And we sailed, and we flew, and went near the Maelstrom bay,
And we danced, and we frolicked, and we fiddled all the way.
OLD SONG.
A FINE morning in August found our little schooner dancing over the
waves of the Greenland strait. Towering up on our right, was the lofty
Snæfell Jokull, one of the highest mountains in Iceland. It has the
regular conical shape of most volcanoes. It is six thousand feet high,
being one-third higher than Vesuvius. At this season about two-thirds of
its height is black, and the rest is covered with perpetual snow. When
more than fifty miles to the south, I took a drawing of it. It is near
the end of a long peninsula, south of Breithifiorth, and very nearly the
westernmost point of Iceland. The sharp outline of the mountain is
distinctly visible in the clear atmosphere here for more than a hundred
miles. This volcano has not had an eruption for several centuries. Two
or three parties of modern travelers have been to the summit. They have
described the ascent, after reaching the snow-line, as extremely
dangerous. Wide and deep cracks in the everlasting ice, and treacherous
bridges of snow, made the danger so great that they tied themselves in a
string, to a long rope, and walked about six feet apart. Then, if one
man fell through into a chasm, the rest pulled him out. No lives were
lost, however, in these excursions; the toil sweetened the pleasure, the
danger spiced it, and they were much gratified with their lofty journey.
To the east of Snæfell Jokull, we sailed by Stapi, a small town near
some famous basaltic cliffs, on the coast. Immense perpendicular
columns, and many thrown down, give the coast much the appearance of the
vicinity of the Giant’s Causeway, and the island of Staffa. The coast
here is more varied, and the scenery more magnificent, than the north of
Ireland; but there is no cave yet discovered that will vie with the
famed one of Fingal’s. Some of the pillars here at Stapi are near eight
feet in diameter, and all of them of the regular geometrical shape so
often seen in basaltic rocks. They are like the cells in honeycombs, but
solid, and generally hexagonal, but sometimes heptagons and pentagons.
Though the time when these basalts were in a state of fusion is very
remote, yet there is no doubt of their volcanic character. If geologists
and mineralogists wish to see volcanic matter in every variety of form,
let them come to Iceland.
We passed by the Meal Sack and the Grenadier Islands, the first day, and
rounded the long nose of Cape Reykjanes, and the second found us driving
before a southwest wind; due east, along the south coast of Iceland. We
sailed near the Westmann Islands, and plainly in sight of the lofty
summits of Hekla, Torfa, Eyjafjalla, and Tindfjalla Jokulls. The most
singular curiosity on the south coast of Iceland, that can be seen from
the sea, is a group of rocks that I should call _The Needles_, from
their great resemblance to the “Needles” of the Isle of Wight. They are
near a little fishing village called Dyarholar, or “Portland.” The rocks
are shaped a little more like bodkins than needles, and some of them
rear their pointed heads near a hundred feet high. They all stand in the
ocean, some of them over a mile from land. As we sailed east, the craggy
summit of the Oræfa Jokull showed his lofty and chilly head. The sides,
too, were visible as well as the summit, and perpendicular rocks and
dark-looking caverns showed the foot-prints of mighty convulsions of
nature. The Oræfa Jokull, forming part of that immense mountain known as
Skaptar Jokull, is, as I have mentioned before, the highest in Iceland.
By trigonometrical measurement, it is 6,760 feet high. Snæfell Jokull is
6,000 feet; Eyjafjalla Jokull, 5,900; and Hekla, 5,700. The Thiorsá
river, a stream larger than the Hudson or the Rhine, rises high up on
the side of Skaptar Jokull, 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, and
in a deep cañon in the lava, pours its resistless torrent down into the
ocean. Its rapid and turbulent current may be imagined. These mountains
in the interior of the country, the volcanic islands out at sea, the
rapid and powerful rivers, the Geysers, and innumerable hot springs,
along with the magnificent coast scenery, form the most prominent
physical features of Iceland.
