THE ■■

Religion 0f i|e ^0i1|meit ;

RUDOLPH KEYSEK,

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NORWAY,

TRANSLATED BY

B AE C L A Y P E X :N" O C K .

NEW YORK:
CHARLES B. NORTON, 71 CHAMBERS STREET

AGENT FOR LIBRARIES.
1854.

^

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S54,

By CHAELES B. NORTON,

in the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

R, Godwin & Co., Printers,
1 Spruce sireel, A'. Y.

m>

4

DAXIEL WILLARD PISKE,

OF THE

ASTOR LIBRARY,

©^15 Solum £ is Snscriiiii

AS A TRIBUTE

TO A

DEVOTED LOVEK OF SCANDINAVIAN LORE,

FRIEND AND FELLOW-TRAVELEK,

THE TRANSLATOR.

PREFACE

The present work on the Religion of the Xorth-
men is a translation of '' Xordmændenes Eeligions-
FORFATNiNG I Hedendommen," bj the leamecl Pro-
fessor Kejser, of Christiania. It was written by
him in order to give a more extended publicity to a
series of lectures on the Popular Life of the North-
men in Heathendom, which he delivered before the
University of Xorway, and is properly the first of a
series upon that subject. In his Preface the Pro-
fessor says :

" Xot only the growing general interest in our
Fatherland's Antiquity, but also the student's
demand for a guide to the early history of the
ÍTorthmen in some measure adapted to his wants,
has at length induced me to publish in a wider
circle, what for a series of years I have delivered to
a limited one. I have made a beo^innini;: with an
Exposition of the Religious System of the North-
men in Heathendom, both because this forms the
natural back-ground in the delineation of the popu-
lar life of the Northmen in Antiquity, and because
the greatest peculiarities of that popular life are
connected with their heathen Faitli, which extended
1*

PREFACE.

its influence over the popular character long after
its own fall.

In presenting the dogmas of the heathen Faith I
have been as brief as possible. I have kept to the
more important mjths in their natural connection,
in order to give a clear conception of the nature and
principles of the Eeligious System. I have thought
It the more necessary to be brief in this part of the
work, since our literature already possesses a detail-
ed exposition of the heathen myths of the Northmen
in Prof. P. A. Munch's excellent work— 7:^(3 My-
thologiG and Heroic Legends of the ÍVö^ííA— which
may serve as a guide to those who wish to study
them in detail and have not an opportunity to
search them out in the original manuscripts, to
which I have merely referred. The Interpretation
of these myths is naturally adapted to the preced-
ing Exposition of them, and is,, accordingly, brief.
But in the Delineation of the Eeligious Institutions,
such as they appeared in the public and private life
of the JS'orthmen, I have deemed it important to be
more detailed, partly because a clear and thorough
understanding of them is veiy important to every
one who would gain a correct knowledge of the
popular life of the Old-Korthmen, and partly be-
cause this subject has hitherto been less explicitly
and carefully treated of."

In this Translation the original has been faithful-
ly followed ; the only deviation from the text has
been in introducing, occasionally, a phrase or a
sentence from the authorities referred to, when it
seemed allowable for the sake of imparting addi-

PREFACE. 7

tional light or interest to the subject on hand.
Many notes, merely of reference to the Eddas and
Sagas, have been left out of the First and Third
Parts, while the notes to the Second Part have been
materially enlarged and increased in number.

The Introductory Chapters grew up of necessity.
The subject before us and the constant reference to
the Eddas and Sagas — the sources of Scandinavian
Mythology and History — make it desirable, and
even necessary, to have some knowledge of their
character and their history. Unfortunately there is
not yet, in the English language, any history of the
Old-Icelandic literature and its Restoration, to
which reference can be made. An Abstract has,
therefore, been here compressed within the limits of
an "Introduction," where it must, of necessity, be
brief. In preparing it, the writer has availed him-
self of is'yerup's " Survey of the History of Studies
in Scandinavian Mythology,""^ Koej^pen's " Literary
Introduction to Xortbern Mythology,"t the publica-
tions of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries,
of Copenhagen, and the works referred to, gen-
erally.

It is gratifying to know that while the desire of
penetrating further into this field of ancient litera-
ture is daily increasing, the facilities for gaining a
knowledge of its rich stores are still more imj^roved.
The student of Scandinavian lore may now rejoice

* Uebersicht der Geschiohte des Studiums der Scandinavisclien
Mjthologie ; Copenliagen, 1816.

f Literiirische Einleitung in die Nordische Mythologie ; Berlin,
1837.

8^ PREFACE.

at the treasures which are brought within his reach
by the Astor Library, by which a journey to
Europe is rendered no longer absolutely necessary
in the pursuit of his studies. In the department of
^Northern literature the collection of this Library is
probably the fullest now existing out of Scandinavia.
Should this volume, in its presentation of the Life
and Literature and Keligion of the Old-Xorthmen,
awaken a desire for a more familiar acquaintance
with the works of their skalds and historians, and
give some assistance to those who are already inte-
rested in the subject, it will be a source of heartfelt
gratification to the writer, and an encouragement to
further labors in the field he has entered upon.

B. P.

Kennett Square, Pa., December, 1853.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS.

PAGE

Chapter I. — The Restoration of Icelandic Literature. . 13
" II. — The Eddas and Sagas of Iceland, . . .42

" III. — The Discovery of America by the liorthmen, 77

RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Introduction, 85

PART FIRST. DOGMAS OF THE ASA-FAITH.

Chapter I.— Origin of the World, 89

II.— Preservation of the World, .... 92

III.— The Gods and their Abodes, .... 93
" IV. — Propagation of Evil ; Decline and Fall of the

World, 98

v.— The Destruction of the Gods and the World, 101
" VI. — Gimli and Náströnd; Regeneration of the

World, 103

PART SECOND. EXPOSITION OF THE ASA-DOCTRINE.

Chapter VII. — Of the Interpretation of the Asa-Doctrine in

Genera], 105

VIII.— Of the Theory of Creation, . . . 110

IX.— Of Yggdrasill, 117

X.— Of the Mythic Divisions of the World, 122

XL— Of the Gods, 125

XII.— Of the Downfall of the World, ... HI

XIII.— Of the State of Being after Death, . . 146
" XIV. — Of the Destruction and Regeneration of the

Gods and the world 151

" XV. — General View. 154

10 CONTENTS.

PART THIRD. INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH ON THE POPU-
LAR LIFE AND CUSTOMS OF THE NORTHMEN.

Chapter XVI. — Ministers of Religion, , , . . . 156
" XYII. — The Æsir as objects of worship among the

Northmen, 165

'• XVIII. — Inferior Deities as Objects of Worship, . 179

•' XIX.— Images of the Gods, . . . . . 196

XX.— Sacred Edifices, . . . . . .205

" XXI. — The Divine Service of the Heathens, . 216
" XXII. — The "V^orship of the Dead, and of Xatural

Objects, . .^ 230

" XXIII. — Oaths; Duels, and Berserksgang ; Ordeals

or Judgments of the Gods, . . . 236

" XXIY.— Sorcery, . 263

" XXV. — Exploring the Future ; Divination, , . 279

" XXVI. — Other Superstitions, 297

" XXVII. — Influence of the Asa-Faith upon the Na-
tional Spirit of the Northmen, . . 308
*' XXVIII.— Decline of the Asa-Faith, . . . .318

APPENDIX.

I. — Text to various translations from the Older Edda on the

foregoing pages, 323

II.— Extract from EgiVa Saga, 328

Index, 335

TABLE

Of the Sounds of &öme Icelandic letters which occur in Old-North-
ern or Icelandic wiords in the following pages:
Icelandic, , . English.

a like

Ö {Germ, ö ; Fr. eu) soAewhat "

au nearly like ö •^>

ei, ey, -X

é (sometimes é)*

í>ý

o

Ó
u

Ú

j

f, middle or end of a word
except before I, or n,

g, k, before a weak vowel
except, g preceded by a vowel
11

gy, ky,

a

in father

e

in her

ou

in thou

i

in fire

e

in met

ej

in they

yea
i

in yea
in hill

ee

in heel

0

in not

0

in more

u

in cut

oo

in booty

y
th

in yea
in thank

th

in with

V

in live

b

y

ddi

ddn

rdn

rn nearly like

%* The final r of proper names, <fec., has been mostly dropped,
it being only a mark of the nom. sing, of masculine nouns which is
lost in the oblique cases. When radical, it is represented by the
modern Icelandic ur, thus: Kjörð, Baldur, for KjuiSr, Baldr.

* Represented by je in modern Icelandic.

f Th, in this work, is mostly substituted for \), and sometimes d
for S, especially in words that, have become modernized and
partially Anglicized, thus: Odin, Thor, for O^iun, fxjrr. Th re-
presents the sound of f), and d takes the place of Í in all the
modern languages — Icelandic excepted — derived from the Old-
Norse.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS

BY

THE TRANSLATOR

CHAPTER I.

TITE RESTORATION OF ICELAKDIC LITERATTJRE.

When tlie rude spirit of the Xortlimen was modi-
fied by tlie influence of Christianity and the warlike
deeds of the Yikings gaYC way to the occupations
of peaceful life, the literature of the people began to
flourish more vigorously. The memories of the past
still lingered with them. Tlie deeds of their fathers
had been celebrated in song, and were kept alive in
cherished traditions. These- songs and these tradi-
tions were full of the bold spirit of the past, and
they inspired the writers of the people. Then the
things which had been said became written^ and the
Saga literature of Iceland sprang into being. For a
long time it flourished luxuriantly, but it celebrated
the exploits of lieathcn warriors and l)reathed the
2

14 INTEODUCTION.

spirit of the forsaken religion, hence it was doomed
in turn to give way before the presence of that power
which had supplanted the old faith and had softened
the rude life of their forefathers. The literature of
the Old-Xorthmen became neglected ; it was suffered
to sink into oblivion. The manuscripts in which it
was preserved, became lost or forgotten, and for a
long period the early history of the people of the
Korth was but little known to themselves except
through the medium of distorted tradition or the
semi-fabulous accounts of Paulus Diaconus,- Adam
of Bremen,f and Saxo Grammaticus.:!:

Such was the state of literature at the era when
the Reformation was introduced in the Xorth. With
the new life which was then introduced, the love of
learning, after a slumber of two centuries, was re-
vived, and the various branches of science were pur-
sued with more or less zeal. In the general progress
of knowledge, the lore of antiquity began to receive
special attention, and the researches of antiquarians
brought to liglit some old manuscripts which were
found in Iceland. At once a new fountain was

* Paul Warnefridsson, a Longobard ■who, about tbe end of the
eighth century, wrote historical sketches of the Longobard heroes,
■which begin -with Scandinavia.

•J- A canon of Bremen, in the latter half of the eleventh century, ■who
■wrote a history of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen, and ap-
pended a geographical vie-w of Denmark and the otlier northern
countries.

X Saxe Lange, ■who, from his great learning received the name of
Saxo Grammaticus (the scholar), lived in the latter half of the
t-welfth century. At the instigation of Archbishop Absalon, he
■wrote the history of Denmark from the beginning to the year 1187.

níTRODIJCTION. 15

opened from the mythological and historical learn-
ing of the j^ast, and the stream which flowed forth
has become rich and copious. From the depths of
the is'orth — from a remote and unknown island — a
dawning light appeared, the harbinger of a bright
day that was to enlighten the Scandinavian Kortli
for a century to come, and to extend its rays through
other lands and down to later ages.

In the year lo9i was published ''The Chroni-
cles of the Danish Kings," a translation from the
01d-E"orse into Danish, by Jens Mortensen. Tlie
appearance of this work gave a new importance to
Scandinavian Mythology. The people had been
told of images of the gods that stood in former days
at Upsala, of sacrifices and other religious cere-
monies which were there performed ; they had heard
of these gods being present in battle, of their wield-
ing an influence over the destinies of men, and in
all places commanding from the people the honors
and worship of divine beings. But of their birth
and descent, — from whence they came, whether
they were ethereal beings and gods by nature, or
whether they were deified men and heroes — of these
things they had but dim and doubtful ideas. This
little work, of which the original author was the
celebrated Icelander, Snorri Sturlason, made its ap-
pearance to give a response to all these queries.

This intelligence was followed up by renewed in-
vestigations, and a mass of mythological fragments
was found and brought to light from the dark cor-
ners and smoky rooms of old habitations in Iceland.
Tlie most active and energetic among those who

16 INTRODUCTION.

were engaged in these antiquarian researches, was
Arngrim Jónsson,- who stands at the head of the
Eestorers of Learning in Iceland. He labored inde-
fatigably in this field during a long life, and did
much by his publications and his communications to
the learned men of Denmark, to arouse the attention
of northern historians to the importance of Icelandic
literature.

In his footsteps followed Brynjúlf Sveinsson,t who
did important service in the field of Xorthem My-
thology, by his labors in the same direction. Tlie
learned Danes who corresponded with these equally
erudite Icelanders, and whose labors were greatly
enriched by their communications, were Stephanius,
the editor of Saxo, and Olaus AVormius,:J: the father of
Northern Archæology. In his department the latter
had the advantage of previous labors in that di-
rection, especially of Count Heinrich von Eantzau,
Yedel, Hvitfeld, Lyschander and others, but his in-
credible activity and energy, and his influence, laid
the first permanent foundations, and first opened the
path to subsequent labors in that field.

Arngrim and Brynjulf were still pursuing their
labors in Iceland, with unabated zeal. In 1G28,
Arngrim discovered the prose Edda and forwarded
it to "Wormius, by whom it came to the librar}^ of

* Born 1568, d. 1648. He wiis a pastor in Iceland, and twice
Rector of the School at Ilolar.

f Born 1605, d. 1675, as l5l«lioi5 of Skalholt.

X Ole Worm, b. 1 588, <^j36ól, as Prof, of Medicine in Copenhagen.
Among his works are "Reg. Dania? Series," 1642; " Danicorum
Monumentorum," 1643 ; Í' Specimen Lcxici Rimici," 1 650 ; " Danica
Literatura Antiq." 1651, &c.

INTEODUCTION. 17

the University at Copenliagen. Other fragineuts
were found from time to time, and before ten years
had elaj^sed, Brynjúlf had found fragments of both
the prose and the poetic Edda. In the year 1640,
he had found the poetic Edda complete. They were
written on parchment, and both came to the Eoyal
Library of Copenhagen. The finding of these manu-
scripts was looked upon as a most important and
invaluable discovery — the crowning labor of their
researches. It brought to light the Bible of the Old-
Scandinavians, and was as important to the Mythol-
02:y of the Xorth as the discoverv of the books of
Moses, by Esdras, was to the religious faith of the
Hebrews.

The zeal for antiquarian researches continued un-
abated, and, when Stephanius and "\Vormius left the
field of action, Resenius entered, and after him
Bartholin, who followed in the path their prede-
cessors had opened. The same relations were kept
up with Iceland, where Torfæus and Arnas Mag-
næus extended their researches in the field in which
Arngrim and Brynjulf had labored before them.

In 1665 the first edition of the prose Edda ap-
peared, together with two pieces of the poetic Edda
— the Yöluspá and Ilávamál — published by Rese-
nius.* This publication was an important acquisi-
tion to antiquarian literature, and the Edda of
Resenius was long a standard work of reference. In

* "Edda Islandorum, conscripta per Snorrorcm Sturljo, Islnndioe,
Danice et Latine" Ed. P. J. Resenius. Hafuiœ, 1665, Ito.
" Philosophia Antiquissima Norvego-Danica, dicta Woluspa, áe,"
í'Ethica Odini, pars Eddæ Sæmundi, vocata Hávam^l, <tc."

18 INTRODUCTION.

1689, the royal antiquarian Bartholin published his
"Antiquities," a classic work for the time. It con-
tained extracts from twenty-one Eddaic poems,
which gave a more complete idea of the poetic Edda
than could be obtained from the two j^oems of
Eesenius. In the translation of these and other
fragments, Bartholin had as amanuensis Arnas
Magnæus, and Torfæus had assisted Eesenius in his
translation of the prose Edda.

The government also took an active interest in
these antiquarian researches. In 1662 Frederick
III. sent Torfæus to Iceland to collect manuscripts^
and in 1685 Christian Y. forbade the sale of them
to any foreigner.

AYhile the study of mythologic lore was thus zeal-
ously pursued in Denmark, the Swedish scholars
were not idle in this field of learning. Tliey re-
ceived manuscripts at Upsala, directly from Iceland,
as well as by the purchase of the Library of
Stephanius. But while they went on collecting the
sources of antiquarian learning, they were not yet so
enriched thereby for want of interpreters. In sup-
plying this deficiency they were aided by the for-
tunes of war. Jonas Rugman, a learned Icelander,
was captured on his way to Copenhagen, during the
war between Charles Gustavus. and Frederick III.
in 1658, and carried to Sweden. He was at once
emplo^^ed to introduce the study of Icelandic, which
he did by teaching the language, and by his labors
in connection with Iceland. He was appointed
Adjunct of the Antiquarian College of Upsala,
where he died in 1679. Through his agency the

INTEODUCTIOX. 10

communication with Iceland was facilitated, and
emissaries were retained there with instructions to
procure everything to be found in the shape of old
manuscrij)ts. A large number were thus obtained,
among them the Upsala Codex of the Edda. The
Antiquarian Archives were established at Upsala as
early as 1669, and in 1692 removed to Stockholm.
Their object was the preservation of Kunic monu-
ments and Icelandic manuscripts.

The Swedish Antiquarians labored even more
zealously than the Danes in publishing and eluci-
dating the Sagas, and though the publications of
that time are not distinguished for correctness of
text nor for faithful Swedish and Latin translations,
and also usually parade a prolix, barren commen-
tary or a wonderful medley of mythologic and his-
toric erudition, still they were for a long time the
best, and in a great measure the only productions to
be found of their class. The Swedes of the seven-
teenth century also produced some independent
mythological works. Of these the most meritorious
undoubtedly was Scheffer's "Upsalia,"" although
Eudbek's " Atlantica"t was by far the most noto-
rious; This is a curious work, in which there is a most

* In 16GÖ. It treats of the heathen temple at ancient Upsala,
of the gods and their worship.

f " Olai Rudheckii Atlantica sive Manheim, vera Japheti pos-
terorum sedes ac patria, etc., etc." Lat. and Swed. Ups. 1675-
1679.

" Atlanticic sive Manheimii pars secunda, in qua Solis, Lunæ, et
Terrœ cultus describituT-, omnisq. adeo su2">crstitionÍ8 hujusce origo
parti Suenoniæ septentr. terrœ puta Cimmeriorum, viudicatur, ex
qua deinccps in oi'beni reliquum divulgata est, etc." Ups. 1689.

2Ö LSTKoinx'noy.

ostentatious display of learning, and it contains some
of tlie most extravagant notions of mytliologieal
history. Its name is derived from tlie fabulous
Atlantis dreamed of l>y Plato and the later Greeks,
which he assumes to be Scandinavia in general, or
more especially Sweden. Here he places the primi-
tive home of the human family, and he not only
refere the Grecian legends oí the Hyperboreans and
Kimmerians, and the uncertain accounts of the
Scythians, Kelts, etc.. to Sweden, but thither he
ti-ansfers Acheron, the Elysian Fields, Olympus, and
the whole fable-world of Greece. According to him,
the Trojans were of Swedish origin, Hercules a
native Swede, and even Plato and his followei's de-
rived the chief part of their wisdom from the songs
of the Swedish skalds.

The Atlantica, with all its extravagant fantasies,
was a natural result of the wild speculations which
had crept into the field of Xorthern Mythology. It
was the whole reduced to a system, if such foolish-
ness could be called a system. All that had been
dreamed, or thought, or questioned, conceraing the
gods and heroes of the Old-Xorth. was brought
together by Rudbeck in a most fantastic manner,
with that barren erudition and total absence of
criticism which characterized the learning of the
seventeenth cennuy.

This spirit exhausted itself in the Atlantica, and
the researches of the following age become more in-
telligible. Hitherto the contents of the Icelandic
books had been received as literally true, and the
Eddas especially had been believed in as immediate

DíTBODCCTIDX. 21

divine revelation. In the fervor of enthumasm
which those venerable relics of ancient wisdom had
inspired, few had thought of donbting their genuine-
ness and truth, and their ongin was laid quite in-
definitely in the remotest antiquity, even beyond
the period of Hellenic culture. Sometimes, indeed,
a question was raised on the age, origin, or import-
ance of a document, but the researches were made
with a simplicity and na'iveté very far from serious
doubt, and so much were they dazzled by the
gold of the newly-discovered treasures, that all such
doubts were suppressed as heresy.* But this in-
genuousness and orthodoxy began to disappear, and
they ventured to doubt, to examine, to judge;
superficially indeed, but still in the spirit of
true, criticism. The Mythology was reduced to
actual chronological history. Mythological systems
were formed in accordance with various interpreta-
tions of the Sagas, and interpretation became a new
and important element in antiquarian researches.

Hitherto they had reflected Kttle upon the ancient
gods and her: r-. r_r Æsít were there, and they
had taken them í - >. without any skeptical

questioning of thei: ; - . But in the eighteenth

century the understa:: : _ egan to grapple with
the Mythos — ^the one rosaic^ — ^the parent

of all prose and ackn . _ _ . '"'ther truth than
the logically possible : ally apparent,

the other intrinsicaE -, and im-

possible,— and in the ctnrlici u^^c .vctm t •» principles

* Thus Peringsk^old was formally psohihited bj the Swedieh
Court firom writÍBg against the foolish ianeies of Rndbeek.^
2*

22 INTEODIJCTION.

SO antagonistic, the understanding carried the vic-
tory. Tlien followed the other extreme in which
the íí'orthern Mjthos was all to be explained by the
understanding, and the genuine myths, which
existed only in the spirit and the fantasy of the Old-
iS^orthmen, became limited to possible, actual his-
tory. The rationalism of the eighteenth century in
this as in everything else when pushed to the extreme,
became unintelligible from pure understanding, and
foolish from excess of wisdom, and it was in the
heathen theology as in the Christian, that fiction be-
came falsehood, miracles, unmeaning stupidities,
truth, a dream, and idle dreams became truth,
under the treatment of mere abstract reason.

Early in the century the study of Northern An-
tiquities was elevated by the labors of two highly
distinguished Icelanders, Thormod Torfæus and
Arnas Magnæus, each of whom had a great in-
fluence in a special direction — the former as critic
in the field of Archæology, the latter as restorer and
publisher of Icelandic literature. Arnas Magnæus"^''
also wrote several keen essays, by which he gained
the reputation of a learned, circumspect and sober
critic, yet it was less by his writings than by what
he did for the discovery, preservation and publica-
tion of the literary monuments of Iceland, that he
rendered his name immortal.

In 1702 he was sent by Frederick lY. to Iceland,
in order to make, with Paul Yidelin, a thorough

* Arni Magnússon, born 1663, of a distinguished family, studied
iu Copenhagen, and died there as Professor of History and Antiqui-
ties, in 1730.

mTRODucnoN. 23

search of the island, and on this occasion he collected,
during ten years, all that was to be found of old
manuscripts, with such diligence, that little was left
to be done in this field after him. The greater part
of his collection was unfortunately destroyed in the
great fire of Coj^enhagen in 1728 ; the remaining
MSS., 1550 in number, he bequeathed to the Uni-
versity Library, and set apart a considerable sum of
money for defraying the expenses of their publi-
cation.''^

His design was first carried into execution in the
year 1760, when the Arna-Magnæan Commission
was established and began its labors in the spirit of
its foimder. It worked on with indifferent success
in the beginning; its first publication (Knytlinga
Saga) was a failure, and the Institution seemed
likely not to realize the promised results, until 1772,
when Luxdorf, Suhm, Langebek, and Eiriksson were
placed at its head. Under their direction it went for-
ward with new life. First appeared '' Kristni Saga,"
and others followed at intervals, until finally, in the
year 1787, the long-expected First Part of the Older
Edda was published.f Tliis was an important event

* In 1*760, the capital amouuted to 13,356 Rix Dalers; in 1794,
to 18,500 Th.

f " Edda Sæmundar hinns Fróða. Edia rythmica seu antiquor,
vulgoSœmundina dicta, <tc." llafn. 1787. Yd. 1, 4to. This first
volume contains the mythological poems (except those published
by Resenius), -with Introduction, Commentaiy, Translation, and
Glossary, in Latin. The second volume appear<'d in 1818, the
third, and last, in 1828. The former contains the Epic lays, the
latter, the Völuspá, H.ivamál, and Rígsmál, together with a
Mythological Lexicon, and a Calendar of the Old-Scandinavians
oy Finn Magnusen.

24: INTKODrCTION.

to the antiquarian scliolar. It was now possible for
every one who had not access to the manuscripts, to
see the Old-Scandinavian religion in its primitive,
self-created form, and the learned of other lands
were enabled to examine it for themselves. The
Edda of Resenius, hitherto the mythological canon,
was now thrown in the background. This Institu-
tion continued to flourish, and since the latter part
of the last century it has been the central life by
which the multifarious labors in Northern Antiqui-
ties and Mythology have been sustained.

Among the contemporary works in this dei)art-
ment, many of which reflect great honor upon the
Danish literati of that time, we may mention Lange-
bek'"s Collection of Danish Historians, Schöning's
edition of the Ileimskringla, and the diversified la-
bors of Suhm. The latter not only did much him-
self for the restoration of Icelandic literatm^e, but
he encouraged and assisted the labors of others with
princely liberality. A number of Sagas''^ were pub-
lished, either directly by him or through his agency,
and at his expense. In the same field and with like
zeal labored Mallet, Tliorkelin, Sandvig, the elder
Thorlacius, and others. Mallet was a learned French-
man who devoted his attention to Scandinavian
lore, and by his writings contributed to enlarge the
field of mythic studies, and give a more systematic
and tangible form to Northern Mythology. His
co-laborer was a celebrated Icelander named Eiriks-
son, to whom he was greatly indebted for the full-

* Landnáma-bók, Orkneyínga Saga, Hervarar Saga, Eyrbyggia
Saga, and others.

INTRODUCTION. 2o

iiess and accuracy of his works. His " Monuments
of Celtic and Scandinavian Mythology and Poetry,"'^'
is a classic work. He began a History of Denmark,
of which, however, he completed only the " Intro-
duction," embracing the field of Northern Mythol-
ogy. This "Introduction," with the supplementary
" Monuments " was translated into English by Bish-
op Percy — compiler of the "Eeliques of Ancient
English Poetry " — and published in London, in 1770,
under the title of " Xorthern Antiquities ; or, a
Description of the Manners, Customs, Peligion, and
Laws of the Ancient Danes and other Xorthern
Xations, with a Translation of the Edda," ifec.
Percy greatly enhanced the value of this book, by a
preface of " Proofs that Teutonic and Celtic ]S"ations
were, ab origine, two distinct People. "f

In the meantime the Icelanders had not been
idle. Silently and diligently they had labored on
from the first, so that the presses of Skalholt and
Ilolar were kept in constant activity. As early as
1ÖS8 the celebrated impression of the Flateyja-bók
was begun : in 1756 appeared Markússon's Collec-
tion of the Sagas.

So much may be said of the department in whicli
Arnas Magnæus labored. On the other hand, it
was Torfæus:}: who gave the form and method to

* " Monumens de la Mythologie et de la Poesie des Celts et partic-
uliérement des anciens Scandinaves." Copenhague, 1756. 4to.

f A new edition of this work, revised and enlarged, has ap-
peared in a popular form in " Bohn's Antiquarian Library." Lon-
don, 1847.

X þormód Torfason, Lorn 1636, in Iceland, died 1710, as Royal
Historiographer, in Copenhagen. His principal works are : "Ar

26 INTKODUCTION.

íí'ortliern Arcliæology, especially the Mythology,
which distinguished it in the eighteenth century. It
was he who first subjected the whole Icelandic litera-
ture to a searching criticism, and arranged and sift-
ed the confused mass of knowledge which had been
collected in this field before him ; and it was he,
also, who introduced and sanctioned the purely his-
torical view of the myths, a view which was after-
wards accepted as an axiom, and cultivated by his
followers and adorers with unmeaning prolixity and
foolish sagacity to the highest perversion. This
was by no means designed nor expressed by him,
but it was determined by the drift of his writings.
After him it was taken for granted that Odin and
the Æsir were men, and the mythology only history
in disguise. There was much written during the
century by his followers, but only to dilute his sys-
tem ; no new thoughts were presented ; everywhere
the same ideas, the same perversions ; only
new hypotheses and new dogmatisms. Thousands
treated on the íí^orthern Mythology during this pe-
riod, all driving his system to the extreme. Only
in the field of criticism some jirogress was made by
Ihre. It would be impossible to name all the books
of the time in which the Æsir were mishandled.
There is not a history of Denmark, Sweden, or Xor-

tiquitates septemtr. seu Series Regum et Dynastarum Danæ" (from
Skjöld to Gorra the Old), Ilafn. 1702 ; "Ilistoria Rerum Isorve-
gicarum" (to the Union of Calmar), lb, 1711, 4 vols, fol, ; a Con-
tinuation of the " Series Regum Daniæ " to Svend ; " Hrolfi Krakii
Historia;" Orkades, Yinlandia Antiqua, Greenlandia Ant., (fee.
The publication of " Torfæana" (a Supplement to the Ser. Rer.
Dan.) was attended to by Suhm, in 1777.

INTRODUCTION. 27

way of that period wliicL does not begin with Odin
and the Æsir as the introducers of civilization, while
they and all other mythic forms are made into hu-
man beings. Such, to take only the most promi-
nent examples, was the treatment of the mythos in
the Swedish Histories of Dalin* and Lagerbring,f
and so was it to the highest extreme in the histori-
cal writings of Schöning :{: and Suhm.g

The latter was efficient in carrying forward the
labors of Arnas Magnæus and Torfæus, and he con-
centrated all the labors of the century in the field
of íí'orthern Archæology, which he carried to the
farthest extreme of systematic representation. His
" Odin " is the "Atlantica " of the eighteenth century ;
like it the result of all preceding researches ; like it
comprehensive, strange, even nonsensical, yet not
fantastic. This work is the most learned and- com-

* "Svea-Rikes Historie," 1747.

f "Svea-Rikes Historie," Stoekh., 1769.

ij: " Om de Norskes, og endeel andre nordiske Folks Oprindclse,"
1769.

§ Pet. Fred. v. Siibm, b. 1728, d, 1799, as Royal Danish Historio-
grapher and Chamberlain, was an enthusiastic scholar. His works
in this department are unsurpassed for learning and diligent re-
search, but in regard to mythology, they contain only the distorted
notions of the age, which he has wrought up into the most pom-
pous and extravagant caricatures. Besides his " History of Den-
mark," and " Critical History of Denmark," his works bearing on
this subject are :

"Forbedringer i den gamle danske og norske Historie," Kjo-
benhavn, 1767.

"Om de nordiske Folks ældste Oprindelse," lb. 1773, 2 vols. ; and
more especially:

**0m Odin og der hedenske Gudelære," etc., 1775.

-^ INTEODUCTIOX.

plete sjötein of JN^ortlieni Mythology of that age,
although it will not bear the test of scientific vaA
mythological criticism iny more than its predeces-
sors.

Towards the last quarter of the century, a mass
of antiquarian matter was produced, especially in
the deccnnium from 1769 to 1779, when " Edda " and
^'Odin^' and ''Northern Mythology" became the
whole order of the day. Eiriksson wrote some small-
er works of merit ; Bishop Finn Jónsson treated of
the early inhabitants of Iceland in an excellent
M'ork, "Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiæ," in 1772;
Ihre published his ''Lexicon Sviogothicum " and
" Letters toLagerbring ;" and amid the mass of writ-
mgs by which the mythological literature was ma-
terially increased, it gained the most, in a scientific
view, from the works of Thorkelin'<- and Thorlacius f
Amid all this exuberant growth of dry material in
the mythological field, we find a most beautiful or-
nament in "Baldur's Death," by Evald (1771), a
striking evidence of what the myths of the ancieiits
may become in the hands of the inspired poef—
and in the Eector ílálfdán Einarsson's "Sciagraphia
Historiæ Islandicæ" (Hafn. 1787), we have a useful
cyclopedia of Icelandic Literature.

By this time the subject had reached other lands
and begun to awaken attention, especially in Ger-

Yl^'afthruduismál.siveOdarum Eddæ Sæmundinæ una etc '^
Hafniæ, 1'7'79.

^ f '' Antiquitat. boreal, observationes Spec. ;" a series of articles
m which the richest treasures of Eddaic lore and Icelandic learn-
ing are presented.

INTRODUCTION. 29

many. Hitherto, but a few Germans liad ventured
on the ÍN^orthern Mythology, as Arnkiel in his
''Heathen Religion of the Cimbrians," in 1691, — a
work prepared with more diligence and zeal than
taste and criticism — Westphalen in his " Monu-
ments," 1745, and Schiitz, in several works of a te-
dious and diffuse character,* yet containing much
good.

An acquaintance with the poems of Ossian, which
began with the year 1760, was an apparent intro-
duction to these studies. Ossian seized like a flash
of lightning upon the fantasy of the German poets,
and as they knew not the distinction between Celt
and German, he passed for an Old-German bard.
Counterparts to these poems were believed to be
found in the Icelandic lays, and the latter were ac-
tually studied by many for the sake of drawing from
them explanations of the Ossianic images and
names ; — they were studied, and the ISTorthern My-
thology became known and admired in Germany.
The " Edda " of Resenius and Bartholin's " Antiqui-
ties " had been published ; Mallet's work was trans-

* 1. " Abliandlung von den Freidenkern unter den alten deutsch-
en und nordischen Völkern." Leipsig, 1748, 8vo.

2. " Exercitationum ad Gcrmaniam sacram geutilem facientiuui
sjlloge." lb., 8vo.

3. " Lehrbegriff der alten deutschen und nordischen Yolker von
dem Zusiande der Seelen naeh dem Tode." lb., 1750, Svo.

4. " Schiitzschriften fur die alten nordischen und deutschen Yol-
ker, 2ten Bandes Iste Saramlung." lb., 1752. This work contains
a chapter of "Proofs that the Ancient Xorthern and Germanic
People had far more Reasonable Principles in their Religion than
the Greeks and Romans."

30 LN^TRODL'CTION.

lated in 1765, and in 1766 Gei-stenb erg's " Letters on
the Curiosities of Literatnre " and " Poems of a
Skald " introduced the gods of the Old-lSTorth into
German Literatnre. Then the so-called "Bardic
School " took possession of them, and gave to the
literature a new direction, as Ivlopstock, in his
" Hermannschlacht"(1769), and the "Bardic Odes"
(1791), Denis in " The Songs of Sined the Bard "
(1772), and Kretschmann, as the " Barde Khin-
gulj)h." Denis attemj)ted the translation of some
of the Eddaic poems, but Herder first successfully
opened the way by his translation of the " V^egtams-
kviÖa" and "Yöluspá," in 1773, and the "Eunic
Chapter," in 1779. After Herder, Grater appeared
as the chief apostle of the Northern Gods, and labored
in their cause with great zeal, but without deep in-
sight. On the other hand, there arose a band of
skeptics with Schlözer at their head. He denied
the genuineness of the mythologic sources, declar-
ing them to be the productions of later times, and
their contents worthless fictions. After him came Ade-
lung, who declared " the whole Old-Scandinavian re-
ligion to be an imitation of Christianity, more or less
obscm-ed by monstrous images and unknown allu-
sions, and decorated with Grecian or Roman ideas."
But Adelung, though a distinguished philologist for
his time, was inexperienced in this field of learning,
and still more so was Delius, who repeated him,
and wrote against the Edda without having read it.
Eiihs stood higher than both, and, besides, did much
to spread the study of Northern literature in Ger-
many. In his arguments against it he not only de-

llíTBODtrCTION. 31

clared the Icelandic poetry and mythology to be
monkish fictions, but traced them in a very jDositive
manner to the Anglo-Saxons.

As it usually happens in such matters, these ne-
gations had a positive effect, and served only to call
attention to the Eddas and other productions of the
Icelanders, and in proportion as the real character
and contents of these works became known, the
apparent evidence against their genuineness disap-
peared. The study of Northern Antiquities became
freed from the one-sided views of its commentators
— of the historical believer, the mythic interpreter,
or the skeptic, — and under the impartial spirit of
the Xineteenth century, it rose to importance as an
independent department of learning. It opened a
wide field of research, which the philosophic spirit
of the age has entered upon and found to be rich
and productive. Philology was enriched by the
ample materials here presented, and in return the
new progress made in philology threw much light
on the researches of antiquaries. The Old-Korse
language was more thoroughly examined, its nature
and properties became better known, and its rela-
tion to the Swedish and Danish, as well as the Ger-
manic languages generally, was more critically es-
tablished. In this field the name of Eask stands
preeminent. His great learning, his zeal and en-
ergy, and the nmltitude and variety of his labors,
are too well known to be enlarged upon here.

Another means by which these antiquarian stu-
dies were enlightened, was a thorough, judicious,
and comprehensive criticism of the sources of

32 INTRODUCTION.

mythic learning, with regard to age and intrinsic
vakie. The honor of applying a thoroughly histori-
cal criticism of this kind to the mythologic and his-
toric literature of Iceland belongs to P. E. Miiller.
By his critical investigations into the origin and
genuineness of the old manuscripts, he decided upon
the antiquity and authenticity of the Eddas, ascer-
tained and established the time of writing and the
reliability of the Sagas, some of them with irrefuta-
ble certainty, some with great probability, and
lastly, he thoroughly examined the sources from
which the two great historical writers drew their
materials, and thus fixed the significance and value
of their works.^

These researches were also greatly facilitated by
the continued publication, translation, and explana-
tion of original matter, which, by means of the philo-
sophic agencies above-mentioned, became more cer-
tain, speedy, and extensive, and in every respect
more universal. The efiPorts of antiquaries were
now directed more especially to the publication
of all the sources of Northern Mythology, as
well as a complete collection of the Old-Ice-
landic literature. In this dej^artment the labor
was carried forward by JS'yerup, Adlerbeth, Wer-
lauif, the younger Thorlacius, and somewhat later
by Eask, Afzelius, Liljegren, and others. The
Arna-Magnæan Commission also continued to labor
on successfidly, but a new era was begun in this

* lu liii5 "Asaltere," "Sagabibliotliek," 1817, "Critiske Under-
sögelse af Danmarks og Xorges Sagnhistorie," 1823, etc., <kc. He
died in 1834, as Bishop of Sealand.

ÍNTRODrCTION. 33

respect, by the formation of the " Society of North-
ern Antiquaries."

The foundation of this Society was laid in 1824,
by a number of the friends of Icelandic literature,
who united together for the purpose of securing the
publication of the yet unprinted manuscripts. Tlie
Society was to publish annually a threefold volume,
namely: in the original text; in a Latin translation,
with critical notes and explanations for the use of
philologists and antiquaries ; and a Danish transla-
tion for the common reader. The undertaking met
with general approbation, many learned men pro-
mised their cooperation, and by the 1st of January,
1825, a permanent '' Society of Northern Antiqua-
ries " (Xorræna Fornfræða Felag), consisting of iifty-
nine members, was established.

The Society undertook, in the first place, a com-
plete edition of the Sagas, to be collected under
three different heads, viz. : 1. 'Tornmanna Sögur,""
or the Historical Sagas recording events out of Ice-
land ; 2. " íslendínga Sögur," or the Sagas record-
ing events in Iceland ; and 3. " Fornaldar Sögur,"
containing all the mythico-historical Sagas record
ing events of the period before the colonization of
Iceland ; the latter to embrace " Fornald. S. NorÖr-
landa," or those relating to the Xorth ; " Fornald. S.
SuÖrlanda," or those relating to Southern lands ; and
" Kappa Sr)gur ok Eiddara," or Heroic and Chival-
ric Legends. At the same time they established
a "Journal of Historical and Philological Trans-
actions."

This was the most important step that lias been

34 INTKODUCTION.

taken in Northern Arcliæology. The Society has
continued to flourish, and has accomplished much
by its labors. It is in friendly cooperation with
the Arna-Magnæan Commission, and through their
joint labors all the important literature of the Old-
ISTorth will doubtless be brought before the world.

The great success of this Society incarrying for-
ward the objects of its formation, especially in the
publication of the old literature in the original text
and in translations, has been mainly owing to the
indefatigable labors of its learned Secretary, Pro-
fessor C. C. Eafn, who, wdth enthusiastic love of
Scandinavian Antiquity, devotes his energies to the
restoration of its literary monuments.

In the mean time, as the study of is'orthern Anti-
quities was extended, a countless number and vari-
ety of works appeared on the subject, both in Ger-
many and in the Xorth. The mythic and heroic
Sagas were treated of and variously explained, nu-
merous journals appeared, w^hich were wholly or
partially devoted to subjects of Archæology, and
the material of the Eddas and Sagas were seized
upon by poets and artistically wrought out into
beautiful and attractive forms. Thus a knowledge
of the heathen gods became impressed uj^on the
people, and the name of Odin was again heard as
far and as frequently as in former days, when j^ro-
nounced by the lips of his worshipers.

Among the mythological works of this period, we
may mention Creutzers "Symbolik," Görres' ''My-
thic History,""'^ Kanne's " Pantheon," Mone's " His-

* " Mythengcschichte dcr niton Welt," 1810.

INTEODrCTION. Öí)

tory of Heathendom in E'orthern Europe,"^ and
others in Germany and in Denmark. Finn MagnU'
sen's great work, " The Eddaic Doctrines and their
Origin,"f wades through a labyrinth of specu-
lations in his attempts to ex^^lain the Eddaic doc-
trines by the phenomena of nature. Yet with all
its extravagances this work displays great research,
and is a great addition to the list of mythological
books. Einn Magnusen was a profound scholar,
and he made many valuable contributions to anti-
quarian knowledge. An excellent work of that
time, is an " Introduction to the Icelandic Litera-
ture and its History in the Middle Ages," by A. O.
Lindfors,:j: a handbook which j)resents a faithful
view of the whole Icelandic literature. Handbooks
on all subjects began to prevail with the close of
the last century; and in time handbooks, or com-
pendiums of such, were not wanting on the Mytho-
logy of the Korth. In Denmark appeared Grundt-
vig's " Northern Mythology,"§ which is celebrated
especially for its poetic tinge ; in Sweden, Geijer's
^'Primitive History of Sweden,"|j which, in its pre-
sentation of the Mythic Lays, treats the subject in a
learned and dispassionate manner. Xyerup and
Finn Magnusen produced Mythological Lexicons,

* "Geschichte des Heidenthiims im nördMchen Europa," 2 vols.,
1822, a work of great research, but which distorts the Eddaic ISly-
thology by its interpretations.

f "Eddalœren og dens Oprindelse," 4 Bd. Kjbnh. 182-Í-26.

^ "Inledning till Islandska Litteraturen och dess Ilistoria under
Medeltiden," af And. Otto Lindfors. Lund. 1824.

§ "K'ordens Mytliologi, eller Udsigt over Eddala?ren."

II "Svoa-RikesIIafdor."

36 INTRODUCTION.

the former a brief summary/' the latter a compre-
hensive Thesanrus.f Xyerup's " Sketch of the
History of Mythological Studies,":!: an Introductory
to his Lexicon, is an excellent guide to that his-
tory.§

The subjects of old Myths and Sagas have
been a prolific theme for the pen of the modern
poets of the Is^orth, but to take note of the numerous
versions of them that have appeared, would carry
us beyond the limits of a simple sketch of the Ees-
toration of the Old-Icelandic literature. We shall
merely refer, in passing, to the names of the two
highest representatives of this department of mod-
ern literature, that of Oehlenschlager, in Denmark,
and of Tegner, in Sweden, whose works are an illus-
tration of the rich fruits that have been gathered
by the modern muse from the fields of Mythic His-
tory. Through the prolific pen of the one, the " Gods
of the i^orth" have been re-animated, and they
come forth to breathe a new and higher life than

* " AVörterbucb der Scandinavischen Mytliologic." Kopcnh,
]S1G.

f "Prisc.T, veterum Eorealium Mythologiæ Lexicon." Ilafniif,
182S.

I " Uebersiciit der Geschiclite desStudiumsdei* Scandinavischen
Mytbologie."

§ Innumerable Compondiums appeared in Germany also, such
as: Sebeller's "Mytbologie der Nordiscbeu ii. a. Dcutseben Vol.
ker" Kegensb. 181 G; Bergner's "Xord. Mytbol. nacb d. Quellen,'»
Leipz. 182G; Yulpius' " Hand wörterbucb der Mytbol. der Deutseb.
en \t. verwandten Nord. Yölker," Lpzg. 1826; Tkány's "Deutsche
Mythob Lexicon." Znaim. 1827; Ilachmeistor's "Nord. ]\rythol."
Hannover, 1882, and otliPVo.

INTKODUCTIOK . 3 7

they knew of old, even as the destinies had foretold
of them in the morning of Time, while the other
stands as the High-priest of Baldnr at the entrance
of his Sacred Grove, and in his glorious song pours
forth the genial inspiration of the " Beautiful God."
We shall conclude this chapter with a brief sketch
of the movements of the present day in the depart-
ment of I^orthern Antiquities, together with the
names of some of the works accessible to the gene-
ral reader. The Antiquarian Society of Copen-
hagen has been mentioned, with a brief allusion to
its plans. Similar associations exist in the other
countries of Scandinavia. The Swedish Antiqua-
rian Society of Stockholm, under the direction of
Arwidsson, Hylten-Cavallius, Geo. Stevens, Esq.,
and others, began in 1844 the publication of a se-
ries of the Middle-age legends in the Old-Swedish
branch of the language, of which about twenty num-
bers have appeared, and in Christiania an associa-
tion of learned men, with Professors Munch, Key-
ser, and linger at its head, has produced, within a
few years, some valuable publications, such as the
Edda, the Saga of Olaf the Saint, and otliei-s, in the
original text. One of these, the " King's Mirror,"
is interesting as the most important Old-Xorse work
written in Korway. An excellent translation of
the Heimskringla has appeared, and many other
works of great value to the antiquarian and philo-
logist. Professor Munch is now engaged on a His-
tory of Norway, a work displaying profound ethno-
logical research in the numbers already published,
which treat upon the primitive history of the North.
3

38 INTRODUCTION.

Eeturning to Denmark, we will read a list of tlie

publications of the '' Royal Society of Northern An-

tiqnariei?," which are a noble monument of the

learning and industry of Professor Rafn.

Fornmanna Sögur, or the Historical Sagas record-
ino^ events out of Iceland, in the orio^inal Icelan-
"die text ; complete in 12 yols. 8yo., with 6 Fac-
similes.

Scripta Historica Islandorum, &c., the same in Latin
by Sveinbiorn Egilsson. 12 vols. 8vo.

Oldnordiske Sagaer, the same in Modern Danish.
12 vols. 8vo.

Fornaldar Sögur Korðrlanda, a complete collection
of the mythico-historical Sagas recording events
assignable to the i:)eriod anterior to the coloniza-
tion of Iceland, in the Old-Xorse text, edited by
C. C. Rafn. 3 vols. Svo.

Kordiske Fortids Sagaer, the same translated into
Modern Danish, by C. C. Eafn. 3 vols. Svo.

Ea^akumal, sive E23Ícedium Ragnaris Lodbroci Re-
gis Daniæ ; Ode on the Heroic Deeds and Death
of the Danish King Ragnar LóÖbrók in England,
in the original text, and in Modern Danish, Latin,
and French, with Critical and Explanatory Xotes,
edited by C. C. Rafn. Svo.

Færeyinga Saga, or the history of the inhabitants
of the Faroe Islands, in Icelandic, the Faroe dia-
lect, and Danish, with map, edited by C. C. Rafn.
Svo,

The same in German, by G. Monike.

Islendinga Sögur, or the Historical Sagas recording
events in Iceland itself 2 vols. Svo., with map
and 10 Fac-similes.

INTRODrCTION. 39

Historiske Fortællinger om Islændernes Færd ; the
Icelandic Sagas translated into Danish by X. M.
Petersen. 4 vols. 8vo.

Grönland's Historiske Mindesmærker ; or Green-
land's Historical Monuments, a Collection of the
Sagas relating to the Discovery, Settlement, and
History of Greenland, in the original text, with a
Danish translation, introduction, and explanatory
remarks, complete in 3 vols., with 12 plates.

Antiquitates Americanæ sive Scriptores Septentrio-
nales Rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America,
opera et studio Caroli G. Rafn, with 14 plates and
4 maps. Imp. 4to. pp. 526.

Tidsskrift for ííordisk Oldkyndighed, Historical and
Philological Transactions. 2 vols. 1 plate.

Nordisk Tidsskrift for Oldkyndighed, Archœohgical
Transactions. 3 vols. 9 plates.

Annaler for Nordisk Oldkyndighed, Annals of
Northern Archœology^ 1836-53, with numerous
plates.

Annaler for Xordisk Oldkyndighed og Historic,
Annals of Northern Archaeology and History.,
1846 to date, with plates.

Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, ArQhœological Eeview., 1845
to date, with plates.

Mémoires de la Société Eoyale du Xord, 1836-47.
3 vols. 30 plates.

Besides ^'' A Guide to Northern Archœology^'' in
English and frequent bulletins in Danish, Ger-
man, French, and English.

Among the numerous works in Germany, the
well known works of Grimm are first in importance.

40 INTRODUCTION.

A translation of the Eddas by Karl Simrock,
which was published in 1S51, is the most faithful
and spirited one that has been made. In its form,,
in preserving the alliterative rhymes, and in sim-
plicity and spirit, it is the best that has appeared in
any language. In connection with this subject is
a small handbook of German Mythology * by J. W.
Wolf, and a Journal devoted to German Mythology
and the History of Culture,t has just been estab-
lished by liim in Gottingen, which has the names of
Grimm, Zingerle, Plönnies, &c. among its contribu-
tors.

England and France have also produced some
works in this department of Northern Antiquities,
but they are wanting in that depth and originality
which characterize the productions of the German
and Scandinavian writers.

A small work entitled " Chants Populaires du
IS'ord," (Paris 1842,) contains a translation of some
of the Eddaic lays, in connection with a few of the
popular legends of other countries of the Korth.
An excellent work bearing on this subject is "A
Sketch of the Literature of the ^N'orth in the Middle
Ages," by Eichhoff. +

In England we have Cottle's translation of the
Edda, § a work of the last century, which entirely

* "Die Deutsche Götterlelirc." Gottingen, 1852.

f "Zeitschrift fiir Deutsche Mjthologie und Sittengeschichte,"
edited by J. W. Wolf. Gottingen.

I "Tableau de la Litterature du Xord au Moyen Age, en Alle-
magne et en Angleterre, en Scandinavie et en Sclavonic," par F.
G. Eichhoff. Paris, 1853.

§ "The Edda of Sæmund," &o., by A. S. Cottle. London, 1797.

iNTRODrCTION. 41

fails in representing tlie spirit of the Eddaic poetry,
and Percy's "Mallet's Introduction," wliicli, with
additional chapters by Blackwell, and Sir Walter
Scott's Abstract of the Eyi'byggja Saga, has been
published in Bohn's "Antiquarian Library," and thus
placed within the reach of every one. The " Sup-
plementary Chapters" contain much valuable in-
formation respecting the literatm-e and the manners
and customs of the Old-Icelanders, drawn from
Danish authorities, but the author continually be-
trays a disposition to frivolity, as though it was a
subject not worthy of his serious investigation, but
one which you found him engaged in by way of
pastime. " A Manual of Scandinavian Mythology '
by Grenville Pigott (London 1839), makes a favora-
ble presentation of the subject, in which, however,
the author has not drawn very deeply from original
sources. Howitt's "Literature and Eomance of
Scandinavia" (London 1852) is a i3leasant indicator
to the general literature of the ISTorth, in which the
Old-Icelandic is represented by nmnerous extracts
from the Eddas and some of the Sagas.

In this brief outline much has been necessarily
omitted, in order to bring within our limits a gene-
ral view of the Restoration and Publication of Ice-
landic literature ; but enough has been said, we
hope, to enkindle a desire in many to extend their
researches into this field, which offers a bountiful
harvest to the Philologist and the Antiquarian, and
is full of interest to the enlightened lover of litera-
ture.

42 INTEODUCTION.

CHAPTER 11.

THE EDDAS AND SAGAS OF ICELAND.

The Icelandic poems wliicli Brjiijúlf Sveiusson
found in 16tt3, and gave the name of " Edda," were
collected and written down in the latter part of the
twelfth century by Sæmund, a learned Icelander.
They had existed before in the mouths of the peo-
ple, and had thus been handed down from genera-
tion to generation, perhaj)s for centuries. They
are evidently the product of various ages in a re-
mote antiquity, but nearer than this we can decide
nothing in regard to their origin. These poems dif-
fer much, not only in age and value, but also in
their contents. In the latter respect they may be
classed under two heads : the Mythological and the
Ejp%c<^ although few of them are either purely epic
or miythological. The Ethical poems, only, may be
separated from the mj thological, and taken as a
distinct class. The poems of the mythological part
are naturally the most important for us. They are
either general or special in their sul)ject matter,
that is, some embrace a comprehensive view of the
whole field of Northern Mythology, while others
are limited to a single group of legends, or to a sin-

INTRODUCTION. 43

gle divinity. To the former belong especially the
CosmogonÍG and Theogonic lays, as in these the
mythic Universe of the Old-Scandinavians is pre-
sented in its unity and completeness. Of these
there are three, as follows :

1. Yöluspá — The Vala's Prophecy — may be re-
garded, both from its manner and matter, as one of
the oldest j)oetic monuments of the Xorth. In ex-
treme simplicity, deep significance, and mythic uni-
versality, it is comparable to Hesiod's Theogony,
hence it has long held, very justly, the first place
among the Eddaic lays. The Seeress, who is intro-
duced speaking, unveils the whole history of the
mythic Universe. Beginning with primeval time,
she goes through every period of its development
down to the The Twilight of the Gods and Baldur's
second birth.

The poem is in many places somewhat obscure,
the changes abrupt, in accordance with the commu-
nication of the Yala, and there are also traces of
later Christian interpolations.

2. Grímnismál — Grímnir^s Speech or Song — be-
gins with a preface (formáli) in prose, in which it is
related that Odin, under the name of Grimnir, visit-
ed his foster-son Geirröð, and the latter, deceived
by a false representation of Friga, takes him for a
sorcerer, makes him sit between two fires and pine
there without nourishment for eight days, until
Agnar, the King's son, reaches him a drinking horn.
Hereupon Grimnir sings the song which bears his
name. Lamenting his confinement and blessing
Agnar, he goes on to picture in antitheses the twelve

44

INTRODUCTION.

abodes of the Gods and the splendors of Valhalla,
which he describes at length, then speaks of the
mythic World-Tree Yggdrasill, and adds many
other cosmological exj)lanations.

3. Yaí]yi<ibmsmúl—Vafthrúdn{7''s Sojig, relates
the contest between Odin and the Jötun Vafthrúd*-
nir. Many cosmological questions are here pro-
pounded. Odin asks concerning the Creation of the
Earth, the Origin of the Sun and Moon, Day and
Kight, Summer and Winter, &c., also the Jötuns,
the Yanir, and the things beyond the Twilight of
the Gods,^

The language, the narration, the train of thought,
are extremely simple. The Jötun loses in the con-
test, as a matter of course.

In their clothing the two latter belong to the
cycle of Oiiinic Myths, although they are strictly
cosmogonical in their subjects. It is thus with
many of the poems, that they are in some respects
quite independent, yet are in some manner con-
nected with others in groups.

\* The poems relating to Baldur's death are of
a general character, for as Baldur is himself '' the
Band in the Wreath of Yalhalla," the central life
of all Asgard, so do the' lays in which his death is
foretold or lamented, have a direct reference to the
Fall of the Gods and of the mythic Universe. In
them the background is always the Twilight of the

* The final destruction of the world and regeneration of the
Gods and men in the Old-Norse Mythology is called Ragna-rökkr
—the Twilight of the Gods.

INTEODUCTION. 45

Gods ; they might therefore be called auti-cosmo-
gonicai. They are likewise three in number, viz. :

4. Hrafna-galldr Óðins — the Eaven-Ciy of Odin^
which is wild and obscm-e, the most unintelligible
of the Eddaic poems. Only this much is clear, that
in it is portrayed the unrest and anxiety of the
Æsir at the approaching death of Baldur. Tor-
tured by forebodings of evil they vainly seek coun-
sel and aid of all Kature and in all Worlds.

5. Yegtams-kviða — the Wanderer'^s Lay^ is di-
rectly connected with the foregoing, but it is as
simple as that is confused and intricate. The Wan-
derer is Odin. In order to arrive at certainty
concerning the portentous future of the Gods, he
descends to ISTiflheim, goes into the abodes of Hel,
and calls up from the grave a long-departed Yala,
in order to learn from her the fate of Baldur. She
listens to him indignantly, answers his questions
unwillingly, but at last discovers the King of the
Gods, and in anger drives him away.

6. Loka-senna, or Loka-glepsa — LoMs Quarrel^
or LoTci^s Teeth-gnasfdng^ with a prose introduction
entitled Ægis-drekka — Ægir^s DrinMng- Banquet^
a name applicable to the whole poem. Loki re-
viles the Æsir, who, after Baldiir's death, have
assembled at a banquet with Ægir ; he attacks in a
most shameless manner, first Bragi, then Iduna,
Gefjon, Odin, Friga, Freyja, XjörÖ, and others,
until Thor at length appears and drives him away.
The prose conclusion (eptirmáli) describes his pun-
ishment. Loki-senna is a genuine heathen poem ;
its undertone is deeply tragic, The Æsir, in the

3*

46 INTKODUCTION.

true inytliologic spirit, are far from angelic purity.
They fall ratlier by their own fault into the final
catastrophe, and Loki, although usually the blas-
phemer and liar, here speaks the truth. That
which moves in the " Eaven-Cry of Odin " as a dim
foreboding, now appears distinctly in the conscious-
ness of the Gods. Peace has disappeared with Bal-
dur, and the fearful distraction which precedes their
downfall has overpowered them. The inimitably
beautiful manner in which all this is portrayed,
renders the poem one of the profound est and best
finished of the Edda.

^^■^ Then follow the poems relating to the deeds
of Thor. These appear to have been a favorite
theme of the Old-Northern poets, as we find in
many poems beside those of the Edda. Among the
latter are the foUow^ing :

7. Hýmis-kviÖa — the Song of Hyrmr. The Gods
of Asgard are invited to a banquet with the Sea-
God Ægir. Thor goes to the Jötun Hýmir for a
huge cauldron in which to brew ale for the occa-
sion. He persuades the giant to go with him on a
fishing excursion, in which he fishes up and fights
with the World-Serpent, carries ofi' the cauldron,
and finally slays Hýmer and other giants who pur-
sue him.

8. J)ryms-kviöa or Hamars-heimt — Thrym^s Lay^
or Bringing the Hammer, This is one of the most
amusing poems of the Edda. The Giant Thrym has
got possession of Thor's hammer, and will not give
it up unless Freyja will consent to become his bride.
The Goddess of Love refuses of course, and I^oki

DíTRODL'CTION. 47

persuades Tlior to dress up in Frejja's clotlies and
go for it himself. The stratagem succeeds. Thor
regains possession of his hammer, and with it kills
the Giant Thrjm and Lis followers.

9. Harbarðs-ljóÖ — Harharh^s Lay : a dialogue
between Thor and the ferryman Harbard, who re-
fuses to carry him over a stream. This furnishes
an occasion for each of them to recount his exploits.
HarbarÖ is Odin, and it appears to be the object of
the poem to show the points of contrast between
Thor and Odin, and thereby express more definitely
the peculiar attributes of each. The innate difi:er-
ence between them is implied by the river that
separates them, but is directly expressed in the con-
trasted deeds and occupations of the two ; for while
Thor incessantly fights against the Jötims, Harbarð
(Odin) excites Kings and Rulers to battle, strikes
down warriors and kisses the maidens.

10. Alvis-mál — Speech of Alvis (the All-'W^ise).
Alvis, a Dwarf, has come for Tlior's daughter as his
bride. Thor cunningly detains him all night by
asking him questions concerning the various worlds
he has visited. Alvis answers and teaches him the
names by which the most important things in Ma-
ture are called in the respective languages of dif-
ferent worlds, of men, of the Æsir, Yanir, Jötuns,
Elves, Dwarves, and finally, of the realms of the
dead and of the Supreme Gods. The dwarf, being
one of those mythic creations which cannot endure
the light of day, had to leave without accomplishing
his object.

These four lays relating to the myths of Thor, are

48 INTEODUCTION.

evidently of later origin than tliose previously
named. The first two are filled with poetic ex-
travagances not just adapted to the theme, such as
Thor's great alimentive capacity ; but líarbarösljóð
and Alvísmál are playful and wútty, and the latter
is quite learned and philological, more nearly allied
to the later productions of the genuine Scaldic
poesy.

11. Skirnis-för — Skirnir^s Journey^ is one of the
most simple and beautiful of the unconnected my-
thological poems. In the form of a dialogue it
gives the story of Frey and Geröa, of his love to
her, and his wooing her through the agency of his
faithful attendant, from whom the poem is named.

