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Myths of the Norsemen
From the Eddas and Sagas
By
H. A. Guerber
Author of "The Myths of Greece and Rome" etc.
London
George G. Harrap & Company
15 York Street Covent Garden
1909
Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited
Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London
CONTENTS
Chap. Page
I. The Beginning 1
II. Odin 16
III. Frigga 42
IV. Thor 59
V. Tyr 85
VI. Bragi 95
VII. Idun 103
VIII. Niörd 111
IX. Frey 117
X. Freya 131
XI. Uller 139
XII. Forseti 142
XIII. Heimdall 146
XIV. Hermod 154
XV. Vidar 158
XVI. Vali 162
XVII. The Norns 166
XVIII. The Valkyrs 173
XIX. Hel 180
XX. Ægir 185
XXI. Balder 197
XXII. Loki 216
XXIII. The Giants 230
XXIV. The Dwarfs 239
XXV. The Elves 246
XXVI. The Sigurd Saga 251
XXVII. The Frithiof Saga 298
XXVIII. The Twilight of the Gods 329
XXIX. Greek and Northern Mythologies--A Comparison 342
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Norsemen Landing in Iceland (Oscar Wergeland) Frontispiece
To face page
The Giant with the Flaming Sword (J. C. Dollman) 2
The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani (J. C. Dollman) 8
Odin (Sir E. Burne-Jones) 16
The Chosen Slain (K. Dielitz) 18
A Viking Foray (J. C. Dollman) 20
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (H. Kaulbach) 28
Odin (B. E. Fogelberg) 36
Frigga Spinning the Clouds (J. C. Dollman) 42
Tannhäuser and Frau Venus (J. Wagrez) 52
Eástre (Jacques Reich) 54
Huldra's Nymphs (B. E. Ward) 58
Thor (B. E. Fogelberg) 60
Sif (J. C. Dollman) 64
Thor and the Mountain (J. C. Dollman) 72
A Foray (A. Malmström) 88
The Binding of Fenris (Dorothy Hardy) 92
Idun (B. E. Ward) 100
Loki and Thiassi (Dorothy Hardy) 104
Frey (Jacques Reich) 118
Freya (N. J. O. Blommér) 132
The Rainbow Bridge (H. Hendrich) 146
Heimdall (Dorothy Hardy) 148
Jarl (Albert Edelfelt) 152
The Norns (C. Ehrenberg) 166
The Dises (Dorothy Hardy) 170
The Swan-Maiden (Gertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.) 174
The Ride of the Valkyrs (J. C. Dollman) 176
Brunhild and Siegmund (J. Wagrez) 178
The Road to Valhalla (Severin Nilsson) 182
Ægir (J. P. Molin) 186
Ran (M. E. Winge) 190
The Neckan (J. P. Molin) 194
Loki and Hodur (C. G. Qvarnström) 202
The Death of Balder (Dorothy Hardy) 206
Hermod before Hela (J. C. Dollman) 210
Loki and Svadilfari (Dorothy Hardy) 222
Loki and Sigyn (M. E. Winge) 228
Thor and the Giants (M. E. Winge) 230
Torghatten 234
The Peaks of the Trolls 244
The Elf-Dance (N. J. O. Blommér) 246
The White Elves (Charles P. Sainton, R.I.) 248
Old Houses with Carved Posts 250
The Were-Wolves (J. C. Dollman) 260
A Hero's Farewell (M. E. Winge) 264
The Funeral Procession (H. Hendrich) 268
Sigurd and Fafnir (K. Dielitz) 274
Sigurd Finds Brunhild (J. Wagrez) 278
Odin and Brunhild (K. Dielitz) 280
Aslaug (Gertrude Demain Hammond, R.I.) 282
Sigurd and Gunnar (J. C. Dollman) 284
The Death of Siegfried (H. Hendrich) 288
The End of Brunhild (J. Wagrez) 290
Ingeborg (M. E. Winge) 304
Frithiof Cleaves the Shield of Helgé (Knut Ekwall) 308
Ingeborg Watches her Lover Depart (Knut Ekwall) 312
Frithiof's Return to Framnäs (Knut Ekwall) 316
Frithiof at the Shrine of Balder (Knut Ekwall) 318
Frithiof at the Court of Ring (Knut Ekwall) 320
Frithiof Watches the Sleeping King (Knut Ekwall) 324
Odin and Fenris (Dorothy Hardy) 334
The Ride of the Valkyrs (H. Hendrich) 344
The Storm-Ride (Gilbert Bayes) 358
INTRODUCTION
The prime importance of the rude fragments of poetry preserved in
early Icelandic literature will now be disputed by none, but there
has been until recent times an extraordinary indifference to the
wealth of religious tradition and mythical lore which they contain.
