[Illustration: ODIN.]
MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS
NARRATED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
LITERATURE AND ART
BY
H. A. GUERBER
AUTHOR OF “MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME”
“_Wake again, Teutonic Father ages,
Speak again, beloved primæval creeds;
Flash ancestral spirit from your pages,
Wake the greedy age to noble deeds._”
CHARLES KINGSLEY
❦
NEW YORK ⁘ CINCINNATI ⁘ CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
Copyright, 1895, by
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS.
DEDICATED
TO
MY PARENTS.
PREFACE.
The aim of this handbook of Northern mythology is to familiarize the
English student of letters with the religion of his heathen ancestors,
and to set forth, as clearly as possible, the various myths which have
exercised an influence over our customs, arts, and literature.
As Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Icelanders, Germans, English, and French
all came originally from the same stock and worshiped the same gods, so
these tales formed the basis not only of their religious belief, but
also of their first attempts at poetry. They are the classics of the
North, and deserve as much attention at our hands as the more graceful
and idyllic mythology of the South.
The most distinctive traits of the Northern mythology are a peculiar
grim humor which is found in the religion of no other race, and a dark
thread of tragedy which runs throughout the whole woof. These two
characteristics, touching both extremes of the scale, have colored
Northern thought, and have left their indelible imprint upon all our
writings even to this day.
The mythology of Greece and Rome, growing as spontaneous and luxuriant
as the tropical vegetation, came to its full fruition and began to
decay before the introduction of Christianity. But Northern mythology,
of slower growth, was arrested in mid-career before it had attained its
complete development.
A glossary, and complete index have been added to adapt this book for
general use in libraries and public schools. Author and publishers
sincerely trust that this little work will be as kindly received and as
well appreciated as has been the case with its predecessor, “Myths of
Greece and Rome,” the first volume of this series.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS 9
II. ODIN 23
III. FRIGGA 46
IV. THOR 61
V. TYR 84
VI. BRAGI 93
VII. IDUN 100
VIII. NIÖRD 107
IX. FREY 112
X. FREYA 124
XI. ULLER 131
XII. FORSETI 134
XIII. HEIMDALL 137
XIV. HERMOD 144
XV. VIDAR 147
XVI. VALI 150
XVII. THE NORNS 154
XVIII. THE VALKYRS 160
XIX. HEL 166
XX. ÆGIR 171
XXI. BALDER 182
XXII. LOKI 198
XXIII. THE GIANTS 210
XXIV. THE DWARFS 217
XXV. THE ELVES 221
XXVI. THE SIGURD SAGA 225
XXVII. THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS 263
XXVIII. GREEK AND NORTHERN MYTHOLOGIES--A COMPARISON 274
INDEX TO POETICAL QUOTATIONS 293
INDEX AND GLOSSARY 295
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ODIN _Frontispiece_
_Page_
NORTH CAPE AND THE MIDNIGHT SUN 9
VALHALLA--Hoffmann 25
THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN--H. Kaulbach 32
FRIGGA 48
EÁSTRE, OR OSTARA 57
THOR 69
FREY 112
FREYA 124
THE WITCHES DANCE (VALPURGISNACHT)--Von Kreling 129
VALKYRS RIDING TO BATTLE--P. N. Arbo 160
LORELEI AND THE FISHERMAN--Paul Thumann 180
BALDER 188
LOKI AND SIGYN--Carl Gebhardt 200
NORWEGIAN WATERFALL 208
TORGHATTEN, NORWAY 213
DANCE OF THE WILL-O’-THE-WISPS--W. Kray 221
OLD HOUSES WITH CARVED DOORPOSTS, NORWAY 224
THE BRANSTOCK--Hoffmann 229
SIGURD AND THE DRAGON--K. Dielitz 245
BRUNHILD’S AWAKENING--Th. Pixis 249
GUDRUN GIVING THE MAGIC DRINK TO SIGURD--Th. Pixis 252
BRUNHILD--Th. Pixis 256
HÖGNI THROWING THE TREASURE INTO THE RHINE--Julius Schnorr 260
[Illustration: NORTH CAPE AND THE MIDNIGHT SUN.]
MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS.