For two days we were skirting the island on the south coast. This, and
the eastern part of Iceland, has few harbors. The coast is, much of it,
low and sandy, and difficult of approach. Some years since, a French
vessel was wrecked here in the winter season, and the crew cast ashore,
perfectly destitute. A few poor Icelanders that lived in the vicinity,
carried them to their huts, fed and took care of them, and gave them
shelter till spring. The next summer, on the annual return of the French
war-vessel that visits Iceland, the sailors were taken home; and king
Louis Philippe ordered a handsome compensation and reward in money, to
the Icelanders who had so hospitably protected his shipwrecked sailors.
They, however, did not wish it; said they had only done their duty, and
neither wanted nor deserved compensation; and steadily refused to accept
a single penny. Determined to do something in return for their kindness,
Louis Philippe ordered his representative in Iceland to state that he
would educate at the University of France, four young Icelanders; and
the Governor, the Bishop, and the President of the College, made choice
of the young men who were to be recipients of the favor. At the end of
their term—four years—as many more were selected; and thus the French
government undertook the constant care and expense of the education of
four Iceland boys, who were appointed for their ability, diligence, and
good conduct, to receive the bounty of the French government; and all
for an act of humanity towards a crew of shipwrecked sailors. The whole
transaction reflects the highest honor on all concerned. One of the
young gentlemen who was a recipient of this privilege, was a son of my
friend Mr. Sivertsen. After the French war-vessel, the unfortunate
LILLOISE, was lost, or failed to return from the Arctic sea, in
connection with one of the expeditions that went in search of her, there
was a scientific corps—a “Scandinavian Commission”—organized, of learned
men from France, Denmark, and Iceland, to gather information, make
drawings of landscapes, and collect specimens of mineralogy, botany, and
the various branches of natural history. The commission was headed by M.
Paul Geimar, and our young Icelander was one of the party. The results
of the expedition, in a scientific point of view, were of the highest
value. A work was published, containing several folio volumes of plates,
many of them colored, and the Journal of the Expedition, in six octavos;
and altogether it forms the most valuable work of the kind extant. It
comprises Iceland, Greenland, Lapland, and Spitzbergen; and nothing,
either of a geographical, scientific, or historical nature has been
omitted. Along with portraits of Geimar and others of the Commission, is
a “counterfeit presentment” of young Sivertsen; and his is one of the
finest faces ever delineated. It has the lively, intelligent
countenance, lofty brow, and beaming eye of the Anglo-Saxons, and equal
to the finest specimens of the Caucasian race in any part of the world.
This promising young man died in France, a few years after his return
from the North, universally esteemed by all, and by none more than by
Louis Philippe himself.
But the winds are drifting us lazily to the eastward. We sailed north of
Faroe, and saw the cliffs of the lofty Stromoe towering upwards like the
ruins of some gigantic temple. The return voyage was all beautiful
September weather. Our passengers—except the bachelor of the present
writing—consisted of twelve young Iceland ladies, and a small lad; and
we had a regular “jolly” time. Several of the young ladies were singers,
and two of them had guitars. Nearly every afternoon we had a dance. The
young ladies made fast progress in English—and Yankee—manners, customs,
language, _and_ dancing. I also got well posted up in Icelandic,
particularly in the sentimental,—or, as Sam Weller would say, in the
more “tenderer vords.” Guitar music, Iceland hymns, the violin, and
“threading the dance” on a rocking deck, were all matters of every-day
occurrence. Did I say every day? Not with me. But the master of the
Sölöven, Captain Heinrich Stilhoff, was certainly the most reckless,
irreligious man for a sea-captain, that ever I saw in my life. Had a
sober traveler come alongside of us on Sunday, he would have been
bothered to have found out what kind of worship we had aboard. His
reflections would probably have been like old Lambro’s, when he
returned, from his piratical cruise, to his island and his daughter.
Suppose such a one in his yacht had come up with us:
A Christian he, and as our ship he nears,
He looks aboard, and finds no signs of idling,
He hears—alas! no music of the spheres,
But an unhallowed, earthly sound of fiddling!
