REGENERATION.
57. Then asked Ganglere: What happens when heaven and earth and all the
world are consumed in flames, and when all the gods and all the
einherjes and all men are dead? You have already said that all men shall
live in some world through all ages. Har answered: There are many good
and many bad abodes. Best it is to be in Gimle, in heaven. Plenty is
there of good drink for those who deem this a joy in the hall called
Brimer. That is also in heaven. There is also an excellent hall which
stands on the Nida mountains. It is built of red gold, and is called
Sindre. In this hall good and well-minded men shall dwell. Nastrand is a
large and terrible hall, and its doors open to the north. It is built of
serpents wattled together, and all the heads of the serpents turn into
the hall and vomit forth venom that flows in streams along the hall, and
in these streams wade perjurers and murderers. So it is here said:
A hall I know standing
Far from the sun
On the strand of dead bodies.
Drops of venom
Fall through the loop-holes.
Of serpents’ backs
The hall is made.
There shall wade
Through heavy streams
Perjurers
And murderers.
But in Hvergelmer it is worst.
There tortures Nidhug
The bodies of the dead.[71]
[Footnote 71: Elder Edda: The Vala’s Prophecy, 40, 41.]
58. Then said Ganglere: Do any gods live then? Is there any earth or
heaven? Har answered: The earth rises again from the sea, and is green
and fair. The fields unsown produce their harvests. Vidar and Vale live.
Neither the sea nor Surfs fire has harmed them, and they dwell on the
plains of Ida, where Asgard was before. Thither come also the sons of
Thor, Mode and Magne, and they have Mjolner. Then come Balder and Hoder
from Hel. They all sit together and talk about the things that happened
aforetime,--about the Midgard-serpent and the Fenris-wolf. They find in
the grass those golden tables which the asas once had. Thus it is said:
Vidar and Vale
Dwell in the house of the gods,
When quenched is the fire of Surt.
Mode and Magne
Vingner’s Mjolner shall have
When the fight is ended.[72]
[Footnote 72: Elder Edda: Vafthrudner’s Lay, 51.]
In a place called Hodmimer’s-holt[73] are concealed two persons during
Surt’s fire, called Lif and Lifthraser. They feed on the morning dew.
From these so numerous a race is descended that they fill the whole
world with people, as is here said:
Lif and Lifthraser
Will lie hid
In Hodmimer’s-holt.
The morning dew
They have for food.
From them are the races descended.[74]
[Footnote 73: Holt = grove.]
[Footnote 74: Elder Edda: Vafthrudner’s Lay, 45.]
But what will seem wonderful to you is that the sun has brought forth a
daughter not less fair than herself, and she rides in the heavenly
course of her mother, as is here said:
A daughter
Is born of the sun
Ere Fenrer takes her.
In her mother’s course
When the gods are dead
This maid shall ride.[75]
[Footnote 75: Elder Edda: Vafthrudner’s Lay, 47.]
And if you now can ask more questions, said Har to Ganglere, I know not
whence that power came to you. I have never heard any one tell further
the fate of the world. Make now the best use you can of what has been
told you.
59. Then Ganglere heard a terrible noise on all sides, and when he
looked about him he stood out-doors on a level plain. He saw neither
hall nor burg. He went his way and came back to his kingdom, and told
the tidings which he had seen and heard, and ever since those tidings
have been handed down from man to man.
AFTERWORD
TO THE FOOLING OF GYLFE.
The asas now sat down to talk, and held their counsel, and remembered
all the tales that were told to Gylfe. They gave the very same names
that had been named before to the men and places that were there. This
they did for the reason that, when a long time has elapsed, men should
not doubt that those asas of whom these tales were now told and those to
whom the same names were given were all identical. There was one who is
called Thor, and he is Asa-Thor, the old. He is Oku-Thor, and to him are
ascribed the great deeds done by Hektor in Troy. But men think that the
Turks have told of Ulysses, and have called him Loke, for the Turks were
his greatest enemies.
BRAGE’S TALK.
CHAPTER I.
ÆGER’S JOURNEY TO ASGARD.
1. A man by name Æger, or Hler, who dwelt on the island called Hler’s
Isle, was well skilled in the black art. He made a journey to Asgard.
But the asas knew of his coming and gave him a friendly reception; but
they also made use of many sorts of delusions. In the evening, when the
feast began, Odin had swords brought into the hall, and they were so
bright that it glistened from them so that there was no need of any
other light while they sat drinking. Then went the asas to their feast,
and the twelve asas who were appointed judges seated themselves in their
high-seats. These are their names: Thor, Njord, Frey, Tyr, Heimdal,
Brage, Vidar, Vale, Uller, Honer, Forsete, Loke. The asynjes (goddesses)
also were with them: Frigg, Freyja, Gefjun, Idun, Gerd, Sigyn, Fulla,
Nanna. Æger thought all that he saw looked very grand. The panels of the
walls were all covered with beautiful shields. The mead was very strong,
and they drank deep. Next to Æger sat Brage, and they talked much
together over their drink. Brage spoke to Æger of many things that had
happened to the asas.
CHAPTER II.
IDUN AND HER APPLES.
2. Brage began his tale by telling how three asas, Odin, Loke and Honer,
went on a journey over mountains and heaths, where they could get
nothing to eat. But when they came down into a valley they saw a herd of
cattle. From this herd they took an ox and went to work to boil it. When
they deemed that it must be boiled enough they uncovered the broth, but
it was not yet done. After a little while they lifted the cover off
again, but it was not yet boiled. They talked among themselves about how
this could happen. Then they heard a voice in the oak above them, and he
who sat there said that he was the cause that the broth did not get
boiled. They looked up and saw an eagle, and it was not a small one.
Then said the eagle: If you will give me my fill of the ox, then the
broth will be boiled. They agreed to this. So he flew down from the
tree, seated himself beside the boiling broth, and immediately snatched
up first the two thighs of the ox and then both the shoulders. This made
Loke wroth: he grasped a large pole, raised it with all his might and
dashed it at the body of the eagle. The eagle shook himself after the
blow and flew up. One end of the pole fastened itself to the body of the
eagle, and the other end stuck to Loke’s hands. The eagle flew just high
enough so that Loke’s feet were dragged over stones and rocks and trees,
and it seemed to him that his arms would be torn from his
shoulder-blades. He calls and prays the eagle most earnestly for peace,
but the latter declares that Loke shall never get free unless he will
pledge himself to bring Idun and her apples out of Asgard. When Loke had
promised this, he was set free and went to his companions again; and no
more is related of this journey, except that they returned home. But at
the time agreed upon, Loke coaxed Idun out of Asgard into a forest,
saying that he had found apples that she would think very nice, and he
requested her to take with her her own apples in order to compare them.
Then came the giant Thjasse in the guise of an eagle, seized Idun and
flew away with her to his home in Thrymheim. The asas were ill at ease
on account of the disappearance of Idun,--they became gray-haired and
old. They met in council and asked each other who last had seen Idun.
The last that had been seen of her was that she had gone out of Asgard
in company with Loke. Then Loke was seized and brought into the council,
and he was threatened with death or torture. But he became frightened,
and promised to bring Idun back from Jotunheim if Freyja would lend him
the falcon-guise that she had. He got the falcon-guise, flew north into
Jotunheim, and came one day to the giant Thjasse. The giant had rowed
out to sea, and Idun was at home alone. Loke turned her into the
likeness of a nut, held her in his claws and flew with all his might.
But when Thjasse returned home and missed Idun, he took on his
eagle-guise, flew after Loke, gaining on the latter with his eagle
wings. When the asas saw the falcon coming flying with the nut, and how
the eagle flew, they went to the walls of Asgard and brought with them
bundles of plane-shavings. When the falcon flew within the burg, he let
himself drop down beside the burg-wall. Then the asas kindled a fire in
the shavings; and the eagle, being unable to stop himself when he missed
the falcon, caught fire in his feathers, so that he could not fly any
farther. The asas were on hand and slew the giant Thjasse within the
gates of Asgard, and that slaughter is most famous.
CHAPTER III.
HOW NJORD GOT SKADE TO WIFE.
Skade, the daughter of the giant Thjasse, donned her helmet, and byrnie,
and all her war-gear, and betook herself to Asgard to avenge her
father’s death. The asas offered her ransom and atonement; and it was
agreed to, in the first place, that she should choose herself a husband
among the asas, but she was to make her choice by the feet, which was
all she was to see of their persons. She saw one man’s feet that were
wonderfully beautiful, and exclaimed: This one I choose! On Balder there
are few blemishes. But it was Njord, from Noatun. In the second place,
it was stipulated that the asas were to do what she did not deem them
capable of, and that was to make her laugh. Then Loke tied one end of a
string fast to the beard of a goat and the other around his own body,
and one pulled this way and the other that, and both of them shrieked
out loud. Then Loke let himself fall on Skade’s knees, and this made her
laugh. It is said that Odin did even more than was asked, in that he
took Thjasse’s eyes and cast them up into heaven, and made two stars of
them. Then said Æger: This Thjasse seems to me to have been considerable
of a man; of what kin was he? Brage answered: His father’s name was
Olvalde, and if I told you of him, you would deem it very remarkable.
He was very rich in gold, and when he died and his sons were to divide
their heritage, they had this way of measuring the gold, that each
should take his mouthful of gold, and they should all take the same
number of mouthfuls. One of them was Thjasse, another Ide, and the third
Gang. But we now have it as a saw among us, that we call gold the
mouth-number of these giants. In runes and songs we wrap the gold up by
calling it the measure, or word, or tale, of these giants. Then said
Æger: It seems to me that it will be well hidden in the runes.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ORIGIN OF POETRY.
3. And again said Æger: Whence originated the art that is called
skaldship? Made answer Brage: The beginning of this was, that the gods
had a war with the people that are called vans. They agreed to hold a
meeting for the purpose of making peace, and settled their dispute in
this wise, that they both went to a jar and spit into it. But at parting
the gods, being unwilling to let this mark of peace perish, shaped it
into a man whose name was Kvaser, and who was so wise that no one could
ask him any question that he could not answer. He traveled much about in
the world to teach men wisdom. Once he came to the home of the dwarfs
Fjalar and Galar. They called him aside, saying they wished to speak
with him alone, slew him and let his blood run into two jars called Son
and Bodn, and into a kettle called Odrarer. They mixed honey with the
blood, and thus was produced such mead that whoever drinks from it
becomes a skald and sage. The dwarfs told the asas that Kvaser had
choked in his wisdom, because no one was so wise that he could ask him
enough about learning.
4. Then the dwarfs invited to themselves the giant whose name is
Gilling, and his wife; and when he came they asked him to row out to sea
with them. When they had gotten a short distance from shore, the dwarfs
rowed onto a blind rock and capsized the boat. Gilling, who was unable
to swim, was drowned, but the dwarfs righted the boat again and rowed
ashore. When they told of this mishap to his wife she took it much to
heart, and began to cry aloud. Then Fjalar asked her whether it would
not lighten her sorrow if she could look out upon the sea where her
husband had perished, and she said it would. He then said to his brother
Galar that he should go up over the doorway, and as she passed out he
should let a mill-stone drop onto her head, for he said he was tired of
her bawling, Galar did so. When the giant Suttung, the son of Gilling,
found this out he came and seized the dwarfs, took them out to sea and
left them on a rocky island, which was flooded at high tide. They prayed
Suttung to spare their lives, and offered him in atonement for their
father’s blood the precious mead, which he accepted. Suttung brought the
mead home with him, and hid it in a place called Hnitbjorg. He set his
daughter Gunlad to guard it. For these reasons we call songship Kvaser’s
blood; the drink of the dwarfs; the dwarfs’ fill; some kind of liquor of
Odrarer, or Bodn or Son; the ship of the dwarfs (because this mead
ransomed their lives from the rocky isle); the mead of Suttung, or the
liquor of Hnitbjorg.
5. Then remarked Æger: It seems dark to me to call songship by these
names; but how came the asas by Suttung’s mead? Answered Brage: The saga
about this is, that Odin set out from home and came to a place where
nine thralls were mowing hay. He asked them whether they would like to
have him whet their scythes. To this they said yes. Then he took a
whet-stone from his belt and whetted the scythes. They thought their
scythes were much improved, and asked whether the whet-stone was for
sale. He answered that he who would buy it must pay a fair price for it.
All said they were willing to give the sum demanded, and each wanted
Odin to sell it to him. But he threw the whet-stone up in the air, and
when all wished to catch it they scrambled about it in such a manner
that each brought his scythe onto the other’s neck. Odin sought lodgings
for the night at the house of the giant Bauge, who was a brother of
Suttung. Bauge complained of what had happened to his household, saying
that his nine thralls had slain each other, and that he did not know
where he should get other workmen. Odin called himself Bolverk. He
offered to undertake the work of the nine men for Bauge, but asked in
payment therefor a drink of Suttung’s mead. Bauge answered that he had
no control over the mead, saying that Suttung was bound to keep that for
himself alone. But he agreed to go with Bolverk and try whether they
could get the mead. During the summer Bolverk did the work of the nine
men for Bauge, but when winter came he asked for his pay. Then they both
went to Suttung. Bauge explained to Suttung his bargain with Bolverk,
but Suttung stoutly refused to give even a drop of the mead. Bolverk
then proposed to Bauge that they should try whether they could not get
at the mead by the aid of some trick, and Bauge agreed to this. Then
Bolverk drew forth the auger which is called Rate, and requested Bauge
to bore a hole through the rock, if the auger was sharp enough. He did
so. Then said Bauge that there was a hole through the rock; but Bolverk
blowed into the hole that the auger had made, and the chips flew back
into his face. Thus he saw that Bauge intended to deceive him, and
commanded him to bore through. Bauge bored again, and when Bolverk blew
a second time the chips flew inward. Now Bolverk changed himself into
the likeness of a serpent and crept into the auger-hole. Bauge thrust
after him with the auger, but missed him. Bolverk went to where Gunlad
was, and shared her couch for three nights. She then promised to give
him three draughts from the mead. With the first draught he emptied
Odrarer, in the second Bodn, and in the third Son, and thus he had all
the mead. Then he took on the guise of an eagle, and flew off as fast as
he could. When Suttung saw the flight of the eagle, he also took on the
shape of an eagle and flew after him. When the asas saw Odin coming,
they set their jars out in the yard. When Odin reached Asgard, he spewed
the mead up into the jars. He was, however, so near being caught by
Suttung, that he sent some of the mead after him backward, and as no
care was taken of this, anybody that wished might have it. This we call
the share of poetasters. But Suttung’s mead Odin gave to the asas and to
those men who are able to make verses. Hence we call songship Odin’s
prey, Odin’s find, Odin’s drink, Odin’s gift, and the drink of the asas.
