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Teutonic Mythology
Gods and Goddesses
of the Northland
IN
THREE VOLUMES
By VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D.,
MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF "THE LAST ATHENIAN"
AND OTHER WORKS.
_AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH_
BY
RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,
EX-UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF "NORSE
MYTHOLOGY," "VIKING TALES," ETC.
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D.,
EDITOR IN CHIEF.
J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.,
MANAGING EDITOR.
VOL. II.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NORRŒNA SOCIETY,
LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK
1906
_OF THE_
Viking Edition
_There are but six hundred and fifty sets made for the world,
of which this is_
_No._ 99
[Illustration: NORRŒNA]
COPYRIGHT,
T. H. SMART,
1905.
[Illustration: VALKYRIES BRINGING THE BODY OF A SLAIN WARRIOR TO VALHALLA
(_From an etching by Lorenz Frölich._)
Heimdal, the god of light, father of men, sire of kings, was warder of
the gates of Valhalla and lived in a castle at the end of the rainbow
(Bifröst bridge). He possessed a trumpet called Gjallarhorn with which he
summoned together the gods at Ragnarok. He is represented as the zealous
gate-keeper who received and admitted to Valhalla the bodies of warriors
slain in battle, when brought hence by Valkyrie maidens who gathered them
from battle-fields. Valhalla was the abode of Odin in Asgard which was
situated in Gladsheim, the valley of joy. In this paradise dead warriors
were revived and spent all after-time fighting, feasting, and drinking
as the guests of Odin, pursuing those pleasures that most delighted them
when in the flesh.]
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME TWO
Page
Myth in Regard to the Lower World 353
Myth Concerning Mimer's Grove 379
Mimer's Grove and Regeneration of the World 389
Gylfaginning's Cosmography 395
The Word Hel in Linguistic Usage 406
Border Mountain Between Hel and Nifelhel 414
Description of Nifelhel 426
Who the Inhabitants of Hel are 440
The Classes of Beings in Hel 445
The Kingdom of Death 447
Valkyries, Psycho-messengers of Diseases 457
The Way of Those who Fall by the Sword 462
Risting with the Spear-point 472
Loke's Daughter, Hel 476
Way to Hades Common to the Dead 482
The Doom of the Dead 485
The Looks of the Thingstead 505
The Hades Drink 514
The Hades Horn Embellished with Serpents 521
The Lot of the Blessed 528
Arrival at the Na-gates 531
The Places of Punishment 534
The Hall in Nastrands 540
Loke's Cave of Punishment 552
The Great World-Mill 565
The World-Mill makes the Constellations Revolve 579
Origin of the Sacred Fire 586
Mundilfore's Identity with Lodur 601
Nat, Mother of the Gods 608
Narfi, Nat's Father 611
Giant Clans Descended from Ymer 624
Identity of Mimer and Nidhad 630
Review of Mimer's Names and Epithets 641
The Mead Myth 644
The Moon and the Mead 669
Myths of the Moon-God 680
LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.
Page
VOL. II.
Valkyries Bringing the Body of a Slain Warrior
to Valhalla Frontispiece
Thor Destroys the Giant Thrym 456
The Punishment of Loke 552
Gefion and King Gylphi 616
THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE LOWER WORLD.
(_Part IV. Continued from Volume I._)
53.
AT WHAT TIME DID LIF AND LEIFTHRASER GET THEIR PLACE OF REFUGE
IN MIMER'S GROVE? THE ASMEGIR. MIMER'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 thadan af aldir alaz_:
"Thence (from Lif and Leifthraser in Mimer's grove) races are born."
Codex Upsalensis has instead--_ok thar um alldr alaz_: "And they (Lif
and Leifthraser) have there (in Mimer'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,[1] has the preference.
It would, however, hardly be prudent to put the chief emphasis on this
fact. Without drawing any conclusions, I simply point out the fact
that the oldest version we possess of the passage says that Lif and
Leifthraser live through ages in Mimer'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 _ásmegir_. 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 gate-keeper, 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 mèr hvat that
bjarg heitir, er ek sè 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 that, Fjölsvidr,
er ek thik fregna mun
ok ek vilja vita;
hverr that gördi,
er ek fyr gard sák
innan ásmaga?
"Tell me that which I ask you, and which I wish to know, Fjolsvinn: Who
made that which I saw within the castle wall of the _ásmegir_?"[2]
Fjolsvinn answers (str. 34):
Uni ok Iri,
Bari ok Ori,
Varr ok Vegdrasil,
Dori ok Uri;
Dellingr ok vardar
lithsci alfr, loki.