Although the Aryan inhabitants of northern Europe are supposed by some
authorities to have come originally from the plateau of Iran, in the
heart of Asia, the climate and scenery of the countries where they
finally settled had great influence in shaping their early religious
beliefs, as well as in ordering their mode of living.
The grand and rugged landscapes of Northern Europe, the midnight sun,
the flashing rays of the aurora borealis, the ocean continually lashing
itself into fury against the great cliffs and icebergs of the arctic
circle, could not but impress the people as vividly as the almost
miraculous vegetation, the perpetual light, and the blue seas and skies
of their brief summer season. It is no great wonder, therefore, that
the Icelanders, for instance, to whom we owe the most perfect records
of this belief, fancied in looking about them that the world was
originally created from a strange mixture of fire and ice.
Northern mythology is grand and tragical. Its principal theme is the
perpetual struggle of the beneficent forces of Nature against the
injurious, and hence it is not graceful and idyllic in character like
the religion of the sunny South, where the people could bask in
perpetual sunshine, and the fruits of the earth grew ready to their
hand.
It was very natural that the dangers incurred in hunting and fishing
under these inclement skies, and the suffering entailed by the long
cold winters when the sun never shines, made our ancestors contemplate
cold and ice as malevolent spirits; and it was with equal reason that
they invoked with special fervor the beneficent influences of heat and
light.
[Sidenote: Myths of creation.]
When questioned concerning the creation of the world, the Northern
scalds or poets, whose songs are preserved in the Eddas and Sagas,
declared that in the beginning, when there was as yet no earth, nor
sea, nor air, when darkness rested over all, there existed a powerful
being called Allfather, whom they dimly conceived as uncreated as well
as unseen, and that whatever he willed came to pass.
In the center of space there was, in the morning of time, a great abyss
called Ginnunga-gap, the cleft of clefts, the yawning gulf, whose
depths no eye could fathom, as it was enveloped in perpetual twilight.
North of this abode was a space or world known as Nifl-heim, the home
of mist and darkness, in the center of which bubbled the exhaustless
spring Hvergelmir, the seething caldron, whose waters supplied twelve
great streams known as the Elivagar. As the water of these streams
flowed swiftly away from its source and encountered the cold blasts
from the yawning gulf, it soon hardened into huge blocks of ice, which
rolled downwards into the immeasurable depths of the great abyss with a
continual roar like thunder.
South of this dark chasm, and directly opposite Nifl-heim, the realm
of mist, was another world called Muspells-heim, the home of elemental
fire, where all was warmth and brightness, and whose frontiers were
continually guarded by Surtr, the flame giant. This giant fiercely
brandished his flashing sword, and continually sent forth great showers
of sparks, which fell with a hissing sound upon the ice blocks in the
bottom of the abyss, and partly melted them by their heat.
“Great Surtur, with his burning sword,
Southward at Muspel’s gate kept ward,
And flashes of celestial flame,
Life-giving, from the Fire-world came.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
[Sidenote: Ymir and Audhumla.]
As the steam rose in clouds it again encountered the prevailing cold,
and was changed into rime or hoar frost, which, layer by layer, filled
up the great central space. Thus by the continual action of cold and
heat, and also probably by the will of the uncreated and unseen,
a gigantic creature called Ymir or Orgelmir (seething clay), the
personification of the frozen ocean, came to life amid the ice blocks
in the abyss, and as he was born of rime he was called a Hrim-thurs or
ice giant.
“In early times,
When Ymir lived,
Was sand, nor sea,
Nor cooling wave;
No earth was found,
Nor heaven above;
One chaos all,
And nowhere grass.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Henderson’s tr.).
Groping about in the gloom in search of something to eat, Ymir
perceived a gigantic cow called Audhumla (the nourisher), which had
been created by the same agency as himself, and out of the same
materials. Hastening towards her, Ymir noticed with pleasure that
four great streams of milk flowed from her udder to supply him with
nourishment.
All his wants were thus satisfied; but the cow, looking about her for
food, began to lick the salt off a neighboring ice block with her rough
tongue. There she stood patiently licking that selfsame lump until the
hair of a god appeared. After she had licked some time longer the whole
head emerged from its icy envelope, and by and by Buri (the producer)
stepped forth entirely free.
