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-Loke and his adventures there contains reminiscences
of what the original myths have had to say about his experience 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
doubtless 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 Havamál strophes, together with
Eyvind's half strophe, were lost, 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 compared with each
other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are
the following:
(_a_) Both contain the epithet _Sökkmimir_, 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 _Sökkmimir_; 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_
(_Mjódvitnir_), according to Völuspa, 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 _Sökkmimir_
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 mead-wolf," an epithet which
explains why the mead-thirsty 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. _Svíthiód
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 in 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 he 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 _Svigdir_) 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 relates, we get the following parallels:
_Havamál and Eyvind._ _The strophes about Sökkmimir._
Odin visits inn aldna iotum Odin visits inn aldna iotun
(Surtr and his race). (Sökkmimir and his race).
Odin's purpose is to deceive Odin's purpose is to deceive
the old giant. In his abode is the old giant. In his abode is
found a kinsman, who is in found a kinsman who is in
possession of the skaldic possession of the skaldic
mead (Suttung-Fjalar). mead (Midvitnir).
Odin appears in the guise Odin appears as Svidurr-Svigdir.
of Gunlad's wooer, who, if he Svigdir means the
is named, is called Sumbl champion drinker.
(sumbl = a drink, a feast).
Odin became drunk. Odin must have drunk
much, since he appears among
the giants as one acting the
part of a "champion drinker."
A catastrophe occurs causing A catastrophe occurs causing
Gunnlöd to bewail the Odin to slay Midvitnir's
death of a kinsman. son.
To this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement, that the event
occurred in Surt's _Sökkdalir_, helps to throw light on Surt's epithet
_Sökkmimir_, and particularly that Ynglingatal's account of the arrival
and fate of the real Svegder fills a gap in Havamál'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 Havamál's statement, this satire
was produced to show in a semi-allegorical way how good and bad poetry
originated. The author of this satire either did not know or did not
care about the fact that Havamál 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 _Bölverkr_, "the evil-doer," and this very properly from their
standpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this name when
he is to appear _incognito_, though such a name was not calculated to
inspire confidence. While in Havamál 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
mead-vessels, _Ódrærir_, _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. Havamál contents itself with
using a poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead, captured
by Odin, _Ódrærir_, "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 Havamál, 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_. Havamál 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 mentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rate, and
this on the one hand 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 Suttung-Fjalar, it
had passed through various adventures. In one of these enters _Máni_, the
god of the moon, who by the names _Nökkvi_ (variation _Nökkver_), _Nefr_
(variation _Nepr_), and _Gevarr_ (_Gævarr_) occupies a very conspicuous
position in our mythology, not least in the capacity of Nanna's father.
I shall here present the 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 _Nökkvi_, _Nefr_, and _Gevarr_ appears from the following
passages:
(1) Hyndluljod, 20: "Nanna was, in the next place, _Nökkvi's_ daughter"
(_Nanna var næst thar 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 Nefsdóttir_).
(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, _Hödr_, _Hadr_, _Odr_, Hötherus, Hatherus, Hotherus, _Svipdagr_
Svipdagerus, _Ullr_ Ollerus, _Yggr_ Uggerus, _Vigr_ Vigerus.
(_b_) _Ásmundr_ Asmundus, _Amundr_ Amundus, _Arngrimr_ Arngrimus, _Bildr_
Bildus, _Knútr_ 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, _Ísmarr_ Ismarus,
_Ívarr_ Ivarus, _Óttarr_ 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, _Álfr_ 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 _-arr_ (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_ (_gæ_; 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, _Nökkvi_,
_Nökkver_. This word means the ship-owner, ship-captain. If we compare
these two names, _Gevarr_ and _Nökkver_, with each other, then it follows
from the comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who operated
in 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 figure-head 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 á mar mætir
mannskædr lagar tanna
ræsinadr til rausnar
rak vebrautar Nökkva.
In prose order: _Lagar tanna mannskædr mætir út á mar rak rausnar
ræsinadr til Nökkva vebrautar_ ("The assailants of the skerry (the teeth
of the sea), dangerous to man, flung out upon the 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 he says that
the billows which rise to assail the skerry tosses the ship, so that
the figure-head of the stem 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 summa 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 (ch. 61),
depicts a storm with the following words:
Hraud i himin upp glódum
hafs, gekk sær af afli,
bör hygg ek at sky skordi,
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 the 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 figure-head 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 the
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 ship-captain. 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:
Thagna fundr
thriggia nidja
ár borinn
or Jötunheimum,
lastalauss
er lifnadi
á Nökkvers
nökkva 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 an
episode in the myth concerning the skaldic mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim
a fountain containing the same precious liquid as that in Mimer'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 _Sægr_,
"the one seething over its brinks," and 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, while 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
_Máni_ 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 statement with the mythic fragment about Bil
and Hjuke, we find in both a fountain mentioned which contains the
liquid of inspiration found in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer'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 bearers 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 the 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 the 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 he calls "to
dip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship" (_ausa Hértys víngnodar austr_;
see further No. 121, about Odin's visit in Nokve's ship).
The name _Nefr_ (variation _Nepr_), the third name of Nanna's father
mentioned above, occurs nowhere in the Norse sources excepting in the
Younger Edda. It is, however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was
also called Nef.