tim’
is based. Already in Hofudlausn (str. 26) or’stirr is used as a compound,
meaning simply honourable reputation, honour. There is mention of a victory
which Erik Blood-axe won, and it is said that he thereby gained ordstirr
(renown).
In interpreting Havamal (76) it would therefore seem that we must choose
between the proper and figurative sense of ordstirr. The age of the Havamal
strophe is not known. If it was from it Eyvind Skaldaspiller drew his deyr fe,
deyja frændr, which he incorporated in his drapa on Hakon the Good, who
died in 960, then the Havamal strophe could not be composed later than the
middle of the tenth century. Hofudlausn was composed by Egil Skallagrimson
in the year 936 or thereabout. From a chronological point of view there is
therefore nothing to hinder our applying the less strict sense, "honourable
reputation, honour," to the passage in question.
But there are other hindrances. If the Havamal skald with ords-tirr meant
"honourable reputation, honour," he could not, as he has done, have added
the condition which he makes in the last line of the strophe: hveim er ser
godan getr, for the idea "good" would then already be contained in ordstirr. If
in spite of this we would take the less strict sense, we must subtract from
orstirr tine meaning of honourable reputation, honour, and conceive the
expression to mean simply reputation in general, a meaning which the word
never had.
We are therefore forced to the conclusion that the meaning of court-decision,
judgment, which or has not only in Ynglingatal and Fjölsvinnsmal, but also in
linguistic usage, was clear to the author of the Havamal strophe, and that he
applied ords tirr in its original sense and was speaking of imperishable
judgments.
It should also have been regarded as a matter of course that the judgment
which, according to the Havamál strophe (77), is passed on everyone dead,
and which itself never dies, must have been prepared by a court whose
decision could not be questioned or set aside, and that the judgment must
have been one whose influence is eternal, for the infinity of the judgment itself
can only depend on the infinity of its operation. That the more or less vague
opinions sooner or later committed to oblivion in regard to a deceased person
should be supposed to contain such a judgment, and to have been meant by
the immortal doom over the dead, I venture to include among the most
extraordinary interpretations ever produced.
Both the strophes are, as is evident from the first glance, most intimately
connected with each other. Both begin: deyr fae, deyja frændr. Ord in the one
strophe corresponds to domr in the other. The latter strophe declares that the
judgment on every dead person is imperishable, and thus completes the more
limited statement of the foregoing strophe, that the judgment which gives a
good renown is everlasting. The former strophe speaks of only one category
of men who have been subjected to an ever-valid judgment, namely, of that
category to whose honour the eternal judgment is pronounced. The second
strophe speaks of both the categories, and assures us that the judgment on
the one as on the other category is everlasting.
The strophes are by the skald attributed to Odin’s lips. Odin pronounces
judgment every day near Urd’s fountain at the court to which King Halfdan
was summoned, and where hosts of people with fettered tongues await their
final destiny (see above). The assurances in regard to the validity of the
judgment on everyone dead are thus given by a being who really may be said
to know what he talks about (ec veit, &c.), namely, by the judge himself.
In the poem Sonatorrek the old Egil Skallagrimson laments the loss of sons
and kindred, and his thoughts are occupied with the fate of his children after
death. When he speaks of his son Gunnar, who in his tender years was
snatched away by a sickness, he says (str. 19):
Son minn sóttar brimi heiptuligr ór heimi nam, þann ec veil at varnadi vamma
varr vid námaeli.
"A fatal fire of disease (fever?) snatched from this world a son of mine, of
whom I know that he, careful as he was in regard to sinful deeds, took care of
himself for námaeli."
To understand this strophe correctly, we must know that the skald in the
preceding 17th, as in the succeeding 20th, strophe, speaks of Gunnar’s fate in
the lower world.
The word námaeli occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is not known. It is of
importance to our subject to find it out.
In those compounds of which the first part is na-, na may be the abverbial
prefix, which means near by, by the side of, or it may be the substantive nar,
which means a corpse, dead body, and in a mythical sense one damned, one
who dies for the second time and connes to Nifelhel (see No. 60). The
question is now, to begin with, whether it is the adverbial prefix or the
substantive na- which we have in namaeli.
Compounds which have the adverbial na as the first part of the word are very
common. In all of them the prefix na- implies nearness in space or in kinship,
or it has the signification of something correct or exact.
(1) In regard to space: nabud, nábui, nabyli, nágranna, nagranni, nagrennd,
nagrenni, nakommin, nakvaema, nákvaemd, nakvaemr, naleid, nálaegd,
nálægjast, nálaegr, namunda, nasessi, naseta, nasettr, nasaeti, navera,
naverukona, naverandi, navist, navistarkona, navistarmadr, navistarvitni.
(2) In regard to friendship: naborinn, náfraendi, náfraendkona, namagr,
naskyldr, nastaedr, naongr.
(3) In regard to correctness, exactness : nakvæmi, nakvæmliga, nakvaemr.
The idea of correctness comes from the combination of naand kvaemi,
kvaemliga, kvaemr. The exact meaning is—that which comes near to, and
which in that sense is precise, exact, to the point.
These three cases exhaust the meanings of the adverbial prefix na-. I should
consider it perilous, and as the abandoning of solid ground under the feet, if
we, without evidence from the language, tried, as has been done, to give it
another hitherto unknown signification.
But none of these meanings can be applied to namaeli. In analogy with the
words under (1) it can indeed mean "An oration held near by"; but this
signification produces no sense in the above passage, the only place where it
is found.
In another group of words the prefix na- is the noun nar. Here belong
nábjargir, nableikr, nagrindr, nagoll, nareid, nastrandir, and other words.
Maeli means a declamation, an oration, an utterance, a reading, or the
proclamation of a law. Maela, maelandi, formaelandi, formaeli, nymaeli, are
used in legal language. Formaelandi is a defendant in court. Formaeli is his
speech or plea. Nymaeli is a law read or published for the first tinne.
Maeli can take either a substantive or adjective as prefix.
Examples: Gudmaeli, fullmaeli. Na from nar can be used as a prefix both to a
noun and to an adjective. Examples: nagrindr, nábleikr.
Namaeli should accordingly be an oration, a declaration, a proclamation, in
regard to nár. From the context we find that namaeli is something dangerous,
something to look out for. Gunnar is dead and is gone to the lower world,
which contains not only happiness but also terrors; but his aged father, who in
another strophe of the poem gives to understand that he had adhered
faithfully to the religious doctrines of his fathers, is convinced that his son has
avoided the dangers implied in namaeli, as he had no sinful deed to blame
himself for. In the following strophe (20) he expressed his confidence that the
deceased had been adopted by Gauta spjalli, a friend of Odin in the lower
world, and had landed in the realm of happiness. (In regard to Gauta spjalli,
see farther on. The expression is applicable both to Mimir and Honer.)
Namaeli must, therefore, mean a declaration (1) that is dangerous; (2) which
does not affect a person who has lived a blameless life; (3) which refers to the
dead and affects those who have not been vamma varir, on the look-out
against blameworthy and criminal deeds.
The passage furnishes additional evidence that the dead inn the lower world
make their appearance in order to be judged, and it enriches our knowledge of
the mythological eschatology with a technical term (namaeli) for that judgment
which sends sinners to travel through the Na -gates to Nifelhel. The opposite
of námæli is ords tirr, that judgment which gives the dead fair renown, and
both kinds of judgments are embraced in the phrase domr um daudan.
Námæli is a proclamation for náir, just as nágrindr are gates, and nástrandir
are strands for náir.
71.
THE DOOM OF THE DEAD (continued). THE LOOKS OF THE
THINGSTEAD. THE DUTY OF TAKING CARE OF THE ASHES OF THE
DEAD. THE HAMINGJE AT THE JUDGMENT. SINS OF WEAKNESS. SINS
UNTO DEATH.
Those hosts which are conducted by their psychoponips to the Thing near
Urd’s fountain proceed noiselessly. It is a silent journey. The bridge over Gjöll
scarcely resounds under the feet of the death-horses andof the dead
(Gylfaginning). The tongues of the shades are sealed (see No. 70).
This thingstead has, like all others, had its judgment-seats. Here are seats (in
Völuspa called rokstólar) for the holy powers acting as judges. There is also a
rostrum (á þularstóli at Urar brunni—Havam., 111) and benches or chairs for
the dead (compare the phrase, falla a Helpalla—Fornald., i. 397, and the
sitting of the dead one, a nornastóli—Solarlj., 51). Silent they must receive
their doom unless they possess mal-runes (see No. 70).
The dead should come well clad and ornamented. Warriors bring their
weapons of attack and defence. The women and children bring ornaments
that they were fond of in life. Hadespictures of those things which kinsmen
and friends placed in the grave-mounds accompany the dead (Hakonarm., 17;
Gylfaginniag, 52) as evidence to the judge that they enjoyed the devotion and
respect of their survivors. The appearance presented by the shades
assembled in the Thing indicates to what extent the survivors heed the law,
which commands respect for the dead and care for the ashes of the departed.
Many die under circumstances which make it impossible for their kinsmen to
observe these duties. Then strangers should take the place of kindred. The
condition in which these shades come to the Thing shows best whether piety
prevails in Midgard; for noble minds take to heart the advices found as follows
in Sigrdrifumal, 33, 34: "Render the last service to the corpses you find on the
ground, whether from sickness they have died, or are drowned, or are from
weapons dead. Make a bath for those who are dead, wash their hands and
their head, comb them and wipe them dry, ere in the coffin you lay them, and
pray for their happy sleep."
It was, however, not necessary to wipe the blood off from the byrnie of one
fallen by the sword. It was not improper for the elect to make their entrance in
Valhal in a bloody coat of mail. Eyvind Skaldaspiller makes King Hakon come
all stained with blood (allr i dreyra drifinn.) into the presence of Odin.
When the gods have arrived from Asgard, dismounted from their horses
(Gylfag.) and taken their judges’ seats, the proceedings begin, for the dead
are then in their places, and we may be sure that their psychopomps have not
been slow on their Thing-journey. Somewhere on the way the Hel-shoes must
have been tried ; those who ride to Valhal must then have been obliged to
dismount. The popular tradition first pointed out by Walter Scott and J. Grimm
about the need of such shoes for the dead and about a thorn-grown heath,
which they have to cross, is not of Christian but of heathen origin. Those who
have shown mercy to fellow-men that in this life, inn a figurative sense, had to
travel thorny paths, do not need to fear torn shoes and bloody feet (W. Scott,
Minstrelsy, ii.); and when they are seated on Urd’s benches, their very shoes
are, by their condition, a conspicuous proof in the eyes of the court that they
who have exercised mercy are worthy of mercy.
The Norse tradition preserved in Gisle Surson’s saga in regard to the
importance for the dead to be provided with shoes reappears as a popular
tradition, first in England, and then several places (Mullenhoff, Deutsche Alt.,
v. 1, 114; J. Grimm., Myth., iii. 697; nachtr., 349; Weinhold, Altn. Leb., 494;
Mannhardt in Zeitschr. f. deutsch. .Myth., iv. 420 ; Simrock, Myth., v. 127).
Visio Godeschalci describes a journey which the pious Holstein peasant
Godeskalk, belonging to the generation immediately preceding that which by
Vicelin was converted to Christianity, believed he had made in the lower
world. There is mentioned an immensely large and beautiful linden-tree
hanging full of shoes, which were handed down to such dead travellers as had
exercised mercy during their lives. When the dead had passed this tree they
had to cross a heath two miles wide, thickly grown with thorns, and then they
came to a river full of irons with sharp edges. The unjust had to wade through
this river, and suffered immensely. They were cut and mangled in every limb ;
but when they reached the other strand, their bodies were the same as they
had been when they began crossing the river. Compare with this statement
Solarljod, 42, where the dying skald hears the roaring of subterranean
streams mixed with much blood—Gylfar straumar grenjudu, blandnir mjök ved
blód. The just are able to cross the river by putting their feet on boards a foot
wide and fourteen feet long, which floated on the water. This is the first day’s
journey. On the second day they come to a point where the road forked into
three ways—one to heaven, one to hell, and one between these realms
(compare Mullenhoff, D. Alt., v. 113, 114). These are all mythic traditions, but
little corrupted by time and change of religion. That in the lower world itself
Hel-shoes were to be had for those who were not supplied with them, but still
deserved them, is probably a genuine mythological idea.
Proofs and witnesses are necessary before the above-named tribunal, for
Odin is far from omniscient. He is not even the one who knows the most
among the beings of mythology. Urd and Mimir know more than he. With
judges on the one hand who, in spite of all their loftiness, and with all their
superhuman keenness, nevertheless are not infallible, and with defendants on
the other hand whose tongues refuse to serve them, it might happen, if there
were no proofs and witnesses, that a judgment, everlasting in its operations,
not founded on exhaustive knowledge and on well-considered premises,
might be proclaimed. But the judgment on human souls proclaimed by their
final irrevocable fate could not in the sight of the pious and believing bear the
stamp of uncertain justice. There must be no doubt that the judicial
proceedings in the court of death were so managed that the wisdom and
justice of the dicta were raised high above every suspicion of being mistaken.
The heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a knowledge able of itself to
embrace all, the greatest and the least, that which has been, is doing, and
shall be in the world of thoughts, purposes, and deeds.
It hesitated at all events to endow its gods made in the image of man with
omniscience. It was easier to conceive a divine insight which was secured by
a net of messengers and spies stretched throughout the world. Such a net
was cast over the human race by Urd, and it is doubtless for this reason that
the subterranean Thing of the gods was located near her fountain and not
near Mimir’s. Urd has given to every human soul, already before the hour of
birth, a maid-servant, a hamingje, a norn of lower rank, to watch over and
protect its earthly life. And so there was a wide-spread organisation of
watching and protecting spirits, each one of whom knew the motives’ and
deeds of a special individual. As such aim organisation was at the service of
the court, there was no danger that the judgment over each one dead would
not be as just as it was unappealable and everlasting.
The hamingje hears of it before anyone else when her mistress has
announced dauda ord—the doom of death, against her favourite. She (and
the gipte, heille, see No. 64) leaves him then. She is horfin, gone, which can
be perceived in dreams (Balder’s Dream, 4) or by revelations in other ways,
and this is an unmistakable sign of death. But if the death-doomed person is
not a nithing, whom she in sorrow and wrath has left, then she by no means
abandons him. They are like members of the same body, which can only be
separated by mortal sins (see below). The hamingje goes to the lower world,
the home of her nativity (see No. 64), to prepare an abode there for her
favourite, which also is to belong to her (Gisle Surson’s saga). It is as if a
spiritual marriage was entered into between her and the human soul.
But on the dictum of the court of death it depends where the dead person is to
find his haven. The judgment, although not pronounced on the hamingje,
touches her most closely. When the most important of all questions, that of
eternal happiness or unhappiness, is to be determined in regard to her
favourite, she must be there, where her duty and inclination bid her be—with
him whose guardian. spirit she is. The great question for her is whether she is
to continue to share his fate or not. During his earthly life she has always
defended him. It is of paramount importance that she should do so now. His
lips are sealed, but she is able to speak, and is his other ego. And she is not
only a witness friendly to him, but, from the standpoint of the court, she is a
more reliable one than he would be himself.
In Atlamal (str. 28) there occurs a phrase which has its origin in heathendom,
where it has been employed in a clearer and more limited sense than in the
Christian poem. The phrase is ec que aflima ordnar þer disir, and it means, as
Atlamal uses it, that he to whom the dises (the hamignje and gipte) have
become aflima is destined, in spite of all warnings, to go to his ruin. In its very
nature the phrase suggests that there can occur between the hamingje and
the human soul another separation than the accidental and transient one
which is expressed by saying that the hamingje is horfin. Aflima means
"amputated," separated by a sharp instrument from the body of which one has
been a member. The person from whom his dises have been cut off has no
longer any close relation with them. He is for ever separated from them, and
his fate is no longer theirs. Hence there are persons doomed to die and
persons dead who do not have hamingjes by them. They are those whom the
hamingjes in sorrow and wrath have abandoned, and with whom they are
unable to dwell in the lower world, as they are nithings and are awaited in
Nifelhel.
The fact that a dead man sat á nornastóli or a Helpalli without having a
hamingje to defend him doubtless was regarded by the gods as a conclusive
proof that he had been a criminal.
If we may judge from a heathen expression preserved in strophe 16 of
Atlakvida, and there used in an arbitrary manner, then the hamingjes who
were "cut oft"’ from their unworthy favourites continue to feel sorrow and
sympathy for theni to the last. The expression is nornir gráta nái, "the norns
(hamingjes) bewail the náir ". If the námæli, the na-dictum, the sentence to
Nifelhel which turns dead criminals into nair, in the eschatological sense of the
word, has been announced, the judgment is attended with tears on the part of
the fornner guardian-spirits of the convicts. This corresponds, at all events,
with the character of the hamingjes.
Those fallen on the battlefield are not brought to the fountain of Urd while the
Thing is in session. This follows from the fact that Odin is in Valhal when they
ride across Bifrost, and sends Asas or einherjes to meet them with the goblet
of mead at Asgard’s gate (Eiriksm., Hakonarmal). But on the way there has
been a separation of the good and bad elements among them. Those who
have no hamingjes must, á nornastóli, wait for the next Thing-day and their
judgment. The Christian age well remembered that brave warriors who had
committed nithing acts did not come to Valhal (see Hakon Jarl’s words in
Njala). The heathen records confirm that nien slain by the sword who had
lived a wicked life were sent to the world of torture (see Harald Harfager’s
saga, ch. 27—the verses about the viking Thorer Wood-beard, who fell in a
naval battle with Einar Ragnvaldson, and who had been a scourge to the
Orkneyings).
The high court must have judged very leniently in regard to certain human
faults and frailties. Sitting long by and looking diligently into the drinking-horn
certainly did not lead to any punishment worth mentioning. The same was the
case with fondness for female beauty, if care was taken not to meddle with the
sacred ties of matrimony. With a pleasing frankness, and with much humour,
the Asa-father has told to the children of men adventures which he himself
has had in that line. He warns against too much drinking, but admits without
reservation and hypocrisy that he himself once was drunk, nay, very drunk, at
Fjalar’s, and what he had to suffer, on account of his uncontrollable longing for
Billing’s maid, should be to men a hint not to judge each other too severely in
such matters (see Havamal). All the less he will do so as judge. Those who
are summoned to the Thing, and against whom there are no other charges,
may surely count on a good ords tirr, if they in other respects have conducted
themselves in accordance with the wishes of Odin and his associate judges: if
they have lived lives free from deceit, honourable, helpful, and without fear of
death. This, in connection with respect for the gods, for the temples, for their
duties to kindred and to the dead, is the alpha and the omega of the heathen
Teutonic moral code, and the sure way to Hel’s regions of bliss and to Valhal.
He who has observed these virtues may, as the old skald sings of himself,
"glad, with serenity and without discouragement, want for Hel ".
Skal ek þó glar med goan vilja oh uhryggr Heljar bia (Sonatorrek, 24).
If the judgment on the dead is lenient in these respects, it is inexorably severe
in other matters. Lies uttered to injure others, perjury, murder (secret murder,
assassination, not justified as blood-revenge), adultery, the profaning of
temples, the opening of grave-mounds, treason, cannot escape their awful
punishment. Unutterable terrors await those who are guilty of these sins.
Those psychopomps that belong to Nifelhel await the adjournment of the
Thing in order to take them to the world of torture, and Urd has chains (Heljar
reip—Solarljod, 27; Des Todes Seil—J. Grimm, D. Myth., 805) which make
every escape impossible.
72.
THE HADES-DRINK.
Before the dead leave the thingstead near Urd’s fountain, something which
obliterated the marks of earthly death has happened to those who are judged
happy. Pale, cold, mute, and with the marks of the spirits of disease, they left
Midgard and started on the Hel-way. They leave the death-Thing full of the
warmth of life, with health, with speech, and more robust than they were on
earth. The shades have become corporal. When those slain by the sword ride
over the Gjoll to Urd’s fountain, scarcely a sound is heard under the hoofs of
their horses; when they ride away from the fountain over Bifrost, the bridge
resounds under the trampling horses. The sagas of the middle ages have
preserved, but at the same time demonised, the memory of how Hel’s
inhabitants were endowed with more than human strength (Gretla, 134, and
several other passages).
The life of bliss presupposes health, but also forgetfulness of the earthly
sorrows and cares. The heroic poems and the sagas of the middle ages have
known that there was a Hades-potion which brings freedom from sorrow and
care, without obliterating dear memories or making one forget that which can
be remembered without longing or worrying. In the mythology this drink was,
as shall be shown, one that produced at the same time vigour of life and the
forgetfulness of sorrows.
In Saxo, and in the heroic poems of the Elder Edda, which belong to the
Gjukung group of songs, there reappear many mythical details, though they
are sometimes taken out of their true connection and put in a light which does
not originally belong to them. Among tIne mythical reminiscences is the
Hades-potion.
In his account of King Gorm’s and Thorkil’s journey to the lower world, Saxo
(see No. 46) makes Thorkil warn his travelling companions from tasting the
drinks offered them by the prince of the lower world, for the reason that they
produce forgetfulness, and make one desire to remain in Gudmund’s realm
(Hist. Dan., i. 424—amissa memoria . . . pocalis abstinendum edocuit).
The Gudrun song (ii. 21) places the drinking-horn of the lower world in
Grimhild’s hands. In connection with later additions, the description of this
horn and its contents contains purely mythical and very instructive details in
regard to the  á              of the Teutonic lower world.
Str. 21. Færdi mer Grimildr full at dreeka svalt oc sarlict, ne ec sacar mundac;
þar var um aukit Urar magni, svalcauldom see oc Sonar’ dreyra.
Str. 22. Voro i horni hverskyns stafir ristnir oc ronir, raþa cc ne mattac,
lyngfiscr langr lands Haddingja, ax oscorit, innleid dyra.
Grimhild handed me in a filled horn to drink a cool, bitter drink, in order that I
might forget my past afflictions. This drink was prepared from Urd’s strength,
cool-cold sea, and the liquor’ of Son."
"On the horn were all kinds of staves engraved and painted, which I could not
interpret: the Hadding-land’s long heath-fish, unharvested ears of grain, and
animals’ entrances."
The Hadding-land is, as Sv. Egilsson has already pointed out, a paraphrase of
the lower world. The paraphrase is based on the mythic account known and
mentioned by Saxo in regard to Had-ding’s journey inn Hel’s realm (see No.
47).
Heath-fish is a paraphrase of the usual sort for serpent, dragon. Hence a
lower-world dragon was engraved on the horn. More than one of the kind has
been mentioned already: Nidhog, who has his abode in Nifelhel, and tIme
dragon, which, according to Erik Vidforle’s saga, obstructs the way to Odain’sacre. The dragon engraved on the horn is that of the Hadding-land. Haddingland, on the other hand, does not mean the whole lower world, but the regions
of bliss visited by Hadding. Thus the dragon is such an one as Erik Vidforle’s
saga had in mind. That the author did not himself invent his dragon, but found
it in mythic records extant at the time, is demonstrated by Solarljod (54),
where it is said that immense subterranean dragons come flying from the
west—the opposite direction of that the shades have to take when they
descend into the lower world—and obstruct "the street of the prince of
splendour" (glævalds gotu). The ruler of splendour is Mimir, tIme prince of
time Glittering Fields (see Nos. 45-51).
The Hadding-land’s "unharvested ears of grain" belong to the flora
inaccessible to the devastations of frost, the flowers seen by Hadding in the
blooming meadows of the world below (see No. 47). The expression refers to
the fact that the Hadding-land has not only imperishable flower’s and fruits,
but also fields of grain which do not require harvesting. Compare herewith
what Völuspa says about the Odain’s-acre which in the regeneration of the
earth rises from the lap of the sea: "unsown the fields yield the grain".
Beside the heath-fish and the unharvested ears of grain, there were also seen
on the Hadding-land horn dyra-innleid. Some interpreters assume that "animal
entrails" are meant by this expression ; others have translated it with "animal
gaps ". There is no authority that innleid ever meant entrails, nor could it be so
used in a rhetorical-poetical sense, except by a very poor poet. Where we
meet with the word it means a way, a way in, in contrast with utleid; a way out.
As both Gorm’s saga and that of Erik Vidforle use it in regard to animals
watching entrances in the lower world this gives the expression its natural
interpretation.
So much for the staves risted on the horn. They all refer to the lower world.
Now as to the drink which is mixed in this Hades-horn. It consists of three
liquids:
Urdar magn,
svalkaldr saer,
Sonar dreyri.
Urd’s strength,
cool-cold sea,
Son’s liquid.
Son has already been mentioned above (No. 21) as one of the names of
Mimir’s fountain, the well of creative power and of poetry. Of Son Eilif
Gudrunson sings that it is enwreathed by bulrushes and is surrounded by a of
meadow on which grows the seed of poetry.
As Urd’s strength is a liquid mixed in the horn, nothing else can be meant
thereby than the liquid in Urd’s fountain, which gives the warmth of life to the
world-tree, and gives it strength to resist the cold (see No. 63).
From this it is certain that at least two of the three subterranean fountains
made their contributions to the drink. There remains the well Hvergelmer, and
the question now is, whether it and the liquid it contains can be recognised as
the cool-cold sea, Hvergelmer is, as we know, the mother-fountain of all
waters, even of the ocean (see No. 59). That this immense cistern is called a
sea is not strange, since also Urd’s fountain is so styled (in Völuspa, Cod.
Reg., 19). Hvergelmer is situated under the northern root of the world-tree
near the s of the subterranean realm of the rime-thurses—that is, the powers
of frost; and the Elivagar rivers flowing thence formed the ice in Nifelheim.
Cool (Svol) is the name of one of the rivers which have their source in
Hvergelmer (Grimnersmal). Cool-cold sea is therefore the most suitable word
with which to designate Hvergelmer when its own name is not to be used.
All those fountains whose liquids are sucked up by the roots of the world-tree,
and in its stem blend into the sap which gives the tree imperishable strength
of life, are accordingly mixed in the lower-world horn (cp. No. 21).
That Grimhild, a human being dwelling on earth, should have access to and
free control of these fountains is, of course, from a mythological standpoint, an
absurdity. From the standpoint of the Christian time the absurdity becomes
probable. The sacred things and forces of the lower world are then changed
into deviltry and arts of magic, which are at the service of witches. So the
author of Gudrunarkvida (ii.) has regarded the matter. But in his time there
was still extant a tradition, or a heathen song, which spoke of the elements of
the drink which gave to the dead who had descended to Hel, and were
destined for happiness, a higher and more enduring power of life, and also
soothed the longing and sorrow which accompanied the recollection of the life
on earth, and this tradition was used in the description of Grimhild’s drink of
forgetfulness.
Magn is the name of the liquid from Urd’s fountain, since it magnar, gives
strength. The word magna has preserved from the days of heathendom the
sense of strengthening in a supernatural manner by magical or superhuman
means. Vigfusson (Dict., 408) gives a number of examples of this meaning. In
Heimskringla (ch. 8) Odin "magns" Mimir’s head, which is chopped off, in such
a manner that it recovers the power of speech. In Sigrdrifumal (str. 12) Odin
himself is, as we have seen, called magni, "the one magning," as the highest
judge of the lower world, who gives magn to the dead from the Hades-horn.
The author of the second song about Helge Hundingsbane has known of
dyrar veigar, precious liquids, of which those who have gone to Hel partake.
The dead Helge says that when his beloved Sigma is to share them with him,
then it is of no consequence that they have lost earthly joy and kingdoms, and
that no one must lament that his breast was tortured with wounds (Helge
Hund., ii. 46). The touching finale of this song, thongh preserved only in
fragments, and no doubt borrowed from a heathen source, shows that the
power of the subterranean potion to allay longing and sorrow had its limits.
The survivors should mourn over departed loved ones with moderation, and
not forget that they are to meet again, for too bitter tears of sorrow fall as a
cold dew on the breast of the dead one and penetrate it with pain (str. 45).
73.
THE HADES-DRINK (continued). THE HADES-HORN EMBELLISHED WITH
SERPENTS.
In Sonatorrek (str. 18) the skald (Egil Skallagrimson) conceives himself with
the claims of a father to keep his children opposed to a stronger power which
has also made a claim on them. This power is firm in its resolutions against
Egil (stendr a fostum þokk 6 hendi mer); but, at the same time, it is lenient
toward his children, and bestows on them the lot of happiness. The mythic
person who possesses this power is by the skald called Fans hrosta hilmir,
"the lord of Fánn’s brewing ".
Fánn is a mythical serpent and dragon-name (Younger Edda, ii. 487, 570).
The serpent or dragon which possessed this name in the myths or sagas must
have been one which was engraved or painted somewhere. This is evident
from the word itself, which is a contraction of fainn, engraved, painted (cp.
Egilsson’s Lex. Poet., and Vigfusson’s Dict., sub voce). Its character as such
does not hinder it from being endowed with a magic life (see below). The
object on which it was engraved or painted must have been a drink-lag- horn,
whose contents (brewing) is called by Egil Fánn’s either because the serpent
encircled the horn which contained the drink, or because the horn, on which it
was engraved, was named after it. In no other way can the expression, Fánn’s
brewing, be explained, for an artificial serpent or dragon is neither the one
who brews the drink nor the malt from which it is brewed.