"Une and Ire, Bare and Ore, Var and Vegdrasil, Dore and Ure, Delling, the
cunning elf, is watchman at the gate."[3]
Thus Svipdag has seen a place where beings called _ásmegir 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 astonishment and admiration, and caused him
to ask Fjolsvinn about the name of its builder. Fjolsvinn 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 Völuspa. Both are said to be dwarfs in Dvalin's group of
attendants or servants (_i Dvalins lidi_--Völuspa, 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
_ásmegir_--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 _ásmegir_ 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 Völuspa 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 _Modsognir_, _Motsognir_, was bestowed the dignity of chief[4] of
the proposed artist-clan, and that he, with the assistance of Durin
(_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 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
Mimer, who originally was the sole possessor of the mythic mead, and who
daily drank of it (Völuspa, 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 Völuspa, 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 (Völuspa, 14). The
problem as to whether Modsogner is identical with Mimer should therefore
be decided by the answers to the following questions: Is that which is
narrated about Modsogner also narrated of Mimer? Do the statements which
we have about Dvalin show that he was particularly connected with Mimer
and with the lower world, the realm of Mimer?
Of Modsogner it is said (Völuspa, 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 Mimer?
The German middle-age poem, "Biterolf," relates that its hero possessed
a sword, made, by Mimer 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 Mimer's co-labourer, and assisted him in making all
the treasures he produced:
Zuo siner (Mimer's) meisterschefte
ich nieman kan gelichen
in allen fürsten richen
an einen, den ich nenne,
daz man in dar bi erkenne:
Der 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 Mimer 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 Mimer, as chief of smiths, we also perceive in Saxo. It should
be remembered what he relates about the incomparable treasures which
are preserved in Gudmund-Mimer'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 Mimer mentioned as _Hodd-Mimer_, Treasure-Mimer
(Vafthr. 45); as _naddgöfugr jotunn_, the giant celebrated for his
weapons (Grogalder, 14); as _Hoddrofnir_, or _Hodd-dropnir_, 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 Mimer 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 "mead-drinker" is the chief and
master of all these artists. And on a closer examination it appears
that Mimer's mead-well is the source of all these powers, which in the
mythology are represented as creating, forming, and ordaining with wisdom.
In Havamál (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's 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_:
Tha nam ec frovaz Then I began to bloom
oc frodr vera and to be wise,
oc vaxa oc vel hafaz; and to grow and thrive;
ord mer af ordi word came to me
orz leitadi, from word,
verc mer af verki deed came to me
vercs leitadi. from deed.
It is evident that Odin here means to say that the first drink which he
received from Mimer'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 wisdom 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 Mimer'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 Ymer, 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 Havamál,
unless Odin should have specifically mentioned the works he performed
after receiving the drink. From Mimer's fountain and from Mimer's hand
Odin has, therefore, received his creative power and his wisdom. We are
thus 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 Mimer's fountain is endowed with creative power and
wisdom, how can the conclusion be evaded, that the myth regarded Mimer
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, came from
the lower world and from Mimer. The world-tree has also grown out of the
lower world and is Mimer's tree, and receives from his hands its value.
Thus the creative power with which the dwarf-list in Völuspa endowed the
"mead-drinker" is rediscovered in Mimer. 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 Rubhus, 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 Mimer was the profound counsellor and faithful friend of the Asas
has already been shown. Thus we discover in Mimer 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 Dvalin (_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 Mimer'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 Mimer 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 (Havamál, 143). But all knowledge of runes came originally
from Mimer. As skald and runic scholar, Dvalin, 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 (Havamál, 138-143), was by birth Mimer's chief
disciple, and taught the knowledge of runes among his kinsmen, the Asas
(Havamál, 143), and among men, his protégés (Sigdrifm., 18). The other
disciples were Dain (_Dáinn_) and Dvalin (_Dvalinn_). Dain, like Dvalin,
is an artist created by Modsogner (Völuspa, 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 (Havamál, 143).
Nor were the giants neglected. They learned the runes from _Ásvidr_.
Since the other teachers of runes belong to the clans, to which they
teach the knowledge of runes--"Odin among Asas, Dain among elves, Dvalin
among dwarfs"--there can be no danger of making a mistake, if we assume
that _Ásvidr_ was a giant. And as Mimer himself is a giant, and as the
name _Ásvidr_ (= _Ásvinr_) means Asa-friend, and as no one--particularly
no one among the giants--has so much right as Mimer to this epithet,
which has its counterpart in Odin's epithet, _Mims vinr_ (Mimer's
friend), then caution dictates that we keep open the highly probable
possibility that Mimer himself is meant by _Ásvidr_.
All that has here been stated about Dvalin shows that the mythology has
referred him to a place within the domain of Mimer'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 Delling's son.
Delling is the watchman of the castle of the _ásmegir_, which Dvalin's
artists decorated.
Thus the whole group of persons among whom Dvalin is placed--Mimer,
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 Mimer'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 border 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_--Alvm., 13). Nat has her home and, as shall
be shown hereafter, her 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 Delling'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 _thjódreyrir_ ("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" (_afl
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 _ásmegir_ 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 (Völuspa, 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 Mimer's
domain, Delling of the eastern.