The long neglect of these precious records of our heathen ancestors
is not the fault of the material in which all that survives of
their religious beliefs is enshrined, for it may safely be asserted
that the Edda is as rich in the essentials of national romance
and race-imagination, rugged though it be, as the more graceful
and idyllic mythology of the South. Neither is it due to anything
weak in the conception of the deities themselves, for although
they may not rise to great spiritual heights, foremost students of
Icelandic literature agree that they stand out rude and massive as the
Scandinavian mountains. They exhibit "a spirit of victory, superior
to brute force, superior to mere matter, a spirit that fights and
overcomes." [1] "Even were some part of the matter of their myths
taken from others, yet the Norsemen have given their gods a noble,
upright, great spirit, and placed them upon a high level that is all
their own." [2] "In fact these old Norse songs have a truth in them,
an inward perennial truth and greatness. It is a greatness not of
mere body and gigantic bulk, but a rude greatness of soul." [3]
The introduction of Christianity into the North brought with it the
influence of the Classical races, and this eventually supplanted the
native genius, so that the alien mythology and literature of Greece
and Rome have formed an increasing part of the mental equipment of the
northern peoples in proportion as the native literature and tradition
have been neglected.
Undoubtedly Northern mythology has exercised a deep influence upon
our customs, laws, and language, and there has been, therefore,
a great unconscious inspiration flowing from these into English
literature. The most distinctive traits of this mythology are a
peculiar grim humour, to be found in the religion of no other race,
and a dark thread of tragedy which runs throughout the whole woof,
and these characteristics, touching both extremes, are writ large
over English literature.
But of conscious influence, compared with the rich draught of Hellenic
inspiration, there is little to be found, and if we turn to modern
art the difference is even more apparent.
This indifference may be attributed to many causes, but it was due
first to the fact that the religious beliefs of our pagan ancestors
were not held with any real tenacity. Hence the success of the
more or less considered policy of the early Christian missionaries
to confuse the heathen beliefs, and merge them in the new faith,
an interesting example of which is to be seen in the transference
to the Christian festival of Easter of the attributes of the pagan
goddess Eástre, from whom it took even the name. Northern mythology
was in this way arrested ere it had attained its full development,
and the progress of Christianity eventually relegated it to the limbo
of forgotten things. Its comprehensive and intelligent scheme, however,
in strong contrast with the disconnected mythology of Greece and Rome,
formed the basis of a more or less rational faith which prepared the
Norseman to receive the teaching of Christianity, and so helped to
bring about its own undoing.
The religious beliefs of the North are not mirrored with any
exactitude in the Elder Edda. Indeed only a travesty of the faith of
our ancestors has been preserved in Norse literature. The early poet
loved allegory, and his imagination rioted among the conceptions of
his fertile muse. "His eye was fixed on the mountains till the snowy
peaks assumed human features and the giant of the rock or the ice
descended with heavy tread; or he would gaze at the splendour of the
spring, or of the summer fields, till Freya with the gleaming necklace
stepped forth, or Sif with the flowing locks of gold." [4]
We are told nothing as to sacrificial and religious rites, and
all else is omitted which does not provide material for artistic
treatment. The so-called Northern Mythology, therefore, may be regarded
as a precious relic of the beginning of Northern poetry, rather than
as a representation of the religious beliefs of the Scandinavians,
and these literary fragments bear many signs of the transitional stage
wherein the confusion of the old and new faiths is easily apparent.
But notwithstanding the limitations imposed by long neglect it is
possible to reconstruct in part a plan of the ancient Norse beliefs,
and the general reader will derive much profit from Carlyle's
illuminating study in "Heroes and Hero-worship." "A bewildering,
inextricable jungle of delusions, confusions, falsehoods and
absurdities, covering the whole field of Life!" he calls them,
with all good reason. But he goes on to show, with equal truth,
that at the soul of this crude worship of distorted nature was a
spiritual force seeking expression. What we probe without reverence
they viewed with awe, and not understanding it, straightway deified
it, as all children have been apt to do in all stages of the world's
history. Truly they were hero-worshippers after Carlyle's own heart,
and scepticism had no place in their simple philosophy.
