How the Queen of the Sky Gave Gifts to Men
_This is the tale which the Northmen tell
of Frigga, Queen of the Asas._
By the side of All-Father Odin, upon his high seat in Asgard, sat
Frigga, his wife, the Queen of the Asas. Sometimes she would be
dressed in snow-white garments, bound at the waist by a golden girdle,
from which hung a great bunch of golden keys. And the earth-dwellers,
gazing into the sky, would admire the great white clouds as they
floated across the blue, not perceiving that these clouds were really
the folds of Frigga's flowing white robe, as it waved in the wind.
At other times she would wear dark grey or purple garments; and then
the earth-dwellers made haste into their houses, for they said, "the
sky is lowering to-day, and a storm is nigh at hand."
Frigga had a palace of her own called Fensalir, or the Hall of Mists,
where she spent much of her time at her wheel, spinning golden thread,
or weaving web after web of many-coloured clouds. All night long she
sat at this golden wheel, and if you look at the sky on a starry night
you may chance to see it set up where the men of the South show a
constellation called the Girdle of Orion.
Husbands and wives who had dwelt lovingly together upon earth were
invited by Frigga to her hall when they died, so that they might be
for ever united within its hospitable walls.
"There in the glen Fensalir stands, the house
Of Frigga, honoured mother of the gods,
And shows its lighted windows, and the open doors."
Frigga was especially interested in all good housewives, and she
herself set them an excellent example in Fensalir. When the snowflakes
fell, the earth-dwellers knew it was Frigga shaking her great feather
bed, and when it rained they said it was her washing day. It was she
who first gave to them the gift of flax that the women upon earth
might spin, and weave, and bleach their linen as white as the clouds
of her own white robe.
And this is how it came about.
There once was a shepherd who lived among the mountains with his wife
and children; and so very poor was he that he often found it hard to
give his family enough to satisfy their hunger. But he did not
grumble; he only worked the harder; and his wife, though she had
scarcely any furniture, and never a chance of a new dress, kept the
house so clean, and the old clothes so well mended, that, all unknown
to herself, she rose high in the favour of the all-seeing Frigga.
Now one day, when the shepherd had driven his few poor sheep up the
mountain to pasture, a fine reindeer sprang from the rocks above him
and began to leap upward along the steep slope. The shepherd snatched
up his crossbow and pursued the animal, thinking to himself: "Now we
shall have a better meal than we have had for many a long day."
Up and up leaped the reindeer, always just out of reach and at length
disappeared behind a great boulder just as the shepherd, breathless
and weary, reached the spot. No sign of the reindeer was to be seen,
but, on looking round, the shepherd saw that he was among the snowy
heights of the mountains, and almost at the top of a great glacier.
Presently, as he pursued his vain search for the animal, he saw to his
amazement an open door, leading apparently into the heart of the
glacier. He was a fearless man, and so, without hesitation, he passed
boldly through the doorway and found himself standing in a marvellous
cavern, lit up by blazing torches which gleamed upon rich jewels
hanging from the roof and walls. And in the midst stood a woman, most
fair to behold, clad in snow-white robes and surrounded by a group of
lovely maidens.
The shepherd's boldness gave way at this awesome sight, and he sank to
his knees before the Asa, Frigga, for she it was. But Frigga bade him
be of good cheer, and said: "Choose now whatsoever you will to carry
away with you as a remembrance of this place."
The shepherd's eyes wandered over the glittering jewels on the walls
and roof, but they came back to a little bunch of blue flowers which
Frigga held in her hand. They alone looked homelike to him; the rest
were hard and cold; so he asked timidly that he might be given the
little nosegay.
Then Frigga smiled kindly upon him.
"Most wise has been your choice," said she. "Take with the flowers
this measure of seed and sow it in your field, and you shall grow
flowers of your own. They shall bring prosperity to you and yours."
So the shepherd took the flowers and the seed, and scarcely had he
done so when a mighty peal of thunder, followed by the shock of an
earthquake, rent the cavern, and when he had collected his senses he
found himself once more upon the mountain side.
When he reached home and had told his tale, his wife scolded him
roundly for not bringing home a jewel which would have made them rich
for ever. But when she would have thrown the flowers away he prevented
her. Next day he sowed the seed in his field, and was surprised to
find how far it went.
Very soon after this the field was thick with tiny green shoots; and
though his wife reproached him for wasting good ground upon useless
flowers, he watched and waited in hope until the field was blue with
the starry flax blooms.
Then one night, when the flowers had withered and the seed was ripe,
Frigga, in the disguise of an old woman, visited the lowly hut and
showed the shepherd and his astonished wife how to use the flax
stalks; how to spin them into thread, and how to weave the thread into
linen.
It was not long before all the dwellers in that part of the earth had
heard of the wonderful material, and were hurrying to the shepherd's
hut to buy the bleached linen or the seed from which it was obtained.
And so the shepherd and his family were soon among the richest people
in the land; and the promise of Frigga was amply fulfilled.