The possessor of the horn, embellished with Fánn’s image, is the mythical
person who, to Egil’s vexation, has insisted on the claim of the lower world to
his sons. If the skald has paraphrased correctly, that is to say, if lie has
produced a paraphrase which refers to the character here in question of the
person indicated by the paraphrase, then it follows that "Fánn’s brewing" and
Pánn himself, like their possessor, must have been in some way connected
with the lower world.
From the mythic tradition in Gudrunarkvida (ii.), we already know that a
serpent, "a long heath-fish," is engraved and painted on the subterranean
horn, whose sorrow-allaying mead is composed of the liquids of the three
Hades-fountains.
When King Gorm (Hist. Dan., 427; cp. No. 46) made his journey of discovery
in the lower world, he saw a vast ox-horn (ingens bubali eornu) there. It lay
near the gold-clad meadcisterns, the fountains of the lower world. Its purpose
of being filled with their liquids is sufficiently clear from its location. We are
also told that it was carved with figures (nec caelaturae artificio vacuum), like
the subterranean horn in Gudrunarkvida. One of Gorm’s men is anxious to
secure the treasure. Then the horn lengthens into a dragon who kills the
would-be robber (cornu in draconem extractum sui spiritum latoris eripuit).
Like Slidrugtanne and other subterranean treasures, the serpent or dragon on
the drinking-horn of the lower world is endowed with life when necessary, or
the born itself acquires life in the form of a dragon, and punishes with death
him who has no right to touch it. The horn itself is accordingly a Fánn, an
artificial serpent or dragon, and its contents is Fann’s hrosti (Fánn’s brewing).
The Icelandic middle-age sagas have handed down the memory of an
aurocks-horn (urarhorn), which was found in the lower world, and was there
used to drink from (Fornald., iii. 616).
Thus it follows that the hilmir Fán’s hrosta, "the lord of Fan’s brewing,"
mentioned by Egil, is the master of the Hadeshorn, he who determines to
whom it is to be handed, in order that they may imbibe vigour and
forgetfulness of sorrow from "Urd’s strength, cool sea, and Son’s liquid ". And
thus the meaning of the strophe here discussed (Sonatorrek, 18) is made
perfectly clear. Egil’s deceased sons have drunk from this horn, and thus they
have been initiated as dwellers for ever in the lower world. Hence the skald
can say that Hilmir Fan’s hrosta was inexorably firm against him, their father,
who desired to keep his sons with him.*
* The interpretation of the passage, which has hitherto prevailed, begins with
a text emendation. Fann is changed to Finn. Finn is the name of a dwarf.
Finns hrosti is "the dwarf’s drink," and "the dwarf’s drink" is, on the authority of
the Younger Edda, synonymous with poetry. The possessor of Finns hrosti is
Odin, the lord of poetry. With text eniendations of this sort (they are
numerous, are based on false notions in regard to the adaptability of the
Icelandic Christian poetics to the heathen poetry, and usually quote
Gylfaginning as authority) we can produce anything we like from the
statements of the ancient records. Odin’s character as the lord of poetry has
not the faintest idea in common with the contents of the strophe. His character
as judge at the court near Urd’s fountain, and as the one who, as the judge of
the dead, has authority over the liquor in the subterranean horn, is on the
other hand closely connected with the contents of the strophe, and is alone
able to make it consistent and intelligible. Further on in the poem, Egil speaks
of Odin as the lord of poetry. Odin, he says, has not only been severe against
him (in the capacity of kilmir Fans hrosta), hut he has also been kind in
bestowing the gift of poetry, and therewith consolation in sorrow (bolva baetr).
The paraphrase here used by Egil for Odin’s name is Mims vinr (Mimir’s
friend). From Mimir Odin received the drink of inspiration, and thus the
paraphrase is in harmony with the sense. As hilmir Fans hrosta Odin has
wounded Egil’s heart; as Mims vinr (Mimir’s friend) he has given him balsam
for the wounds inflicted. This two-sided conception of Odin’s relation to the
poet permeates the whole poem.
From Voluspa (str. 28, 29), and from Gylfaginning (ch. 15), it appears that the
mythology knew of a drinking-horn which belonged at the same time, so to
speak, both to Asgard and to the lower world. Odin is its possessor, Mimir its
keeper. A compact is made between the Asas dwelling in heaven and the
powers dwelling in the lower world, and a security (ved) is given for the
keeping of the agreement. On the part of the Asas and their clan patriarch
Odin, the security given is a drinking-horn. From this " Valfather’s pledge"
Mimir every morning drinks mead from his fountain of wisdom (Voluspa, 29),
and from the same horn he waters the root of the world-tree (Völuspa, 28). As
Mullenhoff has already pointed out (D. Alterth., v. 100 ff.), this drinking-horn is
not to be confounded with Heimdal’s war-trumpet, the Gjallarhorn, though
Gylfaginning is also guilty of this mistake.
Thus the drinking-horn given to Mimir by Valfather represents a treaty
between the powers of heaven and of the lower world. Can it be any other
than the Hades-horn, which, at the thingstead near Urd’s fountain, is
employed in the service both of the Asa-gods and of the lower world? The
Asas determine the happiness or unhappiness of the dead, and consequently
decide what persons are to taste the strength-giving mend of the horn. But the
horn has its place in the lower world, is kept there—there performs a task of
the greatest importance, and gets its liquid from the fountains of the lower
world.
What Mimir gave Odin in exchange is that drink of wisdom, without which he
would not have been able to act as judge in matters concerning eternity, but
after receiving the which he was able to find and proclaim the right decisions
(ord) (ord mer af ordi ordz leitadi—Hav., 141). Both the things exchanged are,
therefore, used at the Thing near Urd’s fountain. The treaty concerned the
lower world, and secured to the Asas the power necessary, in connection with
their control of mankind and with their claim to be worshipped, to dispense
happiness and unhappiness in accordance with the laws of religion and
morality. Without this power the Asas would have been of but little
significance. Urd and Mimir would have been supreme.
With the dyrar veigar (precious liquids), of which the dead Helge speaks, we
must compare the skirar veigar (clear liquids), which, according to
Vegtamskvida, awaited the dead Balder in the lower world. After tasting of it,
the god who had descended to Hades regained his broken strength, and the
earth again grew green (see No. 53).
In dyrar veigar, skirar veigar, the plural form must not be passed over without
notice. The contents of one and the same drink are referred to by the plural
veigar—
Her stendr Balldri
of brugginn miaedr
skiraR veigar
Here stands for Balder
mend brewed
clear " veigar "(Vegt., 7)—
which can only be explained as referring to a drink prepared by a mixing of
several liquids, each one of which is a veig. Originally veigar seems always to
have designated a drink of the dead, allaying their sorrows and giving them
new life. In Hyndluljod (50) dyrar veigar has the meaning of a potion of bliss
which Ottar, beloved by Freyja, is to drink. In strophe 48, Freyja threatens the
sorceress Hyndla with a fire, which is to take her hence for ever. In strophe
49, Hyndla answers the threat with a similar and worse one. She says she
already sees the conflagration of the world; there shall nearly all beings "suffer
the loss of life" (vera flestir fjörlausn þola), Freyja and her Ottar of course
included, and their final destiny, according to Hyndla’s wish, is indicated by
Freyja’s handing Ottar a pain-foreboding, venomous drink. Hyndla invokes on
Freyja and Ottar the flames of Ragnarok and damnation. Freyja answers by
including Ottar in the protection of the gods, and foretelling that he is to drink
dyrar veigar.
Besides in these passages veigar occurs in a strophe composed by Ref
Gestson, quoted in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2. Only half of the strophe is quoted,
so that it is impossible to determine definitely the meaning of the veigar
referred to by the skald. We only see that they are given by Odin, and that
"we" must be grateful to him for them. The half strophe is possibly a part of a
death-song which Ref Gestson is known to have composed on his fosterfather, Gissur.
Veig in the singular means not only drink, but also power, strength. Perhaps
Bugge is right in claiming that this was the original meaning of the word. The
plural veigar accordingly means strengths. That this expression "strengths"
should come to designate in a rational manner a special drink must be
explained by the fact that "the strengths" was the current expression for the
liquids of which the invigorating mythical drink was composed. The three
fountains of the lower world are the strength-givers of the universe, and, as
we have already seen, it is the liquids of these wells that are mixed into the
wonderful brewing in the subterranean horn.
When Eilif Gudrunson, the skald converted to Christianity, makes Christ, who
gives the water of eternal life, sit near Urd’s fountain, then this is a
Christianised heathen idea, and refers to the power of this fountain’s water to
give, through the judge of the world, to the pious a less troublesome life than
that on earth. The water which gives warmth to the world-tree and heals its
wounds is to be found in the immediate vicinity of the thingstead, and has also
served to strengthen and heal the souls of the dead.
To judge from Hyndluljod (49), those doomed to unhappiness must also
partake of some drink. It is "much mixed with venom (eitri blandinn miok), and
forebodes them evil (illu heilli). They must, therefore, be compelled to drink it
before they enter the world of misery, and accordingly, no doubt, while they sit
a nornastoli on the very thingstead. The Icelandic sagas of the middle ages
know the venom drink as a potion of misery.
It appears that this potion of unhappiness did not loosen the speechless
tongues of the damned. Eitr means the lowest degree of cold and poison at
the same time, and would not, therefore, be serviceable for that purpose,
since the tongues were made speechless with cold. In Saxo’s descriptions of
the regions of misery in the lower world, it is only the torturing demons that
speak. The dead are speechless, and suffer their agonies without uttering a
sound; but, when the spirits of torture so desire, and force and egg them on,
they can produce a howl (mugitus). There broods a sort of muteness over the
forecourt of the domain of torture, the Nifelheim inhabited by the frost-giants,
according to Skirnersmal’s description thereof (see No. 60). Skirner threatens
Gerd that she, among her kindred there, shall be more widely hated than
Heimdal himself; but the manner in which they express this hate is with staring
eyes, not with words (a þic Hrimnir hari, a þic hotvetna stari—str. 28).
74.
AFTER THE JUDGMENT. THE LOT OF THE BLESSED.
When a deceased who has received a good ord’s tirr leaves the Thing, he is
awaited in a home which his hamingje has arranged for her favourite
somewhere in "the green worlds of the gods ". But what he first has to do is to
leita kynnis, that is, visit kinsmen and friends who have gone before him to
their final destination (Sonatorr., 17). Here he finds not only those with whom
he became personally acquainted on earth, but he may also visit and
converse with ancestors from the beginning of time, and he may hear the
history of his race, nay, the history of all past generations, told by persons
who were eye-witnesses. The ways he travels are munvegar (Sonatorr., 10),
paths of pleasure, where the wonderful regions of Urd’s and Mimir’s realms lie
open before his eyes.
Those who have died in their tender years are received by a being friendly to
children, which Egil Skallagrimson (Sonatorrek, 20) calls Gauta spjalli. The
expression means "the one with whom Odin counsels," "Odin’s friend ". As the
same poem (str. 22) calls Odin Mimir’s friend, and as in the next place Gauta
spjalli is characterised as a ruler in Godheim (compare graenar heimar
goda—Hakonarmal, 12), he must either be Mimir, who is Odin’s friend and
adviser from his youth until his death, or he must be Honer, who also is styled
Odin’s friend, his sessi and mali. That Mimir was regarded as the friend of
dead children corresponds with his vocation as the keeper in his grove of
immortality, Mimisholt, of the Asa-children, the asmegir, who are to be the
mankind of the regenerated world. But Honer too has an important calling in
regard to children (see No. 95), and it must therefore be left undecided which
one of the two is here meant.
* Likewise the warlike skald Kormak is certain that he would have come to
Valhal in case he had been drowned nader circumstances described in his
saga, a work which is, however, very unreliable.
Egil is convinced that his drowned son Bodvar found a harbour in the
subterranean regions of bliss.* The land to which Bodvar comes is called by
Egil "the home of the bee-ship" (byskips baer). The poetical figure is taken
from the experience of seamen, that birds who have grown tired on their way
across the sea alight on ships to recuperate their strength. In Egil’s
paraphrase the bee corresponds to the bird, and the honey-blossom where
the bee alights corresponds to the ship. The fields of bliss are the haven of the
ship laden with honey. The figure may be criticised on the point of poetic logic,
but is of a charming kind on the lips of the hardy old viking, and it is at the
same time very appropriate in regard to a characteristic quality ascribed to the
fields of bliss. For they are the proper home of the honey-dew which falls early
in the morning from the world-tree into the dales near Urd’s fountain
(Völuspa). Lif and Leifthraser live through ages on this dew (see Nos. 52, 53),
and doubtless this same Teutonic ambrosia is the food of the happy dead.
The dales of the earth also unquestionably get their share of the honey-dew,
which was regarded as the fertilising and nourishing element of the ground.
But the earth gets her share directly from Rimfaxe, the steed of the Hadesgoddess Nat. This steed, satiated with the grass of the subterranean
meadows, produces with his mouth a froth which is honey-dew, and from his
bridle the dew drops "in the dales" in the morning (Vafthr., 14). The same is
true of the horses of the valkyries coming from the lower world. From their
manes, when they shake them, falls dew "in deep dales," and thence come
harvests among the peoples (Helge Hjorv., 28).
75.
AFTER THE JUDGMENT (continued). THE FATE OF THE DAMNED. THEIR
PATH. ARRIVAL AT THE NA-GATES.
When the na-dictum (the judgment of those who have committed sins unto
death) has been proclaimed; they must take their departure for their terrible
destination. They cannot take flight. The locks and fetters of the norns (Urdar
lokur, Heljar reip) hold them prisoners, and amid the tears of their former
hamingjes (nornir grata nái) they are driven along their path by heiptir, armed
with rods of thorns, who without mercy beat their lazy heels. The technical
term for these instruments of torture is limar, which seems to have become a
word for eschatological punishment in general. In Sigrdrifumal (23) it is said
that horrible limar shall fall heavy on those who have broken oaths and
promises, or betrayed confidence. In Sigurd Fafnesb. (ii. 3) it is stated that
everyone who has lied about another shall long be tortured with limar. Both
the expressions troll brutu hrís i hæla deim and troll visi ydr til burs have their
root in the recollection of the myth concerning the march of the damned under
the rod of the Eumenides to Nifelhel (see further on this point Nos. 91 and
123).
Their way from Urd’s well goes to the north (see No. 63) through Mimir’s
domain. It is ordained that before their arrival at the home of torture they are
to see the regions of bliss. Thus they know what they have forfeited. Then
their course is past Mimir’s fountain, the splendid dwellings of Balder and the
asnnegir, the golden hall of Sindre’s race (see Nos. 93, 94), and to those
regions where mother Nat rests in a hall built on the southern spur of the Nida
mountains (Forspjallsljod). The procession proceeds up this mountain region
through valleys and gorges in which the rivers flowing from Hvergelmer find
their way to the south. The damned leave Hvergelmer in their rear and cross
the rivers Hraunn (the subterranean Elivagar rivers, see No. 59), on the other
side of which rise Nifelhel’s black, perpendicular niountainwalls (Saxo, Hist.
Dan.; see No. 46). Ladders or stairways lead across giddying precipices to the
Na-gates. Howls and barking from the monstrous Nifelheim dogs watching the
gates (see Nos. 46, 58) announce the arrival of the damned. Then hasten, in
compact winged flocks, monsters, Nifelheim’s birds of prey, Nidhog, Are,
Hraesvelger, and their like to the south, and alight on the rocks around the
Na-gates (see below). When the latter are opened on creaking hinges, the
damned have died their second death. To that event, which is called "the
second death," and to what this consists of, I shall return below (see No. 95).
Those who have thus marched to a terrible fate are sinners of various classes.
Below Nifelheim there are nine regions of punishment. That these correspond
to nine kinds of unpardonable sins is in itself probable, and is to some extent
confirmed by Solarljod, if this poem, standing almost on the -line between
heathendom and Christianity, may be taken as a witness. Solarljod
enumerates nine or ten kinds of punishments for as many different kinds of
sins. From the purely heathen records we know that enemies of the gods
(Loki), perjurers, murderers, adulterers (see Völuspa), those who have
violated faith and the laws, and those who have lied about others, are doomed
to Nifelhel for ever, or at least for a very long time (oflengi—Sig. Fafn., ii. 3).
Of the unmerciful we know that they have already suffered great agony on
their way to Urd’s fountain. Both in reference to them and to others, it
doubtless depended on the investigation at the Thing whether they could be
ransomed or not.
The sacredness of the bond of kinship was strongly emphasised in the
eschatological conceptions. Niflgódr, "good for the realm of damnation," is he
who slays kinsmen and sells the dead body of his brother for rings
(Sonatorrek, 15); but he who in all respects has conducted himself in a
blameless manner toward his kinsmen, and is slow to take revenge if they
have wronged him, shall reap advantage therefrom after death (Sigrdr., 22).
When the damned come within the Na-gates, the winged demons rush at the
victims designated for them, press them under their wings, and fly with them
through Nifelheim’s foggy space to the departments of torture appointed for
them. The seeress in Völuspa (str. 62) sees Nidhog, loaded with náir under
his wings, soar away from the Nida mountains. Whither he was accustomed to
fly with them appears froni strophe 38, where he in Nastrands is sucking his
prey. When King Gorm, beyond the above-mentioned boundary river, and by
the Nida mountains’ ladders, had reached the Na-gates opened for him, he
sees dismal monsters (larvæ atræ; cp. Völuspa’s in dimmi dreki) in dense
crowds, and hears the air filled with their horrible screeches (cp. Völuspa’s Ari
hlaccar, slitr nai neffaulr, 47). When Solarljod’s skald enters the realm of
torture he sees "scorched" birds, which are not birds but souls (salir), flying
"numerous as gnats ".
76.
THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT.
The regions over which the flock of demons fly are the same as those which
the author of Skirnersmal has in view when Skirner threatens Gerd with
sending her to the realms of death. It is the home of the frost-giants, of the
subterranean giants, and of the spirits of disease. Here live the offspring of
Yimir’s feet, the primeval giants strangely born and strangely bearing, who are
waiting for the quaking of Ygdrasil and for the liberation of their chained
leader, in order that they may take revenge on the gods in Ragnarok, and who
in the meantime contrive futile plans of attack on Hvergelmer’s fountain or on
the north end of the Bifrost bridge. Here the demons of restless uneasiness, of
mental agony, of convulsive weeping, and of insanity (Othale, Morn, Ope, and
Tope) have their home; and here dwells also their queen, Loki’s daughter,
Leikin, whose threshold is precipice and whose bed is disease. According to
the authority used by Saxo in the description of Gorm’s journey, the country is
thickly populated. Saxo calls it urbs, oppidurn (cp. Skirnismal’s words about
the giant-homes, among which Gerd is to drag herself hopeless from house to
house. The ground is a marsh with putrid water (putidum eaenum), which
diffuses a horrible stench. The river Slid flowing north out of ilvergelmer there
seeks its way in a muddy stream to the abyss which leads down to the nine
places of punishment. Over all hovers Nifelheim’s dismal sky.
The mortals who, like Gorm and his men, have been permitted to see these
regions, and who have conceived the idea of descending into those worlds
which lie below Nifelheim, have shrunk back when they have reached the
abyss in question and have cast a glance down into it. The place is narrow,
but there is enough daylight for its bottom to be seen, and the sight thereof is
terrible. Still, there must have been a path down to it, for when Gorm and his
men had recovered from the first impression, they continued their journey to
their destination (Geirrod’s place of punishment), although the most terrible
vapour (teterrimus vapor) blew into their faces. The rest that Saxo relates is
unfortunately wanting both in sufficient clearness and in completeness.
Without the risk of making a mistake, we may, however, consider it as
mythically correct that some of the nine worlds of punishment below
Nifelheim, or the most of them, are vast mountain caves, mutually united by
openings broken through the mountain walls and closed with gates, which do
not, however, obstruct the course of Slid to the Nastrands and to the sea
outside. Saxo speaks of a perfractam scopuli partem, "a pierced part of the
mountain," through which travellers come from one of the subterranean caves
to another, and between the caves stand gatekeepers (janitores). Thus there
must be gates. At least two of these "homes" have been named after the most
notorious sinner found within them. Saxo speaks of one called the giant
Geirrod’s, and an Icelandic document of one called the giant Geitir’s. The
technical term for such a cave of torture was guyskuti (clamour-grotto). Saxo
translates skuti with conclave saxeum. "To thrust anyone before Geitir’s
clamour-grotto "—reka einn fyrir Geitis guyskuta—was a phrase synonymous
with damning a person to death and hell.
The gates between the clamour-grottos are watched by various kinds of
demons. Before each gate stand several who in looks and conduct seem to
symbolise the sins over whose perpetrators they keep guard. Outside of one
of the caves of torture Gorm’s men saw club-bearers who tried their weapons
on one another. Outside of another gate the keepers amused themselves with
"a monstrous game" in which they "mutually gave their ram-backs a curved
motion ". It is to be presumed that some sort of perpetrators of violence were
tortured within the threshold, which was guarded by the club-bearers, and that
the ram-shaped. demons amused themselves outside of the torture-cave of
debauchees. It is also probable that the latter is identical with the one called
Geitir’s. The name Geitir comes from geit, goat. Saxo, who Latinised Geitir
into Götharus, tells adventures of his which show that this giant had tried to
get possession of Freyja, and that he is identical with Gymer, Gerd’s father.
According to Skirnersmal (35), there are found in Nifelhel goats, that is to say,
trolls in goat-guise, probably of the same kind as those above-mentioned, and
it may be with an allusion to the fate which awaits Gymer in the lower world, or
with a reference to his epithet Geitir, that Skinner threatens Gerd with the
disgusting drink (geita hland) which will there be given her by "the sons of
misery" (velmegir). One of the lower-world demons, who, as his name
indicates, was closely connected with Geitir, is called "Geitir’s Howl-foot"
(Geitis Guyfeti); and the expression "to thrust anyone before Geitir’s Howlfoot" thus has the same meaning as to send him to damnation.
Continuing their journey, Gorm and his men came to Geirrod’s skuti (see No.
46).
We learn from Saxo’s description that in the worlds of torture there are seen
not only terrors, but also delusions which tempt the eyes of the greedy.
Gorm’s prudent captain Thorkil (see No. 46) earnestly warns his companions
not to touch these things, for hands that come in contact with them are
fastened and are held as by invisible bonds. The illusions are characterised by
Saxo as cedis supellectilis, an expression which is ambiguous, but may be an
allusion that they represented things pertaining to temples. The statement
deserves to be compared with Solarljod’s strophe 65, where the skald sees in
the lower world persons damned, whose hands are riveted together with
burning stones. They are the mockers at religious rites (they who minst vildu
halda helga daga) who are thus punished. In the mythology it was probably
profaners of temples who suffered this punishment.
The Nastrands and the hall there are thus described in Voluspa:
Sal sá hon sianda sólu fjarri Nástrondu a nordr horfa dyrr; fellu eitrdropar inn
um ljora, Sa er undinn salr orma hryggjum. Sa hon dar vada þunga strauma
menn meinsvara ok mordvarga ok þanns annar’s glepr eyraruna; þar’ saug
Nidhoggr nai framgengna, sleit vargr vera.
"A hall she saw stand far from the sun on the Nastrands; the doors opened to
the north. Venom-drops fell through the roof-holes. Braided is that hall of
serpent-backs."
"There she saw perjurers, murderers, and they who betray the wife of another
(adulterers) wade through heavy streams. There Nidhog sucked the ‘nair of
the dead. And the wolf tore men into pieces."
Gylfaginning (ch. 52) assumes that the serpents, whose backs, wattled
together, form the hall, turn their heads into the hall, and that they, especially
through the openings in the roof (according to Codex Ups. and Codex
Hypnones.), vomit forth their floods of venom. The latter assumption is well
founded. Doubtful seems, on the other hand, Gylfaginning’s assumption that
"the heavy streams," which the damned in Nastrands have to wade through,
flow out over the floor of the hall. As the very name Nastrands indicates that
the hall is situated near a water, then this water, whether it be the river Slir
with its eddies filled with weapons or some other river, may send breakers on
shore and thus produce the heavy streams which Völuspa mentions.
Nevertheless Gylfaginning’s view may be correct. The hall of Nastrands, like
its counterpart Valhal, has certainly been regarded as immensely large. The
serpent-venom raining down must have fallen on the floor of the hall, and
there is nothing to hinder the venom-rain from being thought sufficiently
abundant to form "heavy streams" thereon (see below).
Saxo’s description of the hall in Nastrands—by him adapted to the realm of
torture in general—is as follows : "The doors are covered with the soot of
ages; the walls are bespattered with filth; the roof is closely covered with
barbs; the floor is strewn with serpents and bespawled with all kinds of
uncleanliness ". The last statement confirms Gylfaginning’s view. As this
bespawling continues without ceasing through ages, the matter thus produced
must grow into abundance and have an outlet. Remarkable is also Saxo’s
statement, that the doors are covered with the soot of ages. Thus fires must
be kindled near these doors. Of this more below.
77.
THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT (continued). THE HALL IN NASTRANDS.
Without allowing myself to propose any change of text in the Voluspa strophes
above quoted, and in pursuance of the principle which I have adopted in this
work, not to base any conclusions on so-called text-emendations, which
invariably are text-debasings, I have applied these strophes as they are found
in the texts we have. Like Mullenhoff (D. Alterth., v. 121) and other scholars, I
am, however, convinced that the strophe which begins sa hon þar vada, &c.,
has been corrupted. Several reasons, which I shall present elsewhere in a
special treatise on Voluspa, make this probable but simply the circumstance
that the strophe has ten lines is sufficient to awaken suspicions in anyone’s
mind who holds the view that Völuspa originally consisted of exclusively eightlined strophes—a view which cannot seriously be doubted. As we now have
the poem, it consists of forty-seven strophes of eight lines each, one of four
lines, two of six lines each, five of ten lines each, four of twelve lines each,
and two of fourteen lines each—in all fourteen not eight-lined strophes against
forty-seven eight-lined ones; and, while all the eight-lined ones are intrinsically
and logically well constructed, it may be said of the others that have more
than eight lines each partly that we can cancel the superfluous lines without
injury to the sense, and partly that they look like loosely-joined
conglomerations of scattered fragments of strophes and of interpolations. The
most recent effort to restore perfectly the poem to its eight-lined strophes has
been made by Mullenhoff (D. Alterth., v.); and although this effort may need
revision in some special points, it has upon the whole given the poem a
clearness, a logical sequence and symmetry, which of themselves make it
evident that Mullenhoff’s premises are correct.
In the treatise on Völuspa which I shall publish later, this subject will be
thoroughly discussed. Here I may be permitted to say, that in my own efforts
to restore Völuspa to eight-lined strophes, I came to a point where I had got
the most of the materials arranged on this principle, but there remained the
following fragment:
(1) A felir austan
um eitrdala
soxum ok sverdum,
Slidr heitir su.
(2) Sa hon þar vada
þunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok mordvarga
ok þanns annars
glepreyrarunn.
(1) Falls a river from the east
around venom dales
with daggers and spears,
Slid it is called.
(2) There saw she wade
through heavy streams
perjurers
murderers
and him who seduces another’s wife.
These fragments make united ten lines. The fourth line of the fragment (1)
Slidr heitir su has the appearance of being a mythographic addition by the
transcriber of the poem. Several similar interpolations which contain
information of mythological interest, but which neither have the slightest
connection with the context, nor are of the least importance in reference to the
subject treated in Völuspa, occur in our present text-editions of this poem. The
dwarf-list is a colossal interpolation bf this kind. If we hypothetically omit this
line for the present, and also the one immediately preceding (soxum ok
sverdum), then there remains as many lines as are required in a regular eightline strophe.
It is further to be remarked that among all the eight-lined Völuspa strophes
there is not one so badly constructed that a verb in the first half-strophe has a
direct object in the first line of the second half-strophe, as is the case in that of
the present text:
Sa hon þar vada þunga strauma menn meinsvara ok rnordvarga ok þann’s
annars glepr eyrarunu;
and, upon the whole, such a construction can hardly ever have occurred in a
tolerably passable poem. If these eight lines actually belonged to one and the
same strophe, the latter would have to be restored according to the following
scheme:
(1) Sa hon þar vada
(2) þunga strauma
(3) menn meinsvara (4) ok mordvarga;
(5) ……………….
(6) ……………….
(7) þann’s annars glepr
(8) eyrarunu.
and in one of the dotted lines the verb must have been found which governed
the accusative object þann. The lines which should take the place of the dots
have, in their present form, the following appearance:
a fellr austan urn eitrdala.
The verb which governed þann must then be áfellr, that is to say, the verb fellr
united with the preposition á. But in that case 6 is not the substantive á, a
river, a running water, and thus the river which falls from the east around
venom dales has its source in an error.
Thus we have, under this supposition, found that there is something that fellr
á, falls on, streams down upon, him who seduces the wife of another. This
something must be expres.sed by a substantive, which is now concealed
behind the adverb austan, and must have resembled it sufficiently in sound to
be transformed into it.
Such a substantive, and the only one of the kind, is austr. This means
something that can falla á, stream down upon; for ausir is bail-water (from
ausa, to bail), waste-water, water flowing out of a gutter or shoot.
