effort at interpretation, shows that his skill was occupied with other
magic things while he dwelt there. The passage reads: _Lucthi hann alla
lindbauga vel_. The "lind"-rings in question, smithied of "red gold"
(see the preceding lines in strophe 5), are, according to the prefix,
_lind, linnr_, serpent-formed rings, which again are gand- (witchcraft)
rings on account of the mysterious qualities ascribed to the serpent.
_Lindbaugi_ is another form for _linnbaugi_, just as _lindból_ is
another form for _linnból_. The part played by the serpent in the
magic arts made it, when under the influence or in the possession of
the magician, a _gand_, whence _linnr_, a serpent, could be used as
a paraphrase of _gandr_, and _gandr_ could in turn, in the compound
_Jörmungandr_, be used as an epithet for the Midgard-serpent. The rings
which Volund "closed well together" are gand-rings. The very rope (_bast,
böstr_--Volundarkvida, 7, 12) on which he hangs the seven hundred
gand-rings he has finished seems to be a gand, an object of witchcraft,
with which Volund can bind and from which he can release the wind.
When Nidad's men surprised Volund in his sleep and bound him with this
rope, he asks ambiguously who "had bound the wind" with it (str. 12).
In two passages in Volundarkvida (str. 4, 8) he is called _vedreygr_,
"the storm-observer," or "the storm-terrible." The word may have either
meaning. That Volund for his purposes, like Rogner, made use of magic
songs is manifest from Saxo (_Hist._, 323, 324). According to Saxo it was
by means of Volund-Haquinus' magic song that the Volund-sword, wielded by
Svipdag-Ericus, was able to conquer Thor's hammer and Halfdan's club.
Passing now to the passages where the name Rogner occurs in paraphrases,
I would particularly emphasize what I have already demonstrated: that
Haustlaung with this name refers to Thjasse; that poems of a more recent
date than Haustlaung, and connected with the same celebrated song, apply
it to the supposed descendants of Thjasse, Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen;
that all of these paraphrases represent Rogner as a producer of storm,
snow, and hail; and that Rogner made "wind-cars," was a "Regin of the
motion of the feather-leaf" (the wing), and "one who pleased the swans."
Therefore (_a_) Rogner is an epithet of Thjasse, and at the same time it
designates Volund; (_b_) all that is said of Rogner, when the name in the
paraphrases is a Thjasse-epithet, applies to Volund; (_c_) all that is
said of Rogner, independently of paraphrases, applies to Volund.
(18) A usage in the Old Norse poetry is to designate a person by the name
of his opponent, when, by means of an additional characterisation, it
can be made evident that the former and not the latter is meant. Thus,
a giant can be called _berg-thórr_ or _grjót-Módi_, because he once had
Thor or Thor's son Mode as an opponent, and these epithets particularly
apply to giants who actually fought with Thor or Mode in the mythology.
In contrast with their successors in Christian times, the heathen skalds
took great pains to give their paraphrases special justification and
support in some mythological event. For the same reason that a giant
who had fought with Mode could be called _grjót-Módi_, Volund, as
Nidad's foe, could be called _grjót-Nidudr_. This epithet also occurs a
single time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Haustlaung, and there
it is applied to Thjasse. The paraphrase shows that the skald had in
his mind a corresponding (antithetic) circumstance between Thjasse and
_Nidadr_ (_Nidudr_). What we are able to gather from our sources is, that
Volund and _Nidadr_ had had an encounter, and that one of so decisive
a character, that the epithet _grjót-Nidudr_ naturally would make the
hearers think of Volund.
(19) When Loke had struck Thjasse, who was in eagle guise, with the magic
pole, Thjasse flew up; and as Loke's hand was glued fast to one end of
the pole and the eagle held fast to the other end, Loke had to accompany
the eagle on its flight. Haustlaung says that Thjasse, pleased with
his prey, bore him a long distance (_of veg lángan_) through the air.
