Nanna's father, King Gevarus (Gevarr; see Nos. 90-92), and he grew up to
be a stately youth, distinguished as a man of accomplishments among the
contemporaries of his age. He could swim, was an excellent archer and
boxer, and his skill on various musical instruments was so great that he
had the human passions under his control, and could produce, at pleasure,
gladness, sorrow, sympathy, or hate. Nanna, the daughter of Gevarus, fell
in love with the highly gifted youth and he with her.
Meanwhile, fate brought it to come to pass that Balder, the son of the
idol Odin, also fell in love with Nanna. He had once seen her bathing,
and had been dazzled by the splendour of her limbs. In order to remove
the most dangerous obstacle between himself and her, he resolved to slay
Hotherus.
As Hotherus on a foggy day was hunting in the woods he got lost and came
to a house, where there sat three wood-nymphs. They greeted him by name,
and in answer to his question they said they were the maids who determine
the events of the battle, and give defeat or success in war. Invisible
they come to the battlefield, and secretly give help to those whom they
wish to favour. From them Hotherus learned that Balder was in love with
Nanna, but they advised him not to resort to weapons against him, for he
was a demigod born of supernatural seed. When they had said this, they
and the house in which Hotherus had found them disappeared, and to his
joy he found himself standing on a field under the open sky.
When he arrived home, he mentioned to Gevarus what he had seen and heard,
and at once demanded the hand of his daughter. Gevarus answered that it
would have been a pleasure to him to see Hotherus and Nanna united, but
Balder had already made a similar request, and he did not dare to draw
the wrath of the latter down upon himself, since not even iron could harm
the conjured body of the demigod.
But Gevarus said he knew of a sword with which Balder could be slain, but
it lies locked up behind the strongest bars, and the place where it is
found is scarcely accessible to mortals. The way thither--if we may use
the expression where no road has been made--is filled with obstacles, and
leads for the greater part through exceedingly cold regions. But behind
a span of swift stags one ought to be able to get safe across the icy
mountain ridges. He who keeps the sword is the forest-being Mimingus, who
also has a wonderful wealth-producing arm-ring. If Hotherus gets there,
he should place his tent in such a manner that its shadow does not fall
into the cave where Mimingus dwells, for at the sight of this strange
eclipse the latter would withdraw farther into the mountain. Observing
these rules of caution, the sword and arm-ring might possibly be secured.
The sword is of such a kind that victory never fails to attend it, and
its value is quite inestimable.
Hotherus, who carefully followed the advice of Gevarus, succeeded in
securing the sword and the ring, which Mimingus, surprised and bound by
Hotherus, delivered as a ransom for his life.
When Gelder, the king of Saxony, learned that the treasure of Mimingus
had been robbed, he resolved to make war against Hotherus. The
foreknowing Gevarus saw this in advance, and advised Hotherus to receive
the rain of javelins from the enemy patiently in the battle, and not
to throw his own javelins before the enemy's supply of weapons was
exhausted. Gelder was conquered, and had to pray for peace. Hotherus
received him in the most friendly manner, and now he conquered him with
his kindness as he had before done with his cunning as a warrior.
Hotherus also had a friend in Helgo, the king of Halogaland. The
chieftain of the Finns and of the Bjarmians, Cuso (Guse), was the father
of Thora, whose hand Helgo sought through messengers. But Helgo had so
ugly a blemish on his mouth that he was ashamed to converse, not only
with strangers, but also with his own household and friends. Cuso had
already refused his offer of marriage, but as he now addressed himself to
Hotherus asking for assistance, the latter was able to secure a hearing
from the Finnish chieftain, so that Helgo secured the wife he so greatly
desired.
While this happened in Halogaland, Balder had invaded the territory of
Gevarus with an armed force, to demand Nanna's hand. Gevarus referred him
to his daughter, who was herself permitted to determine her fate. Nanna
answered that she was of too humble birth to be the wife of a husband
of divine descent. Gevarus informed Hotherus of what had happened, and
the latter took counsel with Helgo as to what was now to be done. After
having considered various things, they finally resolved on making war.
And it was a war in which one should think men fought with gods. For
Odin, Thor, and the hosts sanctified by the gods fought on Balder's side.