A test as to whether there originally stood austr or not is to be found in the
following substantive, which now has the appearance of eitrdala. For if there
was written austr, then there must, in the original text, have followed a
substantive (1) which explained the kind of waste-water meant, (2) which had
sufficient resemblance to eitrdala to become corrupted into it.
The sea-faring Norseman distinguished between two kinds of austr: byttuaustr and daelu-austr. The bail-water in a ship could be removed either by
bailing it out with scoops directly over the railing, or it could be scooped into a
dæla, a shoot or trough laid over the railing. The latter was the more
convenient method. The difference between these two kinds of’ austr became
a popular phrase; compare the expression þa var byttu-austr, eigi dælu-austr.
The word daela was also used figuratively; compare láta daeluna ganga, to let
the shoots (troughs) run (Gretla, 98), a proverb by which men in animated
conversation are likened unto daelur, troughs, which are opened for flowing
conversation.
Under such circumstances we might here expect after the word austr the word
daela, and, as venom here is in question, eitr-daela.
Eitr-daela satisfies both the demands above made. It explains what sort of
waste-water is meant, and it resembles eitr-dala sufficiently to be corrupted
into it.
Thus we get a fellr austr eitrdaela: "On (him who seduces another man’s wife)
falls the waste-water of the venom-troughs ". Which these venom-troughs are,
the strophe in its entirety ought to define. This constitutes the second test of
the correctness of the reading.
It must be admitted that if a fellr austr eitrdaela is the original reading, then a
corruption into a fellr austan eitrdala had almost of necessity to follow, since
the preposition á was taken to be the substantive á, a river, a running stream.
How near at hand such a confounding of these words lies is demonstrated by
another Völuspa strophe, where the preposition a in a ser hon ausaz aurgom
forsi was long interpreted as the substantive á.
We shall now see whether the expression á fellr austr eitrdaela makes sense,
when it is introduced in lieu of the dotted lines above:
Sa hon þar vaa þunga strauma menn meinsvara ok mordvarga; (en) á fellr
austr eitrdaela þann’s annars glepr eyraruna.
"There saw she heavy streams (of venom) flow upon (or through) perjurers
and murderers. The waste-water of the venom-troughs (that is, the wastewater of the perjurers and murderers after the venom-streams had rushed
over them) falls upon him who seduces the wife of another man."
Thus we get not only a connected idea, but a very remarkable and instructive
passage.
The verb vaa is not used only about persons who wade through a water. The
water itself is also able to vada (cp. eisandi udr vedr undan—Rafns S.
Sveinb.), to say nothing of arrows that wade i fólk (Havam., 150), and of
banners which wade in the throng of warriors. Here the venom wades through
the crowds of perjurers and murderers. The verb vada has so often been used
in this sense, that it has also acquired the meaning of rushing, running,
rushing through. Heavy venom-streams run through the perjurers and
murderers before they fall on the adulterers. The former are the venomtroughs, which pour their waste-water upon the latter.
We now return to Saxo’s description of the hall of Nastrands, to see whether
the Völuspa strophe thus hypothetically restored corresponds with, or is
contradicted by, it. Disagreeable as the pictures are which we meet with in this
comparison, we are nevertheless compelled to take them into consideration.
Saxo says that the wall of the hall is bespattered with liquid filth (panes
obductus illuvie). The Latin word, and the one used by Saxo for venom, is
venenum, not illuvies, which means filth that has been poured or bespattered
on something. Hence Saxo does not mean venom-streams of the kind which,
according to Völuspa, are vomited by the serpents down through the roofopenings, but the reference is to something else, which still niust have an
upper source, since it is bespattered on the wall of the hall.
Saxo further says that the floor is bespawled with all sorts of impurity:
pavimentum omni sordium genere respersum. The expression confirms the
idea, that unmixed venom is not meant here, but everything else of the most
disgusting kind.
Furthermore, Saxo relates that groups of damned are found there within,
which groups he calls consessus. Consessus means "a sitting together," and,
in a secondary sense, persons sitting together. The word "sit" may here be
taken in a more or less literal sense. Consessor, "the one who sits together
with," might be applied to every participator in a Roman dinner, though the
Romans did not actually sit, but reclined at the table.
As stated, several such consessus, persons sitting or lying together, are found
in the hall. The benches upon which they sit or lie are of iron. Every
consessus has a locus in the hall; and as both these terms, consessus and
locus, in Saxo united in the expression consessuum loca, together mean rows
of benches in a theatre or in a public place, where the seats rise in rows one
above the other, we must assume that these rows of the damned sitting or
lying
together are found in different elevations between the floor and ceiling. This
assumption is corroborated by what Saxo tells, viz., that their loca are
separated by leaden hurdles (plumbeae crates). That they are separated by
hurdles must have some practical reason, and this can be none other than
that something flowing down may have an unobstructed passage from one
consessus to the other. That which flows down finally reaches the floor, and is
then omne sordium genus, all kinds of impurity. It must finally be added that,
according to Saxo, the stench in this room of torture is well-nigh intolerable
(super omnia perpetui faetoris asperitas tristes lacessebat olfactus).
Who is not able to see that Voluspa’s and Saxo’s descriptions of the hall in
Nastrands confirm, explain, and complement each other? From Völuspa’s
words, we conclude that the venom-streams come from the openings in the
roof, not from the walls. The wall consists, in its entirety, of the backs of
serpents wattled together (sa er undinn salr orma hryggjom). The heads
belonging to these serpents are above the roof, and vomit their venom down
through the roof-openings—" the ljors" (fellu eitrdropar inn um ljóra). Below
these, and between them and the floor, there are, as we have seen in Saxo,
rows of iron seats, the one row below the other, all furnished with leaden
hurdles, and on the iron seats sit or lie perjurers and murderers, forced to
drink the venom raining down in " heavy streams Every such row of sinners
becomes " a trough of venom" for the row immediately below it, until the
disgusting liquid thus produced falls on those who have seduced the dearest
and most confidential friends of others. These seducers either constitute the
lowest row of the seated delinquents, or they wade on the floor in that filth and
venom which there flows. Over the hall broods eternal night (it is sólu fjarri).
What there is of light, illuminating the terrors, comes from fires (see below)
kindled at the doors which open to the north (norr horfa dyrr). The snnoke
from the fires comes into the hall and covers the door-posts with the "soot of
ages" (posies longaeva fuligine illitae).
With this must be compared what Tacitus relates concerning the views and
customs of the Germans in regard to crime and punishment. He says:
"The nature of the crime determines the punishment. Traitors and deserters
they hang on trees. Cowards and those given to disgraceful debauchery they
smother in filthy pools and marshes, casting a hurdle (crates) over them. The
dissimilarity in these punishments indicates a belief that crime should be
punished in such a way that the penalty is visible, while scandalous conduct
should be punished in such a way that the debauchee is removed from the
light of day" (Ger’mania, xii.).
This passage in Germania is a commentary on Saxo’s descriptions, and on
the Völuspa strophe in the form resulting from my investigation. What might
naturally seem probable is corroborated by Germania’s words: that the same
view of justice and morality, which obtained in the camp of the Germans,
found its expression, but in gigantic exaggeration, in their doctrines
concerning eschatological rewards and punishments. It should, perhaps, also
be remarked that a similar particularism prevailed through centuries. The
hurdle (crates) which Saxo mentions as being placed oven’ the venom and
filth-drinking criminals in the hall of Nastrands has its earthly counterpart in the
hurdle (also called crates), which, according to the custonn of the age of
Tacitus, was thrown over victims smothered in the cesspools and marshes
(ignavos et imbelles et corpore infames cæno ac palude injecta insuper’ crate
mergunt). Those who were sentenced to this death were, according to
Tacitus, cowards and debauchees. Among those who received a similar
punishment in the Teutonic Gehenna were partly those who in a secret
manner had committed murder and tried to conceal their crime (such were
called morvar’gr), partly debauchees who had violated the sacredness of
matrimony. The descriptions in the Voluspa strophe and in Saxo show that
also in the hall of the Nastrands the punishment is in accordance with the
nature of the crime. All are punished terribly; but there is a distinction between
those who had to drink the serpent venom unmixed and those who receive the
mixed potion, and finally those who get the awful liquid over themselves and
doubtless within themselves.
In closing this chapter I will quote a number of Völuspa strophes, which refer
to Teutonic eschatology. In parallel columns I print the strophes as they
appear in Codex Regius, and in the form they have assunied as the result of
an investigation of which I shall give a full account in the future. I trust it will be
found that the restoration of a fellr austan um eitrdala into a fellr austr
eitrdæla, and the introducing of these words before þanns annar’s glepr
eyraruna not only restores to the strophe in which these words occur a regular
structure and a sense which is corroborated by Saxo’s eschatological sources
and by the Germania of Tacitus, but also supplies the basis and conditions on
which other strophes may get a regular structure and intelligible contents.
Codex Regius
A fellr austan
urn eitrdala
sauxom oc sverdom
slidr heitir su.
Stod fyr nordan
a nida vollom
salr or gulli
sindra ettar.
enn annar sto
a okolni
bior salr iotuns
en sa brimir heitir.
Sal sa. hon standa
solo fiarri
na strondu a
Revised Text
……………..
……………..
……………..
……………..
Stod fyr nordan
a Nia vollum
salr or gulli
Sindra aettar;
enn annar sto
a okolni,
bjorsals jotuns,
en sa. Brimir heitir.
Sal sa hon standa
solu fjarri
Nastrondu a,
nordr horfa dyrr
fello eitr dropar
inn um liora
sa er undinn salr
orma hryggiom.
(38) Sa hon dar vada
dunga strauma
menu meinsvara
oc mordvargar.
oc dann annars glepr
eyra runo
dar sug nidhauggr
nai fram gegna
sleit vargr vera
vitod er en eda hvat.
(35) Hapt sa hon liggia
undir hvera lundi
legiarn lici
loca adeckian.
dar sitr Sigyn
deygi um sinom
ver velglyiod
vitod er en eda hvat,
vigbönd snua,
heldr varn hardgor
höpt or dörmum; dar sitr Sigyn
deygi um sinum ver vel glyjud.
Vitud er enn ea hvat?
nordr horfa dyrr;
fellu eitrdropar
inn um ljora,
sa er undinn salr
orma hryggj urn.
Sa hon dar vada
dunga strauma
menn meinsvara
oc mordvarga;
en a fell austr
eitrdaela
danns annars glepr
eyrarunu
……………..
……………..
Hapt sa hon liggja
undir hveralundi
laegjarnliki
Loka adekkjan;
dar sang Nidhöggr
nai framgengna,
sleit vargr vera.
Vitud er enn eda hvat?
dar kna Vala
78
THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT (continued). LOKI’S CAVE OF
PUNISHMENT. GYLFAGINNING’S CONFOUNDING OF MUSPEL’S SONS
WITH THE SONS OF SUTTUNG.
Saxo (Hist. Dan., 429 ff.) relates that the experienced Captain Thorkil made,
at the command of King Gorm, a second journey to the uttermost North, in
order to complete the knowledge which was gained on the first journey. That
part of the lower world where Loki (by Saxo called Ugartilocus) dwells had not
then been seen. This now remained to be done. Like the first time, Thorkil
sailed into that sea on which sun and stars never shine, and he kept cruising
so long in its darkness that his supply of fuel gave out. The expedition was as
a consequence on the point of failing, when a fire was suddenly seen in the
distance. Thorkil then entered a boat with a few of his men and rowed thither.
In order to find his way back to his ship in the darkness, he had placed in the
mast-top a self-luminous precious stone, which he had taken with him on the
journey. Guided by the light, Thorkil came to a strandrock, in which there were
narrow "gaps" (fauces), out of which the light came. There was also a door,
and Thorkil entered, after requesting his men to remain outside.
Thorkil found a grotto. At the fire which was kindled stood two uncommonly
tall men, who kept mending the fire. The grotto had an inner door or gate, and
that which was seen inside that gate is described by Saxo in almost the same
words as those of his former description of the hall at the Nastrands (obsoleti
postes, ater situ paries, sordidum tectum, frequens anguibus pavirnentum).
Thorkil in reality sees the same hall again; he had simply come to it from
another side, from the north, where the hall has its door opening toward the
strand (nordr horfa dyrr~Völuspa), the pillars of which, according to Saxo’s
previous description, are covered with the soot of’ ages. The soot is now
explained by the fire which is kindled in the grotto outside the hall, the grotto
forming as it were a vestibule. The two gigantic persons who mend the fire are
called by Saxo aquili.
In Marcianus Capella, who is Saxo’s model in regard to style and vocabulary,
persons of semi-divine rank (hemithei) are mentioned who are called aquili,
and who inhabit the same regions as the souls of the dead (lares and larvæ—
Marc. Cap., i., ii. Compare P. E, Muller, not., Hist. Dan., pp. 68, 69). Aquilus
also has the signification, dark, swarthy, lcel.. dokkr.
In the northern mythology a particular kind of elves are mentioned—black or
swarthy elves, dókkálfar. They dwell under the farthest root of the world-tree,
near the northern gate of the lower world (iormungrundar i iodyr nyrdra), and
have as their neighbours the Thurses and the unhappy dead (nair—
Forspjallsljod, 25). Gylfaginning also (oh. 17) knows of the swarthy elves, at
least, that they "dwell down in the earth" (bua nidri í jördu). As to mythic rank,
colour, and abode, they therefore correspond with the Roman aquili, and Saxo
has forcibly and vem’y correctly employed this Latin word in order to
characterise them in an intelligible manner.
The two swarthy elves keeping watch outside of the hail of Nastrands ought
naturally to have been astonished at seeing a living human being entering
their grotto. Saxo makes them receive the unexpected guest in a friendly
manner. They greet him, and, when they have learned the purpose of his visit,
one of them reproaches him for the mash boldness of his undertaking, but
gives him information in regard to the way to Loki, and gives him fire and fuel
after he had tested Thorkil’s understanding, and found him to be a wise man.
The journey, says the swarthy elf, can be performed in four days’ fast sailing.
As appears from the context, the journey is to the east. The traveller then
comes to a place where not a blade of grass grows, and over which an even
denser darkness broods. The place includes several terrible rocky halls, and
in one of them Loki dwells.
On the fourth day Thorkil, favoured by a good wind, comes to the goal of his
journey. Through the darkness a mass of rock rising from the sea (scopulum
inusitatæ molis) is with difficulty discerned, and Thorkil lays to by this rocky
island. He and his nien put on clothes of skin of a kind that protects against
venom, and then walk along the beach at the foot of the rock until they find an
entrance. Then they kindle a fire with flint stones, this being an excellent
protection against demons ; they light torches and crawl in through the narrow
opening. Unfortunately Saxo gives but a scanty account of what they saw
there. First they came to a cave of torture, which reseumbled the hall on the
Nastrands, at least, in this particular, that there were many serpents and many
iron seats or iron benches of the kind described above. A brook of sluggish
water is crossed by wading. Another grotto which is not described was passed
through, whereupmrn they entered Loki’s awful prison. He lay there bound
hands and feet with immense chains. His hair and beard resembled spears of
horn, and had a terrible odour. Thorkil jerked out a hair of his beard to take
with him as evidence of what he had seen. As he did this, there was diffused
in the cave a pestilential stench; and after Thorkil’s arrival home, it appeared
that the beard-hair he had taken home was dangerous to life on account of its
odour (Hist. Dan., 433). When Thorkil and his men had passed out of the
interior jurisdiction of the rock, they were discovered by flying serpents which
had their home on the island (cp. Völuspa—þar saug Nidhoggr, &c., No. 77).
TIne skin clothes protected them against the venom vomited forth. But one of
tine men who bared his eyes became blind. Another, whose hand came
outside of the protecting garnients, got it cnt off; and a third, who ventured to
uncover his head, got the hatter separated from his neck by the poison as by
a sharp steel instrument.
The poem or saga which was Saxo’s authority for this story must have
described the rocky island where Loki was put in chains as inhabited by many
condemned beings. There are at least three caves of torture, and in one of
them there are many iron benches. This is confirmed, as we shall see, by
Völuspa.
Saxo also says that there was a harbour. From Völuspa we learn that when
Ygdrasil trembles at the approach of Ragnarok, the ship of the dead, Nagelfar,
lies so that the liberated Loki can go aboard it. That it has long lain moored in
its harbour is evident from the fact that, according to Voluspa, it then
"becomes loose ". Unknown hands are its builders. The material out of which
it is constructed is the nail-parings of dead men (Gylfag., 51—probably
according to some popular tradition). The less regard for religion, the less
respect for the dead. But from each person who is left unburied, or is put into
his grave without being, when possible, washed, combed, cleaned as to
hands and feet, and so cared for that his appearance may be a favourable
evidence to the judges at the Thing of the dead in regard to his survivors—
from each such person comes building material for the death-ship, which is to
carry the hosts of world-destroyers to the great conflict. Much building material
is accumulated in the last days—in time "dagger-and-axe age," when "men no
longer respect each other" (Völuspa).
Nagelfar is the largest of all ships, larger than Skidbladner (Skidbladnir er
beztr skipanna . . . en Nagifari en’ mest skip— Gylfag., 43). This very fact
shows that it is to have a large number of persons on board when it departs
from Loki’s rocky island. Voluspa says:
Str. 47, 8.Naglfar losnar,
Str. 48. Kioll ferr austan,
koma muno Muspellz
urn laug lydir,
en Loki styrir;
fara Fifls megir
me Freka allir,
þeim er brodir
Byleipts i fór.
Nagelfar becomes loose,
a ship comes from the east,
the hosts of Muspel
come o’er the main,
Loki is pilot;
all Fifel’s descendants
come with Freke,
Byleipt’s brother
is with them on the journey.
Here it is expressly stated that " the hosts of Muspel" are on board the ship,
Nagelfar, guided by Loki, after it has been "freed from its moorings" and had
set sail from the island where Loki and other damned ones were imprisoned.
How can this be harmonised with the doctrine based on the authority of
Gylfaginning, that the sons of Muspel are inhabitants of the southernmost
region of light and warmth, Gylfaginning’s so-called Muspelheim? or with the
doctrine that Surt is the protector of the s of this realm? or that Muspel’s sons
proceed under his command to the Ragnarok conflict, and that they
consequently must come from the South, which Voluspa also seems to
corroborate with the words Surtr ferr sunnan med sviga laefi?
The answer is that the one statement cannot be harmonised with the other,
and the question then arises as to which of the two authorities is the authentic
one, the heathen poem Voluspa or Gylfaginning, produced in the thirteenth
century by a man who had a vague conception of the mythology of our
ancestors. Even the most uncritical partisan of Gylfaginning would certainly
unhesitatingly decide in favour of Voluspa, provided we had this poem handed
down in its pure form from the heathen days. But this is clearly not the case.
We therefore need a third witness to decide between the two. Such an one is
also actually to be found.
In the Norse heathen records the word muspell occurs only twice, viz., in the
above-mentioned Voluspa strophe and in Lokasenna, 42, where Frey, who
has surrendered his sword of victory, is threatened by Loki with the prospect
of defeat and death—er Murpellz synir ria Myrcviþ yfir, "when Muspel’s sons
ride over Darkwood ". The Myrkwood is mentioned in Volundarkvida (1) as a
forest, through which the swan-maids coming from the South flew into the
wintry Ulfdales, where one chases bears on skees (snow-shoes) to get food.
This is evidently not a forest situated near the primeval fountains of heat and
fire. The very arbitrary manner in which the names of the mythical geography
is used in the heroic poems, where Myrkwood comes to the surface, does not
indicate that this forest was conceived as situated south of Midgard, and there
is, as shall be shown below, reason for assuming that Darkwood is another
name for the Ironwood famous in mythology; the wood which, according to
Voluspa, is situated in the East, and in which Angerboda fosters the children
of Loki and Fenrer.
One of these, and one of the worst, is the monster Hate, the enemy of the
moon mentioned in Voluspa as tungls tiugari, that makes excursions from the
Ironwood and "stains the citadels of rulers with blood ". In the Ragnarok
conflict Hate takes part and contends with Tyr (Gylfag.), and, doubtless, not
only he, hut also the whole offspring of the Fenris-wolf fostered in the
Ironwood, are on the battlefield in that division which is commanded by Loki
their clan-chief. This is also, doubtless, the meaning of the following words in
the Voluspa strophe quoted above: "Fifel’s descendants all come with Freke
(the wolf), and in company with them is Byleipt’s (or Byleist’s) brother ". As
Loki, Byleipt, and Helblinde are mentioned as brothers (Gylfag., 33), no one
else can be meant with "Byleipt’s brother" than Loki himself or Helblinde, and
more probably the latter, since it has already been stated, that Loki is there as
the commander of the forces. Thus it is Muspel’s sons and Loki’s kinsmen in
the Ironwood who are gathered around him when the great conflict is at hand.
Muspel’s sons accompany the liberated Loki from his rocky isle, and are with
him on board Nagelfar. Loki’s first destination is the Ironwood, whither he
goes to fetch Angerboda’s children, and thence the journey proceeds "over
Myrkwood" to the plain of Vigrid. The statements of Voluspa and Lokasenna
illustrate and corroborate each other, and it follows that Voluspa’s statement,
claiming that Muspel’s sons come from tIne East, is original and correct.
Gylfaginning treats Muspel as a place, a realm, the original home of fire and
heat (Gylfag., 5). Still, there is a lack of positiveness, for the land in question is
in the same work called Muspellsheimr (ch. 5) and Muspells heimr (ch. 8),
whence we may presume that the author regarded Muspell as meaning both
the land of the fire and the fire itself. The true etymology of Muspell was
probably as little known in the thirteenth century, when Gylfaginning was
written, as it is now. I shall not speak of the several attempts made at
conjecturing the definition of the word. They may all be regarded as abortive,
mainly, doubtless, for the reason that Gylfaginning’s statements have
credulously been assumed as the basis of the investigation. As a word
inherited from heathen times, it occurs under the forms mutspelli and muspilli
in the Old Saxon poem Heliand and in an Old High German poem on the final
judgment, and there it has the meaning of the Lord’s day, the doom of
condemnation, or the condemnation. Concerning the meaning which the word
had among the heathens of the North, before the time of the authors of
Voluspa and Lokasenna, all that can be said with certainty is, that the word in
the expression "Muspel’s sons" has had a special reference to mythical
beings who are to appear in Ragnarok fighting there as Loki’s allies, that is, on
the side of the evil against the good; that these beings were Loki’s fellowprisoners on the rocky isle where he was chained; and that they accompanied
him from there on board Nagelfar to war against the gods. As Gylfaginning
makes them accompany Surt coming from the South, this must be the result
of a confounding of "Muspel’s sons" with "Surt’s (Suttung’s) sons ".
A closer examination ought to have shown that Gylfaginning’s conception of
"Muspel’s sons" is immensely at variance with the mythical. Under the
influence of Christian ideas they are transformed into a sort of angels of light,
who appear in Ragnarok to contend under the command of Surt "to conquer
all the idols" (sigra oll godin—Gylfag. 4) and carry out the punishment of the
world. While Völuspa mnakes them come with Loki in the ship Nagelfar, that
is, from the terrible rocky isle in the sea over which eternal darkness broods,
and while Lokasenna makes them come across the Darkwood, whose name
does not suggest any region in the realm of light, Gylfaginning tells us that
they are celestial beings. Idols and giants contend with each other on Vigrid’s
plains; then the heavens are suddenly rent in twain, and out of it ride in
shining squadrons "Muspel’s sons" and Surt, with his flaming sword, at the
bead of the fylkings. Gylfaginning is careful to keep these noble riders far
away from every contact with that mob which Loki leads to the field of battle. It
therefore expressly states that they form a fylking by themselves (I þessum
gny Klofnar himininn, ok ridu þadan Muspells synir; Surtr ridr fyrstr, &c. . . .
enn Muspells synir hafa einir ser fylking, er sa björt mjök—ch. 56). Thus they
do not come to assist Loki, but to put an end to both the idols and the mob of
giants. The old giant, Surt, who, according to a heathen skald, Eyvind
Skaldaspiller, dwells in sokkdalir, in mountain grottos deep under the earth
(see about him, No. 89), is in Gylfaginning first made the keeper of the s of
"Muspelheim," and then the chief of celestial hosts. But this is not the end of
his promotion. In the text found in the Upsala Codex, Gylfaginning makes him
lord in Gimle, and likewise the king of eternal bliss. After Ragnarok it is said,
"there are many good abodes and many bad"; best it is to be in Gimle with
Surt (margar ero vistar goþar og margar illar, bezt er at vera a Gimle medr
surtr). The name Surt means black. We find that his dark looks did not prevent
his promotion, and this has been carried to such a point that a mythologist
who honestly believed in Gylfaginning saw in him the Almighty who is to come
after the regeneration to equalise and harmonise all discord, and to found holy
laws to prevail for ever.
Under such circumstances, it may be suggested as a rule of critical caution
not to accept unconditionally Gylfaginning’s statement that the world of light
and heat which existed before the creation of the world was called Muspel or
Muspelheim. In all probability, this is a result of the author’s own refiections. At
all events, it is certain that no other record has any knowledge of that name.
But that the mythology presumed the existence of such a world follows
already from the fact that Urd’s fountain, which gives the warmth of life to the
world - tree, must have had its deepest fountain there, just as Hvergelmer has
its in the world of primeval cold, and Mimir has his fountain in that wisdom
which unites the opposites and makes them work together in a cosmic world.
Accordingly, we must distinguish between Muspells megir, Muspells synir,
from Surt’s clan-men, who are called Surts aett, synir Suttunga, Suttungs synir
(Skirnismal, 34; Alvissm., 35). We should also remember that Muspell in
connection with the words synir and megir hardly can mean a land, a realm, a
region. The figure by which the inhabitants of a country are called its sons or
descendants never occurs, so far as I know, in the oldest Norse literature.
In regard to the names of the points of the compass in the poetic Edda,
nordan and austan, it must not be forgotten that the same northern regions in
the mythical geography to which various events are referred must have been
regarded by the Icelanders as lying to the east from their own northern isle.
The Bjarmia ulterior, in whose night - shrouded waters mythical adventurers
sought the gates to the lower world, lay in the uttermost North, and might still,
from an Icelandic and also from a Norwegian standpoint, be designated as a
land in the East. According to the sagas preserved by Saxo, these
adventurers sailed into the Arctic Ocean, past the Norwegian coast, and
eastward to a mythical Bjarmia, more distant than the real Bjarmaland. They
could thus come to the coast where a gate to the lower world was to be found,
and to the Nastrands, and if they continued this same course to the East, they
could finally get to the rocky isle where Loki lay chained.
We have seen that Loki is not alone with Sigyn on that isle where in chains he
abides Ragnarok. There were unhappy beings in large numbers with him. As
already stated, Saxo speaks of three connected caves of torture there, and
the innermost one is Loki’s. Of the one nearest to it, Saxo tells nothing else
than that one has to wade across a brook or river in order to get there. Of the
bound Fenrer, Loki’s son, it is said that from his mouth runs froth which forms
the river Von (Gylfag., 34). In Lokasenna (34) Frey says to the abusive Loki:
"A wolf (that is, Fearer) I see lying at the mouth of the river until the forces of
the world come in conflict; if you do not hold your tongue, you, villain, will be
chained next to him" (þvi naest—an expression which here should be taken in
a local sense, as a definite place is mentioned in the preceding sentence).
And as we learn from Voluspa, that Freke (the wolf) is with Loki on board
Nagelfar, then these evidences go to show that Loki and his son are chained
in the same place. The isle where Fearer was chained is called in
Gylfaginning Lyngvi, and the body of water in which the isle is situated is
called Amsvartnir, a suitable name of the sea, over which eternal darkness
broods. On the isle, the probably Icelandic author of Völuspa (or its translator
or compiler) has imagined a "grove," whose trees consist of jets of water
springing from hot fountains (hvera lundr). The isle is guarded by Garmr, a
giant-dog, who is to bark with all its might when the chains of Loki and Fenrer
threaten to burst asunder:
Geyr Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli Festr man slitna, en Freki renna.
According to Grimnersmal, Garm is the foremost of all dogs. The dogs which
guard the beautiful Menglad’s citadel are also called Garms (Fjölsvinnsmal).
In Gylfaginning, the word is also used in regard to a wolf, Hate Manegarm.
Gnipahellir means the cave of the precipitous rock. The adventures which
Thorkil and his men encountered with the flying serpents, in connection with
the watching Hel-dog, show that Lyngve is the scene of demons of the same
kind as those which are found around the Na-gates of Nifelheim.
Bound hands and feet with the entrails of a "frost-cold son" (Lokasenna, 49),
which, after being placed on his limbs, are transformed into iron chains
(Gyfag., 54), Loki lies on a weapon (a hiorvi—Lokasenna, 49), and under him
are three flat stones placed on edge, one under his shoulders, one under his
loins, and one under his hams (Gylfag., 54). Over him Skade, who is to take
revenge for the murder of her father, suspends a serpent in such a manner
that the venom drops in the face of the nithing. Sigyn, faithful to her wicked
husband, sits sorrowing by his side (Völuspa) and protects him as well as she
is able against the venom of the serpent (Postscript to Lokasenna, Gylfag.,
54). Fearer is fettered by the soft, silk-like chain Gleipner, made by the
subterranean artist, and brought from the lower world by Hermod. It is the only
chain that can hold him, and that cannot be broken before Ragnarok. His jaws
are kept wide open with a sword (Gylfag., 35).
79.
