Comparative Mythology
During the past fifty years learned men of many nations have
investigated philology and comparative mythology so thoroughly that
they have ascertained beyond the possibility of doubt "that English,
together with all the Teutonic dialects of the Continent, belongs to
that large family of speech which comprises, besides the Teutonic,
Latin, Greek, Slavonic, and Celtic, the Oriental languages of India
and Persia." "It has also been proved that the various tribes who
started from the central home to discover Europe in the north,
and India in the south, carried away with them, not only a common
language, but a common faith and a common mythology. These are facts
which may be ignored but cannot be disputed, and the two sciences
of comparative grammar and comparative mythology, though but of
recent origin, rest on a foundation as sound and safe as that of
any of the inductive sciences." "For more than a thousand years the
Scandinavian inhabitants of Norway have been separated in language
from their Teutonic brethren on the Continent, and yet both have not
only preserved the same stock of popular stories, but they tell them,
in several instances, in almost the same words."
This resemblance, so strong in the early literature of nations
inhabiting countries which present much the same physical aspect and
have nearly the same climate, is not so marked when we compare the
Northern myths with those of the genial South. Still, notwithstanding
the contrast between Northern and Southern Europe, where these myths
gradually ripened and attained their full growth, there is an analogy
between the two mythologies which shows that the seeds from whence
both sprang were originally the same.
In the foregoing chapters the Northern system of mythology has been
outlined as clearly as possible, and the physical significance of
the myths has been explained. Now we shall endeavour to set forth the
resemblance of Northern mythology to that of the other Aryan nations,
by comparing it with the Greek, which, however, it does not resemble
as closely as it does the Oriental.
It is, of course, impossible in a work of this character to do more
than mention the main points of resemblance in the stories forming the
basis of these religions; but that will be sufficient to demonstrate,
even to the most sceptical, that they must have been identical at a
period too remote to indicate now with any certainty.
The Beginning of Things
The Northern nations, like the Greeks, imagined that the world
rose out of chaos; and while the latter described it as a vapoury,
formless mass, the former, influenced by their immediate surroundings,
depicted it as a chaos of fire and ice--a combination which is only
too comprehensible to any one who has visited Iceland and seen the
wild, peculiar contrast between its volcanic soil, spouting geysers,
and the great icebergs which hedge it round during the long, dark
winter season.
From these opposing elements, fire and ice, were born the first
divinities, who, like the first gods of the Greeks, were gigantic in
stature and uncouth in appearance. Ymir, the huge ice giant, and his
descendants, are comparable to the Titans, who were also elemental
forces of Nature, personifications of subterranean fire; and both,
having held full sway for a time, were obliged to yield to greater
perfection. After a fierce struggle for supremacy, they all found
themselves defeated and banished to the respective remote regions of
Tartarus and Jötun-heim.
The triad, Odin, Vili, and Ve, of the Northern myth is the exact
counterpart of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, who, superior to the
Titan forces, rule supreme over the world in their turn. In the Greek
mythology, the gods, who are also all related to one another, betake
themselves to Olympus, where they build golden palaces for their use;
and in the Northern mythology the divine conquerors repair to Asgard,
and there construct similar dwellings.
Cosmogony
Northern cosmogony was not unlike the Greek, for the people imagined
that the earth, Mana-heim, was entirely surrounded by the sea, at
the bottom of which lay coiled the huge Midgard snake, biting its
own tail; and it was perfectly natural that, viewing the storm-lashed
waves which beat against their shores, they should imagine these to
be caused by his convulsive writhing. The Greeks, who also fancied
the earth was round and compassed by a mighty river called Oceanus,
described it as flowing with "a steady, equable current," for they
generally gazed out upon calm and sunlit seas. Nifl-heim, the Northern
region of perpetual cold and mist, had its exact counterpart in the
land north of the Hyperboreans, where feathers (snow) continually
hovered in the air, and where Hercules drove the Ceryneian stag into
a snowdrift ere he could seize and bind it fast.
The Phenomena of the Sky
Like the Greeks, the Northern races believed that the earth was
created first, and that the vaulted heavens were made afterwards to
overshadow it entirely. They also imagined that the sun and moon were
daily driven across the sky in chariots drawn by fiery steeds. Sol,
the sun maiden, therefore corresponded to Helios, Hyperion, Phoebus,
or Apollo, while Mani, the Moon (owing to a peculiarity of Northern
grammar, which makes the sun feminine and the moon masculine), was
the exact counterpart of Phoebe, Diana, or Cynthia.