12. Fjöls-vinns-mál — Speech of the Much-Know-
er, is a very obscure and imintelligible poem, con-
taining the conversation between the hero Svipdag
and the sentinel of Menglöð, his beloved, who for-
bids him to enter. The former, in order that he
may not be recognized, calls himself FjölsviÖr :
hence the name of the poem.

13. Hyndlú-ljóð — HyndlcCs Song^ forms the tran-
sition to the epic poems. Freyja gets the giantess
Hyndla to trace the genealogy of Ottar, her favor-
ite, in which is given the descent of nearly all the
races of l^orthern heroes: the Skjöldúnga, the
Ylfiinga, the Ynglinga, &c.

. 14. Ilávamál — the Speech of the High-One (Odin),
is a collection of ethical poems. It was once be-
lieved, with all seriousness, that Odin in his own
high person had composed it. The Hávamál con-
tains precepts for daily life, prudential maxims,

INTRODUCTION. 49

passages of experience, arc, inwoven with mytholo-
gical episodes." The connection of the several
parts is very loose, yet the whole may be divided
into four principal sections.

The firsts of a purely ethical character, embraces
a variety of rules of life, full of patriarchal simpli-
city and truth, such as instructions for the host and
traveler (stroph. 1 to 35) and precepts for domestic
life and the household (36-104). The second ;part
forms an episode relating how Odin obtained the
poetic mead from Suttúng (105-111). The thirds
Lóðfafnismál (112-140) appears to be the instruc-
tions of a father to his son Lóðfafnir, w^hich mostly
consist of warnings against evil company and vice,
and exhortations to hospitality. The Pamic Chap-
ter— Kuna Kapituli or Kunatals J)áttr Oðins — forms
the conclusion^ and contains, as the name implies,
instruction in runic lore.

15. The Kigsmál is a mythic-ethnologic poem,
which with antique simplicity gives the origin of
three distinct Castes in Society — the thralls, the
middle classes, and the nobles. The God Heim-
dall, the Warder of Heaven, wanders over the
earth, when but a few of the immediate offspring of
the first pair are yet scattered over its surface. He
is hospitably entertained first by an humble pair
called Ai and Edda (Great Grandfather and Great
Grandmother); then by Afi and Amma (Grand-
father and Grandmother), who are in better circinn-
gtances; and lastly by Faðir and Hoðir (Father

* See Chap. 27, Infrft,

50 INTRODUCTION.

and Moilier) who live in a splendid mansion. The
Deity infuses a vital energy into his hosts, and af-
terward Edda, Amme and Moðir respectively give
birth to a son, the offspring of the God. Edda's
son is Jræl (Thrall) ; Amma's, Karl (a vigorous,
free-born man); and Moðir's, Jarl (jSToble). They
have each a numerous progeny. The descendants
of Thræl are unsightly of countenance and deformed
in stature ; they have uncouth names, and are des-
tined to toil continually; Karl's descendants are
fair and seemly, and have becoming names; but
the nobles are described in glowing terms as a supe-
rior race. - This explanation of the three castes gives
evidence of the aristocratic spirit which prevailed
in Scandinavia at a very early period.

16. Solar-ljóÖ — the Sun Song, is usually reckoned
among the Eddaic lays. It is a Christian poem,
adorned with old-mythic images and representa-
tions. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Heaven
and Hell, angels and devils, and other Christian
personages and decorations appear in it and suffi-
ciently stamp it as not Eddaic ; yet it is found
among the collected manuscripts.

In the Epic poems of the Edda, which are mostly
of later origin than the others, the old Heroes
of the Korth step forth a vigorous and primitive
race, who move in a sphere no less noble than that
of the gods, but less limited and peculiar, as it is in
a great measure common to the whole Germanic
literature.

Of this class there is a series of twenty Heroic
Lays forming a complete Epos, a grand Epic in

INTRODUCTION. 51

twenty cantos, containing tlie tragic story of the
Yölsúnga and jSI^iíiúnga races. The first three form
a distinct group — the Songs of Helgi, the great hero
of the Yölsúnga race who is peculiar to the Xorth-
ern Saga and unknown to the German. In true
Homeric power these lays stand before all other
poetry of the Edda, and in the love between Helgi
and Sigrun there l#reathes an enduring mildness and
depth of feeling that is scarcely equalled by any.

Helgi brings us to the Yölsúngar, whose history
re-appears, although in a much-altered form, in the
German Heroic Songs. The poems in which it ap-
pears in connection with the history of the Xifliin-
gar occupy nearly half the Edda. Tliree heroic
races figure in these poems : — 1. The Yölsúngar —
the most celebrated, are the descendants of Yölsúng.
His son is Sigmund, and Sigmund's sons are the
famous heroes Sinfjötli, Helgi, Hamdir, and Sigurd
(the Germ. Siegfried). 2. The ]Mflángar (Xibelun-
gen) or Gjúkúngar, whose ancestor is Gjuki (the
Germ. Gibich). By his consort Grimhild he has
three sons, Gunnar (Gunther), Högni (Hagen), and
Guttorm (Gemot), and the daughter Guðrún
(Chrymhild). 3. The Buðlúngar, children of BuÖli :
Atli (Etzel, Attila), Brynhild and Oddrim; and
from a branch of these three families appear new
mythic forms, not of the heroic class: HreiÖmar
and his sons Fafnir and Eeginn.

Sigurd, the hero of the legend, before entering on
his heroic career, rides to his magic-skilled uncle
Gripir and learns from him all his future destiny
until his death by the Niflungar, Afterward Re-

52 INTEODrCTIOK.

ginn comes to Sigurd at the Court of King Hjdl-
prek (Chilperic), tells him of the treasures which
the Æsir have given to his father Ilreiðmar in ex-
piation for a murder, and which his brother Fafnir
lies upon to guard, in the guise of a dragon. He
invites Sigurd to fight with Fafnir and forges for
him a sword. Sigurd slays the dragon after he has
put to death the sons of Hunding'*

Sigurd enters into a long conversation with the
dying Fafnir and afterward eats his heart, whereby
he learns the language of birds, and, warned by
them, he kills the sleeping Reginn. Then he loads
the fatal gold upon his steed and rides over green
ways to the stronghold of Gjiiki. Before his arrival
there he finds Brynhild as a Yalkyrja in a fortress
surrounded by flames. He releases her from her
enchanted sleep, and learns from her the Eunic lore
and other useful knowledge. He then comes to
Gjúki, marries Guörún, and by artifice conducts
Brynhild to his brother-in-law, Gunnar, as his bride.
But she discovers the fraud, and at her instigation
the Yölsúnga hero is murdered by Guttorm, the
youngest Niflúnga brother. She then, consumed
by grief, stabs herself with a sword, and in her
dying words she announces to the Mfiúnga race its
tragic fate. The bodies of Brynhild and Sigurd
are burned upon one funeral pile. Afterward Bryn-
hild rides to the lower regions w^here she holds con-
versation with a sorceress. Tliis forms the subject
of one of the poems ; — Helreið Brynhildar Buðla-
dóttur — the Death-ride of Brynhild the daughter of
Buðli, in which she briefly relates her history, and

INTRODUCTION. 63

clears herself of the accusations which are made
against her concerning the murder of Sigurd. •

At this stage the ísiíiúngar, who had hitherto
played only a secondary part, become the heroes of
the tragedy, and their destinies are celebrated in a
series of touching songs, "which shall endure so
long as the world stands."

28. GuðrúnarkviÖa hin fyrsta — the First Song of
Gu^rvn depicts her grief after the death of her
husband, and the vain consolations with which
she was assailed by her kindred, as well as her
journey to Denmark and other events of her widow-
hood.

29. Dráp Is'iílúnga or iSTiflunga Lok — the Death of
the Nifiúngojr — a prose fragment, tells of the feud
which broke out between Atli and the Gjúkúngar,
on account of Brynhild's death, of the reconcilia-
tion by which Atli receives Guðrun as his wife, —
her consent, being obtained only by means of a
potion of forge tfulness, and of Atli's treachery in
murdering Gunnar and Hogni.

30. The Second Song of Guðrún relates and be-
wails her sad fate. After a brief sketch of her
youth, she alludes to Sigurd's death as the begin-
ning of her sorrows, then speaks of her stay in Den-
mark, and dwells particularly on the fact that she
had been forced by the magic arts of Grimhild to
marry Atli against her inclination. Finally she im-
parts some of Atli's ill-boding dreams and her inter-
pretations of them, as well as Atli's declaration that
he could no longer sleep in peace after such dreams-
Si. In the third Song of Guörúu (GuÖrúnar-

5é INTRODUCTION.

harmr— Guðrtiii's Sorrows). She opens her griefs
to King Theodoric (þjóðrek), who sympathises with
her. Tlien she is accused, by Atli's maid, of illicit
intercourse with Tlieodoric, but clears herself by
an ordeal.

32. Oddrúnar-grátr — Oddrún^s Complaint Od-
drun, Atli's sister, relates her history, and especially
her unhappy love to Gumar and his tragical death.

33. Gunnars-slagr — Gunnar^s Mar2)-strcke^ comes
here in order. Gunnar, cast into the den of ser-
pents by Atli's command, is supposed to attune his
harp and with it soothe all the vipers to sleep ex-
cept one — Atli's mother. In this song Atli is ac-
cused of unjust enmity and cruelty, and his impend-
ing evil fate is foretold.

34. Atla-kviða, and 35. Atla-mál, the Songs of
Atli, are two of the most important poems of the
history, especially for the death of the Kiílúngar.
They relate the murder of Gunnar and Högni by
Atli, and Guðrún's terrible vengeance, which form
the second chief catastrophe of the great mythic
tragedy. Guðrún's history is continued through
two more poems, which conclude the series. They
are:—

36. Hamdis-mál — the Lay of Hamdir, in which
Guðrún incites her sons Hamdir and Sörli to take
revenge on King Jormunrek (Ermanaricus), who
had killed her daughter Svanhild, and they find-
ing him at a festival, take terrible vengeance upon
him and his followers ; and,

37. Guðrúnar-hvaut, Githrun''s Summons, conidim-
ing her call for vengeance upon the cruel murderer

DTTEODTJCnON. 55

of Svanhild, and her lamentation over lier own sor-
3'owful fate.

The main features of this m3'thic history are the
same as the Nihelungen Lied^ but the Scandinavian
Epos is of a much earlier date than the German, the
personages are more- mythological, and the style is
less pretending, while in grandeur and simplicity it
far surpasses the Nihelungen.

38. The Yölundar-kviða is an independent Epic,
narrating the tragic adventures of that skillful
smith Yölund, who figures in so many legends of
the Middle Ages. As an appendage to the Epic
poems may be reckoned : —

89. Grou-galldr — Groans Incantation^ a conversa-
tion between the Spirit of Groa and her son, who
has invoked her, in which she communicates magic
blessings to attend him on his w-ay.

40. Grotta-saungr — Grotii^s Song sung by two
Jötun-virgins, Fenja and Menja, whom King Fruði,
the Peaceful, had bought of Fjölnir in Sweden, and
placed in the magic mill Grótti, to turn the mill-
stones. Fortune, Peace, and Gold, they first grind
out for him, but afterward, when the covetous man
will not allow them sleep nor rest, the mill brings
forth curses, swords, and a hostile army, until it
bursts at last, and the virgins obtain rest for them-
selves.

We have above, a faint outline of the series of
songs and poems forming that venerable relique of
antiquity, wdiich the Icelanders themselves called
by the name of " Grandmother," and which was to
the Old-Scandinavians what the Bible was to the

56 INTEODTJCTION.

Hebrews, wliat Homer and Hesiod together were to
the Greeks. It is, moreover, the onlj complete col-
lection of Icelandic poetry remaining, — the only
one which (except two fragments, some introductory
pieces and interpolated explanations) consists en-
tirely of poetry. Whatever elée has come down to
ns is only fragmentary and inserted in the prose
writings, often as extracts from older poems, now no
longer known, excej)t from these fragments.

The Later Ed da is the most important relic of
Icelandic prose with regard to Mythology, although
it is by no means the oldest monument of the prose
literature of the ISTorth. The reputed author or
compiler was Snorri Sturlason, and it is supposed to
date from the early part of the thirteenth century-
There are three manuscript copies of it extant. One
in the University Library of Copenhagen, which
Arngrim Jonsson found in 16 28, and forwarded to
Wormius. This copy is the fullest, and is probably
from the fifteenth century. The second is in the
Eoyal Library, and was obtained of BrynjúlfS veins-
son in 1640. It is older than the other, evidently
from the fourteenth century. The third is in the
University Library at Upsala, and was brought from
Iceland to Sweden by J. Rugman, about the middle
of the seventeenth century. It also appears to be
older than the first-named manuscript.

The contents of this Edda are embraced imder
three principal divisions, viz : —

1. Gylfa-ginning — the Delusion of Gylfi, which
consists of fifty -four stories, or chapters, containing
a synopsis of the whole Scandinavian Mythology. It

INTRODUCTION. 57

is clothed in the form of a dialogue between the mythic
King Gylfi of Sweden and the Æsir Hár, Jafnhár
and Thridji (the HigJi^ the Equally High, and the
Third). It is mainly derived from the poetic Edda,
being in reality little else than a paraphrase of the
principal mythic jDoems of the Edda and some other
lays, joined together and modified by the explana-
tions and obscurations of the Editor.

2. Braga-ræðr — Bragi's Speech, a conversation
between the god of Poetry and the Sea-god Ægir,
in which the former relates many, things about the
deeds and destinies of the gods, as, the Eape of
Iduna, the Origin of Poetry, &c., &c.

3. Kenningar — a collection of poetic denomina-
tion and paraphrases. It begins with Odin and the
poetic Art, then follow paraphrases of the JEsir and
Asynjur, of the World, the Earth, the Sea, the Sun,
the Wind, Fire, Summer, Man, Woman, Gold, &c.,
finally of War, of Arms, of a Ship, of Christ, the
Emperor, Kings, Rulers, cSrc. The whole is ar-
ranged in questions and answers, and many prose
narrations are given in explanation of particular
passages, such as Tlior's Combat with Geirröð, Ot-
tar's expiration for murder, Sigurd's history, á:c., as
well as passages of poems, and even whole poems,
such as Thors-drapa, Bjarkamal, &c.

A supplement to the Kenningar, by the name of
Ileiti, is found in some of the copies, which consists
of denominations in Scaldic language, without para-
phrases. It contains terms for the Scaldic Art, the
gods, the heavenly bodies, the earth, various natural

58 INTEODUCTlON.

objects, the changes of seasons, &c., all illustrated
by examples from the lays of the Skalds.

The Skalda, L e.^ Poetics, is usually included
among the Eddaic writings, as it was found in the
collection with them. It is a treatise on Prosody,
Rhetoric, &c., written by Snorri's nephew, Olaf
Thordsson, one of the latest of the Skalds, and con-
tains a number of epithets and metaphors used by
the Skalds, illustrated by specimens of their poetry,
as well as by a poem by Snorri, written in a hundred
different metres. . The whole collection is also called
Háttatal or Háttalykil — Enumeration of Metres or
Clavis Metrica.

Beside these, there is a Preface (formali), which
begins with the Creation of the World, and ends
with the emigration of the Trojans from Asia into
the North, and a Conclusion (eptirmáli) after the
mythologioal part. They were probably written by
Snorri himself, and are an absurd mixture of He-
brew, Greek, Roman, and Scandinavian myths and
legends, thrown together in a confused mass. They
appear to be the attempt of a learned Christian to
give a philosophical and historical foundation to the
Æsir doctrines, and to bring them into conformity
with the Judaic and heathen traditions.

The " Kenningar " is the most important part of
the prose Edda, as it gives an insight into the nature
of the poetic spirit and the mythic conceptions of
the Old-Scandinavians, and by its illustrations and
paraphrases it opens the way to an understanding of
the Sagas.

We will now turn to the Sagas of Iceland, and

INTRODUCTION. ' 59

take, a hasty glance at the character and contents of
the most prominent among them. "We say " of Ice-
land," for, although many of them record events
wholly out of Iceland, and they are written in the
lanPTuagre common to the ]S"orsemen before the dis-
covery of Iceland, which is therefore properly called
the " Old Xorse," still they were written by Iceland-
ers and preserved on the island, therefore the litera-
ture which they embody is properly Icelandic.
Saga, in its original meaning, was a Saying^ a
Sjyoken narration, and when these " sayings " came
to be written down, they still retained the name
which had become established, and Saga came to
signify a written history, a book of traditions or
sayings.

.The Old-Icelanders did not distinguish very criti-
cally between mythic and historic narrative. In the
fresh life of a primitive heathen people, in whom the
imagination is active, and the Actual and the Imagi-
nary are not very clearly separated, fiction becomes
real, and reality becomes poetical. The ideal world
of Gods and Heroes was not believed in as existing
merely in the poet's fancy, but as an outward,
physical reality, like the human world around them.
Therefore every narration was called a Saga
whether mythical, poetical, or purely historical, so
that the Sagas embrace every prose narration,
every general, local, or family history, every bio-
graphy of a Skald, a chieftain or a priest, as well as
the mythic histories of the Yölsúngar, the Ynglin-
gar, ka. — in short, the whole historical literature of

60 INTRODUCTION.

Old-Iceland is, in the broad sense of the term, only
one continuous, unending Saga.

The Sagas may be divided into the Poetic or Fic-
titious^ and the Historical — the former embracing
the Mythic and the Romantic, the latter including
all general^ local and family Histories, and Biogra-
phies.

Of the Mythic class we have — 1. The Yölsúnga-
saga ; 2. The Kornagests-saga, and 3. The Yilkina-
saga, which contain the same story of the Völsiingar
and KiMngar. Tlie two former are mostly drawn
from the Eddaic Lays, although the first refers to
other poems now lost, and the second is much dis-
guised by arbitrary fiction. The Yilkina-saga is the
history of Diedrich of Bern, a collection of Sagas in
accordance with the German Heldenhuch and
Nibelungen Lied.. It has not the stamp of antiquity
which the others possess, being evidently written
about the fourteenth century, and though not a
translation from the German, is wholly written down
from the German stories. 4. Fundinn Noregr — the
Found Norway — ^is a curious attempt at a genea-
logical history of Ancient IS'orway, drawn from
mythological names and genealogies. For a long
time it was regarded as a reliable source of history,
and is the basis of many earlier historical works on
the Xorth.

The following heroic Sagas belong also to the
Mythic class, for, although the heroes are remotely
historical, yet amid the draj^ery of the Sagas they
step forth as mythic beings: — 1. Ilálfs-saga, which
relates the history of King Alfrek, of Ilörðaland,

INTEODUCTION. 61

and of the hero Half and liis warriors. It abounds
in quotations from old poems, and dates from about
the thirteenth century. 2. Sagan af Hrólfi Konúngi
Ki-aka ok Koppum hans. The history of King
Hrolf Kraka and his Champions. Hrólf Kraka is
the chief personage of the mythic race of Skjöldún-
gar, with whose name is connected the history of
the most celebrated Old-Danish Heroes, so that we
have rather a complete Book of Heroes than a
single Saga. It is thus divided into sections com-
prising the histories of J\lng FróÖi, of Hroar and
Helgi, of Svipdagr and his brothers, of Bodvar
Bjarki and his brothers, of Hjalti the Meek, of
Adils the Upsala-King and the Expedition of Hrolf
and his Champions into Sweden, of the End of King
Hrolf and his Champions.

Tliese may have been independent Sagas origi-
nally, which were afterward collected from old tra-
ditions by the Saga writer. In their present form
they are not older than the fourteenth century, but
the subjects are far more ancient, as is seen by the
Bjarka-mál, a poem in it which was known, in the
early part of the eleventh century, as a very ancient
song. 3. Saga af Eagnari Kónúngi Lóöbrók ok
Sonum hans — Tlie history of King E-agnar Lóðbrók
and his sons. Eagnar LoÖbruk approaches Hrolf
Kraka in mythic glory, but is more historical, as he
was the hero of the sea-roving life of the North-
men, especially in the plundering expeditions by
which England was laid waste after the close of the
eighth century. As these expeditions first brought
the North out of its mythic clair-ohscurity into his-
4

62 INTEODIJCTION.

torical liglit, Eagnar is the personage who represents
the transition of the proper Saga into History.
While he appears as a mythic Hero in the Icelandic
songs and narrations, lie is a purely historical
character in the Chronicles of the Old Annalists of
England, France, and Germany. There is no cer-
tain proof of the existence of the more ancient Yng-
lingar, Skjöldúngar, &c., but we may affirm that
Ragnar Lóðbrók lived about the close of the eighth
and beginning of the ninth century. All the rapa-
city and wild adventure which characterized the
early piratical expeditions to England, became con-
nected with his name, and he thus gradually be-
came a legendary being — a personification of the
Yiking-life. It is that spirit, in its wild and dreadful
reality, that appears in this Saga. It was written
down in the fourteenth century, and contains many
poems of older date, among them the celebrated
^' Death Song of Eagnar Lóðbrók" (Lóðbrókar-
kviÖa), which belongs to the Golden Age of Skaldic
literature, i. e.^ about the tenth century. A short
sketch of Eagnar's Sons (|)áttr af Eagnars Sonum),
and another fragment on the Upland Kings (af
Upplendinga Konungum), are connected with this
Saga. 4. Sögubrot — a Historical Fragment of some
of the Old Kings of Denmark and Sweden, which
is regarded by some as a fragment of the lost Skjöld-
únga Saga.

There are other Sagas which might be called
mythic, as the material of some of them is taken
from heathen traditions, and others are founded
upon ancient songs, but they are so fantastically

INTEODUCTION. 63

adorned, and the genuine legend is so transformed
and variegated by the fictions of the writer, that
they are more properly RomantÍG than Mythic.
In the best Sagas of this class the violation of the
original material was not caused by the caprice of
the individual, so much as by the change which had
been wrought upon the general mind through the
influence of Christianity and the Eomanticism of
the Middle Ages. The ^-iews and feelings of the
mass became gradually estranged from heathenism,
and in the fourteenth century (in which the most of
them were written), the Gods, Heroes, Elves, Yalas,
&c., were looked upon by the people only as lungs,
Knights, Sorcerers, Witches, (fee.

All the Sagas of this class border on the fabu-
lous ; some are pure fable, others are chivalric Ro-
mances. Some are not to be slighted for richness of
invention, skillful development and graceful repre-
sentation, while others are flat stories of goblins and
witches. Tliey have little mythological importance,
except that here and there a pure grain of Mythos
may be picked out from a great mass of rubbish.

The best known among them are Friðf)jofs-saga
and Hervarar-saga. The former is probably from
the beginning of the fourteenth century, and is full
of most beautiful poetry. The subject is thorough-
ly mythic, but the romantic predominates in the
treatment. It is interesting for its representation of
the worship of Baldm* and his temj^le. The latter
contains some very fine poems inwoven among
much iiibulous matter. Tlie most celebrated among
them Hervarar-kviða — Hervör's convei*sation with

64 INTRODUCnON.

her fatlier Angantyr, whom she calls out of the
ffrave in order to obtain from him the mastic sword
Tyrfing. Tlie poem is much older than the prose
narration ; it is in tnie heathen spirit, and possesses
great power.

In this class may also be reckoned the Saga of
Ketil Hæng, of Grim the Bearded (LoÖinkinna),
Örvar Odd's Saga, Saga of An the Archer (Bogs-
veigis. Bow-lender), of Thorstein Yikingsson and a
number more, which we need not enumerate.
There are also many legends translated or drawn
from the mediæval Romantic literature of other
nations. All of the best productions of the Romantic
spirit in Southern lands was appropriated witli rest-
less activity by the Icelanders, especially the num-
berless sacred legends of the Middle Ages. All
that was sung or written in Germany, France, Eng-
land, Spain, and Belgium, of Charlemagne, of Ar-
thur and the Round Table, of the Holy Grail, (tc,
they collected and translated or related anew. So
are there Icelandic versions of Flores and Blanchi-
flora, of Tristan, of Parcival, and of Lohengrin,
ifec, of the legends of Melusina, Magelona, and
othei^s, in short, of almost all the Epic productions
of the Provencals and the Minuesangers. The
most of these appeared in the early part of the
thirteenth century, in the Golden Age of Icelandic
prose.

Tlie Historical class constitutes by far the most
extensive and valuable department of the Icelandic
Saga-literature. It embraces more than a hundred
Sagas, which throw much light upon the institutions

INTRODUCTION. 65

and government, the manners and customs of the
North. In them we find tlie family and the com-
monwealth minutely and clearly described in their
various relations, while in general history they con-
tain rich treasures for the historian and archæolo-
gist, which are even yet comparatively untouched,
and out of the Xorth are almost unknown.

They likewise present a rich field of mythological
research, not so much in mythic memorials — for
of these they contain few, except in the inwoven
Skaldic lays — as in the information they give con-
cerning the worship and the entire manifestation of
Xorthern Heathendom. They lay down a mass of
minute and credible statements in regard to the
temples, festivals, ofierings, religious rites, arc,
which are indispensable in writing a liistory of the
Idol- worship of Scandinavia.

The love of history was enkindled among the Ice-
landers by their intense national feelings, and the
interest in public aifairs which was required by
their free institutions, as well as by their attach-
ment to the Old and the Inherited, and their con-
stant longing for their Mother Country. As soon
as the written language was developed they began
to write history, and it is worthy of remark that the
Historical Sagas were almost universally written
before the Mythic and Eomantic ones. Their age
is chiefly the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth
centuries. The sources of history were the lays of
the Skalds, and the genealogical trees which every
chieftain was careful to preserve.

The historiography of Iceland is generally con-

66 INTRODUCTION.

fined to the history of the island itself, and of the
ITorthern Kingdoms, hence the Sagas of this class
are divided into Icelanders^ Histories (Islendinga
Sögur) and the Histories of tlieir Ancestors (Forn-
manna Sögur). To the former belong all that
relate to Iceland, usually including those of the
Orkneys, Faroes, and Greenland. The General
Histories are few in number. They are : 1. Islend-
ínga-bók, the Icelanders' Book, written by Ari
FróÖi, and usually entitled " Schedæ," which is re-
garded as the oldest book of the whole Icelandic
literature. It is a dry and meagre sketch of the
most important events of Iceland from the first set-
tlement down to about the year 1120.

2. Landnáma-bók — Land-taking Booh, a detailed
history of the early settlement and aj^propriation of
Iceland until toward the end of the tenth century.
It is also rather dry, from the long lists of names and
genealogies, but the details are more interesting
than the " Schedæ." It presents a good picture of
the religious ceremonies, and of their connection
with judicial and political afiairs. It was written
and continued by various authors, and received its
present form about the end of the thirteenth, or
beginning of the fourteenth century.

3. Kristni-saga, a History of the Introduction of
Christianity into Iceland. It opens with the year
981, closes with 1121, and appears to have been
written in the beginning of the fourteenth century.
It contains much important information respecting
the heathen life and occupations of the Icelanders.
To these may be added the Orkneyinga-saga, a his-

INTRODLXTION. 67

tor J of the Orkneiaii Jarls from the end of the ninth
to the middle of the .thirteenth century, and the
Færeyínga-saga, strictly the biography of the two
chieftains, Thrand and Sigmnnd Brestason ; but as
they gain authority over the Faroes, it becomes
also a history of the islands themselves. It em-
braces the end of the tenth and the beginning of
the eleventh centuries, and appears to have been
written in the twelfth. The events which it relates
still live in the mouths of the Faroe people.

The Local and Family Histories and Biographies
are far more numerous, as well as more entertain-
ing and instructive. They give an insight into the
private life of the people, and although they usually
contain events of trifling importance, such as fam-
ily quarrels, deeds of vengeance, legal trials, jour-
neys to Iceland, ]S"orway, England, &c., yet in
vivacity of manner, freshness of delineation, and
simplicity of style they are very attractive. They
are, in effect, Bomances, but Romances which have
a historical foundation, and, making allowance for
poetical decorations, are strictly historical in their
minutest details. It is in fact their minute individ-
ualization of events, circumstances, and characters,
together with the manner of narration, which gives
them the character of Bomances. The most import-
ant among those written in the twelfth century
are : 1. Yiga-Styrs-saga, the history of the chieftain
Agrip, who on account of his quarrelsome disposi-
tion and deeds of blood was called Yiga-Styr, and
was finally slain by Gest, the son of one of his vic-
tims. His son Thorhall then pursues Gest for a long

68 LNTKODUCTION.

course of years, even to Byzantium, but finally they
are reconciled. In the meantime, however, one
Snorri GoÖi kills a kinsman of Yiga-Styr ; which
act, according to the laws of retaliation, calls for
vengeance from the friends of the deceased. 2. In
Heiðarviga-saga, the '' Story of the Battle on the
Heath," the friends of the murdered man avenge
themselves by slaying Hall Guðmundsson, a friend
of Snorri's, and the brothers of the latter again re-
taliate, after which the parties engage in the " Bat-
tle on the Heath," from which the Saga is named.
Peace is finally established by Snorri's ingenuity.
The time of action is in the latter part of the tenth
century and the beginning of the eleventh.

3. K'ials-saga closes with the year 1017. In rich-
ness and variety it is far superior to any of this
class. A mass of occurrences are here brought to-
gether and arranged into a well-ordered whole.
The various personages are well delineated, while
their respective characters are maintained through-
out, and always presented with dramatic efí'ect.
There are scenes of the most touching pathos, such
as the burning of Kial and his sons, and the narra-
tion is often relieved by a vein of humor. The nu-
merous assemblies of the people and legal trials
which are described, give us a good idea of the ju-
dicial and political institutions of Iceland. Making
allowance for the tedium of some of these details,
this Saga will not lose by comparison with the
higher literature of any age. It contains many
poems, among them the celebrated song of the Yal-
kyrjur.

INTRÖDUCTIOX. 69

4. Gunlaiigs Ormstimgii-saga, is the life of the
Skald Gnnlaug, the Serpent-Tongued, who traveled
about much in ISTorway, England, and Sweden, was
loved and caressed for his talents, and hated for his
cuttiug sarcasm. He was killed in a duel in the
year 1013.

5. Yiga-Glums-saga. History of the chieftan
Glum, M'ho became notorious by his cunning and
impudence in some unim]3ortant quarrels, and who
died in 1003 as a Christian. Although there are
fcAv important or interesting occm^rences in this
Saga, it contains valuable contributions to the his-
tory of the worship and religious tenets of the Ice-
landers.

6. Egils-saga is, perhaps, the most attractive of
the Icelandic Biographies. Egil, a renowned poet
and chieftain, lived in the tenth century. His life
was most active, wild and adventurous. Under every
variety of circumstances he roved about in the
North-lands, and plundered on the coasts of Fries-
land, Saxony and Prussia ; his violent passion, his
quarrelsome and vindictive disposition precipitated
him into the most desperate situations, but cun-
ning, physical strength, and his poetic gift, always
rescued him. Wearied at length with this barren,
unstable life, and rich in experience, in renown,
and in treasures, he returned to his distant home,
where he lived to an advanced age, celebrated as a
Skald and feared as a chieftain, and died adven-
turously at last.

7. Kormaks-saga. Kormak was scarcely less re-
nowned as a poet than Egil, of whom he was a co^

4*

70 INTEODUCTION.

temporary ; but his mildness and affability were in
pleasing contrast with the daring and blood-stained
Egil. His whole life appears under the influence
of one feeling — ^his love to Steingerða. But this
love was unfortunate through his own fault ; and
Steingerða became affianced to another. Kormak
travels in the vain hope of repose, meets with va-
rious adventures in a sea-roving life, and continues
to write verses in praise of SteingerÖa to the day of
his death.

8. Yatnsdæla-saga begins in the ninth, century,
before the colonization of Ireland, and relates the
fortunes of a ^orw^egian family w^hich settled in
Yatnsdal, in Northern Iceland. It contains many
mythological allusions, and the God Freyr plays a
prominent role in it.

The Fostbræðra-saga relates the story of two fos-
ter-brothers of the eleventh century, and contains
verses written by one of them ; the Ljósvetnínga-
saga relates occurrence^* of the latter part of the
tenth and the first half of the eleventh century.
Its chief personages, Thorgeir Goði, Guðmund the
Mighty, and their sons, are elsewhere known and
celebrated. It contains important information con-
cerning the institutions of Iceland ; and the Saga of
Gisli Sursson has some interesting features of hea-
then rites and ceremonies. Passing by many others
attributed to this century, some of which contain
valuable contributions to the history of heathendom
in Iceland, we will notice a few of the most promi-
nent Sa^as of the thirteenth century.

*" , .

1. Eyrbyggja-saga, the history of Hrolf, a priest of

LNTRODUCTION. 71

Thor, aiicl liis race. He lied, from Harald Hárfa-
grij and settled on a large bay in western Iceland,
which he called ^' Breiðafjörð," the Broad Firth.
Here he built a large temple to Thor, which he and
his descendants presided over. Of these his great-
grandson Snorri Goði appears as the prominent per-
sonage of the Saga. This Saga gives a clear view
of the Old-Scandinavian worship of Thor, as it was
transplanted to Iceland.

2. Laxdæla-saga, one of the most comprehensive,
and in fullness of material, in the plan and in com-
pleteness of narration, perhaps the best. It covers
the period of Olaf Tryggvason's reign, about the
year 1000, and of the introduction of Chi'istianity
into Norway and Iceland. The history of that
time, especially of the transition of the heathen life
of the Northmen into the Christian, is finely repre-
sented in this Saga.

3. Sturlúnga-saga, or Islendinga-saga hin mikla —
"the Great Saga of the Icelanders," is the most de-
tailed of all. It treats of the much-renowned race of
the Sturlungar, and relates their fortunes and their
deeds from the beginning of the twelfth century
until the year 1284. It therefore embraces a period
much later than the times of heathendom, and is
very important in the history of Iceland.

4. Arons-saga Hjörleifssonar is connected with
the above Saga, Aron, the son of Hjörleif, being
one of the few chieftains who supported Bishop Guð-
mund against the Sturlungs. He died in 1250.

5. Grettis-saga is very rich in events, but full of
romantic and fabulous traits. The hero is Grettir

72 INTRODUCTION.

the Strong, an oft-mentioned Skald of the eleventh
century, who somewhat resembles Egil in wild reck-
lessness, but is less gifted as a poet.

Many more Sagas of the thirteenth century
may be passed by here, as they, with few 'excep-
tions, are of secondary importance ; and there is
quite a large number from the fourteenth, and even
some from the fifteenth century ; but the later we
come, the less interest they have for us, and the less
reliable they are. Many of them are wholly sup-
posititious, being not mere, fictions, but forgeries.
They seem to move upon historical ground, while
they are in reality nothing but silly inventions and
fables, which it would be a misnomer to call histori-
cal.

The Historical Sagas relating to the other Scan-
dinavian countries, are generally more finished
works than the preceding, being complete histories
of a whole age or period. The Icelanders felt a
strong attachment to their Mother Country, which
they often visited, and they naturally were familiar
with its traditions and passing events. They there-
fore labored as diligently upon its history as at their
own, and as they had to collect and compare tradi-
tions and occurrences which were not living in the
mouths of the people around them, they found it
necessary to generalize and arrange the material —
a w^ork requiring superior learning and talents.
Hence they wrote more general Histories and fewer
local Sagas bearing upon those countries.

On the history of Denmark there are two large
Sagas, which are master-pieces of Icelandic histo-
riography, viz. ;

INTRODUCTION. T3

1. Jómsvíkinga-saga, the history of the renowned
Sea-rovers, who were established -at Jomsburg, near
the month of the Oder, and who were for a long
time the terror of all the neighboring coasts. It be-
gins with an account of the race of Palnatoki, the
founder of Jomsburg, and relates how Sven was
brought up by him, and incited to continual pirati-
cal excursions against the lands of his father, Ilar-
ald Blátand, how King Harald fell by Palnatoki,
and the latter, after Sven's ascension to the throne,
was pursued by him, and built a large fortress on
the Yendian coast, in which he formally established
a community of Sea-rovers, and strengthened it by
appropriate laws. In the second part it treats of
the causes which brought about the celebrated ex-
pedition of the Jomsburgers against ^Norway, which
it describes, and paints circumstantially the battle
in which the power of the Sea-rovers was broken
dowm by Ilákon Jaii. This Saga was written in
the eleventh or the beginning of the twelfth century,
from authentic sources, as many Icelanders were in
Hákon Jarl's army at the aforesaid battle. It is
distinguished for the perspicuity with which cir-
cumstances and persons are represented, and is
important, not only to Danish history, but also to
Mythology, since the chief personages are the last
representatives of Heathendom in the Xorth, "and
consequently heathen sentiments and manners are
everywhere presented.

2. Knytlinga-saga, a history of the Danish Kings
from Harald Blátand to Knut VI., of whom the
successors of Knut the Great were named " Knyt-

74 LNTKODL'CTION.

liugar*' (Knutides, descendants of Canute). It was
written, partly from older sources, by Olaf Thor-
darsson (died 1259), who composed a fragment of
the Prose Edda. Although the events mostly take
place in Christian times, yet it is not wanting in
poetic beauties, and even the greater part of the
first chapter is taken from the lays of Eirik Jarl
and Sven Estriðson, the Court Skalds of Knut the
Great.

Of the Sagas relating to ISTorway we have :

1. Saga Olafs Tryggvasonar, Olaf Tryggvason's
Saga, in two different works, both independent of
Snorri's, and undertaken before it. One is by Monk
Oddur (d. 1200), the other by Monk Gunlaug, a
younger cotemporary of the former. Both were
written in Latin, and of both we have only Icelandic
translations. Olaf Tryggvason was the founder
of Christianity in Xorway, and in his history there
are various references to Heathendom, which he
was actively engaged in driving out by force. Both
these works afford a rich mine for the mvtholoffist,
inasmuch as they unfold the decay of heathen life
in the Xorth, and its transition to Christianity.
Gunlaug's work is also interesting from the great
number of inlaid Skaldic Songs.

2. Saga Olafs bins Helga, the Saga of Olaf the
Saint. This King continued the work of conversion
begun by his predecessor, and hence this Saga has
for us a similar interest to the preceding one, al-
though in a less degree. It contains songs of Sig-
hvat, Ottar the Swarthy, and others.

INTRODrCTION. 75

3. Heimskriugla, the World-Circle,'^ the Chroni-
cles of the Xorwegian Kings, by Snorri Sturlason.
Xext to the Edcla, this is the most celebrated work in
the whole Icelandic literature. It begins as far back
in the mythic times as memory reaches, while the
other Icelandic histories usually begin with Harald
Hárfagri, and it comes down to Magnus Erlingsson,
A. D. 1176. It is not a primitive history, drawn
immediately from the traditions and songs of the
people, as was the case with many of the Sagas, but
was constructed by Snorri from materials already
blocked out in previously-existing Sagas. These
Sagas contained a tolerably fall history of Xorway,
in isolated fragments, which Snorri collected, modi-
tied, and combined with remarkable care and judg-
ment, into one continuous historical work. This
origin of the Heimskringla is shown in the circum-
stance that it is divided into different Sagas, as well
as by certain variations and contradictions that
occur in the different parts. f

Snorri's account has only an incidental interest
for the mythologist where it treats of the later,
purely Christian ages of Norway ; it is more im-
portant where the downfall of the heathen life is

* This work has been thus named by the learned from the two
principal words at the beginning: "Svi er sagt at kringla heim-
sins." "It is said that the circle of the world, <fcc." In the MS. it
is called "Æfi Xorogs Konunga," ''Life of the Kings of Xorway,"
or "Xoregs Koniinga Sögur," "Sagas of the Kings of Xorway."

f The Introduction begins : " á bók þessi let ek rita forna frásag-
nir." "In this book I have caused the ancient narratives to be writ-
ten, <tc.," as though he had only attended to the editing of it.

76 INTEODIJCTION.

represented, aud highly interesting in the delinea-
tion of the mythic age — in the Ynglinga Saga.

This gives an account of the first mythic race of
Kings in Sweden and Xorway, the Ynghngar, and
is a kind of Introduction. Snorri" wrote it from
Thjodolf 's Ýnglínga-tal, and throughout the latter
part of it he inlaid every important transaction with
a strophe of that ancient poem. Tliis portion of the
work is of no historical value, and, in a mythological
point of view, it becomes absurd in the earlier chap-
ters, where the attempt is made to establish the
Ynghnga history upon the history of the Gods, and
to connect the two by means of foreign, Græco-Eo-
man ideas and traditions. The other portions of the
Heimskringla are adorned with fine poems, which
impart a certain mythologic interest to the whole
work.

It was continued by various authors, down to the
time of Magnus the Law-mender ; namely, in Sver-
ris-saga, begun by the Abbot Carl Jonsson, and
finished by Styrmir the Learned; and further,
through four other Sagas, down to Magnus Laga-
bætis-Saga, written by Sturla Thordarsson, of which
only a fragment remains. With Snorri's history,
the masterpiece of Icelandic Historiography, and
the pieces annexed to it, we conclude this brief
sketch of the Sacra literature of Iceland.

INTKODQCTION. 77

CHAPTER III.

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN.

The restoration of Icelandic literature has brought
to light some pages of history which are specially
interesting to Americans — they are the accounts of
the discovery of our country by the Northmen.
The difierent manuscripts bearing on this subject,
contain accounts which cannot be explained other-
wise than by admitting the fact of discovery, and in
many important circumstances they corroborate
each other. They have all been collected by Prof.
Charles C. Rafn, in the work entitled, " Antiquitates
Americanæ, &c.," which was published in 1837, by
him, through * the Royal Society of E"orthern Anti-
quaries of Copenhagen. These historical facts have
now been several years before the world, and they
are sometimes referred to in connection with the
early history of America, yet in general they are
but imperfectly known, and the references to them
are sometimes incorrect. The following is an ab-
stract of the '^Antiquitates," by Professor Rafn :

Gardar the Dane, of Swedish origin, was the first
JSTorthman who discovered Iceland, in the year 863.
A few out-places of the country had been visited
previously, about seventy years before, by some

78 INTRODUCTION.

Irish hermits. Eleven years afterward, or in 874,
the Norwegian Ingolf began the colonization of the
coantrj, which was continued during the space of
sixty years. The colonists, many of whom belonged
to the most illustrious and most civilized families in
the North, established in Iceland a flourishing Ee-
public. Here, on this distant island-rock, the Old-
Xorse language was preserved unchanged for cen-
turies, and here in the Eddas were treasured those
Folk-songs and Folk-myths, and in the Sagas those
historical Tales and Legends, which the first settlers
had brought with them from their Scandinavian
mother-lands. Iceland was, therefore, the cradle of
a historical literature of immense value.

The situation of the island and the relationship of
the colony to foreign countries in its earlier period,
compelled its inhabitants to exercise and develop
their hereditary maritime skill and thirst for new
discoveries across the great Ocean. As early as the
year 877, Gunnbjörn saw, for the first time, the
mountainous coast of Greenland. But this land was
first visited by Erik the Red, in 983, who, three
years afterwards, in 986, by means of Icelandic
emigrants, established the first colony on its South-
western shore, where afterward, in 1124, the
Bishop's See, of Gardar, was founded, which subsist-
ed for upwards of 300 years. The head firths or
bays were named after the chiefs of the expedition.
Erik the Red settled in Eriks-firth, Einar, Rafn and
Ketil in the firths called after them, and Herjulf on
Herjulfsnes. On a voyage from Iceland to Green-
land in this same year (986), Bjarne, the son of the

LNTEODUCTION. 79

latter, was driven far out to sea towards the South-
west, and, for the first time, beheld the coasts of the
American lands, afterwards visited and named by
his countrymen. In order to examine these coun-
tries more narrowly, Leif the Fortunate, son of
Erik the Eed, undertook a voyage of discovery
thither in the year 1000. He landed on the shores
described by Bjarne, detailed the character of these
lands more exactly, and gave them names according
to their appearance : Helluland (Newfoundland) was
so called from its flat stones, Markland (ííova
Scotia) from its woods, and Yinland (Xew England)
from its vines. Here he remained for some time,
and constructed large houses, called after him
Leifsbúðir {Leif^s Booths). A German named
Tyrker, who accompanied Leif on this voyage, was
the man who found the wild- vines, which he recog-
nized from having seen them in his native land, and
Leif gave the country its namefrom this circumstance.
Two years afterward Leif 's brother Thorvald repair-
ed thither, and in 1003 caused an expedition to be
undertaken to the South, along the shore, but he
was killed in the summer of lOOtt on a voyage
northward, in a skirmish with the natives.

The most distinguished, however, of all the first
American discoverers is Thorfinn Karlsefne, an
Icelander, whose genealogy is carried back in the
Old-iS^orthern annals to Danish, Swedish, Norwe-
gian, Scottish, and Irish ancestors, some of them of
royal blood. In 1006 this chieftain, on a merchant-
voyage, visited Greenland, and there married
Gudrid, the widow of Thorstein (son of Erik the

80 INTRODUCTION.

Ked), who had died the year before in an unsuccess-
ful expedition to Yinland. Accompanied by his
wife, who encouraged him to this voyage, and by a
crew of 160 men on board three vessels, he repaired
in the spring of 1007 to Yinland, where he remain-
ed for three years, and had many communications
with the aborigines. Here his wife Gudrid bore
him a son, Snorri,* who became the founder of an
illustrious family in Iceland, which gave that island
several of its first Bishops. His daughter's son was
the celebrated Bishop Thorlak Eunolfson, who pub-
lished the first Christian Code of Iceland. In 1121
Bishop Erik sailed to Yinland from Greenland,
doubtless for the purpose of strengthening his coun-
trymen in their Christian faith.

The notices given by the old Icelandic voyage-
chroniclers respecting the climate, the soil, and the
productions of this new country, are very character-
istic. IS'ay, we have even a statement of this kind
as old as the eleventh century, from a writer not a
ISTorthman, Adam of Bremen; he states, on the
authority of Sven Estriðson, King of Denmark, a
nephew of Canute the Great, that the country got
its name from the vine growing wild there. It is a
remarkable coincidence in this respect, that its Eng-
lish re-discoverers, for the same reason, name the
large island which is close off" the coast Martha^s
Vineyard. Spontaneously growing wheat (maize
or Indian corn) was also found in this country.

* The celebrated Danish sculptor, Thorvaldseu, was a descend-
ant of this Snorri Thorfinnsson, who was born in America, A. D.
1008.

INTEODTJCnON. 81

In the mean time it is tlie total result of the nauti-
cal, geographical, and astronomical evidences in the
original documents, which places the situation of
the countries discovered beyond all doubt. The
number of days' sail between the several newly-
found lands, the striking description of the coasts,
especially the white sand-banks of Nova Scotia and
the long beaches and downs of a peculiar appear-
ance on Cape Cod (the Kjalarnes and Furðustrandir
of the Northmen), are not to be mistaken. In addi-
tion hereto, we have the astronomical remark that
the shortest day in Yinland was nine hours long,
which fixes the latitude of 41 deg. 24 min. 10 sec,
or just that of the promontories which limit the
entrance to Mount Hope Bay, where Leif's booths
were built, and in the district around which the old
Northmen had their head establishment, which was
named by them Hop.

When we reflect that the strongest and most un-
deniable evidence has-been adduced to prove the
fact of an Icelandic-Norwegian discovery of our
continent in the tenth century, it becomes a matter
both of surprise and regret that some of our most
lauded writers of American history should either
leave the event entirely unnoticed, or dispose of it
in some half-dozen well-rounded and skeptical sen-
tences.

RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

INTRODUCTION.

The Xorthmen, before tlieir conversion to Chris-
tianity, and as far back in time as History is able to
follow them, were the adherents of a Eeligion usnal-
ly called the Asa-Faith^ from the Æsir^ the Gods
concerning whom it taught. This Asa-Eeligion in
its peculiar form may be considered as having
sprung into being with the Germanic race, and as
being, in its fundamental princÍ2)les, inherited and
propagated by the two branches of that race — the
Norrœna and the German — so that its essential
doctrines were common to both, although in its
farther development, by each of them, it followed a
peculiar direction.

For the elucidation of the Asa-Faith in its Ger-
manic form, the resources, even though not wholly
insignificant, are yet difíicult to be employed, as
they are widely scattered, and have to be looked
for among much-corrupted popular legends, and in
manuscripts of the middle ages, where they are
occasionally found interpolated, and where we
should least expect to meet with them.* But in its

* Jacob Grimm's diligence and penetration have thrown new
light on this subject in his excellent work, "Deiitsche Mythologie.''

86 DíTKODrCTION.

líorræna form the Asa-Faitli is far better known.
Here we have for our guide not only a number of
religious lays, composed while the Asa-Faith still
flourished, but even a complete religious system,
written down, it is true, in Christian times, yet,
according to all evidence, without the Cliristian
ideas having had any especial influence in the
delineation, or having materially corrupted it.

The lays are found in the collection usually called
The Older Edda or Scemund'^s Edda^ which latter
name is given to it because it w^as collected by the
Icelander Sæmund the Learned (b. 1056, d. 1133).
The Eeligious System is found in tl . Later Edda^
also called SnorrVs Edda^ from the supposed author
or compiler, the renowned Saga-man Snorri Sturla-
son (b. 1178, d. 1241).

Upon these manuscripts is based the following
brief sketch of the Religious Doctrines of the Asa-
Faith. But a delineation of the Eeligious System
c>f the Northmen in Heathendom requires not mere-
ly a representation of the predominant dogmas of
the Faith ; it must likewise embrace an interpreta-
tion of them, so far as it can be given with any cer-
tainty, and finally a picture of the religion such as
it actually appeared in life, — in the worship of the
gods, in the religious institutions, in the popular
notions concerning the gods, and in the heathen
superstition generally.

In the interpretation of the Asa-myths, very im-
portant services have been rendered by many learn-
ed men of modern times, and their works have been

iNTRODrcnoN. 87

constantly referred to in that part of our undertak-
ing, although by no means slavishly followed.

The most important modern works, which present
the Asa-myths with their interpretations, are the
following : —

Finn Magnusen : — " Oversættelse af den ældre
Edda," 1821-23, 4 vols. 8vo. ; " Edda-Lære," 1824-
26, 4 vols. 8vo. ; " Lexicon Mythologicum," append-
ed to tiie third part of the great Arna Magnæan
edition of the Older Edda.

N. F. S. Grundtvig : — " i^ordens Mythologie eller
Sindbilled-Sprog, historisk poetisk udviklet." 2nd
ed. Copenh.'lS36.

M. Ilammerich : — " Om Ragnaroks My then og
dens Betydning i den oldnordiske Religion." Cc-
penh. 1836.

N. M. Petersen : — " Danmarks Historic i Hedea-
old." Copenh. 1834-37. 3 parts. The Asa-Doc-
trine is treated of in tlie third part.

E. G. Geijer:— "Svea-Eikes Hafder," Stockh.
1825, and his "Svenska Folkets Historia," Örebro,
1832-36, where the Asa-Doctrine is treated of in
the first part.

F. J. Mone : — *' Geschichte des Heidenthums im
nördlichen Europa," 1822-23. 2 vols. 8yo. The
Asa-Doctrine is presented in the first part.

Jac. Grimm : — '' Deutsche Mythologie." Göttin-
gen, 1835. 2nd enlarged edition. Göttingen, 1844.

P. A. Munch : — " Xordens Gamle Gude- og Helte-
Sagn." Christiania, 1840.

For a representation of the religious life of tlie
ISTorthmen, our old J^orse-Icelandic manuscripts pre-

88 INTRODUCTION.

sent a rich source, wliich has not vet been fully ex-
hausted.

It is the Asa-Faith, such as it was understood and
cherished by the Northmen of Xorway and Iceland,
which the Old-Xorse manuscripts properly present
to us, and from this point of view it shal\ be con-
sidered here. We have, indeed, no reason to doubt
that the other two branches of the Xorræna family —
the Swedes and Danes — professed in the main points
the same faitli, followed the same religious customs,
and had the same religious institutions ; but we do
not know, with certainty, what these were in detail,
for the reliable inland sources of information are
wanting; and although the ancient Xoi-se-Icelandic
manuscripts not unfrecpiently treat of heathen-reli-
gious affairs in Sweden and Denmark, yet it is only
occasional, and is, besides, almost always such that
the conception is evidently Norwegian, and the de-
lineation quite too much adapted to the existing in-
stitutions of Norway for us to draw from them any
decisive conclusions.

The following Exposition will, therefore, more
Cvspecially embrace the Religious Institutions of ]S"or-
wa}' and Iceland during heathen times ; and, as
before hinted, it will be divided into three Parts :
the first containing the Dogmas of the Asa-Faith •
the second, tlie Interpretation of the Asa-Doctrines ;
the third, the Manifestation of the Asa-Faith in the
Popular Life of the Korthmen.

I.

DOGMAS OF THE ASA-FAITH.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.

In the beginning of time tliere were two worlds :
in the South was Muspell, light and flaming ; over
it rules Surtur, who sits at its boundaries with his
flaming sword; in the !N'orth was' Kiflheim, cold
and dark, with the fountain Hvergelmir in its midst,
where the Dragon ^STiðhögg dwells. Between these
worlds was Ginunga-gap — the Yaw^ning Chasm —
still as the wándless air. From Hvergelmir flowed
forth ice-cold venom-streams. The rime from these
streams met in Ginunga-gap with Muspell's sparks ;
then the rime-drops were quickened by the power
of the heat, and the Jötun ímir came into being,
who of himself produced a race of evil Jötuns — the
Frost-Giants or Mountain-Giants.

With Ýmir came to life the cow AuÖhumla, by
whose milk he was nourished. The cow licked the
salt rime-clumps, and then came forth Buri, a great,
a beautiful, and mighty being. His son was Bör, and

90 EELIGION OF THE NOETHMEJT.

Bör's sons, by the Jötun-woman Bestla, Bolthorn's
daughter, were 0dm (Óðinn), Yili, and Ye. Odin
became the father of the bright and beantiful Æsir,
the ruling Gods of Heaven and Earth ; therefore
he is called All-father (Alfaðir).

The sons of Bör slew the giant Ýmár, and in his
blood the whole race of Frost-Giants was drowned,
all bnt one pair who escaped, and from whom new
Jötim-races descended. Bör's sons carried the slain
Ýmir out into the middle of Ginunga-gap ; there
they made the earth of his body, the sea of his
blood, the mountains of his bones, and the trees of
his hair; of his skull they created the sky, which
they arched high above the earth and adorned with
sparks from Muspell ; but the brain they scattered
in the air and it became the gloomy clouds. Around
about the earth's surface they caused the deep sea to
flow, and upon its utmost strand the Jötuns, who had
escaped, took up their abodes in Jötunheim and U t-
garð. As a protection against them, the bland,
creating powers made from Ýmir's brows a breast-
work around the inmost earth — a citadel called
Miðgarð. From Heaven to Earth they set up the
bridge Bifröst, or the Eainbow.

The black, dark Mglit (Kott), of Jötun lineage,
became by the Æsir-son Delling, the mother of
Day (Dagr), who was beautiful as his father. Odin
placed the mother and son in the heavens, and com-
manded them to drive every day and night {d'ógn)
over the earth. Xight rides before with the horse
Hrimfaxi (Frost-mane), who every morning bedews
the earth with the foam from his bits. Day follows

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD. 91

after with the horse Skinfaxi (Shining-mane), whose
mane scatters light over air and earth.

The Æsir created Sol and Máni (the Sun and
Moon) out of the sparks of Muspell, but they ap-
pointed the children of Mundilfori to drive their
chariots across the heavens. The daughter drives
the chariot of the Sun, but the son drives that of the
Moon. They speed swiftly onward, for two Jötuns
in the guise of wolves pursue Sol and Máni in order
to devour them.

Dwarves (Dvergar) were quickened as maggots
in Ymir's flesh. By the command of the Gods they
received the form and understanding of men ; but
their abode was in the earth and the rocks. Four
Dwarves — Austri, Yestri, l^orðri, and SuÖri — were
appointed by the Gods to bear up the sky. At the
northern extremity sits the Jötun Hræ-svelgur, in
the guise of an eagle ; his wing-strokes are the
cause of storms.

There were not yet any human beings upon the
earth, when once, as the three Æsir, Odin, Hænir,
and Lóðurr were walking along the . sea-shore,
they there found two trees and created from them
the first human pair — the man Ask, and the woman
Embla. Odin gave them spirit, Hænir, under-
standing, and LóÖurr gave blood and fair complex-
ion. The newly-created pair received Miðgarö of
the Æsir for their abode ; and from Ask and Em-
bla is descended the whole human family.

92 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTEK II.

PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD.

The asli YggdrasiU is the noblest of all trees ; its
ever-green brandies encompass all tlie world. It
grows np from three roots. The one is in the foun-
tain Ilvergelmir in Kiflheim, at which the dragon
jSTiðhögg gnaws ; the second root is in Jötunheim ;
the third with the JEsir in heaven. In the top of
the ash sits a very wise eagle ; four harts rnn among
its branches and bite off the buds ; while up and
down the trunk goes the squirrel Katatösk, which
bears words of malice between the eagle and Nið-
högg. Under the root which shoots up from Jötun-
heim, is the well of the wise Jötun Mímir. Here is
kept Odin's eye, which he pledged for a drink from
the well ; and every morning Mimir drinks from
his glittering horn the mead which flows over
Odin's pledge. Under the root of the ash which
sprouts from heaven is the sacred Urdar-fount (Urð-
ar-brunnr), by which the Gods have their judg-
ment seat, whither they ride every day over Bifröst.
By this fountain the thi-ee great Kornir have their
seat : the maidens Urður, Yerðandi, and Skuld.
They nourish the tree by sprinkling over its body
with the purifying waters of the fountain. They
deal out life and rule the fates. Their messengers,
now good, now evil, accompany man from birth till
death, and create his good and evil fate. Kothing
can change the doom of the I^orns.

THE GODS OF THE NOETH. 93

CHAPTER in.

THE GODS AlsT) TIIEIR ABODES.

In heaven is AsgarÖ, the abode of the Gods. Li
its midst is the Field of Ida (Iða-YöUr), the Assem-
bling-place of the Gods, and Odyi's High-Seat Hlið-
skjálf, from whence he looks forth over all the
worlds. But above the heaven of the Æsir reaches
a higher heaven, and in the highest stands the im-
perishable gold-roofed hall, Gimli, brighter than the
sun.

Odin or AlfaÖir is the highest and eldest of the
Æsir ; his wife is Friga, the daughter of Fjörgjn ;
from them descends the race of Æsir. Odin's
hall is the great Yalhalla (Yalholl). Spears sup-
port its ceiling, with shields it is roofed, and
coats of mail adorn its benches. Tliither, and
to Yingolf, the hall of the Goddesses, Odin invites
all men wounded by arms, aU in battle fallen;
therefore he is called Yalfaðir, the Father of the
Slain; and his invited guests are called Einherjar.
It is their pastime to fight and slay each other every
day ; but they revive again before evening, and
ride home reconciled to YaUialla, where they are
refreshed with the flesh of the boar Sæhrímnir, and
where the Yalkyijur reach them mead. By the
side of Odin stand two wolves, Geri and Freki;
upon his shoulders sit two ravens, Iluginn and Mu-
ninn, which regularly fly out and return with tidings
5*

94 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

from the whole world. His horse is the gray eight-
footed Sleipnir. Odin's names are manifold ; for
he never calls himself by the same name when he
journeys among the people.

• Thor (J)órr) is the second of the Æsir, a son of
Odin, and his own danghter JörÖ (Earth). He is
the strongest of the Gods ; his dwelling is Thrúð-
vangar or Thrúðheim; his hall the immense Bil-
skirnir. To him come bondsmen after death. Thor
drives in a car which is drawn by two goats, and is
therefore called Ökn-J)órr — tlie Driving Thor. He
is also called Hlórriði — the Fire- Charioteer. Tlie
mountains shake and are riven asimder, and
the earth burns beneath his chariot. Fire flashes
from his eyes when he is angry. The Belt of
Strength (megin-gjörö) redoubles his Asa-might.
Unceasingly he fights against the Jötuns, who trem-
ble at his hammer Mjölnir, smithied by skillful
Dwarves. His wife is Sif, with golden hair. The
boy Thjalfi and the girl Köskva, brother and sister,
go with him on his travels.

Baldur is a son of Odin and Friga. He is so
beautiful that all things are made light by him ; he
is beloved by all and is the Comforter of the unfor-
tunate. His wife is Nanna and his dwelling is
Breiðablik, where nothing impure is found.

KjörÖ was born in Yanaheim among the wise
Yanir, but was received among the Æsir when the
Yanir, in a treaty with the latter, gave him as a
hostage and received Hænir in his stead. Is^jörÖ
rules the course of the winds, stills the sea and fire,
and deals out riches among men. He is invoked in

THE GODS OF THE NOETH. 95

Sea-faring and Fishing. His wife is Skaði, daugh-
ter of the Jötun Thjassi. But XjörÖ and SkaÖi
agree not together. Njörð dwells in Kóatún, hj
the sea; Skaði keeps to her father's dwelling at
Thrjmheim, where she runs upon snow-shoes over
the mountains, and shoots the wild beasts with her
bow.