THE GREAT WORLD-MILL. ITS MISTAKEN IDENTITY WITH THE FRODEMILL.
We have yet to mention a place in the lower world which is of importance to
the naive but, at the same time, perspicuous and imaginative cosmology of
Teutonic heathendom. The myth in regard to the place in question is lost, but
it has left scattered traces and marks, with the aid of which it is possible to
restore its chief outlines.
Poems, from the heathen time, speak of two wonderful mills, a larger and a
smaller "Grotte’’-mill.
The larger one is simply immense. The storms and showers which lash the
sides of the mountains and cause their disintegration; the breakers of the sea
which attack the rocks on the strands, make them hollow, and cast the
substance thus scooped out along the coast in the form of sand-banks; the
whirlpools and currents of the ocean, and the still more powerful forces that
were fancied by antiquity, and which smouldered the more brittle layers of the
earth’s solid crust, and scattered them as sand and mould over "the stones of
the hail," in order that the ground might "be overgrown with green herbs "—all
this was symbohised by the larger Grotte-mill. And as all symbols, in the same
manner as the lightning which becomes Thor’s hammer, in the mythology
become epic-pragmatic realities, so this symbol becomes to the imagination a
real mill, which operates deep down in the sea and causes the phenomena
which it symbolises.
This greater mill was also called Graedir, since its grist is the mould in which
vegetation grows. This name was gradually transferred by the poets of the
Christian age from the mill, which was grinding beneath the sea, to the sea
itself.
The lesser Grotte-mill is like the greater one of heathen origin—Egil
Skallagrimson mentions it—but it plays a more accidental part, and really
belongs to the heroic poems connected with the mythology. Meanwhile, it is
akin to the greater. Its stones come from the lower world, and were cast up
thence for amusement by young giant-maids to the surface of the earth. A
being called Hengikjoptr (the feminine Hengikepta is the name of a giantess—
Sn. Edda, i. 551; ii. 471) makes mill-stones out of these subterranean rocks,
and presents the mill to King Frode Fridleifson Fate brings about that the
same young giantesses, having gone to Svithiod to help the king warring
there, Guthorm (see Nos. 38, 39), are taken prisoners and sold as slaves to
King Frode, who makes them turn his Grotte-mill, the stones of which they
recognise from their childhood. The giantesses, whose names are Fenja and
Menja, grind on the mill gold and safety for King Frode, peace and good-will
among men for his kingdom. But when Frode, hardened by greed for gold,
refuses them the necessary rest from their toils, they grind fire and death upon
him, and give the mill so great speed that the mill-stone breaks into pieces,
and the foundation is crushed under its weight.
After the introduction of Christianity, the details of the myth concerning the
greater, the cosmological mill, were forgotten, and there remained only the
memory of the existence of such a mill on the bottom of the sea. The
recollection of the lesser Grotte-mill was, on the other hand, at least in part
preserved as to its details in a song which continued to flourish, and which
was recorded in Skaldskaparmal.
Both mills were now regarded as identical, and there sprang up a tradition
which explained how they could be so.
Contrary to the statements of the song, the tradition narrates that the mill did
not break into pieces, but stood whole and perfect, when the curse of the
giant-maids on Frode was fulfilled. The night following the day when they had
begun to grind misfortune on Frode, there came a sea-king, Mysing, and slew
Frode, and took, among other booty, also the Grotte-mill and both the female
slaves, and carried them on board his ship. Mysing commanded them to grind
salt, and this they continued to do until the following midnight. Then they
asked if he had not got enough, but he commanded them to continue
grinding, and so they did until the ship shortly afterwards sank. In this manner
the tradition explained how the mill came to stand on the bottom of the sea,
and there the mill that had belonged to Frode acquired the qualities which
originally had belonged to the vast Grotte-mill of the mythology.
Skaldskaparmal, which relates this tradition as well as the song, without taking
any notice of the discrepancies between them, adds that after Frode’s mill had
sunk, "there was produced a whirlpool in the sea, caused by the waters
running through the hole in the mill-stone, and from that time the sea is salt ".
80.
THE WORLD-MILL (continued).
With distinct consciousness of its symbolic signification, the greater mill is
mentioned in a strophe by the skald Snaebjorn (Skaldskap., ch. 25). The
strophe appears to have belonged to a poem describing a voyage. "It is said,"
we read in this strophe, "that Eyludr’s nine women violently turn the Grotte of
the skerry dangerous to man out near the edge of the earth, and that these
women long ground Amlode’s lid-grist."
Hvat kveda hraera Grotta hergrimmastan. Skerja ut fyrir jardar skauti Eyludrs
níu brudir: þaer er . . fyrir launga lid-meld amloda molu.
To the epithet Eyludr, and to the meaning of lid- in lid-grist, I shall return
below. The strophe says that the mill is in motion out on the edge of the earth,
that nine giant-maids turn it (for the lesser Grotte-mill two were more than
sufficient), that they had long ground with it, that it belongs to a sherry very
dangerous to seafaring men, and that it produces a peculiar grist.
The same mill is suggested by an episode in Saxo, where he relates the saga
about the Danish prince, Amlethus, who on account of circumstances in his
home was compelled to pretend to be insane. Young courtiers, who
accompanied him on a walk along the sea-strand, showed him a sand-bank
and said that it was meal. The prince said he knew this to be so: he said it
was "meal from the mill of the storms" (Hist. Dan., 141).
The myth concerning the cosmic Grotte-mill was intimately connected partly
with the myth concerning the fate of Yimir and the other primeval giants, and
partly with that concerning Hvergelmer’s fountain. Vafthrudnersmal (21) and
Grimnersmal (40) tell us that the earth was made out of Yimir’s flesh, the
rocks out of his bones, and the sea from his blood. With earth is here meant,
as distinguished from rocks, the mould, the sand, which cover the solid
ground. Vafthrudnersmal calls Yimir Aurgelmir, Claygelmer or Moldgelmer;
and Fjölsvinnsmal gives him the epithet Leirbrimir, Claybrimer, which
suggests that his "flesh" was changed into the loose earth, while his bones
became rocks. Yimir’s descendants, the primeval giants, Thrudgelmer and
Bergelmer perished with him, and the "flesh" of their bodies cast into the
primeval sea also became mould. Of this we are assured, so far as Bergelmer
is concerned, by strophe 35 in Vafthrudnersmal, which also informs us that
Bergelmer was laid under the mill-stone. The mill which ground his "flesh" into
mould can be none other than the one grinding under the sea, that is, the
cosmic Grottemill.
When Odin asks the wise giant Vafthrudner how far back he can remember,
and which is the oldest event of which he has any knowledge from personal
experience, the giant answers: "Countless ages ere the earth was shapen
Bergelmer was born. The first thing I remember is when he a var ludr urn
lagidr."
This expression was misunderstood by the author of Gylfaginning himself, and
the misunderstanding has continued to develop into the theory that Bergelmer
was changed into a sort of Noah, who with his household saved himself in an
ark when Bur’s sons drowned the primeval giants in the blood of their
progenitor. Of such a counterpart to the Biblical account of Noah and his ark
our Teutonic mythical fragments have no knowledge whatever.
The word ludr (with radical r) has two meanings: (1) a wind-instrument, a loor,
a war-trumpet; (2) the tier of beams, the underlying timbers of a mill, and, in a
wider sense, the mill itself.
The first meaning, that of war-trumpet, is not found in the songs of the Elder
Edda, and upon the whole does not occur in the Old Norse poetry. Heimdal’s
war-trumpet is not called ludr, but horn or hljód. Ludr in this sense makes its
first appearance in the sagas of Christian times, but is never used by the
skalds. In spite of this fact the signification may date back to heathen times.
But however this may be, ludr in Vafthrudnersmal does not mean a wartrumpet. The poem can never have meant that Beigelmer was laid on a
musical instrument.
The other meaning remains to be discussed. Ludr, partly in its more limited
sense of the timbers or beams under the mill, partly in the sense of the
subterranean mill in its entirety, and the place where it is found, occurs
several times in the poems: in the Grotte-song, in Helge Hund. (ii. 2), and in
the above-quoted strophe by Snaebjorn, and also in Grogalder and in
Fjölsvinnsmal. If this signification is applied to the passage in
Vafthrudnersmal: a var ludr um lagidr, we get the meaning that Bergelmer was
"laid on a mill," and in fact no other meaning of the passage is possible,
unless an entirely new signification is to be arbitrarily invented.
But however conspicuous this signification is, and however clear it is that it is
the only one applicable in this poem, still it has been overlooked or thrust
aside by the mythologists, and for this Gylfaginning is to blame. So far as I
know, Vigfusson is the only one who (in his Dictionary, p. 399) makes the
passage a ludr lagidr mean what it actually means, and he remarks that the
words must "refer to some ancient lost myth ".
The confusion begins, as stated, in Gylfaginning. Its author has had no other
authority for his statement than the Vafthrudnersmal strophe in question,
which he also cites to corroborate his own words; and we have here one of
the many examples found in Gylfaginning showing that its author has
neglected to pay much attention to what the passages quoted contain. When
Gylfaginning has stated that the frost-giants were drowned in Yimir’s blood,
then comes its interpretation of the Vafthrudnersmal strophe, which is as
follows: "One escaped with his household: him the giants call Bergelmer. He
with his wife betook himself upon his ludr and remained there, and from them
the races of giants are descended" (nema einn komst undan med sinu hyski:
þann kalla jotnar Bergelmi; hann fór upp a ludr sinn oh kona hans, oh helzt
þar, ok eru af þeim komnar), &c.
What Gylfaginning’s author has conceived by the ludr which he mentions it is
difficult to say. That he did not have a boat in mind is in the meantime evident
from the expression: hann fór upp a ludr sinn. It is more reasonable to
suppose that his idea was, that Bergelmer himself owned an immense mill,
upon whose high timbers he and his household climbed to save themselves
from the flood. That the original text says that Bergelmer was laid on the
timbers of the mill Gylfaginning pays no attention to. To go upon something
and to be laid on something are, however, very different notions.
An argument in favour of the wrong interpretation was furnished by the
Resenian edition of the Younger Edda (Copenhagen, 1665). There we find
the expression fór upp 4 ludr sinn "amended" to fór a bat sinn. Thus
Bergelmer had secured a boat to sail in; and although more reliable editions of
the Younger Edda have been published since from which the boat
disappeared, still the mythologists have not had the heart to take the boat
away from Bergelmer. On the contrary, they have allowed the boat to grow
into a ship, an ark.
As already pointed out, Vafthrudnersmal tells us expressly that Bergelmer,
Aurgelmer’s grandson, was "laid on a mill" or "on the supporting timbers of a
mill ". We may be sure that the myth would not have laid Bergelmer on "a mill"
if the intention was not that he was to be ground. The kind of meal thus
produced has already been explained. It is the mould and sand which the sea
since time’s earliest dawn has cast upon the shores of Midgard, and with
which the bays and strands have been filled, to become sooner or later green
fields. From Yimir’s flesh the gods created the oldest layer of soil, that which
covered the earth the first time the sun shone thereon, and in which the first
herbs grew. Ever since the same activity which then took place still continues.
After the great mill of the gods transformed the oldest frost-giant into the dust
of earth, it has continued to grind the bodies of his descendants between the
same stones into the same kind of mould. This is the meaning of
Vafthrudner’s wonds when he says that his memory reaches back to the time
when Bergelmer was laid on the mill to be ground. Yimir he does not
remember, nor Thrudgelmer, nor the days when these were changed to earth.
Of them he knows only by hearsay. But he remembers when the turn came for
Bergelmer’s limbs to be subjected to the same fate.
"The glorious Midgard" could not be created before its foundations raised by
the gods out of the sea were changed to bjód (Voluspa). This is the word
(originally bjódr) with which the author of Voluspa chose to express the
quahity of the fields and the fields themselves, which were raised out of the
sea by Bor’s sons, when the great mill had changed the "flesh" of Yimir into
mould. Bjod does not mean a bare field or ground, but one that can supply
food. Thus it is used in Haustlaung (af breidu bjódi, the place for a spread
feast—Skaldskaparmal, ch. 22), and its other meanings (perhaps the more
original ones) are that of a board and of a table for food to lie on. When the
fields were raised out of Yimir’s blood they were covered with mould, so that,
when they got light and warmth from the sun, then the grund became gróin
graenum lauki. The very word mould comes from the Teutonic word mala, to
grind (cp. Eng. meal, Latin molere). The development of’ language and the
development of mythology have here, as in so many other instances, gone
hand in hand.
That the "flesh" of the primeval giants could be ground into fertile mould refers
us to the primeval cow Audhumbla by whose milk Yimir was nourished and his
flesh formed (Gylfaginning). Thus the cow in the Teutonic mythology is the
same as she is in the Iranian, the primeval source of fertility. The mould, out of
which the harvests grow, has by transformations developed out of her
nourishing liquids.
Here, then, we have the explanation of the lidmeldr which the great mill
grinds, according to Snaebjorn. Lidmeldr means limb-grist. It is the limbs and
joints of the primeval giants, which on Amlode’s mill are transformed into
meal.
In its character as an institution for the promotion of fertility, and for rendering
the fields fit for habitation, the mill is under the care and protection of the
Vans. After Njord’s son, Frey, had been fostered in Asgard and had acquired
the dignity of lord of the harvests, he was the one who became the master of
the great Grotte. It is attended on his behalf by one of his servants, who in the
mythology is called Byggvir, a name related both to byggja, settle, cultivate,
and to bygg, barley, a kind of grain, and by his kinswoman and helpmate
Beyla. So important is the calling of Bygver and Beyla that they are permitted
to attend the feasts of the gods with their master (Frey). Consequently they
are present at the banquet to which Ægir, according to Lokasenna, invited the
gods. When Loki uninvited made his appearance there to mix harm in the
mead of the gods, and to embitter their pleasure, and when he there taunts
Frey, Bygver becomes wroth on his master’s behalf and says:
Str. 43 Veiztu, ef ec oþli ettac
sem ingunar-Freyr
oc sva sælict setr,
mergi smæra maul þa ec
þa meincraco
oc lemþa alla i liþo.
Had I the ancestry
of Ingunar Frey
and so honoured a seat,
know I would grind you
finer than marrow, you evil crow,
and crush you limb by limb.
Loki answers:
Str. 44 Hvat er þat iþ litla
er ec þat lauggra sec
oc snapvist snapir;
att egrom Freys
mundu ae vera
oc und kvernom klaka.
Bygver:
What little boy is that
whom I see wag his tail
and eat like a parasite?
Near Frey’s ears
always you are
and clatter ‘neath the mill-stone.
Bygver is my name,
Str. 45 Beyggvir ec heiti,
enn mic braþan kveda
god aull oc gumar:
þvi em ec her hrodugr,
at drecca Hroptz megir
allir aul saman.
All gods and men
call me the nimble,
and here it is my pride,
that Odin’s sons each
and all drink ale.
Loki.
Str. 46 þegi þu, Beyggvir!
þu kunnir aldregi
deila meþ monnom mat,
Be silent, Bygver!
Ne’er were you able
food to divide among men.
Beyla, too, gets her share of Loki’s abuse. The least disgraceful thing he says
of her is that she is a deigia (a slave, who has to work at the mill and in the
kitchen), and that she is covered with traces of her occupation in dust and dirt.
As we see, Loki characterises Bygver as a servant taking charge of the mill
under Frey, and Bygver characterises himself as one who grinds, and is able
to crush an "evil crow" limb by limb with his mill-stones. As the one who with
his mill makes vegetation, and so also bread and malt, possible, he boasts of
it as his honour that the gods are able to drink ale at a banquet. Loki blames
him because he is not able to divide the food among men. The reproach
implies that the distribution of food is in his hands. The mould which comes
from the great mill gives different degrees of fertility to different fields, and
rewards abundantly or niggardly the toil of the farmer. Loki doubtless alludes
to this unequal distribution, else it would be impossible to find any sense in his
words.
In the poetic Edda we still have another reminiscence of the great mill which is
located under the sea, and at the same time in the lower world (see below),
and which "grinds mould into food ". It is in a poem, whose skald says that he
has seen it on his journey in the lower world. In his description of the "home of
torture" in Hades, Solarljod’s Christian author has taken all his materials from
the heathen mythological conceptions of the worlds of punishment, though the
author treats these materials in accordance with the Christian purpose of his
song. When the skald dies, he enters the Hades gate, crosses bloody
streams, sits for nine days ánorna stóli, is thereupon seated on a horse, and is
permitted to make a journey through Mimir’s domain, first to the regions of the
happy and then to those of the damned. In Mimir’s realm he sees the "stag of
the sun" and Nide’s (Mimir’s) sons, who "quaff the pure mead from
Baugregin’s well". When he approached the s of the world of the damned, he
heard a terrible din, which silenced the winds and stopped the flow of the
waters. The mighty din came from a mill. Its stones were wet with blood, but
the grist produced was mould, which was to be food. Fickle-wise (svipvisar,
heathen) women of dark complexion turned the mill. Their bloody and tortured
hearts hung outside of their breasts. The mould which they ground was to
feed their husbands.
This mill, situated at the entrance of hell, is here represented as one of the
agents of torture in the lower world. To a certain extent this is correct even
from a heathen standpoint. It was the lot of slave-women to turn the hand-mill.
In the heroic poem the giant-maids Fenja and Menja, taken prisoners and
made slaves, have to turn Erode’s Grotte. In the mythology "Eylud’s nine
women," thurse-maids, were compelled to keep this vast mechanism in
motion, and that this was regarded as a heavy and compulsory task may be
assumed without the risk of being mistaken.
According to Solarljod, the mill-stones are stained with blood. In the mythology
they crush the bodies of the first giants and revolve in Yimir’s blood. It is also
in perfect harmony with the mythology that the meal becomes mould, and that
the mould serves as food. But the cosmic signification is obliterated in
Solarljod, and it seenns to be the author’s idea that men who have died in
their heathen belief are to eat the mould which women who have died in
heathendom industriously grind as food for them.
The myth about the greater Grotte, as already indicated, has also been
connected with the Hvergelmer myth. Solarljod has correctly stated the
location of the mill on the of the realm of torture. The mythology has located
Hvergelmer’s fountain there (see No. 59); and as this vast fountain is the
mother of the ocean and of all waters, and the ever open connection between
the waters of heaven, of the earth, and of the lower world, then this furnishes
the explanation of the apparently conflicting statements, that the mill is
situated both in the lower world and at the same time on the bottom of the
sea. Of the mill it is said that it is dangerous to men, dangerous to fleets and
to crews, and that it causes the maelstrom (svelgr) when the water of the
ocean rushes down through the eye of the mill-stone. The same was said of
Hvergelmer, that causes ebb and flood and maelstrom, when the water of the
world alternately flows into and out of this great source. To judge from all this,
the mill has been conceived as so made that its foundation timbers stood on
solid ground in’ the lower world, and thence rose up into the sea, in which the
stones resting on this substructure were located. The revolving "eye" of the
mill-stone was directly above Hvergelmer, and served as the channel through
which the water flowed to and from the great fountain of the world’s waters.
81.
THE WORLD-MILL (continued). THE WORLD-MILL MAKES THE
CONSTELLATIONS REVOLVE. MUNDILFORI.
But the colossal mill in the ocean has also served other purposes than that of
grinding the nourishing mould from the limbs of the primeval giants.
The Teutons, like all people of antiquity, and like most men of the present
time, regarded the earth as stationary. And so, too, the lower world
(jormurgrundr—Forspjallsljod) on which the foundations of the earth rested.
Stationary was also that heaven in which the Asas had their citadels,
surrounded by a common wall, for the Asgard-bridge, Bifrost, had a solid
bridge-head on the southern and another on the northern edge of the lower
world, and could not change position in its relation to them. All this part of
creation was held together by the immovable roots of the world-tree, or rested
on its invisible branches. Sol and Mane had their fixed paths, the points of
departure and arrival of which were the "horse-doors" (jódyrr), which were
hung on the eastern and western mountain-walls of the lower world. The god
Mane and the goddess Sol were thought to traverse these paths in shining
chariots, and their daily journeys across the heavens did not to our ancestors
imply that any part of the world-structure itself was in motion. Mane’s course
hay below Asgard. When Thor in his thunder-chariot descends to Jotunheim
the path of Mane thunders under him (en dundi Mana vegr und Meila bródtr—
Haustl., 1). No definite statement in our mythical records informs us whether
the way of the sun was over or under Asgard.
But high above Asgard is the starry vault of heaven, and to the Teutons as
well as to other people that sky was not only an optical but a real vault, which
daily revolved around a stationary point. Sol and Mane might be conceived as
traversing their appointed courses independently, and not as coming in
contact with vaults, which by their motions from east to west produced the
progress of sun and moon. The very circumstance that they continually
changed position in their relation to each other and to the stars seemed to
prove that they proceeded independently in their own courses. Within the
countless stars the case was different. They always keep at the same
distance and always present the same figures on the canopy of the nocturnal
heavens. They looked like glistening heads of nails driven into a movable
ceiling. Hence the starlit sky was thought to be in motion. The sailors and
shepherds of the Teutons very well knew that this revolving was round a fixed
point, the polar star, and it is probable that veraldar nagli, the world-nail, the
world-spike, an expression preserved in Eddubrott, ii., designates the north
star.
Thus the starry sky was the movable part of the universe. And this motion is
not of the same kind as that of the winds, whose coming and direction no man
can predict or calculate. The motion of the starry firmament is defined, always
the same, always in the same direction, and keeps equal step with the march
of time itself. It does not, therefore, depend on the accidental pleasure of gods
or other powers. On the other hand, it seems to be caused by a mechanism
operating evenly and regularly.
The mill was for a long time the only kind of mechanism on a large scale
known to the Teutons. Its motion was a rotating one. The movable mill-stone
was turned by a handle or sweep which was called mondull. The mill-stones
and the mondull might be conceived as large as you please. Fancy knew no
other limits than those of the universe.
There was another natural phenomenon, which also was regular, and which
was well known to the seamen of the North and to those Teutons who lived on
the shores of the North Sea, namely, the rising and falling of the tide. Did one
and the same force produce both these great phenomena? Did the same
cause produce the motion of the starry vault and the ebb and flood of the
sea? In regard to the latter phenomenon, we already know the naive
explanation given in the myth concerning Hvergelmer and the Grotte-mill. And
the same explanation sufficed for the former. There was no need of another
mechanism to make the heavens revolve, as there was already one at hand,
the influence of which could be traced throughout that ocean in which Midgard
was simply an isle, and which around this island extends its surface even to
the brink of heaven (Gylfaginning).
The mythology knew a person by name Mundilfori (Vafthr., 23 Gylfag.). The
word mundill is related to mondull, and is presumably only another form of the
same word. The name or epithet Mundilfore refers to a being that has had
something to do with a great mythical mondull and with the movements of the
mechanism which this mondull kept in motion. Now the word mondull is never
used in the old Norse literature about any other object than the sweep or
handle with which the movable mill-stone is turned. (In this sense the word
occurs in the Grotte-song and in Helge Hund. ii, 3, 4.) Thus Mundilfore has
had some part to play in regard to the great giant-mill of the ocean and of the
lower world.
Of Mundilfore we learn, on the other hand, that be is the father of the personal
Sol and the personal Mane (Vafthr. 23). This, again, shows that the mythology
conceived him as intimately associated with the heavens and with the
heavenly bodies. Vigfusson (Diet., 437) has, therefore, with good reason
remarked that mundill in Mundilfore refers to the veering round or the
revolution of the heavens. As the father of Sol and Mane, Mundilfore was a
being of divine rank, and as such belonged to the powers of the lower world,
where Sol and Mane have their abodes and resting-places. The latter part of
the name, fori, refers to the verb faera, to conduct, to move. Thus he is that
power who has to take charge of the revolutions of the starry vault of heaven,
and these must be produced by the great mondull, the mill-handle or mill sweep, since he is called Mundilfori.
The regular motion of the starry firmament and of the sea is, accordingly,
produced by the same vast mechanism, the Grottemill, the meginverk of the
heathen fancy (Grotte-song, 11; cp. Egil Skallagrimson’s way of using the
word, Arnibj.-Drapa, 26). The handle extends to the edge of the world, and
time nine giantesses, who are compelled to turn the mill, pushing the sweep
before them, march along the outer edge of the universe. Thus we get an
intelligible idea of what Snaebjorn means when he says that Eylud’s nine
women turn the Grotte "along the edge of the earth" (hræra Grotta at fyrir
jardar skauti).
Mundilfore and Bygver thus each has his task to perform in connection with
the same vast machinery. The one attends to the regular motion of the
mondull, the other looks after the mill-stones and the grist.
In the name Eylud the first part is ey, and the second part is lur. The name
means the "island-mill". Eylud’s nine women are the "nine women of the
island-mill ". The mill is in the same strophe called skerja Grotti, the Grotte of
the skerry. These expressions refer to each other and designate with different
words the same idea—the mill that grinds islands and skerries.
The fate which, according to the Grotte-song, happened to King Frode’s mill
has its origin in the myth concerning the greater mill. The stooping position of
the starry heavens and the sloping path of the stars in relation to the
horizontal line was a problem which in its way the mythology wanted to solve.
The phenomenon was put in connection with the mythic traditions in regard to
the terrible winter which visited the earth after the gods and the sons of
Alvalde (Ivalde) had become enemies. Fenja and Menja were kinswomen of
Alvalde’s sons. For they were brothers (half-brothers) of those mountain
giants who were Fenja’s and Menja’s fathers (the Grotte-song). Before the
feud broke out between their kin and the gods, both the giant-maids had
worked in the service of the latter and for the good of the world , grinding the
blessings of the golden age on the world-mill. Their activity in connection with
the great mechanism, mondul, which they pushed, amid the singing of blissbringing songs of sorcery, was a counterpart of the activity of the sons of
Alvalde, who made for the gods the treasures of vegetation. When the conflict
broke out the giant-maids joined the cause of their kinsmen. They gave the
world-mill so rapid a motion that the foundations of the earth trembled, pieces
of the mill- stones were broken loose and thrown up into space, and the substructure of the mill was damaged. This could not happen without harm to the
starry canopy of heaven which rested thereon.
The memory of this mythic event comes to the surface in Rimbegla, which
states that toward the close of King Frode’s reign there arose a terrible
disorder in nature—a storm with mighty thundering passed over the country,
the earth quaked and cast up large stones. In the Grotte-song the same event
is mentioned as a "game" played by Fenja and Menja, in which they cast up
from the deep upon the earth those stones which afterwards became the millstones in the Grotte-mill. After that "game" the giant-maids betook themselves
to the earth and took part in the first world-war on the side hostile to Odin (see
No. 39). It is worthy of notice that the mythology has connected the fimbul-
winter and the great emigrations from the North with an earthquake and a
damage to the world-mill which makes the starry heavens revolve.
82.
THE WORLD-MILL (continued). THE ORIGIN OF THE SACRED FIRE
THROUGH MUNDILFORE. HEIMDAL THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE
SACRED FIRE. His IDENTITY WITH RIGVEDA’S AGNI. HIS ANTITHESIS,
LOKI, ALSO A FIRE-BEING.
Among the tasks to be performed by the world-mill there is yet another of the
greatest importance. According to a belief which originated in ancient Aryan
times, a fire is to be judged as to purity and holiness by its origin. There are
different kinds of fire more or less pure and holy, and a fire which is holy as to
its origin may become corrupted by contact with improper elements. The
purest fire, that which was originally kindled by the gods and was afterwards
given to man as an invaluable blessing, as a bond of union between the
higher world and mankind, was a fire which was produced by rubbing two
objects together (friction). In hundreds of passages this is corroborated in
Rigveda, and the belief still exists among the common people of various
Teutonic peoples. The great mill which revolves the starry heavens was also
the mighty rubbing niachine (friction machine) from which the sacred fire
naturally ought to proceed, and really was regarded as having proceeded, as
shall be shown below.
The word mondull, with which the handle of the mill is designated, is found
among our ancient Aryan ancestors. It can be traced back to the ancient
Teutonic manthula, a swing-tree (Fick, Worterb d. ind.-germ. Spr., iii. 232),
related to Sanscr. Manthati, to swing, twist, bore, from the root manth, which
occurs in numerous passages in Rigveda, and in its direct application always
refers to the production of fire by friction (Bergaigne, Rel. ved., iii. 7).
In Rigveda, the sacred fire is personified by the "pure," upright," "benevolent"
god Agni, whose very name, related to the Latin ignis, designates the god of
fire. According to Rigveda, there was a time ‘when Agni lived concealed from
both gods and men, as the element of light and warmth found in all beings
and things. Then there was a time when he dwelt in person among the gods,
but not yet among men; and, finally, there was a time when Mataricvan, a
sacred being and Agni’s father in a literal or symbolic sense, brought it about
that Agni came to our fathers (Rigv., i. 60, 1). The generation of men then
living was the race of Bhriguians, so-called after an ancient patriarch Bhrigu.
This Bhrigu, and with him Mann (Manus), was the first person who, in his
sacrifices to the gods, used the fire obtained through Agni (Rigv., i. 31, 17,
and other passages).