A melody which makes him doubt his ears,
The cause being past his guessing or unriddling:
But, lo! it is the sailors all a prancing,
The women, too, and Captain Stilhoff, dancing!
It does not speak well for the Danish people and nation, that their
mail-ship, the only government vessel running between Denmark and
Iceland, is commanded by a man of the character of Captain Stilhoff; and
I cannot think it will long continue so. Commanding a vessel carrying
the Government dispatches, and having the most popular and direct
passenger traffic between the two countries, a profligate who openly
boasts of debauching his female passengers, defenseless women, the
sisters and daughters of the citizens of both countries; a state of
things that certainly does not reflect any honor on the proprietors of
the vessel, or show much sagacity in their choice of a commander.
On, on, goes our little bark; the northern shore
“Fades o’er the waters blue;
The night winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.”
Old Norway’s coast appears, and we are several days in sight of the
brown and snowy mountains, and little villages of wooden houses. The
thirteenth day, we passed Cape Lindesness, and Christiansand. We were
then within two hundred and fifty miles of Copenhagen—only a few hours’
voyage for a steamship; but we had no steam a-board, except what might
be found in certain kettles and casks, and these did not aid our
progress much. I thought two days, at farthest would suffice for the
rest of our voyage; but Boreas was not in the ascendant, nor any of his
brethren either, much, for we had very little wind from any quarter. The
current in the Skager Rack took us outwardly about two miles an hour,
and the wind was southeasterly, and we were bound in. One tack would
throw us near the coast of Norway, and the next brought us along the
low, flat sands of Jutland. We progressed from twenty-five to fifty
miles a day. Several huge steamers boomed past us, with their black
sides, and volumes of smoke, and swift progress. Some of them were bound
into the Baltic, and some out, and some to Norwegian ports. At last we
rounded the Skagen Horn, and entered the Cattegat. Finally, the towers
of Elsinore Castle appeared; and, a breeze springing up from the north,
we dropped anchor before Copenhagen, the twentieth day after leaving
Iceland; and, in a most terrible rain—so anxious were we to tread the
land again—all the passengers were set on the quay, and found lodgings
amid the turmoil of a great city.
GENERAL INDEX.
Adam of Bremen, page 41.
Ætna, 142, 151.
Agriculture in Iceland, 178, 303.
Almannagjá, 73.
Althing, or Iceland Congress, 42, 45, 78.
Althing, Journal of, 296.
America discovered by the Northmen, 36.
Angelica Archangelica, 125.
Angling, 78.
Annexation of an island to Denmark, 148.
Apavatn Lake, 97.
Arbrandsá river, 115.
Arnason, Jon, Librarian of Public Library, 309.
Atmosphere, its transparency, 141.
Barrow, the English traveler, 206.
Bath in the Geyser, 111.
Beard a protection against the elements, 121.
Beards worn in Iceland, 60.
Beards worn by the gods, 249.
Bessastath, 63.
Biarni Heriulfson, the First Discoverer of America, 63.
Birds—the curlew, 169;
cormorant, 223;
eider-duck, 219;
western eider, 221;
fulmar, 168;
gannet, or solan goose, 31, 224;
Iceland gull, 228;
skua gull, 228;
jer-falcon, 230;
white owl, 229;
penguin, 222;
plover, 169;
pochard, 118;
ptarmigan, 90;
puffin, 163, 168;
ravens, 114, 170;
sea-fowl on the Westmann Islands, 163;
on the coast of Iceland, 198;
snow-birds, 226;
tern, or sea-swallow, 107, 198.
Bjarnarfell mountain, 112.
Bjolfell mountain, 141, 145.
Blacksmithing, 89.
Blue berry, the only fruit in Iceland, 157.
Books published in Iceland, 295.
Bræthratunga church, 119.
Brandy, use of it in Iceland, 180.
Breithifjorth, 313.
Briem, Rev. Johan, 123.
Brinjulfsson, Gisli, 311.
Bruará or Bridge River, 97.