He directed his course in such a manner that Loke's body fared badly,
probably being dragged over trees and rocks (_svá at slitna sundr úlfs
födor mundi_). Then follows in the poem the lines given below, which I
quote from Codex Regius, with the exception of a single word (_midjungs_,
instead of _mildings_), which I cite from Codex Wormianus. Here, as
elsewhere, I base nothing on text emendations, because even such, for
which the best of reasons may be given, do not furnish sufficient
foundation for mythological investigation, when the changes are not
supported by some manuscript, or are in and of themselves absolutely
necessary.
thá vard thórs ofrunni,
thúngr var Loptr, of sprúnginn;
málunautr hvats mátti
midjungs fridar bidja.
The contents of these lines, in the light of what has now been stated,
are as follows:
Thjasse's pleasure in dragging Loke with him, and making his limbs come
in disagreeable contact with objects on their way, was so great that
he did not abstain therefrom, before he felt that he had over-exerted
himself. Strong as he was, this could not but happen, for he had been
flying with his burden very far from the place where he captured Loke in
the ambush he had laid; and, besides, Loke was heavy. The badly-hurt Loke
had during the whole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the flight
he was unable to do so. When Thjasse finally sank to the ground, Loke
obtained a breathing space, so that he could sue for mercy.
In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse is called _thórs
ofrunni_ or _thórs ofrúni_, "he who made Thor run," or "he who was
Thor's friend," and "_midjungr_," a word the meaning of which it is
of no importance to investigate in connection with the question under
consideration. Loke is called _Loptr_, a surname which is applied to
him many times, and _málunautr hvats midjungs_, "he who had journeyed
with the female companion of the powerful Midjung (Thjasse)." The female
companion (_mála_) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase refers to the
myth telling how Loke carried Idun away from Thjasse's halls, and flew
with her to Asgard.
With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a literal
translation of the passage:
(Thjasse flew a long way with Loke, so that the latter came near being
torn into pieces), "... thereupon (_thá_ = _deinde_) became he who
caused Thor to run (_vard Ihórs ofrunni_)--or who became Thor's friend
(_Ihórs ofrúni_)--tired out (_ofsprúnginn_), (for) Lopt was heavy
(_thúngr var Loptr_). He (Loke) who had made a journey with the powerful
Midjung's (Thjasse's) female companion (_málunautr hvats midjungs_) could
(now finally) sue for peace (_mátti fridar bidja_)."
In the lines--
thá vard thórs ofrunni
thúngr var Loptr, ofsprúnginn--
_thúngr var Loptr_ clearly stands as an intermediate sentence, which, in
connection with what has been stated above, namely, that Thjasse had been
flying a long way with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse,
though exceedingly strong, stronger than _Hrungnir_ (the Grotte-song),
still was at the point of succumbing from over-exertion. The skald has
thus given the reason why Thjasse, "rejoicing in what he had caught,"
sank to the earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up than
was the case. To understand the connection, the word _mátti_ in the
third line is of importance. Hitherto the words _málunautr hvats mátti
midjungs fridar bidja_ have been interpreted as if they meant that Loke
"was compelled" to ask Thjasse for peace. _Mátti_ has been understood to
mean _coactus est_. Finnur Jonsson (_Krit. Stud._, p. 48) has pointed
out that not a single passage can with certainty or probability be found
where the verb _mega, mátti_, means "to be compelled." Everywhere it can
be translated "to be able." Thus the words _mátti fridar bidja_ mean
that Loke _could_, was able to, ask Thjasse for peace. The reason why
he was able is stated above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of
flying with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight and the
disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and objects with which he
came in contact, he was not able to treat with his capturer; but when
the latter had settled on the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and
could beg to be spared. The half strophe thus interpreted gives the
most logical connection, and gives three causes and three results: (1)
Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue in speaking to Thjasse, since
the latter ceased to fly before Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor's
_ofrunni_ or _ofrúni_ ended his air-journey, because he, though a very
powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself; (3) he felt
wearied because Loke, with whom he had been flying, was heavy. But from
this it follows with absolute certainty that the skald, with Thor's
_ofrunni_ or _ofrúni_, meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been
supposed. The epithet Thor's _ofrunni_, "he who made Thor run," must
accordingly be explained by some mythic event, which shows that Thor at
one time had to take flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance
has come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an opponent, and
it is hardly credible that the mythology should allow its favourite to
retreat conquered more than once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword,
wielded by Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him to
retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor's _ofrunni_. In Haustlaung it is
Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore meet the fact which has so frequently
come to the surface in these investigations, namely, that the same thing
is told of Volund and of Thjasse.