While the cow had been thus engaged, Ymir, the giant, had fallen
asleep, and as he slept a son and daughter were born from the
perspiration under his armpit, and his feet produced the six-headed
giant Thrudgelmir, who, shortly after his birth, brought forth in his
turn the giant Bergelmir, from whom all the evil frost giants are
descended.
“Under the armpit grew,
’Tis said of Hrim-thurs,
A girl and boy together;
Foot with foot begat,
Of that wise Jötun,
A six-headed son.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
[Sidenote: Odin, Vili, and Ve.]
When these giants became aware of the existence of the god Buri, and
of his son Börr (born), whom he had immediately produced, they began
waging war against them, for as the gods and giants represented the
opposite forces of good and evil, there was no hope of their ever
coming to an agreement and living together in peace. This struggle
continued evidently for ages, neither party gaining a decided
advantage, until Börr married the giantess Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn
(the thorn of evil), who bore him three powerful sons, Odin (spirit),
Vili (will), and Ve (holy). These three sons immediately joined their
father in his struggle against the inimical frost giants, and finally
succeeded in slaying their deadliest foe, the great Ymir. As he sank
down lifeless the blood gushed from his wounds in such floods that
it produced a great deluge, in which all his race perished, with the
exception of Bergelmir, who escaped in a boat and went with his wife to
the confines of the world.
“And all the race of Ymer thou didst drown,
Save one, Bergelmer,--he on shipboard fled
Thy deluge, and from him the giants sprang.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
Here he took up his abode, calling the place Jötun-heim (the home
of the giants), and here he begat a new race of frost giants, who
inherited his dislikes, continued the feud, and were always ready
to sally forth from their desolate country and make a raid into the
territory of the gods.
The gods, who in Northern mythology are called Æsir (pillars and
supporters of the world), having thus triumphed over all their foes,
and being no longer engaged in perpetual warfare, now began to look
about them, wondering how they could improve the desolate aspect of
things and fashion a habitable world. After due consideration Börr’s
sons rolled Ymir’s great corpse into the yawning abyss, and began to
make the world out of its various component parts.
[Sidenote: Creation of the earth.]
Out of the giant’s flesh they fashioned Midgard (middle garden), as
the earth was called, which was placed in the exact center of the vast
space, and hedged all round with Ymir’s eyebrows which formed its
bulwarks or ramparts. The solid portion of Midgard was surrounded by
the giant’s blood or sweat, which now formed the ocean, while his bones
made the hills, his flat teeth the cliffs, and his curly hair the trees
and all vegetation.
Well pleased with the result of these their first efforts at creation,
the gods took the giant’s unwieldy skull and poised it skillfully
above earth and sea as the vaulted heavens; then scattering his brains
throughout the expanse they fashioned from them the fleecy clouds.
“Of Ymir’s flesh
Was earth created,
Of his blood the sea,
Of his bones the hills,
Of his hair trees and plants,
Of his skull the heavens,
And of his brows
The gentle powers
Formed Midgard for the sons of men;
But of his brain
The heavy clouds are
All created.”
NORSE MYTHOLOGY (R. B. Anderson).
To support the heavenly vault in place, the gods stationed the strong
dwarfs, Nordri, Sudri, Austri, Westri, at its four corners, bidding
them uphold it on their shoulders, and from them the four points of the
compass received their present names of North, South, East, and West.
To light up the world thus created, the gods began to stud the heavenly
vault with sparks secured from Muspells-heim, points of light which
shone steadily through the gloom like brilliant stars. The most vivid
of all these sparks, however, were reserved for the manufacture of the
sun and moon, which were placed in beautiful golden chariots.
“And from the flaming world, where Muspel reigns,
Thou sent’st and fetched’st fire, and madest lights:
Sun, moon, and stars, which thou hast hung in Heaven,
Dividing clear the paths of night and day.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
When all these preparations had been finished, and the steeds Arvakr
(the early waker) and Alsvin (the rapid goer) were harnessed to the sun
chariot, the gods, fearing lest the animals should suffer from their
proximity to this ardent sphere, placed under their withers great skins
filled with air or with some iron refrigerant substance. They also
fashioned the shield Svalin (the cooler), and placed it in front of
the car to shelter them from the sun’s direct rays, which would else
have burned them and the earth to a crisp. The moon car was, moreover,
provided with a fleet steed called Alsvider (the all-swift); but as its
rays were very mild indeed, no shield was required to protect him.