6. Then said Æger: In how many ways do you vary the poetical
expressions, or how many kinds of poetry are there? Answered Brage:
There are two kinds, and all poetry falls into one or the other of these
classes. Æger asks: Which two? Brage answers: Diction and meter. What
diction is used in poetry? There are three sorts of poetic diction.
Which? One is to name everything by its own name; another is to name it
with a pronoun, but the third sort of diction is called _kenning_ (a
poetical periphrasis or descriptive name); and this sort is so managed
that when we name Odin, or Thor or Tyr, or any other of the asas or
elves, we add to their name a reference to some other asa, or we make
mention of some of his works. Then the appellation belongs to him who
corresponds to the whole phrase, and not to him who was actually named.
Thus we speak of Odin as Sigtyr, Hangatyr or Farmatyr, and such names we
call simple appellatives. In the same manner he is called Reidartyr.
AFTERWORD
TO BRAGE’S TALK.
Now it is to be said to young skalds who are desirous of acquiring the
diction of poetry, or of increasing their store of words with old names,
or, on the other hand, are eager to understand what is obscurely sung,
that they must master this book for their instruction and pastime. These
sagas are not to be so forgotten or disproved as to take away from
poetry old periphrases which great skalds have been pleased with. But
christian men should not believe in heathen gods, nor in the truth of
these sagas, otherwise than is explained in the beginning of this book,
where the events are explained which led men away from the true faith,
and where it, in the next place, is told of the Turks how the men from
Asia, who are called asas, falsified the tales of the things that
happened in Troy, in order that the people should believe them to be
gods.
King Priam in Troy was a great chief over all the Turkish host, and his
sons were the most distinguished men in his whole army. That excellent
hall, which the asas called Brime’s Hall, or beer-hall, was King Priam’s
palace. As for the long tale that they tell of Ragnarok, that is the
wars of the Trojans. When it is said that Oku-Thor angled with an
ox-head and drew on board the Midgard-serpent, but that the serpent kept
his life and sank back into the sea, then this is another version of the
story that Hektor slew Volukrontes, a famous hero, in the presence of
Achilleus, and so drew the latter onto him with the head of the slain,
which they likened unto the head of an ox, which Oku-Thor had torn off.
When Achilleus was drawn into this danger, on account of his daring,
it was the salvation of his life that he fled from the fatal blows of
Hektor, although he was wounded. It is also said that Hektor waged the
war so mightily, and that his rage was so great when he caught sight of
Achilleus, that nothing was so strong that it could stand before him.
When he missed Achilleus, who had fled, he soothed his wrath by slaying
the champion called Roddros. But the asas say that when Oku-Thor missed
the serpent, he slew the giant Hymer. In Ragnarok the Midgard serpent
came suddenly upon Thor and blew venom onto him, and thus struck him
dead. But the asas could not make up their minds to say that this had
been the fate of Oku-Thor, that anyone stood over him dead, though this
had so happened. They rushed headlong over old sagas more than was true
when they said that the Midgard-serpent there got his death; and they
added this to the story, that Achilleus reaped the fame of Hektor’s
death, though he lay dead on the same battle-field on that account. This
was the work of Elenus and Alexander, and Elenus the asas call Ale. They
say that he avenged his brother, and that he lived when all the gods
were dead, and after the fire was quenched that burned up Asgard and all
the possessions of the gods. Pyrrhos they compared with the Fenris-wolf.
He slew Odin, and Pyrrhos might be called a wolf according to their
belief, for he did not spare the peace-steads, when he slew the king in
the temple before the altar of Thor. The burning of Troy they call the
flame of Surt. Mode and Magne, the sons of Oku-Thor, came to crave the
land of Ale or Vidar. He is Æneas. He came away from Troy, and wrought
thereupon great works. It is said that the sons of Hektor came to
Frigialand and established themselves in that kingdom, but banished
Elenus.
EXTRACTS FROM
THE POETICAL DICTION.
(SKALDSKAPARMAL.)[76]
[Footnote 76: This part of the Younger Edda corresponds to the
Latin Ars Poetica, and contains the rules and laws of ancient
poetry.]
THOR AND HRUNGNER.
Brage told Æger that Thor had gone eastward to crush trolls. Odin rode
on his horse Sleipner to Jotunheim, and came to the giant whose name is
Hrungner. Then asked Hrungner what man that was who with a golden helmet
rode both through the air and over the sea, and added that he had a
remarkably good horse. Odin said that he would wager his head that so
good a horse could not be found in Jotunheim. Hrungner admitted that it
was indeed an excellent horse, but he had one, called Goldfax, that
could take much longer paces; and in his wrath he immediately sprang
upon his horse and galloped after Odin, intending to pay him for his
insolence. Odin rode so fast that he was a good distance ahead, but
Hrungner had worked himself into such a giant rage that, before he was
aware of it, he had come within the gates of Asgard. When he came to the
hall door, the asas invited him to drink with them. He entered the hall
and requested a drink. They then took the bowls that Thor was accustomed
to drink from, and Hrungner emptied them all. When he became drunk, he
gave the freest vent to his loud boastings. He said he was going to take
Valhal and move it to Jotunheim, demolish Asgard and kill all the gods
except Freyja and Sif, whom he was going to take home with him. When
Freyja went forward to refill the bowls for him, he boasted that he was
going to drink up all the ale of the asas. But when the asas grew weary
of his arrogance, they named Thor’s name. At once Thor was in the hall,
swung his hammer in the air, and, being exceedingly wroth, asked who was
to blame that dog-wise giants were permitted to drink there, who had
given Hrungner permission to be in Valhal, and why Freyja should pour
ale for him as she did in the feasts of the asas. Then answered
Hrungner, looking with anything but friendly eyes at Thor, and said that
Odin had invited him to drink, and that he was there under his
protection. Thor replied that he should come to rue that invitation
before he came out. Hrungner again answered that it would be but little
credit to Asa-Thor to kill him, unarmed as he was. It would be a greater
proof of his valor if he dared fight a duel with him at the boundaries
of his territory, at Grjottungard. It was very foolish of me, he said,
that I left my shield and my flint-stone at home; had I my weapons here,
you and I would try a holmgang (duel on a rocky island); but as this is
not the case, I declare you a coward if you kill me unarmed. Thor was by
no means the man to refuse to fight a duel when he was challenged, an
honor which never had been shown him before. Then Hrungner went his way,
and hastened with all his might back to Jotunheim. His journey became
famous among the giants, and the proposed meeting with Thor was much
talked of. They regarded it very important who should gain the victory,
and they feared the worst from Thor if Hrungner should be defeated, for
he was the strongest among them. Thereupon the giants made at
Grjottungard a man of clay, who was nine rasts tall and three rasts
broad under the arms, but being unable to find a heart large enough to
be suitable for him, they took the heart from a mare, but even this
fluttered and trembled when Thor came. Hrungner had, as is well known,
a heart of stone, sharp and three-sided; just as the rune has since been
risted that is called Hrungner’s heart. Even his head was of stone. His
shield was of stone, and was broad and thick, and he was holding this
shield before him as he stood at Grjottungard waiting for Thor. His
weapon was a flint-stone, which he swung over his shoulders, and
altogether he presented a most formidable aspect. On one side of him
stood the giant of clay, who was named Mokkerkalfe. He was so
exceedingly terrified, that it is said that he wet himself when he saw
Thor. Thor proceeded to the duel, and Thjalfe was with him. Thjalfe ran
forward to where Hrungner was standing, and said to him: You stand illy
guarded, giant; you hold the shield before you, but Thor has seen you;
he goes down into the earth and will attack you from below. Then
Hrungner thrust the shield under his feet and stood on it, but the
flint-stone he seized with both his hands. The next that he saw were
flashes of lightning, and he heard loud crashings; and then he saw Thor
in his asa-might advancing with impetuous speed, swinging his hammer and
hurling it from afar at Hrungner. Hrungner seized the flint-stone with
both his hands and threw it against the hammer. They met in the air, and
the flint-stone broke. One part fell to the earth, and from it have come
the flint-mountains; the other part hit Thor’s head with such force that
he fell forward to the ground. But the hammer Mjolner hit Hrungner right
in the head, and crushed his skull in small pieces. He himself fell
forward over Thor, so that his foot lay upon Thor’s neck. Meanwhile
Thjalfe attacked Mokkerkalfe, who fell with but little honor. Then
Thjalfe went to Thor and was to take Hrungner’s foot off from him, but
he had not the strength to do it. When the asas learned that Thor had
fallen, they all came to take the giant’s foot off, but none of them was
able to move it. Then came Magne, the son of Thor and Jarnsaxa. He was
only three nights of age. He threw Hrungner’s foot off Thor, and said It
was a great mishap, father, that I came so late. I think I could have
slain this giant with my fist, had I met him. Then Thor arose, greeted
his son lovingly, saying that he would become great and powerful; and,
added he, I will give you the horse Goldfax, that belonged to Hrungner.
Odin said that Thor did wrong in giving so fine a horse to the son of a
giantess, instead of to his father. Thor went home to Thrudvang, but the
flint-stone still stuck fast in his head. Then came the vala whose name
is Groa, the wife of Orvandel the Bold. She sang her magic songs over
Thor until the flint-stone became loose. But when Thor perceived this,
and was just expecting that the flint-stone would disappear, he desired
to reward Groa for her healing, and make her heart glad. So he related
to her how he had waded from the north over the Elivogs rivers, and had
borne in a basket on his back Orvandel from Jotunheim; and in evidence
of this he told her how that one toe of his had protruded from the
basket and had frozen, wherefore Thor had broken it off and had cast it
up into the sky, and made of it the star which is called Orvandel’s toe.
Finally he added that it would not be long before Orvandel would come
home. But Groa became so glad that she forgot her magic songs, and so
the flint-stone became no looser than it was, and it sticks fast in
Thor’s head yet. For this reason it is forbidden to throw a flint-stone
across the floor, for then the stone in Thor’s head is moved. Out of
this saga Thjodolf of Hvin has made a song:
We have ample evidence
Of the giant-terrifier’s[77] journey
To Grjottungard, to the giant Hrungner,
In the midst of encircling flames.
The courage waxed high in Meile’s brother;[78]
The moon-way trembled
When Jord’s son[79] went
To the steel-gloved contest.
The heavens stood all in flames
For Uller’s step-father,[80]
And the earth rocked.
Svolne’s[81] widow[82] burst asunder
When the span of goats
Drew the sublime chariot
And its divine master
To the meeting with Hrungner.
Balder’s brother[83] did not tremble
Before the greedy fiend of men;
Mountains quaked and rocks broke;
The heavens were wrapped in flames.
Much did the giant
Get frightened, I learn,
When his bane man he saw
Ready to slay him.
Swiftly the gray shield flew
’Neath the heels of the giant.
So the gods willed it,
So willed it the valkyries.
Hrungner the giant,
Eager for slaughter,
Needed not long to wait for blows
From the valiant friend of the hammer.
The slayer[84] of Bele’s evil race
Made fall the bear of the loud-roaring mountain;[85]
On his shield
Bite the dust
Must the giant
Before the sharp-edged hammer,
When the giant-crusher
Stood against the mighty Hrungner,
And the flint-stone
(So hard to break)
Of the friend of the troll-women
Into the skull did whiz
Of Jord’s son,[86]
And this flinty piece
Fast did stick
In Eindride’s[87] blood;
Until Orvandel’s wife,
Magic songs singing,
From the head of Thor
Removed the giant’s
Excellent flint-stone.
All do I know
About that shield-journey.
A shield adorned
With hues most splendid
I received from Thorleif.
[Footnote 77: Thor’s.]
[Footnote 78: Thor.]
[Footnote 79: Jord’s (= earth’s) son = Thor.]
[Footnote 80: Thor.]
[Footnote 81: Odin’s.]
[Footnote 82: The earth.]
[Footnote 83: Thor.]
[Footnote 84: Thor.]
[Footnote 85: The giant Hrungner.]
[Footnote 86: Thor.]
[Footnote 87: Thor’s.]
THOR’S JOURNEY TO GEIRROD’S.
Then said Æger: Much of a man, it seems to me, was that Hrungner. Has
Thor accomplished any other great deeds in his intercourse with trolls
(giants)? Then answered Brage: It is worth giving a full account of how
Thor made a journey to Geirrodsgard. He had with him neither the hammer
Mjolner, nor his belt of strength, Megingjard, nor his steel gloves; and
that was Loke’s fault,--he was with him. For it had happened to Loke,
when he once flew out to amuse himself in Frigg’s falcon-guise, that he,
out of curiosity, flew into Geirrodsgard, where he saw a large hall. He
sat down and looked in through the window, but Geirrod discovered him,
and ordered the bird to be caught and brought to him. The servant had
hard work to climb up the wall of the hall, so high was it. It amused
Loke that it gave the servant so much trouble to get at him, and he
thought it would be time enough to fly away when he had gotten over the
worst. When the latter now caught at him, Loke spread his wings and
spurned with his feet, but these were fast, and so Loke was caught and
brought to the giant. When the latter saw his eyes he suspected that it
was a man. He put questions to him and bade him answer, but Loke refused
to speak. Then Geirrod locked him down in a chest, and starved him for
three months; and when Geirrod finally took him up again, and asked him
to speak, Loke confessed who he was, and to save his life he swore an
oath to Geirrod that he would get Thor to come to Geirrodsgard without
his hammer or his belt of strength.
On his way Thor visited the giantess whose name is Grid. She was the
mother of Vidar the Silent. She told Thor the truth concerning Geirrod,
that he was a dog-wise and dangerous giant; and she lent him her own
belt of strength and steel gloves, and her staff, which is called
Gridarvol. Then went Thor to the river which is called Vimer, and which
is the largest of all rivers. He buckled on the belt of strength and
stemmed the wild torrent with Gridarvol, but Loke held himself fast in
Megingjard. When Thor had come into the middle of the stream, the river
waxed so greatly that the waves dashed over his shoulders. Then quoth
Thor:
Wax not Vimer,
Since I intend to wade
To the gards of giants.
