THE SUCCESSORS OF ODIN OF THE NORTH.
Njörd the successor of Odin—Frey succeeds Njörd—A great temple built
at Uppsalir by Frey—The ship of Frey—Death of Frey—Frey’s death
kept secret from the people—Freyja, the priestess—Fjölnir, the son
of Yngvi Frey—Svegdir—Genealogies of the Norse chiefs from Odin
Skjöld, the founder of the Danish branch of chiefs.
According to the sagas, after the death of Odin, Njörd of Nóatún became
the ruler of the Swedes.
“Thereupon Njörd of Nóatún became ruler over the Swedes, and continued
the sacrifices; the Swedes called him their dróttin (lord); he gathered
taxes from them. In his days there was very good peace, and seasons were
so good in every respect that the Swedes believed that Njörd ruled over
good seasons and the wealth and welfare of men. In his days most of the
Díar died, and all of them were afterwards burnt and sacrificed to.
Njörd fell sick and died; he also let himself be marked (with a spear)
before he died, as a token that he belonged to Odin. The Swedes burnt
him, and wept very much over his mound” (Ynglinga, c. 11).
“Njörd of Nóatún then begat two children. His son was Frey and his
daughter Freyja. They were beautiful in looks and mighty. Frey is best
of the Asar. He rules the rain and the sunshine, and also has power over
the growth of the ground. It is good to make vows to him for good
seasons and peace. He also rules over men’s fortune in property.”
(Gylfaginning, c. 24.)
In Vafthrudnismal Odin asks Vafthrudnir the origin of Njörd.
_Odin._
Tell me ...
Whence Njörd came
Among the sons of Asar;
He rules hundred-fold
Temples and altars
And he was not born among Asar.
_Vafthrudnir._
In Vanaheim
The wise powers shaped him,
And gave him to the gods as a hostage;
At the doom of the world
He will come back again,
Home to the wise Vanir.
The Njörd who is related to have been punished by uncontrollable sadness
for falling in love with Gerd and sitting on Odin’s high-seat is a
mythical Njörd.
“A man was called Gýmir whose wife Orboda was of Berg (mountain) Risar
kin. Their daughter Gerd was the most beautiful of all women. One day
Frey had gone to _Hlidskjalf_[98] and could see over all worlds. When he
looked to the North he saw on a farm a large and fine house towards
which a woman was walking. When she lifted her arms, opening the door, a
light shone from them on the sea, and the air and all worlds were
brightened from her. His great boldness in sitting down in the holy seat
thus was revenged upon him, for he went away, full of sorrow. When he
came home he did not speak or sleep or drink and no one dared question
him. Then Njörd called to him Skirnir, the shoe-boy of Frey, and told
him to go to Frey, address him and ask with whom he was so angry that he
would not speak to men. Skirnir said he would go, though not willingly,
as unfavourable answers might be expected from him. When he came to Frey
he asked why he was so sad and did not speak to men. Frey answered that
he had seen a beautiful woman and for her sake he was so full of grief
that he would not live long if he should not get her. ‘Now thou shalt go
and ask her in marriage for me and take her home hither whether her
father is willing or not; I will reward it well.’ Skirnir answered that
he would undertake this message if Frey gave him his sword. This sword
was so good that it fought of itself. Frey did not fail to do this and
gave it to him. Skirnir then went and asked the woman in marriage for
him and got her promise that she would come after nine nights and keep
her wedding with Frey. When Skirnir had told Frey of his journey Frey
sang:
“Long is one night,
Long is another,
How can I endure three?
Often a month to me
Shorter seemed
Than one half of this wedding-night.”
(Later Edda, Gylfaginning, 37.)
After the death of Njörd, Frey, one of his sons, succeeded him as high
priest of the sacrifices, and, according to tradition, built the great
temple at Upsala, which became of great repute as a most holy place
among the people of the North, who came from all parts of the country to
assist at the sacrifices. The Sagas say that great Things were held
there, all important quarrels settled, friendship sealed, and peace
concluded between chieftains and countries.
“Frey took the realm after Njörd; he was called the dróttin of the
Swedes, and took taxes of them. He was as well liked as his father, and
in his days also were good seasons. Frey raised a large temple at
Uppsalir, and had his head burgh (höfud stad) there; all his taxes,
lands, and loose property he gave thereto. That was the beginning of the
Uppsalir wealth, which has been kept up ever since.