Thor had a heavy club, with which he smashed shields and coats-of-mail,
and slew all before him. Hotherus would have seen his retreating army
defeated had he not himself succeeded in checking Thor's progress. Clad
in an impenetrable coat-of-mail, he went against Thor, and with a blow
of his sword he severed the handle from Thor's club and made it unfit
for use. Then the gods fled. Thereupon the warriors of Hotherus rushed
upon Balder's fleet and destroyed and sank it. In the same war Gelder
fell and his body was laid in his ship on a pile of his fallen warriors
and burned, but his ashes were afterwards deposited with great solemnity
in a magnificent grave-mound by Hotherus who then returned to Gevarus,
celebrated his wedding with Nanna, and made great presents to Helgo and
Thora.
But Balder had no peace. Another war was declared, and this time Balder
was the victor. The defeated Hotherus took refuge with Gevarus. In this
war a water-famine occurred in Balder's army, but the latter dug deep
wells and opened new fountains for his thirsty men. Meanwhile Balder was
afflicted in his dreams by ghosts which had assumed Nanna's form. His
love and longing so consumed him that he at last was unable to walk, but
had to ride in a chariot on his journeys.
Hotherus had fled to Sweden, where he retained the royal authority;
but Balder took possession of Seeland, and soon acquired the devotion
of the Danes, for he was regarded as having martial merits, and was a
man of great dignity. Hotherus again declared war against Balder, but
was defeated in Jutland, and was obliged to return to Sweden alone and
abandoned. Despondent on account of his defeats, weary of life and the
light of day, he went into the wilderness and traversed most desolate
forests, where the fall of mortal feet is seldom heard. Then he came to
a cave in which sat three strange women. From such women he had once
received the impenetrable coat-of-mail, and he recognised them as those
very persons. They asked him why he had come to these regions, and he
told them how unsuccessful he had been in his last battle. He reproached
them, saying that they had deceived him, for they had promised him
victory, but he had a totally different fate. The women responded that
he nevertheless had done his enemies great harm, and assured him that
victory would yet perch on his banners if he should succeed in finding
the wonderful nourishment which was invented for the increasing of
Balder's strength. This was sufficient to encourage him to make another
war, although there were those among his friends who dissuaded him
therefrom. From different sides men were gathered, and a bloody battle
was fought, which was not decided at the fall of night. The uneasiness
of Hotherus hindered him from sleeping, and he went out in the darkness
of the night to reconnoitre the condition and position of the enemy.
When he had reached the camp of the enemy he perceived that three dises,
who were wont to prepare Balder's mysterious food, had just left. He
followed their footprints in the bedewed grass and reached their abode.
Asked by them who he was, he said he was a player on the cithern. One of
them then handed him a cithern, and he played for them magnificently.
They had three serpents, with whose venom Balder's food was mixed. They
were now engaged in preparing this food. One of them had the goodness
to offer Hotherus some of the food; but the eldest said: "It would be
treason to Balder to increase the strength of his foe." The stranger said
that he was one of the men of Hotherus, and not Hotherus himself. He was
then permitted to taste the food.[5] The women also presented him with a
beautiful girdle of victory.
On his way home Hotherus met his foe and thrust a weapon into his side,
so that he fell half-dead to the ground. This produced joy in the camp
of Hotherus, but sorrow in the Danish camp. Balder, who knew that he was
going to die, but was unwilling to abide death in his tent, renewed the
battle the following day, and had himself carried on a stretcher into the
thickest of the fight. The following night Proserpina (the goddess of
death) came to him and announced to him that he should be her guest the
next day. He died from his wound at the time predicted, and was buried in
a mound with royal splendour. Hotherus took the sceptre in Denmark after
Balder.
Meanwhile it had happened that King Gevarus had been attacked and burned
in his house by a jarl under him, by name Gunno. Hotherus avenged the
death of Gevarus, and burnt Gunno alive on a funeral pyre as a punishment
for his crime.
Rinda and Odin had a son by name Bous. The latter, to avenge the death
of his brother Balder, attacked Hotherus, who fell in the conflict. But
Bous himself was severely wounded and died the following day from his
wounds. Hotherus was followed on the Danish throne by his son Röricus.