Know, if you wax,
Then waxes my asa-might
As high, as the heavens.
Then Thor looked up and saw in a cleft Gjalp, the daughter of Geirrod,
standing on both sides of the stream, and causing its growth. Then took
he up out of the river a huge stone and threw at her, saying: At its
source the stream must be stemmed.[88] He was not wont to miss his mark.
At the same time he reached the river bank and got hold of a shrub, and
so he got out of the river. Hence comes the adage that _a shrub saved
Thor_.[89] When Thor came to Geirrod, he and his companion were shown to
the guest-room, where lodgings were given them, but there was but one
seat, and on that Thor sat down. Then he became aware that the seat was
raised under him toward the roof. He put the Gridarvol against the
rafters, and pressed himself down against the seat. Then was heard a
great crash, which was followed by a loud screaming. Under the seat were
Geirrod’s daughters, Gjalp and Greip, and he had broken the backs of
both of them. Then quoth Thor:
Once I employed
My asa-might
In the gards of the giants.
When Gjalp and Greip,
Geirrod’s daughters,
Wanted to lift me to heaven.
[Footnote 88: Icelandic proverb.]
[Footnote 89: Icelandic proverb.]
Then Geirrod had Thor invited into the hall to the games. Large fires
burned along the whole length of the hall. When Thor came into the hall,
and stood opposite Geirrod, the latter seized with a pair of tongs a
red-hot iron wedge and threw it at Thor. But he caught it with his steel
gloves, and lifted it up in the air. Geirrod sprang behind an iron post
to guard himself. But Thor threw the wedge with so great force that it
struck through the post, through Geirrod, through the wall, and then
went out and into the ground. From this saga, Eilif, son of Gudrun, made
the following song, called Thor’s Drapa:
The Midgard-serpent’s father exhorted
Thor, the victor of giants,
To set out from home.
A great liar was Loke.
Not quite confident,
The companion of the war-god
Declared green paths to lie
To the gard of Geirrod.
Thor did not long let Loke
Invite him to the arduous journey.
They were eager to crush
Thorn’s descendants.
When he, who is wont to swing Megingjard,
Once set out from Odin’s home
To visit Ymer’s children in Gandvik,
The giantess Gjalp,
Perjured Geirrod’s daughter,
Sooner got ready magic to use
Than the god of war and Loke.
A song I recite.
Those gods noxious to the giants
Planted their feet
In Endil’s land,
And the men wont to battle
Went forth.
The message of death
Came of the moon-devourer’s women,
When the cunning and wrathful
Conqueror of Loke
Challenged to a contest
The giantess.
And the troll-woman’s disgracer
Waded across the roaring stream,--
Rolling full of drenched snow over its banks.
He who puts giants to flight
Rapidly advanced
O’er the broad watery way,
Where the noisy stream’s
Venom belched forth.
Thor and his companions
Put before him the staff;
Thereon he rested
Whilst over they waded:
Nor sleep did the stones,--
The sonorous staff striking the rapid wave
Made the river-bed ring,--
The mountain-torrent rang with stones.
The wearer of Megingjard
Saw the flood fall
On his hard-waxed shoulders:
He could do no better.
The destroyer of troll-children
Let his neck-strength
Wax heaven high,
Till the mighty stream should diminish.
But the warriors,
The oath-bound protectors of Asgard,--
The experienced vikings,--
Waded fast and the stream sped on.
Thou god of the bow!
The billows
Blown by the mountain-storm
Powerfully rushed
Over Thor’s shoulders.
Thjalfe and his companion,
With their heads above water,
Got over the river,--
To Thor’s belt they clung.
Their strength was tested,--
Geirrod’s daughters made hard the stream
For the iron rod.
Angry fared Thor with the Gridarvol.
Nor did courage fail
Those foes of the giant
In the seething vortex.
Those sworn companions
Regarded a brave heart
Better than gold.
Neither Thor’s nor Thjalfe’s heart
From fear did tremble.
And the war companions--
Weapons despising--
’Mong the giants made havoc,
Until, O woman!
The giant destroyers
The conflict of helmets
With the warlike race
Did commence.
The giants of Iva’s[90] capes
Made a rush with Geirrod;
The foes of the cold Svithiod
Took to flight.
Geirrod’s giants
Had to succumb
When the lightning wielder’s[91] kinsmen
Closely pursued them.
Wailing was ’mongst the cave-dwellers
When the giants,
With warlike spirit endowed,
Went forward.
There was war.
The slayer of troll-women,
By foes surrounded,
The giant’s hard head hit.
With violent pressure
Were pressed the vast eyes
Of Gjalp and Greip
Against the high roof.
The fire-chariot’s driver
The old backs broke
Of both these maids
For the cave-woman.
The man of the rocky way
But scanty knowledge got;
Nor able were the giants
To enjoy perfect gladness.
Thou man of the bow-string!
The dwarf’s kinsman
An iron beam, in the forge heated,
Threw against Odin’s dear son.
But the battle-hastener,
Freyja’s old friend,
With swift hands caught
In the air the beam
As it flew from the hands
Of the father of Greip,--
His breast with anger swollen
Against Thruda’s[92] father.
Geirrod’s hall trembled
When he struck,
With his broad head,
’Gainst the old column of the house-wall.
Uller’s splendid flatterer
Swung the iron beam
Straight ’gainst the head
Of the knavish giant.
The crusher of the hall-wont troll-women
A splendid victory won
Over Glam’s descendants;
With gory hammer fared Thor.
Gridarvol-staff,
Which made disaster
’Mong Geirrod’s companion,
Was not used ’gainst that giant himself.
The much worshiped thunderer,
With all his might, slew
The dwellers in Alfheim
With that little willow-twig,
And no shield
Was able to resist
The strong age-diminisher
Of the mountain-king.
[Footnote 90: A river in Jotunheim.]
[Footnote 91: Thor’s kinsmen = the asas.]
[Footnote 92: Thruda was a daughter of Thor and Sif.]
IDUN.
How shall Idun be named? She is called the wife of Brage, the keeper of
the apples; but the apples are called the medicine to bar old age
(ellilyf, elixir vitæ). She is also called the booty of the giant
Thjasse, according to what has before been said concerning how he took
her away from the asas. From this saga Thjodolf, of Hvin, composed the
following song in his Haustlong:
How shall the tongue
Pay an ample reward
For the sonorous shield
Which I received from Thorleif,
Foremost ’mong soldiers?
On the splendidly made shield
I see the unsafe journey
Of three gods and Thjasse.
Idun’s robber flew long ago
The asas to meet
In the giant’s old eagle-guise.
The eagle perched
Where the asas bore
Their food to be cooked.
Ye women! The mountain-giant
Was not wont to be timid.
Suspected of malice
Was the giant toward the gods.
Who causes this?
Said the chief of the gods.
The wise-worded giant-eagle
From the old tree began to speak.
The friend of Honer
Was not friendly to him.
The mountain-wolf from Honer
Asked for his fill
From the holy table:
It fell to Honer to blow the fire.
The giant, eager to kill,
Glided down
Where the unsuspecting gods,
Odin, Loke and Honer, were sitting.
The fair lord of the earth
Bade Farbaute’s son
Quickly to share
The ox with the giant;
But the cunning foe of the asas
Thereupon laid
The four parts of the ox
Upon the broad table.
And the huge father of Morn[93]
Afterward greedily ate
The ox at the tree-root.
That was long ago,
Until the profound
Loke the hard rod laid
’Twixt the shoulders
Of the giant Thjasse.
Then clung with his hands
The husband of Sigyn
To Skade’s foster-son,
In the presence of all the gods.
The pole stuck fast
To Jotunheim’s strong fascinator,
But the hands of Honer’s dear friend
Stuck to the other end.
Flew then with the wise god
The voracious bird of prey
Far away; so the wolf’s father
To pieces must be torn.
Odin’s friend got exhausted.
Heavy grew Lopt.
Odin’s companion
Must sue for peace.
Hymer’s kinsman demanded
That the leader of hosts
The sorrow-healing maid,
Who the asas’ youth-preserving apples keeps,
Should bring to him.
Brisingamen’s thief
Afterward brought Idun
To the gard of the giant.
Sorry were not the giants
After this had taken place,
Since from the south
Idun had come to the giants.
All the race
Of Yngve-Frey, at the Thing,
Grew old and gray,--
Ugly-looking were the gods.
Until the gods found the blood-dog,
Idun’s decoying thrall,
And bound the maid’s deceiver,
You shall, cunning Loke,
Spake Thor, die;
Unless back you lead,
With your tricks, that
Good joy-increasing maid.
Heard have I that thereupon
The friend of Honer flew
In the guise of a falcon
(He often deceived the asas with his cunning);
And the strong fraudulent giant,
The father of Morn,
With the wings of the eagle
Sped after the hawk’s child.
The holy gods soon built a fire--
They shaved off kindlings--
And the giant was scorched.
This is said in memory
Of the dwarf’s heel-bridge.[94]
A shield adorned with splendid lines
From Thorleif I received.
[Footnote 93: A troll-woman.]
[Footnote 94: Shield.]
ÆGER’S FEAST.
How shall gold be named? It may be called fire; the needles of Glaser;
Sif’s hair; Fulla’s head-gear; Freyja’s tears; the chatter, talk or word
of the giants; Draupner’s drop; Draupner’s rain or shower; Freyja’s
eyes; the otter-ransom, or stroke-ransom, of the asas; the seed of
Fyrisvold; Holge’s how-roof; the fire of all waters and of the hand;
or the stone, rock or gleam of the hand.
Why is gold called Æger’s fire? The saga relating to this is, as has
before been told, that Æger made a visit to Asgard, but when he was
ready to return home he invited Odin and all the asas to come and pay
him a visit after the lapse of three months. On this journey went Odin,
Njord, Frey, Tyr, Brage, Vidar, Loke; and also the asynjes, Frigg,
Freyja, Gefjun, Skade, Idun, Sif. Thor was not there, for he had gone
eastward to fight trolls. When the gods had taken their seats, Æger let
his servants bring in on the hall floor bright gold, which shone and
lighted up the whole hall like fire, just as the swords in Valhal are
used instead of fire. Then Loke bandied hasty words with all the gods,
and slew Æger’s thrall who was called Fimafeng. The name of his other
thrall is Elder. The name of Æger’s wife is Ran, and they have nine
daughters, as has before been written. At this feast all things passed
around spontaneously, both food and ale and all the utensils needed for
the feasting. Then the asas became aware that Ran had a net in which she
caught all men who perish at sea. Then the saga goes on telling how it
happens that gold is called the fire, or light or brightness of Æger, of
Ran, or of Æger’s daughters; and from these periphrases it is allowed to
call gold the fire of the sea, or of any of the periphrases of the sea,
since Æger and Ran are found in periphrases of the sea; and thus gold is
now called the fire of waters, of rivers, or of all the periphrases of
rivers. But these names have fared like other periphrases. The younger
skald has composed poetry after the pattern of the old skalds, imitating
their songs; but afterward they have expanded the metaphors whenever
they thought they could improve upon what was sung before; and thus the
water is the sea, the river is the lakes, the brook is the river. Hence
all the figures that are expanded more than what has before been found
are called new tropes, and all seem good that contain likelihood and are
natural. Thus sang the skald Brage:
From the king I received
The fire of the brook.
This the king gave to me
And a head with song.
Why is gold called the needles or leaves of Glaser? In Asgard, before
the doors of Valhal, stands a grove which is called Glaser, and all its
leaves are of red gold, as is here sung:
Glaser stands
With golden leaves
Before Sigtyr’s halls.
This is the fairest forest among gods and men.
LOKE’S WAGER WITH THE DWARFS.
Why is gold called Sif’s hair? Loke Laufey’s son had once craftily cut
all the hair off Sif; but when Thor found it out he seized Loke, and
would have broken every bone in him, had he not pledged himself with an
oath to get the swarthy elves to make for Sif a hair of gold that should
grow like other hair. Then went Loke to the dwarfs that are called
Ivald’s sons, and they made the hair and Skidbladner, and the spear that
Odin owned and is called Gungner. Thereupon Loke wagered his head with
the dwarf, who hight Brok, that his brother Sindre would not be able to
make three other treasures equally as good as these were. But when they
came to the smithy, Sindre laid a pig-skin in the furnace and requested
Brok to blow the bellows, and not to stop blowing before he (Sindre) had
taken out of the furnace what he had put into it. As soon, however, as
Sindre had gone out of the smithy and Brok was blowing, a fly lighted on
his hand and stung him; but he kept on blowing as before until the smith
had taken the work out of the furnace. That was now a boar, and its
bristles were of gold. Thereupon he laid gold in the furnace, and
requested Brok to blow, and not to stop plying the bellows before he
came back. He went out; but then came the fly and lighted on his neck
and stung him still worse; but he continued to work the bellows until
the smith took out of the furnace the gold ring called Draupner. Then
Sindre placed iron in the furnace, and requested Brok to work the
bellows, adding that otherwise all would be worthless. Now the fly
lighted between his eyes and stung his eye-lids, and as the blood ran
down into his eyes so that he could not see, he let go of the bellows
just for a moment and drove the fly away with his hands. Then the smith
came back and said that all that lay in the furnace came near being
entirely spoiled. Thereupon he took a hammer out of the furnace. All
these treasures he then placed in the hands of his brother Brok, and
bade him go with Loke to Asgard to fetch the wager. When Loke and Brok
brought forth the treasures, the gods seated themselves upon their
doom-steads. It was agreed to abide by the decision which should be
pronounced by Odin, Thor and Frey. Loke gave to Odin the spear Gungner,
to Thor the hair, which Sif was to have, and to Frey, Skidbladner; and
he described the qualities of all these treasures, stating that the
spear never would miss its mark, that the hair would grow as soon as it
was placed on Sif s head, and that Skidbladner would always have fair
wind as soon as the sails were hoisted, no matter where its owner
desired to go; besides, the ship could be folded together like a napkin
and be carried in his pocket if he desired. Then Brok produced his
treasures. He gave to Odin the ring, saying that every ninth night eight
other rings as heavy as it would drop from it; to Frey he gave the boar,
stating that it would run through the air and over seas, by night or by
day, faster than any horse; and never could it become so dark in the
night, or in the worlds of darkness, but that it would be light where
this boar was present, so bright shone his bristles. Then he gave to
Thor the hammer, and said that he might strike with it as hard as he
pleased; no matter what was before him, the hammer would take no scathe,
and wherever he might throw it he would never lose it; it would never
fly so far that it did not return to his hand; and if he desired, it
would become so small that he might conceal it in his bosom; but it had
one fault, which was, that the handle was rather short. The decision of
the gods was, that the hammer was the best of all these treasures and
the greatest protection against the frost-giants, and they declared that
the dwarf had fairly won the wager. Then Loke offered to ransom his
head. The dwarf answered saying there was no hope for him on that score.