The Northern scalds, who thought that they descried the prancing
forms of white-maned steeds in the flying clouds, and the glitter
of spears in the flashing light of the aurora borealis, said that
the Valkyrs, or battle maidens, galloped across the sky, while the
Greeks saw in the same natural phenomena the white flocks of Apollo
guarded by Phaetusa and Lampetia.
As the dew fell from the clouds, the Northern poets declared that
it dropped from the manes of the Valkyrs' steeds, while the Greeks,
who observed that it generally sparkled longest in the thickets,
identified it with Daphne and Procris, whose names are derived from
the Sanskrit word which means "to sprinkle," and who are slain by
their lovers, Apollo and Cephalus, personifications of the sun.
The earth was considered in the North as well as in the South as
a female divinity, the fostering mother of all things; and it was
owing to climatic difference only that the mythology of the North,
where people were daily obliged to conquer the right to live by a
hand-to-hand struggle with Nature, should represent her as hard and
frozen like Rinda, while the Greeks embodied her in the genial goddess
Ceres. The Greeks believed that the cold winter winds swept down from
the North, and the Northern races, in addition, added that they were
produced by the winnowing of the wings of the great eagle Hræ-svelgr.
The dwarfs, or dark elves, bred in Ymir's flesh, were like Pluto's
servants in that they never left their underground realm, where they,
too, sought the precious metals, which they moulded into delicate
ornaments such as Vulcan bestowed upon the gods, and into weapons
which no one could either dint or mar. As for the light elves, who
lived above ground and cared for plants, trees, and streams, they were
evidently the Northern equivalents to the nymphs, dryads, oreades,
and hamadryads, which peopled the woods, valleys, and fountains of
ancient Greece.
Jupiter and Odin
Jupiter, like Odin, was the father of the gods, the god of victory,
and a personification of the universe. Hlidskialf, Allfather's lofty
throne, was no less exalted than Olympus or Ida, whence the Thunderer
could observe all that was taking place; and Odin's invincible spear
Gungnir was as terror-inspiring as the thunderbolts brandished by his
Greek prototype. The Northern deities feasted continually upon mead
and boar's flesh, the drink and meat most suitable to the inhabitants
of a Northern climate, while the gods of Olympus preferred the nectar
and ambrosia which formed their only sustenance.
Twelve Æsir sat in Odin's council hall to deliberate over the wisest
measures for the government of the world and men, and an equal number
of gods assembled on the cloudy peak of Mount Olympus for a similar
purpose. The Golden Age in Greece was a period of idyllic happiness,
amid ever-flowering groves and under balmy skies, while the Northern
age of bliss was also a time when peace and innocence flourished on
the earth, and when evil was as yet entirely unknown.
The Creation of Man
Using the materials near at hand, the Greeks modelled their first
images out of clay; hence they naturally imagined that Prometheus had
made man out of that substance when called upon to fashion a creature
inferior to the gods only. As the Northern statues were hewn out
of wood, the Northern races inferred, as a matter of course, that
Odin, Vili, and Ve (who here correspond to Prometheus, Epimetheus,
and Minerva, the three Greek creators of man) made the first human
couple, Ask and Embla, out of blocks of wood.
The goat Heidrun, which supplied the heavenly mead, is like Amalthea,
Jupiter's first nurse, and the busy, tell-tale Ratatosk is equivalent
to the snow-white crow in the story of Coronis, which was turned black
in punishment for its tattling. Jupiter's eagle has its counterpart
in the ravens Hugin and Munin, or in the wolves Geri and Freki,
which are ever crouching at Odin's feet.
Norns and Fates
The close resemblance between the Northern Orlog and the Greek Destiny,
goddesses whose decrees the gods themselves were obliged to respect,
and the equally powerful Norns and Moeræ, is too obvious to need
pointing out, while the Vanas are counterparts of Neptune and the
other ocean divinities. The great quarrel between the Vanas and the
Æsir is merely another version of the dispute between Jupiter and
Neptune for the supremacy of the world. Just as Jupiter forces his
brother to yield to his authority, so the Æsir remain masters of all,
but do not refuse to continue to share their power with their conquered
foes, who thus become their allies and friends.
Like Jupiter, Odin is always described as majestic and middle-aged,
and both gods are regarded as the divine progenitors of royal
races, for while the Heraclidæ claimed Jupiter as their father, the
Inglings, Skioldings, etc., held that Odin was the founder of their
families. The most solemn oaths were sworn by Odin's spear as well as
by Jupiter's footstool, and both gods rejoice in a multitude of names,
all descriptive of the various phases of their nature and worship.