Frey is the son of NjörÖ, and rules over rain
and sunshine and the earth's fruitfulness. He is
invoked for fruitful seasons, for peace and riches.
He is bland and good ; he causes sorrow to no one,
but delivers the bondsmen from their chains. His
dwelling is Alfheim. He drives with the boar
GuUinbursti (Golden Bristles), or sails in the noble
ship SkiðblaÖnir, a work of the Dwarves. In order
to obtain the Jötun-daughter Gerða, whom he loved,
he gave away his good sword, and hence he is
weaponless in the Æsir's last battle.

Týr, the One-Handed, is the boldest among the
Æsir ; brave men are to invoke him.

Bragi, with the flowing beard, a son of Odin, is
the God of Poetry. His wife is Iduna, who keeps
the apples of which the Gods partake, that they
may never grow old.

Heimdall, the white God with the golden teeth,
the son of nine Jötun-virgins, is the Watcher of the
Gods, and dwells in Himinbjörg, which stands
where Bifröst's bridge approaches Heaven. He is
more watchful than a bird, and sees a hundred
miles away. When he blows in his trumpet Gjal-
larhorn it resounds throughout all worlds.

The rest of the Æsir are : the blind, powerful

96 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

HöÖur, a son of Odin; Viðarr, with iron shoes,
Odin's son by the Jötun- woman Griða, is called the
Silent God. ISText to Thor, he is the strongest, and
dwells in the desert Landviði. Ali or Yali, the
sure marksman, is a son of Odin and Einda, born
in the western hall. Ulhir, Thor's step-son, the God
of hunting and snow-shoe running, is invoked for
success in the duel ; his dwelling is in Ýdalir. For-
seti, the son of Baldur, settles all disputes among
gods and men ; he dwells in Glitnir, whose roof of
silver rests on golden columns.

Of the Goddesses (Asynjur, sing. Asynja) Friga
is the highest. She is the daughter of Fjörgyn, and
the wife of Odin. Her dwelling place is in Fen-
salir.

Kext to her is Freyja, NjörÖ's daughter, sister of
Frey, the Goddess of Love. Two cats draw her
chariot. Her dwelling is Fólkvangar, her hall,
Sessrymnir. When she rides out to battle, she
shares half the fallen with Odin. Her husband
Ó Our travels far away; Freyja weeps golden tears
of longing after him. She is called Yanadis — the
Yanir-goddess, and has many other names besides,
which she received as she wandered about among
unknown tribes, seeking her lost Öður.

Saga dwells in the great Sökkvabekk under the
cool waves ; there she drinks with Odin every day
from golden vessels.

There are besides these many Goddesses of inferior
dignity, some in Friga's service and some in Frey-
ja's.

The Yalkyrjur are sent by Odin to every battle,

THE GODS OF THE NOETH. 97

to choose guests for Yalhalla and to tiiru the vic-
tory. Among theh' number is Skuld, the youngest
of the Nornir. Surrounded by lightning's glare and
bearing bright spears, they ride in bloody armor
through the air and over the seas. When their
steeds shake their manes, dew falls in the deep val-
leys and hail upon the high forests.

The ruler of the sea is Ægir, also called Gýmir
and Hler. He is a Jötun, though a friend of the
Æsir. When the latter visit him, his hall is illumi-
nated with shining gold. His wife is Eán. She has
a net with which she catches seafarers. The daugh-
ters of Ægir and Ran are the Waves : they are un-
friendly to voyagers and strive to overturn ships.

98 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTEE lY.

PROPAGATION OF EVIL ; DECLINE AND FALL OF THE
WOELD.

In the first ages of the world there was a glorious
time of peace among the gods and men. But
Jötmi-women came to Asgard, and the Æsir formed
connections with them. Then happiness was de-
stroyed ; the air was poisoned with wickedness, and
strife was begun in heaven and on the earth, to
continue until the destruction of both. Tlie Jötuns
attack the Æsir, now with strength and now with
cunning : nought but the power of Thor is able to
prevail over them.

The author of the greatest misfortunes which
have befallen the gods and men, is Loki or Lojitr.
He is of Jötun descent, but was received among the
Æsir, and even in the morning of time he was the
foster-brother of Odin. He is of a fair countenance
but evil in disposition. He is called the Slanderer
of the Gods, the source of deceitful cunning, a dis-
grace among gods and men. He accompanied the
Æsir, and they often made use of his strength and
cunning ; but he still oftener acted in concert with
the Jötuns for the destruction of the Æsir.

Loki had three children by the Jötun-woman
AngurboÖa: the Fenris-wolf, the World-serpent
(MiðgarÖs-ormr, also called Jörmungandr), and Hel,

PROPAGATION OF EVIL. 99

or Death. The Æsir knew that this offspring of
Loki should bring upon them great calamities ;
they therefore bonnd the wolf on a desert island,
and set a sword within its outstretched jaws ; the
Miðgarð-serpent they cast out into the deep sea,
where it encircles the whole earth's surface and
bites itself in the tail. But Hel was hurled head-
long down into Xiiiheim, and Al-father commanded
that all who died of sickness and old age should go
to her. Her dwelling, Helheim, is large but fright-
ful. She is half pale-blue and half white, grim and
ferocious of aspect.

The greatest grief was brought by Loki into the
whole world, when he by his deceit slew Baldur the
Good. The Æsir knew that danger was threaten-
ing Baldur, and his mother Friga took oath of all
Xature that nothing should harm him. But she
forgot a tender twig, the mistletoe. Loki tore this .
up and persuaded the blind Hödur to throw it at ^
his brother Baldur in sport. Loki himself guides
Hödur's hand and Baldur is killed. The Æsir are
struck dumb with grief and horror. At last Friga
sends Odin's swain HermoÖ to Hel, in order to ran-
som Baldur from Helheim, and Hel promises to
release him if all Xature bewails his death. It is
also done ; men and animals, the earth and even
the solid rocks shed tears. All but an old Jötun
woman, who will not weep, and therefore Hel keeps
back her prey. But this Jötun woman was the dis-
guised Loki, who was the greatest cause of evil
among the Æsir. jSTanna, the wife of Baldur, died
of grief, and was burned upon her husband's funeral

100 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

pile ; but Odin's son, Yali, altliongh but one night
old, avenged Baldur's death by slaying Hödur, his
murderer.

Loki, pursued by the Æsir, now fled up to a
mountain from which he could see to all corners of
the world, and when he saw the Æsir drawing near
in their search after him, he changed himself into
the likeness of a salmon, and hid himself under a
waterfall. But Odin saw him from Hliðskjálf, and
the Æsir caught him. They then bound him with
the intestines of his own son Kari, upon three sharp
rocks in a dark caye, and Skaði fastened a venomous
serpent over his head, whose poison should drip
down into his face. Sigyn, his faithful wife, stands
beside him and holds a vessel under the venom-
drops ; but when it is full and she goes away to
empty it, the venom drips down into Loki's face,
and then he writhes himself so that the whole earth
shakes. Thence come the earthquakes. Thus shall
Loki lie bound until the end of the world.

DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD. 101

CHAPTER Y.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GODS AND THE WORLD.

Upon a time the world shall be convulsed, and
the Æsir destroyed in Ragnarökk, or the Twilight
of the Gods. The growing depravity and strife in
tlie world proclaim the approach of this great event.
Winters rage without any intervening summer,
with iurious storms, with snows and darkness. The
sun and moon are swallowed by the pursuing Jötun-
wolves, and heaven is sprinkled with blood. The
bright stars vanish, the earth shakes, and the momi-
tains are hurled together with a crash. Then all
bonds and chains are broken, and the Fenris-wolf
runs loose. Tlie Miðgarð-serpent writhes in Jötun-
rage, and seeks the land across the tumultuous
waves. The ship Xaglfár flies and bears over the
sea the Frost-giant's hosts, led on by the Jötun
Hrym. Tlie loosened Loki also comes at the head
of the troops of Ilel. The Fenris-wolf rushes forth
with outstretched jaws, which fill the space between
heaven and earth ; the MiðgarÖ-serpent on its side
blows out venom over air and sea. In the midst of
this confusion the heavens are rent asunder, and
through the opening the sons of Muspell ride forth
in radiant array. At their head is Surtur, sur-
rounded with flames ; his fire-sword flashes brighter

102 RELIGION OF THE NORTHilEN.

tlian the sun. They all haste on toward the battle-
field, the immense plains of YígríÖ.

Heimdall now arises and blows with all his
strength in Gjallar-horn. The gods all assemble
together. Yggdrasill's ash is shaken, and every-
thing in heaven and earth is filled with terror. The
Æsir and Einherjar arm themselves and rush forth
to battle. Odin rides at their head and meets the
Fenris-wolf ; Thor fights at his side against the Mið"
garð-serpent. Freyr combats with Surtur, but fiills,
for he has no sword. Loki and Heimdall slay each
other. Thor kills the Miðgarð-serpent, but it vomits
forth upon him a flood of venom. He gives way
nine steps backwards, but falls dead to the ground.
The Fenris-wolf swallows Odin, but falls in turn
before the strong Yiðarr, who splits its jaws asun-
der. Then Surtur slings his fire over the world.
Smoke wreathes up around the all-nourishing tree,
the high flames play against the heavens, and earth,
consumed, sinks down beneath the sea.

KEGENEEATION OF THE WORLD. 103

CHAPTER YL

GIMLI AND NASTEÖND; REGENERATION OF THE WORLD.

The gold-roofed Gimli wliicli shines brighter than
the snn, passes not away in the great world-coniia-
gration. After Eagnarökk the good shall all be
gathered thither to rejoice for evermore. But the
wicked shall be hurled down into ISTáströnd — the
Strand of the Dead — which lies around Hvergel-
mir. There shall they wade through thick venom-
streams and be tormented by the dragon MÖhögg.

But the world is not destroyed forever. A new
earth, eternally green and fair, shall shoot forth out
of the sea. YiÖarr and Yali, who have lived
through the fire and the flood, are joined by Thor's
sons Moði and Magni, who have their father's ham-
mer; and Baldur and Hödur return from the
abodes of Hel. All assemble and converse together
of former things ; they find the golden tablets which
the Æsir once possessed, and they adopt their
ancient customs of the plains of Ida. The Sun
before her destruction bore a daughter who, more
beautiful than her mother, wanders in her path
through the renovated world. Lif and Lifthrasir
lay hidden in Hoðmímir's wood during the confla-
gration, and had the morning dew for their food ;
from them shall descend a new race of men who

104 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

shall spread over the whole earth. All evil shall
cease, and no sorrow nor trouble shall any more pre-
vail upon the new-born earth.

Then shall the Mighty One come from above, he
who rul^s over all, whose name man dares not to
utter. He comes in his power to the great judg-
ment-seat ; he will appease all strife and establish a
holy peace which shall endure eternally. But the
foul dragon, the venom-spotted Xiðhöggr, flies away
over the plains and sinks out of sight, bearing death
upon his wings.

II.

EXPOSITION OF THE ASA DOCTEINE.
CHAPTEK YII.

OF THE INTERPRETATION OF THE ASA. DOCTRINE IN
GENERAL.

Concerning the origin and significance of the Asa
doctrine, there lias been, and still is, a great variety
of opinions.

Taken as a whole, some regard it as a monotheis-
tic system in the beginning, which degenerated into
polytheism by the extravagant fancies of the human
understanding. They look for its first basis either
in an immediate divine revelation, imparted to man-
kind in the beginning, and consequently common to
all nations and all religions ; — or else in a purer re-
ligion, which in a remote antiquity was peculiar to
the first progenitors of the Iranic or Indo-European
race, and which, under many corruptions and de-
teriorations, was transmitted through the various
branches of the race, so that the fundamental prin-
ciples are more or less distinctly seen in the reli-
gion^ systems of all the heathen tribes descended

106 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

from them ; but how this purer primitive Iranic re-
ligion originated — whether by immediate revelation
or by the continual development of the human soul
— ^is not taken into consideration. Others assume
that the Asa doctrine, as an independent whole, was
developed ijjnong the Germanic classes from the
very lowest point of polytheism into a religious sys-
tem in which polytheism was inclining to yield
before monotheistic ideas, which the clearer heads
among the people had gradually risen up to by their
own strength of mind and by the natural progress
of polytheism.

In regard to the real object of the Asa myths,' —
some have sought it in the history of the Germanic
race, especially of the ISTorræna branch, others
in the general phenomena of Nature, others again
in man's peculiar nature, especially in a moral
point of view. There has thus been developed
a historical, a physical, and an ethical interpre-
tation ; but seldom has any interpreter followed one
of these directions exclusively, the greater number
liave united them, with one or another of them the
predominant.

Finally, in regard to the outer form of the Asa
doctrine, some consider it a complete allegory,
whose images, even in the minutest particulars,
they strive to trace back to reality, while others
seek only to unravel the prominent ideas of the
myths from their poetic dress, believing it in vain
to attempt to trace the images through all the mazes
of fantasy.

As to tlie first theory, we find a certain funda-

INTEEPKETATION OF THE ASA DOCTEINE. 107

mental idea pervading all the known religious
systems belonging to the people of the Iranic
race, which points towards a common origin
for them. The Asa doctrine of the origin of the
gods and the world, of the strife between Good and
Evil, of the destruction and regeneration of the
world and the gods, if we do not too closely follow
the figures by which it is expressed, has an unmis-
takable similarity to the ancient Indian and Median
myths concerning the same subject, — a similarity
which we cannot well explain satisfactorily except
by their origin in a common source. We may
therefore assume that the Germanic race, when it
separated from kindred races as an independent
whole, had already conceived — although indistinct-
ly— those ideas which it afterward expressed and
farther developed in accordance with its peculiar
character, and connected with a mythology built
upon its own notions of the world, which gradually
obscured the monotheistic ideas — at least with the
mass — and set them in the background for poly-
theism. Tlie Asa doctrine, in its peculiarity, seems
thus to have sprung up with the Germanic race
from certain fundamental religious ideas common to
the whole Iranic famil}^

Concerning the second theory it may be said that
the historical interpretation of the Asa doctrine is
very ancient. The assumption of a historical Odin
and historical Æsir, of an earthly Asgard on the
plains of the Tanais, &c., had doubtless its first
basis in the efiforts of the Northmen and the Ice-
landers to impart to the Asa doctrine — which was

108 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

SO important to their Skaldic minstrelsy — such a
turn that, without offense to Christianity, it might
be kept in remembrance and made use of by the
Skalds. Snorri Sturlason's influence opened the
way for this interpretation among the historians
of the eighteenth century, who did not, however,
content themselves with one historical Odin, but
assumed three or four successive ones, and consider-
ed the Æsir sometimes as a tribe of jDcople, some-
times as an order of priesthood, who wandered into
the Xorth from the banks of the Tana'is. A stricter
criticism of the sources of our ancient history has,
in latter times, revealed these errors and thereby
given a death-blow to the purely historical interpre-
tation of the Asa doctrine. In its stead, the physi-
cal interpretation of the Asa myths has become the
prevailing one, and it seems indeed to present
itself to every unprejudiced mind. Even the
mythic names point distinctly in this direction.
The Asa doctrine expresses the conception which a
powerful and imaginative, though uncultivated
people formed of divinity through its diversified
activity in Mature, — its conception of the super-
sensual in a bodily and human form.

Finally, as to the third theory : it seems to lie in
the character of a greater part of the Asa myths,
that they are not allegories representing ideas clear
to the mind which first set them forth, and were
clothed in a dress perceptible to the senses merely
to be made intelligible to the mass ; — consequently
we cannot pursue the figure to the utmost in order
to seek in it a real significance. Tlie figure may

liTTERPEETATION OF THE ASA DOCTRINE. 109

liere in most cases be assumed as co-existent
with the idea itself, and to be ahnost as real as
it. It thus went on continually producing of
itself new figures, often bearing no relation to
the original idea, and to w^hich we may apply
our skill in vain, in the attempt to find a deeper
meaning.

On these views of the Asa Faith in general, are
based the following interpretations of its most
prominent myths.

110 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER Yin.

OF THE THEORY OF CREATION.

The Asa doctrine supposes two primitive worlds ;
the Fire World — Miispell or Miispellieim''^ — in the
south, which in the Eddas signifies dbove^ and the
dark, Mist- World — jSTiflheimt — in the north, or le-
low. In the former sits enthroned the Fire-Being
Surtur ;:{: in the deepest abyss of the latter, in Hver-
gelmir§ — the Ancient Caiddron^ dwells the-Dragon
E"iðhögg|i — the Gloomy Heioer or Gnaiver — two
primitive beings, each in his nature corresponding
to the world in which he rules ; the former light and

* Probably derived from rnúgr, a crowd; and spell, cognate
with spilla, to destroy ; whence it may signify the Destruction of
the Multitude ; in reference to the agency in destroying the human
world. Grimm points out the name in the Old-German under the
forms muspilli, mudspelli, denoting a general conflagration, which
shows that the Germanic race had in the main points the same
views as the Norræna.

f IS'ifl, cogn. with the Germ. ]S"ebel, Lat. nebula; hence, the
Nebulous Home.

X For Svertir, from sverta, to blacken, from his fire-like, scorch-
ing nature. According to Grimm, Surtr is cogn. with svartr;
Swed. svart; Dan. sort; GotJi. svarts: Germ, schwarz; Eyigl.
swart, swarthy.

§ Hver, a cauldron ; also, a hot spring. Grimm derives gelmir
from gjalla, to resound ; cogn. with A,-S. giellan ; Engl. yell.

II From höggva, to hew; and nið, obscurity, or niö, malignity.

THEORY OF CREATION. Ill

life-giving, the latter dark and deadly. From the
Mist- World's dripping coolness (Elivagar,- Venom
streams, Hail streams), rise np frost-vapors. Li the
vast empty space lying between the two worlds, in
Ginnnga-gap,t the Yawning Abyss, these vapors
meet the sparks of the Fire- World. The dead, cold
matter is quickened by the power of Fire, and the
huge, shapeless Jötun:j: Ýmir§ — the Roaring, Foam-
ing— comes forth, the first, chaotic World-mass.
This living mass produces of himself many similar,
frost-cold, stone-like, shapeless beings, the Hrim-
thursarll and Bergrisar^ — Frost giants and Moim-
tain giants. In all these forms Evil is still predomi-
nant. All are more nearly allied to the world of
Cold and Darkness. It is only the lower, íYlq physi-
cal world-life which moves in them.

But a better being, although of animal nature —
the Cow AuOlmmla"^^^ — came into existence with the
first Frost-Jötun, as his nurse. This power, which

* ÉI, a shower, hail shower; vágr, a stream.

f Gin, a yawning, an abyss; gina, to gape.

X Jötunn, iotimn, a giant, cogn. with eta ; A.-S. etan, to eat ;
corresponding Old-Germanic terms: A.-S. éoten ; L. Germ, etan;
II. Germ, ezan ; Goth, itans ; Old Engl, etin, ettin ; Scotch, ettyn,
eyttyn.

§ "fm, ýmia, to roar ; ýmr, a confused sound, as the clang of
metals or the rustling of trees.

II |)urs, perhaps cogn. with ])urr, dry, barren {Germ, diirr); the
corresponding Anglo-Saxon name was f)yrs ; H. Germ, durs, or turs ;
Goth. J)aur3.

•[ Risi, a giant ; from ris, rlsa, to rise, tower up.

** Or Auðhumbla. Some derive it from auÖr, rich; and hum,
moisture; others from auÖr, void, vacant {Dan. ode); and hum,
darkness.

112 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

nourishes the chaotic World-mass, calls forth at the
same time by its refining agency — by licking the
Kime-clumps — a higher spiritual World-life, which
unfolds itself through several links — through Buri
the Bearing^ and Burr^ the Born — until it has
gained power sufficient to overcome chaotic matter
— to kill Ýmir and his offspring.

This high conquering World-life is Divinity itself,
which now goes forth as creative power in a three-
fold form — as Spirit, Will or Power, and Holiness —
in the brothers Oðinn, Yili, and Ye. The Spirit
quickens, the Will arranges, and Holiness banishes
the Impure and Evil.f It is, however, only in the
creation of the world that these three beings are
represented as cooperating. Yili and Ye are not
mentioned again ; they are blended together again
in the all-embracing World-spirit — in Odin. He is
the Essence of the World, the Almighty As ; he
alone is Al-father, from whom all the other supe-
rior, world-directing beings, the Æsir, are de-
scended.:]:

* Buri, burr, bör, derived from bera, to bear, bring forth ; eogn.
■with A.-S. beran : whence also the Danish Barn and Scottish
bairn, a child.

f ÓÖinn; A.-S. Vóden; L. Germ. Wodan ; IT. Germ. "Wnotan ;
Goth. Vódans ; Fris. Wéda. The word is cogn. with veö, ÓÖ, vaÖa,
to wade, go through, and with óör, mind, understanding ; hence de-
notes Spirit, the All-pervading (Deut. Mythol.). Vili signifies Will ;
Ve, holiness.

X As, plur. Æsir; fern. Ásynja, j)l. Ásynjur. The correspond-
ing Germanic names are: A.-S. os. pi. és ; Goth. ans. pi. anseis;
cogn. with the Celtic Es, Esus ; Old Etruscan, Æs, Ais, Æsar ;
Pers, Ized. Grimm remarks that a cognate expression was in all

THEORY OP CEEATIOK. 113

By the creation the Elements are separated —
Ýmir's body is parceled out — and organic life begins.
But the chaotic powers, though conquered, are not
destroyed, — a Jötun escapes, and from him come
forth new Jötun races. Disturbing and deadly in-
fluences are perceptible everywhere in Nature.
They are the manifestations of the hostile disposi-
tion of the Jötuns toward the Æsir, and of their
struggles to destroy the work of the latter. The
Jutuns have been forced to fly to the outermost
deserts around the surface of the earth — to Útgarð,
the Outer Ward or inclosm'e — and here they have
their proper home — Jötunheim; but they manage
also to sneak in within the barrier which the Æsir
made as a defense for the earth, and they get into
Miögarð."^ They dwell here in the rugged moim-
tains, in the ice-clad JökuUs, and in the barren des-
erts, everywhere w^here any unfruitfulness prevails.
Their agency is perceptible in the devastating
storms, caused by the wing-strokes of the Jötun-
eagle in the Xorth,f it is felt in winter's cold, in

the Old-Germanic Languages (i)ew#. Myth. p. 22). It is probably
cogn. with vesa, an older form of vera, to be, and originally signi-
fied Being^ as a distinctive appellation of the Gods.

* MiðgarÖr, the Middle-Ward ; corresponds with Ooth. midjun-
gards; Old Germ, mittilgart; A.-S. middangeard, middeweard.
The Norse miör is cogn. with the Goth, midums, midia ; Germ.
mitte, mittel ; A.-S, midd, midlen ; Engl, middle, middling, mean ;
Sansk. madhyam, medhi ; Ze7id meias ; Pcrs. mijan ;* Gr. ficpoi,
<fec. Gar, gard, garör, and cognate words in the Indo-European
languages, signified an inclosure, fence ; hence the English words:
girth, to gird, garden, guard, ward, yard, court, arc.

f This Storm-eagle's name Hræsvelgr, signifies: the Swallower
of the Dead; (pom hræ; ^.-^, hrœow; a corpse; and svelgja ;
Dmi. svselge ; A.-S. swelgan ; to swallow, gorge.

114 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

snow and ice, in all the powers of Nature which are
unfriendly to fruitfulness and life.

The living world was also the work of the Æsir.
The Earth, lying as a round disc in the middle
point, was under their special protection. They
sometimes descend thither from their celestial
abodes, and then the rainbow — Bifröst,* the Trermi-
lous Way — forms their bridge.

The representation of Night as the mother of Day
corresponds with the rest of the theory of the origin
of the world. Darkness is the primeval state in
which Ýmir and his progeny moved. Night be-
longed therefore to the Jötuns. Day first comes forth
with the light Æsir, as a son of the Jötun-born
Night and the .Æsir-son Delling, the Daion.\

The bright heavenly bodies were sparks of Mus-
pell, set by the Æsir in the vault of heaven to mea-
sure time. These also are hated by the chaotic
powers. The Sun and Moon never have rest in
their com'se by reason of the pursuing Jotun-wolves,
who try to swallow them.

■ "Within the Earth there were powers moving
which were fragments of the chaotic life — Dwarvesij:
swarmed forth as maggots in Ýmir's flesh.

The Æsir improved them — gave them the form
and understanding of men — but bound them to the
caverns of the dark Earth, where they are busied

* Formed from bifa (Ban. bœve), to tremble ; and röst, anciently
a rest, a measure of distance on a road, and then, a road itself,
f Dellingr, for dcglingr, diminutive of dagr, day,
X Dvergr, jtl. dvergar ; A.-8. <Jveorg ; Old Germ, tuerc ; Goth.
dvairgs {Dent. Mythol).

THEORY OF CREATION. 115

with metals and work them. They were imagined
to be dark as their home, and were therefore called
Sv'^artálfar — Dark Elves — and their dwellings in the
earth, Svartálfaheimr.

The Eddas make no mention of the creation of
animals, which, however, the Asa doctrine con-
nected immediately with that of plants. Man is
the last and most perfect work of the creative
power. In the creation of man, as well as of the
world, the Divine power appears in a threefold
form. The three Æsir, Odin, Hænir, and Lóðurr,
create the first human pair out of two Ash trees,
whence the names Ask and Embla,* and each one
imparts to them a gift corresponding to his own
nature. Odin gives them spirit (önd), the spiritual
life ; he is himself the Spirit of the World, of which
man's is a reflection. Hænir, Lights gives under-
standing (óör), the light of the soul. Lóðurr, Fíre^\
gives them the warm blood and the blushing color,
together with the burning keenness of the senses.
The Æsir gave man, their favorite creation, a dwell-
ing place in Mid-Earth (in MiðgarÖ), which was

*Askr; Dan. Ask; Germ. Esclie; A.-S. Æsc; an ash tree
Embla may have denoted another species of Ash, which the pea-
sants still regard as a female tree. Grimm says embla, emla, sig-
nifies a busy woman, from amr, ambr, ami, ambl, assiduous labor.
The words possibly bear the same relation to each other as Meshia
and Meshiane, the ancient Persian names for the first man and
woman, who were also formed from trees.

f Lóöurr is cogn. with the Germ, lodern, and denotes the blazing
fire. This is without doubt the same being who is elsewhere
called Loki or Loptr.

116 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

secured against the Jötuns. Hence it was also
called Mannheim, man's home or world.

Herewith is the Creation ended. The living
world stands perfect, protected by the bland Æsir,
with whom it came into life ; threatened and at-
tacked by the cold, dark Jötuns, who endeavor to
regain their ancient dominion. Tlie conflict be-
tween Good and Evil has grown up with the AYorld-
life itself, and ends only in its destruction.

OF YGGDRASILL. 117

CHAPTER IX.

OF YGGDKASILL.

All living JSTature is represented in the figure of
tlie Ash Yggclrasill. The name is uncertain, but
seems to be best explained by the term Yggs, as
Odin's horse, chariot, or seat.^ The living world
was regarded as moved and guided by the Divinity,
which had its seat therein, as the Spirit in the body.
The name in , this sense fully coincides with the
spirit of the Old-Xorse poetry: and the myth of
Yggdrasill appears to be throughout a poetic alle-
gory.

The World-tree grows up from three roots. The
one shoots from Ilvergelmir, the primeval source of
matter in the Abyss ; the second from Jötunheim,
from the depths of the raw material forces of the
world ; the third from the celestial abodes of the
Æsir, from the source of the spiritual AVorld-life.
The figure agrees with the theory of creation. In
the top of the tree sits an eagle, doubtless the sym-

* Yggr, one of Odiu's names, signifies : the Terrible, Fear-
inspiring, or also the Meditative ; drasill or drösull, from draga, to
draw, to bear.

F. Magnusen also has ý, cogn. with I'lr, moisture, rain ; whence
yg, ygg, was formed, hence it would signify the bearer of rain, or
the bearer of Odin.
6*

118 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

bol of Spirit or Life ; at its root in Ilvergelmir lies
Kiðliögg, tlie Dragon of Darkness and Deatli ; but
the squirrel Katatösk * runs up and down the trunk
bearing malignant words between the Eagle and
the Dragon ; contending powers are active in is'a-
tiire, and deceitful wickedness creeps in with its
slanderous tongue through human life and disturbs
its peace. "The Ash Yggdrasill," says an ancient
poem, "endures more hardships than any one
knows; the harts bite off its branches, its trunk
decays, and XiÖhögg gnaws at its root." The liv-
ing creation consumes l^ature's nourishing power ;
its productions dry up and die when their time has
come ; and what is worst of all, the element of evil
gnaws continually at its deepest root. But the
trunk of the tree is sprinkled over with the sacred,
purifying waters of the celestial fountain, and Ygg-
drasill, with all its sufíerings, stands forever green ;
the life of Xature is sustained and renewed by the
providence of the Celestial Powers. Here again
tlie main idea is the grand struggle which goes
through the World-life, the struggle between Spirit
and Matter, between Good and Evil, between Life
and Death.

Beneath that root of the World-tree, which shoots
up from the Jutun's home, there is a well, called,
after its watcher, Mimir's Well, in which Wisdom,
or rather KnoAvledge, lies concealed. The name

* Probably from rata, to find the way, to come, to go ; and
taska {Germ. Tasche), a pocket or pouch. The Running Pouch
may express the capacity of a talebearer or mischief-maker.

YGGDKxiSILL. 119

Mímir signiíies The Knowing.^ The Jötuns, being
older than the Æsh-, looked deeper than they into
the darkness of the Past. They had seen the begin-
ning of the Æsir and of the World ; they foresaw
in like manner their downfall. Concerning both
these events the Æsir had to go to them for knowl-
edge— an idea which is exj^ressed in many places
in the old mythic lays, but nowhere more clearly
than in the Yölnspá, where a Yala or prophetess,
fostered among the Jutnns, is represented as rising
up from the deep, and unveiling the Past and the
Future to gods and men. It is the Wisdom of that
deep, therefore, that Mimir keeps in his AVell.
Odin himself, the God of Heaven, must obtain it
from him ; he goes thither in the night season, when
the sun, the Eye of Heaven, has gone down behind
the borders of the earth, imto the Jötun World.
Then Odin penetrates the secrets of the Deep, and
his eye is pledged for the drink he receives from
the Well of Iviiowledge. But in tlic glory of morn-
ing dawn, when the sun rises again from the Jötuns'
AV^orld, the AVatcher of the AW41 of Knowledge
drinks from his golden horn the clear mead Avhich
Hows over Odin's pledge. Heaven and this lower
AVorld impart their wisdom to each other mutually.f
The proper contrast to the fountain Ilvergehuir

* Evidently the same word as the A.-S. meouier, skillful, kuow-
iiig ; miinerian, to keep in memory ; and cogn. with the Lnt. me-
mor. Tlie special signitication of the word was doubtless "Skilled
in the Past."

f From an indistinct and sensual understanding of this myth.
Odin was usually represented as one-eyed.

120 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

in the lowest depths of the abyss, is the Uröar-
fount in Heaven, with whose sacred waters the
Tree of the World is sustained. It is guarded by-
three maidens, three superior beings, whose names
are TJröur, Yerðandi, and Skuld — the Past^ the
Present^ and the Future'^ — and takes its name
from the first and highest of them. These beings
are called NornÍT.\ They are the Goddesses of
Time and Fate ; the former is distinctly expressed
by their separate names ; in the latter character no
doubt their general name was given them. As
Goddesses of Time they are sustainers of Yggdra-
sill. Time and earthly life are considered insepara-
ble, therefore the Norns are also the Directors of
Life and the Dispensers of Fate. For mankind
they are the Goddesses of Birth, and Skuld, the
youngest, as Yalkyrja, is also a Goddess of Death.
Their messengers attend man through life ; they
are said to spin his Thread of Fate at his birth, and

* Urör and VerÖandi, substantive forms of veröa {Gertn, wer-
den; A.-S. weorðan), to become. The former corresponds to the
part, past, vorðinn, or orðinn, completed ; the latter to the part,
pres. verÖandi, becoming, happening. Skuld, the coming, is from
skuld, the part, past of skulu (Swed. skola; A.-S. sculon); pres.
skal (Swed. skall ; Da7i. skal ; A.-S. sceal; ^ngl. shall); past,
skjldi (Svjed. BkuWe; Dan. skulde ; A.-S. sceolde; JSngl. should).
The name signifies also, duty, obligation (Dan. Skyld), and thus
denotes her character as Goddess of Death. The A.-S. Wyrd,
was, like Urðr, a Fate or Destiny, from which is derived the later
English term weird, as "The Weird Sisters."

f Some trace a connection between the word Norn and snera
or nera, an older form of snua, to twist, to twine ; and thus find
it to express the agency of the Kornir, as the beings who spin the
thread of Fate.

YGGDRASILL. 121

to mark out with it the Hmits of his sphere of action
in life.

" They laid down laws,
They selected life
For the children of Time —
The destinies of men,"

says the Yöliispá of the three great Korns. Their
decrees (log) are inviolable Destiny (orlög), their
dispensations (shop) inevitable ISTecessity (naiiðr).

Tlie relation between these beings and the Æsir
is but obscurely stated in the Asa Mythology. It
appears to represent the ISTorns as being fostered
among the Jötuns and independent of the Æsir.
The judgment seat of the Æsir is near the Urðar
fount; hence their decrees are passed under the
supervision of the Norns. The Æsir themselves
must bow before the laws of the Korns ; they were
also limited by Time, — they were bqrn and were
to die. Ilowever, the relation between Time and
Eternity, Divinity and Fate, was to the Asa wor-
shipers, as to many other heathen people, only a
dark riddle which they, indeed, dared to ponder
upon, but could not solve. It formed a germ of
self-contradiction in their Mythology wliich might
well call far deeper thinkers to look beyond the
perishable Æsir, and betrays, though indistinctly,
the traces of a purer religion which the people had
inherited.

The Myth of Yggdrasill, taken as a whole, is one
of the sublimest in the Asa Mythology. It evinces
clear and profound thought, which has seen through
the inmost essence of the Æsir faith, and compressed
its whole doctrine into one i^rand image.

122 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER X.

OF THE MYTHIC DIVISIONS OF THE WORLD.

Heimr in tLe Okl-Xorse signifies home, and in a
wider sense, the Workl as the home or abode of all
li\áng beings. The name has thus a twofold sig-
nificance: one comprehensive, embracing all things ;
and one more limited, namely, the abode of a
greater or smaller circle of beings, as the Gods,
ManldncI, the Jötuns, etc. In its broader sense the
name was probably not nsed in heathendom, but
frequently in the more limited one. The concep-
tion of a Universe was lost among the Asa worship-
ers in the representation of many isolated worlds,
each one of which was considered to be the special
abode of a distinct class of beings.

From many passages in the old Eddaic poems, it
is clear that the Asa Mythology admitted of nine
such worlds, but how they were designated fp* how
situated in reference to each other is less certain,
and the notions of the interpreters are much divided
in the matter. Tlie following order a2)pears to be
the most in accordance with the ancient som-ces :

1. Muspellheimr, the highest Fire- Worlds Aho.
realm of Surtur. In its highest regions it appears
that Gimli was thous^ht to be situated.

2. Goðheimr, the World of the Gods, or Asgarðr,
the Æsir''s Ward, the proper Heaven, which appa-

MYTHIC DIVISIONS OF THE WORLD. 123

rently forms a vault above the Earth. lu the midst
of this world is lÖavöllr '" — the Field of Activity^
the Assembling-place of the Æsir. Here is Odin's
lofty throne Hliðskjálf,f which towers above the
highest arch of the Heavens.

3. Yanaheimr, the World of the Yanir ; the air,
or the space between Heaven and Earth filled only
with clouds.

4. Mannheimr, or Miðgarðr, the World of Man-
Mnd, the round disc of the Earth, surrounded by
the great World-Ocean. The name MiÖgarÖr ap-
pears to have been often used as more comj^rehen-
sive, as including the arch of Heaven, or at least its
lower border, which was actually believed to form
a hedge or defense against the Jutuns.

5. Alfheimr, the World of the Light- Elves — the
fertile surface of the Earth and the next adjoining
region of the atmosphere.

6. Svartálfaheimr, the World of the Darh-Elves
or Dwarves — the interior of the Earth-disc.

7. Jötunheimr, the World of the J'ótuns — the
mountain wastes around the Earth's disc. This
world- was believed to slope downward, especially
towards the north. It was occasionally placed
within the World-Ocean, but mostly, and especially

* From iöja, to work ; Ið, activity; völlr, a field.

\ Evidently derived from hlið (^.->S'. hliö), a gate or port ; cogu.
with Engl. lid. In the 0. Edda (AtlakviÖa 14,), liöskjalfar seems
to mean towers. Grimm thinks the word may mean a turret-win-
dow, or the seat at a portal or window, and that skjálf thus corre-
sponds to ^the A.-S. seylfe; En[/l. shelf, in the sense of bnich.
HliÖskjálf was therefore supposed to be a portal or large window
in Heaven, with its adjoining seat {Bent Mythol. ]). 124).

124 RELIGION OF TIIE NORTHMEN.

at first, outside of it as a border inclosing it.* It
was thus believed to be separated from Mannheim
bj the ocean, as it was from GoÖheim by a stream
called Ifingjf which was never frozen over.

8. Helheimr, the World of the Dead, the lower
World, the abode for the bodies of the Dead {Ralir).
Thither the way from the nj^per Y>^orlds (Helvegr)
led down by the Xorth through Jotunheim over the
stream GjöU — the Sounding or Shining (Northern
Lights?) ; the bridge over it, Gjallarbru, was roofed
with shining gold.

9. Niflheimr, the Mist-World. The first and last
of these were primeval worlds, which were thought
to be situated without the proper mundane World-
system, to which the Æsir belonged.

We may remark, however, that the representa-
tions of these difí'erent worlds and their mutual
relations, were very obscure and variable, even in
heathen times. We could expect no other of a
people but little enlightened, especially at a time
when the knowledge of Nature was so very limited.
In later times the confusion was increased when the
Learned began to look for these Worlds upon the
Earth, and to rack their brains in finding out proper
regions to refer them to. J

* Compare the L. Edda: Gylfaginnirig 51, with theO. Edda:
HýmiskviÖa.

\ The word if or ef, ordinarily signifies doubt, but the original
meaning appears to have been fluctuation, unrest.

X Magnusen's ideas of these worlds are set forth in his "Edda-
lære," page 179, etseq. ; Petersen's, in "Danmarks Higtorie " III,
pp. 122-124. Tlie above system corresponds with the latter.

OF TUE GODS. 125

CHAPTER XL

OF THE GODS.

The explanation of the Gods of tlie Asa Faith
and of the purely mythological legends, is one of
the most difiScult tasks in the interpretation of its
dogmas, and here more than anywhere, it is neces-
sary to guard against seeking a well-finished alle-
gory. It is true the gods are mainly a conception
of the powers of Nature under certain personalities ;
but as a power of ÍTature could not be conceived
of except in a personification, the latter, in its most
sensual form, often became the Essential. All the
gods of the Asa mythology are clothed in human
form, and represented as thinking, acting, and even
suffering, as men ; but they are idealized in both
physical and mental power, and thought to be less
limited by Time and Space than earthly men ; — and
under this human form, and in a measure, human
activity, the agency of IS'ature was very often
wholly forgotten by the Skalds in their Mythologi-
cal legends. They adhered, it is true, to the im-
portant distinctive attributes in the personality of
each Divinity, but they introduced many extrava-
gances of the imagination into their stories, merely
to make them the more attractive. But this was.

126 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

indeed, more frequently the case with the more dif-
fuse legends, which we cannot dwell upon in this
brief exposition of the Asa Mythology.

There are different grades in the ranks of the
Asa-Gods, as we find by looking over the series at-
tentively, that all are not in the same degree essen-
tial to build uj) the religious system as a whole, nor
to complete its internal connection. Some form, as
it were, indispensable main-springs to all the afiairs
of the World, while others only step forth at some
one point thereof, and then more as an auxiliary
power wdiich has been brought out and personified
by investigation, for the sake of completing a train
of ideas, than as an indej^endent power which of
itself created its own personality. To the former
class belong Odin, Friga, Thor, ISjörð, Frey, Freyja,
Baldur, Loki, and perhaps also Heimdall and
Ægir ; to the latter, Tyr, Höður, Yali, YiÖarr, and
all the remaining host of celestial beings, many of
whom it is evident came into existence only to illus-
trate certain attributes of the more prominent gods,
or their influence in certain directions, or else to
.form a connecting link in some mythological legend
of importance. The latter class of gods, when the
allegory is not complete, often presents the greatest
difiaculties to the interpreter.

The Gods have various terms in the Asa My-
thology : — 1. Goð {sing. GoÖ), the Gods — a name of
uncertain origin. 2. Æsir {sing. As ; fern. Asynia),
beings of a peculiar character and significance ; the
term is often limited to the highest class of celestial
beings. 3. Tivar {sing. Tivor, Tivr, Tyr), Glorious

UF THE GODS. 127

Beings (tir signifyiug glory, honor); another form
of the same name, more rarely occurring, is Diar^
from which is derived Disir {sing. Dis),^ Goddesses.
4. Year {sÍ7ig. Yeorr), Holy Beings ; from ve,t holi-
ness, ð. Regin, Euling Poioers^ Deliberating Dei-
ties. 6. Bond {^jplur. of band, a band), the United^
the Co-worJcing. 7. Höpt (phcr. of hapt, binding,
restraining), the Moderators. Of -these the three
first-mentioned terms are of most general occur-
rence. All these names for the gods generally de-
note, so far as their derivation is known, the attri-
butes which were ascribed to them. The last two
are. remarkable because they express the idea of the
intimate co-working of the gods in the government
of the world.

The significance of Odin as the Soul of the World
and the God of Heaven, has been already alluded
to. He is named All-father — AlfaÖir, AlföÖr, — as
the being from whom the Life of ^Nature and the
Powers revealing themselves through it, the Gods,
w^ere thought to come forth. He is called the
Father of Generations — Aldafaðir — with especial
reference to mankind as his creation. Lastly, he is
called YalfaÖir as the God of AYar, in which charac-

* Tivar occurs often in the 0. Edda: Vaf J^ri'idnm. 40, 42 ; Grim-
nisra. 5; Ilamarsheimt, 14, &c. ; often also the compounds Val-
tivai", Chosen or Glorious Gods ; Sigtivar, Victorious Gods. Diar
occurs in no genuine Eddaic poem, for the so-called Hrafugaldr
Óöins where it is found, is doubtless a production of later times.

f Tlie word ve was used to express a particular god, and the
pliir. ve also denoted sacred places. It is cogn. with the Old
Germ, wih, a grove; Old Saxon wih, a temple; Goth, ye'ih&n ;
Germ, weihen, to consecrate.

128 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

ter he was tlie Fatlier of the Slain, even as the lat-
ter were his elected {valr), his Chosen Sons {ósJcasy-
7iir). It was natural for a nation whose greatest
and most glorious avocation was War, to look upon
the Supreme God of the World as preeminently
the God of War, and it is certain that this was the
character especially attributed to Odin, at least by
the multitude. .The War God therefore is denoted
by a greater part of the various names which are
attributed to him (in the Grimnismál there are no
less than fifty-two) f" although it is true that the
doctrine that Odin "never called himself by the
same name during his wanderings among the peo-
ple," more nearly expresses the World-Spirit as a
Being who, by an infinite variety of modes, reveals
himself in Nature. The description of Yalhalla,t
as well as of the pastimes of the Einherjar — the
Chosen Heroes^ is in accordance with the attributes
of the War-God. Odin's two Wolves — Geri, the
Greedy ; Freki, the Eapacious — distinguish him in
the same capacity. His Ravens, however — Huginn,
the ThinMng ; Muninn, the Hemerribering — which
he sends out over the world, remind us at the same
time, of the highest faculties of the human soul, as
gifts of the Great Soul of the World. Yingólf i—

* The 0. Edda; Grimn., 46-54; the L. Edda; Gylf., 3.

f Valhöll, from valr; Old Germ, wal; A.-S. wæl: the Slain in
Battle, cognate with velja, to choose, elect; val, Dan. Valg;
Germ. Wahl ; choice, election ; and höll ( Goth, hallus ; Old Germ.
halla; A.-S. heal, hæl ; Engl, hall); may mean either the Hall of
the Chosen, or the Hall of the Slain.

\ Vingolf, the Abode of Friends; vinr (Z>a7i. Ven), a friend;
cogn. with unna, to love, to favor; A.-S. unnan, to give, bestow;
golf {Dan. Gulv), a floor, also a hall,

OF THE GODS. 129

the Friendly Hall — tlie Assembling-place of the
Goddesses, stands beside Yalhalki as the abode of
Odin's Chosen Sons.

Odin's marriage relations, so far as we know of
them, have reference to the reciprocal relations of
Heaven and Earth. Jörð, the Eartli^'^ is nsually
called Odin's wife, but sometimes also his danghter.
The Earth is often mentioned as a divine Being, as
Fjörgjn, the Life-giving ^^^ or as Hl<5ðyn, the Warm-
ing / and as the Fruit-bearing it is specially personi-
fied in Friga.:]: Her abode, Fensalir, the Marshy
IIalls^% denotes the deep, moist earth. In the rep-
resentation of the Æsir generally as the children of
Odin by the Earth or Friga, the idea is evidently
expressed that the Powers operating in the natural
World, came into being through the influence of
Heaven upon the Earth, of Spirit o.ver Matter.

Tlior is the God of Tlmnder. Tlie name express-
es this attribute, as |)ór is a contraction of J)ónr
or J)ónar,jí and thus signifies Tlmnder, or the Tlmn-

* Jörð; Mœso-Ooth. airj^a; Old Germ, tirda; A.-S. eorÖe; Engl.
the Earth.

f From fjör, life.

X Grimm supposes this word to be . derived from fria ; Goth.
frijon ; Old High Germ, frion ; to love ; cognate with the Old
Saxon fri ; A. S. frco ; woman. He traces the grammatical affini-
ties of the words Friga, Freyja, Frejr, through all the Old-Ger-
manic languages, and shows that the original signification is that
of joyful, glad, imparting gladness, beauteous, lovely {Dcut.
Mythol, p. 17, etc^.

§ From fen ; A.-S. fen ; Engl, fen ; which in the Norse may
also signify the watery deep ; and salr ; Old Germ, sal ; Old Sax.
seli; A.-S.&de; X>an. Sal; i?m?i. Saal; a Saloon, Hall, Mansion.

II Corresponding Germanic names; A.-S. fnir, {)unor, i)undor;
Old S. {>unar ; Goth, J)unrs.

130 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

dering. That lie should, from this attribute, be re-
garded as the stipngest of the Gods, was natui-al.
His abode was 'therefore called the Home or Kealm
of Strength (|)rúÖheimr, J)niÖYángr, from J)riiÖr,
an older form of |)r6ttr, strength, endurance) ; his
hall, however, from the lightnings which rend the
dark clouds, was called the Purifier of Storms
(Bilskirnir, from hilr^ storm, and shira, to purify,
make clear). By his driving through the clouds
with bleating goats attached to his car, is expressed
the varied soimds of thunder. His surnames and
his whole fire-like being denote the attributes of the
thunder storm, its terrifying, but beneficial in-
fluences in nature. He is represented as the
Watcher in MiÖgarÖ against the Jötuns, whose
sworn enemy he is. When Thor is absent in the
East fighting with the Trolls, MiÖgarð is sorely
beset by the Jötuns ; but when he comes home and
swings his huge hammer Mjölnir,* they all take
flight in terror. Thunder belongs to Summer,
which is the enemj^ of Winter, and puts the cold to
flight. Tlior's combat with the Jötuns was a favor-
ite tlieme of the Skalds of Antiquit}^, and many of
the mythological legends of those times had their
real sources in certain local circumstances which it
is difiiicult to trace out. Thor's personality is al-
ways well maintained in these legends ; he steps
forth hot-tempered and violent, but also frank and
good-natured in the extreme. His attendants — the

* Mjölnir, probably from mölva, to break in pieces ; melja, to
cmish, to pound, or mala, to grind; all cogn. with the Germ, mahlen,
to grind, and Miihle, a mill ; and prob. with Lat. malleus, a mallet.

OF THE GODS. 131

light-footed boy Thjalfi (the Diligent), and the girl
Köskva (the Quick)'^, are expressive of the speed
with which tlie thunder-storm flies oVer. His wife
Sif with golden hair, denotes the autumnal Earth,
with its fields of yellow ripening corn and fading
grass. In ÍTorway, even to this day, the corn is
thought to be ripened by the autumnal sheet-light-
nings, which are without thunder, and hence they
are called Kornmo.f

The Yanir, in the Asa Mythology, form a pecu-
liar class of beings, originally the enemies of the
Æsir, but afterward connected with them on terms
of the closest intimacy. If we turn our attention
to the gods ISTjörÖ and Frey, who are reckoned with
that race, it will be evident that they properly be-
long to the Air, and denote its beneficial influence
over the life of Xature. The name Yanir, the
Vacant^ Incor-poreal (from "canr^ emj^ty, void), de-
notes their aerial nature. In what manner the con-
test between the Æsir and the Yanir, which was
laid aside hi the World's first existence, and con-
cluded by a treaty in which the Æsir gave Ilænir
as a hostage against Xjörð, should be most correctly
interpreted, it is not so easy to decide. Some be-
lieve the myth to express the idea that the light of
Heaven had to break through thick clouds which
originally enveloped the Earth in order to call fortli
Fruitfulness, which thus was thought to be an eftect

* Jjjiilfi, from ])jálf, assiduous labor; Röskva, from roskr, quick,
lively', active; cogn. with Hwcd. and Ban. rask; Gcpn. rasch;
Engl. rash.

t Or Kornmo.^, literally, the Corn-ripeuer.

132 RELIGION OF THE NOETIIMEN.

of tlie united powers of Heaven and the Atmo-
sphere." Others have referred this contest between
the Æsir and the Yanir to a strife between two reli-
gions parties, the Fire-worshipers and Water-wor-
shipers, which was ended by a blending of both
religions; the Water-deities or Yanir, being re-
ceived among the Fire-deities or Æsir, and wor-
shiped side by side with them.f It might be easier
perhaps to imagine a contest between a wandering,
warlike nation and a peaceful, agricultural, and
sea-faring one, which ended in the union of the two.
The reason why the Yanir were frequently repre-
sented as wise — visir Yanir ^ vis regin — is unknown.
Njörð:j: is the God of the Air and the mild Wind,
and as such, the Patron of Sea-faring and Fishing.
His dwelling is by the sea in Nóatún — the Shij')-
meadow.% His wdfe is the Jötun-daughter SkaÖi|| —
the Harm-lrmging — the Goddess of Winter-storms

* Magnusen ; Transl. 0. Edda. I, p. 114, arc.

f Geijer; Svea-Rikes Hafder, I, pp. 354-366. .

X Many derivations of the Word NjörÖr are given. Magnusen's
is from næra {Germ, nahren) to nourish ; our author tliinks it cog-
nate with njörva, to bind together, as NjörÖ was in a manner the
bond of union between the Æsir and the Vanir. According to
Grimm it may be from norör, north; the corresponding Goth.
form, Nair])us; and in other Germanic dialects, Nirdu, Nird, or
Nerd; and the name and divinity identic with the Nertlms of
Tacitus, which he deems the right reading of Hertha. {Dent.
Mythol. pp. 19T, 229.)

§ From Nor, a ship, and tun, a meadow, a cultivated or inclosed
field — formerly, a town, as Sigtún, the Victor's (Odin's) Town, in
Sweden.

II From skaöa (Ban. skade; Germ, echaden), to injure: ''ogn.
with A.-B, scaÖian, Enqh scatb.

OF THE GODS. 133

and rongli mountain winds. Her favorite abode is
Tbiymlieim- — tlie Home of Storms — tlie lofty,
storm-raging, snow-coyered mountain regions wliere
only the hunter on his snow-shoes finds nourishment.
The comj^romise between them, to dwell nine nights
in Tlirymheim and three nights in JSToatun, refers to
the high northern latitudes where rough weather
and wintry storms prevail during the greater part
of the year.

KjörÖ's children, Frey and Freyja, are the Deities
of Fruitfulness ; the former with regard to the
Earth, the latter, to Mankind. Their names in the
Old-lS^orse, as well as in many of the ancient Ger-
manic languages, signify Lord or Master, and Lady
or Mistress ; but it is uncertain whether this be the
original meaning, or whether it was not rather
derived from the great veneration in which these
divinities were held at an early age among the Ger-
manic races. There is every reason to su2:)pose a
direct affinity between these two names and frúr,
peaceable, gentle ; fro, peace, repose ; as well as
friofr, fruitful ; friof, frió, seed ; in the former case
they would denote the gentleness which was attri-
buted to tliese beings, in the latter they would des-
ignate them as the Bestowers of Fruitfiúness.f

* f)rymr, uproar; J)rymia, to storm.

f The Gothic name corresponding to Freyr in the sense of Lord
and Master, is Fráuja; Old Jl'tgli Germ. Fro; A.-S. Fréa. Corre-
sponding to Freyja in the sense of Lady or Mistress is tlie Old
High Gorm. Frouwa, Frowa; A.-B. Freo ; Goth. Fráiijo; and mod-
ern Ban. Frue ; 8wed. Fru ; Germ. Fran. Comp. Deut. Myihol. pp.
190-200, 2*7G-2'7t.
7

134 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Frey drives with iiis golden-bristled Boar — the
symbol of the productiveness of the fields ; — or he
sails in his ærial ship SkiÖblaÖnir,* over the light
clouds. He dwells in Alfheim, and rules over the
Light-Elves (Ljósálfar) — the bland spirits which
hover about the fruitful earth. His love for the
Jötun maiden Gerðaf — the Emlracing^ Surround-
ing— expresses the longing of Fruitfulness to impart
its blessings to the wintry Earth.:|: To gain the
object of his longing he gives away his good sword,
and therefore he alone is weaponless among the
warlike Æsir, — the culture of the earth is an em-
ployment of peace ; it thrives only where weapons
are at rest.

Freyja's abode is the People's Fields or Habita-
tions (Fólkvángar) ;§ in her hall there is room for
many seats. || The Goddess of Love journeys among

* Skiö, a thin shingle, or a sheath ; cognate with the Dan.
Skede; Germ. Seheide; A.-S. sceaÖ. BlaÖ; Dan. Blad; Germ.
Blatt ; cogn. with Engl, blade. The word denotes the property
of the ship, that although it was so large as to hold all the Æsir
yet it was so skillfully made, that when it was not wanted its leaf-
like planks coiild be folded up like a cloth and the whole affair
carried in the pocket (see L. Edda, Gylf. 43).

I GerÖr signifies a girth, inclosure, from giröa, to gird, which
is cognate with garÖr (see Chap. 8, MiÖgarÖr). Both gerd and gard
are common terminations of female names, as Hildigard, Thorgerd
<fec.

X Pet, Danm. Hist. Ill, p. 178.

§ Folk; A.-S. folc; Sio., Dan. and Evgl. folk; Germ. Yolk.
Vángr, pi. vángar, an inclosnre, field ; cogn. with Germ. Woh-
nung, a habitation.

I Sessrýmnir, from sess {Dan. Sæde ; Germ. Sitze), a seat, and
rýma, to make room — literally, the Seat-roomy.

OF THE GODS. 135

mankind and embraces their nnmerous hosts with
her divine power. She drives with cats — a symbol
of sly fondling and sensual enjoyment. Her hus-
band's name, Óðnr, signifies ^nse. Understanding,
but also wild desire. The various names bestowed
upon her when she travels among the people,
denote the various modes by which Love reveals
itself in human hfe. The other Goddesses named
in the Asa Mythology as Patronesses of Love and
Marriage — Sjöfn, Lofn, and Yár — were all regarded
as messengers and attendants of Freyja.

The Æsir Baldur, Höður, and Yali are the most
intimatelv connected with each other, but their sis:-
nificance can be best understood in connection with
the myth of Baldur 's Death, under which they
shall be mentioned.

Týr^ is the God of warlike boldness, of Bravery ;
Bragi is, as the name itself implies, the God of Poe-
try.f They are both Sons of Odin, and are in reali-
ty only peculiar expressions of Odin's being. As
the God of War he awakens wild courage, as the
Sovereign of tlie Soul he is himself represented as
the Inventor of Poetry.

Iduna, the Efficacious^ perhaps originally signified
Nature's vigorous Summer-life ; to the Æsir she is
the Goddess of Eternal Youth. Her connection

* Týr corresponds with A.-S. Tir, glorj, dominion ; the Sanskr.
Djaus, gen. Divas; Gr. Zciif, gen. Aíoí; Mœao-Ooth. Tins, gen.
Tivis ; Norse Týr, gen. Týs ; are cognate words signifying God.
(Deut. MytJiol, pp. 175, 187.)

f Bragi corresponds with A.-S. Brego, a ruler, prince ; and per-
liaps with A.-S. brœgen, brain. In the Korsc, bragr eigniiies
poetry.

136 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

with Bragi refers to the poet's mission of immortal-
izing great deeds.

Saga is, as the name directly implies, the God-
dess of History. Her dwelling is Sökkvabekk —
(the sinking, the deep brook) — the stream of Time
and of Events, w^here Odin (Spirit) visits her and is
gladdened by her instrnctive disconrse.

Heimdall is one of the Gods whose signification is
very obscnre. The name may perhaps be traced
from heimr and dallr (in the sense of dæll, agree-
able, pleasing), and may denote the pleasures of the
world. Tlie name of his abode Híminbjörg signi-
fies Heaven's Mount or Heaven's Salvation. He
was probably regarded as the Deity of the Rain-
bow, although the many special attributes and
names bestowed upon him can hardly be explained
by this character alqne.

JSTot less obscure in YiÖar's character. The name
seems most easily exj^lained with " The Winner of
Victory" (being used in the sense of Yinnar, from
vinna to overcome), and in this case refers to his
victory in the last battle of the Gods. He may
thus denote the regenerative power which was
thought to lie in the Earth. Therefore was he a son
of Odin and a Jötun woman — of Spirit and Mat-
ter ; therefore was his dwelling-place LandviÖí — the
wide earth ; therefore was he the silent, inefíicient
god during the existing state of the world. In its
downfall he first steps forth in his strength, con-
quering the powers of Darkness and Desolation, and
he afterward dwells in the rejuvenated world.

In the high northern latitudes Winter, although

OF THE G0D3. 137

Nature lies in a state of torpor, is a very important
season for tlie activity of men, lience it is not won-
derful that the heathen ISTorthmen imagined one of
the Æsir to preside over that season, and to favor
human operations by furnishing good roads and
facilities for traveling, and inventing means for
passing easily over the ice and snow. This Divin-
ity is Ullur, whose name signifies the Wool-like or
White. His abode is Ýdalir — the Dale of cool
Dampness.

Forseti signifies, according to the name, the Fore-
seated^ the Presider. He presides over Justice, and
is the God of Righteousness. His dwelling is Glit-
nir, the Shining.^ He is the son of Baldur — of
spotless Innocence. When Innocence disappeared
from the earth, Eighteousness was left behind to fill
its place.

The name Yalkyrja signifies the Chooser of the
Slain.f The Yalkyrjur served Odin, and were the
Goddesses of Battle and of Death. They are beings
who realize to the senses Odin's attributes as the
God of War.

The being who is regarded as the God of the Sea
is designated by three names : Ægir — the Terrible
(ægia, to frighten) ; Iller — the Shelterer (hie, A.-S.

* Glita, to shine; or glitra, cogn. with ^.->S'. glitenan, glitnian;
Engl, glitter, glisten. Forseti was worshiped by the Frisians, and
called Fosito, {Deut. Myth, pp. 210-212.)

f Yalr, Old. 6Vrwi. wal ; A.-S. wa-l ; the Slain in battle ; whence
the Dan. Valplads; Germ. Wahlplatz; a field of battle: kyrja
from kjöra, lijósa ; A.-S. curon, eeosan; Old. Gcnn. kiircn, to
choose. In the A.-S. such Latin words as Alccto, Bellona, wore
rendered by Wiclcyrige and Wœlcyrie.

138 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

hleo, Dan. Læ, Engl, lee) ; and Gymir — the Con-
cealing (geyma, A.-S. gjmsin^ Da7i. gjemme, to con-
ceal, to keep). They express the sea in its nproar,
in its mildness, and as the covering of the Deep.
The name of his wife, Ean — Eobbery, or the Eob-
bing (ræna, to plunder), denotes the sea as craving-
its sacrifice of human life and of treasures. Ægir
and his family, it is certain, did not belong among
the Æsir, yet they were regarded, like them, as
mighty beings, whose friendship was sought by the
Æsir themselves. The ancient legend that Ægir,
when visited by the Æsir, illuminated his hall with
shining gold (lysigull), refers no doubt to the phos-
phorescent light of the sea (marelldr, sea fire, Da7i.
Morild).

