Scandinavian literature embraces the literature of Norway,
Sweden, Iceland, and their western colonies. In the Middle Ages
this literature reached its fullest and best development in
Iceland.
The earliest and greatest portion of this literature is the
heroic poetry forming the collection called the Poetic or Elder
Edda. Like all early poetry these were minstrel poems, passing
orally from singer (skald) to singer for centuries. Some of them
were composed as early as the eighth century. The collection was
probably made in the thirteenth century (1240). The collection
consists of thirty-nine distinct songs or poems. They are based
upon common Norse mythology and tradition. In one section of this
collection is found in outline the story of the Nibelungs and
Brunhild-the story which later formed the basis of the
"Niebelungen-Lied". This fact connects the two literatures with
the original common Teutonic traditions. Anderson says, "The
Elder Edda presents the Norse cosmogony, the doctrines of the
Odinic mythology, and the lives and doings of the gods. It
contains also a cycle of poems on the demigods and mythic heroes
and heroines of the same period. It gives us as complete a view
of the mythological world of the North as Homer and Hesiod do of
that of Greece" (Norse Mythology). Almost equal in importance
and interest is the Prose Edda, sometimes called the Younger
Edda, arranged and in part written by Snorra Sturleson, who lived
from 1178 to 1241. The chief portions of it are:
1. "Gylfaginning," in which Odin recounts to Gylf the history of
the gods.
2. "Bragaraethur, the conversations of Braga the god of poetry.
Other and less important varieties of Scandinavian literature are
the romances of history and romances of pure fiction.
VOLUSPA. THE ORACLE OF THE PROPHETESS VALA.
The Voluspa is the first song in the Elder Edda. It is a song of
a prophetess and gives an account of the creation of the world,
of man, giants, and dwarfs; of the employments of fairies or
destinies; of the functions of the gods, their adventures, their
quarrels, and the vengeance they take; of the final state of the
universe and its dissolution; of the battle of the lower deities
and the evil beings; of the renovation of the world; of the happy
lot of the good, and the punishment of the wicked. The first
passage selected gives the account of creation.
In early times,
When Ymer[1] lived,
Was sand, nor sea,
Nor cooling wave;
No earth was found,
Nor heaven above;
One chaos all,
And nowhere grass:
Until Bor's[2] sons
Th' expanse did raise,
By whom Midgard [3]
The great was made.
From th' south the sun
Shone on the walls;
Then did the earth
Green herbs produce.
The sun turned south;
The moon did shine;
Her right hand held
The horse of heaven.
The sun knew not
His proper sphere;
The stars knew not
Their proper place;
The moon know not
Her proper power.
Then all the powers
Went to the throne,
The holy gods,
And held consult:
Night and cock-crowing
Their names they gave,
Morning also,
And noon-day tide,
And afternoon,
The years to tell.
The Asas[4] met
On Ida's plains,
Who altars raised
And temples built;
Anvils they laid,
And money coined;
Their strength they tried
In various ways,
When making songs,
And forming tools.
On th' green they played
In joyful mood,
Nor knew at all
The want of gold,
Until there came
Three Thursa maids,
Exceeding strong,
From Jotunheim:[5]
. . . .
Until there came
Out of the ranks,
Powerful and fair,
Three Asas home,
And found on shore,
In helpless plight,
Ask and Embla [6]
Without their fate.
They had not yet
Spirit or mind,
Blood, or beauty,
Or lovely hue.
Odin gave spirit,
Heinir gave mind,
Lothur gave blood
And lovely hue.
[1] Ymer, the progenitor of the giants.
[2] Bor, the father of Odin, Vile, and Ve.
[3] Midgard, the earth.
[4] Asas, the gods.
[5] The home of the giants.
[6] The first man and first woman made out of pine trees by the
three gods Odin, Heinir, and Lothur.
--Tr. by Henderson.
The second passage gives an account of the universal
dissolution--called Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods.
Loud barks Garm 1]
At Gnipa-cave;
The fetters are severed,
The wolf is set free,
Vala[2] knows the future.
More does she see
Of the victorious gods,
Terrible fall.
From the east drives Hrym,[3]
Bears his child before him;
Jormungander welters
In giant fierceness;
The waves thunder;
The eagle screams,
Rends the corpses with pale beak,
And Naglfar[4] is launched.
A ship from the east nears,
The hosts of Muspel
Come o'er the main,
But Loke is pilot.
All grim and gaunt monsters
Conjoin with the wolf,
And before them all goes
The brother of Byleist.[5]
From the south wends Surt [6]
With seething fire;
The sun of the war-god
Shines in his sword;
Mountains together dash,
And frighten the giant-maids;
Heroes tread the paths to Hel,
And heaven in twain is rent.
Over Him [7] then shall come
Another woe,
When Odin goes forth
The wolf to combat.
. . . .
All men
Abandon the earth.
The sun darkens,
The earth sinks into the ocean;
The lucid stars
From heaven vanish;
Fire and vapor
Rage toward heaven;
High flames
Involve the skies.