Odin, like Jupiter, frequently visited the earth in disguise, to
judge of the hospitable intentions of mankind, as in the story of
Geirrod and Agnar, which resembles that of Philemon and Baucis. The
aim was to encourage hospitality; therefore, in both stories, those
who showed themselves humanely inclined are richly rewarded, and in
the Northern myth the lesson is enforced by the punishment inflicted
upon Geirrod, as the scalds believed in poetic justice and saw that
it was carefully meted out.
The contest of wit between Odin and Vafthrudnir has its parallel in
the musical rivalry of Apollo and Marsyas, or in the test of skill
between Minerva and Arachne. Odin further resembled Apollo in that
he, too, was god of eloquence and poetry, and could win all hearts
by means of his divine voice; he was like Mercury in that he taught
mortals the use of runes, while the Greek god introduced the alphabet.
Myths of the Seasons
The disappearance of Odin, the sun or summer, and the consequent
desolation of Frigga, the earth, is merely a different version of
the myths of Proserpine and Adonis. When Proserpine and Adonis have
gone, the earth (Ceres or Venus) bitterly mourns their absence, and
refuses all consolation. It is only when they return from their exile
that she casts off her mourning garments and gloom, and again decks
herself in all her jewels. So Frigga and Freya bewail the absence of
their husbands Odin and Odur, and remain hard and cold until their
return. Odin's wife, Saga, the goddess of history, who lingered by
Sokvabek, "the stream of time and events," taking note of all she saw,
is like Clio, the muse of history, whom Apollo sought by the inspiring
fount of Helicon.
Just as, according to Euhemerus, there was an historical Zeus,
buried in Crete, where his grave can still be seen, so there was an
historical Odin, whose mound rises near Upsala, where the greatest
Northern temple once stood, and where there was a mighty oak which
rivalled the famous tree of Dodona.
Frigga and Juno
Frigga, like Juno, was a personification of the atmosphere, the
patroness of marriage, of connubial and motherly love, and the goddess
of childbirth. She, too, is represented as a beautiful, stately
woman, rejoicing in her adornments; and her special attendant, Gna,
rivals Iris in the rapidity with which she executes her mistress's
behests. Juno has full control over the clouds, which she can brush
away with a motion of her hand, and Frigga is supposed to weave them
out of the thread she has spun on her jewelled spinning wheel.
In Greek mythology we find many examples of the way in which Juno
seeks to outwit Jupiter. Similar tales are not lacking in the Northern
myths. Juno obtains possession of Io, in spite of her husband's
reluctance to part with her, and Frigga artfully secures the victory
for the Winilers in the Langobarden Saga. Odin's wrath at Frigga's
theft of the gold from his statue is equivalent to Jupiter's marital
displeasure at Juno's jealousy and interference during the war of
Troy. In the story of Gefjon, and the clever way in which she procured
land from Gylfi to form her kingdom of Seeland, we have a reproduction
of the story of Dido, who obtained by stratagem the land upon which she
founded her city of Carthage. In both accounts oxen come into play,
for while in the Northern myth these sturdy beasts draw the piece
of land far out to sea, in the other an ox hide, cut into strips,
serves to enclose the queen's grant.
Musical Myths
The Pied Piper of Hamelin, who could attract all living creatures
by his music, is like Orpheus or Amphion, whose lyres had the same
power; and Odin, as leader of the dead, is the counterpart of Mercury
Psychopompus, both being personifications of the wind, on whose wings
disembodied souls were thought to be wafted from this mortal sphere.
The trusty Eckhardt, who would fain save Tannhäuser and prevent his
returning to expose himself to the enchantments of the sorceress,
in the Hörselberg, is like the Greek Mentor, who not only accompanied
Telemachus, but gave him good advice and wise instructions, and would
have rescued Ulysses from the hands of Calypso.
Thor and the Greek Gods
Thor, the Northern thunder-god, also has many points of resemblance
with Jupiter. He bears the hammer Miölnir, the Northern emblem of the
deadly thunderbolt, and, like Jupiter, uses it freely when warring
against the giants. In his rapid growth Thor resembles Mercury, for
while the former playfully tosses about several loads of ox hides a
few hours after his birth, the latter steals Apollo's oxen before he
is one day old. In physical strength Thor resembles Hercules, who also
gave early proofs of uncommon vigour by strangling the serpents sent
to slay him in his cradle, and who delighted, later on, in attacking
and conquering giants and monsters. Hercules became a woman and took
to spinning to please Omphale, the Lydian queen, and Thor assumed a
woman's apparel to visit Thrym and recover his hammer, which had been
buried nine rasts underground. The hammer, his principal attribute,
was used for many sacred purposes. It consecrated the funeral pyre
and the marriage rite, and boundary stakes driven in by a hammer were
considered as sacred among Northern nations as the Hermæ or statues
of Mercury, removal of which was punishable by death.
