Loke are out on a journey. They have traversed mountains and wildernesses
(Bragarædur, 2), and are now in a region which, to judge from the
context, is situated within Thjasse's domain, Thrymheim. The latter,
who is _margspakr_ and _lómhugadr_ (Haustl., 3, 12), has planned an
ambush for Loke in the very place which they have now reached: a valley
(Bragarædur, 2) overgrown with oak-trees (Haustl., 6), and the more
inviting as a place of refreshment and rest, inasmuch as the Asas are
hungry after their long journey (Bragarædur, 21), and see a herd of
"yoke-bears" pasturing in the grass near by. Thjasse has calculated on
this and makes one of the bears act the part of a decoy (_tálhreinn_
= a decoy reindeer--Haustlaung, 3; see Vigfusson's Dict., 626), which
permits itself to be caught by the travellers. That the animal belongs
to Thjasse's herds follows from the fact that it (str. 6) is said to
belong to the "dis of the bow-string," Skade, his daughter. The animal
is slaughtered and a fire is kindled, over which it is to be roasted.
Near the place selected for the eating of the meal there lies, as it were
accidentally, a rail or stake. It resembles a common rail, but is in fact
one of Thjasse's smith-works, having magic qualities. When the animal is
to be carved, it appears that the "decoy reindeer was quite hard between
the bones for the gods to cut" (_tálhreinn var medal beina tormidladr
tífum_--str. 3). At the same time the Asas had seen a great eagle flying
toward them (str. 2), and alighting near the place where they prepared
their feast (str. 3). From the context it follows that they took it for
granted that the eagle guise concealed Thjasse, the ruler of the region.
The animal being found to be so hard to carve, the Asas at once guess
that Thjasse, skilled in magic arts, is the cause, and they immediately
turn to him with a question, which at the same time tells him that they
know who he is:
Hvat, quotho, hapta snytrir
hjálmfaldinn, thvi valda?
"They (the gods) said (_quotho_): Why cause this (_hvat thvi valda_) thou
ornament-giver of the gods (_hjálmfaldinn hapta snytrir_), concealed in
a guise (eagle guise)?" He at once answers that he desires his share of
the sacred meal of the gods, and to this Odin gives his consent. Nothing
indicates that Odin sees a foe in Thjasse. There is then no difficulty
in regard to the roast; and when it is ready and divided into four
parts Thjasse flies down, but, to plague Loke, he takes so much that
the latter, angry, and doubtless also depending on Odin's protection if
needed, seizes the rail lying near at hand and strikes the eagle a blow
across the back. But Loke could not let go his hold of the rail; his hand
stuck fast to one end while the other end clung to the eagle, and Thjasse
flew with him and did not let go of him before he had forced him to swear
an oath that he would bring Idun into Thjasse's hands.
So long as it was impossible to assume that Thjasse had been the friend
of the gods before this event happened, and in the capacity of ancient
artist had given them valuable products of his skill, and thus become
a _hapta snytrir_, it was also impossible to see in him, though he was
concealed in the guise of an eagle, the _hjálmfaldinn_ here in question,
since _hjálmfaldinn_ manifestly is in apposition to _hapta snytrir_,
"the decorator of the gods." (The common meaning of _hjálmr_, as is
well known, is a covering, a garb, or which _hjálmr_ in the sense of a
helmet is a specification.) It therefore became necessary to assume that
Odin was meant by _hjálmfaldinn_ and _hapta snytrir_. This led to the
changing of _quotho_ to _quad_, and to the insertion in the manuscripts
of a _mun_ not found there, and to the exclusion of a _thvi_ found there.
The result was, moreover, that no notice was taken of the use made of
the expressions _hjálmfaldinn_ and _snytrir_ in a poem closely related
to Haustlaung, and evidently referring to its description of Thjasse.