Bruce’s Address, in Icelandic and English, 286-7.
Brydone, 93, 135.
Caraway growing spontaneously in Iceland, 125.
Cathedral worship in Reykjavik, 306.
Cattegat, 17, 21, 22, 320.
Cave in a hill, 96.
Cave of Surtshellir, 109, 243, note.
Christianity introduced into Iceland, 82.
Christiansand, 23, 319.
Churchyards and burial customs, 178.
Clays, beautifully colored, 102, 191, 200, 208.
College at Reykjavik, 57.
Columbus, his visit to Iceland, 39.
Copenhagen, 17, 320.
Craters of Hekla, 138, 143.
Dancing on ship-board, 317.
Danish laws in Iceland, 298.
Danish merchants in Reykjavik, 306.
Dining on Mount Hekla, 140.
Diseases in Iceland, 305.
Domestic animals of Iceland, 55.
Domestic labor of the Icelanders, 58, 293.
Eddas, poems of the early Icelanders, 271.
Edda, the Elder; ascribed to Sæmund Frode, 271.
Edda, the Younger; ascribed to Snorri Sturlason, 272.
Egilson, Sweinborn, 52, 308.
Eider-down beds, 127, 218.
Elsinore castle and town, 17, 22, 320.
Eric the Red, 35.
Ericsson, descendant of Eric the Red, 36.
Exports of Iceland, 56, 298.
Eyjafjalla Jokull, 142, 151, 160, 315.
Farming in Iceland, 179, 182, 303.
Farming tools, 117.
Faroe Isles, 24, 25, 233.
Feasts, in old times, 59.
Ferryman on the Hvitá river, 185.
Fish, Iceland method of curing, 215.
Fishing season in Iceland, 116.
Fish lake, its disappearance, 152.
Finn Magnusen, 37.
Finnsen, William, Treasurer of Iceland, 28.
Floki, a pirate, 170.
Flower on Mount Hekla, 136.
Flowers on a desert island, 121.
Fourth of July at sea, 23, 24.
Franklin’s Story of a Whistle, in Icelandic, 289.
French officers traveling in Iceland, 66, 70, 76, 84.
French vessel wrecked in Iceland, 315.
Game in Iceland, 55, 56, 90, 169, 170.
Gardar Swarfarson, 35.
Garden vegetables, 62, 179.
Geimar’s Iceland, Greenland, and Spitzbergen, 317.
Geographical names and terms, 85.
Geyser, Eruptions of, 105.
Geyser, its appearance when still, 100.
Gissur Thorvaldsen, son-in-law of Snorri Sturlason, 274.
Graba, a Danish traveler in Faroe, 236.
Greenland, discovery of, 35.
Grenadier island, 31, 314.
Grænavatn, or Green Lake, 142, 201.
Gudmundsen, Thomas, 175.
Hacon, King of Norway, 274.
Hafnarfiorth, 63, 213, 215.
Hávamál, an Eddaic Poem, 275.
Haying season, 303.
Heath, 157, 158, 159.
Heimskringla, 275.
Hjalli, 195.
Hekla, ascent of, 132.
Catalogue of its eruptions, 153.
its height, 315.
its last eruption, in 1845, 134, 138.
seen from a distance, 95, 115, 128, 161, 314.
View from the summit, 140, 151.
Helsingborg, 21.
Herdisa, wife of Snorri Sturlason, 273.
Hlitharvatn, 198.
Holland, Dr. 135, 297.
“Horrible Lava,” 211.
Horses in Iceland, 65, 116, 129, 298.
Hospitality of the Icelanders, 197.
Hot Springs, 187.
Hraungerthi, 177.
Hruni, and its hospitable clergyman, 122.
Hunting sea-fowl in the Westmann islands, 163.
Hvitá or White river, 118, 119, 185.
Iceland, its discovery and settlement, 35.
its situation and extent, 48.
Hymn, Jacob weeping over Rachel, 288.
Newspaper, quotation from, 291.
Youths educated in France, 316.