Take me, then! said Loke; but when the dwarf was to seize him Loke was
far away, for he had the shoes with which he could run through the air
and over the sea. Then the dwarf requested Thor to seize him, and he did
so. Now the dwarf wanted to cut the head off Loke, but Loke said that
the head was his, but not the neck. Then the dwarf took thread and a
knife and wanted to pierce holes in Loke’s lips, so as to sew his mouth
together, but the knife would not cut. Then said he, it would be better
if he had his brother’s awl, and as soon as he named it the awl was
there and it pierced Loke’s lips. Now Brok sewed Loke’s mouth together,
and broke off the thread at the end of the sewing. The thread with which
the mouth of Loke was sewed together is called Vartare (a strap).
THE NIFLUNGS AND GJUKUNGS.
The following is the reason why gold is called otter-ransom: It is
related that three asas went abroad to learn to know the whole world,
Odin, Honer and Loke. They came to a river, and walked along the
river-bank to a force, and near the force was an otter. The otter had
caught a salmon in the force, and sat eating it with his eyes closed.
Loke picked up a stone, threw it at the otter and hit him in the head.
Loke bragged of his chase, for he had secured an otter and a salmon with
one throw. They took the salmon and the otter with them, and came to a
byre, where they entered. But the name of the bonde who lived there was
Hreidmar. He was a mighty man, and thoroughly skilled in the black art.
The asas asked for night-lodgings, stating that they had plenty of food,
and showed the bonde their game. But when Hreidmar saw the otter he
called his sons, Fafner and Regin, and said that Otter, their brother,
was slain, and also told who had done it. Then the father and the sons
attacked the asas, seized them and bound them, and then said, in
reference to the otter, that he was Hreidmar’s son. The asas offered,
as a ransom for their lives, as much money as Hreidmar himself might
demand, and this was agreed to, and confirmed with an oath. Then the
otter was flayed. Hreidmar took the otter-belg and said to them that
they should fill the belg with red gold, and then cover it with the same
metal, and when this was done they should be set free. Thereupon Odin
sent Loke to the home of the swarthy elves, and he came to the dwarf
whose name is Andvare, and who lived as a fish, in the water. Loke
caught him in his hands, and demanded of him, as a ransom for his life,
all the gold that he had in his rock. And when they entered the rock,
the dwarf produced all the gold that he owned, and that was a very large
amount. Then the dwarf concealed in his hand a small gold ring. Loke saw
this, and requested him to hand forth the ring. The dwarf begged him not
to take the ring away from him, for with this ring he could increase his
wealth again if he kept it. Loke said the dwarf should not keep as much
as a penny, took the ring from him and went out. But the dwarf said that
that ring should be the bane of every one who possessed it. Loke replied
that he was glad of this, and said that all should be fulfilled
according to his prophecy: he would take care to bring the curse to the
ears of him who was to receive it. He went to Hreidmar and showed Odin
the gold; but when the latter saw the ring, it seemed to him a fair one,
and he took it and put it aside, giving Hreidmar the rest of the gold.
They filled the otter-belg as full as it would hold, and raised it up
when it was full. Then came Odin, and was to cover the belg with gold;
and when this was done, he requested Hreidmar to come and see whether
the belg was sufficiently covered. But Hreidmar looked at it, examined
it closely, and saw a mouth-hair, and demanded that it should be
covered, too, otherwise the agreement would be broken. Then Odin brought
forth the ring and covered with it the mouth-hair, saying that now they
had paid the otter-ransom. But when Odin had taken his spear, and Loke
his shoes, so that they had nothing more to fear, Loke said that the
curse that Andvare had pronounced should be fulfilled, and that the ring
and that gold should be the bane of its possessor; and this curse was
afterward fulfilled. This explains why gold is called the otter-ransom,
or forced payment of the asas, or strife-metal.
What more is there to be told of this gold? Hreidmar accepted the gold
as a ransom for his son, but Fafner and Regin demanded their share of it
as a ransom for their brother. Hreidmar was, however, unwilling to give
them as much as a penny of it. Then the brothers made an agreement to
kill their father for the sake of the gold. When this was done, Regin
demanded that Fafner should give him one half of it. Fafner answered
that there was but little hope that he would share the gold with his
brother, since he had himself slain his father to obtain it; and he
commanded Regin to get him gone, for else the same thing would happen to
him as had happened to Hreidmar. Fafner had taken the sword hight
Hrotte, and the helmet which had belonged to his father, and the latter
he had placed on his head. This was called the Æger’s helmet, and it was
a terror to all living to behold it. Regin had the sword called Refil.
With it he fled. But Fafner went to Gnita-heath (the glittering heath),
where he made himself a bed, took on him the likeness of a serpent
(dragon), and lay brooding over the gold.
Regin then went to Thjode, to king Hjalprek, and became his smith. There
he undertook the fostering of Sigurd (Sigfrid), the son of Sigmund, the
son of Volsung and the son of Hjordis, the daughter of Eylime. Sigurd
was the mightiest of all the kings of hosts, in respect to both family
and power and mind. Regin explained to him where Fafner was lying on the
gold, and egged him on to try to get possession thereof. Then Regin made
the sword which is hight Gram (wrath), and which was so sharp that when
Sigurd held it in the flowing stream it cut asunder a tuft of wool which
the current carried down against the sword’s edge. In the next place,
Sigurd cut with his sword Regin’s anvil in twain. Thereupon Sigurd and
Regin repaired to Gnita-heath. Here Sigurd dug a ditch in Fafner’s path
and sat down in it; so when Fafner crept to the water and came directly
over this ditch, Sigurd pierced him with the sword, and this thrust
caused his death. Then Regin came and declared that Sigurd had slain his
brother, and demanded of him as a ransom that he should cut out Fafner’s
heart and roast it on the fire; but Regin kneeled down, drank Fafner’s
blood, and laid himself down to sleep. While Sigurd was roasting the
heart, and thought that it must be done, he touched it with his finger
to see how tender it was; but the fat oozed out of the heart and onto
his finger and burnt it, so that he thrust his finger into his mouth.
The heart-blood came in contact with his tongue, which made him
comprehend the speech of birds, and he understood what the eagles said
that were sitting in the trees. One of the birds said:
There sits Sigurd,
Stained with blood.
On the fire is roasting
Fafner’s heart.
Wise seemed to me
The ring-destroyer,
If he the shining
Heart would eat.
Another eagle sang:
There lies Regin,
Contemplating
How to deceive the man
Who trusts him;
Thinks in his wrath
Of false accusations.
The evil smith plots
Revenge ’gainst the brother.[95]
[Footnote 95: Elder Edda: the Lay of Fafner, 32, 33.]
Then Sigurd went to Regin and slew him, and thereupon he mounted his
horse hight Grane, and rode until he came to Fafner’s bed, took out all
the gold, packed it in two bags and laid it on Grane’s back, then got on
himself and rode away. Now is told the saga according to which gold is
called Fafner’s bed or lair, the metal of Gnita-heath, or Grane’s
burden.
Then Sigurd rode on until he found a house on the mountain. In it slept
a woman clad in helmet and coat-of-mail. He drew his sword and cut the
coat-of-mail off from her. Then she awaked and called herself Hild. Her
name was Brynhild, and she was a valkyrie. Thence Sigurd rode on and
came to the king whose name was Gjuke. His wife was called Grimhild, and
their children were Gunnar, Hogne, Gudrun, Gudny; Gothorm was Gjuke’s
step-son. Here Sigurd remained a long time. Then he got the hand of
Gudrun, Gjuke’s daughter, and Gunnar and Hogne entered into a sworn
brotherhood with Sigurd. Afterward Sigurd and the sons of Gjuke went to
Atle, Budle’s son, to ask for his sister, Brynhild, for Gunnar’s wife.
She sat on Hindfell, and her hall was surrounded by the bickering flame
called the Vafurloge, and she had made a solemn promise not to wed any
other man than him who dared to ride through the bickering flame. Then
Sigurd and the Gjukungs (they are also called Niflungs) rode upon the
mountain, and there Gunnar was to ride through the Vafurloge. He had the
horse that was called Gote, but this horse did not dare to run into the
flame. So Sigurd and Gunnar changed form and weapons, for Grane would
not take a step under any other man than Sigurd. Then Sigurd mounted
Grane and rode through the bickering flame. That same evening he held a
wedding with Brynhild; but when they went to bed he drew his sword Gram
from the sheath and placed it between them. In the morning when he had
arisen, and had donned his clothes, he gave to Brynhild, as a bridal
gift, the gold ring that Loke had taken from Andvare, and he received
another ring as a memento from her. Then Sigurd mounted his horse and
rode to his companions. He and Gunnar exchanged forms again and went
back to Gjuke with Brynhild. Sigurd had two children with Gudrun. Their
names were Sigmund and Swanhild.
Once it happened that Brynhild and Gudrun went to the water to wash
their hair. When they came to the river Brynhild waded from the river
bank into the stream, and said that she could not bear to have that
water in her hair that ran from Gudrun’s hair, for she had a more
high-minded husband. Then Gudrun followed her into the stream, and said
that she was entitled to wash her hair farther up the stream than
Brynhild, for the reason that she had the husband who was bolder than
Gunnar, or any other man in the world; for it was he who slew Fafner and
Regin, and inherited the wealth of both. Then answered Brynhild: A
greater deed it was that Gunnar rode through the Vafurloge, which Sigurd
did not dare to do. Then laughed Gudrun and said: Do you think it was
Gunnar who rode through the bickering flame? Then I think you shared the
bed with him who gave me this gold ring. The gold ring which you have on
your finger, and which you received as a bridal-gift, is called
Andvaranaut (Andvare’s Gift), and I do not think Gunnar got it on
Gnita-heath. Then Brynhild became silent and went home. Thereupon she
egged Gunnar and Hogne to kill Sigurd; but being sworn brothers of
Sigurd, they egged Guthorm, their brother, to slay Sigurd. Guthorm
pierced him with his sword while he was sleeping; but as soon as Sigurd
was wounded he threw his sword, Gram, after Guthorm, so that it cut him
in twain through the middle. There Sigurd fell, and his son, three
winters old, by name Sigmund, whom they also killed. Then Brynhild
pierced herself with the sword and was cremated with Sigurd. But Gunnar
and Hogne inherited Fafner’s gold and the Gift of Andvare, and now ruled
the lands.
King Atle, Budle’s son, Brynhild’s brother, then got in marriage Gudrun,
who had been Sigurd’s wife, and they had children. King Atle invited
Gunnar and Hogne to visit him, and they accepted his invitation. But
before they started on their journey they concealed Fafner’s hoard in
the Rhine, and that gold has never since been found. King Atle had
gathered together an army and fought a battle with Gunnar and Hogne, and
they were captured. Atle had the heart cut out of Hogne alive. This was
his death. Gunnar he threw into a den of snakes, but a harp was secretly
brought to him, and he played the harp with his toes (for his hands were
fettered), so that all the snakes fell asleep excepting the adder, which
rushed at him and bit him in the breast, and then thrust its head into
the wound and clung to his liver until he died. Gunnar and Hogne are
called Niflungs (Niblungs) and Gjukungs. Hence gold is called the
Niflung treasure or inheritance. A little later Gudrun slew her two sons
and made from their skulls goblets trimmed with gold, and thereupon the
funeral ceremonies took place. At the feast, Gudrun poured for King Atle
in these goblets mead that was mixed with the blood of the youths. Their
hearts she roasted and gave to the king to eat. When this was done she
told him all about it, with many unkind words. There was no lack of
strong mead, so that the most of the people sitting there fell asleep.
On that night she went to the king when he had fallen asleep, and had
with her her son Hogne. They slew him, and thus he ended his life. Then
they set fire to the hall, and with it all the people who were in it
were burned. Then she went to the sea and sprang into the water to drown
herself; but she was carried across the fjord, and came to the land
which belonged to King Jonaker. When he saw her he took her home and
made her his wife. They had three children, whose names were Sorle,
Hamder and Erp. They all had hair as black as ravens, like Gunnar and
Hogne and the other Niflungs.
There was fostered Swanhild, the daughter of Sigurd, and she was the
fairest of all women. That Jormunrek, the rich, found out. He sent his
son, Randver, to ask for her hand for him; and when he came to Jonaker,
Swanhild was delivered to him, so that he might bring her to King
Jormunrek. Then said Bikke that it would be more fitting that Randver
should marry Swanhild, he being young and she too, but Jormunrek being
old. This plan pleased the two young people well. Soon afterward Bikke
informed the king of it, and so King Jormunrek seized his son and had
him brought to the gallows. Then Randver took his hawk, plucked the
feathers off him, and requested that it should be sent to his father,
whereupon he was hanged. But when King Jormunrek saw the hawk, it came
to his mind that as the hawk was flightless and featherless, so his
kingdom was without preservation; for he was old and sonless. Then King
Jormunrek riding out of the woods from the chase with his courtiers,
while Queen Swanhild sat dressing her hair, had the courtiers ride onto
her, and she was trampled to death beneath the feet of the horses. When
Gudrun heard of this, she begged her sons to avenge Swanhild. While they
were busking themselves for the journey, she brought them byrnies and
helmets, so strong that iron could not scathe them. She laid the plan
for them, that when they came to King Jormunrek, they should attack him
in the night whilst he was sleeping. Sorle and Hamder should cut off his
hands and feet, and Erp his head. On the way they asked Erp what
assistance they were to get from him, when they came to King Jormunrek.