“In his days the peace of Fródi[99] (King in Denmark) began; then there
were good seasons in every land. The Swedes attributed that to Frey. He
was worshipped more than other gods, because in his days the people of
the land became wealthier than before, on account of the peace and the
good seasons. His wife was called Gerd, daughter of Gýmir;[100] their
son was Fjölnir. Another name of Frey was Yngvi; this name was long
afterwards used among his kin as a name of honour, and his kinsmen were
afterwards called Ynglingar. Frey fell sick; when he was near death they
took counsel and allowed few men to see him; they made a large mound
ready for him with a door and three holes. When Frey was dead they
carried him secretly into the mound and told the Swedes that he was
alive, and kept him there for three winters. They poured all the taxes
into the mound, the gold through one hole, the silver through another,
and the brass pennings through the third. Then peace and good seasons
continued” (Ynglinga, c. 12).
“When all the Svíar knew that Frey was dead, and peace and good seasons
continued, they believed it would last while Frey was in Svithjód, and
would not burn him, and called him the god of the world (veraldar god),
and sacrificed ever since chiefly to him for good seasons and peace”
(Ynglinga, c. 13).
After the death of Frey, Freyja, the daughter of Njörd, became the
priestess, and offered the sacrifices.
“Freyja upheld the sacrifices, for she alone of the godar was then
living, and she became so renowned that all high-born women are called
_fruvor_.[101] Thus every woman is the freyja of her property, and she
who has a household is hús-freyja[102] (housewife). Freyja was rather
many-minded (fickle); her husband was Ód; her daughters were Hnoss
(costly thing) and Gersemi (precious thing); they were very beautiful,
and the costliest things are called by their names” (Ynglinga, c. 13).
According to the Ynglinga, Yngvi Frey was the son of Njörd, and Fjölnir
the son of Yngvi Frey. Fjölnir ruled over the Swedish and Upsala domain,
and died in Zeeland. A strong friendship existed between him and Fródi
the grandson of Skjöld, the son of Odin, and it was the custom of these
two chiefs to visit each other.
“Fjölnir the son of Yngvi Frey then ruled over the Swedes and the
Upsala-wealth; he was a powerful king, and peace-happy and season-happy.
At that time Peace-Fródi was at Hleidra (Leire); they were friends and
invited each other. When Fjölnir came to Fródi in Zeeland there was a
great feast prepared for him, and people were invited to it from far and
wide. Fródi had a large house; in it there had been a large vat, many
feet high, held together by large timbers; it stood in the lower story,
and there was a loft above in which there was an opening through which
the drink could be poured in; the vat was full of mixed mead,[103] a
very strong drink. In the evening Fjölnir and his men were shown to
their room on the next loft. In the night he went out on the svalir (a
kind of balcony) to look for something; he was overcome with sleep and
dead-drunk. When he returned to his room he walked along the balcony to
the door leading into the next room, and there he missed his footing and
fell into the mead-vat and perished” (Ynglinga, c. 14).
Svegdir succeeded his father, Fjölnir, and though several generations
had passed away since the death of the last Odin, the veneration towards
Asgard, the old home of the earlier Odin, was strong in the heart of the
people.
“This Sweden they called Mannheimar (the world of men), but the large
Sweden they called Godheimar (the world of gods); from Godheimar many
tidings and wonders were told” (Ynglinga, c. 10).
“Svegdir took the realm after his father; he made a vow to search for
Godheim and Odin the old. He went with twelve men far and wide about the
world; he came to Tyrkland and to Sweden the great, and met there many
of his friends and kinsmen, and was five winters on that journey.[104]
Then he came back to Sweden, and stayed at home for some time. He had
married a woman called Vana in Vanaheim; their son was Vanlandi. Svegdir
went again in search of Godheim. In the eastern part of Sweden there is
a large bœr called Stein (stone); there stands a rock as large as a big
house. One evening after sunset, when Svegdir ceased drinking and went
to his sleeping-house, he saw a Dverg sitting outside the rock. Svegdir
and his men were very drunk, and ran to the rock. The Dverg stood in the
door and shouted to Svegdir to come in if he wanted to meet Odin.
Svegdir rushed into the rock, which at once closed upon him, and he came
not back” (Ynglinga, c. 15).
A description of the leading events in the life of each of the remaining
mythical or semi-mythical rulers named in the genealogies is given in
the Ynglinga, but we have only thought it necessary to place before the
reader these few typical examples, as the scope of the work will not
admit of a fuller treatment of the subject; though some extracts have
been incorporated in the Chapter on Customs, &c.
The Northern chiefs traced their ancestry from this Odin of the North,
whose influence had become so great with King Gylfi that two of his
sons, as we have seen, married the latter’s daughters.
When reading the Saga literature we are particularly struck by the
frequent references made to pedigrees in which the people of the North
took great pride. There are three great genealogical branches through
which the Northern chiefs traced their descent from Odin.