Icelander in the Wars of Napoleon, 293.
Icelandic language, 270.
Icelandic poetry, its peculiar construction, 282.
Imports of Iceland, 56.
Indians in America in battle with the Icelanders, 38.
Ingolf, plants the first settlement in Iceland, 35.
Islands, Sandey and Nesey, in Thingvalla Lake, 92.
Johnson, Bjarni, President of the Iceland college at Reykjavik, 63, 66,
74, 77, 217.
Bjarni, letters from, 300, 307, 309.
Misses, 308, 311.
Mr. of Hafnarfiorth, 63, 213.
Jonson, Rev. at Vogsósar, 196.
Kirkubær, 139.
Krisuvik, 200.
Ladies riding on horseback, 91, 215.
Laugardalr, or Vale of Warm Springs, 94.
Laugarfjall mountain, 112.
Laugman, or administrator of the laws, 42.
Lava, 93, 126, 211.
Lava from eruption of Mount Hekla, 134, 146.
Laxá, or Salmon river, 68, 124.
Lilloise, French vessel lost in the Arctic Sea, 316.
Lindesness, Cape, 319.
Literature of Iceland, 52, 270, 281.
Louis Philippe’s liberality to the Icelanders, 316.
Markarfliot river, 161.
Marsh, Hon. Geo. P., opinion of the Icelandic language, 292.
Meadows in Iceland, 115, 116, 125.
Meal Sack island, 31, 314.
Milton’s Paradise Lost, translated by Thorlakson, 53;
extracts from, 283.
Mud Geyser, 206.
Myggeness island, 236.
Mythology of the Scandinavians, 242.
Index to, 331.
Myvatn, 203.
Needles, the, 314.
Newspapers in Iceland, 296.
Newspaper, quotation from, 291.
Næfrholt, 129, 159.
Norðurfari, 312.
Norway, coast of, 23, 319.
Norwegian collectors in Faroe, 240.
Ornithology of Iceland, 218, 226.
Petrifactions, 191.
Pfeiffer, Madam, 95, 123, 161.
Philmore, Mr., an English traveler, 210.
Plum-pudding Stone, 199.
Pope’s Essay on Man, in Icelandic, 53.
Quotation from, 285.
Portland, or Dyarholar, 315.
Postal arrangements in Iceland, 56.
Post-ship, time of sailing, 56.
Products of Iceland, 55, 56, 295, 298.
Ranthrys, Mr., 308.
Reindeer in Iceland, 55, 170.
Reykir Springs, 187.
Reykjaness Cape, 31, 314.
Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, 32, 306.
River of fire, 149.
Rolling stones down hill, 130.
Roses in Iceland, 157.
Sæmund Frode, 271.
Sagas, historical writings of the Icelanders, 271.
Scandinavian Commission, 316.
Scythes used by the Icelanders, 115, 305.
Sharks, 26.
Ship from Iceland; the “Saga,” 302.
Sivertsen, the Misses, and Mr., 308, 311.
Sivertsen, Mr., jun., 316, 317.
Skagen Horn, 320.
Skager Rack, 319.
Skalds or Minstrels, 42.
Skalholt, 44, 172.
Skaptar Jokull, 115, 147, 151.
Great eruption of, 147.
Skarth, 127, 159.
Sleeping in a church, 127.
Snæfell Jokull, 151, 313.
Snorri Thorfinson, first European born in America, 37.
Snow on Mount Hekla, 137, 146.
Spallanzani, 135.
Stapi and basaltic cliffs, 314.
Steam jet in the Sulphur Mountains, 205.
Steam power without fuel, 205, 208.
Stifftamptman, 45.
Stilhoff, Captain, 318.
Strandar Kirkja, 197.
Strokr or New Geyser, 104, 108.
Submarine eruption, 147.
Sulphur Mountains, 200-208.
Superstition among the Northmen, 195.
Surtshellir cave, 109, 243, note.
Sveinson, Jon, 309.
Swein Ethrithson, 41.
Swimming a river, 119.