He answered them that he would give them such assistance as the hand
gives the foot. They said that the feet got no support from the hands
whatsoever. They were angry at their mother, because she had forced them
to undertake this journey with harsh words, and hence they were going to
do that which would displease her most. So they killed Erp, for she
loved him the most. A little later, while Sorle was walking, he slipped
with one foot, and in falling supported himself with his hands. Then
said he: Now the hands helped the foot; better were it now if Erp were
living. When they came to Jormunrek, the king, in the night, while he
was sleeping, they cut off both his hands and his feet. Then he awaked,
called his men and bade them arise. Said Hamder then: The head would now
have been off had Erp lived. The courtiers got up, attacked them, but
could not overcome them with weapons. Then Jormunrek cried to them that
they should stone them to death. This was done, Sorle and Hamder fell,
and thus perished the last descendants of Gjuke.
After King Sigurd lived a daughter hight Aslaug, who was fostered at
Heimer’s in Hlymdaler. From her mighty races are descended. It is said
that Sigmund, the son of Volsung, was so powerful, that he drank venom
and received no harm therefrom. But Sinfjotle, his son, and Sigurd, were
so hard-skinned that no venom coming onto them could harm them.
Therefore the skald Brage has sung as follows:
When the tortuous serpent,
Full of the drink of the Volsungs,[96]
Hung in coils
On the bait of the giant-slayer,[97]
Upon these sagas very many skalds have made lays, and from them they
have taken various themes. Brage the Old made the following song about
the fall of Sorle and Hamder in the drapa, which he composed about
Ragnar Lodbrok:
Jormunrek once,
In an evil dream, waked
In that sword-contest
Against the blood-stained kings.
A clashing of arms was heard
In the house of Randver’s father,
When the raven-blue brothers of Erp
The insult avenged.
Sword-dew flowed
Off the bed on the floor.
Bloody hands and feet of the king
One saw cut off.
On his head fell Jormunrek,
Frothing in blood.
On the shield
This is painted.
The king saw
Men so stand
That a ring they made
’Round his house.
Sorle and Hamder
Were both at once,
With slippery stones,
Struck to the ground.
King Jormunrek
Ordered Gjuke’s descendants
Violently to be stoned
When they came to take the life
Of Swanhild’s husband.
All sought to pay
Jonaker’s sons
With blows and wounds.
This fall of men
And sagas many
On the fair shield I see.
Ragnar gave me the shield.
[Footnote 96: The drink of the Volsungs = venom; the tortuous
venom-serpent = the Midgard-serpent.]
[Footnote 97: Thor.]
MENJA AND FENJA.
Why is gold called Frode’s meal? The saga giving rise to this is the
following:
Odin had a son by name Skjold, from whom the Skjoldungs are descended.
He had his throne and ruled in the lands that are now called Denmark,
but were then called Gotland. Skjold had a son by name Fridleif, who
ruled the lands after him. Fridleif’s son was Frode. He took the kingdom
after his father, at the time when the Emperor Augustus established
peace in all the earth and Christ was born. But Frode being the
mightiest king in the northlands, this peace was attributed to him by
all who spake the Danish tongue, and the Norsemen called it the peace of
Frode. No man injured the other, even though he might meet, loose or in
chains, his father’s or brother’s bane. There was no thief or robber,
so that a gold ring would be a long time on Jalanger’s heath. King Frode
sent messengers to Svithjod, to the king whose name was Fjolner, and
bought there two maid-servants, whose names were Fenja and Menja. They
were large and strong. About this time were found in Denmark two
mill-stones, so large that no one had the strength to turn them. But the
nature belonged to these mill-stones that they ground whatever was
demanded of them by the miller. The name of this mill was Grotte. But
the man to whom King Frode gave the mill was called Hengekjapt. King
Frode had the maid-servants led to the mill, and requested them to grind
for him gold and peace, and Frode’s happiness. Then he gave them no
longer time to rest or sleep than while the cuckoo was silent or while
they sang a song. It is said that they sang the song called the
Grottesong, and before they ended it they ground out a host against
Frode; so that on the same night there came the sea-king, whose name was
Mysing, and slew Frode and took a large amount of booty. Therewith the
Frode-peace ended. Mysing took with him Grotte, and also Fenja and
Menja, and bade them grind salt, and in the middle of the night they
asked Mysing whether he did not have salt enough. He bade them grind
more. They ground only a short time longer before the ship sank. But in
the ocean arose a whirlpool (Maelstrom, mill-stream) in the place where
the sea runs into the mill-eye. Thus the sea became salt.
THE GROTTESONG.
Now are come
To the house of the king
The prescient two,
Fenja and Menja.
There must the mighty
Maidens toil
For King Frode,
Fridleif’s son.
Brought to the mill
Soon they were;
The gray stones
They had to turn.
Nor rest nor peace
He gave to them:
He would hear the maidens
Turn the mill.
They turned the mill,
The prattling stones
The mill ever rattling.
What a noise it made!
Lay the planks!
Lift the stones![98]
But he[99] bade the maids
Yet more to grind.
They sang and swung
The swift mill-stone,
So that Frode’s folk
Fell asleep.
Then, when she came
To the mill to grind,
With a hard heart
And with loud voice
Did Menja sing:
We grind for Frode
Wealth and happiness,
And gold abundant
On the mill of luck.
Dance on roses!
Sleep on down!
Wake when you please!
That is well ground.
Here shall no one
Hurt the other,
Nor in ambush lie,
Nor seek to kill;
Nor shall any one
With sharp sword hew,
Though bound he should find
His brother’s bane.
They stood in the hall,
Their hands were resting;
Then was it the first
Word that he spoke:
Sleep not longer
Than the cuckoo on the hall,
Or only while
A song I sing:
Frode! you were not
Wary enough,--
You friend of men,--
When maids you bought!
At their strength you looked,
And at their fair faces,
But you asked no questions
About their descent.
Hard was Hrungner
And his father;
Yet was Thjasse
Stronger than they,
And Ide and Orner,
Our friends, and
The mountain-giants’ brothers,
Who fostered us two.
Not would Grotte have come
From the mountain gray,
Nor this hard stone
Out from the earth;
The maids of the mountain-giants
Would not thus be grinding
If we two knew
Nothing of the mill.
Through winters nine
Our strength increased,
While below the sod
We played together.
Great deeds were the maids
Able to perform;
Mountains they
From their places moved.
The stone we rolled
From the giants’ dwelling,
So that all the earth
Did rock and quake.
So we hurled
The rattling stone,
The heavy block,
That men caught it.
In Svithjod’s land
Afterward we
Fire-wise women,
Fared to the battle,
Byrnies we burst,
Shields we cleaved,
Made our way
Through gray-clad hosts.
One chief we slew,
Another we aided,--
To Guthorm the Good
Help we gave.
Ere Knue had fallen
Nor rest we got.
Then bound we were
And taken prisoners.
Such were our deeds
In former days,
That we heroes brave
Were thought to be.
With spears sharp
Heroes we pierced,
So the gore did run
And our swords grew red.
Now we are come
To the house of the king,
No one us pities.
Bond-women are we.
Dirt eats our feet,
Our limbs are cold,
The peace-giver[100] we turn.
Hard it is at Frode’s.
The hands shall stop,
The stone shall stand;
Now have I ground
For my part enough.
Yet to the hands
No rest must be given,
’Till Frode thinks
Enough has been ground.
Now hold shall the hands
The lances hard,
The weapons bloody,--
Wake now, Frode!
Wake now, Frode!
If you would listen
To our songs,--
To sayings old.
Fire I see burn
East of the burg,--
The warnews are awake.
That is called warning.
A host hither
Hastily approaches
To burn the king’s
Lofty dwelling.
No longer you will sit
On the throne of Hleidra
And rule o’er red
Rings and the mill.
Now must we grind
With all our might,
No warmth will we get
From the blood of the slain.
Now my father’s daughter
Bravely turns the mill.
The death of many
Men she sees.
Now broke the large
Braces ’neath the mill,--
The iron-bound braces.
Let us yet grind!
Let us yet grind!
Yrsa’s son
Shall on Frode revenge
Halfdan’s death.
He shall Yrsa’s
Offspring be named,
And yet Yrsa’s brother.
Both of us know it.
The mill turned the maidens,--
Their might they tested;
Young they were,
And giantesses wild.
The braces trembled.
Then fell the mill,--
In twain was broken
The heavy stone.
All the old world
Shook and trembled,
But the giant’s maid
Speedily said:
We have turned the mill, Frode!
Now we may stop.
By the mill long enough
The maidens have stood.
[Footnote 98: These words are spoken by the maidens while they put
the mill together.]
[Footnote 99: Frode.]
[Footnote 100: The mill.]
ROLF KRAKE.
A king in Denmark hight Rolf Krake, and was the most famous of all kings
of olden times; moreover, he was more mild, brave and condescending than
all other men. A proof of his condescension, which is very often spoken
of in olden stories, was the following: There was a poor little fellow
by name Vog. He once came into King Rolf’s hall while the king was yet a
young man, and of rather delicate growth. Then Vog went before him and
looked up at him. Then said the king: What do you mean to say, my
fellow, by looking so at me? Answered Vog: When I was at home I heard
people say that King Rolf, at Hleidra, was the greatest man in the
northlands, but now sits here in the high-seat a little crow (krake),
and it they call their king. Then made answer the king: You, my fellow,
have given me a name, and I shall henceforth be called Rolf Krake, but
it is customary that a gift accompanies the name. Seeing that you have
no gift that you can give me with the name, or that would be suitable to
me, then he who has must give to the other. Then he took a gold ring off
his hand and gave it to the churl. Then said Vog: You give as the best
king of all, and therefore I now pledge myself to become the bane of him
who becomes your bane. Said the king, laughing: A small thing makes Vog
happy.
Another example is told of Rolf Krake’s bravery. In Upsala reigned a
king by name Adils, whose wife was Yrsa, Rolf Krake’s mother. He was
engaged in a war with Norway’s king, Ale. They fought a battle on the
ice of the lake called Wenern. King Adils sent a message to Rolf Krake,
his stepson, asking him to come and help him, and promising to furnish
pay for his whole army during the campaign. Furthermore King Rolf
himself should have any three treasures that he might choose in Sweden.
But Rolf Krake could not go to his assistance, on account of the war
which he was then waging against the Saxons. Still he sent twelve
berserks to King Adils. Among them were Bodvar Bjarke, Hjalte the
Valiant, Hvitserk the Keen, Vot, Vidsete, and the brothers Svipday and
Beigud. In that war fell King Ale and a large part of his army. Then
King Adils took from the dead King Ale the helmet called Hildesvin, and
his horse called Rafn. Then the berserks each demanded three pounds of
gold in pay for their service, and also asked for the treasures which
they had chosen for Rolf Krake, and which they now desired to bring to
him. These were the helmet Hildegolt; the byrnie Finnsleif, which no
steel could scathe; and the gold ring called Sviagris, which had
belonged to Adils’ forefathers. But the king refused to surrender any of
these treasures, nor did he give the berserks any pay. The berserks then
returned home, and were much dissatisfied. They reported all to King
Rolf, who straightway busked himself to fare against Upsala; and when he
came with his ships into the river Fyre, he rode against Upsala, and
with him his twelve berserks, all peaceless. Yrsa, his mother, received
him and took him to his lodgings, but not to the king’s hall. Large
fires were kindled for them, and ale was brought them to drink. Then
came King Adils’ men in and bore fuel onto the fireplace, and made a
fire so great that it burnt the clothes of Rolf and his berserks,
saying: Is it true that neither fire nor steel will put Rolf Krake and
his berserks to flight? Then Rolf Krake and all his men sprang up, and
he said:
Let us increase the blaze
In Adils’ chambers.
He took his shield and cast it into the fire, and sprang over the fire
while the shield was burning, and cried:
From the fire flees not he
Who over it leaps.
The same did also his men, one after the other, and then they took those
who had put fuel on the fire and cast them into it. Now Yrsa came and
handed Rolf Krake a deer’s horn full of gold, and with it she gave him
the ring Sviagris, and requested them to ride straightway to their army.
They sprang upon their horses and rode away over the Fyrisvold. Then
they saw that King Adils was riding after them with his whole army, all
armed, and was going to slay them. Rolf Krake took gold out of the horn
with his right hand, and scattered it over the whole way. But when the
Swedes saw it they leaped out of their saddles, and each one took as
much as he could. King Adils bade them ride, and he himself rode on with
all his might. The name of his horse was Slungner, the fastest of all
horses. When Rolf Krake saw that King Adils was riding near him, he took
the ring Sviagris and threw it to him, asking him to take it as a gift.
King Adils rode to the ring, picked it up with the end of his spear, and
let it slide down to his hand. Then Rolf Krake turned round and saw that
the other was stooping. Said he: Like a swine I have now bended the
foremost of all Swedes. Thus they parted. Hence gold is called the seed
of Krake or of Fyrisvold.
HOGNE AND HILD.
A king by name Hogne had a daughter by name Hild. Her a king, by name
Hedin, son of Hjarrande, made a prisoner of war, while King Hogne had
fared to the trysting of the kings. But when he learned that there had
been harrying in his kingdom, and that his daughter had been taken away,
he rode with his army in search of Hedin, and learned that he had sailed
northward along the coast. When King Hogne came to Norway, he found out
that Hedin had sailed westward into the sea. Then Hogne sailed after him
to the Orkneys. And when he came to the island called Ha, then Hedin was
there before him with his host. Then Hild went to meet her father, and
offered him as a reconciliation from Hedin a necklace; but if he was not
willing to accept this, she said that Hedin was prepared for a battle,
and Hogne might expect no clemency from him. Hogne answered his daughter
harshly. When she returned to Hedin, she told him that Hogne would not
be reconciled, and bade him busk himself for the battle. And so both
parties did; they landed on the island and marshaled their hosts. Then
Hedin called to Hogne, his father-in-law, offering him a reconciliation
and much gold as a ransom. Hogne answered: Too late do you offer to make
peace with me, for now I have drawn the sword Dainsleif, which was
smithied by the dwarfs, and must be the death of a man whenever it is
drawn; its blows never miss the mark, and the wounds made by it never
heal. Said Hedin: You boast the sword, but not the victory. That I call
a good sword that is always faithful to its master. Then they began the
battle which is called the Hjadninga-vig (the slaying of the
Hedin_ians_); they fought the whole day, and in the evening the kings
fared back to their ships. But in the night Hild went to the
battlefield, and waked up with sorcery all the dead that had fallen. The
next day the kings went to the battlefield and fought, and so did also
all they who had fallen the day before. Thus the battle continued from
day to day; and all they who fell, and all the swords that lay on the
field of battle, and all the shields, became stone. But as soon as day
dawned all the dead arose again and fought, and all the weapons became
new again, and in songs it is said that the Hjadnings will so continue
until Ragnarok.