It was the infancy of thought gazing upon a universe filled with
divinity, and believing heartily with all sincerity. A large-hearted
people reaching out in the dark towards ideals which were better than
they knew. Ragnarok was to undo their gods because they had stumbled
from their higher standards.
We have to thank a curious phenomenon for the preservation of so much
of the old lore as we still possess. While foreign influences were
corrupting the Norse language, it remained practically unaltered in
Iceland, which had been colonised from the mainland by the Norsemen
who had fled thither to escape the oppression of Harold Fairhair after
his crushing victory of Hafrsfirth. These people brought with them the
poetic genius which had already manifested itself, and it took fresh
root in that barren soil. Many of the old Norse poets were natives
of Iceland, and in the early part of the Christian era, a supreme
service was rendered to Norse literature by the Christian priest,
Sæmund, who industriously brought together a large amount of pagan
poetry in a collection known as the Elder Edda, which is the chief
foundation of our present knowledge of the religion of our Norse
ancestors. Icelandic literature remained a sealed book, however,
until the end of the eighteenth century, and very slowly since that
time it has been winning its way in the teeth of indifference, until
there are now signs that it will eventually come into its own. "To
know the old Faith," says Carlyle, "brings us into closer and clearer
relation with the Past--with our own possessions in the Past. For
the whole Past is the possession of the Present; the Past had always
something true, and is a precious possession."
The weighty words of William Morris regarding the Volsunga Saga
may also be fitly quoted as an introduction to the whole of this
collection of "Myths of the Norsemen": "This is the great story of
the North, which should be to all our race what the Tale of Troy was
to the Greeks--to all our race first, and afterwards, when the change
of the world has made our race nothing more than a name of what has
been--a story too--then should it be to those that come after us no
less than the Tale of Troy has been to us."
CHAPTER I: THE BEGINNING
Myths of Creation
Although the Aryan inhabitants of Northern Europe are supposed by some
authorities to have come originally from the plateau of Iran, in the
heart of Asia, the climate and scenery of the countries where they
finally settled had great influence in shaping their early religious
beliefs, as well as in ordering their mode of living.
The grand and rugged landscapes of Northern Europe, the midnight
sun, the flashing rays of the aurora borealis, the ocean continually
lashing itself into fury against the great cliffs and icebergs of
the Arctic Circle, could not but impress the people as vividly as
the almost miraculous vegetation, the perpetual light, and the blue
seas and skies of their brief summer season. It is no great wonder,
therefore, that the Icelanders, for instance, to whom we owe the most
perfect records of this belief, fancied in looking about them that the
world was originally created from a strange mixture of fire and ice.
Northern mythology is grand and tragical. Its principal theme is the
perpetual struggle of the beneficent forces of Nature against the
injurious, and hence it is not graceful and idyllic in character,
like the religion of the sunny South, where the people could bask
in perpetual sunshine, and the fruits of the earth grew ready to
their hand.
It was very natural that the dangers incurred in hunting and fishing
under these inclement skies, and the suffering entailed by the long
cold winters when the sun never shines, made our ancestors contemplate
cold and ice as malevolent spirits; and it was with equal reason that
they invoked with special fervour the beneficent influences of heat
and light.
When questioned concerning the creation of the world, the Northern
scalds, or poets, whose songs are preserved in the Eddas and Sagas,
declared that in the beginning, when there was as yet no earth, nor
sea, nor air, when darkness rested over all, there existed a powerful
being called Allfather, whom they dimly conceived as uncreated as
well as unseen, and that whatever he willed came to pass.
In the centre of space there was, in the morning of time, a great
abyss called Ginnunga-gap, the cleft of clefts, the yawning gulf,
whose depths no eye could fathom, as it was enveloped in perpetual
twilight. North of this abode was a space or world known as Nifl-heim,
the home of mist and darkness, in the centre of which bubbled the
exhaustless spring Hvergelmir, the seething cauldron, whose waters
supplied twelve great streams known as the Elivagar. As the water of
these streams flowed swiftly away from its source and encountered
the cold blasts from the yawning gulf, it soon hardened into huge
blocks of ice, which rolled downward into the immeasurable depths of
the great abyss with a continual roar like thunder.