Thor's wife, Sif, with her luxuriant golden hair, is, as we have
already stated, an emblem of the earth, and her hair of its rich
vegetation. Loki's theft of these tresses is equivalent to Pluto's rape
of Proserpine. To recover the golden locks, Loki must visit the dwarfs
(Pluto's servants), crouching in the low passages of the underground
world; so Mercury must seek Proserpine in Hades.
The gadfly which hinders Jupiter from recovering possession of
Io, after Mercury has slain Argus, reappears in the Northern myth
to sting Brock and to endeavour to prevent the manufacture of the
magic ring Draupnir, which is merely a counterpart of Sif's tresses,
as it also represents the fruits of the earth. The fly continues to
torment the dwarf during the manufacture of Frey's golden-bristled
boar, a prototype of Apollo's golden sun chariot, and it prevents
the perfect formation of the handle of Thor's hammer.
The magic ship Skidbladnir, also made by the dwarfs, is like the
swift-sailing Argo, which was a personification of the clouds sailing
overhead; and just as the former was said to be large enough to
accommodate all the gods, so the latter bore all the Greek heroes
off to the distant land of Colchis.
The Germans, wishing to name the days of the week after their gods,
as the Romans had done, gave the name of Thor to Jove's day, and thus
made it the present Thursday.
Thor's struggle against Hrungnir is a parallel to the fight between
Hercules and Cacus or Antæus; while Groa is evidently Ceres, for she,
too, mourns for her absent child Orvandil (Proserpine), and breaks
out into a song of joy when she hears that it will return.
Magni, Thor's son, who when only three hours old exhibits his
marvellous strength by lifting Hrungnir's leg off his recumbent father,
also reminds us of the infant Hercules; and Thor's voracious appetite
at Thrym's wedding feast has its parallel in Mercury's first meal,
which consisted of two whole oxen.
The crossing of the swollen tide of Veimer by Thor reminds us of
Jason's feat when he waded across the torrent on his way to visit
the tyrant Pelias and recover possession of his father's throne.
The marvellous necklace worn by Frigga and Freya to enhance their
charms is like the cestus or girdle of Venus, which Juno borrowed to
subjugate her lord, and is, like Sif's tresses and the ring Draupnir,
an emblem of luxuriant vegetation or a type of the stars which shine
in the firmament.
The Northern sword-god Tyr is, of course, the Greek war-god Ares,
whom he so closely resembles that his name was given to the day of
the week held sacred to Ares, which is even now known as Tuesday or
Tiu's day. Like Ares, Tyr was noisy and courageous; he delighted in
the din of battle, and was fearless at all times. He alone dared to
brave the Fenris wolf; and the Southern proverb concerning Scylla and
Charybdis has its counterpart in the Northern adage, "to get loose
out of Læding and to dash out of Droma." The Fenris wolf, also a
personification of subterranean fire, is bound, like his prototypes
the Titans, in Tartarus.
The similarity between the gentle, music-loving Bragi, with his harp,
and Apollo or Orpheus, is very great; so is the resemblance between
the magic draught Od-hroerir and the waters of Helicon, both of which
were supposed to serve as inspiration to mortal as well as to immortal
poets. Odin dons eagle plumes to bear away this precious mead, and
Jupiter assumes a similar guise to secure his cupbearer Ganymede.
Idun, like Adonis and Proserpine, or still more like Eurydice, is also
a fair personification of spring. She is borne away by the cruel ice
giant Thiassi, who represents the boar which slew Adonis, the kidnapper
of Proserpine, or the poisonous serpent which bit Eurydice. Idun is
detained for a long time in Jötun-heim (Hades), where she forgets all
her merry, playful ways, and becomes mournful and pale. She cannot
return alone to Asgard, and it is only when Loki (now an emblem of
the south wind) comes to bear her away in the shape of a nut or a
swallow that she can effect her escape. She reminds us of Proserpine
and Adonis escorted back to earth by Mercury (god of the wind), or
of Eurydice lured out of Hades by the sweet sounds of Orpheus's harp,
which were also symbolical of the soughing of the winds.