The ]S'orthmen imagined twelve of the Æsir to be
superior, and, as it were, to form a Council of Gods ;
but which they were is nowhere said with certainty.
In the ancient poem of Grimnismál* there are
twelve celestial abodes enumerated by way of pre-
eminence, and in the Later Edda,t twelve names by
which Odin was especially designated. This pref-
erence shown in the Mythology for the number
twelve, has appeared to several interpreters to refer
to the divisions of the year among the heathen
ISTorthmen, and their reckoning of the sun's course.
According to their theory, each of the twelve Æsir
was the director of his respective month ; the twelve
names of Odin were names of the months; and
the twelve celestial abodes denoted the twelve signs

* The O. Edda : GrimD. 5-11.
f TheL. Edda: Gylf. 8.

OE THE GODS.

139

of the zodiac, which the sun passes through annu-
ally.* Magnusen has gone still farther, and re-
ferred the iiftj-two names of Odin which are enu-
merated in the Grimnismal, to the fifty-two weeks
of the year, the seventy-three names of Dwarves
which occur in the Yölusjíá, to another division of
the year into seventy-three Fifths, or sections of five
days each, and finally, the thirteen names of the
Yalkyrjur in the Grimnismal, to the thirteen lunar
changes of the solar year. On this he has built a
complete heathen Calendar, based upon the solar
year.f It is tolerably certain that the heathen
l^orthmen divided the year into twelve months, and
it is most likely that the number twelve in the Æsir

* [The following is the order of the twelve celestial abodes in
the G-rimuismal, arranged as "Solar Houses" corresponding to the
signs of the zodiac, by F. Magnusen, in his Eddalœre, Vol. Ill, p.
244:

1. Ýdalir, the ab

ode

of Ullr

Sagittarius

Nov.

2. Álfheimr,

Freyr

Capricornus

Dec.

3. Valaskjálf,

Vali

Aquarius

Jan.

4. Sökkvabekkr,

Saga

Pisces

Feb.

0. Glaösheimr, ^

or Valhöll, \

OÖinn

Aries

Mar.

6. |)rymheimr,

SkaÖi

Taurus

April.

7. Breiðablik,

Baldr

Gemini

May.

8. Himinbjörg,

Heinidallr

Cancer

June.

9. Fólkvángar,

Freyja

Leo

July.

10. Glitnir,

Forseti

Virgo

Aug.

11. Nóatún,

KjörÖr

Libra

Sept.

12, Landviöi,

ViÖarr

Scorpio

Oct. Tr.]

f See in Magnuseu's

Transl. of the

0. Edda, Vol. I,

the Inter-

pretation of Grimnismal

; and his "Specimen Calendarii

Gentilis"

at the conclusion of the Arna-Magnæan edition of the

0. Edda,

Vol. HI.

140 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Mythology is in connection with this division ; that
they also made use of a division of time consisting
of five days {fimt) is very probable ; but that they
should have understood how to compute the solar
year correctly, and especially that they should have
had distinct ideas of the signs of the zodiac, as the
heathen Calendar set up by Magnusen supposes, is
very doubtful.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WOKLD. 141

CHAPTER XII.

OF THE DOWNFALL OF THE WOELD.

Immediately following the Creation of tlie World
the Asa doctrine establishes a time of peace among
Gods and Men. But it vanished from Heaven
when the Æsir allowed the Jötiins to creep into
their midst, and even formed connections with them
in order to satisfy their desires, or to employ their
powers to their own advantage ; thus they impaired
their Godlike power, and gave their enemies the
courage to begin the great battle which was to en-
dure till the destruction of the "World. From the
Earth, also, the time of guiltless peace disappeared
when men became acquainted with the Jutun-power
of gold, and set their minds and their dependence
upon it. Then the Gods were offended, Odin cast
his spear over the people, and strife began upon the
Earth. Such appears to be the meaning of the
somewhat obscure expressions of the Yöluspá on
this subject. Thus excessive cupidity and lust were
regarded as the cause of the degeneration of the
Godlike powers and of the mutual dissensions among
men."^"

The Asa doctrine represents Loki as the author

* The O. Eada : Völuspá, 25-28.
1'^

142 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

of Evil among both Gods and men. This being has
evidently a physical and a moral significance, name-
ly; Fire^ and Sin or Sinful desire. The name
Loki (the Enticer, Dan. Lokker ; cognate with lokka,
Dan. lokke, to allnre, entice) refers to the latter
meaning, thongli its affinity to logi, flame, is immis-
takable. To the former meaning his other names
Lodurr and Loptr refer, the one designating him in
the character of the blazing and heating earthly
fire, the other in that of the imsteady air."^ Nothing
was more natural than to conceive of the being who
ruled over the sometimes enlivening and sometimes
devouring Fire, as a mingled character, hovering
between good and evil powers — between the Æsir
and the Jötuns ; and in this character is again ex-
pressed his significance in a moral point of view.
He steps forth in the ancient mythologic legends as
the wheedling: seducer whose beautiful and ani-
mated exterior conceals a malignant soul, and whose
smooth tongue is full of lies and slander.

There is, moreover, a distinction made in the
Later Edda between two beings of this name, viz. :
Loki and UtgarÖa-Loki^ — the Loki of the Outer-ward

* The name, it is ti'ue, comes most directly from lóka or lúka,
to lock, to close, to conclude [Ban. lukke; M.-Goth. lukan; A.-S.
lucan), and it is remarkable tliat we find an Evil Spirit mentioned
in the Anglo-Saxon poems by the name of Grendel, which is the
same word as grindel, a bolt, bar, or grating. Logi, flame, is cogn.
with the M.-Goth. liuhan, to shine, and liuhath ; A.-S. leoht;
Germ. Licht ; Engl, light ; also Dan. Lue ; Germ. Lohe ; smothered
flame. LóÖurr is from the older lóÖ, fire {Germ, lodern, to blaze).
Loptr, the Aerial, from lopt; M.-Goth. luftus; Germ, and Dan.
Luft; A.-S. lyft, the air; whence the Enyl. loft, loft}'-, aloft.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WOELD. 143

or Jötunheim. The latter is represented as a genu-
ine Jutiin, hideous in his whole being. It would
appear that in him was meant to be presented phys-
ical and moral Evil in all its naked loathsomeness,
while in Loki, as he makes his appearance among
the Æsir, it was intended to represent the same in
the seductive and seemingly beautiful form under
which it glides about through the world of man-
kind.

With the Jötun- woman AngrboÖi — (the Anguish-
boding),''^ Loki begets the three most bitter enemies
of the Æsir, Miðgarðsorm, Fenrisúlf, and IleLf
The two former express the disturbing powers in
the Sea and the interior of the Earth, which, though
bound for a time by the power of the Æsir, will one
day iTurst then- chains and work together for the
destruction of the world. Ilel (Death) is the dis-
turbing power in man's being, which, without satie-
ty, calls his bodily part to her abode, a cold, dark
world of shades, fall of want and loathsomeness.

* Angr ; A.-S. Angc ; vexation, grief, angxiisli ; býö, bjóöa; A.
S. beodan ; to invite, offer, command.

f Ormr, a serpent (A.-S. wj-nn, wurm, worm). Fenrir or Fen-
rió-ulfr, from fen, a morass, gulf; ulfr, A.-S. -vvulf, a wolf, hence,
the Monster of the Abyss. Hel, Death, tlie Goddess of Death.
Some suppose the primary signification of the word to have been
intense cold, eogn, with the Lat. gelu. Giimm derives it from
hilan, to conceal, in the sense of a subterranean cavity (A.-S. hoi,
a cavern, Utigl. hole, being probably cognate). At any rate, all
the Germanic nations when converted to Christianity applied tliis
name to the place where the souls of the wicked weie snjiposed t<»
be punished; thns, 2Iœ}<o- Gothic halja; Old Germ, hellin, hclla ;
Germ. Iliille; A.-S. helle ; Juir/l. hell; Norse, helviti (prop. Ihe
punishment of death); /Sit-a/, hclvete ; i)rtn. Helvede; ác.

144 RELIGION OF THE NOETH]SIEN.

Balclnr's death is represented in the Asa Mythol-
ogy as an important event in the existence of the
Gods and the World. So long as Baldur was in the
midst of the Æsir their dominion stood nnmoved,
bnt by his death they were made conscions of their
declining power ; in it they saw a type of their own
destiny. The whole world was filled with grief;
for it felt that from that time forth it was going
down toward inevitable dissolution.

The Myth of Baldnr's Death has been usually
explained by the triumph of Winter's darkness over
the bright Summer-time. Baldur the Good is thus
the God of Summer, the blind Ilöður becomes win-
try Darkness, and Yali (the son of Odin by Rind —
the unfruitful Winter-earth) is Spring, who, in turn,
slays Winter. Loki (fire) is the only being who loses
nothing by the disappearance of summer; he is
therefore thought to be the cause of Baldnr's death,
and .0 prevent his release from Ilel.

There is a great deal, however, against this inter-
pretation, and most of all, is the circumstance that
Baldur remains with Hel until the dissolution of the
World, while Summer annually returns. It may
be, indeed, that Baldur had originally a physical
signification, but the Myths concerning him, as well
as those relating to Loki, were very early regarded
from a moral point of view, and it is thus that they
are represented in the Eddas.

The whole representation of Baldnr's existence,
and of his far-shining abode, BreiÖablik,^ where

* From bi;eiör, broad, wide ; and blika (A.-S. blican), to shine.

THE DOWNFALL OF THE WORLD. 115

nothing impure is found, has reference to the Deity
of Innocence. Tlie name Balldr signifies the Strong,"^*
and denotes spiritual Power combined with spotless
Innocence. The blind IlöÖur, in this connection,
denotes physical strength, with its blind earthly
endeavors. The latter, led on by Sin (Loki), unwit-
tingly slays Innocence, and with Innocence dies the
desire of good and the active participation in it —
K^anna f dies of a broken heart and is burned on
the funeral pile of her husband Baldur. The mur-
der is avenged by the hastily-aroused reflection —
Höður is slain by Yali. But Innocence has van-
ished from the world to return no more, although
all N'ature mourns its loss. Only in the regenerated
World shall it again prevail.

The Æsir succeeded in appeasing their thirst for
vengeance upon Loki, and even got him imprisoned
in the Abyss, as they had before imprisoned his
2)rogeny; but the seeds of destruction and death
had already been sown broadcast in the world, and
they grew up vigorously. Thencefortli the Æsir
foresaw the imj^ending dissolution of the world and
of themselves, against which they might, indeed, con-
tend, but were not able to avert.

* BallJr, ballr, baldinn, brave, strong, bold; JIaso-Ooth. baljjs,
bold; A-.S. Bealdor, Baldor (the bolder), a hero, a prince, from
beald, bald, bold ; bold, courageous, honorable, are terms cognate
to the name of the God. Grimm believes this a later meaning, and
that the name may be traced to the Liiliuanian baltas, which sig-
nifies both white and (jood.

j- From nenna, to be inclined to, to like.

Ié6 RELIGION OF THE NOKTH^IEN.

CHAPTER XIII.

OF TUE STATE OF BEING AFTEK DEATH.

The Asa doctrine positively asserts the Immor-
tality of the Soul in connection with a state of Eetri-
bution beyond the grave ; and it appears to have
regarded man as originally created to Immortality,
and the dissolution of the body in death to have its
type in Baldur's death, and like it to be a work of
Loki's malignity.

But although the belief in the immortality of the
soul was firmly established, yet the ideas concern-
incr the state of existence after death were dark and
unsettled. The relation between Odin and Ilel, be-
tween Godheim and Ilelheim, presented a difficulty
which they strove to solve by various modes. In
the Later Edda it is said that they who are slain in
battle go to Odin, in A^alhalla, but those who die of
sickness or old age go to Hel, in Ilelheim. - Ac-
cording to this, in a strict sense, it should be the
kind of death alone that decided the soul's future
state ; only those who fall by weapons ascend to
the glad abodes of Heaven, while all who die of
sickness wander away to the dark world of the

* The L. Edda : Gylfaginning 20 and 34.

THE STATE OF BEING AFTER DEATH. 14:7

Abyss. But even in heathen times it was hardly
thus understood, except, indeed, by individuals in
whose eyes nothing was praiseworthy except war-
like deeds. The Asa doctrine, taken as a compre-
hensive whole, presents a different view, which
occurs in various places in the lays and legends of
heathen times, and which may be regarded as really
proper to the Asa-faith.

The spirit (önd) or soul (sal) of man was a gift of
Odin ; the body, blood, and external beauty were a
gift of Lodurr or Loki ; the former belonged to the
Spirit World or Tleaven, the latter to the Material
World — to the Deep. They were joined together
with the earthly life ; at its close they were sepa-
rated, and each returned to its original source. The
soul, with the more refined bodily form in which it
was thought to be enveloped, went to the home of
the Gods, while the body, with the grosser material
life which was conceived to be inseparable from it,
went to the abodes of Ilel to become the prey of
Loki's daughter. Man's being was thus divided
between Odin and Hel. Odin, who was also the
God of War, was thought to claim his share chiefly
from those who fell in battle ; Ilel from those who
died of sickness. Death by arms came thus to be
considered a happy lot by the zealous followers of
the Asa-Faith, for it was a proof of Odin's favor.
He who fell by arms was called by Odin to himself
before Hel laid claim to her share of his being; he
was Odin's chosen son, who, with longing, was await-
ed in Yalhalla, that in the Eiidierjar ranks he might
sustain the Æsir in their last battle. Therefore, the

148 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Skald, ill a song of praise to the fallen king Eirik
Bloocl-axe, lets Odin saj to Bragi, in answer to the
question why he had bereaved Eirik the Victorious
who was so brave : '' Our lot is uncertain; the gray
wolf gazes on the hosts of the Gods," i. e. we know
not when the Fenris-wolf shall come, therefore we
may need the help of heroes. In the same sense
Eyvind Skaldaspillir, in his ílákonarmál, makes
the Yalkyrja say: "Is^ow do the helping hosts of
the Gods grow stronger, when they have, by their
brave bands, brought Hákon to their home."

But because the dead who were slain by arms
were thought to be called to the hosts of the Einher-
jar, it was not supposed that Hel was deprived of
all share in their being ; nor yet, on the other hand,
that the soul of every one who died a natural death
was shut out from Heaven, and forced to follow the
body down into the abodes of Hel. That it was
virtue, on the whole, and not bravery alone, which
was to be rewarded in another life, and that it was
wickedness and vice which were to be punished, is
distinctly shown in the ancient heathen poem Yö-
luspá, where it says that in Gimli shall the righteous
hosts (d^^ggvar drottir) enjoy gladness forever, while
perjurers, murderers, and they who seduce men's
wives, shall wade through thick venom-streams in
IN'áströnd. Although the language is here used in
reference to the state of things after Eagnarukkr, it
may be assumed that they had similar ideas con-
cerning the preceding middle state of the Dead.

It was certainly believed that the soul of the Yir-
tuous, even though death by arms had not released

niE STATE OF BEING AFTER DEATH. 140

it from tlie body and raised it up to the ranks of the
real Einherjar, still found an abode in Heaven — in
Yalhalla, in Yingolf, or in Folkvangar. The hea-
then Skald, Tlijodolf of Ilvin, makes King Yan-
landi go to Odin, although Hel tortured him,* and
the Asa worshiper, Egil Skallagrimsson, doubts not
that Odin has received his drowned son in God-
heim.f The souls of noble women were also be-
lieved to go to Heaven after death ; there they
found an abode with Freyja, and the spirits of maid-
ens with Gefjon. When it is said that Freyja some-
times shares the slain with Odin, it is meant, per-
haps, that the slain, who in life had loved wives,
were united to them again with Freyja.

On the other hand it was as certainly believed
that blasphemy and baseness might shut out even
the bravest fi'om Yalhalla. Thus the Saga has the
zealous Asa worshiper, Hákon Jarl, to say of the
bold but wicked Hrapp who had seduced his bene-
factor's daughter and burned a temple: ''Tlie man
who did this shall be banished from YalhaHa and
never come thither." j;.

The strict construction of the Asa doctrine ap-
pears, therefore, to be this, that although man was
divided between Odin and Hel, yet each one's share
of his being after death was greater or less, accord-
ing to the life he had lived. The spirit of the Yii*-
tuous and the Brave had the power to bear up to
Heaven with it after death the better part of its

* Snorri: Ynlinga Saga, 10.
t Egils Saga, 80,
I Nials Saga, 89.

150 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

corporeal being, and Hel obtained only the di
But he whose spirit by wickedness and base sensiiax
lust was drawn away from Heaven, became in a^'
his being the prey of Hel. His soul was not strong
enough to mount freely up to the celestial abodes
of the Gods, but was drawn down into the abyss by
the dust wdth which it had ever been clogged. Ko
doubt the representation of Hel as being half white
and half pale-blue had its real origin in this thought
— that to the Good, Death appeared as a bright
Goddess of Deliverance, and to the Wicked, as a
<lark and punishing Deity.

When the Drowned were supposed to arrive at
the halls of Kan, the Sea-goddess filled the place of
Hel ; Ran claimed the body as her prey, the spirit
ascended to Heaven.

The belief that bondsmen after death should come
to Thor, seems to express the thought that their
spirits had not the power to mount up with freeborn
heroes to the higher celestial abodes, 'but were com-
pelled to linger midway, as it were, among the low,
floating clouds, under the stern dominion of Thcr ;
— a thought painful to the feelings of humanity, but
wholly in accordance with the views of the age and
the people.

REGENERATION OF THE GODS. 151

CIIAPTEE XIY.

OF THE DESTRUCTION ANTf REGENERATION OF THE GODS
AND THE WORLD.

The clisaj)pearaHce of the Goldeu Age, Baldur's
Death, and the confinement of Loki, are represented
as events long passed away : the glance toward the
Future meets at once with Ragnarökk* — the Twi-
light of the Gods.

The great antagonism which pervades the World-
life shall be removed in a final struggle, in which
the contending powers mutually destroy each other.
This is a fundamental idea of the Asa faith. And
that that great World-struggle was vividly im-
pressed upon the spirit of the heathen ISTorthmen, is
attested by the strong colors in which the Yala,
speaking in the Yöluspá, paints it ; and still more
is'it attested by the oft-repeated assertion, that every
hero who falls on the field of battle is called by Odin
to the ranks of the Einherjar, to fight with them in
the decisive battle against the Powers of Darkness.

Eagnarökk is an outbreak of all the chaotic pow-
ers, a conflict between them and the established
order of Creation. Fire, Water, Darkness and
Death work together to destroy the World. The

* Regin, Divine power, the Gods (Chap. 11), and rökkr, dark-
less, twilisrht.

162 EELIGION OF THE NOETH^^IEN.

Æsir and tlieir enemies mutuallj slay each other.
The flames of Sm-tm-, the suj)reme Fire-God, com-
plete the overthrow, and the last remnant of the
consmned Earth sinks into the ocean.

But as the two primeval Worlds, Muspell and
Xiflheim, stand nnshaken, neither is the terrestrial
world eternally destroyed in Eagnarökk. When
the great convulsion is finished, the Earth comes
forth out of the ocean, regenerated and purified
from Evil, as the abode of a new, a vigorous, and a
happy race of men. With the renewed Earth ap-
pears a renovated race of Æsir. Yiðarr and Yali,
who survive the universal conflagration, join with
their brothers Baldur and IlöÖurr, now set free
from the dominion of Death, and in concord they
take possession of the mansions of their common
Father Odin. In Tlior's stead step forth his sons
Móði — the Courage- Giver ^ and Magni^ — the Strength-
Giver^^ who have inherited their father's Hammer,
his all-subduing power. But a God, higher than all
tlie Æsir, shall then reveal himself to rule over the
AYorld through all eternity. According to his judg-
ments shall be the eternal regard and the eternal
punishment of the immortal souls of the departed ;
the Good shall be raised up to the highest realm of
light — to Gimli ;f the Wicked shall follow the

* Móði, from moor (Swed. mod; Ban. Mod; 6'enn. Miith), cou-
rage; cogn. with yl.-/S'. mod; Ungl. mood. Magni, from magn,
(^.->S\ majgen) strengtli ; magna, to give strength; cognate with
M.-Goth. mahts ; Germ. Macht; A.-S. miiht; Engl, mi^it; also
with Lat. magnns.

f Cognate with gimr, gimsteinn, a gem, sparkling stone (Aleman-
nic gimme; A.-S. gim, gymstán; Lat. gemma; Engl, gem), and

REGENERATION OF THE GODS. 153

Dragon of Darkness, ^s^'lio with Death npon his wings
flees away to the ah^^ss, never more to arise from it.
But the doctrine of Regeneration and the Coming
of the Supreme God to the great Judgment, was
not so vividly present to the minds of the Asa wor-
shipers as was the doctrine of Eagnarökk. What
might be beyond the great World-conflagration was
to them a dark enio^ma, which few were bold enono-h
to fathom. Perhaps in that highest God they had
a dim conception of that Mighty One from whom
the first spark of the W-orld-life proceeded, who
dwelt in the Fire-Heaven before the World and the
Æsir came into being, and who was to scatter over
them the fire of Devastation in Eagnarökk ; but this
presentiment was joined with a feeling of fear, and
hence no man should dare to pronounce the name
of the Great Judge of the Universe."

thus denoted "The Shining Abode," When Grimm assimies that
Gimli is a dative form of gimill (which he takes to be the same
as hiniill, an older form of himinn, heaven), because Gimli is used
only in the dative {Dcut. Myth. p. '783), he errs, as Gimli occurs
twice in the nominative form (Gylf. 3 and 1*7).

* The author inclines to Finn Magnuscn's opinion that the High-
est God whose coming the Yuluspá and 113'ndlnljóÖ announce, is
Surtur ; although most authorities reject it. {íice Grimm. : Denf.
Myth. pp. 784-5; Gcijer : Svca-Rikcs Uafdcr Vol. I. p. 336.

15é ' RELIGION OF TÍIE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTEK XV.

GENERAL VIEW.

In conclusion, if we take a general view of the
prominent features of the Asa doctrine, we have the
following summary of the whole :

By the reciprocal action of Heat and Cold was
the first unorganized but powerful World-mass pro-
duced, as a shapeless Jötun-form. From this mass,
through a series of developments came forth higlier
Powers, which, by the power of Spirit, overcame the
rude Giant-mass and out of it created Heaven and
Earth, the actual World with its inhabitants, inclu-
ding mankind.

The Gods or Æsir are these ordaining j)owers of
Xature, clothed in personality. They direct the
world which they created ; but beside them stand
the mighty Goddesses of Fate, the great ]N"orns, who
uphold the World-Structure, the all-embracing Tree
of the World.

Tlie World-Life is a struggle between the gooil
and light Gods on one side, and the offspring of
chaotic matter, the Jutuns, ITature's disturbing
powers, on the other. This struggle reaches also
into man's being. Tlie spirit went forth from the
Gods, the body belongs to the Jötun-world ; tlie two
powers contend with each other for the dominion.

GENERAL VIEW. 155

Should the Spirit gain the victory through virtue
and bravery, man ascends to Heaven after death in
order to figlit in concert with the Gods against the
Powers of Evil ; but if the body triumphs, and links
the spirit to itself by weakness and low desires, he
then sinks down after death to the Jötun-world in
tlie Abyss, and joins in with the Evil Powers in the
combat against the Gods.

This struggle of the World-Life shall end in a
final battle, in which the contending powers mutu-
ally destroy each other, and the World which the
Gods created is involved in their destruction. But
it shall come forth again more glorious and purified.
An Eternal God, greater than all Æsir, shall arise
as its ruler and the austere Judge of departed souls.
Before His power shall Evil depart forever.

The whole is a struggle between Light and Dark-
ness, Spirit and Matter, Virtue and Vice, — a strug-
gle which shall end in the triumph of Good over
Evil.

III.

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH ON
THE POPULAR LIFE AND CUS-
TOMS OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER XYI.

MINISTEKS OF RELIGION.

The belief in Superiw Beings wlio control tlie
powers of Nature and tlie destiny of mankind, must
always create in man an effort to make these beings
propitious, and tlnis give rise to Divine Worship.
The more humanlike the Gods have been conceived
to be, the more sensual lias their worship been ; and
it happened with the votaries of the Asa-faith as
with so many other heathens, that sacrifices, gifts,
vows, and ceremonies were regarded by the multi-
tude to be fully as acceptable to the Gods as an up-
right life. Tliese sacred performances were always
more or less symbolical, as they were intended to ex-
press and harmonize with the presumed essence and
attributes of the Deity invoked. They should, there-

MINISTERS OF RELIGION. 157

fore, take place according to certain regulations,
but the transgression of these rules, it was believed,
:ni;;^ht offend the Divinity, and thus produce an
effect contrary to what was desired. But it was not
always convenient for the common people to be-
come thoroughly acquainted with these rules; the
more exact knowledge of them became a concern of
certain indi\'iduals better initiated in. the religion,
who were to guide the rest of the people, or rather,
on their behalf to perform the sacred offices belong-
ing to divine worship. Thus was established a class
of servants of the Gods, or priests, who were thought
to be nearer the Gods than other people, and in a
manner to be mediators between the two.

But the influence of tlie priests varied according
as the religion under which they ministered was
more or less mysterious in its character.

In many of the heathen religions of antiquity
there were but a few maxims generally known,
while the greater part of them were most carefully
veiled in mystery by the priests, who formed a
peculiar order, distinctly separated from the rest of
tlie people. In those religions the priests them-
selves figured as supernatural, mysterious beings,
who were believed to hold the fate of other people
in their hands ; and the more this was the case, so
much the greater was their influence over the rude,
uncultivated masses. This kind of arranojement
shows conclusively that the mythological doctrines
were originally foreign to the people. It denotes in
spiritual aöairs what noble rank, or a strict feudal
system indicates in temporal, namely, the subjuga-
8

^ '\^ EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

tion of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country by
in-wanclering strangers.

There Tvere other heathen religions in "vrhicxi
such preestablished mysteriousness found a place ; the
order of priesthood was not distinctly set apart from
the people, and the difference between priest and
la^^man was in reality only the usual difference be-
tween the more and the less enlightened. This
relative condition generally gives evidence of a
spiritual independence united with temporal free-
dom among the whole people.

To the latter class of religions the Asa-faith un-
questionably belonged. Every religion has its mys,-*
teries, which, in reality, could never become univer-
sally comprehensible ; and this was in some degree
the case with the one now under consideration.
But these mysteries, it is certain, were not many, and
therefore no great mysteriousness nor consequent
distinct separation of the Asa priests was recog-
nized. Kings and chieftains were at the same time
priests of the Gods, and they universally per-
formed the rites of divine worship in large pop-
ular assemblies, in the most public manner ; — one
proof among many that the Asa-faith was not, as
many have supposed, introduced among the E"orth-
men or forced upon them by a colony of foreign
priests long after the people had separated from
kindred races as an independent nation, but that in
its germs it was carried along with the people them-
selves from former places of abode, and was after-
ward freely developed among them in their new
home.

Snorri's account, in the first thirteen chapters

MINISTERS OF RELIGION. 159

of tlie Ynglinga Saga, of tlie arrival of Odin and
his followers in the JS'orth, cannot he regarded
otherwise than as a very erroneous interpretation^ of
the old Eddaic myths, but which is in accordance
with the views of his age. His account of the
twelve Diar or Drotnar, who presided both at the
sacrifices and at the judicial proceedings in the
ancient Asgard, and who afterward accompanied
Odin to the JS^brth,* doubtless rests on the same
foundation. The name Diar is evidently the same
as Tivar, which, as above-mentioned, f was an ap-
pellation of the Gods. Then, even as Snorri's own
account intimates, the twelve Diar were no other
than the twelve Æsirwlio were specially worshiped.
As a council of priests they exist only in Snorri's
interpretation of the myths, and as this term, ap-
plied to the priests of the Æsir, does not occur
either with the same author afterwards or in any
other reliable poems or ancient Sagas of the North-
men, it becomes very doubtful whether it was used
in this sense at all.

It is otherwise with the term Drotnar. Tlie word
drottinn {plu7\ drottnar) is much used in the Old-
ííorse in the sense of Lord or Master. In the earli-
est ages this name was peculiar to the highest
rulers of the people, who at the same time presided
at the courts of justice and were high-priests ; but
it gave way at an early period to konungr;}: (king),

* Snorri : Ynglinga Saga, 2, G.
f Chap. 11.

X According to Snorri, twenty ages before Harald Hárfagri, or
about tlie third century.

160 EELÍGÍON OF THE NORTHMEN.

the title of honor which has been customary since —
a change which some suppose to indicate that thence-
forth the temporal dignity became of most import-
ance with the rulers of the country, whereas the
spiritual dignity had the ascendency before, or that
the Warrior in them began to crowd out the Priest."^
Thus the term Drottnar appears at one time to have
been applied to the priests of the Asa-faith, al
though it was only in so far as they were also the
supreme rulers of the people; and it went out of
use long before the time when history first sheds
any clear light upon the heathen state of the North-
men, which was not, as is well known, imtil near its
conclusion.

A third name conferred upon the priests is goðar
or hofgoÖar. The name goÖi can be derived from
goð, God, and signifies a servant of God, a priest ;
hofgoÖi (hof, a temple) signifies priest or superin-
tendent of a temple. The term goði was universal
in Iceland. That island was divided into four
Fjórðúngar or fourths ; in each FjórÖúng there were
originally three Thíngsóknar or judicial districts,
and in each of these again, three chief temples
(höfuÖ-hof ). He who presided over such a temple
was called GoÖi, and was at the same time chieftain
and judge in the district, f and in the former char-
acter he was as influential as in that of priest.
His official dignity, with the influence depending
on it, was called in Iceland Goðorð,í and was en-

* Geijer: Svea-Rikes Ilafder. Vol. I, 495.

f Landnámabók IV., T (íslendinga Sögur, Vol. I., 1843).

X Litercally y God- word — orÖj word, authority.

MINISTEES OF EELIGION. 161

tered upon with a solemn ceremonial in whicli tlie
future Goði slaughtered a ram and dipped his hands
in its blood (at rjóÖa sik i goða blóði, to sprinkle
himself with good blood)."^ It remained as a tem-
poral dignity, after the introduction of Christianity
uj^on the island, until it was subjected to the kings
of Xorway. That the office and the name, like
most of the religious and judicial institutions of
Iceland, were transported thither from Xorway, can-
not be doubted, although the name Goði is very
rarely mentioned in the Sagas as being in use in the
latter country. One of the original settlers of Ice-
land, Thorhad the Old, had been hofgoÖi in the
temple of Mæri in Throndheim ;f but in general,
when those who conducted the sacred rites of hea-
thendom in JSTorway are mehtioned, it is only said
of them that they '' attended to the temples "
(varoveittu hof ) ;:{: that they " counseled the most
for the sacrihces " (réðu mest fyrir blótum) ;§ that
they "supported the sacrifices" (heldu upp bló-
tum) ;|| without any name of dignity being given
them as priests. This was, no doubt, because in is'or-
way the Hersir (a baron or ruler of a herað or dis-
trict) was always a Goði at the same time, but was
universally designated by the first-named title, as
the most distÍDguished. But in Iceland the name
hersir was not used, wherefore goÖi took its place,

* Ljosvetninga saga (ísl. S., Vol. II., 1830).

f Landnb. JV., 6.

X lb. V. 8; Eyrb. s, 3.

§ Snorri: Saga Hákonar Góöa,, 19.

II Snor. : S. OlafsTryggvasonar, *75.

162 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

denoting the ruler of a lierað, both in his priestly
and temporal calling. As the dignity of Hersir was
properly hereditary in ITorway, so was the GoðorÖ
in Iceland t.., be regarded as the possession of cer-
tain families.,.

Althongh the barons in íí'orway were thus, as
Goði, the actral priests of the Asa-faith, there were
also other secular rulers who conducted the public
worship of the Gods. Kings or Jarls often directed
the great sacrificial festivals which were attended
by all the inhabitants of greater or smaller portions
of the country, and they had the chief seats at the
sacrificial banquets connected with them.* It was
believed that the zeal of the kings in the worship
of the Gods brought prosperity to the people, while
negligence in this respect on their part brought ruin
upon the whole country, caused unpropitious sea-
sons and famine. For a neglect of this kind king
Olaf Tretelgia of Yermaland had to atone with his
life ;t while on the other hand, to Ilákon Jarl's
zeal in the worship of the Æsir was attributed the
fruitfulness which, after many years of scarcity, re-
turned to E'orway when he became the ruler of the
country,:|: Moreover, every one could worship at
liis home the Deities which he adored the most
therefore it was not unusual for the rich landsman
to have near his house a temple in which he per-
formed the priestly rites for himself.§

* Friö>jófsS., 9; Snor. : Sag. Hák. GóÖa, 16, 18.
t Snor. : Yngl. S., 41.
i lb.: Sag. 01. Try gg v., 16.

§ Olaf Tryggv. S. in Fornmanna Sögur, 145, 201 ; Droplauga
sonar S. 26.

MINISTERS OF RELIGION. 163

Women also sometimes conducted the sacrifices
and j)erformed other sacred rites belonging to the
Asa worship,* and we even find that in Iceland
they sometimes presided at the tem^ es. Such a
j)riestess was called Gjðia or ílofgjði.c.

The Goðar, or priests, had charge of the continua-
tion and propagation of the religious doctrines,
which in those times took place by oral delivery
from generation to generation. It is probable that
they delivered the religious tenets publicly at the
solemn festivals, and most generally in poetry.
The name Thulr, a spealver,f which occurs in many
places in the poems of the Older Edda, was the ap-
pellation of such a teacher, who during his dis-
course was accustomed to sit upon a seat of distinc-
tion (J)ularstóll). The religious tenets themselves
are often called, in the ancient poems, runar or
stafir. The former denotes originally speech, the
latter, written characters ; which latter signification
the word runar also obtained afterwards. In
ancient times, however, both terms appear to have
been used synonymously of the doctrines which
were orally delivered and retained in the memory.
Many of the mythologic poems of the Older Edda
are evidently didactic poems which were delivered
before the assembled multitude at the sacrificial fes-
tivals, as well as in the instruction of the intended
ministers of religion. The continual employment in
the Skaldic minstrelsy of the myths of the Asa
mythology to form its poetic figm-es, proves that a

* Friö>. S. 9 ; Kristnl S. 2.

f From i^ylia, to recite, speak extempore.

164 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

knowledge of its doctrines was diifused among the
people; and therefore these embellishments, bor-
rowed from the religious doctrines, conld not be pre-
served in poetry alone, but must have been intelli-
gible to the common people for many centuries after
the downfall of the religion from which they were
borrowed.

THE ÆSIR AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 165

CHAPTER XYII.

THE ÆÖIB AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP AMONG THE NORTH-
MEN.

All the Gods of tlie Asa-faith were certainly in-
voked and worshiped by the heathen i^orthmen,
although only a few of them are so mentioned in
the ancient historical accounts, that we may know
clearly how their being was understood by the peo-
ple, or in what character each one was especially
worshiped.

Odin was specially worshiped as the God of War
— as the Dispenser of Yictory ; therefore the first
filled horn at the sacrificial festivals was consecrated
to him for victory.* It was believed that he re-
joiced in the battles of men, which brought heroes
to him in Valhalla ; and hence the blame of a hero's
fall was often laid upon him by the slayer. Thus
Dag Högnason says, in exculpating himself before
his sister Sigriin, who curses him because he has
slain her husband Helgi Hundingsbani :

* Snor. : Sag. Hák. Góöa, 16.
8*

166 EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

" Mad art thou, sister !
And distracted,
That on thy brother
Thou callest down curses.
Odin alone
All misery brings,
For he between kinsmen
The battle-runes bore."*

Before a battle began the combatants directed
each other to Yalhalla, and the hostile host was con-
signed to Odin by casting a spear over it ; a per-
formance which imdonbtedly had its type in the
myth of Odin, in which he is represented as awaken-
ing the first battle in the world by throwing his
spear among the people.f Before entering npon a
march, or nndertaking a warlike enterprise, they
sought, by oiFerings, to gain the favor of Odin. Thus,
it is related of Hákon Jarl when he had cast off
Christianity, which had been forced upon him, and,
on his journey home to JSTorway from Jutland, was
driven out of his course to the coasts of East Goth-
land by a storm, that he landed there and made
preparations for a great sacrifice. During the sac-
rifice two ravens came flying along and croaked
loudly. By this appearance the Jarl thought he
saw that Odin had accepted the offering an<^ would
grant him success in battle. lie therefore burned
all his ships, and, sword in hand, cut his way with
his army through the whole of Gothland back to
ííorway.t

* The 0. Edda: Helgakviöa Hundingsbana, II., 32.

■j- Hervarar S. 5 ; Eyrb. S. 44 ; Fornm. S. V. p. 250 ; Yöluspá

28.
X Snor.: 01. Tryggv. S. 28.

THE ÆÖIR AS OBJECTS OF WOBSHIP. 167

The fallen warrior rejoiced in his dying hour that
by Odin's invitation he should go to Yalhalla and
drink ale with the Æsir ; as the ancient skald makes
Kagnar Lóðbrók sing in the den of serpents :

" Home bid me tlie Disir,
Whom, from the warrior-halls,
Odin has sent me ;
Glad shall I with the Æsir
Drink ale in the high-seat.
Loathsome are life's hours ;
Laughing shall I die."*

It is often related in the ancient legends that
Odin would make his appearance before or during a
battle, either to secure the victory to his favorites, or
to set a limit to their victorious career on earth and
summon them away to himself.

Odin lent his spear to Dag liognason that he
might slay with it the hero Ilelgi Hundingsbani,
whose spirit, therefore, met with the most distin-
guished reception in Yalhalla. " Odin," it is stated,
'' invited him to share in the rule of all things with
himself."t

As an aged one-eyed man with a sl<:»uclied hat
upon his head, Odin once made his a^^pearance in
King Yölsúng's hall and selected Sigmund, the
king's son, as his favorite, by presenting to him a
sword. Sigmund became a victorious hero, but
when his time was come Odin again appeared to
him in the same form, in the midst of a battle, and
held his spear before his sword. The sword broke,

* Krákumál 29.

f The 0. Edda: Helgakv. Hundingsb. IL 36, et sup.

168 RELIGION OF THE NOETHilEN.

and Sigmund was left severely wounded upon
the battle-field. His wife wished to cure him but
he declined her help ; '' Odin," said he, " wishes not
that I shall swing my sword again after it is once
broken ; I have fought as long as it was his will."^

The Danish King Harald Hildatand was from
his childhood consecrated to Odin, and he was
afterwards throughout his whole life led on by this
God to victory. But in his advanced age Odin in-
volved him in a quarrel with his nephew, Sigm-d
Ring, then with his own hand, imder the semblance
of Brun, a military chief, guided the chariot of the
bhnd king at the great battle of Brávalla Heath,
and finally, in the tumult of battle, slew his favor-
ite with his own war-club. f

WhenStyrbjörn Sviakappi — i. e., Sweden's Cham-
pion— attacked his uncle the Swedish king Eirik
Sigrsæli, the latter applied to Odin and ofiered him-
self up to him for the sake of victory. Odin ap-
peared to him in the form of a large man with
a slouched hat, reached him a reed and bade him
shoot it over the hosts of Styrbjörn, with the words
" Odin owns you all !" Eirik did as he was com-
manded, and the reed became a spear as it flew
through the air above the enemy. Styrbjörn and
his people were struck with blindness and buried
beneath a mountain slide. ^

Sometimes, also, it was believed, Odin would call
his favorites to himself, when not engaged in battle.

* YölsúngaS. 3, 11, 12.
f Saxo Grammaticus 1, 7-8
X Styrb. í)áttr, 2.

THE ÆSIE AS OBJECTS OF WOKSIIIP. 169

Yikarr, King of Hörðaland, it seems, was consecrated
or e-iven to Odin from liis birth.* He became a
mighty and victorious king, but was slain at last by
his foster-brother Starkaö, at the instigation of Odin.
It happened that Yikarr and Starkað, on one of
their Sea-roving expeditions, were delayed by a
head-wind, and when the cause came to be inquired
into, they learned that Odin required a man from
among their hosts. Lots were therefore drawn, and
the lot fell upon Yikarr. All were struck with
terror, and it was resolved to reconsider the matter
on the following day. But in the night Odin ap-
peared to Starkað in the guise of his foster-brother
Hrosshars-Grani, bade him send Yikarr to him, and
gave him a spear which seemed to be the stalk of a
reed. On the next day they held a consultation on
the sacrifice of Yikarr, and at the suggestion of
Starkað it was concluded to undertake it for the
sake of aj)pearances. The king mounted the stump
of a tree, and Starkað laid about his neck a piece of
calf-gut, the other end of which was fastened to a
tender fir-twig. Then StarkaÖ touched him with
the reed and said, " ]S^ow do I give thee unto Odin !"
But in the same instant the stump tumbled away
from under Yikarr's feet, the intestine around his
neck became a withe, the twig, which sprang up-
ward with force, swung him up into the tree, and
the reed in StarkaÖ's hand was transformed into a
spear, which pierced through the body of the king.f
According to the Sagas, when Odin revealed

* HálfsS. 1.
f Gautreks S. Y.

170 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

himself lie made his appearance in the form of an
elderly, grave-looking, one-eyed man, usually clad
in a green, blue, or spotted mantle, with a slouched
hat upon his head and a spear in hand.*

Although Odin is represented in the Asa My-
thology as the highest of the Æsir, yet it appears
that Thor did not hold an inferior place in the
worship of the people, especially among the inhabi-
tants of Xorway and Iceland. There is evidence of
this in the .circumstance that temples dedicated to
him alone, or in which he was the chief object of
worship, are so often mentioned in the ancient
Sagas, as well as the firm faith which not merely
individual JSTorthmen but the people of whole
provinces of liorway are said to have placed in
him in preference to any other deity of heathendom.
There were temples dedicated to Thor on the island
of Moster near Hörðaland, on Randsey near Xaum-
dal, upon Thorsnes in Iceland, at Ilundsthorp in
Gudbrandsdal; he was the principal Divinity
worshiped in the chief-temple at Mæri in Inner-
Throndheim and at many other places in ISTorway.
The people of Gudbrandsdal put their highest trust
in Thor. When Thorolf Mostrarskegg wished to
leave iSTorway, he consulted Thor in order to learn
whither he should go, and Thor directed him to Ice-
land.f By Thor's direction, likewise, the is'orthman
Ki-aku Ilreiöar selected a dwelling-place upon that

* VölsungaS. 3, 11, 13; Norna-Gests S. 6; Hálfs S. 1 ; Snor. :
Olaf Tryggv. S. 11 ; 01. Tryggv. 5, in Skalh. 63 ; HörÖs S. 14.
t Eyrbjggja S. 4.

THE Æ3IR AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 171

island,"^ and so did Helgi the Meagre, wlio went
thither from Suðr-ejjar (Sonth Islands).f

Those who trusted more to their own strength in
battle thaii to the protection of Odin, worshiped
Thor as the Bestower of Strength, and at the sacri-
ficial festivals consecrated to him the first filled
horn. This was done by making the sign of the
Hammer over the horn, as is seen in the well-known
history of King Hákon Athelsteins-fostri, who during
a sacrificial festival at Hlaði made the sign of the
Cross over the horn consecrated to Odin, an act
which Sigurd Jarl exj)lained by saying that the
king did as all do who trust in their own strength ;
— he consecrated the horn -to Thor by the sign of
the Hammer.:]: It is not improbable that Thor's
Hammer-sign was also employed in the marriage
ceremonies of the jN'orthmen, as a consecration of
thQ union of man and wife, as well as at their fune-
ral ceremonies, of which usage the type was in the
myth of Thor, who consecrated Baldm-'s funeral
2)ile with his Hammer. § In both cases the sign of
the Hammer was to frighten away evil Jötun-
beings, and jDrevent them from disturbing the
domestic peace of the married, and the repose of
the dead in the grave.

Tlioa* was also invoked by persons about to en-
gage in wrestling. When the Icelander Thord, who
was a very experienced wrestler, was going to try

* Landnb. Ill, 7.

t lb, I, 12.

X Snor. : Hák. Góö. S. IS.

§ The L. Edda : Gylf. 49.

172 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

his strength with his countrymaii Gunnlaug Orms-
túnga, he called uj^on Thor beforehand. Gunn-
laug, however, tripped him and threw him upon the
ground, but at the same time wrenched his own foot
out of joint." But it appears that the Northmen
worshiped Thor especially to secure in him a pro-
tector against Trolls and Evil Powers of a Jötun
nature, which were believed to have their abodes in
mountains and wild, desert places. According to
an ancient legend, he had delivered the inhabitants
of Korway from these Powers ; no wonder, therefore,
that he was specially worshiped in that country.f

Thor was believed occasionally to reveal himself
to men. In the form of a red-bearded man he
made his appearance in the camp of the Swedish
hero Styrbjörn, when the latter had invoked his aid
against his uncle Eirik the Victorious, whom Odin
protected4 As a young, red-bearded man of large
stature and a beautiful countenance, strong and sup-
ple in wrestling, he revealed himself to King Olaf
Tryggvason, and related to him how in the Olden
Time, when the Northmen invoked his aid, he had
with his Hammer beaten two Troll- women who tor-
mented them.§ Thor's red-beard was, doubtless, to
indicate the fiery nature of the Thimder-God.

That ISTjörÖ was an object of the zealous worship
of the IS'orthmen may be readily inferred, as he was
believed to protect Sea-faring, in which our fore-

* Gunnlaugs Ormstúnga S. 10.
t OL Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 213.
t Styrb. í)áttr, 2.
§ OL Tryggv. S. in Fornm. S. 213.

THE Æ3IR AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 1Y3

fathers busied themselves so much, and it is said of
him, in one of the Old Eddaic poems, that "he rules
over temples and places of sacrifice innumer-
able."- Xjörð and his son Frey are named in the
heathen oath- formula of the E'orthmen ;f they are
called upon, in a poem of Egil Skallagrimsson, to
banish Eirik Blood-axe and Queen Gunhilda from
N'orway ;:j: they are represented by the same skald,
in his Arinbja/i'nar Drajya as "Bestowers of
Riches,"§ and the extremely rich are said to be
"rich as ísjörð."

Still more numerous are the traces in our ancient
Sagas of the widely-extended worship of Frey —
the God of Fruitfulness — among the ]N"orthmen. In
Throndheim there was a temple in Olaf Tryggva-
son's days, in which Frey was zealously worshiped.
AYhen the King, after he had overthrown the statue
of the God, upbraided the landsmen for their stupid
idolatry, and asked them wherein Frey had evinced
his power, they answered, " Frey often talked with
us, foretold us the future, and granted us good sea-
sons and peace."!

The íí"orse chieftain Ingemimd Thorsteinsson,
who/ in the days of Harald Hárfagri settled at
Yatnsdal in Iceland, built near his homestead a
temple which appears to have been specially dedi-
cated to Frey, who had in a manner pointed out a

* The 0. Edda : Vaf>rúÖiiismál, 38.

\ Landnmb. IV. 7.

X Egils S. 58, 365.

§ Egils S. 80.

II 01. Tr. S. Skalh. II. 49, 60.

174 KELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

dwelling-place to liim; for in digging a place for
his Öndvegis-súlur, or pillars of the Higli-seat,
Ingemimd found in the earth an image of Frey
which he had lost in Xorwaj.* The Icelander
Thorgrim of Sjobol was a zealous worshiper of Frey,
and held sacrificial festivals in his honor during the
w^inter nights. When Thorgrim was dead and
buried, the snow never settled upon his funeral
mound ; this was believed to be a favor shown by
Frey, for " the God loved him so for the sacrifices
he had made that he would not have it to become
cold between them."'!'

In the vicinity of the estate of Thverá in Eyja-
fjörð in Iceland there was a temple to Frey, and the
place became so holy that no criminal dared to
tarry there ; " Frey did not allow of it." When the
chieftain Thorkel the Tall was expelled from Tbverá
by Glum Eyjolfsson, universally known by name of
Yiga-Glum, he led a full-grown ox to Frey's temple
before he left, and said, " Long have I put all my
trust in thee, Oh Freyr ! Many gifts hast thou
accepted of me and repaid them well; now do I
give this ox to thee, that thou may one day cause
Glum to leave this Thvera land even as much
against his will as I do now. Do thou give me a
sign that thou acceptest the ofiering!" At that
moment the ox bellowed loudly and fell dead upon
the ground. Thorkel considered this a good omen,
and moved away with a lighter heart. Afterward,

* Vatnsd. S. 10, 15.
\ Gisl. Surs. S. 15, 18,

THE ÆSIR AS OBJECTS OF WOKÖHIT. 175

Glum, in his old days, became involved in a
dangerous suit for manslaughter, which ended with
his having to relinquish Thverá to the murdered
man's son. On the night before he rode to the
Assembly at which the case was to be decided, he
dreamed that he saw Frey sitting on the banks of
'the stream ; his own departed friends were beseech-
ing the God that Glum might not be driven away
from Thverá, but Frey answered them short and
angrily, for he now remembered the ox w^hich Thorkel
the Tall had presented to him. After this dream
and the subsequent forced removal. Glum no longer
honored Frey so much as he had done before.*

In the temple at Upsala in Sweden, Frey, together
with Odin and Thor, was especially w^orshiped ;f
and that in some provinces of Sweden the people
put their highest trust in him, and even believed
that he sometimes appeared in human form, is
attested by the story — somewhat embellished, it is
true — of the l!Torthman Gunnar Ilelrainii:, who o-ave
himself out in Sweden as Frey.ij:

The horse, it appears, was regarded as a favorite
animal of Frey-. At his temple in Throndheim it is
said there were horses belonging to him.§ It is re-
lated of the Icelander Eafnkel FreysgoÖi that lie
loved Frey iibove all other gods, and bestowed upon
him an equal share in all his best possessions. He

* Yiga-Gl. 8., 5, l>, 10, 20.

f Adam of Bremen: de situ iJaniio, )lZ:i. The name Fricco
which here occurs, can hardly refer to any other god than Freyr.
X 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 1TÖ.
§ 01. Tr. S. Skalh. II. 40.

176 KELIGIOX OF THE NORTHMEN.

had a brown horse, called Frey-faxi (Frey's horse),
which he loved so highly that he made a solemn
vow to slay the man who should ride this horse
against his will, a vow which he also fulfilled.* An-
other Icelander, Brand, had a horse also called
Frey-faxi which he made so much of that he was
said to believe in it as in a Divinity .f

It was the same case with the . swine, perhaps, as
with the horse. The Boar Gullinbursti, with which
Frey drove, has been already alluded to ; and the
story of the fabulous king HeiÖrek, who on Yule-
eve made solemn vows upon the Atonement-Boar
(Sónar-gölltr),:): sacred to Frey and Freyja, appears
to refer to an actual custom of heathen antiquity ;
for we find also, in one of the prose supplements to
the ancient Eddaic poem of Helgi Hjörvarösson,
that the Sónar-gölltr is mentioned, as being led out
on Yule-eve, in order that they might, with hands
laid upon it, make solemn vows.g

The worship of Baldur we find spoken of only in
Frith j of 's Saga, which relates that in Baldur's grove, in
Sokn, there was a great temple to many gods, among
whom, however, Baldur was chiefly worshiped. So
great was the sanctity of the place, it is stated, that
not any violence whatever should be done to man
or beast, nor could there be any sexual intercourse
there. 1 Baldur's worship therefore bore the im-

* Rafnk. Freysg. S. pp. 4, 6, 11.

f Vatnsd. S. 34.

X Hervarar S. 14.

§ " Um kveldit oru heitstrengingar ; var framleiddr sónargÖlltr>
lögðu menn J»ar á hendr sinar, ok strengðu menn á heit at
bragarfulli." The 0. Edda: Helgakviða Hjörvarðs-sonar, 30.

II Frið>jófa S. 1.

The æsir as objects of worsbtp. lYT

press of the goodness and innocence of which he
was himself the emblem.

Of the worship of Forseti among the Northmen,
we have, indeed,- no very positive information ; but
we find that this god was zealously worshiped by
the Frisians, and that he had a very holy temple on
an island which was called after him Foseteslant,
the Helgoland of the present day.*

To Bragi the heathen Northmen consecrated the
replenished horn, called Bragi's Horn (Bragarfulli),
which was emptied at the great festivals while
solemn vows were made. Bragi, the god of the
Skaldic art. Was to hear the vows relating to the
great deeds, whose memory was to be delivered to
posterity through the mouth of the Skald.

Only a few traces of the worship of the Asynjur,
or Goddesses, are to be found in the ancient poems
and Sagas. Concerning a certain Otar, it is stated
in the Eddaic poem Hyndluljóð, that he always put
his trust in the Asynjur. The Yalkyrja Sigrdrifa,
when she awakes from her enchanted sleep, salutes
the Æsir and Asynjur. f Borgny, a king's daughter,
calls upon Friga and Freyja to reward Oddrun, who
had been with her during severe pangs of child-
birth and had assisted at her delivery.^ When King
Rerer and his wife called upon the Gods for off-
spring, Friga and Odin, it is stated, heard their
prayers and presented them with a son.§ Signy,

* J. Grimm: Deut. Myth. pp. 210, 212.
f The 0. Edda: Sigrdrifumál, 4.
X lb.: Oddrúnargrátr, 10.
§ YölsúDga S. 2.

178 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

the Queen of King Alfrek of Hörðaland, invoked
tlie aid of Frejja when she was going to vie with
the king's other wife, Geirhild, in ale-brewing. It
seems that the king had to get rid of one of them
on acconnt of their irreconcilable enmity toward
each other, so he declared that he would retain the
one who brewed the best ale. Signy, however, was
foiled by her rival, for the latter had called upon
Od: 1, who revealed himself to her in advance, in
the form of a certain Hött ; and as he gave her his
spittle for yest, Geirliild's ale became the best.*

Friga and Freyja, as the highest among the
Asynjur, were, .without doubt, the most especially
worshiped. In a temple in Iceland their statues
are said to have been seated upon a throne opposite
these of .Thor and Frey. When the Icelander
Hjalti Skeggjason, newly converted to Christianity,
wished to exj^ress his contempt for the heathen
Gods, he, in a ditty, called Freyja a bitch, and Flall-
fred Yandræðaskald, in a verse that he made at
Olaf Tryggvason's recjuest, in order to display his
Christian disposition, names Freyja among the
Gods whom he had forsaken for Christ.f

* Hálfs S. 1.

f 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 217, 170.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 179

CHAPTER XYIIL

ESTFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF ^V^ORSHIP.

Beside tlie Æsir proper, there were also certain
inferior Divinities arising out of the A&a Faith,
which were honored and adored bv the heathen
E"orthmen. Of this class of superior beings were
the Disir Landvættir, and Alfar.

The name Disir {sing. Dis) properly denotes God-
desses, but it is used especially of a peculiar kind
of supernatural beings, who also frequently appear
under the appellations : Hamingjur {sing. Hamin-
gja), the Goddesses of Good Fortune, and Fylgjur
{sing. Fylgja), Following, Attending Spirits. They
were nearly related to the Yalkyrjur and iNTornir,
especially to the latter, whose messengers they were
strictly considered to be. They were imagined to
be feminine beings, who, mostly as protective, but
sometimes as persecuting, sj)irits, attended the
single individual or whole races, throughout' this
earthly life. They revealed themselves on import-
ant occasions, sometimes to the waking eye, some-
times in dreams, and in the latter case they were
also called Dream-wives (Draumkonur).

When the Icelandic chieftain Thorstein Inge-

180 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMElí.

mimdsson, of Hof, in Yatnsdal, was invited as a
guest of Groa, a magic-skilled woman who dwelt in
his neighborhood, he dreamed for three successive
nights before the festival, '' that the woman who
had been the attendant of him and his family "
showed herself unto him and forbade him to go
thither. He obeyed, and staid at home with his
friends. But on the very day that the festival was
to have been, Groans house was buried beneath a
mountain slide, which was called forth by her sor-
cer}^*

The renowned and mighty Icelander, Yiga-Glum,
dreamed one night that he stood on his estate
Thverá, and saw a woman coming toward him, who
was so large that her shoulders reached the moun-
tain-tops upon both sides of the valley. He inter-
preted this dream to signify that his uncle, the
Xorwegian hersir Yigfus, was now dead, and the
woman was his Good Fortune (hamingja), which
was higher than the mountains, and which now
took up its abode with Glum.f

When Hallfred YandræÖaskald lay deathly sick
in his ship, a woman was seen to walk along with
it. She was of a goodly aspect and was clad in
armor; she walked over the waves as though it
had been upon firm land. Hallfred looked upon
her and saw that it was his Fylgja-kona (Guardian
Spirit), but as he had embraced Christianity, he
was anxious she should not accomj^any him in the
realms of death, and he said to her, " I now declare

* Vatnsd. S., 36.
t Viga-Gl. S., 9.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 181

myself to be separated from thee ! " " "Wilt tliou
acce^^t me ? " she asked of Thorvald, Hallfred's bro-
ther. He answered in the negative. Then said
Hallfred the Younger, a son of the skald, " I will
accept thee I " -

It is said, however, of the hopeful Icelandic youth
Thiðrandi Ilallsson, that he was slain by the Disir of
his family. It was shortly after the introduction of
Christianity into Iceland, that ThiÖrandi's father
Hall, on a winter night, gave a banquet (no doubt
a sacrificial banquet in honor of the Disir) at his
estate of Ilof, on Alpta-íjörð. The soothsayer Thor-
halli, who was among the guests, forbade any one
to go out at night ; for whoever did so would bring
about some mishap. When all had gone to bed
there were three raps u^^on the door, but no one
heeded it, except Thiðrandi, who lay nearest to the
door. He, believing it to be guests who had arriv-
ed, sprang up with the third rap and went out with
his sword in hand. As he perceived nothing at first,
he went a little way from the door; but now he
heard the trampling of horses' feet, and saw . nine
women in black ride from the jSTorth, bearing drawn
swords, and nine women in light clothing, upon
white horses, ride across the fields from the South.
He now wished to go in ; but the women in black
came in his way and attacked him. He defended
himself bravely, but fell at last. Some time after-
ward his father awoke and missed him. They
sought ThiÖrandi, and soon found him lying sorely

* Magnusen's Eddalrcre. Vol. IV. p. 45 : (from Hallfred's Saga).
9

182 EELTGIOX OF THE NORTHMEN.

wounded. He related his vision, and died in the
morning. The wise Thorhalli explained this whole
occurrence to be a warning of a change of Faith.
The women had been the Disir of his family ; those
in black had favored the ancient faith, which was
now soon to be forsaken. They had wished to ob-
tain a tribute from the family before they left it,
therefore had they slain ThiÖrandi; whom the light
Disir had sought in v^in to defend. But these same
light Disir were to protect the race, when they
should have accepted the new faith."^

The Icelander Gisli Sursson related of himself,
that he had two Draum-konur ; the one was ever
friendly toward him, the other always foretold him
evil. When he roved about outlawed and unfor-
tunate, the latter made her appearance the oftenest,
and would sprinkle him with blood ; but occasion-
ally the foriuer consoled him, and once she showed
}iim his place of abode, where she promised him a
happy sojourn after death.f

When a person's good fortune was on the wane,
it was ascribed to the anger or imbecility of his
Disir ; and then it was also said that his Disir were
dead or had forsaken him. In Half's Saga, in the
poetic altercation between Half's champion Ut-
steinn and the Dane, TJlf the Ked, the former says :

•' Up should we rise,
Forth should we go,
And loudly make
Our shields resound ;

* 01. Tr. S. in. Fornm. S. 215.
t Gisli Surs. S. 22, 24, 30, 38.

rNTEKIOK DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 183

I trust that our Disir,
Helmet-covered,
Hither have come
To Denmark."

To whicli Ulf answers :

" Dead may all
Your Disir be ;
Fortune has fallen
From Half's champions ! "*

In the old Eddaic poem, Grimnismál, Odin says to
King GeiiTÖð, just before the latter falls by his own
sword :

*' I know life is leaving thee,
Unpropitious are thy Disir."f

In the Altamál, Glaumvor says to her husband
Gunnar, whom, on hearing the recital of his ill-bod-
ing dream, she vainly tries to dissuade from the
journey in which he met with his death :

" I fear that thy Disir \

Have all forsaken thee ! ":j:

When it occurs in the Sagas that a powerful man
gives his Good Luck (hamingja, gipta) to one whom
he sends on a dangerous errand, or to whom he in
any way wishes well — an expression still used in
Christian times — the idea was conveyed originally,
that the Disir of the one, in such cases, took the
other for a time or for ever under their protection.
When the Icelandic Chieftain Höskuld, on his death-
bed, divided his property among his sons, but was
not able to let his unmarried son Olaf, whom lie

* Hálfs S. 15.

f The O. Edda : Grimn. 5?.

% lb. : Atlam, 25.