When, at the instigation of Mataricvan, Agni arrived among mankind, he came
from a far-off region (Rigv., i. 128, 2). The Bhriguians who did not yet possess
the fire, but were longing for it and were seeking for it (Rigv., x. 40, 2), found
the newly-arrived Agni "at the confluence of the waters ". In a direct sense,
"the confluence of the waters" cannot mean anything else than the ocean, into
which all waters flow. Thus Agni came from the distance across a sea to the
coast of the country where that people dwelt who were named after the
patriarch Bhrigu. When they met this messenger of the gods (Rigv., viii. 19,
2]), they adopted him and cared for him at "the place of the water" (Rigv., ii. 4,
2). Mataricvan, by whose directions Agni, "the one born on the other side of
the atmosphere" (x. 187, 5) was brought to mankind, becomes in the classical
Sanscrit language a designation for the wind. Thus everything tends to show
that Agni has traversed a wide ocean, and has been brought by the wind
when he arrives at the coast where the Bhriguians dwell. He is very young,
and hence bears the epithet yavishtha.
We are now to see why the gods sent him to men, and what be does among
them. He remains among those who care for him, and dwells among them "
an immortal among mortals " (Rigv., viii. 60, 11; iii. 5, 3), a guest among men,
a companion of mortals (iv. 1, 9). He who came with the inestimable gift of fire
long remains personally among men, in order that "a wise one among the
ignorant" may educate them. He who "knows all wisdom and all sciences"
(Rigv., iii. 1, 17; x. 21, 5) "came to be asked questions" (i. 60, 20) by men; he
teaches them and "they listen to him as to a father" (i. 68, 9). He becomes
their first patriarch (ii. 10, 1) and their first priest (v. 9, 4; x. 80, 4). Before that
time they had lived a nomadic life, but he taught them to establish fixed
homes around the hearths, on which the fire he had brought now was burning
(iii. 1, 17). He visited them in these fixed dwellings (iv. 1, 19), where the
Bhriguians now let the fire blaze (x. 122, 5); he became "the husband of
wives" (i. 66, 4) and the progenitor of human descendants (i. 96, 2), through
whom he is the founder of the classes or "races" of men (vi. 48, 8). He
established order in all human affairs (iv. 1, 2), taught religion, instructed men
in praying and sacrificing (vi. 1, 1, and many other passages), initiated them in
the art of poetry and gave them inspiration (iii. 10, 5; x. 11, 6).
This is related of Agni when he came to the earth and dwelt among men. As
to his divine nature, he is the pure, white god (iv. 1, 7; iii. 7, 1), young, strong,
and shining with golden teeth (v. 2, 2), and searching eyes (iv. 2, 12) which
can see far (vii. 1, 1), penetrate the darkness of night (i. 94, 7), and watch the
acts of demons (x. 87, 12). He, the guard of order (i. 11, 8), is always attentive
(i. 31, 12), and protects the world by day and by night from dangers (i. 98, 1).
On a circular path he observes all beings (vii. 13, 3), and sees and knows
them all (x. 187, 4). He perceives everything, being able to penetrate the
herbs, and diffuse himself into plants and animals (vii. 9, 3 ; viii. 43, 9; x. 1, 2).
He bears all who pray to him, and can make himself heard as if he had the
voice of thunder, so that both the halves of the world reecho his voice (x. 8, 1).
His horses are like himself white (vi. 6, 4). His symbol among the animals is
the bull (i. 31, 5; i. 146, 2).
In regard to Agni’s birth, it is characteristic of him that he is said to have
several mothers, although their number varies according to the point from
which the process of birth is regarded. When it is only to be a figurative
expression for the origin of the friction-fire, the singer of the hymn can say that
Agni had ten mothers or two mothers. In the case of the former, it is the ten
fingers of the person producing the friction-fire that are meant. Sometimes this
is stated outright (Rigveda, iii. 23, 3); then again the fingers are paraphrased
by "the twice five sisters dwelling together" (iv. 6, 8), "the work-master’s ten
untiring maids" (i. 95, 1). In the case of the latter—that is, when two mothers
are mentioned—the two pieces of wood rubbed together are meant (viii. 49,
15). Ia a more real sense he is said to have three places of nativity: one in the
atmospheric sea, one in heaven, and one in the waters (i. 95, 3), and that his
"great, wise, divine nature proceeded from the laps of many active mothers" (i.
95, 4), such as the waters, the stones, the trees, the herbs (ii. 1, 1). In
Rigveda (x. 45, 2) nine maternal wombs or births are indicated; his "triple
powers were sown in triplets in heaven, among us, and in the waters ". In
Rigveda (i. 141, 2) three places of nativity and three births are ascribed to
him, and in such a way that he had seven mothers in his second birth. In
Rigveda (x. 20, 7) he is called the son of the rock.
It scarcely needs to be pointed out that all that is here told about Agni
corresponds point by point with the Teutonic myth about Heimdal. Here, as in
many other instances, we find a similarity between the Teutonic and the
Aryan-Asiatic myths, which is surprising, when we consider that the difference
between the Rigveda and Zend languages on the one band, and the oldest
Teutonic linguistic monuments on the other, appear in connection with other
circumstances to indicate that the old Aryan unity of language and religion lies
ages back in antiquity. Agni’s birth "beyond the atmosphere," his journey
across the sea to original man in the savage state, his vocation as the sower
of the blessings of culture among men, his appearance as the teacher of
wisdom and "the sciences," his visit to the farms established by him, where he
becomes "the husband of wives," father of human sons, and the founder of
"the races" (the classes among the Teutons),—all this we rediscover
completely in the Heimdal myth, as if it were a copy of the Aryan-Asiatic saga
concerning the divine founder of culture; a copy fresh from the master’s brush
without the effects of time, and without any retouchings. The very names of
the ancient Aryan patriarchs, Bhrigu and Manu are recognisable in the
Teutonic patriarch names Berchter and Mann (Mannus-Halfdan). In the case
of Mann and Mann no explanation is necessary. Here the identity of sound
agrees with the identity of origin. The descendants of Bhrigu and of his
contemporary Bhriguians, are called Bhargavans, which corroborates the
conclusion that Bhrigu is derived from bharg "to shine," whence is derived the
ancient Teutonic berhta, " bright," " clear," " light," the Old Saxon berht, the
Anglo-Saxon beorht, which reoccurs in the Teutonic patriarch Berchter, which
again is actually (not linguistically) identical with the Norse Borgarr. By
Bhrigu’s side stands Mann, just as Mann (Halfdan) is co-ordinate with Borgar.
Point by point the descriptions of Agni and Heimdal also correspond in regard
to their divine natures and attributes. Agni is the great holy white god; Heimdal
is mikill and heilagr, and is called hviti áss (Younger Edda) or "the whitest of
the Asas" (Thrymskv., 15). While Agni as time fire-god has golden teeth,
Heimdal certainly for the same reason bears the epithet gullintanni, "the one
with the golden teeth ". Agni has white horses. In Ulf Uggeson’s poem about
the work of art in Hjardarholt, Heimdal rides his horse Gulltoppr, whose name
reflects its splendour. While Agni’s searching eyes can see in the distance
and can penetrate the gloom of night, it is said of Heimdal that hann ser jafnt
nótt sem dag hundrad rasta frá ser. While Agni perceives everything, even the
inaudible motions in the growing of herbs and animals; while he penetrates
and diffuses himself in plants and animals, it is said of Heimdal that he heyrir
ok þat, er gras vex a jordu eda ull a saudum. While Agni—it is not stated by
what means—is able to produce a noise like thunder which re-echoes through
both the world-halves, Heimdal has the horn, whose sound all the world shall
hear, when Ragnarok is at hand. On a "circular path," Agni observes the
beings in the world. Heimdal looks out upon the world from Bifrost. Agni keeps
his eye on the deeds of the demons, is perpetually on the look-out, and
protects the world by day and by night f’rom dangers; Heimdal is the
watchman of the gods vordr goda (Grimnersmal), needs in his vocation as
watchman less sleep than a bird, and faithfully guards the Asa-bridge against
the giants. Agni is born of several mothers; Heimdal has mothers nine. Agni is
" the fast traveller," who, in the human abodes he visits, opens a way for
prayer and sacrifice (Rigv., vii. 13, 3); in Rigsmal, Heimdal has the same
epithet, "the fast traveller," roskr Stigandi, as he goes from house to house
and teaches men the "runes of eternity" and "the runes of time ".
The only discrepancy is in the animal symbols by which Agni and Heimdal are
designated. The bull is Agni’s symbol, the ram is Heimdal’s. Both symbols are
chosen from the domestic animals armed with horns, and the difference is
linguistically of such a kind, that it to some extent may be said to corroborate
the evidence in regard to Agni’s and Heimdals identity. In the old Norse
poetry, Vedr (wether, ram), Heimdali and the Heimdal epithet Hallinskidi, are
synonymous. The word ver, according to Fick (Worterb., iii. 307), can be
traced to an ancient Teutonic vethru, the real meaning of which is "yearling," a
young domestic animal in general, and it is related to the Latin vitulus and the
Sanscrit vatsala, "calf". If this is correct, then we also see the lines along
which one originally common symbol of a domestic animal developed into two
and among the Rigveda Aryans settled on the "yearling" of the cow, and
among the Teutons on that of the sheep. It should here be remarked that
according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xix. 1) the tiara of the Persian kings was
ornamented with a golden ram’s-head. That Agni’s span of horses were
transformed into Heimdal’s riding horse was also a result of time and
circumstances. In Rigveda, riding and cavalry are unknown; there the hon’ses
of the gods draw the divine chariots. In the Teutonic mythology the draught
horses are changed into riding horses, and chariots occur only exceptionally.
We have reason to be surprised at finding that the Aryan-Asiatic myths and
the Teutonic have so broad surfaces of contact, on which not only the main
outlines but even the details completely resemble each other. But the fact is
not inexplicable. The hymns, the songs of the divine worship and of the
sacrifices of the Rigveda Aryans, have been preserved, but the epicmythological poems are lost, so that there remains the difficult task of
reconstructing out of the former a clear and concise mythology, freed from
"dissolving views" in which their mythic characters now blend into each other.
The Teutonic mythology has had an opposite fate: here the genuine religious
songs, the hymns of divine worship and of sacrifices, are lost, and there
remain fragments of the mighty divine epic of the Teutons. But thus we have
also been robbed of the opportunity of studying those very songs which in a
higher degree than the epic are able to preserve through countless centuries
ancient mythical traits; for the hymns belong to the divine worship, popular
customs are long-lived, and the sacred customs are more conservative and
more enduring than all others, if they are not disturbed by revolutions in the
domain of faith. If an epithet of a god, e.g., "the fast traveller," has once
become fixed by hymns and been repeated in the divine service year after
year, then, in spite of the gradual transformation of the languages and the
types of the race, it may be preserved through hundreds and thousands of
years. Details of this kind may in this manner survive the ravages of time just
as well as the great outlines of the mythology, and if there be a gradual
change as to signification, then this is caused by the change of language,
which may make an old expression unintelligible or give it another meaning
based on the association of ideas.
From all this I am forced to draw the conclusion that Heimdal, like several
other Teutonic gods—for example, Odin (Wodan, Rigveda’s Vata)—belongs
to the ancient Aryan age, and retained, even to the decay of the Teutonic
heathendom his ancient character as the personal representative of the
sacred fire, the fire produced by friction, and, in this connection, as the
representative of the oldest culture connected with the introduction of fire.
This also explains Heimdal’s epithet Vindler, in Cod. Reg. of the Younger
Edda (i. 266, 608). The name is a subform of vindill and comes from vinda, to
twist or turn, wind, to turn anything around rapidly. As the epithet "the turner"
is given to that god who brought friction-fire (bore-fire) to man, and who is
himself the personification of this fire, then it must be synonymous with "the
borer".
A synonym of Heinndal’s epithet Stigandi, "the traveller," is Rati, "the
traveller," from rata, "to travel," "to move about ". Very strangely, this verb
(originally vrata, Goth. vráton, to travel, make a journey) can be traced to an
ancient Germanic word which meant to turn or twist, or something of the sort
(Fick, Worterb., iii. 294). And, so far as the noun Rati is concerned, this
signification has continued to flourish in the domain of mythology after it long
seems to have been extinct in the domain of language. Havamal (106),
Grimnersmal (32), and Bragaraedur testify each in its own way that the
mythical name Rati was connected with a boring activity. In Havamal " Rate’s
mouth" gnaws the tunnel through which Odin, in the guise of an eagle, flies
away with the mead-treasure concealed in the "deep dales" at Fjalar’s under
the roots of the world-tree. In the allegorical Grimnersmal strophe it is "Rate’s
tooth" (Ratatoskr) who lets the mead-drinking foe of the gods near the root of
the world-tree find out what the eagle in the top of the world-tree (Odin)
resolves and carries out in regard to the sanie treasure. In Bragaraedur the
name is given to the gimlet itself which produced tine connection between
Odin’s world and Fjalar’s halls. The gimlet has here received the name of the
boring "traveller," of him who is furnished with " golden teeth ". Hence there
are good reasons for assuming that in the epic of the myth it was Heimdal-
Gullintanne himself whose fire-gimlet helped Odin to fly away with his
precious booty. In Rigveda Agni plays the same part. The "tongue of Agni"
has the same task there as "Rate’s niouth" inn our Norse records. The sacred
mead of the liquids of nourishnient was concealed in the wonib of the
mountain with the Dasyns, hostile to the world; but Agni split the mountain
open with his tongue, his ray of light penetrated into the darkness where the
liquids of nourishment were preserved, and through him they were brought to
the light of day, after Trita (in some passages of Rigveda identical with Vata)
had slain a giant monster and found the "cows of the son of the work-master"
(cp. Rigveda, v. 14, 4; viii. 61, 4-8 ; x. 8, 6-9). "The cows of the son of the
work-master" is a paraphrase for the saps of nourishiment. In the Teutonic
mythology theme is also "a son of the work-master," who is robbed of the
mead. Fjalar is a son of Surt, whose character as an ancient artist is evident
from what is stated in Nos. 53 and 89.
By friction Mataricvan brought Agni out of the maternal wombs in which he
was concealed as an embryo of light and warmth. Heimdal was born to life in
a similar manner. His very place of nativity indicates this. His niothers have
their abodes vid jardar þraurn (Hyndl., 35) near the edge of the earth, on the
outer rim of the earth, amid that is where they gave him life (báru þann man
vid jardar þraum). His niothers are giaintesses (iotna meyjar), and nine in
number. We have already found giantesses, nine in number, mentioned as
having their activity on the outer edge of the earth—namely, those who with
the mondull, the handle, turn the vast friction-mechanism, the world-mill of
Mundilfore. They are the níu brudir of Eyludr, "the Isle-grinder," mentioned by
Suaebjorn (see above). These nine giant-maids, who along the outer zone of
the earth (fyrir jordar skauti) push the mill’s sweep before themselves and
grind the coasts of the islands, are the same nine giant-maids who on the
outer zone of the earth gave birth to Heimdal, the god of the friction-fire.
Hence one of Heimdal’s mothers is in Hyndluljod called Angeyja, "she who
makes the islands closer," and another one is called Eyrgjafa, "she who gives
sandbanks ". Mundilfori, who is the father of Sol and Mane, and has the care
of the motions of the starry heavens is accordingly also, though in another
sense, the father of Heimdal the pure, holy fire to whom the glittering objects
in the skies must naturally be regarded as akin.
In Hyndluljod (37) Heimdal’s nine giant-mothers are named:
Gjálp Greip, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, Ulfrun, Angeyja, Imdr, Atla, Jarnsaxa. The first
two are daughters of the fire-giant Geirrod (Younger Edda, i. 288). To fire
refers also Imdr, from im, embers. Two of the names, Angeyja and Eyrgjafa,
as already shown, indicate the occupation of these giantesses in connection
with the world-null. This is presumably also the case with Járnsaxa, "she who
crushes the iron ". The iron which our heathien fathers worked was produced
from the sea- and swamp-iron mixed with sand and clay, and could therefore
properly be regarded as a grist of the world-mill.
Heimdal’s antithesis in all respects, and therefore also his constant opponent
in the mythological epic, is Loki, he too a fire-being, but representing another
side of this element. Natural agents such as fire, water, wind, cold, heat, and
thunder have in the Teutonic mythology a double aspect. When they work in
harmony, each within the limits which are fixed by the welfare of the world and
the happiness of man, then they are sacred forces and are represented by the
gods. But when these limits are transgressed, giants are at work, and the
turbulent elements are represented by beings of giant-race. This is also true of
thunder, although it is the common view among mythologists that it was
regarded exclusively as a product of Thor’s activity. The genuine mythical
conception was, however, that the thunder which purifies the atmosphere and
fertilises the thirsty earth with showers of rain, or strikes down the foes of
Midgard, came from Thor; while that which splinters the sacred trees, sets fire
to the woods and houses, and kills men that have not offended the gods,
came from the foes of the world. The blaze-element (see No. 35) was not only
in the possession of the gods, but also in that of the giants (Skirnersmal), and
the lightning did not proceed alone fronn Mjolner, but was also found in
Hrungner’s hein and in Geiri’od’s glowing javelin. The conflicts between Thor
and the giants were not only on terra firma, as when Thor made an expedition
on foot to Jotunheim, but also in the air. There were giant-horses that were
able to wade with force and speed through the atmosphere, as, for instance,
Hrungner’s Gullfaxi (Younger Edda, i. 270), and these giant-horses with their
shining manes, doubtless, were expected to carry their riders to the lightningconflict in space against the lightning-hurler, Thor. The thunderstorm was
frequently a vig þrimu, a conflict between thundering beings, in which the
lightnings hurled by the ward of Midgai’d, the son of Hlodyn, crossed the
lightnings hurled by the foes of Midgard.
Loki and his brothers Helblindi and Byl-eistr are the children of a giant of this
kind, of a giant representing the hurricane and thunder. The rain-torrents and
waterspouts of the hurricane, which directly or indirectly became wedded to
the sea through the swollen streams, gave birth to Helblinde, who,
accordingly, received Rán as his "maid" (Yngl., 51). The whirlwind inn the
hurricane received as his ward Byleistr, whose name is composed of bylr,
"whirlwind," and eistn’, " the one dwelling in the east " (the north), a
paraphrase for "giant". A thunderbolt fn’om the hurricane gave birth to Loki.
His father is called Fárbauti, "the one inflicting harm," and his mother is
Laufey, "the leaf-isle," a paraphrase for the tree-crown (Younger Edda, 104,
268). Thus Loki is the son of the burning and destructive lightning, the son of
him who particularly inflicts damaging blows on the sacred oaks (see No. 36)
and sets fire to the groves. But the violence of the father does not appear
externally in the son’s character. He long prepares the conflagration of the
world in secret, and not until he is put in chains does he exhibit, by the
earthquakes he produces, the wild passion of his giant nature. As a fire-being,
he was conceived as handsome and youthful. From an ethical point of view,
the impurity of the flame which he represents is manifested by his
unrestrained sensuousness. After he had been for ever exiled from the society
of the gods and had been fettered in his cave of torture, his exterior, which
was in the beginning beautiful, became transformed into an expression of his
intrinsic wickedness, and his hair grew out in the form of horny spears (see
above). In this too he reveals himself as a counterpart of Heimdal, whose
helmet is ornamented with a glittering ram’s-horn.
83.
MUNDILFORE’S IDENTITY WITH LODUR.
The position which we have found Mundilfore to occupy indicates that,
although not belonging to the powers dwelling in Asgard, he is one of the chief
gods of the Teutonic mythology. All natural phenomena, which appear to
depend on a fixed mechanical law and not on the initiative of any mighty will
momentarily influencing the events of the world, seem to have been referred
to his care. The mythology of the Teutons, like that of the RigvedaAryans, has
had gods of both kinds—gods who particularly represent that order in the
physical and moral world which became fixed in creation, and which, under
normal conditions, remain entirely uniform, and gods who particularly
represent the powerful temporary interference for the purpose of restoring this
order when it has been disturbed, and for the purpose of giving protection and
defence to their worshippers in times of trouble and danger. The latter are in
their very nature war-gods always ready for battle, such as Vita and Indra in
Rigveda, Odin and Thor-Indride in the Eddas; and they have their proper
abode in a group of fortified celestial citadels like Asgard, whence they have
their out-look upon the world they have to protect—the atmosphere and
Midgard. The former, on the other hand, have their natural abode in
Jormungrund’s outer zone and in the lower world, whence the world-tree
grew, and where the fountains are found whose liquids penetrate creation,
and where that wisdom had its source of which Odin only, by self-sacrifice,
secured a part. Down there dwell, accordingly, Urd and Mimir, Nat and Dag,
Mundilfore with the dises of the sun and the moon, Delling, the genius of the
glow of dawn, and Billing, the genius of the blushing sunset. There dwell the
smiths of antiquity who made the chariots of the sun and moon and smithied
the treasures of vegetation. There dwell the nidjar who represent the moon’s
waxing and waning; there the seven sons of Mimir who represent the
changing seasons (see No. 87). Mundilfore is the lord of the regular
revolutions of the starry firmament, and of the regular rising and sinking of the
sea in its ebb and flood. He is the father of the dises of the sun and moon,
who make their celestial journeys according to established laws; and, finally,
he is the origin of the holy fire; he is father of Heimdal, who introduced among
men a systematic life in homes fixed and governed by laws. As the father of
Heimdal, the Vana-god, Mundilfore is himself a Vana-god, belonging to the
oldest branch of this race, and in all probability one of those "wise rulers" who,
according to Vafthrudnersmal, "created Njord in Vanaheim and sent him as a
hostage to the gods (the Asas)".
Whence came the clans of the Vans and the Elves? It should not have
escaped the notice of the mythologists that the Teutonic theogony, as far as it
is known, mentions only two progenitors of the mythological races— Yimir and
Bure. From Yimir develop the two very different races of giants, the offspring
of his arms and that of his feet (see No. 86)—in other words, the noble race to
which the norns Mimir and Beistla belong, and the ignoble, which begins with
Thrudgelmer. Bure gives birth to Burr (Bor), and the latter has three sons—
Odinn, Vei (Ve), and Vili (Vilir). Unless Bure had more sons, the Van- and Elfclans have no other theogonic source than the same as the Asa-clan, namely,
Burr. That the hierologists of the Teutonic mythology did not leave the origin of
these clans unexplained we are assured by the very existence of a Teutonic
theogony, together with the circumstance that the more thoroughly our
mythology is studied the more clearly we see that this mythology has desired
to answer every question which could reasonably be asked of it, and in the
course of ages it developed into a systematic and epic whole with clear
outlines sharply drawn in all details. To this must be added the important
observation that Vei and Vili, though brothers of Odin, are never counted
among the Asas proper, and had no abode in Asgard. It is manifest that Odin
himself with his sons founds the Asa-race, that, in other words, he is a clanfounder in which this race has its chieftain, and that his brothers, for this very
reason, could not be included in his clan. There is every reason to assume
that they, like him, were clan-founders; and as we find besides the Asa-clan
two other races of gods, this of itself makes it probable that Odin’s two
brothers were their progenitors and clan-chieftains.
Odin’s brothers, like himself, had many names. When Völuspa says that Odin,
in the creation of man, was assisted by Homier and Loder, and when the
Younger Edda (i. 52) says that, on this occasion, he was attended by his
brothers, who just before (i. 46) are called Ve and Vile, then these are only
different names of the same powers. Honer and Loder are Ve and Vile. It is a
mistake to believe that Odin’s brothers were mythical ghosts without
characteristic qualities, and without prominent parts in the mythological events
after the creation of the world and of man, in which we know they took an
active part (Völuspa, 4, 16, 17). The assumption that this was the case
depends simply upon the fact that they have not been found mentioned
among the Asas, and that our records, when not investigated with proper
thoroughness, and when the mythological synonymies have not been carefully
examined, seem to have so little to say concerning them.
Danish genealogies, Saxo’s included, which desin’e to go further back in the
genealogy of the Skjoldungs than to Skjold, the eponym of the race, mention
before him a King Lotherus. There is no doubt that Lotherus, like his
descendants, Skjold, Halfdan, and Hadding, is taken from the mythology. But
in our mythic records there is only one name of which Lotherus can be a
Latinised form, and this name is, as Muller (Notae ulterior ad Saxonis Hist.)
has already pointed out, Lourr.
It has above been demonstrated (see Nos. 20, 21, 22) that the
anthopomorphous Vana-god Heimdal was by Vana-gods sent as a child to the
primeval Teutonic country, to give to the descendants of Ask and Embla the
holy fire, tools, and implements, the runes, the laws of society, and the rules
for religious worship. It has been demonstrated that, as an anthropomorphous
god and first patriarch, he is identical with Scef-Rig, the Scyld of the Beowulf
poem, that he becomes the father of the other original patriarch Skjold, and
the grandfather of Halfdan. It has likewise been demonstrated (No. 82) that
Heimdal, the personified sacred fire, is the son of the fire-producer (by friction)
Mundilfore, in the same manner as Agni is the son of Mataricvan. From all this
it follows that when the authors of mythic genealogies related as history wish
to get further back in the Skjoldung genealogy than to the Beowulf Skjold, that
is to say, further back than to the original patriarch Heimdal, then they must go
to that mythic person who is Heimdal’s father, that is to say, to Mundilfore, the
fire-producer. Mundilfore is the one who appears in the Latinised name
Lotherus. In other words, Mundilfore, the fire-producer, is Lodurr. For the
name Lourr there is no other rational explanation than that which Jacob
Grimm, without knowing his position in the epic of mythology, has given,
comparing the name with the verb lodern, "to blaze ". Lourr’ is active in its
signification, "he who causes or produces the blaze," and thus refers to the
origin of fire, particularly of the friction-fire and of the bore-fire.
Further on (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 121, 123) I shall give an account of the ward of
the atmosphere, Gevarr (Nökkvi, Næfr), and demonstrate that he is identical
with Mundilfore, the revolver of the starry firmament. All that Saxo tells about
Lotherus is explained by the character of the latter as the chieftain of a Vanaclan, and by his identity with Mundilfori-Gevarr. As a chieftain of the Vans he
was their leader when the war broke out between the Asas on the one side,
and the Vans and Elves on the other. The banishment of Odin and the Asas
by the Vans causes Saxo to say that Lotherus banished from the realm
persons who were his equals in noble birth (nobilitate pares), and whom he
regarded as competitors in regard to the government. It is also stated that he
took the power from an elder brother, but spared his life, although he robbed
him of the sceptre. The brother here referred to is not, however, Odin, but
Hænir (Vei). The character of the one deposed is gentle and without any
greed for rule like that by which Honer is known. Saxo says of him that lie so
patiently bore the injustice done him that he seemed to be pleased therewith
as with a kindness received (ceterum injuriæ tam patiens fuit, ut honoris
damno tanquam beneficio gratulari crederetur). The reason why Honer, at the
outbreak of the war with the Asas, is deposed from his dignity as the ruler of
Vanaheim and is succeeded by Loder, is explained by the fact that he, like
Mimir, remained devoted to the cause of Odin. In spite of the confused
manner in which the troubles between the Asas and Vans are presented in
Heimskringla, it still appears that, before the war between the Asas amid
Vans, Honer was the chief of the latter on account of an old agreement
between the two god-clans; that he then always submitted to the counsels of
the wise Mimir, Odin’s friend; that Minier lost his life in the service of Odin, and
that the Vans sent his head to Odin; and, finally, that, at the outbreak of the
feud with the Asas and after the death of Mimir, they looked upon Honer as
unqualified to be their judge and leader. Thus Loder becomes after Honer the
ruler of Vanaheim and the chieftain of the Vans, while the Vans Njord, Frey,
and the Elf Ull, who had already been adopted in Asgard, administer the
affairs of the rest of the world. To the mythical circumstance, that Honer lost
his throne and his power points also Voluspa, the poem restoring to the gentle
and patient Vana-god, after the regeneration, the rights of which he had been
robbed, þa kná Haenir hlautvid kjosa (str. 60). "Then Honer becomes able to
choose the lot-wood," that is to say, he is permitted to determine and indicate
the fortunes of those consulting the oracle; in other words, then he is again
able to exercise the rights of a god. In the Eddas, Honer appears as Odin’s
companion on excursions from Asgard. Skaldskaparmal, which does not
seem to be aware that Honer was Odin’s brother, still is conscious that he was
intimately connected with him and calls him his sessi, sinni, and mali (Younger
Edda, i. 266). During the war between Asas and Vans, Frigg espoused the
cause of the Vans (see No. 36); hence Loki’s insulting words to her
(Lokasenna, 26), and the tradition in Heimskringla (Yngl., 3), that Vilir and Vei
took Frigg to themselves once when Odin was far away from Asgard.
Saxo makes Lotherus fall at the hands of conspirators. The explanation of this
statement is to be sought in Mundilföri-Gevarr’s fate, of which, see Nos. 91,
123.
Mundilfore’s character seems at least in one respect to be the opposite of
Honor’s. Gylfaginning speaks of his ofdrambi, his pride, founded, according to
this record, on the beauty of his children. Saxo mentions the insolentia of
Lotherus, and one of his surnames was Dulsi, the proud. See No. 89, where a
strophe is quoted, in which the founder of the Swedish Skilfing race (the
Ynglings) is called Dulsa konr, Dulse’s descendant. As was shown above in
the account of the myth about Scef, the Skjoldungs, too, are Skilfings. Both
these branches of the race have a common origin; and as the genealogy of
the Skjoldungs can be traced back to Heimdal, and beyond him to Mundilfore,
it must be this personality who is mentioned for his ofdrambi, that bears the
surname Dulsi.