South of this dark chasm, and directly opposite Nifl-heim, the realm
of mist, was another world called Muspells-heim, the home of elemental
fire, where all was warmth and brightness, and whose frontiers were
continually guarded by Surtr, the flame giant. This giant fiercely
brandished his flashing sword, and continually sent forth great showers
of sparks, which fell with a hissing sound upon the ice-blocks in
the bottom of the abyss, and partly melted them by their heat.
"Great Surtur, with his burning sword,
Southward at Muspel's gate kept ward,
And flashes of celestial flame,
Life-giving, from the fire-world came."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Ymir and Audhumla
As the steam rose in clouds it again encountered the prevailing cold,
and was changed into rime or hoarfrost, which, layer by layer, filled
up the great central space. Thus by the continual action of cold and
heat, and also probably by the will of the uncreated and unseen,
a gigantic creature called Ymir or Orgelmir (seething clay), the
personification of the frozen ocean, came to life amid the ice-blocks
in the abyss, and as he was born of rime he was called a Hrim-thurs,
or ice-giant.
"In early times,
When Ymir lived,
Was sand, nor sea,
Nor cooling wave;
No earth was found,
Nor heaven above;
One chaos all,
And nowhere grass."
Sæmund's Edda (Henderson's tr.).
Groping about in the gloom in search of something to eat, Ymir
perceived a gigantic cow called Audhumla (the nourisher), which
had been created by the same agency as himself, and out of the same
materials. Hastening towards her, Ymir noticed with pleasure that
from her udder flowed four great streams of milk, which would supply
ample nourishment.
All his wants were thus satisfied; but the cow, looking about her for
food in her turn, began to lick the salt off a neighbouring ice-block
with her rough tongue. This she continued to do until first the hair of
a god appeared and then the whole head emerged from its icy envelope,
until by-and-by Buri (the producer) stepped forth entirely free.
While the cow had been thus engaged, Ymir, the giant, had fallen
asleep, and as he slept a son and daughter were born from the
perspiration under his armpit, and his feet produced the six-headed
giant Thrudgelmir, who, shortly after his birth, brought forth in
his turn the giant Bergelmir, from whom all the evil frost giants
are descended.
"Under the armpit grew,
'Tis said of Hrim-thurs,
A girl and boy together;
Foot with foot begat,
Of that wise Jötun,
A six-headed son."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
Odin, Vili, and Ve
When these giants became aware of the existence of the god Buri, and
of his son Börr (born), whom he had immediately produced, they began
waging war against them, for as the gods and giants represented the
opposite forces of good and evil, there was no hope of their living
together in peace. The struggle continued evidently for ages, neither
party gaining a decided advantage, until Börr married the giantess
Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn (the thorn of evil), who bore him three
powerful sons, Odin (spirit), Vili (will), and Ve (holy). These three
sons immediately joined their father in his struggle against the
hostile frost-giants, and finally succeeded in slaying their deadliest
foe, the great Ymir. As he sank down lifeless the blood gushed from
his wounds in such floods that it produced a great deluge, in which
all his race perished, with the exception of Bergelmir, who escaped
in a boat and went with his wife to the confines of the world.
"And all the race of Ymir thou didst drown,
Save one, Bergelmer: he on shipboard fled
Thy deluge, and from him the giants sprang."
Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).
Here he took up his abode, calling the place Jötunheim (the home of the
giants), and here he begat a new race of frost-giants, who inherited
his dislikes, continued the feud, and were always ready to sally
forth from their desolate country and raid the territory of the gods.
The gods, in Northern mythology called Æsir (pillars and supporters
of the world), having thus triumphed over their foes, and being no
longer engaged in perpetual warfare, now began to look about them,
with intent to improve the desolate aspect of things and fashion a
habitable world. After due consideration Börr's sons rolled Ymir's
great corpse into the yawning abyss, and began to create the world
out of its various component parts.
The Creation of the Earth
Out of the flesh they fashioned Midgard (middle garden), as the earth
was called. This was placed in the exact centre of the vast space,
and hedged all round with Ymir's eyebrows for bulwarks or ramparts. The
solid portion of Midgard was surrounded by the giant's blood or sweat,
which formed the ocean, while his bones made the hills, his flat
teeth the cliffs, and his curly hair the trees and all vegetation.
Well pleased with the result of their first efforts at creation, the
gods now took the giant's unwieldy skull and poised it skilfully as
the vaulted heavens above earth and sea; then scattering his brains
throughout the expanse beneath they fashioned from them the fleecy
clouds.