From this it follows:
That the citadel of the _ásmegir_ is situated in Mimer'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 _ásmegir_ are mentioned by this name. Here we
have an opportunity of taking a look within 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 sánir,
flæt fagrlig
floth gulli?
"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, pure 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_, _strá 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 _ásmegir_ 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 _ásmegir_ and there be welcomed by a sacrifice,
consisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the strength-giving
_soma-madhu_ 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, ch. 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 hertharfir hverfa
hlakkar móts til blóta,
raudbrikar fremst rækir
rikr, ásmegir, sliku.
Nu grær jörd sem adan, &c.
Put in prose: _Ok hertharfir ásmegir hverfa til blóta; hlakkar móts
raudbríkar ríkr 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 _hertharfir_ (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 _ásmegir_
stand in a subordinate relation to that being which is called _raudbríkar
rækir_, providing the 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 _ásmegir_
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 _rödull_, 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 Mimer, 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 _ásmegir_.
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 _raudbrikar 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 Mimer's domain by the _ásmegir_ who gladly give
offerings, and the earth regains her green fields.
Hakon's men are designated in the strophe as _hertharfir ásmegir_.
When they are permitted to borrow the name of the _ásmegir_, then the
adjective _hertharfir_, 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 _ásmegir_ were of such a
nature that they could be called _hertharfir_, then that adjective would
not serve to distinguish Hakon's men from them. The word _hertharfir_
means "those who are needed in war," "those who are to be used in war."
Consequently, the _ásmegir_ 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 Warlike inhabitants of the
world (ásmegir). earth (hertharfir ásmegir).
at the instigation of their at the instigation of their
chief, chief,
the sun-god Balder (raudbríkar the shield's Balder, Hakon
rækir), (hlakkar móts raudbríkar rækir),
go to offer sacrifices. go to offer sacrifices.
The peaceful Balder is thereby The shield's Balder is thereby
benefited. benefited.
The earth grows green again. The earth grows green again.
ok ásmegir, ok hertharfir ásmegir,
hverfa til blóta; hverfa til blóta
raudbrikar rikr rækir hlakkar móts raudbríkar rikr rækir
fremst sliku. fremst sliku.
Nú grær jördsem ádan. Nú grær jörd sem ádan.
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 soma-sacrifice 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 term 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,
Asa-descendants. 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 men. 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 resembling _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)[5] The conception of men as
sons of the gods is also implied in the all mankind embracing phrase,
_megir Heimdallar_ (Völusp., 1), with which the account of Rig-Heimdal's
journey on the earth and visit to the patriarchs of the various classes
is connected.[6]
The true meaning of the word in this case is determined by the fact that
the _ásmegir_ 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 _ásmegir_ meant Asas, Einar would never have called the
inhabitants of Norway, the subjects of jarl Hakon, _hertharfir ásmegir_,
for _hertharfir_ 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 _ásmegir_ 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 _áslithar_, a word which Gudbrand
Vigfusson has rightly assumed to be identical with _ásmegir_.
Thus it is also demonstrated that the _ásmegir_ are identical with the
subterranean human persons Lif and Leifthraser and their descendants
in Mimer's grove. The care with which the mythology represents the
citadel of the _ásmegir_ 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 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 Leifthraser and their offspring are after Ragnarok to
accompany 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 _ásmegir_ already before Balder's death dwell
in Mimer'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
time's morning, the other is to precede Ragnarok. The former 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
(Völusp., 26); when there came from the Elivogs stinging, ice-cold arrows
of frost, which put men to death and destroyed the greenness of the earth
(Fornspjallsljod); when King Snow ruled, and there came in 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 fimbul-winter. 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 Mimer'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.
[1] S. Bugge, Sæmund. Edda, xxvi. Thorl. Jónsson's Edda, Snorra St., viii.
[2] 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 _ásmegir_ 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 made 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 _ásmegir_ 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
_ásmegir_ it was that had made them. 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. _ásmaga_ 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 case.
[3] I follow the text in most of the manuscripts, of which Bugge has
given various versions. One manuscript has in the text, another in the
margin, _Lidscialfr_, written in one word (instead of _lithsci alfr_). Of
this Munch made _Lidskjalfr_. The dative _loki_ from _lok_, a gate (cp.
_luka loka_, to close, enclose) has been interpreted as _Loki_, and thus
made the confusion complete.
[4] _Thar_ (in the assembly of the gods) _var Modsognir mæstr um ordinn
dverga allra_.
[5]
_Sol heitir med monnom,
enn sunna med godum,
kalla dvergar Dvalin's leika
eyglo iotnar,
alfar fagra hvel
alscir asa synir._
[6] Cp. also Gylfag., 9, in regard to Odin: _Ok fyrir thvi má hann heita
Allfodr, at hann er fadir alra godanna ok manna ok alls thess, er af
honom ok hans krapti var fullgjört._
54.
THE IRANIAN MYTH CONCERNING MIMER'S GROVE.
In connection with the efforts to determine the age of the 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 same 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 become 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.