“All who are truly wise in events know that the Tyrkjar and Asia-men
settled in the northern lands. Then began the tongue which has since
spread over all lands. The leader of these people was called Odin, and
to him men trace their families”[105] (Sturlaug’s Saga (Fornaldarsögur,
111), c. 1).
These genealogical branches are:—1. The _Ynglinga_; or that of Hálfdán
the black, the nephew of Rögnvald Jarl. 2. The _Háleygja_; or that of
Hakon Jarl the great. 3. The _Skjöldunga_; or that of Harald Hilditönn
or the Danish branch.
If we could admit that these genealogies are more or less correct, and
if we struck an average by generations (of thirty years) the result
would make Odin live about the beginning of the Christian era; if a
longer average of life is allotted, he would have lived some centuries
before that date. But of course the genealogies must be treated as in
the main mythical.
The _Ynglingatal_,[106] a genealogical poem,[107] composed for Rögnvald
Heidumhœri (the uncle of Harald Fairhair), traces the family of Rögnvald
through thirty generations up to Odin, and being probably composed a
little after 900, it would make Odin live _about 100 before Christ_.
Ari in ch. 12 of Islendingabók traces his family through thirty-seven
degrees up to Yngvi Tyrkja King.
These are the names of the forefathers of the Ynglingar and
Breidfirdingar (Men of Breidifjord):—
1. Yngvi Tyrkjaking.
2. Njörd Sviaking.
3. Frey.
4. Fjölnir, who died at Frid-Fródi’s.
5. Svegdir.
6. Vanlandi.
7. Vísbur.
8. Dómaldi.
9. Dómar.
10. Dyggvi.
11. Dag.
12. Alrek.
13. Agni.
14. Yngvi.
15. Jörund.
16. Aun the old.
17. Egil Vendikráka.
18. Ottar.
19. Adils at Uppsalir.
20. Eystein.
21. Yngvar.
22. Braut-önund.
23. Ingjald the evil.
24. Ólaf, wood-chopper (tretelgja).
25. Hálfdán Whiteleg Upplendingaking.
26. Godrod.
27. Ólaf.
28. Helgi.
29. Ingjald, the son of the daughter of Sigurd, son of Ragnar Lodbrok.
30. Oleif the white (king in Dublin).
31. Thorstein the red.
32. Glei Feilan, the first of them who settled in Iceland.
33. Thórd gellir.
34. Eyjólf, who was baptized in his old age when Christianity came to
Iceland.
35. Thorkel.
36. Gellir, the father of Thorkel and Brand and Thorgils, Ari’s father.
As another example of these genealogies we give that of
THE SKJOLDUNGA BRANCH.
Odin Asa-king. Fródi. Fridleif.
Skjöld. Vermund the Wise. Fródi the Valiant.[108]
Fridleif. Ólaf the Humble. |
Fridfródi. Dan the Proud. |
Fridleif. Fródi the Peaceful. |
Hávar the Hand- |
strong. |
+-----------------------+---------------------+
| |
Ingjald. Hálfdán.
Hrœrek Ringniggard. Helgi.
Fródi. Hrolf Kraki.
Hálfdán. Hróar.
Hrœrek Ring-thrower. Valdar the mild.
Harald Hilditönn. Harald the old.
Hálfdán the Valiant.
Ivar Vidfadmi.
Aud the Deep-minded = married, 1. Hrœrek
Ring-thrower.
| 2. Randbard.
| |
+-------------------------+---------+------------------+
| |
Randver. Aslaug.
Sigurd Hring. Sigurd Hart.
Ragnar Lodbrok. Ragnhild.
Sigurd Snake-eye. Harald Fairhair (A.D. 872–933).
The following passage from the ‘Later Edda,’ which refers to this
branch, may help the curious to fix the dates of these chiefs. According
to it Odin the hero lived some years before the beginning of the
Christian era.
“Skjöld (Shield) was the son of Odin, from whom the Skjöldungar are
descended. He dwelt in and ruled over the lands now called Danmörk,
which were then called Gotland. Skjöld had a son, Fridleif, who ruled
the lands after him.
Fridleif’s son Fródi got the kingship after his father, about the time
when the Emperor Augustus made peace all over the world; then Christ was
born. As Fródi was the most powerful of all kings in the Northern lands,
all who spoke the Danish (Dansk) tongue[109] attributed the peace to
him, and the Northmen called it the Peace of Fródi. No man did harm to
another, even if he met the slayer of his father or his brother bound or
loose; no thieves or robbers were then found, so that a gold ring lay
for a long time in Jalangr-heath (_i.e._, was not taken by any one)”
(‘Later Edda.’ Skáldskaparmal, c. 43).