"Of Ymir's flesh
Was earth created,
Of his blood the sea,
Of his bones the hills,
Of his hair trees and plants,
Of his skull the heavens,
And of his brows
The gentle powers
Formed Midgard for the sons of men;
But of his brain
The heavy clouds are
All created."
Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).
To support the heavenly vault, the gods stationed the strong dwarfs,
Nordri, Sudri, Austri, Westri, at its four corners, bidding them
sustain it upon their shoulders, and from them the four points of
the compass received their present names of North, South, East, and
West. To give light to the world thus created, the gods studded the
heavenly vault with sparks secured from Muspells-heim, points of light
which shone steadily through the gloom like brilliant stars. The most
vivid of these sparks, however, were reserved for the manufacture of
the sun and moon, which were placed in beautiful golden chariots.
"And from the flaming world, where Muspel reigns,
Thou sent'st and fetched'st fire, and madest lights:
Sun, moon, and stars, which thou hast hung in heaven,
Dividing clear the paths of night and day."
Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).
When all these preparations had been finished, and the steeds Arvakr
(the early waker) and Alsvin (the rapid goer) were harnessed to the
sun-chariot, the gods, fearing lest the animals should suffer from
their proximity to the ardent sphere, placed under their withers great
skins filled with air or with some refrigerant substance. They also
fashioned the shield Svalin (the cooler), and placed it in front of the
car to shelter them from the sun's direct rays, which would else have
burned them and the earth to a cinder. The moon-car was, similarly,
provided with a fleet steed called Alsvider (the all-swift); but no
shield was required to protect him from the mild rays of the moon.
Mani and Sol
The chariots were ready, the steeds harnessed and impatient to begin
what was to be their daily round, but who should guide them along
the right road? The gods looked about them, and their attention was
attracted to the two beautiful offspring of the giant Mundilfari. He
was very proud of his children, and had named them after the newly
created orbs, Mani (the moon) and Sol (the sun). Sol, the Sun-maid,
was the spouse of Glaur (glow), who was probably one of Surtr's sons.
The names proved to be happily bestowed, as the brother and sister
were given the direction of the steeds of their bright namesakes. After
receiving due counsel from the gods, they were transferred to the sky,
and day by day they fulfilled their appointed duties and guided their
steeds along the heavenly paths.
"Know that Mundilfær is hight
Father to the moon and sun;
Age on age shall roll away,
While they mark the months and days."
Hávamál (W. Taylor's tr.).
The gods next summoned Nott (night), a daughter of Norvi, one of the
giants, and entrusted to her care a dark chariot, drawn by a sable
steed, Hrim-faxi (frost mane), from whose waving mane the dew and
hoarfrost dropped down upon the earth.
"Hrim-faxi is the sable steed,
From the east who brings the night,
Fraught with the showering joys of love:
As he champs the foamy bit,
Drops of dew are scattered round
To adorn the vales of earth."
Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).
The goddess of night had thrice been married, and by her first husband,
Naglfari, she had had a son named Aud; by her second, Annar, a daughter
Jörd (earth); and by her third, the god Dellinger (dawn), another son,
of radiant beauty, was now born to her, and he was given the name of
Dag (day).
As soon as the gods became aware of this beautiful being's existence
they provided a chariot for him also, drawn by the resplendent white
steed Skin-faxi (shining mane), from whose mane bright beams of
light shone forth in every direction, illuminating all the world,
and bringing light and gladness to all.
"Forth from the east, up the ascent of heaven,
Day drove his courser with the shining mane."
Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).
The Wolves Sköll and Hati
But as evil always treads close upon the footsteps of good, hoping to
destroy it, the ancient inhabitants of the Northern regions imagined
that both Sun and Moon were incessantly pursued by the fierce wolves
Sköll (repulsion) and Hati (hatred), whose sole aim was to overtake
and swallow the brilliant objects before them, so that the world
might again be enveloped in its primeval darkness.
"Sköll the wolf is named
That the fair-faced goddess
To the ocean chases;
Another Hati hight
He is Hrodvitnir's son;
He the bright maid of heaven shall precede."
Sæmuna's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
At times, they said, the wolves overtook and tried to swallow their
prey, thus producing an eclipse of the radiant orbs. Then the terrified
people raised such a deafening clamour that the wolves, frightened by
the noise, hastily dropped them. Thus rescued, Sun and Moon resumed
their course, fleeing more rapidly than before, the hungry monsters
rushing along in their wake, lusting for the time when their efforts
would prevail and the end of the world would come. For the Northern
nations believed that as their gods had sprung from an alliance between
the divine element (Börr) and the mortal (Bestla), they were finite,
and doomed to perish with the world they had made.