NOTES.
ENEA.
The Enea mentioned in the Foreword to Gylfe’s Fooling refers to the
settlement of western Europe, where Æneas is said to have founded a city
on the Tiber. Bergmann, however, in his Fascination de Gulfi, page 28,
refers it to the Thracian town Ainos.
HERIKON.
Herikon is undoubtedly a mutilated form for Erichthonios. The genealogy
here given corresponds with the one given in the Iliad, Book 20, 215.
THE HISTORICAL ODIN.
The historical or anthropomorphized Odin, described in the Foreword to
the Fooling of Gylfe, becomes interesting when we compare it with
Snorre’s account of that hero in Heimskringla, and then compare both
accounts with the Roman traditions about Æneas. Of course the whole
story is only a myth; but we should remember that in the minds and
hearts of our ancestors it served every purpose of genuine history. Our
fathers accepted it in as good faith as any Christian ever believed in
the gospel of Christ, and so it had a similar influence in moulding the
social, religious, political and literary life of our ancestors. We
become interested in this legend as much as if it were genuine history,
on account of the influence it wielded upon the minds and hearts of a
race destined to act so great a part in the social, religious and
political drama of Europe. We look into this and other ancestral myths,
and see mirrored in them all that we afterward find to be reliable
history of the old Teutons. In the same manner we are interested in the
story told about Romulus and Remus, about Mars and the wolf. This Roman
myth is equally prophetic in reference to the future career of Rome. The
warlike Mars, the rapacity of the wolf, and the fratricide Romulus, form
a mirror in which we see reflected the whole historical development of
the Romans; so that the story of Romulus is a vest-pocket edition of the
history of Rome.
There are many points of resemblance between this old story of Odin and
the account that Virgil gives us of Æneas, the founder of the Latin
race; and it is believed that, while Virgil imitated Homer, he based his
poem upon a legend current among his countrymen. The Greeks in Virgil’s
poem are Pompey and the Romans in our Teutonic story. The Trojans
correspond to Mithridates and his allies. Æneas and Odin are identical.
Just as Odin, a heroic defender of Mithridates, after traversing various
unknown countries, finally reaches the north of Europe, organizes the
various Teutonic kingdoms, settles his sons upon the thrones of Germany,
England, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and instructs his people to gather
strength and courage, so as eventually to take revenge on the cursed
Romans; so Æneas, one of the most valiant defenders of Troy, after many
adventures in various lands, at length settles in Italy, and becomes the
founder of a race that in course of time is to wreak vengeance upon the
Greeks. The prophecy contained in the Roman legend was fulfilled by
Metellus and Mummius, in the years 147 and 146 before Christ, when the
Romans became the conquerors of Greece. The prophecy contained in our
Teutonic legend foreshadowed with no less unrelenting necessity the
downfall of proud Rome, when the Teutonic commander Odoacer, in the year
476 after Christ, dethroned, not Romulus, brother of Remus, but Romulus
Augustulus, son of Orestes. Thus history repeats itself. Roman history
begins and ends with Romulus; and we fancy we can see some connection
between Od-in and Od-oacer. “As the twig is bent the tree is inclined.”
It might be interesting to institute a similar comparison between our
Teutonic race-founder Odin and Ulysses, king of Ithaca, but the reader
will have to do this for himself.
In one respect our heroes differ. The fall of Troy and the wanderings of
Ulysses became the theme of two great epic poems among the Greeks. The
wanderings and adventures of Æneas, son of Anchises, were fashioned into
a lordly epic by Virgil for the Romans. But the much-traveled man, the
ἀνὴρ πολύτροπος, the weapons and the hero, Odin, who, driven by the
norns, first came to Teutondom and to the Baltic shores, has not yet
been sung. This wonderful expedition of our race-founder, which, by
giving a historic cause to all the later hostilities and conflicts
between the Teutons and the Romans, might, as suggested by Gibbon,
supply the noble ground-work of an epic poem as thrilling as the Æneid
of Virgil, has not yet been woven into a song for our race, and we give
our readers this full account of Odin from the Heimskringla in
connection with the Foreword to Gylfe’s Fooling, with the hope that
among our readers there may be found some descendant of Odin, whose
skaldic wings are but just fledged for the flights he hopes to take,
who will take a draught, first from Mimer’s gushing fountain, then from
Suttung’s mead, brought by Odin to Asgard, and consecrate himself and
his talents to this legend with all the ardor of his soul. For, as
William Morris so beautifully says of the Volsung Saga, this is the
great story of the Teutonic race, and should be to us what the tale of
Troy was to the Greeks, and what the tale of Æneas was to the Romans,
to all our race first and afterward, when the evolution of the world has
made the Teutonic race nothing more than a name of what it has been; a
story, too, then, should it be to the races that come after us, no less
than the Iliad, and the Odyssey and the Æneid have been to us.[101] We
sincerely trust that we shall see Odin wrought into a Teutonic epic,
that will present in grand outline the contrast between the Roman and
the Teuton. And now we are prepared to give the Heimskringla account of
the historical Odin. We have adopted Samuel Laing’s translation, with a
few verbal alterations where such seemed necessary.
[Footnote 101: Quoted from memory.]
It is said that the earth’s circle (Heimskringla), which the human race
inhabits, is torn across into many bights, so that great seas run into
the land from the out-ocean. Thus it is known that a great sea goes into
Njorvasound,[102] and up to the land of Jerusalem. From the same sea a
long sea-bight stretches toward the northeast, and is called the Black
Sea, and divides the three parts of the earth; of which the eastern part
is called Asia, and the western is called by some Europe, by some
Enea.[103] Northward of the Black Sea lies Svithjod the Great,[104] or
the Cold. The Great Svithjod is reckoned by some not less than the
Saracens’ land,[105] others compare it to the Great Blueland.[106] The
northern part of Svithjod lies uninhabited on account of frost and cold,
as likewise the southern parts of Blueland are waste from the burning
sun. In Svithjod are many great domains, and many wonderful races of
men, and many kinds of languages. There are giants,[107] and there are
dwarfs,[108] and there are also blue men.[109] There are wild beasts and
dreadfully large dragons. On the north side of the mountains, which lie
outside of all inhabited lands, runs a river through Svithjod, which is
properly called by the name of Tanais,[110] but was formerly called
Tanaquisl or Vanaquisl, and which falls into the ocean at the Black Sea.
The country of the people on the Vanaquisl was called Vanaland or
Vanaheim, and the river separates the three parts of the world, of which
the easternmost is called Asia and the westernmost Europe.
[Footnote 102: Njorvasound, the Straits of Gibraltar; so called
from the first Norseman who sailed through them. His name was
Njorve. See Ann. for nordisk Oldkyndighed, Vol. I, p. 58.]
[Footnote 103: See note, page 221.]
[Transcriber’s Note:
The reference is to the first “Note”, on Enea.]
[Footnote 104: Svithjod the Great, or the Cold, is the ancient
Sarmatia and Scythia Magna, and formed the great part of the
present European Russia. In the mythological sagas it is also
called Godheim; that is, the home of Odin and the other gods.
Svithjod the Less is Sweden proper, and is called Mannheim; that
is, the home of the kings, the descendants of the gods.]
[Footnote 105: The Saracens’ land (Serkland) means North Africa
and Spain, and the Saracen countries in Asia; that is, Persia,
Assyria, etc.]
[Footnote 106: Blueland, the country of the blacks in Africa, the
country south of Serkland, the modern Ethiopia.]
[Footnote 107: Tartareans.]
[Footnote 108: Kalmuks.]
[Footnote 109: Mongolians.]
[Footnote 110: The Tanais is the present Don river, which empties
into the Sea of Asov.]
The country east of the Tanaquisl in Asia was called Asaland or Asaheim,
and the chief city in that land was called Asgard.[111] In that city was
a chief called Odin, and it was a great place for sacrifice. It was the
custom there that twelve temple-priests[112] should both direct the
sacrifices and also judge the people. They were called priests or
masters, and all the people served and obeyed them. Odin was a great and
very far-traveled warrior, who conquered many kingdoms, and so
successful was he that in every battle the victory was on his side.
It was the belief of his people that victory belonged to him in every
battle. It was his custom when he sent his men into battle, or on any
expedition, that he first laid his hand upon their heads, and called
down a blessing upon them; and then they believed their undertaking
would be successful. His people also were accustomed, whenever they fell
into danger by land or sea, to call upon his name; and they thought that
always they got comfort and aid by it, for where he was they thought
help was near. Often he went away so long that he passed many seasons on
his journeys.
[Footnote 111: Asgard is supposed, by those who look for
historical fact in mythological tales, to be the present Assor;
others, that it is Chasgar in the Caucasian ridge, called by
Strabo Aspargum the Asburg, or castle of the asas. We still have
in the Norse tongue the word Aas, meaning a ridge of high land.
The word asas is not derived from Asia, as Snorre supposed. It is
the O.H. Ger. _ans_; Anglo-Sax. _os_ = a hero. The word also
means a pillar; and in this latter sense the gods are the pillars
of the universe. Connected with the word is undoubtedly Aas, a
mountain-ridge, as supporter of the skies; and this reminds us of
_Atlas_, as bearer of the world.]
[Footnote 112: The temple-priests performed the functions of
priest and judge, and their office continued hereditary throughout
the heathen period of Norse history.]
Odin had two brothers, the one hight Ve, the other Vile,[113] and they
governed the kingdom when he was absent. It happened once when Odin had
gone to a great distance, and had been so long away that the people of
Asia doubted if he would ever return home, that his two brothers took it
upon themselves to divide his estate; but both of them took his wife
Frigg to themselves. Odin soon after returned home, and took his wife
back.
[Footnote 113: See Norse Mythology, page 174.]
Odin went out with a great army against the Vanaland people; but they
were well prepared, and defended their land, so that victory was
changeable, and they ravaged the lands of each other and did great
damage. They tired of this at last, and, on both sides appointing a
meeting for establishing peace, made a truce and exchanged hostages. The
Vanaland people sent their best men,--Njord the Rich and his son Frey;
the people of Asaland sent a man hight Hœner,[114] as he was a stout and
very handsome man, and with him they sent a man of great understanding,
called Mimer; and on the other side the Vanaland people sent the wisest
man in their community, who was called Quaser. Now when Hœner came to
Vanaheim he was immediately made a chief, and Mimer came to him with
good counsel on all occasions. But when Hœner stood in the Things, or
other meetings, if Mimer was not near him, and any difficult matter was
laid before him, he always answered in one way: Now let others give
their advice; so that the Vanaland people got a suspicion that the
Asaland people had deceived them in the exchange of men. They took
Mimer, therefore, and beheaded him, and sent his head to the Asaland
people. Odin took the head, smeared it with herbs, so that it should not
rot, and sang incantations over it. Thereby he gave it the power that it
spoke to him, and discovered to him many secrets.[115] Odin placed Njord
and Frey as priests of the sacrifices, and they became deities of the
Asaland people. Njord’s daughter, Freyja, was priestess of the
sacrifices, and first taught the Asaland people the magic art, as it was
in use and fashion among the Vanaland people. While Njord was with the
Vanaland people he had taken his own sister in marriage, for that was
allowed by their law; and their children were Frey and Freyja. But among
the Asaland people it was forbidden to come together in so near
relationship.[116]
[Footnote 114: See Brage’s Talk, p. 160; and Norse Mythology,
pp. 247 and 342.]
[Footnote 115: In the Vala’s Prophecy of the Elder Edda it is
said that Odin talks with the head of Mimer before the coming of
Ragnarok. See Norse Mythology, p. 421.]
[Footnote 116: This shows that the vans must have belonged to the
mythological system of some older race that, like the ancient
Romans (Liber and Libera), recognized the propriety of marriage
between brothers and sisters, at least among their gods. Such
marriages were not allowed among our Odinic ancestors. Hence we
see that when Njord, Frey and Freyja were admitted to Asgard, they
entered into new marriage relations. Njord married Skade, Frey
married Gerd, and Freyja married Oder. Our ancestors were never
savages!]
There goes a great mountain barrier from northeast to southwest, which
divides the Great Svithjod from other kingdoms. South of this mountain
ridge is not far to Turkland, where Odin had great possessions.[117] But
Odin, having foreknowledge and magic-sight, knew that his posterity
would come to settle and dwell in the northern half of the world. In
those times the Roman chiefs went wide around the world, subduing to
themselves all people; and on this account many chiefs fled from their
domains.[118] Odin set his brothers Vile and Ve over Asgard, and he
himself, with all the gods and a great many other people, wandered out,
first westward to Gardarike (Russia), and then south to Saxland
(Germany). He had many sons, and after having subdued an extensive
kingdom in Saxland he set his sons to defend the country. He himself
went northward to the sea, and took up his abode in an island which is
called Odinse (see note below), in Funen. Then he sent Gefjun across the
sound to the north to discover new countries, and she came to King
Gylfe, who gave her a ploughland. Then she went to Jotunheim and bore
four sons to a giant, and transformed them into a yoke of oxen, and
yoked them to a plough and broke out the land into the ocean, right
opposite to Odinse, which was called Seeland, where she afterward
settled and dwelt.[119] Skjold, a son of Odin, married her, and they
dwelt at Leidre.[120] Where the ploughed land was, is a lake or sea
called Laage.[121] In the Swedish land the fjords of Laage correspond to
the nesses of Seeland. Brage the old sings thus of it:
Gefjun glad
Drew from Gylfe
The excellent land,
Denmark’s increase,
So that it reeked
From the running beasts.
Four heads and eight eyes
Bore the oxen,
As they went before the wide
Robbed land of the grassy isle.[122]
[Footnote 117: Turkland was usually supposed to mean Moldau and
Wallachia. Some, who regard the great mountain barrier as being
the Ural Mountains, think Turkland is Turkistan in Asia. Asia
Minor is also frequently styled Turkland.]