But by the side of _ofrunni_ we have another reading which must be
considered. Codex Wormianus has _ofrúni_ instead of _ofrunni_, and, as
Wisén has pointed out, this runni must, for the sake of the metre, be
read _rúni_. According to this reading Thjasse must at some time have
been Thor's _ofrúni_, that is, Thor's confidential friend. This reading
also finds its support in the mythology, as shall be demonstrated further
on. I may here be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that
of two readings only the one can be the original, while both may be
justified by the mythology.
(20) In the mythology are found characters that form a group by
themselves, and whose characteristic peculiarity is that they practise
skee-running in connection with the use of the bow and arrow. This group
consists of the brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and
Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction to Volundarkvida it is
said of the three brothers that they ran on skees in the Wolfdales and
hunted. We have already referred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be
used on the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in Gylfaginning
(Younger Edda, i. 102): "He is so excellent an archer and skee-runner
that no one is his equal;" and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could
enchant a bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the skee),
so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees accordingly have the
same qualities as those of his father Egil, namely, that they can also be
used on the sea. Ull's skees seem furthermore to have had another very
remarkable character, namely, that when their possessor did not need them
for locomotion on land or on sea, they could be transformed into a shield
and be used in war. In this way we explain that the skalds could employ
_skip Ullar_, _Ullar far_, _knörr Örva áss_, as paraphrases for shields,
and that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina, _Ullr átti
skip that, er Skjöldr hét_. So far as his accomplishments are concerned,
Ull is in fact the counterpart of his father Egil, and the same may be
said of Skade. While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skade is
called "the goddess of the skees," "the dis of the skees," and "the dis
of the sea-bone," _sævar beins dis_, a paraphrase which manifestly has
the same origin as Saxo's account of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus
Thjasse's daughter has an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund's
kinsmen.
The names also connect those whom we find to be kinsmen of Volund with
Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's father; Ivalde is Volund's. _Ívaldi_
is another form for _Idvaldi_. The long prefixed _Í_ in _Ívaldi_ is
explained by the disappearance of _d_ from _Idvaldi_. _Id_ reappears in
the name of Ivalde's daughter _Idunn_ and Thjasse's brother _Idi_, and
these are the only mythological names in which _Id_ appears. Furthermore,
it has already been pointed out, that of Alvalde's (_Ölvaldi's_) three
sons there is one who has the epithet Wildboar (_Aurnir, Urnir_); and
that among Ivalde's three sons there is one--namely, Orvandel-Egil--who
has the same epithet (_Ibor, Ebur, Ebbo_); and that among Alvalde's sons
one--namely, Thjasse--has the epithet _Fjallgyldir_, "mountain-wolf"
(Haustlaung); while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one--namely,
Volund--who has the epithet _Ásólfr_, which also means "mountain-wolf."
In this connection it must not be forgotten that tradition has attached
the qualities of giants, not only to Thjasse, but also to Volund. That
this does not appear in the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that
Volund is not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic songs, but
only in the heroic fragment which we have in Volundarkvida. The memory
that Volund, though an elf-prince in the mythology, and certainly not
a full-blooded giant on his father's side, was regarded and celebrated
in song as an _iötunn_,--the memory of this not only survives in
Vilkinasaga, but appears there in an exaggeration fostered by later
traditions, to the effect that his father Vade (see No. 110) is there
called a giant, while his father's mother is said to have been a mermaid.
In another respect, too, there survives in Vilkinasaga the memory of a
relationship between Volund and the most famous giant-being. He and the
giants Etgeir (_Eggther_) and Vidolf are cousins, according to chapter
175. If we examine the Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in
Hyndluljod (53) as progenitor of all the mythological valas, and Aurboda,
the most notorious of the valas of mythology, mentioned in strophe 30
as a kinswoman of Thjasse. Thus while Hyndluljod makes Thjasse, the
Vilkinasaga makes Volund, a kinsman of the giant Vidolf.
