ÆGIR.
[Sidenote: God of the sea.]
Besides Niörd and Mimir, who were both ocean divinities, the one
representing the sea near the coast and the other the primeval ocean
whence all things were supposed to have sprung, the Northern races
recognized another sea-ruler, called Ægir or Hier, who dwelt either in
the cool depths of his liquid realm or had his abode on the Island of
Lessoe, in the Cattegat, or Hlesey.
“Beneath the watery dome,
With crystalline splendor,
In radiant grandeur,
Upreared the sea-god’s home.
More dazzling than foam of the waves
E’er glimmered and gleamed thro’ deep caves
The glistening sands of its floor,
Like some placid lake rippled o’er.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
Ægir (the sea), like his brothers Kari (the air) and Loki (fire), is
supposed to have belonged to an older dynasty of the gods, for he
ranked neither with the Æsir, the Vanas, the giants, dwarfs, nor elves,
but was considered omnipotent within his realm.
He was supposed to occasion and quiet the great tempests which swept
over the deep, and was generally represented as a gaunt old man,
with long white beard and hair, his clawlike fingers ever clutching
convulsively, as though he longed to have all things within his grasp.
Whenever he appeared above the waves, it was only to take fiendish
delight in pursuing and overturning vessels, which he greedily dragged
down to the bottom of the sea.
[Sidenote: Ran.]
Ægir was mated with his sister, the goddess Ran, whose name means
“robber,” and who was as cruel, greedy, and insatiable as her husband.
Her favorite pastime was lurking near dangerous rocks, whither she
enticed mariners. There she spread her net, her most prized possession,
and, having entangled the men in its meshes and broken their vessels on
the jagged cliffs, she calmly drew them down into her cheerless realm.
“In the deep sea caves
By the sounding shore,
In the dashing waves
When the wild storms roar,
In her cold green bowers
In the Northern fiords,
She lurks and she glowers,
She grasps and she hoards,
And she spreads her strong net for her prey.”
STORY OF SIEGFRIED (Baldwin).
Ran was therefore also considered the goddess of death for all who
perished at sea, and the Northern nations fancied that she entertained
the drowned in her coral caves, where her couches were spread to
receive them, and where the mead flowed freely as in Valhalla. The
goddess was further supposed to have a great affection for gold,
which was called the “flame of the sea,” and was used to illuminate
her halls. This belief originated when the sailors first noticed the
well-known phosphorescent gleams in the deep, and to win Ran’s good
graces, they were careful to hide some gold about them whenever any
special danger threatened them on the sea.
“Gold, on sweetheart ramblings,
Pow’rful is and pleasant;
Who goes empty-handed
Down to sea-blue Ran,
Cold her kisses strike, and
Fleeting her embrace is--
But we ocean’s bride be-
Troth with purest gold.”
VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH (R. B. Anderson).
[Sidenote: The Waves.]
Ægir and Ran had nine beautiful daughters, the Waves, or billow
maidens, whose snowy arms and bosoms, long golden hair, deep-blue eyes,
and willowy, sensuous forms were fascinating in the extreme. These
maidens delighted in playing all over the surface of their father’s
vast domain, lightly clad in transparent blue, white, or green veils.
They were very moody and capricious damsels, however, varying from
playful to sullen and apathetic moods, and at times exciting one
another almost to madness, tearing their hair and veils, flinging
themselves recklessly upon their hard beds, the rocks, chasing one
another with frantic haste, and shrieking aloud with joy or despair.
These maidens, however, seldom came out to play unless their brother,
the Wind, were abroad, and according to his mood they were gentle and
playful, or rough and boisterous.
The Waves were generally supposed to go about in triplets, and were
often said to play around the ships of vikings whom they favored,
smoothing away every obstacle from their course, and helping them
speedily to reach their goal.
“And Æger’s daughters, in blue veils dight,
The helm leap round, and urge it on its flight.”
VIKING TALES OF THE NORTH (R. B. Anderson).
[Sidenote: Ægir’s brewing kettle.]