[Sidenote: Mani and Sol.]
The chariots were all ready, the steeds harnessed and impatient to
begin their daily round, but there was no one to guide them along the
right road. The gods, perceiving this, looked about them and soon
beheld Mani (the moon) and Sol (the sun), children of giant Mundilfari,
who was so inordinately proud of his beautiful offspring that he called
them by the names of the newly created orbs. He gave his daughter Sol
in marriage to Glaur (glow), who was probably one of Surtr’s sons. The
brother and sister were transferred to the sky, where, after receiving
minute directions from the gods, they skillfully guided their fleet
steeds along their appointed paths.
“Know that Mundilfær is hight
Father to the moon and sun;
Age on age shall roll away,
While they mark the months and days.”
HÁVAMÁL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
Seeing how satisfactory all these arrangements were, the gods now
summoned Nott (night), a daughter of one of the giants, Norvi, and
intrusted to her care a dark chariot, drawn by a sable steed, Hrim-faxi
(frost mane), from whose waving mane the dew and hoar frost dropped
down upon the earth.
“Hrim-faxi is the sable steed,
From the east who brings the night,
Fraught with the showering joys of love:
As he champs the foamy bit,
Drops of dew are scattered round
To adorn the vales of earth.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
The goddess of night had already thrice been married: by her first
husband, Naglfari, she had had a son named Aud; by her second, Annar, a
daughter Jörd (earth); and by her third, the god Dellinger (dawn), she
now had a son, radiant with beauty, who was called Dag (day).
As soon as the gods became aware of this beautiful being’s existence
they provided a chariot for him also, drawn by the resplendent white
steed Skin-faxi (shining mane), from whose mane bright beams of light
shone forth in every direction, illuminating all the world, and
bringing light and gladness to all.
“Forth from the east, up the ascent of Heaven,
Day drove his courser with the shining mane.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
[Sidenote: The wolves Sköll and Hati.]
But as evil always treads close upon the footsteps of good, hoping to
destroy it, the ancient inhabitants of the Northern regions imagined
that both Sun and Moon were incessantly pursued by the fierce wolves
Sköll (repulsion) and Hati (hatred), whose sole aim was to overtake
and swallow the brilliant objects before them, so that the world might
again be enveloped in its primeval darkness.
“Sköll the wolf is named
That the fair-faced goddess
To the ocean chases;
Another Hati hight,
He is Hrodvitnir’s son;
He the bright maid of heaven shall precede.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
At times, they said, the wolves overtook and tried to swallow their
prey, thus producing an eclipse of the radiant orbs. Then the terrified
people raised such a deafening clamor that the wolves, frightened by
the noise, hastily dropped them. Thus rescued, Sun and Moon resumed
their course, fleeing more rapidly than before, the hungry monsters
rushing along in their wake, anxious for the time when their efforts
would prevail and the end of the world would come. For the Northern
nations all believed that as their gods had sprung from an alliance
between the divine element (Börr) and the mortal (Bestla), they were
finite, and doomed to perish with the world they had made.
“But even in this early morn
Faintly foreshadowed was the dawn
Of that fierce struggle, deadly shock,
Which yet should end in Ragnarok;
When Good and Evil, Death and Life,
Beginning now, end then their strife.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
Mani was also accompanied by Hiuki, the waxing, and Bil, the waning
moon, two children whom he had snatched from earth where a cruel father
forced them to carry water all night. Our ancestors fancied they saw
these children, the original “Jack and Jill,” with their pail, darkly
outlined upon the moon.
The gods not only appointed Sun, Moon, Day, and Night to count out the
year, but also called Evening, Midnight, Morning, Forenoon, Noon, and
Afternoon to share their duties, making Summer and Winter the rulers
of the seasons. Summer, a direct descendant of Svasud (the mild and
lovely), inherited his gentle disposition, and was loved by all except
Winter, his deadly enemy, the son of Vindsual, himself a son of the
disagreeable god Vasud, the personification of the icy wind.