Idun and Eurydice
The myth of Idun's fall from Yggdrasil into the darkest depths of
Nifl-heim, while subject to the same explanation and comparison as the
above story, is still more closely related to the tale of Orpheus and
Eurydice, for the former, like Bragi, cannot exist without the latter,
whom he follows even into the dark realm of death; without her his
songs are entirely silenced. The wolf-skin in which Idun is enveloped
is typical of the heavy snows in Northern regions, which preserve the
tender roots from the blighting influence of the extreme winter cold.
Skadi and Diana
The Van Niörd, who is god of the sunny summer seas, has his counterpart
in Neptune and more especially in Nereus, the personification of the
calm and pleasant aspect of the mighty deep. Niörd's wife, Skadi,
is the Northern huntress; she therefore resembles Diana. Like her,
she bears a quiver full of arrows, and a bow which she handles with
consummate skill. Her short gown permits the utmost freedom of motion,
also, and she, too, is generally accompanied by a hound.
The story of the transference of Thiassi's eyes to the firmament,
where they glow like brilliant stars, reminds us of many Greek star
myths, and especially of Argus's eyes ever on the watch, of Orion and
his jewelled girdle, and of his dog Sirius, all changed into stars
by the gods to appease angry goddesses. Loki's antics to win a smile
from the irate Skadi are considered akin to the quivering flashes of
sheet-lightning which he personified in the North, while Steropes,
the Cyclops, typified it for the Greeks.
Frey and Apollo
The Northern god of sunshine and summer showers, the genial Frey,
has many traits in common with Apollo, for, like him, he is beautiful
and young, rides the golden-bristled boar which was the Northern
conception of the sunbeams, or drives across the sky in a golden car,
which reminds us of Apollo's glittering chariot.
Frey has some of the gentle Zephyrus's characteristics besides, for
he, too, scatters flowers along his way. His horse Blodug-hofi is
not unlike Pegasus, Apollo's favourite steed, for it can pass through
fire and water with equal ease and velocity.
Fro, like Odin and Jupiter, is also identified with a human king, and
his mound lies beside Odin's near Upsala. His reign was so happy that
it was called the Golden Age, and he therefore reminds us of Saturn,
who, exiled to earth, ruled over the people of Italy, and granted
them similar prosperity.
Freya and Venus
Gerda, the beautiful maiden, is like Venus, and also like Atalanta;
she is hard to woo and hard to win, like the fleet-footed maiden,
but, like her, she yields at last and becomes a happy wife. The golden
apples with which Skirnir tries to bribe her remind us of the golden
fruit which Hippomenes cast in Atalanta's way, and which made her
lose the race.
Freya, the goddess of youth, love, and beauty, like Venus, sprang from
the sea, for she is a daughter of the sea-god Niörd. Venus bestowed
her best affections upon the god of war and upon the martial Anchises,
while Freya often assumes the garb of a Valkyr, and rides rapidly
to earth to take part in mortal strife and bear away the heroic
slain to feast in her halls. Like Venus, she delights in offerings
of fruits and flowers, and lends a gracious ear to the petitions
of lovers. Freya also resembles Minerva, for, like her, she wears
a helmet and breastplate, and, like her, also, she is noted for her
beautiful blue eyes.
Odur and Adonis
Odur, Freya's husband, is like Adonis, and when he leaves her,
she, too, sheds countless tears, which, in her case, are turned
to gold, while Venus's tears are changed into anemones, and those
of the Heliades, mourning for Phaeton, harden to amber, which
resembles gold in colour and in consistency. Just as Venus rejoices
at Adonis's return, and all Nature blooms in sympathy with her joy,
so Freya becomes lighthearted once more when she has found her husband
beneath the flowering myrtles of the South. Venus's car is drawn by
fluttering doves, and Freya's is swiftly carried along by cats, which
are emblems of sensual love, as the doves were considered types of
tenderest love. Freya is appreciative of beauty and angrily refuses
to marry Thrym, while Venus scorns and finally deserts Vulcan, whom
she has been forced to marry against her will.
The Greeks represented Justice as a goddess blindfolded, with scales
in one hand and a sword in the other, to indicate the impartiality and
the fixity of her decrees. The corresponding deity of the North was
Forseti, who patiently listened to both sides of a question ere he,
too, promulgated his impartial and irrevocable sentence.
Uller, the winter-god, resembles Apollo and Orion only in his love for
the chase, which he pursues with ardour under all circumstances. He
is the Northern bowman, and his skill is quite as unerring as theirs.