In Anglo-Saxon the sea-god Ægir was known by the name of Eagor, and
whenever an unusually large wave came thundering towards the shore, the
sailors were wont to cry, as the Trent boatmen still do, “Look out,
Eagor is coming!” He was also known by the name of Hler (the shelterer)
among the Northern nations, and of Gymir (the concealer), because he
was always ready to hide things in the depths of his realm, never
revealing the secrets intrusted to his care. And, because the waters
of the sea were frequently said to seethe and hiss, the ocean was often
called Ægir’s brewing kettle or vat.
His two principal servants, noted for their quickness, were Elde and
Funfeng, emblems of the phosphorescence of the sea; they invariably
waited upon the guests whom he invited to his banquets in the depths
of the sea. Ægir sometimes left his realm to visit the Æsir in Asgard,
where he was royally entertained, and took special pleasure in Bragi’s
tales of the various adventures and achievements of the gods. Excited
by the sparkling mead and by these tales, the god on one occasion
ventured to invite all the Æsir to celebrate the harvest feast with him
in Hlesey, where he promised to entertain them in his turn.
[Sidenote: Thor and Hymir.]
Surprised at this invitation, one of them ventured to remind Ægir
that the gods were accustomed to dainty fare; but the god of the sea
declared that as far as eating was concerned they need have no care,
as he was sure he could cater to the most fastidious appetites; but
he confessed that he was not so confident about drink, as his brewing
kettle was rather small. Hearing this, Thor immediately volunteered to
procure a suitable kettle, and set out with Tyr to obtain it. The two
gods journeyed east of the Elivagar in Thor’s goat chariot, left this
conveyance at the house of the peasant Egil, Thialfi’s father, and
wended their way on foot to the dwelling of the giant Hymir, who, they
knew, owned a kettle one mile deep and proportionately wide.
“There dwells eastward
Of Elivagar
The all-wise Hymir,
At heaven’s end.
My sire, fierce of mood,
A kettle owns,
A capacious cauldron,
A rast in depth.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
Only the women were at home, however, and Tyr recognized in the
eldest--an ugly old hag with nine hundred heads--his own grandmother,
while the youngest, a beautiful young giantess, his mother, hospitably
received him and his companion and gave them a drink.
After learning their errand, this woman bade Tyr and Thor hide under
some huge kettles resting upon a beam at the end of the hall, for her
husband Hymir was very hasty and often slew his would-be guests with
a single baleful glance. The gods had no sooner followed her advice
than the old giant Hymir came in. When his wife told him that visitors
had come, he frowned so portentously, and flashed such a wrathful look
towards their hiding place, that the rafter split and the kettles fell
with a crash, and were all dashed to pieces with the exception of the
largest.
“In shivers flew the pillar
At the Jötun’s glance;
The beam was first
Broken in two.
Eight kettles fell,
But only one of them,
A hard-hammered cauldron,
Whole from the column.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Thorpe’s tr.).
The giant’s wife, however, prevailed upon him to welcome Tyr and Thor,
and slay three oxen for their refection; but he was greatly dismayed to
see the thunder-god eat two of these for his supper. Muttering that he
would have to go fishing early the next morning to secure a breakfast
for such a voracious guest, the giant fell asleep. When he went down to
the shore at dawn the next day, he was joined by Thor, who declared he
would help him. As the giant bade him secure his own bait for fishing,
Thor coolly slew his host’s largest ox, Himinbrioter (heaven breaker),
cut off its head, and, embarking with it, proceeded to row far out to
sea. In vain Hymir protested that his usual fishing ground had been
reached, and that they might encounter the terrible Midgard snake were
they to venture any farther--Thor persistently rowed on, until he
fancied they were directly above this monster.
“On the dark bottom of the great salt lake,
Imprisoned lay the giant snake,
With naught his sullen sleep to break.”
THOR’S FISHING, OEHLENSCHLÄGER (Pigott’s tr.).
Baiting his powerful hook with the ox head, Thor angled for
Iörmungandr, while the giant drew up two whales, which seemed enough
for an early morning’s meal.
As Hymir was about to propose a return, Thor suddenly felt a jerk, and
began pulling as hard as he could, for he knew by the resistance of
his prey, and the terrible storm lashed up by its writhings, that he
had hooked the Midgard snake. In his determined efforts to force him
to rise to the surface, Thor braced his feet so strongly against the
bottom of the boat that he went through it and stood on the bed of the
sea.