Sysselman, a merry one, 173.
Thingvalla, 43, 73, 78.
Thingvalla Lake, 72.
Thiorsá river, 115, 126, 159, 172, 315.
Thorarensen, Rev. S., 177.
Thorarensen, Stefan, 178, 185.
Thorlakson, Jon, the Iceland Poet, 53, 281.
Thorlakson’s Translation of Milton and Pope, 282.
Thorwaldsen, 37, 52.
Tindfjalla Jokull, 142, 151, 160, 314.
Tin Tron, an exhausted crater, 94.
Torfa Jokull, 314.
Trade of Iceland; probable results of opening it to the world, 299,
302.
Trollekone-finger, or Witch’s-finger, in Faroe, 236.
Trout-fishing in Iceland, 74, 76.
Vestri Rangá river, 129.
Vesuvius, 142, 151.
Vinland, the name given to America by the Icelanders, 37.
Vogelberg chasm, in Faroe, 237.
Vogsósar, 196.
Volcanic island rising from the sea, 147.
Volcanic sand, 135, 199.
Voluspá, the song of the Prophetess, 275.
Westmann Islands, 141, 161, 165, 166.
Whales, 25, 26.
INDEX
TO THE
Scandinavian Mythology.
Ægir, the deity of the ocean;
a Jötun, 249, 258.
Æsir, the gods of the Scandinavians, 242, 246, 265.
Afi, grandfather, and Ammi, grandmother, and their descendants, 268.
Ai, great grandfather, and Edda, great grandmother, and their
descendants, 268.
Annar, husband of Night, and father of Jörd, 254.
Arvak and Alsvid, the horses of Sol, 255.
Asgard, the city of the Æsir, or home of the gods, 246.
Ask and Embla, the first man and first woman, 268.
Audhumla, the cow on whose milk Ymir subsisted, 243.
Baldur the Good, son of Odin, 248, 266.
his death, 263.
Beli, a giant, slain by Frey, 250.
Bergelmie, a frost-giant, 244.
Besla, wife of Bör, 243.
Bifröst the Rainbow, a bridge from earth to heaven, 246.
Bilskirnir, the mansion of Thor, 248.
Bör, father of Odin, Vili, and Ve, 243.
Bragi, the god of Poetry, son of Odin, 249.
Breidablik, the mansion of Baldur, 248.
Bur, the father of Bör, 243.
Castes, or classes in Scandinavian society, 269.
Day, son of Night and Delling, 254.
Dwarfs, 253.
Eir, presides over the art of healing, 252.
Embla, the first woman, 268.
Elvidnir, the hall of Hela, 256.
Fenrir, a wolf, offspring of Loki, 255, 265.
Fensalir, the mansion of Friga, 252.
Forseti, the god of Justice, 249.
Freki and Geri, Odin’s wolves, 246.
Frey, the son of Njörd and Skadi, 250.
Frey in battle with Surtur, 265.
Freyja, daughter of Njörd, and wife of Odur, 250, 252.
Friga, wife of Odin, 247, 252.
Fulla, a maid, attendant of Friga, 252.
Garm, a dog that kills Tyr, 266.
Gefjon, a maid, attendant of Friga, 252.
Gerda, one of the most beautiful of women, 250.
Geri and Freki, wolves of Odin, 246.
Ginnungagap, the space between the upper and lower worlds, 243.
Gjallar-horn, the trumpet of Heimdal, 251, 265.
Gladsheim, Odin’s hall of Justice, 258.
Gleipnir, a fetter, 255.
Glitnir, the mansion of Forseti, 249.
Gna, messenger of Friga, 253.
Golden Age, 258.
Gulltopp, the horse of Heimdall, 251.
Hati and Sköll, two wolves, 255.
Heimdall, the sentry of the gods, 251, 265, 266.
Hel or Helheim, the abode of Death, 256-258.
Hela, or Death, 255, 256.
Hermod the Nimble, son of Odin, 246, 263.
Hlidskjalf, Odin’s throne, 246.