Heimdall, like Argus, was gifted with marvellous keenness of sight,
which enabled him to see a hundred miles off as plainly by night as
by day. His Giallar-horn, which could be heard throughout all the
world, proclaiming the gods' passage to and fro over the quivering
bridge Bifröst, was like the trumpet of the goddess Renown. As he
was related to the water deities on his mother's side, he could,
like Proteus, assume any form at will, and he made good use of this
power on the occasion when he frustrated Loki's attempt to steal the
necklace Brisinga-men.
Hermod, the quick or nimble, resembles Mercury not only in his
marvellous celerity of motion. He, too, was the messenger of the gods,
and, like the Greek divinity, flashed hither and thither, aided not by
winged cap and sandals, but by Odin's steed Sleipnir, whom he alone
was allowed to bestride. Instead of the Caduceus, he bore the wand
Gambantein. He questioned the Norns and the magician Rossthiof, through
whom he learned that Vali would come to avenge his brother Balder and
to supplant his father Odin. Instances of similar consultations are
found in Greek mythology, where Jupiter would fain have married Thetis,
yet desisted when the Fates foretold that if he did so she would be
the mother of a son who would surpass his father in glory and renown.
The Northern god of silence, Vidar, has some resemblance to Hercules,
for while the latter has nothing but a club with which to defend
himself against the Nemean lion, whom he tears asunder, the former
is enabled to rend the Fenris wolf at Ragnarok by the possession of
one large shoe.
Rinda and Danae
Odin's courtship of Rinda reminds us of Jupiter's wooing of Danae,
who is also a symbol of the earth; and while the shower of gold in
the Greek tale is intended to represent the fertilising sunbeams, the
footbath in the Northern story typifies the spring thaw which sets in
when the sun has overcome the resistance of the frozen earth. Perseus,
the child of this union, has many points of resemblance with Vali,
for he, too, is an avenger, and slays his mother's enemies just as
surely as Vali destroys Hodur, the murderer of Balder.
The Fates were supposed to preside over birth in Greece, and to
foretell a child's future, as did the Norns; and the story of Meleager
has its unmistakable parallel in that of Nornagesta. Althæa preserves
the half-consumed brand in a chest, Nornagesta conceals the candle-end
in his harp; and while the Greek mother brings about her son's death
by casting the brand into the fire, Nornagesta, compelled to light
his candle-end at Olaf's command, dies as it sputters and burns out.
Hebe and the Valkyrs were the cupbearers of Olympus and Asgard. They
were all personifications of youth; and while Hebe married the great
hero and demigod Hercules when she ceased to fulfil her office, the
Valkyrs were relieved from their duties when united to heroes like
Helgi, Hakon, Völund, or Sigurd.
The Cretan labyrinth has its counterpart in the Icelandic Völundarhaus,
and Völund and Dædalus both effect their escape from a maze by a
cleverly devised pair of wings, which enable them to fly in safety
over land and sea and escape from the tyranny of their respective
masters, Nidud and Minos. Völund resembles Vulcan, also, in that
he is a clever smith and makes use of his talents to work out his
revenge. Vulcan, lamed by a fall from Olympus, and neglected by Juno,
whom he had tried to befriend, sends her a golden throne, which is
provided with cunning springs to seize and hold her fast. Völund,
hamstrung by the suggestion of Nidud's queen, secretly murders her
sons, and out of their eyes fashions marvellous jewels, which she
unsuspectingly wears upon her breast until he reveals their origin.
Myths of the Sea
Just as the Greeks fancied that the tempests were the effect of
Neptune's wrath, so the Northern races attributed them either to the
writhings of Iörmungandr, the Midgard snake, or to the anger of Ægir,
who, crowned with seaweed like Neptune, often sent his children,
the wave maidens (the counterpart of the Nereides and Oceanides),
to play on the tossing billows. Neptune had his dwelling in the coral
caves near the Island of Euboea, while Ægir lived in a similar palace
near the Cattegat. Here he was surrounded by the nixies, undines,
and mermaids, the counterpart of the Greek water nymphs, and by the
river-gods of the Rhine, Elbe, and Neckar, who remind us of Alpheus
and Peneus, the river-gods of the Greeks.
The frequency of shipwrecks on the Northern coasts made the people
think of Ran (the equivalent of the Greek sea-goddess Amphitrite) as
greedy and avaricious, and they described her as armed with a strong
net, with which she drew all things down into the deep. The Greek
Sirens had their parallel in the Northern Lorelei, who possessed the
same gift of song, and also lured mariners to their death; while
Princess Ilse, who was turned into a fountain, reminds us of the
nymph Arethusa, who underwent a similar transformation.