This poem is Einar Skalaglam's "Vellekla," which celebrates Hakon Jarl,
the Great. Hakon Jarl regarded himself as descended from Thjasse through
the latter's daughter, Skade (Háleygjatal), and on this account Vellekla
contains a number of allusions to the mythic progenitor. The task (from
a poetic and rhetorical point of view) which Einar has undertaken is in
fact that of taking, so far as possible, the kernel of those paraphrases
with which he celebrates Hakon Jarl (see below) from the myth concerning
Thjasse, and the task is performed with force and acumen. In the
execution of his poem Einar has had before him that part of Thjodulf's
Haustlaung which concerned Thjasse. In str. 6 he calls Thjasse's
descendant _thjódar snytrir_, taking his cue from Haustlaung, which calls
Thjasse _hapta snytrir_. In str. 8 he gives Hakon the epithet _hjálmi
faldinn_, having reference to Haustlaung, which makes Thjasse appear
_hjálm faldinn_. In str. 10 Hakon is a _gard-Rögnir_, just as Thjasse is
a _ving-Rögnir_ in Haustlaung. In str. 11 Hakon is a _midjungr_, just as
Thjasse is a _midjungr_ in Haustlaung. In str. 16 an allusion is made
in the phrase _vildi Yggsnidr fridar bildja_ to Haustlaung's _málunautr
hváts mátti fridar bidja_. In str. 21 Hakon is called _hlym-Narfi_, just
as Thjasse in Haustlaung is called _grjót Nidadr_ (_Narfi_ and _Nidadr_
are epithets of Mimer; see Nos. 85, 87). In str. 22 Hakon is called
_fangsæll_, and Thjasse has the same epithet in Haustlaung. Some of the
paraphrases in Vellekla, to which the myth about Thjasse furnishes the
kernel, I shall discuss below. There can, therefore, be no doubt whatever
that Einar in Haustlaung's _hjálmfaldinn_ and _hapta snytrir_ saw
epithets of Thjasse, and we arrive at the same result if we interpret the
text in its original reading and make no emendations.
Thus we have already found three paraphrases which inform us that Thjasse
was an ancient artist, one of the great smiths of mythology: (1) _thiaza
thingskil_, golden treasures produced as evidence in court owned or made
by Thjasse; (2) _hapta snytrir_, he who gave ornaments to the gods; (3)
_fadir mörna_, the father of the swords.
Thjasse's claim to become a table-companion of the gods and to eat
with them, _af helgu skutli_, points in all probability to an ancient
mythological fact of which we find a counterpart in the Iranian
records. This fact is that, as a compensation for the services he had
rendered the gods, Thjasse was anxious to be elevated to their rank
and to receive sacrifices from their worshippers. This demand from the
Teutonic star-hero Thjasse is also made by the Iranian star-hero Tistrya,
Rigveda's Tishya. Tistrya complains in Avesta that he has not sufficient
strength to oppose the foe of growth, Apaosha, since men do not worship
him, Tistrya, do not offer sacrifices to him. If they did so, it is said,
then he would be strong enough to conquer. Tishya-Tistrya does not appear
to have obtained complete rank as a god; but still he is worshipped in
Rigveda, though very seldom, and in cases of severe dry weather the
Iranians were commanded to offer sacrifices to him.
(17) In Haustlaung Thjasse is called _ving-Rögnir vagna_, "the Rogner of
the winged cars," and _fjardarblads leik-Regin_, "the Regin of the motion
of the feather-leaf (the wing)." In the mythology Thjasse, like Volund,
wears an eagle guise. In an eagle guise Volund flies away from his prison
at Mimer-_Nidadr's_. When Thjasse, through Loke's deceit, is robbed of
Idun, he hastens in wild despair, with the aid of his eagle guise, after
the robber, gets his wings burned in the vaferflames kindled around
Asgard, falls pierced by the javelins of the gods, and is slain by Thor.
The original meaning of _Regin_ is maker, creator, arranger, worker. The
meaning has been preserved through the ages, so that the word _regin_,
though applied to all the creative powers (Völsupa), still retained even
in Christian times the signification of artist, smith, and reappears in
the heroic traditions in the name of the smith _Reginn_. When, therefore,
Thjasse is called "the Regin of the motion of the feather-leaf," there
is no reason to doubt that the phrase alludes not only to the fact
that he possessed a feather guise, but also to the idea that he was
its "smith;" the less so as we have already seen him characterised as
an ancient artist in the phrases _thiaza thingskil_, _hapta snytrir_,
and _fadir mörna_. Thus we here have a fourth proof of the same kind.
The phrase "the Rognir of the winged cars" connects him not only with a
single vehicle, but with several. "Wing-car" is a paraphrase for a guise
furnished with wings, and enabling its owner to fly through the air. The
expression "wing-car" may be applied to several of the strange means used
by the powers for locomotion through the air and over the sea, as, for
instance, the cars of Thor and Frey, Balder's ship Ringhorn, Frey's ship
Skidbladner, and the feather garbs of the swan-maids. The mythology which
knew from whose hands Skidbladner proceeded certainly also had something
to say of the masters who produced Ringhorn and the above-mentioned cars
and feather garbs. That they were made by ancient artists and not by the
highest gods is an idea of ancient Aryan birth. In Rigveda it was the
Ribhus, the counterparts of the Ivalde sons, who smithied the wonderful
car-ship of the Asvinians and Indra's horses.