In the examination of this narrative in Saxo there is no hope of arriving
at absolutely positive results unless the student lays aside all current
presuppositions and, in fact, all notions concerning the origin and age
of the Balder-myth, concerning a special Danish myth in opposition to a
special Norse-Icelandic, &c. If the latter conjecture based on Saxo is
correct, then this is to appear as a result of the investigation; but the
conjecture is not to be used as a presupposition.
That which first strikes the reader is that the story is not homogeneous.
It is composed of elements that could not be blended into one harmonious
whole. It suffers from intrinsic contradictions. The origin of these
contradictions must first of all be explained.
The most persistent contradiction concerns the sword of victory of which
Hotherus secured possession.[6] We are assured that it is of immense
value (_ingens præmium_), and is attended with the success of victory
(_belli fortuna comitaretur_), and Hotherus is, in fact, able with the
help of this sword to accomplish a great exploit: put Thor and other gods
to flight. But then Hotherus is conquered again and again by Balder,
and finally also defeated by Bous and slain, in spite of the fact that
Gevarus had assured him that this sword should always be victorious. To
be sure, Hotherus succeeds after several defeats in giving Balder his
death-wound, but this is not done in a battle, and can hardly be counted
as a victory; and Hotherus is not able to commit this secret murder by
aid of this sword alone, but is obliged to own a belt of victory and to
eat a wonderful food, which gives Balder his strength, before he can
accomplish this deed.
There must be some reason why Saxo fell into this contradiction,
which is so striking, and is maintained throughout the narrative. If
Hotherus-_Hödr_ in the mythology possessed a sword which always gives
victory and is able to conquer the gods themselves, then the mythology
can _not_ have contained anything about defeats suffered by him after he
got possession of this sword, nor can he then have fallen in conflict
with Odin's and Rind's son. The only way in which this could happen
would be that Hotherus-_Hödr_, after getting possession of the sword of
victory, and after once having used it to advantage, in some manner was
robbed of it again. But Saxo has read nothing of the sort in his sources,
otherwise he would have mentioned it, if for no other reason than for
the purpose of giving a cause for the defeat suffered by his hero, and
it is doubtless his opinion that the sword with which Balder is mortally
wounded is the same as the one Hotherus took from Mimingus. Hence, either
_Hödr_ has neither suffered the defeats mentioned by Saxo nor fallen by
the sword of the brother-avenging son of Odin and Rind, or he has never
possessed the sword of victory here mentioned. It is not necessary to
point out in which of these alternatives we have the mythological fact.
_Hödr_ has never possessed the irresistible sword.
But Saxo has not himself invented the episode concerning the sword of
victory, nor has he introduced this episode in his narrative about
Hotherus without thinking he had good reason therefor.
It follows with certainty that the episode belongs to the saga of another
hero, and that things were found in that saga which made it possible for
Saxo to confound him with _Hödr_.
The question then arises who this hero was. The first thread the
investigation finds, and has to follow, is the name itself, Hotherus,
within which Latin form Oder can lie concealed as well as _Hödr_.
In the mythology _Odr_, like _Hödr_, was an inhabitant of Asgard, but
nevertheless, like _Hödr_, he has had hostile relations to Asgard, and in
this connection he has fought with Thor (see No. 103). The similarity of
the names and the similarity of the mythological situation are sufficient
to explain the confusion on the part of Saxo. But there are several
other reasons, of which I will give one. The weapon with which Hoder
slew Balder in the mythology was a young twig, _Mistelteinn_. The sword
of victory made by Volund, with hostile intentions against the gods,
could, for the very reason that it was dangerous to Asgard, be compared
by skalds with the mistletoe, and be so called in a poetic-rhetorical
figure. The fact is, that both in Skirnersmal and in Fjölsvinnsmal
the Volund sword is designated as a _teinn_; that the _mistletoe_ is
included in the list of sword-names in the Younger Edda; and that in the
later Icelandic saga-literature _mistelteinn_ is a sword which is owned
in succession by Saming, _Thráinn_, and Romund Greipson; and finally,
that all that is there said about this sword _mistelteinn_ is a faithful
echo of the sword of victory made by Volund, though the facts are more
or less confused. Thus we find, for example, that it is _Máni Karl_ who
informs Romund where the sword is to be sought, while in Saxo it is the
moon-god Gevar, Nanna's father, who tells Hotherus where it lies hid.