Hnossa, daughter of Odur and Freyja, 252.
Hodmimir’s forest, where Lif is concealed, 266.
Hödur, a blind deity, 251, 263, 266.
Hófvarpnir, the horse of Gna, 253.
Hrimfaxi, the horse of Night, 254.
Hringhorn, the ship of Baldur, 263.
Hugin and Munin, Odin’s ravens, 246.
Hvergelmir, a fountain in Niflheim, 243, 245.
Hymir, a giant, 259.
Hyrrokin, a giantess of Jötunheim, 264.
Ida, a plain where Asgard formerly stood, 266.
Iduna, the goddess of Eternal Youth, 249.
Jötunheim, or land of giants, 245.
Jötuns, giants of Jötunheim, 245.
Lif a woman, and Lifthrasir a man, who survive the destruction of the
world, 266.
Lofna, the friend of Lovers, 252.
Loki, the god of all evil, 255, 259, 263, 265, 266.
Magni and Modi, sons of Thor, 248, 252, 266.
Manheim, the home of man, 247, 268.
Máni, the Moon, 254.
Midgard, or Mid-earth, 244, 247.
Midgard serpent, 255, 256, 265.
Mimir and Mimir’s Well, 245.
Mjölnir, Thor’s Mallet, 247.
Modi and Magni, sons of Thor, 248, 252, 266.
Munin or Memory, one of Odin’s ravens, 246.
Muspell or Muspelheim, the upper world, 242.
Mythology of the Northmen, 242.
Nanna, wife of Baldur, 249, 264.
Nidhogg, a dragon, 245.
Niflheim, the lower world, 242.
Night, the daughter of Njörvi, 254.
Njord, the ruler of the sea, 250.
Njörvi, a giant, father of Night, 254.
Norns, inferior deities, 253.
ODIN, the supreme head, leader of the Æsir, and father of all the gods,
170, 244, 245, 246, 247, 266.
Ragnarök, the end of all things, 256, 265.
Ran, wife of Ægir, 249.
Ratatösk, the squirrel on the Ash, 245.
Rinda, the mother of Vali, 251.
Roskva the Quick, attendant of Thor, 248, 259.
Saga, the goddess of history, 252.
Skadi, the wife of Njord, 250.
Skidbladnir, a famous ship belonging to Frey, 266-7.
Skinfaxi, the horse of Day, 254.
Skirnir, messenger of Frey, 250.
Sköll and Hati, wolves that pursue the sun and moon, 255.
Sleipnir, the horse of Odin, 246.
Sokkvabek, the house of Saga, 252.
Sol, the source of light, 254.
Surtur, chief of the chaotic demons, 242, 265.
Surturbrand, or fire of Surtur, 109, 242, note.
Thjálfi, the Nimble, attendant of Thor, 248, 259.
Thor, son of Odin, the god of Thunder, 128, 247.
Thor encounters the Midgard serpent, 262-265, 266.
Thor’s adventures in Jötunheim, 258, 259, 260, 261.
Thrudvang, the home of Thor, 248.
Tyr, the god of Bravery, 255, 259.
Ullur, the archer, son of Sif, 251.
Utgard, a city in Jötunheim, 260.
Utgard-Loki, King of Utgard, 260.
Valaskjalf, the mansion of Odin, 246.
Valhalla, the home or world of the slain, 253, 256, 257, 258.
Vali, son of Odin and Rinda, 251, 252, 266.
Valkyrjor, the goddesses of Valhalla, 253.
Vidar the Silent, son of Odin, 251, 252, 266.
Vigrid, the last battlefield of the gods, 265.
Vili and Ve, sons of Bör, 244.
Vora, the punisher of perjured lovers, 252.
Yggdrasill, the Ash tree, 245.
Ymir, progenitor of the Frost-giants, 243, 244.
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation have been retained, but
obvious typographical errors have been corrected. However,
spellings of Icelandic words have been silently regularised, if
inconsistent within the text.
The cover has been created by the transcriber and is placed in the
public domain.