The appellations _Rögnir_ and _Regin_ also occur outside of Haustlaung in
connection with each other, and this even as late as in the _Skida-Rima_,
composed between 1400 and 1450, where Regin is represented as a smith
(_Rögnir kallar Regin til sín: rammliga skaltu smida_--str. 102). In
Forspjallsljod (10) we read: _Galdr gólo, gaundom ritho Rögnir ok Regin
at ranni heimis_--"Rogner and Regin sang magic songs at the edge of the
earth and constructed magic implements." They who do this are artists,
smiths. In strophe 8 they are called _viggiar_, and _viggi_ is a synonym
of _smidr_ (Younger Edda, i. 587). While they do this Idun is absent from
Asgard (Forspjallsljod, str. 6), and a terrible cold threatens to destroy
the earth. The words in Völuspa, with which the terrible fimbul-winter
of antiquity is characterised, _loptr lævi blandinn_, are adopted by
Forspjallsljod (str. 6--_lopti med lævi_), thus showing that the same
mythic event is there described. The existence of the order of the world
is threatened, the earth and the source of light are attacked by evil
influences, the life of nature is dying, from the north (east), from the
Elivagar rivers come piercing, rime-cold arrows of frost, which kill men
and destroy the vegetation of the earth. The southern source of the lower
world, whose function it is to furnish warming saps to the world-tree,
was not able to prevent the devastations of the frost. "It was so
ordained," it is said in Forspjallsljod, str. 2, "that Urd's _Odrærir_
(Urd's fountain) did not have sufficient power to supply protection
against the terrible cold."[11] The destruction is caused by Rogner
and Regin. Their magic songs are heard even in Asgard. Odin listens in
Lidskjalf and perceives that the song comes from the uttermost end of
the world. The gods are seized by the thought that the end of the world
is approaching, and send their messengers to the lower world in order to
obtain there from the wise norn a solution of the problem of the world
and to get the impending fate of the world proclaimed.
In the dictionaries and in the mythological text-books _Rögnir_ is said
to be one of Odin's epithets. In his excellent commentary on Vellekla,
Freudenthal has expressed a doubt as to the correctness of this view. I
have myself made a list of all the passages in the Old Norse literature
where the name occurs, and I have thereby reached the conclusion that
the statement in the dictionaries and in the text-books has no other
foundation than the name-list in _Eddubrott_ and the above-cited
_Skidarima_, composed in the fifteenth century. The conceptions of
the latter in regard to heathen mythology are of such a nature that
it should never in earnest be regarded as an authority anent this
question. In the Old Norse records there cannot be found a single passage
where _Rögnir_ is used as an epithet of Odin. It is everywhere used in
reference to a mythic being who was a smith and a singer of magic songs,
and regularly, and without exception, refers to Thjasse. While Thjodolf
designates Thjasse as the Rogner of the wing-cars, his descendant Hakon
Jarl gets the same epithet in Einar Skalaglam's paraphrases. He is _hjörs
brak-Rögnir_, "the Rogner of the sword-din," and _Geirrásargard-Rögnir_,
"the Rogner of the wall of the sword-flight (the shield)." The Thjasse
descendant, Sigurd Hladejarl, is, in harmony herewith, called _fens
furs Rögnir_. _Thrym-Rögnir_ (Eg., 58) alludes to Thjasse as ruler in
Thrymheim. A parallel phrase to _thrym-Rögnir_ is _thrym-Regin_ (Younger
Edda, i. 436). Thus, while Thjasse is characterised as _Rögnir_, Saxo
has preserved the fact that Volund's brother, Orvandel-Egil, bore the
epithet Regin. Saxo Latinises Regin into Regnerus, and gives this name
to Ericus-Svipdag's father (_Hist._, 192). The epithet _Rögnir_ confines
itself exclusively to a certain group--to Thjasse and his supposed
descendants. Among them it is, as it were, an inheritance.
The paraphrases in Vellekla are of great mythological importance. While
other mythic records relate that Thjasse carried away Idun, the goddess
of vegetation, the goddess who controls the regenerating forces in
nature, and that he thus assisted in bringing about the great winter of
antiquity, we learn from Vellekla that it was he who directly, and by
separate magic acts, produced this winter, and that he, accordingly,
acted the same part in this respect as Rogner and Regin do in
Forspjallsljod.