“Vindsual is the name of him
Who begat the winter’s god;
Summer from Suasuthur sprang:
Both shall walk the way of years,
Till the twilight of the gods.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
As the cold winds continually swept down from the north, chilling all
the earth, these nations further imagined that at the extreme northern
verge of the heavens sat the great giant Hræ-svelgr (the corpse
swallower), all clad in eagle plumes, and that whenever he raised his
arms or wings the cold blasts darted forth and swept ruthlessly over
the face of the earth, blighting all things with their icy breath.
“Hræ-svelger is the name of him
Who sits beyond the end of heaven,
And winnows wide his eagle-wings,
Whence the sweeping blasts have birth.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
[Sidenote: Dwarfs and Elves.]
While the gods were occupied in creating the earth and providing for
its illumination, a whole host of maggot-like creatures had been
breeding in Ymir’s flesh. Crawling in and out, they now attracted
divine attention. Summoning these uncouth beings into their presence,
the gods, after giving them forms and endowing them with superhuman
intelligence, divided them into two large classes. Those which
were dark, treacherous, and cunning by nature were banished to
Svart-alfa-heim, the home of the black dwarfs, situated underground,
whence they were never allowed to come forth as long as it was day,
under penalty of being turned into stone. They were called Dwarfs,
Trolls, Gnomes, or Kobolds, and spent all their time and energy in
exploring the secret recesses of the earth. They collected gold,
silver, and precious stones, which they stowed away in secret crevices,
whence they could withdraw them at will. As for the remainder of these
small creatures, including all that were fair, good, and useful, the
gods called them Fairies and Elves, and gave them a dwelling place in
the airy realm of Alf-heim (home of the light-elves), situated between
heaven and earth, whence they could flit downwards whenever they
pleased, to attend to the plants and flowers, sport with the birds and
butterflies, or dance in the silvery moonlight on the green. Odin, who
had been the leading spirit in all these undertakings, now bade the
gods, his descendants, follow him to the broad plain called Idawold,
far above the earth, on the other side of the great stream Ifing, whose
waters never froze.
“Ifing’s deep and murky wave
Parts the ancient sons of earth
From the dwelling of the Goths:
Open flows the mighty flood,
Nor shall ice arrest its course
While the wheel of Ages rolls.”
VAFTHRUDNI’S-MAL (W. Taylor’s tr.).
In the very center of the sacred space, which from the beginning of the
world had been reserved for their own abode and called Asgard (home of
the gods), the twelve Æsir (gods) and twenty-four Asynjur (goddesses)
all assembled. They decreed that no blood should ever be shed within
the limits of their realm, or peace stead, but that harmony must reign
there forever. Then after due consultation they established a forge
where they fashioned all their weapons and the tools required to build
magnificent palaces of precious metals, in which they lived for many
long years in a state of such perfect happiness that this period has
been called the Golden Age.
[Sidenote: Creation of man.]
Although the gods had from the beginning designed Midgard, or
Mana-heim, as the abode of man, there were at first no human beings to
inhabit it. One day Odin, Vili, and Ve, according to some authorities,
or Odin, Hoenir (the bright one), and Lodur, or Loki (fire), started
out together and walked along the seashore, where they found either
two trees, the ash, Ask, and the elm, Embla, or two blocks of wood,
hewn into rude semblances of the human form. The gods gazed at first
upon the inanimate wood in silent wonder, then perceiving the use it
could be put to, Odin gave these logs souls, Hoenir bestowed motion and
senses, and Lodur contributed blood and blooming complexions.
“There were twain and they went upon earth, and were speechless,
unmighty, and wan;
They were hopeless, deathless, lifeless, and the Mighty named them
Man.
Then they gave them speech and power, and they gave them color and
breath;
And deeds and the hope they gave them, and they gave them Life and
Death.”
SIGURD THE VOLSUNG (William Morris).
This newly created man and woman were then left to rule Midgard at
will. They gradually peopled it with their descendants, while the gods,
remembering they had called them into life, took a special interest in
all they did, watched over them, and often vouchsafed their aid and
protection.