184 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

loved the most, share equally with the other sons
against their will, he bestowed upon him, besides a
few costly treasures, his own and his kinsmen's
Good Luck (gipta) ; he knew very well, he added,
that it had already taken its place with Olaf.*
When the IS'orwegian King Olaf Haraldsson sent
his chief marshal Björn into Sweden, on a difficult
errand, Björn's companion, the Icelander Hjalti
Skeggjason, though a Christian, begged the king to
bestow upon them his hamingja upon their journey ;
and the king replied that he would do so if it were
really of any importance.f

The expressions kynfylgja (family attendant) and
ættarfylgjur, which sometimes occur in the Sagas in
signification of the cleverness or power which was
peculiar to some family,:}: refer to the belief in at-
tendant and guardian spirits as the origin of the
predominating qualities of that family.

The belief in this kind of Disir or protecting God-
desses being so universal among the heathen JS^orth-
men, nothing could be more natural than that they
should endeavor by worship to gain over and
strengthen the favor of these beings. This was
doubtless the object of the so-called Dísa-blót or
Disa Sacrifices, which are mentioned in many places
in the sagas, and which appear to have been held
chiefly in autumn upon Winter- night. Of the Eangs
Helgi and Halfdan of Sokn, the sons of Bele, it is
stated, that they were gone to attend the Dísa-blót in

* Laxdæla S. 26.

t Snor.: 01. Hel. S. 68.

t VölsuDga S. 4; i)or§. HreS. S. 8.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OP WORSHIP. 185

Baldur'S temple, when Frithj of brought them the tri-
bute from the Orkney Islands ; and as a part of the
same temple is mentioned a distinct edifice under
the name of Disarsalr — the Disa Hall.* King Adils
of Upsala lost his life by his horse stumbling under
him, when at a Dísa-blót he was riding around in the
Disir hall.t Alf hild, daughter of King Alf in Alf-
heim, was carried off by Starkað, as she was en-
gaged in sprinkling blood upon the altar one night at
a great Disa sacrifice which her father held one
autumn.^: The Korse King Eirik Blood-axe and his
Queen Gunhilda held Dísa-blót at a royal palace at
Atley, in western íTorway,§ and of the Norwegian
hersir Yigfus it is stated, that he held great festivals
and Disa sacrifices on Winter-night, which solem-
nities all his people were to remember.]

There are two beings which may doubtless be
reckoned with this class of Divinities, which are
often mentioned in our ancient Sagas as an object of
worship, although we do not find them named among
the actual Gods : they are the sisters Thorgerd Hör-
gabrúd and Yrp. Of Thorgerd, who is the oftenest
named, it is stated that she was a daughter of King
Haulgi (the Holy), after whom Halogaland is said
to have received its name. Both the father and
daughter were worshiped by sacrifices, and Haul-
gi's funeral mound was built up of alternate layers

* Frið>. S. 5 and 9.
f Snor. : Yngl. S. 33.
X HervararS. 1.
§ Egih S. 44.
a Viga-Gl. S. 6.

186 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

of gold and silver, and of mold and stone.^ This
account can imply little else than that Thorgerd was
a Divinity peculiar to the Haley gir, or rather, to the
renowned race of IllaÖa-Jarls, from Halogaland
descended, and therefore was their Dis or Protect-
ing Goddess. She was specially worshiped by the
most famous man of this family, Hakon Sigurdsson
Jarl. It is stated that during the battle with the
Jómsvíkingar, he sacrificed to her his little son who
was but seven years old, in order to gain her help.
She accordingly made her appearance in a raging
hail-storm from the JSTorth, and the enemy believed
they saw her and her sister Yrp upon the Jarl's ship
amid the storm ; while from every one of their out-
stretched fingers an arrow was flying, and each ar-
row became the death of a man.f In Gudbrandsdal
she and Yrp, together with Thor, were worshiped
in a temple, which Hakon Jarl and the Chieftain
Gudbrand owned in fellowship. :j: In western ]^or-
way she had likewise a temple fitted up in the most
magnificent style, in which this same Hakon Jarl
worshiped her with the highest veneration.§ Even
in Iceland Thorgerd was worshiped with several of
the Gods in a temple at Ölvus-vatn, and was regard-
ed as a guardian spirit of the Chieftain Grimkel
and his family, who came originally from Orkadal. j

* TheL. Edda: Skálda, 4-i.

f Jomsvikinga S. (Copenh. 1824) Cli. 14; Fornm. S. XI. p. 134 ;
01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 90.
X Kiáls S. 89.
§ Fareyinga S. 23.
II SagaafHöröi, 1, 18.

INFERIOE DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIl'. 187

Thorgerd's universal surname Hörgabrúðr, signifies
the Bride of the Altar or place of sacrifice (from
hörgr, altar, sacrificial inclosure), and has reference
to her supposed sanctity. She was also called Ilaul-
gabrúÖr, which doubtless denotes the Bride or God-
dess of the Halejgir.

The appellation Fjlgja, which, as already appears,
was synonymous with Dis or Hamingja, was also
used, though mostly of a kind of beiugs which were
believed to attend on mankind undei* the form of
animals, or rather to go before them. These Fylgjur
were imagined to be a lower order of spirits than
the proper Disir or Hamingjur, and there are scarce-
ly any traces to be found of their having been ob-
jects of worship. Every man was believed to have
his Animal-Fylgia, and we usually find that the ani-
mal was conceived to be in some degree correspond-
ing with the character or standing of the man.
Thus cunning folks were said to have foxes for their
Fylgjur ; wild warriors, wolves ; powerful chieftains,
eagles, oxen, bears, or other strong animals."^ The
men who had powerful Fylgjur were more difiicult to
be overcome and more feared than those who had
weak ones. '*The brothers have strong Fylgjur
(rammar fylgjur) " said the Icelandic Sorcerer Tho-
rolf concerning the sons of Ingemund of Ilof, when
he foresaw that they were going to attack him.f
The veteran Yifil said likewise, when it had been
revealed to him in a dream that King Froöi was

* Niáls S. 23, 61 ; Vols. S. 34 ; Órvar-Odds S. 4; {)orstein Yi-
kingssons S. 12, &c., (fee.
f Vatnsd. S. 30.

188 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

drawing near his dwelling to search for his nephews
Hroar and Helgi, whom Yifil had concealed from
his attempts : " Great and mighty Tylgjur have
come hither to the island ! '■ - The wise Icelander
Einar Ejjólfsson dreamed that he saw a noble,
strong-horned ox walking np along Eyja-fjoro until
it came to the estate Möðrnvell, when it went to
everj honse and at last to the High-seat, where it
fell down dead. Einar said that the dream was sig-
nificant, and that it was a man's Fylgja which had
made its appearance. On the same day his brother
Gudmund the Mighty came home from a jonrney to
his estate MöÖruvell, and died suddenly soon after
he had seated himself in the high-seat.f

The Fylgjur mostly appeared in dreams. In the
Eddaic poem, Atla-mál, where Kostbera relates her
evil-boding dream to her husband Högni, she says
among other things : " Methought there flew an
eagle through the house ; it besprinkled us all with
blood ; it seemed by its threatening mien to be the
guise of Atli.":): When Queen AuÖ related to her
husband, King Rörek, that she had dreamed of a
Stag which was slain by a Dragon, Rörek said,
*' Thou has seen the Fylgjur of Kings."§

The Fylgjur made their appearance more espe-
cially as the forerunners of the arrival of those to
whom they belonged, and a sudden irresistible
drowsiness was thought to herald the approach of

* Saga Hrólfs Kraka, 2. *
f Ljósvetninga S. 21.
X The O. Edda: Atlam. 19.
§ Sögubrót, 2.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 189

these beings. Thus it is stated of the Troll-man Svan,
that he yawned greatly and said, '^Xow come
Osvif's Fylgjm-," (nii sækja at fylgjnr Osvifs).*

Sometimes, also, the Fylgjnr were seen by per-
sons in a waking state, but it was only by those who
were gifted with a supernatural sense. It is related
of the wise Icelander Xiál, that he one night would
not lie down to sleep, but walked out and in contin-
ually. When asked what was the cause of this, he
answered, '"jMany things pass before my eyes; I
see many grim Fylgjur of Gunnar's enemies." In
the same night his friend Gunnar, of Illiöarendi was
attacked by his enemies. f Once, as the boy Thor-
stein, who was afterwards called Ox-foot," ran in
across the floor in his foster-parents' house, and fell
down there, a wise old man named Geiter, who hap-
pened to be present, began to laugh. The boy asked
him the reason, and he answered, " I saw what
thou didst not see ; a white bear's cub ran into the
room before thee, and it was over it that thou fell."
By means of this vision the Sage discovered that
Thorstein was of a more distinguished family than
was generally supposed. :j:

What the Disir were for the individual man or

* XiálsS. 12.

f Niál var ]?essa nótt i J)órólfsfelli ok mátti ekkl sofa, ok gekk
ýmist út eÖa inn. J)6rhilldr spuröi Xiál hvi hann mætti ekki sofa ?
" Margt berr nú fyrir augu mir," sagði hann. " Ek se margar fyl-
gjur grimmligar úvina Gunnars, ok er nokkut undarliga."

Kiáls S. 70.

X Fornm. S. Ill, p. 113. — Concerning Disir and Fylgjur much ex-
cellent information is given in Magnusen's Eddalære, Vol. IV, pp.
35-49.

9*

190 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

family, were the Landyættir^ believed to be for
whole provinces and tlieir inhabitants, but in such
a manner that they were pro]3erly bound to the
place, and not to the people, with whom they were
connected only in-so-far as they were inhabitants
of a certain district.

It is most probable that the heathen N'orthmen
believed their country to be under the special pro-
tection of some one of the Æsir, probably of Thor,
and that it is this Protecting-God which the Skald
Egil Skallagrimsson means by the Land-As whose
hostility he, in a poem, calls down upon King Eirik
Blood-axe.f The Landvættir, however, were beings
of less importance, who x^rotected the sm.aller dis-
tricts of the country, and on whose favor the pros-
2:)erity of the inhabitants in a great measure de-
pended. Hence is derived a provision which occu-
pied the first place in the heathen laws of Iceland ;
that "no one shall have ships on the sea bearing <
figure-heads upon the prow ; but if any one have
such, he shall remove the heads before coming in
sight of land, and not sail toward the lamd with
gaping heads and out-stretching snouts, lest the Pro-
tecting Spirits of the Land (Landvættir) should be
frightened thereby." That a similar belief was pre-
valent in ISTorway is evinced by the proceedings of
Egil Skallagrimsson when he wished to avenge him-
self on King Eirik Blood- axe and Queen Gunhilda.
He went up, it is stated, on an island near the coast
of ]N"orway and set up a hazel-stake in a cleft of the

* Land-guardians, from land, and vættr or vætt, a genius, spirit,
f Egils S, 58.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 191

rocks facing the land, and fastened a horse's head
upon the stake. Thereupon he said, "Here do I
raise up a Xithing-post* and turn the disgrace
against King Eirik and Queen Gunhilda." He
turned the head toward the land and continued, " I
turn this disgrace against the Protecting Deities of
the Land which inhabit this country, so that they
shall all run wildly about, without ever being able
to find their homes, until they have driven out King
Eirik and Queen Gunhilda from the country."f
The enmity of the Landyættir was thus believed to
be the cause of King Eirik 's later misfortunes, when
with his wife and children he had to fly from
Norway.

On the other hand it was believed that the man
who enjoyed the favor of the Landvættir was pecu-
liarly fortunate. Thus it is related of the Icelander
Björn, a son of Molda-Gnup, one of the original
settlers, that he made a covenant with a mountain
spirit (bergbui) which appeared to him in a dream,
and from that hour Björn's cattle multiplied in-
credibty. It was said, moreover, that clairvoyants
(ofreskir menn — men endowed with supernatural
vision, ghost-seers) could see how all the Guardian
Deities of the land accompanied Ejorn when he

* Niðstaung, a. stake set up in disgrace of some one, which it
was believed had power to bring harm upon the party it was
directed against. It is probably derived from niÖ, infamy, dis-
grace; A.-S. niö, wickedness. The term NiÖing, both among the
Northmen and Anglo-Saxons, conveyed ideas of consummate
wickedness, baseness, and contemptibleness, and was employed as
an expression of the highest degree of infamy and disgrace that
could be heaped upon any one.

f Egils S. 60.

192 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

rode to the Assemblies, and his brothers when they
went ont on fishing excursions.*

The Landvættir were believed to be of various
forms ; in some places they were great animals, in
others, again, they were giants. "When the Danish
King Harald Gormsson had the intention of attack-
ing Iceland, he sent out beforehand — so the account
goes — a magic-skilled man, who was to explore the
country. The sorcerer goes forth in the form of a
whale, but he finas every mountain and promontory
upon the island filled with Landvættir both great
and small. When he came to YápnafjörÖ and was
about to go up, there met him from the upper val-
ley a great Dragon with many snakes and toads in
its train, which cast forth venom upon the sorcerer
and forced him to fly. When he came to Eyjafjörð
a bii'd flew against him, which was so large that
its wings reached the mountains upon each side of
the valley, and a crowd of large and small birds
followed it. In BreiÖafjörð he met a gi'eat beast
which waded out into the sea and bellowed dread-
fully; many Landvættir accompanied hiiji also,
rinally, at Eeykjanes he saw a mountain-giant with
an iron stafl" in his hand ; his head towered above
the mountain-tops, and many Jötuns followed him.
Intelligence concerning the powerful Guardian
Spirits of this island had, it seems, the efifect of de-
terring King Harald from the intended invasion of
Iceland. t

It is quite certain that in iSTorway and Iceland

* Landnmb. IV. 12.
\ Snorri : 01. Tr. S. 37.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 193

the Landvættir were most commonly considered as
belonging to the Jötiin race, and as dwelling chiefly
in the mountains. To regard the Jotmis as still
being in a manner the actual owners of the country
with reference to inanimate natm-e, was fully in ac-
cordance with the dogmas of the Asa-faith; and
that, although the Jutuns on the whole were recog-
nized as evil beings, yet the people still endeavored
by a kind of worship to make friends of the few
within whose territory they lived, and whose in-
fluence they imagined themselves to feel continual-
ly— this was but a natural consequence of the usual
concej)tion which heathens form of supernatural
beings in general, and of their influence on human
life. '

The third kind of inferior Deities which the
heathen Xorthmen worshiped was the Elves (Alfr,
a spirit ; plur, Alfar). The belief in them rests
wholly upon the Asa doctrine, which represents
the Elves as the inhabitants of that region of the
atmosphere nearest to the Earth's surface, and of
the interior of the Earth. The former were called
properly, Light-Elves (Ljúsálfar), the latter, Dark-
Elves (Dökkálfar) ; - but the two classes were blend-
ed together at an early period in the popular faith,
and it appears to have been a very general belief
that the Earthly Elves were neither black nor evil.
It was thought that in their whole nature and ap-
pearance they were like men, and that they had
their dwellings in mounds. They showed them-
selves occasionally and were thought to have power

* TheL. Edda: Gylf. 17.

194 KELIGION OP THE NORTHMEN.

to do both good and evil to tlie people who lived in
their vicinity. Therefore men sought to gain their
friendship by sacrifices (Alfablot) and by services,
whenever the Elves might demand them.

"When the Icelander Thorvard Eysteinsson had
been severely wounded in a hólmerano: with Kormak
Augmundsson, and his wound was very difficult to
heal, he applied to a certain Thordis Spákona for
counsel. She told him that at a short distance
there was a mound in which the Elves lived. He
must get the blood of the ox that Kormak, accord-
ing to conmion usage, had slaughtered as an offer-
ing after the duel ; with this blood he must sprinkle
the mound and at the same time give the Elves a
banquet of the flesh ; then he should become
healed. Her advice w^ followed and Thorvard
speedily recovered his health."^ Sighvat, the Skald
of Olaf the Saint, on a journey through Gothland,
stopped at a country house to find shelter for the
night, but the mistress, who was standing in the
door, forbade him, for they were just then engaged
in "Alfablot " or sacrifices to the Elves.f In Hrolf
Ganger's Saga, which in reality is a fiction of the
fourteenth century, but which in single fragments
throws lifí^ht on the customs and the modes of think-
ing of olden times, there are also found traces of the
Elfen-faith. Once, when Hrolf, the hero of the
Saga, has been long in pursuit of a stag which it
had been enjoined npon him to take, he comes
towards evening to a clearing in the woods and there

* Kormaks S. 22.

f tSnorri: 01. HeL S. 92.

INFERIOR DEITIES AS OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. 195

he sees a beautiful grass-covered mound. As he
approaches it, the mound opens and an elderly
woman in a blue cloak steps out. She compassion-
ates Ilrolf for the vain labor he has had, but
promises to procure him the stag, which belongs to
her, if he will go with her into the mound and
assist her daughter, who has been nineteen days in
the pains of child-birth and cannot be delivered
until she is touched by a living human being
(mennskr maðr). Hrolf followed the Elf-woman
and came into a beautiful apartment. The sick
woman was delivered when he touched her, and he
received the stag in return, together with a gold
ring.*""

The Disir were often reckoned among the Elves,
and sometimes also the Landvættir.

The Elfen-faith has been kept up until the present
time among the people of Xorway and Iceland, in
the belief in the Huldra-fólk, or rather Iluldu-fólk
(the concealed, invisible Folk), and likewise in Den-
mark in the belief in Elle-folk (the Elves or Fairies).

* Gaungu-Hrólfs S. 15.

196 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER XIX.

IMAGES OF THE GODS.

The ISTorthmen, like most other heathen nations,
Lad images of their Gods. The object of these
images was originally to make manifest to the
senses the attributes of the Gods, and thus secure
the devotion of the less enlightened classes. But in
course of time, at least with the great mass, the
image became confounded with the Divinity by
whom it was thought to be animated, and thus be-
came an object of that worship properly due to the
superior being, of which it was only the representa-
tive. Thus arose Image-Worship among the North-
men as among so many other nations, and became
a productive source of the grossest superstition.

However [rude we may consider the Plastic Art
to have been among our heathen forefathers, in
comparison with what it was among the Greeks and
Romans, and what it now is among the enlightened
nations of Europe, still it was sufficiently cultivated
at an early period, for the purpose of making, out of
such material as could be obtained, a likeness of the
bodily form under which they conceived of the
various Gods. These images it appears, were

níAGES OF THE GODS. 197

usually of wood, sometimes of metal, and but very
seldom of stone. Tliey were called goÖ (Gods) or
skurðgoð (carved Gods) ; althougli the latter term
may possibly be from the Christian times, when the
efíbrt was made to cast all j)Ossible odium on the
worship of idols. 'No images have been preserved
which may be regarded with certainty as relics of
the Asa worship. This is to be attributed partly to
the zeal of the first propagators of Christianity in
destroying all idols, partly to the perishable material
of which they were mostly made, and partly, no
doubt, to the lack of real beauty in them, for when
the belief in their sacredness was departed, they
could no longer inspire as mere works of Art. It is
therefore from the old written accounts alone, and
especially from our Sagas, that we are able to draw
any information of the precise nature of the idols of
our heathen forefathers.

"Whenever these are mentioned they are described
as being in human likeness, sometimes full-sized and
sometimes smaller, having the appearance and the
attributes corresponding to the presumed essence and
qualities of the God whom they were intended to
represent. The large statues which had their place
in the temples, were often hung with drapery and
costly ornaments, and generally stood upon an ele-
vation or pedestal (stallr or hjallr), which appears at
at the same time to have served as an altar. Some-
times also they had images of the Gods on the prow
of their war-ships, perhaps as a kind of figm-e-head.
Smaller images were carried about their persons as
amulets.

198 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

In the ancient temple at Uj^sala, according to the
testimony of Adam of Bremen, there were statues
erected to Thor, Odin (Wodan), and Frey (Fricco)-
The statue of Thor had the most conspicuous place
in the middle ; the two others stood one upon each
side. Thor was represented with a sceptre (the
Hammer, no doubt) in his hand ; Odin, as the God
of War, was in armor ; and Frey, in the character of
the God of Fruitfulness, was delineated as a Pria-
pus.* In general, Odin's statues are not distinctly
mentioned in the Sagas, but Thor's very often. In
the chief-temple of Mæri in Inner Throndheim,
Thor's statue had the principal place. The statue
was large and richly adorned with gold and silver.
The God was rej)resented sitting in a splendid car,
to which were attached two goats, ingeniously
wrought of wood. Both the car and the bucks stood
upon wheels, and about the horns of the bucks was
slung a silver chain, by which the whole group was
drawn. It was all so well made that it awakened
the astonishment of King Olaf Tryggvason when he
entered the temple.f

In a temple at Hundsthorp in Gudbrandsdal stood
a large, much-honored statue of Thor. It was of
wood, hollow within, and in the likeness of a man.
It was adorned with gold and silver, held a hammer
in its hand, and stood upon an elevation (hjallr).
The peasants led this statue forth with great solem-
nity to meet Olaf the Saint when he came into Gud-
brandsdal to convert them to Christianity ; but St.

* Ad. Brem. : de situ Daniæ, cap. 233.
t 01. Tr. S. Skalh. IL, 24.

IMAGES OF THE GODS. 199

Olaf caused one of Lis men to break it in pieces.*
A wooden statue of Tlior stood among several idols,
all upon elevations (stallar), in a temple in Thrond-
heim owned by a rich landsman, Finn.f In tlie
temple in Gudbrandsdal, which Hákon Jarl and
Dala-Gudbrand owned together, Thor was repre-
sented upon a car and adorned with gold rings. At
the same place was also the statue of Hákon's tute-
lary Goddess, Thorgerd Hörgabrúð, in a sitting pos-
tm-e, as large as a full grown j)erson, with ^falld (a
kind of head-dress) upon her head and a gold ring
upon her arm. The statue of Yrp was also there
and had likewise gold rings upon its arms.^ In an-
other temple owned by Hákon Jarl, the statue of
Thorgerd stood upon a stallr ; it was splendidly
adorned and had a gold ring upon its arm.§ In the
temple at Baldur's-haug in Sokn, there is said to
have been many idols, among which the statue of
Baldur is expressly mentioned.] Many idols are
also mentioned as being in a temple at Ölvusvatn in
Iceland.^ In another temple on the island belong-
ing to a certain Bersi, sat Frey and Thor in the
High-Seat, and directly opposite them Friga and
Freyja ; these statues were arrayed in drapery and
ornaments of gold and silver.** Eirik Hákonsson

* Snor. : 01. Hel. S. 118, 119; 01. Hel. S. in Fornm. S. IV., 107,
108.
f 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 202, 203.
X Niáls. S. 89.

§ Fareyinga S. 23 ; 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 184.
II Fri^J). S. 9.
•[ HörÖs S. 18.
** Droplauga Sonar S. 26.

200 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Jarl, at the beginning of the battle of Svöldr, had
Thor's statue on the prow of his ship, but he had it
taken down afterwards and a crucifix set up in its
stead.* The Foster-brothers' Saga mentions a chair,
which had carved upon its arms or side-posts the
image of Thor with his Hammer.f A highlj-valued
wooden statue of Frej was found in a temple in
Throndheim, which King Olaf Tryggvason hewed in
pieces in the presence of the people.:}: Kjötvi the
Rich, King of Agðir, who fought against Harald
Hárfagri, had a weight upon which the God Frey
was sculptured in silver. This treasure, which he
held in great veneration, fell after the battle into
the hands of King Harald, and he presented it to
his friend, the chieftain Ingemund Thorsteinsson,
who afterwards carried the image in a purse and
held it in very high esteem.§ This last-mentioned
image was probably borne as an amulet, as was
often the case, no doubt, with the gold bracteates
which are found in the burial mounds and in the
earth, having upon them the images of men and
animals, whose signification it is now impossible to
decide, and which are furnished with a clasp for
fastening to a necklace.

Images of clay or dough in human form are also
spoken of, which were privately worshiped even
after the introduction of Christianity.!

* OL Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 252, 253.
f Fostbræ^ra S. 38.
X OL Tr. S. Skalh. II., 49, 50.
§ Yatnsd. S. 9, 10.

II "Matblót e$a leirblót gort i mannsliki af leiri eÖa af deigi."
Anc, Laws of Is'orw. I., p. 383.

IMAGES OF THE GODS. 201

How great tlie superstition of many of the ISTorth-
men was in regard to the idols, is attested bj many
passages in the Sagas, although it must be confessed
that the superstition and blmdzeal of the first Chris-
tian teachers gave rise to divers extravagances in
these accounts. The peasants placed food every day
before a statue of Thor in Gudbrandsdal, and be-
lieved that the God consumed it.* Of Thorgerd
Hörgabrúð's statue it is related that it made known
to Hákon Jarl the Goddess's delight in his offerings,
by bending down its arm so that he was enabled to
draw off the only gold ring which adorned it.f A
statue of Thor at Eauðsey in JSTaumdal, is described
as being so strengthened (magnat) by offerings, that
it could speak with its worshiper Kauð, and accom-
pany him about the island, that it could call forth
storms by blowing in its beard, and could even play
at the game of drawing hooks over a fire with King
Olaf Tryggvason. In this sport, however, it came
off" a loser, fell into the fire and was destroyed. J
When Dala-Gudbrand saw his temple burned down
and the statues of his Gods lying out upon the ground
unharmed, he cried out, " Great power is given unto
our Gods, that they of themselves have gone out of
the fire ! " But Hákon Jarl, who was less blinded,
said, " The Gods have not done this ; some person
has burned the temple and carried out the Gods.
But" he continued, "the Gods do not avenge them-

* Snor.; 01. Hel. S. 118.

f Fareying. S. 23; 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 184.

i OL Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 145, löO.

202 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

selves suddenly. May the man who has done this
be driven away from Yalhalla and never come
thither ! " The outrage had been committed by
Hrapp, an Icelander, who had been for a time a
guest with Gudbrand.* It is related of the Icelander
Grimkel that he saw the statues of the Gods in his
temple preparing to move away from their seats, out
of displeasure at his son HörÖ.f Of a statue of Frey,
in Sweden, the peasants had the belief that it had
connubial intercourse with a woman who attended

it4

Besides the proper idols there was a kind of sacred
images, which was found in heathen times in the
house of every Xorthman, namely, the so-called
Öndvegis-súlur, or Pillars of tbe High-Seat, some-
times also called Setstokkar. These were two high
wooden posts fashioned by hewing, which stood one
upon each side of the High-Seat of the Master of the
house, and had the lower end set in the ground.§
These Ondvegis-sulur were looked upon as peculiarly
sacred, it might almost be said as a kind of Household
Gods. It was a universal custom among the iS^orth-
men who left their native land to settle in Iceland,
to take with them the Sacred Columms from their
old homes, and cast them overboard when they first

* |)á tók Guöbrandr til orða: "Mikill máttr er gefinn goðum
vorum, er Jjau hafa gengit sjálf úr elldinum ! " "Eigi munu go^in
]5essu '\i^llda," segir Jarl; "ma^r mun brent hafa hofit, en b or it
út goSin. En goS hefna eigi allz Jjegar. Mun sá ma^r braut
rekinn úr Vallhöllu ok ]?ar alldri koma, er ]?etta liefir gort."

Kiáls S. 89.

f Hörðs S. 18.

i 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 17?.

§ Vatnsd. S. 15.

IMAGES OF THE GODS. 203

came in sight of Iceland ; then they would select
their place of residence on the spot where the col-
umns were found drifted to land.

Thus did Ingolf, the first Northman who settled
permanently upon the island.* It is related of Björn
Ketilsson from Sokn, one of the first settlers,' that
when on his arrival he found his sacred pillars drift-
ed into a bay, he believed that a home was shown
him there.f Similar directions were followed by his
sister AuÖ in choosing her abode.J The settler
Thord Hrappsson had been living for ten or fifteen
years upon the eastern side of Iceland when he
learned that his sacred columns had been cast upon
the western coast of the island ; thereupon he
straightway sold his estate, in order to remove
thither.§ So also did another of the first settlers,
Lomund the Old, from Yors.!| When Eirik the Eed,
who went from Jaöar to Iceland, had loaned his
Setstokkar (Posts of Honor) to another Icelander
named Thorgest, and could not get them back again,
it gave occasion for a quarrel, which cost the lives
of many of the adherents of both parties, and at last
was the cause of Eirik's banishment and settlement
in Greenland.^* Halstein Thorolfsson, who settled in
the western part of Iceland, ofí"ered up his son, and

* Landnámabók I, 8.

f Laxd. S. 3.

X lb. 5 ; Kormaks S. 2.

§ Landnmb. I., 10.

II lb. IV., .5.

^ lb. II.V 14.

204 RELIGION OF THE NORTHNÍEN.

gave him to Thor (perhaps devoted him to his ser-
vice), in order that the God should ftirnish him with
sacred cohimns of the High-Seat ; whereupon, so the
account goes, there shot up on his ground a tree
sixty-three ells high, and two fathoms thick, from
which not only he, but the whole surrounding neigh-
borhood was supplied with Öndvegis-súlur.-

It is probable that the image of some one of the
Gods was often carved upon these pillars, and that
this contributed something to the veneration in which
they were held. It aj^pears, at least, that this was
the case w^ith the sacred columns which w^ere some-
times to be found in the temples. Thus we are told
that Thor's image was carved upon one of the Önd-
vegis-súlur, which had stood in a temple of Thor,
on the island Moster in IsTorway, and which guided
the Icelandic settler Thorolf Mostrarsk egg to a place
of abode.f

* Landnmb. II., 23.
f Eyrbyggja S. 4.

eACRED EDIFICES. 205

CHAPTER XX.

SACRED EDIFICES.

Of the sacred buildings devoted to the worship of
the Gods, two kinds are spoken of as being universal,
namely, Ilörg and Ilof.

Ilörg QiöYgr, plur. hörgar) is the oftenest named
in the ancient poems, sagas and laws,^* but it is not
particularly described ; it is distinguished, however,
from Ilof, which was an appellation for the proper
temples.t Tlie Hörgar, so far as is known, were
a kind of Stone- Altars or places of sacrifices under
tlie open sky and surrounded by an inclosure of
stones. They were consecrated to certain Deities ;
sometimes, perhaps, when they consisted of a single
stone, regarded as statues or representatives of the
Gods, and were besmeared with blood at the sacri-
fices. Thus it is stated in the Eddaic poem Ilynd-

* Landnmb. IL, 16; Orv. OJds S. 29; Older Gula-J)ing Laws,
cap. 29.

t The 0. Edda: Völu?pá 7 ; Vaf>r. 38; Ilelgakv. Iljörv. 4.
10

206 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

luljóð, where Freyja is introduced speaking to her
favorite Ottar :

" A Hörg lie made me
Built up of stone,
— Xow is the stone
Changed into glass —
He sprinkled it over
With the fresh blood of oxen ;
Ottar trusted ever
To the Asynjur."*

Of Alfhild, a king's daughter, it is said that she
was carried off by StarkaÖ one night while she was
sprinkling the Hörg with blood at a sacrifice to the
Disir.f We probably yet see the remains of such
líörgar in many of the stone-settings which are found
in Is^orway and the neighboring countries. Espe-
cially is it likely that the stone-circles, which consist
of large upright stones, somewhat pointed at the top
and placed at moderate intervals from each other,
belonged to this kind of sacrificial places, and per-
haps the stones represented the statues of the Gods
there worshiped. The great simplicity of these
places of sacrifice, warrants the presumption that
they are a more ancient arrangement than the
actual temples.

The temples of the heathen Northmen were most
usually called liof ; they were also called goÖahús
(House of the Gods) or blóthús (House of Sacrifice).
jSTone of these buildings are left standing, so far as is
known, not even any ruins of them, which might

* The 0. Edda: Hyndluljó^ 10.
f HervararS. 1.

SACRED EDIFICES. 207'

afford us some idea of their construction; for the
first propagators of Christianity were very careful to
have every building of the kiijd destroyed, or at
least transformed into a Christian church, and under
the transformation tlie older form was soon no longer
to be recognized. "We must, therefore, be content
with the ancient descriptions, some of which, as they
are found in our Sagas, are tolerably complete.
When the Xorse Chieftain Thorolf Mostrarskeofir

CO

left ISTorway in order to settle in Iceland, he tore
down the temple of Thor on the Island Moster,
which he had presided over, and took with him
most of the timber, together with tlie earth be-
neath the platform on which Thor's statue had been
seated. When he had come to Iceland and had there,
according to Thor's directions — or rather, according
to the directions of the Sacred Columns upon which
Thor's image was carved^ — selected his place of
abode at Thorsnes on the southern side of BreiÖa-
fjörd, he built on the spot a large hof of the same
timber and probably in the same form as the torn-
down temple of Moster. Tlie door of this temple
was in the side-wall, near one end ; within the door
stood the sacred columns, and in them there were
nails which were called reginnaglar (nails of the
Gods), but of their meaning no information is given.
Within this house there was another, like the choir
in Christian chm-ches, and here, in the middle of the
floor, stood a platform (stallr), and an altar upon
which lay a ring with the ends unjoined (bringr

* See aboYc, Chap. XIX.

•208 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

motlauss) weighing two ounces. By this ring all
oatlis were taken, and the ruler was to wear it upon
his arm at all meetings. On the platform stood the
howl for the sacriiicial blood (laut-holli), in which
was the laut-teinn, a kind of sprinkhng-rod with
which they sprinkled the laxity or blood of animals
sacrificed to the Gods. Around about the platform
within the smaller house (afhiisit), were placed the
statues of the Gods. Xear at hand was the Doom-
ring (domhringr), within which human beings were
doomed to sacrifice, and within this ring stood
Thor's Stone, upon which the victims were broken
when about to be offered up. It was believed that
traces of blood were still visible upon this stone
long after the introduction of Christianity.*

The Icelandic chieftain Thorgrim, a son of the
Northman Ilelgi Bjola, was a great performer
of sacrifices. On his farm-land (tim) at Kjalarnes,
in southwestern Iceland, he raised a temple one
hundred feet long by sixty wide, in which Thor re-
ceived the highest honors. It was built round in-

CD

side like a cap (with a vaulted roof), and was all
tented overhead (himg with tapestry). Thor's statue
stood in the middle, the other Gods upon both sides.
Before Thor stood an elevated place (stallr), made
with great art, and covered on the top with iron.
ITpon this burned a fire which w^as never extin-
guished, called the sacred fire ; there lay, also,
upon it a large ring of silver which the hof-goÖi
was to wear on his arm at all meetings, and by
which all were to swear. Tliere was, besides, upon

» Eyrb. S. 4, 10 ; Laudnmb. II., 12.

BACKED EDIFICES. 209'

it a large copper bowl, iuto wliicli tliey collected the
blood of the animals or men that were given to Tbor.
This they called laut or laiitbolli^ and out of it the
people and cattle were, to be sprinkled. The victim
was to be served up at the banquet, but the human
beings that were sacrificed, were thrown, after being
killed, into a swampy pool near the door, which was
called the sacrificial pool (blót-kéllda).*

By the former of these descriptions, which is un-
doubtedly very credible, it may be seen that in the
heathen temples of the ancient J^orthmen, there was
sometimes a distinction made between the inner
Most-Holy, where the statues of the Gods were
placed, and the outer part of the temple, doubtless
the most spacious part, in which it may be presumed
the sacrificial banquets were held. It must, there-
fore, have been this last-named part of the temple
that is described elsewhere in the Sagas as being so
constructed as to have fires burning along the floor,
with the flesh-pots hanging over them and with seats
upon each side, for the accommodation of the guests.f
This outer part of the teniple is, doubtless, the same
building which in other places is called the Disar-
salr. For instance, in Frithjof's Saga this is de-
scribed as beino' the hio-hest amons: the buildino-s
of the temple in Baldur's grove, and constructed for
the festivals with fires along the floor and seats upon
the sides4 In the Ynglinga Saga, the Disar hall of

* Kjalnes S. 2.

t Snor. : Hák. Góð. S. 16.

% Fri$>. S. 5, 9.

210 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

the temple at Upsala is described as having been so
large that lUng Adils rode around inside of it."^ It
was necessary, also, that the building in which all
the people of a large district were to assemble at the
sacrificial festivals, should be very capacious. It is,
moreover, possible that this special arrangement was
peculiar to the public temples, which were common
to the inhabitants of a whole district (fylki) or large
portion of the country, while the smaller temples,
which were often to be regarded as only the house-
chapels of private individuals, were constructed in a
difierent manner and perhaps more in accordance
with the second of the above-mentioned ones.

We also find allusions to high board-fences (skiö-
garðar, ??iod. Nono. Skidgaarde) surromiding the
temples, and metallic rings, which were in the tem-
ple doors, probably for the purpose of drawing them
up. In the door of the temple of HlaÖi there was
a ring, which was thought to be of gold, but which
was afterwards discovered to be of copper within.

The temples of Norway, as well as all other build-
ings in that country in the earliest times^ were built
of wood ; .at least, we never find any temple of stone
expressly mentioned, nor is it certain that the Kortli-
men out of Xorway — in Sweden, Denmark, or other
countries — erected their temples of any more dura-
ble material.

When we find in many places in the Sagas, that
the temples, especially the smaller ones, are spoken
of as being tented inside or hinig with tapestry,

* Snor. : Ynglinga S. 33.

SACRED EDIFICES. 211

there is nothing improbable therein, for such deco-
rations were much used in the houses of the Xoi-se
Chieftains of anticpity ; but when it is said of the
temple in which Hákon Jarl worshiped Thorgerd
Hörgabrúd, that it was inwardly adorned with in-
layings of gold and silver, and furnished with so
many glass windows (glar-gluggar), that there was
nowhere any shadow, it may be received as one of
the embellishments added to the legend by a later
age. Xeither can we place implicit confidence in
the glowing descriptions given of the Temple at
Upsala, by Adam of Bremen and his commentator ;
for as the former speaks of it being " all decorated
with gold " (so must we understand totum ex auro
jyaratum), and the latter tells of the ever-green tree,,
that grew by it, it appears that through ignorance
they transferred the myths of the "gold-roofed Val-
halla " and the " ever-green Ash Yggdrasill " to
that last celebrated relic of the heathen worship
of the N^orthmen. "

The temples were sometimes dedicated to a single
Deity, but much more frerjuently to several of
them ; there is even an account of one in Gothland
containing one hundred statues of the Gods ;t a
statement, however, which appears to be exaggerated.
But even when there were many Gods worshiped in
a temple, it was mostly but one or two that occupied
the first rank ; and it has already been observed that
in Norway and Iceland, Thor usually enjoyed this
honor. +

* A(l. Breni.: de situ Dnniæ, 133.
f Jomsv. S. in Fornm. S. XL 12.
X Chap.XVir.

212 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

The temples were looked upon as sacred and
inviolate ; no deed of violence could be committed
with impunity within their w^alls, nor upon their
grounds. This sacredness was expressed in the an-
cient language by the name of Ye ; and whosoever
violated it was called " vargr i veum " — a wolf in
the sanctuary — and was declared an outlaw to all
persons. "VYe find in the Sagas many traces of the
veneration of the ancient Northmen for their tem-
ples. Of the great sanctity which rested upon the
temple in Baldur's grove, in Sokn, we have before
spoken. When the Icelander Hrapp had burned
the temple in Gudbrandsdal, which Hákon Jarl and
Dala-Guðbrand owned in fellowship, the Jarl de-
clared the deed to be one which should shut out the
perpetrator from Yalhalla. The afore-mentioned
Icelandic settler Thorolf Mostrarskegg, regarded as
sacred the whole promontory of Thorsnes, which re-
ceived its name because Thor's image had drifted to
land there, and because the temple of Thor was
erected upon it. The ground should not be defiled
by blood shed in anger (heiptarblóÖ), nor by any of
the baser necessities of nature ; for the latter a rock
along the coast was appointed. There was one iso-
lated rocky hill upon the promontory which Tho-
rolf held in special veneration. It was named Hel-
gafell — the Holy Eock — and Thorolf believed that
an abode w^as prepared in it for him and his family
after death. It was so very holy that no one could
look upon it before he had washed himself, and it was
a j)lace of refuge for both man and beast. Thorolf
established a IIeraðs-J)ing — a district court of jus-

SACEED EDIFICES. 213

tice — Upon the extremity of the promontory. After
his death, some of those who attended the com-t
would not take the trouble to go out upon the rocks
to attend to the calls of nature ; thereupon arose a
battle between those refractory persons and the in-
habitants of Thorsnes. The Assembling-place (i)ing-
Yöllr) became defiled with blood, and this gave oc-
casion for it to be removed higher up the promon-
tory, for the ground upon which it had been could
not now be considered holier than any other.-
When the i^orse chieftain Tliorhadd the Old, who
had been hofgoÖi at Mæri in Throndheim, went over
to Iceland, he took down the temple beforehand and
carried with him the hof-mold (mold or earth under
the foundations of the temple) together with the
sacred columns. He settled on StöÖvar-fjörÖ, on
the eastern coast of Iceland, whither he transferred
the sacredness of Mæri (Mærina helgi) to the whole
Fjörð. He allowed no livmg being to be killed
there, except the cattle that he required to be
slaughtered for his household.f

It was not lawful to bear arms into the tem-
ples. When King Olaf Tryggvason went into the
temple at Mœri, it is related that those of his men
and the countrymen who follovred him were unarm-
ed : the kino' himself had onlv a tcold-mounted staif
or mace in his hand.:}: The Xorthman Ilrafn had
to give up to the Icelandic chieftain and hof-goÖi
Ligemund a splendid sword in forfeiture, because

* Eyrb. S. 4, 9, 10, .
f Landnmb. IV. 6.
i 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. 0. II. 167.
10*

214 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

'he liad, while absorbed in conversation with the
chieftain, heedlessly entered with his sword in hand
into the temple in Yatnsdal, which the latter pre-
sided over. " It is not the custom," said Ingemimd to
him, ^' to bear arms into the temple, and thou wilt
be ex2)osed to the wrath of the Gods if thou do not
make atonement." It would be safest, he added,
for Hrafn to give him the sword, and thus enable
liim to appease the wrath of the Gods. -

The temples were supported partly by the income
(•f landed property which was bestowed upon them,
and partly by the so-called temple-tax (hoftollr), a
contribution which had to be paid by all who fre-
quented a particular temple. Of the first-mentioned
kind the so-called Uppsala-auör (Upsala property),
in Sweden, appears to have been. It was posses-
sions belonging to the temple at Upsala, and its
directors were the kings of that place.f Similar
Temple-lands are spoken of in Iceland ; for instance,
it is related of the goði Jönmd Ilrafnsson, who
erected a temple on his estate Svertingstad in the
East FjörÖung of Iceland, that he appropriated to
himself a large tract of unoccupied land and bestowed
it on the temple.:j: The temple-tax or contribution
w^as universal in Iceland, as in all probability it was
also in l^orway, and is similar to the Tithes, which
in Christian times have been paid to the Church.
The superintendent of the temple — hof-goði or hof-
gyðia — ^i-eceived the contribution and made use of it

* Vatnsd. S. 16. -

f Snor. : Yngl. S., 12; compare with 01. Ilel. S. IC),

Í Landnmb. V. 3.

SACBED EDIFICES. 215

together with the temple possessions, but in return
had to take charge of the temple and keep it in
repair.

It may be assumed that many temples in Norway,
even chief-temples, which were attended by the
whole population of a Fylki or Province, were ac-
tually the i^rivate j^roperty of certain chieftains who
had erected them in the first place and presided
over them, and in whose family this supremacy or
priesthood afterward became hereditary. It thus
becomes explicable how such chieftains could have
authority to tear down temples and take them along
when they left the country, as we have above seen
was the case both with the temple of Mæri in
Throndheim, which appears to have been a Chief-
Temple of the inhabitants of Inner-Throndheim, and
with the temple on Moster.*

* Landiimb. IV., &; Eyrb. S. 3.

216 RELIGION OF THE NOIiTHMEN.

CHAPTEE XXI.

THE DIVINE SERVICE OF THE HEATHENS.

Sacrifices, or, in the old Korse language, blot,
were considered by the beatlien K^ortbmen to be the
most efficacious means of gaining favor with the
Gods and averting their wrath. These ofierings
were usually bloody, and consisted in the killing or
butchering of living creatures imder the observance
of certain solemn ceremonies ; but the character of
them is not more fully described in the ancient
accounts. The animals most generally offered at the
larger public sacrificial festivals were oxen, horses,
sheep and swine. The victims were fattened before-
hand, in order that they might attain a very large
size and make a good ap^Dcarance. They Avere
slaughtered by the goÖi or Chief Director of the tem-
ple, and generally, as it appears, before the images
of the Gods. The blood, which was called laut^ was
collected in a bowl called íaut-bolli ; the latter was
usually of copper and had its place . in the teniple
upon the High- Altar. By the aid of sprinkling-
rods — the so-called laut-teinar — the altars and walls
of the temple were besmeared (rjóða) with this laut

THE DRTNE SERVICE OF TUE IlEATHKNS. 217

or sacrificial blood, as it was also sprinkled (stökkva)
over the rQultitade assembled at the sacrifice. The
statues of the Gods, which, as before observed,
were mostly of wood, were smeared with the fat of
the victims, rubbed with cloth, and baked by the
fires burning along the temple-floor. This function,
we find, was performed by the women assembled at
the festival.

The public sacrifices were in connection Avith
solemn festivals (blótveizlur, sing, blótveizla, per-
haps also gildi). In some places these were at the
expense of the Chief Director of the temple, who in
return had the use of the Temple-possessions, and re-
ceived the Temple-tribute or liof-toU. This appears
to have been universal in Iceland, where the tem-
ples were usually the private property of the goðar
or priests. Li other places, however,, and it appears
to have been universal in Xorway, the expenses of
the sacrificial feasts were defrayed by contributions
from the people who attended a j^articular temple,
Avho for that pur^^ose brought ale and all kinds of
provisions to the festival ; though it also hapi^ened
sometimes that some rich and powerful chieftain,
who was at the same time superintendent of a tem-
ple, undertook alone to bear the expenses of a sacri-
ficial banquet, in which case his liberality was, of
course, highly praised. In Xorway, it appears that
after Ilarald Ilárfagri's time the chief direction of
all public sacrifices and the feasts connected with
them devolved upon the king ; he, therefore, occu-
pied the higli-seat at the sacrificial guilds, when lie
was present at them ; otherwise some chieftain pre-

218 KELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

sided over them in his behalf. Sometimes the man-
agement of the sacrificial feasts of a Fylki or a larger
district passed around by turns among a certain
number (twelve) of the chosen men of the district ;
but this was perhaps an exception to the general
custom, and was first adopted when the kings and
their men had fallen oflT from the Asa-faith and em-
braced Christianity. The ancient custom in the
time of the Fylki governments was, doubtless, thus :
that the hersir, in the character of goÖi, conducted
the public sacrificial feasts in his herað or district,
or where several heraÖ or even fylki joined together
in a sacrifice, then all the hersar present acted, but
in such a manner that the one in whose temple the
feast Avas held presided. If a King or Jarl was
present, the post of honor was, of course, always con-
ceded to him ; but they could hardly be called the
actual conductors of sacrifices ; at least, their King-
ship or Jarlship originated in a higher than priestly
dignity. Such was certainly the case in many places
in Norway, as it is known to have been with the Up-
sala Kings in Sweden.

The sacrificial feast followed after the sacrifice.
The flesh of the sacrificed animals, including that of
the horses, was now boiled in large pots which hung
over the fires along the temple-floor, and was after-
wards devoured by the assembled guests, who, as at
other banquets, sat along the side-walls of the house
on both sides of the fire. The fall drinking-horns
{full) were now borne around or between the fires
(of elda), probably as a kind of purification, and the
conductor of the sacrifice consecrated (vigja)^ them,

THE DIVINE SERVICE OF THE HEATHENS. 219

as well as all the sacriticial food (blot matr). They
first drank Odin's horn — or those who trusted in
their own strength and energy drank a horn to Thor
— next Kjörð's horn, and Frey's horn for prosperous
seasons and for peace. Then many were accus-
tomed to drink Bragi's horn, by which solemn vows
were made ; and finally, a horn to the memory of
good kinsmen departed. All these solemn toasts
were called minni or memorial horns, and were
called out by the conductor of the sacrifice, who
in the ancient language was said " at mæla fyrir
minni " " to call out the inemorial toasts."

The public sacrifices thus consisted of two import-
ant performances: first, the butchering (högg, at
höggva) and the blood-sprinkling (at rjoða, stökkva)
connected with it, all which it seems took place dur-
ing the first night of the festival; and secondl}^,
the sacrificial feast, at wliicli the consecrated horns
were the principal affhir, and during which the
anointing of the idols appears to have been attended
to.

Three times during tlie year they held great sacri-
ficial festivals, at which the inhabitants of larger or
smaller portions of the country assembled together
at one common chief-temple. The first of these fes-
tivals was held on Winter-nig Jit, at the beginning
of Gor-mánaÖr, or, by our reckoning, about the mid-
dle of October, — the lith of that month being still
called AVinter-night in ITorway, and reckoned the
beginning of winter. This festival was called
'' vetrmitta blot" or "blot ímóti vetri," i. e., Winter-
nighfs Sacrifice^ or. Sacrifice toward Winter; and

220 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

tliey were then said to welcome winter — (at fagna
vetri). They sacrificed at that time for a good year
(til árs), which in ITorway meant in reality a good
winter, that being then, as now, a matter of very
great importance for that country.*

The second great sacrificial festival was held on
Mid-winter (miðr vetr), i. e.^ at the beginning of
the J)orra-mánaÖr (Thor's month) of the ancients, or,
according to our reckoning, in the middle of Janu-
ary. The 12th of January is still called Mitvet by
the Xorthmen. This sacrifice was usually called
miðsvetrar blot, i. e.^ Midwinter's Sacrifice, or Jol,
jolablot, i. e., Yule ; sometimes also f)orra-blót, from
the month in which it was solemnized. It began on
Midiciiiter-night (miðsvetrar-nátt), which, by reason
of the great sacrificial slaughter then performed,
was named höggu-nátt, the Hewing or Butchering
jSTight, and it lasted three days, or, according to
the ancient mode of expression, three nights. It ap-
pears to have been the most solemn sacrificial fes-
tival of the Northmen, and the}^ then sacrificed for
Peace and a productive Season (til árs ok friðar).
On Yule-eve it was the custom to lead out a boar
consecrated to Frey, which was called the Atone-
ment-Boar (sónar-göltr) ; upon this the. persons pres-
ent laid their hands and made solemn oaths (heit-
strengingar). This circumstance, as well as the fact
that the Yule-sacrifice was made for Peace and
Fruitfulness, makes it highly probable that the fes-
tival was chiefly in honor of Frey.f

* Snor.: Yngl. S. 8; lb. 01. Hel. S. 115.

f Concerning Yule (Jol) see Snorri: Ynglinga Saga, §; Hák-
GóÖ. Saga. 15 and 19; Olaf Hel. Saga, 114 and 115, and 01'

THE DIVmE SERVICE OF THE HEATHENS. 221

The third great sacrificial festival was held at the
beginning of Summer, probably on Summer's-day,
which, according to both the ancient and the modern
Calendar of the JSTorthmen, falls on the middle of
xipril. This festival was called blot at sumri — Sac-
rifice tovMrcl Summer^ or Sigr-blót — Sacrifice for
Victory^ a name which it received because they
then sacrificed for victory and success in the mili-
tary and y iking- ex j)editions which they might
undertake in the approaching summer."^' It is,
therefore, probable that this festival was specially
in lionor of Odin.

Some have also supposed that a great sacrificial
festival was held at Mid-summer-time,t but there
is scarcely sufficient ground in the ancient sagas for
this assumption. It is true that Snorri speaks in a
single place of a miðsumars-blót, but this is evidently
a confusion in the account, and it is properly a Mid-
winter sacrifice, and not a Mid-summer one that is
alluded to.

The heathen Xorthmen had many smaller sacri-
ficial feasts, beside the three great ones above cited,
but to pretend to decide upon the times when they

Tryggv. Saga in Fornm. Sögur, 162, 165, 166; from which it ap-
pears that Yule and the Mid-winter Sacrifice were the same fes-
tival, and that the heathen Yule was held in January, therefore
hater than the Christian festival. Yule is doubtless the same fes-
tival that Procopius says the Thulites (Northmen) celebrated on
the return of the sun, after it had been, at midwinter's time, forty
days below the horizon. Proc. de Bell. Got. lib. II. cap. lö.

* Snor. : Yngl. S. 8, 01. Heh S. 115.

f Magnusen : Specimen Calcndarii Gentilis in the 3d part of the
Arna-Magnæan edition of the 0. Edda, p. 1086, ctal.

222 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

were held, leads only into a multiplicity of coDJec-
tiires, which are wholly without foundation."^

Human sacrifices (manna-blot) were not unusual,
although it was generally bondsmen and malefac-
tors that were offered up. The sacrifice of human
beings was performed either by butchering them
like other victims, collecting the blood in the sacri-
ficial bowls, and afterward sinking the corpse into
a pool or morass ; or by breaking the victim's back
over a sharp rock ; or finally by hurling it out over
a precipice among the rocks of an abyss. Only on
rare and very important occasions were the free-
born sacrificed to the Gods; and yet there were
instances when the victims were chieftains or their
children. Thus it is related of the Upsala King
Aun that he sacrificed his nine sons tu Odin for the
sake of prolonging his life.f King Olaf Trételgja
of Yermaland was burned to death by his subjects,
and sacrificed thus to Odin in order that a great
famine should cease. + Of the zealous Asa-wor-
shiper Hákon Jarl it is stated, that during the battle
in Hjörunga bay with the Jomsvikingar he sacrificed
his son Erling, then seven years old, to Thorgerd
Hörgabriið, and caused his bondman Skopta Kark
to kill the boy, in the manner which the Jarl him-
self prescribed.§

Among human sacrifices may also be reckoned
the practice of " carving the Blood-eagle " (rista

* See Magnusen : Spec. Cal. Gentilis.

f Snor. ; Yngl. S. 29.

t lb. 47.

§ Jomsvik. S. 44, in Fornm. S. XL p. 135.

THE Dn'DíE SERVICE OF THE HEATHEXS. 223

blóðörn) upon captured enemies. It consisted in
cutting tlie ribs from tlie spinal column and then
through the open wound tearing out the lungs,
which, it was said, they presented to Odin for
victory."

The inhuman custom which the JSTorwegian Vik-
ings in heathendom had, of throwing up small chil-
dren into the aii* and catching them again upon
their spear-points (henda born á spjóta oddum),t is
to be regarded perhaps not merely as an outburst
of the most savage ferocity of rude warriors, but
also as a kind of human sacrifice.

The conqueror usually regarded all enemies slain
in battle as an offering he had made to Odin, and
it appears to have been the custom sometimes, in
order that the sacrifice should be still more special,
to besmear the altars with the blood of the first
chieftains among the slain.

Two kinds of bloody self-immolation are mention-
ed in the Sagas. The one is "to mark one's-self
with the Spear-point" (at marka sik geirs-oddi),
a custom by which the Asa worshiper, when dying
of sickness, consecrated himself to Odin. The
introduction of this custom is attributed to Odin
himself,^ but how far it came into general practice
is not known. Probably it was intended to take
the place of death by arms upon the battle-field,
and thus open to the dying an admission into the

* 01. Tr. Ö. Skalh. L 179; the 0. Edda: Sigiiröar-kviÖa Fafuis-
bana, II. 26; Ragn. Lóðbr. S. 18 ; Norna/Gests S. 6.
f Landnmb. V. 11 ; FriÖ>. S. 11.
X Snor. : Yngl. S. 10.

224 RELIGION ON THE NOKTllMEN.

ranks of the Einherjar. The other kind of self-im-
molation consisted in the custom by which any one,
who had become old or weary of life, leaped head-
long from a steep clifí" and thus went hence to Odin.
It is mentioned only in King Gautrek's Saga. It is
there related that a family living in a retired place
in "West-Gothland had a steep and lofty cliff (called
Ætternisstapi, i. ^., Family Eock) near their house,
from the summit of which all the aged members of
the family or those who had no j)rospect of support-
ing themselves, without becoming a burthen to the
others, precipitated themselves. " Thus they died,"
it is stated, "without any kind of sickness, and went
to Odin.""^ It is true that Gautrek's Saga is in the
main a romance, yet there are a few very ancient
and undoubtedly genuine traditions here and there
interwoven in it, and among them is the above
account, which should not be regarded as a mere
fiction.

There were human Offerings which were not at-
tended with the death of the victim, at least, not
immediately. This was when a person either gave
himself, or was given by his parents — sometimes,
even, before his birth — to one of the Gods, i. e.^ was
consecrated to the service of that God, perhaps as
his hofgoÖi or priest. Thus it is related of the
chieftain GuÖbrand, from whom Gudbrandsdal re-
ceived its name, that he was given to the Gods by
his father Eaum, and his original name Brand was,
in consequence thereof, changed to Guðbrand.f

* Gautreks S. 1-2 in Fornald. S. III.

f Fundinn Noreg. 1, in Fornald. S. II. p. 6,

THE DÍVINE SERVICE OF THE HEATHENS. 225

Tliorolf Mostrarskegg of Iceland, the zealous wor-
shiper of Thor already spoken of, "gave his son
Steinn (from his birth it appears) to Thor, his friend,
and called him Thorstein." Of this Thorstein, it is
related that when he had a son who at tlie heathen
rite of sprinkling with water received the name of
Grim, " he gave him to Thor, destined him to be a
priest (liofgoÖi) and called him Thorgrim."* The
Haleygian Chieftain Eyvind Kinnrifa, a contempo-
rary of King OLaf Tryggvason, was given to Odin
from his birth. When King Olaf had taken him
prisoner and conld neither with fair words nor with
threats prevail on him to submit to be baptized, he
at last caused a vessel of hot coals to be set upon
Eyvind's stomach, in order that the dreadful torture
might compel him. But Eyvind was even then inflexi-
ble. At length, when his body was bursted with
the heat, he begged them to takeoff the vessel ; he
wished to say a few words before lie died. Tlie
king asked again if he would believe in Christ.
"xso!" answered he, "I cannot receive baptism,
even though I would. My father and mother had
no children before they applied to the magic-
skilled Finns. The latter told them that they
should have a child, if they would promise under
oath this child should serve Odin and Thor until the
day of his death. They did as the Finns advised.
I was born, and they gave me to Odin. So soon as
I was able to judge for myself in anything, I renew-
ed their vow. I have since that time, in all de-
votedness, served Odin, and I have become a

* Eyrb. S. 1 and H.

226 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

mighty cliieftain. Now I have been so many times
given to Odin that I neither can nor will deceive
him." With these words upon his lips Eyvind
died.* "When the Swedish King Eirik Sigrsæli (the
Yictorions) was on the eve of an important battle
with his nephew Styrbjörn, and greatly feared the
issue of the contest, he went in the night to Odin's
temple and gave himself to the God in order to
obtain the victory — though on condition that he
should have ten years longer to live.f It is stated
that this same King Eirik died ten years afterwards
of sickness ;i: but in general it was certainly the
belief of the heathen Northmen that they who were
given or had given themselves to Odin must die a
violent death, or at least be marked in their dying
hour with the spear-point. The Leira-King Ilarald
Hyldatand and King Yikarr of Hörðaland, both of
whom had been given to Odin from their birth,
ended their lives by a violent death ; the former, as
it appears, by Odin's own hand, the latter by a
special arrangement of Odin's.

Besides by the sacrifice of living beings, it was
believed that the favor of the Gods might also be
gained by gifts (forn) to temples and idols, as well
as by prayers and the vows (heit) connected with
them. Thus it is said of Ilákon Jarl, wlien he wished
to obtain for Sigmund Brestersson the protection of
the Goddess Thorgerd Ilörgabrúö, that he first cast
himself down at the foot of her !:.':atué and lay there

* 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. 20Í.

f Styrbjörn. Jiáttr, 2, in Fornm. S. V. \\ 250.

X 01. Tr. S. in Fornm. S. I. p. Gl.

THE DIVINE SERVICE OF THE HEATHENS. 227

for a long time. He then arose and told Sigmund
that he was to bring her an offering (forn) of silver
and lay it upon the footstool before her. But as the
statue would not even then give the desired token
of its good-will, the Jarl cast himself down before it
again and then shed tears. Thereupon the statue
gave the desired token by letting loose a gold ring
which it bore upon its arm, and which the Jarl
wished to take from it for Sigmund."^* Before Thor's
statue in a temple at Hundsthorp in Gudbrandsdal,
the people placed every day four loaves of bread
with the due proportion of meat, and they believed
that the God consumed the food, when it was de-
voured by the vermin that found a retreat in the
great hollow wooden statue.f Wlicn the heathen
Icelander Hallfred YandræÖaskald wished to get
quickly away from íTorway, which Olaf Tryggvason
was just then converting to Christianity, he and his
seamen united in making vows to the Gods, in order
to get a fair wind for any heathen country whatso-
ever, and they promised to give goods (fc) and three
barrels of ale to Frey if they could get a fair wind
for Sweden, or to Thor or Odin, if they came back
to Iceland.:]: Tlie purport of this gift we suppose to
be, that there sliould be a banquet held at wliicli
they would drink the promised ale to the honor of
the Gods they called upon. Dm-ing a severe win-
ter in Iceland, the people of Eeykdal held a meet-
ing at the house of the hofgoöi Ljót, on the Tliverd

* Fareyinga S. 23.

t Siior.: 01. Hel. Ö. 118-119.

t 01. Tr. S. 15i, iu Fo. im. S. p. 15.