With Odin, Vei-Honer and Vili-Lodur-Mundilfori have participated in the
shaping of the world as well as in the creation of man. Of the part they took in
the latter act, and of the importance they thereby acquired in the mythical
anthropology, and especially in the conceptions concerning the continued
creation of man by generation and birth, see No. 95.
84
NAT, THE MOTHER OF THE GODS.
It has already been shown above that Nat, the mother of the gods, has her
hall in the northern part of Mimir’s realm, below the southern slopes of the
Nida mountains.
There lnas been, and still is, an interpretation of the myths as symbols. Light
is regarded as the symbol of moral goodness, and darkness as that of moral
evil. That there is something psychologically correct in this cannot be denied;
but in regard to the Aryan religious the assumption would lead to a great error,
if, as we might be tempted to do, we should make night identical with
darkness, and should refer her to the world of evil. In the mythologies of the
Rigveda-Aryans and of the Teutons, Nat is an awe-inspiring, adorable, noble,
and beneficent being. Night is said in Rigveda "to have a fair face, to increase
riches, and to be one of the mothers of order ". None of the phenomena of
nature seemed to the Teutons evil per se; only when they transgressed what
was thought to be their lawful limits, and thus produced injury and harm, were
giant-powers believed to be active therein. Although the Teutonic gods are in
a constant; more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost, still winter,
when it observes its limits of tinne, is not an evil but a good divinity, and the
cold liquids of Hvergelmer mixed with those of Urd’s and Mimcr’s fountains
are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could night be referred to the domain
of demons. Mother Nat never transgresses the s of her power; she never
defies the sacred laws, which are established for the order of the universe.
According to the seasons of the year, she divides in an unvarying manner the
twenty-four hours between herself and day. Work and rest niust alternate with
each other. Rich in blessing, night comes with solace to the weary, and seeks
if possible to sooth the sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in
appearance (Gylfy., 10), still she is the friend of light. She decorates herself
with lunar effulgence and with starry splendour, with winning twilight in
midsummer, and with the light of snow and of northern aurora in the winter.
The following lines in Sigrdrifumal (str., 3 4) sound like a reverberation from
the lost liturgic hymns of our heathendom.
Heill Dagr,
heilir Dags synir,
Hail Dag,
Hail Dag’s sons,
heil Nott ok Nipt!
Oreiþom augom
litiþ ocr þinig
oc gefit sitiondom regr!
Heilir aesir,
heilar asynjor,
heil sia in fiolnyta fold!
Hail Nat and Nipt!
Look down upon us
With benovolent eyes
And give victory to
thesitting!
Hail Asas,
Hail Asynjes,
Hail bounteous earth!
Of the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tacitus writes (Germ., 3):
"They do not, as we, compute time by days but by nights, night seems to lead
the day " (nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant: nox ducere
diem videtur). This was applicable to the Scandinavians as far down as a
thousand years later. Time was computed by nights not by days, and in the
phrases from heathen times, nótt ok dagr, nótt med degi, bæi um naetr oh urn
daga, night is named before day. Linguistic usage and mythology are here
intimately associated with each other. According to Vafthrudnersmal (25) and
Gylfaginning (10), Nat bore with Delliag the son Dag, with whom she divided
the administration of the twenty-four hours. Delling is the elf of the morning
red (see No. 35). The symbolism of nature is here distinct as in all theogonies.
Through other divinities, Naglfari and Onarr (Anarr, Aunarr), Nat is the mother
with the former of Unnr (Udr), also called Audr, with the latter of the goddess
Jord, Odin’s wife. Unnr means water, Audr means rich. It has above been
shown that Unnr-Audr is identical with Njord, the lord of wealth and
commerce, who in the latter capacity became the protectors of navigators,
and to whom sacrifices were offered for a prosperous voyage. Gods of all
clans—Asas, Vans, and Elves—are thus akin to Nat, and are descended from
her.
85
NARFI, NAT’S FATHER, IDENTICAL WITH MIMIR. A PSEUDO-NARFI IN
THE YOUNGER EDDA.
Nat herself is the daughter of a being whose name has many forms.
Naurr, Norr (dative Naurvi, Norvi, Noti var Naurvi borin— Vafthrudnersmal, 25
; Nott. Naurvi kenda— Alvism., 29).
Narfi, Narvi (niderfi Narfa—Egil Skallagr., 56, 2; Gylfag., 10).
Norvi, Norvi (Gylfag., 10; kund Norva—Forspjallsl., 7).
Njörfi, Njörvi (Gylfag., 10; Njörva nipt—Sonatorr.).
Nori (Gylfag., 10),
Nari (Höfudl., 10).
Neri (Helge Hund., 1).
All these variations are derived from the same original appellation, related to
the Old Norse verb njörva, the Old English nearwian meaning "the one that
binds," "the one who puts on tight-fitting bonds ".
Simply the circumstance that Narvi is Nat’s father proves that he must have
occupied one of the most conspicuous positions in the Teutonic cosmogony.
In all cosmogonies and theogonies night is one of the oldest beings, older
than light, without which it cannot be conceived. Light is kindled in the
darkness, thus foreboding an important epoch in the development of the world
out of chaos. The being which is night’s father must therefore be counted
among the oldest in the cosmogony. The personified representatives of water
and earth, like the day, ate the children of his daughter.
What Gylfaginning tells of Narve is that he was of giant birth, and the first one
who inhabited Jotunheim (Norvi eda Narfi het jötun, er bygdi fyrst
Jotunheirna—Gylfag., 10). In regard to this we must remember that, in
Gylfaginning and in the traditions of the Icelandic sagas, the lower world is
embraced in the term Jotunheim, and this for mythical reasons, since
Nifelheim is inhabited by rimthurses and giants (see No. 60), and since the
regions of bliss are governed by Mimir and by the norns, who also are of giant
descent. As the father of the lower-world dis, Nat, Narve himself belongs to
that group of powers, with which the mythology peopled the lower world. The
upper Jotunheim did not exist before in a later epoch of the cosmogonic
development. It was created simultaneously with Midgard by Odin and his
brothers (Gylfaginning).
In a strophe by Egil Skallagrimson (ch. 56), poetry, or the source of poetry, is
called niderfi Narfa, "the inheritance left by Narve to his descendants ". As is
well known, Mimir’s fountain is the source of poetry. The expression indicates
that the first inhabitant of the lower world, Narve. also presided over the
precious fountain of wisdom and inspiration, and that he died and left it to his
descendants as an inheritance.
Finally, we learn that Narve was a near kinsman to Urd and her sisters. This
appears from the following passages:
(a) Helge Hundingsbane (1, 3, ff.). When Helge was born norns came in the
night to the abode of his parents, twisted the threads of his fate, stretched
them from east to west, and fastened them beneath the hail of the moon. One
of the threads nipt Nera cast to the north and bade it hold for ever. It is
manifest that by Nere’s (Narve’s) kinswoman is meant one of the norns
present.
b. Sonatorr. (str. 24). The skald Egil Skallagrimson, weary of life, closes his
poem by saying that he sees the dis of death standing on the ness (Digraness)
near the grave-mound which conceals the dust of his father and of his sons,
and is soon to receive him:
Tveggja baga
Njörva nipt
a nesi stendr.
Skal ek þó gladr
med gódan vilja
ok uhryggr
Heljar bida.
The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder)
of Odin’s (Tvegge’s) foes
stands on the ness.
Then shall I glad,
with a good will,
and without remorse,
wait for Hel.
It goes without saying that the skald means a dis of death, Urd or one of her
messengers, with the words, "The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder) of Odin’s
foes," whom he with the eye of presentiment sees standing on the family
grave-mound on Digraness. She is not to stop there, but she is to continue her
way to his hall, to bring him to the grave-mound. He awaits her coming with
gladness, and as the last line shows, she whose arrival he awaits is Hel, the
goddess of death or fate. It has already been demonstrated that Hel in the
heathen records is always identical with Urd.
Njorve is here used both as a proper and a common noun. "The kinswoman of
the Njorve of Odin’s foes" means "the kinswoman of the binder of Odin’s foes
". Odin’s foe Fenrer was bound with an excellent chain smithied in the lower
world (dwarfs in svartalfheimr—Gylfag., 37), and as shall be sbown later,
there are more than one of Odin’s foes who are bound with Narve’s chains
(see No. 87).
(c) Hofudlausn (str. 10). Egil Skallagrimson celebrates in song a victory won
by Erik Blood-axe, and says of the battle-field that there trad nipt Nara
náttverd ara (" Nare’s kinswoman trampled upon the supper of the eagles,"
that is to say, upon the dead bodies of the fallen). The psychopomps of
disease, of age, and of misfortunes have nothing to do on a battle-field.
Thither come valkyries to fetch the elect. Nipt Nara must therefore be a
valkyrie, whose horse tramples upon the heaps of dead bodies; and as Egil
names only one shield-maid of that kind, he doubtless has had the most
representative, the most important one in mind. That one is Skuld, Urd’s
sister, and thus a nipt Nara like Urd herself.
(d) Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, ch. 20). Of King Dygve, who died from disease,
it is said that jódis Narva (jódis Nara) chose him. The right to choose those
who die from disease belongs to the norns alone (see No. 69). Jódis, a word
doubtless produced by a vowel change from the Old Germanic idis, has
already in olden times been interpreted partly as horse-dis (from jór’, horse),
partly as the dis of one’s kin (from jo, child, offspring). In this case the skald
has taken advantage of both significations. He calls the death-dis ulfa ok
Narva jódis, the wolf’s horse-dis, Narve’s kin-dis. In regard to the former
signification, it should be remembered that the wolf is horse for all giantesses,
the honoured norns not excepted. Cp. grey nor’na as a paraphrase for wolf.
Thus what our mythic records tell us about Narve is:
(a) He is one of the oldest beings of theogouy, older than the upper part of the
world constructed by Bur’s sons.
(b) He is of giant descent.
(c) He is father of Nat, father-in-law of Nagelfar, Onar, and of Delling, the elf of
the rosy dawn; and he is the father of Dag’s mother, of Unnr, and of the
goddess Jord, who becomes Odin’s wife and Thor’s mother. Bonds of kinship
thus connect him with the Asas and with gods of other ranks.
(d) He is near akin to the dis of fate and death, Urd and her sisters. The word
nipt, with which Urd’s relation to him is indicated, nnay mean sister, daughter,
and sister’s daughter, and consequently does not state which particular one of
these it is. It seems upon the whole to have been applied well-nigh exclusively
mu regard to mythic persons, and particularly in regard to Urd and her sisters
(cp. above: Njörva nipt, nipt Nara, nipt Nera), so that it almost acquired the
meaning of dis or norn. This is evident from Skaldskaparmal, ch. 75: Nornir
heita þaer er naud skapa; Nipt ok Dis nu eru taldar, and from the expression
Heil Nótt ok Nipt in the above-cited strophe from Sigrdrifumal. There is every
reason for assuming that the Nipt, which is here used as a proper noun, in this
sense means the dis of fate and as an appellation of kinship, a kinswoman of
Nat. The common interpretation of heil Nótt ok Nipt is "hail Nat and her
daughter," and by her daughter is then meant the goddess Jord; but this
interpretation is, as Bugge has shown, less probable, for the goddess Jord
immediately below gets her special greeting in the words : heil sia in fiolnyta
Fold! (" hail the bounteous earth !")
(e) As the father of Nat, living in Mimir’s realm, and kinsman of Urd, who with
Mimir divides the dominion over the lower world, Narve is himself a being of
the lower world, and the oldest subterranean being: the first one who
inhabited Jotunheim.
(f) He presided over the subterranean fountain of wisdom and inspiration, that
is to say, Mimir’s fountain.
(g) He was Odin’s friend and the binder of Odin’s foes.
(h) He died and left his fountain as a heritage to his descendants.
As our investigation progresses it will be found that all these facts concerning
Narve apply to Mimir, that "he who thinks" (Mimir) and "he who binds" (Narve)
are the same person. Already the circumstances that Narve was an ancient
being of giant descent, that he dwelt in the lower world and was the possessor
of the fountain of wisdom there, that he was Odin’s friend, and that he died
and left his fountain as an inheritance (cp. Mims synir), point definitely to
Narve’s and Mimir’s identity. Thus the Teutonic theogony has made Thought
the older kinsman of Fate, who through Nat bears Dag to the world. The
people of antiquity made their first steps toward a philosophical view of the
world in their theogony.
The Old English language has preserved and transferred to the Christian
Paradise a name which originally belonged to the subterranean region of bliss
of heathendom—Neorxenavang. Vang means a meadow, plain, field. The
mysterious Neorxena looks like a gentive plural. Grein, in his Anglo-Saxon
Dictionary, and before him Weinhold, refers neorxena to Narve, Nare, and this
without a suspicion that Narve was an epithet of Mimir and referred to the king
of the heathen regions of bliss. I consider this an evidence that Grein’s
assumption is as correct as it is necessary, if upon the whole we are to look
for an etymological explanation of the word. The plural genitive, then, means
those who inhabit Narve’s regions of bliss, and receive their appellation from
this circumstance. The opposite Old Norse appellation is njarir, a word which I
shall discuss below.
To judge from certain passages in Christian writings of the thirteenth century,
Mimir was not alone about the name Narve, Nare. One or two of Loki’s sons
are supposed to have had the same name. The statements in this regar(l
demand investigation, and, as I think, this will furnish another instructive
contribution to the chapter on the confusion of the mythic traditions, and on
the part that the Younger Edda plays in this respect. The passages are:
(a) The prosaic afterword to Lokasenna: "He (Loki) was bound with the
entrails of his son Nan, but his son Narfi was turned into a wolf".
(b) Gylfaginning, ch. 33. (1) Most of the codices: "His (Loki’s) wife is hight
Sygin; their son is Nan or Narvi ".
(2) Codex Hypnonesiensis: "His (Loki’s) wife is hight Sygin; his Sons are bight
Nan or Narvi and Vali ".
(c) Gylfaginning, ch. 50. (1) Most of the codices: "Then were taken Loki’s
Sons Vali and Nari or Narfi. The Asas changed Vali into a wolf, and the latter
tore into pieces his brother Narfi. Then the Asas took his entrails and
therewith bound Loki."
(2) Codex Upsalensis: "Then were taken Loki’s sons Vali and
Nari. The Asas changed Vali into a wolf, and the latter tore into pieces his
brother Nan."
(d) Skaldskaparmal, ch. 16. (1) "Loki is the father of the wolf Fenrer, the
Midgard-serpent, and Hel, ‘and also of Nari and Ali '."
(2) Codex Wormianus and Codex Hypnonesiensis, 3: "Loki is father of the
Fenris-wolf, of the Midgard-serpent, and of Hel, ‘and also of Nan and Vali’ ".
The mythology has stated that Loki was bound with chains which were
originally entrails, and that he who contributed the materials of these chains
was his own son, who was torn into pieces by his brother in wolf guise. It is
possible that there is something symbolic in this myth—that it originated in the
thought that the forces created by evil contend with each other and destroy
their own parent. There is at least no reason for doubting that this account is a
genuine myth, that is to say, that it comes from a heathen source and from
some heathen poem.
But, in regard to the names of Loki’s two sons here in question, we have a
perfect right to doubt.
We discover at once tine contradictions betrayed by the records in regard to
them. The discrepancy of the statements can best be shown by the following
comparisons. Besides Fenrer, the Midgardserpent, and Hel, Loki has,
according to:
Gylfaginning, 33:
the son Nari,
also called Narfi.
(No other son is name
The Prose added to
the son Nari,
……………….
and the son Narfi.
the son Nari,
also called Narvi.
and the son Vali;
the son Nari,
also called Narfi,
and the son Vali;
the son Nari,
……………….
and the son Ali;
Nari
is torn into pieces by
Narfi
Nari-Narfi
is torn into pieces by
Vali.
Lokasenna:
Codex Hypnon / (Gylfag., 33):
Gylfaginning, ch. 50:
Skaldskaparmal ch. 16:
The Prose added to
Lokasenna:
Gylfaginning:
The discrepancy shows that the author of these statements did not have any
mythic song or mythic tradition as the source of all these names of Loki’s
sons.
The matter becomes even more suspicious when we find— That the
variations Nare and Narve, both of which belong to one of the foremost and
noblest of mythic beings, namely, to Mimir, are here applied in such a manner
that they either are given to two sons of Loki or are attributed to one and the
same Loki-son, while in the latter case it happens—
That the names Vale and Ale, which both belong to the same Asa-god and
son of Odin who avenged the death of his brother Balder, are both attributed
to the other son of Loki. Compare Gylfaginning, oh. 30 : Vali eda Ali heitir einn
(Assin) sonr Odins ok Rindar.
How shall we explain this ? Such an application of these names must
necessarily produce the suspicion of some serious mistake; but we cannot
assume that it was made wilfully. The cause must be found somewhere.
It has already been demonstrated that, in the mythology, Urd, the dis of fate,
was also the dis of death and the ruler of the lower world, and that the
functions belonging to her in this capacity were, in Christian times, transferred
to Loki’s daughter, who, together with her functions, usurped her name Hel.
Loki’s daughter and Hel became to the Christian niythographers identical.
An inevitable result was that such expressions as nipt Nara, jódis Narfa, nipt
Njörva, had to change meaning. The nipt Njörva, whom the aged Egil saw
standing near the grave-mound on Digraness, and whose arrival he awaited
"with gladness and goodwill," was no longer the death-dis Urd, but became to
the Christian interpreters the abominable daughter of Loki who came to fetch
the old heathen. The nipt Nan’a, whose horse trampled on the battlefield
where Erik Blood-axe defeated the Scots, was no longer Urd’s sister, the
valkyrie Skuld, but became Loki’s daughter, although, even according to the
Christian mythographers, the latter had nothing to do on a battle-field. The
jódis Nan fa, who chose King Dygve, was confounded with Loka mær, who
had him leikinn (see No. 67), but who, according to the heathen conception,
was a maidservant of fate, without the right of choosing. To the heathens nipt
Nara, nipt Njörva, jódis Narfa, meant "Nare-Mimir’s kinswoman Urd ". To the
mythographers of the thirteenth century it must, for the reason stated, have
meant the Loki-daughter as sister of a certain Nare or Narve. It follows that
this Nare or Narve ought to be a son of Loki, since his sister was Loki’s
daughter. It was known that Loki, besides Fenrer amid the Midgard-serpent,
had two other sons, of which the one in the guise of a wolf tore the other into
pieces. In Nare, Narve, the name of one or the names of both these Loki-sons
were thought to have been found.
The latter assumption was made by the author of the prose in Lokasenna. He
conceived Nare to be the one brother and Narve the other. The author of
Gylfaginning, on the other hand, rightly regarded Nare and Narve as simply
variations of the same name, and accordingly let them designate the same
son of Loki. When he wrote chapter 33, he did not know what name to give to
the other, and consequently omitted him entirely. But when he got to the 50th
chapter, a light had risen for him in regard to the name of the other. And the
light doubtless came from the following half strophe in Völuspa:
þa kna vala vigbond snua, helldi voru hardgior hoft or þormum.
This half strophe says that those were strong chains (for Loki) that were made
of entrails, and these fetters were "twisted" from "Vale’s vigbönd ". Vig as a
legal term means a murder, slaughter. Vala vig was interpreted as a murder
comitted by Vale; and Vala vigbond as the bonds or fetters obtained by the
slaughter committed by Vale. It was known that Loki was chained with the
entrails of his son, and here it was thought to appear that this son was slain by
a certain Vale. And as he was slain by a brother according to the myth, then
Vale must be the brother of the slain son of Loki. Accordingly chapter 50 of
Gylfaginning could tell us what chapter 33 did not yet know, namely, that the
two sons of Loki were named Vale and Nare or Narve, and that Vale changed
to a wolf, tore the brother "Nare or Narve" into pieces.
The next step was taken by Skaldskaparmal, or more probably by one of the
transcribers of Skaldskaparmal. As Vale and Ale in the mythology designated
the same person (viz., Balder’s avenger, the son of Odin), the son of Loki,
changed into a wolf, "Vale" received as a gift the name " Ale ". It is by no
means impossible that the transcriber regarded Balder’s avenger, Vale, and
the son of Loki as identical. ‘the oldest manuscript we have of Skaldskaparmal
is the Upsala Codex, which is no older than the beginning of the fourteenth
century. The mythic traditions were then in the continuation of that rapid decay
which had begun in the eleventh century, and not long thereafter the Icelandic
saga writings saw Valhal peopled by giants and all sorts of monsters, which
were called einherjes, and Thor himself transferred to the places of torture
where he drank venom from "the auroch’s horn," presented to him by the
daughter of Loki.
In the interpretation of the above-cited half strophe of Voluspa, we must
therefore leave out the supposed son of Loki, Vale. The Teutonic mythology,
like the other Aryan mythologies, applied many names and epithets to the
same person, but it seldom gave two or more persons one and the same
name, unless the latter was a patronymic or, in other respects, of a general
character. There was not more than one Odin, one Thor, one Njord, one
Heimdal, one Loki, and there is no reason for assuming that there was more
than one Vale, namely, the divine son of this name. Of Balder’s brother Vale
we know that he was born to avenge the slaying of Balder. His impatience to
do that which he was called to perform is expressed in the mythology by the
statement, that he liberated himself from the womb of his mother before the
usual time (Baldrs brodir var af borinn snemma—Völuspa), and only one night
old he went to slay Hodr. The bonds which confine the impatient one in his
mother’s womb were his vigbond, the bonds which hindered him from combat,
and these bonds were in the most literal sense of the word ór þormum. As
Loki’s bonds are made of the same material and destined to hinder him from
combat with the gods until Ragnarok, and as his prison is in the wonib of the
earth, as Vale’s was in that of the earth-goddess Rind’s, then Vala vigbond as
a designation of Loki’s chains is both logically and poetically a satisfactory
paraphrase, and the more in order as it occurs in connection with the
description of the impending Ragnarok, when Loki by an earthquake is to
sever his fetters and hasten to the conflict.
86
THE TWO GIANT CLANS DESCENDED FROM YMER.
In Havamal (140, ff.), Odin says that he in his youth obtained nine fimbulsongs and a drink of the precious mead dipped out of Odrerer from Beyzla’s
father, Bolþorn’s famous son:
Fimbulliód nio nam ec af enom fregia syni Baulþorns Beyzlu faudur oc ce dryc
of gat ens dyra miadar ausinn Odreri.
The mythologists have assumed, for reasons that cannot be doubted, that
Bolthorn’s famous son, Beistla’s brother, is identical with Mimir. No one else
than he presided at that time over the drink dipped out of Odrerer, the fountain
which conceals "wisdom and man’s .sense," and Sigrdrifumal (13, 14)
corroborates that it was from Mimir, and through a drink from "Hodrofner’s
horn," that Odin obtained wonderful runes and "true sayings".
Accordingly Mimir had a sister by name Beyzla (variations: Bestla, Besla,
Bezla). A strophe by Einar Skalaglam (Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2; cp. Gylfag., oh.
6) informs us that Beistla is Odin’s mother. Mimir’s disciple, the clan-chieftain
of the gods, is accordingly his sister’s son. Herein we have one more reason
for the faithful friendship which Mimir always showed to Odin.
The Mimir epithet Narfi, Narve, means, as shown above, "the one who binds ".
His daughter Nat is called draumnjörun, the dream-binder (Alvism., 31). His
kinswomen, the norns, spin and bind the threads and bonds, which, extended
throughout the world, weave together the web of events. Such threads and
bonds are called orlogdaettir (Helge Hund., i. 3), and Urdar lokur (Grogaldr.,
7). As the nearest kinswomen of Beistla all have epithets or tasks which refer
to the idea of binding, and when we add to this that Beistla’s sons and
descendants as gods have the epithet hopt and bond, her own name might
most properly be referred to the old word beizl, beisl (cp. betsel, bridle), which
has a similar meaning.
As Mimir and Beistla are of giant descent, and in the theogony belong to the
same stage of development as Bur (Burr), Odin’s father, then, as the
mythologists also have assumed, Bolthorn can be none else than Yimir.
Mimir, Beistla, the norns, and Nat thus form a group of kindred beings, which
belong to the oldest giant race, but still they are most definitely separated from
the other descendants of Yimir, as a higher race of giants from a lower, a
noble giant race friendly to the gods and fostering the gods, from that race of
deformed beings which bear children in the strangest manner, which are
hostile to the gods and to the world, and which are represented by the
rimthurses Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer and their offspring.
It now lies near at hand to inquire whether the mythology which attributed the
same father to Mimir and Thrudgelmer was unable to conceive in this
connection the idea of a nobler origin for the former than the latter. The
remedy nearest at hand would have been to have given them mothers of
different characters. But the mythology did not resort to this expedient. It is
expressly stated that Yimir bore children without the pleasure of woman
(gygiar gaman—Vafthrudnersmal, 32 ; cp. No. 60). Neither Mimir nor
Thrudgelmer had a mother. Under such circumstances there is another
expedient to which the sister of the Teutonic mythology, the Rigveda
mythology, has resorted, and which is explained in the 90th hymn of book x.
of Rigveda. The hymn informs us in regard to a primeval giant Parusha, and
this nnyth is so similar to the Teutonic in regard to Yimir that it must here be
considered.
The primeval being Parusha was a giant monster as large as the whole world,
and even larger (lines 1-5). The gods resolved to sacrifice him, that is to say,
to slay him for sacred purposes (1. 6), and from his limbs was created the
present world. From his navel was made the atmosphere, from his head the
canopy of heaven, from his two feet the earth, from his heart the moon, from
his eye the sun, from his breath tine wind, &c. His mouth became the brahma
(the priest), his arms became the rajanya (the warrior), his thighs became the
vaisya (the third free caste), and from his feet arose the sudra (the thrall, line
12).
The two fundamental ideas of the myth concerning Parusha are:
(1) There was a primeval being who was not divine. The gods slew him and
created the material world out of his limbs.
(2) This primeval being gave rise to other beings of different ranks, and their
rank corresponded with the position of the giant’s limbs from which they were
created.
Both these fundamental ideas reappear in the Teutonic myth concerning
Yimir. In regard to the former idea we need only to quote what
Vafthrudnersmal says in strophe 21:
Or Ymis holdi
var iord um scaupud,
en or beinom bjorg,
himinn or hausi
ins hrimkalda iotuns,
enn or sveita sior.
Of Yimir’s flesh
the world was shapen,
from his bones tine rocks,
the heavens from the head
of the ice-cold giant,
from his blood the sea.
In regard to the second fundamental idea, it is evident from the Rigveda
account that it is not there found in its oldest form, but that, after the rise of
four castes among the Rigveda Aryans, it was changed, in order to furnish an
explanation of the origin of these castes and make them at least as old as the
present material world. Far more original, and perfectly free from tine
influence of social ideas, it appears in the Teutonic mythology, where the 33rd
strophe of Vafthrudnersmal testifies concerning its character:
Undir hendi vaxa
quaþo hrimþursi
mey oc maug saman;
fótr vid fóti gat
ins froda iotuns
serhaufdaþan son.
A son and a daughter
are said to have been born together
under the rimthurse’s arm;
foot begat with foot
the strange-headed son
of the wise giant.
In perfect harmony with this Gylfaginning narrates: "Under Yimir’s left arm
grew forth a man and a woman, and his one foot begat with the other a son.
Thence come (different) races."
The different races have this in common, that they are giant races, since they
spring from Yimir; but these giant races must at the same time have been
widely different intellectually and physically, since the mythology gives them
different origins from different limbs of the progenitor. And here, as in
Rigveda, it is clear that the lowest race was conceived as proceeding from the
feet of the primeval giant. This is stated with sufficient distinctness in
Vafthrudnersmal, where we read that a "strangely-headed" monster
(Thrudgelmer—see No. 60) was born by them, while "man and maid" were
born under the arnn of the giant. "The man" and "the maid" must therefore
represent a noble race sprung from Yimir, and they can only be Mimir and his
sister, Odin’s mother. Mimir and his clan constitute a group of ancient powers,
who watch over the fountains of the life of the world and care for the
perpetuation of the world - tree. From them proceeded the oldest, fairest, and
most enduring parts of the creation. For the lower world was put in order and
had its sacred fountains and guardians before Bur’s sons created Midgard
and Asgard. Among them the world-tree grew up from its roots, whose source
no one knows (Havamal, 138). Among them those forces are active which
make the starry firmament revolve on its axis, and from them come the
seasons and the divisions of time, for Nat and nidjar, Mane and Sol, belong to
Mimir’s clan, and were in the morning of creation named by the oldest "high
holy gods," and endowed with the vocation árom at telja (Voluspa). From
Mimir comes the first culture, for in his fountain inspiration, spiritual power,
man’s wit and wisdom, have their source, and around him as chief stand
gathered the artists of antiquity by whose bands all things can be smithied into
living and wonderful things. Such a giant clan demands another origin than
that of the frost-giants and their offspring. As we learn from Vafthrndnersmal
that two giant races proceeded from Yimir, the one from a part of his body
which in a symbolic sense is more noble than that from which the other race
sprang, and that the race born of his feet was the ignoble one hostile to the
gods, then the conclusion follows of necessity that "the man and maid" who
were born as twins under Yimir’s arm became the founders of that noble
group of giants who are friendly to the gods, and which confront us in the
mythology of our fathers. It has already been shown above (see No. 54) that
Jima (Yama) in the Asiatic-Aryan mythology corresponds to Mimir in the
Teutonic. Jima is an epithet which means twin. The one with whom Jima was
born together was a maid, Yami. The words in the quoted Vafthrudnersmal
strophe, undir hendi hrimþursi vaxa mey ok maug saman, are evidence that
the Germans also considered Mimir and his sister as twins.