Thus, for example, the poem on Hakon Jarl, when the latter fought against
the sons of Gunhild, says: _Hjörs brak-Rögnir skók bogna hagl or Hlakkar
seglum_, "the Rogner of the sword-din shook the hail of the bows from the
sails of the valkyrie." The mythic kernel of the paraphrase is: _Rögnir
skók hagl ur seglum_, "Rogner shook hails from the sails." The idea is
still to be found in the sagas that men endowed with magic powers could
produce a hailstorm by shaking napkins or bags, filling the air with
ashes, or by untying knots. And in Christian records it is particularly
stated of Hakon Jarl that he held in honour two mythic beings--Thorgerd
and Irpa--who, when requested, could produce storms, rain, and hail. No
doubt this tradition is connected with Hakon's supposed descent from
Thjasse, the cause of hailstorms and of the fimbul-winter. By making
Rogner the "Rogner of the sword-din," and the hail sent by him "the hail
of the bows," and the sails or napkins shook by him "the sails of the
valkyrie"--that is to say, the shields--the skald makes the mythological
kernel pointed out develop into figures applicable to the warrior to the
battle.
In other paraphrases Vellekla says that the descendant of Thjasse, Hakon,
made "the death-cold sword-storm grow against the life of udal men in
Odin's storm," and that he was "an elf of the earth of the wood-land"
coming from the north, who, with "murder-frost," received the warriors of
the south (Emperor Otto's army) at Dannevirke. Upon the whole Vellekla
chooses the figures used in describing the achievements of Hakon from
the domain of cold and storm, and there can be no doubt that it does so
in imitation of the Thjasse-myth.
In another poem to Hakon Jarl, of which poem there is only a fragment
extant, the skald Einar speaks of Hakon's generosity, and says: _Verk
Rögnis mer hogna_, "Rogner's works please me." We know that Hakon
Jarl once gave Einar two gilt silver goblets, to which belonged two
scales in the form of statuettes, the one of gold, the other of silver,
which scales were thought to possess magic qualities, and that Hakon
on another occasion gave him an exceedingly precious engraved shield,
inlaid between the engraved parts with gold and studded with precious
stones. It was customary for the skalds to make songs on such gifts. It
follows, therefore, that the "works of Rogner," with which Einar says
he was pleased, are the presents which Hakon, the supposed descendant
of Rogner-Thjasse, gave him; and I find this interpretation the more
necessary for the reason that we have already found several unanimous
evidences of Thjasse's position in the mythology as an artist of the
olden time.
Forspjallsljod's Rogner "sings magic songs" and "concocts witchcraft" in
order to encourage and strengthen by these means of magic the attack of
the powers of frost on the world protected by the gods. Haustlaung calls
Thjasse _ramman reimud Jötunheima_, "the powerful _reimud_ of Jotunheim."
The word _reimud_ occurs nowhere else. It is thought to be connected with
_reimt_ and _reimleikar_, words which in the writings of Christian times
refer to ghosts, supernatural phenomena, and _reimudr_. _Jötunheima_ has
therefore been interpreted as "the one who made Jotunheim the scene of
his magic arts and ghost-like appearances." From what has been stated
above, it is manifest that this interpretation is correct.
[Illustration: THOR, HYMIR, AND THE MIDGARD SERPENT.
(_From an etching by Lorenz Frölich._)
Hymir, a giant and ruler of the winter sea, was the owner of a great
kettle that brewed any quantity desired of the finest ale. The gods,
eager to posses the kettle, sent Thor to obtain it. Proceeding to the
borders of heaven, where Hymir lived, Thor assumed the form of a young
man and appearing before the giant, asked permission to accompany him
on a fishing excursion. The giant objected that so small a youth could
not endure the hardships of such a journey, but finally consented. Thor
secured necessary bait by tearing the head from a bull, and the two then
set off to row far out to sea. Thor insisted upon going further until
they came near the borders of the world, and the two began to fish. Hymir
soon hooked and drew up two whales, which he boastfully showed as proof
of his strength, but soon after Thor hooked the Midgard Serpent, which
rose spouting floods of venom that greatly terrified Hymir. Thor pulled
with so much strength on the line that he broke through the bottom of the
boat, but his feet stood upon the bottom of the sea and he raised his
hammer to strike the serpent; Hymir was so alarmed, however, that he cut
the line and let the serpent escape. Thor then rowed back with Hymir to
his castle, where he slew Hymir and several other giants and secured the
kettle.
See page 855.]
A passage in Thorsdrapa (str. 3), to which I shall recur below, informs
us that at the time when Thor made his famous journey to the fire-giant
Geirrod, Rogner had not yet come to an agreement with Loke in regard to
the plan of bringing ruin on the gods. Rogner was, therefore, during a
certain period of his life, the foe of the gods, but during a preceding
period he was not an enemy. The same is true of Thjasse. He was for a
time _hapta snytrir_, "the one giving the gods treasures." At another
time he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changed into _dólgr
ballastr vallar_, "the most powerful foe of the earth" (Haustl., 6), an
expression which characterises him as the cause of the fimbul-winter.