Loud barks Garm
At Gnipa-eave:
The fetters are severed,
The wolf is set free,--
Vala knows the future.
More does she see
Of the victorious gods,
Terrible fall.
[1] Hel's dog.
[2] Vala, the prophetess.
[3] The winter.
[4] Naglfar, a ship of the gods.
[5] The brother of Byleist, Loke.
[6] Surt, a fire-giant.
[7] Hlin, a name sometimes used for the goddess, Frigg.
--Tr. by Thorpe.
The conclusion of the "Voluspa "is the following picture of the
regenerated earth.
She sees arise,
The second time,
From the sea, the earth
Completely green:
Cascades do fall;
The eagle soars,
That on the hills
Pursues his prey.
The gods convene
On Ida's plains,
And talk of man,
The worm of dust:
They call to mind
Their former might,
And the ancient runes
Of Fimbultyr.[1]
The fields unsown
Shall yield their growth;
All ills shall cease;
Balder[2] shall come,
And dwell with Hauthr[3]
In Hropt's[4] abodes.
Say, warrior-gods,
Conceive ye yet?
A hall she sees
Outshine the sun,
Of gold its roof,
It stands in heaven:
The virtuous there
Shall always dwell,
And evermore
Delights enjoy.
[1] Fimbultyr, Odin.
[2] Balder, the god of the summer.
[3] Hauthr, Hoder, the brother of Balder.
[4] Hropt, Odin. of Odinic morality and precepts of wisdom, in
the form of social and moral maxims.
--Tr. by Henderson.
HAVAMAL.
The High-Song of Odin. This is the second song in the Elder Edda.
Odin himself is represented as its author. It contains a pretty
complete code.
All door-ways
Before going forward,
Should be looked to;
For difficult it is to know
Where foes may sit
Within a dwelling.
. . . .
Of his understanding
No one should be proud,
But rather in conduct cautious.
When the prudent and taciturn
Come to a dwelling,
Harm seldom befalls the cautious;
For a firmer friend
No man ever gets
Than great sagacity.
. . . .
One's own house is best,
Small though it be;
At home is every one his own master.
Though he but two goats possess,
And a straw-thatched cot,
Even that is better than begging.
One's own house is best,
Small though it be;
At home is every one his own master.
Bleeding at heart is he
Who has to ask
For food at every meal-tide.
. . . .
A miserable man,
And ill-conditioned,
Sneers at everything:
One thing he knows not,
Which he ought to know,
That he is not free from faults.
. . . .
Know if thou hast a friend
Whom thou fully trustest,
And from whom thou would'st good derive;
Thou should'st blend thy mind with his,
And gifts exchange,
And often go to see him.
If thou hast another
Whom thou little trustest,
Yet would'st good from him derive,
Thou should'st speak him fair,
But think craftily,
And leasing pay with lying.
But of him yet further
Whom thou little trustest,
And thou suspectest his affection,
Before him thou should'st laugh,
And contrary to thy thoughts speak;
Requital should the gift resemble.
I once was young,
I was journeying alone
And lost my way;
Rich I thought myself
When I met another:
Man is the joy of man.
Liberal and brave
Men live best,
They seldom cherish sorrow;
But a bare-minded man
Dreads everything;
The niggardly is uneasy even at gifts.
My garments in a field
I gave away
To two wooden men:
Heroes they seemed to be
When they got cloaks:[1]
Exposed to insult is a naked man.
. . . . .
Something great
Is not always to be given,
Praise is often for a trifle bought.
With half a loaf
And a tilted vessel
I got myself a comrade.
Little are the sand grains,
Little the wits,
Little the minds of men;
For all men
Are not wise alike:
Men are everywhere by halves.
Moderately wise
Should each one be,
But never over-wise;
For a wise man's heart
Is seldom glad,
If he is all-wise who owns it.
. . . .
Much too early
I came to many places,
But too late to others;
The beer was drunk, or not ready:
The disliked seldom hits the moment.
. . . .
Cattle die,
Kindred die,
We ourselves also die;
But the fair fame
Never dies of him who has earned it.
Cattle die,
Kindred die,
We ourselves also die;
But I know one thing
That never dies,
Judgment on each one dead.
[1] The tailor makes the man.
--Tr. by Thorpe.
VAFTHRUDNISMAL. THE SONG OF VAFTHRUDNER.
From the third poem in the Elder Edda came the following lines,
describing the day and the night:
Delling called is he
Who the Day's father is,
But Night was of Norve born;
The new and waning moons
The beneficent powers created
To count years for men.
Skinfaxe[1] he is named
That the bright day draws
Forth over human kind;
Of coursers he is best accounted
Among faring men;
Ever sheds light that horse's mane.
Hrimfaxe[2] he is called
That each night draws forth
Over the beneficent powers;
He from his bit lets fall
Drops every morn
Whence in the dells comes dew.
--Tr. by Thorpe
[1] Skinfaxe (shining mane), the horse of Day.
[2] Hrimfaxe (Rime mane), the horse of Night.