228 EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

and unanimously agreed to make vows in order to
obtain a better state of -vveatber. Ljót tlionght they
ought to promise gifts to the temple, and to let the
new-born infants be exposed and kill off the old peo-
ple. But Askell, a pious chieftain, raised objections
to this proposition. It would be better, said he, for
them to promise, in honor of the Creator, to give
proj)erty to support the aged and bring ujd the chil-
dren. Askell's humane counsel was also followed.*
Prayers were for the most part connected with the
sacrifices, and it was believed that they must be ut-
tered with great precision and care, wherefore the
people mostly confined themselves to certain formu-
las which were composed by the pi'iests most deeply
initiated into the mysteries of Religion.f When
they wished to pray right zealously, they cast them-
selves down with the face upon the ground before
the image of the God.

Purifications were also among the sacred rítes
of the ITorthmen's worship, as we have seen in the
above reference to the sacred Helgafell in Iceland,
which no person could look upon before he had
washed himself:!: Not only water, but also fire, was
esteemed a means of purification ; hence the custom,
at the sacrificial feasts, of bearing the filled horns
around or between the fires before they emptied
them. Fire was regarded with veneration, and the
people consecrated landed ]3roperty and appro-
priated it to themselves by passing around it with

* Vemundar S. 7, in íslendinga Sögur IT., p. 248.
f The 0. Edda: Hávamál 145-146.
Í Chap. XX.

THE DIVINE SEllYICE OF THE HEATHEN. 229

burning fire, the ceremony being performed by
walking or riding around tlie place against the sun
(andsœlis), i. e.^ from west to east, with a flaming
brand*.

* Hænsnajjóris S. 10; Yiga-GL S. 26; Landnmb. III. 6; V. 1, 3.

11

230 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE WORSHIP OF THE DEAD, AND OF NATURAL OBJECTS.

It was not merely tlie Æsir and the spiritual
beings allied' to tliem that the heathen E'orthmen
made the object of their worship ; we find they also
placed confidence in departed hnman beings as well
as animate or inanimate natural objects, and even
worshiped them.

A few noble and virtuous men, who, during life,
had efí*ected much good in their circle, were some-
times worshiped after death as guardian spirits of
the country or the region in which they had lived
and labored for good. Thus Eang Olaf GuÖröðsson
of Yestfold, who dwelt at Gierstad, was worshiped
after his death by his former subjects ; they sacri-
ficed upon his burial-mound and called him Geir-
staða-álfr, or Geirstad's Spirit.* Of another ISTorth-
man, Grim Kamban, the first settler who made a
permanent residence on the Faroe Islands, it is like-
wise related that " after his death they sacrificed to
him on account of the favor in which he stood."t
It is related of the Swedes that at the time when
Ansgarius proclaimed Christianity in Sweden, they

* f)áttr af Olafi Geirstaía-álfi.
f Landnmb. L H.

THE WORSHIP OF THE DEAD. 231

increased the number of their Gods by admitting
among them — in consequence, it was said, of a reve-
lation from above — one of their departed Kings,
Eirik, to whom they dedicated a temple and in
whose service special priests were appointed.*
Tliese deified spirits of the Dead were doubtless
mostly regarded as a kind of Land-guardians (Land-
vættir).

An idolatry far more gross, according to our ideas,
was practiced by a few, who worshiped and put
their faith in natural objects, sometimes animate and
sometimes inanimate.

We find it mentioned in a few places that living
men were worshij)ed, an idolatry which the Chris-
tians considered the most abominable of all, but
which was certainly of very rare occurrence.

Many traces, however, of the worship of animals
are to be found.

The faith which some placed in horses, has been
already allucled to.f This may be understood when
we remember that the horse was beyond all doubt
an animal sacred to Frey, and therefore may have
been worshiped as the symbol of that God.

The worship of oxen and cows is likewise men-
tioned. The Korse chieftain Ilárek, who lived in
Olaf Tryggvason's time, and dwelt at Rein, was ac-
cused of secretly sacrificing to an unusually large
and strong ox that he owned. + A certain King
Eystein of Upsala, who lived about the time of Rag-

* Rimberius : Vita Ansgarii, cap. 23.

t Chap. XVII.

X jþáttr í)órst. Uxafóts, 13, in Fornm. S. Ill, p. 132.

232 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

nar LóÖbrók and his sons, appears to have had great
faith in a cow which was called Sibilia (the ever-bel-
lowing?). To this cowj says the account, they sacri-
ficed greatly, and no one conld endure to hear her
bellowing. Therefore, the King was accustomed to
let her go in advance of his army, when he marched
forth against his enemies."^ It is related of the Nor-
wegian Fylki-King Augvald, that he made special
sacrifices to a cow which he took with him whither-
soever he went, by sea or by land, and whose milk
he esteemed as a medicine. When he died the cow
was laid in a mound near his own.f Perhaps sacred
cows were symbols of the mythic cow AuÖhumla,
although there are no traces of her worship to be
found.

Small metallic images of both horses and oxen are
found in the heathen burial-mounds in I^orway, and
may without doubt be regarded as relics of the wor-
ship of these animals.

When the Norse chieftain Floki YilgerÖarson
was preparing to set out from Kógaland in search of
Iceland, he set up a great sacrifice at Smörsund, and
sacrificed to three ravens, or consecrated them by
sacrifices, in order that they miglit show him the
way. By their direction, it seems, he found the land
he was seeking for.:j: Flóki's offering, it may be pre-
sumed, was actually to Odin, and for this the birds
of Odin were to show him the way.

With regard to animal-worship aomng the hea-

* Ragnar LóSbr. S. 8.

f Snor. : 01. Tr. S. 71 ; 01. Tr. S. 197 in Fornm. S. II., p. 138.

X Landnmb. I. 2.

THE WOESHIP OF NATURAL OBJECTS. 233

then liTortlimen, it is by no means clear wliat signi-
ficance they attached to it — whether they imagined
a Deity in any manner incarnated in the animal — or
whether they regarded it merely as sacred to a cer-
tain Deity — or finally, whether they imagined it by
any magic spells to be endowed with supernatural
powers. "Without doubt, the worship of animals was
most frequently regarded from one of the two last-
mentioned points of view, and was usually in the
nearest connection with the belief in sorcery.

Of inanimate things we find Mounds, Stones,
Groves, and Waterfalls mentioned as objects of wor-
ship with some individuals.

Sacrifices to Moimds cannot have been of very
rare occurrence ; for in the Christian Code of the
" Older Gula-Thing Laws " they are expressly for-
bidden, along with sacrifices to heathen Gods and
altars. In the somewhat fabulous Saga of Ketii
Ilæng, a mound of Good Seasons (Arhaugr, i. e.^
Mound of Fruitfuhiess) is mentioned, to which the in-
habitants of Gestrekaland (in Sweden) sacrificed, in
order to obtain favorable seasons, and upon which
the snow never lay."^ isTo doubt such sacred mounds
were the graves of men who had been deified after
death, or else they were thought to be the dwelling-
places of the Elves.f

The Icelandic settler Eyvind, son of Loðin Aungul
of Halogaland, is said to have sacrificed to some
stones, called Gunnsteinar, which marked the bound-

* Ketil Hængs S. 5 in Fornald. S. II.
f See Chap. XYIII.

234 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

aries of liis estate in Flatevjardal, in the north Fjórð-
iing of Iceland.* The Icelander Thorstein GuU-
knapp had a stone in his sacrificial house, to which
he sacrificed and before ^rhich he cast himself down
upon the earth when he worshiped it.f Finally, it
is stated that on the estate Giljá in Yatnsdal, in
liorth-Iceland, a large stone was standing, to which
the owner of the estate, KoÖrán Eihfsson and his
kinsfolk, ofiered up sacrifices ; for they said that in
it dwelt their Ar-ma^r (Year-Man, the bestower of
prosperous seasons or fruitfulness). Concerning this
stone, the legend farther says, that it split asunder
when it was sprinkled with holy-water by Bishop
Friörek, who had accompanied Koðrán's son, Tlior-
vald Yiðförla, from Germany to his native island,
in order to preach Christianity there.:]: Some such
Elf or Guardian Spirit as the one last named was
always imagined to dwell in the adored stones.

The Northman Thorir Snepil, who settled in
Fnjoskadal in the ISTorth-FjorOung of Iceland, sacri-
ficed to a grove in the vicinity, from which his
estate was name d.§-

Of the Icelander Thorstein Eauðnef, who was a
great sacrificer and was also far-sighted or clairvoy-
ant, it is related, that he sacrificed to a waterfall
(fos) near his house, into which he caused all rem-
nants to be thrown. On the night of his death, it is
further related, his whole flock of sheep, consisting

* Landnmb. III., 11.

t Hörös S. 37.

X Kristni S. 2 ; compare with 01. Tr. S. 131 in Fornm. S. L

§ Landnmb. III. 17.

THE WORSHIP OF NAITEAL OBJECTS. 235

of more than two thousand, leaped over the water-
fall and were destroyed.* In many parts of Nor-
way the belief is still prevalent that a being, which
is universally called Fosse-Grim, has its abode in the
waterfalls. This superstition is evidently a relic of
the old heathen belief in a similar being, in which
the worship of waterfalls may have originated.

From all that is above quoted on the worship of
inanimate objects among the heathen Xorthmen,
we have every reason to presume that this idolatry
was most intimately connected with the belief in
Elves, and really originated in it.

* Landnmb. V. 6.

236 RELIGIOÍT OF THE NORTHMEN,

CHAPTEK XXIII.

OATHS ; DUELS AND BEESERKSGANG ; ORDEALS OR JUDG-
MENTS OF THE GODS.

As the heathen Northmen considered Judicial
Proceedings in the main to be closelj connected
with EeL'gion, and, so to speak, under the direction
of the Gods, from whom thej imagined all Law and
Justice originally proceeded— so did they also con-
ceive that the Gods, especially in certain legal pro-
ceedings, more immediately made their appearance,
either as witnesses or as judges. Of such proceed-
mgs the Oath and the Duel were the most import-
ant. ^

The Oath (eiðr) was regarded by the heathen
JNorthmen as a most-sacred act. The solemn Oath
was administered in a temple or at the great Assem-
blies (f)ing). He who took the oath called upon
one or more of the Æsir to witness, while he held in
his hand the so-called Altar-ring (stalla-hringr,)
which had been dipped beforehand in the blood of
a sacrificed ox. This Altar-ring was to be of silver,
or of gold when convenient, with the ends unjoined
(motlauss), and should weigh at least two ounces •
there was to be one in every chief-temple, to have
Its place upon the high-altar (stallr); whence its

OATHS. 237

name. When the temj)le-priest (hofgoði) wlio was
also Ruler of the district (heraðs-liöfðíngi), was pres-
ent at the Thing or in the Assemblies where he
had to appear as Judge of the Com-t, he wore the
ring npon his arm in order to have it always at
hand in the possible event of administering an oath.
To swear such an oath was called "to take oath
upon the Altar-ring " (vinna eiÖ at stallahring), or
" to take Temple-oath " (vinna hofseið).'^

In two places in the ancient Sagas — in the Land-
námabók and in Yiga-Glum's Saga — we find a
pretty full exposition of the administration of Oaths
among the heathen Northmen.

In the former, speaking of the heathen laws of
Iceland, it is said that "a ring of two ounces in
weight, or larger, shall lie upon the altar (a stalla)
in every chief-temple ; this ring shall the priest bear
upon his arm at all the assemblies of the people
which he shall preside over (hey a); and he shall
beforehand dip it (rjoöra, properly, redden it) in the
blood of the ox wliicli he himself has sacrificed.
Every man who may have a case to be tried before
the Court (þurfti lögskil af hendi at leysa at dómi),
shall first take oath upon this ring, and name for
himself two or more witnesses : ' I call upon these
men as witnesses,' he shall then say, * That I take
oath upon the ring (at ek vinna eiÖ at baugi), lawful
oath, so help me Prey and Njörö and the Almighty
As (Odin), that I will so prosecute— or defend, or

* Eyrb. S. 4, 16, 44; Kjalnes. S. 2 ; Dropl. Son. S. G; Landnmb.
IV. 17 ; Yiga-Gl. S. 25.
11*

238 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

bear witness in, or judge — this cause in such manner
as I know to be most just and true, and most con-
sistent with the law, and that I will fulfill all lawful
obligations (ok oil lögmæt skil af hendi leysa) con-
cerning the cases which I may have to act upon,
while I am in this Assembly.' "^

Yiga-Glum's Saga relates how the Icelandic
Chieftain Glum Eyjólfsson (Yiga-Glum) took oath
that he had not committed a murder of which he
had been accused. He was sentenced, to take the
oath at three temples in EyjafjörÖ, viz. : at Djúpadal,
at Gnupafell, and at Thverá. "When he had come
with his attendants," it is stated, '' to the temple in
Djupadal, six men entered the temple with Glum,
The man who was to administer the Temple-oath
(vinna hofseiÖ), took in his hand a silver ring, dip-
ped (róðinn, {. e.^ red-colored) in the blood of an ox
that was sacrificed; and this ring did not weigh
less than three ounces. Then Glum began to speak
thus : ' I name Asgrim as a' witness and Gizur as
another witness that I take the Temple oath on the
ring, and declare before God, i. e., Odin (at ek vinn
hofseiÖ at baugi ok segi ek J)at Æsi, i. e., OÖinn),
that I was not present there, and did not commit
murder there, and did not stain point and edge with
blood there, where Thorvald Ki^ok was killed (at
ek vark-at ])ar, ok vák-at far, ok rauÖk-at f)ar odd ok
egg, er |)órvaldr Ej'ókr fékk bana). Give heed
now to the oath, ye who are wise men, and are here
present !' " Tlie form of this oath may serve at the

* Landnmb. IV. 7,

OATHS. 239

same time as an example of the craftiness wbicli was
sometimes employed on such occasions ; for Glum,
who actually had committed the murder, from
which he intended to clear himself on oath, had
craftily arranged his words in so ambiguous a man-
ner that, when critically examined, they contained a
direct confession of the murder. The ambiguity
which lies in the use of the particle at — which as a
suffix in the Old-Xorse signifies both not and at^ or
jpy^esent at — cannot be expressed in the translation.
The witnesses seemed to think the formula which
Glum made use of to be rather unusual, but did not
notice the trick until a more sagacious chieltain
showed them, some time afterward, how they had
been humbugged. Glum's murder case was again
taken up by the Supreme Court (Al-f)ing), and to
escape outlawry he had to give over the half of his
estate to the son of the murdered man, as a
penalty."^

• Tlie former of the above cited oath-formulas was
doubtless used before the Courts of Justice of
heathendom, not only in Iceland but also in Nor-
way, from whence the inhabitants of that island
brought it with them. Frey, Xjörð, and Odin, who
were probably meant by the term Almighty As,
were therefore the Deities generally called to wit-
ness in Oaths ; sometimes, however, the term As or
Odin only was employed, as is seen in the second
formula.

Out of Courts they made use of other oaths, as

* Viga-Gl. S. 25.

240 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

we find the J swore by certain objects wbicli were
looked iipon as boly, or as symbols of something
holy. Such oaths- are named in various places in
the old Eddaic poems : for instance, by the Deck
of the Ship, by the Margin of the Shield, by the
Edge of the Sword, by the Lightning's light Water,
i. e., flash, by the southward declinÍDg Sun, i. e.,
Mid-day Sun, and many such things. When
Yölund wishes to secure his bride, the daughter of
King MÖað, against the molestations of her father,
he exacts of the king an oath that he will not do her
any harm :

"First shalt thou swear me

All the oaths: —
■ By the Ship's deck

And the Shield's margin,

By the Steed's neck

And the Sword's edge, —

That thou torment not «

The wife of Völund,

Nor of my bride

Become the destroyer."*

Sigrún upbraids her brother Dag, for having broken
his oath to her husband Helgi, in the following
words :

" May all the oaths
Recoil upon thee,
Which thou hast sworn
To Helgi,—
By the light waters
Of Leiptur's stream,t

* The 0. Edda: Völundarkviða, 31.

f'Leiptr — lightning — is one of the mythic streams mentioned
in the Edda as flowing out from Hvergelmir, the great source of
all streams. "|)aðan eiga vötn öU vega," " thence the streams all
have their ways."

OATHS ; DUELS. 241

And by the cold stones
Beneath the sea."*

When Guðmn Gjúkaclóttir reminds her husband
Atli of the oaths he has broken toward lier brother
Gunnar, she sajs :

" So may it befall thee, Atli !
As thou held oaths
Oft sworn with Gunnar
And early given; —
By the Sun southward bearing,
By Sigtyr'sf strong mountain,
By the sanctity of the couch
And by Ullur's ring.":}:

How the expressions occurring in these formulas
were to be taken, whether literally or iigurativelj,
it is now impossible to determine.

Sometimes, also, there occurs a formula by which
the swearer wishes himself in the power of evil
beings, or that misfortune may strike him, if he
swear falsely. Thus it is said of King Atli's mes-
senger Yingi :

" Then swore A^ingi
Himself little sparing :
Might the Jötuns take him
If on oath he lied,
And the gallows his body
If he the peace disturbed."§

Duelling was known among the heathen xsorth-

* The 0. Edda: Helgakv. Hundb. 11., 29.
f Sigtyr, the God of Victory, a name of Odin.
X TheO. Edda: Atlakv. 30.
§ TheO. Edda: Alamál 31.

242 RELIGION OF THE NOETHIVIEN.

men by two names : hólmgánga and einvigi, terms
which were sometimes distinguished, but which
were more frequently used indiscriminately.

The hólmgang was so named because it origin-
ally took place on an islet or holm, where the com-
batants could.be more undisturbed and less liable to
be interfered with by others, who might venture to
mingle in their quarrel, or separate them against
their will ; and where the field of battle might have
natural boundaries beyond which neither of the
parties could possibly retreat. Other artificially-
inclosed battle-grounds afterwards took the place of
the holms, but they still retained the name, and
when possible, were laid out upon a small island.
The hólmgang took place after a preliminary chal-
lenge (at skora a holm ; at skora á til hólmgöngu), at
which the time and place were fixed, and at the same
time the ch alien o;er declared his antas^onist, should
he not accept the challenge, to be every man's
Xithing, i. e.^ a man whom every one might scoff
with impunity.

The usages of the holmgang are variously de-
scribed ; no doubt the}^ varied in minor essentials at
different periods, and were probably dependent, in
many particulars, upon the choice of the combat-
ants, especially of the challenger. A few of the
more detailed accounts of such duels, according to
the Sagas, shall here be given.

The Icelander Egil Skallagrimsson, while on a
journey through Korway in the time of Hákon Aðal-
steinsfostri, came to the estate of Blindheim on the
island HauÖ, where a young parish overseer, Frið-

DUELS. 243

geir, dwelt with liis mother Gvöa. lie found a
friendly reception with them and stayed in Blind-
heim several days. During this time he noticed that
a great affliction rested upon the whole household,
but especially upon Friðgeir's sister ; yet it was not
until he was on the eve of departure that Gyða re-
vealed to him the cause of this sadness. A man
with the name of Ljot the Pale, a universally-hated
Berserk and duellist (liólmgaungu-maÖr), had sued
for the daughter, and having been rejected, he had
challenged Friðgeir to a holmgang. On the follow-
ing day they were to meet (ganga á holm) on the
island Yorl, and GyÖa now begged of Egil, who was
an expert swordsman, that he would accompany her
son thither. Egil promised to do so, and remained
that day at Blindheim. " In the evening came the
friends of Friðgeir who had resolved to bear him
company ; there were many men assembled during
the night, and a great banquet. But on the day
after, FriÖgeir made ready for the journey, and many
men with him ; Egil was in his train. It was good
weather for traveling. They set off and arrived at
the island. At the place of meeting there was a
broad embankment stretching along at a short dis-
tance from the sea ; upon this the holm-stead was
marked ofí", with stones laid in a circle round about
it. Xow Ljot came along with his folk and made
ready for battle; he had both sword and shield.
Ljot was a very large and strong man, and as
he w^as w^alking forth along the embankment to
the place of combat, the Berserksgang came sud-
denly upon him ; he began to yell horribly and bite
his shield. Friðgeir was not large ; he was si en

244 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

and of beautiful countenance, but not strong;
neither had he at any time taken part in a fight.
When Egil saw Ljot, he sung a verse in which he
said that the battle would not go off well for Friö-
geir ; he himself would meet the terrible champion
who, biting in his shield's edge, called upon the
Gods.^ Ljot saw Egil and heard his words. ' Come
up hither to the holm, thou great man !' said he,
' and fight with me, if thou hast such a great de-
sire to do so. That will be much better than for me
to fight with Friðgeir ; for I shall not add to my
glory by laying him upon the ground.' Egil answered
in a verse that he accepted the challenge. There-
upon Egil made ready for a holmgang with Ljot.
He had the shield which he was wont to bear, and
in his belt was the sword which he called Xaðra
(Yiper) ; Dragvandil — the sword he generally used
— he had in his hand. He went in over the marks
which bounded the j)lace of combat ; but Ljot was
not yet ready. Egil brandished his sword and sung
a verse in wliich he threatened his antagonist. Then
comes Ljot forth upon the battle ground and pro-
nounces the holmgang laws, ' that he shall forever
bear the name of Nithing who retreats beyond the
boundary stones which are set up in a ring aromid
the holmgang.' Then they ran in upon each other,
and Egil hewed at Ljot, but the latter warded oft'
with his shield. Egil struck now one blow after an-
other, so that Ljot could not make a single stroke in
defense. He moved backward in order to get

* The magic songs which were to protect the champion in battle,
were sung under the shield, by setting the mouth to its edge, per-
haps to make the sound louder. See 0. Edda : Hávamál, 15*7.

DUELS. 24:5

sword-room ; but Egil was just as quickly after him
and was not sparing in his blows. In this manner
Ljot passed out over the boundary stones and far
along the embankment. Thus the first round was
ended and Ljot demanded rest. Egil let it be so ;
they stood still and rested a Tvhile. It was a law of
the hóhngang, at that time, that when one party de-
manded anything of the other and conquered, he
should have as reward of victory (sigrmal), whatever
he had demanded; but should he be overcome, he
was to acquit himself with so much property as
might be agreed upon ; and if he fell on the holm,
then all his possessions were forfeited, and the one
who slew him was to inherit after him. Egil now
caused Ljot to make ready : ' I wish we may now
put an end to this holmgang !' Ljot sprang hastily
up. Egil ran up to him, hewed at him straightway,
and came so near his life that he gave way and ex-
posed himself, for his shield slipped from him.
Then Egil hewed at Ljot ; the blow struck him above
the knee and took off his foot. Ljot fell and died
immediately. His death was but little mourned, for
he had been a most turbulent man. He was a
Swede by birth, and had no kinsmen in íí'orway.
He had come thither and had accumulated property
by holmgang, as he had slain many good citizens to
whom he had given the choice between holmgang
and a relinquishment of their lands and allodial pos-
sessions. He had in this manner become very
wealthy, both in lands and movables.""^

* Egil's S. 67.

246 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

Egil Skallagrimsson had at the same time an in-
heritance to claim in Norway, which a certain Atli
the Short held in possession by an unjust decree of
King Eirik Blood-axe. As Eirik was now banished
from the country, Egil thought that he might p^-
haps be able to establish his claims ; he accordingly
repaired to Ask, the residence of Atli, on Fenring
island near Hörðaland, in order to claim his inherit-
ance. Atli refused to pay up, but accepted EgiFs
summons to appear at the Gula Thing to have the
case decided. They both accordingly made their
aj)pearance at the Thing. Egil claimed his inherit-
ance before the Tribunal ; but Atli proffered Tylft-
ar-eiö, or the Oath of twelve men, that he had no
property whatever in his care, belonging to Egil.
" When Atli came before the court (domr) with the
men who were to take oath for him, Egil appeared
against him and said that he would not accept Atli's
oaths for his (Egil's) property. ^I will offer thee
another law, this, namely, that we shall go to holm
here at the Thing^ and he who conquers shall have
this property.' This proposition of Egil's was
according to law and ancient usage, i. 0., that every
man had the right to challenge another to a holm-
gang, either in prosecution or defense of his cause.
Atli said he would not object to a holmgang with
Egil. They then took each other by the hand and
came to a mutual agreement that they would fight
(gánga a holm), and that the victor should take pos-
session of the disputed lands. Thereupon they
armed themselves for the holmgang. Egil went
forth with helmet upon his head, a shield before him

DUELS. 247

and a spear (kesja) in hand ; but the sword Drag-
vandil he had firmly secured in his right hand. It
was a custom of the holmgang-men to equip them-
selves so that they had no occasion to draw their
swords upon the holm, but could have the sword in
hand always ready for use. Atli was armed in the
same manner. He was accustomed to the holm-
gang, and was besides a strong man and very bold.
A large and old ox was then led forth ; this was
called blótnaut, i. e.^ Ox of Sacrifice, and the victor
was to kill it (liöggva). Sometimes there was one
ox, sometimes each of the combatants led out his
own. When they were equipped and all was ready,
they rushed forth upon each other and first threw
their spears, but neither of them pierced the shield ;
they were both left sticking in the ground. They
then seized their swords ; they closed in upon each
other and exchanged blows. They hewed thick and
heavy, and soon the shields became useless. As
Atli's shield became much injured, he cast it away,
seized his sword with both hands and hewed briskly.
Egil struck him over the shoulders, but the sword
did not cut; he gave the second and the third
stroke, and it was easy for him to get a stroke at
Atli ; for Atli had not any defense. But although
Egil swung his sword with might and main, still it
did not cut, with all that he hewed. Egil now saw
that all this was of no use, for his own shield was
beginning to give way. So he let go sword and
shield, ran in upon Atli and seized liim with his
hands. Xow all could see which of them was
strongest. Atli was thrown upon his back ; but

248 KELTGION OF THE NOKTHMEN.

Egil cast himself fiercely down upon him and bit his
throat asunder. Thus did Atli give up his life.
Egil sprang up immediately and rushed to the place
where the sacrificial ox was standing, seized with
one hand the chops, and with the other the horn,
and wrested it around so violently that the feet of
the animal came up into the air and its neck was
broken. Then Egil took possession of all the lands
about which the quarrel had been."^

It appears, however, that the holmgang w^as
mostly attended with a great many more circum-
stances than those above described.

The Icelandic Skald Kormak Ögmundsson, was
embittered against his fellow-countryman Bersi —
commonly called IIolmgang-Bersi — because the lat-
ter had married Steingerða, a woman whom Kormak
loved. He therefore challenged Bersi to a holm-
gang in a fortnight upon Leiðholm. When the
appointed time was come they rode to the place of
meeting, each with fifteen men. Many others had
also assembled to see the fight. " IsTow they took a
felld (a kind of large cloak) and sj)read out under
the feet of Kormak and Bersi. Bersi said, ' Thou
hast challenged me to a holmgang, Kormak ! but •!
offer thee single combat (einvigi). Thou art a young
and inexperienced man ; the holmgang is attended
with difiiculties, but the single combat is by no
means!' Kormak said, 'I do not fight better in
single combat; I will try the holmgang, and in
everything measure myself with thee.' ' Have thy

* Eo:il's S. 68.

DUELS. 249

own way then !' said Bersi. It was a law of the holm-
gang (hólmgöngn-lög) that the felkl should be five
ells between the skirts, with holes in the corners ; in
these holes thej were to set wooden pins (bælar)
with heads upon them, called tjösnur. The man
who made the 2:>reparations was to go to the tjösnnr
in such a manner that he could see the sky between
his legs, and to hold his ear-lobes while he repeated
a prayer (formáli) — which was afterwards adopted
in the sacrificial ceremony called tjösnu-blót. There
should be three terraces (reitar) made around the
felld, each a foot broad, and outside of them, four
stakes. These were called höslur (hesli-stengur,
hazel stakes), and the arena was said to be hazelled
(fjar er völlr haslaðr) when thus prepared. Each
combatant shall have three shields, and when these
are worn out they shall step in upon the felld, in
case they have pressed off from it before. After this
they shall defend tliemselves with their (offensive)
weapons only. lie who has been challenged shall
have the first stroke. Should either be wounded so
that blood falls upon the felld, then there is no obli-
gation to fight longer. Should either step with one
foot beyond the höslnr, in technical language he
gives loay (ferr ban a hæl, lit. takes to his heels), but
if with both, he flies (rennr). A man shall bold a
shield before each of the combatants. lie who is
most severely wounded shall pay as holm-fine
(hólmlausn) three marks of silver. Thorgils held the
shield for his brother Kormak, and Thord Arndisson
for Bersi. Bersi struck first and clove Kormak's
shield ; the latter repaid Bersi in the same manner,

250 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEK".

and thus they hewed three shields to pieces for each
other. Then it was Kormak's turn to strike. He
struck at Bersi, but the latter defended himself with
his sword Hvítíng. Sköfnung (Kormak's sword) took
off the point of Hvítíng, but the point sprung against
Kormak's hand and wounded him slightly on the
thumb, so that the joint opened and let blood fall
upon the felld. Thereupon the seconds stepped in
between and would not allow them to fio^ht longer.
Then said Kormak, 'This is a trifling victory that
Bersi lias gained by my mishap, though we be now
separated.' Bersi demanded the holm- fine, and
Kormak promised that it should be paid."*

It is easily seen in the foregoing descrij^tions, that
there was a great difference in the holmgangs, the
two first-mentioned being quite simjile, and the lat-
ter one being attended with more difficulties. We
gee also in the latter that there was a distinction
made between the einvigi and the hólmgánga, and
that it was the duels of the latter sort that were
attended with such complicated difiSculties.

The Einvigi being the simplest, was probably also
the oldest form of single combat. It was gradually
made more and more complicated, so that the com-
batants might have better opportunities for display-
ing their strength and skill. The duel, however,
appears to have been always called Hólmgánga,
when it was resorted to for justice, whether it was of
the simpler or more complex kind. Therefore, the
two forementioned holmgangs, taken from Egil's

* Kormalvs S. 9-10,

DUELS. 251

Saga, may be considered to a2:)proacli more nearly
the einvigi.

The peculiarities of the einvigi, in its more
limited sense, were doubtless these : that the space
allotted to the combatants for action was not so
limited, that they had liberty to use more kinds of
weapons than the sword alone, and that they held
their own shields. But the peculiarities of the com-
plicated holmgang were : that the combat should
take place upon a Felld or a kind of mantle, that
the combatants were allowed to use three shields
apiece, and in general did not themselves bear
them, but each one had one of his friends to hold
the shield before him, who was thence called his
Shield-bearer (skjaldsveinn), that they fought with
swords only and those of a certain length, and that
they regularly exchanged blows.

Both kinds of duel, when resorted to for justice,
were regulated by certain laws, which were recited
by the challenger before the fight began ; both con-
veyed the right of the challenged to strike the first
blow, and to appoint a man in his stead, if he him-
self should feel any hesitation to meet his antag-
onist ; both were accompanied with the sacrifice of
one or two oxen, which the victor butchered ; and
finally, the holm-fine or ransom of the vanquished
for a certain sum fixed beforehand (three marks of
silver, or more), appears to have been common to
both. Sometimes the challenger, when the duel
was to decide the possession of property, in order to
show his disinterestedness, would stake as much
value in money as was risked by the party against
whom he made his claims.

252 RELIGION' OF THE NORTHMEN.

It maj, doubtless, be considered to have been a
departure from tlie usual custom when sometimes
each of the combatants stood upon his own félld^
beyond which he was not to move so much as a
finger's breadth ; or when one fought against
several, one after the other, in the same engage-
ment.

Another kind of holmgang, or duel, was the so-
called kergánga, in which the contending parties
were inclosed in a covered tub or vessel, and there
in the dark exchanged cuts or thrusts, while thej
fended with batons which they held in one hand.
This combat is only found described in a single
place in the Sagas, and may, therefore, be regarded
as having been of rare occurrence. The account is
as follows :

'' When the Icelander Thorgils, called Orrabein's
Step-son, came on mercantile business to Upland in
SviÖ|)jóÖ (Sweden), he remained during the winter
with a rich countryman named Tbrand, who had a
daughter Sigrid. To her a certain Eandvid, an evil-
disposed fellow, but a great warrior, had paid his
addresses. Thrand refused his consent to the mar-
riage. Thereupon Handvid challenged Thrand to a
kind of holmgang called kergánga, in wliich the
parties shall fight in a covered vessel, having each
a club in his hand. Thrand would rather fight
than give his daughter to so wicked a man.
Then said Thorgils to him, '■ Thou hast entertained
me hospitably, I will reward thee accordingly; I
will fight witli Eandvid in tliy stead.' Thrand
accepted his ofier. Thrand Jiad tlie sword JarÖhús-

BEESERKSGANG. 253

naut (a sword which he had found in a subter-
ranean passage); Eandvid had a very slender
baton, an ell in length, in his hand. When -all was
ready, tbe tub was covered. Eandvid told Tliorgils
to thrust the first, for he was the challenged. He
did so, struck the baton so that it broke in pieces,
and wounded Eandvid in the abdomen. The latter
then said, 'Give me now the sword, but do thou
have the baton, then shall I stab thee with the
sword.' «]\Ietliinks now,' said Tliorgils, 'that
there is not any baton.' Soon afterward Eandvid
died. He had relied upon his sorcery ; for he had
killed many a man in this kind of Holmgang."*

The Kergánga has something in common with
the Belt-clasjnng (Beltespænden), still common in
modern times among the peasants in some of the
mountain districts of JSTorway, in which the two
contending parties are inclosed within a large belt
constructed for that purpose, and thrust at each
other with large pocket-knives.. Of this kind of
duel there are scarcely any traces to be found in
the ancient Sagas.

There were men in heathen times, as has been
already alluded to in the above-quoted accounts,
who made the holmgang a means of gaining a sub-
sistence, and even a source of wealth ; such were
especially the so-called Berserks (Berserkr, 7;Zi^r.
Berserkir), of whom it may be proper here to speak
more at length.

The name of Berserkir was given to certain men
who sometii;ies, especially in the heat of battle,

* Flóamanna S. 14.
12

254: RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

were carried away by a wild frenzy whicli for the
moment redoubled their strength and rendered
them insensible to bodily pain, but at the same
time deadened all humanity and reason in them,
and made them like furious wild-beasts. In this
condition, according to the ancient descriptions,
they distorted their countenances hideously and
changed color, now pale, now blue, and the hair
stood up on their heads; they raved like dogs or
wolves, and were as strong as bears or bulls ; they
howled like wild-beasts, bit the edge of their
shields, and hewed down everything that met them,
often without distinguishing between friend and foe,
not even sparing their own children or nearest
kindred, if these hapj^ened to come in their way.
ISTeither fire nor steel, it was believed, could then
take effect on them ; with terror people saw them
wade through fire or cast themselves upon naked
weapons as if in pastime. In battle they went forth
unharnessed, clad in the bare serlc or shirt, whence
probably their name was derived. This mad fury
of theirs was called Berserksgang, and seems to
have been regarded by the zealous Asa-worshipers
as an inspiration from the War-God Odin. The
Berserksgang, however, not only made its appear-
ance in time of battle, but often also during severe
labors, when the men who were transported by it
accomplished things which otherwise seemed im-
practicable for human power. It was mostly
called forth when the passion of the Berserk, and
more especially his anger, was awakened. When
the Berserksgang had spent its fury, there followed

a great stupor and weakness, which often lasted
many days.

In some, who in other respects were peaceable
men, the Berserksgang was an actual disease, that
came upon them at certain times without any
known cause. It is said to have begun with a tremb-
ling, a chattering of the teeth, and a coldness of the
body, followed by a great heat, which finally passed
over into a perfect frenzy, during which the patient
showed no mercy to anything whatever that came
near him. When the disease left him, he again
became as peaceable as before. Thus it is said of
of the Icelander Thrymketill '4hat there was a
great defect in his mind, and some looked upon it
as a disease. It came over him every fortnight ; a
trembling seized upon his body so that every tooth
in his head chattered, although his friends sought
for him every alleviation possible. After this
trembling and coldness followed a great heat ; he
then spared nothing about him, neither wall, stick,
staflP, nor man ; even if there was a fire in his way
he would go right through it. He tore off the
table-covers and the door-casings from the house,
whenever he could get at them. But when the
frenzy left him he was again gentle and peace-
able."* It is no wonder that in such cases the
Berserksgang was considered a great defect ; we
find even that those who were possessed by it made
vows to the Gods for the sake of being delivered
from the plague.

* Dropl. ^OD, B, 3.

256 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

The Berserks had another name given them by
oiir forefathers, viz.: hamramir menn, and their
madness was at hamast. These expressions denote
the idea of the ancients concerning the natnre of
the Berserksgang. The Old-Xorse word hamr sig-
nifies external form, disguise or semblance. Some-
times it was also used to denote the animal-fjlgia or
attendant spirit, which was believed to accompany
every hnman being invisibly, as a kind of inferior
guardian spirit.* The animal-fylgia (dýr-fylgja), as
before said, expressed, in a certain manner, the
character of the person whom it attended. Cruel,
passionate men were thus believed to have ferocious
wild-beasts as their fylgias. When their passion
overpowered them to such a degree that it made
them raving and deprived them of the use of reason,
it was believed that the beast stepped up in the
place of the man, that it entered the outward form
of the man but acted with its own peculiar strength
and unruliness. It was, therefore, said of one thus
possessed by the Berserksgang, that he was not
single or one-formed (ekki einhamr), i. e.^ that
another, stronger being acted in his human form.
The superstition in this matter sometimes went even
so far that they believed the man, in the moment
of madness, to assume the outward form of the
animal, as well as its internal nature and its
strength.

Warlike chieftains endeavored to attract the
Berserks to their armies, in order to render them-

^ Cliap. 18.

BEESERKSGANG. 257

selves so much the more irresistible and the more
terrible to their enemies. Thus Harald Hárfagri is
said to have had Berserks in his service, which were
called Wolf-hides (úlfheðnar), because they wore
wolf-skins over their armor. Their station was in
the prow of the King's ship, as it was most exposed, in
time of battle, to the attacks of the enemy. The
Berserks could in this way become useful to those
chieftains who had men enough to keep them in
check when the Berserksgang came over them un-
timely. But to the masses the Berserks were a
terror, and they availed themselves of the fear
which they inspired — and which they naturally
strove to augment by strengthening the superstition
of their invulnerability — in order to bring into their
power whatever they might wish to gain from the
weaker. A challenge to holmgang, for instance,
was ever ready on the part of the Berserk when his
shameless demands of property or of women were
repulsed, and his wild frenzy, joined to his skill in
the accomplishments requisite in a duel, secured to
him in most cases a favorable issue of the battle.
Those who in this way made of the holmgang a
means of gain, were usually called holmgang-men
(hólmgöngu-menn) ; their number was not inconsid-
erable in heathen times, and they were a real
plague to the peaceable countrymen, whom they
took pleasure in tormenting on all occasions.

Although the holmgang degenerated in this man-
ner into a tool of the basest selfishness, revenge, and
wickedness, there is, at the same, time no doubt that
it was originally a religious custom, in which the

268 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

fundamental idea was, that the Gods would make
manifest by the issue of the battle which of the con-
tending parties had justice on his side. Therefore
it was, even after its religious significance had be-
come a matter of secondary importance, frequently
attended with sacrifices, prayers, and other religious
performances. The holmgang was thus in effect a
judgment of the Gods, intimately connected with
the Asa-faith, and among the Northmen it disap-
peared with that faith, at least as a judicial act,
although among many kindred nations, especially
among the Germans, the duel passed over from the
heathen into the Christian code. In íí'orway it was
the Christian Jarls Eirik and Sveinn Hákonssons
who abolished the holmgang while Christianity was
yet far from being generally introduced into the
country (A. D. 1000-1014), while they at the same
time established the penalty of outlawry against the
hólmgang-men and Berserks who aggrieved the
citizens.* In Iceland, where Christianity became
the established religion by a decree of the people in
the Al-Thing^ A. D. 1000, the holmgang was soon
afterward abolished by the popular voice, in conse-
quence of a duel of this kind between two Icelandic
youths of distinction, the skalds Gunnlaug Orms-
túnga and Skald-Kafn. The issue of the battle be-
tween them being indecisive, and the combatants
wishing to renew it, their influential kinsmen inter-
fered and obtained the prohibition of all holmgangs
by law.f

* Grettis S. 21.

f Gunnlaugs OrmstÚDga S. 11.

ORDEALS. 259

Another judicial proceeding of the heathen North-
men, which was regarded still more expressly as a
judgment of the Gods, though it is much less fre-
quently mentioned that the holmgang, was the cus-
tom of going under a strip of earth (ganga undir
jarðarmen) in order to clear one's-self from accusa-
tions, to prove the justice. of his claims or the truth
of his assertions. This custom is called skirsla in the
Old-Norse — a name which signifies a purification
or setting free from accusations, and which was
probably common to all similar customs. We find
a description of it in the Laxdæla Saga. " It was a
mode of setting oneVself free from accusations in
those times, for him to go under a strip of earth (|)at
var skirsla at ganga skyldi undir jarðarmen) — a
strip of green-sward being thrown up in such a man-
ner that the ends only rested upon the ground, while
he wdio was to clear himself from unfounded accus-
ations (sá maÖr er skírsluna skyldi fram flytja) had
to pass under it. The heathens considered it no less
a case of conscience, when they had to pass through
this ceremony, than the Christians now esteem it
when similar modes of purification (skirslur) are ap-
plied— as for instance, the ordeal of hot-iron (járn-
burÖr). lie who passed under the strip of earth was
acquitted if the turf did not fall upon him." The
narration in the above-mentioned Saga, shows also
how much the heathens feared to submit to this
means of deliverance when they were not quite cer-
tain themselves of the justice of their cause. The
account is as follows : — A certain Icelander of dis-
tinction, Thorstein Surt, being by an unlucky acci-

260 KELIGION OF THE NÖETHMEN.

dent drowned, witli his family, the question arose
how his inheritance should he divided among his
relatives. A certain Thorkel Trefill, whose wife
Gudrid was a near relative of Thorstein, and had
besides a sister among the drowned, wished to get
the whole inheritance. He therefore bribed the
only survivor of the shipwreck, a certain Gudmund,
to declare that the persons drowned had died in such
an order that Gudrid's sistir, who died last, became
the heir of all the rest. Then after her death the
whole inheritance should fall to Gudrid. But Gud-
mund had related the circumstances differently be-
fore he had been bribed by Thorkel, and this being
rumored abroad, awakened some doubt in the minds
of the other heirs, as to the legality of Thorkel's
claim. They therefore demanded that Gudmund
should be subjected to the above-mentioned test in
order to confirm the truth of his later assertion.
The test was accordingly decided upon. But as
Thorkel was conscious that the whole affair did not
hang rightly together, and consequently feared an
unfavorable issue of the test, he persuaded two men
to make a pretense of falling out in a quarrel at the
moment that Gudmund was creeping under the turf,
and to throw each other across it in such a way that
the bystanders could plainly see that it fell by their
fault. The plan was carried out successfully. Just
as Gudmund had come under the strip of green-turf
the preconcerted quarrel began, and both the com-
batants fell over the turf, which naturally tumbled
down u^Don Gudmund. Tliorkel now called upon
the bystanders to give their opinion of the test, and

ORDEALS. 261

they, being mostly liis friends, declared with one
voice that it would have turned out favorable if it
had not been disturbed. It was decided accordingly
and Thorkel took possession of the inheritance."^

This ceremony was sometimes accompanied with
the taking of oaths, as was the case, for instance,
when two or more persons swore fellowship (fóstbræð-
ra-lag) with each other. On this occasion they
sometimes passed und *r three such strips of turf.f
This ceremony was also employed as a symbol of
humility, in which case the first strip was to be
raised as high as the shoulders, the second should
Veach the hips, the third as high as the middle of the
thighs.

Another kind of heathen ordeal may here be
mentioned in conclusion, which is spoken of in. a
few places in the ancient Eddaic poems, namely, the
ceremony of clearing one's-self from an accusation
by taking up stones out of a boiling cauldron with
the bare hand, without injuring the hand. It is re-
lated of King Atli's Queen, Guðrún, that when she
was accused of illicit intercourse with one King
Thjodrek, a guest at Atli's court, she desired to
prove her innocence by the means here spoken of.
The ordeal was performed with great solemnities.
The seething cauldron was consecrated by a certain
King who was skilled in such things, who had been
sent for on the occasion, and seven hundred of King
Atli's men were present in the hall where the ordeal

* Laxd. S. 18.
f Fostbr. S. 1. .
12*

262 RELIGION OP THE NORTHMEN.

took place. GuÖriin took up the stones from the
bottom of the boiling cauldron with unscathed hand,
and was acquitted. But Herkja, Atli's mistress who
had accused the Queen, burned her hand when she
was subjected to the same ordeal, and in punishment
for her falsehood was cast into a pool and drowned.^
This whole aiiair, however, if indeed there be any-
thing historical in the account, took j)lace among
the German tribes. The or?leal may therefore hav^
been in use among them in heathen times, and
through them become known to the ISTorthmen,
without having been employed by them. 'Not until
Christian times do we find with certainty that the
Northmen adopted this ordeal (ketilfang, or ketil-
tak),t which among the Germans was, like many
similar customs, carried over from heathendom to
Christianity.

* The O. Edda: GuSrúnarkv. III.

f Eiðsiva Thing's Chr. Laws, 42 & Norw. Anc. Laws, I., p. 389,
(fee.

SOBCERY. 263

CHAPTER XXiy.

SOECERY.

The belief in sorcery (fjölkyngi, gorningar)* was
uniyersal among the heathen ISTorthmen, and it had
its origin in the doctrine itself, which represents the
magic arts as an invention of the Asa-Gods.

They made a distinction between two kinds of
magic, viz., galldr and seiðr.

The name galldr may be derived from gala, to
sing, and thus denoted a kind of sorcery that was
performed by magic songs (gala or kveða galldra).
Its origin and dissemination was attributed to the
Æsir, and especially to Odin, who therefore was
also called galldrs föður — the father of magic incan-
tations. The men who cultivated this art were
called galldra-smiðir or galldra-menn. The Eunes
occupied in this kind of sorcery an important place
as magic characters, and it appears that the magi-

* Fjölkyngi and fjölkunnigr — from fjöld, a multitude, fjöl, much,
many {Germ, viel), and kunna, to be able, to know- — signify multi-
farious knowledge, and much-knowing, and henoe, magic, skilled
in magic. Görningar {sing, görningr) from göra, to do, to make,
properly denotes actions, performances ; wheiioe, magio arts ;
witchcraft.

264 . RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

cian, while singing his incantations, mostly marked
or scored certain runic characters corresponding to
the effects which were desired from his sorcery.
Often the magic songs or incantations themselves
were called runes (runar). It was believed that by
such incantations they could protect themselves
against arms, undo chains, heal wounds and cure
diseases, extinguish fire and settle storms, gain
woman's love and wake up the dead in order to
learn of them the future."^ In the Older Edda there
are several poems which allude to these things,
though often in a manner rather obscure to us, and
they even contain powerful incantations of this kind,
as well as instructions concerning the magic use of
Eunes ; for instance, in the Eúnatals-fáttr Oðins
(Odin's Kunic Lay) which forms the conclusion of
the Hávamál (Sublime Discourse), Gróugalldr
(Groa's Incantation), Sigrdrífumál (Sigurdrifa's
Song), &c. In the latter especially there is reckoned
up a whole lot of magic runes, such as runes of Vic-
tory (sigrrunar) to be cut upon the sword for victory ;
Ale-runes (ölrúnar) to be carved upon the drinking
horn, or marked upon the back of the hand and on
the nails, in order to gain woman's love ; Safety or
Protection runes (bjargrunar) to be marked inéide of
the hand of those who render assistance at the birth
of children; Surf-runes (brimnmar) to be carved
upon the ship's prow and rudder as a protection
against the raging of the sea ; Limb-runes (limrunar)

* These incantations -were called valgalldr, probably because
they were chiefly used in calling up those fallen in battle (valr).

SOKCERY. 265

to be made on bark or wood to insure a speedy and
favorable cure ; Speech-runes (málrúnar), which
were to confer eloquence at the assemblies ; Sense-
runes (hugrúnar) which were to give understanding.
The poem clearly shows that these runes denoted in-
cantations by means of magic songs and the inscrib-
ing of magic characters. A story from Egil's Saga
may show what great faith the people had in the
power of these formulas and magic signs. Queen
Gunhilda wished to do harm to Egil at a banquet,
and for this purpose caused poisoned ale to be
offered to him. But Egil, who was suspicious of the
drink, scored runes upon the horn, then pricked the
inside of his hand with his knife and marked the runes
with blood, whereupon the horn bursted and the
drink fell on the floor. - It was, however, necessary
to be very careful in the application of tliese magic
spells, for in the hands of a bungler who knew not
how to apply them properly, it was thought they
might become very dangerous. This appears in an-
other place in the same Saga. When Egil was on a
journey in Xorway, it is there related, he met with
a countryman's daughter who was lying very sick.
Her parents said they had applied to a country lad
of the neighborhood for help, and he had carved
runes in order to cure her, but she had only become
worse with them. Egil examined the bed in which
she lay, and found under the head a piece of whale-
bone with runes engraved upon it. He read them and
found that they were incorrect, lie scraped them

* Eg. S. 44.

266 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

off, burned tlie scrapings in the fire and engraved
new runes, which he laid under her pillow. Imme-
diately the girl awoke as if from a sleep, and
recovered her health.* A knowledge of incanta-
tions and runes was not, as a general thing in
heathen times, held to be in any way ignoble, when
not applied to ignoble objects.

The term seiör, sometimes written seyör, appears
to be cognate with sjóða, to seethe, to boil, and in
this case would signify witchcraft, or sorcery which
was performed by the boiling of certain objects to
which superstition had imputed magic powers.
What these things were, is now no longer known ;
this was very naturally a secret of the initiated. In
the performance of witchcraft (at síÖa, efla seið)
there were a great many circumstances to be
attended to. It was mostly done at night, and those
who practiced it sat during the magic performances
upon a raised platform called the witches' seat (seið-
hjallr). The performance was also connected with a
magic song or incantation, and the melody of this
song was beautiful to hear. In the Laxdæla Saga
a magic performance of this kind is described. The
Icelandic chieftain Hrut líerjúlfsson was on un-
friendly terms with his kinsman Thorleik Ilöskulds-
son. The latter wished to do some injury to Ilrut,
and for that purpose employed his hireling Kotkel
and Grima his wife, both of whom were well skilled
in magic. " Kotkel and Grima went in the night to
Hriit's house and established a great seiÖr. When

* Eg. Ö. 75.

SOECERY. 267

the enchanting song (seiölætin) began, the people in
the house conld not imagine what it meant ; but
the song was beautiful to hear. Hrút alone knew
the song ; he forbade every one to look out of the
house during the night, and bade all to keep awake
as well as they could, then no one could be harmed
by it. ISTevertheless they all slept ; Hrut remained
awake the longest, but he, too, fell asleep at last.
Hrut's son Kári, who was then twelve years old, was
the most promising of his children and well beloved
by the father. The sorcery was directed upon him ;
he, therefore, could not sleep soundly, but became
more and more restless. Finally he sprang up and
looked out ; he drew near the place of the enchant-
ment and fell down dead." Hnit afterward avenged
his son's death by causing Kotkel and Grima to be
stoned.*

By means of these enchantments called seiÖ, it
was believed that the sorcerer could call up storms
and all manner of injuries, transform himself into
the likeness of animals, and enable himself to fore-
tell coming events. This art appears to have been
mostly employed for doing injury, and was con-
sidered a far more ignoble art than the incantations
(galldr). Its origin was ascribed to the Goddess
Freyja, and it appears to have been mostly practiced
by women, who were called witches (seiðkona, plur,
seiÖkonur). The great abhorrence whicli many,
even in heathen times, had for this kind of sorcery,
is seen in King Ilarald Ilárfagri's proceedjng3

* Laxd. S, 37.

268 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN,

against his own son Eagnvald Kettilbein, whom he
put to death because he meddled with this kind of
witchcraft.^

There are many kinds of sorcery mentioned in the
ancient Sagas without being expressly classed under
either of the above-named principal heads, but
which, doubtless, were in some way connected with
them more or less remotely. The most important
of them shall here be cited.

Jugglery (sjonhverfingar, from sjon, sights and
hverfa, to turn) was performed by blinding the eyes
of the people with magic arts, so that certain objects
appeared to them totally different from what they
really were. This kind of sorcery is often spoken of
in the ancient Sagas as being employed by magicians
when they wished to conceal any person from hostile
pursuit, or to frighten his enemies. In such cases
the pursuers saw, as it is stated, an animal, a coflSn,
or some other animate or inanimate object, in the
very place where the person was whom they were
looking for, while on the other hand they fancied
they saw troops of armed men coming to aid the one
they pursued, where there was nothing in reality
but a herd of cows or sheep. The magician was also
believed to have power to blind others in the same
manner with regard to himself. But if the pursuers
either broke the inanimate thing in pieces or killed
the animal, under whose form they saw the real ob-
ject, then their vision cleared up and they saw the
person in his true form lying dead. Certain people,

* Snor.: Har. Hárf. S. 36.

SORCERY. 269

however, were believed to possess such strong
natural powers that their eyes remained unblinded
by this kind of sorcery.*

Intimately connected with the above, was the
power, often mentioned in the Sagas, of becoming
invisible, through which the magician by his arts
could make himself or any one else that he chose
become totally invisible. He was then said to
"make a hiding-helmet" (gera huliðs-hjálm) for
himself or others. This kind of invisibility is some-
times described as being produced by a sort of dust,
of the appearance of ashes, which the magician
scattered over and about those whom he wished to
conceal.

The belief in actual transformations, especially
into the forms of animals, was also universal. Such
transformations could either be brought upon others
to their injury — as, for instance, it is related of the
magic-skilled Queen Hvita, that in hatred to her
step-son who had rejected her love, she changed him
into a bear by the stroke of a wolf-skin glovef — or
they could be assumed by the magician himself, in
order that in his enchanted form he might pass more
easily and quickly to distant places. This latter
sort of transformation occurs most frequently in the
Sagas, and the journey by this mode was designated
hamför; gandreið, or, at renna göndum4 On such

* Hörös S., Eyrb. S. et al.

f Hrolfs Kraka S. 20.

X Hamför— from hamr, outward form— denotes a journey iu an
assumed form. Gandr, a wolf, a dragon, and especially, a demon-
animal ; gandreiö, the ride upon such animals, and renna göndum,
to travel upon them.

270 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

occasions the human body was believed to lie as if
dead or in an enchanted sleep, while the soul, in-
closed in the form of a whale, a seal, a falcon, or
any other animal that might be found best adapted
to the object of its magic journey, roamed abroad in
other places. It was then necessary to be careful
not to speak the sorcerer's name nor wake up the
sleeping body, for by doing so the whole charm was
destroyed and the spirit was compelled to turn back
to its own j)roper habitation again. Should there be
any injury done to the assumed form — or, as it was
called, hamr — it affected the real body. Women
who undertook these enchanted flights in transfor-
mation, were called hamhleypur {siiig. hamhleypa,
a witch, a lamia ; from hamr^ and hleypa^ to run).
Certain women, it was believed, could transform
themselves into Ii"ightmares (mara, or kveldriÖa),
and in tliis disguise smother people in their sleep, or
do them some other injury in the night.'^ Finally ,
it was also admitted as a possibility that people
could mutually exchange their outward appearance
(skipta litum). In all such transformations, how-
ever, it appears that they believed the eyes — that
reflection of the human soul — to remain unchanged.
There was another species of charmed sleep be-
side that above-mentioned, in which sorcerer's body
lay while his soul wandered abroad in an assumed
form, which it was believed the magicians could
bring upon others by pricking them with a so-called
soporific thorn (svefn-|)orn). This enchanted sleep,

* The punishment for such -women is established in the Anc-
Laws of Norway, L, p. 403.

60ECEEY. 271

it was thought, could not be released so long as the
thorn remained lying on the body of the spell-
bound person, or clinging to his clothes.

Some magicians were believed to have so great
power in their eyes that by the mere glance they
could turn the edge of a sword in battle, and also
with an eye-glance make the earth tremble and
be convulsed, scorch the grass, and frighten their
enemies out of their wits, so that they would ran
like hunted beasts, and even become changed into
brutes (in the Old-lSTorse, verÖa at gjallti, become
swine). In order to make this last-named sorcery
very effectual, it was necessary to throw their bodies
into the most unnatural positions, so that their
appearance should be the more frightful ; and their
success then depended very much on whether the
pei-son who practiced the sorcery got to see his an-
tagonist first; if the contrary happened, then the
charm lost all power. In the Yatnsdæla Saga, an
Icelandic sorceress named Ljot is described in an
undertaking of this kind. Her son Hrolleif had
killed the chieftain Ingemund of Hof. The sons of
Ingemund, wishing to avenge their father's death,
set out for Ljot's abode with that intention. They
arrived just as the witch was busied in preparing a
sacrifice for the protection of her son, and they suc-
ceeded in capturing Hrolleif as he was leaving tho
dwelling house to go into the house of sacrifice.
While they were making ready to slay him, one of
their company became aware of Ljot, whom he saw
coming toward them in the most hideous form. She
had thrown one foot over her head and went back-

272 EELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

wards upon one hand and foot, with her face stick-
out behind ; her eyes were hideous and demon-like.
This appearance did not, however, prevent the
brothers from putting Hrolleif to death. Ljót her-
self was immediately seized. She now confessed
that it had been her intention to go in this manner
over the whole neighborhood and to drive the sons
of Ingemnnd out of their senses, so that they would
run crazy ?bout the roads with the wild-beasts ; and
this would have happened if she had only seen them
before they got sight of her ; but now their attendant
spirit had been too powerful for her. They put Ljot
to death.* When the Icelandic chieftain Olaf Pa
surprised the dangerous sorcerer Stigandi sleeping,
he caused a skin to be drawn over his head in order
that his sight, when he awoke, should do no harm to
any one. But there happened to be a little hole in
the skin, and Stigandi cast his eyes out through this
over a beautiful, grassy mountain-slope which was
opposite. Listantly it appeared as though a whirl-
wind had broken loose upon this spot and turned the
earth up-side-down in such a manner that from that
time there was never any more grass grew upon it.
Stigandi was stoned to death by Olaf and his men.f
Tlie same precaution as that here mentioned was
employed by the renowned sorceress Gunhilda,
afterward the queen of Eirik Blood-axe, when she
betrayed the two Finns who had instructed her in
magic arts, and whose sight, it was said, was so

* Vatnsd. S. 2G ; compare Gull]? oris Saga.
f Laxd. S. 88.

sokceHy. • 27S

sharp when they were angry that the earth was torn
up by it, and any living being that met them fell
down dead. She drew two seal-skins over their
heads and then let King Eirik's men kill them.*

Enchanted food and drink are mentioned in
many places both in the old Eddaic poems and in
the Sagas. It was believed that, by means of such
food or drink, the dispositions of men could be
changed, courage and ferocity awakened, or forget-
fulness induced. The flesh, and especially the
heart and blood of certain strong and wild animals
— ^wolves, for instance — when used as food, were re-
garded as a means of making men bold and cruel.
To obtain a charmed drink, they mingled together a
variety of things w^hich superstition had endowed
with magic powers; runes were also employed —
sometimes read as magic formulas over the potion,
sometimes carved upon wood or bone and cast into
it. The term enchanted drink was also frequently
understood to mean a poisonous drink.

The belief in enchanted clothing and armor was
likewise very prevalent. Clothes were enchanted,
either to secure the wearer against wounds or to
bring injury or death upon him. It is said of the
chieftain Thorer Ilund, that he had several reindeer
frocks (hreinbjalfar) made for himself by the Finns,
which were charmed in such a manner that no
weapon could take effect upon them ; and in the
battle by Stiklastad one of these frocks protected
him against the sword of Olaf the Saint, when the

* Suor.: Ear. nárf. S. 34.

074 • EELiaiON OP THE NORTHMEN.

king liewed him right over the shoulders. "The
sword did not bite ; it seemed only to raise the dust
on the reindeer frock.""^ The Orkneian Jarl Harald
Ilákonsson died, it is stated, by dressing himself in
charmed clothing made bj his own mother and her
sister, but which was intended for his step-brother
Pal Jarl.f Swords were sometimes so charmed,
say the accounts, that success in battle always fol-
lowed the men who wielded them, and the
wounds they made could not be healed until
they were touched by a so-called life-stone (lifsteinn),
which accompanied the sword. In the use of this
kind of charmed swords, there were many things to
be observed when they were to have the proper
effect. Thus, for example, the renowned sword
Sköfnúng, which was taken out of Hrolf Kr aid's
burial mound, was not to be drawn in the presence
of woman, nor so that the sun could shine upon the
hilt, or it would lose somewhat of its peculiar
virtue. :t

Magic-skilled women used sometimes to pass their
hands over the bodies of persons going to battle, in
order to discover by this means what place upon
them was most liable to be wounded. It was be-
lieved that they could feel a protuberance in every
such place, and then a special protective remedy
was applied to the spot. If no such protuberance
was perceived, it was thouglit, accordingly, that no
danger was to be ai3prehended.