In the Northern conception of Nifl-heim we have an almost exact
counterpart of the Greek Hades. Mödgud, the guardian of the
Giallar-bridge (the bridge of death), over which all the spirits of
the dead must pass, exacts a tribute of blood as rigorously as Charon
demands an obolus from every soul he ferries over Acheron, the river
of death. The fierce dog Garm, cowering in the Gnipa hole, and keeping
guard at Hel's gate, is like the three-headed monster Cerberus; and
the nine worlds of Nifl-heim are not unlike the divisions of Hades,
Nastrond being an adequate substitute for Tartarus, where the wicked
were punished with equal severity.
The custom of burning dead heroes with their arms, and of slaying
victims, such as horses and dogs, upon their pyre, was much the same
in the North as in the South; and while Mors or Thanatos, the Greek
Death, was represented with a sharp scythe, Hel was depicted with a
broom or rake, which she used as ruthlessly, and with which she did
as much execution.
Balder and Apollo
Balder, the radiant god of sunshine, reminds us not only of Apollo and
Orpheus, but of all the other heroes of sun myths. His wife Nanna is
like Flora, and still more like Proserpine, for she, too, goes down
into the underworld, where she tarries for a while. Balder's golden
hall of Breidablik is like Apollo's palace in the east; he, also,
delights in flowers; all things smile at his approach, and willingly
pledge themselves not to injure him. As Achilles was vulnerable only
in the heel, so Balder could be slain only by the harmless mistletoe,
and his death is occasioned by Loki's jealousy just as Hercules was
slain by that of Deianeira. Balder's funeral pyre on Ringhorn reminds
us of Hercules's death on Mount OEta, the flames and reddish glow of
both fires serving to typify the setting sun. The Northern god of sun
and summer could only be released from Nifl-heim if all animate and
inanimate objects shed tears; so Proserpine could issue from Hades
only upon condition that she had partaken of no food. The trifling
refusal of Thok to shed a single tear is like the pomegranate seeds
which Proserpine ate, and the result is equally disastrous in both
cases, as it detains Balder and Proserpine underground, and the earth
(Frigga or Ceres) must continue to mourn their absence.
Through Loki evil entered into the Northern world; Prometheus's
gift of fire brought the same curse upon the Greeks. The punishment
inflicted by the gods upon the culprits is not unlike, for while
Loki is bound with adamantine chains underground, and tortured by
the continuous dropping of venom from the fangs of a snake fastened
above his head, Prometheus is similarly fettered to Caucasus, and a
ravenous vulture continually preys upon his liver. Loki's punishment
has another counterpart in that of Tityus, bound in Hades, and in
that of Enceladus, chained beneath Mount Ætna, where his writhing
produced earthquakes, and his imprecations caused sudden eruptions
of the volcano. Loki, further, resembles Neptune in that he, too,
assumed an equine form and was the parent of a wonderful steed,
for Sleipnir rivals Arion both in speed and endurance.
The Fimbul-winter has been compared to the long preliminary fight under
the walls of Troy, and Ragnarok, the grand closing drama of Northern
mythology, to the burning of that famous city. "Thor is Hector;
the Fenris wolf, Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin);
and Vidar, who survives in Ragnarok, is Æneas." The destruction of
Priam's palace is the type of the ruin of the gods' golden halls;
and the devouring wolves Hati, Sköll, and Managarm, the fiends of
darkness, are prototypes of Paris and all the other demons of darkness,
who bear away or devour the sun-maiden Helen.
Ragnarok and the Deluge
According to another interpretation, however, Ragnarok and the
consequent submersion of the world is but a Northern version of the
Deluge. The survivors, Lif and Lifthrasir, like Deucalion and Pyrrha,
were destined to repeople the world; and just as the shrine of Delphi
alone resisted the destructive power of the great cataclysm, so Gimli
stood radiant to receive the surviving gods.
Giants and Titans
We have already seen how closely the Northern giants resembled the
Titans. It only remains to mention that while the Greeks imagined
that Atlas was changed into a mountain, so the Northmen believed that
the Riesengebirge, in Germany, were formed from giants, and that the
avalanches which descended from their lofty heights were the burdens
of snow which these giants impatiently shook from their crests as
they changed their cramped positions. The apparition, in the shape of
a bull, of one of the water giants, who came to woo the queen of the
Franks, has its parallel in the story of Jupiter's wooing of Europa,
and Meroveus is evidently the exact counterpart of Sarpedon. A faint
resemblance can be traced between the giant ship Mannigfual and the
Argo, for while the one is supposed to have cruised through the Ægean
and Euxine Seas, and to have made many places memorable by the dangers
it encountered there, so the Northern vessel sailed about the North
and Baltic Seas, and is mentioned in connection with the Island of
Bornholm and the cliffs of Dover.