"But even in this early morn
Faintly foreshadowed was the dawn
Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock,
Which yet should end in Ragnarok;
When Good and Evil, Death and Life,
Beginning now, end then their strife."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Mani was accompanied also by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning,
moon, two children whom he had snatched from earth, where a cruel
father forced them to carry water all night. Our ancestors fancied
they saw these children, the original "Jack and Jill," with their pail,
darkly outlined upon the moon.
The gods not only appointed Sun, Moon, Day, and Night to mark the
procession of the year, but also called Evening, Midnight, Morning,
Forenoon, Noon, and Afternoon to share their duties, making Summer and
Winter the rulers of the seasons. Summer, a direct descendant of Svasud
(the mild and lovely), inherited his sire's gentle disposition, and
was loved by all except Winter, his deadly enemy, the son of Vindsual,
himself a son of the disagreeable god Vasud, the personification of
the icy wind.
"Vindsual is the name of him
Who begat the winter's god;
Summer from Suasuthur sprang:
Both shall walk the way of years,
Till the twilight of the gods."
Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).
The cold winds continually swept down from the north, chilling all
the earth, and the Northmen imagined that these were set in motion
by the great giant Hræ-svelgr (the corpse-swallower), who, clad in
eagle plumes, sat at the extreme northern verge of the heavens, and
that when he raised his arms or wings the cold blasts darted forth
and swept ruthlessly over the face of the earth, blighting all things
with their icy breath.
"Hræ-svelger is the name of him
Who sits beyond the end of heaven,
And winnows wide his eagle-wings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth."
Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).
Dwarfs and Elves
While the gods were occupied in creating the earth and providing
for its illumination, a whole host of maggot-like creatures had
been breeding in Ymir's flesh. These uncouth beings now attracted
divine attention. Summoning them into their presence, the gods first
gave them forms and endowed them with superhuman intelligence, and
then divided them into two large classes. Those which were dark,
treacherous, and cunning by nature were banished to Svart-alfa-heim,
the home of the black dwarfs, situated underground, whence they were
never allowed to come forth during the day, under penalty of being
turned into stone. They were called Dwarfs, Trolls, Gnomes, or Kobolds,
and spent all their time and energy in exploring the secret recesses
of the earth. They collected gold, silver, and precious stones,
which they stowed away in secret crevices, whence they could withdraw
them at will. The remainder of these small creatures, including all
that were fair, good, and useful, the gods called Fairies and Elves,
and they sent them to dwell in the airy realm of Alf-heim (home of
the light-elves), situated between heaven and earth, whence they
could flit downward whenever they pleased, to attend to the plants
and flowers, sport with the birds and butterflies, or dance in the
silvery moonlight on the green.
Odin, who had been the leading spirit in all these undertakings,
now bade the gods, his descendants, follow him to the broad plain
called Idawold, far above the earth, on the other side of the great
stream Ifing, whose waters never froze.
"Ifing's deep and murky wave
Parts the ancient sons of earth
From the dwelling of the Goths:
Open flows the mighty flood,
Nor shall ice arrest its course
While the wheel of Ages rolls."
Vafthrudni's-mal (W. Taylor's tr.).
In the centre of the sacred space, which from the beginning of the
world had been reserved for their own abode and called Asgard (home of
the gods), the twelve Æsir (gods) and twenty-four Asynjur (goddesses)
all assembled at the bidding of Odin. Then was held a great council,
at which it was decreed that no blood should be shed within the limits
of their realm, or peace-stead, but that harmony should reign there
for ever. As a further result of the conference the gods set up a
forge where they fashioned all their weapons and the tools required
to build the magnificent palaces of precious metals, in which they
lived for many long years in a state of such perfect happiness that
this period has been called the Golden Age.
The Creation of Man
Although the gods had from the beginning designed Midgard, or
Mana-heim, as the abode of man, there were at first no human beings to
inhabit it. One day Odin, Vili, and Ve, according to some authorities,
or Odin, Hoenir (the bright one), and Lodur, or Loki (fire), started
out together and walked along the seashore, where they found either
two trees, the ash, Ask, and the elm, Embla, or two blocks of wood,
hewn into rude semblances of the human form. The gods gazed at first
upon the inanimate wood in silent wonder; then, perceiving the use it
could be put to, Odin gave these logs souls, Hoenir bestowed motion
and senses, and Lodur contributed blood and blooming complexions.