* Snor.: 01. Hel. S. 204, 240.
f Orkney. S. p. 144.
X Laxcl. g. 57.

60ECEET. 275

A peculiar kind of sorcery was the so-called sit-
ting-out (útiseta, at sitja uti), in which the magician
sat out at night under the open sky, and by certain
magic performances now no longer known, perhaps
most frequently by incantations (galldur), was be-
lieved to call up evil spirits (vekja upp troll) or
awaken the dead in order to consult them. It was
especially to inquire into the future that this kind
of sorcery was resorted to. An invocation of the
dead, not just for this object, but which was to clear
up an affair concerning which there was some doubt
of gaining light by natural means, is described in
the Færeyínga Saga. The crafty Tlirond of Gata,
an inhabitant of the Faroes, who it appears had
been forced to accept baptism although he was still
a rank heathen at heart, wished to find out how the
renowned hero Sigmund Brestarsson had met with
his death; whether he had been drowned wliile
attempting with two others to escape by swimming
from Tlirond's pursuit, or whether he had reached
the land and was killed there. For this purpose he
had a great fire kindled in the presence of a large
concourse of people, and set up four panels of lattice
work in a square around the fire, and traced nine
sentences (reitar) upon the earthen floor around the
inclosure. He then seated himself upon a chair
between the fire and the railing, and forbade the
bystanders to speak. After he had been sitting
thus a long time, the ghosts of Sigmund's two com-
panions, who were dripping wet, made their appear-
ance, went up to the fire and warmed themselves,
and then passed out again. At length came K^ig-

276 RELIGION OF THE NOÉTHMEN.

mund himself, bloody and bearing bis bead in bis
band ; be stood a good wbile npon tbe floor and
tben left tbe room. Tbrond now rose up groaning
witb fatigue, and declared himself to be convinced
by tbe vision that Sigmund's companions were
di'owned, but that be himself bad reached tbe land
and there met with a violent deatb."^

It was believed that sorcerers could obtain great
assistance from certain animals. Thus we find fre-
quent mention of tbe art of interpreting the voice of
bii'ds, as a means of important discoveries. Tbe
crow was in this respect a bird of great significance,
and that the raven was so, is to be inferred from tbe
myth of Odin's news-bringing ravens. The cat is
also mentioned as an animal specially loved by
sorcerers. The magic-skilled Icelander Tborolf
Skeggi, of Yatnsdal, is said to have had no less than
twenty large black cats, that bravely defended their
master when be was attacked by the Sons of luge-
mund of Ilof, and gave eighteen men enough to
do.f

Although peojDle were not wanting among tbe
Korthmen who, by a more than ordinary knowledge
of tbe powers of nature, made their superstitious
contemporaries believe that they were skilled in
magic, yet tbe Finns were even in a remote
antiquity looked upon as the chief masters in
sorcery, with whom even tbe Korsemen, who
wished to perfect themselves more fully in the art,

* Færeyínga S. 40.
f Vatnsd. S. 28.

SORCERf. 277

went formally to school. The famous Queen Gun-
hilda, who was sent in her youth to Finnmark in
order to learn witchcraft, may serve as an instance.
Finns skilled in magic were often sent for and con-
sulted, when any important magic operation was to
be performed. They were regarded as especially
capable of undertaking the so-called hamfarir, or
magic flights in transformation.

In heathen times the magicians were often prose-
cuted, and even tried before the courts, and punish-
ed by a sentence of law ; but this was not actually
done because they practiced sorcery, but because it
was believed that they could be convicted of having
done harm with their sorcery. It is spoken of as a
universal custom to stone evil-disposed sorcerers and
witches.

It was not to be expected that Christianity should
be able to tear out at once the deep-rooted faith of
the Northmen in Sorcery, especially when not only
the first Christian teachers, but also the clergy
throughout all the Middle Ages, were as fully con-
vinced of the existence of sorcery as the heathens
were. The only difí*erence between them was, that
the teachers of Christianity regarded it as an
abomination, a work of the devil, which they should
strive to check, even by application of the severest
measures ; while the Asa-faith, on the contrary, repre-
sented it to be a knowledge imparted to man by t\ie
Gods themselves, a knowledge, therefore, which, by
its abuse only, could deserve punishment. Of the
belief of the Christian teachers in sorcery, and their
zeal to eradicate it, there is abundant evidence
13

278 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

furnished by the penal decrees on that subject
which are found in the ancient Norwegian church
laws. But how strictly soever the laws of the
church may have forbidden all practice of sorcery,
there were still many i^Torthmen who continued, for
a long time after the fall of the Asa-faith, to look
upon witchcraft as an art which it was profitable to
cultivate.

EXPLORING THE FUTtTRE. 2?9

CHAPTER XXY.

EXPLORING THE FUTURE; DIVINATION.

The investigation of the Future was most inti-
mately connected with Sorcery.

The heathen ISTorthmen believed that there were
means by which man could prevail on the Gods to
make known their will, or to reveal things which
otherwise, in the order of Nature, must remain hid-
den from the human understanding. This kind of
inquiry was named, sometimes, frétt — an interroga-
tion, investigation — (from fretta, to ask), and to un-
dertake it was " at ganga til frettar," to consult the
oracle ; and sometimes it was termed spa, or plural .,
spar — prophecy, divination — and to make applica-
tion to it was "at spyrja spa," to inquire out the
prophecy — or "at lyða spam," to listen to prophe-
cies.

Concerning the mode in which this kind of
inquiry into the Future took place, our old manu-
scripts give no special information. It appears to
have been most usual for the explorer of the Future,
while invoking or sacrificing to a deity, either to
demand as a response some signal which he left to
the God himself to decide upon, and which he

280 RELÍGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

recognized in any remarkable event occurring a*
the time, and then interpreted in such a mode as
appeared most probable according to the circum-
stances, or else to decide upon the signal himself
by which the divinity was to answer him.

"We have seen that the zealous Asa-worshiper Há-
kon Jarl made use of the former mode when he
sacrificed to Odin before his bold march through
Gothland, and he interpreted it as a promise from
the God of success in the expedition, when two
ravens during the sacrifice came flying along and
screaming loudly. When the Icelandic chieftain
Thorkel the Tall invoked the God Frey for ven-
geance upon his enemy Yiga-Glum, and at the same
time demanded a signal that the God had heard his
prayer, he regarded it as a favorable response of
Frey when the ox, which he had led out as an offer-
ing, immediately fell with loud bellowing upon the
ground and died.* The latter mode we find applied
by the emigrating IS'orthmen, in choosing their
places of residence in foreign lands by direction of
the Sacred Columns. In this they believed that the
God, whom they invoked beforehand, directed the
columns to a place where a prosperous abode was
vouchsafed to them and their descendants.

An important ceremony of measurement which
was employed in building a new house, in order to
find out what fortune was in store in it for its future
occupants, was also of the same character. This
ceremony was performed by measuring the founda-

* Viga-Gl. S. 9.

EXPLORING THE FUTrRE. 281

tions repeatedly — say tliree times — and very care-
fully noting whether there was any difference in
dimensions between the first and last measurement.
If the last was greatest they believed it to forbode
increasing prosj^erity to the occupant of the house ;
but if the contrary happened, then they believed it
would always go down-hill with him.

The second above-mentioned mode of consultiog
the Gods appears to have been the most generally
employed. Two kinds of exploration of the future
are mentioned in the Sagas, which may be referred
to this class, namely, by means of sacred leaves or
slips (blótspánn) and by prophetic lots (hlotar or
hlutar), both, doubtless, a species of lot-casting in
principle, but j)racticed by different modes.

To consult the Gods by the first-named species of
oracle was " at fella blótspánn," i. e., to drop the
sacred leaves. Although this is very often men-
tioned in the old manuscripts, yet the details are no-
where described. We must, therefore, be content
with probable conjectures to which the ancient
name, compared with descriptions of similar modes
of consulting the Gods among people nearly related
to the JSTorthmen, may lead us.

The exj^ression " at fella blótspánn " seems to im-
ply that the exploration was effected by the casting
of consecrated slips or pieces of wood.

We find the casting of lots (Sortilegium, of the Ko-
mans) employed as a means of divination among
many of the nations of antiquity — the Greeks,
Romans, Scythians, Alani, Germans, and others.
Of the mode of foretelling events by casting lots, as

282 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

employed by tlie Germans, the near kinsmen of the
Northmen, we find the following account by Taci-
tns : " They (the Germans) pay strict attention to
omens and the casting of lots (sortes). The nsnal
mode of casting lots (sortinm consuetudo) is simple.
A bough cut from a fruit-tree is divided into small
slips (surculos), which are marked, each with its
sign, and cast out at random upon a white cloth.
Thereupon the State Priest, if the consultation be
public, or the master of the household himself, if it
be private, makes a prayer to the Gods, and, with
eyes uplifted toward heaven, takes up every twig
three times, and explains them according to the
marks set beforehand upon them."^ Of the Alani
it is said by Ammianus Marcellinus, " They explore
the future by a remarkable method. They collect
osier twigs (virgas vimineas) which are tolerably
straight, scatter them about for a certain time, while
they sing mysterious incantations, and then they
know with certainty what they signify."f By this
is meant, no doubt, that after thus scattering the
twigs about, they foretold the future by the relative
positions in which they settled.

If we turn to these descriptions for explanation of
the old ISTorse expression, "at fella blótspánn," it
will appear highly probable that this expression de-
notes a prophetic lot-casting precisely similar to
that employed by the Germans and Alani. Besides,
if we take into consideration the use which the hea-
then Northmen made of runes, as well as the nature

* Tacitus : Germ. c. 10.
f Ammian., lib. 31, c. 2.

DIVINATION. 283

of these characters, this supposition is strengthened,
and even passes over into a certainty.

Of the employment of runes in sorcery as magic
characters, we have before spoken ; that they were
also applied to the art of divination, so nearly allied
to sorcery, can hardly be doubted. Each runic
character has a name denoting some object of im-
portance in life, something to be desired or feared,
cdicerning which it might, therefore, be desirable to
consult the Gods. Thus, for instance, the name of
the character A is ár, a year, fruitfulness ; I is is,
ice ; F is fé, cattle, money, (pecus, pecunia), &c.
Moreover, all runes are formed by a combination of
right lines, whence no doubt their name stafir, sing.,
stafr, a staff, stave. Thus, when a number of straight
sticks were thrown up, they might very easily fall
in such relative positions toward one another, as to
form runic characters, and from the signiiicant
names of these figures a prophecy could be traced
out. Ko doubt an improvement was afterward
made in the matter, by carving a rune upon each of
the sticks. By scattering them and afterward
either blindly picking them up one by one, after the
manner of the Germans, or by viewing their rela-
tive positions as a whole, it was easy to fabricate
a prophecy quite satisfactory to the supei'stition of
the times.

Such was, beyond all doubt, the nature of the
divination by blótspánn employed by the heathen
Northmen. That they also invoked the Gods
thereby, and sang magic songs and incantations,
like the Germans and Alani, is highly probable.

284: RELIGION OF THE NOKTHIVIEN.

The second species of exploring the future, i. e.,
by means of divination-lots, is found more minutely
described in the Sagas. In the three most detailed
accounts we have of the invasion of Norway by the
Jomsburg sea-rovers, it is related how Hákon Jarl,
in order to gain over the Skald Einar, afterward
surnamed Skálaglara, presented to him a costly
dimning-'halance, with the accompanying weights.
The best descrij)tions of this divining apparatus
are in this wise : " Then the Jarl (Hakon) takes a
good balance-scale (skalir góÖar) which he had in
his possession. It was made of burnished silver and
was all gilt. With it there were two weights (met),
the one of gold, the other of silver, upon each of
which there was a figure wrought (a human figure,
according to the other two accounts). They were
called hlotar (by the others, hlutar) and were in
reality lot-casting weights (hlutir; Latin, sortes)
such as people of that time used to have. A great
power lay hidden in them, and on all occasions
which were deemed by the Jarl to be of importance,
he made use of these weights. He would then place
them in the scales, appointing at the same time
what each one was to decide for him ; and always
when the throwing turned out well, and the one
came up that he desired, the weight indicating his
choice was restless in the scale and turned gently
about in it so as to give out a clinking sound. This
treasure the Jarl gives to Einar, and Einar is greatly
rejoiced therewith."^

* Jómsvíkínga S. 42 in Fornm. S. XL p. 128.

DIVINATION. 285

This sketch, although not iu every way satisfac-
tory, gives an idea of the divination-weights of the
heathen N'orthmen. "We may imagine the two
weights to have been precisely equal, and the
balance upon which they were thrown very deli-
cate and easily tm-ned. The one was made to de-
note what the person wished for, the other, what
he did not wish. It was probably imagined that
that would happen which the weight that rose up in
the balance indicated ; and which of the weights
this might be depended entirely upon chance. The
human figure, said to have been stamped upon the
weights, probably denoted the divinity from whom
they demanded a response by the casting of the lots.
The special power that lay in Hákon Jarl's divin-
ing-weights, appears to have been chiefly in the
sound which it was imagined was to be heard in
the scales when the good weight came up.

They also sought information concerning the
future from men who, by being gifted with su2)erior
powers-T-and this mostly by the aid of magic
means — were believed to be able to penetrate the
hidden decrees of Fate.

Seers (menn framsynir, menn forspair) are fre-
quently mentioned in om* ancient Sagas. Tlieir gift
of foreseeing and foretelling certain things was
usually regarded as inborn. What brought them
into repute was, doubtless, in most cases, a keen un-
derstanding, a more than ordinary knowledge of
nature, a deeper insight into human character, and
an attentive observance of past and present events
in their causes and effects. More was not required
13*

286 EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

in those unenligliteued times to bring one into notice
as a prophet or prophetess, especially when a certain
natural or assumed mjsteriousness, and a wise ap-
plication of circumstances, were added. Such seers
were believed to have a presentiment of coming
events of importance, and to be able to see by one's
features and manners what his fate would be. That
both these species of prophecy should often hit the
mark is not so wonderful, when we consider on one
hand the intimate relation between the Past and
Future, and on the other, how strongly the character
of a people of inferior cultivation is usually ex-
pressed in their features, and also how common it is
that a man's disposition shapes his good or evil
destiny. Whatever might be wanting in the accu-
racy of the supposed prophecies, was filled out by the
superstition of the age, which often, when the event
had actually happened, involuntarily adapted to it
the words with which the seer might be supposed to
have announced it beforehand. His fame thus grew
sometimes without his own cooperation ; his con-
temporaries listened to every expression that fell
from his lips, as to the response of an oracle, and
After-ages ascribed to him prophecies which in all
probability never came from his lips.

Many of the seers of heathen times believed, pro-
bably by the aid of a certain enthusiasm, that they
actually received higher revelations, but there were
also many, doubtless, who were fully conscious of the
true state of the case with their gifts of prophecy.
It is, however, easy to imagine that the latter seldom
opposed the superstition concerning their superna-

DIVINATION. 287

tural powers, for the distinction which the fame of
their prophetic faculty conferred upon them was too
aUuring, and they were also influenced by baser
motives. A good prophecy was mostly well re-
warded, while a j)rophecy of evil was a grand
medium for striking terror where revenge and de-
light in mischief could not by any better means be
a23peased.

Those who made a source of gain of their sup-
posed gift of prophecy, willingly took refuge in the
magic arts in order to increase their fame. In-
cantations, witchcraft, transformations, nocturnal
sittings, and similar magic performances wxre the
means by which they made the people, and perhaps
themselves, believe that they received their revela-
tions. All such arts were believed to cause no
trifling exertions to the one who practiced them, and
they had, therefore, to be well paid for. The Finns,
both men and women, were also regarded as espe-
cially skilled in penetrating the future.

Of those among the ISi orthmen of Antiquity who
made a business of foretelling the future, the most
remarkable were the so-called Yalas (Yala or
Yölva, plur. Yölvur), or the Spæ-w^ives (Spákonur),
on account of the extraordinary honor they univer-
sally enjoyed. The Yalas are mentioned in the
poems of the Older Edda, and the most remarkable
of these poems is ascribed to such a prophetess,
whencejts name— Yöluspá, the Prophecy of the
Yala— is derived. It appears that they were some-
times called JSTorns, and regarded as a kind of
superior, semi-godlike beings, as bodily revelations

288 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

of the subordinate ISTorns, whicli, according to the
Asa-faith J were sent out from the three great God-
desses of Fate at Urdar's Fount, to measure out the
life of individual men and appoint their fate, which
they consequently were able to announce before-
hand. But so high a conception of the Korns was
hardly maintained during the heathen ages, es]3e-
cially in the latter years ; yet they were always
looked upon as most remarkable beings, who at
least were considered to be under the special pro-
tection of the great Norns, and to receive revela-
tions from them. Men, therefore, not only listened
with eagerness to their prophecies, but they also
rejoiced at their good wishes and feared their
curses ; for to both had been ascribed extraordinary
power. For this reason people took all possible
pains to make the Yala, whom they w^ished to con-
sult, incline propitiously towards them and their
house. The Yala wandered by invitation from
house to house, and everywhere people vied with
each other in doing honor to her while she staid, and.
in bestowing rich gifts upon her at her departure
Her dress and address were calculated to attract
attention. A seat of distinction was ready for her
wherever she came, and magic performances, such
as seiðr and galldr, were practiced as preliminary
measures for opening her j^rophetic vision.

The Saga of Eirik the Red contains a very de-
tailed account of a Yala and her proceedings,
during her visit to Thorkel, a distinguished chieftain
among the N'orwegian settlers of Greenland in the
later heathen times. "At that time," it is stated,

DIV^INATION. 289

''there was a great famine in Greenland. Those
who had gone to the wild districts (hunting and
fishing), had met with little success, on account of
storms and bad roads. Some had never returned.
There was a woman living in the settlement, whose
name was Thorbjörg ; she was a Spae-wife, and was
called the little Yala or Prophetess (litil-völva).
She had had nine sisters, of w^hom she was the only-
survivor. Thorbjörg was in the habit of going
round to the festivals, and she was invited chiefly
by those who wished to learn their fate and the
coming seasons. As Thorkel was the best man of
the settlement, it seemed to be incumbent upon him
to gain some information when the prevailing
famine should cease. Thorkel therefore invites the
Spae-wife to his house and prepares for her a good re-
ception, such as was customary when a woman of
her standing was expected. A cushion was pre-
pared for her; it had to be stuffed with hen-
feathers. It was laid upon the high-seat in the
evening, when she came in with the man who had
been sent out to receive her. She was dressed on
this occasion as follows: — She wore a blue cloak
with fastenings of cords (tyglarmötull), set with
stones around the border from top to bottom (alt í
skaut ofan). Around her neck she had glass beads ;
upon her head a black lambskin hood (kofri), lined
with white catskin. She carried a staff mounted
with brass, with the head inlaid with stones. She
was girded with a young bearskin belt (himskan
linda), and to this hung a large pouch in which she
kept the instruments of magic belonging to her

290 EELIGION OF .THE NOKTHMEN.

occupation. On her feet slie wore shaggy calfskin
shoes with long, heavy thongs, on the ends of which
were large brass buttons (látúns knappar). She had
catskin gloves upon her hands, white ^\dthin and
shaggy. When she entered, every one felt it a duty
to greet her with reverence ; she returned their
salutations according to what she thought of each
one individually. Thorkel took the wisfe woman
(visinda konunni) by the hand and conducted her to
the seat prepared for her. He requested her to
cast her eyes over (renna augum yfir) his herds and
property and house. She said but little concerning
all this. In the evening the tables were set, and
now it shall be told what dishes were made ready
for the Spae-wife. There was groats, made of goats'
milk (kiða mjólk); but her food was prepared from
the hearts of every kind of animal that there was in
the neighborhood. She had a brass spoon, and a
knife of copper with a shaft of walrus-tooth and a
double sheath (knif tannskeptan tvíhólkaÖan af
eiri); the point of it was broken oif. When the
tables were cleared, Thorkel Bondi goes up to Thor-
björg and asks what she thinks of the house and the
aj^pearance of the people, and also how soon she
will have a revelation concernino: the things he has
asked her about and which the peoj^le are all
anxious to know. She answers that she cannot
make this known before morning, after she has
slept there over night. Early in the morning all
the arrangements were made for her which belong
to the incantations of SeiÖr. She then asked them
to furnish her with women who knew the magic

DIVINATION. 291

formulas (fræöi) of that ceremony, and who are
called YarÖlokiir, i. e.^ the Watch-guard ; but none
could be found who knew it, although inquiry was
made at all the neighboring houses. Then GuÖrið,
a young girl who was present, said, 'I am not
skilled in magic nor any wise woman; but my
foster-mother in Iceland taught me a formula, which
she called Yarðlokur.' Thorkel said, 'Tliou art
wiser than I thought.' Guðrið answered, ^This
formula and the proceedings connected with it are
of such a character that I cannot be present to assist
with them ; for I am a Christian.' Thorkel replied,
*Thou couldst help us in this matter without harm-
ing thyself thereby; I should be glad to furnish
Thorbjörg with whatever is necessary.' He then
persuaded Guðrið so long that she at length
promised to fulfill his wishes. K"ow Thorbjörg sat
upon the witch-seat (seiðhjallr), and the women
formed a circle around her. Guðrið sang the song
so beautifully and so well, that no one of the by-
standers thought they had ever heard a fairer song.
Even the Spae-wife thought the song was beautiful
to hear, and thanked her for it when it was done.
'ISTow,' says Thorbjörg, 'I have reflected on the
matter, how it will be both with the sickness and
with the seasons ; and much has now been made
clear to me that before was hidden from me and
from others.' She then foretold that the famine
and sickness which were raging, should both disap-
pear in the spring. To GuÖriÖ she prophesied, in
return for the services she had rendered, a very
happy fate in the future, and also that a renowned

292 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

family (the Sturlungs of Iceland) should be descend-
ed from her. Afterward all the company went one
after the other to the Spae-wife and consulted her
about the future matters which they wished to
know; and she gave them definite answers. Soon
afterwards she was invited to another house, and
went thither; but her prophecies concerning the
coming events of the year were entirely fulfilled."^
The truth of this description is confirmed by the
accounts — more imperfect, it is true — which are re-
corded of the Yalas in other Sagas. Thus Örvar-
Odd's Saga relates of Heiö, a Yala and Witch of
JS'orway, that she wandered around to the festivals
attended by fifteen boys and fifteen girls. She fore-
told the peculiarities of the seasons and the destiny
of men. When she came by invitation to the house
of Ingjald, he went out with all his attendants to
meet her. After the evening meal, when the
house-folk had retired to bed, the Yala and her
companions set about their nocturnal vigils (for til
náttfarsseiÖs.) In the morning, the people of the
house came in one after another before her seat and
listened to her prophecies. After a sojourn of three
days she departed with rich gifts. f We here see
that it was customary to jDractice seiÖ during the
night, before the solemn prophecies were to be
uttered in the mornÍDg. The boys and girls who
accompanied IleiÖ were, doubtless, to form the circle
around the witches' seat and to sing the enchanting

* Saga af Eiriki RauÖa, 5.
t Orv. Odds S. 3,

DivmATioN. 293

song. A Yala's train in E'orway could of course
be far more splendid and awe-inspiring tlian in the
poor and thinly-settled Greenland. The Yatnsdæla
Saga represents the Icelandic Spae-wife Thordis as
being so highly esteemed, that even at the assem-
blies she was chosen arbitrator in the most import-
ant cases. Her dress was a black hooded-cloak
(kufl), and her staff Hangnuðr was believed to have
the power to impart forgetfulness to any man who
was touched by it three times upon the left cheek,
but it would restore his memory when he was
stfuck by it three times upon his right cheek.*
The staff (seiðstafr, voir) appears, on the whole, to
have been the Yala's most important mark of
dignity, which was even to accompany her into the
grave. Some have also supposed that the name
Yala stands in connection with voir, a stick.

Something remains to be said, in conclusion, con-
cerning the heathen Korthmen's belief in dreams
and omens.

To all dreams that appeared in any way unusual
they gave a meaning, and the people who were
thought to possess special gifts in interpreting them
were called draumspekingar, i. e.j Dream-wise.
But the interpretation was mostly very arbitrary,
and it is, indeed, probable that the greater part of
the significant dreams which the Sagas can give
account of, were invented, or at least greatly em-
bellished, after the event which they are said to
have foreboded had already taken place. The

* Vatnsd. S. 2.

294: RELIGION OF THE NOKTmiEN.

significant revelations in dreams made by the Fyl-
gjur have been abeady mentioned."^ There was
often a great diversity of opinion concerning the
manner in which a dream should be interpreted ;
an example may show how uncertain the interpreta-
tions mostly were. An Icelandic chieftain named
Thorkel Silfra dreamed, on the night before he
expected to be chosen GoÖi in Yatnsdal, that he
rode through the valley upon a red horse so swiftly
that the horse's feet scarcely touched the ground.
He interpreted the dream to refer to the new
dignity which he had in expectation. But his wife
was of another mind. " A horse," said she, " is called
by another name, 7nar ; but mar signifies also a
man's Fylgja. and that which is bloody appears red.''
From this she explained the meaning to be, that
Thorkel would be killed at the meeting, which also
happened.! It was also a very ancient superstition
that people did not have equally significant dreams
in all i3laces. What was presented to one when he
slept in a new house, was thought deserving of
special attention. Some, again, used to sleep in a
pig-sty in order to obtain revelations in their
dreams. The history of King Hálfdan Svarti, who
in this manner received information of the future
greatness of his family, is well known. :j:

Concerning omens (fyrirburÖir), which appear to
have been presented to people in a waking state,
both in visions and by other means, there are like-

* Chap.XYIIL

t Vatnsd. S. 42.

X Snor.: Hálfd Sv. S. 7.

DI\TNATION. 295

wise many accounts in the Sagas. Certain omens,
it was believed, were repeated before events of a
corresponding character. Thns it was thought to
denote a near-approaching violent death when a
person saw his own Fjlgja bloody. The wise Ice-
landic chieftain ISTial said to his workman Thord,
when the latter seemed to see a goat lie bleeding in
his yard : ^' That is neither a goat nor anything else,
but thou art a doomed man; thou hast seen thj
Fylgja."^ Tlie same was the case when any one
seemed to see blood upon the table instead of food,
or when the portion of food assigned to him vanished.
It was a universal belief that as an omen of a near-
approaching bloody battle, blood sometimes dripped
from axes, swords, or spears, or that there was a
loud singing in those weapons when men were tak-
ing them up to arm themselves. With this class of
omens may be reckoned the so-called Urdar Moon
(urðarmáni) which was believed to forebode a great
mortality in the place where it appeared. Tliis ap-
pearance is described in the Eyrbyggja Saga : " One
evening as the people of Frodá (an estate in western
Iceland) were sitting around the fire, they saw a
half-moon upon the wall. All who were in the
house could see it. This moon passed backward
from the sun around the house, and did not vanish
so long as the people sat by the fire. Thorodd, the
master of the house, asked Thorir Trefót what this
could indeed mean. Thorir answered that it was
Urdar moon, and that it foreboded death. On every

* Niáls S. 41.

296 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

evening during a wliole week this moon made its
appearance."^ The name Urðarmáni seems to indi-
cate that it was regarded as a sign from the Norns,
or from the highest Norn Urðnr.

There were other omens which were believed to
be peculiar to certain remarkable events. Such are
repeatedly mentioned in the Sagas, and it mostly
belongs to the history of every event of more than
usual importance in public or private life, to have
some omen brought uj^ as going before it. Some-
times there are accounts of the revelations of super-
natural beings, who by significant but enigmatical
songs announced what was to happen, while at other
times the omens consisted only of strange sights in
the air or upon the earth.

Finally, they often perceived omens in quite natural
occurrences, which were expounded by certain
established rules, according to the circumstances of
the case. Thus when they marched out to battle it
was considered a good omen if they saw a raven fly-
ing in the same direction, or if they perceived two
men standing in conversation, or heard a wolf howl ;
but if any one stumbled in going out to battle, it
was thought to forebode evil. When a man was
slain by arms and fell forwards, it was accepted as
an omen that he should be avenged ; and the ven-
geance, it was believed, would strike the one who
stood directly before him when he fell.

* Ejrb. S. Y2.

OTHER SUPERSTITIONS. 297

CHAPTER XXYI.

OTHER SUPERSTITIONS.

Beside the belief in sorcery and divination, many-
other superstitions prevailed among the heathen
Northmen which were either directly or indirectly
connected with their religion.

First in this connection may be noticed the differ-
ent kinds of supernatural beings with which their
imagination peopled the mountains, the interior of
the earth, and the sea ; beings which have been
alluded to above only in a partial manner, in so far
as they appear in the Asa Mythology in a higher
mythic significance or as they were objects of popu-
lar worship.

The strongest and most terrible of these beings
were the Jötuns or Giants, who were also called Ri-
sar, Thursar, Troll, Bergbuar, and their wives were
named TröUkonar and Gygar. The mythic signifi-
cance of these beings has been already sj^oken of.*
They were represented to be shapeless giants, of a
dark and hideous aspect. Their usual dwelling
place was thought to be in the wild mountains.
They were, it is certain, most usually imagined to

* Chap. XII. and XVIIL

298 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

be the enemies of mankind, a representation wliicli
most nearly coincides with the manner in which
they manifest themselves in the Asa Mythology, but
it was also believed that people could sometimes
make friends of them, and then these mountain
genii became the trusty guardians of house and pro-
perty. They were believed to shun the light of the
sun, and if the sun surprised them out of their moun-
tain homes, they were transformed to stone. The
Troll-women were represented as most frequently
making their appearance in riding upon wolves,
with serpents for their bridles.

A peculiar kind of Thurs or Demon is mentioned
under the name of Brunnmigi, which was believed
to dwell in the springs and streams that gush out of
mountains. The name signifies one who makes
water in the fountains, and it seems in this connec-
tion to indicate that to this kind of genius was as-
cribed the origin of all mineral or ill-tasted, ill-scented
waters. This also agrees with the myth of the salt-
ness of the sea being produced by beings of Jötun
nature.*

It was supposed that the Thursar and human
beings could form marriage connections with each
other, and hence arose a blended race, the so-called
blendingar (hybrids) who retained, both in charac-
ter and aj)pearance, something that gave evidence
of their twofold origin. By being afterwards united
with mankind through many generations, the Thursar
nature of these hybrids could by degrees be worn

» The L. Edda : Skálda 43.

OTHER SUPEESTITIONS. . 299

away. Such, a descent was no doubt conferred upon
the men who received the surname of Hálftröll. A
giant-like, hideous appearance and a ferocious dis-
position may have given cause for such an idea, es-
pecially when those qualities were hereditary
through several generations of one family.

The belief in Dwarves as inhabitants of the interior
of the earth and especially of large isolated rocks,
was likewise a direct offshoot of the Asa-Mythology.

These beings were considered to be great artists
in preparing metals. Weapons of remarkably good
properties were said to be produced from their sub-
terranean workshops. The Dwarves, like' the Jo-
tuns, could not endure the sunlight ; . they became
turned into stone if they were approached by its
rays while out of their dwellings.* It was also be-
lieved that if a man met a dwarf away from his rock,
and should throw steel between him and his home,
he could close up his habitation to him and thereby
become able to extort from him whatever he wished.
As Echo in the Old-iSTorse was called " Dwarf Ian"
guage " (dvergmál), it is highly probable that the
people imagined it to be produced by the Dwarves
living within the mountains, who imitated the sound
they heard without.

Although the Dwarves in the Asa doctrine have
a very important mythic signification, yet they ap-
pear to have been in general quite as little an object
of worship among the Northmen as were the Jötuns.
It was only when a Jötun or a Dwarf was occa-

* Tlie 0. Edda : Alvísmál, 36.

300 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEIT.

sionallj looked up to as the guardian spirit of a cer-
tain estate or a certain district, that he could be wor-
shiped in the character of '' Land Guardian." The
same might be the case with beings of the Dwarf
race when they were regarded as the Disir of par-
ticular persons or families.

In regard to other supernatural beings who lived
in the popular belief, their connection with the Asa
doctrine is not so easily seen. Such are the Mer-
men and Mermaids, the Kykar, Finngalknar and
Dragons.

The Merman was called Marmennill. His form
and aj^pearance are nowhere described. The most
remarkable attribute of this being was his gift of
prophecy. It was believed that if a man should be
so fortimate as to fish up a merman from the sea, he
could compel him to foretell his destiny. The Mar-
mennill could also live awhile upon dry land, but
it took no pleasure in that kind of life, and pined for
its home in the sea.

The Mermaid (Margygur) is described as having
the form of a woman to the belt, but that of a fish
below. It was believed to presage good or evil to
sea-farers. For instance, if one had risen above the
surface of the sea, when it again dived under it fore-
boded evil if it turned itself towards the ship, but if
it turned away from the ship it was then a j^resage
of good. It may, however, be remarked of the
superstition concerning this being, that it is possibly
of a foreign and southern origin, and that it is the
Syren that here presents itself, although in some de-
gree fashioned after the notions of the Northmen.

OTHER SUPERSTITIONS. 301

The ISTjk is described as a horse of a dapple-gi-ay
color, whose place of resort was in fresh-water
streaiQs, where it sometimes made its appearance on
the banks. It appears to have been exceedingly-
strong, and it sometimes allowed itself to be taken
by men and set to work during the day ; but when
the sun went down it tore itself out of the harness
and ran ofí" into the water again. Thus it is related
of a certain AuÖun Yalisson, a settler of Iceland,
that during harvest time he saw a dapple-gray
stallion run out from IljarÖarvatn to some of his
horses. AuÖun caught the gray horse, harnessed it
to a sled, which was usually drawn by two oxen,
and hauled all his hay together with it. Tlie horse
was very easily managed in the middle of the day,
but as evening came on it became restive and
stamped in the ground up to its fetlocks, and after
sunset it broke out of the harness, ran to the water
and was never seen afterwards."^ It appears, how-
ever, that the l^yk, especially in the Christian Mid-
dle Ages, was regarded as a being that could assume
various forms. In Korway and Iceland -the people
still believe in the existence of this being, and they
usually describe it just as it is described by the an-
cients. In Iceland at the present day it is called
Nykr, and also Yatnhest or JSTennir.f

The Finngálkn is a monster that is often men-
tioned, but not further described except in the later
fictitious Sagas. According to these, it had the head

* Landnmb. II. 10.

\ Olafsen and Povelsen's Travels, \\ 55.
14

302 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

of a man, with large teeth, the body of an animal,
with a huge tail, terrible claws and a sword in
every claw. But these descriptions seem rather to
be creations of the Saga -writer's imagination, guided
by the pictures of similar monsters in the myths of
more southern nations, than to rest upon any ancient
legend preserved from heathen times, although it is
true the heathens had imagined the existence of a
supernatural being of that name.

Dragons, according to the most ancient heathen
representations, were nothing more than monstrous
serpents, by which name — ormar, sing, ormr — they
are also mostly named in the older manuscripts.
The superstition was prevalent that the Orm^ espe-
cially the so-called lyngormr (doubtless the Dragon —
Da7iis7i^ Lindorm, German^ Lindwurm~of the Danish
and German legends and songs of the Middle Ages),
if laid upon gold, would grow as large as the gold.
It was thus with the serpent which, according to the
legend, surrounded Thoras Borg, the Gothic King's
daughter, and which Eagnar Lóðbrók slew.* These
imaginary monsters were often supposed to be the
transformations of avaricious men who had volun-
tarily clothed themselves in this enchanted form in
order to brood in safety over their gold. It was also
said of them that they bore the Helmet of Terror
(Ægishjálmar), with which they frightened away all
living things. Thus Fafnir is described in the an-
cient legend which one of the Eddaic poems treats
of.f Thus also, a somewhat later legend speaks of

» Ragn. LóÖbr. S. 1-2.
t The 0. Edda : Fafnismál.

OTHER SrPEESTITIONS. 303

tlie Jómsvíking Bui the Thick, who in the battle at
Hjörúngavág jumped overboard with his two heavy
chests of gold, "that he transformed himself into a
serpent upon the bottom of the sea, and there brooded
over his treasures."- In later times these serpents
were imagined to be winged dragons (flugrdrekar),
probably after the legends of southern lands had
been heard of, concerning such monsters.

Deeply rooted in the minds of the heathen isTorth-
men was the belief in ghosts and their apparitions
(aptrganga, jplur. aptrgöngur, reimleikar), and this
belief ap]3ears to have been intimately connected
with their ideas of a future state. The peculiar doc-
trines of the Asa-faith on this subject have been
before unfolded. The soul was imagined to return
to its original source — to Heaven and the Gods
abiding there — while the body and the grosser life
connected with it wandered to the abodes of Hel or
Death. Herewith was very naturally connected the
belief that the spirit of the departed could leave its
home with the Gods and again visit the earth at
night, in order to unite itself at the funeral mound
with the bodily shadow, which was set free from
Helheim. The departed were thus enabled some-
times to appear in the opening mounds in the same
forms which they had worn in life. The old Eddaic
poem of Helgi Hundingsbani makes the hero return
by night from Yalhalla, called back by the grief of
bis deserted wife Sigrun. Sigrun sees him with all
his death-wounds, in the open mound ; she goes in to

* Jómsv. S. 49 in Fornm. ö. XI.

304: RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

him and tliey remain there together during the
night. But with the dawning day he rides again
upon his X3ale horse hack to Yalhalla ; he must be
there before the crowing of the cock shall awaken
the Einherjar. "When the dead thus made them-
selves visible by night in the open burial mounds,
sometimes surrounded by flames of fire or by a clear
light which cast no shadow, then the portals of Ilel
were said to be oj^ened ; then had Hel set free the
bodily part to be united for a season with the soul,
which came to the mound from Yalhalla. Such ap-
paritions were usually believed to be harmless, and
to make their appearance only to comfort beloved
survivors or to give them good counsel. When
drowned persons came as apparitions to the funeral
ceremonies which the survivors held to their mem-
ory, it was looked ujDon as a good omen ; a token
that the departed had met with a friendly reception
from Eán.

It was believed to be otherwise with men whose
souls, by a contempt for the Gods, joined to wicked-
ness and a base disposition, had rendered themselves
unworthy of the joys of Heaven. Their whole
being became at their death the prey of Ilel, and
whenever they left their funeral mounds they be-
came frightful specters, whose delight it was to tor-
ment the living. It was said that when they thus
made their appearance, they were stronger and far
more hideous than they had been when living.
They only showed themselves at night — when the
sun was not shining. By day the undecayed body
lay blue and bloated, but dead and quiet in the

OTHER SUPEESTITIONS. 305

grave. The only power wliicli it was thouglit to be
possessed of then, was that of making itself so heavy
that if any one tried to remove it, levers were neces-
sary to raise it up and strong oxen strained them-
selves in attempting to drag it away. In mid- win-
ter, at Yule-tide, the ravages of all spectei-s were the
worst, but in the height of summer-time people saw
no traces of them. It was believed that they would
kill the people whom they could lay hold of in their
ghostly wanderings, or at least frighten them out of
their senses, and but few of the Living were bold
enough to dare, or strong enough to bear, an en-
counter with them. Even if the Kving should come
off victorious, the bare remembrance of the horrid
vision would make him ever afterwards afraid in the
dark, however great a hero and warrior he might
otherwise be. The best way to get rid of such hard
customers was, to dig up the body, burn it to ashes,
and scatter the ashes in the sea, or else to cut the
head off the corpse and lay it between its legs."^
Doubtless it was believed that the body was neces-
sary to this class of the Dead, in order to make their
appearance among the living ; when their souls were
deprived of this means of carrying on operations,
they could no longer do any harm to men, but had
to stay in their dwelling in Ilelheim.

We find mention of another way to get rid of
troublesome apparitions, namely, to prosecute them
with all legal formalities for the disturbance they
occasioned, and to banish them by a regular sen-

* Laxd. S. : Eyrb. S.: Grettis tí. et al.

306 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

tence of law. The decree was posted upon the
principal door of the house where the specters made
their ai3pearance. In the Eyrbyggja Saga, which
is very rich in traces of the heathen superstitions,
we find the descrij^tion of a judicial process of this
kind, which it seems was held on the estate of Froðá
in Iceland, where a whole troop of ghosts had ap-
peared every evening for a long time and scared the
people of the house away from the fire, in order to
get a seat by it themselves. The sentence of banish-
ment, it is stated, was passed on each specter in
particular, by expressly calling him by name, where-
upon the ghost had to take his departure through
the opposite door, however reluctant he might be to
go.

It was a consequence of their ideas of a future
state, to bury with the dead in the grave, not only
useful implements with which they could busy them-
selves when the spirit at night visited the home of
the body and clothed itself for a season in the cast-
off earthly form, but also gold and ornaments with
which they could shine in the halls of Hel, or else
splendid armor with which the spirit, which was
never conceived of as being quite deprived of all
bodily form, could make an honorable entrance into
Yalhalla. These treasures, which, when very rich,
were thought to betray themselves by nocturnal
fires which burned above the mounds (haugeldar),
often allured bold men to break open and rob tlie
graves. But these mound-breakers had to go pre-
pared for a hard struggle with the inhabitant of the
mound (haugbúi) or the ghost of the buried man,

OTHER SUPERSTITIONS. 307

which was believed rarely to grant its treasures to
any living being. They could never gain undis-
tm*bed possession of the treasures until they had suc-
ceeded in hewing ofi' the head of the sj^ecter and
laying it between its legs. But the great advantages
promised by such a mound-breaking, induced them
to close their eyes against the dangers of the under-
taking, as well as the wrong which they doubtless
believed there was in thus disturbing the repose of
the dead. Many descriptions of terrible battles with
these mound-spirits are found in the Sagas,^ which
contain a multitude of remarkable features of the
ancient ISTorthmen's belief in specters.

Another very ancient superstition may here be
cited in conclusion, namely, the belief that men
could be born again (vera endrbornir), that the
spirit could pass from one body when it was dead,
and enter another in order to be born anew with it.
Thus it was believed that the hero Helgi Hjörvarðs-
son was born again in Helgi Ilundingsbani, and
Svafa, the favorite of the former, in the Yalkyrja
Sigrún, who was beloved by the latter. In like
manner it was believed that Olaf the Saint was the
re-born Olaf Geirsta'Öa-Alf. Connected with this
and likewise of heathen origin appears to have been
the belief that two persons could have, in common,
one man's life ; and that both should therefore die
at the same time.

* Hörös S. 14 ; Grettis S. 20.

308 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER XXYII.

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH UPON THE NATIONAL
SPIRIT OF THE NORTHMEN,

That the Asa-faith exercised a mighty iniluence
over the character of all the nations who were its
adherents, is manifest. As to the Northmen, it is
only necessary, in confirmation hereof, to take a com-
parative view of the doctrines of that faith and of
the popular life in heathendom, as portrayed by the
Sagas. By this, however, we would not say that
the popular character, individually and collectively,
was created by that faith; that the virtues and
vices of the people originated in it alone. In that
case we might fancy that the Germanic nations, and
especially the Korræna branch, had received the
Asa-faith as a comparatively finished system of re-
ligion. But this would certainly be an incorrect
view of the subject. This people, at its separation
from a larger whole, took with it only the germs of
that faith which afterward became developed in a
peculiar direction, under the influence of the popular
life and the action of external circumstances upon
that life, but which also reacted upon that life with
a power which increased in proportion as the sys-
tem acquired by development a more decided

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 309

character. In this we can perceive an active recip-
rocating influence between tlie religion and tlie
popular life, analogous to that operating between
the soul and the body.

When we find, for instance, that the doctrine of
the Asa-faith concerning Odin as Yal-father, Yal-
halla, and the Einherjar, contains a strong incentive
to warlike deeds, we must not, therefore, imagine
that the warlike spirit which displayed itself so~
powerfully among the Germanic tribes in general,
and the Xorræna in particular, had its origin in this
doctrine precisely, or that this doctrine consequent-
ly forms any part of the real basis of the religion.
Kather may we conceive that the inherent physical
power of these tribes, set in activity by casual out-
ward circumstances, by hostile conflicts with other
tribes and intestine quarrels among themselves,
called forth the warlike spirit from the beginning ;
that this spirit in turn stamped itself upon the reli-
gious doctrines, and finally, that the religion, after
having received this characteristic impress, again
reacted to sustain and still further inflame that war-
like spirit.

The influence of the Asa-faith upon the popular
spirit of the Northmen must be regarded from
quite another point of view than that of Christianity
at a later period. The Asa-fliith was, so to speak,
inborn with this particular class of people and this
particular nation, as it had developed itself from
certain germs and taken form with the popuhir life
itself, almost unknown to it. Christianity, on the
contrary, was imparted to the people as a religious,

310 EELIGION OP THE NOETHMEN.

system complete in itself, appointed for all the
nations of the earth ; one which by its own divine
power opened for itself a way to conviction, and
tlirough that operated on the popular spirit in a
direction pointed ont by the fundamental principles
of the religion itself.

As the system of the Asa-faith arose without any con-
scious object to be effected in morals, therefore it did
not embrace any actual code of morals, in the higher
sense of the term. The Asa doctrine does not pro-
nounce by positive expression what is virtue and what
is vice ; it pre-supposes a consciousness thereof in its
votaries. It only represents in general terms Virtue
as bringing its own reward, Yice its own punish-
ment, if not here upon the earth, then with certain-
ty beyond the grave. This is contained in the doc-
trines of Yalhalla and Helheim, of Gimli and Na-
strönd. For the rest, the j^recepts relating to life
which are propounded as divine in many of the
heathen poems, especially in Hávamál and Sigr-
drífumál of the Older Edda,^ constitute a collection
of prudential maxims rather than a system of
morals. But these maxims, inasmuch as they were
thought to proceed from the Gods, or from superior
beings nearly related to the Gods, are combined
with the Asa-faith, and express the ideas of a
rational and worthy life which were developed
among the ISTorthmen imder its influence.

* In tlie Hávamál — which name signifies either the Sublime
Discourses or the Discourse of the Sublime Beiug — Odin himself is
represented as the speaker. In Sigrdrífumál it is the Yalkyrja
^igrdrífa, who gives counsel to Sigurd Fafnisbani,

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 311

What these rules of life, which are uttered in
apothegms, mainly inculcate, is briefly as follows :

The recognition of man's imperfection, w^hich
should challenge in him a struggle against his own
evil propensities and forbearance toward the weak-
ness of others.

" Vices and virtues are borne by the sons of men
blended in the breast ; no man is so good that his
faults do not follow him ; no one so bad that he is
good for nothing."

Courage and strength, both in bearing the hard
decrees of fate, and in fighting against enemies.

"The unwise man lies awake all night, and
ponders over all things : then he is weary when the
morning comes, yet his sorrow remains as it was."

"Silent and thoughtful should be the sons of
princes, and bold in battle."

"The timid man thinks he shall live forever if
he keeps away from battle; but age gives him
no peace even though thfe spear may spare him."

The struggle for independence in life with regard
to knowledge as well *as fortune, an independence
Avhich should, therefore, be earned by a love of
learning and by industry.

"A friend more trusty can no man ever have
than a good understanding."

"Happy he who has law and understanding of
himself while he lives; for evil counsel has been
often found in the breast of another."

" One's ow^n home is the best though little it may
be ; every man is master in his own house. Though
he have but two goats and a cottage thatched with
boughs, is it better than begging."

312 RELIGION OF THE NOKTIIMEN.

"A bleeding heart is his who has to beg his bread
for every meah"

"Early shall he rise whose laborers are few, and
see to his work ; many things hinder him who sleeps
away the morning. The half of riches depends on
quickness."

A strict adherence to oaths and promises :

"This I counsel thee secondly, that thou swear
not an oath unless it be true; cruel fetters shall
bind the traitor; wretched is he who breaks his
word."

Candor and fidelity as well as foresight in love ;
devotion to the tried friend, but dissimulation toward
the false and war to the death against the implacable
enemy.

"To thy friend shalt thou be a friend, to him and
his friend ; but no one should be the friend of his
friend's enemy."

"Hast thou a friend in whom thou hast full con-
fidence, and thou wilt receive good from him, then
mingle thy thoughts with his, exchange gifts with
him and visit him often."

" But hast thou another in whom thou hast not
great confidence, and yet will receive good from
him, fair words shalt thou speak to him but falsely
think, and reward loose speech with lies."

" is"ever be the first to break ofi" rashly with thy
friend. Sorrow consumes the heart when thou hast
no one to whom thou canst open thy whole mind."

"Make tby friend's misfortune thy own; but
give thy enemy no peace."

" If thou wilt find a good wife, to be a pleasant

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 313

companion and to bring thee joy, make fair
promises but bold tbem in good faith ; no one is
made weary with good."

" Hast thou a friend in whom thon hast full confi-
dence? go often to see him; for the weeds grow
and the high grass in the path where no one
treads."

" Once I was young ; I traveled alone through
wild paths ; I thought myself rich when I met with
others. Man is a joy to man."

" That is a communion of soul where each can
say confidentially to the other all his thoughts.
Anything is better than to be false. He is not a
friend who speaks only fair words."

" Let no one trust the words of a maiden nor a
woman's speech; for upon rolling wheels their
hearts were formed, and inconstancy lies in their
breast."

"Xever rejoice at the misfortunes of others, but
let their prosperity please thee."

Eespect for Age.

" Laugh not at the gray-haired speaker. Tliat is
often good which the aged have to say. Often
from the wrinkled skin come forth words of
wisdom."

Hospitality, liberality, and charity to the poor.

" Fire is needed by him who has come in and is
chilled at the knees ; food and clothing are needed
by the man who has wandered over the mountains."

''Water he needs who comes to thy table; a
towel and a hospitable welcome. By good treat-
ment thou shalt win from him good words and
kindness in return,"

314 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

"With arms and clothing shall friends gladden
each other. They who give and receive gifts in re-
turn, are friends the longest, if all other things be
well."

" With scorn and laughter mock not the stranger
and the wayfarer. He who sits at his own door is
often uncertain who it may be that comes by."

" Scoff not the guest nor spit upon him from the
window ! Be kind to the poor."

A prudent foresight in word and deed.

" The wary guest who comes to the banquet is not
wasteful of words ; he listens with the ear, he sees
with the eye ; thus the wise man feels about him."

" He talks too much who never ceases his vain
flow of words. The flippant tongue, unless it be
checked, often runs itself into mischief."

" From thy weapons on the fleld move not- a foot-
breadth ; for it is uncertain how soon upon the way
out the spear may be needed."

Temperance, not only in the gratiflcation of the
senses, but in the exercise of power.

" No heavier burden is borne by man than immod-
erate drinkÍDg ; nor is ale so good as it is said for
the sons of men. The more one drinks the less he
knows, until his understanding is gone."

" The bird of forgetfulness hovers over the drink-
ing room and steals away the senses of men."

" The herd knows when to go home and it leaves
the pasture ; but the foolish man knows not the mea-
sure of his stomach."

" The gluttonous man, unless he makes use of his
reason, eats his own death. To the Wise the stom-
ach of the stupid man often brings laughter,"

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 315

" His jDOwer the wise man shall wield with moder-
ation ! This he finds when among the brave he has
come, that no one excels in everything."

Contentment and cheerfulness.

" Prudent and generous be the sons of the free-
born, and bold in battle. Cheerful and glad let
every man be to the end of his life."

^' The heart only knows what dwells the heart
nearest ; it alone can betray itself. There is no dis-
ease worse for the brave man than to be discontented
with his lot."

" The master of the house should be cheerful at
home, kind to his guests and circumspect ; let him
be attentive and affable."

Modesty and politeness of intercourse.

" Thou shalt no maiden entice nor any man's wife,
nor urge them to wantonness."

"The fool stares when he comes a guest; he talks
with himself and murmurs. If he gets a drink his
whole mind is opened."

" "Washed and sated should a man ride to the as-
semblies, even though he be not finely dressed. Of
his shoes and breeches let no one be ashamed, nor of
his horse, though it may not be the best."

A desire to win the good will of our fellow men,
especially to surround one's self with a steadfost
circle of devoted kinsmen and faithful friends.

"The tree pines away which stands within tlic
village ; no bark nor leaf remains to shelter it. So
is it with the man whom no one loves ; why shall he
live long?"

" Seldom stands a monumental stone by the way-
side, unless by kinsman raised to kinsman."

316 RELIGION OF THE NOETHMEN.

" Bear thyself irreproacliably toward tliy kinsfolk ;
be slow to avenge thyself on them, even though they
injure thee : this, it is said, will profit thee in
death."

A careful treatment of the bodies of the dead.

" Carefully gather up the dead wherever on earth
thou may find them, whether they have died by
sickness, by the sea, or by arms. Raise up a mound
for the departed, wash the hands and head, comb
and dry it before it is laid in the coffin, and pray for
it to sleep in peace."

The remembrance that earthly riches are perish-
able, and in connection therewith, the struggle to
gain a good reputation and a renown which shall
reach beyond this life and be cherished and honored
by posterity.

" Wealth is like the glance of the eye, it is a most
unstable friend."

"Eiches depart, kindred die, man himself dies
also; but a good name dies never for him who
gained it."

'' Eiches depart, kindred die, man himself dies
also; but one thing I know of which never dies:
the Judgment of the Dead."

These rules of life were variously understood, and
as variously carried out into practice. But on the
whole we find them reflected in the popular charac-
ter of the íí'orthmen, such as history teaches it to us
during heathendom. Bravery, prudence, and a love
of independence are its bright features, although
bravery often degenerated into warrior-fierceness,
prudence into dissimulation, and the love of inde-

INFLUENCE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 317

pendence into self-will. K on tlie one hand we find
a noble self-command, devoted faithfulness in friend-
ship and love, noble-hearted hospitality and gene-
rosity, a love of right and of legal order, we also see
on the other, unyielding stubbornness, a fierce spirit
of revenge, a repulsive arrogance, a far-reaching
self-interest and an excessive dependence upon the
formalities of the law. A cold and unmoved ex-
terior often concealed a soul torn by the bitterest
grief, or stirred up by the wildest passions. A pas-
sionate outburst of joy, or of grief, was considered
undignified. Few words, but energetic action, was
esteemed in conduct, and complaint was silenced in
order that vengeance could strike the more surely
and heavily. Under a tranquil, indifierent mien
were coacealed the boldest and most deep-laid plans,
and the real intentions first came to light in the de-
cisive moment. On the whole there was certainly
an impress of rigidity, insensibility, and self-good-
ness stamped upon the popular character ; but this
stamp was more upon the outside than in its inner-
most character, more the result of inordinate pru-
dence than of an evil disposition ; and through all its
failings there shines forth a dignity of soul which
ennobled power and held up glory in this life and in
after-ages as the highest object of human under-
takings.

318 RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

CHAPTER XXVni.

DECLINE OF THE ASA-FAITH.

A HISTORICAL representation of the development of
the Asa-Faith cannot be given. As its origin is en-
veloped in total darkness, so is the period of its
highest glory unknown to ns, and it is in fact only
in its decline and fall that history reveals it to ns as
appearing in the popular life and acting upon it. We
know not what revolutions and changes the system
may possibly have undergone during the long course
of centm'ies in which the faith was cherished by the
Northmen, but that these changes were not wholly
unimportant, and moreover, that the religion was
very differently understood at different times — now
with greater warmth and a more special reference
to its deep fundamental ideas, now with more cold-
ness and more immediately in reference to its exter-
nal form, its symbolic dress — the very character of
the religion leads us to presume.

The religion which draws man into reflective
meditation, which, as it were, strives to separate
him from the finite world in order to absorb him in
the contemplation of the Infinite, can maintain

DECLINE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 319

itself tliroiigh a long course of centuries witli unim-
paired power, even amid violent outward convul-
sions. But the Asa-faith was not such a religion.
It is evident, on the contrary, that in the form under
which we know it, it must of necessity draw its
votaries into a life of activity, or rather, tear them
almost involuntarily out into the wildest tumult of
the world. History shows us also how the Ger-
manic nations in earlier times, and afterward the
Is'orthmen, inflamed by this faith, developed a
warlike power and boldness which shook Europe's
former social fabric to its foundations — how great
hosts of Northmen were driven by this faith to a
Yiking-life which knew no home, no rest, and but
few of the milder feelings of humanity ; and how
the warlike spirit among them toward the close of
heathendom blazed out with a wild ferocity which,
as it were, consumed itself.

But in this agitated life, which the Asa-faith,
although it did not, perhaps, call it forth from the
first, yet did so strongly suj^port, there lay an effec-
tive germ, not only of changes in the doctrines
themselves, but more especially of revolutions in
the religious opinions of its votaries — revolutions
which, in the com'se of time, were, of necessity, to
involve its decline and fall.

The Yiking's life and uninterrupted warfare kept
many of the chieftains and large troops of men the
greater part of the time away from their homes and
from the sanctuaries of the people, and made them
by degrees foreign and indifferent to them, while
they, at the same time, came in contact with people

320 RELIGION OF THE NOKTHMES.

of another religion and other customs. Many re-
turned to their homes with contempt at heart for
the faith of their fathers, and as free-thinkers who
had become accustomed to relj upon their own
powei-s alone. For every new generation that grew
wp in that wild Yiking-life the faith became more
powerless and insignificant. They persisted in their
warrior-ferocity from habit and by the force of
example, but no longer directly impelled by a
longing for the society of the Æsir and the joys of
Yalhalla. And though they did not yet give up
the faith entirely, still it was only the exterior, the
sensuous form, to which they paid attention. It
was in idols and sacrifices, divination and sorcery,
that they placed confidence, and it was the grossest
superstition that formed the counterpart to the free-
thinking. That wild life, agitated by all manner of
passions, which also transferred itself to their
homes, and toward the close of heathendom gained
the ascendency everywhere in the I^Torth, could not
be favorable to any well-regulated system of reli-
gion whatever, and the foundations of the Asa-faith
were thus undermined by the very spirit which it
had helped to awaken, and which it had itself
strongly supported.

In this condition, then, we find the Asa-faith at
the period when history first properly makes us
acquainted with it — in its last stage of existence.
It is free-thinking and abject superstition which
we find here presented as the counterpart of each
other. "While the ÍTorthmen on one hand wor-
shiped stick and stone, animals and dead men, and

DECLINE OF THE ASA-FAITH. 321

believed their idols to find sustenance in bloody
sacrifices, even of human beings, there were many,
on the other hand, who lived without God and
thoughtlessly put their whole trust in their own
power and strength. There were some, indeed, who
thought more deeply. They rejected a plurality of
Gods and put their trust in one only Supreme
Being, '' in Him who created the Sun and all things
that have a being." In this Supreme Being the
first sovereign king of ISTorway, Harald Hárfagri,
professed to believe.^ The Icelandic chieftain
Thorkel Máni in his last sickness requested to be
carried into the rays of the Sun, where he com-
mended his soul to the God who created the Sun.
"And he had led as virtuous a life as the best
Christian."f The Icelander Thorstein Ingemunds-
son said to his brothers, that their departed fatber
would certainly enjoy a blissful reward for his piety
" with Him who created the Sun and all the world,
whoever He may be ;" and this same Being, whom
he regarded as " the Mightiest," he called upon to
deliver his brothers from the Berserksgang.;]: The
Asa doctrine itself, with its not indistinct presenti-
ments of a Being higher than all Æsir, might
awaken such conceptions in the pious and contem-
plative mind who felt disgusted with the gross
superstition of the times, and yet was not willing to
give up every consolation of Religion. But these
few individuals could not contribute anything to

* Snor. : Har. Hárf. S. 4.

f Landnmb. I. 9.

i Vatnscl.-S. 23, 37, 4G.

322 EELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN.

support the Asa-faith, now tottering to its fall ; on
the contrary it was they who left it the most hastily
when they became acquainted with Christianity.

It was of no avail that the zealous Asa-worshipers
portrayed the calamities which could strike one or
another of these free-thinkers as a punishment be-
cause he did not bestow upon the Gods that worship
due unto them. Nor did it avail any more that
they disclaimed that toleration of other believers,
which otherwise a232:>ears to have been a character-
istic of the votaries of the Asa-doctrine, and sharp-
ened the severity of the laws against those who
showed disrespect toward the Gods. At the time
when Christianity was approaching the North, the
Asa-faith no longer satisfied the more deep-think-
ing portion of the people who were nominally its
adherents, and, therefore, it could not long sustain a
conflict with the new faith, when that faith came to
be promulgated with zeal and energy.

APPENDIX.

Text to various translations from the Older Edda

on the foregoing pages.

On page 121.

Völuspá, strophe 20.
iþær log lögðu,
|)ær lif kuni
alda börnum,
orlög seggja.

On page 166.

Helgakviða Hundingsbana II.
str. 32.

Ær ertu, systir !
ok ervita,
er J)ú bræðr f>ínuni
biÖr forskapa ;
einn veldr Óðinn
öUu bölvi,

|)víat meÖ sifjungiim
sakrúnar bar.