[Footnote 118: Ancient Norse writers connect this event with
Mithridates and Pompey the Great. They tell how Odin was a heroic
prince who, with his twelve peers or apostles, dwelt in the Black
Sea region. He became straightened for room, and so led the asas
out of Asia into eastern Europe. Then they go on to tell how the
Roman empire had arrived at its highest point of power, and saw
all the then known world--the orbis terrarum--subject to its laws,
when an unforeseen event raised up enemies against it from the
very heart of the forests of Scythia, and on the banks of the Don
river. The leader was Mithridates the Great, against whom the
Romans waged three wars, and the Romans looked upon him as the
most formidable enemy the empire had ever had to contend with.
Cicero delivered his famous oration, Pro lege Manilia, and
succeeded in getting Pompey appointed commander of the third war
against Mithridates. The latter, by flying, had drawn Pompey after
him into the wilds of Scythia. Here the king of Pontus sought
refuge and new means of vengeance. He hoped to arm against the
ambition of Rome all his neighboring nations whose liberties she
threatened. He was successful at first, but all those Scythian
peoples, ill-united as allies, ill-armed as soldiers, and still
worse disciplined, were at length forced to yield to the genius of
the great general Pompey. And here traditions tell us that Odin
and the other asas were among the allies of Mithridates. Odin had
been one of the gallant defenders of Troy, and at the same time,
with Æneas and Anchises, he had taken flight out of the burning
and falling city. Now he was obliged to withdraw a second time by
flight, but this time it was not from the Greeks, but from the
Romans, whom he had offended by assisting Mithridates. He was now
compelled to go and seek, in lands unknown to his enemies, that
safety which he could no longer find in the Scythian forests. He
then proceeded to the north of Europe, and laid the foundations of
the Teutonic nations. As fast as he subdued the countries in the
west and north of Europe he gave them to one or another of his
sons to govern. Thus it comes to pass that so many sovereign
families throughout Teutondom are said to be descended from Odin.
Hengist and Horsa, the chiefs of those Saxons who conquered
Britain in the fifth century, counted Odin in the number of their
ancestors. The traditions go on to tell how he conquered Denmark,
founded Odinse (Odinsve = Odin’s Sanctuary; comp. _ve_ with the
German _Wei_ in _Weinacht_), and gave the kingdom to his son
Skjold (shield); how he conquered Sweden, founded the Sigtuna
temple, and gave the country to his son Yngve; how finally Norway
had to submit to him, and be ruled by a third son of Odin, Saming.
It has been seriously contended,--and it would form an important
element in an epic based on the historical Odin,--that a desire of
being revenged on the Romans was one of the ruling principles of
Odin’s whole conduct. Driven by those foes of universal liberty
from his former home in the east, his resentment was the more
violent, since the Teutons thought it a sacred duty to revenge all
injuries, especially those offered to kinsmen or country. Odin had
no other view in traversing so many distant lands, and in
establishing with so much zeal his doctrines of valor, than to
arouse all Teutonic nations, and unite them against so formidable
and odious a race as the Romans. And we, who live in the light of
the nineteenth century, and with the records before us, can read
the history of the convulsions of Europe during the decline of the
Roman empire; we can understand how that leaven, which Odin left
in the bosoms of the believers in the asa-faith, first fermented a
long time in secret; but we can also see how in the fullness of
time, the signal given, the descendants of Odin fell like a swarm
of locusts upon this unhappy empire, and, after giving it many
terrible shocks, eventually overturned it, thus completely
avenging the insult offered so many centuries before by Pompey to
their founder Odin. We can understand how it became possible for
“those vast multitudes, which the populous north poured from her
frozen loins, to pass the Rhine and the Danube, and come like a
deluge on the south, and spread beneath Gibraltar and the Libyan
sands;” how it were possible, we say, for them so largely to
remodel and invigorate a considerable part of Europe, nay, how
they could succeed in overrunning and overturning “the rich but
rotten, the mighty but marrowless, the disciplined but diseased,
Roman empire; that gigantic and heartless and merciless usurpation
of soulless materialism and abject superstition of universal
despotism, of systemized and relentless plunder, and of depravity
deep as hell.” In connection with this subject we would refer our
readers to Mallet’s Northern Antiquities, pp. 79-83, where
substantially the same account is given; to Norse Mythology, pp.
232-236; to George Stephen’s Runic Monuments, Vol. I; and to
Charles Kingsley’s The Roman and the Teuton.]
[Footnote 119: Compare this version of the myth with the one given
in the first chapter of The Fooling of Gylfe. Many explain the
myth to mean the breaking through of the Baltic between Sweden and
Denmark.]
[Footnote 120: Leidre or Leire, at the end of Isefjord, in the
county of Lithraborg, is considered the oldest royal seat in
Denmark.]
[Footnote 121: Laage is a general name for lakes and rivers. It
here stands for Lake Malar, in Sweden.]
[Footnote 122: The grassy isle is Seeland.]
Now when Odin heard that things were in a prosperous condition in the
land to the east beside Gylfe, he went thither, and Gylfe made a peace
with him, for Gylfe thought he had no strength to oppose the people of
Asaland. Odin and Gylfe had many tricks and enchantments against each
other; but the Asaland people had always the superiority. Odin took up
his residence at the Malar lake, at the place now called Sigtun.[123]
There he erected a large temple, where there were sacrifices according
to the customs of the Asaland people. He appropriated to himself the
whole of that district of country, and called it Sigtun. To the temple
gods he gave also domains. Njord dwelt in Noatun, Frey in Upsal, Heimdal
in Himinbjorg, Thor in Thrudvang, Balder in Breidablik;[124] to all of
them he gave good domains.
[Footnote 123: Sigtun. _Sige_, Ger. Sieg, (comp. Sigfrid,) means
victory, and is one of Odin’s names; _tun_ means an inclosure, and
is the same word as our modern English _town_. Thus Sigtun would,
in modern English, be called Odinstown; like our Johnstown,
Williamstown, etc.]
[Footnote 124: Noatun, Thrudvang, Breidablik and Himinbjorg are
purely mythological names, and for their significance the reader
is referred to The Fooling of Gylfe. Snorre follows the lay of
Grimner in the Elder Edda.]
When Odin of Asaland came to the north, and the gods with him, he began
to exercise and to teach others the arts which the people long afterward
have practiced. Odin was the cleverest of all, and from him all others
learned their magic arts; and he knew them first, and knew many more
than other people. But now, to tell why he is held in such high respect,
we must mention various causes that contributed to it. When sitting
among his friends his countenance was so beautiful and friendly, that
the spirits of all were exhilarated by it; but when he was in war, he
appeared fierce and dreadful. This arose from his being able to change
his color and form in any way he liked. Another cause was, that he
conversed so cleverly and smoothly, that all who heard were persuaded.
He spoke everything in rhyme, such as is now composed, and which we call
skald-craft. He and his temple gods were called song-smiths, for from
them came that art of song into the northern countries. Odin could make
his enemies in battle blind or deaf, or terror-struck, and their weapons
so blunt that they could no more cut than a willow-twig; on the other
hand, his men rushed forward without armor, were as mad as dogs or
wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild bulls, and
killed people at a blow, and neither fire nor iron told upon them. These
were called berserks.[125]
[Footnote 125: Berserk. The etymology of this word has been much
contested. Some, upon the authority of Snorre in the above quoted
passage, derive it from berr (_bare_) and serkr (comp. _sark_,
Scotch for shirt); but this etymology is inadmissible, because
serkr is a substantive, not an adjective. Others derive it from
berr (Germ. _Bär_ = _ursus_), which is greatly to be preferred,
for in olden ages athletes and champions used to wear hides of
bears, wolves and reindeer (as skins of lions in the south), hence
the names Bjalfe, Bjarnhedinn, Ulfhedinn (hedinn, _pellis_),--
“pellibus aut parvis rhenonum tegimentis utuntur.” Cæsar, Bell.
Gall. VI, 22. Even the old poets understood the name so, as may be
seen in the poem of Hornklofi (beginning of the 10th century),
a dialogue between a valkyrie and a raven, where the valkyrie says
at berserkja reiðu vil ek þik spyrja, to which the raven replies,
Ulfhednar heita, _they are called wolf coats_. In battle the
berserks were subject to fits of frenzy, called _berserksgangr_
(_furor bersercicus_), when they howled like wild beasts, foamed at
the mouth, and gnawed the iron rim of their shields. During these
fits they were, according to a popular belief, proof against steel
and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy. But when
the fever abated they were weak and tame. Vigfusson Cleasby’s
Icelandic-English Dictionary, _sub voce_.]
Odin could transform his shape; his body would lie as if dead or asleep,
but then he would be in the shape of a fish, or worm, or bird, or beast,
and be off in a twinkling to distant lands upon his own or other
peoples’ business. With words alone he could quench fire, still the
ocean in tempest, and turn the wind to any quarter he pleased. Odin had
a ship, which he called Skidbladner,[126] in which he sailed over wide
seas, and which he could roll up like a cloth. Odin carried with him
Mimer’s head, which told him all the news of other countries. Sometimes
even he called the dead out of the earth, or set himself beside the
burial-mounds; whence he was called the ghost-sovereign, and the lord of
the mounds. He had two ravens,[127] to whom he had taught the speech of
man; and they flew far and wide through the land, and brought him the
news. In all such things he was preëminently wise. He taught all these
arts in runes and songs, which are called incantations, and therefore
the Asaland people are called incantation-smiths. Odin also understood
the art in which the greatest power is lodged, and which he himself
practiced, namely, what is called magic. By means of this he could know
beforehand the predestined fate[128] of men, or their not yet completed
lot, and also bring on the death, ill-luck or bad health of people, or
take away the strength or wit from one person and give it to another.
But after such witchcraft followed such weakness and anxiety, that it
was not thought respectable for men to practice it; and therefore the
priestesses were brought up in this art. Odin knew definitely where all
missing cattle were concealed under the earth, and understood the songs
by which the earth, the hills, the stones and mounds were opened to him;
and he bound those who dwell in them by the power of his word, and went
in and took what he pleased. From these arts he became very celebrated.
His enemies dreaded him; his friends put their trust in him, and relied
on his power and on himself. He taught the most of his arts to his
priests of the sacrifices, and they came nearest to himself in all
wisdom and witch-knowledge. Many others, however, occupied themselves
much with it; and from that time witchcraft spread far and wide, and
continued long. People sacrificed to Odin, and the twelve chiefs of
Asaland,--called them their gods, and believed in them long after. From
Odin’s name came the name Audun, which people gave to his sons; and from
Thor’s name came Thorer, also Thorarinn; and it was also sometimes
augmented by other additions, as Steinthor, Hafthor, and many kinds of
alterations.
[Footnote 126: In the mythology this ship belongs to Frey, having
been made for him by the dwarfs.]
[Footnote 127: Hugin and Munin.]
[Footnote 128: The old Norse word is órlög, which is plural, (from
ör = Ger. _ur_, and lög, _laws_,) and means the primal law, fate,
weird, doom; the Greek μοῖρα. The idea of predestination was a
salient feature in the Odinic religion. The word örlog, O.H.G.
_urlac_, M.H.G. _urlone_, Dutch _orlog_, had special reference to
a man’s fate in war. Hence Orlogschiffe in German means a naval
fleet. The Danish orlog means warfare at sea.]
Odin established the same law in his land that had been before in
Asaland. Thus he established by law that all dead men should be burned,
and their property laid with them upon the pile, and the ashes be cast
into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, everyone will come
to Valhal with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would
also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of
consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other
warriors who had been distinguished for manhood, a standing stone; which
custom remained long after Odin’s time. Toward winter there should be a
blood-sacrifice for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good
crop; and the third sacrifice should be in summer, for victory in
battle. Over all Svithjod[129] the people paid Odin a scatt, or tax,--so
much on each head; but he had to defend the country from enemy or
disturbance, and pay the expense of the sacrifice-feasts toward winter
for a good year.
[Footnote 129: Svithjod, which here means Sweden, is derived from
Odin’s name, Svidr and thjod = folk, people. Svithjod thus means
Odin’s people, and the country takes its name from the people.]
Njord took a wife hight Skade; but she would not live with him, but
married afterward Odin, and had many sons by him, of whom one was called
Saming, and of this Eyvind Skaldespiller sings thus:
To Asason[130] Queen Skade bore
Saming, who dyed his shield in gore,--
The giant queen of rock and snow
Who loves to dwell on earth below,
The iron pine-tree’s daughter she,
Sprung from the rocks that rib the sea,
To Odin bore full many a son,--
Heroes of many a battle won.
[Footnote 130: Odin.]
To Saming Jarl Hakon the Great reckoned up his pedigree.[131] This
Svithjod (Sweden) they call Mannheim, but the great Svithjod they call
Godheim, and of Godheim great wonders and novelties were related.
[Footnote 131: Norway was given to Saming by Odin.]
Odin died in his bed in Sweden; and when he was near his death he made
himself be marked with the point of a spear,[132] and said he was going
to Godheim, and would give a welcome there to all his friends, and all
brave warriors should be dedicated to him; and the Swedes believed that
he was gone to the ancient Asgard, and would live there eternally. Then
began the belief in Odin, and the calling upon him. The Swedes believed
that he often showed himself to them before any great battle. To some he
gave victory, others he invited to himself; and they reckoned both of
these to be well off in their fate. Odin was burnt, and at his pile
there was great splendor. It was their faith that the higher the smoke
arose in the air, the higher would he be raised whose pile it was; and
the richer he would be the more property that was consumed with him.
[Footnote 132: He gave himself nine wounds in the form of the head
of a spear, or Thor’s hammer; that is, he marked himself with the
sign of the _cross_, an ancient heathen custom.]
Njord of Noatun was then the sole sovereign of the Swedes; and he
continued the sacrifices, and was called the drot, or sovereign, by the
Swedes, and he received scatt and gifts from them. In his days were
peace and plenty, and such good years in all respects that the Swedes
believed Njord ruled over the growth of seasons and the prosperity of
the people. In his time all the diars, or gods, died, and
blood-sacrifices were made for them. Njord died on a bed of sickness,
and before he died made himself be marked for Odin with the spear-point.
The Swedes burned him, and all wept over his grave-mound.