87.
THE IDENTITY OF MIMIR AND NIDHAD OF THE VOLUND SAGA.
The condition in which the traditions of the great Volund (Wayland) have come
down to our time is one of the many examples illustrating how, under the
influences of a change of faith, a myth disrobes itself of its purely mythical
character and becomes a heroic saga. The nature of the mythic traditions and
songs is not at once obliterated in the time of transition; there remain marks of
their original nature in some or other of the details as proof of what they have
been. Thus that fragment of a Volund saga, turned into an epic, which the Old
Norse literature has preserved for us in Volundarkvida, shows us that the
artist who is the hero of the song was originally conceived not as a son of
man, but as a member of the mythic race of elves which in Voluspa is
mentioned in connection with the Asas (hvat er med asom, hvat er med
alfom? —str. 49). Volund is an elf-prince (alfa visi, alfa ljoþi—Volund., str. 10,
13), and, as shall be shown below, when we come to consider the Volund
myth exhaustively, he and his brothers and their mistresses have played parts
of the very greatest importance in the epic of Teutonic mythology. Under such
circumstances it follows that the other persons appearing in Volundarkvida
also were originally mythical characters.
One of these is called Nidadr (Nidudr), king of Njares, and I am now to
investigate who this Nidadr was in the mythology.
When Volund for the first time appears by this name in the Elder Edda, he is
sojourning in a distant country, to which it is impossible to come without
traversing the Myrkwood forest famous in the mythology (see No. 78). It is a
snow-clad country, the home of bears and wolves. Volund gets his
subsistence by hunting on skees. The Old English poem, "Deor the Scald’s
Complaint," confirms that this region was regarded as very cold (cp.
vintercealde vraece). In Volundarkvida it is called Wolfdales.
Volund stays here many years in company with his two brothers and with
three swan-maids, their mistresses or wives, but finally alone. Volund passes
the time in smithying, until he is suddenly attacked by Nidadr (Nidudr), "the
Njara-king" (Volundarkv., 6), who puts him in chains and robs him of two
extraordinary treasures—a sword and an arm-ring. Seven hundred arm-rings
hung in a string in Volund’s hall; but this one alone seemed to be worth more
than all the rest, and it alone was desired by Niar (str. 7, 8, 17).
Before Volund went to the Wolfdales, he had lived with his people a happy life
in a land abounding in gold (str. 14). Not voluntarily, but from dire necessity he
had exchanged his home for the distant wilderness of the Wolfdales. "Deor
the Scald’s Corn plaint" says he was an exile (Veland him be vurman vreces
cannade). A German saga of the middle ages, "Anhang des Heldenbuchs,"
confirms this statement. Wieland (Volund), it is there said, "was a duke who
was banished by two giants, who took his land from him," whereupon "he was
stricken with poverty," and "became a smith ". The Volundarkvida does not
bave much to say about the reason for bis sojourn in the Wolfdales, but
strophe 28 informs us that, previous to his arrival there, he had suffered an
injustice, of which he speaks as the worst and the most revenge-demanding
which he, the unhappy and revengeful man, ever experienced. But he has
had no opportunity of demanding satisfaction, when he finally succeeds in
getting free from Nidadr’s chains. Who those mythic persons are that have so
cruelly insulted him and filled his heart with unquenchable thirst for revenge is
not mentioned; but in the very nature of the case those persons from whose
persecutions he has fled must have been mightier than he, and as he himself
is a chief in the godlike clan of elves, his foes are naturally to be looked for
among the more powerful races of gods.
And as Volundarkvida pictures him as boundlessly and recklessly revengeful,
and makes him resort to his extraordinary skill as a smith—a skill famous
among all Teutonic tribes—in the satisfaction which he demands of Nidudr,
there is no room for doubt that, during the many years he spent in Wolfdales,
he brooded on plans of revenge against those who had most deeply insulted
him, and that he made use of his art to secure instruments for the carrying out
of these plans. Of the glittering sword of which Niar’ robbed him, Volund says
(str. 18) that he had applied his greatest skill in making it hard and keen. The
sword must, therefore, have been one of the most excellent ones mentioned
in the songs of Teutonic heathendom. Far down in the middle ages, the songs
and sagas were fond of attributing the best and most famous swords wielded
by their heroes to the skill of Volund.
In the myths turned by Saxo into history, there has been mentioned a sword of
a most remarkable kind, of untold value (ingens praemium), and attended by
success in battle (belli fortuna comitaretur). A hero whose name Saxo
Latinised into Hotherus (see Hist. Dan., p. 110) got into enmity with the Asagods, and the only means with which he can hope to cope with them is the
possession of this sword. He also knows where to secure it, and with its aid
he succeeds in putting Thor himself and other gods to flight.
In order to get possession of this sword, Hotherus had to make a journey
which reminds us of the adventurous expeditions already described to
Gudmund-Mimir’s domain, but with this difference, that he does not need to
go by sea along the coast of Norway in order to get there, which circumstance
is sufficiently explained by the fact that, according to Saxo, Hotherus has his
home in Sweden. The regions which Hotherus has to traverse are pathless,
full of obstacles, and for the greater part continually in the cold embrace of the
severest frost. They are traversed by mountain-ridges on which the cold is
terrible, and therefore they must be crossed as rapidly as possible with the aid
of "yoke-stags ". The sword is kept concealed in a specus, a subterranean
cave, and "mortals" earn scarcely cross its threshold (hand facile mortalibus
patere posse). The being which is the ward of the sword in this cave is by
Saxo called Mimingus.
The question now is, whether the sword smithied by Volund and the one
fetched by Hotherus are identical or not. The former is smithied in a wintercold country beyond Myrkwood, where the mythic Nidadr suddenly appears,
takes possession of it, and the purpose for which it was made, judging from all
circumstances, was that Volund with its aid was to conquer the hated powers
which, stronger than] he, the chief of elves, had compelled hinn to take refuge
to the Wolfdales. If these powers were Asas or Vans, then it follows that
Volund must have thought himself able to give to his sword qualities that could
render it dangerous to the world of gods, although the latter had Thor’s
hammer and other subterranean weapons at their disposal. The sword
captured by Hotherus is said to possess those very qualities which we might
look for in the Volund weapon, and the regions he has to traverse in order to
get possession of it refer, by their cold and remoteness, to a land similar to
that where Nidadr surprises Volund, and takes from him the dangerous sword.
As already stated, Nidad at the same time captured an armring of an
extraordinary kind. If the saga about Volund and his sword was connected
with the saga-fragment turned into history by Saxo concerning Hotherus and
the sword, whose owner he becomes, then we might reasonably expect that
the precious arm-ring, too, should app ear in the latter saga. And we do find it
there. Mimingus, who guards the sword of victory, also guards a wonderful
arm-ring, and through Saxo we learn what quality makes this particular armring so precious, that Nidad does not seem to care about the other seven
hundred which he finds in Volund’s workshcp. Saxo says: Eidem (Mimingo)
quoque armillam esse mira quadam arcanaque virtute possessoris opes
augere solitam. "In the arm-ring there dwells a wonderful and mysterious
power, which increases the wealth of its possessor." In other words, it is a
smith’s work, the rival of the ring Draupner, from which eight similar rings drop
every ninth night. This explains why Volund’s smithy contains so many rings,
that Nidad expresses his suspicious wonderment (str. 13).
There are therefore strong reasons for assuming that the sword and the ring,
which Hotherus takes from Mimingus, are the same sword and ring as Nidad
before took from Volund, and that the saga, having deprived Volund of the
opportunity of testing the quality of the weapon himself in conflict with the
gods, wanted to indicate what it really amounted to in a contest with Thor and
his hammer by letting the sword come into the hands of Hotherus, another foe
of the Asas. As we now find such articles as those captured by Nidad
reappearing in the hands of a certain Mimingus, the question arises whether
Mimiugus is Nidad himself or some one of Nidad’s subjects; for that they
either are identical, or are in some way connected with each other, seems to
follow from the fact that the one is said to possess what the other is said to
have captured. Mimingus is a Latinising of Mimingr, Mimungr, son or
descendant of Mimir.
Nidadr, Nidudr (both variations are found in Volundarkvida), has, on the other
hand, his counterpart in the Anglo-Saxon Nidhad. The king who in "Deor the
Scald’s Complaint" fetters Volund bears this name, and his daughter is called
Beadohild, in Volundarkvida Bodvild. Previous investigators have already
remarked that Beadohild is a more original form than Bodvild, and Nidhad
than Nidudr, Nidadr. The name Nidhad is composed of nid (neuter gender),
the lower world, Hades, and had, a being, person, forma, species. Nidhad
literally means the lower world being, the Hades being. Herewith we also have
his mythical character determined. A mythical king, who is characterised as
the being of the lower world, must be a subterranean king. The mythic records
extant speak of the subterranean king Mimir (the middle-age saga’s
Gudmund, king of the Glittering Fields; see Nos. 45, 46), who rules over the
realm of the well of wisdom and has the dis of fate as his kinswoman, the
princess of the realm of Urd’s fountain and of the whole realm of death. While
we thus find, on the one hand, that it is a subterranean king who captures
Volund’s sword and arm-ring, we find, on the other hand, that when Hotherus
is about to secure the irresistible sword and the wealth-producing ring, he has
to betake himself to the same winter-cold country, where all the traditions here
discussed (see Nos. 45-49) locate the descent to Mimir’s realm, and that he,
through an entrance "scarcely approachable for mortals," must proceed into
the bosom of the earth after he has subdued a Mimingus, a son of Mimir.
Mimir being the one who took possession of the treasure, it is perfectly natural
that his son should be its keeper.
This also explains why Nidadr in Volundarkvida is called the king of the
Njares. A people called Njares existed in the mythology, but not in reality. The
only explanation of the word is to be found in the Mimir epithet, which we
discovered in the variations Narve, Njorve, Nare, Nere, which means "he who
binds ". They are called Njares, because they belong to the clan of NjorviNare.
Volundarkvida (str. 19, with the following prose addition) makes Nidad’s
queen command Volund’s knee-sinews to be cut. Of such a cruelty the older
poem, "Deor the Scald’s Complaint," knows nothing. This poem relates, on
the other hand, that Nidad bound Volund with a fetter made from a strong
sinew:
siþþan-hinne Nidhad on nede legde sveoncre seono-bende.
Though Volund is in the highest degree skilful, he is not able to free himself
from these bonds. They are of magic kind, and resemble those orlogþaevttir
which are tied by Mimir’s kinswoman Urd. Nidad accordingly here appears in
Mimir-Njorve’s character as ‘‘ binder With this fetter of sinew we must
compare the one with which Loki was bound, and that tough and elastic one
which was made in the lower world and which holds Fearer bound until
Ragnarok. And as Volund—a circumstance already made probable, and one
that shall be fully proved below—actually regards himself as insulted by the
gods, and has planned a terrible revenge against them, then it is an enemy of
Odin that Nidhad here binds, and the above-cited paraphrase for the deathdis, Urd, employed by Egil Skallagrimson, "the kinswoman of the binder
(Njorva) of Odin’s foes" (see No. 85), also becomes applicable here.
The tradition concerning Nidhad’s original identity with Mimir flourished for a
long time in the German middle-age sagas, and passed thence into the
Vilkinasaga, where the banished Volund became Mimir’s smith. The author of
Vilkinasaga, compiling both from German and from Norse sources, saw
Volund in the German records as a smith in Mimir’s employ, and in the Norse
sagas he found him as Nidhad’s smith, and from the two synonyms he made
two persons.
The Norse form of the name most nearly corresponding to the Old English
Nidhad. is Nidi, "the subterranean," and that Mimir also among the Norsemen
was known by this epithet is plain both from the Sol-song and from Voluspa.
The skald of the Sol-song sees in the lower world "Nide’s sons, seven
together, drinking the clear mead from the well of ring-Regin ". The well of the
lower world with the "clear mead,, is Minner’s fountain, and the paraphrase
ringRegin is well suited to Mimir, who possessed among other treasures the
wonderful ring of Hotherus. Völuspa speaks of Nide’s mountain, the
Hvergelmer mountain, from which the subterranean dragon Nidhog flies (see
No. 75), and of Nide’s plains where Sindre’s race have their golden hall.
Sindre is, as we know, one of the most celebrated primeval smiths of
mythology, and he smithied Thor’s lightning hammer, Frey’s golden boar, and
Odin’s spear Gungner (Gylfaginning). Dwelling with his kinsmen in Mimir’s
realm, he is one of the artists whom the ruler of the lower world kept around
him (cp. No. 53). Several of the wonderful things made by these artists, as for
instance the harvest-god’s Skidbladner, and golden boar, and Sif’s golden
locks, are manifestly symbols of growth or vegetation. The sanne is therefore
true of the original Teutonic primeval smiths as of the Ribhuians, the ancient
smiths of Rigveda, that they make not only implements and weapons, but also
grass and herbs. Out of the lower world grows the world-tree, and is kept
continually fresh by the liquids of the sacred fountains. In the abyss of the
lower world and in the sea is ground that mould which makes the fertility of
Midgard possible (see No. 80); in the lower world "are smithied" those flowers
and those harvests which grow out of this mould, and fronn the manes of the
subterranean horses, and from their foaming bridles, falls on the fields and
meadows that honey-dew "which gives harvests to men".
Finally, it must be pointed out that when Nidhad binds Volund, the foe of the
gods, this is in harmony with Mimir’s activity throughout the epic of the myths
as the friend of the Asa-gods, and as the helper of Odin, his sister’s son, in
word and deed.
Further evidences of Mimir’s identity with Nidhad are to be found in the
Svipdag myth, which I shall discuss further on.
Vafthrudnersmal states in strophe 25 that "beneficent regin (makers) created
Ny and Nedan to count times for men," this being said in connection with what
it states about Narve, Nat, and Dag. In the Voluspa dwarf-list we find that the
chief of these regin was Modsogner, whose identity with Mimir has been
shown (see No. 53). Modsogner-Mimir created among other "dwarfs" also Ny
and Nedan (Voluspa, 11). These are, therefore, his sons at least in the sense
that they are indebted to him for their origin. The expressions to create and to
beget are very closely related in the mythology. Of Njord Vafthrudner also
says (str. 39) that "wise regin created him" in Vanaheim.
As sons of Nide-Mimir the changes of the moon have been called after his
name Nidi, and collectively they have been called by the plural Nidjar, in a
later time Nidar. And as Nat’s brothers they are enumerated along with her as
a stereotyped alliteration. In Vafthrudnersmal Odin asks the wise giant
whether he knows whence Nat and Nidjar (Nott med Niþom) came, and
Voluspa (6) relates that in the dawn of tinne the high holy gods (regin) seated
themselves on their judgment-seats and gave names to Nat and Nidjar (Nott
ok Niþiom). Tine giving of a name was in heathen times a sacred act, which
implied an adoption in the name-giver’s family or circle of friends.
Nidjar also appears to have had his signification of moon-changes in regard to
the changes of months. According to Saxo (see No. 46), King Gorm saw in
the lower world twelve sons of Gudmund-Mimir, all "of noble appearance ".
Again, Solarljod’s skald says that the sons of Nide, whom he saw in the lower
world, were "seven together ". From the standpoint of a nature-symbol the
difference in these statements is explained by the fact that the months of the
year were counted as twelve, but in regard to seasons and occupations there
were seven divisions: gor-manudr, frer-m., hrut-m., ein-m., sol-m., sel-m.,
kornskurdar-manudr. Seven is the epic-mythological number of these Nidjar.
To the saga in regard to these I shall return in No. 94.
88.
A GENERAL REVIEW OF MIMIR’S NAMES AND EPITHETS.
The names, epithets, and paraphrases with which the king of the lower world,
the ward of the fountain of wisdom, was designated, according to the
statements hitherto made, are the following:
(1) Mimir (Hodd-mimir, Mimr, Mimi, Mime der alte).
(2) Narfi (Narvi, Njorvi, Norr, Nari, Neri).
(3) Nidi (Nidhad, Nidadr, Nidudr, Nidungr).
These three names, which mean the Thinker, the Binder, the Subterranean,
are presumably all ancient.
(4) Mosognir, "the mead-drinker ".
(5) Hoddrofnir, presumably "the one bounteous in treasures ".
(6) Gauta spjalli, "the one with whom Gaute (Odin) counsels ".
(7) Baug-regin, Ring-regin.
(8) Godmundr, the name by which Mimir appears in Christian middle-age
sagas of Norse origin. To these names may still be added:
(9) Fimbulþulr, "the great teacher" (the lecturer). Havamal (str. 142; cp. str.
80) says that Fimbulþulr drew (fadi) the runes, that ginn-regin "made" (gordo)
them, that is to say, in the older sense of the word, prepared them for use,
and that Odin (hroptr raugna) carved (reist) them. In the stropbes immediately
preceding, it is said that Odin, by self-sacrifice, begot runes out of the deep
and fimbul-songs from Beistla’s brother. These statements, joined with those
which mention how the runes given by Mimir were spread over the world, and
were taught by various clan-chiefs to different clans (see No. 53), make it
evident that a perfect myth had been developed in regard to the origin of the
runes and the spreading of runic knowledge. Mimir, as the possessor of the
well of wisdom, was the inventor or source of the runes. When Sigrdrifumal
(str. 13) says that they dropped out of Hoddrofner’s horn, this is, figuratively
speaking, the same as Havamal tells, when it states that Fimbulthul carved
them. The oldest powers (ginnregin) and Odin afterwards developed and
spread them.
At the time of Tacitus, and probably one or two centuries earlier, the art of
writing was known among the Teutons. The runic inscriptions that have come
down to our time bear evidence of’ a Greek-Roman origin.
By this we do not mean to deny that there were runes—at least, non-phonetic
ones—before them. The many kinds of magic runes of which our mythic
records speak are perhaps reminiscences of them. At afl events we must
distinguish the latter from the common runes for writing, and also from the
many kinds of cypher-runes the keys of which are to be sought in the common
phonetic rune-row.
(10) Brimir. By the side of the golden hall of Sindre, Voluspa (str. 36) mentions
the giant Brimer’s "bjor" hall, which is in Okólnir. Bjórr is a synonym for mead
and ale (Alvism., 34). Okólnir means "the place where cold is not found ". The
reference is to a giant dwelling in the lower world who presides over mead,
and whose hail is situated in a domain to which cold cannot penetrate. The
myth has put this giant in connection with Yimir, who in relative opposition to
him is called Leirbrimir, clay-Brimer (Fjollsvinnsmal). These circumstances
refer to Mimir. So also Sigrdrifumal (str. 14), where it is said that "Odin stood
on the mountain with Brimer’s sword" (Brimis eggiar), when Mimir’s head for
the first time talked with him. The expression "Brimer’s sword" is ambiguous.
As a head was once used as a weapon against Heimdal, a sword and a head
can, according to Skaldskaparmal, be employed as paraphrases for each
other, whence "Brimer’s sword" may be the same as "Mimir’s head"
(Skaldskaparmal, 69, Cod. H.; cp. Skaldskaparmal, 8, and Gylfag., 27).
Sigrdrifumal certainly also employs the phrase in its literal sense of a famous
mythological sword, for, in the case in question, it represents Odin as fully
armed, with helmet on his head; and the most excellent mythological sword,
according to an added line in strophe 24 of Grimnersmal (Cod. A.), bore
Brimer’s name, just as the same sword in the German saga has the name
Mimine (Biterolf, v. 176, in Vilkinasaga changed to Mimmung), doubtless
because it at one time was in Mimir-Nidhad’s possession ; for the German
saga (Biterolf, 157; cp. Vilkinasaga, oh. 23) remembers that a sword called by
Mimir’s name was the same celebrated weapon as that made by Volund
(Wieland in Biterolf; Velint in Vilkinasaga), and hence the same work of art as
that which, according to Vilkinasaga, Nidhad captured from him during his
stay in Wolfdales.
89.
THE MEAD MYTH.
We have seen (Nos. 72, 73) that the mead which was brewed from the three
subterranean liquids destroys the effects of death and gives new vitality to the
departed, and that the same liquid is absorbed by the roots of the world-tree,
and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives the tree eternal life. From
the stem the mead rises into the foliage of the crown, whose leaves nourish
the fair giver of "the sparkling drink," in Grimnersmal symbolised as Heidrun,
from the streams of whose teats the mead-horns in .Asgard are filled for the
einherjes. The morning dew which falls from Ygdrasil down into the dales of
the lower world contains the same elements. From the bridle of Rimfaxe and
from the horses of the valkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys
of Midgard (see No. 74). The flowers receive it in their chalices, .where the
bees extract it, and thus is produced the earthly honey which man uses, and
from which he brews his mead (cp. Gylfag., ch. 16). Thus the latter too
contains some of the strength of Mimir’s and Urd’s fountains (veigar—see
Nos. 72, 73), and thus it happens that it is able to stimulate the mind and
inspire poetry and song—nay, used with prudence, it nnay suggest excellent
expedients in important emergencies (cp. Tacitus, Germania).
Thus the world-tree is among the Teutons, as it is among their kinsmen the
Iranians (see below), a mead-tree. And so it was called by the latter, possibly
also by the former. The name miotvidr, with which the world-tree is mentioned
in Voluspa (2) and whose origin and meaning have been so much discussed,
is from a mythological standpoint satisfactorily explained if we assume that an
older word, miodvidr, the mead-tree, passed into the word similar in sound,
miotvidr, the tree of fate (from miot, measure; cp. mjotudr in the sense of fate,
the power. which gives measure, and the Anglo-Saxon metod Old Saxon
metod, the giver of measure, fate, providence).
The sap of the world-tree and the veigar of the horn of the lower world are not,
however, precisely the same mead as the pure and undefiled liquid from
Mimir’s fountain, that which Odin in his youth, through self-sacrifice, was
permitted to taste, nor is it precisely the same as that concerning the
possession of which the powers of mythology long contended, before it finally,
through Odin’s adventures at Suttung’s, came to Asgard. The episodes of this
conflict concerning the mead will be given as my investigation progresses, so
far as they can be discovered. Here we must first examine what the heathen
records have preserved in regard to the chosing episode in which the conflict
was ended in favour of Asgard. What the Younger Edda (Bragaraedur) tells
about it I nnust for the present leave entirely unnoticed, lest the investigation
should go astray and become entirely abortive.
The chief sources are the Havamal strophes 104-110, and strophes 13 and
14. Subordinate sources are Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15). To this
must be added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspiller (Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2).
The statements of the chief source have, strange to say, been almost wholly
unobserved, while the mythologists have confined their attention to the later
presentation in Bragartaedur, which cannot be reconciled with the earlier
accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is worse than worthless.
In 1877 justice was for the first time done to Havamal. in the excellent analysis
of the strophes in question made by Prof. M. B. Richerts, in his "Attempts at
explaining the obscure passages not hitherto understood in the poetic Edda ".
From Havamal alone we get directly or indirectly the following: The giant
Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired possession of the precious mead for
which Odin longs. The Asa-father resolves to capture it by cunning.
There is a feast at Fjalar’s. Guests belonging to the clan of rimthurses are
gathered in his halls (Havamal, 110). Besides these we must imagine that
Suttung-Fjalar’s own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology speaks
of a separate clan entirely distinct from the rimthurses, known as Suttungs
synir (Alvismal, Skirnersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must be Suttung-Fjalar,
as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the rimthurses are
accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question.
An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him
awaits his arrival From the continuation of the story we learn that the expected
guest is the wooer or betrothed of SuttungFjalar’s daughter, Gunlad. On that
night the wedding of the giant’s daughter is to be celebrated.
Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and is
conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the guise
assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods and of
himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter was Havamal does not
state, unless strophe 110, 5, like so many other passages, is purposely
ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall consider later.
After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure upon
the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and played his
part (str. 107). Vel keyptz litar hefi ec vel notiþ: "From the well changed
exterior I reaped great advantage". In regard to the mythological meaning of
litr, see No. 95. The expression keyptr litr, which literally means "purchased
appearance," may seem strange, but kaupa means not only to "buy," but also
to "change," "exchange"; kaupa klaedum vid einn means "to change clothes
with some one ". Of a queen who exchanged her son with a slave woman, it is
said that she keyptr um sonu vid ambatt. But the cause of Odin’s joy is not
that he successfully carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way
accomplished a deed of inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str. 107, 46), and he is sorry that poor Gunlad’s trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This
is a characterisation of Odin’s personality.
Nor does Havamal tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his
appearance and thwarting Odin’s plan, while the latter is acting his part; but of
this we learn something from another source, which we shall consider below.
The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the
risk of losing his head (str. 106, 6). For this reason he has, before entering
Suttung-Fjalar’s halls, secured an egress, through which he must be able to
fly, and, if possible, with the skaldic mead as his booty. There is no
admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the mead-treasure so
much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as Eyvind tells us,
situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record tells us, watched. But
Odin has let Rate bore ("gnaw ") a tunnel through the mountain large enough
to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106). In regard to Rate, see No. 82.
When the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a
conversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to
guard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there, and
if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary to be eloquent
and winning, so that he may charm Gunlad and secure her devotion, for
without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of carrying away the
supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung’s. Odin also boasts (str. 103, 104)
that on this occasion he proved himself minnigr and malugr and margfrodr and
eloquent for the realisation of his plan.
During the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his honour
with the precious mead he desired to obtain. "Gunlad gave me on the golden
seat the drink of the precious mead" (str. 105).
Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunlad
took to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110).
It would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here, and
the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves to the
bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns are frequently
filled and emptied. Havamal does not state that the part played by Odin
required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show that Gunlad’s wooer
was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in the sagas he has many
epithets referring to this quality. Odin became on his own confession "drunk,
very drunk, at Fjalar’s ". "The hem of forgetfulness which steals one’s wit and
understanding hovers over his drink" (str. 13, 15).
In this condition he let drop words which were not those of caution—words
which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of his hearers who
were less drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt with letters of
intelligence and good sense—words which did not suit the part he was
playing.
At last the banquet comes to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to be
alone with the bride in that rocky ball which is their bed-chamber. There is no
doubt that Odin won Gunlad’s heart, "the heart of that good woman whom I
took in my embrace" (str. 108). With her help he sees his purpose attained
and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which his reckless words
had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen which Havamal does not
give a full account of, but of a kind which would have prevented Odin from
getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had Gunlad’s assistance (str. 108).
Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad of’ a kinsman (str. 110—hann let
graetta Gunnlodu; see Rich., p. 17). Taking the supply of mead with him, he
takes flight by the way Rate bad opened for him—a dangerous way, for
"above and below me were the paths of the giants" (str. 106).
It seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning of
the next day went to the door of the bridal-chamber to hear how the newlymarried man was getting on in his new capacity ‘of husband. According to
Havamal, Suttung’s guests, the rimthurses, observe this custom; but the
events of the night change their inquiries into the question whether Odin had
succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been slain by Suttung (str. 109,
110).
Thus far Havamal. We must now examine Grimnersmal. (150) and Ynglingatal
(15), whose connection with the myth concerning Odin’s exploit in the home of
Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.
Odin says in Grimnersmal
Sviþarr oc Sviþrir er ec hel at Sauccmimis oc dulþa ec þann inn aldna iotun,
þa er ec Miþviþnis varc ins maera burar ordinn einbani.
"Svidur and Svidrir I was called at Sokmimer’s, and I presented myself to the
ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of Midvitnir’s
famous son."
Ynglingatal (15) reads:
En Dagskjarr Durnis nidja salvordudr Svegdi velti, þa er i stein hinn stórgedi
Dulsa konr ept dvergi hljóp ok sal bjartr deirra Sokkmimis jotunbyggdr vid jofri
gein.
"The day-shy hall-guard of Durnir’s descendants deceived Svegdir when he,
the dauntless son of Dulsi, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and when the
shining giant-inhabited hall of Sokkmimir’s kinsmen yawned against the chief."
(In regard to Dulsi, see No. 83.)
What attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the
epithet Sokkmimir is common to both of them, while this name does not occur
elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature.
In both the strophes Sokkmimir is a giant. Grimnersmal calls him inn aldna
iotun, "the ancient giant," with which we may compare Odin’s words in
Havamal (104): enn aldna iotun ec sotta, "the ancient giant I sought," when lie
visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar, the possessor of the
skald-mead, belonged.
In both the strophes the giant Sokkmimir is the lord and chief of those giants
to whom, according to Grimnersmal, Odin comes, and outside of whose halldoor, according to Ynglingatal, a certain Svegir is deceived by the ward of the
hall. This position of Sokkmimir in relation to his surroundings already
appears, so far as Grimnersmal is concerned, from the expression at
Sauccmimis, which means not only "with Sokmimer," but also "at
Sokmimer’s," that is to say, with that group of kinsmen and in that abode
where Sokmimer is chief and ruler. It is with this giant-chief, and in his rocky
hail, that Midvitnir and his son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself
to him, and by the name Svidur (Svidrir) acts the part of another person, and
in this connection causes Midvitner’s death. The same quality of Sokmimer as
clan-chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form that the hall,
outside of whose door Svegder was deceived, is þeirra Sökkmimis, that is to
say, is the abode of Sokmimer’s kinsmen and household, "is their giant-home
". Thus all the giants who dwell there take their clan-name from Sokmimer.