After an indescribable struggle, the monster’s terrible venom-breathing
head appeared, and Thor, seizing his hammer, was about to annihilate it
when the giant, frightened by the proximity of Iörmungandr, and fearing
lest the boat should sink and he become its prey, drew his knife, cut
the fishing line, and thus allowed the monster to drop back like a
stone to the bottom of the sea.
“The knife prevails: far down beneath the main
The serpent, spent with toil and pain,
To the bottom sank again.”
THOR’S FISHING, OEHLENSCHLÄGER (Pigott’s tr.).
Angry with Hymir for his inopportune interference, Thor dealt him
a blow with his hammer which knocked him overboard; but Hymir,
undismayed, waded ashore, and met him as he returned to the beach.
Hymir then took both whales, his share of the fishing, upon his back,
to carry them to the house; and Thor, wishing to show his strength
also, shouldered boat, oars, and fishing tackle, and followed him.
Breakfast being disposed of, Hymir challenged Thor to show his strength
by breaking his goblet; but although the thunder-god threw it with
irresistible force against stone pillars and walls, it remained whole
and was not even bent. In obedience to a whisper from Tyr’s mother,
however, Thor suddenly hurled it against the giant’s forehead, the
only substance tougher than itself, where it was shivered to pieces.
Hymir, having thus seen what Thor could do, told him he might have the
required kettle, which Tyr vainly tried to lift, and which Thor could
raise from the floor only after he had drawn his belt of strength up to
the very last hole.
“Tyr twice assayed
To move the vessel,
Yet at each time
Stood the kettle fast.
Then Môdi’s father
By the brim grasped it,
And trod through
The dwelling’s floor.”
LAY OF HYMIR (Thorpe’s tr.).
The wrench with which he pulled it up, however, greatly shattered the
giant’s house and broke his floor to pieces. As Tyr and Thor were
departing, the latter having clapped the huge pot on his head in the
guise of a hat, Hymir summoned the other frost giants, and proposed
that they should slay their inveterate foe. Before they could overtake
him, Thor, turning around, became aware of their pursuit, and, hurling
Miölnir repeatedly at them, slew them all ere he carried the kettle in
triumph to Ægir to enable him to brew enough ale for the harvest feast.
The physical explanation of this myth is, of course, a thunder storm
(Thor), in conflict with the raging sea (the Midgard snake), and the
breaking up of the polar ice (Hymir’s goblet and floor) in the heat of
summer.
The gods now joyfully accepted Ægir’s invitation to be present at
his feast, went there in festive array, and were ever after wont to
celebrate the harvest home in his coral caves.
“Then Vans and Æsir, mighty gods,
Of earth and air, and Asgard, lords,--
Advancing with each goddess fair,
A brilliant retinue most rare,--
Attending mighty Odin, swept
Up wave-worn aisle in radiant march.”
VALHALLA (J. C. Jones).
Ægir, as we have seen, ruled over all the sea with the help of the
treacherous Ran. Both of these divinities were considered cruel by
the Northern nations, who had much to suffer from the sea, which,
surrounding them on all sides, ran far into the heart of their
countries by means of the numerous fiords, and often swallowed the
ships of their vikings, with all the men on board.
“We Goth-folk know indeed
That the sea is a foe full deadly, and a friend that fails at need,
And that Ran, who dwells thereunder, will many a man beguile.”
SIGURD THE VOLSUNG (William Morris).
[Sidenote: Other divinities of the sea.]
Besides these principal divinities of the sea, the Northern nations
believed in mermen and mermaids, the latter having swan plumage or seal
garments, which they sometimes laid for a moment upon the beach, and if
a mortal secured them he could compel the fair maidens to remain ashore.
“She came through the waves when the fair moon shone
(Drift o’ the wave and foam o’ the sea);
She came where I walked on the sands alone,
With a heart as light as a heart may be.”