That the god _Máni_ and Gevar are identical has already been proved
(see Nos. 90, 91, 92). Already before Saxo's time the _mistelteinn_ and
the sword of victory of the mythology had been confounded with each
other, and Hoder's and Oder's weapons had received the same name. This
was another reason for Saxo to confound Hoder and Oder and unite them
in Hotherus. And when he found in some of his sources that a sword
_mistelteinn_ was used by Oder, and in others that a _mistelteinn_ was
wielded by Hoder, it was natural that he as a historian should prefer the
sword to the fabulous mistletoe (see more below).
The circumstance that two mythical persons are united into one in
Hotherus has given Saxo free choice of making his Hotherus the son of
the father of the one or of the other. In the mythology Hoder is the
son of Odin; Oder-Svipdag is the son of Orvandel. Saxo has made him a
son of Hoddbrodd, who is identical with Orvandel. It has already been
demonstrated (see No. 29) that Helge Hundingsbane is a copy of the
Teutonic patriarch Halfdan. The series of parallels by which this
demonstration was made clear at the same time makes it manifest that
Helge's rival Hoddbrodd is Halfdan's rival Orvandel. The same place as is
occupied in the Halfdan myth by Orvandel, Hoddbrodd occupies in the songs
concerning Helge Hundingsbane. What we had a right to expect, namely,
that Saxo, when he did not make Hotherus the son of Hoder's father,
should make him a son of Oder's, has actually been done, whence there can
be no doubt that Hoder and Oder were united into one in Saxo's Hotherus.
With this point perfectly established, it is possible to analyse Saxo's
narrative point by point, resolve it into its constituent parts, and
refer them to the one of the two myths concerning Hoder and Oder to
which they belong.[7] It has already been noted that Saxo was unable to
unite organically with his narration of Hoder's adventure the episode
concerning the sword of victory taken from Mimingus. The introduction of
this episode has made the story of Hotherus a chain of contradictions.
On the other hand, the same episode naturally adapts itself to the
Svipdag-Oder story, which we already know. We have seen that Svipdag
descends to the lower world and there gets into possession of the Volund
sword. Hence it is Svipdag-Oder, not Hoder, who is instructed by the
moon-god Gevar as to where the sword is to be found. It is he who crosses
the frost-mountains, penetrates into the _specus_ guarded by Mimingus,
and there captures the Volund sword and the Volund ring. It is Svipdag,
not Hoder, who, thanks to this sword, is able as _thursar thjódar sjóli_
to conquer the otherwise indomitable Halfdan--nay, even more, compel
Halfdan's co-father and protector, the Asa-god Thor, to yield.
Thus Saxo's accounts about Otharus and Hotherus fill two important gaps
in the records preserved to our time in the Icelandic sources concerning
the Svipdag-myth. To this is also to be added what Saxo tells us about
Svipdag under this very name (see Nos. 24, 33): that he carries on an
implacable war with Halfdan after the latter had first secured and then
rejected Groa; that after various fortunes of war he conquers him and
gives him a mortal wound; that he takes Halfdan's and Groa's son Gudhorm
into his good graces and gives him a kingdom, but that he pursues and
wars against Halfdan's and Alveig-Signe's son Hadding, and finally falls
by his hand.
Hotherus-Svipdag's perilous journey across the frosty mountains,
mentioned by Saxo, is predicted by Groa in her seventh incantation of
protection over her son:
thann gel ek thér in sjaunda,
ef thik sækja kemr
frost á fjalli há
hávetrar kuldi
megit thinu holdi fara,
ok haldisk æ lik at lidum.
[5] According to Gheysmer's synopsis. Saxo himself says nothing of the
kind. The present reading of the passage in Saxo is distinctly mutilated.
[6] This Bugge, too, has observed, and he rightly assumes that the
episode concerning the sword has been interpolated from some other source.
[7] This analysis will be given in the second part of this work in the
treatise on the Balder-myth.
102.
SVIPDAG'S SYNONYM EIREKR. ERICUS DISERTUS IN SAXO.
We have not yet exhausted Saxo's contributions to the myth concerning
Svipdag. In two other passages in his _Historia Danica_ Svipdag
reappears, namely, in the accounts of the reigns of Frode III. and of
Halfdan Berggram, in both under the name Ericus (_Eirekr_), a name
applied to Svipdag in the mythology also (see No. 108).