There still remain one or two important passages in regard to the correct
interpretation of the epithet Rogner. In Atlakvida (33) it is said of
Gudrun when she goes to meet her husband Atle, who has returned home,
carrying in her hand a golden goblet, that she goes to _reifa gjöld
Rögnis_, "to present that requital or that revenge which Rogner gave."
To avenge her brothers, Gudrun slew in Atle's absence the two young sons
she had with him and made goblets of their skulls. Into one of these
she poured the drink of welcome for Atle. A similar revenge is told
about Volund. The latter secretly kills _Nidadr's_ two young sons and
makes goblets out of their skulls for their father. In the passage it
is stated that the revenge of Gudrun against Atle was of the same kind
as Rogner's revenge against some one whom he owed a grudge. So far as
our records contain any information, Volund is the only one to whom the
epithet Rogner is applicable in this case. Of no one else is it reported
that he took a revenge of such a kind that Gudrun's could be compared
therewith. In all other passages the epithet Rogner refers to "the father
of the swords," to the ancient artist Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. Here
it refers to the father of the most excellent sword, to the ancient
artist Volund, the son of Ivalde.
The strophe in Vellekla, which compares the Thjasse descendant Hakon
Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner, also alludes to another point in
the myth concerning him by a paraphrase the kernel of which is: _Varat
svanglýjadi at frýja ofbyrjar nè drifu_, "it was impossible to defy the
swan-pleaser in the matter of storm and bad weather." The paraphrase is
made applicable to Hakon by making the "swan-pleaser" into the "pleaser
of the swan of the sword's high-billowing fjord"--that is to say, the
one who pleases the bird of the battlefield, that is, the raven. The
storm is changed into "the storm of arrows," and the bad weather into
the "bad weather of the goddess of the battle." The mythological kernel
of this paraphrase, and that which sheds light on our theme, is the fact
that Rogner in the mythology was "one who pleased the swans." In the
heroic poem three swan-maids are devoted in their love to Volund and his
brothers. Volundarkvida says that the third one lays her arms around
Volund-Anund's white neck.
We will now combine the results of this investigation concerning Rogner,
and in so doing we will first consider what is said of him when the name
occurs independently, and not connected with paraphrases, and then what
is said of him in paraphrases in which his name constitutes the kernel.
Forspjallsljod describes Rogner as dwelling on the northern-most edge
of the earth at the time when Idun was absent from Asgard. There he
sings magic songs and concocts witchcraft, by which means he sends a
destructive winter out upon the world. He is a "smith," and in his
company is found one or more than one mythic person called Regin. (Regin
may be singular or plural.)
Einar Skalaglam, who received costly treasures from Hakon Jarl, speaks in
his song of praise to the latter of the "works of Rogner," which please
him, and which must be the treasures he received from the Jarl.
In Thorsdrapa, Eilif Gudrunson relates that Rogner had not yet
"associated himself" with Loke when Thor made his expedition to Geirrod.
Atlakvida states that he revenged himself on some one, with which revenge
the song compares Gudrun's when she hands to Atle the goblets made of the
skulls of the two young sons of the latter.
All the facts presented in these passages are rediscovered in the myth
concerning Ivalde's sons--Volund, Egil, and Slagfin. There was a time
when they were the friends of the gods and smithied for them costly
treasures, and there was another time when they had the same plans as
Loke tried to carry out in a secret manner--that is, to dethrone the
gods and destroy what they had created. They deliver their foster-son
Frey, the young god of harvests, to the giants (see Nos. 109, 112)--an
event which, like Idun's disappearance from Asgard, refers to the coming
of the fimbul-winter--and they depart to the most northern edge of the
lower world where they dwell with swan-maids, dises of growth, who, like
Idun in Forspjallsljod (str. 8), must have changed character and joined
the world-hostile plots of their lovers. (Of Idun it is said, in the
strophe mentioned, that she clothed herself in a wolf-skin given her
by the smiths, and _lyndi breytti, lek at lævisi, litom skipti_.) The
revenge which Volund, during his imprisonment by Nidad, takes against
the latter explains why Atlakvida characterises Gudrun's terrible deed
as "Rogner's revenge." In regard to the witchcraft (_gand_) concocted
by Rogner and Regin, it is to be said that the sword of victory made by
Volund is a _gandr_ in the original sense of this word--an implement
endowed with magic powers, and it was made during his sojourn in the
Wolfdales.