L. E. R.
There were also malignant marine monsters who were known as Nicors,
from whose name has been derived the proverbial Old Nick. Many of the
lesser water divinities had fish tails; the females bore the name of
Undines, and the males of Stromkarls, Nixies, Necks, or Neckar. These
water spirits often left their native streams, especially during the
middle ages, to appear at village dances, where they were recognized by
the wet hem of their garments. They often sat beside the flowing brook
or river, playing on a harp, or sang alluring songs while combing out
their long golden or green hair.
“The Neck here his harp in the glass castle plays,
And mermaidens comb out their green hair always,
And bleach here their shining white clothes.”
STAGNELIUS (Keightley’s tr.).
The Nixies, Undines, and Stromkarls were particularly gentle and
lovable beings, and were very anxious indeed to obtain repeated
assurances of their ultimate salvation.
Many stories are therefore told of priests or children meeting these
spirits playing by a stream, and taunting them with future damnation,
which threat turned the joyful music to pitiful wails. But when priest
or children, discovering their mistake, hastened back to the stream
and assured the green-toothed water sprites of future redemption, they
invariably resumed their happy strain.
“Know you the Nixies, gay and fair?
Their eyes are black, and green their hair--
They lurk in sedgy shores.”
MATHISSON.
[Sidenote: River nymphs.]
Besides Elf or Elb, the water sprite who gave its name to the Elbe
River in Germany, the Neck, from whom the Neckar derives its name, and
old Father Rhine, with his numerous daughters (tributary streams),
the most famous of all the lesser water divinities is the Lorelei,
the siren maiden who sits upon the Lorelei rock near St. Goar, on the
Rhine, and whose alluring song has enticed many a mariner to death. The
legends concerning this siren are very numerous indeed, one of the most
ancient being as follows:
Lorelei was an immortal, a water nymph, daughter of old Father Rhine;
during the day she dwelt in the cool depths of the river bed, but late
at night she appeared in the moonlight, sitting aloft upon a pinnacle
of rock, in full view of all who passed up or down the stream. At
times, the evening breeze wafted some of the notes of her song to the
boatmen’s ears, when, forgetting time and place in listening to these
enchanting melodies, they drifted upon the sharp and jagged rocks,
where they invariably perished.
“Above the maiden sitteth,
A wondrous form, and fair;
With jewels bright she plaiteth
Her shining golden hair:
With comb of gold prepares it,
The task with song beguiled;
A fitful burden bears it--
That melody so wild.
“The boatman on the river
Lists to the song, spell-bound;
Oh! what shall him deliver
From danger threat’ning round?
The waters deep have caught them,
Both boat and boatman brave;
’Tis Loreley’s song hath brought them
Beneath the foaming wave.”
SONG, HEINE (Selcher’s tr.).
[Sidenote: The Lorelei and the fisherman.]
One person only is reported to have seen the Lorelei close by, a young
fisherman from Oberwesel, who met her every evening by riverside, and
spent a few delightful hours with her, drinking in her beauty and
listening to her entrancing song. Tradition further relates that ere
they parted the Lorelei invariably pointed out the places where the
youth must cast his nets on the morrow--instructions which he always
obeyed, and which invariably brought him success.
One night the young fisherman was seen going towards the river, but as
he never returned search was made for him. No clew to his whereabouts
being found, the credulous Germans finally reported that the Lorelei
had dragged him down to her coral caves that she might enjoy his
companionship forever.
[Illustration: LORELEI AND THE FISHERMAN.--Paul Thumann.]
According to another version, the Lorelei, perching on the rocks above,
and luring the fishermen by her songs, caused so many deaths that
an armed force was once sent out at nightfall to surround and seize
her. But the water nymph used her magic to lay such a powerful spell
upon the captain and his men that they could move neither hand nor
foot. While they stood motionless around her, the Lorelei divested
herself of all her ornaments, which she flung into the waves below;
then, chanting a spell, she lured the waters up to the top of the
rock, and the soldiers saw her spring into a sea-green chariot drawn
by white-maned steeds, and drive rapidly away. A few moments later the
Rhine had subsided to its usual level, the spell was broken, and the
men recovered the power of motion, and retreated to announce how their
efforts had been baffled. Since then, however, the Lorelei has never
been seen, and the peasants declare that she still resents the insult
offered her and will no longer leave her coral caves.