[Sidenote: The Yggdrasil tree.]
Allfather in the mean while had not been idle, but had created a huge
ash called Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe, of time, or of life,
which filled all the world, taking root not only in the remotest depths
of Nifl-heim, where bubbled the spring Hvergelmir, but also in Midgard,
near Mimir’s well (the ocean), and in Asgard, near the Urdar fountain.
These three great roots permitted the tree to attain such a marvelous
height that its topmost bough, called Lerad (the peace giver),
overshadowed Odin’s hall, while the other wide-spreading branches
towered over all the other worlds. An eagle was perched on the bough
Lerad, and between his eyes sat the falcon Vedfolnir, sending his
piercing glances down into heaven, earth, and Nifl-heim, and reporting
all he saw.
As the tree Yggdrasil was ever green, and its leaves never withered,
it served as pasturing ground not only for Odin’s goat Heidrun, which
supplied the heavenly mead, the drink of the gods, but also for the
stags Dain, Dvalin, Duneyr, and Durathor, from whose horns the honeydew
dropped down upon the earth and furnished the water for all the rivers
in the world.
In the seething caldron Hvergelmir, close by the great tree, was a
horrible dragon called Nidhug, which continually gnawed the roots, and
was helped in his work of destruction by countless worms, whose aim it
was to kill the tree, knowing that its death would be the signal for
the downfall of the gods.
“Through all our life a tempter prowls malignant,
The cruel Nidhug from the world below.
He hates that asa-light whose rays benignant
On th’ hero’s brow and glitt’ring sword bright glow.”
VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH (R. B. Anderson).
Scampering continually up and down the branches and trunk of the tree
was the squirrel Ratatosk (branch borer), the typical busybody and tale
bearer, which passed up and down, reporting the eagle’s remarks to the
dragon, and _vice versa_, in the hope of stirring up strife between
them.
[Sidenote: Bifröst.]
To maintain the tree Yggdrasil in a perfectly healthy condition, the
Norns or Fates daily sprinkled it with the holy waters from the Urdar
fountain, and as this water trickled down to earth it supplied the bees
with honey. From either edge of Nifl-heim, arching high above Midgard,
rose the gods’ bridge, Bifröst (Asabru, the rainbow), built of fire,
water, and air, whose quivering and changing hues it retained, and
over which none but the gods were privileged to travel to and fro, on
their journey to the earth or to the Urdar well, at the foot of the ash
Yggdrasil, where they daily assembled in council.
“The gods arose
And took their horses, and set forth to ride
O’er the bridge Bifröst, where is Heimdall’s watch,
To the ash Igdrasil, and Ida’s plain.
Thor came on foot, the rest on horseback rode.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
Of all the gods only Thor, the god of thunder, never passed over
the bridge, for they feared that his heavy tread or the heat of his
lightnings would destroy it. The gods’ watchman, Heimdall, kept guard
there night and day. He was armed with a very trenchant sword, and
carried a trumpet called Giallar-horn, upon which he generally blew a
soft note to announce the coming or going of the gods, but upon which
he would blow a terrible blast when Ragnarok should come, and the frost
giants and Surtr threatened to destroy the world.
“Surt from the south comes
With flickering flame;
Shines from his sword
The Val-god’s sun.
The stony hills are dashed together,
The giantesses totter;
Men tread the path of Hel,
And heaven is cloven.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
[Sidenote: The Vanas.]
Now although the original inhabitants of heaven were the Æsir, they
were not the sole divinities of the Northern races, who also recognized
the power of the sea and wind gods, the Vanas, dwelling in Vana-heim
and ruling their realms as they pleased. In early times, before the
golden palaces in Asgard were built, a dispute arose between the Æsir
and Vanas, and they soon resorted to arms to settle it, using rocks,
mountains, and icebergs as missiles. But discovering ere long that in
unity alone lay their strength, they agreed to let the quarrel drop and
make peace, and to ratify the treaty they exchanged hostages.
It was thus that the Van, Niörd, came to dwell in Asgard with his two
children, Frey and Freya, while the Asa, Hoenir, Odin’s own brother,
took up his abode in Vana-heim forever.