Thus endowed with speech and thought, and with power to love and to
hope and to work, and with life and death, the newly created man and
woman were left to rule Midgard at will. They gradually peopled it
with their descendants, while the gods, remembering they had called
them into life, took a special interest in all they did, watched over
them, and often vouchsafed their aid and protection.
The Tree Yggdrasil
Allfather next created a huge ash called Yggdrasil, the tree of the
universe, of time, or of life, which filled all the world, taking
root not only in the remotest depths of Nifl-heim, where bubbled the
spring Hvergelmir, but also in Midgard, near Mimir's well (the ocean),
and in Asgard, near the Urdar fountain.
From its three great roots the tree attained such a marvellous height
that its topmost bough, called Lerad (the peace-giver), overshadowed
Odin's hall, while the other wide-spreading branches towered over the
other worlds. An eagle was perched on the bough Lerad, and between
his eyes sat the falcon Vedfolnir, sending his piercing glances down
into heaven, earth, and Nifl-heim, and reporting all that he saw.
As the tree Yggdrasil was ever green, its leaves never withering,
it served as pasture-ground not only for Odin's goat Heidrun, which
supplied the heavenly mead, the drink of the gods, but also for the
stags Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathor, from whose horns honey-dew
dropped down upon the earth and furnished the water for all the rivers
in the world.
In the seething cauldron Hvergelmir, close by the great tree, a
horrible dragon, called Nidhug, continually gnawed the roots, and
was helped in his work of destruction by countless worms, whose aim
it was to kill the tree, knowing that its death would be the signal
for the downfall of the gods.
"Through all our life a tempter prowls malignant,
The cruel Nidhug from the world below.
He hates that asa-light whose rays benignant
On th' hero's brow and glitt'ring sword bright glow."
Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson).
Scampering continually up and down the branches and trunk of the
tree, the squirrel Ratatosk (branch-borer), the typical busybody
and tale-bearer, passed its time repeating to the dragon below the
remarks of the eagle above, and vice versa, in the hope of stirring
up strife between them.
The Bridge Bifröst
It was, of course, essential that the tree Yggdrasil should be
maintained in a perfectly healthy condition, and this duty was
performed by the Norns, or Fates, who daily sprinkled it with the
holy waters from the Urdar fountain. This water, as it trickled down
to earth through branches and leaves, supplied the bees with honey.
From either edge of Nifl-heim, arching high above Midgard, rose the
sacred bridge, Bifröst (Asabru, the rainbow), built of fire, water,
and air, whose quivering and changing hues it retained, and over which
the gods travelled to and fro to the earth or to the Urdar well, at
the foot of the ash Yggdrasil, where they daily assembled in council.
"The gods arose
And took their horses, and set forth to ride
O'er the bridge Bifrost, where is Heimdall's watch,
To the ash Igdrasil, and Ida's plain.
Thor came on foot, the rest on horseback rode."
Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).
Of all the gods Thor only, the god of thunder, never passed over the
bridge, for fear lest his heavy tread or the heat of his lightnings
would destroy it. The god Heimdall kept watch and ward there night
and day. He was armed with a trenchant sword, and carried a trumpet
called Giallar-horn, upon which he generally blew a soft note to
announce the coming or going of the gods, but upon which a terrible
blast would be sounded when Ragnarok should come, and the frost-giants
and Surtr combined to destroy the world.
"Surt from the south comes
With flickering flame;
Shines from his sword
The Val-god's sun.
The stony hills are dashed together,
The giantesses totter;
Men tread the path of Hel,
And heaven is cloven."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
The Vanas
Now although the original inhabitants of heaven were the Æsir,
they were not the sole divinities of the Northern races, who also
recognised the power of the sea- and wind-gods, the Vanas, dwelling
in Vana-heim and ruling their realms as they pleased. In early times,
before the golden palaces in Asgard were built, a dispute arose between
the Æsir and Vanas, and they resorted to arms, using rocks, mountains,
and icebergs as missiles in the fray. But discovering ere long that
in unity alone lay strength, they composed their differences and made
peace, and to ratify the treaty they exchanged hostages.
It was thus that the Van, Niörd, came to dwell in Asgard with his two
children, Frey and Freya, while the Asa, Hoenir, Odin's own brother,
took up his abode in Vana-heim.