The appellation Sökkmimir is manifestly not a name in the strictest sense, but
one of the epithets by which this ancient giant-chief could be recognised in
connection with mythological circumstances. We shall point out these
mythological circumstances further on.
The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same mythic
person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of Sokmimer’s
kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe calls the hall of
Durnir’s descendants. Thus Sokmimer and Durnir’ are the same person.
Durnir, on the other hand, is a variation of Durinn (cp. the parallel variations
Dvalnir and Dvalinn). Of Durinn we already know (see No. 53) that he is one
of the ancient beings of mythology who in time’s morning, together with
Modsognir-Mimir and in accordance with the resolve of the high-holy powers,
created clans of artists. One of the artists created by Dunn, and whose father
he in this sense became, is, according to Völuspa (11), Mjödvitnir. Rask and
Egilsson have for philological reasons assumed that Midvitnir and Mjödvitnir
are variations of the same name, and designate the same person (mjödr, in
the dative midi). It here appears that the facts confirm this assumption. Durinn
and Mjödvitnir in Völuspa correspond to Durnir and Midvitnir in the strophes
concerning Sökkmimir.
Mjödvitnir means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in
mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode of
the descendants of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky home,
where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead desired by
Odin.
Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain Svegdir was deceived,
when Ire was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of DurnerSokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door
appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited" hall "yawned" festively
illuminated (bjartr) toward Svegder. If we may believe Ynglingatal’s
commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said that
Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder as running after the hallward, that is to say, toward the door in the rock, eager to get in. What
afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegder did not gain
the point he desired, but fell into some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows
from the expression that he was deceived by him, and that this caused his
death follows from the fact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life
ended. Ynglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The
rest that this saga has to say of Svegder— that he was on a journey to the old
Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginninig’s King Priam—has
nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course
important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to the descent of
the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of Ynglingatal, like that of
Gylfaginning, bases his work.
The variations Svegdir, Svigdir, and Sveigdir are used interchangeably in
regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14, 15; Fornald., ii. 2; Fornm., 1.
29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). Svigdir seems to be the oldest of these forms.
The words means the great drinker (Egilsson, 801). Svigdir was one of the
most popular heroes of mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and
was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In
Ynglingatal (14) Svithiod is called geiri Svigdis, "Svigder’s domain". At the
same time, Svegir is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that
several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in a
secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions
when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one
else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed.
When Odin visits the abode of Durinn-Sokkmimir, where the precious mead is
preserved, he calls himself, according to Grimnersmal, Svidurr, Svidrir. Now it
is the case with this name as with Svigir, that it was connected with Svithiod.
Skaldskaparmal (65) says that Sviþiod var kallat af nafni Svidurs, "Svithiod
was named after the name of Svidur".
Hence (1) the name Svidurr, like Svegdir-Svigdir, belongs to Odin, but only in
a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another person; (2)
Svidurr, like Svegdir-Svigdir, was originally a mythic person, whonn tradition
connected as a race hero with Svithiod.
From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of events connect
partly the strophes of Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal with each other, and partly
both of these with Havamal’s account of Odin’s adventure to secure the niead,
and this connection furnishes indubitable evidence that they concern the
same episode in the mythological epic.
In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets,
which, like Svigdir, refer to sonic mythical person who played the part of a
champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning mead and
brewing. These epithets am’e Olvaldi, Olmódr, and Sumbl finnakonungr,
Sumblus phinnorum rex in Saxo. Sumbl, as a common noun, means ale,
feast. In the "Finn-king" Sumbl these ideas are personified, just as the
somadrink in the Veda songs is personified in King Soma. In nay treatise on
the Ivalde race, I shall revert to the person who had these epithets, in order to
make his mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point out the
following: Havamal (110) makes one of the rimthurses, Suttung’s guests, say:
Baugeiþ Odinn hygg ec at unnit hafi; hvat seal hans trygdom trua? Suttung
svikinn han let sumbli fra oc grætta Gunnlaudo.
The strophe makes the one who says this blanie Odin for breaking the oath he
took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted in the
promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is stated that he
left Suttung deceitfully robbed of sumbl (Sambl), and Gunlad in tears over a
lost kinsman.
The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of sumbl, to be intelligible,
requires no other interpretation than the one which lies near at hand, that
Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald might have
designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more definite manner than with the
word sumbl, and as he still chose this word, which to his hearers, familiar with
the mythology, must have called to mind the personal Sumbl (Olvaldi Svigdir),
it is not only possible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he
purposely chose an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same
time to the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law
deceitfully lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition
of Suttung’s and Gunlad’s loss. The common noun sumbl’s double meaning
as mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his treatise
mentioned above) to assume that "the expression was purposely chosen in
such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited and definite,"
and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which may give rise to
ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found in the old songs". Meanwhile,
I do not include this probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the
basis of any conclusions.
The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and although
we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was Surtungr and
characterised its possessor as son of Surtr, still there are other facts which
prove that such was actually the case. The very circumstance that the skaldic
drink which came into Suttung’s possession is paraphrased with the
expression sylgr Surt’s ættar, "the drink of Surt’s race" (Fornmanna, iii. 3),
points that way, and the question is settled completely by the half-strophe
quoted in the Younger Edda (i. 242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller,
where the skaldic potion is called—
hinn er Surts or sokkdolum farmagnudr fljugandi bar.
(" the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt’s deep dales ").
When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung’s deep rocky halls, and, on
eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly
that deep, in which Surtr dwells, which lie left below him, and the giant race
who had been drinking the macad before that time, while it was still in
Suttung’s possession, was Surt’s race. From this it follows that "the ancient
giant," whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle of kinsmen of
the skaldic mead, is none other than that being so well known in the
mythology, Surtr, and that Surir is identical with Durinn (Durnir), and
Sokkmimir.
This also explains the epithet Sokkmimir, "the Mimir of the deep ". Sokk- in
Sokk-Mimir refers to Sokk in Sokkdalir, Surt’s domain, and that Surt could be
associated with Mimir is, from the standpoint of Old Norse poetics, perfectly
justifiable from the fact that he appears in times morning as a co-worker with
Mimir, and operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the service of
the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53). Consequently Mimir and Sokmimer
(Surtr-Durinn) created the clans of artists.
Surtr, Durinn, Durnir, Sokkmimir, are, therefore, synonyms, and designate the
same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms Suttungr,
Fjalarr, Mjödvitnir (Midvitnir). Suttung has a son slain by Odin, when the latter
robs him of the mead of inspiration, and a daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid,
deceived and deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt’s son.
Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in
Ragnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the flames
which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth
concerning the oldest events of mythology. In time’s morning we find the firebeing Surt—the representative of subterranean fire—as a creative force by
the side of Mimir, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman he must be
as a descendant of Yimir. Both work together in peace for similar purposes
and under the direction of the gods (Voluspa, 9, 10). But then something
occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimir and Surt no longer work
together. The fountain of creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration,
is in the exclusive possession of Mimir, and he and Urd are together the ruling
powers in the lower world. The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his
race relegated to the "deep dales," situated to the southward (Voluspa, 52),
difficult of access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably
conceived as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimir
and Urd. That he tried to get possession of a part of "Odraerir" follows from
the position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When
daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has
captured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally have
come from Mimir’s fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is
skaldic mend, it too, and can also be designated as Odraerir (Havamal, 107),
while the son is called "the mend-wolf," the one who has robbed and conceals
the precious drink. Odin captures his mend by cunning, the grandson of the
fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the son’s daughter is betrayed, and the
husband selected for her is deceived and removed. All this, though done for
purposes to benefit gods and men, demands and receives in the mythology its
terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that
evil deeds, with a good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce
evil results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose.
Thus Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the
world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice. The
flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.
I have already above (No. 87) had occasion to speak of the choicest sword of
mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimir captured, and which was
fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo Latinised into
Hotherus. In my treatise on "the Ivalde race" it shall be demonstrated who this
Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by him to Frey.
Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us that the lovesick Frey gave the
sword to the giant Gymer for his bride. After coming into the hands of the
giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by Eggþer (an epithet
meaning sword-watcher), who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster
herd of Loki’s progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in
Ragnarok (Voluspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this
sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive fire.
This giant is Fjalar (Voluspa, 41), and that the purpose of his visit is to secure
the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly
afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (Voluspa, 50) when the latter comes
from the south with his band (the sons of Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part
in the last conflict and destroy with fire that part of the world that can be
destroyed. Frey is slain by the sword which was once his own.
In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword are
knit together.
Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar’s abode. In regard to this visit we have a few
words in strophe 26 of Harbardsljod. Harbardr accuses Thor, no doubt
unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no reliable details in
the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the above strophe of
Harbardsljod with Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in
Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor’s journey to
Utgarda-Loki and his adventures there contains reminiscences of what the
original myths have had to say about his experiences on his expedition to
Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Surt and of his son Fjalar gleam forth in the
narrative: the ruler of Utgard can produce earthquakes, and Loge (the flame)
is his servant. It is also doubtlessly correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he
is represented as exceedingly skilful in "deluding," in giving things the
appearance of something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin
assumed the guise of Fjalar’s son-in-law, he defeated Surt’s race with their
own weapons.
Eyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that Surt’s abode is in dales
down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglingasaga’s strophe we must
draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived the abyss
where Surt’s race dwelt as regions to which the light of day never comes.
Sokmimer's doorkeeper, one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the
wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (dagskjarr salvordudr; in
regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see Alvissmal). Darkness therefore
broods over this region, but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is
bjartr).
I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discussion to
recapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should assume
that the main source, namely, the Havamal strophes, together with Eyvind’s
half strophe, were host, and that the only remaining evidences were
Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15), together with the prose text in
Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following result:
(1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should be comupared with each
other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are the
following:
(a) Both contain the epithet Sokkmimir, which occurs nowhere else.
(b) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet as chief
and lord of a giant race gathered around him.
(c) Both refer the events described to the same locality: the one tells what
occurred in the halls of Sokkmimir; the other narrates an episode which
occurred outside of the door of Sokmimer’s giant abode.
(d) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with Durnir (Durin); the other
mentions Midvitnir as one of Sokmimer’s subjects. Midvitnir (Mjodvitnir),
according to Voluspa, was created by Durinn.
(e) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sokmimer’s.
(f) The one mentions Svidurr, the other Svegdir. Mythologically, the two
names refer to each other.
(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of Sokkmimir belongs the
giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This
appears from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal strophe chose
in order to designate him in such a manner that he could be recognised,
namely, Midvitnir, "the mend-wolf," an epithet which explains why the meadthirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods.
(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in connection with
the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name and in a guise easily
recognised, is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself, "acted the
hypocrite" (dulda), in the presence of the giant, and appeared as another
mythic person, Svidurr.
This mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who
gave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. Sviþiód var
kallat af nafni Svidurs.
(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the mountain in
the abode of Sokmimer, a person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this
giant. This person, Svegdir (Svigdir), is in the sagas called the race-hero of
the Swedes, and after him they have called Svithiod geiri Svigdis. Odin, who
acted Svidurr’s part, has also been called Svigdir, Svegdir.
Svigdir is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker" (Anglo-Saxon swig: to
drink deep draughts). "The champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the
"Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show that the event
belongs to the domain of the mead-myth.
Accordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-hero and namer of Svithiod
is inn the abode of Sokmimer, while a person who, from a mythological
standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to
Sokmimer’s abode and about to enter. The myth could not have conceived the
matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero was believed to act the
part of the real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin’s position, which
was already full of peril, still more dangerous, and threatens him with
discovery and its consequences.
(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a "champion drinker," he was compelled to
drink much in Sokmimer’s halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too,
must have added to the danger of his position.
(6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree of
caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the real Svigdir. That
which happens gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in itself
is very probable. Sokmimer’s doorkeeper keeps watch in the darkness
outside. When lie discovers the approach of Svigdir, he goes to meet him and
informs him that Odin is inside. Consequently the doorkeeper knows that
Svidurr is Odin, who is unknown to all those within excepting to Odin himself.
This and what follows seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the
cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but Svigdir
sees the mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information
that Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin pretends
to be Svigir) causes him, the "proud one," "of noble race," the kinsman of
Dulsi (epithet of Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with all his might after the
dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the result is that the dwarf’
succeeded in "deceiving" him (he velti Svegder), so that he never more was
seen.
This is what we learn from the strophes in Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal, with
the prose text of the latter. If we now compare this with what Havamál and
Eyvind relate, we get the following parallels:
Havamál and Eyvind
The Strophes about Sokk
1. Odin visits inn aldna iotun (Surtr and his race).
1. Odin visits inn aldna iotun (Sokkmir
2. Odin’s purpose is to deceive the old giant. In his
2. Odin’s purpose is to deceive the old
abode is found a kinsman, who is in possession of the
found a kinsman who is in possession
skaldic mead (Suttung-Fjalar).
(Midvitnir).
3. Odin appears in the guise of Gunlad’s wooer, who, if
3. Odin appears as SvidurrSvigdir. Svi
he is named, is called Sumbl (sumbl = a drink, a feast).
champion drinker.
4. Odin became drunk.
4. Odin must have drunk much, since
5. A catastrophe occurs causing Gunnlöd to bewail the
death of a kinsman.
the giants as one acting the part of a "
5. A catastrophe occurs causing Odin
son.
To this is finally to be added that Eyvind’s statement, that the event occurred
in Surt’s Sokkdalir, helps to throw light on Surt’s epithet Sokkmimir, and
particularly that Ynglingatal’s account of the arrival and fate of the real
Svegder fills a gap in Havamal’s narrative, and shows how Odin, appearing in
the guise of another person who was expected, could do so without fear of
being surprised by the latter.
NOTE.—The account in the Younger Edda about Odin’s visit to Suttung
seems to be based on some satire produced long after the introduction of
Christianity. With a free use of the confused mythic traditions then extant, and
without paying any heed to Havamal’s statement, this satire was produced to
show in a semiallegorical way how good and bad poetry originated. The
author of this satire either did not know or did not care about the fact that
Havamal identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To him they are different persons, of
whom the one receives the skaldic mead as a ransom from the other. While in
Havamál the rimthurses give Odin the name Bolverkr, "the evil-doer," and this
very properly from their standpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give
himself this name when lie is to appear incognito, though such a name was
not calculated to inspire confidence. While in Havamal Odin, in the guise of
another, enters Suttung’s halls, is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes
a lively part in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda makes
him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-hole and get down into
Gunlad’s chamber in this manner, where he remains the whole time without
seeing anyone else of the people living there, and where, with Gunlad’s
consent, he empties to the bottom the giant’s three meadvessels, Odrærir,
Bodn, and Són. These three names belong, as we have seen, in the real
mythology to the three subterranean fountains which nourish the roots of the
world-tree. Havamal contents itself with using a poetic-rhetorical phrase and
calling the skaldic mead, captured by Odin, Odrærir, "the giver of inspiration,"
"the inspiring nectar ". The author of the satire avails himself of this reason for
using the names of the two other fountains Bodn and Són, and for applying
them to two other "vessels and kettles" in which Suttung is said to have kept
the mead. That he called one of the vessels a kettle is explained by the fact
that the third lower world fountain is Hvergelmir, "the roaring kettle ". In order
that Odin and Gunlad may be able to discuss and resolve in perfect secrecy in
regard to the mead, Odin must come secretly down into the mountain, hence
the satire makes him use the bored hole to get in. From the whole description
in Havamal, it appears, on the contrary, that Odin entered the giant’s hall in
the usual manner through the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel made
by Rate to get out. Havamal first states that Odin seeks the giant, and then
tells how he enters into conversation and develops his eloquence in Suttung’s
halls, and how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably opposite the
host, as Richter has assumed), Gunlad hands him the precious mead. Then is
nuentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rate, and this on the
one band in connection with the "evil compensation" Gunlad received from
him, she the loving and devoted woman whom he had embraced, and on the
other hand in connection with the fact that his flight from the mountain was
successful, so that he could take the mead with him though his life was in
danger, and there were giants’ ways both above and below that secret path by
which he escaped. That Odin took the oath of faithfulness on the holy ring,
that there was a regular wedding feast with the questions on the next morning
in regard to the well-being of the newly-married couple—all this the satire
does not mention) nor does its premises permit it to do so.
90.
THE MEAD-MYTH (continued). THE MOON AND THE MEAD. PROOFS
THAT NANNA’S FATHER IS THE WARD OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND GOD
OF THE MOON.
Before the skaldic mead came into the possession of SuttungFjalar, it had
passed through various adventures. In one of these enters Máni, the god of
the moon, who by the names Nokkvi (variation Nokkver), Nefr (variation
Nepr), and Gevarr (Gaevarr) occupies a very conspicuons position in our
mythology, not least in the capacity of Nanna’s father.
I shall here present tine proofs which lie near at hand, and can be furnished
without entering into too elaborate investigations, that the moon-god and
Nanna’s father are identical, and this will give me an opportunity of referring to
that episode of the mead-myth, in which he appears as one of the actors.
The identity of Nokkvi, Nefr, and Gevarr appears from the following passages:
(1) Hyndluljod, 20: "Nanna was, in the next place, Nokkvi’s daughter" (Nanna
var naest þar Nauckua dottir).
(2) Gylfaginning, 32: "The son of Balder and of Nanna, daughter of Nef, was
called Forsete " (Forseti heiter sonr Baldrs ok Nönnu Nefsdóttur’).
Gylfaginning, 49: "His (Balder’s) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef" (Kona hans
Nanna Nefsdottir).
(3) Saxo, Hist. Dan., iii.: "Gevarr’s daughter Nanna" (Gevari filia Nanna). That
Saxo means the mythological Nanna follows from the fact that Balder appears
in the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the name, which Saxo
Latinised into Gevarus, was Gevarr, not Gefr, as a prominent linguist has
assumed, follows from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latinising Norse names.
NOTE.—Names of the class to which Gefr would belong, providing such a
name existed, would be Latinised in the following manner:
(a) Askr Ascerus, Baldr Balderus, Geldr Gelderus, Glaumr Glomerus, Hodr,
Hadr, Odr, Hotherus, Hatherus, Hotherus, Svipdagr Svipdagerus, Ullr Ollerus,
Yggr Uggerus, Vigr Vigerus.
(b) Asmundr Asmundus, Amundr Amundus, Arngrimr Amgrimus, Bildr Bildus,
Knutr Canutus, Fridleifr Fridlevus, Gautrekr Gotricus, Gódmundr Guthmundus,
Haddingr Hadingus, Haraldr Haraldus.
Names ending in -arr are Latinised in the following manner:
(a) Borgarr Borcarus, Einarr Enarus, Gunnarr Gunnarus, Hjörvarr Hjartvarus,
Ingimarr Ingimarus, Ingvarr Ingvarus, Ismarr Ismarus, Ivarr Ivarus, Ottarr
Otharus, Rostarr Rostarus, Sigarr Sigarus, Sivarr Sivarus, Valdimarr
Valdemarus.
(b) Agnarr Agnerus, Ragnarr Regnerus.
With the ending -arus occurs also in a single instance a Norse name in -i,
namely, Eylimi Olimarus. Herewith we might perhaps include Liotarus, the
Norse form of which Saxo may have had in Ljóti from Ljótr. Otherwise Ljótr is
a single exception from the rules followed by Saxo, and methodology forbids
our building anything on a single exception, which moreover is uncertain.
Some monosyllabic names ending in -r are sometimes unlatinised, as Alf, Ulf,
Sten, Ring, Rolf, and sometimes Latinised with
-o, as Alvo, Ulvo, Steno, Ringo, Rolvo. Alfr is also found Latinised as Alverus.
From the above lists of names it follows that Saxo’s rules for Latinising Norse
names ending with the nominative -r after a consonant were these:
(1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as Svipdagr) are Latinised
with the ending -erus or the ending -o.
(2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end in -ar’r (rarely a name of
one syllable, as Bildr) are Latinised with the ending -us.
(3) Names ending in -arr are Latinised with -arus; in a few cases (and then on
account of the Danish pronunciation) with -erus.
From the above rules it follows (1) that Gefr, if such a name existed, would
have been Latinised by Saxo either into Geverus, Geferus, or into Gevo,
Gefo; (2) that Gevarr is the regular Norse for Gevarus.
The only possible meaning of the name Gevarr, considered as a common
noun is "the ward of the atmosphere" from ge (gae; see Younger Edda, ii.
486, and Egilsson, 227) and –varr. I cite this definition not for the purpose of
drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because it agrees with the
result reached in another way.
The other name of Nanna’s father is, as we have seen, Nokkvi, Nökkver. This
word means the ship-owner, ship-captain. If we compare these two names,
Gevarr and Nokkver, with each other, then it follows from the comparison that
Nanna’s father was a mythic person who operated inn the atmosphere or had
some connection with certain phenomena in the air, and particularly in
connection with a phenomenon there of such a kind that the mythic fancy
could imagine a ship. The result of the comparison should be examined in
connection with a strophe by Thorbjorn Hornklofve, which I shall now
consider.
Thorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and he described many of the
king’s deeds and adventures. Harald had at one time caused to be built for
himself and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a beautiful figurehead in the form of a serpent. On board this ship he was overtaken by a
severe gale, which Hornklofve (Harald Harfager’s saga, ch. 9) describes in the
following words:
Ut a mar maetir mannskaedr lagar tanna raesinadr til rausnar rak vebrautar
Nökkva
In prose order: Lagar tanna mannskaedr maetir ut a mar rak rausnar raesnadr
til Nokkva vebrautar (" The assalants of the skerry (the teeth of the sea),
dangerous to man, flung out upon tIne sea the splendid serpent of the
vessel’s stem to the holy path of Nokve ").
All interpreters agree that by "the skerry’s assailants, dangerous to man," is
meant the waves which are produced by the storm and rush against the
skerries in breakers dangerous to seamen. It is also evident that Hornklofve
wanted to depict the violence of the sea when be says that the billows which
rise to assail thie skerry tosses the ship, so that the figure-head of the stein
reaches "the holy path of Nokve ". Poems of different literatures resemble
each other in their descriptions of a storm raging at sea. They make the
billows rise to "the clouds," to "the stars," or to "the moon ". Quanti montes
volvuntur aquarum! Jam, jam tacturos sidera suruma putes, Ovid sings (Trist.,
i. 18, 19) and Virgil has it: Procella fluctus ad sidera tollit (Æn., i. 107). One of
their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskaparmal (oh. 61), depicts a
storm with the following words:
Hraud i himin upp glódum hafs, gekk saer af afli, bor hygg ek at sky skori,
skaut Ránar vegr mána.
The skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash against heaven; he
makes the ship split the clouds, and the way of Ran, the giantess of the sea,
cut thie path of the moon.
The question now is, whether Hornklofve by "Nokve’s holy path" did not mean
the path of the moon in space, and whether it is not to this path the figurehead of the ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by the towering
billows. It is certain that this holy way toward which tIme heaven-high billows
lift the ship is situated in the atmosphere above the sea, and that Nokve has
been conceived as travelling this way in a ship, since Nokve means the shipcaptain. From this it follows that Nokve’s craft must have been a phenomenon
in space resembling a ship which was supposed to have its course marked
out there. We must therefore choose between the sun, the moon, and the
stars; and as it is the moon which, when it is not full, has the form of a ship
sailing in space, it is more probable that by Nokve’s ship is meant the moon
than that any other celestial body is referred to.
This probability becomes a certainty by the following proofs. In Sonatorrek
(str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson sings that when heavy sorrow oppresses him
(who has lost his favourite son) then the song does not easily well forth from
his breast:
þagna fundr þriggia nidja ár borinn or Jotunheimum, lastalauss er lifnadi á
Nokkvers nokkva Bragi.
The skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which does not easily gush
forth from a sorrowful heart, and the liquid of the fountain is compared with the
"Thrigge’s kinsmen’s find, the one kept secret, which in times past was carried
from Jotunheim into Nokve’s ship, where Brage, unharmed, refreshed himself
(secured the vigour of life)".
It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that formed aim episode in the
myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim a fountain
containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimir’s well has burst forth. The
vein of the fountain was discovered by kinsmen of Thrigge, but the precious
find eagerly desired by all powers is kept secret, presumably in order that they
who made the discovery might enjoy it undivided and in safety. But something
happens which causes the treasure which the fountain gave its discoverers to
be carried from Jotunheim to Nokve’s ship, and there the drink is accessible to
the gods. It is especially mentioned that Brage, the god of poetry, is there
permitted to partake of it and thus refresh his powers.
Thus the ship of Nanna’s father here reappears, and we learn that on its holy
way in space in bygone times it bore a supply of skaldic mead, of which Brage
in the days of his innocence drank the strength of life.
With this we must compare a mythic fragment preserved in Gylfaginning (ch.
11). There a fountain called Byrgir is mentioned. Two children, a lass by name
Bil and a lad by name Hjuki, whose father was named Vidfinnr, had come with
a pail to this fountain to fetch water. The allegory in which the tradition is
incorporated calls the pail Saegr, "the one seething over its brinks," amid calls
the pole on which the pail is carried Simul (according to one manuscript
Sumul; cp. Suml, brewing, ale, mead). Bil, one of the two children is put in
connection with the drink of poetry. The skalds pray that she may be gracious
to them. Ef unna itr vildi Bil skáldi, "if the noble Bil will favour the skald," is a
wish expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. 363. Byrgir is manifestly
a fountain of the same kind as the one referred to by Egil, and containing the
skaldic mead. Byrgir’s fountain must have been kept secret, it must have been
a "concealed find," for it is in the night, whihe the moon is up, that Vidfin’s
children are engaged in filling their pail from it. This is evident from the fact
that Máni sees the children. When they have filled the pail, they are about to
depart, presumably to their home, and to their father Vidfin. But they do not
get home. While they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders Mani takes
them unto himself, and they remain with him, together with their precious
burden. From other mythic traditions which I shall consider later (see the
treatise on the Ivalde race), we learn that the moon-god adopts them as his
children, and Bil afterwards appears as an asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118,
556).
If we now compare Egil’s statements with the mythic fragment about Bil and
Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the liquid of
inspiration found in Mimir’s fountain, without being Mimir’s well-guarded or
unapproachable "well ". In Egil the find is "kept secret ". In Gylfaginning the
children visit it in the night. Egil says the liquid was carried from Jotunheim;
Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke carried it in a pail. Egil makes the liquid
transferred from Jotunheim to Nokve’s ship; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and
its bearer’s be taken aloft by the moon-god to the moon, where we still, says
Gylfaginning, can see Bil and Hjuke (in the moon-spots).
There can therefore be no doubt that Nokve’s ship is the silvery craft of tine
moon, sailing in space over sea and land on a course marked out for it, and
that Nokve is the moon-god. As in Rigveda, so in the Teutonic mythology, the
ship of the moon was for a time tine place where the liquid of inspiration, the
life- and strength-giving mead, was concealed. The myth has ancient Aryan
roots.
On the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to which the Asas come to
drink, rests the paraphrase for composing, for making a song, which Einar
Skalaglam once used (Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs lie calls "to dip
liquid out of Her-Tyr’s wind-ship" (ausa Hertys víngnodar austr; see further
No. 121, about Odin’s visit inn Nokve’s ship).
The name Nefr (variation Nepr), tine third name of Nanna’s father mentioned
above, occur’s nowhere in the Norse sources excepting in the Younger Edda.
It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was also called Nef.
Among all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one other with which so many
heroic songs composed in heathen times have been connected as with the
myth concerning the moon-god and his descendants. As shall be shown
further on, the Niflungs are descendants of Nef’s adopted son Hjuke, and they
are originally named after their adopted race-progenitor .Nefr’. A more correct
and an older form is perhaps Hnefr and Hniflungar, and the latter form is also
found in the Icelandic literature. In Old English the moon-god appears
changed into a prehistoric king, Hnaf, also called Hoce (see Beowulf, 2142,
and Gleeman’s Tale). Hoce is the same name as the Norse Hjuki. Thins while
Hnaf and Hoce are identical in the Old English poem "Beowuif," we find in the
Norse source that the lad taken aloft by Mane is called by one of the names of
his foster-father. In the Norse account tine moon-god (Nefr) captures, as we
have seen, the children of one Vidfinnr, and at the same time he robs Vidfinnr
of the priceless mend of inspiration found in the fountain Byrgir. In the Old
English saga Hnaf has a son-in-law and vassal, whose name is Finn (Fin
Folcvalding), who becomes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is conquered
and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in company with one Gudere
(Gunnr), burns him. According to Saxo, Nanna’s father Gevarr has the same
fate. He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal is called Guano (Gunnr,
Gudere). Thus we have in the Old English tradition the names Hnaf, Hoce,
Fin, and Gudere; and in the Norse tradition the corresponding names Nefr,
Hjuki, Vifinnr’, and Gunnr (Gunnar). The relation of the moon-god (Nefr) to
Vidfinnr is the mythological basis of Fin’s enmity to Hnaf. The burning is
common to both the Old English and the Noise sources. Later in this wor