On page 188.
Atlamal, str. 19.
Orn hugSa ek hér inn fljúga
at endlöngu húsi,
Jjat mun oss drjúgt deilask ;
dreifSi hann oss öll blóöi,
hugða ek af heitura
at væri liamr Atla.

On page 206.
Hyndluljó^, str. 10.
Ilörg hann mér gerði

hlaÖinn sternum,
— nú er grjót |)at
at gleri vorðit —
ranð hann i nýju
nauta blóÖi,
æ trúöi óttar
á ásynjur.

On page 240.

YölimdarkviÖa, s^r. 31.

Eiða ekaltu mér áör
alia vinna,
at skips borði
ok at skjaldar rönd,
at mars bægi
ok at mækis egg:
at f)ú kveljat
kván Völundar,
né brúði minni
at ban a veröir.

%

On page 240.

Helgakv. Hundingsb. II., str. 29.

^ik skyli allir
eiöar bíta,
{)eir er Ilelga
haföir uuna;
at enu Ijósa
leiptrar vatni,
ok at úrsYÖlum
unnar steini.

824

APPENDIX.

On page 241.
AtlakviÖa, str. 30.
Svá gangi J)ér, Atli !
sem |)ú viÖ Gunnar áttir
eiða opt um svarÖa
ok ár of nefnda,
at sol inni suÖrhöllu
ok at Sigtýs bergi,
hulkvi hvílbeöjar,
ok at hringi Ullar.

On page 241.
Atlamál, str. 31.
Sór J)á Vingi,
sér réð hann lítt eira :
" eigi hann jötnar,
ef hann at yÖr Ijgi,
gálgi görvallan,
ef hann á grið hygÖi."

On page 311.
- Hávamál, sir. 134.
Löstu ok kosti
bera Ijóöa synir
blandna brjbstum i;
erat maÖr svá góör
at galli ne fylgi,
né svá illr at einugi dugi.

lb, &tr. 22.
Ósviör maÖr vakir
\\m allar nætr
ok hyggp at hvivetna ;
J)á er móör
er at raorni kemr,
alt er vil sem yar.

lb. str. 14.
J)agalt ok hiigalt
Bkyli f)jóÖans barn
ok vigdjarft vera.

lb. sir. 15.
Ósnjallr maðr
liyggsk munu ey lifa,
ef hann við víg varask;
enn elli gefr
hánum engi friÖ,
J)ótt hánum geirar gefi.

lb. str. 6.

* * * óbrigöra via
fær raaÖr aldregi
en manvit mikit.

lb. str. 9.

Sá er sæll
er sjálfr um á
}of ok vit meðan lifir:
þvíat ill ráð hefir
maðr opt þegit
annars brjóstum or.

lb. str. 35.

Bii er betra,
J)ótt lítit sé,
hair er heima hverr;
þótt tvær geitr eigi
ok taugreptan sal,
þat er J)ó betra en bœn.

On page 312.

Hávamál, str. 36.
Bú er betra,
þótt lítit sé,
hair er heima hverr;
blóðugt er hjarta
J)eim er biöja skal
sér Í mál hvert matar.

lb, str. 58.

Ár skal risa
sá er á yrkendr fa,
ok ganga sins verka á vit ;
mart um dvelr |)ann
er um morgin sefr,
hálfr er auör und hvötum.

Sigrdrífumál, str. 23.

Jiat ræd ek J)ér annat,
at J)ú eiÖ ne sverir
nemr J)ann er saðr sé ;
grimmar simar
ganga at trygÖrofi,
armr er vara vargr.

APPENDIX.

325

Hávamál, str. 42.
Yin sínum skal
maðr vinr vera,
J)eim ok J)es3 vin ;
en ovinar sins
skyli engi maör
-vinar vinr vera.

lb. str. 43.
Yeiztu ef J)ú vin átt,
J)ann er |)U vel trúir,
ok vill J)ú af hánum gott geta?
geÖi skaltu viö þann blanda
ok gjöfum skipta,
fara at finna opt.

lb. str. 44.
Ef J)ú átt annan,
J)anns þíi ilia trúir,
vildu af liánum |)ó gott geta;
fagrt skaltu við J)ann mæla,
enn flátt liyggja,
ok gjalda lausung viö lygi.

lb. str. 122.
Vin ^ínum
ver |)ú aldregi
fyrri at flaumslitum ;
sorg etr hjarta,
ef J)ú segja ne náir
einhverjum allan hug.

lb. str. 128.
Hvars f)ú böl kánt
kveð |)ú þér bölvi at,
ok gefat |)ínuni fjándum friÖ.

Ib. str. 131.

Ef J>ú vilt f)ér góda konu
kveöja at gamanrúnum,
ok fá fögnuÖ af ;
fögru skaldu heita,
ok lata fast vera,
leiðisk mangi gott ef getr.

Ox PAGE 313.
Hávamál, str. 120.
Veiztii ef bú vin átt,
|)ánns J)ú vel trúir,
15

farÖu at finna opt ;
þvíat hrísi vex
ok hávu grasi
vegi, er vætki treðr.

Ib. str. 46.

Ungr var ek forÖum,
for ek einn saman,
|)á varÖ ek villr vega ;
auðigr f)óttumk,
er ek annan fann :
maÖr er manns gaman.

Ib. str. 125.

Sifjum er ]þá blandat,
hverr er segjr ræðr
einum allan hug ;
alt er betra
en sé brig-gum at vera
era sa vinröÖrum er vilt eitt segir.

Ib. str. 83.
Meyjar orÖura
skyli manngi trúa,
né f)ví er kveÖr kona;
þviat á hverfanda hveli
váru þeim hjörtu sköpuð,
brigð í brjóst um lagit.

Ib. str. 129.

Illu feginn
ver {)ú aldregi,
enn lát þér at góÖu getiö.

Ib. str. 135.

At hárum f)ul
hlæ |)ú aldregi,

opt er gott ))at er gamlir kveða;
opt or skörpum belg
skilin orÖ koma.

Ib. str. 3.
Elds er J^örf
J)eims inn er kominn
ok á kné kalinn;
Matar ok váða
er raanni J)örf,
J)eim er hefir um fjall fariÖ.

326

APPENDIX.

lb. str. 4.
Vatns er þörf
J)eim er til verðar kemr,
perru ok J)jóðlaðar,
góðs um æðis,
ef sér geta mætti
orös ok endr])ögu.

On page BU.
lb. str. 40.
Vápnum ok váöum
skolu vinir gleöjask,
J)at er á sjálfum sýnst;
viÖrgefendr ok en'drgefendr
erusk lengst vinir,
ef f)at bíÖr at verða vel.

Ib. str. 133.
At háði né hlátri
hafðu aldregi
gest né ganganda;
opt vitu ógörla
J)eir er sitja inni fyrir,
hvers ])eir 'ro kyns er koma.

Ib. str. 136.
Gest {)ú ne geyja
né á grind hrækir
get J)ú Yáluðum vel.

Ib. str. n.
Enn vari gestr
er til veröar kemr
J)unnu hljóði f)egir;
eyrum hlyðir
en augum skoöar;
svá nýsisk fróðra liverr fyrir.

Ib. str. 28.
Ærna mælir
sá er æva |)egir
staðlausu stafi ;
hraðmælt tunga,
nema haldendr eigi,
opt sér ógott um gelr.

Ib. sir. Zn.
Vápnum sínum
skala maðr velli á '

feti ganga framar;
|)víat ovist er at vita,
nær verðr á vegum úti
geirs um J)örf guma.

Ib. str. 11.
Yegnest verra
vegra hann velli at,
en sé ofdrykkja öls ;
era svá gott,
sem gott kveÖa,
öl alda sona:
þvíat færa veit
er fleira drekkr
síns til geÖs gumi.

Ib. str. 12.
Óminnis hegri heitir
sá er yfir ölðrum þrumir,
hann stelr geði guma.

Ib. str. 20.
Hjaröir J)at TÍtu,
nær J)ær heina skolii,
ok ganga þá af grasi,
en ósviðr maör
kann ævagi
síns um máls maga.

Ib. str. 19.
GráÖugr halr,
nema geðs viti,
etr sér aldrtrega ;
opt fær hlægis,
er meö horskum kerar,
Manni lieimskum magi.

Ox PAGE 315.
Ib. str. 63.
Ríki sitt skyli
ráösnotra liverr
í hófi hafa ;
J)á hann þat finnr,
er með fræknum kemr,
at engi er einna hvatastr.

Ib. str. 14.
J)agalt ok hugalt
I sky 11 J)jóðans barn

APPElíDIX.

327

ok vígdjarft vera ;
glaör ok reifr
skyli gumna hverr
unz sinn bíör bana.

Ib. 8ir. 94.
Hugr einn |)at veit,
er býr hjarta nær,
einn er hann sér um seva;
öng er sótt yerri
hveitn snotrum manni
en sér öngu at una.

Ib. sir. 102.
Heima glaör gumi
ok viö gesti reifr
sviðr skal um sik vera ;
minnigr ok málugr.

Sigrdrífumál, i^tr. 32.
Mey |)ú teygjat
né manns konu
né egg] a ofgamans.

Hávamál, str. 16.
Kópir afglapi,
er til kynnis kemr,
J)ylsk hann um eöa J)rumir ;
alt er senn
ef ban sylg um getr,
uppi er J)á geÖ guma.

Ib. sir. 60.
f)veginn ok mettr
ríÖi maðr |)íngi at,
J)ótt hann séö vœddr til vel :
skua ok bróka
skammisk engi maÖr,
né bests in heldr,
J)ótt hann hafit góöan.

Ib. str. 49.
Hrörnar f)öll
sú er stendr þorpi á,
hlýrat henni börkr né barr;
svli er maör sá
er manngi ann,
hvat skal hann lengi lífa?

Ib. str. 71.
Sjaldan bautarsteinar
standa brautu nœr,
nema reisi niÖr at nið.

Ox PAGE 316.
Sigrdrífumál, sir. 22.
J)at ræö ek f)ér iö fyrsta,
at |)ú við frændr þina
vammalaust verir ;
8Íör J)ú hefnir,
þótt þeir sakar göri,
|)at kveöa dauðum duga.

Ib. str. 33.

Jjat ræÖ ek |)ér it níunda,
at jjú nám bjargir,
hvars þú á földu finnr;
hvárt eru sóttdauÖir
eÖa sædauöir,
eða 'ro vápndauöir verar.

34. Haug skal göra
hveim er liðinn er,
bendr J)vá ok höfuö;
kemba ok f)erra,
áðr í kistu fari,
ok biöja sæliu sofa.

Ilávamúl, sir. '77.
Svá er auör
sem augabragö,
hann er valtastr vina.

Ib. sir. 15.
Deyr fé,
deyja frœndr,
deyr sjálfr it sama ;
en orðstírr
deyr aldregi,
hveim er sér góðan getr.

Ib. sir. 70.

Deyr fé,
deyja frjondr,
deyr sjálfr it sama ;
ek veit einn
at aldri deyr:
dúmr um dauöan hvcrn.

328 APPENDIX.

EXTRACT FROM EGIL'S SAGA,

Chap. 68, quoted on pp. 242-245.

Egill drap Ljót hinn Bleikna.

J)EiR J)órsteinn ok Egill bjiiggu ferð sína |)egar
J)eir höfðii lokit erendiim siiiiim, fara J)eir f)á aptr a
leið, ok er þeir koma suÖr urn Dofra-fjall f)á segir
Egill at hann vill fara ofan til Eanmsdals ok siðan
suÖr simda leið : " Yil ek," segir liann, "lúka eren-
dum minum í Sogiii ok a Hörðalandi, J)víat ek vil
bua skip mitt í sumar til Islands út." J)órsteinn
baÖ hann ráða ferÖ sinni ; skiljast |)eir J)órsteinn ok
EgiU, for J)órsteinn siiðr iim Dali ok alia leið til Jjess
er lianTL kom til búa sinna. * * * Egill fór
leiÖar sinnar ok J^eir xij. saman, komii J)eir frani í
Kaumsdal, fíngu sér J)á flutníngar ; fóru siðan siiðr
á Mæri ; er ekki sagt frá ferð J)eirra fjrir enn f)eir
komu í ej f)á er HauÖ lieitir, ok fóru til gistingar á
bæ |)ann er lieitir á Blindheimi, J)at var göfugr
bærr. J)ar bjó lendr-maðr er FriÖgeir liet; hann
var úngr at aldri, liafÖi nýtekit vit föðrarsi sínum.
Móðir bans bet Gyða, bón var systir Arinbjarnar
bersis, skörúngr mikill ok göfug kona ; bón var at

APPENDIX. 329

rauöuin meö syni sínum Friogeiri, liufÖu J^au far
rausnar-bú mikit.

J)á féngii feir allgóðar viötökiir, sat EgiU iim
kveldit it næsta FriÖgeiri ok förunautar hans J)ar
útar frá; var J)ar drykkja mikil ok dýrlig veizla.
Gyða húsfre}^*a gekk um kveldit til tals Yið Egil ;
lion spurði at Arinbirni broðr símim ok enn at
fleirum frændum sínum ok YÍniim J)eiin er til Eng-
lands höfðu farit meÖ Arinbirni ; Egill sagÖi lienni
þat sem hón spnrði. Hon spurði hvat til tiðenda
hefði gjörast í ferÖum Egils. Han scgir lienni af
Ijósasta ; J)á kvaÖ Lann :

"UrSumst leií in Ijóta
Landbeiðaðar reiði
Sígrat gaiikr ef Glamma
, Gamma veit um sik ])ramma."

Egill var alkátr um kveldit, enn Friðgeir ok
heimamenn Yoru heldr liljoðr. Egill sá I)ar mcj
fagra ok vel búna, lionum var sagt at lión var systir
FriÖgeirs; mærinn var ókát ok gret einart um
kveldit, þat J:)ótti feim undarligt f)ar voru Jieir iim
nóttina. En nm morgininn var veör hvast ok cigi
sæfært, fjar fnrftu J)eir far or eyjiinni. f)ii gekk
FriÖgeir ok bæÖi J^an lionnm {)ar at sitja moÖ föru-
nanta sína til f)ess er gott veri færi-veÖr ok hafa
f)aðan fara-beina fann sem feir fyrfti. EgiU
J)ektist fat, sátu feir far veör-festir iij. nætr ok var
far hinn mesti mannfagnaÖr. Eptir geröu veÖr
lygnt, stoöu f oir EgiH f á npp snenima um mor-
gininn ok bjuggust, gingn f a til matar ok var f eim
geíit öl at drekka, ok sátu f cir um hríö ; síöan tóku

330 APPENDIX.

f)eir klæÖi sin. Egill stóÖ iipp ok JakkaÖi bónda ok
Msfre}jii beina sinn, ok gengu síðan út; bóndi ok
móðir hans gengu á gantii með Jeim. {)a gekk
Gyða til máls við Friögeir son sinn ok talaði við
liann lagt ; Egill stóð meðan ok beið f)eirra. EgiU
mællti við meyna: "Hvat grætr Jni mær? ek se
J)ik aldri káta." Hón mátti engu svara, ok gret at
meiiT. Friðgeir segir at móðnr sinni hátt: "ekki
vil ek nil biðja J)ess ; J)eir era nii búnir feröar sin-
nar. {)á gekk Gyða at Egli ok mællti : " ek mun
segja J)ér, Egill, tiðendi, þau sem hér erii með oss.
Maðr heitir Ljótr Jiinn hleiki^ hann er berserkr ok
bólmgöngii-maðr, bann er 6J)okkii-sæll ; hann kom
hér ok bað dóttnr minnar, en vér svöraÖum honiim
skjótt ok "synjnðum homim ráÖsins. Síðan skoraði
hann til hólmgöngn á Friðgeir son minn, ok skal á
morginn koma til hólmsins í ey |)á er Yorl heitir.
Nú Yilda ek, Egill, at |)ii færir til hólmsins meÖ
EriÖgeiri ; mnndi Jíat sannast ef Arinbjörn veri bér
i landi at vér mimdim eigi f)ola ofríki slíkiim manni
sem Ljótr er." Egill segir, " skylt er J^at, liúsfreyja,
fyri sakir Arinbjaraar frænda J)ins at ek fara, ef
honum J)ikir sér J3at nokkut fulltíng." " J)á gerir
f)ii. vel," segir Gyða ; " skulii ver Já gánga inn í
stufu ok vera öll saman daglángt." Gánga þeir
Egil J)á inn í stufu, ok drukkn, sátu J)eir {)ar um
daginn. En at kveldi komu vinir Friðgeirs f)eir
er til ferÖar voru ráðnir meÖ honnm, ok var ])ar
fjölment nm nóttina, ok var f)ar |)á yeizla mikil.
En eptir nni daginn bjóst Friðgeir til ferðar ok
mart manna með honum ; var f)ar Egil í för. J)á
var gott færi-yeÖr ; fara |)eir síÖan ok konia í eyna ;

APPENDIX. 331

{)ar var fagr völlr skamt frá sjóniim er hólmstefnan
skjldi vera, var Jar markaðr hólmstaðr, lagÖir
steimar í liríng ntan iim. JSTú kom f)ar Ljótr með
lið sitt ; bjózt liann J)á til liólmgöngn ; liann hafÖi
skjöld ok syerð. Ljótr var allraikil maðr ok sterk-
ligr, ok er hann gekk frara á völlinn at holmstað-
nuin J)á kom á hann berserksgángr ; tók liann at
grenja íllíliga ok beit í sköld sinn. Friðgeir var
ekki mikill, grannligr ok friðr sjóniim, ok ekki
staðit í barÖögum. En er Egill sá Ljót fá kvað
hann tísu :

" Era Friðgeiri fœri
(Faurum motst á vit sörvar,
Skolum banna mjög manni
Mey) aurlej'gi at heyja
Vit þann er bítr ok blótar
Bond el-hvötuð Göndlar
Al-feigum skýtr ægir
Angum skjöld á baugi."

Ljótr sá hvar EgiU stóÖ, ok lieyrði orÖ bans ; haiin
iiiælti: "gákk bíg at binn mikli maör á bólminii,
ok berzt vit mik ef J)u ert allfúss til ! er f)at mikhi
jafnligra enn ek berjumst vit Friðgeir, f)víat ek
J)ikjumst eigi at meiri maðr |)ó at ek leggi bann at
jörðu. J)á kvaÖ Egill :

" Erat lítillar Ljóti
Leik ek við hal bleikan,
Við bifteini bænar
Brynju rétt synja.
Búumst til vigs! en vægðar
Vún lotka ek hamim.
Skapa verðuni við skjaldi
Skæru, drengr, ú mæri."

332 APPENDIX.

Síðan bjost Egill til liólmgöngu við Ljut. Egill
liafði skjöld f)ami sem hann var vaor at bafa, en
hann var gyrðr sverði því er hann kallaði JVabr, en
hann hafði Dragvandil i liendi. Hann gekk inn
yfir mark þat er holmstefnan skyldi vera ; en Ljotr
var f)ar eigi búinn. Egill skok sverðit ok kvað
visu :

"Höggum hjalt-Tönd skygSum ;
Hæfum rönd með brandi ;
Reynum rau$ar máni;
Rjó^um sverS í blóði.
Stýfum Ljót af lífi ;
Leikum sárt viS bleikan ;
Kyrrum kappa errinn
(Komi auru á hræ) járnum."

J)á kom Ljótr fram á vígvöllinn ok segir upp
hólmgöngulög, " at sá skal bera níÖings-nafn jafnan
siðan er út hopar nm marksteina J)á er npp eru
settir í liríng um hólmgöngu staÖinn ;" siðan reunast
f)eir at, ok boggr Egill til Ljotr bra við skildinum.
En Egill hjó hvert hogg at öÖru svá at Ljotr fekk
ekki böggit í móti. Hann bopaði undan til bögg-
rúmsins, en Egill for jamskjott eptir ok bjó sem
ákafast. Ljotr for tit um marksteinana ok víða um
völlinn ; gekk svá bin fjrsta iiríð. J)á beiÖist Ljótr
bvílÖar. Egill let f)at ok vera ; nema f)eir Já staÖ,
ok bvílöu sik. J)á kvað Egill :

" Fjaú J)iki mér fura
Flein stökkvandi nökkvat
(Hræ^ist hödda bei^ir ?)
Happlauss fura kappi.
Yegrat fast sá er frestar
Flein-döggvar stafr höggum.
Vábey^an fór viðan
Völl fyri rotnum skalla."

AITENDIX. 333

þat vorii Lólmgöngulög í J)aim tíma, at sá er
skorar á mann annan til einslivers lilutar, ok feiio-i
sa sígr er áskoraði, þá skjldi sá hafa sígrmál f)at er
hann liafði til skorað ; en ef liaiín fengi ósígr, f)a
skjldi hann leysa sik J)vílíka íu sem ákveðit veri ;
en ef hann felli á hólmi, ]já liafði liann fyrirgjört
allri eigii sinni, ok skyldi sá taka arf er hann felldi
á liólmi. Egill baÖ at Ljótr skyldi búinn verÖa :
" YÍl ek at YÍð reynim nú hólmgöngu Jessa." Ljótr
spratt {)á skjótt á fætr. |)á lilj'óp Egillat lioniim ok
lijó Jegar til hans, gekk liann J)á svá nær honum at
lianii hraiikk fyrir ok bar J)á skjöldinn af lionum.
f)a hj(S Egill til Ljóts ok kom á fyrir ofan kne, ok
tókaffótinn; fell Ljotr |)ar ok J)egar erendr. J)á
gekk Egill J)ar til er J)eir Friðgeir voru ; var þetta
verk lionum allvel J)akkat. J)á kvaÖ Egill :

" Fell sá er flest hit ílla
(Fút hjó skáld &f Ljóti),
Ulfgrennir hefir unnit;
Eir veittag Friðgeiri.
Setja ek lóns til launa
Log brjótanda í móti ;
Jafnt var inér í gný geira
Gamanleikr við hal bleikan."

Ljótr var lítt harmöandi af mönniim, J)víat liann
hafÖi verit Linn mesti ueiru-maÖr. Ilaiin var
Sværiskr at ætt ok átti ciigva frændr J>ar í landi ;
hann liafði komit f^angat ok aílat ser íjár á hólm-
gongnm. Ilaiin liafÖi fellt iiiarga góða bændr ok
skorat áðr á J»á til liólnig(>ngu ok til jarða J^eirra ok
óðala, ok var Jiá vorÖinn stóranÖigr bæÖi at lundum
ok laiisiiin aiirum.
15*

334: APPENDIX.

Egill for lieim meÖ Friðgeiri af holmstefnunni,
dvaldist hann f)ar ])á litta liríÖ áðr liann for siiÖr á
Mæri ; skyldiist þeir Egill ok Friðgeir með miklum
kærleik, baiiö Egill Friðgeiri nm at lieimta jar^ir
J)ær er Ljótr hafði átt.

INDEX

Adam of Bremen, a historian of
the r2th century, 14 — alludes
to America, 80— to the temple
at Upsala, 175, 198, 211.

Adelung, 30.

Adils, a king of Upsala, 185.

Afzelius, 32.

Al-faöir (OSinn), 90, 93, 112,127.

Álfar (Elves), 179, 193-5.

Álfheimr, the abode of Frey, 95,
134, 139— the home of the
Light Elves, 123, 134.

Alfrek, a king of Ilörðaland, 178.

Alvísmál, an Eddaic poem, 47 —
quoted 299.

Animianus Marcellinu?, quoted,
282.

Angrboða, 98, 143.

Antiquarian researches in Ice-
land, 14, 15; — by Arngrim and
Brynjúlf, 16, 17 ;— by Torfæus,
17, 18; — by Arnas Magnreus,
17, 22, 23;— by the Danish
Government^ 18; — by the
Swedes, 18, 19.

Antiquarians of Germany, 29, 30 ;
—of Norway, 37 ; — of Sweden,
19, 37.

Antiquaries, the Royal Society
of Northern, 33, 37, 38, 39, 77.

Antiquitates Americanæ, 39, 77.

Apparitions, belief in, 303-305.

Apt,rganga (see Apparitions), 303.

Arna-Magnœan Commission, 23,
32, 34.

Arnas Magnæus, 18 — collects a
large quantity of old MSS., and
lays tlie foundation of the
Arna-Magnæan Commission,
22-3.

Arngrimr Jónsson, finder of the
Edda, 16, 17, 56.

Arnkiel's Cimbrian Mythology,
29.

Aron Hjörleifsson's Saga, 71.

Arwidsson, 37.

Ásgarör, the abode of the cods,
9.3, 122;— the earthly, ^107,
159.

Ash, the, a sacred tree, from
which the first human pair
were formed, 91, 115.

Askr, the first man, 91, 115,

Ásynjur, the Goddesses, 96, 126 ;
— worship of, 177, 178.

Atlakviöa, an Eddaic poem, 54;
— quoted, 241.

Atlamal, an Eddaic poem, 64; —
quoted, 183,188, 241.

Atlantica of Rudbeck, traces the
legends and learning of the
Greeks to Scandinivia, 19, 20.

Atli, 51, 53, 54, 188, 241.

Attila (Atli), 51.

íVuðhumla, the mythic cow, re-
presenting the elementary prin-
ciple of material life, 89, 111,
112;— traces of its worship,
232.

Auslri (the East), one of the four
dwarves which support the
sk}', 91.

Baldur, 94, 135, 145;— his death,
99, 144; — return from the
realms of death, 103, 152;—
poems relating to, 28, 44, 45 ;

worship of, 176; statues of,

199.

Bardic School, in Germany, 30.

336

INDEX.

Bartholin's Antiquities, 18; —

translated, 29.
Bergrisar (mountain giants), 89,

111, 113.
Berserkir, 253.
Bifröst, the Rainbow, the bridge

from earth to heaven, 90, 95,

lU.
Biographical Sagas, 6Y-*72.
Bjarni Herjúlfsson, first discover-
er of America, 78, 79.
Boar, the, sacred to Frey, 95,

134, 176.
Bragarfulli, the full horn, sacred

to Bragi, note, 176, 177.
BragaræÖr, second part of the

Later Edda, containing mytho-
logical ideas, 57.
Bragi, the god of Poetry, 95, 135;

— worship of, 177.
Breiðablik, the dwelling of Bal-

dur, 94, 144.
BreiðafjörÖr, a firth in western

Iceland, 71, 192, 207.
Brynjúlf Sveinsson, discoverer of

the poetic Edda, 16, 17, 42, 56.
Buri, Burr.Bör, 89, 112.

Calendar, based on the Asa My-
thology, by Finn Magnusen,
note, 140.

Cat, the, sacred to Freyja, 96,
135.

Chronicles of the Danish Kings
first published, 15.

Classes, different, mythic origin
of, 49, 50.

Cold, the symbol of eviJ, 89, 110,
116.

Cottle's translation of the Edda,
40.

Cow, the, worship of, 231, 232.

Creation, 44 ; — of chaotic matter,

89, 111, 154;— of the world,

90, 112, 113, 154;— of the sun,
moon and stars, 90, 91, 114.

Creutzer's Symbolik, 34.
Criticism in mythologici^l stu-
dies, 22, 25-6, 31-2.

Dalin's History of Sweden, 27.

Delius, against the Edda, 30.

Dellingr, the dawn, the father of
Day, 90, 114.

Denis' ' Songs ' and translations,
30.

Diar, Gods, 127 ; — priests of an-
cient Ásgard who accompa-
nied Odin into the North, 159.

Disir, inferior goddesses, 127,
179, 181 ;— sacrifices, 184-5.

Dökkálfar (dark elves), 193.

Dragons, 302.

Draumkonur, 179.

Dreams, 188, 293-4.

Droplauga-sonar Saga, quoted,
255.

Dróttnar, rulers and priests in
the earliest ages, 159-160.

Dualism, pervades the Old-Norse
religion, 89, 110-116, 118,
154-5.

Dvergar (dwarves), origin of, 90,
114;— belief in, 299.

Edda, the Older, 42-56, 86;—
discovery of, 17, 19 ; — Rese-
nius' edition, 17, 24; — Arna
Magnœan ed., 23; — German
translations, 29, 30, 40.

Edda, the Later, 56-58, 86;—
discover}^ of, 16, 17 ; — publi-
cation and translation, 17, 25,
29, 37, 40.

Egil Skallagrimsson {see Egil's
Saga).

Egil's Saga, 69; — quoted, 173,
190-1, 242-5, 246-8, 265-6.

Eichhof s ' Literature of the
North,' 40.

Einherjar, fallen hei'oes chosen
for Valhalla, 93, 128.

Einar Eyjólfsson's dream, 188.

Einvigi, 242. 248, 250-1.

Eirikr BlóSöx, a king of Nor-
way, 173, 185, 190-1, 246.

Eirikr RauÖi, visited and colo-
nized Greenland, 78; — extract
from his Saga, 288-292.

INDEX.

337

Eiríkr Sigrsœli, protected by-
Odin, 172; — gave himself to
the god and conquered by his
aid, 168, 226.

Eiriksson, a learned Icelander,
23;— assists Mallet, 24;— his
writings, 28.

Elves, 193;— sacrifices to them,
194-5.

Embla, the first woman, 91, 115.

Enthusiasm of Antiquaries, 15-19,
21.

Epic poems of the Edda, 50-55.

Evald, a Danish poet, 28.

EyjafjorOr, a firth in the north
'of Iceland, 174, 188, 192, 238.

Eyrbyggja Saga, 40, 70-71 ;—
quoted, 204, 207-8, 212-13,
225, 295-6, 306.

Fenrisúlfr, a mythic monster, 98,
143, 148;— bound by the Æsir,
90 ; — breaks loose at the end
of the world and fights against
the Gods, 101 ; — swallows
Odin and is slain by Yiöarr,
102.

Fensalir, the abode of Friga, 96,
129.

Figure-heads on the prow of
ships forbidden by the Old-
Icelandic laws, 190.

Finnr Jónsson's Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Iceland, 28.

Finnr Magnusen, a learned Ice-
lander, woi'ks, 35, 36, mytho-
logic calendar, 87 ; — refer-
ence, note 189.

Finngálkn, a supernatural mon-
ster of the north, 300, 301-2.

Finns, the, skilled in magic, 273,
276-7, and in the Future, 287.

Fjórðúngr, a division of Iceland,
a fourth or quarter, 160, 214,
234.

Fjölsvinnemál, an Eddaic poem,
48.

Fjörgj^n, the motlierof Friga, 93,

129,.
\

Flateyjabók, first Icelandic edi-
tion printed, 25.

Flóamanna Saga, quoted, 252-3.

Fólkvangar, the abode of Freyja,
96, 134, 139, 149.

Forseti, the god of Justice, 96,
137, 139, worshiped by the
Frisians in a temple on Helgo-
land, 177.

Fostbræ^ra Saga, 70; — quoted,
200.

Freki, one of Odin's wolves, 93,
128.

Freyja, the goddess of Love, 96,
133, 134-5;— worship of, 177-
8;— statues, 199.

Freyr, the god of Fruitfulness,
95, 133, 134;— worship of, 173,
176; — temples and sacrifices
173-5;— statues, 198-200.

FriSþjóf's Saga, 63; — quoted,
176, 184-5, 209.

Friga, the wife of Odin, 93, 96,
99 ;— worship of, 177-8;— sta-
tues, 199.

Frisians, the, worshiped Forseti,
177.

Frost-giante, 89, 90, 111.

Fundiun Is oregr, 60 ; — quoted,
224.

Future rewards and punishmeuts,
148-150, 152,

Future state, the, employments
in, 306.

Fylgjur, attending spirits, 179 ; —
gave to men their peculiar
qualities, 187-8; — manifesta-
tions, 188-9.

Fylki, in ancient Norwaj^ a
small district ruled by a petty
king, 215.

Færeyínga Saga, 67; — quoted,
226-7, 275-6.

Gardar, a Dane, first discovered

Iceland, 77.
GaunguUrúlfs Saga, quoted,

194-5.
Gautrek's Saga, 224.

338

INDEX.

Ger^a, the wife of Frey, 48, 95,
134.

Geri, one of Odin's wolves, 93,
128.

Gerstenberg's ' Letters ' and po-
ems, 30,

Geijer (E. G ), 85, 8l ; quoted,
160.

Giants or Demons, 29*7-9.

Gimli, the highest heaven, 93,
103, 122, 148, 152.

Ginungagap, 89, 90, 111.

Gisli Sursson'sSaga, quoted, 174,
182.

Gjallarhorn, 95, 102.

Glitnir, the abode of Forseti, 96,
137, 139.

Gods, the, impersonations of the
powers of nature, 125; — their
various titles, 126-7.

GoÖar, priests and teachers of
religion, 160-3.

Görre's ' JVlythic History,' 84.

Grater, 80.

Greenland discovered and colon-
ized, 78.

Grettis Saga, 71.

Grimm (,J.), 39, 40, 85, 87 ; quot-
ed, 177 ; and in notes to Fart
Second, passim.

Grimnismál, 43; quoted, 183.

Groa (1), an enchantress of the
Edda, 55, 264 ;— (2), a sorcer-
ess in Iceland, 180.

Grótta-söngr, an Eddaic poem,
55.

Grougalldr, an Eddaic poem, 55.

Groves, worshiped, 233, 234.

Grxmdtvig (N. F. S.), 'Mytholo-
gy of the North,' 35, 87.

Guöbrandr, a celebrated chief-
tain of GuÖbrandsdal in Nor-
way, 199, 201-2.

Guðbrandsdal, a large and fertile
valley of central Norway, 170,
186, 198, 199, 201-2.

GuðrúnarkviÖa I. II. III., Eddaic
poems, 53 ; III. quoted, 261-2.

Guðrúnarhvaut, an Eddaic poem,
64.

Gullinbursti, the golden bristled

boar of Frey, 95, 134, 176.
Gunnbjörn, the discoverer of

Greenland, 78.
Gunnhilda, a sorceress, Queen of

king Eirik Blóðöx, 173, 185,

190-1, 272-3;— taught by the

Finns, 277.
Gunnlaug Ormstúnga's Saga, 69,

quoted, 171-2.
Gunnar Helming, an imposter,

175.
Gyðja, a priestess, 163.
Gygar, giantesses, 297.
Gylfaginning, the mythological

book of the Later Edda, 56-7.
Gýmir (see Ægir), 97, 138.

Hákon ASalsteinfóstri, a King of
Norway, 171, 242.

Hákon Eiríksson Jarl, a king of
Norway, overcomes the Jóms-
víkíngar, 73; — quoted, 149; —
his devotion to the Gods made
the country prosperous, 162;
— anecdote of his religious zeal
and bravery, 166 ; — sacrificed
his son to his tutelary deity
and gains her assistance in
battle" 186, 222;— his temples
to her 199, 201-2 ;— asks a
favor of her, 226-7 ;— response
to his sacrifice, 166, 280; — his
gift to Einar, 284.

Hákonarmál, a poem, quoted,
148.

Half's Saga, 60, 61; quoted, 178,
182-3.

Hálfdán, a son of king Bele, in
Norway, 184.

Hálfdáu Einarsson's 'Icelandic
History,' 28.

IlallfreÖr Vandrícöaskáld, 178;
180, 227.

Halogaland, a province of Nor-
way, 185-6, 233.

Hamarsheimt, an Eddaic poem,
46.

Hamingjar, a class of inferior
godd'esses, 179, 180, 183.

INDEX.

339

Haramerich (M.), 'Concerning the
myths of Ragnarökk and their
significance in the Old-North-
ern Religion,' 87.

Harald Hárfagri, first king over
all Norway, 200, 25Y, 267-8;
Saga quoted, 272-3, 321.

Harald Gormsson, a king of Den-
mark, sends a sorcerer-spy to
Iceland, 192.

Harald Hyldatand, a king of
Denmark, consecrated to Odin,
168.

Harbarðsljóö, an Eddaic poem,
47.

Haulgi, an ancient king in Nor-
way, 185.

Hávamál, an Eddaic poem, first
published from the MS. by Re-
senius, 17 ; — subject, 48-9,
quoted, 264 ;— extracts, 311 —
316 (see Appendix).

HeiÖarvíga Saga, 68.

Heimdallr, theWarder of heaven,
95, 136.

Heimskringla, Schoning's Edi-
tion, 24 ; Norwegian do., 37 ;
— account of, 75, 76.

Hel, the goddess of Death,
98-100, 101, 103, 143-4, claim-
ed the bodies of the dead, 147
-50, 303.

HelgakviSa Hundingsbana, an
Eddaic poem, quoted, 166, 167,
240-1, 303-4.

Helgi, a hero of the Edda.

Helgi hinn Magri, an Icelandic
settler, 171,

Helgi, a son of Bele, a king in
Norway, 184.

Helgoland, a sacred island of the
Frisians, 177.

Helheimr, the abode of IIcl, where
she receives all who are not
brave and virtuous, 99, 146.

IleraÖ, in Norway, the district
under a hersir, 161-2.

Herder's Eddaic translations, 30.

Hersir, a baron, in Norway,
161-2.

Hervarar Saga, 24, 63-4.
Himinbjörg, the abode of Ileiin-

dall, 95,136, 139.
Historical interpretations, 26,

107-8,
Historical Sagas, 64-76.
Hjalti SkegSTJason, 184.
Hlér {see Ægir), 97, 137.
Hliðskjálf, the throne of Odin, 93,

100, 123.
Hlórríði, a name of Thor, 94.
HófgoÖi, a temple-priest (sec

GóÖi), 160.
Hófgyðja, a temple priestess {see

GyÖja), 163.
Hólmgang, a duel, 242-258.
Horse, the, sacred to Frey, 175-6,

231.
Howitt's ' Literature and Ro-
mance of the North of Europe,'

41.
Ilödur (Hö$r) the blind, 96, 135 ;

— kills Baldur the Good, 99,

144-5 ; — is slain by Yali, 100,

145; — rejoins the Gods, 103,

152.
Ilögni, a hero of the Edda, 51,

188.
ílörðaland, a petty kingdom in

ancient ÍS'orway, 169, 178.
Hörg, a kind of stone altai-,

205-6.
Höskuld, an Icelandic chieftain,

183-4.
Ilrimfaxi, the horse of Night, 90.
Hiímjíursar, frost-giants, 89, 90,

111.
Hrúlf Ganger {sec Gaungu-IIrólf).
Ilrólf Kraka's Saga, 61, quoted,

188, 269.
Ilrym, a Jötun, leads on the

Hrim]iursar to the last battle,

101.
Hra'svclgr, a Jötun, the cause of

storms, 91, 113.
Huginn, a raven of Odin, 93, 128.
llundsl'orp, atown in Guðbrands-

dal, 170, 198.
Hvergelmir, 89, 92, 103, 117.
Hyltön-Cftvallius, 37.

340

INDEX.

HýmiskYÍða, an Eddaic poem,

46.
Hyndluljóö, an Eddaic poem, 48,

quoted 177, 206.
Hænir, assists in creating man,

91, 115; — is given to the Ya-

nir in exchange for Njörö, 94,

131.

Iceland, first visited by Irish
monks, 77-8 ; — re-discovered
and settled by the Northmen,
77-8.

Iduna, the Goddess of Immortal-
ity, 57, 95, 135.

Ihre, 26 ; — his * Lexicon ' and
' Letters,' 28.

Immortality of the Soul, taught
by the Asa doctrine, 103, 104,
146-150, 152, 153, 155.

Ingemund Thorsteinsson, an Ice-
landic settler, 173, 200.

Ingólfr, a Norwegian, began the
colonization of Iceland, 78.

Jens Mortensen, a Danish trans-
lator of Snorri, 15.

Jul (Yule), 220.

Jómsvíkínga Saga, 73 ; — quoted,
284, 803.

Jökulls, ice-mountains, the abode
of Jötuns, 113.

Jörmungandr (see Miögarðs-
ormr).

Jötunheimr, the abode of the Jo-
tuns, 113, 117, 123. ^

Jötuns, giants, evil beings, rude
nature, 44, 89, 90, 111, 113,
193, 297; — nature's disturbing
powers, 154, older than the
Æsir, 119.

Kanne's ' Pantheon,' 34.

Kenningar, third part of the
Later Edda, containing poeti-
cal terms and paraphrases, 57,
58.

Kerganga, a kind of duel, 252-3.

Ketil Hæng's Saga, 64, quoted,
233.

Keyser (R.), 5, 37.

Kjalnesinga Saga, quoted 208-9.

Kjötvi, King of AgSir, 200.

Klopstock's poems, 30,

Kni'itr Sveinsson, hinn riki (Ca-
nute the Great), 78, 74.

Knytlinga Saga, 23, 73, 74.

Kœppen's 'Literary Introduction
to Northern Mythology, 7.

Konúngs-skugssjá [King's Mir-
ror],^37.

Kormak's Saga, 69-70, quoted,
194, 248-250.

Krakumál, an ancient poem, quot-
ed, 167.

Kraku HreiÖar, an Icelandic set-
tler, 170.

Kretsehman, the Barde Rhin-
gulph, 30.

Kristni Saga (an account of the
introduction of -Christianity in-
to Iceland), 66 ; — first printed,
23 ;— quoted, 234.

Lagerbring's 'History of Swe-
den,' 27.

Landnámabók (history of the co-
lonization of Iceland), 66, first
printed, 24; — quoted, 191-2,
203-4, 207-8, 213, 234, 237-8,
301, 321.

LandviÖi, the abode of YiÖarr,
96, 136, 139.

Landvættir, 179, 190-3 ; — drive
King Eirik Blóðöx from Nor-
way, 191 ; — guard Iceland
against King Harald's spy, 192.

Laxdæla Saga, 71;— quoted, 266
-7, 274.

Leifr hinn heppni Eiriksson, first
landed in America, 79.

Lexicons and handbooks on
Northern Mythology, 28, 35,
36.

Lif, and ( P^^'^^tf ^^ il^^ ^^-

Lífí^rasir, ) f ^''f ^^'^, ^"^^'^
^ ' { family, 103.

Lindfors' 'History of Icelandic

Literature,' 35.

Ljósálfar, light-elves, 134, 193.

INDEX.

341

Ljósvetnínga Saga, quoted, 188.

Lóðurr, assists in creating man,
91, 115, 142.

Lokasenna, or } an Eddaic poem,
Lokaglepsa, \ 45.

Loki, the traducer and betrayer
of the gods, 45 ; — his origin
and offspring, 98; — the author
of evil among gods and men,
98, 141-2; — causes the death
of Baldur the Good, 99, 144,
145 ; — -bound in a cavern until
the end of time, 100, 145; —
leads the troops of Hel to the
last battle, 101.

Loptr, 98, 142.

Lot-casting, 281-2, 284-5.

Mallet, a French writer on
Northern History and Mytho-
logy, 24, 25, 29, 41.

Markússon's ' Collection of Sagas'
printed in Skalholt, Iceland, 25.

Marmier's ' Popular Songs of the
North,' 40.

Maxims from the Ed da, 311-316.

MegingjörSr, Thor's magic girdle,
94.

Mermaids, mermen, 300.

MiSsrar^r, the world, 90, 91, 113,
lf5, 123.

MiSgar-Ssormr, the world -ser-
pent, 98, 143; — joins in the
last battle against the gods,
101, and is killed by Thor, 102.

Mimir the Wise, giiards the foun-
tain of wisdom, 92, 118, 119.

Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, 94, 130,
198, 200 ; — sign of the hammer
made to exorcise evil beings,
171.

Mone's (F. J.) 'History of Hea-
thendom in Northern Europe,'
34. 87.

Moster, an island on the coast of
Norway, 170, 204, 207, 215.

Mounds worshiped, 233.

Mountain-giants (Bergrisar), 89,
111 ;— (bergbúar), 191, 297.

MuUer (P. K), 32.

Munch (P. A.), Professor of His-
tory in Christiania, 37 ; — his
' Mythologic and Heroic Le-
gends,' 87.

Muninn, one of Odin's ravens, 93,
128.

Muspellheimr, the source of light
and life in creation, 89, 110,
11], 122; — agent in purifying
the world from evil, 101, 102,
151-2.

Mythic Sagas, 60-62.

Mæri, a chief-temple in Thrond-
heim, 161, 170, 198, 213.

Naglfár, the ship made of dead
men's nails, which bears the
frost-giants to the last battle,
101.

Nanna, wife of Baldur, burned
on his funeral pile, 99, 145,

Náströnd, the strand of the dead,
103, 148.

New England (Vinland), visited
by the Northmen, 79.

Newfoundland (Helluland), visit-
ed by the Northmen, 79.

Niðhöggr, the primitive evil be-
ing," 89, 110; — gnaws at the
root of the all-sustaining tree,
92, 118; — banished from the
regenerated world, 104, 153.

Nii^ing, niðstaunff, 191, 244.

Niflheimr, 88, 110, 124, 152.

Njál's Saga, 68; — quoted, 149,
186, 189, 199, 201-2, 295.

Njörðr, 94-5, 132-3; — worship-
ed as the god of seafaring,
172-3.

Nóatún, the abode of NjörÖ, 95,
132, 139.

Norðri (the North), one of the
dwarves that hold up the sky,
91.

Nornir, the northern Fates, 92,
120,121,287-8.

Nútt (night), the mother of Day,
90, 114.

Nova Scotia (Markland), visited
by the Northmen, 79.

342

INDEX.

Ií"yerup (R.) Danish antiquary
and historian, 82, 85, 86.

Nykr, a fabulous sea-horse, 300,
301.

Odin, the father of the gods, 90 ;
— with Vili and Ve created the
world, 90, 112;— with Hænir
and LóÖurr created man, 91,
115;— attributes, 93, 112, 119,
127-8; — relations, 129; — sings
of the gods and Valhalla and
Yggdrasill, 43 ; — asks Vaf-
J)rúdnir concerning the origin of
things, 44; — calls up a Yala in
order to learn Baldur's fate
and the impending destiny of
the gods, 45 ; he and Thor re-
late their exploits, 47 ; — Odin
awakened the spirit of War by
casting his spear over the
heads of the people, 141, 166 ;
— selects the heroes slain in
battle, 151 ; — worshiped as the
god of war, 165; — chieftains
and children often consecrated
to him, 167-9 ; — represented as
one-eyed, 119, 167, 170;— sta-
tue in Upsala, 198.

Oddrúnargratr, an Eddaie poem,
54.

OÖr, the husband of Freyja, 96,
135.

Oehlenschlager, 86.

Olafr Haraldsson, a king of Nor-
way, 184.

Olafr hinn Helgi [Olaf the Saint],
Saga of, 74; — quoted, 194; —
227; — Olaf destroyed a sta-
tue of Thor in Guðbrandsdal,
198-9.

Olafr Trételgja, a king in Verma-
land in Sweden, 162.

Olaf Tryggvason's Saga, 74; —
quoted on the worship of Thor,
171-2, 200, 201;— of Frey,
173-5; — on the guardian spir-
its of Iceland, 192; — Olaf
burns a statue of Thor, 201 ; —
an instance of Olaf 's mode of

christianizing Norway, 225-6 ;
—227, 273-4.

Omens, 294-6.

Orkneyinga Saga, 24, 66; — quot-
ed, 274.

Ossian's Poems awakened atten-
tion to the study of northern
literature in Germany, 29.

Oxen worshiped, 231.

Oku-J)úrr, a name of Thor, 94.

Olvusvatn, a lake in Iceland, 186,
199.

Ondvegissúlar [sacred columns],
174, 202-4;— guided the set-
tlers of Iceland to a home,
202-3, 280.

Orvar-Odd's Saga, 64; — quoted,
292.

Paulus Diaconus, a Longobard
writer, 14.

Percy's translation of Mallet's
'Introduction,' 25, 41.

Peringskjöld, note 21.

Petersen's (N. M.) History of Den-
mark in Heathen Antiquit}*,
87.

Philology enriched by the stu-
dies of Northern Antiquaries,
81.

Pigott's 'Manual of Scandinavian
Mythology,' 41.

Plato's Atlantis, 20; — his wisdom
derived from the Swedish
Skalds, 20.

Poets, 28, 30, 36-7.

Purifications, 228-9.

Rafn (Prof C. C), 34, 38, 77.

Ragnar Lóöbrók's Saga, 61, 62;
— his death, 167;— saga quot-
ed, 802.

Ragnarökkr, 43, 44, 101-2, 151-
8, 155.

Ran, wife of Ægir, 97, 138;—
claimed the bodies of the
drowned, 150.

Rask (R. K.), 31, 32.

Rationalism, 21, 22.

INDEX.

343

Rauðsey, an island of Xorway,
170, 201.

Eaven, the, a sacred bird, 93,
128, 166, 232, 280.

Resenius, published the first edi-
tion of the Edda, 17.

Reykjanes, the southwestern
promontory of Iceland, 192.

Rígsmál, an Eddaic poem, 49, 50.

Romantic literature of the south
translated by the Icelanders,
64.

Romantic Sagas, 63, 64.

Röskva, an attendant of Thor,
94, 131.

Rugman (J.), a learned Icelander
in Sweden, 18, 19.

Riibs, spread the study of north-
ern literature in Germany, 30;
— traced the Icelandic poetry
and mythology to the Anglo-
Saxons, 31.

Rúnar [runes], 163; — magic
words or incantations, 263-6;
used in divination, 283.

Runic Chapter, 49, 264.

Sacrifices, 166, 186, 216;— pub-
lic, 217;— periodical, 219-221;
— human victims, 222-3 ; —
self-immolation, 223-4; — con-
secration to the gods, 224-6;
gifts and offerings, 226-8.

Saga, the goddess of History, 96,
136, 139.

Sagas, 58 ; — relating to Denmark,
72-4; — to Norway, 74-6.

Saxo Grammaticus, 14; — quoted,
168.

Schlözer, a skeptic in northern
mythology, 30.

Schöuing's Heimskringla, 24 ; —
historical writings, 27.

SchiiLz on Northern Antiquities,
29.

Scott's abstract of the Eyrbyggja
Saga mentioned, 41.

Seers, 285-7.

Sessrymnir, the hall of Freyja,
96, 134.

Sigrdrífumál, 264, 310; — extracts
in Chap. XXYII. {sec Appen-
dix).

Sigyn, the wife of Loki, 100.

Simrock's translation of the Ed-
das, 40.

Skaði, the wife of Njörð, 95, 132.

Skálda, a treatise on prosody,
rhetoric, arc, connected with
the Later Edda, 58.

Skiðblaðnir, the ship of Frey, 95,
134.

Skinfaxi, the steed of Day, 91.

Skirnisför, an Eddaic poem, 48.

Skuld, one of the noruir, goddess
of the Future, 92, 120.

Sleipnir, Odin's eight-footed
horse, 94.

Snorri Sturlason, the Icelandic
historian, 15, 86; — his account
of the arrival of Odin and the
Æsir in the north, 158-9.

Solarljóð, an Eddaic poem, 50.

Sonargölitr, the atonement-boar,
176.

Sögubrót, a historical fragment,
62.

Sökkvabekkr, the abode of Saga,
96, 136, 139.

Stafir [letters], 163, 283.

Starkaör, a semi-fabulous war-
rior or giant, sacrifices Vikarr
to Odin, 169; — carries oflf king
Álf 's daughter, 185.

Stephanius, 16, 17, 18.

Stephens (G.). 37.

Stones, worsliiped, 233-4.

Storms, caused by the evil Jo-
tuns, 91, 113.

Sturlúnga Saga, 71.

Styrbjörn Sviakappi, with his
hosts, slain by Odin, 168; —
Thor appears to him in battle,
172.

Suðreyjar [South Islands], now
Hebrides, or Western li^lands,
171.

Suöri [the South], one of the four
dwarves which bear up the
sky, 91.

su

INDEX.

Suhm, a Danish Antiquary, 23,
24, note 21.

Sun, moon and stars formed from
the sparks of Muspell, 90, 91,
114; — the sun and moon pur-
sued by the Jotuns, 91, 114; —
who swallow them, 101 ; — new
ones appear, 103.

Supreme being, higher than all
the Æsir, alluded to, 104, 153,
155.

Surtur, the Fire-god, 89, 101-2,
110, 152.

Svartálfar, the swarthy elves,
115.

Sæhrímnir, the boar, of whose
flesh the Einherjar partake,
93.

Sæmundr hinn Fróði, editor of the
Older Edda, 86.

Tacitus, quoted, 282.

Tegnér, 36.

Temples, of Thor in N"orway and
Iceland, 170, 207-8;— of Frey
in Throndheim and Iceland,
173-4;— one to Odin, Thor
and Frey in Upsala, 175, 198;
— to Baldur in Norway, 176,
199 ; — to Forseti in Helgoland,
177 ;— to Thorgerd Hörga-
brúd,186, 199; — other temples,
199, 200; — construction and
arrangement of temples, 206-
211; — dedication of, 211;—
sanctity of, 212, 214; — support
of, 214-215.

Theories concerning the Asa My-
thology, 105-9.

Thiðrandi Hallsson, slain by the
Disir of his family, 181-2.

Thíngsókn, a judicial district in
Iceland, 160.

Thjálfi, an attendant of Thor, 94,
131.

Thor, the strongest of the gods,
94;— the god of thunder, 129,
130;— his attributes, 94, 129-
131 ; — fights against Trolls and
Jotuns, 94, 130; — the god of

bondsmen after death, 94, 150 ;
— held the highest place in the
worship of Norway and Ice-
land, 170; — directed his wor-
shipers to a place of abode,
170-1 ; — invoked by those who
trusted in their own strength,
171; — by wrestlers, 171-2; —
sometimes appeared as a red-
bearded man, 172; — statues,

198, 199, 201, 204, 207, 208:
— Eddaic poems relating his
deeds, 46, 47.

Thórfinnr Karlsfnefni, visits
Greenland,79 ; — visits America
and remains three years, 80.

ThorgerÖr HörgabrúÖr, an infe-
rior deity, 185-7 ; — worshiped
by Hákon Jarl, 186, 199, 226-
7 ; — aided him against the
Jömsvíkings, 186, — statue of,

199, 201.

Thorhaddr hinn Gamli, a chief-
priest in Throndheim, 161.

Thorhallr, a soothsayer (spámaör),
181-2.

Thorkelin, 24, 28.

Thorlacius, 24, 28 ; — the young-
er, 32.

Thórólfr, a sorcerer in Iceland,
187.

Thórólfr Mostrarskegg, directed
by Thor to Iceland, 170, 204;
— sacredness of his temple and
lands, 212-13;— devoted to
Thor from his birth, 225-6.

Thórsnes, a promontory in Ice-
land, 170.

Thórsteinn Uxafót, 189.

Thorvaldr Eiríksson, visits Ame-
rica, 79.

Thorvaldr Vi^förli [the far- trav-
eled], introduced Christianity
into Iceland (A. D. 981), 234.

Thorvaldsen, the sculptor, a son
of Icelandic parents, the lineal
descendant of a native Ameri-
can, note 80.

Thorvar^r Eysteinsson, cured by
the Elves, 194.

INDEX.

345

Throndheim, J)rándheimr[Dront-

heim], temples, 1*70, 173, 198.
ThrúSheimr, [the abode of
Thrill vangar, j" Thor, 94, 130.
Thrymheimr, the abode of SkaSi,

95, 133.
Thrymskvi^a, an Eddaic poem,

46.
Thulr, an improvisator, 163.
Thverá in Iceland, 174-5, 180.
Torfason, Thormó^r [Torfæus],

18, 22, 25-6.
Týr, the god of bravery, 95,

135.
Tryker, a German, found the

vine growing in America, from

which Vinland was named, 79.

Ulf the Red [RauSúlfr], 182-3.

Ullr, the god of winter life and
hunting, 96, 137, note 139.

linger, 37.

Upsala, 175, 183, 198, 210.

Ur^arbrunnr, the sacred foun-
tain of the Fates, 92, 120, 121.

UrSarmáni, 295-6.

Ur$r, one of the nornir, a god-
dess of the Past, 92, 120.

UtgarSr, the region of the Jötuns,
90, 113.

UtgarSa-Loki, 142.

Vaf|)rúðnismál, an Eddaic poem,

28, 44;— quoted, 178.
Vala, a seeress or prophetess, 43,

45, 63; — description of, 287-

293.
Valfaiir [Odin], 93, 127, 128.
Valhalla, the abode of Odin's

chosen sons, 93, 97, 128, 146 —

150, 165-7.
Vali, one of the Æsir, 96, 135;—

avenges the death of Baldur,

100, 144, 145; — rejoins the

gods, 103, 152.
Valkyrjur, 93, 96-7, 120, 137,

139, 148.
Vanaheimr, the home of the

Vanir, the air, 94, 123.
Vanir, 94, 96, 131-2.

Vápnafjör^r, a firth in the N. E.

part of Iceland, 192.
Vatnsdal, a valley in Iceland,

180.
Vatnsdæla Saga, 70 ; — quoted,

173-4, 176-7, 180, 187, 200,

271-2, 276, 293, 294, 321.
Vegtamskviða, an Eddaic poem,

45.
YerSandi, one of the nornir, a

goddess of the Present, 92, 120.
Vermaland, a petty kingdom in

ancient Sweden, 162.
Vestri [the West], one of the

four dwarves that sustain the

sky, 91.
Videlin [Paul], 22.
ViSarr, the silent god, 96, 139

note; — the victor in the last

battle, 102, 136;— rejoins the

gods in the regenerated world,

103, 152.
Viga-Glum's Saga, 69; — quoted,

174-0, 180, 238-9.
Viga-Styr's Saga, 67-8.
Vigfus, a Norwegian hersir, 180,

185.
Vikarr, a king, sacrificed for a

favorable wind, at the instiga-
tion of Odin, 169.
Víkíngar, 13, 222;— Viking life,

61-2, 319-320.
Vingólf, the hall of the god-
desses, 93, 128-9, 149.
Völsúnga Saga, 60, quoted, 167-

8.
Völundar kviía, an Eddaic

poem, quoted, 240.
Völuspá, an Eddaic poem, 43 ; —

reference, 119, 139, 141.

Waterfalls, worshiped, 233, 234.
Westphalen's 'Monuments,' 29.
Wolff's Handbook of German

Mythology, 40.
Worm, (Ole) [Olaus Worinius],

16.
Worship of divine beings among

heathens, 156-7; — among tlie

Northmen, 158-9 ; — The wor-

346

INDEX.

skip of the Gods by rulers,
brought prosperity to the peo-
ple; neglect thereof brought
adversity, 162.

Yggdrasill, the emblem of the
^ world, 44, 92, 102, 117.

Ymir, the first chaotic matter,
89, HI ;— from which the
world was formed, 90, 112,
113, 154.

Ynglinga Saga, 16, quoted, 209-
210.

Yrp, an inferior deity worshiped
in the Xorth, 185; — aided Ba-
ton Jarl against the Jómsvík-
íngar, 186; — statue, 199.

Ægir, the god of the Sea, 97,
137-8 ; entertains the Æsir 45,
46.

Ægisdrekka (see Lokasenna), 45.

Æsir, 21, 26, 46, 57, 85;— de-

scended from Odin, 90, 93, 112 ;
— acting powers in the Crea-
tion, 90-91, 112-115;— banish
evil (the Jötuns) from the
world, 90, 113;— their judg-
ment-seat, 92, 121 ; — home and
assembling-place, 93, 122-3;
— attributes and abodes, 93-97,
125-139; — they form connec-
tions with the Jötuns and
bring evil into the world, 98,
141 ; — suffer by Loki's malig-
nity and duplicity, 98-9,142-5 ;
— bind him and his offspring
until the end of the world, 100,
145 ; — ^join in the last battle,
102 ; — are slain together with
their enemies, 102, 152, 155; —
arise regenerated with the
new heaven and the new earth,
103, 152, 155; — historical the-
ory of their arrival in the
North, 26-7, 159.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS.

Page 25, line 3 — Mallet's 'History' comes down to the death of
Christian HI, to 1559.
34, 22 — For were, read was.

39, 15— To the list add the title : * Antiquités Russes et
Orientales d'aprés les monuments his-
toriques des Islandais et des anciens Scan-
dinaves,' a collection of the Scandinavian
sources to the history of Russia and other
Eastern countries, from the earliest times
to the Middle of the XV. century. 2 vols.
Imp. 4to., with facsimiles, maps and plates.
48, 15 — For Fjöls-vinns, read Fjölsvinns (= fjöl +

svinns).
48, 27 — " Ylfiinga, read Ylfinga.
50, 3 — " Amme, read Amma.
54, 1 — dele .

54, 8 — For Gumar, read Gnnuar.
6*7, 4 — " Brestason, read Brestisson.
108, 28 — " and were clothed, rtfac? and clothed.
121, 25— " far, rcadiow
149, note * — For Ynlinga, read Ynglinga.
170, 18 — For Randsey, read Raudsey or RauÖsey.
176, note § — For menn á heit, read menn J)á heit.

182 "^2 [ ^""^ Thorhalli, read Thorhall.

189, 16— For Geiter, read Geitir.

189, note f — For mir, read mör.

226, 27 — For Brestersson, read Brestisson.

234, 15—" ViSförla,7rafZViíförli.

273, 25—" Tliorer, rcacZ Thórir.

275, 17 — " Brestarsson, read Brestisson.

27 \ '^ ^' ^3 [ -^*"^ Thrond, read Thránd.
294, 1—For Silfra, read Silfrl

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