Frey took the kingdom after Njord, and was called drot by the Swedes,
and they paid taxes to him. He was like his father, fortunate in friends
and in good seasons. Frey built a great temple at Upsala, made it his
chief seat, and gave it all his taxes, his land and goods. Then began
the Upsala domains, which have remained ever since. Then began in his
day the Frode-peace; and then there were good seasons in all the land,
which the Swedes ascribed to Frey, so that he was more worshiped than
the other gods, as the people became much richer in his days by reason
of the peace and good seasons. His wife was called Gerd, daughter of
Gymer, and their son was called Fjolner. Frey was called by another
name, Yngve; and this name Yngve was considered long after in his race
as a name of honor, so that his descendants have since been called
Ynglings (_i.e._ Yngve-lings). Frey fell into a sickness, and as his
illness took the upper hand, his men took the plan of letting few
approach him. In the meantime they raised a great mound, in which they
placed a door with three holes in it. Now when Frey died they bore him
secretly into the mound, but told the Swedes he was alive, and they kept
watch over him for three years. They brought all the taxes into the
mound, and through the one hole they put in the gold, through the other
the silver, and through the third the copper money that was paid. Peace
and good seasons continued.
Freyja alone remained of the gods, and she became on this account so
celebrated that all women of distinction were called by her name, whence
they now have the title Frue (Germ. _Frau_), so that every woman is
called frue (that is, mistress) over her property, and the wife is
called the house-frue. Freyja continued the blood-sacrifices. Freyja had
also many other names. Her husband was called Oder, and her daughters
Hnos and Gersame. They were so very beautiful that afterward the most
precious jewels were called by their names.
When it became known to the Swedes that Frey was dead, and yet peace and
good seasons continued, they believed that it must be so as long as Frey
remained in Sweden, and therefore they would not burn his remains, but
called him the god of this world, and afterward offered continually
blood-sacrifices to him, principally for peace and good seasons.[133]
[Footnote 133: Here ends Snorre’s account of the asas in
Heimskringla. The reader will, of course, compare the account here
given of Odin, Njord, Frey, Freyja, etc., with the purely
mythological description of them in the Younger Edda, and with
that in Norse Mythology. Upon the whole, Snorre has striven to
accommodate his sketch to the Eddas, while he has had to clothe
mythical beings with the characteristics of human kings. Like
Saxo-Grammaticus, Snorre has striven to show that the deities,
which we now recognize as personified forces and phenomena of
nature, were extraordinary and enterprising persons, who formerly
ruled in the North, and inaugurated the customs, government and
religion of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, and the
other Teutonic lands.]
FORNJOT AND THE SETTLEMENT OF NORWAY.
In the asa-faith we find various foreign elements introduced. Thus, for
example, the vans did not originally belong to the Odinic system. As the
Teutons came in contact with other races, the religious ideas of the
latter were frequently adopted in some modified form. Especially do
Finnish elements enter into the asa-system. The Finnish god of thunder
was Ukko. He is supposed to have been confounded with our Thor, whence
the latter got the name Öku-Thor (Ukko-Thor). The vans may be connected
with the Finnish Wainamoinen, and in the same manner a number of Celtic
elements have been mixed with Teutonic mythology. And this is not all.
There must have flourished a religious system in the North before the
arrival of Odin and his apostles. This was probably either Tshudic or
Celtic, or a mixture of the two. The asa-doctrine superseded it, but
there still remain traces in some of the oldest records of the North.
Thus we have in the prehistoric sagas of Iceland an account of the
finding of Norway, wherein it is related that Fornjot,[134] in Jotland,
which is also called Finland or Quenland, east of the Gulf of Bothnia,
had three sons: Hler, also called Æger, Loge and Kare.[135] Of Loge it
is related that he was of giant descent, and, being very tall of
stature, he was called Haloge, that is High Loge; and after him the
northern part of Norway is called Halogaland (now Helgeland). He was
married to Glod (a red-hot coal), and had with her two daughters, Eysa
and Eimyrja; both words meaning glowing embers. Haloge had two jarls,
Vifil (the one taking a vif = wife) and Vesete (the one who sits at the
ve = the sanctuary, that is, the dweller by the hearth, the first
sanctuary), who courted his daughters; the former addressing himself to
Eimyrja, the latter to Eysa, but the king refusing to give his consent,
they carried them away secretly. Vesete settled in Borgundarholm
(Bornholm), and had a son, Bue (one who settles on a farm); Vifil sailed
further east and settled on the island Vifilsey, on the coast of Sweden,
and had a son, Viking (the pirate).
[Footnote 134: The word fornjot can be explained in two ways:
either as for-njot = the first enjoyer, possessor; or as forn-jot,
the ancient giant. He would then correspond to Ymer.]
[Footnote 135: Notice this trinity: Hler is the sea (comp. the
Welsh word _llyr_ = sea); Loge is fire (comp. the Welsh _llwg_),
he reminds us both by his name and his nature of Loke; Kare is the
wind.]
The third son, Kare, had a numerous offspring. He had one son by name
Jokul (iceberg), another Froste (frost), and Froste’s son was named Sna
(snow). He had a third son, by name Thorri (bare frost), after whom the
mid-winter month, Thorra-month, was called; and his daughters hight Fonn
(packed snow), Drifa (snow-drift), and Mjoll (meal, fine snow). All
these correspond well to Kare’s name, which, as stated, means wind.
Thorri had two sons, Nor and Gor, and a daughter, Goe. The story goes on
to tell how Goe, the sister, was lost, and how the brothers went to
search for her, until they finally found him who had robbed her. He was
Hrolf, from the mountain, a son of the giant Svade, and a grandson of
Asa-Thor. They settled their trouble, and thereupon Hrolf married Goe,
and Nor married Hrolf’s sister, settled in the land and called it after
his own name, Norvegr, that is, Norway. By this story we are reminded of
Kadmos, who went to seek his lost sister Europa. In the Younger Edda the
winds are called the sons of Fornjot, the sea is called the son of
Fornjot, and the brother of the fire and of the winds, and Fornjot is
named among the old giants. This makes it clear that Fornjot and his
offspring are not historical persons, but cosmological impersonations.
And additional proof of this is found by an examination of the beginning
of the Saga of Thorstein, Viking’s Son. (See Viking Tales of the North,
pp. 1 and 2).
THE FOOLING OF GYLFE.
CHAPTER I.
This story about the ploughing of Gylfe reminds us of the legend told in
the first book of Virgil’s Æneid, about the founding of Carthage by
Dido, who bought from the Libyan king as much ground as she could cover
with a bull’s hide. Elsewhere it is related that she cut the bull’s hide
into narrow strips and encircled therewith all the ground upon which
Carthage was afterward built. Thus Dido deceived the Libyan king nearly
as effectually as Gefjun deluded King Gylfe. The story is also told by
Snorre in Heimskringla, see p. 231.
The passage in verse, which has given translators so much trouble in a
transposed form, would read as follows: Gefjun glad drew that excellent
land (djúpródul = the deep sun = gold; öðla = udal = property; djúpródul
öðla = the golden property), Denmark’s increase (Seeland), so that it
reeked (steamed) from the running oxen. The oxen bore four heads and
eight eyes, as they went before the wide piece of robbed land of the
isle so rich in grass.
Gefjun is usually interpreted as a goddess of agriculture, and her name
is by some derived from γῆ; and _fjon_, that is, _terræ separatio_;
others compare it with the Anglo-Saxon _geofon_ = the sea. The etymology
remains very uncertain.
CHAPTER II.
It is to the delusion or eye-deceit mentioned in this chapter that
Snorre Sturlasson refers in his Heimskringla, in Chapter VI of Ynglinga
Saga.
Thjodolf of Hvin was a celebrated skald at the court of Harald Fairhair.
Thinking thatchers, etc. Literally transposed, this passage would read:
Reflecting men let shields (literally Svafner’s, that is Odin’s
roof-trees,) glisten on the back. They were smitten with stones. To let
shields glisten on the back, is said of men who throw their shields on
their backs to protect themselves against those who pursue the flying
host.
Har means the High One, Jafnhar the Equally High One, and Thride the
Third One. By these three may be meant the three chief gods of the
North: Odin, Thor and Frey; or they may be simply an expression of the
Eddic trinity. This trinity is represented in a number of ways: by Odin,
Vile and Ve in the creation of the world, and by Odin, Hœner and Loder
in the creation of Ask and Embla, the first human pair. The number three
figures extensively in all mythological systems. In the pre-chaotic
state we have Muspelheim, Niflheim and Ginungagap. Fornjot had three
sons: Hler, Loge and Kare. There are three norns: Urd, Verdande and
Skuld. There are three fountains: Hvergelmer, Urd’s and Mimer’s; etc.
(See Norse Mythology, pp. 183, 195, 196.)
Har being Odin, Har’s Hall will be Valhal. You will not come out from
this hall unless you are wiser. In the lay of Vafthrudner, of the Elder
Edda, we have a similar challenge, where Vafthrudner says to Odin:
Out will you not come
From our halls
Unless I find you to be wiser (than I am).
CHAPTER III.
This chapter gives twelve names of Odin. In the Eddas and in the skaldic
lays he has in all nearly two hundred names. His most common name is
Odin (in Anglo-Saxon and in Old High German _Wodan_), and this is
thought by many to be of the same origin as our word _god_. The other
Old Norse word for god, _tivi_, is identical in root with Lat. _divus_;
Sansk. _dwas_; Gr. Διός (Ζεύς); and this is again connected with _Tyr_,
the Tivisco in the Germania of Tacitus. (See Max Müller’s Lectures on
the Science of Language, 2d series, p. 425). Paulus Diakonus states that
Wodan, or Gwodan, was worshiped by all branches of the Teutons. Odin has
also been sought and found in the Scythian _Zalmoxis_, in the Indian
_Buddha_, in the Celtic Budd, and in the Mexican Votan. Zalmoxis,
derived from the Gr. Ζαλμός, helmet, reminds us of Odin as the
helmet-bearer (Grimm, Gesch. der Deutschen Sprache). According to
Humboldt, a race in Guatemala, Mexico, claim to be descended from
Votan (Vues des Cordillères, 1817, I, 208). This suggests the question
whether Odin’s name may not have been brought to America by the Norse
discoverers in the 10th and 11th centuries, and adopted by some of the
native races. In the Lay of Grimner (Elder Edda) the following names of
Odin are enumerated:
Grim is my name
And Ganglere,
Herjan and Helmet-bearer,
Thekk and Thride,
Thud and Ud,
Helblinde and Har,
Sad and Svipal,
And Sanngetal,
Herteit and Hnikar,
Bileyg and Baleyg,
Bolverk, Fjolner,
Grim and Grimner,
Glapsvid and Fjolsvid,
Sidhot, Sidskeg,
Sigfather, Hnikud,
Alfather, Valfather,
Atrid and Farmatyr.
With one name
Was I never named
When I fared ’mong the peoples.
Grimner they called me
Here at Geirrod’s,
But Jalk at Asmund’s,
And Kjalar the time
When sleds (kjalka) I drew,
And Thror at the Thing,
Vidur on the battle-field,
Oske and Ome,
Jafnhar and Biflinde,
Gondler and Harbard ’mong the gods.
Svidur and Svidre
Hight I at Sokmimer’s,
And fooled the ancient giant
When I alone Midvitne’s,
The mighty son’s,
Bane had become.
Odin I now am called,
Ygg was my name before,
Before that I hight Thund,
Yak and Skilfing,
Vafud and Hroptatyr,
Got and Jalk ’mong the gods,
Ofner and Svafner.
All these names, I trow,
Have to me alone been given.
What the etymology of all these names is, it is not easy to tell. The
most of them are clearly Norse words, and express the various activities
of their owner. It is worthy of notice that it is added when and where
Odin bore this or that name (his name was Grim at Geirrod’s, Jalk at
Asmund’s, etc.), and that the words sometimes indicate a progressive
development, as Thund, then Ygg, and then Odin. First he was a mere
sound in the air (Thund), then he took to thinking (Ygg), and at last he
became the inspiring soul of the universe. Although we are unable to
define all these names, they certainly each have a distinct meaning, and
our ancestors certainly understood them perfectly. Har = the High One;
Jafn-har = the Equally High One; Thride = the Third (Ζεὺς ἄλλος and
Τρίτος); Alfather probably contracted from _Alda_father = the Father of
the Ages and the Creations; Veratyr = the Lord of Beings; Rögner = the
Ruler (from regin); Got (Gautr, from _gjóta_, to cast) = the Creator,
Lat. Instillator; Mjotud = the Creator, the word being allied to
Anglo-Saxon _meotod_, _metod_, Germ. _Messer_, and means originally
cutter; but to cut and to make are synonymous. Such names as these have
reference to Odin’s divinity as creator, arranger and ruler of gods and
men. Svid and Fjolsvid = the swift, the wise; Ganglere, Gangrad and
Vegtam = the wanderer, the waywont; Vidrer = the weather-ruler, together
with serpent-names like Ofner, Svafner, etc., refer to Odin’s knowledge,
his journeys, the various shapes he assumes. Permeating all nature, he
appears in all its forms. Names like Sidhot = the slouchy hat; Sidskeg =
the long-beard; Baleyg = the burning-eye; Grimner = the masked; Jalk
(Jack) = the youth, etc., express the various forms in which he was
thought to appear,--to his slouchy hat, his long beard, or his age, etc.
Such names as Sanngetal = the true investigator; Farmatyr = the
cargo-god, etc., refer to his various occupations as inventor,
discoverer of runes, protector of trade and commerce, etc. Finally, all
such names as Herfather = father of hosts; Herjan = the devastator;
Sigfather = the father of victory; Sigtyr = god of victory; Skilfing =
producing trembling; Hnikar = the breaker, etc., represent Odin as the
god of war and victory. Oske = wish, is thus called because he gratifies
our desires. Gimle, as will be seen later, is the abode of the blessed
after Ragnarok. Vingolf (Vin and golf) means _friends’ floor_, and is
the hall of the goddesses. Hel is the goddess of death, and from her
name our word _hell_ is derived.
Our ancestors divided the universe into nine worlds: the uppermost was
Muspelheim (the world of light); the lowest was Niflheim (the world of
darkness). Compare the Greek word νεφέλη = mist. (See Norse Mythology,
p. 187.)
GINUNGAGAP. Ginn means wide, large, far-reaching, perhaps also void
(compare the Anglo-Saxon _gin_ = gaping, open, spacious; ginian = to
gap; and ginnung = a yawning). Ginungagap thus means the yawning gap or
abyss, and represents empty space. The poets use ginnung in the sense of
a fish and of a hawk, and in geographical saga-fragments it is used as
the name of the Polar Sea.