Though in a form greatly changed, the Vilkinasaga has also preserved the
memory of the manner in which Volund's father closed his career. With
some smiths ("dwarfs") who lived in a remote mountain, Vade had made an
agreement, according to which, in return for a certain compensation, his
son Volund should learn their wonderful art as smiths. When, toward the
close of the time agreed upon, Vade appeared outside of the mountain,
he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche in accordance with the
treacherous arrangement of these smiths.
In the mythology Thjasse's father is the great drink-champion who, among
his many names and epithets, as we have seen, also has some that refer to
his position in the mythology in regard to fermented beverage; _Svigdir_
(the great drinker) _Ölvaldi_, _Ölmódr_, _Sumbl Finnakonungr_. In regard
to _Svigdir's_ death, it has already been shown (see No. 89) that, on his
complete disappearance from the mythology, he is outside of a mountain
in which Suttung and Suttung's sons, descendants of Surt-Durinn, with
Mimer the most ancient smith (see No. 89), have their halls; that on his
arrival a treacherous dwarf, the doorkeeper of Suttung's sons, goes to
meet him, and that he is "betrayed" by the dwarf, never enters the rocky
halls, and consequently must have died outside.
Vilkinasaga's very late statements (probably taken from German
traditions), in regard to the death of Volund's father, thus correspond
in the main features with what is related in the Norse records as to how
Thjasse's father disappeared from the scene of mythology.
In regard to the birth and rank of Thjasse's father among the mythic
powers, the following statements in poems from the heathen time are to be
observed. When Haustlaung tells how Thjasse falls into the vaferflames
kindled around Asgard, it makes use of the words _Greipar bidils son
svidnar_, "the son of Greip's wooer is scorched." Thus Thjasse's mother
is the giantess Greip, who, according to a stanza cited in the Younger
Edda, i. 288, is a daughter of the giant _Geirrödr_ and a sister of
Gjalp. One of these sisters, and, so far as we can see, Greip, is, in
Thorsdrapa, called _meinsvarans hapts arma farmr_, "the embrace of the
arms of the perjurous _hapt_." _Höpt_, sing _hapt_, is like _bönd_,
meaning the same, an appellation of lower and higher powers, _numina_
of various ranks. If by the perjurous mistress of the _hapt_ Greip, and
not the sister Gjalp, is meant, then Thjasse's father is a being who
belonged to the number of the _numina_ of the mythology, and who, with a
giantess whose _bidill_ he had been, begat the son Thjasse, and probably
also the latter's brothers _Idi_ and _Gángr_ (_Aurnir_). What rank this
perjurous _hapt_ held among the powers is indicated in Vellekla, strophe
9, which, like the foregoing strophe 8, and the succeeding strophes
10, 11, treats of Hakon Jarl's conflicts at Dannevirke, whither he was
summoned, in the capacity of a vassal under the Danish king, Harald
Blue-tooth, to defend the heathen North against Emperor Otto II.'s effort
to convert Denmark to Christianity by arms. The strophe, which here, too,
in its paraphrases presents parallels between Hakon Jarl and his mythic
progenitor Thjasse, says that the Danish king (_fémildr konungr_) desired
that the Morkwood's Hlodyn's (Mork-wood's earth's, that is to say, the
woody Norway's) elf, he who came from the North (_myrkmarkar Hlodynjar
alfs, thess er kom nordan_), was to be tested in "murder-frost," that
is to say, in war (_vid mord-frost freista_), when he (Denmark's king)
angrily bade the cold-hard storm-watcher (_stirdan vedrhirdi_, Hakon
Jarl) of the Hordaland dwellers (of the Norsemen) defend Dannevirke
(_Virki varda_) against the southland Njords of the shield-din (_fyr
serkja-hlym-val-Njördum_, "the princes of the southland warriors").
Here, too, the myth about Thjasse and of the fimbul-winter forms the
kernel out of which the paraphrases adapted to Hakon Jarl have grown.