While the Greeks imagined that Nightmares were the evil dreams which
escaped from the Cave of Somnus, the Northern race fancied they were
female dwarfs or trolls, who crept out of the dark recesses of the
earth to torment them. All magic weapons in the North were said to
be the work of the dwarfs, the underground smiths, while those of the
Greeks were manufactured by Vulcan and the Cyclopes, under Mount Ætna,
or on the Island of Lemnos.
The Volsunga Saga
In the Sigurd myth we find Odin one-eyed like the Cyclopes, who, like
him, are personifications of the sun. Sigurd is instructed by Gripir,
the horse-trainer, who is reminiscent of Chiron, the centaur. He is
not only able to teach a young hero all he need know, and to give him
good advice concerning his future conduct, but is also possessed of
the gift of prophecy.
The marvellous sword which becomes the property of Sigmund and of
Sigurd as soon as they prove themselves worthy to wield it, and the
sword Angurvadel which Frithiof inherits from his sire, remind us of
the weapon which Ægeus concealed beneath the rock, and which Theseus
secured as soon as he had become a man. Sigurd, like Theseus, Perseus,
and Jason, seeks to avenge his father's wrongs ere he sets out in
search of the golden hoard, the exact counterpart of the golden fleece,
which is also guarded by a dragon, and is very hard to secure. Like
all the Greek sun-gods and heroes, Sigurd has golden hair and bright
blue eyes. His struggle with Fafnir reminds us of Apollo's fight with
Python, while the ring Andvaranaut can be likened to Venus's cestus,
and the curse attached to its possessor is like the tragedy of Helen,
who brought endless bloodshed upon all connected with her.
Sigurd could not have conquered Fafnir without the magic sword, just
as the Greeks failed to take Troy without the arrows of Philoctetes,
which are also emblems of the all-conquering rays of the sun. The
recovery of the stolen treasure is like Menelaus's recovery of Helen,
and it apparently brings as little happiness to Sigurd as his recreant
wife did to the Spartan king.
Brunhild
Brunhild resembles Minerva in her martial tastes, physical appearance,
and wisdom; but her anger and resentment when Sigurd forgets her
for Gudrun is like the wrath of OEnone, whom Paris deserts to woo
Helen. Brunhild's anger continues to accompany Sigurd through life,
and she even seeks to compass his death, while OEnone, called to cure
her wounded lover, refuses to do so and permits him to die. OEnone
and Brunhild are both overcome by the same remorseful feelings when
their lovers have breathed their last, and both insist upon sharing
their funeral pyres, and end their lives by the side of those whom
they had loved.
Sun Myths
Containing, as it does, a whole series of sun myths, the Volsunga Saga
repeats itself in every phase; and just as Ariadne, forsaken by the
sun-hero Theseus, finally marries Bacchus, so Gudrun, when Sigurd has
departed, marries Atli, the King of the Huns. He, too, ends his life
amid the flames of his burning palace or ship. Gunnar, like Orpheus
or Amphion, plays such marvellous strains upon his harp that even
the serpents are lulled to sleep. According to some interpretations,
Atli is like Fafnir, and covets the possession of the gold. Both are
therefore probably personifications "of the winter cloud which broods
over and keeps from mortals the gold of the sun's light and heat,
till in the spring the bright orb overcomes the powers of darkness
and tempests, and scatters his gold over the face of the earth."
Swanhild, Sigurd's daughter, is another personification of the sun,
as is seen in her blue eyes and golden hair; and her death under the
hoofs of black steeds represents the blotting out of the sun by clouds
of storm or of darkness.
Just as Castor and Pollux hasten to rescue their sister Helen when
she has been borne away by Theseus, so Swanhild's brothers, Erp,
Hamdir, and Sörli, hasten off to avenge her death.
Such are the main points of resemblance between the mythologies
of the North and South, and the analogy goes far to prove that
they were originally formed from the same materials, the principal
differences being due to the local colouring imparted unconsciously
by the different races.
NOTES
[1] "Northern Mythology," Kauffmann.
[2] Halliday Sparling.
[3] Carlyle, "Heroes and Hero Worship."
[4] "Northern Mythology," Kauffmann.