The Wooing of Rinda
Billing, king of the Ruthenes, was sorely dismayed when he heard
that a great force was about to invade his kingdom, for he was too
old to fight as of yore, and his only child, a daughter named Rinda,
although she was of marriageable age, obstinately refused to choose
a husband from among her many suitors, and thus give her father the
help which he so sadly needed.
While Billing was musing disconsolately in his hall, a stranger
suddenly entered his palace. Looking up, the king beheld a middle-aged
man wrapped in a wide cloak, with a broad-brimmed hat drawn down
over his forehead to conceal the fact that he had but one eye. The
stranger courteously enquired the cause of his evident depression,
and as there was that in his bearing that compelled confidence, the
king told him all, and at the end of the relation he volunteered to
command the army of the Ruthenes against their foe.
His services being joyfully accepted, it was not long ere Odin--for
it was he--won a signal victory, and, returning in triumph, he asked
permission to woo the king's daughter Rinda for his wife. Despite the
suitor's advancing years, Billing hoped that his daughter would lend
a favourable ear to a wooer who appeared to be very distinguished,
and he immediately signified his consent. So Odin, still unknown,
presented himself before the princess, but she scornfully rejected
his proposal, and rudely boxed his ears when he attempted to kiss her.
Forced to withdraw, Odin nevertheless did not relinquish his purpose to
make Rinda his wife, for he knew, thanks to Rossthiof's prophecy, that
none but she could bring forth the destined avenger of his murdered
son. His next step, therefore, was to assume the form of a smith,
in which guise he came back to Billing's hall, and fashioning costly
ornaments of silver and gold, he so artfully multiplied these precious
trinkets that the king joyfully acquiesced when he inquired whether
he might pay his addresses to the princess. The smith, Rosterus as
he announced himself, was, however, as unceremoniously dismissed by
Rinda as the successful general had been; but although his ear once
again tingled with the force of her blow, he was more determined than
ever to make her his wife.
The next time Odin presented himself before the capricious damsel, he
was disguised as a dashing warrior, for, thought he, a young soldier
might perchance touch the maiden's heart; but when he again attempted
to kiss her, she pushed him back so suddenly that he stumbled and
fell upon one knee.
"Many a fair maiden
When rightly known,
Towards men is fickle;
That I experienced,
When that discreet maiden I
Strove to win;
Contumely of every kind
That wily girl
Heaped upon me;
Nor of that damsel gained I aught."
Soemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
This third insult so enraged Odin that he drew his magic rune stick
out of his breast, pointed it at Rinda, and uttered such a terrible
spell that she fell back into the arms of her attendants rigid and
apparently lifeless.
When the princess came to life again, her suitor had disappeared,
but the king discovered with great dismay that she had entirely lost
her senses and was melancholy mad. In vain all the physicians were
summoned and all their simples tried; the maiden remained passive
and sad, and her distracted father had well-nigh abandoned hope when
an old woman, who announced herself as Vecha, or Vak, appeared and
offered to undertake the cure of the princess. The seeming old woman,
who was Odin in disguise, first prescribed a foot-bath for the patient;
but as this did not appear to have any very marked effect, she proposed
to try a more drastic treatment. For this, Vecha declared, the patient
must be entrusted to her exclusive care, securely bound so that she
could not offer the least resistance. Billing, anxious to save his
child, was ready to assent to anything; and having thus gained full
power over Rinda, Odin compelled her to wed him, releasing her from
bonds and spell only when she had faithfully promised to be his wife.
The Birth of Vali
The prophecy of Rossthiof was now fulfilled, for Rinda duly bore a son
named Vali (Ali, Bous, or Beav), a personification of the lengthening
days, who grew with such marvellous rapidity that in the course of
a single day he attained his full stature. Without waiting even to
wash his face or comb his hair, this young god hastened to Asgard,
bow and arrow in hand, to avenge the death of Balder upon his murderer,
Hodur, the blind god of darkness.
"But, see! th' avenger, Vali, come,
Sprung from the west, in Rinda's womb,
True son of Odin! one day's birth!
He shall not stop nor stay on earth
His locks to comb, his hands to lave,
His frame to rest, should rest it crave,
Until his mission be complete,
And Balder's death find vengeance meet."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
In this myth, Rinda, a personification of the hard-frozen rind of the
earth, resists the warm wooing of the sun, Odin, who vainly points
out that spring is the time for warlike exploits, and offers the
adornments of golden summer. She only yields when, after a shower (the
footbath), a thaw sets in. Conquered then by the sun's irresistible
might, the earth yields to his embrace, is freed from the spell (ice)
which made her hard and cold, and brings forth Vali the nourisher,
or Bous the peasant, who emerges from his dark hut when the pleasant
days have come. The slaying of Hodur by Vali is therefore emblematical
of "the breaking forth of new light after wintry darkness."
Vali, who ranked as one of the twelve deities occupying seats in the
great hall of Glads-heim, shared with his father the dwelling called
Valaskialf, and was destined, even before birth, to survive the last
battle and twilight of the gods, and to reign with Vidar over the
regenerated earth.
Worship of Vali
Vali is god of eternal light, as Vidar is of imperishable matter;
and as beams of light were often called arrows, he is always
represented and worshipped as an archer. For that reason his month
in Norwegian calendars is designated by the sign of the bow, and is
called Lios-beri, the light-bringing. As it falls between the middle
of January and of February, the early Christians dedicated this month
to St. Valentine, who was also a skilful archer, and was said, like
Vali, to be the harbinger of brighter days, the awakener of tender
sentiments, and the patron of all lovers.