The first reference showing that Svipdag and Erik are identical appears
in the following analogies:
Halfdan (Gram), who kills a Swedish king, is attacked in war by Svipdag.
Halfdan (Berggram), who kills a Swedish king, is attacked in war by Erik.
Svipdag is the son of the slain Swedish king's daughter.
Erik is the son of the slain Swedish king's daughter.
Saxo's account of King Frode is for the greater part the myth about Frey
told as history. We might then expect to find that Svipdag, who becomes
Frey's brother-in-law, should appear in some _rôle_ in Frode's history.
The question, then, is whether any brother-in-law of Frode plays a part
therein. This is actually the case. Frode's brother-in-law is a young
hero who is his general and factotum, and is called Ericus, with the
surname _Disertus_, the eloquent. The Ericus who appears as Halfdan's
enemy accordingly resembles Svipdag, Halfdan's enemy, in the fact that he
is a son of the daughter of the Swedish king slain by Halfdan. The Ericus
who is Frode-Frey's general, again, resembles Svipdag in the fact that
he marries Frode-Frey's sister. This is another indication that Erik and
Svipdag were identical in Saxo's mythic sources.
Let us now pursue these indications and see whether they are confirmed
by the stories which Saxo tells of Halfdan's enemy Erik and Frode-Frey's
brother-in-law, Erik the eloquent.
Saxo first brings us to the paternal home of Erik the eloquent. In the
beginning of the narrative Erik's mother is already dead and his father
is married a second time (_Hist._, 192). Compare with this the beginning
of Svipdag's history, where his mother, according to Grogalder, is dead,
and his father is married again.
The stepmother has a son, by name Rollerus, whose position in the
myth I shall consider hereafter. Erik and Roller leave their paternal
home to find Frode-Frey and his sister Gunvara, a maiden of the most
extraordinary beauty. Before they proceed on this adventurous journey
Erik's stepmother, Roller's mother, has given them a wisdom-inspiring
food to eat, in which one of the constituent parts was the fat of three
serpents. Of this food the cunning Erik knew how to secure the better
part, really intended for Roller. But the half-brothers were faithful
friends.
From Saxo's narrative it appears that Erik had no desire at all to make
this journey. It was Roller who first made the promise to go in search
for Frode and his sister, and it was doubtless Erik's stepmother who
brought about that Erik should assist his brother in the accomplishment
of the task. Erik himself regarded the resolve taken by Roller as
surpassing his strength (_Hist._, 193).
This corresponds with what Grogalder tells us about Svipdag's
disinclination to perform the task imposed on him by his stepmother. This
also gives us the key to Grogalder's words, that Svipdag was commanded
to go and find not only "the one fond of ornaments," but "_those_ fond
of ornaments" (_koma móti Menglödum_). The plural indicates that there
is more than one "fond of ornaments" to be sought. It is necessary to
bring back to Asgard not only Freyja, but also Frey her brother, the god
of the harvests, for whom the ancient artists made ornaments, and who
as a symbol of nature is the one under whose supremacy the forces of
vegetation in nature decorate the meadows with grass and the fields with
grain. He, too, with his sister, was in the power of the giant-world in
the great fimbul-winter (see below).
The food to which serpents must contribute one of the constituent parts
reappears in Saxo's account of Hotherus (_Hist._, 123; No. 101), and
is there described with about the same words. In both passages three
serpents are required for the purpose. That Balder should be nourished
with this sort of food is highly improbable. The serpent food in the
stories about Hotherus and Ericus has been borrowed from the Svipdag-myth.
The land in which Frode and his beautiful sister live is difficult of
access, and magic powers have hitherto made futile every effort to get
there. The attendants of the brother and sister there are described as
the most savage, the most impudent, and the most disagreeable that can be
conceived. They are beings of the most disgusting kind, whose manners are
as unrestrained as their words. To get to this country it is necessary to
cross an ocean, where storms, conjured up by witchcraft, threaten every
sailor with destruction.
Groa has predicted this journey, and has sung a magic song of protection
over her son against the dangers which he is to meet on the magic sea:
thann gel ek thér inn sétta
ef thú á sjó kemr
meira en menn viti:
logn ok lögr
gangi thér i lúdr saman
ok ljái thér æ friddrjúgrar farar.