Hakon is clothed with the mask of the cold-hard storm-watcher who comes
from the North and can let loose the winter-winds. Emperor Otto and the
chiefs who led the southern troops under him are compared with Njord and
his kinsmen, who, in the mythology, fought with Volund and the powers of
frost, and the battle between the warriors of the South and the North
is compared with a "murder-frost," in which Hakon coming from the North
meets the Christian continental Teutons at Dannevirke.
Thus the mythical kernel of the strophe is as follows: The elf of the
Morkwood of Hlodyn, the cold-hard storm-watcher, tested his power with
frost-weather when he fought with Njord and his kinsmen.
The Hlodyn of the Morkwood--that is to say, the goddess of the Jotunheim
woods--is in this connection Thjasse's daughter Skade, who, in
Haleygjatal, is called _Járnvidja_ of _Járnvidr_, the Ironwood, which is
identical with the Morkwood (Darkwood). Thjasse himself, whose father
is called "a perjurous _hapt_" in Thorsdrapa, is here called an elf.
Alone, this passage would not be sufficient to decide the question as
to which class of mythical beings Thjasse and his father belonged, the
less so as _álfr_, applied in a paraphrase, might allude to any sort of
being according to the characterisation added. But "perjurous _hapt_"
cannot possibly be a paraphrase for a giant. Every divinity that has
violated its oath is "a perjurous _hapt_," and the mythology speaks of
such perjuries. If a god has committed perjury, this is no reason why
he should be called a giant. If a giant has committed perjury, this is
no reason why he should be called a _hapt_, for it is nothing specially
characteristic of the giant nature that it commits perjury or violates
its oath. In fact, it seems to me that there should be the gravest
doubts about Thjasse's being a giant in the strictest and completest
sense of the word, from the circumstances that he is a star-hero; that
distinguished persons considered it an honour to be descended from him;
that Hakon Jarl's skalds never tired of clothing him with the appearance
of his supposed progenitor, and of comparing the historical achievements
of the one with the mythical exploits of the other; and that he, Thjasse,
not only robbed Idun, which indeed a genuine giant might do, but that he
also lived with her many long years, and, so far as we can see, begat
with her the daughter Skade. It should be remembered, from the foregoing
pages, what pains the mythology takes to get the other asynje, Freyja,
who had fallen into the hands of giants, back pure and undefiled to
Asgard, and it is therefore difficult to believe that Idun should be
humiliated and made to live for many years in intimacy with a real giant.
It follows from this that when Thjasse, in the above-cited mythological
kernel of the strophe of Vellekla, is called an _álfr_, and when his
father in Thorsdrapa is called a _hapt_, a being of higher or lower
divine rank, then _álfr_ is a further definition of the idea _hapt_, and
informs us to which class of _numina_ Thjasse belonged--namely, the
lower class of gods called elves. Thus, on his father's side, Thjasse is
an elf. So is Volund. In Volundarkvida he is called a prince of elves.
Furthermore, it should be observed that, in the strophe-kernel presented
above, Thjasse is represented as one who has fought with Njord and his
allies. In Saxo it is Anund-Volund and his brother the archer who fight
with Njord-Fridlevus and his companions; and as Njord in Saxo marries
Anund-Volund's daughter, while in the mythology he marries Thjasse's
daughter, then this is another recurrence of the fact which continually
comes to the surface in this investigation, namely, that whatever is told
of Volund is also told of Thjasse.
[10] See for example Th. Wisén's investigations and Finnur Jonsson's
_Krit. Stud._ (Copenhagen, 1884).
[11] The editions have changed _Urdar_ to _Urdr_, and thereby converted
the above-cited passage into nonsense, for which in turn the author of
Forspjallsljod was blamed, and it was presented as an argument to prove
that the poem is spurious.
114.
PROOFS THAT IVALDE'S SONS ARE OLVALDE'S (_continued_). A REVIEW
OF THORSDRAPA.
(21) We now come to a mythic record in which Thjasse's brothers _Idi_ and
_Gángr_, and he too, in a paraphrase, are mentioned under circumstances
well suited to throw light on the subject before us, which is very
important in regard to the epic connection of the mythology.
Of Thor's expedition to Geirrod, we have two very different accounts. One
is recorded by the author of Skaldskaparmal; the other is found in Eilif
Gundrunson's Thorsdrapa.
In Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 284) we read: