R.ARY
OF THE.
UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS
N/.
Qorrceim
l>fetorp anfc Romance
of Jlortfjern Curope
Itfcrarp of
Clngstcs ^rtnteb in
Complete jform
VIKING EDITION
MCMVI
OF THE
IDffetng Edition
There are but six hundred and fifty sets made for the world,
of which this is
COPYRIGHT,
T. H. SMART,
1905.
utonic Mythology
Gods and Goddesses
of the Northland
8'HOHT
rmd gnivfirf .noalfil B to 9sma srfJ ni ,35IO I
*— ^
i9woq ad) oJni todT grind o} b9?.B3l9i li bsBrmoiq .bonisO
rorfT Byv<^IK4r©
-fiUffM <^H«qwvtite: J
Ji bio} oi baJqmaJJB sd.v &3«t¥. Ri«^HK»/f* oJ smBD orl natl
grf aA .JnsnoJ Jfisig B smoDsd burl mssiJa srfo rfguorfi
lilnu ^FbiqBi 9201
boots orfw ,i9}rIsuBb a'boniaO .qlfi'iO bavboisq arf ,i9vh
sH .rhwoig btqBi flU^grrrBHfio 2BW bns raB9ita srlJ
,.,
R riourn thiw «BW Jilwa .b9iB9iJ9i orfw .nfimow -gat
, -* STATES MINISTEK,TO,DENMAliK ; AUTHOK Of XOR8R ,_
bed 9vcrl bTuow^^2^^°"'vnfy^T^^''S»*. D9d3B9i torfT
-oiq B 9si9a ot gntriioi gtri 10! Jod ani'bn9D2B ni xJfuoittr
••rl) 1o Juo Ihemid woib od doidw 1o bin orft ^d .dtnda
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,.«»iEM/
, CHIEF.
J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.,
MANAQISO EDITOK.
VOL. III.
PUBLISHED BY THK
NORRCENA SOCIETY
LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW VORK
U6
THOR'S JOURNEY TO GIERRODSGARD.
(From an etching by Lorens Frolich.)
I ORE, in the guise of a falcon, having been captures
*— ' Geirrod, promised if released to bring Thor into the p*
of the giant without hi> hammer, belt or iron gloves. Thor
ing persuaded by the crafty Loke, started upon the join
When he came to the river Vimer he attempted to ford it.
though the stream had become a great torrent. As he readied
the center the waters rose rapidly until they washed over
shoulders and he seemed to be in imminent danger of being car
ried away. At this juncture, looking toward the source of
river, he perceived Gjalp, Geirrod's daughter, who stood ac;
the stream and was causing its rapid growth. He thereu
seized a stone and threw 'it with his usual precision at the offend
ing woman, who retreated. But it was with much struggling 1
Thor, reached the bank which, however, he would have
great difficulty in ascending but for his fortune to seize a j>r >
jecting shrub, by the aid of which he drew himself out of ;i
raging waters.
See page 93'
Teutonic Mythology
Gods and Goddesses
of the Northland
IN
THREE VOLUMES
By VIKTOR RYDBBRG, Ph.D.,
MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OP "THE LAST ATHENIAN"
AND OTHER WORKS.
AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH
BY
RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,
EX-UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK I AUTHOR OF "NORSE
MYTHOLOGY," "VIKING TALES," ETC.
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D.
EDITOR IN CHIEF.
J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.,
MANAGING EDITOR.
VOL. III.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NORRCENA SOCIETY,
LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK
1906
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME THREE
Page
Story of the Seven Sleepers 707
The Anthropology of the Mythology 729
Svipdag and Groa 747
Menglad's Identity with Freyja 751
The Sword of Revenge 759
Orvandel, the Star-Hero 767
Svipdag Rescues Freyja from the Giants 770
Svipdag in Saxo's Account of Hotherus 781
Ericus Disertus in Saxo 793
Later Fortunes of the Volund Sword 808
The Svipdag Epithet "Skirnir" 815
Transformation and Death of Svipdag 819
Reminiscences of the Svipdag Myth 830
Orvandel, Egil and Ebbo 847
Frey Fostered in the Home of Orvandel 865
Ivalde, Svipdag's Grandfather 870
Parallel Myths in Rigveda 874
Judgment Passed on the Ivalde Sons 884
Page
Olvalde and Ivalde Sons Identical 890
A Review of Thorsdrapa 932
Of Volund's Identity with Thjasse 952
The Worst Deed of Revenge 956
The Guard at Hvergelmer and the Elivagar 968
Slagfin, Egil, and Volund 971
The Niflung Hoard left by Volund 975
Slagfin-Gjuke a Star-Hero 981
Slagfin's Appearance in the Moon Myth 985
Review of the Synonyms of Ivalde's Sons 991
LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.
VOL. III.
Frontispiece — Thor's Journey to Geirrodsgard.
Page
Idim Brought Back to Asgard 807
Thor, Hymir, and the Midgard Serpent. 915
King Svafrlame Secures the Sword Tyrfing 1003
THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE
LOWER WORLD.
(Part IV. Continued from Volume II.}
94.
THE SEVEN SLEEPERS.
Voluspa gives an account of the events which forebode
and lead up to Ragnarok. Among these we also find
that leika Mims synir, that is, that the sons of Mimer
"spring up," "fly up," "get into lively motion." But
the meaning of this has hitherto been an unsolved prob-
lem.
In the strophe immediately preceding (the 44th)
Voluspa describes how it looks on the surface of Mid-
gard when the end of the world is at hand. Brothers
and near kinsmen slay each other. The sacred bonds of
morality are broken. It is the storm-age and the wolf-
age. Men no longer spare or pity one another. Knives
and axes rage. Volund's world-destroying sword of re-
venge has already been fetched by Fjalar in the guise of
the red cock (str. 41), and from the Iron wood, where it
hitherto had been concealed by Angerboda and guarded
by Egther; the wolf-giant Hate with his companions
have invaded the world, which it was the duty of the gods
707
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to protect. The storms are attended by eclipses of the
sun (str. 40).
Then suddenly the Hjallar-horn sounds, announcing
that the destruction of the world is now to be fulfilled,
and just as the first notes of this trumpet penetrate the
world, Mimer's sons spring up. "The old tree," the
world-tree, groans and trembles. When Mimer's sons
"spring up" Odin is engaged in conversation with the
head of their father, his faithful adviser, in regard to the
impending conflict, which is the last one in which the
gods are to take a hand.
I shall here give reasons for the assumption that the
blast from the Hjallar-horn wakes Mimer's sons from a
sleep that has lasted through centuries, and that the Chris-
tian legend concerning the seven sleepers has its chief,
if not its only, root in a Teutonic myth which in the sec-
ond half of the fifth or in the first half of the sixth cen-
tury was changed into a legend. At that time large por-
tions of the Teutonic race had already been converted to
Christianity: the Goths, Vandals, Gepidians, Rugians,
Burgundians, and Swabians were Christians. Consider-
able parts of the Roman empire were settled by the Teu-
tons or governed by their swords. The Franks were on
the point of entering the Christian Church, and behind
them the Alamannians and Longobardians. Their myths
and sagas were reconstructed so far as they could be
adapted to the new forms and ideas, and if they, more or
less transformed, assumed the garb of a Christian legend,
then this guise enabled them to travel to the utmost
limits of Christendom; and if they also contained, as in
708
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the case here in question, ideas that were not entirely
foreign to the Greek-Roman world, then they might the
more easily acquire the right of Roman nativity.
In its oldest form the legend of "the seven sleepers"
has the following outlines (Miraculorum Liber, vii., i.
92):
"Seven brothers"* have their place of rest near the city
of Ephesus, and the story of them is as follows: In
the time of the Emperor Decius, while the persecution
of the Christians took place, seven men were captured
and brought before the ruler. Their names were Maxi-
mianus, Malchus, Martinianus, Constantius, Dionysius,
Joannes, and Serapion. All sorts of persuasion was at-
tempted, but they would not yield. The emperor, who
was pleased with their courteous manners, gave them
time for reflection, so that they should not at once fall
under the sentence of death. But they concealed them-
selves in a cave and remained there many days. Still,
one of them went out to get provisions and attend to
other necessary matters. But when the emperor returned
to the same city, these men prayed to God, asking Him
in His mercy to save them out of this danger, and when,
lying on the ground, they had finished their prayers, they
fell asleep. When the emperor learned that they were
in the above-mentioned cave, he, under divine influence,
commanded that the entrance of the cave should be closed
with large stones, "for," said he, "as they are unwilling
to offer sacrifices to our gods, they must perish there."
*For "brothers" the text, perhaps purposely, used the ambiguous word
germani. This would, then, not be the only instance where the word is used
in both senses at the same time. Cp. Quintil, 8, 3, 29.
709
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
While this transpired a Christian man had engraved the
names of the seven men on a leaden tablet, and also their
testimony in regard to their belief, and he had secretly
laid the tablet in the entrance of the cave before the lat-
ter was closed. After many years, the congregations
having secured peace and the Christian Theodosius hav-
ing gained the imperial dignity, the false doctrine of the
Sadducees, who denied resurrection, was spread among
the people. At this time it happens that a citizen of
Ephesus is about to make an enclosure for his sheep on
the mountain in question, and for this purpose he loos-
ens the stones at the entrance of the cave, so that the
cave was opened, but without his becoming aware of what
was concealed within. But the Lord sent a breath of
life into the seven men and they arose. Thinking they
had slept only one night, they sent one of their number,
a youth, to buy food. When he came to the city gate he
was astonished, for he saw the glorious sign of the Cross,
and he heard people aver by the name of Christ. But
when he produced his money, which was from the time of
Decius, he was seized by the vendor, who insisted that
he must have found secreted treasures from former times,
and who, as the youth made a stout denial, brought him
before the bishop and the judge. Pressed by them, he
was forced to reveal his secret, and he conducted them
to the cave where the men were. At the entrance the
bishop then finds the leaden tablet, on which all that con-
cerned their case was noted down, and when he had
talked with the men a messenger was despatched to the
Emperor Theodosius. He came and kneeled on the
710
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ground and worshipped them, and they said to the ruler :
"Most august Augustus ! there has sprung up a false doc-
trine which tries to turn the Christian people from the
promises of God, claiming that there is no resurrection
of the dead. In order that you may know that we are
all to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ accord-
ing to the words of the Apostle Paul, the Lord God has
raised us from the dead and commanded us to make
this statement to you. See to it that you are not deceived
and excluded from the kingdom of God." When the
Emperor Theodosius heard this he praised the Lord for
not permitting His people to perish. But the men again
lay down on the ground and fell asleep. The Emperor
Theodosius wanted to make graves of gold for them, but
in a vision he was prohibited from doing this. And un-
til this very day these men rest in the same place, wrapped
in fine linen mantles.
At the first glance there is nothing which betrays the
Teutonic origin of this legend. It may seemingly have
had an independent origin anywhere in the Christian
world, and particularly in the vicinity of Ephesus.
Meanwhile the historian of the Franks, Bishop Gre-
gorius of Tours (born 538 or 539), is the first one who
presented in writing the legend regarding the seven
sleepers. In the form given above it appears through
him for the first time within the borders of the christian-
ised western Europe (see Gregorius' Miraculorum Liber,
i., ch. 92). After him it reappears in Greek records,
and thence it travels on and finally gets to Arabia and
Abyssinia. His account is not written before the year
711
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
571 or 572. As the legend itself claims in its preserved
form not to be older than the first years of the reign
of Theodosius, it must have originated between the years
379-572.
The next time we learn anything about the seven
sleepers in occidental literature is in the Longobardian
historian, Paulus Diaconus (born about 723). What
he relates has greatly surprised investigators ; for although
he certainly was acquainted with the Christian version
in regard to the seven men who sleep for generations in
a cave, and although he, entertained no doubt as to its
truth, he nevertheless relates another — and that a Teu-
tonic— seven sleepers' legend, the scene of which is the
remotest part of Teutondom. He narrates (i. 4) :
"As my pen is still occupied with Germany, I deem it
proper, in connection with some other miracles, to men-
tion one which there is on the lips of everybody. In the
remotest western boundaries of Germany is to be seen
near the sea-strand under a high rock a cave where seven
men have been sleeping no one knows how long. They
are in the deepest sleep and uninfluenced by time, not only
as to their bodies but also as to their garments, so that
they are held in great honour by the savage and ignorant
people, since time for so many years has left no trace
either on their bodies or on their clothes. To judge from
their dress they must be Romans. When a man from
curiosity tried to undress one of them, it is said that his
arm at once withered, and this punishment spread such
a terror that nobody has since then dared to touch them.
Doubtless it will some day be apparent why Divine Prov-
712
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
idence has so long preserved them. Perhaps by their
preaching — for they are believed to be none other than
Christians — this people shall once more be called to sal-
vation. In the vicinity of this place dwell the race of
the Skritobinians ('the Skridfinns')."
In chapter 6 Paulus makes the following additions,
which will be found to be of importance to our theme:
"Not far from that sea-strand which I mentioned as ly-
ing far to the west (in the most remote Germany), where
the boundless ocean extends, is found the unfathomably
deep eddy which we traditionally call the navel of the sea.
Twice a-day it swallows the waves, and twice it vomits
them forth again. Often, we are assured, ships are
drawn into this eddy so violently that they look like ar-
rows flying through the air, and frequently they perish
in this abyss. But sometimes, when they are on the point
of being swallowed up, they are driven back with the
same terrible swiftness."
From what Paulus Diaconus here relates we learn that
in the eighth century the common belief prevailed among
the heathen Teutons that in the neighbourhood of that
ocean-maelstrom, caused by Hvergelmer ("the roaring
kettle"), seven men slept from time immemorial under a
rock. How far the heathen Teutons believed that these
men were Romans and Christians, or whether this fea-
ture is to be attributed to a conjecture by Christian Teu-
tons, and came through influence from the Christian ver-
sion of the legend of the seven sleepers, is a question
which it is not necessary to discuss at present. That they
are some day to awake to preach Christianity to "the
713
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
stubborn," still heathen Teutonic tribes is manifestly a
supposition on the part of Paulus himself, and he does
not present it as anything else. It has nothing to do with
the saga in its heathen form.
The first question now is : Has the heathen tradition
in regard to the seven sleepers, which, according to the
testimony of the Longobardian historian, was common
among the heathen Teutons of the eighth century, since
then disappeared without leaving any traces in our mythic
records ?
The answer is: Traces of it reappear in Saxo, in
Adam of Bremen, in Norse and German popular belief,
and in Voluspa. When compared with one another these
traces are sufficient to determine the character and orig-
inal place of the tradition in the epic of the Teutonic
mythology.
I have already given above (No. 46) the main fea-
tures of Saxo's account of King Gorm's and Thorkil's
journey to and in the lower world. With their compan-
ions they are permitted to visit the abodes of torture of
the damned and the fields of bliss, together with the
gold-clad world-fountains, and to see the treasures pre-
served in their vicinity. In the same realm where these
fountains are found there is, says Saxo, a tabernaculum
within which still more precious treasures are preserved.
It is an uberioris thesauri secretarium. The Danish ad-
venturers also entered here. The treasury was also an
armoury, and contained weapons suited to be borne by
warriors of superhuman size. The owners and makers
of these arms were also there, but they were perfectly
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
quiet and as immovable as lifeless figures. Still they
were not dead, but made the impression of being half-
dead (semineces). By the enticing beauty and value of
the treasures, and partly, too, by the dormant condition
of the owners, the Danes were betrayed into an attempt
to secure some of these precious things. Even the usu-
ally cautious Thorkil set a bad example and put his hand
on a garment (amiculo manum inserens). We are not
told by Saxo whether the garment covered anyone of
those sleeping in the treasury, nor is it directly stated
that the touching with the hand produced any disagree-
able consequences for Thorkil. But further on Saxo re-
lates that Thorkil became unrecognisable, because a with-
ering or emaciation (marc or} had changed his body and
the features of his face. With this account in Saxo we
must compare what we read in Adam of Bremen about
the Frisian adventurers who tried to plunder treasures
belonging to giants who in the middle of the day lay
concealed in subterranean caves (meridiano tempore lati-
tantes antris subterraneis) . This account must also have
conceived the owners of the treasures as sleeping while
the plundering took place, for not before they were on
their way back were the Frisians pursued by the plun-
dered party or by other lower-world beings. Still, all
but one succeeded in getting back to their ships. Adam
asserts that they were such beings quos nostri Cyclopes
appellant ("which among us are called cyclops"), that
they, in other words, were gigantic smiths, who, accord-
ingly, themselves had made the untold amount of golden
treasures which the Frisians there saw. These northern
715
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
cyclops, he says, dwelt within solid walls, surrounded by
a water, to which, according to Adam of Bremen, one
first comes after traversing the land of frost (provincia
frigoris), and after passing that Euripus, "in which the
water of the ocean flows back to its mysterious fountain"
(ad initia quadam fontis sui arcani recurrens), "this
deep subterranean abyss wherein the ebbing streams of
the sea, according to report, were swallowed up to re-
turn," and which "with most violent force drew the un-
fortunate seamen down into the lower world" (inf dices
nautos vehementissimo impetu traxit ad Chaos).
It is evident that what Paulus Diaconus, Adam of
Bremen, and Saxo here relate must be referred to the
same tradition. All three refer the scene of these strange
things and events to the "most remote part of Germany"
(cp. Nos. 45, 46, 48, 49). According to all three re-
ports the boundless ocean washes the shores of this saga-
land which has to be traversed in order to get to "the
sleepers," to "the men half-dead and resembling lifeless
images," to "those concealed in the middle of the day in
subterranean caves." Paulus assures us that they are
in a cave under a rock in the neighbourhood of the fa-
mous maelstrom which sucks the billows of the sea into
itself and spews them out again. Adam makes his
Frisian adventurers come near being swallowed up by
this maelstrom before they reach the caves of treasures
where the cyclops in question dwell; and Saxo locates
their tabernacle, filled with weapons and treasures, to a
region which we have already recognised (see Nos. 45-
51) as belonging to Mimer's lower-world realm, and sit-
716
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
uated in the neighbourhood of the sacred subterranean
fountains.
In the northern part of Mimer's domain, consequently
in the vicinity of the Hvergelmer fountain (see Nos. 59,
93), from and to which all waters find their way, and
which is the source of the famous maelstrom (see Nos.
79, 80, 81), there stands, according to Voluspa, a golden
hall in which Sindre's kinsmen have their home. Sindre
is, as we know, like his brother Brok and others of his
kinsmen, an artist of antiquity, a cyclops, to use the lan-
guage of Adam of Bremen. The Northern records and
the Latin chronicles thus correspond in the statement
that in the neighbourhood of the maelstrom or of its sub-
terranean fountain, beneath a rock and in a golden hall,
or in subterranean caves filled with gold, certain men who
are subterranean artisans dwell. Paulus Diaconus makes
a "curious" person who had penetrated into this abode
disrobe one of the sleepers clad in "Roman" clothes, and
for this he is punished with a withered arm. Saxo
makes Thorkil put his hand on a splendid garment which
he sees there, and Thorkil returns from his journey with
an emaciated body, and is so lean and lank as not to be
recognised.
There are reasons for assuming that the ancient artisan
Sindre is identical with Dvalinn, the ancient artisan
created by Mimer. I base this assumption on the fol-
lowing circumstances:
Dvalinn is mentioned by the side of Ddinn both in
Havamal (43) and in Grimnersmal (33) ; also in the
sagas, where they make treasures in company. Both
2 7*7
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the names are clearly epithets which point to the mythic
destiny of the ancient artists in question. Ddinn means
"the dead one," and in analogy herewith we must inter-
pret Dvalinn as "the dormant one," "the one slumber-
ing." (cp. the Old Swedish dvale, sleep, unconscious
condition). Their fates have made them the representa-
tives of death and sleep, a sort of equivalents of Thanatos
and Hypnos. As such they appear in the allegorical
strophes incorporated in Grimnersmal, which, describing
how the world-tree suffers and grows old, make Ddinn
and Dvalinn, "death" and "slumber," get their food from
its branches, while Nidhog and other serpents wound its
roots.
In Hyndluljod (6) the artists who made Frey's golden
boar are called Ddinn and Nabbi. In the Younger Edda
(i. 340-342) they are called Brokkr and Sindri. Strange
to say, on account of mythological circumstances not
known to us, the skalds have been able to use Ddinn as
a paraphrase for a rooting four-footed animal, and Brokkr
too has a similar signification (cp. the Younger Edda,
ii. 490, and Vigfusson, Diet., under Brokkr). This
points to an original identity of these epithets. Thus we
arrive at the following parallels :
Dainn (-Brokkr) and Dvalinn made treasures together;
(Dainn-) Brokkr and Sindri made Frey's golden boar;
Dainn and Nabbi made Frey's golden boar;
and the conclusion we draw herefrom is that in our
mythology, in which there is such a plurality of names.
Dvalinn, Sindri, and Nabbi are the same person, and
718
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that Damn and Brokkr are identical. I may have an op-
portunity later to present further evidence of this identity.
The primeval artist Sindre, who with his kinsmen in-
habits a golden hall in Mimer's realm under the Hvergel-
mer mountains, near the subterranean fountain of the
maelstrom, has therefore borne the epithet Dvalinn, "the
one wrapped in slumber." "The slumberer" thus rests
with his kinsmen, where Paulus Diaconus has heard that
seven men sleep from time out of mind, and where Adam
of Bremen makes smithying giants, rich in treasures,
keep themselves concealed in lower-world caves within
walls surrounded by water.
It has already been demonstrated that Dvalinn is a
son of Mimer (see No. 53). Sindre-Dvalin and his
kinsmen are therefore Mimer's offspring (Minis synir).
The golden citadel situated near the fountain of the mael-
strom is therefore inhabited by the sons of Mimer.
It has also been shown that, according to Solarljod,
the sons of Mimer-Nidi come from this region (from the
north in Mimer's domain), and that they are in all
seven :
Nordan sa ek rida
Nidja sonu
ok varu sjau saman;
that is to say, that they are the same number as the
"economical months," or the changes of the year (see
No. 87).
In the same region Mimer's daughter Nat has her
hall, where she takes her rest after her journey across
the heavens is accomplished (see No. 93). The "cha-
719
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
teau dormant" of Teutonic mythology is therefore situ-
ated in Nat's udal territory, and Dvalin, "the slumberer,"
is Nat's brother. Perhaps her citadel is identical with
the one in which Dvalin and his brothers sleep. Accord-
ing to Saxo, voices of women are heard in the tdberna-
culum belonging to the sleeping men, and glittering with
weapons and treasures, when Thorkil and his men come
to plunder the treasures there. Nat has her court and her
attendant sisters in the Teutonic mythology, as in Rig-
veda (Ushas). Swimwa (see Nos. 97, 98) is one of
the discs of the night. According to the middle-age
sagas, these discs and daughters of Mimer are said to be
twelve in number (see Nos. 45, 46).
Mimer, as we know, was the ward of the middle root
of the world-tree. His seven sons, representing the
changes experienced by the world-tree and nature annu-
ally, have with him guarded and tended the holy tree and
watered its root with aurgom forsi from the subterranean
horn, "Valfather's pledge." When the god-clans be-
came foes, and the Vans seized weapons against the
Asas, Mimer was slain, and the world-tree, losing its wise
guardian, became subject to the influence of time. It
suffers in crown and root (Grimnersmal), and as it is
ideally identical with creation itself, both the natural and
the moralj so toward the close of the period of this world
it will betray the same dilapidated condition as nature and
the moral world then are to reveal.
Logic demanded that when the world-tree lost its chief
ward, the lord of the well of wisdom, it should also lose
that care which under his direction was bestowed upon
720
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it by .his seven sons. These, voluntarily or involuntarily,
retired, and the story of the seven men who sleep in the
citadel full of treasures informs us how they thenceforth
spend their time until Ragnarok. The details of the
myth telling how they entered into this condition cannot
now be found; but it may be in order to point out, as a
possible connection with this matter, that one of the older
Vanagods, Njord's father, and possibly the same as Mun-
dilfore, had the epithet Svafr, Svafrthorinn (Fjolsvinns-
mal) . Svafr means sopitor, the sleeper, and Svafrthorinn
seems to refer to svefnthorn, "sleep-thorn." According
to the traditions, a person could be put to sleep by laying
a "sleep-thorn" in his ear, and he then slept until it was
taken out or fell out.
Popular traditions scattered over Sweden, Denmark,
and Germany have to this very day been preserved, on
the lips of the common people, of the men sleeping among
weapons and treasures in underground chambers or in
rocky halls. A Swedish tradition makes them equipped
not only with weapons, but also with horses which in
their stalls abide the day when their masters are to awake
and sally forth. Common to the most of these tradi-
tions, both the Northern and the German, is the feature
that this is to happen when the greatest distress is at
hand, or when the end of the world approaches and the
day of judgment comes. With regard to the German
sagas on this point I refer to Jacob Grimm's Mythology.
I simply wish to point out here certain features which
are of special importance to the subject under discussion,
and which the popular memory in certain parts of Ger-
721
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
many has preserved from the heathen myths. When
the heroes who have slept through centuries sally forth,
the trumpets of the last day sound, a great battle with the
powers of evil (Antichrist) is to be fought, an immensely
old tree, which has withered, is to grow green again, and
a happier age is to begin.
This immensely old tree, which is withered at the close
of the present period of the world, and which is to become
green again in a happier age after a decisive conflict be-
tween the good and evil, can be no other than the world-
tree of Teutonic mythology, the Ygdrasil of our Eddas.
The angel trumpets, at whose blasts the men who sleep
within the mountains sally forth, have their prototype in
Heimdal's horn, which proclaims the destruction of the
world ; and the battle to be fought with Antichrist is the
Ragnarok conflict, clad in Christian robes, between the
gods and the destroyers of the world. Here Mimer's
seven sons also have their task to perform. The last
great struggle also concerns the lower world, whose re-
gions of bliss demand protection against the thurs-clans
of Nifelhel, the more so since these very regions of bliss
constitute the new earth, which after Ragnarok rises
from the sea to become the abode of a better race of men
(see No. 55). The "wall rock" of the Hvergelmer
mountain and its "stone gates" (Voluspa; cp. Nos. 46,
75) require defenders able to wield those immensely
large swords which are kept in the sleeping castle on
Nat's udal fields, and Sindre-Dvalin is remembered not
only as the artist of antiquity, spreader of Mimer's runic
wisdom, enemy of Loke, and father of the man-loving
722
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
discs (see No. 53), but also as a hero. The name of the
horse he rode, and probably is to ride in the Ragnarok
conflict, is according to a strophe cited in the Younger
Edda, Modinn; the middle-age sagas have connected his
name to a certain viking, Sindri, and to Sintram of the
German heroic poetry.
I now come back to the Voluspa strophe, which was
the starting-point in the investigation contained in this
chapter :
Leika Mims synir
en mjotudr kyndisk
at hinu gamla
gjallarhorni;
hatt blaess Heimdallr,
horn er a lothi.
"Mimer's sons spring up, for the fate of the world is
proclaimed by the old gjallar-horn. Loud blows Heim-
dal — the horn is raised."
In regard to leika, it is to be remembered that its old
meaning, "to jump," "to leap," "to fly up," reappears
not only in Ulfilas, who translates skirtan of the New
Testament with laikan (Luke i. 41, 44, and vi. 23; in
the former passage in reference to the child slumbering
in Elizabeth's womb; the child "leaps" at her meeting
with Mary), but also in another passage in Voluspa,
where it is said in regard to Ragnarok, leikr hdr hiti vid
himin sjalfan — "high leaps" (plays) "the fire against
heaven itself." Further, we must point out the preterit
form kyndisk (from kynna, to make known) by the side
of the present form leika. This juxtaposition indicates
723
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that the sons of Mimer "rush up," while the fate of the
world, the final destiny of creation in advance and im-
mediately beforehand, was proclaimed "by the old gjallar-
horn." The bounding up of Mimer's sons is the effect
of the first powerful blast. One or more of these fol-
low: "Loud blows Heimdal — the horn is raised; and
Odin speaks with Mimer's head." Thus we have found
the meaning of leika Minis synir. Their waking and
appearance is one of the signs best remembered in the
chronicles in popular traditions of Ragnarok's approach
and the return of the dead, and in this strophe Voluspa
has preserved the memory of the "chateau dormant" of
Teutonic mythology.
Thus a comparison of the mythic fragments extant
with the popular traditions gives us the following outline
of the Teutonic myth concerning the seven sleepers:
The world-tree — the representative of the physical and
moral laws of the world — grew in time's morning glori-
ously out of the fields of the three world-fountains, and
during the first epochs of the mythological events (dr
alda*) it stood fresh and green, cared for by the subter-
ranean guardians of these fountains. But the times be-
came worse. The feminine counterpart of Loke, Gul-
veig-Heid, spreads evil runes in Asgard and Midgard,
and he and she cause disputes and war between those
god-clans whose task it is to watch over and sustain the
order of the world in harmony. In the feud between
the Asas and Vans, the middle and most important world-
fountain — the fountain of wisdom, the one from which
the good runes were fetched — became robbed of its
724
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
watchman. Mimer was slain, and his seven sons, the
superintendents, of the seven seasons, who saw to it that
these season-changes followed each other within the
limits prescribed by the world-laws, were put to sleep,
and fell into a stupor, which continues throughout the
historical time until Ragnarok. Consequently the world-
tree cannot help withering and growing old during the
historical age. Still it is not to perish. Neither fire nor
sword can harm it ; and when evil has reached its climax,
and when the present world is ended in the Ragnarok
conflict and in Surfs flames, then it is to regain that
freshness and splendour which it had in time's morning.
Until that time Sindre-Dvalin and Mimer's six other
sons slumber in that golden hall which stands toward the
north in the lower world, on Mimer's fields. Nat, their
sister, dwells in the same region, and shrouds the cham-
bers of those slumbering in darkness. Standing toward
the north beneath the Nida mountains, the hall is near
Hvergelmer's fountain, which causes the famous mael-
strom. As sons of Mimer, the great smith of antiquity,
the seven brothers were themselves great smiths of an-
tiquity, who, during the first happy epoch, gave to the
gods and to nature the most beautiful treasures (M joi-
ner, Brisingamen, Slidrugtanne, Draupner). The hall
where they now rest is also a treasure-chamber, which
preserves a number of splendid products of their skill
as smiths, and among these are weapons, too large to
be wielded by human hands, but intended to be employed
by the brothers themselves when Ragnarok is at hand
and the great decisive conflict comes between the powers
725
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of good and of evil. The seven sleepers are there clad
in splendid mantles of another cut than those common
among men. Certain mortals have had the privilege of
seeing the realms of the lower world and of inspecting
the hall where the seven brothers have their abode. But
whoever ventured to touch their treasures, or was allured
by the splendour of their mantles to attempt to secure any
of them, was punished by the drooping and withering
of his limbs.
When Ragnarok is at hand, the aged and abused
world-tree trembles, and Heimdal's trumpet, until then
kept in the deepest shade of the tree, is once more in the
hand of the god, and at a world-piercing blast from this
trumpet Mimer's seven sons start up from their sleep
and arm themselves to take part in the last conflict. This
is to end with the victory of the good; the world-tree
will grow green again and flourish under the care of its
former keepers; "all evil shall then cease, and Balder
shall come back." The Teutonic myth in regard to the
seven sleepers is thus most intimately connected with
the myth concerning the return of the dead Balder and
of the other dead men from the lower world, with the
idea of resurrection and the regeneration of the world.
It forms an integral part of the great epic of Teutonic
mythology, and could not be spared. If the world-tree
is to age during the historical epoch, and if the present
period of time is to progress toward ruin, then this must
have its epic cause in the fact that the keepers of the chief
root of the tree were severed by the course of events from
their important occupation. Therefore Mimer dies;
726
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
therefore his sons sink into the sleep of ages. But it is
necessary that they should wake and resume their oc-
cupation, for there is to be a regeneration, and the world-
tree is to bloom with new freshness.
Both in Germany and in Sweden there still prevails a
popular belief which puts "the seven sleepers" in connec-
tion with the weather. If it rains on the day of the seven
sleepers, then, according to this popular belief, it is to
rain for seven weeks thereafter. People have wondered
how a weather prophecy could be connected with the
sleeping saints, and the matter would also, in reality, be
utterly incomprehensible if the legend were of Christian
origin; but it is satisfactorily explained by the heathen-
Teutonic mythology, where the seven sleepers represent
those very seven so-called economic months — the seven
changes of the weather — which gave rise to the division
of the year into the months — gormdnudr, frerm., hrutm.,
einm., solm., selm., and kornskurdarmdnudr. Naviga-
tion was also believed to be under the protection of the
seven sleepers, and this we can understand when we re-
member that the hall of Mimer's sons was thought to
stand near the Hvergelmer fountain and the Grotte of
the skerry, "dangerous to seamen," and that they, like
their father, were lovers of men. Thorkil, the great nav-
igator of the saga, therefore praises Gudmund-Mimer as a
protector in dangers.
The legend has preserved the connection found in
the myth between the above meaning and the idea of a
resurrection of the dead. But in the myth concerning
Mimer's seven sons this idea is most intimately connected
727
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
with the myth itself, and is, with epic logic, united with
the whole mythological system. In the legend, on the
other hand, the resurrection idea is put on as a trade-mark.
The seven men in Ephesus are lulled into their long
sleep, and are waked again to appear before Theodosius,
the emperor, to preach a sermon illustrated by their own
fate against the false doctrine which tries to deny the
resurrection of the dead.
Gregorius says that he is the first who recorded in the
Latin language this miracle, not before known to the
Church of Western Europe. As his authority he quotes
"a certain Syrian" who had interpreted the story for him.
There was also need of a man from the Orient as an au-
thority when a hitherto unknown miracle was to be pre-
sented— a miracle that had transpired in a cave near
Ephesus. But there is no absolute reason for assum-
ing that Gregorius presents a story of his own invention.
The reference of the legend to Ephesus is explained by
the antique saga-variation concerning Endymion, accord-
ing to which the latter was sentenced to confinement and
eternal sleep in a cave in the mountain Latmos. Latmos
is south of Ephesus, and not very far from there. This
saga is the antique root-thread of the legend, out of
which rose its localisation, but not its contents and its
details. The contents are borrowed from the Teutonic
mythology. That Syria or Asia Minor was the scene
of its transformation into a Christian legend is possible,
and is not surprising. During and immediately after
the time to which the legend itself refers the resurrection
of the seven sleepers, the time of Theodosius, the Roman
728
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
i
Orient, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt were full of Teu-
tonic warriors who had permanent quarters there. A
Notitia dignitatum from this age speaks of hosts of
Goths, Alamannians, Franks, Chamavians, and Vandals,
who there had fixed military quarters. There then stood
an a/a Francorum, a cohors Alamannorwtn, a oohors
Chamauomm, an a/a Vandilorum, a cohors Gothorum*,
and no doubt there, as elsewhere in the Roman Empire,
great provinces were colonised by Teutonic veterans and
other immigrants. Nor must we neglect to remark that
the legend refers the falling asleep of the seven men to
the time of Decius. Decius fell in battle against the
Goths, who, a few years later, invaded Asia Minor and
captured among other places also Ephesus.
95.
ON THE ANTHROPOLOGY Otf THE MYTHOLOGY.
The account now given oi the myths concerning the
lower world shows that the hierologists and skalds of our
heathendom had developed the doctrine in a perspicuous
manner even down to the minutest details. The lower
world and its kingdom of death were the chief subjects
with which their fancy was occupied. The many sagas
and traditions which flowed from heathen sources and
which described Svipdag's, Hadding's, Gorm's, Thorkil's,
and other journeys down there are proof of this, and
the complete agreement of statements from totally dif-
ferent sources in regard to the topography of the lower
world and the life there below shows that the ideas were
729
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
reduced to a systemafeised and perspicuous whole. Svip-
dag's and Hadding's journeys in the lower world have
been incorporated as episodes in the great epic concern-
ing the Teutonic patriarchs, the chief outlines of which
I have presented in the preceding pages. This is done
in thfe same manner as the visits of Ulysses and ^neas
in the lower world have become a part of the great Greek
and Roman epic poems.
Under such circumstances it may seem surprising that
Icelandic records from the middle ages concerning the
heathen belief in regard to the abodes after death should
give us statements which seems utterly irreconcilable
with one another. For there are many proofs that the
dead were believed to live in hills and rocks, or in grave-
mounds where their bodies were buried. How can this
be reconciled with the doctrine that the dead descended
to the lower world, and were there judged either to re-
ceive abodes in Asgard or in the realms of bliss in Hades,
or in the world of torture?
The question has been answered too hastily to the
effect that the statements cannot be harmonised, and that
consequently the heathen-Teutonic views in regard to
the day of judgment were in this most important part
of the religious doctrine unsupported.
The reason for the obscurity is not, however, in the
matter itself, which has never been thoroughly studied,
but in the false premises from which the conclusions have
been drawn. Mythologists have simply assumed that
the popular view of the Christian Church in regard to
terrestrial man, conceiving him to consist of two fac-
730
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tors, the perishable body and the imperishable soul, was
the necessary condition for every belief in a life hereafter,
and that the heathen Teutons accordingly also cherished
this idea.
But this duality did not enter into the belief of our
heathen fathers. Nor is it of such a kind that a man,
having conceived a life hereafter, in this connection nec-
essarily must conceive the soul as the simple, indissoluble
spiritual factor of human nature. The division into two
parts, lif ok sala, likamr ok sola, body and soul, came
with Christianity, and there is every reason for assum-
ing, so far as the Scandinavian peoples are concerned,
that the very word soul, sala, sal, is, like the idea it rep-
resents, an imported word. In Old Norse literature the
word occurs for the first time in Olaf Trygveson's con-
temporary Halfred, after he had been converted to Chris-
tianity. Still the word is of Teutonic root. Ulfilas
translates the New Testament psyche with saiwala,
but this he does with his mind on the Platonic New Tes-
tament view of man as consisting of three factors : spirit
(pneuma), soul (psyche}, and body (soma) . Spirit
(pnewma) Ulfilas translates with ahma.
Another assumption, likewise incorrect in estimating
the anthropological-eschatological belief of the Teutons,
is that they are supposed to have distinguished between
matter and mind, which is a result reached by the philoso-
phers of the Occident in their abstract studies. It is, on
the contrary, certain that such a distinction never entered
the system of heathen Teutonic views. In it all things
were material, an efni of course or fine grain, tangible or
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
intangible, visible or invisible. The imperishable fac-
tors of man were, like the perishable, material, and a
force could not be conceived which was not bound to mat-
ter, or expressed itself in matter, or was matter.
The heathen Teutonic conception of human nature,
and of the factors composing it} is most like the Aryan-
Asiatic as we find the latter preserved in the traditions
of Buddhism, which assume more than three factors in
a human being, and deny the existence of a soul, if this
is to mean that all that is not corporal in man consists
of a single simple, and therefore indissoluble, element, the
soul.
The anthropological conception presented in Voluspa
is as follows: Man consists of six elements, namely, to
begin with the lower and coarser and to end with the
highest and noblest:
(1) The earthly matter of which the body is formed.
(2) A formative vegetative force.
(3) and (4) Loder's gifts.
(5) Honer's gifts.
(6) Odin's gifts.
Voluspa's words are these : The gods
fundu a landi found on the land
litt megandi with little power,
Ask ok Embla Ask and Embla
orlauglausa. without destiny.
Aund thau ne atto, Spirit they had not,
6th thau ne haufdo, "odr" they had not,
la ne laeti, neither "la" nor "laeti,"
ne lito goda. nor the form of the gods.
732
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Aund gaf Odin, Spirit gave Odin,
oth gaf Henir, "odr" gave Honer,
la gaf Lodur "la" gave Loder
ok lito goda. and the form of the gods.
The two lowest factors, the earthly material and the
vegetative force, were already united in Ask and Embla
when the three gods found them "growing as trees."
These elements were able to unite themselves simply by
the course of nature without any divine interference.
When the sun for the first time shone from the south on
"the stones of the hall," the vegetative force united with
the matter of the primeval giant Ymer, who was filled
with the seed of life from Audhumbla's milk, and then
the "ground was overgrown with green herbs."
Thus man was not created directly from the crude
earthly matter, but had already been organised and formed
when the gods came and from the trees made persons with
blood, motion, and spirtual qualities. The vegetative
force must not be conceived in accordance with modern
ideas, as an activity separated from the matter by abstrac-
tion and at the same time inseparably joined with it, but
as an active matter joined with the earthly matter.
Loder's first gift Id with lozti makes Ask and Embla
animal beings. Egilsson's view that la means blood is
confirmed by the connection in which we find the word
used. The lati united with Id (compare the related
Swedish word "later," manners) means the way in which
a conscious being moves and acts. The blood and the
power of a motion which is voluntary were to the Teutons,
as to all other people, the marks distinguishing animal
3 733
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
from vegetable life. And thus we are already within
the domain of psychical elements. The inherited fea-
tures, growth, gait, and pose, which were observed as
forming race- and family-types, were regarded as having
the blood as efni and as being concealed therein. The
blood which produced the family-type also produced the
family-tie, even though it was not acquired by the natural
process of generation. A person not at all related to the
family of another man could become his blodi, his blood-
kinsman, if they resolved at blanda blodi saman. They
thereby entered into the same relations to each other as
if they had the same mother and father.
Loder also gave at the same time another gift, litr goda.
To understand this expression (hitherto translated with
"good complexion"), we must bear in mind that the
Teutons, like the Hellenes and Romans, conceived the
gods in human form, and that the image which charac-
terises man was borne by the gods alone before man's
creation, and originally belonged to the gods. To the
hierologists and the skalds of the Teutons, as to those of
the Greeks and Romans, man was created in effigiem
deorum and had in his nature a divine image in the real
sense of this word, a litr goda. Nor was this litr goda a
mere abstraction to the Teutons, or an empty form, but a
created efni dwelling in man and giving shape and char-
acter to the earthly body which is visible to the eye. The
common meaning of the word litr is something presenting
itself to the eye without being actually tangible to the
hands. The Gothic form of the word is wlits, which
Ulfilas uses in translating the Greek prosopon — look,
734
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
appearance, expression. Certain persons were regarded
as able to separate their litr from its union with the other
factors of their being, and to lend it, at least for a short
time, to some other person in exchange for his. This was
called to skipta litum, irixla litum. It was done by Sigurd
and Gunnar in the song of Sigurd Fafnersbane (i. 37-42).
That factor in Gunnar's being which causes his earthly
body to present itself in a peculiar individual manner to
the eyes of others is transmitted to Sigurd, whose exterior,
affected by Gunnar's litr, accommodates itself to the latter,
while the spiritual kernel in Sigurd's personality suffers
no change.
Lit hefir thu Gunnars
oc laeti bans,
maelsco thina
oc meginhyggior (Sig., i. 39).
Thus man has within him an inner body made in the
image of the gods and consisting of a finer material, a
body which is his litr, by virtue of which his coarser taber-
nacle, formed from the earth, receives that form by
which it impresses itself on the minds of others. The
recollection of the belief in this inner body has been
preserved in a more or less distorted form in traditions
handed down even to our days (see for example, Hylten-
Cavallius, Varend och Virdarne, i. 343-360; Raaf in
Smaland, Beskr. ofver Ydre, p. 84).
The appearance of the outer body therefore depends
on the condition of the litr, that is, of the inner being.
Beautiful women have a " joyous fair litr" (Havamal,
93). An emotion has influence upon the litr, and through
735
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it on the blood and the appearance of the outward body.
A sudden blushing, a sudden paleness, are among the
results thereof, and can give rise to the question, Hefir
thu lit brugditf — Have you changed your litr? (For-
nald., i. 426). To translate this with, Have you changed
colour? is absurd. The questioner sees the change of
colour, and does not need to ask the other one who cannot
see it.
On account of its mythological signification and appli-
cation, it is very natural that the word litr should in
every-day life acquire on the one hand the meaning of
complexion in general, and on the other hand the significa-
tion of hamr, guise, an earthly garb which persons skilled
in magic could put on and off. Skipta litum, vixla litum,
have in Christian times been used as synonymous with
skip t a homum, vixla homum.
In physical death the coarser elements of an earthly
person's nature are separated from the other constituent
parts. The tabernacle formed of earth and the vegetative
material united therewith are eliminated like the animal
element and remain on earth. But this does not imply
that the deceased descend without form to Hades. The
form in which they travel in "deep dales," traverse the
thornfields, wade across the subterranean rivers, or ride
over the gold-clad Gjallar-bridge, is not a new creation,
but was worn by them in their earthly career. It can be
none other than their litr, their umbra et imago. It also
shows distinctly what the dead man has been in his earthly
life, and what care has been bestowed on his dust. The
washing, combing, dressing, ornamenting, and supplying
736
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
with Hel-shoes of the dead body has influence upon one's
looks in Hades, on one's looks when he is to appear before
his judge.
Separated from the earthly element, from the vegetative
material, and from the blood, the lit is almost imponder-
able, and does not possess the qualities for an intensive
life, either in bliss or in torture. Five fylkes of dead men
who rode over the Gjallar-bridge produced no greater
din than Hermod alone riding on Sleipner; and the
woman watching the bridge saw that Hermod's exterior
was not that of one separated from the earthly element.
It was not litr daudra manna (Gylfaginning). But the
litr of the dead is compensated for what it has lost.
Those who in the judgment on daudan hvern are pro-
nounced worthy of bliss are permitted to drink from the
horn decorated with the serpent-symbol of eternity, the
liquids of the three world-fountains which give life to all
the world, and thereby their litr gets a higher grade
of body and nobler blood (see Nos. 72, 73). Those
sentenced to torture must also drink, but it is a drink eitri
blandinn miok, "much mixed with venom," and it is illu
heilli, that is,x a warning of evil. This drink also restores
their bodies, but only to make them feel the burden of
torture. The liquid of life which they imbibe in this
drink is the same as that which was thought to flow in
the veins of the demons of torture. When Hadding with
his sword wounds the demon-hand which grasps after
Hardgrep and tears her into pieces (see No. 41), there
flows from the wound "more venom than blood" (plus
tabi quam cruoris — Saxo, Hist., 40).
737
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
When Loder had given Ask and Embla litr goda, an
inner body formed in the image of the gods, a body which
gives to their earthly tabernacle a human-divine type,
they received from Honer the gift which is called odr.
In signification this word corresponds most closely to the
Latin mens, the Greek nous (cp. Vigfusson's Lexicon),
and means that material which forms the kernel of a
human personality, its ego, and whose manifestations are
understanding, memory, fancy, and will.
Vig«fusson has called attention to the fact that the
epithet langifotr and aurkonungr, "Longleg" and "Mire-
king," applied to Honer, is applicable to the stork, and
that this cannot be an accident, as the very name Hcenir
suggests a bird, and is related to the Greek kuknos, and
the Sanscrit sakunas (Corpus Poet. Bor., i. p. cii.).* It
should be borne in mind in this connection that the stork
even to this day is regarded as a sacred and protected
bird, and that among Scandinavians and Germans there
still exists a nursery tale telling how the stork takes from
some saga-pond the little fruks of man and brings them
to their mothers. The tale which now belongs to the
nursery has its root in the myth, where Honer gives our
•There is a story of the creation of man by three wandering gods, who
become in mediaeval stories Jesus and SS. Peter and Paul walking among
men, as in Champfleury's pretty apologue of the bonhomme misere, so
beautifully illustrated by Legros. In the eddic legend one of these gods is
called Hcene; he is the speech-giver of Wolospa, and is described in praises
taken from lost poems as "the long-legged one" [langifotr] , "the lord of
the ooze" [aurTconungr] . Strange epithets, but easily explainable when
one gets at the etymology of Hasne = hohni = Sansc. sakunas = Gr. kuknos
= the white bird, swan, or stork, that stalks along in the mud, lord of the
marsh ; and it is now easy to see that this bird is the Creator walking in
chaos, brooding over the primitive mish-mash or tohu-bohu, and finally
hatching the egg of the world. Hohni is also, one would fancy, to be iden-
tified with Heimdal, the walker, who is also a creator-god, who sleeps
more lightly than a bird, who is also the "fair Anse," and the "whitest of
the Anses," the "waker of the gods," a celestial chanticleer as it were
(Vigfusson, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, vol. i., Introduction, p. cii., quoted
by the translator).
738
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
first parents that very gift which in a spiritual sense makes
them human beings and contains the personal ego. It is
both possible and probable that the conditions essential to
the existence of every person were conceived as being
analogous with the conditions attending the creation of
the first human pair, and that the gifts which were then
given by the gods to Ask and Embla were thought to be
repeated in the case of each one of their descendants — that
Honer consequently was believed to be continually active
in the same manner as when the first human pair was
created, giving to the mother-fruit the ego* that is to be.
The fruit itself out of which the child is developed was
conceived as grown on the world-tree, which therefore is
called manna mjotudr (Fjolsvinnsmal, 22). Every fruit
of this kind (aiding that matured (and fell from the
branches of the world-tree into the mythic pond [ ?] ) is
fetched by the winged servants of the gods, and is born
a eld into the maternal lap, after being mentally fructified
by Honer.
Ut af hans (Mimameids) aldni
skal a eld bera
fyr kelisjukar konur;
utar hverfa
thaz thasr innar skyli,
sa er hann med monnum mjotudr.
Above, in No. 83, it has been shown that Lodurr is
identical with Mundilfori, the one producing fire by fric-
tion, and that Hcenir and Lodurr are Odin's brothers,
also called Vei and Vili. With regard to the last name
it should be remarked that its meaning of "will" developed
739
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
out of the meaning "desire," "longing," and that the
word preserved this older meaning also in the secondary
sense of cupido, libido, sexual desire. This epithet of
Lodurr corresponds both with the nature of the gifts he
bestows on the human child which is to be — that is, the
blood and the human, originally divine, form — and also
with his quality of fire-producer, if, as is probable, the
friction-fire had the same symbolic meaning in the Teu-
tonic mythology as in the Rigveda. Like Honer, Loder
causes the knitting together of the human generations.
While the former fructifies the embryo developing on the
world-tree with odr, it receives from Loder the warmth
of the blood and human organism. The expression Vilja
byrdr, "Fill's burden," "that which Vili has produced,"
is from this point of view a well-chosen and at the same
time an ambiguous paraphrase for a human body. The
paraphrase occurs in Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, 17).
When Visbur loses his life in the flames it is there said of
him that the fire consumed his Vilja byrdi, his corporal
life.
To Loder's and Honer's gifts the highest Asa-god adds
the best element in human nature, ond, spirit, that by
which a human being becomes participator in the divine
also in an inner sense, and not only as to form. The
divine must here, of course, be understood in the sense
(far different from the ecclesiastical) in which it was
used by our heathen ancestors, to whom the divine, as it
can reveal itself in men, chiefly consisted in power of
thought, courage, honesty, veracity, and mercy, but who
knew no other humility than that of patiently bearing
740
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
such misfortunes as cannot be averted by human ingen-
uity.
These six elements, united into one in human nature,
were of course constantly in reciprocal activity. The
personal kernel odr is on the one hand influenced by ond,
the spirit, and on the other hand by the animal, vegetative,
and corporal elements, and the personality being endowed
with will, it is responsible for the result of this reciprocal
activity. If the spirit becomes superior to the other
elements then it penetrates and sanctifies not only the
personal kernel, but also the animal, vegetative, and
corporal elements. Then human nature becomes a being
that may be called divine, and deserves divine honour.
When such a person dies the lower elements which are
abandoned and consigned to the grave have been per-
meated by, and have become participators in, the person-
ality which they have served, and may thereafter in a
wonderful manner diffuse happiness and blessings around
them. When Halfdan the Black died different places
competed for the keeping of his remains, and the dispute
was settled by dividing the corpse between Hadaland,
Ringerike, and Vestfold ( Fagerskinna, Heimskringla).
The vegetative force in the remains of certain persons
might also manifest itself in a strange manner. Thor-
grim's grave-mound in Gisle's saga was always green on
one side, and Laugarbrekku-Einar's grave-mound was
entirely green both winter and summer (Landn., ii. 7).
The elements of the dead buried in the grave continued
for more or less time their reciprocal activity, and formed
a sort of unity which, if permeated by his odr and ond,
74*
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
preserved some of his personality and qualities. The
grave-mound might in this manner contain an alter ego
of him who had descended to the realm of death. This
alter ego, called after his dwelling haugbui, hill-dweller,
was characterised by his nature as a draugr, a branch
which, though cut off from its life-root, still maintains its
consistency, but gradually, though slowly, pays tribute to
corruption and progresses toward its dissolution. In
Christian times the word draugr acquired a bad, demon-
iacal meaning, which did not belong to it exclusively in
heathen times, to judge from the compounds in which it
is found: eldraugr, herdraugr, hirdidraugr, which were
used in paraphrases for "warriors ;" odaldraugr, "rightful
owner/' &c. The alter ego of the deceased, his repre-
sentative dwelling in the grave, retained his character*
was good and kind if the deceased had been so in life ; in
the opposite case, evil and dangerous. As a rule he was
believed to sleep in his grave, especially in the daytime,
but might wake up in the night, or could be waked by
the influence of prayer or the powers of conjuration.
Ghosts of the good kind were hollar vcettir, of the evil
kind uvcettir. Respect for the fathers and the idea that the
men of the past were more pious and more noble than
those of the present time caused the alter egos of the
fathers to be regarded as beneficent and working for the
good of the race, and for this reason family grave-mounds
where the bones of the ancestors rested were generally
near the home. If there was no grave-mound in the
vicinity, but a rock or hill, the alter egos in question were
believed to congregate there when something of import-
742
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ance to the family was impending. It might also happen
that the lower elements, when abandoned by odr and ond,
became an alter ego in whom the vegetative and animal
elements exclusively asserted themselves. Such an one
was always tormented by animal desire of food, and did
not seem to have any feeling for or memory of bonds tied
in life. Saxo (Hist., 244) gives a horrible account of
one of this sort. Two foster-brothers, Asmund and
Asvid, had agreed that if the one died before the other the
survivor should confine himself in the foster-brother's
grave-chamber and remain there. Asvid died and was
buried with horse and dog. Asmund kept his agreement,
and ordered himself to be confined in the large, roomy
grave, but discovered to his horror that his foster-brother
had become a haugbui of the last-named kind, who, after
eating horse and dog, attacked Asmund to make him a
victim of his hunger. Asmund conquered the haugbui,
cut off his head, and pierced his heart with a pole to
prevent his coming to life again. Swedish adventurers
who opened the grave to plunder it freed Asmund from
his prison. In such instances as this it must have been
assumed that the lower elements of the deceased con-
signed to the grave were never in his lifetime sufficiently
permeated by his odr and ond to enable these qualities to
give the corpse an impression of the rational personality
and human character of the deceased. The same idea
is the basis of belief of the Slavic people in the vampire.
In one of this sort the vegetative element united with his
dust still asserts itself, so that hair and nails continue to
grow as on a living being, and the animal element, which
743
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
likewise continues to operate in the one buried, visits him
with hunger and drives him in the night out of the grave
to suck the blood of surviving kinsmen.
The real personality of the dead, the one endowed with
Htr, odr, and ond, was and remained in the death king-
dom, although circumstances might take place that would
call him back for a short time. The drink which the
happy dead person received in Hades was intended not
only to strengthen his litr, but also to soothe that longing
which the earthly life and its memories might cause him
to feel. If a dearly-beloved kinsman or friend mourned
the deceased too violently, this sorrow disturbed his hap-
piness in the death kingdom, and was able to bring him
back to earth. Then he would visit his grave-mound,
and he and his alter ego, the haugbui, would become one.
This was the case with Helge Hundingsbane (Helge
Hund., ii. 40, &c.). The sorrow of Sigrun, his beloved,
caused him to return from Valhal to earth and to ride to
his grave, where Sigrun came to him and wanted to rest
in his arms during the night. But when Helge had told
her that her tears pierced his breast with pain, and had
assured her that she was exceedingly dear to him, and
had predicted that they together should drink the sorrow-
allaying liquids of the lower world, he rode his way again,
in order that, before the crowing of the cock, he might
be back among the departed heroes. Prayer was another
means of calling the dead back. At the entrance of his
deceased mother's grave-chamber Svipdag beseeches her
to awake. Her ashes kept in the grave-chamber (er til
moldar er komin) and her real personality from the realm
744
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of death (er or Ijodheimum er lidin} then unite, and Groa
speaks out of the grave to her son (Grogaldr., i. 2). A
third means of revoking the dead to earth lay in conjura-
tion. But such a use of conjuration was a great sin,
which relegated the sinner to the demons. (Cp. Saxo's
account of Hardgrep.)
Thus we understand why the dead descended to Hades
and still inhabited the grave-mounds. One died "to Hel"
and "to the grave" at the same time. That of which
earthly man consisted, in addition to his corporal garb,
was not the simple being, "the soul," which cannot be
divided, but there was a combination of factors, which in
death could be separated, and of which those remaining on
earth, while they had long been the covering of a personal
kernel (odr), could themselves in a new combination form
another ego of the person who had descended to Hades.
But that too consisted of several factors, litr, odr, and
ond, and they were not inseparably united. We have
already seen that the sinner, sentenced to torture, dies a
second death in the lower world before he passes through
the Na-gates, the death from Hel to Nifelhel, so that he
becomes a nar, a corpse in a still deeper sense than that
which nar has in a physical sense. The second death,
like the first (physical), must consist in the separation of
one or more of the factors from the being that dies. And
in the second death, that which separates itself from the
damned one and changes his remains into a lower-world
nar, must be those factors that have no blame in connec-
tion with his sins, and consequently should not suffer his
punishment, and which in their origin are too noble to
745
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
become the objects of the practice of demons in the art of
torturing. The venom drink which the damned person
has to empty deprives him of that image of the gods in
which he was made, and of the spirit which was the noble
gift of the Asa-father. Changed into a monster, he goes
to his destinty fraught with misfortunes.
The idea of a regeneration was not foreign to the faith
of the Teutonic heathens. To judge from the very few
statements we have on this point, it would seem that it
was only the very best and the very worst who were
thought to be born anew in the present world. Gulveig
was born again several times by the force of her own evil
will. But it is only ideal persons of whom it is said th'at
they are born again — e.g., Helge Hjorvardson, Helge
Hundingsbane, and Olaf Geirstadaralf, of whom the last
was believed to have risen again in Saint Olaf. With the
exception of Gulveig, the statements in regard to the
others from Christian times are an echo from the heathen
Teutonic doctrine which it would be most interesting to
become better acquainted with — also from the standpoint
of comparative Aryan mythology, since this same doctrine
appears in a highly-developed form in the Asiatic-Aryan
group O'f myths.
746
V.
THE IVALDE RACE,
96.
SVIPDAG AND GROA.
GROA'S son Svipdag is mentioned by this name in two
Old Norse songs, Grogalder and Fjolsvinnsmal, which as
Bugge has shown, are mutually connected, and describe
episodes from the same chain of events.
The contents of Grogalder are as follows:
Groa is dead when the event described in the song
takes place. Svipdag is still quite young. Before her
death she has told him that he is to go to her grave and
call her if he needs her help. The grave is a grave-cham-
ber made of large flat stones raised over a stone floor, and
forming when seen from the outside a mound which is
furnished with a door (str. 1, 15).
Svipdag's father has married a second time. The step-
mother commands her stepson to go abroad and find
Menglodum, "those fond of ornaments." From Fjols-
vinnsmal we learn that one of those called by this name is
a young maid who becomes Svipdag's wife. Her real name
is not given: she is continually designated as Menglod,
Menglad, one of "those fond of ornaments," whom Svip-
dag has been commanded to find.
747
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
This task seems to Svipdag to exceed his powers. It
must have been one of great adventures and great dangers,
for he now considers it the proper time to ask his deceased
mother for help. He has become suspicious of his step-
mother's intentions; he considers her Icevis (cunning),
and her proposition is "a cruel olay which she has put
before him" (str. 3).
He goes to Groa's grave-chamber, probably in the night
(verda auflgari allir a nottum dauthir — Helge Hund., ii.
51), bids her wake, and reminds her of her promise.
That of Groa which had become dust (er til moldar er
komin), and that of her which had left this world of man
and gone to the lower world (er or Ijodheimum tiding,
become again united under the influence of maternal love
and of the son's prayer, and Svipdag hears out of the
grave-chamber his mother's voice asking him why he has
come. He speaks of the errand on which he has been
sent by his stepmother (str. 3, 4).
The voice from the grave declares that long journeys
lie before Svipdag if he is to reach the goal indicated.
It does not, however, advise him to disobey the command
of his stepmother, but assures him that if he will but
patiently look for a good outcome of the matter, then the
norn will guide the events into their right course (str. 4).
The son then requests his mother to sing protecting
incantations over him. She is celebrated in mythology
as one mighty in incantations of the good kind. It was
Groa that sang healing incantations over Thor when with
a wounded forehead he returned from the conflict with
the giant Hrungner (Gylfag.).
748
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Groa hears his prayer, and sings from the grave an
incantation of protection against the dangers which her
prophetic vision has discovered on those journeys that
now lie before Svipdag: first, the incantation that can
inspire the despondent youth who lacks confidence in
himself with courage and reliance in his own powers. It
is, Groa says, the same incantation as another mother
before her sang over a son whose strength had not yet
been developed, and who had a similar perilous task to
perform. It is an incantation, says Groa, which Rind,
Vale's mother, sang over Rdnr. This synonym of Vale
is of saga-historical interest. Saxo calls Vale Bous, the^
Latinised form for Beowulf, and' Beowulf's grave-mound,
according to the Old English poem which bears his
name, is situated on Hrones nass, Ram's ness. Here too
a connection between Vale and the name Rdnr is indicated.
Groa's second incantation contains a prayer that when
her son, joyless, travels his paths and sees scorn and evil
before his eyes, he may always be protected by Urd's
lokur (an ambiguous expression, which may on the one
hand refer to the bonds and locks of the goddess of fate,
on the other hand to Groa's own phrophetic magic song :
lokur means both songs of a certain kind and locks and
prisons).
On his journey Svipdag is to cross rivers, which with
swelling floods threaten his life ; but Groa's third incanta-
tion commands these rivers to flow down to Hel and to
fall for her son. The rivers which have their course to
Hel (falla til Hel jar hedan — Grimnersmal, 28) are sub-
terranean rivers rising on the Hvergelmer mountain (59,
93).
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Groa's fourth and fifth incantations indicate that Svip-
dag is to encounter enemies and be put in chains. Her
songs are then to operate in such a manner that the hearts
of the foes are softened into reconciliation, and that the
chains fall from the limbs of her son. For this purpose
she gives him that power which is called "Leifnir's fires"
(see No. 38), which loosens fetters from enchanted limbs
(str. 9, 10).
Groa's sixth incantation is to save Svipdag from perish-
ing in a gale on the sea. In the great world-mill (ludr)
which produces the maelstrom, ocean currents, ebb and
flood tide (see Nos. 79-82), calm and war are to "gang
thegither" in harmony, be at Svipdag's service and pre-
pare him a safe voyage.
The seventh incantation that comes from the grave-
chamber speaks of a journey which Svipdag is to make
over a mountain where terrible cold reigns. The song
is to save him from becoming a victim of the frost there.
The last two incantations, the eighth and the ninth,
show what was already suggested by the third, namely,
that Svipdag's adventurous journeys are to be crowned
with a visit in the lower world. He is to meet Nat a
Niflvegi, "on the Nifel-way," "in Nif el-land." The word
nifl does not occur in the Old Norse literature except in
reference to the northern part of the Teutonic Hades, the
forecourt to the worlds of torture there. Niflhel and
Niflheim are, as we know, the names of that forecourt.
Niflfarinn is the designation, as heretofore mentioned, of
a deceased whose soul has descended to Nifelhel; Nifl-
godr is a nithing, one deserving to be damned to the
750
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tortures of the lower world. Groa's eighth incantation
is to protect her son against the perilous consequences of
encountering a "dead woman" (daud kona) on his
journey through Nifelhel. The ninth incantation shows
that Svipdag, on having traversed the way to the northern
part of the lower world, crosses the Hvergelmer mountain
and comes to the realm of Mimer; for he is to meet and
talk with "the weapon-honoured giant," Mimer himself,
under circumstances which demand "tongue and brains"
on the part of Groa's son :
ef thu vid inn naddgofga
ordum skiptir jotun:
mals ok mannvits
se ther a Mimis hjarta
gnoga of getit.
In the poem Fjolsvinnsmal, which I am now to discuss,
we read with regard to Svipdag's adventures in the lower
world that on his journey in Mimer's domain he had
occasion to see the dsmegir's citadel and the splendid
things within its walls (str. 33; cp. No. 53).
97.
SVIPDAG OUTSIDE; OF THE GATES OF ASGARD. MENGI^AT/S
IDENTITY WITH PREYJA.
In the first stanzas of Fjolsvinnsmal we see Svipdag
making his way to a citadel which is furnished with
forgordum — that is to say, ramparts in front of the gate
in the wall which surrounds the place. On one of these
ramparts stands a watchman who calls himself Fjolsvinnr,
which is an epithet of Odin (Grimnersmal, 47).
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The first strophe of the poem calls Svipdag thursa
thjodar sjolr (sjoli), "the leader of the Thurs people."
The reason why he could be designated thus has already
been given (see Nos. 24, 33) : During the conflicts
between the powers of winter and the sons of Ivalde, and
the race connected with them, on the one side, and the
Teutonic patriarch Halfdan, favoured by the Asa-gods,
on the other side, Svipdag opposed the latter and finally
defeated him (see No. 93).
From the manner in which Fjolsvin receives the travel-
ler it appears that a "leader of the Thurs people" need not
look for a welcome outside of such a citadel as this.
Fjolsvin calls him a flagd, a vargr, and advises him to go
back by "moist ways," for within this wall such a being
can never come. Meanwhile these severe words do not
on this occasion appear to be spoken in absolute earnest,
for the watchman at the same time encourages conversa-
tion, by asking Svipdag what his errand is. The latter
corrects the watchman for his rough manner of receiving
him, and explains that he is not able to return, for the
burgh he sees is a beautiful sight, and there he would be
able to pass a happy life.
When the watchman now asks him about his parents
and family he answers in riddles. Himself "the leader
of the Thurs people," the former ally of the powers of
frost, he calls Windcold, his father he calls Springcold,
and his grandfather Verycold (F/olkaldr}. This answer
gives the key to the character of the whole following
conversation, in which Svipdag is the questioner, whose
interrogations the watchman answers in such a manner
752
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that he gives persons and things names which seldom are
their usual ones, but which refer to their qualities.
What castle is this, then, before which Svipdag stopped,
and within whose walls he is soon to find Menglad, whom
he seeks?
A correct answer to this question is of the greatest
importance to a proper understanding of the events of
mythology and their connection. Strange to say, it has
hitherto been assumed that the castle is the citadel of
a giant, a resort of thurses, and that Menglad is a
giantess.
Svipdag has before him a scene that enchants his gaze
and fills him -with a longing to remain there for ever. It
is a pleasure to the eyes, he says, which no one willingly
renounces who once has seen a thing so charming.
Several "halls," that is to say, large residences or palaces,
with their "open courts," are situated on these grounds.
The halls glitter with gold, which casts a reflection over
the plains in front of them (gardar gloa mer thykkja af
gullna sali — str. 5). One of the palaces, a most magnifi-
cent one (an au-drann), is surrounded by "wise Vafer-
flame," and Fjolsvin says of it that from time immemorial
there has been a report among men in regard to this
dwelling. He calls it Hyrr, "the gladdening one," "the
laughing one," "the soul-stirring one." Within the
castle wall there rises a hill or rock, which the author of
the song conceived as decorated with flowers or in some
other ravishing way, for he calls it a joyous rock. There
the fair Menglad is seen sitting like an image (thruma),
surrounded by lovely discs. Svipdag here sees the world-
753
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tree, invisible on earth, spreading its branchs loaded with
fruits (aldin) over all lands. In the tree sits the cock
Vidofnir, whose whole plumage glitters like gold (str.
19, 22, 23, 31, 32, 35, 49).
The whole place is surrounded by a wall, "so solid that
it shall stand as long as the world" (str. 12). It is built
of Lerbrimer's (Ymer's) limbs, and is called Gastrofnir,
"the same one as refuses admittance to uninvited guests."
In the wall is inserted the gate skilfully made by Sol-
blinde's sons, the one which I have already mentioned in
No. 36. Svipdag, who had been in the lower world and
had there seen the halls of the gods and the well-fortified
castle of the dsmegir (see No. 53), admires the wall and
the gate, and remarks that no more dangerous contriv-
ances (for uninvited guests) than these were seen among
the gods (str. 9-12).
The gate is guarded by two "garms," wolf-dogs.
Fjolsvin explains that their names are Gifr and Geri, that
they are to live and perform their duty as watch-dogs to
the end of the world (unz rjufask re gin), and that they
are the watchers of watchers, whose number is eleven
(vardir ellifu, er their varda — str. 14).
Just as the mythic personality that Svipdag met outside
of the castle is named by the Odin-epithet Fjolsvidr, so
we here find one of the watching dogs called after one of
Odin's wolf-dogs, Geri (Grimnersmal, 19). Their duty
of watching, which does not cease before Ragnarok, they
perform in connection with eleven mythic persons dwell-
ing within the citadel, who are themselves called vardir,
an epithet for world-protecting divinities. Heimdal is
754
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
vordr goda, Balder is vordr Half dancer jarda. The num-
ber of the Asas is eleven after Balder descended to the
lower world. Hyndluljod says : Voru ellifu asir taldir,
Balldr er hue vid banathufu.
These wolf-dogs are foes of giants and trolls. If a
vattr came there he would not be able to get past them
(str. 16 — ok kemt thd vcettr, ef thd kom). The troll-
beings that are called gifr and kveldridw (Voluspa, 50;
Helge Hjorv., 15), and that fly about in the air with Urn
(bundles of sticks) in their hands, have been made to
fall by these dogs. They have made gifr-lim into a
"land-wreck" (er gjordu gifrlim reka fyrir londin — str.
13). As one of the dogs is himself called Gifr, his
ability, like that of those chased by him, to fly in the air
seems to be indicated. The old tradition about Odin,
who with his dogs flies through the air above the earth,
has its root in the myth concerning the duty devolving
upon the Asa-father, in his capacity of lord of the heavens,
to keep space free from gifr, kv&ddridur, tunridwr, who
"leika a lopti" do their mischief in the air (cp. Hava-
mal, 155).
The hall in which Menglad lives, and that part of the
wall-surrounded domain which belongs to her, seems to
be situated directly in front of the gate, for Svipdag,
standing before it, asks who is the ruler of the domain
which he sees before him, and Fjolsvin answers that it is
Menglad who there holds sway, owns the land, and is
mistress of the treasure-chambers.
The poem tells us in the most unmistakable manner
that Menglad is an asynje, and that one of the very
755
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
noblest ones. "What are the names," asks Svipdag, "of
the young women who sit so pleasantly together at Men-
glad's feet ?" Fjolsvin answers by naming nine, among
whom are the goddess of healing, Hir (Prose Edda, i.
114), and the discs Hlif, "the protectress," Bjort, "the
shining," Blid, "the blithe," and Frid, "the fair." Their
place at Menglad's feet indicates that they are subordi-
nate to her and belong to her attendants. Nevertheless
they are, Fjolsvin assures us, higher beings, who have
sanctuaries and altars (str. 40), and have both power and
inclination quickly to help men who offer sacrifices to
them. Nay, "no so severe evil can happen to the sons of
men that these maids are not able to help them out of
their distress." It follows with certainty that their mis-
tress Menglad, "the one fond of ornaments," must be one
of the highest and most worshipped goddesses in the my-
thology. And to none of the asynjes is the epithet "fond
of ornaments" (Menglad) more applicable than to the
fair owner of the first among female ornaments, Bris-
ingamen — to Freyja, whose daughters Hnoss and Ger-
sami are called by names that mean "ornaments," and of
whose fondness for beautiful jewels even Christian saga
authors speak. To the court of no other goddess are
such discs as Bjort, Blid, and Frid so well suited as to
hers. And all that Fjolsvinnsmal tells about Menglad
is in harmony with this.
- Freyja was the goddess of love, of matrimony, and of
fertility, and for this reason she was regarded as the di-
vine ruler and helper, to whom loving maids, wives who
are to bear children, and sick women were to address
756
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
themselves with prayers and offerings. Figuratively this
is expressed in Fjolsvinnsmal with the words that every
sick woman who walks up the mountain on which Men-
glad sits regains her health. "That mountain has long
been the joy of the sick and wounded" (str. £6). The
great tree whose foliage spreads over Menglad's palace
bears the fruits that help kelisjukar konur, so that utar
hverva that thar innar skyli (str. 22). In the midst of
the fair discs who attend Menglad the poem also men-
tions Aurboda, the giantess, who afterwards becomes the
mother-in-law of Freyja's brother, and whose appear-
ance in Asgard as a maid-servant of Freyja, and as one
of those that bring fruits from the world-tree to kelisfukar
konur, has already been mentioned in No. 35. If we
now add that Menglad, though a mighty goddess, is mar-
ried to Svipdag, who is not one of the gods, and that
Freyja, despite her high rank among the goddesses, does
not have a god for her husband, but, as Gylfaginning ex-
presses it, giptist theim mcmni er Odr heitir, and, finally
that Menglad's father is characterised by a name which
refers to Freyja's father, Njord,* then these circum-
stances alone, without the additional and decisive proofs
which are to be presented as this investigation progresses,
are sufficient to from a solid basis for the identity of Men-
*In strophe 8 Fjolsvin says of Menglad:
Menglod of Ueitir,
en hana modir of gat
vid Svafrthorins syni.
Svafr alone, or as a part of a compound, indicates a Vana-god. According
to an account narrated as history in Pornaldersaga (i. 415), a daughter of
Thjasse was married to "king" Svafrlami. In the mythology it is Freyja's
father, the Vana-god Njord, who gets Thjasse's daughter for his wife. The
Sun-song (str. 79, 80) mentions Njord's daughters together with Svafr and
Svafrlogi. The daughters are nine, like Menglad and her discs.
757
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
glad and Preyja, and as a necessary consequence for the
identity of Svipdag and Odr, also called Ottarr.
The glorious castle to which Svipdag travelled "up"
is therefore Asgard, as is plain from its very description
— with its gold-glittering palace, with its wall standing
until Ragnarok, with its artistic gate, with its eleven
watchers, with its Fjolsvin-Odin, with its asynje Hir,
with its benevolent and lovely dises worshipped by men,
with its two wolf-dogs who are to keep watch so long as
the world stands, and which clear the air of tunridur,
with its shady arbour formed by the overhanging branches
of the world-tree, and with its gold-feathered cock
Vidofnir (Voluspa's Gullinkambi).
Svipdag comes as a stranger to Asgard's gate, and
what he there sees he has never before seen. His con-
versation with Fjolsvin is a series of curious questions in
regard to the strange things that he now witnesses for
the first time. His designation as thursa thjodar sjolr
indicates not only that he is a stranger in Asgard, but
also that he has been the foe of the Asgards. That he
under such circumstances was able to secure admittance
to the only way that leads to Asgard, the bridge Bifrost ;
that he was allowed unhindered to travel up this bridge
and approach the gate unpunished, and without encounter-
ing any other annoyances than a few repelling words from
Fjolsvin, who soon changes his tone and gives him such
information as he desires — all this presupposes that the
mythology must have had strong and satisfactory reasons
for permitting a thing so unusual to take place. In sev-
eral passages in Grogalder and in Fjolsvinnsmal it is
758
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
hinted that the powers of fate had selected Svipdag to
perform extraordinary things and gain an end the at-
taining of which seemed impossible. That the norns
have some special purpose with him, and that Urd is to
protect him and direct his course with invisible bonds,
however erratic it may seem, all this gleams forth from
the words of his mother Groa in the grave-chamber. And
when Svipdag finally sees Menglad hasten to throw her-
self into his arms, he says himself that it is Urd's irre-
sistible decree that has shaped things thus: Urdar ordi
kvedr engi madr. But Urd's resolve alone cannot be a
sufficient reason in the epic for Svipdag's adoption in
Asgard, and for his gaining, though he is not of Asa-
birth, the extraordinary honour and good luck of becom-
ing the husband of the fairest of the asynjes and of one
of the foremost of the goddesses. Urd must have ar-
ranged the chain of events in such a manner that Men-
glad desires to possess him, that Svipdag has deserved
her love, and that the Asa-gods deem it best for them-
selves to secure this opponent of theirs by bonds of kin-
ship.
98.
SVIPDAG BRINGS TO ASGARD THE SWORD OF REVENGE
FORGED BY VOLUND.
The most important question put to Fjolsvin by Svip-
dag is, of course, the one whether a stranger can enter.
Fjolsvin's answer is to the effect that this is, and remains,
impossible, unless the stranger brings with him a certain
759
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sword. The wall repels an uninvited comer; the gate
holds him fast if he ventures to lay hands on it; of the
two wolf-dogs one is always watching while the other
sleeps, and no one can pass them without permission.
To this assurance on the part of Fjolsvin are added a
series of questions and answers, which the author of the
poem has planned with uncommon acumen. Svipdag
asks if it is not, after all, possible to get past the watching
dogs. There must be something in the world delicate
enough to satisfy their appetite and thus turn away their
attention. Fjolsvin admits that there are two delicacies
that might produce this effect, but they are pieces of flesh
that lie in the limbs of the cock Vidofner (str. 17, 18).
He who can procure these can steal past the dogs. But
the cock Vidofner sits high in the top of the world-tree
and seems to be inaccessible. Is there, then, asks Svip-
dag, any weapon that can bring him down dead? Yes,
says Fjolsvin, there is such a weapon. It was made
outside of Na-gate (nagrindr). The smith was one
Loptr. He was robbed (ruinri) of this weapon so dan-
gerous to the gold-glittering cock, and now it is in the
possession of Sinmara, who has laid it in a chest of tough
iron beneath nine njard-locks (str. 25, 26).
It must have been most difficult and dangerous to go
to the place where Sinmara has her abode and try to se-
cure the weapon so well kept. Svipdag asks if anyone
who is willing to attempt it has any hope of returning.
Fjolsvin answers that in Vidofner's ankle-bones (volwn)
lies a bright, hook-shaped bone. If one can secure this,
bring it to Ludr (the place of the lower-world mill),
760
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and give it to Sinmara, then she can be induced to part
with the weapon in question (str. 27-30).
It appears from this that the condition on which Svip-
dag can get into the castle where Menglad dwells is that
he shall be in possession of a weapon which was smithied
by an enemy of the gods, here called Loptr, and thus to be
compared with Loke, who actually bears this epithet. If
he does not possess this weapon, which doubtless is
fraught with danger to the gods, and is the only one
that can kill the gold-glittering cock of the world-tree,
then the gate of the citadel is not opened to him, and the
watching wolf-dogs will not let him pass through it.
But Fjolsvin also indicates that under ordinary circum-
stances, and for one who is not particularly chosen for
this purpose by Fate, it is utterly impossible to secure
possession of the sword in question. Before Sinmara
can be induced to lend it, it is necessary to bring Vidofner
dead down from the branches of the world-tree. But to
kill the cock that very weapon is needed which Sinmara
cannot otherwise be induced to part with.
Meanwhile the continuation of the poem shows that
what was impossible for everybody else has already been
accomplished by Svipdag. When he stands at the gate
of the castle in conversation with Fjolsvin he has the
sword by his side, and knows perfectly well that the
gate is to be opened so soon as it pleases him to put an
end to the talk with Fjolsvin and pronounce his own
name. The very moment he does this the gate swings
on its hinges, the mighty wolf-dogs welcome (fagna)
him, and Menglad, informed by Fjolsvin of his arrival,
761
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
hastens eagerly to meet him (str. 42, &c.). Fjolsvinns-
mal, so far as acumen in plot and in execution is con-
cerned, is the finest old poem that has been handed down
to our time, but it would be reduced to the most absurd
nonsense if the sword were not in Svipdag's possession, as
the gate is never to be opened to anyone else than to him
who brings to Menglad's castle the sword in question.
So far as the sword is concerned we have now learned :
That it was made by an artist who must have been
a foe of the gods, for Fjolsvin designates him by the
Loke-epithet Loptr;
That the place where the artist dwelt when he made
the weapon was situated fyr ndgrindr nedan;
That while he dwelt there, and after he had finished
the sword, he was robbed of it (Loptr ruinn fyr ndgrindr
nedan) ;
That he or they who robbed him of it must have been
closely related to Nat and the night discs, for the sword
was thereafter in the keeping of the night-being Sin-
mara;
That she regarded it as exceedingly precious, and also
dangerous if it came into improper hands, since she keeps
it in a "tough iron chest" beneath nine magical locks ;
That the eleven guards that dwell in the same castle
with Menglad regard it as of the greatest importance to
get the sword within their castle wall ;
That it has qualities like no other weapon in the world :
this sword, and it alone, can kill the golden cock on the
world-tree — a quality which seems to indicate that it
threatens the existence of the world and the gods.
762
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
It is evident that the artist who made this incompar-
able and terrible weapon was one of the most celebrated
smiths in mythology. The question now is, whether the
information given us by Fjolsvinnsmal in regard to him
is sufficient to enable us to determine with certainty who
he is.
The poem does not name him by any of his names, but
calls him by the Loke-epithet Loptr, "the airy." Among
the ancient smiths mentioned in our mythic fragments
there is one who refers to himself with the epithet Byrr,
"Wind," suggesting to us the same person — this one is
Volund. After he in his sleep had been made prisoner
by Mimzr-Nidadr and his Njarians (see No. 87), he
says when he awakes :
Hverir 'ro iofrar
their er a laugdo
besti Byr sima
oc mic bundo?
"Who are the mighty, who with bonds (besti, dative of
bostr) bound the wind (laugdo sitna a Byr} and fettered
me? The expression implies that it is as easy to bind
the wind as Volund. He was also able to secure his lib-
erty again in spite of all precautions.
According to the Norse version of the Volund saga,
one of the precautions resorted to is to sever the sinews
of his knees (str. 17 and the prose). It is Nidadr's
queen who causes this cruel treatment. In Fjolsvinnsmal
the nameless mythic personality who deprived the "airy
one" of his weapon has left it to be kept by a feminine
person, Sinmara. The name is composed of sin, which
763
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
means "sinew," and mara, which means "the one that
maims." (Mara is related to the verb merja, "to maim"
— see Vigfusson's Diet.) Thus Sinmara means "the
one who maims by doing violence to the sinews." The
one designated by this epithet in Fjolsvinnsmal has there-
fore acted the same part as M.imzr-Nidadr's queen in the
Volundarkvida.
Mimer-Nidadr, who imprisons Volund and robs him
of his sword and the incomparable arm-ring, is the father
of Nat and her sisters (see No. 85). He who robs "the
airy one" of his treasures must also have been intimately
related to the discs of night, else he would not have se-
lected as keeper of the weapon Sinmara, whose quality
as a being of night is manifested by the meaning incubus
nocturnes which is the name Mara acquired. In Fjols-
vinnsmal (str. 29) Sinmara is called hin folva gygr, "the
ashes-coloured giantess" — a designation pointing in the
same direction.
She is also called Eir aurglasis (str. 28), an expres-
sion which, as I believe, has been correctly interpreted as
"the dis of the shining arm-ring" (cp. Bugge Edda, p.
348). In Volundarkvida the daughter of Mimer-A/Yrfadr
receives Volund's incomparable arm-ring to wear.
According to Fjolsvinnsmal "the airy one" makes his
weapon fyr ndgrindr nedan. The meaning of this ex-
pression has already been discussed in No. 60. The
smith has his abode in the frost-cold and foggy Nifelheim,
while he is at work on the sword. Nifelheim, the land
fyr ndgrindr nedan, as we already know, is the northern
subterranean border-land of Mimer's domain. The two
764
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
realms are separated by Mount Hvergelmer, on which
the Na-gates are set, and where the world-mill, called
Hyludr and Ludr have their foundation-structure (see
Nos. 59, 60, 79, 80). In its vicinity below the southern
slope of the Hvergelmer mountain Nat has her hall (Nos.
84, 93). According to Fjolsvinnsmal Sinmara also
dwells here. For Fjolsvin says that if Svipdag is to bor-
row the sword which she keeps, he must carry the above-
mentioned hooked bone "to Ludr and give it to Sinmara"
(Ijosan Ijd skaltu i Ludr bera Simnora at selja — str. 30').
Ludr, the subterranean world-mill, which stands on the
Nida mountain above Nat's hall, has given its name to
the region where it stands. In Volundarkvida Mimer-
Nidadr suddenly appears with his wife and daughter and
armed Njarians in the remote cold Wolfdales, where Vo-
lund thinks himself secure, and no one knows whence
these foes of his come. The explanation is that the
"Wolfdales" of the heroic saga were in the mythology
situated in Nifelheim, the border-land of Mimer's realm.
Like "the airy one," Volund made his sword fyr ndgrindr
nedan; the latter, like the former, was robbed of the
weapon as soon as it was finished by a lower-world ruler,
whose kinswomen are discs of the night ; and in the saga
of the one, as of the other, one of these night discs has
caused a maiming by injuring the sinews.
Thus we can also understand why Svipdag must
traverse Nifelheim, "meet Nat on Nifelway," visit the
world-mill, wade across Hel-rivers, and encounter Mimer
himself, "the weapon-honoured." If Svipdag wants the
sword made by Loptr, he must risk these adventures,
5 765
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
since the sword is kept in the lower world by a kinswoman
of Mimer.
The heroic saga about Volund is therefore identical
with the myth concerning the maker of the sword which
opens Asgard for Svipdag. The former, produced in
Christian times, is only a new version of the latter. Vo-
lund is a foe of the gods, an elf-prince who was deeply
insulted by beings more powerful than himself (No. 87).
"The airy one" must likewise be a foe of the gods, since
the weapon he has made is dangerous to the golden cock
of the world-tree, and is bought by "the eleven wards"
with the opening of Asgard's gate and the giving of
Menglad as wife to Svipdag. Its danger to Asgard must
also be suggested by Fjolsvin's statement, that the splen-
did hall, called Hyrr, "the gladdener," "the soul-stirring,"
that hall which is situated within the castle wall, which
is encircled by vaferflames, and which from time out of
mind has been celebrated among men — that this hall has
already long trembled a brodds oddi, "on the point of the
sword" (str. 32). No other weapon can here be meant
than one which was fraught with the greatest danger to
the safety of the gods, and which filled them with anx-
iety; and unless we wish to deny that there is sense and
connection in the poem, this sword can be no other than
that which Svipdag now has with him, and which, having
been brought to Asgard, relieves the gods of their anx-
iety. And to repeat the points of similarity, Volund,
like "Loptr," makes his weapon in the northern border-
land of Mimer's domain ; and when the sword is finished
he is surprised by subterranean powers. In Loptr's saga,
766
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
as in Volund's, a magnificent arm-ring is mentioned, and
in both a dis of night received this ring to wear. In
Loptr's saga, as in Volund's, a night-dis is mentioned who
injures sinews. And Volund himself calls himself Byrr,
"the wind," which is a synonym of Loptr.
Thus Svipdag has made a journey to the lower world
to get possession of the sword of Volund, and he has
been successful.
99.
SVIPDAG'S FATHER ORVANDEL, THE STAR-HERO. EXPLA-
NATION OF HIS EPITHET SOLBJARTR.
The conversation between Fjolsvin and Svipdag ends
when the latter gives his name, and requests the former
to ask Menglad if she wishes to possess his love. Men-
glad then hastens to meet him, but before she shows
what she feels for him, he must confirm with his own
name and that of his father's that he really is the one he
pretends to be — the one she has long been longing for.
The young hero then says: Svipdagr ek heitir, Solbjartr
het minn fadir (str. 47).
When Fjolsvin asked Svipdag what the name of his
father was, he answered: Springcold, Vdrkaldr (str. 6) ;
and I have already stated the reason why he was so called.
Now he gives another name of his father — Solbjartr —
which also is a mere epithet, but still, as Svipdag must
here speak plainly, it has to be such a name as can refer
to his father in a distinct and definite manner.
Svipdag's mother, Groa, was married to Orvandill hinn
767
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
frakni (Younger Edda, 276-278). The epithet Solbjartr,
"he who has a brightness like that of the sun," if it really
refers to Orvandel, must be justified and explained by
something that the mythology had to report of him. Of
Orvandel, we know from the Younger Edda that he and
Groa had at least for a time been good friends of Thor;
that on one of his expeditions in Jotunheim, north of the
Elivagar rivers, the latter had met Orvandel and had car-
ried him in his provision-basket across the water to his
home; that Orvandel there froze his toe; that Thor broke
this off, and, in honour of Orvandel, threw it up into the
heavens, where it became that star which is called Orvan-
del's toe. Of ancient Teutonic star-names but very few
have been handed down to our time, and it is natural that
those now extant must be those of constellations or sepa-
rate stars, which attracted attention on account of their
appearance, or particularly on account of the strength of
their light. One of them was "Orvandel's toe." By the
name Orvandel (Harendel} a star was also known among
the Teutons in Great Britain. After being converted to
Christianity they regarded the Earendel star as a symbol
of Christ. The Church had already sanctified such a
view by applying to Christ the second epistle of Peter i.
19: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the
day-star arise in your hearts." The morning star be-
came, as we read in a Latin hymn, "typus Christi."
But it would be a too hasty conclusion to assume that
Orvandel's star and the morning star were identical in
768
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
heathen times. All that we can assert with certainty is
that the former must have been one of the brightest, for
the very name Harendel gradually became in the Old
English an abstract word meaning "splendour."
Codex Exoniensis has preserved a hymn to Christ,
the introductory stanzas of which appear to be borrowed
from the memory of the heathen hymn to Orvandel, and
to have been adapted to Christ with a slight change :
Eala Earendel O Orvandel,
engla beorhtast, brightest shining of angels,
ofer Middangeard thou who over Midgard
monnum sended art sent to men,
and sodiasta thou true
sunnan leoma, beam of the sun
tohrt ofer tunglas shining above
thu tida gehvane the lights of heaven,
of sylfum the thou who always
symle inlihtes. of thyself
givest light.
From this Old English song it appears as if the Orvan-
del epithet Solbjartr was in vogue among the Saxon
tribes in England. We there find an apparent interpre-
tation of the epithet in the phrases adapted to Earendel,
"brightest (beorhtast} of angels" and "true beam of the
sun." That Svipdag's name was well known in England,
and that a Saxon royal dynasty counted him among their
mythical forefathers, can be demonstrated by the gen-
ealogy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. That Svipdag
with sufficient distinctness might characterise his father
as Solbjartr is accordingly explained by the fact that Or-
vandel is a star-hero, and that the star bearing his name
769
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
was one of the "brightest" in the heavens, and in bril-
liancy was like "a beam from the sun."
100.
SVIPDAG RESCUED FREYJA FROM THE HANDS OF THE
GIANTS. SAXO ON OTHARUS AND SYRITHA. SVIP-
DAG IDENTICAL WITH OTHARUS.
When Menglad requests Svipdag to name his race and
his name, she does so because she wants jartegn (legal
evidence; compare the expression med iritnum ok jarteg-
num) that he is the one as whose wife she had been desig-
nated by the norns (ef ek var ther kvdn of kvedin — str.
46), and that her eyes had not deceived her. She also
wishes to know something about his past life that may
confirm that he is Svipdag. When Svipdag had given as a
jartegn his own name and an epithet of his father, he
makes only a brief statement in regard to his past life, but
to Menglad it is an entirely sufficient proof of his identity
with her intended husband. He says that the winds drove
him on cold paths from his father's house to frosty regions
of the world (str. 47). That word used by him, "drove"
(reka~), implies that he did not spontaneously leave his
home, a fact which we also learn in Grogalder. On the
command of his stepmother, and contrary to his own will,
he departs to find Menglads, "the women fond of orna-
ments." His answer further shows that after he had left
his father's house he had made journeys in frost-cold re-
gions of the world. Such regions are Jotunheim and
770
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Nifelheim, which was in fact regarded as a subterranean
part of Jotunheim (see Nos. 59, 63).
Menglad has eagerly longed for the day when Svipdag
should come. Her mood, when Svipdag sees her within
the castle wall sitting on "the joyous mount" surrounded
by asynjes and dises, is described in the poem by the verb
thmma, "to be sunk into a lethargic, dreamy condition."
When Fjolsvin approaches her and bids her "look at a
stranger who may be Svipdag" (str. 43), she awakes in
great agony, and for a moment she can scarcely control
herself. When she is persuaded that she has not been
deceived either by Fjolsvin's words or by her own eyes,
she at once seals the arrival of the youth with a kiss.
The words which the poem makes her lips utter testify,
like her conduct, that it is not the first time she and Svip-
dag have met, but that it is a "meeting again," and that
she long ere this knew that she possessed Svipdag's love.
She speaks not only of her own longing for him, but
also of his longing and love for her (str. 48-50), and is
happy that "he has come again to her halls" (at thu est
aptr komin, mogr, til minna sola — str. 49). This "again"
(back), which indicates a previous meeting between Men-
glad and Svipdag, is found in all the manuscripts of
Pjolsvinnsmal, and that it has not been added by any
"betterer" trying to mend the metres of the text is demon-
strated by the fact that the metre would be improved by
the absence of the word aptr.
Meanwhile it appears with certainty from Fjolsvinns-
mal that Svipdag never before had seen the castle within
whose walls Menglad has riki, eign ok audsolwn (str. 7,
77i
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
8). He stands before its gate as a wondering stranger,
and puts question after question to Fjolsvin in regard to
the remarkable sights before his eyes. It follows that
Menglad did not have her halls within this citadel, but
dwelt somewhere else, at the time when she on a previous
occasion met Svipdag and became assured that he loved
her.
In this other place she must have resided when Svip-
dag's stepmother commanded him to find Menglodum,
that is to say, Menglad, but also some one else to whom
the epithet "ornament-glad" might apply. This is con-
firmed by the fact that this other person to whom Gro-
galder's words refer is not at all mentioned in Fjolsvinns-
mal. It is manifest that many things had happened, and
that Svipdag had encountered many adventures, between
the episode described in Grogalder, when he had just been
commanded by his stepmother to find "those loving orna-
ments," and the episode in Fjolsvinnsmal, when he seeks
Menglad again in Asgard itself.
Where can he have met her before? Was there any
time when Freyja did not dwell in Asgard? Voluspa
answers this question, as we know, in the affirmative.
The event threatening to the gods and to the existence
of the world once happened that the goddess of fertility
and love came into the power of the giants. Then all
the high-holy powers assembled to consider "who had
mixed the air with corruption and given Od's maid to
the race of giants." But none of our Icelandic mythic
records mentions how and by whom Freyja was liberated
from the hands of the powers of frost. Under the name
772
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Svipdag our hero is mentioned only in Grogalder and
Fjolsvinnsmal ; all we learn of him under the name Odr
and Ottarr is that he was Freyja's lover and husband
(Voluspa, Hyndluljod) ; that he went far, far away; that
Freyja then wept for him, that her tears became gold,
that she sought him among unknown peoples, and that
she in her search assumed many names: Mardoll, Horn,
Gefn, Syr (Younger Edda, 114). To get further con-
tributions to the Svipdag myth we must turn to Saxo,
where the name Svipdag should be found as Svipdagerus,
Ottar as Otharus or Hotharus, and Odr as Otherus or
Hotherus.*
There cannot be the least doubt that Saxo's Otharus
is a figure borrowed from the mythology and from the
heroic sagas therewith connected, since in the first eight
books of his History not a single person can be shown
who is not originally found in the mythology. But the
mythic records that have come down to our time know
only one Ottarr, and he is the one who wins Freyja's
heart. This alone makes it the duty of the mythologist
to follow this hint here given and see whether that which
Saxo relates about his Otharus confirms his identity with
Svipdag-Ottar.
The Danish king Syvaldus had, says Saxo, an un-
commonly beautiful daughter, Syritha, who fell into the
hands of a giant. The way this happened was as fol-
lows: A woman who had a secret understanding with
*In Saxo, as in other sources of about the same time, aspirated names
do not usually occur with aspiration. I have already referred to the
examples Handuuanus, Andvani, Helias, Ellas, Hersbernus, Esbjorn, Hevin-
dus, Eyvindr, Horvendillus, Orvandill, Hestia, Estland, Holandia, Oland.
773
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the giant succeeded in nestling herself in Syritha's con-
fidence, in being adopted as her maidservant, and in en-
ticing her to a place where the giant lay in ambush. The
latter hastened away with Syritha and concealed her in
a wild mountain district. When Otharus learned this he
started out in search of the young maiden. He visited
every recess in the mountains, found the maiden and slew
the giant. Syritha was in a strange condition when
Otharus liberated her. The giant had twisted and pressed
her locks together so that they formed on her head one
hard mass which hardly could be combed out except with
the aid of an iron tool. Her eyes stared in an apathetic
manner, and she never raised them to look at her libera-
tor. It was Otharus' determination to bring a pure vir-
gin back to her kinsmen. But the coldness and indiffer-
ence she seemed to manifest toward him was more than
he could endure, and so he abandoned her on the way.
While she now wandered alone through the wilderness
she came to the abode of a giantess. The latter made
the maiden tend her goats. Still, Otharus must have re-
gretted that he abandoned Syritha, for he went in search
of her and liberated her a second time. The mythic poem
from which Saxo borrowed his story must have contained
a song, reproduced by him in Latin paraphrases, and in
which Otharus explained to Syritha his love, and re-
quested her, "whom he had suffered so much in seeking
and finding," to give him a look from her eyes as a token
that under his protection she was willing to be brought
back to her father and mother. But her eyes continually
stared on the ground, and apparently she remained as
774
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
cold and indifferent as before. Otharus then abandoned
her for the second time. From the thread of the story
it appears that they were then not far from that border
which separates Jotunheim from the other realms of the
world. Otharus crossed that water, which in the old
records is probably called the Elivagar rivers, on the op-
posite side of which was his father's home. Of Syritha
Saxo, on the other hand, says cautiously and obscurely
that "she in a manner that sometimes happened in an-
tiquity hastened far away down the rocks" — more pristino
de cur sis late scopulis (Hist., 333) — an expression which
leads us to suppose that in the mythic account she had
flown away in the guise of a bird. Meanwhile fate
brought her to the home of Otharus' parents. Here she
represented herself to be a poor traveller, born of parents
who had nothing. But her refined manners contradicted
her statement, and the mother of Otharus received her
as a noble guest. Otharus himself had already come
home. She thought she could remain unknown to him
by never raising the veil with which she covered her face.
But Otharus well knew who she was. To find out whether
she really had so little feeling for him as her man-
ners seemed to indicate, a pretended wedding between
Otharus and a young maiden was arranged, whose name
and position Saxo does not mention. When Otharus
went to the bridal bed, Syritha was probably near him as
bridesmaid, and carried the candle. The light or the
flame burnt down, so that the fire came in contact with
her hand, but she felt no pain, for there was in her heart
a still more burning pain. When Otharus then requested
775
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
her to take care of her hand, she finally raised her gaze
from the ground, and their eyes met. Therewith the
spell resting on Syritha was broken: it was plain that
they loved each other and the pretended wedding was
changed into a real one between Syritha and Otharus.
When her father learned this he became exceedingly
wroth; but after his daughter had made a full explana-
tion to him, his anger was transformed into kindness and
graciousness, and he himself thereupon married a sister
of Otharus.
In regard to the person who enticed Syritha into the
snare laid by the giant, Saxo is not quite certain that it
was a woman. Others think, he says, that it was a man
in the guise of a woman.
It has long since attracted the attention of mytholo-
gists that in this narrative there are found two names,
Otharus and Syritha, which seem to refer to the myth
concerning Freyja.- Otharus is no doubt a Latinised
form of Ottar, and, as is well known, the only one who
had this name in the mythology is, as stated, Freyja's
lover and husband. Syritha, on the other hand, may
be a Latinised form of Freyja's epithet Syr, in which
Saxo presumably supposed he had found an abbreviated
form of Syri (Siri, Sigrid). In Saxo's narrative Syritha
is abducted by a giant (gigas), with the aid of an ally
whom he had procured among Freyja's attendants. In
the mythology Freyja is abducted by a giant, and, as it
appears from Voluspa's words, likewise by the aid of
some ally who was in Freyja's service, for it is there said
that the gods hold council as to who it could have been
776
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
who "gave," delivered Freyja to the race of the giants
(hverr hefdi cett jotuns Ods mey gefna). In Saxo
Otharus is of lower descent than Syritha. Saxo has not
made him a son of a king, but a youth of humble birth
as compared with his bride ; and his courage to look up to
Syritha, Saxo remarks, can only be explained by the
great deeds he had performed or by his reliance on his
agreeable manners and his eloquence (sive gestarum re-
rum magnitudine sive comitatis et facundia fiducia ac-
census). In the mythology Odr was of lower birth than
Freyja : he did not by birth belong to the number of higher
gods; and Svipdag had, as we know, never seen As-
gard before he arrived there under the circumstances de-
scribed in Fjolsvinnsmal. That the most beautiful of all
the goddesses, and the one second in rank to Frigg alone,
she who is particularly desired by all powers, the sister
of the harvest god Frey, the daughter of Njord, the god
of wealth, she who with Odin shares the privilege of
choosing heroes on the battlefield — that she does not be-
come the wife of an Asa-god, but "is married to the man
called Odr" would long since have been selected by the
mythologist as a question both interesting and worthy
of investigation had they cared to devote any attention
to epic coherence and to premises and denouement in
the mythology in connection with the speculations on the
signification of the myths as symbols of nature or on
their ethical meaning. The view would then certainly
have been reached that this Odr in the epic of the mythol-
ogy must have been the author of exploits which balanced
his humbler descent, and the mythologists would thus
777
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
have been driven to direct the investigation first of all to
the question whether Freyja, who we know was for some
time in the power of the giants, but was rescued there-
from, did not find as her liberator this very Odr, who
afterwards became her husband, and whether Odr did
not by this very act gain her love and become entitled
to obtain her hand. The adventure which Saxo relates
actually dovetails itself into and fills a gap in that chain
of events which are the result of the analysis of Grogal-
der and Fjolsvinnsmal. We understand that the young
Svipdag is alarmed, and considers the task imposed on
him by the stepmother to find Menglad far too great for
his strength, if it is necessary to seek Menglad in Jotun-
heim and rescue her thence. We understand why on
his arrival at Asgard he is so kindly received, after he
has gone through the formality of giving his name, when
we know that he comes not only as the feared possessor
of the Volund sword, but also as the one who has re-
stored to Asgard the most lovely and most beautiful
asynje. We can then understand why the gate, which
holds fast every uninvited guest, opens as of itself for
him, and why the savage wolf-dogs lick him. That his
words: thadan (from his paternal home) rdkumk vinda
kalda vegu, are to Menglad a sufficient answer to her
question in regard to his previous journeys can be un-
derstood if Svipdag has, as Ottar, searched through the
frost-cold Jotunheim's eastern mountain districts to find
Menglad; and we can then see that Menglad in Fjols-
vinnsmal can speak of her meeting with Svipdag at the
gate of Asgard as a "meeting again," although Svipdag
778
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
never before had been in Asgard. And that Menglad
receives him as a husband to whom she is already mar-
ried, with whom she is now to be "united for ever"
(Fjolsvinnsmal, 58), is likewise explained by the im-
provised wedding which Otharus celebrated with Syritha
before she returns to her father.
The identity of Otharus with the Ottarr-0dr-$vipdagr
of the mythology further appears from the fact that Saxo
gives him as father an Ebbo, which a comparative inves-
tigation proves to be identical with Svipdag's father Or-
vandel. Of the name Ebbo and the person to whom it
belongs I shall have something to say in Nos. 108 and
109. Here it must be remarked that if Otharus is iden-
tical with Svipdag, then his father Ebbo, like Svipdag's
father, should appear in the history of the mythic patri-
arch Half dan and be the enemy of the latter (see Nos.
24, 33). Such is also the case. Saxo produces Ebbo
on the scene as an enemy of Half dan Berggram (Hist.,
329, 330). A woman, Groa, is the cause of the enmity
between Halfdan and Orvandel. A woman, Sygrutha,
is the cause of the enmity between Halfdan and Ebbo.
In the one passage Halfdan robs Orvandel of his be-
trothed Groa; in the other passage Halfdan robs Ebbo
of his bride Sygrutha. In a third passage in his History
(p. 138) Saxo has recorded the tradition that Horven-
dillus (Orvandel) is slain by a rival, who takes his wife,
there called Gerutha. Halfdan kills Ebbo. Thus it is
plain that the same story is told about Svipdag's father
Orvandel and about Ebbo the father of Otharus and that
Groa, Sygrutha, and Gerutha are different versions of
the same dis of vegetation. 77
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
According to Saxo, Syritha's father was afterwards
married to a sister of Otharus. In the mythology Freyja's
father Njord marries Skade, who is the foster-sister and
systrunga (sister's child) of Ottar-Svipdag (see Nos.
108, 113, 114, 115).
Freyja's surname Horn (also Horn) may possibly be
explained by what Saxo relates about the giant's manner
of treating her hair, which he pressed into one snarled,
stiff, and hard mass. With the myth concerning Freyja's
locks, we must compare that about Sif's hair. The hair
of both these goddesses is subject to the violence of the
hands of giants, and it may be presumed that both myths
symbolised some feature of nature. Loke's act of vio-
lence on Sif's hair is made good by the skill and good-
will of the ancient artists Sindre and Brok (Younger
Edda, i. 340). In regard to Freyja's locks, the skill of
a "dwarf" may have been resorted to, since Saxo relates
that an iron instrument was necessary to separate and
comb out the horn-hard braids. In Voluspa's list of an-
cient artists there is a smith by name Hornbori, which
possibly has some reference to this.
Reasons have already been given in No. 35 for the
theory that it was Gulveig-Heid who betrayed Freyja
and delivered her into the hands of the giants. When
Saxo says that this treachery was committed by a woman,
but also suggests the possibility that it was a man in the
guise of a woman, then this too is explained by the my-
thology, in which Gulveig-Heid, like her fellow culprit,
has an androgynous nature. Loke becomes "the pos-
sessor of the evil woman" (kvidugr af konu illri). In
780
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Fjolsvinnsmal we meet again with Gulveig-Heid, born
again and called Aurboda, as one of Freyja's attendants,
into whose graces she is nestled for a second time.
101.
SVIPDAG IN SAXO'S ACCOUNT OF HOTHERUS.
From the parallel name Otharus, we must turn to the
other parallel name Hotherus. It has already been shown
that if the Svipdag synonym Odr occurs in Saxo, it must
have been Latinised into Otherus or Hotherus. The lat-
ter form is actually found, but under circumstances mak-
ing an elaborate investigation necessary, for in what
Saxo narrates concerning this Hotherus, he has to the
best of his ability united sketches and episodes of two
different mythic persons, and it is therefore necessary to
separate these different elements borrowed from different
sources. One of these mythic persons is Hodr the Asa-
god, and the other is Odr-Svipdag. The investigation
will therefore at the same time contain a contribution to
the researches concerning the original records of the myth
of Balder.
Saxo's account of Hotherus (Hist., 110, &c.), is as
follows :
"Hotherus, son of Hothbrodus (Hodbrodd), was fos-
tered in the home of Nanna's father, King Gevarus
(Gevarr; see Nos. 90-92), and he grew up to be a stately
youth, distinguished as a man of accomplishments among
the contemporaries of his age. He could swim, was an
excellent archer and boxer, and his skill on various mu-
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sical instruments was so great that he had the human
passions under his control, and could produce, at pleas-
ure, gladness, sorrow, sympathy, or hate. Nanna, the
daughter of Gevarus, fell in love with the highly gifted
youth and he with her.
Meanwhile, fate brought it to come to pass that Bal-
der, the son of the idol Odin, also fell in love with
Nanna. He had once seen her bathing, and had been
dazzled by the splendour of her limbs. In order to re-
move the most dangerous obstacle between himself and
her, he resolved to slay Hotherus.
As Hotherus on a foggy day was hunting in the woods
he got lost and came to a house, where there sat three
wood-nymphs. They greeted him by name, and in an-
swer to his question they said they were the maids who
determine the events of the battle, and give defeat or suc-
cess in war. Invisible they come to the battlefield, and
secretly give help to those whom they wish to favour.
From them Hotherus learned that Balder was in love
with Nanna, but they advised him not to resort to weap-
ons against him, for he was a demigod born of super-
natural seed. When they had said this, they and the
house in which Hotherus had found them disappeared,
and to his joy he found himself standing on a field under
the open sky.
When he arrived home, he mentioned to Gevarus what
he had seen and heard, and at once demanded the hand
of his daughter. Gevarus answered that it would have
been a pleasure to him to see Hotherus and Nanna united,
but Balder had already made a similar request, and he
782
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
did not dare to draw the wrath of the latter down upon
himself, since not even iron could harm the conjured body
of the demigod.
But Gevarus said he knew of a sword with which
Balder could be slain, but it lies locked up behind the
strongest bars, and the place where it is found is scarcely
accessible to mortals. The way thither — if we may use
the expression where no road has been made — is filled
with obstacles, and leads for the greater part through ex-
ceedingly cold regions. But behind a span of swift stags
one ought to be able to get safe across the icy moun-
tain ridges. He who keeps the sword is the forest-being
Mimingus, who also has a wonderful wealth-producing
arm-ring. If Hotherus gets there, he should place his
tent in such a manner that its shadow does not fall into
the cave where Mimingus dwells, for at the sight of this
strange eclipse the latter would withdraw farther into
the mountain. Observing these rules of caution, the
sword and arm-ring might possibly be secured. The
sword is of such a kind that victory never fails to attend
it, and its value is quite inestimable.
Hotherus, who carefully followed the advice of
Gevarus, succeeded in securing the sword and the ring,
which Mimingus, surprised and bound by Hotherus, de-
livered as a ransom for his life.
When Gelder, the king of Saxony, learned that the
treasure of Mimingus had been robbed, he resolved to
make war against Hotherus. The foreknowing Gevarus
saw this in advance, and advised Hotherus to receive the
rain of javelins from the enemy patiently in the battle,
783
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and not to throw his own javelins before the enemy's sup-
ply of weapons was exhausted. Gelder was conquered,
and had to pray for peace. Hotherus received him in the
most friendly manner, and now he conquered him with
his kindness as he had before done with his cunning as
a warrior.
Hotharus also had a friend in Helgo, the king of
Halogaland. The chieftain of the Finns and of the
Bjarmians, Cuso (Guse), was the father of Thora, whose
hand Helgo sought through messengers. But Helgo
had so ugly a blemish on his mouth that he was ashamed
to converse, not only with strangers, but also with his
own household and friends. Cuso had already refused
his offer of marriage, but as he now addressed himself
to Hotherus asking for assistance, the latter was able to
secure a hearing from the Finnish chieftain, so that
Helgo secured the wife he so greatly desired.
While this happened in Halogaland, Balder had in-
vaded the territory of Gevarus with an armed force, to
demand Nanna's hand. Gevarus referred him to his
daughter, who was herself permitted to determine her
fate. Nanna answered that she was of too humble birth
to be the wife of a husband of divine descent. Gevarus
informed Hotherus of what had happened, and the latter
took counsel with Helgo as to what was now to be done.
After having considered various things, they finally re-
solved on making war.
And it was a war in which one should think men
fought with gods. For Odin, Thor, and the hosts sanc-
tified by the gods fought on Balder's side. Thor had a
784
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
heavy club, with which he smashed shields and coats-of-
mail, and slew all before him. Hotherus would have
seen his retreating army defeated had he not himself suc-
ceeded in checking Thor's progress. Clad in an impene-
trable coat-of-mail, he went against Thor, and with a
blow of his sword he severed the handle from Thor's
club and made it unfit for use. Then the gods fled.
Thereupon the warriors of Hotherus rushed upon Bal-
der's fleet and destroyed and sank it. In the same war
Gelder fell and his body was laid in his ship on a pile
of his fallen warriors and burned but his ashes were
afterwards deposited with great solemnity in a magnifi-
cent grave-mound by Hotherus who then returned to
Gevarus, celebrated his wedding with Nanna, and made
great presents to Helgo and Thora.
But Balder had no peace. Another war was declared,
and this time Balder was the victor. The defeated
Hotherus took refuge with Gevarus. In this war a water-
famine occurred in Balder's army, but the latter dug
deep wells and opened new fountains for his thirsty men.
Meanwhile Balder was afflicted in his dreams by ghosts
which had assumed Nanna's form. His love and long-
ing so consumed him that he at last was unable to walk,
but had to ride in a chariot on his journeys.
Hotherus had fled to Sweden, where he retained the
royal authority; but Balder took possession of Seeland,
and soon acquired the devotion of the Danes, for he was
regarded as having martial merits, and was a man of
great dignity. Hotherus again declared war against Bal-
der, but was defeated in Jutland, and was obliged to re-
785
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
turn to Sweden alone and abandoned. Despondent on
account of his defeats, weary of life and the light of day,
he went into the wilderness and traversed most desolate
forests, where the fall of mortal feet is seldom heard.
Then he came to a cave in which sat three strange women.
From such women he had once received the impenetrable
coat-of-mail, and he recognised them as those very per-
sons. They asked him why he had come to these re-'
gions, and he told them how unsuccessful he had been in
his last battle. He reproached them, saying that they
had deceived him, for they had promised him victory,
but he had a totally different fate. The women responded
that he nevertheless had done his enemies great harm,
and assured him that victory would yet perch on his ban-
ners if he should succeed in finding the wonderful nour-
ishment which was invented for the increasing of Bal-
der's strength. This was sufficient to encourage him to
make another war, although there were those among his
friends who dissuaded him therefrom. From different
sides men were gathered, and a bloody battle was fought,
which was not decided at the fall of night. The uneasi-
ness of Hotherus hindered him from sleeping, and he
went out in the darkness of the night to reconnoitre the
condition and position of the enemy. When he had
reached the camp of the enemy he perceived that three
discs, who were wont to prepare Balder's mysterious
food, had just left. He followed their footprints in the
bedewed grass and reached their abode. Asked by them
who he was, he said he was a player on the cithern. One
of them then handed him a cithern, and he played for them
786
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
magnificently. They had three serpents, with whose
venom Raiders food was mixed. They were now en-
gaged in preparing this food. One of them had the
goodness to offer Hotherus some of the food; but the
eldest said: "It would be treason to Balder to increase
the strength of his foe." The stranger said that he was
one of the men of Hotherus, and not Hotherus himself.
He was then permitted to taste the food.* The women
also presented him with a beautiful girdle of victory.
On his way home Hotherus met his foe and thrust a
weapon into his side, so that he fell half-dead to the
ground. This produced joy in the camp of Hotherus,
but sorrow in the Danish camp. Balder, who knew that
he was going to die, but was unwilling to abide death in
his tent, renewed the battle the following day, and had
himself carried on a stretcher into the thickest of the fight.
The following night Proserpina (the goddess of death)
came to him and announced to him that he should be her
guest the next day. He died from his wound at the time
predicted, and was buried in a mound with royal splen-
dour. Hotherus took the sceptre in Denmark after Bal-
der.
Meanwhile it had happened that King Gevarus had
been attacked and burned in his house by a jarl under him,
by name Gunno. Hotherus avenged the death of Gev-
arus, and burnt Gunno alive on a funeral pyre as a pun-
ishment for his crime.
Rinda and Odin had a son by name Bous. The lat-
*According to Gheysmer's synopsis. Saxo himself says nothing of the
kind. The present reading of the passage in Saxo is distinctly mutilated.
787
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ter, to avenge the death of his brother Balder, attacked
Hotherus, who fell in the conflict. But Bous himself
was severely wounded and died the following day from
his wounds. Hotherus was followed on the Danish
throne by his son Roricus.
In the examination of this narrative in Saxo there is
no hope of arriving at absolutely positive results unless
the student lays aside all current presuppositions and, in
fact, all notions concerning the origin and age of the Bal-
der-myth, concerning a special Danish myth in opposi-
tion to a special Norse-Icelandic, &c. If the latter con-
jecture based on Saxo is correct, then this is to appear as
a result of the investigation ; but the conjecture is not to
be used as a presupposition.
That which first strikes the reader is that the story
is not homogeneous. It is composed of elements that
could not be blended into one harmonious whole. It
suffers from intrinsic contradictions. The origin of these
contradictions must first of all be explained.
The most persistent contradiction concerns the sword
of victory of which Hotherus secured possession.* We
are assured that it is of immense value (ingens pr&mium),
and is attended with the success of victory (belli fortuna
comitaretur) , and Hotherus is, in fact, able with the help
of this sword to accomplish a great exploit: put Thor
and other gods to flight. But then Hotherus is conquered
again and again by Balder, and finally also defeated by
Bous and slain, in spite of the fact that Gevarus had as-
•This Bugge, too, has observed, and he rightly assumes that the episode
concerning the sword has been interpolated from some other source.
788
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sured him that this sword should always be victorious.
To be sure, Hotherus succeeds after several defeats in giv-
ing Balder his death-wound, but this is not done in a
battle, and can hardly be counted as a victory; and
Hotherus is not able to commit this secret murder by aid
of this sword alone, but is obliged to own a belt of vic-
tory and to eat a wonderful food, which gives Balder his
strength, before he can accomplish this deed.
There must be some reason why Saxo fell into this
contradiction, which is so striking, and is maintained
throughout the narrative. If Hotherus-Hodr in the my-
thology possessed a sword which always gives victory and
is able to conquer the gods themselves, then the mythol-
ogy can not have contained anything about defeats suf-
fered by him after he got possession of this sword, nor
can he then have fallen in conflict with Odin's and Rind's
son. The only way in which this could happen would
be that Hotherus-Hodr, after getting possession of the
sword of victory, and after once having used it to ad-
vantage, in some manner was robbed of it again. But
Saxo has read nothing of the sort in his sources, other-
wise he would have mentioned it, if for no other reason
than for the purpose of giving a cause for the defeat suf-
fered by his hero, and it is doubtless his opinion that the
sword with which Balder is mortally wounded is the same
as the one Hotherus took from Mimingus. Hence,
either Hodr has neither suffered the defeats mentioned
by Saxo nor fallen by the sword of the brother-avenging
son of Odin and Rind, or he has never possessed the
sword of victory here mentioned. It is not necessary to
789
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
point out in which of these alternatives we have the
mythological fact. Hodr has never possessed the irre-
sistible sword.
But Saxo has not himself invented the episode con-
cerning the sword of victory, nor has he introduced this
episode in his narrative about Hotherus without thinking
he had good reason therefor.
It follows with certainty that the episode belongs to
the saga of another hero, and that things were found in
that saga which made it possible for Saxo to confound
him with Hodr.
The question then arises who this hero was. The first
thread the investigation finds, and has to follow, is the
name itself, Hotherus, within which Latin form Oder
can lie concealed as well as Hodr.
In the mythology Odr, like Hodr, was an inhabitant of
Asgard, but nevertheless, like Hodr, he has had hostile
relations to Asgard, and in this connection he has fought
with Thor (see No. 103). The similarity of the names
and the similiarity of the mythological situation are suffi-
cient to explain the confusion on the part of Saxo. But
there are several other reasons, of which I will give one.
The weapon with which Hoder slew Balder in the my-
thology was a young twig, Mistelteinn. The sword of
victory made by Volund, with hostile intentions against
the gods, could, for the very reason that it was dangerous
to Asgard, be compared by skalds with the mistletoe, and
be so called in a poetic-rhetorical figure. The fact is,
that both in Skirnersmal and in Fjolsvinnsmal the Vo-
lund sword is designated as a teinn; that the mistletoe
790
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
is included in the list of sword-names in the Younger
Edda; and that in the later Icelandic saga-literature mis-
telteinn is a sword which is owned in succession by Sam-
ing, Thrainn, and Romund Greipson ; and finally, that all
that is there said about this sword mistelteinn is a faithful
echo of the sword of victory made by Volund, though the
facts are more or less confused. Thus we find, for ex-
ample, that it is Mdni Karl who informs Romund where
the sword is to be sought, while in Saxo it is the moon-
god Gevar, Nanna's father, who tells Hotherus where it
lies hid. That the god Mdni and Gevar are identical
has already been proved (see Nos. 90, 91, 92). Already
before Saxo's time the mistelteinn and the sword of vic-
tory of the mythology had been confounded with each
other, and Hoder's and Oder's weapons had received the
same name. This was another reason for Saxo to con-
found Hoder and Oder and unite them in Hotherus.
And when he found in some of his sources that a sword
mistelteinn was used by Oder, and in others that a mis-
telteinn was wielded by Hoder, it was natural that he as
a historian should prefer the sword to the fabulous mis-
tletoe (see more below).
The circumstance that two mythical persons are united
into one in Hotherus has given Saxo free choice of mak-
ing his Hotherus the son of the father of the one or of
the other. In the mythology Hoder is the son of Odin ;
Oder-Svipdag is the son of Orvandel. Saxo has made
him a son of Hoddbrodd, who is identical with Orvandel.
It has already been demonstrated (see No. 29) that Helge
Hundingsbane is a copy of the Teutonic patriarch Half-
791
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dan. The series of parallels by which this demonstration
was made clear at the same time makes it manifest that
Helge's rival Hoddbrodd is Halfdan's rival Orvandel.
The same place as is occupied in the Half dan myth by
Orvandel, Hoddbrodd occupies in the songs concerning
Helge Hundingsbane. What we had a right to expect,
namely, that Saxo, when he did not make Hotherus
the son of Hoder's father, should make him a son of
Oder's, has actually been done, whence there can be no
doubt that Hoder and Oder were united into one in Saxo's
Hotherus.
With this point perfectly established, it is possible to
analyse Saxo's narrative point by point, resolve it into
its constituent parts, and refer them to the one of the
two myths concerning Hoder and Oder to which they
belong.* It has already been noted that Saxo was un-
able to unite organically with his narration of Hoder's
adventure the episode concerning the sword of victory
taken from Mimingus. The introduction of this episode
has made the story of Hotherus a chain of contradictions.
On the other hand, the same episode naturally adapts itself
to the Svipdag-Oder story, which we already know. We
have seen that Svipdag descends to the lower world and
there gets into possession of the Volund sword. Hence
it is Svipdag-Oder, not Hoder, who is instructed by the
moon-god Gevar as to where the sword is to be found.
It is he who crosses the frost-mountains, penetrates into
the specus guarded by Mimingus, and there captures the
Volund sword and the Volund ring. It is Svipdag, not
*This analysis will be given in the second part of this work in the
treatise on the Balder-myth.
792
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG^7
Hoder, who, thanks to this sword, is able as thwrsar
thjodar sjoli to conquer the otherwise indomitable Half-
dan — nay, even more, compel Halfdan's co-father and
protector, the Asa-god Thor, to yield.
Thus Saxo's accounts about Otharus and Hotherus
fill two important gaps in the records preserved to our
time in the Icelandic sources concerning the Svipdag-
myth. To this is also to be added what Saxo tells us
about Svipdag under this very name (see Nos. 24, 33) :
that he carries on an implacable war with Halfdan after
the latter had first secured and then rejected Groa; that
after various fortunes of war he conquers him and gives
him a mortal wound; that he takes Halfdan's and Groa's
son Gudhorm into his good graces and gives him a king-
dom, but that he pursues and wars against Halfdan's and
Alveig-Signe's son Hadding, and finally falls by his
hand.
Hotherus-Svipdag's perilous journey across the frosty
mountains, mentioned by Saxo, is predicted by Groa in
her seventh incantation of protection over her son :
thann gel ek ther in sjaunda,
ef thik saekja kemr
frost a fjalli ha
havetrar kulcli
megit thinu holdi fara,
ok haldisk ?e lik at lidum.
102.
SVIPDAG'S SYNONYM EIREKR. ERICUS DISERTUS IN SAXO.
We have not yet exhausted Saxo's contributions to the
793
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
myth concerning Svipdag. In two other passages in his
Historia Danica Svipdag reappears, namely, in the ac-
counts of the reigns of Frode III. and of Halfdan Berg-
gram, in both under the name Ericus (Eirekr), a name
applied to Svipdag in the mythology also (see No. 108).
The first reference showing that Svipdag and Erik
are identical appears in the following analogies :
Halfdan (Gram), who kills a Swedish king, is attacked
in war by Svipdag.
Halfdan (Berggram), who kills a Swedish king, is
attacked in war by Erik.
Svipdag is the son of the slain Swedish king's daugh-
ter.
Erik is the son of the slain Swedish king's daughter.
Saxo's account of King Frode is for the greater part
the myth about Frey told as history. We might then
expect to find that Svipdag, who becomes Frey's brother-
in-law, should appear in some role in Frode's history.
The question, then, is whether any brother-in-law of
Frode plays a part therein. This is actually the case.
Frode's brother-in-law is a young hero who is his general
and factotum, and is called Ericus, with the surname
Disertus, the eloquent. The Ericus who appears as
Halfdan's enemy accordingly resembles Svipdag, Half-
dan's enemy, in the fact that he is a son of the daugh-
ter of the Swedish king slain by Halfdan. The Ericus
who is Frode-Frey's general, again, resembles Svipdag
in the fact that he marries Frode-Frey's sister. This
is another indication that Erik and Svipdag were iden-
tical in Saxo's mythic sources.
794
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Let us now pursue these indications and see whether
they are confirmed by the stories which Saxo tells of Half-
dan's enemy Erik and Frode-Frey's brother-in-law, Erik
the eloquent.
Saxo first brings us to the paternal home of Erik the
eloquent. In the beginning of the narrative Erik's mother
is already dead and his father is married a second time
(Hist., 192). Compare with this the beginning of Svip-
dag's history, where his mother, according to Grogalder,
is dead, and his father is married again.
The stepmother has a son, by name Rollerus, whose
position in the myth I shall consider hereafter. Erik
and Roller leave their paternal home to find Frode-Frey
and his sister Gunvara, a maiden of the most extraordi-
nary beauty. Before they proceed on this adventurous
journey Erik's stepmother, Roller's mother, has given
them a wisdom-inspiring food to eat, in which one of the
constituent parts was the fat of three serpents. Of this
food the cunning Erik knew how to secure the better part,
really intended for Roller. But the half-brothers were
faithful friends.
From Saxo's narrative it appears that Erik had no
desire at all to make this journey. It was Roller who
first made the promise to go in search for Frode and his
sister, and it was doubtless Erik's stepmother who brought
about that Erik should assist his brother in the accom-
plishment of the task. Erik himself regarded the re-
solve taken by Roller as surpassing his strength (Hist.,
193).
This corresponds with what Grogalder tells us about
795
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Svipdag's disinclination to perfom the task imposed on
him by his stepmother. This also gives us the key to
Grogalder's words, that Svipdag was commanded to go
and find not only "the one fond of ornaments," but "those
fond of ornaments" (koma moti Menglodum). The
plural indicates that there is more than one "fond of or-
naments" to be sought. It is necessary to bring back to
Asgard not only Freyja, but also Frey her brother, the
god of the harvests, for whom the ancient artists made
ornaments, and who as a symbol of nature is the one un-
der whose supremacy the forces of vegetation in nature
decorate the meadows with grass and the fields with grain.
He, too, with his sister, was in the power of the giant-
world in the great fimbul-winter (see below).
The food to which serpents must contribute one of the
constituent parts reappears in Saxo's account of Hotherus
(Hist., 123; No. 101), and is there described with about
the same words. In both passages three serpents are
required for the purpose. That Balder should be nour-
ished with this sort of food is highly improbable. The
serpent food in the stories about Hotherus and Ericus
has been borrowed from the Svipdag-myth.
The land in which Frode and his beautiful sister live
is difficult of access, and magic powers have hitherto made
futile every effort to get there. The attendants of the
brother and sister there are described as the most savage,
the most impudent, and the most disagreeable that can be
conceived. They are beings of the most disgusting kind,
whose manners are as unrestrained as their words. To
get to this country it is necessary to cross an ocean, where
796
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
storms, conjured up by \vitchcraft, threaten every sailor
with destruction.
Groa has predicted this journey, and has sung a magic
song of protection over her son against the dangers which
he is to meet on the magic sea:
thann gel ek ther inn setta
ef thu a sjo kemr
meira en menn viti:
logn ok logr
gangi ther i ludr saman
ok Ijai ther ae friddrjugrar farar.
When Erik and Roller, defying the storms, had crossed
this sea and conquered the magic power which hindered
the approach to the country, they entered a harbour, near
which Frode and Gunvara are to be sought. On the
strand they meet people who belong to the attendants of
the brother and sister. Among them are three brothers,
all named Grep, and of whom one is Gunvara's pressing
and persistent suitor. This Grep, who is a poet and ora-
tor of the sort to be found in that land, at once enters
into a discussion with Erik. At the end of the discussion
Grep retires defeated and angry. Then Erik and Roller
proceed up to the abode where they are to find those
whom they seek. Frode and Gunvara are met amid at-
tendants who treat them as princely persons, and look
upon them as their court-circle. But the royal house-
hold is of a very strange kind, and receives visitors with
great hooting, barking of dogs, and insulting manners.
Frode occupies the high-seat in the hall, where a great
fire is burning as a protection against the bitter cold.
7 797
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
It is manifest from Saxo's description that Frode and
Gunvara, possibly by virtue of the sorcery of the giants,
are in a spiritual condition in which they have almost
forgotten the past, but without being happy in their pres-
ent circumstances. Frode feels unhappy and degraded.
Gunvara loathes his suitor Grep. The days here spent
by Erik and Roller, before they get an opportunity to
take flight with Gunvara, form a series of drinking-
bouts, vulgar songs, assaults, fights, and murders. The
jealous Grep tries to assassinate Erik, but in this attempt
he is slain by Roller's sword. Frode cannot be per-
suaded to accompany Erik, Roller, and Gunvara on this
flight. He feels that his life is stained with a spot that
cannot be removed, and he is unwilling to appear with it
among other men. In the mythology it is left to Njord
himself to liberate his son. In another passage (Hist.,
266, 267) Saxo says that King Fridlevus (Njord) lib-
erated a princely youth who had been robbed by a giant.
In the mythology this youth can hardly be anyone else
than the young Frey, the son of the liberator. Erik af-
terwards marries Gunvara.
Among the poetical paraphrases from heathen times
are found some which refer to Frey's and Freyja's cap-
tivity among the giants. In a song of the skald Kormak
the mead of poetry is called j'astrin fontanna Syrar Grep pa,
"the seething flood of the sea ranks (of the skerry) of
Syr (of Freyja) of the Greps." This paraphrase evi-
dently owes its existence to an association of ideas based
on the same myth as Saxo has told in his way. Syr, as
we know, is one of Freyja's surnames, and as to its mean-
798
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ing, one which she must have acquired during her so-
journ in Jotunheim, for it is scarcely applicable to her out-
side of Jotunheim. Greppr, the poet there, as we have
already seen, is Freyja's suitor. He has had brothers
also called Greppr, whence the plural expression Syrs
Greppa ("Syr's Greps"), wherein Freyja's surname is
joined with more than one Grep, receives its mythologi-
cal explanation. The giant abode where Frode and Gun-
vara sojourn, is according to Saxo, situated not far from
the harbour where Erik and Roller entered (portum a
quo Frotho non longe deversabatur — Hist., 198). The
expression "the Greps of Syr's skerries" thus agrees with
Saxo.
A northern land uninhabited by man is by Eyvind
Skaldaspiller called utrost Belja dolgs, "the most re-
motely situated abode of Bele's enemy (Frey)." This
paraphrase is also explained by the myth concerning
Frey's and Freyja's visit in Jotunheim. Bell is a giant-
name, and means "the howler." Erik and Roller, accord-
ing to Saxo, are received with a horrible howl by the
giants who attend Frey. "They produced horrible
sounds like those of howling animals" (ululantium more
horrisonas dedere voces}. To the myth about how Frey
fell into the power of the giants I shall come later (see
Nos. 109, 111, 112).
Erik is in Saxo called disertus, the eloquent. The
Svipdag epithet Odr originally had a meaning very near
to this. The impersonal odr means partly the reflecting
element in man, partly song and poetry, the ability of ex-
pressing one's self skilfully and of joining the words
799
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in an agreeable and persuasive manner (cp. the Gothic
weit-wodan, to convince). Erik demonstrates the pro-
priety of his name. Saxo makes him speak in proverbs
and sentences, certainly for the reason that his Northern
source has put them on the lips of the young hero. The
same quality characterises Svipdag. In Grogalder his
mother sings over him : "Eloquence and social talents be
abundantly bestowed upon you;" and the description of
him in Fjolsvinnsmal places before our eyes a nimble and
vivacious youth who well understands the watchman's
veiled words, and on whose lips the speech develops into
proverbs which fasten themselves on the mind. Com-
pare augna gamans, &c. (str. 5), and the often quoted
Urdar ordi kvedr engi madr (str. 47).
Toward Gunvara Erik observes the same chaste and
chivalrous conduct as Otharus toward Syritha (intacta
illi pudicitia manet — p. 216). As to birth, he occupies
the same subordinate position to her as Odr to Freyja,
Otharus to Syritha, Svipdag to Menglad.
The adventure/s related in the mythology from Svip-
dag's journey, when he went in search of Freyja-Men-
glad, are by Saxo so divided between Ericus Disertus and
Otharus that of the former is told the most of what
happened to Svipdag during his visit in the giant abode,
of the latter the most of what happened to him on his
way thence to his home.
Concerning Erik's family relations, Saxo gives some
facts which, from a mythological point of view, are of
great value. It has already been stated that Erik's mother,
like Svipdag's, is dead, and that his father, like
800
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Svipdag's, is married a second time where his saga be-
gins. The father begets with his second wife a son,
whom Saxo calls Rollerus. When Erik's father also is
dead, Roller's mother, according to Saxo, marries again,
and this time a powerful champion called Brae (Hist.,
217), who in the continuation of the story (p. 217, &c.)
proves himself to be Asa-Brage, the god Thor (cp. No.
105), to whom she brings her son Roller. In our mytho-
logical records we learn that Thor's wife was Sif, the
goddess of vegetation, and that Sif had been married and
had had a son, by name Ullr, before she became the wife
of the Asa-god, and that she brought with her to Asgard
this son, who became adopted among the gods. Thus
the mythic records and Saxo correspond in these points,
and it follows that Rollerus is the same as Uller, whom
Saxo elsewhere (Hist., 130, 131; cp. No. 36) mentions
as Ollerus. The forms Ollerus and Rollerus are to each
other as Olfr to Hrolfr. Hrolfr is a contraction of Hrod-
ulfr; Rollerus indicates a contraction of Hrod-Ullr, Hrid-
Ullr. The latter form occurs in the paraphrase Hridullr
hrotta, "the sword's storm-Ull," a designation of a war-
rior (Grett., 20, 1). It has already been pointed out that in
the great war between Odin's clan and the Vans, Ull, al-
though Thor's stepson, takes the side of the Vans and
identifies his cause with that of Frey and Svipdag. Saxo
also describes the half-brothers as faithfully united, and,
in regard to Roller's reliable fraternity, makes Erik utter
a sentence which very nearly corresponds to the Danish :
"End svige de Some
og ikke de Baarne"
80 1
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(Hist., 207 — optima est affinium opera opis indigo}.
Saxo's account of Erik and Roller thus gives us the key
to the mythological statements, not otherwise intelligible,
that though Ull has in Thor a friendly stepfather (cp.
the expression gulli Ullar — Younger Edda, i. 302), and
in Odin a clan-chief who distinguishes him (cp. Ullar
hylli, &c. — Grimnersmal, 42), nevertheless he contends
in this feud on the same side as Erik-Svipdag, with whom
he once set out to rescue Frey from the power of the
giants. The mythology was not willing to sever those
bonds of fidelity which youthful adventurers shared in
common had established between Frey, Ull, and Svip-
dag. Both the last two therefore associate themselves
with Frey when the war breaks out between the Asas and
Vans.
It follows that Sif was the second wife of Orvandel
the brave before she became Thor's and that Ull is Orvan-
del's son. The intimate relation between Orvandel on
the one side and Thor on the other has already been
shown above. When Orvandel was out on adventures
in Jotunheim his first wife Groa visited Thor's halls as
his guest, where the dis of vegetation might have a safe
place of refuge during her husband's absence. This fea-
ture preserved in the Younger Edda is of great mytho-
logical importance, and, as I shall show further on, of
ancient Aryan origin. Orvandel, the great archer and
star-hero, reappears in Rigveda and also in the Greek
mythology — in the latter under the name Orion, as Vig-
fusson has already assumed. The correctness of the as-
sumption is corroborated by reasons, which I shall pre-
sent later on.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
103.
THE SVIPDAG SYNONYM EiRiKR (continued}.
We now pass to that Erik whom Saxo mentions in his
narrative concerning Halfdan-Berggram, and who, like
Svipdag, is the son of a Swedish king's daughter. This
king had been slain by Halfdan. Just as Svipdag under-
takes an irreconcilable war of revenge against Halfdan-
Gram, so does Erik against Halfdan-Berggram. In one
of their battles Halfdan was obliged to take flight, despite
his superhuman strengh and martial luck. More than
this, he has by his side the "champion Thoro," and Saxo
himself informs us that the latter is no less a personage
than the Asa-god Thor, but he too must yield to Erik,
Thor's Mjolner and Halfdan's club availed nothing
against Erik. In conflict with him their weapons seemed
edgeless (Hist., 323, 324).
.Thus not only Halfdan, but even Thor himself, Odin's
mighty son, he who alone outweighs in strength all the
other descendants and clansmen of Odin, was obliged to
retreat before a mythical hero; and that his lightning
hammer, at other times irresistible, Sindre's wonderful
work, is powerless in this conflict, must in the mythology
have had particular reasons. The mythology has scarcely
permitted its favourite, "Hlodyn's celebrated son," to be
subjected to such a humiliation more than once, and this
fact must have had such a motive, that the event might
be regarded as a solitary exception. It must therefore
be borne in mind that, in his narrative concerning Hoth-
erus, Saxo states, that after the latter had acquired the
803
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY •
sword of victory guarded by Mimingus, he meets the
Asa-god Thor in a battle and forces him to yield, after
the former has severed the hammer from its handle with
a blow of the sword (Hist., 118; see No. 101). It has
already been shown that Odr-Svipdag, not Hodr, is the
Hotherus who captured the sword of victory and accom-
plished this deed (see No. 101). Erik accordingly has,
in common with Svipdag, not only those features that he
is the daughter-son of a Swedish king whom Halfdan had
slain, and that he persists in making war on the latter,
but also that he accomplished the unique deed of putting
Thor to flight.
Thus the hammer M joiner is found to have been a
weapon which, in spite of its extraordinary qualities, is
inferior to the sword of victory forged by Volund (see
Nos. 87, 98). Accordingly the mythology has contained
two famous judgments on products of the ancient artists.
The first judgment is passed by the Asa-gods in solemn
consultation, and in reference to this very hammer, Mjol-
ner, explains that Sindre's products are superior to those
of Ivalde's sons. The other judgment is passed on the
field of battle, and confirms the former judgment of the
gods. Mjolner proves itself useless in conflict with the
sword of victory. If now the Volund of the heroic tradi-
tions were one of the Ivalde sons who fails to get the
prize in the mythology, then an epic connection could be
found between the former and the latter judgment : the
insulted Ivalde son has then avenged himself on the gods
and re-established his reputation injured by them. I
shall recur to the question whether Volund was a son of
Ivalde or not.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The wars between Erik and Halfdan were, according
to Saxo, carried on with changing fortunes. In one of
these conflicts, which must have taken place before Erik
secured the irresistible sword, Halfdan is victorious and
takes Erik prisoner; but the heart of the victor is turned
into reconciliation toward the inexorable foe, and he offers
Erik his life and friendship if the latter will serve his
cause. But when Erik refuses the offered conciliation,
Halfdan binds him fast to a tree in order to make him the
prey of the wild beasts of the forest and abandons him to
his fate. Halfdan's desire to become reconciled with
Erik, and also the circumstance that he binds him, is pre-
dicted, in Grogalder (strs. 9, 10), by Svipdag's mother
among the fortunes that await her son:
thann gel ek ther inn fjorda
ef thik fjandr standa
gorvir a galgvegi:
hugr theim hverfi
til handa ther msetti,
ok snuisk theim til satta sefi.
thann gel ek per inn fimta
ef ther fjoturr verdr
borinn at boglimum:
Leifnis elda laet ek ther
fyr legg of kvedinn,
ok stokkr tha lass af limum,
en af fotum fjoturr.
The Svipdag synonyms so far met with are: Odr
(Hotherus), Ottarr (Otharus), and Eirekr (Ericus).
It is remarkable, but, as we shall find later, easy to
explain that this saga-hero, whom the mythology made
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Freyja's husband, and whose career was adorned with
such strange adventures, was not before the ninth cen-
tury, and that in Sweden, accorded the same rank as the
Asa-gods, and this in spite of the fact that he was adopted
in Asgard, and despite the fact that his half-brother Ull
was clothed with the same dignity as that of the Asa-gods.
There is no trace to show that he who is Freyja's husband
and Frey's brother-in-law was generally honoured with a
divine title, with a temple, and with sacrifices. He
remained to the devotees of the mythology what he was
— a brilliant hero, but nothing more; and while the saga
on the remote antiquity of the Teutons made him a ruler
of North Teutonic tribes, whose leader he is in the war
against Half dan and Hadding (see Nos. 33, 38), he was
honoured as one of the oldest kings of the Scandinavian
peoples, but was not worshipped as a god. As an ancient
king he has received his place in the middle-age chronicles
and genealogies of rulers now under the name Svipdag,
now under the name Erik. But, at the same time, his
position in the epic was. such that, if the Teutonic Olympus
was ever to be increased with a divinity of Asa-rank, no
one would have a greater right than he to be clothed
with this dignity. From this point of view light is shed
on a passage in ch. 26 of Vita Ansgarii. It is there re-
lated, that before Ansgarius arrived in Birka, where his
impending arrival was not unknown, there came thither
a man (doubtless a heathen priest or skald) who insisted
that he had a mission from the gods to the king and the
people. According to the man's statement, the gods
had held a meeting, at which he himself had been present,
806
IDUN BROUGHT BACK TO ASGARD.
( /
T X pursuance of ;<
' lie beguiled Idun - ' of As
s^e. Idun was keeper of
renew their youth and iier disa
as, therefore, followed by rapid ageing
•ds. They •' trr
used Tdun
•'
Loke
i,ut •• i<:
what had hap
k ,! th Loke but hi-
<lak tgixler ' 4 ate, and
. which ^
it-)
>• ! ->ke to secure his release,
1 an., into the power of jriant
apple upon which the gods
.ranee from Asgard'
) decrepitude, of the
>ke was the scoundrel who had
eater.od him with de.-.th 'i
)tunhei:ii — home of he giants.
Loke i-ric' ' T ' Inn. whom
hastt-ned "^WpHKr to Asgard.
• \vings
was sec .>y Fleim-
orders a fire was
"".ijasse's wings as
of the gods who
TEL
busbar,
• ••
tury, and that in Sweden, accorc;
Asa-gods, and this in spite of the fact
in Asgcird, and despite the fact that
was clothed with the same dignity as i
There is no trace_tp show that Jie who is I
and Prey's 1; \s generally
. * VI «D HI
divine J . iple, arid with sac
. «32' 3Dfiffl osimoiq
ffljS?<8P*& »
a wuai
iqfiff bfiff JKff
<if[ -.^d bru;
b9rfoioo? rf
on a
lated, th
impending ai
a man (doul •
that he had
)le, Aceon1:
had held a meeti
there re-
here his
;rre came thither
!d) who insisted
he king and the
t, the i
;ad been pre
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and in which they unanimously had resolved to adopt
in their council that King Erik who in antiquity had ruled
over the Swedes, so that he henceforth should be one of
the gods (Ericum, quondam re gem vestrum, nos unani-
mes in collegium nostrum ascisimus, ut sit unus de numero
deorum) ; this was done because they had perceived that
the Swedes were about to increase the number of their
present gods by adopting a stranger (Christ) whose
doctrine could not be reconciled with theirs, and who
accordingly did not deserve to be worshipped. If the
Swedes wished to add another god to the old ones, under
whose protection the country had so long enjoyed happi-
ness, peace, and plenty, they ought to accord to Erik, and
not to the strange god, that honour which belongs to the
divinities of the land. What the man who came to Birka
with this mission reported was made public, and created
much stir and agitation. When Ansgarius landed, a tem-
ple had already been built to Erik, in which supplications
and sacrifices were offered to him. This event took place
at a time foreboding a crisis for the ancient Odinic
religion. Its last bulwarks on the Teutonic continent had
recently been levelled with the ground by Charlemagne's
victory over the Saxons. The report of the cruelties
practised by the advocates of the doctrine, which invaded
the country from the south and the west for the purpose
of breaking the faith of the Saxon Odin worshippers
towards their religion, had certainly found its way to
Scandinavia, and doubtless had its influence in encourag-
ing that mighty effort made by the northern peoples in the
ninth century to visit and conquer on their own territory
807
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
their Teutonic kinsmen who had been converted to Chris-
tianity. It is of no slight mythological interest to learn
that zealous men among the Swedes hoped to be able to
inspire the old doctrine with new life by adopting among
the gods Freyja's husband, the most brilliant of the
ancient mythic heroes and the one most celebrated by the
skalds. I do not deem it impossible that this very attempt
made Erik's name hated among some of the Christians,
and was the reason why "Old Erik" became a name of
the devil. Vita Ansgarii says that it was the devil's own
work that Erik was adopted among the gods.
The Svipdag synonym Erik reappears in the Christian
saga about Erik Vidforle (the far-travelled), who suc-
ceeded in finding and entering Odainsakr (see No. 44).
This is a reminiscence of Svipdag's visit in Mimer's realm.
The surname Vidforli has become connected with two
names of Svipdag : we have Eirikr hinn vidforli and Odr
(Oddr) hinn vidforli in the later Icelandic sagas.
104.
THE LATER FORTUNES OF THE VOLUND SWORD.
I have now given a review of the manner in which I
have found the fragments of the myth concerning Svipdag
up to the point where he obtains Freyja as his wife. The
fragments dove-tail into each other and form a consecu-
tive whole. Now, a few words in regard to the part
afterwards played by the Volund sword, secured by Svip-
dag in the lower world, in the mythology, and in the
saga. The sword, as we have seen, is the prize for
808
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which Asgard opens its gate and receives Svipdag as
Freyja's husband. We subsequently find it in Frey's
possession. Once more the sword becomes the price of
a bride, and passes into the hands of the giant Gymer
and his wife. It has already been demonstrated that
Gymer's wife is the same Angerboda who, in historical
times and until Ragnarok, dwells in the Ironwood (see
No. 35). Her shepherd, who in the woods watches her
monster flocks, also keeps the sword until the fire-giant
Fjalar shall appear in his abode in the guise of the red
cock and bring it to his own father Surt, in whose hand
it shall cause Frey's death, and contribute to the destruc-
tion of the world of gods.
A historian, Priscus, who was Attila's contemporary,
relates that the Hun king got possession of a divine sword
that a shepherd had dug out of the ground and presented
to him as a gift. The king of the Huns, it is added,
rejoiced in the find; for, as the possessor of the sword
that had belonged to the god "Mars," he considered
himself as armed with authority to undertake and carry
on successfully any war he pleased (see Jordanes, who
quotes Priscus).
On the Teutonic peoples the report of this pretended
event must have made a mighty impression. It may be
that the story was invented for this purpose; for their
myths told of a sword of victory which was owned by
that god who, since the death of Balder, and since Tyr
became one-handed, was, together with Thor, looked
upon as the bravest of the warlike gods, which sword had
been carried away from Asgard to the unknown wilder-
809
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
nesses of the East, where it had been buried, not to be
produced again before the approach of Ragnarok, when
it was to be exhumed and delivered by a shepherd to a foe
of mankind. Already, before this time, the Teutons
had connected the appearance of the Huns with this myth.
According to Jordanes, they believed that evil troll-
women, whom the Gothic king Filimer had banished from
his people, had taken refuge in the wildernesses of the
East, and there given birth to children with forest giants
("satyres"), which children became the progenitors of
the Huns. This is to say, in other words, that they
believed the Huns were descended from Angerboda's
progeny in the Ironwood, which, in the fulness of time,
were to break into Midgard with the monster Hate as
their leader. The sword which the god Frey had
possessed, and which was concealed in the Ironwood,
becomes in Jordanes a sword which the god "Mars" had
owned, and which, thereafter, had been concealed in the
earth. Out of Angerboda's shepherd, who again brings
the sword into daylight and gives it to the world-hostile
Fjalar, becomes a shepherd who exhumes the sword and
gives it to Attila, the foe of the Teutonic race.
The memory of the sword survived the victory of
Christianity, and was handed down through the centuries
in many variations. That Surt at the end of the world
was to possess the sword of course fell away, and instead
now one and then another was selected as the hero who
was to find and take it ; that it was watched by a woman
and by a man (in the mythology Angerboda and Egg-
ther) ; and that the woman was an even more disgusting
810
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
being than the man, were features that the saga retained
both on the Continent and in England.
The Beowulf poem makes a monster, by name Grendel
("the destroyer"), dwell with his mother under a marsh
in a forest, which, though referred to Denmark and to
the vicinity of the splendid castle of a Danish king, is
described in a manner which makes it highly probable
that the prototype used by the Christian poet was a heathen
skald's description of the Ironwood. There is, says he,
the mysterious land in which the wolf conceals himself,
full of narrow valleys, precipices, and abysses, full of
dark and deep forests, marshes shrouded in gloom, lakes
shaded with trees, nesses lashed by the sea, mountain
torrents and bogs, which in the night shine as of fire, and
shelter demoniac beings and dragons in their turbid
waves. The hunted game prefers being torn into pieces
by dogs to seeking its refuge on this unholy ground, from
which raging storms chase black clouds until the heavens
are darkened and the rain pours down in torrents. The
English poet may honestly have located the mythological
Ironwood in Denmark. The same old border-land, which
to this very day is called "Danische wold," was still in
the thirteenth century called by the Danes Jarnwith, the
Ironwood. From his abode in this wilderness Grendel
makes nightly excursions to the Danish royal castle,
breaks in there, kills sleeping champions with his iron
hands, sucks out their blood, and carries their corpses to
the enchanted marsh in order to eat them there. The
hero, Beowulf, who has heard of this, proceeds to Den-
mark, penetrates into the awful forest, dives, armed with
8n
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Denmark's best sword, down into the magic marsh to
Grendel's and his mother's hall, and kills them after a
conflict in which the above-mentioned sword was found
useless. But down there he finds another which Grendel
and his mother kept concealed, gets possession of it, and
conquers with its aid.
Of this remarkable sword it is said that it was "rich in
victory," that it hailed from the past, that "it was a good
and excellent work of a smith," and that the golden hilt
was the work of the "wonder-smith." On the blade was
risted (engraved) "that ancient war" when "the billows
of the raging sea washed over the race of giants," and on
a plate made of the purest gold was written in runes "the
name of him for whom this weapon was first made."
The Christian poet found it most convenient for his pur-
pose not to name this name for his readers or hearers.
But all that is here stated is applicable to the mythologi-
cal sword of victory. "The Wonder-smith" in the Old
English tale is Volund (Weland). The coat of mail ^
borne by Beowulf is "Welandes geweorc." "Deor the
Scald's Complaint" sings' of Weland, and King Alfred in
his translation of Boethius speaks of "the wise Weland,
the goldsmith, who, in ancient times, was the most cele-
brated." That the Weland sword was "the work of a
giant" corresponds with the Volund myth (see below) ;
and as we here learn that the blade was engraved with
pictures representing the destructions of the ancient giant-
artists in the waves of the sea (the blood of the primeval
giant Ymer), then this illustrates a passage in Skirners-
mal where it is likewise stated that the sword was risted
812
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
with images and "that it fights of itself against the giant
race" (Skirnersmal, 8, 23, 25 ; see No. 60). This expres-
sion is purposely ambiguous. One meaning is empha-
sised by Prey's words in Skirnersmal, that it fights of
itself "if it is a wise man who owns it" (ef sd er horscr er
hefir). The other meaning of the expression appears
from the Beowulf poem. The sword itself fights against
the giant race in the sense that the "wonder-smith"
(Weland), by the aid of pictures on the blade of the
sword itself, represented that battle which Odin and his
brothers fought against the primeval giants, when the
former drowned the latter in the blood of their pro-
genitor, the giant Ymer.
^-" Grendel is the son of the troll-woman living in the
marsh, just as Hate is Angerboda's. The author identi-
fies Grendel with Cain banished from the sight of his
Creator, and makes giants, thurses, and "elves" the pro-
geny of the banished one. Grendel's mother is a "she- j,
wolf of the deep" and a mermaid (merewif}. Anger-
boda is the mother of the wolf progeny in the Ironwood
and "drives the ships into .SCgir's jaws." What "Beo-/.,
wulf" tells about Grendel reminds us in some of the
details so strongly of Voluspa's words concerning Hate
that the question may be raised whether the English
author did not have in mind a strophe resembling the
one in Voluspa which treats of him. Voluspa's Hate
fyllisk fjorvi feigra manna, "satiates himself with the
vital force of men selected for death." Beowulf's Gren-
del sucks the blood of his chosen victims until life ebbs
out of them. Voluspa's Hate rydr ragna sjot raudum
8 813
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dreyra, "colours the princely abode with red blood from
the wounds." Grendel steals into the royal castle and
stains it with blood. The expression here reappears
almost literally. Voluspa's ragna sjot and dreyri corres-
pond perfectly to "Beowulf's" driht-sele and dreor.
In Vilkinasaga we read that Nagelring, the best sword
in the world was concealed in a forest, and was there
watched by a woman and a man. The man had the
strength of twelve men, but the woman was still stronger.
King Thidrek and his friend Hildebrand succeeded after
a terrible combat in slaying the monster. The woman
had to be slain thrice in order that she should not come
to life again. This feature is also borrowed from the
myth about Angerboda, the thrice slain.
Historic, Pontificum (from the middle of the twelfth
century) informs us that Duke Wilhelm of Angouleme
(second half of the tenth century) possessed an extra-
ordinary sword made by Volund. But this was not the
real sword of victory. From Jordane's history it was
known in the middle age that this sword had fallen into
Attila's hands, and the question was naturally asked
what afterwards became of it. Sagas answered the ques-
tion. The sword remained with the descendants of the
Huns, the Hungarians. The mother of the Hungarian
king Solomon gave it to one Otto of Bavaria. He lent
it to the margrave of Lausitz, Dedi the younger. After
the murder of Dedi it came into the hands of Emperor
Henry IV., who gave it to his favourite, Leopold of
Merseburg. By a fall from his horse Leopold was
wounded by the point of the sword, and died from the
814
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
wound. Even in later times the sword was believed to
exist, and there were those who believed that the Duke of
Alba bore it at his side.
105.
THE SVIPDAG EPITHET SKIRNER. THE VOLUND SWORD'S
NAME GAMBANTEIN.
After Svipdag's marriage with Freyja the saga of his
life may be divided into two parts — the time before his
visit in Asgard as Freyja's happy husband and Prey's
best friend, and the time of his absence from Asgard and
his change and destruction.
To the former of these divisions belongs his journey,
celebrated in song, to the abode of the giant Gymer,
whither he proceeds to ask, on Prey's behalf, for the hand
of Gerd, Gymer's and Aurboda's fair daughter. It has
already been pointed out that after his marriage with
Gunvara-Freyja, Erik-Svipdag appears in Saxo as
Frotho-Frey's right hand, ready to help and a trusted
man in all things. Among other things the task is also
imposed on him to ask, on behalf of Frotho, for the hand
of a young maid whose father in the mythology doubtless
was a giant. He is described as a deceitful, treacherous
being, hostile to the gods, as a person who had laid a
plan with his daughter as a bait to deceive Frotho and
win Gunvara for himself. The plan is frustrated by
Svipdag (Ericus), Ull (Rollerus), and Thor (Bracus),
the last of whom here appears in his usual role as the con-
815
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
queror of giants. At the very point when Frotho's
intended father-in-law thinks he has won the game Thor
rushes into his halls, and the schemer is compelled to
save himself by flight (Hist., 221, &c.). In the excellent
poem Skirnersmal, the Icelandic mythic fragments have
preserved the memory of Prey's courtship to a giant-
maid, daughter of Aurboda's terrible husband, the giant-
chief Gymer. Here, as in Saxo, the Vana-god does not
himself go to do the courting, but sends a messenger, who
in the poem is named by the epithet Skirner. All that
is there told about this Skirner finds its explanation in
Svipdag's saga. The very epithet Skirnir, "the shining
one," is justified by the fact that Solbjart-Orvandel, the
star-hero, is his father. Skirner dwells in Asgard, but is
not one of the ruling gods. The one of the gods with
whom he is most intimately united is Frey. Thus his
position in Asgard is the same as Svipdag's. Skirner's
influence with Freyja's brother is so great that when
neither Njord nor Skade can induce the son to reveal
the cause of the sorrow which afflicts him, they hope that
Skirner may be able to do so. Who, if not Svipdag,
who tried to rescue Frey from the power of the giants,
and who is his brother-in-law, and in Saxo his all in all,
would be the one to possess such influence over him?
Skirner also appeals to the fact that Frey and he have
in days past had adventures together of such a kind that
they ought to have faith in each other, and that Frey
ought not to have any secret which he may not safely
confide to so faithful a friend (str. 5). Skirner is wise
and poetic, and has proverbs on his lips like Svipdag-Erik
816
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(cp. str. 13 in Skirnersmal with str. 47 in Fjolsvmnsmal).
But the conclusive proof of their identity is the fact that
Skirner, like Svipdag, had made a journey to the lower
world, had been in Mimer's realm at the foot of Ygdrasil,
and there had fetched a sword called Gambantein, which
is the same sword as the one Frey lays in his hand when
he is to go on his errand of courtship — the same sword
as Frey afterwards parts with as the price paid to Gymer
and Aurboda for the bride. When Gerd refuses to accept
the courtship-presents that Skirner brings with him, he
draws his sword, shows its blade to Gerd, threatens to
send her with its edge to Nifelhel, the region below the
Na-gates, the Hades-dwelling of Hrimner, Hrimgrimner,
and of other giants of antiquity, the abode of the furies
of physical sicknesses (see No. 60), and tells her how
this terrible weapon originally came into his possession :
Til holtz ec gecc
oc til hras vidar
gambantein at geta,
gambantein ec gat.
"I went to Holt
And to the juicy tree
Gambantein to get,
Gambantein I got."
The word teinn, a branch, a twig, has the meaning of
sword in all the compounds where it occurs: benteinn,
bif 'teinn, eggteinar, havateinn (komateinn) , hjorteinn,
hvcete'mn, sdrteinn, valteinn. Mistelteinn has also become
the name of a sword (Younger Edda, i. 564; Fornald., i,
416, 515; ii. 371; cp. No. 101), and the same weapon as
817
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
is here called gambanteinn is called hcevateinn, homateinn
(see further No. 116) in Fjolsvinnsmal.
In the mythology there is only one single place which
is called Holt. It is Mimis holt, Hoddmimis holt, the
subterranean grove, where the children who are to be
the parents of the future race of man have their secure
abode until the regeneration of the world (see Nos. 52,
53), living on the morning-dew which falls from the
world-tree, hrdr vidr, "the tree rich in sap" (see No. 89).
Mimer-Nidhad also comes from Holt when he imprisons
Volund (Volund., 14). It has already been proved
above that, on his journey in the lower world, Svipdag
also came to Mimis holt, and saw the citadel within which
the asmegir have their asylum.
Saxo has known either the above-cited strophe or
another resembling it, and when his Erik-Svipdag speaks
of his journey in ambiguous words (obscura umbage),
Saxo makes him say: Ad trunca syliwrwm robora pene-
travi . . . ibi cuspis a robore regis excussa est {Hist., 206).
With the expression ad robora sylvarum penetravi we
must compare til holts ec gecc. The words robur regis
refer to the tree of the lower world king, Mimer Mima-
meidr, the world-tree. Erik-Svipdag's purpose with his
journey to this tree is to secure a weapon. Saxo calls
this weapon cuspis. Fjolsvinnsmal calls it, with a para-
phrase, broddr. Cuspis is a translation of broddr.
Thus there can be no doubt concerning the identity of
Skirner with Svipdag.
818
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
106.
SVIPDAG'S LATER FORTUNES. HIS TRANSFORMATION AND
DEATH. FREYJA GOES IN SEARCH OP HIM. FREY-
JA'S EPITHET MARDOLL,. THE SEA-KIDNEY, BRIS-
INGAMEN. SVIPDAG'S EPITHET HERMODR.
When the war between the Asas and the Vans had
broken out, Svipdag, as we have learned, espouses the
cause of the Vans (see Nos. 33, 38), to whom he natur-
ally belongs as the husband of the Vana-dis Freyja and
Frey's most intimate friend. The happy issue of the war
for the Vans gives Svipdag free hands in regard to Half-
dan's hated son Hadding, the son of the woman for
whose sake Svipdag's mother Groa was rejected. Mean-
while Svipdag offers Hadding reconciliation, peace, and
a throne among the Teutons (see No. 38). When Had-
ding refuses to accept gifts of mercy from the slayer of
his father, Svipdag persecutes him with irreconcilable
hate. This hatred finally produces a turning-point in
Svipdag's fortunes and darkens the career of the brilliant
hero. After the Asas and Vans had become reconciled
again, one of their first thoughts must have been to put an
end to the fued between the Teutonic tribes, since a con-
tinuation of the latter was not in harmony with the
peace restored among the gods (see No. 41), nevertheless
the war was continued in Midgard (see No. 41), and the
cause is Svipdag. He has become a rebel against both
Asas and Vans, and herein we must look for the reason
why, as we read in the Younger Edda, he disappeared
819
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
from Asgard (Younger Edda, 114). But he dis-
appears not only from the world of the gods, but finally
also from the terrestrial seat of war, and that god or those
gods who were to blame for this conceal his unhappy and
humiliating fate from Freyja. It is at this time that the
faithful and devoted Vana-dis goes forth to seek her lover
in all worlds med ukunnum thjodum.
Saxo gives us two accounts of Svipdag's death — the
one clearly converted into history, the other correspond-
ing faithfully with the mythology. The former reports
that Hadding conquered and slew Svipdag in a naval
battle (Hist., 42). The latter gives us the following
account (Hist., 48) :
While Hadding lived in exile in a northern wilderness,
after his great defeat in conflict with the Swedes, it hap-
pened, on a sunny, warm day, that he went to the sea to
bathe. While he was washing himself in the cold water
he saw an animal of a most peculiar kind (bellua inauditi
generis), and came into combat with it. Hadding slew
it with quick blows and dragged it on shore. But while
he rejoiced over this deed a woman put herself in his
way and sang a song, in which she let him know that
the deed he had now perpetrated should bring fearful
consequences until he succeeded in reconciling the divine
wrath which this murder had called down upon his head.
All the forces of nature, wind and wave, heaven and
earth, were to be his enemies unless he could propitiate
the angry gods, for the being whose life he had taken
was a celestial being concealed in the guise of an animal,
one of the super-terrestrial :
820
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Quippe unum e superis alieno corpora tectum
Sacrilegae necuere manus: sic numinis almi
Interfector ades.
It appears, however, from the continuation of the nar-
rative, that Hadding was unwilling to repent what he had
done, although he was told that the one he had slain was
a supernatural being, and that he long refused to propi-
tiate those gods whose sorrow and wrath he had awakened
by the murder. Not until the predictions of the woman
were confirmed by terrible visitations does Hadding make
up his mind to reconcile the powers in question. And this
he does by instituting the sacrificial feast, which is called
Frey's offering, and thenceforth was celebrated in honour
of Frey (Fro deo rem divinam furvis hostiis fecit}.
Hadding's refusal to repent what he had done, and the
defiance he showed the divine powers, whom he had
insulted by the murder he had committed, can only be
explained by the fact that these powers were the Vana-
gods who long gave succour to his enemies (see No. 39),
and that the supernatural being itself, which, concealed
in the guise of an animal, was slain by him, was some
one whose defeat gave him pleasure, and whose death he
considered himself bound and entitled to cause. This
explanation is fully corroborated by the fact that when
he learns that Odin and the Asas, whose favourite he
was, no longer hold their protecting hands over him, and
that the propitiation advised by the prophetess becomes a
necessity to him, he institutes the great annual offering
to Frey, Svipdag's brother-in-law. That this god especi-
ally must be propitiated can, again, have no other reason
821
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
than the fact that Frey was a nearer kinsman than any
of the Asa-gods to the supernatural being, from whose
slayer he (Frey) demanded a ransom, And as Saxo
has already informed us that Svipdag perished in a naval
engagement with Hadding, all points to the conclusion
that in the celestial person who was concealed in the guise
of an animal and was slain in the water we must dis-
cover Svipdag Frey ja's husband.
Saxo does not tell us what animal guise it was. It
must certainly have been a purely fabulous kind, since
Saxo designates it as bellua inauditi generis. An Anglo-
Saxon record, which is to be cited below, designates it
as uyrm and draca. That Svipdag, sentenced to wear this
guise, kept himself in the water near the shore of a sea,
follows from the fact that Hadding meets and kills him
in the sea where he goes to bathe. Frey j a, who sought
her lost lover everywhere, also went in search for him
to the realms of lEgir and Ran. There are reasons for
assuming that she found him again, and, in spite of his
transformation and the repulsive exterior he thereby got,
she remained with him and sought to soothe his misery
with her faithful love. One of Freyja's surnames shows
that she at one time dwelt in the bosom of the sea. The
name is Mardoll. Another proof of this is the fragment
preserved to our time of the myth concerning the conflict
between Heimdal and Loke in regard to Brisingamen.
This neck- and breast-ornament, celebrated in song both
among the Teutonic tribes of England and those of Scan-
dinavia, one of the most splendid works of the ancient
artists, belonged to Freyja (Thrymskvida, Younger
822
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Edda). She wore it when she was seeking Svipdag and
found him beneath the waves of the sea ; and the splendour
which her Brisingamen diffused from the deep over the
surface of the sea is the epic intepretation of the name
Mardoll from marr, "sea," and doll, feminine of dallr
(old English dealt), "glittering" (compare the names
Heimdallr and Belling). Mardoll thus means "the one
diffusing a glimmering in the sea." The fact that Bris-
ingamen, together with its possessor, actually was for a
time in ^ger's realm is proved by its epithet fagrt haf-
nyra, "the fair kidney of the sea," which occurs in a
strophe of Ulf Uggeson (Younger Edda, 268). There
was also a skerry, Vdgasker, Singasteinn, on which
Brisingamen lay and glittered, when Loke, clad in the
guise of a seal tried to steal it. But before he accom-
plished his purpose, there crept upon the skerry another
seal, in whose looks — persons in disguise were not able
to change their eyes — the evil and cunning descendant
of Farbaute must quickly have recognised his old oppo-
nent Heimdal. A conflict arose in regard to the possession
of the ornament, and the brave son of the nine mothers
became the victor and preserved the treasure for As^ard.
To the Svipdag synonyms Odr (Hotharus), Ottar
(Otharus), Eirekr (Ericus), and Skirnir, we must finally
add one more, which is, perhaps, of Anglo-Saxon origin :
Hermodr, Heremod.
From the Norse mythic records we learn the following
in regard to Hermod :
(a) He dwelt in Asgard, but did not belong to the num-
ber of ruling gods. He is called Odin's sveinn (Younger
823
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Edda, 174), and he was the Asa-father's favourite, and
received from him helmet and cuirass (Hyndluljod, 2).
(&) He is called enn hvati (Younger Edda, 174), the
rapid. When Frigg asks if anyone desires to earn her
favour and gratitude by riding to the realm of death and
offering Hel a ransom for Balder, Hermod offers to take
upon himself this task. He gets Odin's horse Sleipner
to ride, proceeds on his way to Hel, comes safely to that
citadel in the lower world, where Balder and Nanna abide
the regeneration of the earth, spurs Sleipner over the
castle wall, and returns to Asgard with Hel's answer,
and with the ring Draupner, and with presents from
Nanna to Frigg and Fulla (Younger Edda, 180).
From this it appears that Hermod has a position in
Asgard resembling Skirner's; that he, like Skirner, is
employed by the gods as a messenger when important or
venturesome errands are to be undertaken; and that he,
like Skirner, then gets that steed to ride, which is able
to leap over vaferflames and castle-walls. We should
also bear in mind that Skirner-Svipdag had made cele-
brated journeys in the same world to which Hermod is
now sent to find Balder. As we know, Svipdag had
before his arrival in Asgard travelled all over the lower
world, and had there fetched the sword of victory. After
his adoption in Asgard, he is sent by the gods to the
lower world to get the chain Gleipner.
(c) In historical times Hermod dwells in Valhal, and
is one of the chief einherjes there. When Hakon the
Good was on the way to the hall of the Asa-father, the
latter sent Brage and Hermod to meet him:
824
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY*
Hermodr ok Bragi
kvad Hroptatyr
gangit i gegn grami
thvi at konungr ferr
sa er kappi thykkir,
til hallar hinnig (Hakonarmal).
This is all there is in the Norse sources about Hermod.
Further information concerning him is found in the
Beowulf poem, which in two passages (str. 1747, &c.,
and 3419, &c.) compares him with its own unselfish and
blameless hero, Beowulf, in order to make it clear that
the latter was in moral respects superior to the famous
hero of antiquity. Beowulf was related by marriage to
the royal dynasty then reigning in his land, and was
reared in the king's halls as an older brother of his sons.
The comparisons make these circumstances, common to
Beowulf and Hermod, the starting-point, and show that
while Beowulf became the most faithful guardian of his
young foster-brothers, and in all things maintained their
rights, Hermod conducted himself in a wholly different
manner. Of Hermod the poem tells us:
(a) He was reared at the court of a Danish king (str.
1818, &c., 3421, &c.).
(&) He set out on long journeys, and became the most
celebrated traveller that man ever heard of (se wees wrec-
cena wide mcerost ofer wer-theode — str. 1800-1802).
(c) He performed great exploits (str. 1804).
(<d) He was endowed with powers beyond all other
men (str. 3438-39).
(e) God gave him a higher position of power than
that accorded to mortals (str. 3436, &c.).
825
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(/) But although he was reared at the court of the
Danish king, this did not turn out to the advantage of
the Skjoldungs, but was a damage to them (str. 3422,
&c.), for there grew a bloodthirsty heart in his breast.
(g) When the Danish king died (the poem does not
say how) he left young sons.
(/&) Hermod, betrayed by evil passions that got the
better of him, was the cause of the ruin of the Skjol-
dungs, and of a terrible plague among the Danes, whose
fallen warriors for his sake covered the battlefields. His
table-companions at the Danish court he consigned to
death in a fit of anger (str. 3426, &c.).
(i) The war continues a very long time (str. 1815,
&c., str. 3447).
(k) At last there came a change, which was unfa-
vourable to Hermod, whose superiority in martial power
decreased (str. 1806).
(/) Then he quite unexpectedly disappeared (str.-
3432) from the sight of men.
(m) This happened against his will. He had sud-
denly been banished and delivered to the world of giants,
where "waves of sorrow" long oppressed him (str.
1809, &c.).
(«) He had become changed to a dragon (wyrm,
draco) .
(0) The dragon dwelt near a rocky island in the sea
under harne stan (beneath a grey rock).
/ (/>) There he slew a hero of the Volsung race (in the
Beowulf poem Sigemund — str. 1747, &c.).
All these points harmonise completely with Svipdag's
826
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
saga, as we have found it in other sources. Svipdag is
the stepson of Halfdan the Skjoldung, and has been reared
in his halls, and dwells there until his mother Groa is
turned out and returns to Orvandel. He sets out like
Hermod on long journeys, and is doubtless the most fa-
mous traveller mentioned in the mythology; witness his
journey across the Elivagar, and his visit to Jotunheim
while seeking Frey and Freyja; his journey across the
frosty mountains, and his descent to the lower world,
where he traverses Nifelheim, sees the Eylud mill, comes
into Mimer's realm, procures the sword of victory, and
sees the glorious castle of the dsmegir; witness his jour-
ney over Bi frost to Asgard, and his warlike expedition
to the remote East (see also Younger Edda, i. 108, where
Skirner is sent to Svartalfaheim to fetch the chain Glit-
ner). He is, like Hermod, endowed with extraordinary
strength, partly on account of his own inherited character,
partly on account of the songs of incantation sung over
him by Groa, on account of the nourishment of wisdom
obtained from his stepmother and finally on account of the
possession of the indomitable sword of victory. By being
adopted in Asgard as Freyja's husband, he is, like Her-
mod, elevated to a position of power greater than that
which mortals may expect. But all this does not turn
out to be a blessing to the Skjoldungs, but is a misfor-
tune to them. The hatred he had cherished toward the
Skjoldung Halfdan is transferred to the son of the lat-
ter, Hadding, and he persecutes him and all those who
are faithful to Hadcling, makes war against him, and is
unwilling to end the long war, although the gods demand
827
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it. Then he suddenly disappears, the divine wrath hav-
ing clothed him with the guise of a strange animal, and
relegated him to the world of water-giants, where he is
slain by Hadding (who in the Norse heroic saga becomes
a Volsung, after Halfdan, under the name Helge Hund-
ingsbane, was made a son of the Volsung Sigmund).
Hermod is killed on a rocky island under harm stan.
Svipdag is killed in the water, probably in the vicinity
of the Vdgasker and the Singasteinn, where the Brisinga-
men ornament of his faithful Mardol is discovered by
Loke and Heimdal.
Freyja's love and sorrow may in the mythology have
caused the gods to look upon Svipdag's last sad fate and
death as a propitiation of his faults. The tears which the
Vana-dis wept over her lover were transformed, accord-
ing to the mythology, into gold, and this gold, the gold
of a woman's faithfulness, may have been regarded as a
sufficient compensation for the sins of her dear one, and
doubtless opened to Svipdag the same Asgard-gate which
he had seen opened to him during his life. This explains
that Hermod is in Asgard in the historical time, and that,
according to a revelation to the Swedes in the ninth cen-
tury, the ancient King Erik was unanimously elevated by
the gods as a member of their council.
Finally, it should be pointed out that the Svipdag syno-
nym Odr has the same meaning as mod in Heremod, and
as ferhd in Svidferhd, the epithet with which Hermod is
designated in the Beowulf strophe 1820. Odr means
"the one endowed with spirit," Heremod "the one en-
dowed with martial spirit," Svidherhd, "the one endowed
with mighty spirit." g2g
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Heimdal's and Loke's conflict in regard to Brisingamen
has undoubtedly been an episode in the mythic account of
Svipdag's last fortunes and Freyja's abode with him in
the sea. There are many reasons for this assumption.
We should bear in mind that Svipdag's closing career con-
stituted a part of the great epic of the first world war, and
that both Heimdal and Loke take part in this war, the
former on Hadding's, the latter on Gudhorm-Jormunrek's
and Svipdag's side (see Nos. 38, 39, 40). It should
further be remembered that, according to Saxo, at the
time when he slays the monster, Hadding is wandering
about as an exile in the wildernesses, and that it is about
this time that Odin gives him a companion and protector
in Liserus-Heimdal (see No. 40). The unnamed woman,
who after the murder had taken place puts herself in
Hadding's way, informs him whom he has slain, and calls
the wrath of the gods and the elements down upon him,
must be Freyja herself, since she witnessed the deed and
knew who was concealed in the guise of the dragon. So
long as the latter lived Brisingamen surely had a faith-
ful watcher, for it is the nature of a dragon to brood over
the treasures he finds. After being slain and dragged
on shore by Hadding, his "bed," the gold, lies exposed
to view on Vagasker, and the glimmer of Brisingamen
reaches Loke's eyes. While the woman, in despair on'
account of Svipdag's death, stands before Hadding and
speaks to him, the ornament has no guardian, and Loke
finds the occasion convenient for stealing it. But Heim-
dal, Hadding's protector, who in the mythology always
keeps his eye on the acts of Loke and on his kinsmen
9 829
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
hostile to the gods, is also present, and he too has seen
Brisingamen. Loke has assumed the guise of a seal,
while the ornament lies on a rock in the sea, Vagasker,
and it can cause no suspicion that a seal tries to find a
resting-place there. Heimdal assumes the same guise,
the seals fight on the rock, and Loke must retire with his
errand unperformed. The rock is also called Singastein
(Younger Edda, i. 264, 368), a name in which I see
the Anglo-Saxon Sincastan, "the ornament rock." An
echo of the combat about Brisingamen reappears in the
Beowulf poem, where Heimdal (not Hamdir) appears
under the name Hama, and where it is said that "Hama
has brought to the weapon-glittering citadel (Asgard)
Brosingamene," which was "the best ornament under
heaven;" whereupon it is said that Hama fell "into
Eormenric's snares," with which we should compare
Saxo's account of the snares laid by Loke, Jormenrek's
adviser, for Liserus-Heimdal and Hadding.*
107.
REMINISCENCES OF THE SVIPDAG-MYTH.
The mythic story about Svipdag and Freyja has been
handed down in popular tales and songs, even to our time,
of course in an ever varying and corrupted form. Among
the popular tales there is one about M&rthdll, put in writ-
*As Jordanes confounded the mythological Gudhorm-Jormunrek with
the historical Ermanarek, and connected with the history of the latter the
heroic saga of Ammius-Hamdir, it lay close at hand to confound Hamdir
with Heimdal, who, like Hamdir, is the foe of the mythical Jormunrek.
830
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ing by Konrad Maurer, and published in Modern Icelan-
dic Popular Tales.
The wondrous fair heroine in this tale bears Freyja's
well-known surname, Mardol, but little changed. And as
she, like Freyja, weeps tears that change into gold, it is
plain that she is originally identical with the Vana-dis,
a fact which Maurer also points out.
Like Freyja, she is destined by the norn to be the wife
of a princely youth. But when he courted her, difficul-
ties arose which remind us of what Saxo relates about
Otharus and Syritha.
As Saxo represents her, Syritha is bound as it were by
an enchantment, not daring to look up at her lover or to
answer his declarations of love. She flies over the moun-
tains more pristino, "in the manner usual in antiquity,"
consequently in all probability in the guise of a bird. In
the Icelandic popular tale Marthol shudders at the ap-
proaching wedding night, since she is then destined to be
changed into a sparrow. She is about to renounce the
embrace of her lover, so that he may not know anything
about the enchantment in which she is fettered.
In Saxo the spell resting on Syritha is broken when
the candle of the wedding night burns her hand. In the
popular tale Marthol is to wear the sparrow guise for
ever if it is not burnt on the wedding night or on one of
the two following nights.
Both in Saxo and in the popular tale another maiden
takes Mardol's place in the bridal bed on the wedding
night. But the spell is broken by fire, after which both
the lovers actually get each other.
831
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The original identity of the mythological Freyja-Mar-
dol, Saxo' Syritha, and the Mcertholl of the Icelandic
popular tale is therefore evident.
In Danish and Swedish versions of a ballad (in Syv,
Nyerup, Arwidsson, Geijer and Afzelius, Grundtvig, Dy-
beck, Hofberg; compare Bugge's Edda, p. 352, &c.) a
young Sveidal (Svedal, Svendal, Svedendal, Silfverdal)
is celebrated, who is none other than Svipdag of the my-
thology. Svend Grundtvig and Bugge have called at-
tention to the conspicuous similarity between this ballad
on the one hand, and Grogalder and Fjolsvinnsmal on
the other. From the various versions of the ballad it is
necessary to mention here only those features which best
preserve the most striking resemblance to the mythic
prototype. Sveidal is commanded by his stepmother to
find a maiden "whose sad heart had long been longing."
He then goes first to the grave of his deceased mother to
get advice from her. The mother speaks to him from the
grave and promises him a horse, which can bear him over
sea and land, and a sword hardened in the blood of a
dragon and resembling fire. The narrow limits of the
ballad forbade telling how Sveidal came into possession
of the treasures promised by the mother or giving an ac-
count of the exploits he performed with the sword. This
plays no part in the ballad ; it is only indicated that events
not recorded took place before Sveidal finds the longing
maid. Riding through forests and over seas, he comes
to the country where she has her castle. Outside of this
he meets a shepherd, with whom he enters into conver-
sation. The shepherd informs him that within is found
832
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
a young maiden who has long been longing for a young
man by name Sveidal, and that none other than he can
enter there, for the timbers of the castle are of iron, its gilt
gate of steel, and within the gate a lion and a white bear
keep watch. Sveidal approaches the gate; the locks fall
away spontaneously; and when he enters the open court
the wild beasts crouch at his feet, a linden-tree with
golden leaves bends to the ground before him, and the
young maiden whom he seeks welcomes him as her hus-
band.
One of the versions makes him spur his horse over the
castle wall ; another speaks of seven young men guarding
the wall, who show him the way to the castle, and who
in reality are "god's angels under the heaven, the blue."
The horse who bears his rider over the salt sea is a
reminiscence of Sleipner, which Svipdag rode on more
than one occasion; and when it is stated that Sveidal on
this horse galloped over the castle wall, this reminds us of
Skirner-Svipdag when he leaps over the fence around
Gymer's abode, and of Hermod-Svipdag when he spurs
Sleipner over the wall to Balder's lower-world castle.
The shepherds, who are "god's angels," refers to the
watchmen mentioned in Fjolsvinnsmal, who are gods;
the wild beasts in the open court to the two wolf-dogs who
guard Asgard's gate; the shepherd whom Sveidal meets
outside of the wall to Fjolsvin; the linden-tree with the
golden leaves to Mimameidr and to the golden grove
growing in Asgard. One of the versions make two
years pass while Sveidal seeks the one he is destined to
marry.
833
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
In Germany, too, we have fragments preserved of the
myth about Svipdag and Freyja. These remnants are,
we admit, parts of a structure built, so to speak, in the
style of the monks, but they nevertheless show in the most
positive manner that they are borrowed from the fallen
and crumbled arcades of the heathen mythology. We
rediscover in them the old medieval poem about "Christ's
unsewed grey coat."
The hero of the poem is Svipdag, here called by his
father's name Orendel, Orentel — that is, Orvandel. The
father himself, who is said to be a king in Trier, has re-
ceived another name, which already in the most ancient
heathen times was a synonym of Orvandel, and which I
shall consider below. This in connection with the cir-
cumstance that the younger Orentel's (Svipdag's) patron
saint is called "the holy Wieland," and thus he has the
name of a person who, in the mythology, as shall be
shown below, was Svipdag's uncle (father's brother)
and helper, and whose sword is Svipdag's protection and
pledge of victory, proves that at least in solitary instances
not only the events of the myth but also its names and
family relations have been preserved in a most remark-
able and faithful manner through centuries in the minds
of the German people.
In the very nature of things it cannot in the monkish
poem be the task of the young Svipdag-Orentel to go in
search of the heathen goddess Freyja and rescue her from
the power of the giants. In her stead appears a "Frau
Breyde," who is the fairest of all women, and the only
one worthy to be the young Orentel's wife. In the
834
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
heathen poem the goddess of fate Urd, in the German
medieval poem God Himself, resolves that Orentel is to
have the fairest woman as his bride. In the heathen
poem Preyja is in the power of giants, and concealed
somewhere in Jotunheim at the time when Svipdag is
commanded to find her, and it is of the greatest moment
for the preservation of the world that the goddess of love
and fertility should be freed from the hands of the pow-
ers of frost. In the German poem, written under the
influence of the efforts of the Christian world to recon-
quer the Holy Land, Frau Breyde is a princess who is for
the time being in Jerusalem, surrounded and watched by
giants, heathens, and knights templar, the last of whom,
at the time when the poem received its present form, were
looked upon as worshippers of the devil, and as persons
to be shunned by the faithful. To Svipdag's task of lib-
erating the goddess of love corresponds, in the monkish
poem, Orentel's task of liberating Frau Breyde from
her surrounding of giants, heathens, and knights tem-
plar, and restoring to Christendom the holy grave in
Jerusalem. Orentel proceeds thither with a fleet. But
although the journey accordingly is southward, the mythic
saga, which makes Svipdag journey across the frost-cold
Elivagar, asserts itself; and as his fleet could not well
be hindered by pieces of ice on the coast of the Holy
Land, it is made to stick fast in "dense water," and re-
main there for three years, until, on the supplication of
the Virgin Mary, it is liberated therefrom by a storm.
The Virgin Mary's prayers have assumed the same place
in the Christian poems as Groa's incantations in the
835
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
heathen. The fleet, made free from the "dense water,"
sails to a land which is governed by one Belian, who is
conquered by Orentel in a naval engagement. This Be-
lian is the mythological Beli, one of those "howlers" who
surrounded Frey and Freyja during their sojourn in Jo-
tunheim and threatened Svipdag's life. In the Christian
poem Bele was made a king in Great Babylonia, doubt-
less for the reason that his name suggested the biblical
"Bel in Babel." Saxo also speaks of a naval battle in
which Svipdag-Ericus conquers the mythic person, doubt-
less a storm-giant, who by means of witchcraft prepares
the ruin of sailors approaching the land where Frotho
and Gunvara are concealed. After various other adven-
tures Orentel arrives in the Holy Land, and the angel
Gabriel shows him the way to Frau Breyde, just as "the
seven angels of God" in one of the Scandinavian ballads
guide Sveidal to the castle where his chosen bride abides.
Lady Breyde is found to be surrounded by none but foes
of Christianity — knights templar, heathens, and giants —
who, like Gunvara's giant surroundings in Saxo, spend
their time in fighting, but still wait upon their fair lady as
their princess. The giants and knights templar strive to
take Orentel's life, and, like Svipdag, he must constantly
be prepared to defend it. One of the giants slain by
Orental is a "banner-bearer." One of the giants, who in
the mythology tries to take Svipdag's life, is Grep, who,
according to Saxo, meets him in derision with a banner
on the top of whose staff is fixed the head of an ox.
Meanwhile Lady Breyde is attentive to Orentel. As
Menglad receives Svipdag, so Lady Breyde receives
836
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Orentel with a kiss and a greeting, knowing that he is
destined to be her husband.
When Orental has conquered the giants he celebrates
a sort of wedding with Lady Breyde, but between them
lies a two-edged sword, and they sleep as brother and
sister by each other's side. A wedding of a similar kind
was mentioned in the mythology in regard to Svipdag
and Menglad before they met in Asgard and were finally
united. The chaste chivalry with which Freyja is met
in the mythology by her rescuer is emphasised by Saxo
both in his account of Ericus-Svipdag and Gunvara and
in his story about Otharus and Syritha. He makes Ericus
say of Gunvara to Frotha: Intacta illi pudiciticn manet
(Hist., 126). And of Otharus he declares: Neque puel-
lam stupro violare sustinuit, nee splendido loco natam
obscuro concubitus genere macularet (Hist., 331). The
first wedding of Orentel and Breyde is therefore as if it
had not been, and the German narrative makes Orentel,
after completing other warlike adventures, sue for the
hand of Breyde for the second time. In the mythology
the second and real wedding between Svipdag and
Freyja must certainly have taken place, inasmuch as hev
became reunited with her in Asgard.
The sword which plays so conspicuous a part in Svip-
dag's fortunes has not been forgotten in the German
medieval tale. It is mentioned as being concealed deep
down in the earth, and as a sword that is always attended
by victory.
On one occasion Lady Breyde appears, weapon in
hand, and fights by the side of Orentel, under circum-
837
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
stances which remind us of the above-cited story from
Saxo (see No. 102), when Ericus-Svipdag, Gunvara-
Freyja, and Rollerus-Ull are in the abode of a treacherous
giant, who tries to persuade Svipdag to deliver Gunvara
to him, and when Bracus-Thor breaks into the giant
abode, and either slays the inmates or puts them to flight.
Gunvara then fights by the side of Ericus-Svipdag, mulie-
bri cor pore virilem animum aquans (Hist., 222).
In the German Orentel saga appears a "fisherman,"
who is called master Yse. Orentel has at one time been
wrecked, and comes floating on a plank to his island,
where Yse picks him up. Yse is not a common fisher-
man. He has a castle with seven towers, and eight hun-
dred fishermen serve under him. There is good reason
for assuming that this mighty chieftain of fishermen orig-
inally was the Asa-god Thor, who in the northern ocean
once had the Midgard-serpent on his hook, and that the
episode of the picking up of the wrecked Orentel by Yse
has its root in a tradition concerning the mythical adven-
ture, when the real Orvandel, Svipdag's father, feeble
and cold, was met by Thor and carried by him across the
Elivagar. In the mythology, as shall be shown hereaf-
ter, Orvendel the brave was Thor's "sworn" man, and
fought with him against giants before the hostility sprang
up between Ivalde's sons and the Asa-gods. In the Oren-
tel saga Yse also regards Orentel as his "thrall." The
latter emancipates himself from his thraldom with gold.
Perhaps this ransom is a reference to the gold which
Freyja's tears gave as a ransom for Svipdag.
Orentel's father is called Eigel, king in Trier. In
838
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Vilkinasaga we find the archer Egil, Volund's brother,
mentioned by the name-variation Eigill. The German
Orentel's patron saint is Wieland, that is, Volund. Thus
in the Orentel saga as in the Volundarkvida and in Vil-
kinasaga we find both these names Egil and Volund com-
bined, and we have all the more reason for regarding
King Eigel in Trier as identical with the mythological
Egil, since the latter, like Orvandel, is a famous archer.
Below, I shall demonstrate that the archer Orvandel and
the archer Egil actually were identical in the mythology.
But first it may be in order to point out the following
circumstances. Tacitus tells us in his Germania (3) :
"Some people think, however, that Ulysses, too, on his
long adventurous journeys was carried into this ocean
(the Germanic), and visited the countries of Germany,
and that he founded and gave name to Asciburgium,
which is situated on the Rhine, and is still an inhabited
city ; nay, an altar consecrated to Ulysses, with the name
of his father Laertes added, is said to have been found
there." To determine the precise location of this Asci-
burgium is not possible. Ptolemy (ii. 11, 28), and after
him Marcianus Heracleota (PeripL, 2, 36), inform us
that an Askiburgon was situated on the Rhine, south of
and above the delta of the river. Tabula Peutingeriana
locates Asceburgia between Gelduba (Gelb) and Vetera
(Xanten). But from the history of Tacitus it appears
(iv. 33) that Asciburgium was situated between Neuss
and Mainz (Mayence). Read the passage: Aliis a
Novasio, aliis a Mogontiaco unii'ersas copias advenlsse
credentibus.
839
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The passage refers to the Roman troops sent to Asci-
burgium and there attacked — those troops which expected
to be relieved from the nearest Roman quarters in the
north or south. Its location should accordingly be
looked for either on or near that part of the Rhine, which
on the east bordered the old archbishopric Trier.
Thus the German Orentel saga locates King Eigel's
realm and Orentel's native country in the same regions,
where, according to Tacitus' reporter, Ulysses was said to
have settled for some time and to have founded a citadel.
As is well known, the Romans believed they found traces
of the wandering Ulysses in well-nigh all lands, and it was
only necessary to hear a strange people mention a far-
travelled mythic hero, and he was at once identified either
as Ulysses or Hercules. The Teutonic mythology had a
hero a la Ulysses in the younger Orentel, Odr-Svipdag-
Heremod, whom the Beowulf poem calls "incomparably
the most celebrated traveller among mankind" (wrec-
cena wide marost ofer wer-theode}. Mannhardt has
already pointed out an episode (Orentel's shipwreck and
arrival in Yse's land) which calls to mind the shipwreck
of Odysseus and his arrival in the land of the Pheaces.
Within the limits which the Svipdag-myth, according to
my own investigations, proves itself to have had, other
and more conspicuous features common to both, but cer-
tainly not borrowed from either, can be pointed out, for
instance Svipdag's and Oydsseus' descent to the lower
world, and the combat in the guise of seals between Heim-
dal and Loke, which reminds us of the conflict of Mene-
laos clad in seal-skin with the seal-watcher Proteus
840
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(Odyss., iv., 404, &c.). Just as there are words in the
Aryan languages that in their very form point to a com-
mon origin, but not to a borrowing, so there are also
myths in the Aryan religions which in their very form
reveal their growth from an ancient common Aryan root,
but produce no suspicion of their being borrowed. Among
these are to be classed those features of the Odysseus and
Svipdag myths which resemble each other.
It has already been demonstrated above, that German^-
nia's Mannus is identical with Halfdan of the Norse
sources, and that Yngve-Svipdag has his counterpart in
Ingsevo (see No. 24). That informer of Tacitus who
was able to interpret Teutonic songs about Mannus and
his sons, the three original race heroes of the Teutons,
must also in those very songs have heard accounts of
Orvandel's and Svipdag's exploits and adventures, since
Orvandel and Svipdag play a most decisive part in the
fortunes of Mannus-Halfdan. If the myth about Svip-
dag was composed in a later time, then Mannus-Halfdan's
saga must have undergone a change equal to a complete
transformtion after the day of Tacitus, and for such an
assumption there is not the slightest reason. Orvandel is
not a mythic character of later make. As already pointed
out, and as shall be demonstrated below, he has ancient
Aryan ancestry. The centuries between Tacitus and Pau-
lus Diaconus are unfortunately almost wholly lacking in
evidence concerning the condition of the Teutonic myths
and sagas; but where, as in Jordanes, proofs still gleam
forth from the prevailing darkness, we find mention of
Arpantala, Amala, Fridigernus, Vidigoia (Jord., v.).
841
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Jordanes says that in the most ancient times they were
celebrated in song and described as heroes who scarcely
had their equals (quales vix heroas fuisse miranda jactat
antiquitas). Previous investigators have already recog-
nized in Arpantala Orvandel, in Amala Hamal, in Vidi-
goia Wittiche, Wieland's son (Vidga Volundson), who in
the mythology are cousins of Svipdag (see No. 108).
Fridigernus, Fridgjarn, means "he who strives to get the
beautiful one," an epithet to which Svipdag has the first
claim among ancient Teutonic heroes, as Freyja herself
has the first claim to the name Frid (beautiful). In
Fjolsvinnsmal it belongs to a dis, who sits at Freyja's
feet, and belongs to her royal household. This is in anal-
ogy with the fact that the name Hlin belongs at the same
time to Frigg herself (Voluspa), and to a goddess belong-
ing to her royal household (Younger Edda, i. 196).
What Tacitus tells about the stone found at Ascibur-
gium, with the names of Ulysses and Laertes inscribed
thereon, can of course be nothing but a conjecture, based
on the idea that the famous Teutonic traveller was iden-
tical with Odysseus. Doubtless this idea has been
strengthened by the similarity between the names Odr,
Goth. Vods, and Odysseus, and by the fact that the
name Laertes (ace. Laerten) has sounds in common with
the name of Svipdag's father. If, as Tacitus seems to
indicate, Asciburgium was named after its founder, we
would find in Asc- an epithet of Orvandel's son, common
in the first century after Christ and later. In that case
it lies nearest at hand to think of cdska (Fick. iii. 5), the
English "ask," the Anglo-Saxon ascian, the Swedish
842
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dska, "to seek," "search for," "to try to secure," which
easily adapted itself to Svipdag, who goes on long and
perilous journeys to look for Freyja and the sword of
victory. I call attention to these possibilities because
they appear to suggest an ancient connection, but not for
the purpose of building hypotheses thereon. Under all
circumstances it is of interest to note that the Christian
medieval Orentel saga locates the Teutonic migration
hero's home to the same part of Germany where Tacitus
in his time assumed that he had founded a citadel. The
tradition, as heard by Tacitus, did not however make
the regions about the Rhine the native land of the cele-
brated traveller. He came thither, it is said in Germania,
from the North after having navigated in the Northern
Ocean. And this corresponds with the mythology, which
makes Svipdag an Inguseon, and Svion, a member of the
race of the Skilfing-Ynglings, makes him in the begin-
ning fight on the side of the powers of frost against Half-
dan, and afterwards lead not only the north Teutonic
(Inguaeonian) but also the west Teutonic tribes (the
Hermiones) against the east Teutonic war forces of Had-
ding (see Nos. 38-40).
Memories of the Svipdag-myth have also been preserved
in the story about Hamlet, Saxo's Amlethus (Snaebjorn's
Amlodi), son of Horvendillus (Orvandel). In the
medieval story Hamlet's father, like Svipdag's father in
the mythology, was slain by the same man, who marries
the wife of the slain man, and, like Svipdag in the myth,
Hamlet of the medieval saga becomes the avenger of his
father Horvendillus and the slayer of his stepfather. On
843
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
more than one occasion the idea occurs in the Norse sagas
that a lad whose stepfather has slain his father broods
over his duty of avenging the latter, and then plays
insane or half idiot to avoid the suspicion that he may
become dangerous to the murderer. Svipdag, Orvandel's
son, is reared in his stepfather's house amid all the cir-
cumstances that might justify or explain such a hypocrisy.
Therefore he has as a lad received the epithet Amlodi, the
meaning of which is "insane," and the myth having at
the same time described him as highly-gifted, clever, and
sharp-witted, we have in the words which the mythology
has attributed to his lips the key to the ambiguous words
which make the cleverness, which is veiled under a stupid
exterior, gleam forth. These features of the mythic
account of Svipdag have been transferred to the middle-
age saga anent Hamlet — a saga which already in Saxo's
time had been developed into an independent narrative.
I shall return to this theme in a treatise on the heroic
sagas. Other reminiscences of the Svipdag-myth reap-
pear in Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian ballads. The
Danish ballads, which, with surprising fidelity, have pre-
served certain fundamental traits and details of the Svip-
dag-myth even down to our days, I have already discussed.
The Norwegian ballad about "Hermod the Young"
(Landstad Norske Polkeviser, p. 28), and its Swedish ver-
sion, "Bergtrollet," which corresponds still more faith-
fully with the myth (Arvidson, i. 123), have this peculiar
interest in reference to mythological synonymies and the
connection of the mythic fragments preserved, that Svip-
dag appears in the former as in the Beowulf poem and
844
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in the Younger Edda under the name Hermod, and that
both versions have for their theme a story, which Saxo
tells about his Otharus when he describes the flight of the
latter through Jotunheim with the rediscovered Syritha.
It has already been stated above (No. 100) that after
Otharus had found Syritha and slain a giant in whose
power she was, he was separated from her on their way
home, but found her once more and liberated her from a
captivity into which she had fallen in the abode of a
giantess. This is the episode which forms the theme of
the ballad about "Hermod the Young," and of the
Swedish version of it. Brought together, the two ballads
give us the following contents:
The young Hermod secured as his wife a beautiful
maiden whom he liberated from the hands of a giantess.
She had fallen into the hands of giants through a witch,
"gigare," originally gygr, a troll-woman, Aurboda, who
in a great crowd of people had stolen her out of a church
(the divine citadel Asgard is changed into a "house of
God"). Hermod hastens on skees "through woods
and caverns and recesses," comes to "the wild sea-strand"
(Elivagar) and to the "mountain the blue," where the
giantess resides who conceals the young maiden in her
abode. It is Christmas Eve. Hermod asks for lodgings
for the night in the mountain dwelling of the giantess
and gets it. Resorting to cunning, he persuades the
giantess the following morning to visit her neighbours,
liberates the fair maiden during her absence, and flies on
his skees with her "over the high mountains and down
the low ones." When the old giantess on her return home
10 845
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
finds that they have gone she hastens (according to the
Norwegian version accompanied by eighteen giants) after
those who have taken flight through dark forests with a
speed which makes every tree bend itself to the ground.
When Hermod with his young maiden had come to the
salt fjord (Elivagar), the giantess is quite near them, but
in the decisive moment she is changed to a stone, accord-
ing to the Norse version, by the influence of the sun,
which just at that time rose; according to the Swedish
version, by the influence of a cross which stood near the
fjord and its "long bridge."
The Swedish version states, in addition to this, that
Hermod had a brother; in the mythology, Ull the skilful
skee-runner. In both the versions, Hermod is himself
an excellent skee-man. The refrains in both read : "He
could so well on the skees run." Below, I shall prove
that Orvandel, Svipdag's and Ull's father, is identical
with Egil, the foremost skee-runner in the mythology, and
that Svipdag is a cousin of Skade, "the dis of the skees."
Svipdag-Hermod belongs to the celebrated skee-race of
the mythology, and in this respect, too, these ballads have
preserved a genuine trait of the mythology.
In their way, these ballads, therefore, give evidence of
Svipdag's identity with Hermod, and of the latter's iden-
tity with Saxo's Otherus.
Finally, a few words about the Svipdag synonyms. Of
these, Odr and Hermodr (and in the Beowulf poem Svid-
ferhd) form a group which, as has already been pointed
out above, refer to the qualities of his mind. Svipdag
("the glimmering day") and Skirner ("the shining one")
846
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
form another group, which refers to his birth as the son
of the star-hero Orvandel, who is "the brightest of
stars," and "a true beam from the sun" (see above).
Again, anent the synonym Eirekr, we should bear in mind
that Svipdag's half-brother Gudhorm had the epithet
Jormunrekr, and the half-brother of the latter, Hadding,
the epithet thodrekr. They are the three half-brothers
who, after the patriarch Mannus-Half dan, assume the gov-
ernment of the Teutons, and as each one of them has
large domains, and rules over many Teutonic tribes,
they are, in contradistinction to the princes of the separate
tribes, great kings or emperors. It is the dignity of a
great king which is indicated, each in its own way, by all
these parallel names — Eirekr, Jormunrekr, and thfodrekr.
108.
SVIPDAG'S FATHER ORVANDEL. EVIDENCE; THAT HE is
IDENTICAL WITH VOIvtlNO'S BROTHER EGII,. THE
ORVANDEL SYNONYM EBBO (EBUR, IBOR).
Svipdag's father, Orvandel, must have been a mortal
enemy of Halfdan, who abducted his wife Groa. But
hitherto it is his son Svipdag whom we have seen carry
out the feud of revenge against Halfdan. Still, it must
seem incredible that the brave archer himself should
remain inactive and leave it to his young untried son to
fight against Thor's favourite, the mighty son of Borgar.
The epic connection demands that Orvandel also should
take part in this war, and it is necessary to investigate
847
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
whether our mythic records have preserved traces of the
satisfaction of this demand in regard to the mythological
epic.
As his name indicates, Orvandel was a celebrated
archer. That Or- in Orvandel, in heathen times, was con-
ceived tq be the word or, "arrow" — though this meaning
does not therefore need to be the most original one — is
made perfectly certain by Saxo, according to whom
Orvandill's father was named Geirvandill (Gervandillus,
Hist., 135). Thus the father is the one "busy with the
spear," the son "the one busy with the arrow."
Taking this as the starting point, we must at the very
threshold of our investigation present the question: Is
there among Halfdan's enemies mentioned by Saxo any-
one who bears the name of a well-known archer?
This is actually the fact. Halfdan Berggram has to
contend with two mythic persons, Toko and Anundus,
who with united forces appear against him {Hist., 325).
Toko, Toki, is the well-known name of an archer. In
another passage in Saxo (Hist., 265, &c.) one Anundus,
with the help of Avo (or Ano) Sagittarius, fights against
one Halfdan. Thus we have the parallels :
The archer Orvandel is an enemy of Halfdan.
The man called archer Toko and Anundus are enemies
of Halfdan.
The archer Avo and Anundus are enemies of Halfdan.
What at once strikes us is the fact that both the one
called Toko (an archer's name) and the archer Avo have
as comrade one Anundus in the war against Halfdan.
Whence did Saxo get this Anundus ? We are now in the
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
domain of mythology related as history, and the name
Anund must have been borrowed thence. Can any other
source throw light on any mythic person by this name?
There was actually an Anund who held a conspicuous
place in mythology, and he is none other than Volund.
Volundarkvida informs us that Volund was also called
Anund. When the three swan-maids came to the Wolf-
dales, where the three brothers, Volund, Egil, and Slagfin,
had their abode, one of them presses Egil "in her white
embrace," the other is Slagfin's beloved, and the third
"lays her arms around Anund's white neck."
enn in thrithia
theirra systir
varthi hvitan
hals Onondar.
Volund is the only person by name Anund found in our
mythic records. If we now eliminate — of course only for
the present and with the expectation of confirmatory evi-
dence— the name Anund and substitute Volund, we get
the following parallels :
Volund and Toko (the name of an archer) are
enemies of Halfdan.
Volund and the archer named Avo are enemies of Half-
dan.
The archer Orvandel is an enemy of Halfdan.
From this it would appear that Volund was very inti-
mately associated with one of the archers of the myth-
ology, and that both had some reason for being enemies
of Halfdan. Can this be corroborated by any other
source ?
849
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Volund's brothers are called Egill and Slagfidr (Slag-
•finnr} in Volundarkvida. The Icelandic-Norwegian
poems from heathen times contain paraphrases which
prove that the mythological Egil was famous as an archer
and skee-runner. The bow is "Egil's weapon," the
arrows are "Egil's weapon-hail" (Younger Edda, 422),
and "the swift herring of Egil's hands" (Har. Gr., p.
18). A ship is called Egil's skees, originally because he
could use his skees also on the water. In Volundarkvida
he makes hunting expeditions with his brothers on skees.
Vilkinasaga also (29, 30) knows Egil as Volund's
brother, and speaks of him as a wonderfully skilful archer.
The same Volund, who in Saxo under the name Anund
has Toko (the name of an archer) or the archer Avo by
his side in the conflict with Halfdan, also has the archer
Egil as a brother in other sources.
Of an archer Toko, who is mentioned in Hist., 487-490,
Saxo tells the same exploit as Vilkinasaga attributes to
Volund's brother Egil. In Saxo it is Toko who per-
forms the celebrated masterpiece which was afterwards
attributed to William Tell. In Vilkinasaga it is Egil.
The one like the other, amid similar secondary circum-
stances, shoots an apple from his son's head. Egil's skill
as a skee-runner and the serviceableness of his skees on
the water have not been forgotten in Saxo's account of
Toko. He runs on skees down the mountain, sloping pre-
cipitously down to the sea, Kullen in Scania, and is said
to have saved himself on board a ship. Saxo's Toko was
therefore without doubt identical with Volund's brother
Egil, and Saxo's Anund is the same Volund of whom
850
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Volundarkvida testifies that he also had this name in
the mythology.
Thus we have demonstrated the fact that Volund and
Egil appeared in the saga of the Teutonic patriarch Half-
dan as the enemies of the latter, and that the famous
archer Egil occupied the position in which we would
expect to find the celebrated archer Orvandel, Svipdag's
father. Orvandel is therefore either identical with Egil,
and then it is easy to understand why the latter is an
enemy of Halfdan, who we know had robbed his wife
Groa ; or he is not identical with Egil, and then we know
no motive for the appearance of the latter on the same
side as Svipdag, and we, moreover, are confronted by the
improbability that Orvandel does nothing to avenge the
insult done to him.
Orvandel's identity with Egil is completely confirmed
by the following circumstances.
Orvandel has the Elivagar and the coasts of Jotunheim
as the scene of his exploits during the time in which he is
the friend of the gods and the opponent of the giants.
To this time we must refer Horvendillus' victories over
Collerus (Kollr) and his sister Sela (cp. the name of a
monster Selkolla — Bisk S., i. 605) mentioned by Saxo
(Hist., 135-138). His surname inn frcekni, the brave,
alone is proof that the myth refers to important exploits
carried out by him, and that these were performed against
the powers of frost in particular — that is to say, in the
service of the gods and for the good of Midgard — is
plain from the narrative in the Younger Edda (276, 277).
This shows, as is also demanded by the epic connection,
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that the Asa-god .Thor and the archer Orvandel were at
least for a time confidential friends, and that they had met
each other on their expeditions for similar purposes in
Jotunheim. When Thor, wounded in- his forehead,
returns from his combat with the giant Hruwgnir to his
home, thrudvdngr (thrudvangar , thrudheimr,') Orvandel's
wife Groa was there and tried to help him with healing
sorcery, wherein she would also have succeeded if Thor
could have made himself hold his tongue for a while con-
cerning a report he brought with him about her husband,
and which he expected would please her. And Groa did
become so glad that she forgot to continue the magic
song and was unable to complete the healing. The report
was, as we know, that, on the expedition to Jotunheim
from which he had now come home, Thor had met Orvan-
del, carried him in his basket across the Elivagar, and
thrown a toe which the intrepid adventurer had frozen
up to heaven and made a star thereof. Thor added that
before long Orvandel would come "home ;" that is to say,
doubtless, "home to Thor," to fetch his wife Groa. It
follows that, when he had carried Orvandel across the
Elivagar, Thor had parted with him somewhere on the
way, in all probability in Orvandel's own home, and that
while Orvandel wandered about in Jotunheim, Groa, the
dis of growth, had a safe place of refuge in the Asa-God's
own citadel. A close relation between Thor and Orvan-
del also appears from the fact that Thor afterwards mar-
ries Orvandel's second wife Sif, and adopts his son Ull,
Svipdag's half-brother (see No. 102), in Asgard.
Consequently Orvandel's abode was situated south of
852
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Elivagar (Thor carried him nordan or Jotunheimum
— Younger Edda, 276), in the direction Thor had to
travel when going to and from the land of the giants,
and presumably quite near or on the strand of that mythic
water-course over which Thor on this occasion carried
him. When Thor goes from Asgard to visit the giants
he rides the most of the way in his chariot drawn by the
two goats Tanngnjostr and Tanngrisnir. In the poem
Haustlaung there is a particularly vivid description of his
journey in his thunder chariot through space when he pro-
ceeded to the meeting agreed upon with the giant Hrung-
ner, on the return from which he met and helped Orvan-
del across Elivagar (Younger Edda, 276). But across
this water and through Jotunheim itself Thor never
travels in his car. He wades across the Elivagar, he
travels on foot in the wildernesses of the giants, and en-
counters his foe face to face, breast to breast, instead of
striking from above with lightning. In this all accounts
of Thor's journeys to Jotunheim agree. Hence south of
the Elivagar and somewhere near them there must have
been a place where Thor left his chariot and his goats in
safety before he proceeded farther on his journey. And
as we already know that the archer Orvandel, Thor's
friend, and like him hostile to the giants, dwelt on the
road traveled by the Asa-god, and south of the Elivagar,
it lies nearest at hand to assume that Orvandel's castle
was the stopping place on his journey, and the place
where he left his goats and car.
Now in Hymerskvida (7, 37, 38) we actually read
that Thor, on his way to Jotunheim, had a stopping-place,
853
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
where his precious car and goats were housed and taken
care of by the host, who accordingly had a very impor-
tant task, and must have been a friend of Thor and the
Asa-gods in the mythology. The host bears the archer
name Egil. From Asgard to Egil's abode, says Hymers-
kvida, it is about one day's journey for Thor when he
rides behind his goats on his way to Jotunheim. After
this day's journey he leaves the draught-animals, deco-
rated with horns, with Egil, who takes care of them, and
the god continues his journey on foot. Thor and Tyr
being about to visit the giant Hymer —
Foro drivgom
dag thann fram
Asgardi fra,
unz til Egils quomo;
hirdi hann hafra
horngaufgasta
hurfo at haullo
er Hyrair atti.
("Nearly all the day they proceeded their way from
Asgard until they came to Egil's. He gave the horn-
strong goats care. They (Thor and Tyr) continued to
the great hall which Hymer owned.")
From Egil's abode both the gods accordingly go on
foot. From what is afterwards stated about adventures
on their way home, it appears that there is a long dis-
tance between Egil's house and Hymer's (cp. str. 35 —
foro lengi, adr., &c.). It is necessary to journey across
the Elivagar first — byr fyr capstan, 'Elivaga hundviss
Hymir (str. 5). In the Elivagar Hymer has his fishing-
854
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
grourrds, and there he is wont to catch whales on hooks
(cp. str. 17 — a vdg roa) ; but still he does not venture far
out upon the water (see str. 20), presumably because he
has enemies on the southern strand where Egil dwells.
Between the Elivagar and Hymer's abode there is a con-
siderable distance through woody mountain recesses
(holtrid — str. 27) and past rocks in whose caverns dwell
monsters belonging to Hymer's giant-clan (str. 35).
Thor resorts to cunning in order to secure a safe retreat.
After he has been out fishing with the giant, instead of
making his boat fast in its proper place on the strand, as
Hymer requests him to do, he carries the boat with its
belongings all the difficult way up to Hymer's hall. He
is also attacked on his way home by Hymer and all his
giant-clan, and, in order to be able to wield M joiner freely,
he must put down the precious kettle which he has cap-
tured from the frost-giant and was carrying on his broad
shoulders (str. 35, 36). But the undisturbed retreat
across the Elivagar he has secured by the above-men-
tioned cunning.
Egil is called hraunbui (str. 38), an epithet the ambig-
uous meaning of which should not be unobserved. It is
usually translated with rock-dweller, but it here means
"he who lives near or at Hraunn" (Hronn). Hraunn is
one of the names of the Elivagar (see Nos. 59, 93; cp.
Younger Edda, 258, with Grimnersmal, 38).
After their return to Egil's, Thor and Tyr again seat
themselves in the thunder-chariot and proceed to Asgard
with the captured kettle. But they had not driven far
before the strength of one of the horn-decorated draught
855
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
animals failed, and it was found that the goat was lame
(str. 37). A misfortune had happened to it while in
Egil's keeping, and this had been caused by the cunning
Loke (str. 37). The poem does not state the kind of
misfortune — the Younger Edda gives us information on
this point — but if it was Loke's purpose to make enmity
between Thor and his friend Egil he did not succeed this
time. Thor, to be sure, demanded a ransom for what
had happened, and the ransom was, as Hymerskvida
informs us, two children who were reared in Egil's house.
But Thor became their excellent foster-father and pro-
tector, and the punishment was therefore of such a kind
that it was calculated to strengthen the bond of friend-
ship instead of breaking it.
Gylfaginning also (Younger Edda, i. 142, &c.) has
preserved traditions showing that when Thor is to make a
journey from Asgard to Jotunheim it requires more than
one day, and that he therefore puts up in an inn at the
end of the first day's travel, where he eats his supper and
stops over night. There he leaves his goats and travels
the next day eastward (north), "across the deep sea"
(hafit that hit djupa), on whose other side his giant foes
have their abode. The sea in question is the Elivagar,
and the tradition correctly states that the inn is situated
on its southern (western) side.
But Gylfaginning has forgotten the name of the host
in this inn. Instead of giving his name it simply calls
him a buandi (peasant) ; but it knows and states on the
other hand the names of the two children there reared,
Thjalfe and Roskva ; and it relates how it happened that
856
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
one of Thor's goats became lame, but without giving Loke
the blame for the misfortune. According to Gylfaginning
the event occurred when Thor was on his way to
Utgard-Loke. In Gylfaginning, too, Thor takes the two
children as a ransom, and makes Thjalfe (thjalfi) a hero,
who takes an honourable part in the exploits of the god.
As shall be shown below, this inn on the road from
Asgard to Jotunheim is presupposed as well known in
Eilif Gudrunson's Thorsdrapa, which describes the
adventures Thor met with on his journey to the giant
Geirrod. Thorsdrapa gives facts of great mythological
importance in regard to the inhabitants of the place. They
are the "sworn" helpers of the Asa-gods, and when it is
necessary Thor can thence secure brave warriors, who
accompany him across Elivagar into Jotunheim. Among
them an archer plays the chief part in connection with
Thjalfe (see No. 114).
On the north side of Elivagar dwell accordingly giants
hostile to gods and men ; on the south side, on the other
hand, beings friendly to the gods and bound in their
friendship by oaths. The circumstance that they are
bound by oaths to the gods (see Thorsdrapa) implies that
a treaty has been made with them and that they owe
obedience. Manifestly the uttermost picket guard to the
north against the frost-giants is entrusted to them.
This also gives us an explanation of the position of the
star-hero Orvandel, the great archer, in the mythological
Epic. We can understand why he is engaged to the dis
of growth, Groa, as it is his duty to defend Midgard
against the destructions of frost; and why he fights on
857
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Elivagar and in Jotunheim against the same enemies
as Thor; and why the mythology has made him and the
lord oi thunder friends who visit each other. With the
tenderness of a father, and with the devotion of a fellow-
warrior, the mighty son of Odin bears on his shoulders
the weary and cold star-hero over the foggy Elivagar,
filled with magic terrors, to place him safe by his own
hearth south of this sea after he has honoured him with a
token which shall for ever shine on the heavens as a mon-
ument of Orvandel's exploits and Thor's friendship for
him. In the meantime Groa, Orvandel's wife, stays in
Thor's halls.
But we discover the same bond of hospitality between
Thor and Egil. According to Hymerskvida it is in Egil's
house, according to Gylfaginning in the house in which
Thjalfe is fostered, where the accident to one of Thor's
goats happens. In one of the sources the youth whom
Thor takes as a ransom is called simply Egil's child; in
the other he is called Thjalfe. Two different mythic
sources show that Thjalfe was a waif, adopted in Egil's
house, and consequently not a real brother but a foster-
brother of Svipdag and Ull. One source is Fornalder-
saga (iii. 241), where it is stated that Groa in a fl&dar-
mal found a little boy and reared him together with her
own son. Flcedarindl is a place which a part of the time
is flooded with water and a part of the time lies dry. The
other source is the Longobard saga, in which the myth-
ological Egil reappears as Agelmund, the first king of the
Longobardians who emigrated from Scandinavia (Origo
Longob., Paulus Diac., 14, 15; cp. No. 112). Agelmund,
858
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it is said, had a foster-son, Lamicho (Origo Longob.), or
Lamissio (Paulus Diac.), whom he found in a dam and
took home out of pity. Thus in the one place it is a
woman who bears the name of the archer Orvandel's
wife, in the other it is the archer Egil himself, who adopts
as foster-son a child found in a dam or in a place filled
with water. Paulus Diaconus says that the lad received
the name Lamissio to commemorate this circumstance,
"since he was fished up out of a dam or dyke," which in
their (the Longobardian) language is called lama (cp.
lehm, mud. The name Thjalfe (thjdlfi) thus suggests
a similar idea. As Vigfusson has already pointed out, it
is connected with the English delve, a dyke; with the
Anglo-Saxon delfan; the Dutch delven, to work the
ground with a spade, to dig. The circumstances under
which the lad was found presaged his future. In the
mythology he fells the clay-giant, Mokkr-kalfi (Younger
Edda, i. 272-274). In the migration saga he is the dis-
coverer of land and circumnavigates islands (Korm., 19,
3; Younger Edda, i. 496), and there he conquers giants
(Harbards-ljod, 39) in order to make the lands inhabit-
able for immigrants. In the appendix to the Gotland
law he appears as Thjelvar, who lands in Gotland, liber-
ates the island from trolls by carrying fire, colonises it
and becomes the progenitor of a host of emigrants, who
settle in southern countries. In Paulus Diaconus he
grows up to be a powerful hero; in the mythology he
develops into the Asa-god Thor's brave helper, who par-
ticipates in his and the great archer's adventures on the
EJivagar and in Jotunheim. Paulus (ch. 15) says that
859
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
when Agelmund once came with his Longobardians to a
river, "amazons" wanted to hinder him from crossing it.
Then Lamissio fought, swimming in the river, with the
bravest one of the amazons, and killed her. In the myth-
ology Egil himself fights with the giantess Sela, men-
tioned in Saxo as an amazon ; piraticis exercita rebus ac
bellici perita muneris (Hist., 138), while Thjalfe com-
bats with giantesses on Hlessey (Harbardslj., 39), and at
the side of Thor and the archer he rights his way through
the river waves, in which giantesses try to drown him
(Thorsdrapa). It is evident that Paulus Diaconus'
accounts of Agelmund and Lamissio are nothing but
echoes related as history of the myths concerning Egil
and Thjalfe, of which the Norse records fortunately have
preserved valuable fragments.
Thus Thjalfe is the archer Egil's and Groa's foster-
son, as is apparent from a bringing together of the sources
cited. From other sources we have found that Groa is the
archer Orvandel's wife. Orvandel dwells near the Eliva-
gar and Thor is his friend, and visits him on his way to
and from Jotunheim. These are the evidences of Orvan-
del's and Egil's identity which lie nearest at hand.
It has already been pointed out that Svipdag's father
Orvandel appears in Saxo by the name Ebbo (see Nos.
23, 100). It is Otharus-Svipdag's father whom he calls
Ebbo (Hist., 329-333). Halfdan slays Orvandel-Ebbo,
while the latter celebrates his wedding with a princess
Sygrutha (see No. 23). In the mythology Egil had
the same fate : an enemy and rival kills him for the sake
of a woman. "Franks Casket," an old work of sculpture
860
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
now preserved in England, and reproduced in George
Stephens' great work on the runes,* represents Egil
defending his house against a host of assailants who
storm it. Within the house a woman is seen, and she is
the cause of the conflict. Like Saxo's Halfdan, one of the
assailants carries a tree or a branched club as his weapon.
Egil has already hastened out, bow in hand, and his three
famous arrows have been shot. Above him is written in
runes his name, wherefore there can be no doubt about
his identity. The attack, according to Saxo, took place,
in the night (noctuque nuptiis supervenient — Hist., p.
330).
In a similar manner Paulus Diaconus relates the story
concerning Egil Agelmund's death (ch. 16). He is
attacked, so it is stated, in the night time by Bulgarians,
who slew him and carried away his only daughter. Dur-
ing a part of their history the Longobardians had the Bul-
garians as neighbors, with whom they were on a war-
footing. In the mythology it was "Borgarians," that is
to say, Borgar's son Halfdan and his men, who slew
Orvandel. In history the "Borgarians" have been
changed into Bulgarians for the natural reason that
accounts of wars fought with Bulgarians were preserved
in the traditions of the Longobardians.
The very name Ebbo reappears also in the saga of the
Longobardians. The brothers, under whose leadership
the Longobardians are said to have emigrated from Scan-
dinavia, are in Saxo (Hist., 418) called Aggo and Ebbo;
in Origo Longobcwdorum, Ajo and Ybor; in Paulus
*Runic Monuments, by George Stephens.
11 861
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(ch. 7), Ajo and Ibor. Thus the name Ebbo is another
form for Ibor, the German Ebur, the Norse Jofurr, "a
wild boar." The Ibor of the Longobard saga, the emi-
gration leader, and Agelmund, the first king of the emi-
grants, in the mythology, and also in Saxo's authorities,
are one and the same person. The Longobardian emi-
gration story, narrated in the form of history, thus has its
root in the universal Teutonic emigration myth, which
was connected with the enmity caused by Loke between
the gods and the primeval artists — an enmity in which
the latter allied themselves with the powers of frost, and,
at the head of the Skilfing-Yngling tribes, gave the
impetus to that migration southward which resulted in
the populating of the Teutonic continent with tribes
from South Scandia and Denmark (see Nos. 28, 32).
Nor is the mythic hero Ibor forgotten in the German
sagas. He is mentioned in Notker (about the year 1000)
and in the Vilkinasaga. Notker simply mentions him in
passing as a saga-hero well known at that time. He dis-
tinguishes between the real wild boar (Eber) roaming
in the woods, and the Eber (Ebur) who "wears the
swan-ring." This is all he has to say of him. But,
according to Volundarkvida, the mythological Ebur-Egil
is married to a swan-maid, and, like his brother Volund,
he wore a ring. The signification of the swan-rings was
originally the same as that of Draupner : they were sym-
bols of fertility, and were made and owned for this reason
by the primeval artists of mythology, who, as we have
seen, were the personified forces of growth in nature, and
by their beloved or wives, the swan-maids, who repre-
862
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sented the saps of vegetation, the bestowers of the mythic
"mead" or "ale." The swan-maid who loves Egil is,
therefore, in Volundarvida called Olrun, a parallel to the
name Olgefion, as Groa, Orvandel's wife, is called in
Haustlaung (Younger Edda, i. 282). Saxo, too, has
heard of the swan-rings, and says that from three swans
singing in the air fell a cingulum inscribed with names
down to King Fridlevus (Njord), which informed him
where he was to find a youth who had been robbed by a
giant, and whose liberation was a matter of great impor-
tance to Fridlevus. The context shows that the unnamed
youth was in the mythology Fridlevus-Njord's own son
Frey, the lord of harvests, who had been robbed by the
powers of frost. Accordingly, a swan-ring has co-oper-
ated in the mythology in restoring the fertility of the
earth.
In Vilkinasaga appears Villifer. The author of the
saga says himself that this name is identical with Wild-
Ebur, wild boar. Villifer, a splendid and noble-minded
youth, wears on his arm a gold ring, and is the elder
friend, protector, and saviour of Vidga Volundson. Of
his family relations Vilkinasaga gives us no information,
but the part it gives him to play finds its explanation
in the myth, where Ebur is Volund's brother Egil, and
hence the uncle of his favourite Vidga.
If we now take into consideration that in the German
Orentel saga, which is based on the Svipdag-myth, the
father of the hero is called Eigel (Egil), and his patron
saint Wieland (Volund), and that in the archer, who in
Saxo fights by the side of Anund- Volund against Half-
863
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dan, we have re-discovered Egil where we expected
Orvandel; then we here find a whole chain of evidence
that Ebur, Egil, and Orvandel are identical, and at the
same time the links in this chain of evidence, taken as
they are from the Icelandic poetry, and from Saxo, from
England, Germany, and Italy, have demonstrated how
widely spread among the Teutonic peoples was the myth
about Orvandel-Egil, his famous brother Volund, and his
no less celebrated son Svipdag. The result gained by the
investigation is of the greatest importance for the restora-
tion of the epic connection of the mythology. Hitherto
the Volundarkvida with its hero has stood in the gallery
of myths as an isolated torso with no trace of connection
with the other myths and mythic sagas. Now, on the
other hand, it appears, and as the investigation progresses
it shall become more and more evident, that the Volund-
myth belongs to the central timbers of the great epic of
Teutonic mythology, and extends branches through it in
all directions.
In regard to Svipdag's saga, the first result gained is
that the mythology was not inclined to allow Volund' s
sword, concealed in the lower world, to fall into the hands
of a hero who was a stranger to the great artist and his
plans. If Volund forged the sword for a purpose hostile
to the gods, in order to avenge a wrong done him, or to
elevate himself and his circle of kinsmen among the elves
at the expense of the ruling gods, then his work was not
done in vain. If Volund and his brothers are those
Ivalde sons who, after having given the gods beautiful
treasures, became offended on account of the decision
864
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which placed Sindre's work, particularly Mjolner, higher
than their own, then the mythology has also completely
indemnified them in regard to this insult. Mjolner is
broken by the sword of victory wielded by Volund's
nephew; Asgard trembles before the young elf. after he
had received the incomparable weapon of his uncle; its
gate is opened for him and other kinsmen of Volund, and
the most beautiful woman of the world of gods becomes
his wife.
109.
EREY POSTERED IN THE HOME OF ORVANDEIrEGIL, AND
VOLUND. ORVANDEI/S EPITHET ISOLFR. VOLUND'S
EPITHET AGGO.
The mythology has handed down several names of the
coast region near the Elivagar, where Orvandel-Egil and
his kinsmen dwelt, while they still were the friends of the
gods, and were an outpost active in the service against
the frost-powers. That this coast region was a part of
Alfheim, and the most northern part of this mythic land,
appears already from the fact that Volund and his broth-
ers are in Volundarkvida elf-princes, sons of a mythic
"king." The rule of the elf-princes must be referred to
Alfheim for the same reason as we refer that of the Vans
to Vanheim, and that of the Asa-gods to Asgard. The
part of Alfheim here in question, where Orvandel-Egil's
citadel was situated, was in the mythology called Ydalir,
Ysetr (Orimnersmal, 5; Olaf Trygveson's saga, ch. 21).
This is also suggested by the fact that Ullr, elevated to the
865
dignity of an Asa-god, he who is the son of Orvandel-
Egil, and Svipdag's brother (see No. 102), according to
Grimnersmal, has his halls built in Ydalir. Divine
beings who did not originally belong to Asgard, but were
adopted in Odin's clan, and thus became full citizens
within the bulwarks of the Asa-citadel, still retain pos-
session of the land, realm, and halls, which is their udal
and where they were reared. After he became a denizen
in Asgard, Njord continued to own and to reside occa-
sionally in the Vana-citadel Noatun beyond the western
ocean (see Nos. 20, 93). Skade, as an asynje, continues
to inhabit her father Thjasse's halls in Thrymheim
(Grimnersmal, 11). Vidar's grass and brush-grown
realm is not a part of Asgard, but is the large plain on
which, in Ragnarok, Odin is to fall in combat with Fenrer
(Grimnersmal, 17; see No. 39). When Ull is said to
have his halls in Ydaler, this must be based on a similar
reason, and Ydaler must be the land where he was reared
and which he inherited after his father, the great archer.
When Grimnersmal enumerates the homes of the gods, the
series of them begins with Thrudheim, Thor's realm, and
next thereafter, and in connection with Alfheim, is men-
tioned Ydaler, presumably for the reason that Thor's
land and Orvandel-Egil's were, as we have seen, most
intimately connected in mythology.
Land er heilact,
er ec liggia se
asom oc olfom naer;
en i thrudheimi
seal thorr vera,
unz um rivfaz regin.
866
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ydalir heita.
thar er Ullr hefir
ser um gorva sali;
Alfheim Frey
gafo i ardaga
tivar at tannfae.
Ydalir means the "dales of the bow" or "of the bows."
Ysetr is "the chalet of the bow" or "of the bows." That
the first part of these compound words is yr, "a bow," is
proved by the way in which the local name Ysetr can be
applied in poetical paraphrases, where the bow-holding
hand is called Ysetr. The names refer to the mythical
rulers of the region, namely, the archer Ull and his father
the archer Orvandel-Egil. The place has also been called
Geirvadills setr, Geirvandills setr, which is explained by
the fact that Orvandel's father bore the epithet Geir-
vandel (Saxo, Hist., 135). Hakon Jarl, the ruler of
northern Norway, is called (Fagrsk., 37, 4) Geirvadills
setrs Ullr, "the Ull of Geirvandel's chalet," a paraphrase
in which we find the mythological association of Ull with
the chalet which was owned by his father Orvandel and
his grandfather Geirvandel. The Ydales were described
as rich in gold. Ysetrs eldr is a paraphrase for gold.
With this we must compare what Volund says (Volun-
darkvida, 14) of the wealth of gold in his and his kins-
men's home. (See further, in regard to the same pass-
age, Nos. 114 and 115.)
In connection with its mention of the Ydales, Grim-
nersmal states that the gods gave Frey Alfheim as a tooth-
gift. Tannfe (tooth-gift) was the name of a gift which
was given (and in Iceland is still given) to a child when
867
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it gets its first tooth. The tender Frey is thus appointed
by the gods as king over Alfheim, and chief of the elf-
princes there, among whom Volund and Orvandel-Egil,
judging from the mythic events themselves, must have
been the foremost and most celebrated. It is also logically
correct, from the standpoint of nature symbolism, that
the god of growth and harvests receives the government
of elves and primeval artists, the personified powers of
culture. Through this arrangement of the gods, Volund
and Orvandel become vassals under Njord and his son.
In two passages in Saxo we read mythic accounts told
as history, from which it appears that Njord selected a
foster-father for his son, or let him be reared in a home
under the care of two fosterers. In the one passage
(Hist,. 272) it is Fridlevus-Njord who selects Avo the
archer as his son's foster-father; in the other passage
(Hist., 181) it is the tender Frotho, son of Fridlevus and
future brother-in-law of Ericus-Svipdag, who receives
Isulfus and Aggo as guardians.
So far as the archer Avo is concerned, we have already
met him above (see No. 108) in combat by the side of
Anundus- Volund against one Half dan. He is a parallel
figure to the archer Toko, who likewise fights by the side
of Anundus- Volund against Halfdan, and, as has already
been shown, he is identical with the archer Orvandel-
Egil.
The name Aggo is borne by one of the leaders of the
emigration of the Longobardians, brother of Ebbo-Ibor,
in whom we have already discovered Orvandel-Egil.
The name Isolfr, in the Old Norse poetic language,
868
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
designates the bear (Younger Edda, i. 589 ; ii. 484). Vil-
kinasaga makes Ebbo (Wild-Ebur) appear in the guise of
a bear when he is about to rescue Volund's son Vidga
from the captivity into which he had fallen. In his
shield Ebbo has images of a wild boar and of a bear. As
the wild boar refers to one of his names (Ebur), the
image of the bear should refer to another (Isolfr).
Under such circumstances there can be no doubt that
Orvandel-Egil and one of his brothers, the one desig-
nated by the name Aggo (Ajo), be this Volund or Slagfin,
were entrusted in the mythology with the duty of foster-
ing the young Frey. Orvandel also assumes, as vassal
under Njord, the place which foster-fathers held in rela-
tion to the natural fathers of their proteges.
Frey, accordingly, is reared in Alfheim, and in the
Ydales he is fostered by elf-princes belonging to a circle
of brothers, among whom one, namely, Volund, is the
most famous artist of mythology. His masterpiece, the
sword of victory, in time proves to be superior to Sindre's
chief work, the hammer Mjolner. And as it is always
Volund whom Saxo mentions by Orvandel-Egil's side
among his brothers (see No. 108), it is most reasonable
to suppose that it is Volund, not Slagfin, who appears
here under the name Aggo along with the great archer,
and, like the latter, is entrusted with the fostering of
Frey. It follows that Svipdag and Ull were Frey's fos-
ter-brothers. Thus it is the duty of a foster-brother
they perform when they go to rescue Frey from the
power of giants, and when they, later, in the war between
the Asas and Vans, take Frey's side. This also throws
869
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
additional light on Svipdag-Skirner's words to Frey in
Skirnersmal, 5 :
ungir saman
varom i ardaga,
vel msettim tvaeir truasc.
110.
SVIPDAG'S GRANDFATHER is IVALDE. ORVANDEL, VOLUND,
AND SIvAGElN THEREFORE IDENTICAL WITH IV AIDE'S
SONS.
In the mythology we read that elves smithied splendid
treasures for Frey (Grimnersmal, 42; Younger Edda,
i. 140, 340). Among these treasures were the remark-
able ship Skidbladnir and the gold-glittering boar Slidrug-
tanni, also called Gullinbursti (Younger Edda, i. 176, 264,
340-344), both clearly symbols of vegetation. The elves
that smithied these treasures are called Ivalde's sons, and
constitute the same group of brothers whose gifts to the
gods, at the instigation of Loke, are subjected to a public
examination by the Asas and by them found wanting as
compared with Sindre's products. It would be most sur-
prising, nay, quite incredible, if, when other artists made
useful presents to Frey, the elf-prince Volund and his
brothers did not do likewise, inasmuch as he is the chief
smith of them all} and inasmuch as he, with his brother
Orvandel-Egil, has taken upon himself the duties of a
foster-father toward the young harvest-god, among which
duties one was certainly to care for his good and enable
him to perform the important task devolving on him in
the administration of the world.
870
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
From this standpoint already it is more than probable
that the same artist who in the heroic saga of the Teu-
tonic tribes, under the name Volund, Wieland, Weland,
by the side of Mimer, plays the part of the foremost
smith that antiquity knew is the same one as in the myth-
ology was the most excellent smith; that is, the most
skilful one among Ivalde's sons. This view is perfectly
confirmed as to its correctness by the proofs which I shall
now present.
Of Ivalde, Fornspjallsljod says that he had two groups
of children, and that Idun, the goddess of vegetation, be-
longed to one of these groups :
Alfa asttar
Ithunni heto
Ivallds ellri
yngsta barna.
Idun is, therefore, a sister of the celebrated artists, the
sons of Ivalde. In Volundarkvida, Volund and Slagfin
are brothers or half-brothers of the discs of vegetation,
who are together with them in the Wolf dales (see str. 2).
According to Fornspjallsljod, Idun was for a time absent
from Asgard, and stayed in a winter-cold land near Narfe-
Mimer's daughter Nat, and in company with persons
whose names and epithets indicate that they were smiths,
primeval artists (Rognir and Regin; see Nos. 113, 115,
and the epithet viggiar, a synonym of smidar — Younger
Edda, i. 587). Thus we read precisely the same of Idun
as of the swan-maids and vegetation-dises who dwelt for
a time in the Wolfdales with Volund and his brothers.
871
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Further on it shall be demonstrated that the name of
Volund's father in the introduction of Volundarkvida and
the name given to the father of Volund's and Slagfin's
swan-maids are synonyms, and refer to one and the same
person. But if we for the present leave this proof out,
and confine ourselves to the evidences already presented,
then the question concerning the identity of the Ivalde
sons with the group of brothers Volund, Egil, and Slagfin
assumes the following form :
1. (a) There is in the mythology a group of brothers,
the Ivalde sons, from whose hands the most wonderful
works proceeded, works which were presented to the
gods, and by the latter were compared with those of the
primeval artist Sindre.
(6) In the heroic saga there is a group of brothers, to
whom Volund belongs, the most celebrated of the smiths
handed down from the mythology.
2. (a) Ivalde is an elf and his sons elves.
(&) Volund, Egil, and Slagfin are elves (Volundar-
kvida, 32).
3. (a) Ivalde's sons are brothers or half-brothers of
the goddess of vegetation, Idun.
(6) Volund, Egil, and Slagfin are brothers or half-
brothers of swan-maids and discs of vegetation.
4. (a) Of Idun, the sister of Ivalde's sons, it is stated
that she was for a time absent from the gods, and dwelt
with the primeval artists in a winter-cold land, near Nat,
the daughter of Narfi-Mim&r.
(&) Volund and his brothers' swan-maids dwell for a
time in a winter-cold land, which, as my researches have
872
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
already shown, is situated fyr ndgrindr nedan, conse-
quently in the lower world, near the realm of Nat.
5. (a) Ivalde's sons were intimately associated with
Frey and gave him precious treasures.
(b) Volund and Egil were intimately associated with
Frey, and were his fosterers and wards.
6. (a) Ivalde's sons were most deeply insulted by the
gods.
(&) Volund has been most deeply insulted by the Asas.
He and Egil become their foes, and ally themselves with
the powers of frost.
7. (a) The insult given to Ivalde's sons consisted in
the fact that their works were judged inferior as com-
pared with the hammer Mjolner made by Sindre.
(&) The best smith-work produced by Volund is a
sword of such a quality that it is to prove itself superior
to Mjolner in battle.
These circumstances alone force us to assume the iden-
tity of Ivalde's sons with Volund and his brothers. We
must either admit the identity, or we are obliged to assume
that the epic of the mythology contained two such groups
of brothers, and made them identical in descent, functions,
and fortunes. Besides, it must then have made the one
group avenge not an insult offered to itself, but an insult
to the other. I have abstained from the latter assump-
tion, because it is in conflict with the best rules for a log-
ical investigation — causa non sunt prater necessitatem
multiplicands. And the identity gains confirmation from
all sides as the investigation progresses.
873
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
111.
THE RESULTS OF THE JUDGMENT PASSED ON THE WORKS
OF ART PRODUCED BY THE IVALDE SONS. PARALLEL
MYTHS IN RIGVEDA.
In the Younger Edda, which speaks of the judgment
passed by the gods on the art works of the Ivalde sons
(p. 340, &c.), there is nothing said about the consequences
of the judgment ; and the mythologists seem therefore to
have assumed that no results followed, although it was
prepared by the "father of misfortunes," the far-calcu-
lating and evil-scheming Loke. The judgment would in
that case be an isolated event, without any influence on
the future, and without any connection with the other
mythic events. On the other hand, no possible explana-
tion was found of Volund's words (Volundarkvida, 28),
which he utters after he has taken his terrible vengeance
on Nidad and is prepared to fly away in eagle guise from
his prison: Nu hefi ec hefnt harma minna allra nema
einna ivithgjarnra — "Now I have avenged all the wrongs
done to me, excepting one, which demands a more terrible
vengeance." The wrong here referred to by him is not
done to him by Nidad, and did not happen to him while
he lived as an exile in the wildnerness of the Wolfdales,
but belongs to an earlier time, when he and his brothers
and their kinsmen dwelt in the realm rich in gold, where,
according to Volundarkvida (14), they lived a happy
life. This wrong was not avenged when he and his
brothers left their home abounding in gold, in order that
far from his enemies he might perfect his plan of revenge
874
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
by making the sword of victory. Volund's words refer
to the judgment passed on the art work of the Ivalde
sons, and thus the mythic events unite themselves into a
continuous chain.
This judgment was in its consequences too important
not to be referred to in Voluspa, which makes all the dan-
ger-boding events of the mythology pass one by one before
our eyes in the order in which they happened, in order to
show how this world from an innocent and happy begin-
ning sank deeper and deeper into the misery which attains
its maturity in Ragnarok. That is the plan and purpose
of the poem. As I shall show fully and in detail in
another part of this work, its purpose is not to speak
of Valfather's "art work," but of the treacherous deeds
of Loke, "the father of evil" (Vafodrs vel— Cod. Hauk.) ;
not to speak of "the traditions of the past," but of "the
past events full of danger" (forn spjoll fira}. The happy
time during which the Asas tefldu i tuni and teitir varu
passes away for ever, and is followed by an epoch in which
three dangerous thurs-maidens came from Jotenheim.
These thurs-maidens are not the norns, as has usually
been assumed. Of the relation of the norns to the gods
I have given a full account already. The three thurs-
maids are the one who in her unity is triple and is thrice
born of different parents. Her name is Heid-Gulveig-
Angerboda, and, in connection with Loke, she constitutes
the evil principle of Teutonic mythology, like Angra
Mainyu, and Jahi in the Iranian mythology (Bundehesh,
3). The misfortune-boding event which happens after
the first hypostasis of "the three times born" came from
875
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Jotunheim is mentioned in connection with its conse-
quences in Voluspa (str. 8.) The Asas had not hitherto
suffered from want of works of gold, but now came a
time when such as might be of use or pleasure to the gods
were no longer to be had. Of the gold-metal itself the
gods have never been in want. Their halls glitter with
this metal, and it grows in the bright wood Glasir, out-
side of Valhal (Younger Edda, i. 340). The poem, as
the very words show, means golden works of art, things
made of gold, such as Gungnir, Draupnir, Sif 's hair, Bris-
ingamen, and Slidrugtanni, things the possession of which
increased the power of the gods and the wealth of Mid-
gard. Such ceased to flow into the hands of the gods.
The epoch in which Sindre's and the Ivalde son's gifts
increased Asgard's collection of world-protecting weapons
and fertility-producing ornaments was at an end, when
Loke, through Heid's arrival, found his other ego and
when the evil principle, hitherto barren, could as man
and woman give birth to evil deeds. The consequence
of the first deceitful act was, as we see, that hands skilful
in art — hands which hitherto had made and given such
treasures — refused to serve the gods any longer. The
arrangement whereby Loke gained this end Voluspa does
not mention, but it can be no other than the judgment
brought about by him, which insulted the sons of Ivalde,
and, at the same time, cheated the victorious Sindre out
of the prize agreed on, Loke's head. Both the groups of
artists must have left the divine court angry at the gods.
When we remember that the primeval artists are the cre-
ative forces of vegetation personified, then we can also
876
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
understand the significance of the conflict between them
and the gods, whom they hitherto had served. The first
part of Voluspa is interpolated partly with strophes from
an old song of creation of great mythological importance,
partly with its lists of names for the use of young poets. If
we remove these interpolations, there remains a chain of
primeval mythological mishaps, the first link of which is
the event which marks the end of the first epoch during
which the primeval artists, amicably united with the gods,
made splendid weapons, means of locomotion, and orna-
ments for the latter. On this conflict followed the blend-
ing of the air with harmful elements — in other words, it
was the beginning of the great winter. Freyja was be-
trayed into the hands of the giants; the black art, sown
by Heid, was disseminated among mankind; the murder
was committed against the one thrice born contrary to
promise and oath; there is war between the Asas and
Vans; the first great war in the world breaks out, when
Asgard is stormed and Midgard is covered with battle-
fields, on which brothers slay each other ; Balder is killed
by the mistletoe; the host of monsters are born who, in
the Ironwood, await Ragnarok; on account of the sins
of men, it became necessary to make places of torture in
the lower world. All these terrible events, which hap-
pened in time's morning, are the cunning work of the
father of misfortunes and of his feminine counterpart.
The seeress in Voluspa relates all these events and deeds to
show the necessity of the coming destruction and regen-
eration of the world.
Above (see No. 54), it has already been shown that the
12
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fragments of old Aryan mythology, which Avesta, Zend,
and Bundehesh have preserved, speak of a terrible winter,
which visited the world. To rescue that which is noblest
and best among plants, animals, and men from the com-
ing destruction, Jima arranged in the lower world a sep-
arate enclosed domain, within which selected organisms
live an uncontaminated life undisturbed by the events of
this world, so that they may people a more beautiful and a
happier earth in the regenerated world. I have shown
that the same myth in all important details reappears in
the Teutonic doctrine anent Mimer's grove and the dsme-
gir living there. In the Iranian records, we read that the
great winter was the work of the evil spirit, but they do
not tell the details or the epic causes of the destruction by
the cold. Of these causes we get information in Rigveda,
the Indian sister of the Iranian mythology.
Clothed with divine rank, there lives among Rigveda's
gods an extraordinary artist, Tvashtar (Tvashtri), often
mentioned and addressed in Rigveda's hymns. The word
means "the master-workman/' "the handi-workman"
(Bergaigne, Relig. Ved., iii. 45; Darmesteter, Ormazd,
63, 100). He is the one who forms the organisms in the
maternal wombs, the one who prepares and first possesses
as his secret the strength- and inspiration-giving soma-
drink (Rigv., ii. 53, &c.) ; it is he that supports the races
of men (Rigv., iii. 55, 19). Among the wonderful things
made by his hands are mentioned a goblet, which the gods
drink from, and which fills itself with blessings (Rigv.,
iii. 55, 20; x. 53, 9), and Indra's the Hindooic Thor's,
thunderbolt, corresponding to Thor's Mjolner.
878
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
But among mortals brothers have been reared, them-
selves mortals, and not of divine rank, but who have edu-
cated themselves into artists, whose skill fills the world
with astonishment. They are three in number, usually
called the Ribhus, but also Anus and Ayus, names which
possibly may have some original connection with the
Volund names Anund and Ajo. Most clever and enter-
prising in successful artistic efforts is the youngest of the
three (Rigv., iv. 34). They are also soma-brewers,
skalds, and heroes (Rigv., iv. 36, 5, 7), and one of them,
like Volund's brother Orvandel-Egil, is an unsurpassed
archer (Rigv., iv. 36, 6) . On account of their handiwork,
these mortal artists come in contact with the gods (Rigv.,
iv. 35), and as Volund and Orvandel-Egil become Thor's
friends, allies, war-comrades, and servants, so the Ribhus
become Indra's (Rigv., i. 51, 2; vii, 37, 7) ; "with Indra,
the helpful, allied themselves the helpers; with Indra, the
nimble, the Ribhus." They make weapons, coats-of-
mail, and means of locomotion, and make wonderful treas-
ures for the gods. On earth they produce vegetation in
the deserts, and hew out ways for the fertilising streams
(Rigv., v. 42, 12; iv. 33, 7). With Ivalde's sons, they,
therefore, share the qualities of being at the same time
creators of vegetation, and smiths at the hearth, and be-
stowers of precious treasures to the gods.
But some evil tongue persuaded the gods that the Rib-
hus had said something derogatory of the goblet made by
Tvashtar. This made Tvashtar angry, and he demanded
their death. The gods then sent the fire-god Agni to the
Ribhus. The Ribhus asked : "Why has the most excel-
879
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
lent, the most youthful one come to us ? On what errand
does he come?" Agni told them that it was reported
that they had found fault with Tvashtar's goblet; they
declared that they had not said anything derogatory, but
only talked about the material of which it was made. Agni
meanwhile stated the resolution of the gods, to the effect
that they were to make from Tvashtar's goblet four others
of the same kind. If they were unable to do this, then
the gods would doubtless satisfy Tvashtar's request and
take their lives ; but if they were able to make the goblets,
then they should share with the gods the right to receive
offerings. Moreover, they were to give the following
proof of mastership. They were to smithy a living horse,
a living chariot, a living cow, and they were to create a
means of rejuvenation and demonstrate its efficacy on two
aged and enfeebled beings. The Ribhus informed the
gods that they would do what was demanded of them. So
they made the wonderful chariot or the chariot-ship,
which they gave to the Asvinians — the beautiful twin-
gods — on which they ride through the air and on the sea
(cp. Skidbladner, Frey's ship, and Hringhorne, Balder's,
and probably also Hoder's means of locomotion through
the air and on the sea). Of one horse they made two, and
presented them to Indra. Out of an empty cow's hide
they smithied a cow (cp. Sindre's work of art when he
made the boar Slidringtanne out of an empty pig's skin) .
They made the remedy of rejuvenation, and tested it suc-
cessfully on their aged parents. Finally, they do the
great master-work of producing four goblets of equal ex-
cellence from Tvashtar's. Thereupon thQy appear before
880
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the gods who, "w'th insight," test their works. Tvashtar
himself could not help being astounded when he saw the
goblets. But the result of the test by the gods, and the
judgment passed on the art- works of the Ribhus, were
fraught with danger for the future. Both Tvashtar and
the Ribhus became dissatisfied. Tvashtar abandoned the
gods and betook himself to the mountains with the discs of
vegetation, in whose company he is often mentioned. The
Ribhus refused to accept from the gods the proffered
share in morning and noon sacrifices, and went away curs-
ing their adversaries. They proceeded on long journeys,
and the gods knew not where to find them (Rigv., i. 161,
1-13 ;iv. 33, 1-11, &c.).
The result of this trouble between the primeval artists
themselves, and between them and the gods, becomes clear
from the significance which Tvashtar, he who nourishes
the world, and the Ribhus, they who deck the deserts with
vegetation, and irrigate the valleys, have as symbols of
nature. The beneficent powers of nature, who hitherto
had operated in the service of the gods, abandon their
work, and over the world are spread that winter of which
the Iranian mythology speaks, that darkness, and that
reign of giant-monsters which, according to Rigveda,
once prevailed, and during which time Indra, at the head
of the gods, fought valiantly to restore order and to bring
back the sun.
Here we find remarkable points of contact, or rather
contact surfaces, between the Asiatic-Aryan groups of
myths and the Teutonic. The question is not as to simi-
larity in special details. That kind of similarities may be
881
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
pointed out in nearly all mythic groups in the world, and,
as a rule, altogether too bold hypotheses are built on the
feeble foundations they offer. The question here is in
regard to identity in great, central, connected collections
of myths. Such are : The myths concerning an original
harmony between a divine clan on the one hand, and
artists subordinate to, and in the service of, the divine
clan on the other hand. Artists who produce fertility,
ornaments, and weapons for the gods, know how to brew
the strength- and inspiration-giving mead, and are closely
connected with discs of vegetation, who, as we shall show,
appear as swan-maids, not only in the Teutonic mythology
but also in the Hindooic ; the myths telling how this har-
mony was frustrated by a judgment in a competition, the
contending parties being on the one hand he who in the
Hindooic mythology made Indra's thunderbolt, and in the
Teutonic Thor's thundering Mjolner; and on the other
hand three brothers, of whom one is an excellent archer ;
the myths concerning the consequences of the judgment,
the destruction of nature by frost-powers and giant-mon-
sters; the myths (in the Iranian and Teutonic records of
antiquity) concerning the subterranean paradise, in which
a selection of the best beings of creation are protected
against annihilation, and continue to live uncorrupted
through centuries ; the myths (in the Iranian and Teutonic
records of antiquity) of' the destiny of these beings, con-
nected with the myths likewise common to the Iranian and
Teutonic mythologies concerning the destruction and
regeneration of the world. Common to the Hindooic and
Teutonic mythology is also the idea that a cunning, spying,
882
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
being, in Rigveda Dadhyak (Dadhyank), in the Icelandic
sources Loke, has lost his head to an artist who smithied
the bolt for Indra and the hammer for Thor, but saves his
wager through cunning.
An important observation should here be pointed out.
A comparison between different passages in Rigveda
shows, that of all the remarkable works of art which were
exhibited to the gods for their examination, there was
originally not one of metal. Tvashtar's goblet was not
made of gold, but of fire and water and a third element.
Indra's thunderbolt was made of the bones of the head of
Dadhyak's horse, and it is in a later tradition that it be-
comes bronze. Common to the Aryan-Asiatic and the
Teutonic mythology is the ability of the primeval artists
to make animals from empty skins of beasts, and of mak-
ing from one work of art several similar ones (the goblet
of the Ribhus, Sindre's Draupner). In the Teutonic
mythology, Thor's hammer was not originally of metal,
but of stone, and the other works produced by Sindre and
Ivalde's sons may in the course of centuries have under-
gone similar changes. It should also be noted that not a
trace is to be found in the Asiatic groups of myths of a
single one to be compared with that concerning Svipdag
and the sword of victory. In the Teutonic heroic saga,
Geirvandel, the spear-hero, is the father of Orvandel, the
archer, and of him is born Svipdag, the sword-hero (cp.
No. 123). The myth concerning the sword of victory
seems to be purely Teutonic, and to have sprung into
existence during one of the bronze or iron ages, while the
myths concerning the judgment passed on the primeval
883
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
artists, and concerning the fimbul-winter following, must
hail from a time when metals were not yet used by the
Aryans. In the other event it would be most incredible
to suppose that the judgment should concern works of art,
of which not a single one originally suggested a product
of metal.
112.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE JUDGMENT PASSED ON THE
IVALDE SONS (continued). NJORD'S EFFORTS TO
BRING ABOUT A RECONCILIATION.
It has already been stated that Fridlevus-Njord rescues
a princely youth from the power of the giants. Accord-
ing to Saxo, the event was an episode in the feud between
Fridlevus-Njord and Anundus (Volund), and Avo, the
archer (Orvandel-Egil). This corroborates the theory
that the rescued youth was Frey, Volund's and Egil's
foster-son. The first one of the gods to be seized by
fears on account of the judgment passed on Ivalde's
sons, ought, naturally, to be Njord, whose son Frey was
at that time in the care and power of Volund and Egil ( see
No. 109). We also learn from Saxo that Fridlevus took
measures to propitiate the two brothers. He first sends
messengers, who on his behalf woo the daughter of
Anund- Volund, but the messengers do not return. Anund
had slain them. Thereupon Fridlevus goes himself,
accompanied by others, and among the latter was a "medi-
ator." The name of the mediator was Bjorno, and he
was one of those champions who constituted the defence
884
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of that citadel, which Fridlevus afterwards captured, and
which we have recognised as Asgard (see No. 36). Thus
Bjorno is one of the Asas, and there are reasons, which I
shall discuss later, for assuming him to be Balder's brother
Hodr. The context shows that Fridlevus' journey to
Ivalde's sons and meeting with them takes place while
there was yet hope of reconciliation, and before the latter
arrived in the inaccessible Wolfdales, which are situated
below the Na-gates in the subterranean Jotunheim. On
the way thither they must have been overtaken by Fridle-
vus, and doubtless the event occurred there which Saxo
relates, and of which an account in historical form is pre-
served in the Longobardian migration saga.
The meeting did not lead to reconciliation, but to war.
Avo, the archer (Orvandel-Egil; see Nos. 108, 109)
appeared on the one side and challenged Fridlevus-Njord
to a duel. Bjorno became angry that a person of so
humble descent as this Avo dared to challenge the noble-
born Fridlevus, and in his wrath he drew his bow to fell
"the plebeian" with an arrow. Thus Bjorno also was an
archer. But Avo anticipated him, and an arrow from
him severed Bjorno's bow-string from the bow. While
Bjorno was tying the string again, there came from Avo a
second arrow, which passed between his fingers without
hurting him, and then there came a third arrow, which
shot away Bjorno's arrow just as he was placing it on
the string. Then the Ivalde sons continued their depar-
ture. Bjorno let loose a molossus he had with him to
pursue them, probably the same giant-dog or giant wolf-
dog which Saxo describes in a preceding chapter (Hist.,
885
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
260) as being in Bjorno's possession, and which before
had guarded the giant Offote's herds. But this molossus
was not able to prevent those fleeing from reaching their
destination in safety. In all probability Frey had already
been delivered by his wards to the giants when this hap-
pened. This must have occurred on the way between
the abode abounding in gold, where Ivalde's sons had
formerly lived in happiness, and the Wolfdales, and so
within Jotunheim, where the gods were surrounded by
foes.
The story of this adventure on the journey of the emi-
grating Ivalde sons reappears in a form easily recognised
in Paulus Diaconus, where he tells of the emigration of
the Longobardians under Ibor (Orvandel-Egil; see No.
108) and Ajo (Volund). In Saxo Avo-Egil, who be-
longs to the race of elves? becomes a low-born champion,
while the Vana-god Njord becomes King Fridlevus. In
Paulus the saga is not content with making the great
archer of the emigrants a plebeian, but he is made a thrall
who challenges a chosen free-born warrior among the
foes of the Longobardians. In the mythology and in
Saxo the duel was fought with bows and arrows, and the
plebeian was found to be far superior to his opponent.
Paulus does not name the kind of weapons used, but when
it had ended with the victory of "the thrall," an oath was
taken on an arrow that the thralls were to be freed from
their chains by the Longobardians. Consequently the
arrow must have been the thrall's weapon of victory. In
the mythology, the journey of the Ivalde sons to the Wolf-
dales was down to the lower world Jotunheim and north-
886
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ward through Nifelhel, inhabited by thurses and mon-
sters. Both in Saxo and Paulus this sort of beings take
part in the adventures described. In Saxo, Fridlevus'
war-comrade Bjorno sends a monster in the guise of a dog
against the sons of Ivalde. In Paulus, according to the
belief of their enemies, the emigrants had as their allies
"men with dog-heads."
Bjorno is an Asa-god ; and he is described as an archer
who had confidence in his weapon, though he proved to
be inferior to Avo in the use of it. Among the gods of
Asgard only two archers are mentioned — Hodr and Ullr.
At the time when this event occurred Ull had not yet been
adopted in Asgard. As has been shown above (see No.
102), he is the son of Orvandel-Egil and Sif. His abode
is still with his parents when Svipdag, his half-brother,
receives instructions from Sif to seek Frey and Freyja in
Jotunheim (see No. 102), and he faithfully accompanies
Svipdag through his adventures on this journey. Thus
Ull is out of the question — the more so as he would in
that case be opposing his own father. Hoder (Hodr)
is mentioned as an archer both in the Beowulf poem,
where he, under the name Haedcyn, shoots Balder-Here-
beald accidentally with his "horn-bow," and in Saxo
(arcus peritia pollebat — Hist., Ill), and in Christian
tales based on myths, where he appears by the name
Hedinn. That Bjorno, mentioned by Saxo as a beautiful
youth, is Hoder is confirmed by another circumstance.
He is said to be sequestris ordinis vir (Hist., 270), an
expression so difficult to interpret that scholars have pro-
posed to change it into sequioris or equestris ordinis vir.
887
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The word shows that Bjorno in Saxo's mythological
authorities belonged to a group of persons whose func-
tions were such that they together might be designated
as a sequestris ordo. Sequester means a mediator in gen-
eral, and in the law language of Rome it meant an impar-
tial arbitrator to whom a dispute might be referred. The
Norse word which Saxo, accordingly, translated with
sequestris ordo, "the mediators," "the arbitrators," can
have been none other than the plural Ijonar, a mythologi-
cal word, and also an old legal term, of which it is said in
the Younger Edda : Ljonar heita their menn, er ganga
um s&ttir manna, "Ijonar are called those men whose
business it is to settle disputes." That this word Ijonar
originally designated a certain group of Asa-gods whose
special duty it was to act as arbitrators is manifest from
the phrase Ijona kindir, "the children of the peacemakers,"
an expression inherited from heathendom and applied to
mankind far down in Christian times ; it is an expression
to be compared with the phrase megir Heimdallar, "Heim-
dal's sons," which also was used to designate mankind. In
Christian times the phrase "children of men" was trans-
lated with the heathen expression Ijona kindir; and when
the recollection of the original meaning of Ijonar was
obliterated, the word, on account of this usage, came to
mean men in general (viri, homines}, a signification
which it never had in the days of heathendom.
Three Asa-gods are mentioned in our mythological rec-
ords as peacemakers — Balder, Hoder, and Balder's son,
Forsete. Balder is mentioned as judge in the Younger
Edda (90). As such he is liksamastr — that is, "the most
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
influential peacemaker." Of Forsete, who inherits his
father's qualities as judge, it is said in Grimnersmal (15)
that he svefer allar sacir, "settles all disputes." Hoder,
who both in name and character appears to be a most
violent and thoughtless person, seems to be the one least
qualified for this calling. Nevertheless he performed the
duties of an arbitrator by the side of Balder and probably
under his influence. Saxo {Hist., 122) speaks of him
as a judge to whom men referred their disputes — con-
sueverat consulenti populo plebiscite, depromere — and de-
scribes him as gifted with great talents of persuasion. He
had eloquentice suavitatem, and was able to subdue stub-
born minds with benignissimo sermone {Hist., 116, 117).
In Voluspa (60) the human race which peoples the re-
newed earth is called burir brodra tvegia, "the sons of the
two brothers," and the two brothers mentioned in the pre-
ceding strophe are Balder and Hoder. Herewith is to
be compared Ijona kindir in Voluspa (14). In Harbard-
sljod (42) the insolent mocker of the gods, Harbard,
refers to the miserable issue of an effort made by jafnendr,
"the arbitrator," to reconcile gods with certain ones of
their foes. I think it both possible and probable that the
passage refers to the mythic event above described, and
that it contains an allusion to the fact that the effort to
make peace concerned the recovery of Frey and Freyja,
who were delivered as "brides" to naughty giants, and
for which "brides" the peacemakers received arrows and
blows as compensation. Compare the expression b&ta
mundi baugi and Thor's astonishment, expressed in the
next strophe, at the insulting words, the worst of the kind
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
he ever heard. Saxo describes the giant in whose power
Frey is, when he is rescued by his father, as a cowardly
and enervated monster whose enormous body is a moles
destituta rubore (Hist., 368). In this manner ended the
effort of the gods to make peace. The three sons of
Ivalde continue their journey to the Wolfdales, inaccess-
ible to the gods, in order that they thence might send ruin
upon the world.
113.
PROOFS THAT IVALD^S SONS AR£ IDENTICAL WITH
Observations made in the course of my investigations
anent Ivalde and his sons have time and again led me to
the unexpected result that Ivalde's sons, Slagfin, Egil, and
Volund, are identical with Olvalde-Alvalde's sons, who,
in the Grotte-song, are called Idi, Urnir or Aurnir
(Ornir), and thjazi, and in the Younger Edda (p. 214)
thjazi, Idi, and Gangr. This result was unexpected and,
as it seemed to me in the beginning, improbable, for the
reason that where Thjasse is mentioned in the Elder Edda,
he is usually styled a giant, while Volund is called a prince
or chief of elves in Volundarkvida. In Grimnersmal
(11) Thjasse is designated as inn amdtki iotunn; in Har-
bardsljod (19) as enn thrudmothgi iotunn; in Hyndlu-
Ijod (30) as a kinsman of Gymer and Aurboda. The
Grotte-song (9) says that Thjasse, Ide, and Aurnir were
brothers of those mountain giants who were the fathers
of Menja and Fenja. In the Younger Edda he is also
890
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
called a jotunn. In the beginning of my researches, and
before Volund's position in the mythology was clear to
me, it appeared to me highly improbable that a prince
among the elves and one of the chief artists in the myth-
ology could be characterised as a giant. Indeed I was
already then aware that the clan-names occurring in the
mythology — ass, vcmr, dlfr, dvergr, and jotunn — did not
exclusively designate the descent of the beings, but could
also be applied to them on account of qualities developed
or positions acquired, regardless of the clan to which they
actually belonged by their birth. In Thrymskvida (15),
so to speak in the same breath, Heimdal is called both ass
and vanr — "tha quath that Heimdallr, hvitastr dsa, vissi
han vel fram sem vanir dthrir" And Loke is designated
both as ass and jotunn, although the Asas and giants rep-
resent the two extremes. Neither Heimdal nor Loke are
of the Asa-clan by birth ; but they are adopted in Asgard,
that is, they are adopted Asas, and this explains the appel-
lation. Elves and dwarfs are doubtless by descent differ-
ent classes of beings, but the word dwarf, which in the
earliest Christian times became the synonym of a being
of diminutive stature, also meant an artist, a smith,
whence both Vans and elves, nay, even Fjalar, could be
incorporated in the Voluspa dwarf-list. When, during
the progress of my investigations, it appeared that Volund
and his brothers in the epic of the mythology were the
most dangerous foes of the gods and led the powers of
frost in their efforts to destroy the world, it could no
longer surprise me that Volund, though an elf prince, was
characterised as inn dmdtki iotunn, enn thrudmothgi
891
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
iotunn. But there was another difficulty in the way:
according to Hyndluljod and the Grotte-song, Thjasse and
his brothers were kinsmen of giants, and must therefore
undoubtedly have had giant-blood in their veins. But
there are kinsmen of the giants among the Asas too ; and
when in the progress of the investigation it appears that
Thjasse's mother is a giantess, but his father a hapt, a
god of lower rank, then his maternal descent, and his posi-
tion as an ally and chief of the giants, and as the most
powerful foe of Asgard and Midgard, are sufficient to
explain the apparent contradiction that he is at the same
time a giant and a kinsman of the giants, and still identical
with the elf-prince, Volund. It should also be observed
that, as shall be shown below, the tradition has preserved
the memory of the fact that Volund too was called a giant
and had kinsmen among the giants.
The reasons which, taken collectively, prove con-
clusively at least to me, that Ivalde's sons and Olvalde's
are identical are the following :
(1) In regard to the names themselves, we note in the
first place that, as has already been pointed out, the name
of the father of Ide, as Aurnir-Gang, and of Thjasse ap-
pears with the variations Allvaldi, Olvaldi, and Audvaldi.
To persons speaking a language in which the prefixes I-,
Id-, and All- are equivalents and are substituted for one
another, and accustomed to poetics, in which it was the
most common thing to substitute equivalent nouns and
names (for example, Grjotbjdrn for Arinbjorn, Fjall-
gyldir for 'Asolfr, &c.), it was impossible to see in Ivaldi
and Allvaldi anything but names designating the same
person.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(2) Anent the variation Olvalde we have already seen
that its equivalents Olmodr and Sumbl (Finnakonungr,
phinnorum rex} allude to Slagfin's, Orvandel-Egil's, and
Volund's father, while Olvalde himself is said to be the
father of Ide, Aurnir, and Thjasse.
(3) Ajo's and Ibor's mother is called Gambara in
Origo Longobardorum and in Paulus Diaconus. Aggo's
and Ebbo's mother is called Gambaruc in Saxo. In Ibor-
Ebbo and Ajo-Aggo we have re-discovered Egil and
Volund. The Teutonic stem of which the Latinised Gam-
bara was formed is in all probability gambr, gammr, a
synonym of gripr (Younger Edda, ii. 572), the German
Greif. According to the Younger Edda (i. 314),
Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, daughter of Geir-
rodr. The forms grip, neuter and greip, feminine, are
synonyms in the Old Norse language, and they surely
grew out of the same root. While Gambara thus is
Volund's mother, Thjasse's mother bears a name to which
Gambara alludes.
(4) The variation Audvaldi means "the one presiding
over riches," and the epithet finds its explanation in the
Younger Edda's account of the gold treasure left by
Thjasse's father, and of its division among his sons (p.
214. It is there stated that Thjasse's father was mjok
gullaudigr. Ivalde's sons, who gave the gods golden
treasures, were likewise rich in gold, and in Volundar-
kvida Volund speaks of his and his kinsmen's golden
wealth in their common home.
(5) Of the manner in which Thjasse and his brothers
divided the golden treasure the Younger Edda contains,
13
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in the above passage, the following statement: "When
Olvalde died and his sons were to divide the inheritance,
they agreed in the division to measure the gold by taking
their mouths full of gold an equal number of times. Hence
gold is called in poetry the words or speech of these
giants."
It is both possible and assumable that in the mythology
the brothers divided the gold in silence and in harmony.
But that it should have been done in the manner here
related may be doubted. There is reason to suspect that
the story of the division of the gold in the manner above
described was invented in Christian times in order to fur-
nish an explanation of the phrase thingskil thjaza in
Bjarkamal, of Idja glysmdl in the same source, and of
idja ord, quoted in Malskrudsfradi. More than one
pseudo-mythic story, created in the same manner and
stamped by the same taste, is to be found in the Younger
Edda. It should not be forgotten that all these phrases
have one thing in common, and that is, a public delibera-
tion, a judicial act. Mai and ord do not necessarily imply
such an allusion, for in addition to the legal meaning,
they have the more common one of speech and verbal
statements in general; but to get at their actual signifi-
cance in the paraphrases quoted we must compare them
with thingskil, since in these paraphrases all the expres-
sions, thingskil, glysmdl, and ord, must be founded on one
and the same mythic event. With thingskil is meant that
which can be produced before a court by the defendant in
a dispute to clear up his case ; and as gold ornaments are
called Thjasse's thingskil in Bjarkamal, it should follow
894
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that some judicial act was mentioned in the mythology,
in which gold treasures made or possessed by Thjasse
were produced to clear up a dispute which, in some way or
other, touched him. From the same point of view Ide's
glysmdl and Ide's ord are to be interpreted. Ide's glys-
mdl are Ide's "glittering pleadings ;" his ord are the evi-
dence or explanation presented in court by the ornaments
made by or belonging to him. Now, we know from the
mythology a court act in which precious works of the
smiths, "glittering pleadings," were produced in reference
to the decision of a case. The case or dispute was the
one caused by Loke, and the question was whether he had
forfeited his head to Sindre or not. As we know, the
decision of the dispute depended on a comparison between
Brok's and Sindre's works on the one hand, and those of
the Ivalde sons on the other. Brok had appeared before
the high tribunal, and was able to plead his and his broth-
er's cause. Ivalde's sons, on the other hand, were not
present, but the works done by them had to speak in their
behalf, or rather for themselves. From this we have, as
it seems to me, a simple and striking explanation of the
paraphrases thjaza thingsktt, Idja glysmdl, Id/a ord.
Their works of art were the glittering but mute pleadings
which were presented, on their part, for the decision of the
case. That gold carried in the mouth and never laid
before the tribunal should be called thingskil I regard as
highly improbable. From heathen poems we cannot pro-
duce a single positive proof that a paraphrase of so dis-
torted and inadequate a character was ever used.
(6) Saxo relates that the same Fridlevus-Njord who
895
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fought with Anund-Volund and Avo-Egil wooed Anund's
daughter and was refused, but was married to her after
Anund's death. Thus it would seem that Njord married
a daughter of Volund. In the mythology he marries
Thjasse's daughter Skade. Thus Volund and Thjasse act
the same part as father-in-law of Njord.
(7) Saxo further relates that Freyja-Syritha's father
was married to the soror of Svipdag-Otharus. Soror
means sister, but also foster-sister and playmate. If the
word is to be taken in its strictest sense, Njord marries a
daughter of Volund's brother; if in its modified sense,
Volund's daughter.
(8) In a third passage (Hist., 50, 53), Skade's father
appears under the name Haquinus. The same name be-
longs to a champion (Hist., 323) who assists Svipdag-
Ericus in his combat with the Asa-god Thor and his
favourite Halfdan, and is the cause that Thor's and Half-
dan's weapons prove themselves worthless against the
Volund sword wielded by Svipdag-Ericus. There is,
therefore, every reason for regarding Haquinus as one of
Saxo's epithets for Volund. The name Hdkon, of which
Haquinus has been supposed to be the Latinised form,
never occurs in the Norse mythic records, but Haquinus
is in this case to be explained as a Latinisation with the
aspirate usual in Saxo of the Old German Aki, the Middle
German Ecke, which occurs in the compositions Ecken-
brecht, Eckehard, and Eckesachs. In "Rosengarten,"
Eckenbrecht is a celebrated weapon-smith. In Vilkina-
saga, Eckehard is, like Volund, a smith who works for
Mimer; and Eckesachs is a sword made by the three
896
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dwarfs, of which in part the same story is told as of
Volund's sword of victory. Thus while Haquinus and
what is narrated of Haquinus refers to the smith Volund,
a person who in Saxo is called Haquinus assumes the
place which belongs to Thjasse in his capacity of Skade's
father.
(9) In Lokasenna (17), Loke reproaches Idun that
she has embraced the slayer of her own brother :
thic queth ec allra quenna
vergjarnasta vera,
sitztu arma thina
lagdir itrthvegna
um thinn brothurbana.
Idun is a daughter of Ivalde (Forspjallsljod), and
hence a sister or half-sister of the famous smiths, Ivalde's
sons. From the passage it thus appears that one of
Ivalde's sons was slain, and Loke insists that Idun had
given herself to the man who was the cause of his death.
There is not the slightest reason to doubt that in this
instance, as in so many other cases, Loke boasts of the
evil deeds he has committed, and of the successes he has
had among the asynjes, according to his own assurances.
With the reproaches cast on Idun we should compare what
he affirms in regard to Freyja, in regard to Tyr's wife, in
regard to Skade and Sif, in reference to all of whom he
claims that they have secretly been his mistresses. Against
Idun he could more easily and more truthfully bring this
charge, for the reason that she was at one time wholly in
his power, namely, when he stole into Thjasse's halls and
carried her away thence to Asgard (Younger Edda, i.
897
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
210-214). Under such circumstances, that slayer of
Idun's brother, whom she is charged with embracing, can
be none other than Loke himself. As a further allusion
to this, the author of the poem makes Loke speak of a
circumstance connected with the adventure — namely, that
Idun, to sweeten the pleasure of the critical hour, washed
her arms shining white — a circumstance of which none
other than herself and her secret lover could know. Thus
Loke is the cause of the slaying of one of the famous
artists, Ivalde's sons. The murders of which Loke boasts
in the poem are two only, that of Balder and that of
Thjasse. He says that he advised the killing of Balder,
and that he was the first and foremost in the killing of
Thjasse (fyrstr oc ofstr). Balder was not Idun's brother.
So far as we can make out from the mythic records ex-
tant, the Ivalde son slain must have been identical with
Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. There is no other choice.
(10) It has already been shown above that Volund
and the swan-maid who came to him in the Wolf dates
were either brother and sister or half-brother and half-
sister. From what has been -stated above, it follows that
Thjasse and Idun were related to each other in the same
manner.
(11) Thjasse's house is called Brunn-akr (Younger
Edda, i. 312). In Volundarkvida (9) Volund is called
Brunni.
(12) Idun has the epithet Snot (Younger Edda,
306), "the wise one," "the intelligent one." Volund's
swan-maid has the epithet Alvitr, "the much-knowing
one," "the very intelligent one" (Volundarkvida, 1).
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Volund has the epithet Asolfr (Hyndluljod; cp. No.
109). Thjasse has the epithet Fjallgylder (Younger
Edda, 308), which is a paraphrase of Asolfr (dss=fjoll,
olfr=gyldir} .
(13) One of Volund's brothers, namely Orvandel-
Egil, had the epithet "Wild boar" (Ibor, Ebur). One of
Thjasse's brothers is called Urnir, Aurnir. This name
means "wild boar." Compare the Swedish and Norwe-
gian peasant word orne, and the Icelandic word runi (a
boar), in which the letters are transposed.
(14) At least one of Alvalde's sons was a star-hero,
viz., Thjasse, whose eyes Odin and Thor fastened on the
heavens ( Harbardsl jod, 18; Younger Edda, i. 318, 214).
At least one of Ivalde's sons was a star-hero, viz.,
Orvandel-Egil (Younger Edda, i. 276, &c.). No star-
hero is mentioned who is not called a son of Alvalde or is
a son of Ivalde, and not a single name of a star or of a
group of stars can with certainty be pointed out which
does not refer to Alvalde's or Ivalde's sons. From the
Norse sources we have the names Orvandilstd tkjaza augu
Lokabrenna and Reid Rognis. Lokabrenna, the Icelandic
name of Sirius, can only refer to the brenna (fire) caused
by Loke when Thjasse fell into the vaferflames kindled
around Asgard. In Reid Rognis, Rogner's car, Rogner
is, as shall be shown below, the epithet of a mythic person,
in whom we rediscover both Volund and Thjasse. In
Old English writings the Milky Way is called Vaetlinga-
straet, Watlingestraet. The Watlings or Vsetlings can
only be explained as a patronymic meaning Vate's sons.
Vate is one of the names of the father of Volund and his
899
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
brothers (see No. 110). Another old English name of
star-group is Eburthrung, Eburthring. Here Egil's sur-
name Ebur, "wild boar," reappears. The name Ide,
borne by a brother of Thjasse, also seems to have desig-
nated a star-hero in England.
At least two of these figures and names are very old
and of ancient Aryan origin. I do not know the reasons
why Vigfusson assumes that Orvandel is identical with
Orion, but the assumption is corroborated by mytholog-
ical facts. Orion is the most celebrated archer and
hunter of Greek mythology, just as Orvandel is that of
the Teutonic. Like Orvandel-Egil, he has two brothers
of whom the one Lykos (wolf) has a Telchin name, and
doubtless was originally identical with the Telchin Lykos,
who, like Volund, is a great artist and is also endowed
with powers to influence the weather. Orion could, so it
is said, walk on the sea as well as on the land. Orvandel-
Egil has skees, with which he travels on the sea as well as
on the snow-fields, whence small ships are called Egil's
andrar, Egil's skees (Kormak, 5). Orion wooes a daugh-
ter of Oinopion. The first part of the word is oinos
(wine) ; and as Oinopion is the son of Bacchus, there is
no room for doubt that he originally had a place in the
Aryan myth in regard to the mead. Orvandel-Egil woos
a daughter of Sumbl (Olvalde), the king of the Finns,
who in the Teutonic mythology is Oinopion's counterpart.
Orion is described as a giant, a tall and exceedingly hand-
some man, and is said to be a brother of the Titans. His
first wife, the beautiful Sida, he soon lost by death ; just
as Orvandel lost Groa. Sida, Sida with its Dorian varia-
900
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tion Rhoa, Roa, means fruit. The name Groa refers,
like Sida, Rhoa, to vegetation, growth. After Sida's
decease, Orion woos Oinopion's daughter just as Orvan-
del-Egil woos the daughter of the Finnish king Sumbl
after Groa's death. He has a third erotic alliance with
Eos. According to one record he is said to have been
killed because, in his love of the chase, he had said that he
would exterminate all game on earth. This statement
may have its origin in the myth preserved by the Teutons
about Volund's and Orvandel-Egil's effort to destroy all
life on the earth by the aid of the powers of frost. Hesiod
says that the Pleiades (which set when Orion rises above
the horizon) save themselves from Orion in the stream of
the ocean. The above-mentioned Old English name of
a constellation Eburthrung may refer to the Pleiades,
since the part thrung, drying, refers to a dense cluster of
stars. The first part of the word, Ebur, as already stated,
is a surname of Orvandel-Egil. It should be added that
the points of similarity between the Orion and Orvandel
myths are of such a nature that they exclude all idea of
being borrowed one from the other. Like the most of the
Greek myths in the form in which they have been handed
down to us, the Orion myth is without any organic con-
nection with any epic whole. The Orvandel myth, on
the other hand, dovetails itself as a part into a mytho-
logical epic which, in grand and original outlines, repre-
sents the struggle betweeen gods, patriarchs, ancient
artists, and frost-giants for the control of the world.
The name Thjasse, thjazi, in an older and uncorrupted
form thizi, I regard to be most ancient like the person
901
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that bears it. According to my opinion, Thjasse is iden-
tical with the star-hero mentioned in Rigveda, Tishya, the
Tistrya of the Iranians, who in Rigveda (x. 64, 8) is
worshipped together with an archer, who presumably
was his brother. The German middle-age poetry has pre-
served the name Thjasse in the form Desen (which is re-
lated to thjazi as Delven is to thialfi}. In "Dieterichs
Flucht" Desen is a king, whose daughter marries Dieter-
ich-Hadding's father. In the Norse sources a sister of
Thjasse (Alveig-Signe, daughter of Sumbl, the king of
the Finns) marries Hadding's father, Half dan. Com-
mon to the German and Norse traditions is, therefore, that
Hadding's father marries a near kinswoman of Thjasse.
(15) In the poem Haustlaung Thjasse's adventure is
mentioned, when he captured Loke with the magic rail.
Here we get remarkable, hitherto misunderstood, facts
in regard to Thjasse's personality.
That they have been misunderstood is not owing to
lack of attention or acumen on the part of the interpreters.
On the contrary, acumen has been lavished thereon.* In
some cases the scholars have resorted to text-changes in
order to make the contents intelligible, and this was neces-
sary on account of the form in which our mythology
hitherto has been presented, and that for good reasons,
since important studies of another kind, especially of accu-
rate editions of the Teutonic mythological texts, have
claimed the time of scholars and compelled them to neg-
lect the study of the epic connection of the myths and of
their exceedingly rich and abundant synonymies. As a
*See for example Th. Wise'n's investigations and Pinnur Jonsson's Krit.
Stud. (Copenhagen, 1884).
902
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
matter of course, an examination of the synonymies and
of the epic connection could not fail to shed another light
than that which could be gained without this study upon
a number of passages in the old mythological poems, and
upon the paraphrases based on the myths and occurring in
the historical songs.
In Haustlaung Thjasse is called fadir morna, "the
father of the swords." Without the least reason it has
been doubted that a mythic person, that is so frequently
called a giant, and whose connection with the giant world
and whose giant nature are so distinctly held forth in our
mythic sources, could be an artist and a maker of swords.
Consequently the text has been changed to fadir mornar
or fadir morna, the father of consumption or of the
strength-consuming diseases, or of the feminine thurses
representing these diseases. But so far as our mythic
records give us any information, Thjasse had no other
daughter than Skade, described as a proud, bold, powerful
maid, devoted to achievements, who was elevated to the
rank of an asynje, became the wife of the god of wealth,
the tender stepmother of the lord of harvests (Skirners-
mal), Frigg's elja, and in this capacity the progenitress of
northern rulers, who boasted their descent from her. That
Thjasse had more daughters is indeed possible, but they
are not mentioned, and it must remain a conjecture on
which nothing can be built; and even if such were the
case, it must be admitted that as Skade was the foremost
and most celebrated among them, she is the first one to be
thought of when there is mention of a daughter or of
daughters of Thjasse. But that Skade should be spoken
903
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of as a morn, a consumption-witch, and that Hakon Jarl
should be regarded as descended from a demon of con-
sumption, and be celebrated in song as the scion of such a
person, I do not deem possible. The text, as we have it,
tells us that Thjasse was the father of swords (wwrnir=
sword; see Younger Edda, i. 567; ii. 560, 620). We
must confine ourselves to this reading and remember that
this is not the only passage which we have hitherto met
with where his name is put in connection with works oi a
smith. Such a passage we have already met with in
thjaza thingskil.
(16) In the same poem, Haustlaung, Thjasse is called
hapta snytrir, "the one who decorated the gods," fur-
nished them with treasures. This epithet, too, appeared
unintelligible, so long as none of the artists of antiquity
was recognised in Thjasse; hence text-changes were also
resorted to in this case in order to make sense out of the
passage.
The situation described is as follows : Odin and H&nir,
accompanied by Loke are out on a journey. They have
traversed mountains and wildernesses (Bragarsedur, 2),
and are now in a region which, to judge from the con-
text, is situated within Thjasse's domain, Thrymheim.
The latter, who is margspakr and lomhugadr (Haustl.,
3, 12), has planned an ambush for Loke in the very place
which they have now reached: a valley (Bragarsedur, 2)
overgrown with oak-trees (Haustl., 6), and the more in-
viting as a place of refreshment and rest, inasmuch as the
Asas are hungry after their long journey (Bragarsedur.
21), and see a herd of "yoke-bears" pasturing in the grass
904
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
near by. Thjasse has calculated on this and makes one of
the bears act the part of a decoy (tdlhreinn=a decoy rein-
deer— Haustlaung, 3; see Vigfusson's Diet., 626), which
permits itself to be caught by the travellers. That the
animal belongs to Thjasse's herds follows from the fact
that it (str. 6) is said to belong to the "dis of the bow-
string," Skade, his daughter. The animal is slaughtered
and a fire is kindled, over which it is to be roasted. Near
the place selected for the eating of the meal there lies, as
it were accidentally, a rail or stake. It resembles a com-
mon rail, but is in fact one of Thjasse's smith-works, hav-
ing magic qualities. When the animal is to be carved, it
appears that the "decoy reindeer was quite hard between
the bones for the gods to cut" ( tdlhreinn var medal beina
tormidladr tifum — str. 3). At the same time the Asas
had seen a great eagle flying toward them (str. 2), and
alighting near the place where they prepared their feast
(str. 3). From the context it follows that they took it
for granted that the eagle guise concealed Thjasse, the
ruler of the region. The animal being found to be so hard
to carve, the Asas at once guess that Thjasse, skilled in
magic arts, is the cause, and they immediately turn to
him with a question, which at the same time tells him that
they know who he is :
Hvat, quotho, hapta snytrir
hjalmfaldinn, thvi valda?
"They (the gods) said (quotho) : Why cause this
(hvat thvi valda) thou ornament-giver of the gods
(hjalmfaldinn hapta snytrir), concealed in a guise (eagle
90S
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
guise) ?" He at once answers that he desires his share
of the sacred meal of the gods, and to this Odin gives his
consent. Nothing indicates that Odin sees a foe in
Thjasse. There is then no difficulty in regard to the roast ;
and when it is ready and divided into four parts Thjasse
flies down, but, to plague Loke, he takes so much that the
latter, angry, and doubtless also depending on Odin's pro-
tection if needed, seizes the rail lying near at hand and
strikes the eagle a blow across the back. But Loke could
not let go his hold of the rail ; his hand stuck fast to one
end while the other end clung to the eagle, and Thjasse
flew with him and did not let go of him before he had
forced him to swear an oath that he would bring Idun into
Thjasse's hands.
So long as it was impossible to assume that Thjasse
had been the friend of the gods before this event happened,
and in the capacity of ancient artist had given them val-
uable products of his skill, and thus become a hapta sny-
trir, it was also impossible to see in him, though he was
concealed in the guise of an eagle, the hjdlmfaldinn here
in question, since hjdlmfaldinn manifestly is in apposi-
tion to hapta snytrir, "the decorator of the gods." (The
common meaning of hjdlmr, as is well known, is a cover-
ing, a garb, or which hjdlmr in the sense of a helmet is a
specification.) It therefore became necessary to assume
that Odin was meant by hjdlmfaldinn and hapta snytrir.
This led to the changing of quotho to quad, and to the in-
sertion in the manuscripts of a mun not found there, and
to the exclusion of a thvi found there. The result was,
moreover, that no notice was taken of the use made of the
906
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
expressions hjdlmfaldinn and snytrir in a poem closely
related to Haustlaung, and evidently referring to its de-
scription of Thjasse. This poem is Einar Skalaglam's
"Vellekla/' which celebrates Hakon Jarl, the Great.
Hakon Jarl regarded himself as descended from Thjasse
through the latter's daughter, Skade (Haleygjatal), and
on this account Vellekla contains a number of allusions to
the mythic progenitor. The task (from a poetic and
rhetorical point of view) which Einar has undertaken is
in fact that of taking, so far as possible, the kernel of
those paraphrases with which he celebrates Hakon Jarl
(see below) from the myth concerning Thjasse, and the
task is performed with force and acumen. In the execu-
tion of his poem Einar has had before him that part of
Thjodulf's Haustlaung which concerned Thjasse. In str.
6 he calls Thjasse's descendant thjodar snytrir, taking his
cue from Haustlaung, which calls Thjasse hapta snytrir.
In str. 8 he gives Hakon the epithet hjdlmi faldinn, having
reference to Haustlaung, which makes Thjasse appear
hjdlm faldinn. In str. 10 Hakon is a gard-Rognir, just
as Thjasse is a ving-Rognir in Haustlaung. In str. 11
Hakon is a midjungr, just as Thjasse is a midjungr in
Haustlaung. In str. 16 an allusion is made in the phrase
vildi Yggsnidr fridar bildja to Haustlaung's mdlunautr
hvats matti fridar bidja. In str. 21 Hakon is called
hlym-Narfi, just as Thjasse in Haustlaung is called grjot
Nidadr (Narfi and Nidadr are epithets of Mimer; see
Nos. 85, 87). In str. 22 Hakon is called fangsall, and
Thjasse has the same epithet in Haustlaung. Some of the
paraphrases in Vellekla, to which the myth about Thjasse
907
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
furnishes the kernel, I shall discuss below. There can,
therefore, be no doubt whatever that Einar in Haust-
laung's hjalmfaldinn and hapta snytrir saw epithets of
Thjasse, and we arrive at the same result if we interpret
the text in its original reading and make no emendations.
Thus we have already found three paraphrases which
inform us that Thjasse was an ancient artist, one of the
great smiths of mythology: (1) thiaza thingskil, golden
treasures produced as evidence in court owned or made by
Thjasse; (2) hapta snytrir, he who gave ornaments to
the gods ; (3) fadir morna, the father of the swords.
Thjasse's claim to become a table-companion of the gods
and to eat with them, af helgu skutli, points in all proba-
bility to an ancient mythological fact of which we find a
counterpart in the Iranian records. This fact is that, as a
compensation for the services he had rendered the gods,
Thjasse was anxious to be elevated to their rank and to
receive sacrifices from their worshippers. This demand
from the Teutonic star-hero Thjasse is also made by the
Iranian star-hero Tistrya, Rigveda's Tishya. Tistrya
complains in Avesta that he has not sufficient strength to
oppose the foe of growth, Apaosha, since men do not
worship him, Tistrya, do not offer sacrifices to him. If
they did so, it is said, then he would be strong enough to
conquer. Tishya-Tistrya does not appear to have obtained
complete rank as a god ; but still he is worshipped in Rig-
veda, though very seldom, and in cases of severe dry
weather the Iranians were commanded to offer sacrifices
to him.
(17) In Haustlaung Thjasse is called ving-Rognir
908
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
vagna, "the Rogner of the winged cars," and fjardar-
blads leik-Regin, "the Regin of the motion of the feather-
leaf (the wing)." In the mythology Thjasse, like Volund,
wears an eagle guise. In an eagle guise Volund flies
away from his prison at Mimer- Nldadr's. When
Thjasse, through Loke's deceit, is robbed of Idun, he
hastens in wild despair, with the aid of his eagle guise,
after the robber, gets his wings burned in the vaferflames
kindled around Asgard, falls pierced by the javelins of the
gods, and is slain by Thor. The original meaning of
Regin is maker, creator, arranger, worker. The mean-
ing has been preserved through the ages, so that the word
re gin, though applied to all the creative powers (V61-
supa), still retained even in Christian times the significa-
tion of artist, smith, and reappears in the heroic traditions
in the name of the smith Reginn. When, therefore,
Thjasse is called "the Regin of the motion of the feather-
leaf," there is no reason to doubt that the phrase alludes
not only to the fact that he possessed a feather guise, but
also to the idea that he was its "smith ;" the less so as we
have already seen him characterised as an ancient artist in
the phrases thiaza thingskil, hapta snytrir, and fadir
morna. Thus we here have a fourth proof of the same
kind. The phrase "the Rognir of the winged cars" con-
nects him not only with a single vehicle, but with several.
"Wing-car" is a paraphrase for a guise furnished with
wings, and enabling its owner to fly through the air.
The expression "wing-car" may be applied to several of
the strange means used by the powers for locomotion
through the air and over the sea, as, for instance, the cars
14
909
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of Thor and Frey, Balder's ship Ringhorn, Prey's ship
Skidbladner, and the feather garbs of the swan-maids.
The mythology which knew from whose hands Skid-
bladner proceeded certainly also had something to say of
the masters who produced Ringhorn and the above-men-
tioned cars and feather garbs. That they were made by
ancient artists and not by the highest gods is an idea of
ancient Aryan birth. In Rigveda it was the Ribhus, the
counterparts of the Ivalde sons, who smithied the wonder-
ful car-ship of the Asvinians and Indra's horses.
The appellations Rognir and Regin also occur outside
of Haustlaung in connection with each other, and this
even as late as in the Skida-Rima, composed between 1400
and 1450, where Regin is represented as a smith (Rognir
kallar Regin til sin: rammliga skaltu smida — str. 102).
In Forspjallsljod (10) we read: Galdr golo, gaundom
ritho Rognir ok Regin at rawii heimis — "Rogner and
Regin sang magic songs at the edge of the earth and con-
structed magic implements." They who do this are
artists, smiths. In strophe 8 they are called viggiar, and
viggi is a synonym of smidr (Younger Edda, i. 587).
While they do this Idun is absent from Asgard (Fors-
pjallsljod, str. 6), and a terrible cold threatens to destroy
the earth. The words in Voluspa, with which the terrible
fimbul-winter of antiquity is characterised, loptr lavi
blandinn, are adopted by Forspjallsljod (str. 6 — lopti
med lavi}, thus showing that the same mythic event is
there described. The existence of the order of the world
is threatened, the earth and the source of light are attacked
by evil influences, the life of nature is dying, from the
910
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
north (east), from the Elivagar rivers come piercing,
rime-cold arrows of frost, which kill men and destroy the
vegetation of the earth. The southern source of the lower
world, whose function it is to furnish warming saps to the
world-tree, was not able to prevent the devastations of the
frost. "It was so ordained," it is said in FWspjallsljod,
str. 2, "that Urd's Odrarir (Urd's fountain) did not have
sufficient power to supply protection against the terrible
cold."* The destruction is caused by Rogner and Regin.
Their magic songs are heard even in Asgard. Odin
listens in Lidskjalf and perceives that the song comes from
the uttermost end of the world. The gods are seized by
the thought that the end of the world is approaching, and
send their messengers to the lower world in order to
obtain there from the wise norn a solution of the problem
of the world and to get the impending fate of the world
proclaimed.
In the dictionaries and in the mythological text-books
Rognir is said to be one of Odin's epithets. In his excel-
lent commentary on Vellekla, Freudenthal has expressed
a doubt as to the correctness of this view. I have myself
made a list of all the passages in the Old Norse literature
where the name occurs, and I have thereby reached the
conclusion that the statement in the dictionaries and in the
text-books has no other foundation than the name-list in
Bddubrott and the above-cited Skidarima, composed in the
fifteenth century. The conceptions of the latter in regard
to heathen mythology are of such a nature that it should
*The editions have changed Urdar to Urdr, and thereby converted the
above-cited passage into nonsense, for which In turn the author of Por-
sp jails Ijod was blamed, and it was presented as an argument to prove that
the poem is spurious.
911
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
never in earnest be regarded as an authority anent this
question. In the Old Norse records there cannot be found
a single passage where Rognir is used as an epithet of
Odin. It is everywhere used in reference to a mythic be-
ing who was a smith and a singer of magic songs, and
regularly, and without exception, refers to Thjasse.
While Thjodolf designates Thjasse as the Rogner of the
wing-cars, his descendant Hakon Jarl gets the same epi-
thet in Einar Skalaglam's paraphrases. He is hjors brak-
R'ognir, "the Rogner of the sword-din," and Geirrasar-
gard-Rognir, "the Rogner of the wall of the sword-flight
(the shield)." The Thjasse descendant, Sigurd Hlade-
jarl, is, in harmony herewith, called fens furs Rognir.
Thrym-Rognir (Eg., 58) alludes to Thjasse as ruler in
Thrymheim. A parallel phrase to thrym-Rognir is thrym-
Regin (Younger Edda, i. 436). Thus, while Thjasse is
characterised as Rognir, Saxo has preserved the fact that
Volund's brother, Orvandel-Egil, bore the epithet Regin.
Saxo Latinises Regin into Regnerus, and gives this name
to Ericus-Svipdag's father (Hist., 192). The epithet
Rognir confines itself exclusively to a certain group — to
Thjasse and his supposed descendants. Among them it
is, as it were, an inheritance.
The paraphrases in Vellekla are of great mythological
importance. While other mythic records relate that
Thjasse carried away Idun, the goddess of vegetation, the
goddess who controls the regenerating forces in nature,
and that he thus assisted in bringing about the great win-
ter of antiquity, we learn from Vellekla that it was he who
directly, and by separate magic acts, produced this win-
912 *
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ter, and that he, accordingly, acted the same part in this
respect as Rogner and Regin do in Forspjallsljod.
Thus, for example, the poem on Hakon Jarl, when the
latter fought against the sons of Gunhild, says: Hjors
brak-Rognir skok bogna hagl or Hlakkar seglum, "the
Rogner of the sword-din shook the hail of the bows from
the sails of the valkyrie." The mythic kernel of the para-
phrase is : Rb'gnir skok hagl ur seglum, "Rogner shook
hails from the sails." The idea is still to be found in the
sagas that men endowed with magic powers could produce
a hailstorm by shaking napkins or bags, filling the air with
ashes, or by untying knots. And in Christian records it is
particularly stated of Hakon Jarl that he held in honour
two mythic beings — Thorgerd and Irpa — who, when re-
quested, could produce storms, rain, and hail. No doubt
this tradition is connected with Hakon's supposed descent
from Thjasse, the cause of hailstorms and of the fimbul-
winter. By making Rogner the "Rogner of the sword-
din," and the hail sent by him "the hail of the bows," and
the sails or napkins shook by him "the sails of the val-
kyrie"— that is to say, the shields — the skald makes the
mythological kernel pointed out develop into figures ap-
plicable to the warrior to the battle.
In other paraphrases Vellekla says that the descendant
of Thjasse, Hakon, made "the death-cold sword-storm
grow against the life of udal men in Odin's storm," and
that he was "an elf of the earth of the wood-land" coming
from the north, who, with "murder-frost," received the
warriors of the south (Emperor Otto's army) at Danne-
virke. Upon the whole Vellekla chooses the figures used
913
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in describing the achievements of Hakon from the domain
of cold and storm, and there can be no doubt that it does
so in imitation of the Thjasse-myth.
In another poem to Hakon Jarl, of which poem there is
only a fragment extant, the skald Einar speaks of Hakon's
generosity, and says: Verk Rognis mer hogna, "Rog-
ner's works please me." We know that Hakon Jarl once
gave Einar two gilt silver goblets, to which belonged two
scales in the form of statuettes, the one of gold, the other
of silver, which scales were thought to possess magic
qualities, and that Hakon on another occasion gave him
an exceedingly precious engraved shield, inlaid between
the engraved parts with gold and studded with precious
stones. It was customary for the skalds to make songs
on such gifts. It follows, therefore, that the "works of
Rogner," with which Einar says he was pleased, are the
presents which Hakon, the supposed descendant of Rog-
ner-Thjasse, gave him ; and I find this interpretation the
more necessary for the reason that we have already found
several unanimous evidences of Thjasse's position in the
mythology as an artist of the olden time.
Forspjallsljod's Rogner "sings magic songs" and "con-
cocts witchcraft" in order to encourage and strengthen by
these means of magic the attack of the powers of frost on
the world protected by the gods. Haustlaung calls
Thjasse ramman reimud Jotunheima, "the powerful rei-
mud of Jotunheim." The word reimud occurs nowhere
else. It is thought to be connected with reimt and reim-
leikar, words which in the writings of Christian times re-
fer to ghosts, supernatural phenomena, and reimudr
914
r^ MIDGARD SERPFNT.
THOR, H
R, AND
WYMTR, a
of a grt.-:
nest ale. The g<
)tain it. Proceed)
Thor assumed
jfore the giant, a
g excursion Ti
endure the hard-
ier sea, war the owner
quantity desired of the
ettle. sent Thor to
of I A. avert, wlu-e Hymir
ou.iy man and ppearing
o acct :npany hi- m a f'sh-
that so .-mal1 • • youth
a journey, but finally con-
Thor secure^ • by tearing the head from
bull, and the two t!~ ei ^w far out to sea. Thor
ear the bordc-
fish. H ~
oastf ul
r h
'cd upon going fr '
-:;
up two \vl.alc-.
trength. but sooi
hich rose spouting : • ijfl
ir. Thor pulled with so much stv
•oke through the bottom of the
>on the bottom of the sea and he r.
e serpent; Hymir was bo alarmed.
ie and rpent < -ape. Thor t,
ymir to hi> ca; e, where he slew Hym
ants and secured the kettk.
soon hoojle
;ard ^^^IB
on the h. that he
but his feet stood
ier to strike
ie cut the
rowcc1 back with
and se —nl other
TEUTONIC
-•cribing the achieven
id and storm, and there c
imitation of the Thjasse-mytl
In another poem to Hakon Jarl,
only a fragment extant, the skald Einar
ner's works
laBuo
, >f
bawaid }BIU suJsa, tG^
H
the
Thjasse ra?;.
WM<f of Jotunh
else. It is t
leikar,vror&
fer to gho
•irf} io motjod oril
ing calls
HI, "the powerful rei-
/ occurs nowhere
ti reimt and revm-
ngs of Christian times re-
ral phenomena, and reimudr
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Jotunheima has therefore been interpreted as "the one
who made Jotunheim the scene of his magic arts and
ghost-like appearances." From what has been stated
above, it is manifest that this interpretation is correct.
A passage in Thorsdrapa (str. 3), to which I shall
recur below, informs us that at the time when Thor made
his famous journey to the fire-giant Geirrod, Rogner had
not yet come to an agreement with Loke in regard to the
plan of bringing ruin on the gods. Rogner was, there-
fore, during a certain period of his life, the foe of the
gods, but during a preceding period he was not an enemy.
The same is true of Thjasse. He was for a time hapta
snytrir, "the one giving the gods treasures." At another
time he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changed
into dolgr ballastr vallaxr, "the most powerful foe of the
earth" (Haustl., 6), an expression which characterises
him as the cause of the fimbul-winter.
There still remain one or two important passages in
regard to the correct interpretation of the epithet Rog-
ner. In Atlakvida (33) it is said of Gudrun when she
goes to meet her husband Atle, who has returned home,
carrying in her hand a golden goblet, that she goes to
reifa gjold Rognis, "to present that requital or that re-
venge which Rogner gave." To avenge her brothers,
Gudrun slew in Atle's absence the two young sons she had
with him and made goblets of their skulls. Into one of
these she poured the drink of welcome for Atle. A sim-
ilar revenge is told about Volund. The latter secretly
kills Nidadr's two young sons and makes goblets out of
their skulls for their father. In the passage it is stated
915
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that the revenge of Gudrun against Atle was of the same
kind as Rogner's revenge against some one whom he
owed a grudge. So far as our records contain any infor-
mation, Volund is the only one to whom the epithet Rog-
ner is applicable in this case. Of no one else is it reported
that he took a revenge of such a kind that Gudrun's could
be compared therewith. In all other passages the epithet
Rogner refers to "the father of the swords," to the
ancient artist Thjasse, the son of Alvalde. Here it refers
to the father of the most excellent sword, to the ancient
artist Volund, the son of Ivalde.
The strophe in Vellekla, which compares the Thjasse
descendant Hakon Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner,
also alludes to another point in the myth concerning him
by a paraphrase the kernel of which is : Varat svangly-
jadi at fryja ofbyrjar ne drifu, "it was impossible to defy
the swan-pleaser in the matter of storm and bad weather."
The paraphrase is made applicable to Hakon by making
the "swan-pleaser" into the "pleaser of the swan of the
sword's high-billowing fjord" — that is to say, the one who
pleases the bird of the battlefield, that is, the raven. The
storm is changed into "the storm of arrows," and the
bad weather into the "bad weather of the goddess of the
battle." The mythological kernel of this paraphrase, and
that which sheds light on our theme, is the fact that Rog-
ner in the mythology was "one who pleased the swans."
In the heroic poem three swan-maids are devoted in their
love to Volund and his brothers. Volundarkvida says
that the third one lays her arms around Volund-Anund's
white neck.
916
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
We will now combine the results of this investigation
concerning Rogner, and in so doing we will first con-
sider what is said of him when the name occurs inde-
pendently, and not connected with paraphrases, and then
what is said of him in paraphrases in which his name con-
stitutes the kernel.
Forspjallsljod describes Rogner as dwelling on the
northern-most edge of the earth at the time when Idun
was absent from Asgard. There he sings magic songs
and concocts witchcraft, by which means he sends a de-
structive winter out upon the world. He is a "smith," and
in his company is found one or more than one mythic per-
son called Regin. (Regin may be singular or plural.)
Einar Skalaglam, who received costly treasures from
Hakon Jarl, speaks in his song of praise to the latter of
the "works of Rogner," which please him, and which must
be the treasures he received from the Jarl.
In Thorsdrapa, Eilif Gudrunson relates that Rogner
had not yet "associated himself" with L,oke when Thor
made his expedition to Geirrod.
Atlakvida states that he revenged himself on some one,
with which revenge the song compares Gudrun's when she
hands to Atle the goblets made of the skulls of the two
young sons of the latter.
All the facts presented in these passages are rediscov-
ered in the myth concerning Ivalde's sons — Volund, Egil,
and Slagfin. There was a time when they were the
friends of the gods and smithied for them costly treas-
ures, and there was another time when they had the same
plans as Loke tried to carry out in a secret manner —
917
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that is, to dethrone the gods and destroy what they had
created. They deliver their foster-son Frey, the young
god of harvests, to the giants (see Nos. 109, 112) — an
event which, like Idtm's disappearance from Asgard,
refers to the coming of the fimbul-winter — and they depart
to the most northern edge of the lower world where they
dwell with swan-maids, discs of growth, who, like Idun
in Forspjallsljod (str. 8), must have changed character
and joined the world-hostile plots of their lovers. (Of
Idun it is said, in the strophe mentioned, that she clothed
herself in a wolf-skin given her by the smiths, and lyndi
breytti, lek at ICEWSI, litom skipti.*) The revenge which
Volund, during his imprisonment by Nidad, takes against
the latter explains why Atlakvida characterises Gudrun's
terrible deed as "Rogner's revenge." In regard to the
witchcraft (gawd} concocted by Rogner and Regin, it is
to be said that the sword of victory made by Volund is a
gandr in the original sense of this word — an implement
endowed with magic powers, and it was made during his
sojourn in the Wolf dales.
One passage in Volundarkvida (str. 5), which hitherto
has defied every effort at interpretation, shows that his
skill was occupied with other magic things while he dwelt
there. The passage reads: Lucthi hann alia lindbauga
vel. The "lind"-rings in question, smithied of "red gold"
(see the preceding lines in strophe 5), are, according to
the prefix, lind, linnr, serpent-formed rings, which again
are gand- (witchcraft) rings on account of the mysterious
qualities ascribed to the serpent. Lindbaugi is another
form for linnbaugi, just as lindbol is another form for
918
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
linnbol. The part played by the serpent in the magic
arts made it, when under the influence or in the posses-
sion of the magician, a gand, whence linnr, a serpent,
could be used as a paraphrase of gandr, and gandr could
in turn, in the compound J or mun gandr, be used as an
epithet for the Midgard-serpent. The rings which Volund
"closed well together" are gand-rings. The very rope
(bast, bostr — Volundarkvida, 7, 12) on which he hangs
the seven hundred gand-rings he has finished seems to
be a gand, an object of witchcraft, with which Volund
can bind and from which he can release the wind. When
Nidad's men surprised Volund in his sleep and bound him
with this rope, he asks ambiguously who "had bound the
wind" with it (str. 12). In two passages in Volundar-
kvida (str. 4, 8) he is called vedreygr, "the storm-
observer," or "the storm-terrible." The word may have
either meaning. That Volund for his purposes, like Rog-
ner, made use of magic songs is manifest from Saxo
(Hist., 323, 324). According to Saxo it was by means
of Volund-Haquinus' magic song that the Volund-sword,
wielded by Svipdag-Ericus, was able to conquer Thor's
hammer and Halfdan's club.
Passing now to the passages where the name Rogner
occurs in paraphrases, I would particularly emphasize
what I have already demonstrated : that Haustlaung with
this name refers to Thjasse; that poems of a more recent
date than Haustlaung, and connected with the same cele-
brated song, apply it to the supposed descendants of
Thjasse, Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen; that all of these
paraphrases represent Rogner as a producer of storm,
919
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
snow, and hail ; and that Rogner made "wind-cars," was
a "Regin of the motion of the feather-leaf" (the wing),
and "one who pleased the swans." Therefore (a) Rog-
ner is an epithet of Thjasse, and at the same time it desig-
nates Volund; (&) all that is said of Rogner, when the
name in the paraphrases is a Thjasse-epithet, applies to
Volund; (c) all that is said of Rogner, independently of
paraphrases, applies to Volund
(18) A usage in the Old Norse poetry is to designate
a person by the name of his opponent, when, by means
of an additional characterisation, it can be made evident
that the former and not the latter is meant. Thus, a giant
can be called berg-thorr or gr jot-Modi, because he once
had Thor or Thor's son Mode as an opponent, and these
epithets particularly apply to giants who actually fought
with Thor or Mode in the mythology. In contrast with
their successors in Christian times, the heathen skalds
took great pains to give their paraphrases special justifica-
tion and support in some mythological event. For the
same reason that a giant who had fought with Mode could
be called grjot-Modi, Volund, as Nidad's foe, could be
called grjot-Nidudr. This epithet also occurs a single
time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Haustlaung, and
there it is applied to Thjasse. The paraphrase shows that
the skald had in his mind a corresponding (antithetic) cir-
cumstance between Thjasse and Nidadr (Nidudr} . What
we are able to gather from our sources is, that Volund and
Nidadr had had an encounter, and that one of so decisive
a character, that the epithet grjot-Nidudr naturally would
make the hearers think of Volund.
920
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(19) When Loke had struck Thjasse, who was in
eagle guise, with the magic pole, Thjasse flew up; and as
Loke's hand was glued fast to one end of the pole and the
eagle held fast to the other end, Loke had to accompany
the eagle on its flight. Haustlaung says that Thjasse,
pleased with his prey, bore him a long distance {of veg
langari) through the air. He directed his course in such
a manner that Loke's body fared badly, probably being
dragged over trees and rocks (sva at slitna sundr ulfs
fodor mundi) . Then follows in the poem the lines given
below, which I quote from Codex Regius, with the excep-
tion of a single word (midjungs, instead of wildings),
which I cite from Codex Wormianus. Here, as else-
where, I base nothing on text emendations, because even
such, for which the best of reasons may be given, do not
furnish sufficient foundation for mythological investiga-
tion, when the changes are not supported by some manu-
script, or are in and of themselves absolutely necessary.
tha vard thors ofrunni,
thungr var Loptr, of sprunginn;
malunautr hvats matti
midjungs fridar bidja.
The contents of these lines, in the light of what has
now been stated, are as follows :
Thjasse's pleasure in dragging Loke with him, and
making his limbs come in disagreeable contact with objects
on their way, was so great that he did not abstain there-
from, before he felt that he had over-exerted himself.
Strong as he was, this could not but happen, for he had
been flying with his burden very far from the place where
921
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
he captured Loke in the ambush he had laid ; and, besides,
Loke was heavy. The badly-hurt Loke had during the
whole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the flight
he was unable to do so. When Thjasse finally sank to
the ground, Loke obtained a breathing space, so that he
could sue for mercy.
In the four lines there are four paraphrases. Thjasse
is called thors ofrunni or thors ofruni, "he who made
Thor run," or "he who was Thor's friend," and "mid-
jungr," a word the meaning of which it is of no impor-
tance to investigate in connection with the question under
consideration. Loke is called Loptr, a surname which is
applied to him many times, and mdlunautr hvats mid-
jungs, "he who had journeyed with the female companion
of the powerful Midjung (Thjasse)." The female com-
panion (mala) of Thjasse is Idun, and the paraphrase
refers to the myth telling how Loke carried Idun away
from Thjasse's halls, and flew with her to Asgard.
With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present a
literal translation of the passage :
(Thjasse flew a long wray with Loke, so that the latter
came near being torn into pieces), ". . . thereupon
(tha=deinde} became he who caused Thor to run (vard
Ihors ofrunni} — or who became Thor's friend (Ihors
ofruni} — tired out (ofsprunginn), (for) Lopt was
heavy (thungr var Loptr}. He (Loke) who had made
a journey with the powerful Midjung's (Thjasse's)
female companion (mdlunautr hvats midjungs} could
(now finally) sue for peace (mdtti fridar bidja}"
In the lines —
922
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tha vard thors ofrunni
thungr var Loptr, ofsprunginn — ,
thungr var Loptr clearly stands as an intermediate sent-
ence, which, in connection with what has been stated
above, namely, that Thjasse had been flying a long way
with his burden, will justify and explain why Thjasse,
though exceedingly strong, stronger than Hrungnir (the
Grotte-song) , still was at the point of succumbing from
over-exertion. The skald has thus given the reason why
Thjasse, "rejoicing in what he had caught," sank to the
earth with his victim, before Loke became more used up
than was the case. To understand the connection, the
word mdtti in the third line is of importance. Hitherto
the words mdluncmtr hvaits mdtti midjungs fridar bidja
have been interpreted as if they meant that Loke "was
compelled" to ask Thjasse for peace. Mdtti has been
understood to mean caactus est. Finnur Jonsson (Krit.
Stud., p. 48 ) has pointed out that not a single passage can
with certainty or probability be found where the verb
mega, mdtti, means "to be compelled." Everywhere it
can be translated "to be able." Thus the words mdtti
fridar bidja mean that Loke could, was able to, ask
Thjasse for peace. The reason why he was able is stated
above, where it is said that Thjasse got tired of flying
with his heavy burden. Before that, and during the flight
and the disagreeable collisions between Loke's body and
objects with which he came in contact, he was not able to
treat with his capturer ; but when the latter had settled on
the ground, Loke got a breathing space, and could beg to
923
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
be spared. The half strophe thus interpreted gives the
most logical connection, and gives three causes and three
results: (1) Loke was able to use his eloquent tongue
in speaking to Thjasse, since the latter ceased to fly be-
fore Loke was torn into pieces; (2) Thor's ofrunni or
ofruni ended his air- journey, because he, though a very
powerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself;
(3) he felt wearied because Loke, with whom he had been
flying, was heavy. But from this it follows with absolute
certainty that the skald, with Thor's ofrunni or ofruni,
meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been sup-
posed. The epithet Thor's ofrunni, "he who made Thor
run," must accordingly be explained by some mythic
event, which shows that Thor at one time had to take
flight on account of Thjasse. A single circumstance has
come to our knowledge, where Thor retreats before an
opponent, and it is hardly credible that the mythology
should allow its favourite to retreat conquered more than
once. On that occasion it is Volund's sword, wielded by
Svipdag, which cleaves Thor's hammer and compels him
to retire. Thus Volund was at one time Thor's ofrunni.
In Haustlaung it is Thjasse. Here, too, we therefore
meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surface
in these investigations, namely, that the same thing is told
of Volund and of Thjasse.
But by the side of ofrunni we have another reading
which must be considered. Codex Wormianus has
ofruni instead of ofrunni, and, as Wisen has pointed out,
this runni must, for the sake of the metre, be read runi.
According to this reading Thjasse must at some time
924
have been Thor's ofruni, that is, Thor's confidential
friend. This reading also finds its support in the myth-
ology, as shall be demonstrated further on. I may here
be allowed to repeat what I have remarked before, that
of two readings only the one can be the original, while
both may be justified by the mythology.
(20) In the mythology are found characters that form
a group by themselves, and whose characteristic peculiar-
ity is that they practise skee-running in connection with
the use of the bow and arrow. This group consists of the
brothers Volund, Egil, Slagfin, Egil's son Ull, and
Thjasse's daughter Skade. In the introduction to Volun-
darkvida it is said of the three brothers that they ran on
skees in the Wolfdales and hunted. We have already re-
ferred to Egil's wonderful skees, that could be used on
the water as well as on the snow. Of Ull we read in
Gylfaginning (Younger Edda, i. 102) : "He is so excel-
lent an archer and skee-runner that no one is his equal ;"
and Saxo tells about his Ollerus that he could enchant a
bone (the ice-shoe formed of a bone, the pendant of the
skee), so that it became changed into a ship. Ull's skees
accordingly have the same qualities as those of his father
Egil, namely, that they can also be used on the sea. Ull's
skees seem furthermore to have had another very remark-
able character, namely, that when their possessor did not
need them for locomotion on land or on sea, they could
be transformed into a shield and be used in war. In this
way we explain that the skalds could employ skip Ullar,
Ullar far, knorr Orva dss, as paraphrases for shields, and
that, according to one statement in the Edda Lovasina,
15 925
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ullr dtti skip that, er Skjoldr het. So far as his accom-
plishments are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpart
of his father Egil, and the same may be said of Skade.
While Ull is called "the god of the skees," Skade is called
"the goddess of the skees," "the dis of the skees," and
"the dis of the sea-bone," scevar beins dis, a paraphrase
which manifestly has the same origin as Saxo's account
of the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thjasse's daughter
has an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund's kins-
men.
The names also connect those whom we find to be
kinsmen of Volund with Thjasse's. Alvalde is Thjasse's
father; Ivalde is Volund's. Ivaldi is another form for
Idvaldi. The long prefixed / in Ivaldi is explained by the
disappearance of d from Idvaldi. Id reappears in the
name of Ivalde's daughter Idunn and Thjasse's brother
Idi, and these are the only mythological names in which
Id appears. Furthermore, it has already been pointed
out, that of Alvalde's (Olvaldi's} three sons there is one
who has the epithet Wildboar (Aurnir, Urnir) ; and that
among Ivalde's three sons there is one — namely, Orvan-
del-Egil — who has the same epithet (Ibor, Hbur, Hbbo) ;
and that among Alvalde's sons one — namely, Thjasse —
has the epithet Fjallgyldir, "mountain-wolf" (Haust-
laung) ; while among Ivalde-Olmod's sons there is one —
namely, Volund — who has the epithet Asolfr, which also
means "mountain-wolf."
In this connection it must not be forgotten that tradi-
tion has attached the qualities of giants, not only to
Thjasse, but also to Volund. That this does not appear
926
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that Volund
is not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic songs,
but only in the heroic fragment which we have in Volund-
arkvida. The memory that Volund, though an elf-prince
in the mythology, and certainly not a full-blooded giant
on his father's side, was regarded and celebrated in song
as an i'dtunn, — the memory of this not only survives in
Vilkinasaga, but appears there in an exaggeration fos-
tered by later traditions, to the effect that his father Vade
(see No. 110) is there called a giant, while his father's
mother is said to have been a mermaid. In another re-
spect, too, there survives in Vilkinasaga the memory of a
relationship between Volund and the most famous giant-
being. He and the giants Etgeir (Hggther} and Vidolf
are cousins, according to chapter 175. If we examine the
Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in Hyndluljod
(53) as progenitor of all the mythological valas, and Aur-
boda, the most notorious of the valas of mythology, men-
tioned in strophe 30 as a kinswoman of Thjasse. Thus
while Hyndluljod makes Thjasse, the Vilkinasaga makes
Volund, a kinsman of the giant Vidolf.
Though in a form greatly changed, the Vilkinasaga has
also preserved the memory of the manner in which
Volund's father closed his career. With some smiths
("dwarfs") who lived in a remote mountain, Vade had
made an agreement, according to which, in return for a
certain compensation, his son Volund should learn their
wonderful art as smiths. When, toward the close of the
time agreed upon, Vade appeared outside of the moun-
tain, he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche in
927
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
accordance with the treacherous arrangement of these
smiths.
In the mythology Thjasse's father is the great drink-
champion who, among his many names and epithets, as we
have seen, also has some that refer to his position in the
mythology in regard to fermented beverage: Svigdir (the
great drinker) Olvaldi, Olmodr, Sumbl Finnakonungr.
In regard to Svigdir's death, it has already been shown
(see No. 89) that, on his complete disappearance from
the mythology, he is outside of a mountain in which Sut-
tung and Suttung's sons, descendants of Surt-Durinn,
with Mimer the most ancient smith (see No. 89), have
their halls; that on his arrival a treacherous dwarf, the
doorkeeper of Suttung's sons, goes to meet him, and that
he is "betrayed" by the dwarf, never enters the rocky
halls, and consequently must have died outside.
Vilkinasaga's very late statements (probably taken
from German traditions), in regard to the death of
Volund's father, thus correspond in the main features with
what is related in the Norse records as to how Thjasse's
father disappeared from the scene of mythology.
In regard to the birth and rank of Thjasse's father
among the mythic powers, the following statements in
poems from the heathen time are to be observed. When
Haustlaung tells how Thjasse falls into the vaferflames
kindled around Asgard, it makes use of the words Greipar
bidils son svidnar, "the son of Greip's wooer is scorched."
Thus Thjasse's mother is the giantess Greip, who, accord-
ing to a stanza cited in the Younger Edda, i. 288, is a
daughter of the giant Geirr&dr and a sister of Gjalp. One
928
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of these sisters, and, so far as we can see, Greip, is, in
Thorsdrapa, called meinsvcurans hapts arma farmr, "the
embrace of the arms of the perjurous hapt." Hopt, sing
hapt, is like bond, meaning the same, an appellation of
lower and higher powers, numina of various ranks. If
by the perjurous mistress of the hapt Greip, and not the
sister Gjalp, is meant, then Thjasse's father is a being
who belonged to the number of the numina of the myth-
ology, and who, with a giantess whose bidill he had been,
begat the son Thjasse, and probably also the latter's broth-
ers Idi and Gangr (Aurnir). What rank this perjurous
hapt held among the powers is indicated in Vellekla,
strophe 9, which, like the foregoing strophe 8, and the suc-
ceeding strophes 10, 11, treats of Hakon Jarl's conflicts at
Dannevirke, whither he was summoned, in the capacity of
a vassal under the Danish king, Harald Blue-tooth, to
defend the heathen North against Emperor Otto II.'s
effort to convert Denmark to Christianity by arms. The
strophe, which here, too, in its paraphrases presents par-
allels between Hakon Jarl and his mythic progenitor
Thjasse, says that the Danish king (femildr konungr}
desired that the Morkwood's Hlodyn's (Mork-wood's
earth's, that is to say, the woody Norway's) elf, he who
came from the North (myrkmarkar Hlodynjar alfs, thess
er kom nordan), was to be tested in "murder-frost," that
is to say, in war (vid mord-frost freista), when he (Den-
mark's king) angrily bade the cold-hard storm-watcher
(stirdan vedrhirdi, Hakon Jarl) of the Hordaland dwell-
ers (of the Norsemen) defend Dannevirke (Virki varda)
against the southland Njords of the shield-din (fyr
929
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
serkja-hlym-val-Njordum, "the princes of the south-
land warriors").
Here, too, the myth about Thjasse and of the fimbul-
winter forms the kernel out of which the paraphrases
adapted to Hakon Jarl have grown. Hakon is clothed
with the mask of the cold-hard storm-watcher who comes
from the North and can let loose the winter-winds.
Emperor Otto and the chiefs who led the southern troops
under him are compared with Njord and his kinsmen,
who, in the mythology, fought with Volund and the pow-
ers of frost, and the battle between the warriors of the
South and the North is compared with a "murder- frost,"
in which Hakon coming from the North meets the
Christian continental Teutons at Dannevirke.
Thus the mythical kernel of the strophe is as follows :
The elf of the Morkwood of Hloydn, the cold-hard storm-
watcher, tested his power with frost-weather when he
fought with Njord and his kinsmen.
The Hlodyn of the Morkwood — that is to say, the god-
dess of the Jotunheim woods — is in this connection
Thjasse's daughter Skade, who, in Haleygjatal, is called
Jarnvidja of Jarnvidr, the Iron wood, which is identical
with the Morkwood (Darkwood). Thjasse himself,
whose father is called "a perjurous hapt" in Thorsdrapa,
is here called an elf. Alone, this passage would not be
sufficient to decide the question as to which class of myth-
ical beings Thjasse and his father belonged, the less so
as alfr, applied in a paraphrase, might allude to any sort
of being according to the characterisation added. But
"perjurous hapt" cannot possibly be a paraphrase for a
930
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
giant. Every divinity that has violated its oath is "a
perjurous hapt," and the mythology speaks of such per-
juries. If a god has committed perjury, this is no reason
why he should be called a giant. If a giant has com-
mitted perjury, this is no reason why he should be called
a hapt, for it is nothing specially characteristic of the
giant nature that it commits perjury or violates its oath.
In fact, it seems to me that there should be the gravest
doubts about Thjasse's being a giant in the strictest and
completest sense of the word, from the circumstances that
he is a star-hero; that distinguished persons considered it
an honour to be descended from him ; that Hakon Jarl's
skalds never tired of clothing him with the appearance of
his supposed progenitor, and of comparing the historical
achievements of the one with the mythical exploits of the
other ; and that he, Thjasse, not only robbed Idun, which
indeed a genuine giant might do, but that he also lived
with her many long years, and, so far as we can see,
begat with her the daughter Skade. It should be remem-
bered, from the foregoing pages, what pains the mythol-
ogy takes to get the other asynje, Freyja, who had fallen
into the hands of giants, back pure and undefiled to
Asgard, and it is therefore difficult to believe that Idun
should be humiliated and made to live for many years
in intimacy with a real giant. It follows from this that
when Thjasse, in the above-cited mythological kernel of
the strophe of Vellekla, is called an dlfr, and when his
father in Thorsdrapa is called a hapt, a being of higher
or lower divine rank, then dlfr is a further definition of
the idea hapt, and informs us to which class of numina
931
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Thjasse belonged — namely, the lower class of gods called
elves. Thus, on his father's side, Thjasse is an elf. So
is Vohmd. In Volundarkvida he is called a prince of
elves. Furthermore, it should be observed that, in the
strophe-kernel presented above, Thjasse is represented as
one who has fought with Njord and his allies. In Saxo it
is Anund-Volund and his brother the archer who fight
with Njord-Fridlevus and his companions; and as Njord
in Saxo marries Anund-Volund's daughter, while in the
mythology he marries Thjasse's daughter, then this is
another recurrence of the fact which continually comes
to the surface in this investigation, namely, that whatever
is told of Volund is also told of Thjasse.
114.
PROOFS THAT IVALDE'S SONS ARE OLVAIJ>E'S (continued).
A REVIEW OF THORSDRAPA.
(21) We now come to a mythic record in which
Thjasse's brothers Jdi and Gangr, and he too, in a para-
phrase, are mentioned under circumstances well suited to
throw light on the subject before us, which is very impor-
tant in regard to the epic connection of the mythology.
Of Thor's expedition to Geirrod, we have two very dif-
ferent accounts. One is recorded by the author of Skald-
skaparmal; the other is found in Eilif Gundrunson's
Thorsdrapa.
In Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 284) we read :
Only for pleasure Loke made an expedition in Freyja's
feather guise, and was led by his curiosity to seat himself
932
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in an opening in the wall of Geirrod's house and peep in.
There he was captured by one of Geirrod's servants, and
the giant, who noticed from his eyes that it was not a real
falcon, did not release him before he had agreed so to
arrange matters that Thor should come to Geirrod's hall
without bringing with him his hammer and belt of
strength. This Loke was able to bring about. Thor went
to Geirrod without taking any of these implements — not
even his steel gloves — with him. Loke accompanied him.
On the way thither Loke visited the giantess whose name
was Gridr, and who was Vidar the Silent's mother. From
her Thor learned the facts about Geirrod — namely, that
the latter was a cunning giant and difficult to get on with.
She lent Thor her own belt of strength, her own iron
gloves, and her staff, Gridaruolr. Then Thor proceeded
to the river which is called Vimur, and which is the great-
est of all rivers. There he buckled on his belt of strength,
and supported himself in the stream on the Gridaruolr.
Loke held himself fast to the belt of strength. When
Thor reached the middle of the stream, the water rose to
his shoulders. Thor then perceived that up in a moun-
tain chasm below which the river flowed stood Gjalp,
Geirrod's daughter, with one foot on each side of the
river, and it was she who caused the rising of the tide.
Then Thor picked up a stone and threw it at the giantess,
saying : "At its mouth the river is to be stopped." He
did not miss his mark. Having reached the other bank
of the river, he took hold of a rowan, and thus gained the
land. Hence the proverb: "Thor's salvation, the
rowan." And when Thor came to Geirrod a goat-house
933
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
was first given to him and Loke (according to Codex
Regius; according to the Upsala Codex a guest-house)
as their lodgings. Then are related the adventures Thor
had with Geirrod's daughters Gjalp and Greip, and how
he, invited to perform games in Geirrod's hall, was met
by a glowing iron which Geirrod threw against him with
a pair of tongs, but which he caught with the iron gloves
and threw back with so great force that the iron passed
through a post, behind which Geirrod had concealed him-
self, and through Geirrod himself and his house wall, and
then penetrated into the earth.
This narrative, composed freely from mythical and
pseudo-mythical elements, is related to Thorsdrapa, com-
posed in heathen times, about in the same manner as
Bragaraedur's account of Odin and Suttung is related to
that of Havamal. Just as in Bragarsedur punctum saliens
lies in the coarse jest about how poor poetry originated,
so here a crude anecdote built on the proverb, "A stream
is to be stemmed at its mouth," seems to be the basis of the
story. In Christian times the mythology had to furnish
the theme not only for ancient history, heroic poems, and
popular traditions, but also for comic songs.
Now, a few words in regard to Thorsdrapa. This
song, excellent from the standpoint of poetry and impor-
tant from a mythological point of view, has, in my opin-
ion, hitherto been entirely misunderstood, not so much on
account of the difficulties found in the text — for these dis-
appear, when they are considered without any precon-
ceived opinion in regard to the contents — as on account of
the undeserved faith in Skaldskaparmal's account of
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY,
Thor's visit to Geirrod, and on account of the efforts made
under the influence of this misleading authority to redis-
cover the statements of the latter in the heathen poem. In
these efforts the poetics of the Christian period in Iceland
have been applied to the poem, and in this way all myth-
ological names, whose real meaning was forgotten in
later times, have received a general faded signification,
which on a more careful examination is proved to be in-
correct. With a collection of names as an armoury, in
which the names of real or supposed "dwarfs," "giants,"
"sea-kings," &c., are brought together and arranged as
synonyms, this system of poetics teaches that from such
lists we may take whatever dwarf name, giant name, &c.,
we please to designate whichever "dwarf," "giant," &c.,
we please. If, therefore, Thorsdrapa mentions "Idi's
chalet" and "Gdngr's war-vans," then, according to this
system of poetics, Idi and Gdngr's — though they
in heathen times designated particular mythic persons
who had their own history, their own personal careers —
have no other meaning than the general one of "a giant,"
for the reason that Idi and Gdngr are incorporated in the
above-named lists of giant names. Such a system of
poetics could not arise before the most of the mythological
names had become mere empty sounds, the personalities to
whom they belonged being forgotten. The fact that they
have been adapted, and still continue to be adapted, to
the poems of the heathen skalds, is one of the reasons
why the important contributions which names and para-
phrases in the heathen poetry are able to furnish in mytho-
logical investigations have remained an unused treasure.
935
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
\
While Skaldskaparmal makes Loke and no one else
accompany Thor to Geirrod, and represents the whole
matter as a visit to the giant by Thor, we learn from
Thorsdrapa that this journey to Jotunheim is an expedi-
tion of war, which Thor makes at the head of his war-
riors against the much-dreaded chief of giants, and that
on the way thither he had to fight a real battle with Geir-
rod's giants before he is able to penetrate to the destina-
tion of his expedition, Geirrod's hall, where the giants
put to flight in the battle just mentioned gather, and where
another battle is fought. Thorsdrapa does not mention
with a single word that Loke accompanied Thor on this
warlike expedition. Instead of this, we learn that he had
a secret understanding with one of Geirrod's daughters,
that he encouraged Thor to go, and gave him untruthful
accounts of the character of the road, so that, if not Thor
himself, then at least the allies who went with him, might
perish by the ambush laid in wait for them. That Loke,
under such circumstances, should accompany Thor is
highly incredible, since his misrepresentations in regard to
the character of the way would be discovered on the jour-
ney, and reveal him as a traitor. But since Skaldskapar-
mal states that Loke was Thor's companion, the inter-
preters of Thorsdrapa have allowed him so to remain, and
have attributed to him — the traitor and secret ally of
the giants — and to Thjalfe (who is not mentioned in the
Skaldskaparmal account) the exploits which Thor's com-
panions perform against the giants. That the poem, for
instance, in the expression Th/dfi med yta sinni, "Thjalfe
with his companions," in the most distinct manner empha-
936
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sises the fact that a whole host of warriors had Thor as
their leader on this expedition, was passed over as one of
the obscure passages in which the poem was supposed to
abound, and the obscurity of which simply consists in their
contradicting the story in Skaldskaparmal. Thorsdrapa
does not mention with a single word that Thor, on his
journey to Geirrod, stopped at the home of a giantess
Gridr, and borrowed from her a staff, a belt of strength,
and iron gloves; and I regard it as probable that this
whole episode in Skaldskaparmal has no other foundation
than that the staff which Thor uses as his support on
wading across the rapid stream is in Thorsdrapa now
called gridaruolr, "the safety staff," and again, brautar
lids tollr, "the way-helping tree." The name gridaruolr,
and such proverbs as at osi shall a stemma and reynir er
bjdrg thors, appear to be the staple wares by the aid of
which the story in Skaldskaparmal was framed. The
explanation given in Skaldskaparmal of the proverb rey-
nir er bjdrg thors, that, by seizing hold of a rowan grow-
ing on the river bank, Thor succeeded in getting out of
the river, is, no doubt, an invention by the author of the
story. The statement cannot possibly have had any sup-
port in the mythology. In it Thor is endowed with abil-
ity to grow equal to any stream he may have to cross.
The rowan mentioned in the proverb is probably none
other than the "way-helping tree," the "safety staff," on
which he supports himself while wading, and which,
according to Thorsdrapa (19), is a brotningr skogar, a
tree broken or pulled up in the woods.
I now pass to the consideration of the contents of
Thorsdrapa :
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Strophe 1. The deceitful Loke encourages Thor to go
from home and visit Geirrod, "the master of the temple
of the steep altars." The great liar assures him that
green paths would take him to Geirrod's halls, that is to
say, they were accessible to travellers on foot, and not
obstructed by rivers.
NOTE. — For Thor himself the condition of the roads
might be of less importance. He who wades across the
Elivagar rivers and subterranean streams did not need
to be very anxious about finding water-courses crossing
his paths. But from the continuation of the poem we
learn that this expedition to Jotunheim was not a visit as
a guest, or a meeting to fight a duel, as when Thor went
to find Hrungner, but this time he is to press into Jotun-
heim with a whole army, and thus the character of the
road he was to travel was of some importance. The am-
bush laid in his way does not concern Thor himself, but
the giant-foes who constitute his army. If the latter
perish in the ambush, then Geirrod and his giants will
have Thor alone to fight against, and may then have some
hope of victory.
Strophe 2. Thor did not require much urging to
undertake the expedition. He leaves Asgard to visit
Jotunheim. Of what happened on the way between
Asgard and the Elivagar rivers, before Thor penetrated
into Jotunheim, the strophe says :
tha er gjardvenjodr When the belt-wearer (Thor
the possessor of the belt of
strength)
938
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
endr (=iterum, rursus) now, as on former occasions,
rikri Idja Gandvikr-setrs sko- strengthened by the men of
turn Ide's chalet situated near
Gandvik,
gordist fra thridia til Ymsa was on his way from Odin to
kindar, Ymse's (Ymer's) race,
fystust their (Cod. Worm.) it was to them (to Thor and
fyrstuz (Cod. Reg.) to the men of Ide's chalet)
a joy (or they rushed
thither)
at thrysta thorns nidjum to conquer Thorn's (Bol-
thorn- Ymer's) kinsmen.
NOTE. — The common understanding of this passage is
(1) that endr has nothing to do with the contents, but is a
complementary word which may be translated with "once
upon a time," a part which endr has to play only too often
in the interpretation of the old poems; (2) that Ide is
merely a general giant name, applicable, like every other
giant name, in a paraphrase Idja setr, which is supposed
to mean Jotunheim; (3) that rikri Idja setrs skotum or
rikri Gandvikr skotum was to give the hearers or readers
of Thorsdrapa the (utterly unnecessary) information that
Thor was stronger than the giants; and (4) that they
who longed to subdue Ymer's kismen were Thor and Loke
— the same Loke who, in secret understanding with the
giant-chief and with one of his daughters (see below),
has the purpose of enticing Thor and his companions in
arms into a trap!
Rikri . . . skotum is to be regarded as an elliptical
sentence in which the instrumental preposition, as is often
the case, is to be understood. When Thor came from
539
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Asgard to the chalet of Ide, situated near Gandvik, he
there gets companions in arms, and through them he be-
comes rikri, through them he gets an addition to his own
powers in the impending conflicts. The fact that when
Thor invades Jotunheim he is at the head of an army is
perfectly evident from certain expressions in the poem,
and from the poem as a whole. Whence could all these
warriors come all of a sudden ? They are not dwellers in
Asgard, and he has not brought them with him in his
lightning chariot. They live near Gandvik, which means
"the magic bay," the Elivagar. Gandvik was a .purely
mythological-geographical name before it became the
name of the White Sea in a late Christian time, when the
sea between Greenland and America got the mythic name
Ginungagap. Their being the inhabitants on the coast of
a bay gives the author of Thorsdrapa an occasion further
on to designate them as vikings, bayings. We have
already seen that it is a day's journey between Asgard
and the Elivagar (see No. 108), and that on the southern
coast Thor has an inn, where he stops, and where his
precious team and chariot are taken care of while he
makes expeditions into Jotunheim. The continuation of
the poem shows that this time, too, he stopped at this inn,
and that he got his warriors there. Now, as always be-
fore, he proceeds on foot, after having reached Jotun-
heim.
Strophe 3 first makes a mythic chronological statement,
namely, that the daughter of Geirrod, "skilled in magic,"
had come to an understanding with Loke, before Rogner
became the ally of the latter. This mythic chronological
940
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
statement shows (1) that there was a time when Rogner
did not share Loke's plans, which were inimical to the
gods; (2) that the events recounted in Thorsdrapa took
place before Rogner became a foe of the gods. Why
Thorsdrapa thinks it necessary to give this information
becomes apparent already in the fourth strophe.
Then the departure from Ide's chalet is mentioned. The
host hostile to the giants proceeds to Jotunheim, but
before it gets thither it must traverse an intermediate
region which is called Endil's meadow.
We might expect that instead of speaking of a meadow
as the boundary territory which had to be traversed before
getting into Jotunheim, the poem would have spoken of
the body of water behind which Jotunheim lies, and men-
tioned it by one of its names — Elivagar, Gandvik, or
Hraun. But on a more careful examination it appears
that Endil's meadow is only a paraphrase for a body of
water. The proof of this is found in the fact that "Endil's
skees," 'Hndils andrar, Ewdils itrskid, is a common para-
phrase for ship. So is Hndils eykr, "Endil's horse." The
meadow which Endil crosses on such skees and on such a
horse must therefore be a body of water. And no other
water can be meant than that which lies between Endil's
chalet and Jotunheim, that is, Elivagar, Gandvik.
The name Hndill may be the same as Vendill, Vandill
(Younger Edda, i. 548), and abbreviation of Orvandill.
The initial V was originally a semi-vowel, and as such it
alliterated with other semi-vowels and with vowels (com-
pare the rhymes on an Oland runic stone, Vandils jormun-
grundar urgrandari}. This easily-disappearing semi-
16 941
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
vowel may have been thrown out in later times where it
seemed to obscure the alliteration, and thus the form Endil
may have arisen from Vendil, Vandil. "Orvandel's
meadow" is accordingly in poetic language synonymous
with EHvagar, and the paraphrase is a fitting one, since
Orvandel-Egil had skees which bore him over land and
sea, and since EHvagar was the scene of his adventures.
Strophe 4 tells that after crossing "Endil's meadow"
the host of warriors invaded Jotunheim on foot, and that
information about their invasion into the land of the
giants came to the witches there.
Two important facts are here given in regard to these
warriors: they are called Gangs gunn-vanir and Vargs
fridar, "Gang's warrior-vans," and "Varg's defenders of
the land." Thus, in the first strophes of Thorsdrapa, we
meet with the names of Olvalde's three sons : Rognir
(Thjasse), Idi, and Gangr. The poem mentions Rogner's
name in stating that the expedition occurred before Rog-
ner became the foe of the gods ; it names Ide's name when
it tells that it was at his (Ide's) chalet near Gandvik that
Thor gathered these warriors around him; and it names
Gangr' 's name, and in connection therewith Vargr's name,
when it is to state who the leaders were of those cham-
pions who accompanied Thor against Geirrod. Under
such circumstances it is manifest that Thorsdrapa relates
an episode in which Ide, Gang, and Thjasse appear as
friends of Thor and foes of the giants, and that the
poem locates their original country in the regions on the
south coast of Elivagar, and makes Ldja setr to be situ-
ated near the same strand, and play in Thor's expeditions
942
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the same part as Orvandel-Egil's abode near the Elivagar,
which is also called chalet, GeirvandU's setr, and Ysetr.
The Vargr who is mentioned is, therefore, so far as can
be seen, Rogner-Thjasse himself, who in Haustlaung, as
we know, is, called fjallgyldir, that is to say, wolf.
All the warriors accompanying Thor were eager to fight
Ymer's descendants, as we have seen in the second
strophe. But the last lines of strophe 4 represent one in
particular as longing to contend with one of the warlike
and terrible giantesses of giant-land. This champion is
not mentioned by name, but he is characterised as bragd-
mildr, "quick to conceive and quick to move;" as brcedi-
vandr, "he who is wont to offer food to eat;" and as
bolkveitir or bolkvetir Loka, "he who compensated Loke's
evil deed." The characterisations fit Orvandel-Egil, the
nimble archer and skee-runner, who, at his chalet, receives
Thor as his guest, when the latter is on his way to Jotun-
heim, and who gave Thor Thjalfe and Roskva as a com-
pensation, when Loke had deceitfully induced Thjalfe to
break a bone belonging to one of Thor's slaughtered goats
for the purpose of getting at the marrow. If Thorsdrapa
had added that the champion thus designated also was the
best archer of mythology, there could be no doubt that
Egil was meant. This addition is made further on in the
poem, and of itself confirms the fact that Egil took part
in the expedition.
Strophe 5, compared with strophes 6 and 7, informs
us that Thor, with his troop of champions, in the course
of his march came into one of the wild mountain-regions
of Jotunheim. The weather is bad and hail-showers fall.
943
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
And here Thor finds out that Loke has deceived him in
the most insolent manner. By his directions Thor has led
his forces to the place where they now are, and here rushes
forth from between the mountains a river into which
great streams, swelling with hail-showers, roll down from
the mountains with seething ice-water. To find in such
a river a ford by which his companions can cross was for
Thor a difficult matter.
Strophe 6. Meanwhile the men from Ide's chalet had
confidently descended into the river. A comparison with
strophes 7 and 8 shows that they cautiously kept near
Thor, and waded a little farther up the river than he.
They used their spears as staffs, which they put down into
the stony bottom of the river. The din of the spears,
when their metallic points came in contact with the stones
of the bottom blended with the noise of the eddies roar-
ing around the rocks of the river (Kndtti hreggi hoggvinn
hlymthel vid mol glymja, enn fjalla fellihryn thaut med
Fedju stedja).
Strophe 7. In the meantime the river constantly rises
and increases in violence, and its ocean-like billows are
already breaking against Thor's powerful shoulders. If
this is to continue, Thor will have to resort to the power
inherent in him of rising equally with the increase of the
waves.
NOTE. — But the warriors from Ide's saeter, who do not
possess this power, what are they to do? The plan laid
between Loke and the witches of Jotunheim is manifestly
to drown them. And the succeeding strophes show that
they are in the most imminent danger.
944
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Strophes 8 and 9. These bold warriors waded with
firm steps ; but the billowing masses of water increased in
swiftness every moment. While Thor's powerful hands
hold fast to the staff of safety, the current is altogether
too strong for the spears, which the Gandvik champions
have to support themselves on. On the mountains stood
giantesses increasing the strength of the current. Then
it happened that "the god of the bow, driven by the vio-
lence of the billows, rushed upon Thor's shoulders (kykva
naudar ass, blasinn hronnjardar skafls hvetvidri, thurdi
haudrs runn of herdi), while Thjalfe with his comrades
came, as if they had been automatically lifted up, and
seized hold of the belt of the celestial prince" (Thor)
(unnz thjdlfi med yta sinni kom sjalflopta a himinsjola
skaunar-seil} .
NOTE. — Thus the plan laid by Loke and the giantesses
to drown the men hostile to the giants, the men dwelling
on the south coast of the Elivagar, came near succeeding.
They were saved by their prudence in wading higher up
the stream than Thor, so that, if they lost their foothold,
they could be hurled by the eddies against him. One of
the Gandvik champions, and, as the continuation of the
poems shows, the foremost one among them, here char-
acterised as "the god of the bow," is tossed by a storm-
billow against Thor's shoulders, and there saves himself.
Thjalfe and the whole remaining host of the warriors of
Ide's sseter have at the same time been carried by the
waves down against Hlodyn's powerful son, and save
themselves by seizing hold of his belt of strength. With
945
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"the god of the bow" on his shoulders, and with a whole
host of warriors clinging to his waist, Thor continues his
wading across the stream.
In strophe 8, the Gandvik champions are designated by
two paraphrases. We have already seen them described
as "Gang's warrior-vans" and as "Varg's land-defenders."
Here they are called "the clever warriors of the viking-
saeter" (vikinga setrs snotrir gunnar runnar} and "Odin's
land-defenders, bound by oaths" (Gauta eidsvara fridar).
That Ide's saeter is called "the vikings' saeter" is explained
by the fact that it is situated near Gandwfc, and that
these hayings had the Elivagar as the scene of their con-
flicts with the powers of frost. That they are Odin's land-
defenders, bound by oaths, means that they are mythical
beings, who in rank are lower than the Asas, and are
pledged by oaths to serve Odin and defend his territory
against the giants. Their saeter (chalet) near Gandvik is
therefore an outpost against the powers of frost. It fol-
lows that Ide, Gang, and Thjasse originally are numina,
though of a lower, serving rank ; that their relation to the
higher world of gods was of such a character that they
could not by their very nature be regarded as foes of the
giants, but are bound to the cause of the gods by oaths ;
but on the other hand they could not be full-blooded
giants of the race produced from Ymer's feet (see No.
86). Their original home is not Jotunheim itself, but a
land bordering on the home of the giants, and this mytho-
geographical locality must correspond with their mytho-
genealogical position. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa
calls the giants slain by the Gandvik champions "Alf-
946
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
heim's calves," Alfheim's cattle to be slaughtered, and this
seems to indicate that these champions belong to the third
and lowest of those clans into which the divinities of the
Teutonic mythology are divided, that is, the elves.
The Gandvik champion who rescues himself on Thor's
shoulders, while the rest of them hold fast to his girdle, is
a celebrated archer, and so well known to the hearers of
Thorsdrapa, that it was not necessary to mention him by
name in order to make it clear who he was. In fact, the
epithet applied to him, "the god of the bow" (ass kykva
mudar, and in strophe 18, tvividar Tyr}, is quite suf-
ficient to designate him as the foremost archer of mythol-
ogy, that is, Orvandel-Egil, who is here carried on Thor's
shoulders through the raging waves, just as on another
occasion he was carried by Thor in his basket across the
Elivagar. Already in strophe 4 he is referred to as the
hero nimble in thought and body, who is known for his
hospitality, and who made compensation for Loke's evil
deed. The foremost one next after him among the
Gandvik champions is Thjalfe, Egil's foster-son. The
others are designated as Thjalfe's yta sinni, his body of
men.
Thus we find that the two foremost among "Gang's
warrior-vans," who with Thor marched forth from "Ide's
saeter," before Rogner (Thjasse) became Loke's ally, are
Volund's and Slagfin's brother Egil and Egil's foster-son
Thjalfe. We find that Egil and Thjalfe belong to the
inhabitants of Ide's sseter, where Thor on this occasion had
stopped, and where he had left his chariot and goats, for
now, as on other occasions, he goes on foot to Jotunheim.
947
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
And as in other sources Egil is mentioned as the one who
on such occasions gives lodgings to Thor and his goats,
and as Thorsdrapa also indicates that he is the hospitable
host who had received Thor in his house, and had paid
him a ransom for the damage caused by Loke to one of
his goats, then this must be a most satisfactory proof that
Ide's sseter is the same place as the Geirvadils setr inhab-
ited by Egil and his brothers, and that Orvandel-Egil is
identical either with Ide or Gang, from which it follows,
again, that Alvalde's (Olvalde's) sons, Ide, Gang, and
Thjasse, are identical with Ivalde's sons, Slagfin, Egil, and
Volund.
That Egil is identical with Gang and not with Ide is
apparent from a comparison with the Grotte-song. There
Olvalde's sons are called Idi, Aurnir, and Thfasi, while in
the Younger Edda they are called Idi, Gdngr, and Thjazi.
Thus Aurnir is identical with Gdngr, and as Aurnir means
"wild boar," and as "wild boar" (Ebur, Ibor, Ebbo) is
an epithet of Egil, Orvandel-Egil must be identical with
Gang.
In regard to the rest of Thorsdrapa I may be brief,
since it is of less interest to the subject under discussion.
Strophe 10. In spite of the perilous adventure de-
scribed above, the hearts of Thjalfe and the Gandvik
champions were no more terrified than Thor's. Here
they are designated as eids fiardar, "the men pledged by
oath," with which is to be compared eidsvara fridar in
strophe 8.
Strophe's 11, 12, show that Thor landed safely with
his burden. Scarcely had he and his companions got a
948
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
firm foothold on the other strand before Geirrod's giant-
clan, "the world-tree-destroying folk of the sea-belt," came
to the spot, and a conflict arose, in which the attacks of the
giants were firmly repulsed, and the latter were finally
forced to retreat.
Strophe 13. After the victory Trier's terrible hosts
pressed farther into Jotenheim to open Geirrod's hall, and
they arrived there amid the din and noise of cave-dwellers.
The following strophes mention that Thor broke the
backs of Geirrod's daughters, and pressed with his war-
riors into Geirrod's hall, where he was received with a
piece of red-hot iron hurled by the latter, which, hurled
back by Thor, caused the death of the giant-chief. Thor
had given the glowing javelin such a force that some one
who stood near him, probably Egil, "drank so that he
reeled in the air-current of the piece of iron the air-drink
of Hrimner's daughter" (svalg hrapmunum d siu lopti
Hrimnis drosar lyptisylg). Hrimner's daughter is Gul-
veig-Heid (Hyndluljod, 32), and her "air-drink" is the
fire, over which the gods held her lifted on their spears
(Voluspa, 21).
As we see from the context, Geirrod's halls were filled
with the men who had fled from the battle near the river,
and within the mountain there arose another conflict,
which is described in the last three strophes of the poem.
Geirrod's hall shook with the din of battle. Thor swung
his bloody hammer. "The staff of safety," "the help-
tree of the way," the staff on which Thor supported him-
self in crossing the river, fell into Egil's hands (kom at
tvividar Tyw brautar lids tollr), who did not here have
949
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
room to use his bow, but who, with this "convenient tree
jerked (or broken) from the forest," gave death-blows to
"the calves of Alfheim." The arrows from his quiver
could not be used in this crowded place against the men
of the mountain-chief.
The fact that the giants in Thorsdrapa use the sling
is of interest to the question concerning the position of
the various weapons of mythology. Geirrod is called
vegtaugar thrjotr, "the industrious applier of the sling"
(str. 17), and almtaugar '2£gir, "the ^Bgir of the sling
made of elm-bast."
In the last strophe Egil is said to be helblotinn and
hneitir, undirfjdlfs bliku, expressions to which I shall
recur further on.
Like the relation between Volund and his swan-maids
in Volundarkvida, the relation between Rogner-Thjasse
and Idun in Forspjallsljod is not that of the robber to his
unwilling victim, but one of mutual harmony. This is
confirmed by a poem which I shall analyse when the inves-
tigation reaches a point that demands it, and according to
which Idun was from her childhood tied by bonds of love
and by oath to the highly-gifted but unhappy son of
Ivalde, to the great artist who, by his irreconcilable thirst
for revenge, became the Lucifer of Teutonic mythology,
while Loke is its Mefisto. I presume that the means of
rejuvenation, the divine remedy against age (ellilyf dsa
— Haustlaung), which Idun alone in Asgard knows and
possesses, was a product of Thjasse-Volund's art. The
middle age also remembered Volund (Wieland) as a
physician, and this trait seems to be from the oldest time,
950
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
for in Rigveda, too, the counterparts of the Ivalde sons,
that is, the Ribhus, at the request of the gods, invent
means of rejuvenation. It may be presumed that the
mythology described his exterior personality in a clear
manner. From his mother he must have inherited his
giant strength, which, according to the Grotte-song, sur-
passed Hrungner's and that of the father of the latter
(Hard var Hrungnir ok hans fadir, tho var Thjazi theim
auflgari — str. 9). With his strength beauty was doubt-
less united. Otherwise, Volundarkvida's author would
scarcely have said that his swan-maid laid her arms
around Anund's (Volund's) "white" neck. That his
eyes were conceived as glittering may be concluded from
the fact that they distinguish him on the starry canopy as
a star-hero, and that in Volundarkvida Nidhad's queen
speaks of the threatening glow in the gaze of the fettered
artist (amon ero augu ormi theim enom frdna — str. 17).
Ivalde's sons — Thjasse-Volund, Aurnir-Egil, and Ide-
Slagfin — are, as we have seen, bastards of an elf and a
giantess (Greip, Gambara). Ivalde's daughters, on the
other hand (see No. 113), have as mother a sun-dis,
daughter of the ruler of the atmosphere, Nokver. In
other sources the statement in Forspjallsljod (6) is con-
firmed, that Ivalde had two groups of children, and that
she who "among the races of elves was called Idun" be-
longed to one of them. Thus, while Idun and her sisters
are half-sisters to Ivalde's sons, these are in turn half-
brothers to pure giants, sons of Greip, and these giants
are, according to the Grotte-song (str. 9), the fathers of
Fenja and Menja. The relationship of the Ivalde sons
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to the gods on the one hand and to the giants on the other
may be illustrated by the following scheme :
Ivalde begets (1) with a (2) with the giantess Greip bears with a giant
sun-dis Greip — j
I I giant giant
Idun and her sisters. Thjasse-Volund and his | |
brothers. Fenja. Menja.
115.
REVIEW OF THE PROOFS OF VOUJND's IDENTITY WITH
THJASSE.
The circumstances which first drew my attention to
the necessity of investigating whether Thjasse and
Volund were not different names of the same mythic per-
sonality, which the mythology particularly called Thjasse,
and which the heroic saga springing from the mythology
in Christian times particularly called Volund, were the
following: (1) In the study of Saxo I found in no less
than three passages that Njord, under different historical
masks, marries a daughter of Volund, while in the mythol-
ogy he marries a daughter of Thjasse. (2) In investi-
gating the statements anent Volund's father in Volun-
darkvida's text and prose appendix I found that these led
to the result that Volund was a son of Sumbl, the Finn
king — that is to say, of Olvalde, Thjasse's father. (3)
My researches in regard to the myth about the mead pro-
duced the result that Svigder-Olvalde perished by the
treachery of a dwarf outside of a mountain, where one of
the smith-races of the mythology, Suttung's sons, ha3
their abode. In Vilkinasaga's account of the death of
952
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Volund's father I discovered the main outlines of the
same mythic episode.
The correspondence of so different sources in so unex-
pected a matter was altogether too remarkable to permit
it to be overlooked in my mythological researches. The
fact that the name- variation itself, Alvalde (for Olvalde),
as Thjasse's father is called in Harbardsljod, was in mean-
ing and form a complete synonym of Ivalde I had already
observed, but without attaching any importance thereto.
The next step was to examine whether a similar proof
of the identity of Thjasse's and Volund's mother was to
be found. In one Norse mythological source Thjasse's
mother is called Greip. Volund's and Egil's (Ayo's and
Ibor's, Aggo's and Ebbo's) mother is in Paulus Diaconus
and in Origo Longobardorum called Gambara, in Saxo
Gambaruc. The Norse stem in the Latinised name Gam-
bara is Gammr, which is a synonym of Greip, the name
of Thjasse's mother. Thus I found a reference to the
identity of Thjasse's mother and Volund's mother.
From the parents I went to the brothers. One of
Volund's brothers bore the epithet Aurnir, "wild boar."
Aurnir's wife is remembered in the Christian traditions
as one who forebodes the future. Ebur's wife is a mytho-
logical seeress. One of Thjasse's brothers, Ide, is the
only one in the mythology whose name points to an orig-
inal connection with Ivalde (Idvalde), Volund's father,
and with Idun, Volund's half-sister. Volund himself
bears the epithet Brunne, and Thjasse's home is Brunns-
acre. One of Thjasse's sons is slain at the instigation of
Loke, and Loke, who in Lokasenna takes pleasure in stat-
953
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ing this, boasts in the same poem that he has caused the
slaying of Thjasse.
In regard to bonds of relationship in general, I found
that on the one side Volund, like Thjasse, was regarded
as a giant, and had relations among the giants, among
whom Vidolf is mentioned both as Volund's and
Thjasse's relative, and that on the other hand Volund is
called an elf-prince, and that Thjasse's father belonged
to the clan of elves, and that Thjasse's daughter is char-
acterised, like Volund and his nearest relatives, as a skee-
runner and hunter, and in this respect has the same epithet
as Volund's nephew Ull. I found, furthermore, that so
far as tradition has preserved the memory of star-heroes,
every mythic person who belonged to their number was
called a son of Ivalde or a son of Olvalde. Orvandel-
Egil is a star-hero and a son of Ivalde. The Watlings,
after whom the Milky Way is named, are descendants of
Vate-Vade, Volund's father. Thjasse is a star-hero and
the son of Olvalde. Ide, too, Thjasse's brother, "the
torch-bearer," may have been a star-hero, and, as we shall
show later, the memory of Volund's brother Slagfin was
partly connected with the Milky Way and partly with the
spots on the moon ; while, according to another tradition,
it is Volund's father whose image is seen in these spots
(see Nos. 121, 123).
I found that Rogner is a Thjasse-epithet, and that all
that is stated of Rogner is also told of Volund. Rogner
was, like the latter, first the friend of the gods and then
their foe. He was a "swan-gladdener," and Volund the
lover of a swan-maid. Like Volund he fought against
954
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Njord. Like Volund he proceeded to the northernmost
edge of the world, and there he worked with magic im-
plements through the powers of frost for the destruction
of the gods and of the world. And from some one he has
taken the same ransom as Volund did, when the latter
killed Nidhad's young sons and made goblets of their
skulls.
I found that while Olvalde's sons, Ide, Aurner (Gang),
and Thjasse, still were friends of the gods, they had their
abode on the south coast of the Elivagar, where Ivalde
had his home, called after him Geirvadils setr, and where
his son Orvandel-Egil afterwards dwelt ; that Thor on his
way to Jotunheim visits Ide's setr, and that he is a guest in
Egil's dwelling ; that the mythological warriors who dwell
around Ide's setr are called "warrior-vans," and that these
"Gang's warrior-vans" have these very persons, Egil and
his foster-son Thjalfe, as their leaders when they accom-
pany Thor to fight the giants, wherefore the setr of the
Olvalde sons Ide and Gang must be identical with that of
the Ivalde sons, and Ide, Gang, and Thjasse identical
with Slagfin, Egil, and Volund.
On these foundations the identity of Olvalde's sons with
Ivalde's sons is sufficiently supported, even though our
mythic records had preserved no evidence that Thjasse,
like Volund, was the most celebrated artist of mythology.
But such evidence is not wanting. As the real meaning of
Regin is "shaper," "workman," and as this has been re-
tained as a smith-name in Christian times, there is every
reason to assume that Thjasse, who is called fjadrar-blads
leik-Regin and vingvagna Rognir, did himself make, like
955
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Volund, the eagle guise which he, like Volund, wears.
The son of Ivalde, Volund, made the most precious treas-
ures for the gods while he still was their friend, and the
Olvalde son Thjasse is called hapta snytrir, "the deco-
rator of the gods," doubtless for the reason that he had
smithied treasures for the gods during a time when he was
their friend and Thor's ofruni (Thor's confidential
friend). Volund is the most famous and, so far as we
can see, also the first sword-smith, which seems to appear
from the fact that his father Ivalde, though a valiant
champion, does not use the sword but the spear as a
weapon, and is therefore called Geirvandill. Thjasse was
the first sword-smith, otherwise he would not have been
called fadir morna, "the father of the swords." Splendid
implements are called verk Rognis and Thjaza thingskil,
Idja glysmdl, Idja ord — expressions which do not find
their adequate explanation in the Younger Edda's account
of the division of Olvalde's estate, but in the myth about
the judgment which the gods once proclaimed in the con-
test concerning the skill of Sindre and the sons of Ivalde,
when the treasures of the latter presented in court had to
plead their own cause.
116.
/
A LOOK AT THE MYTH CONCERNING THJASSE-VOLUND.
HIS EPITHET HIvEBARDR. HIS WORST DEED OF RE-
VENGE.
What our mythic records tell us about the sons of
Olvalde and the sons of Ivalde is under such circum-
956
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
stances to be regarded as fragments which come to us
from one and the same original myth. When combined,
the fragments are found to dovetail together and form one
whole. Volundarkvida (28) indicates that something ter-
rible, something that in the highest degree aroused his
indignation and awakened his deep and satanic thirst for
revenge, had happened to Volund ere he, accompanied by
his brothers, betook himself to the wintry wilderness,
where he smithied the sword of revenge and the gand
rings ; and the poem makes Volund add that this injustice
remained to be avenged when he left the Wolf-dales. It
lies in the nature of the case that the saga about Volund
did not end where the fragment of the Volundarkvida
which we possess is interrupted. The balance of the saga
must have related what Volund did to accomplish the re-
venge which he still had to take, and how the effort to
take vengeance resulted. The continuation probably also
had something to say about that swan-maid, that dis of
vegetation, who by the name Hervor Alvitr spends nine
years with Volund in the Wolfdales, and then, seized by
longing, departs with the other swan-maids, but of whose
faithful love Volund is perfectly convinced (Volundar-
kvida, 10) . While Volund is Nidhad's prisoner, the hope
he has built on the sword of revenge and victory smithied
by him seems to be frustrated. The sword is in the power
of Mimer-Nidhad, the friend of the gods. But the hope
of the plan of revenge must have awakened again when
Svipdag, Volund's nephew, succeeded in coming up from
the lower world with the weapon in his possession. The
conflict between the powers of frost and the kinsmen of
17 957
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ivalde, who had deserted the gods, on the one side, and
the gods and their favourite Halfdan, the Teutonic
patriarch, on the other side, was kindled anew (see No.
33). Halfdan is repulsed, and finally falls in the war in
which Volund got satisfaction by the fact that his sword
conquered Thor's Mjolner and made Thor retreat. But
once more the hope based on the sword of revenge is frus-
trated, this time by the possessor of the sword itself,
Volund' s young kinsman, who— victor in the war, but
conquered by the love he cherished for Freyja, rescued
by him — becomes the husband of the fair asynje and gives
the sword of Volund to Frey, the god of the harvests.
That, in spite of this crossing of his plan of revenge,
Volund still did not give it up may be taken for granted.
He is described not only as the most revengeful, but also
as the most persistent and patient person (see "Doer the
Scald's Complaint"), when patience could promote his
plans. To make war on the gods with the aid of the
giants, when the sword of victory had fallen into the
hands of the latter, could not give him the least hope of
success. After the mythology has given Volund satis-
faction for the despicable judgment passed on the pro-
ducts of his skill, it unites the chain of events in such a
manner that the same weapon which refuted the judgment
and was to cause the ruin of the gods became their palla-
dium against its own maker. What was Volund able to
do afterwards, and what did he do ? The answer to this
question is given in the myth about Thjasse. With Idun
— the Hervor Alvitr of the heroic poem — he confined
himself in a mountain, whose halls he presumably deco-
958
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
rated with all the wonders which the sagas of the middle
ages, describing splendid mountain-halls and parks within
the mountains, inherited from the mythology. The
mountain must have been situated in a region difficult of
access to the gods — according to Bragarsedur in Jotun-
heim. At all events, Thjasse is there secure against every
effort to disturb him, forcibly, in his retreat. The means
against the depredations of time and years which Idun
possesses have their virtue only when in her care. With-
out this means, even the gods of Asgard are subject to the
influence of time, and are to grow old and die. And in
the sense of a myth symbolising nature, the same means
must have had its share in the rejuvenation of creation
through the saps rising every year in trees and herbs.
The destruction of the world — the approach of which
Volund wished to precipitate with his sword of revenge —
must come slowly, but surely, if Idun remains away from
Asgard. This plan is frustrated by the gods through
Loke, as an instrument compelled by necessity — compelled
by necessity (Haustlaung, str. 11), although he delighted
in the mischief of deceiving even his allies. Near
Thjasse's mountain-halls is a body of water, on which he
occasionally rows out to fish (Bragaraedur.) Once, when
he rows out for this purpose, perhaps accompanied by
Skade, Idun is at home alone. Loke, who seems to have
studied his customs, flies in a borrowed feather guise into
the mountain and steals Idun, who, changed into a nut,
is carried in his claws through space to Asgard. But the
robbing of Idun was not enough for Loke. He enticed
Thjasse to pursue. In his inconsiderate zeal, the latter
959
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dons his eagle guise and hastens after the robber into
Asgard's vaferflames, where he falls by the javelins of
the gods and by Thor's hammer. Sindre's work, the one
surpassed by Volund, causes his death, and is avenged. I
have already pointed out that this event explains Loke's
words to Idun in Lokasenna, where he speaks of the mur-
der of one of the Ivalde sons, and insists that she, Idun,
embraced the one who caused his death.
The fate of the great artist and his tragical death help
to throw light on the character of Loke and on the part
he played in the mythology. Ivalde's sons are, in the be-
ginning, the zealous friends of the gods, and the deco-
rators and protectors of their creation. They smithy
ornaments, which are the symbols of vegetation ; and at
their outpost by the Elivagar they defend the domain of
vegetation against Jotunheim's powers of frost. As I
have already stated, they are, like the Ribhus, at the same
time heroes, promoters of growth, and artists of antiquity.
The mythology had also manifestly endowed the sons of
Ivalde with pleasing qualities — profound knowledge of
the mysteries of nature, intelligence, strength, beauty, and
with faithfulness toward their beloved. We find that, in
time of adversity, the brothers were firmly united, and
that their swan-maids love them in joy and in distress.
For the powers of evil it was, therefore, of the greatest
moment to bring about strife between the gods and these
their "sworn men." Loke, who is a gedreynir (Thors-
drapa), "a searcher of the qualities of the soul," a
"tempter of the character," has discovered in the great
artist of antiquity the false but hitherto unawakened qual-
960
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ities of his character — his ambition and irreconcilable
thirst for revenge. These qualties, particularly the latter,
burst forth fully developed suddenly after the injustice
which, at Loke's instigation, the gods have done to the
sons of Ivalde. The thirst for revenge breaks out in
Thjasse-Volund in a despicable misdeed. There is reason
for assuming that the terrible vengeance which, accord-
ing to the heroic saga, he took against Nidhad, and which
had its counterpart in the mythology itself, was not the
worst crime which the epic of the Teutonic mythology had
to blame him for. Harbardsljod (20) alludes to another
and worse one. Speaking of Thjasse (str. 19), Hdr-
frar</r-L,oke* there boasts that —
hardan jotun
ec hugda Hlebard vera,
gaf han mer gambantein,
en ec velta hann or viti.
Harbard-Loke here speaks of a giant who, in his mind,
was a valiant one, but whose "senses he stole," that is,
whom he "cunningly deprived of thought and reflection."
There are two circumstances to which these words might
apply. The one concerns the giant-builder who built the
Asgard-wall, and, angry on account of the trick by which
Loke cheated him out of the compensation agreed on,
rushed against the gods and was slain by Thor. The
•Holtzmann and Bergmann have long since pointed out that Harbard is
identical with Loke. The idea that Harbard, who in every trait is Loke in
Lokasenna, and, like him, appears as a mocker of the gods and boasts of
his evil deeds and of his success with the fair sex, should be Odin, is one of
the proofs showing how an unmethodical symbolic interpretation could go
astray. In the second part of this work I shall fully discuss Harbardsljod.
Proofs are to be found from the last days of heathendom in Iceland that
it was then well known that the Harbard who is mentioned in this poem
was a foe of the gods.
961
other concerns Thjasse, who, seeing his beloved carried
away by Loke and his plan about to be frustrated, reck-
lessly rushed into his certain ruin. The real name of
the giant alluded to is not given, but it is indicated by the
epithet Hlebardr, which, according to the Younger Edda,
(ii. 484), is a snyonym of Vargr and Gyldir. It has
already been shown above that Vargr in Thorsdrapa and
Fjallgyldir in Haustlaung are epithets of Thjasse. Loke
says that this same giant, whose sense he cunningly
robbed, had previously given him a gambanteinn. This
word means a weapon made by Volund. His sword
of revenge and victory is called gambanteinn in Skirners-
mal. But gambanteinn is, at the same time, a synonym
of ndstelteinn, hence, in an Icelandic saga from the
Christian time, Volund's sword of victory also reappears
by the name mistelteinn (see No. 60). Thus the giant
Hlebard gave Loke a weapon, which, according to its
designation, is either Volund's sword of victory or the
mistletoe. It cannot be the sword of victory. We know
the hands to which this sword has gone and is to go:
Volund's, Mimer-Nidhad's, the night-dis Sinmara's, Svip-
dag's, FYey's, Aurboda's and Eggther's, and finally
Fjalar's and Surt's. The weapon which Thjasse's name-
sake Hlebard gives Loke must, accordingly, have been
the mistletoe. In this connection we must bear in mind
what is said of the mistletoe. Unfortunately, the few
words of Voluspa are the only entirely reliable record we
have on this subject; but certain features of Gylfagin-
ning's account (Younger Edda, i. 172-174) may be myth-
ologically correct. "Slender and fair" — not dangerous
962
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and fair to behold — grew, according to Voluspa, the
mistletoe, "higher than the fields" (as a parasite on the
trees) ; but from the shrub which seemed innocent be-
came "a dangerous arrow of pain," which Hodr hurled.
According to a poetic fragment united with Vegtams-
kvida ("Balder's draumar"), and according to Gylfag-
inning, the gods had previously exacted an oath from all
things not to harm Balder; but, according to Gylfagin-
ning, they had omitted to exact an oath from one thing,
namely, the mistletoe. By cunning Loke found this out.
He went and pulled up the mistletoe, which he was after-
wards able to put into Hoder's hand, while, according to
Gylfaginning, the gods were amusing themselves by see-
ing how every weapon aimed at Balder hit him without
harming him. But that Loke should hand Hoder this
shrub in the form in which it had grown on the tree, and
that Hoder should use it in> this form to shoot Balder, is
as improbable as that Hoder was blind.* We must take
Voluspa's words to mean that the shrub became an arrow,
and we must conceive that this arrow looked like every
other arrow, and for this reason did not awaken suspi-
cion. Otherwise the suspicion would at once have been
awakened, for they who had exacted the oath of things,
and Frigg who had sent the messengers to exact the oaths,
knew that the mistletoe was the only thing in the whole
world that had not been sworn. The heathen songs no-
*When I come to consider the Balder-myth in the second part of this
work, I shall point out the source from which the author of Gylfaginning,
misunderstandingly, has drawn the conclusion that the man of exploits,
the warrior, the archer, and the hunter Hoder was blind. The misunder-
standing gave welcome support to the symbolic interpretation, which, in
the blind Hoder, found among other things a symbol of night (but night
has "many eyes").
963
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
where betray such inconsistencies and such thoughtless-
ness as abound in the accounts of the Younger Edda.
The former are always well conceived, at times incisive,
but they always reveal a keen sense of everything that may
give even to the miraculous the appearance of reality and
logic. The mistletoe was made into an arrow by some one
who knew how to turn it into a "dangerous arrow of
pain" in an infallible manner. The unhappy shot de-
pended on the magic qualities that were given to the mis-
tletoe by the hands that changed it into an arrow. The
event becomes comprehensible, and the statements found
in the various sources dovetail together and bear the test
of sound criticism, if Loke, availing himself of the only
thing which had not been bound by oath not to harm Bal-
der, goes with this shrub, which of itself was innocent and
hardly fit for an afrow, to the artist who hated the gods,
to the artist who had smithied the sword of revenge, and
if the latter, with his magic skill as a smith, makes out of
the misteUeinn a new gambanteinn dangerous to the gods,
and gives the weapon to Loke in order that he might ac-
complish his evil purpose therewith. As Hlebard is a
Thjasse-synonym, as this Thjasse-synonym is connected
with the weapon-name gambanteinn, which indicates a
Thjasse-work, and as Loke has treated Thjasse as he
says he has treated Hlebard — by a cunning act he robbed
him of his senses — then all accessible facts go to establish
the theory that by Hlebard is meant the celebrated an-
cient artist deceived by Loke. And as Hlebard has given
him a weapon which is designated by the name of the
sword of revenge, but which is not the sword of revenge,
964
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
while the latter, on the other hand and for corresponding
reasons, also gets the name mistelteinn, then all the facts
go to show that the weapon which Hlebard gave to L,oke
was the mistletoe fraught with woes and changed to an
arrow. If Glyfaginning's unreliable account, based on
fragmentary and partly misunderstood mythic
records presented in a disjointed manner, had
not been found, and if we had been referred exclusively
to the few but reliable statements which are to be found in
regard to the matter in the poetic songs, then a correct
picture of this episode, though not so complete as to de-
tails, would have been the result of a compilation of the
statements extant. The result would then have been:
(1) Balder was slain by an arrow shot by Hoder (V6-
luspa, Vegtamskvida) ; (2) Hoder was not the real
slayer, but Loke (Lokasenna, 28) ; (3) the material of
which the arrow was made was a tender or slender
(mjor) mistletoe (Voluspa) ; (4) previously all things
had sworn not to harm Balder ("Balder's draumar"),
but the mistletoe must, for some reason or other, have
been overlooked by the messengers sent out to exact the
oaths, since Balder was mortally wounded by it; (5)
since it was Loke who arranged (red} matters so that this
happened, it must have been he who had charge of the mis-
tletoe for the carrying out of his evil purpose; (6) the
mistletoe fell into the hands of a giant-smith hostile to the
gods, and mentioned under circumstances that refer to
Thjasse (Harbardsljod) ; (7) by his skill as a smith he
gave such qualities to the mistletoe as to change it into
"a dangerous arrow of pain," and then gave the arrow
965
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to Loke (Harbardsljod) ; (8) from Loke's hands it
passed into Hoder's, and was shot by the latter (L,oka-
senna, Voluspa).
It is dangerous to employ nature-symbolism as a means
of mythological investigation. It is unserviceable for
that purpose, so long as it cannot be subjected to the rules
of severe methodics. On the other hand, it is admissible
and justifiable to consider from a natural symbolic stand-
point the results gained in a mythological investigation
by the methodological system. If, as already indicated,
Hlebard is identical with Thjasse-Volund, then he who
was the cause of the fimbul-winter and sent the powers
of frost out upon the; earth, also had his hand in the death
of the sun-god Balder and in his descent to the lower
world. There is logic in this. And there is logic in the
very fact that the weapon with which the sun-god is slain
is made from the mistletoe, which blossoms and produces
fruit in the winter, and is a plant which rather shuns
than seeks the light of the sun. When we remember how
the popular traditions have explained the appearance and
qualities of various animals and plants by connecting
them with the figures of mythology or of legendary lore,
then I suppose it is possible that the popular fancy saw in
the mistletoe's dread of light the effect of grief and shame
at having been an instrument in evil hands for evil pur-
poses. Various things indicate that the mistletoe orig-
inally was a sacred plant, not only among the Celts, but
also among the Teutons. The Hindooic Aryans also
knew sacred parasitical plants.
The word gamban which forms a part of gambanteinn
966
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
means "compensation," "ransom," when used as a noun,
and otherwise "retaliating." In the Anglo-Saxon poetry
occurs (see Grein's Dictionary) the phrase gamban gyl-
dan, "to compensate," "to pay dues." In the Norse
sources gamban occurs only in the compounds gamban-
teinn (Skirnersmal, 32; Harbardsljod, SO), gambanreidi
( Skirnersmal, 33), and gambansumbl (Lokasenna, 8).
In the song of Skirner, the latter threatens Gerd, who re-
fused Frey's offer of marriage, that she shall be struck
by gambanreidi goda, the avenging wrath of the gods. In
Lokasenna, Loke comes unbidden into the banquet of the
gods in -^gir's hall to mix bitterness with their gladness,
and he demands either a place at the banquet table or to
be turned out of doors. Brage answers that the gods
never will grant him a seat at a banquet, "since they well
know for whom among beings they are to prepare gam-
bansumbl" a banquet of revenge or a drink of revenge.
This he manifestly mentions as a threat, referring to the
fate which soon afterwards happens to Loke, when he is
captured and bound, and when a venom-spitting serpent
is fastened above his mouth. Por the common assump-
tion that gamban means something "grand," "mag-
nificent," "divine," there is not a single shadow of rea-
son. Gambanteinn is accordingly "the twig of revenge,"
and thus we have the mythological reason why Thjasse-
Volund's sword of revenge and the mistletoe arrow were
so called. With them he desires to avenge the insult to
which he refers in Volundarkvida, 28 : Nu hefi ec hefnt
harma minna allra nema einna ivithgfarnra.
967
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
117.
THE GUARD AT HVERGELMER AND THE EUVAGAR.
It has already been shown (see Nos. 59, 93) that the
Elivagar have their source in the subterranean fountain
Hvergelmer, situated on a mountain, which separates the
subterranean region of bliss (Hel) from Nifelhel. Here,
near the source of the Elivagar, stands the great world-
mill, which revolves the starry heavens, causes the ebb
and flood of the ocean and regulates its currents, and
grinds the bodies of the primeval giants into layers of
mould on the rocky substrata (see Nos. 79, 80). From
Hvergelmer, the mother of all waters, the northern root
of the world-tree draws saps, which rise into its topmost
branches, evaporate into Eikthyrnir above Asgard, and
flow thence as vafer-laden clouds (see No. 36), which
emit fructifying showers upon Midgard, and through the
earth they return to their original source, the fountain
Hvergelmer. The Hvergelmer mountain (the Nida-
mountains, Nidafjoll) cannot have been left without care
and protection, as it is of so vast importance in the econ-
omy of the world, and this the less since it at the same
time forms the boundary between the lower world's
realm of bliss and Nifelhel, the subterranean Jotunheim,
whose frost-thurses sustain the same relation to the in-
habitants on the evergreen fields of bliss as the powers
of frost in the upper Jotunheim sustain to the gods of
Asgard and to the inhabitants of Midgard. There is no
reason for assuming that the guard of brave sworn war-
riors of the Asgard gods, those warriors whom we have
968
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
already seen in array near the Elivagar, should have only
a part of this body of water to keep watch over. The
clan of the elves, under their chiefs, the three sons of
Ivalde, even though direct evidence were wanting, must
be regarded as having watched over the Elivagar along
their whole extent, even to their source, and as having
had the same important duty in reference to the giants
of the lower world as in reference to those of the upper.
As its name indicates, Nifelheim is shrouded in darkness
and mist, against which the peaks of the Hvergelmer
mountain form the natural rampart as a protection to the
smiling fields of bliss. But gales and storms might lift
themselves above these peaks and enshroud even Mimer's
and Urd's realms in mist. The elves are endowed with
power to hinder this. The last strophe in Thorsdrapa,
so interesting from a mythological standpoint, confirms
this view. Egil is there called hneitir undir-fjdlfs bliku,
and is said to be helblotinn. Blika is a name for clouds
while they are still near the horizon and appear as pale
vapours, which to those skilled in regard to the weather
forbode an approaching storm (compare Vigfusson's
Diet, 69). Undir-fjdlfr is thought by Egilson to mean
subterranean mountains, by Vigfusson "the deep,"
abyssus. Hneitir undir-fjalfs bliku is "he who conquers
(or resolves, scatters) the clouds rising, storm-forebod-
ing, from the abyss (or over the lower-world mountain)."
As Egil can be thus characterised, it is easy to explain
why he is called helblotinn," "he who receives sacrifices
in the subterranean realm of bliss." He guards the Teu-
tonic elysian fields against the powers of frost and the
969
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mists of Nifelheim, and therefore receives tokens of grati-
tude from their pious inhabitants.
The vocation of the sons of Ivalde, as the keepers of
the Hvergelmer fountain and of the Elivagar, has its
counterpart in the vocation which, in the Iranian mythol-
ogy, is attributed to Thjasse's prototype, the star-hero
Tistrya (Tishya). The fountain Hvergelmer, the
source of the ocean and of all waters, has in the Iranian
mythology its counterpart in the immense body of water
Vourukasha. Just as the Teutonic world-tree grows from
its northern root out of Hvergelmer, the Iranian world-
tree Gaokerena grows out of Vourukasha (Bundehesh,
18). Vourukasha is guarded by Tistrya, assisted by two
heroes belonging to the class of mythological beings that
are called Yazatas (Izads; in the Veda literature Yajata),
"they who deserve offerings," and in the Iranian my-
thology they form the third rank of divine beings, and
thus correspond to the elves of the Teutonic mythology.
Assisted by these two heroes and by the "fevers of the
just," Tistrya defends Vourukasha, and occasionally
fights against the demon Apaosha, who desires to destroy
the world (Bundehesh, 7). Tistrya, as such, appears
in three forms: as a youth with bright and glistening
eyes, as a wild boar, and as a horse. Can it be an ac-
cident that these forms have their counterparts in the
Teutonic mythology in the fact that one of Thjasse's
brothers (Egil-Orvandel-Ebur) has the epithet "wild
boar," and that, as shall be shown below, his other brother
(Slagfin) bears the epithet Hengest, and that Thjasse-
Volund himself, who for years was possessor of, and
970
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
presumably invented, the "remedy against aging," which
Idun, his beloved, has charge of — that Thjasse-Volund
himself was regarded as a youth with a "white neck"
(Volundarkvida, 2) and with glittering eyes (Volundar-
kvida, 17), which after his death were placed in the heav-
ens as stars ?
118.
SLAGFIN. HIS IDENTITY WITH GJUKE. SLAGFIN, EGIL,
AND VOIvUND ARE NlFLUNGS.
I now come to the third Ivalde son, Slagfin. The name
Slagfin (Slagfidr) occurs nowhere else than in Volun-
darkvida, and in the prose introduction to the same.
All that we learn of him is that, like Egil, he accom-
panied his brother Volund to the Wolf dales; that, like
them, he runs on skees and is a hunter; and that, when
the swan-maids, in the ninth year of their abode in the
Wolf dales, are overcome by longing and return to the
south, he goes away to find his beloved, just as Egil goes
to find his. We learn, furthermore, that Slagfin's swan-
maid is a sister of Volund's and a kinswoman of Egil's,
and that she, accordingly, is Slagfin's sister (half-sister).
She is called Hladgudr Svanhvit, likewise a name which
occurs nowhere else. Her (and accordingly also that of
Volund's swan-maid) mother is called Swan-feather,
Svanfjodr (Slagfin's beloved is Svanfjadrar dros — str.
2). The name S van-feather reminds us of the Svanhild
Gold-feather mentioned in Fornm., ii. 7, wife of one
Finalf. If Svanfeather is identical with Svanhild Gold-
971
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
feather, then Finalf must originally be identical with
Ivalde, who also is an elf and bears the name Finnakon-
ungr, Sumblus Phinnorum rex. But this then simply
confirms what we already know, namely, that the Ivalde
sons and two of the swan-maids are brothers and sisters.
It, however, gives us no clue by which we can trace
Slagfin in other sources, and rediscover him bearing other
names, and restore the myth concerning him which seems
to be lost. That he, however, played an important part
in the mythology may be assumed already from the fact
that his brothers hold places so central in the great epic
of the mythology. It is, therefore, highly probable that
he is mentioned in our mythic fragments, though con-
cealed under some other name. One of these names,
viz., Ide, we have already found (see No. 114) ; and
thereby we have learned that he, with his brother Egil,
had a citadel near the Elivagar, and guarded their coasts
against the powers of frost. But of his fate in general
we are ignorant. No extensive researches are required,
however, before we find circumstances which, compared
with each other, give us the result that Slagfin is Gjuke,
and therewith the way is open for a nearer acquaintance
with his position in the heroic saga, and before that in the
mythology. His identity with Gjuke is manifest from
the following circumstances :
The Gjukungs, famous in the heroic saga, are, accord-
ing to the saga itself, the first ones who bear this name.
Their father is Gjuke, from whom this patronymic is de-
rived. Through their father they belong to a race that is
called Hniflungs, Niflungs, Nebelungs. The Gjukungs
972
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
form a branch of the Niflung race, hence all Gjukungs are
Niflungs, but not all Niflungs Gjukungs. The Younger
Edda says correctly, Af Niflunga alt var Gjuki (Younger
Edda, i. 522), and Atlakvida (17) shows that the
Gjukungs constitute only a part of the Niflungs. The
identity of the Gjukungs in this relative sense with the
Niflungs is known and pointed out in Atlamal (47, 52,
88), in Brot Sigurdarkvida (16), in Atlakvida (11, 17,
27), and in "Drap Niflunga."
Who the Niflung race are in the widest sense of the
word, or what known heroes the race embraced besides
Gjuke and his sons — to this question the saga of Helge
Hundingsbane (i. 48) gives important information, in-
asmuch as the passage informs us that the hostile race
which Helge Hundingsbane — that is to say, Halfdan
Borgarson (see No. 29) — combats are the Niflungs.
Foremost among the Niflungs Hodbrod is mentioned in
this poem, whose betrothed Helge (Halfdan Borgarson)
gets into his power. It has already been shown that,
in this heroic poem, Hodbrod is the copy of the mytho-
logical Orvandel-Egil (see Nos. 29, 32, 101). It fol-
lows that Volund, Orvandel-Egil, and Slagfin are Ni-
flungs, and that Gjuke either is identical with one of
them or that he at all events is descended from the same
progenitor as they.
The great treasure of works smithied from gold and
other precious things which the Gjukungs owned, ac-
cording to the heroic traditions, are designated in the
different sources in the same manner as inherited. In
Atlakvida (11) the Gjukung treasure is called arf Ni-
18 973
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
flunga; so also in Atlakvida (27). In Gudrunarkvida
(ii. 25) the queen of the deceased Gjuke promises her
and Gjuke's daughter, Gudrun, that she is to have the
control of all the treasures "after (at) her dead father
(fjold alls fjar at thin faudur daudan), and we are told
that those treasures, together with the halls in which they
were kept and the precious carpets, are an inheritance
after (at) Hlaudver, "the fallen prince" (hringa rauda
Hlaudves soli, arsal allan at jofur fallin). From Volun-
darkvida we gather that Volund's and Slagfin's swan-
maids are daughters of Hlaudver and sisters of their
lovers. Thus Hlaudver is identical with Ivalde, Vo-
lund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father (see No. 123). Ivalde's
splendidly decorated halls, together with at least one
son's share of his golden treasures, have thus passed as
an inheritance to Gjuke, and from Gjuke to his sons, the
Gjukungs. While the first song about Helge Hundings-
bane tells us that Volund, Egil, and Slagfin were, like
Gjuke, Niflungs, we here learn that Gjuke was the heir
of Volund's, Egil's, and Slagfin's father. And while
Thorsdrapa, compared with other sources, has already
informed us that Ide-Slagfin and Gang-Egil inhabited
that citadel near the Elivagar which is called "Ide's
chalet" and Geirvadel's (Geirvandel's) chalet, and while
Geirvandel is demonstrably an epithet of Ivalde,* and as
Ivalde's citadel accordingly passed into the possession of
Slagfin and Egil, we here find that Ivalde's citadel was
inherited by Gjuke. Finally, we must compare here-
.. *In Saxo Gervandillus (Geirvandill) is the father of Horvandillus
(Orvandill'). Orvandel has been proved to be identical with Egil. And as
Egil is the son of Ivalde, Geirvandel is identical with Ivalde.
974
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
with Bragarsedur (ch. 2), where it is said that Ivalde
(there called Olvalde) was survived by his sons, who
harmoniously divided his great treasures. Thus Gjuke
is one of the sons of Ivalde, and inherited halls and treas-
ures after Ivalde; and as he can be neither Volund nor
Egil, whose fates we already know, he must be Slagfin —
a result confirmed by the evidence which we shall grad-
ually present below.
119.
THE NIEIVUNG HOARD IS THE TREASURE LEFT BY VOLUND
AND HIS BROTHERS.
When Volund and Egil, angry at the gods, abandoned
Frey to the power of the giants and set out for the Wolf-
dales, they were unable to take with them their immense
treasures inherited from their father and augmented by
themselves. Nor did they need them for their purposes.
Volund carried with him a golden fountain in his wealth-
bringing arm-ring (see Nos. 87, 98, 101) from which the
seven hundred rings, that Nidhad to his astonishment
discovered in his smithy, must have come. But the
riches left by these brothers ought not to fall into the
hands of the gods, who were their enemies. Conse-
quently they were concealed. Saxo (Hist., 193) says
of the father of Svipdag-Ericus, that is to say, of Orvan-
del-Egil, that he long had had great treasures concealed
in earth caves {gazes, quas diu clause telluris antra condi-
derant). The same is true of Gjuke-Slagfin, who went
with his brothers to the Wolf dales. Vilkinasaga (see
975
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
below) has rescued an account of a treasure which was
preserved in the interior of a mountain, and which he
owned. The same is still more and particularly appli-
cable to Volund, as he was the most famous smith of
the mythology and qf the heroic saga. The popular fancy
conceived these treasures left and concealed by Volund
as being kept in earth caves, or in mountain halls, guarded
and brooded over by dragons. Or it conceived them as
lying on the bottom of the sea, or in the bottom of deep
rivers, guarded by some dwarf inhabiting a rocky island
near by. Many of the songs and sagas of heathendom
and of the older days of Christianity were connected with
the refolding and acquisition of the Niblung hoard by
some hero or qther as the Volsung Sigmund, the Borgar
descendant Hadding-Dieterich, and Siegfried-Sigurd-
Fafnersbane. The Niflung treasure, hodd Niflunga
(Atlakvida, 26), Nibelunge Hort, is in its more limited
sense these Volund treasures, and in its most general sig-
nification the golden wealth left by the three brothers.
This wealth the saga represents as gathered again largely
in the hands of the Gjukungs, after Sigurd, upon the
victory over Fafner, has reunited the most important one
of Volund's concealed treasures with that of the Gjuk-
ung's, and has married the Gjukung sister Gudrun. The
German tradition, preserved in middle-age poems, shows
that the continental Teutons long remembered that the
Nibelunge Hort originally was owned by Volund, Egil,
and Slagfin-Gjuke. In Lied von Siegfried the treasure is
owned by three brothers who are "Niblungs." Only one
of them is named, and he is called King Euglin. a name
976
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which, with its variation Eugel, manifestly is a variation
of Eigel, as he is called in the Orentel saga and in Vil-
kinasaga, and of Egil as he is called in the Norse records.
King Euglin is, according to Lied von Siegfried, an in-
terpreter of stars. Siegfried bids him Lass mich deyner
kunst geniessen, Astronomey genannt. This peculiar
statement is explained by the myth according to which
Orvandel-Egil is a star-hero. Egil becomes, like Atlas
of the antique mythology, a king versed in astronomy in
the historical interpretation of mythology. In Nibelunge
Noth the treasure is owned by "the valiant" Niblungs,
Schilbunc and Niblunc. Schilbunc is the Norse Skilfingr,
and I have already shown above that Ivalde-Svigder is
the progenitor of the Skilfings. The poem Biterolf
knows that the treasure originally belonged to Nibelot,
der machet himele guldin; selber wolt er got sin. These
remarkable words have their only explanation in the myths
concerning the Niflung Volund, who first ornamented
Asgard with golden works of art, and subsequently
wished to destroy the inhabitants of Asgard in order to
be god himself. The Norse heroic saga makes the treas-
ures brooded over by Fafner to have been previously
guarded by the dwarf Andvare, and makes the latter
(Sigurdarkvida Fafn., ii. 3) refer to the first owner.
The saga characterises the treasure guarded by him as
that gull, er Gustr dtti. In the very nature of the case
the first maker and possessor of these works must have
been one of the most celebrated artists of the mythology ;
and as Gustr means "wind," "breath of wind ;" as, again,
Volund in the mythology is the only artist who is desig-
977
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
nated by a synonym of Gustr, that is, by Byrr, "wind"
(Volundarkvda, 12), and by Loptr, "the airy one"
(Fjolsvinnsmal, 26) ; as, furthermore, the song cycle
concerning Sigurd Fafnersbane is connected with the
children of Gjuke Volund's brother, and in several other
respects strikes roots down into the myth concerning
Ivalde's sons ; and as, finally, the German tradition shows
an original connection between Nibelunge Hort and the
treasures of the Ivalde sons, then every fact goes to show
that in Gustr we have an epithet of Volund, and that the
Niflung hoard, both in the Norse and in the German
Sigurd-Siegfried saga was the inheritance and the works
of Volund and his brothers. Vigfusson assumes that the
first part of the compound Slagfin is slagr, "a tone," "a
melody," played on a stringed instrument. The correct-
ness of this opinion is corroborated by the fact that Slag-
fin-Gjuke's son, Gunnar, is the greatest player on stringed
instruments in the heroic literature. In the den of ser-
pents he still plays his harp, so that the crawling venom-
ous creatures are enchanted by the tones. This wonder-
ful art of his is explained by the fact that his father is
"the stringed instrument's" Finn, that is, Slagfin. The
horse Grane, who carries Sigurd and the hoard taken
from Fafner, probably at one time bore Volund himself,
when he proceeded to the Wolfdales. Grane at all events
had a place in the Volund-myth. The way traversed by
Volund from his own golden realm to the Wolfdales, and
which in part was through the northern regions of the
lower world (fyr mdgrindr nedan — Fjolsvinnsmal, 26)
is in Volundarkvida (14) called Grane's way. Finally,
978
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it must here be stated that Sigurdrifva, to whom Sigurd
proceeds after he has gotten possession of Fafner's treas-
ure, (Griperssaga, 13-15), is a mythic character trans-
ferred to the heroic saga, who, as shall be shown in the
second part of this work, held a conspicuous position in
the myths concerning the Ivalde sons and their swan-
maids. She is, in fact, the heroic copy of Idun, and
originally she had nothing to do with Budle's daughter
Brynhild. The cycle of the Sigurd songs thus attaches
itself as the last ring or circle in the powerful epic to the
myth concerning the Ivalde sons. The Sigurd songs
arch themselves over the fateful treasures which were
smithied and left by the fallen Lucifer of the Teutonic
mythology, and which, like his sword of revenge and his
arrow of revenge, are filled with curses and coming woe.
In the heroic poems the Ivalde sons are their owners.
The son's son Svipdag wields the sword of revenge.
The son's sons Gunnar and Hogne go as the possessors
of the Niblung treasure to meet their ruin. The myth
concerning their fathers, the Ivalde sons, arches itself
over the enmity caused by Loke between the gods on the
one hand, and the great artists, the elf-princes, the pro-
tectors of growth, the personified forces of the life of
nature, on the other hand. In connection herewith the
myth about Ivalde himself revolves mainly around "the
mead," the soma, the strength-giving saps in nature. He
too, like his sons afterwards, gets into conflict with the
gods and rebels against them, seeks to deprive them of
the soma sap which he had discovered, allies himself with
Suttung's sons, in whose keeping the precious liquid is
979
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
rediscovered, and is slain outside of their door, while
Odin is within and carries out the plan by which the mead
becomes accessible to gods and to men (see No. 89).
This chain of events thus continues through three gener-
ations. And interwoven with it is the chain of events
opposed to it, which develops through the generations of
the other great mythic race of heroes : that of the Heim-
dal son Borgar, of the Borgar son Halfdan, and of the
Half dan sons Hadding and Guthorm (Dieterich and Er-
menrich). Borgar fights and must yield to the assault
of Ivalde, and subsequently of his sons from the North
in alliance with the powers of frost (see Nos. 22, 28).
Halfdan contends with Ivalde's sons, recaptures for vege-
tation the Teutonic country as far as to "Svarin's mound,"
but is slain by Ivalde's grandson Svipdag, armed with the
Volund sword (see Nos. 32, 33, 102, 103). In the con-
flict between Svipdag and Guthorm-Ermenrich on the one
side, and Hadding on the other, we see the champions
divided into two camps according to the mythological
antecedents of their families : Amalians and Hildings on
Hadding's side, the descendants of Ivalde on the other
(see Nos. 42, 43). Accordingly, the Gjukungs, "the
kings on the Rhine," are in the German tradition on Er-
menrich's side. Accordingly, Vidga Volundson, in spite
of his bond of friendship with Hadding-Dieterich, also
fights under Ermenrich's banner. Accordingly, Vildebur-
Egil is again called to life in the heroic saga, and there"
appears as the protector and helper of the Volund son,
his own nephew. And accordingly, Vate-Walther, too
(see No. 123), identical with Ivalde, Volund's father, is
980
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
reproduced in the heroic saga to bear the banner of Er-
menrich in the battles (cp. No. 43).
120.
SLAGEIN-GJUKE'S SYNONYMS DANKRAT (THAKK-
RADR), IRUNG, ALDRIAN. SLAGEIN A STAR-HERO
UKE HIS BROTHERS. ADRIAN'S IDENTITY WITH
CHElvDRICUS-GEUDERUS.
Slagfin-Gjuke has many names in the German tradi-
tions, as in the Norse. Along with the name Gibich,
Gibche (Gjuke), occur the synonyms Dankrat, Irung,
and Aldrian. In the latter part of Nibelunge Noth
Gibich is called Dankrat (cp. "Klage;" Biterolf also has
the name Dankrat, and speaks of it in a manner which
shows that in some of the sources used by the author
Dankrat was a synonym of Gibich). In Vilkinasaga
Gjuke appears now as Irung, now as Aldrian. Aldrian
is (Vilkinasaga, 150) king of Niflungaland, and has the
sons Hogne, Gunnar, Gernoz, and Gilzer. Irung (Vil-
kin., 15) is also king of Niflungaland, and has the sons
Hogne, Gunnar, Gudzorm, Gernoz, and Gisler. As
Gjuke also is a Niflung, and has the sons Hogne, Gun-
nar, and Guthorm, there can be no doubt that Gjuke,
Gibche, Dankrat, Irung, and Aldrian are synonyms,
designating one and the same person, namely, Volundar-
kvida's Slagfin, the Ide of the mythology. Nibelunge
Noth, too, speaks of Aldrian as the father of Hagen
(Hogne). Aldrian's wife is called Oda, Gibich's "Frau
Uote," Dankrat's "Frau Ute."
981
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The Norse form for Dankrat (Tancred) is thakkradr,
Thakkrad. This name appears a single time in the Norse
records, and then in connection with Volund and Nid-
had. In Volundarkvida (39) Thakkrad is mentioned as
Nidhad's chief servant, who still remains in his service
when Volund, his revenge accomplished, flies in an eagle's
guise away from his prison. That this servant bears a
name that belongs to Slagfin-Gjuke, Volund's brother,
cannot be an accident. We must compare an account in
Vilkinasaga, according to which Volund's other brother
Egil was in Nidhad's service when Volund flew away.
It follows that the heroic saga made not only Volund,
but also Slagfin and Egil, fall into Nidhad's hands. Both
in Volundarkvida itself and in its prose introduction we
read that when the home-sick swan-maids had left the
Wolfdales, Egil and Slagfin betook themselves thence,
Egil going to the east to look for his swan-maid Olrun,
Slagfin going south to find his Svanhvit (Volundarkvida,
4), and that Nidhad thereupon learned — the song does not
say how — that Volund was alone in the Wolfdales (Vol-
undarkvida, 6). The assumption here lies near at hand,
that Nidhad found it out from the fact that Slagfin and
Egil, though going away in different directions, fell into
his power while they were looking for their beloved.
Whether this feature belonged to the myth or not cannot
be determined. At all events it is remarkable that we
refind in Volundarkvida the Gjuke name Thakkrad, as
in Vilkinasaga we find Volund's brother Egil in Nidhad's
environment.
The name Irung, Iring, as a synonym of Gjuke, is of
982
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
more importance from a mythological point of view.
Widukind of Corvei (about the year 950) tells us in ch.
13 of his Saxon Chronicle that "the Milky Way is desig-
nated by Iring's name even to this day." Just previously
he has mentioned a Saxon warrior by this name, whom
he believes to have been the cause of this appellation
(. . . Iringi nomine, quern ita vodtant, lacteus cceli cir-
culus sit vocatus; and in the Aursberg Chronicle, ac-
cording to J. Grimm, . . lacteus cceli circulus Iringis, nomine
Iringesstraza sit vocatits). According to Anglo-Saxon
glossaries, the Milky Way is called Iringes uueg. With
this we should compare the statements made above, that
the Milky Way among the Teutonic population of En-
gland was called the way of the Watlings (that is, the
descendants of Vate, *. <?., Ivalde). Both the statements
harmonize. In the one it is the descendants of Ivalde
in general, in the other it is Slagfin-Iring whose name
is connected with the Milky Way. Thus Slagfin, like
Volund and Orvandel-Egil, was a star-hero. In "Klage"
it is said of Iring and two other heroes, in whose company
he appears in two other poems, that they committed grave
mistakes and were declared banished, and that they, in
spite of efforts at reconciliation, remained under the pen-
alty to the end of their lives. Biterolf says that they were
exiles and threatened by their foes. Here we have a
reverberation of the myth concerning the conflict between
the gods and the Ivalde sons, of Frey's unsuccessful ef-
fort to reconcile the enemies, and of their flight to the ex-
treme north of the earth. In the German poems they take
flight to Attila.
983
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The Gjuke synonym Aldrian is a name formed in an-
alogy with Albrian, which is a variation of Elberich. In
analogy herewith Aldrian should be a variation of Elder-
ich, Helderich. In Galfrid of Monmouth's British His-
tory there is a Saxon saga-hero Cheldricus, who, in al-
liance with a Saxon chief Baldulf, fights with King
Artus' general Cador, and is slain by him. How far
the name-forms Aldrian-Elderich have any connection
with the Latinised Cheldricus I think best to leave un-
determined; but there are other reasons which, inde-
pendently of a real or apparent name-identity, indicate
that this Cheldricus is the same person as Aldrian-Gjuke.
Bugge has already pointed out that Baldrian corresponds
to Balder, Cador to Hodr; that Galfrid's account has
points of contact with Saxo's about the war between
Balder and Hoder, and that Galfrid's Cheldricus corre-
sponds to Saxo's King Gelderus, Geldr, who rights with
Hoder and falls in conflict with him.
That which at once strikes us in Saxo's account of
Gelderus (see No. 101) is that he takes arms against
Hotherus, when he learns that the latter has got posses-
sion of the sword of victory and the wealth-producing
ring — treasures that were smithied by Volund, and in
that sense belonged to the Niblung hoard. That Saxo in
this manner gave a reason for the appearance of Gel-
derus can only be explained by the fact that Gelderus had
been in some way connected with the Niblung hoard, and
looked upon himself as more entitled to it than Hotherus.
This right could hardly be based on any other reason than
the fact that Gelderus was a Niflung, a kinsman of the
984
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
maker and owner of the treasures. In the Vilkinasaga
the keeper and protector of the Niblung hoard, the one
who has the key to the rocky chambers where the hoard
is kept bears the very name Aldrian, consequently the very
surname of Slagfin-Gjuke, Volund's and Egil's brother.
This of itself indicates that Gelderus is Slagfin-Aldrian.
121.
SLAGFIN'S IDENTITY WITH HJUKE. HIS APPEARANCE IN
THE MOON-MYTH AND IN THE BALDER-MYTH. BII/S
IDENTITY WITH IDUN.
From Slagfin-Gelderus' part in the war between the
two divine brothers Balder and Hoder, as described both
by Saxo and by Galfrid, we must draw the conclusion
that he is a mythic person historified, and one who had
taken an important part in the Balder-myth as Balder 's
friend, and also as Hoder's though he bore weapons
against the latter. According to Saxo, Hoder honours
the dust of his slain opponent Gelderus in a marmer which
indicates a previous friendly relation between them. He
first gives Gelderus a most splendid funeral (pulcherri-
inum funeris obsequium), then he builds a magnificent
grave-mound for him, and decorates it with tokens of his
respect (veneratio} for the dead one.
The position of Slagfin-Gelderus to the two contending
divine brothers, his brothership-in-arms with Balder, the
respect and devotion he receives from his opponent Hoder,
can only be explained by the fact that he had very intimate
relations with the two brothers and with the mythical
985
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
persons who play a part in the Balder-myth. Accord-
ing to Saxo, Hoder was fostered by Gevarr, the moon-
god, Nanna's father. As Nanna's foster-brother, he falls
in love with her who becomes the wife of his brother,
Balder. Now the mythology actually mentions an in-
dividual who was adopted by the moon-god, and accord-
ingly was Hoder's foster-brother, but does not in fact be-
long to the number of the real gods. This foster-son
inherits in the old Norse records one of the names with
which the moon-god is designated in the Anglo-Saxon
poems — that is, Hoce, a name identical with the Norse
Hjuke. Hnaf (Hncefr, Ncefr, Nanna's father) is also,
as already shown, called Hoce in the Beowulf poem (see
Nos. 90, 91). From the story about Bil and Hjuke, be-
longing to the myth about the mead and preserved in the
Younger Edda, we know that the moon-god took these
children to himself, when they were to carry to their
father Vidfinnr, the precious burden which they had
dipped out of the mead-fountain, Byrger (see Nos,
90, 91).
That this taking up was equivalent to an adoption of
these children by the moon-god is manifest from the
position Bil afterwards got in the circle of gods. She
becomes an asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556) and dis-
tributes the Teutonic mythological soma, the creative sap
of nature and inspiration, the same liquid as she carried
when she was taken up by the moon-god. The skalds
of earth pray to her (ef unna itr vildi Bil skdldi!} and As-
gard's skald-god, Brage, refreshes himself with her in
Gevarr-Nokver's silver-ship (see Sonatorrek; cp. Nos. 90,
986
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
91). Odin came to her every day and got a drink from
the mead of the moon-ship, when the latter was sinking
toward the horizon in the west. The ship is in Grimners-
mal called Sokkvabekkr, "the setting or sinking ship," in
which Odin and Saga "daily drink from golden goblets,"
while "cool billows in soughing sound flow over" the
place where they sit. The cool billows that roar over
Sokvabek are the waves of the atmospheric sea, in which
Nokver's ship sails, and they are the waves of the ocean
when the silver-ship sinks into the sea. The epithet Saga
is used in the same manner as Bit, and it probably has the
same reason for its origin as that which led the skalds to
call the bucket which Bil and Hjuke carried Scegr. Bil,
again, is merely a synonym of Idun. In Haustlaung,
Idun is called Byrgis dr-Gefn, "Byrger's harvest-giving
dis;" Thjasse is called Byrgis dr-Gefnar bjarga-Tyr,
"Byrger's harvest-giving dis, mountain-Tyr." Idun is
thus named partly after the fountain from which Bil and
Hjuke fetched the mead, partly after the bucket in which
it was carried.
That Hjuke, like Bil-Idun, was regarded by the moon-
god as a foster-child, should not be doubted, the less so
as we have already seen that he, in the Norse sources,
bears his foster-father's name. As an adopted son of the
moon-god, he is a foster-brother of Hoder and Nanna.
Hjuke must therefore have occupied a position in the my-
thology similar to that in which we find Gelderus as a
brother-in-arms of Nanna's husband, and as one who was
held in friendship even by his opponent, Hoder. As a
brother of the Ivalde daughter, Bil-Idun, he too must be
987
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
an Ivalde son, and consequently one of the three brothers,
either Slagfin, or Orvandel-Egil, or Volund. The mythic
context does not permit his identification with Volund
or Egil. Consequently he must be Slagfin. .That Gel-
derus is Slagfin has already been shown.
This also explains how, in Christian times, when the
myths were told as history, the Niflungs-Gjukungs were
said to be descended from Ncefr, Nefir, (Nefir er Nif lunger
eru.frd komnir — Younger Edda, i. 520.) It is connected
with the fact that Slagfin, like his brothers, is a Niflung
(see No. 118) and an adopted son of the moon-god,
whose name he bore.
Bil's and Hjuke's father is called Vidfinnr. We have
already seen that Slagfin's and his brothers' father, Ivalde,
is called Finnr, Finnakonungr (Introduction to Volun-
darkvida), and that he is identical with Sumbl Finnako-
nungr, and Finndlfr. In fact the name Finnr never oc-
curs in the mythic records, either alone or in compounds
or in paraphrases, except where it alludes to Ivalde or his
son, Slagfin. Thus, for instance, the byrnie, Finnzleif, in
Yhglingasaga, is borne by a historified mythic person, by
whose name Saxo called a foster-son of Gevarr, the moon-
god. The reason why Ivalde got the name Finnr shall
be given below (see No. 123). And as Ivalde (Sumbl
Finnakonungr — Olvalde) plays an important part in the
mead-myth, and as the same is true of Vidfin, who is
robbed of Byrger's liquid, then there is every reason for
the conclusion that Vidfin's, Hjuke's, and Bil-Idun's
father is identical with Finnakonungr, the father of
Slagfin and of his sister.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Gjuke and Hjuke are therefore names borne by one
and the same person — by Slagfin, the Niflung, who is the
progenitor of the Gjukungs. They also look like analo-
gous formations from different roots.
This also gives us the explanation of the name of the
Asgard bridge, Bilrost, "Bil's way." The Milky Way is
Bil-Idun's way, just as it is her brother Hjuke's; for we
have already seen that the Milky Way is called Irung's
way, and that Irung is a synonym of Slagfin-Gjuke. Bil
travelled the shining way when she was taken up to As-
gard as an asynje. Slagfin travelled it as Balder's and
Hoder's foster-brother. If we now add that the same
way was travelled by Svipdag when he sought and found
Freyja in Asgard, and by Thjasse-Volund's daughter,
Skade, when she demanded from the gods a ransom for
the slaying of her father, then we find here no less than
four descendants of Ivalde who have travelled over the
Milky Way to Asgard ; and as Volund's father among his
numerous names also bore that of Vate, Vade (see Vil-
kinasaga), then this explains how the Milky Way came
to be called Watling Street in the Old English litera-
ture.*
In the mythology there was a circle of a few individ-
uals who were celebrated players on stringed instruments.
They are Balder, Hoder, Slagfin, and Brage. In the
heroic poems the group is increased with Slagfin-Gjuke's
son, Gunnar, and with Hjarrandi, the Horund of the
German poem "Gudrun," to whom I shall recur in my
*Thus Vigfusson's opinion that the Asgard bridge is identical with the
Milky Way is correct. That the rainbow should be regarded as the Bilrost
with its bridge-heads is an invention by the author of Gylfaginning.
19 989
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
treatise on the heroic sagas. Haider's playing is re-
membered by Galfrid of Monmouth. Hoder's is men-
tioned in Saxo, and perhaps also in the Edda's Hadarlag,
a special kind of metre or manner of singing. Slagfin's
quality as a musician is apparent from his name, and is
inherited by his son, Gunnar. Hjarrandi-Horund ap-
pears in the Gudrun epic by the side of Vate (Ivalde),
and there is reason for identifying him with Gevarr
himself. All these names and persons are connected
with the myth concerning the soma preserved in the
moon. While the first drink of the liquid of inspira-
tion and of creative force is handed to Odin by Mimer,
we afterwards find a supfdy of the liquid preserved by
the moon-god; and those mythic persons who are con-
nected with him are the very ones who appear as the
great harp-players. Balder is the son-in-law of the
moon-god, Hoder and Slagfin are his foster-sons, Gun-
nar is Slagfin's son, Brage becomes the husband of Bil-
Idun, and Hjarrandi is no doubt the moon-god himself,
who sings so that the birds in the woods, the beasts on
the ground, and the fishes in the sea listen and are
charmed ("Gudrun," 1415-1418, 1523-1525, 1555-
1558).
Both in Saxo and in Galfrid Hoder meets Slagfin with
the bow in his conflict with him (Cheldricus in Galfrid;
Gelderus in Saxo). The bow plays a chief part in the
relation between the gods and the sons of Ivalde. Hoder
also met Egil in conflict with the bow (see No. 112),
and was then defeated, but Egil's noble-mindedness for-
bade his harming Slagfin's foster-brother. Hoder, as
990
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
an archer, gets satisfaction for the defeat in Saxo, when
with his favourite weapon he conquers Egil's brother,
Slagfin (Gelderus), who also is an archer. And finally,
with an arrow treacherously laid on Hoder's bow, Volund,
in demoniac thirst for revenge and at Loke's instigation,
takes the life of Balder, Hoder's brother.
122.
REVIEW OE THE SYNONYMS OE THE SONS OE IVALDE.
The names by which Slagfin is found in our records
are accordingly Idi, Gjuki, Dankrat (thakkrddr) , Irung,
Aldrian, Cheldricus, Gelderus, Hjuki. We have yet to
mention one more, Hengest (Hengist), to which I shall
return below. Of these names, Gelderus (Geldr),
Cheldricus, and Aldrian form a group by themselves,
and they are possibly simply variations of the same word.
The meaning of the name Hengest, "a gelding," is con-
nected with the same group, and particularly to the vari-
ation Geldr. The most important Slagfin epithets, from
a mythological standpoint, are Ide, Gjuke, Hjuke, and
Irung.
The names of Volund (Wieland, Veland) in the vari-
ous records are, as we have seen, thjazi, A jo (Aggo),
Anund (Onundr), Rognir, Brunni, Asolfr, Vargr,
Fjallgyldir, Hlebardr, Byrr, Gustr, Loptr., Hac^uinus
(Aki, Ecke). Of these names and epithets Asolfr,
Vargr, Fjallgyldir, and Hlebardr form a group by them-
selves, and refer to his animal-symbol, the wolf. The
other brothers also have animal-symbols. Egil is sym-
991
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
bolised as a wild boar and a bear by the names Aurnir,
Ebur, Isolfr. Slagfin is symbolised as a horse in Hen-
gest, and also in the paraphrase ondr-Jdlkr, "the geld-
ing of the skees." Like his brothers, he is a runner on
skees. The Volund epithet, Brunni, also alludes to
skee-running. Rognir and Regin are names of Volund
and his brothers in their capacity of artists. The names
Ajo, Anund, and Thjasse (the sparkling) may have
their origin in ancient Aryan times.
The names of the third brother, Egil, are Gangr, Orvan-
dill, Egill, Agelmund, Eigel, Euglin, Hodbroddr, Toko,
and Avo, the archer; Ebur (Ibor, Wild-Ebur, Villefer,
Ebbo), Aurnir Isolfr. Of these names Egill, Agelmund,
Egil, and Euglin form a separate group; Orvandill Hod-
broddr, Toko, and Avo Sagittarius form another group,
referring to his fame as an archer; Ebur, Aurnir, and
Isolfr a third, referring to his animal-symbols.
123.
IVAU>E.
In the course taken by our investigation we have al-
ready met with and pointed out several names and epi-
thets by which Ivalde occurs in the mythology and in
the heroic poems. Such are Geirvandill, with the varia-
tion Geirvadill; Vadi (Vate), Allvddi, Audvaldi, Ol-
valdi, Svigdir (Svegdir), Olmodr, Sumbl Finnakonungr
(Sumblus Phinnorum rex), Finnakonungr, Vidfinm,
Finndlfr, Fin Folcvalding, Hlaudverr.
Of these names Ivaldi, Allvddi, Audvaldi, and Olvaldi
992
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
form a group by themselves, inasmuch as they all have
the, part, valdi, valdr, "mighty," an epithet preserved
from the mythology in those heroic sagas which have
treated distinct portions of the Ivalde-myth, where the
hero reappears as Walther, Valthari, Valdere, Valtarius
Manufortis.
Another group is formed by Olvaldi, Olmodr, Svidir,
Sumbl Finnakonungr. Svigdir means, as already
shown, "the great drinker," and Sumbl is a synonym of
"ale," "mead." All the names in this group refer to
the quality of their bearer as a person belonging to the
myth about the mead.
The name Sumbl Finnakonungr is at the same time
connected with a third group of names — Finnakonungr,
Finnr, Vidfinnr, Finndlfr, Fin Polcvalding. With this
group the epithets Vadi and Vadill (in Geirvadill} have
a real mythological connection, which shall be pointed
out below.
Finally, Geirvadill is connected with the epithet Geir-
vandill from the fact that both belong to Ivalde on ac-
count of his place in the weapon-myth.
As has been shown above, Geirvandill means "the
one occupied with the spear," or, more accurately, "the
one who exhibits great care and skill in regard to the
spear" (from geir, spear, and vanda, to apply care to
something in order that it may serve its purpose). In
Saxo, Gervandillus-Geirvandel is the father of Horven-
dillus-Orvandel ; the spear-hero is the father of the archer.
It is evident that the epithets of the son and father are
parallel formations, and that as the one designates the
993
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
foremost archer in mythology, the other must refer to a
prominent spear-champion. It is of no slight impor-
tance to our knowledge of the Teutonic weapon-myth
that the foremost representatives of the spear, the bow,
and the sword among the heroes are grandfather, father,
and son. Svipdag, Ivalde's grandson, the son of Or-
vandel-Egil, is above all others the sword-champion,
"the sword-elf" (sverddlfr — see Olaf Trygv., 43, where
Svipdag-Erik's namesake and supposed descendant,
Erik, Jarl Hakonson, is called by this epithet). It is he
who from the lower world fetches the best and most ter-
rible sword, which was also probably regarded as the
first of its kind in that age, as his uncle, who had made
it, was called "the father of swords" (see Nos. 113, 114,
115). Svipdag's father is the most excellent archer
whose memory still survives in the story about William
Tell. The grandfather, Ivalde, must have been the most
excellent marksman with the spear. The memory of
this survives not only in the epithets, Geirvandill and
Geirvadill, but also in the heroic poem, "Valtarius Manu-
fortis," written before the year 950 by Eckehard in St.
Gallen, and in Vilkinasaga, which has preserved certain
features of the Ivalde-myth.
Clad in an armour smithied by Volund (Vuelandla
fabrica}, Valtarius appears as the great spear-champion,
who despises all other weapons of attack —
Vualtarius erat vir maximus undique telis
Suspectamque habuit cuncto sibi tempori pugnam (v. 366-7).
With the spear he meets a sword-champion —
Hie gladio fidens hie acer et arduus hasta (v. 822) ;
994
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and he has developed the use of the spear into an art, all
of whose secrets were originally known by him alone,
then also by Hagano, who learned them from the former
(v. 336, 367). Vilkinasaga speaks of Valthari as an
excellent spear-champion. Sure of success, he wagers
his head in a competitive contest with this weapon.
It has already been shown above (see No. 89) that
Svigdir-Ivalde in the mythic saga concerning the race-
heroes was the first ruler of the Swedes, just as his sons,
Volund and Egil, became those of the Longobardians
and Slagfin that of the Burgundians, and, as shall be
shown below, also that of the Saxons. Even in the
Ynglingasaga, compiled in the twelfth century, he re-
mains, by the name Svegdir among the first kings of the
Yngling race, and in reality as the first hero ; for his fore-
runners, Pjblnir, Freyr, and Odinn, are prehuman gods
(in regard to Fjolnir, see Voluspa). That Siridir was
made the race-hero of the Swedes is explained by the
fact that Ivalde, before his sons, before he had yet be-
come the foe of the gods and a "perjured hapt," was the
guardian of the northern Teutonic world against the ,
powers of frost, and that the Sviones were the northern-
most race of the Teutonic domain. The elf-citadel on
the southern coast of the Elivagar was Geirvadill-Ivalde's
setr before it became that of his sons (see Nos. 109, 113-
115, 117, 118). The continental Teutons, like their
kinsmen on the Scandian peninsula, knew that north of
the Swedes and in the uttermost north lived a non-Teu-
tonic people who ran on skees and practised hunting —
the Finns. And as the realm that was subject to the
995
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
race-hero of the Swedes in the mythology extended to
the Elivagar, where his setr was situated, even the Finns
must have been subject to his sceptre. This explains his
surname, Finnakonungr, Finnr, Vidfinnr, Fin Folcvald-
ing, and also the fact that his descendants form a group
of skee-runners. To the location of the setr near the
Elivagar, at the point where Thor was wont to wade
across this body of water (see Nos. 109, 114), we have
a reference in the Ivalde epithets, Vadill Vadi. They
indicate his occupation as the keeper of the ford. Vil-
kinasaga makes him a wader of the same kind as Thor,
and makes him bear his son, Volund, across a sound
while the latter was still a lad. Reasons which I may
yet have an opportunity to present indicate that Ivalde's
mother was the mightiest amazon of Teutonic mythol-
ogy, whose memory survives in Saxo's account of Queen
Rusila, Rusla (Hist., 178, 365, 394-396), and in the
German heroic-saga's Riitze. This queen of the elves,
dwelling south of the Elivagar, is also remembered by
Tactitus' informer. In Germama (45) we read: Sirioni-
bus Sitonum gentes continuantur. Cetera similes uno
different quod femina dominatur. . . .Hie Suebice fines —
"The Sviones are bounded by the Sitones. While they
are like each other in other things they differ in the one
respect, that a woman rules over the Sitones. Here the
confines of Suebia end." The name Sitones does not
occur elsewhere, and it would be vain to seek it in the
domain of reality. Beyond the domain of the Sviones
extended at that time that of the mythic geography.
The Sitones, who were governed by a queen, belonged
996
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to the Teutonic mythology, like the Hellusians and Ox-
ionians, mentioned elsewhere in Germania. It is not
impossible that the name Sitones, of which the stem is
sit, is connected with the Norse mythological name of the
chief citadel in their country — setr ( Geirvadill's setr, Ide's
setr; cp. setr-verjendr as a designation in Ynglingasaga
[17] of the descendants of Svigdir-Ivalde) . The word
setr is derived from setja, a causative form of sitja, the
Gothic sitan.
I now pass to the name Hlaudverr, in Volundarkvida.
This poem does not state directly who Volund's, Egil's,
and Slagfin's father was, but it does so indirectly by
mentioning the name of the father of Volund's and
Slagfin's swan-maids, and by stating that these swan-
maids were sisters of the brothers. Volund's swan-maid
is called theirra systir in str. 2. Among the many un-
called-for "emendations" made in the text of the Elder
Edda is also the change of theirra to theirrar, made for
the reason that the student, forgetting that Volundar-
kvida was a poem born of mythology, regarded it as im-
possible for a brother and sister to be husband and wife,
and for the reason that it was observed in the prose in-
troduction to Volundarkvida that the father of the three
brothers was Finnakonungr. Hlaudverr is also found
in a German source, "Biterolf," as King Liutwar. There
he appears in the war between Hadding-Dieterich and
Gudhorm-Ermenrich, and the poem makes him a cham-
pion on the side where all who in the mythology were
foes of the Asas generally got their place, that is, on Er-
menrich's. There he occupied the most conspicuous
997
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
place as Ermenrich's standard-bearer, and, with Sabene,
leads his forces. The same position as Ermenrich's
standard-bearer occupies is held in "Dieterich's Flucht"
by Vate, that is to say, Fadz-Ivalde, and in Vilkinasaga
by Valthari, that is to say again, Ivalde. Liutwar, Vate,
and Valthari are originally one and the same person in
these German records, just as Hlaudver (corresponding
to Liutwar), Vade (corresponding to Vate), and Ivalde
(corresponding to Valthari) are identical in the Scandi-
navian Volundarkvida's statement, that Volund's and
Slagfin's swan-maids are their sisters (half-sisters, as
we shall see) , and, like them, daughters of Ivalde, is thus
found to be correct by the comparison of widely-sepa-
rated sources.
While the father of these two swan-maids is called
Hlaudverr in Volundarkvida, the father of the third swan-
maid, Egil's beloved, is called King Kiarr in Valland. As
Egil was first married to the dis of vegetation, Groa,
whose father is Sigtryg in the heroic saga, and then to
Sif, his swan-maid must be one of these two. In Volun-
darkvida, where none of the swan-maids have their com-
mon mythological names, she is called Olrun, and is said
to be not a sister, but a kinswoman (kunn — str. 15) of
both the others. Hlaudverr (Ivalde) and Kiarr are
therefore kinsmen. Who Kiarr was in the mythology
I cannot now consider. Both these kings of mythologi-
cal descent reappear in the cycle of the Sigurd songs. It
has already been shown above (No. 118) that the
Gjukungs appear in the Sigurd saga as heirs and pos-
sessors of Hlauddverrs halls and treasures; it is added
998
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that "they possess the whitest shield from Kiarr's hall
(Gudrunarkvida, ii. 25; Atlakvida, 7). Here we ac-
cordingly once more find the connection already pointed
out between the persons appearing in Volundarkvida and
those in the Gjukungsaga. The fathers of the swan-
maids who love Volund and his brothers reappear in
the Sigurd songs as heroes who had already left the
scene of action, and who had owned immense treasures,
which after their death have passed by inheritance into
the possession of the Gjukungs. This also follows from
the fact that the Gjukungs are descendants of Gjuke-
Slagfin, and that Slagfin and his brothers are Niflungs,
heirs of Hlaudver-Ivalde, who was gullaudigr mjok
(Younger Edda).
Like his sons, Ivalde originally stood in a friendly re-
lation to the higher reigning gods; he was their sworn
'man, and from his citadel near the Elivagar, Geirvadills
setr, he protected the creation of the gods from the pow-
ers of frost/ But, like his sons, and before them, he
fell into enmity with the gods and became "a perjured
hapt" The features of the Ivalde-myth, which have
been preserved in the heroic poems and shed light on the
relation between the moon-god and him, are told partly in
the account of Gevarus, Nanna's father, in Saxo, and
partly in the poems about Walther (Valtarius, Walthari)
and Fin Folcvalding. From these accounts it appears that
Ivalde abducted a daughter of the moon-god; that en-
mity arose between them ; that, after the defeat of Ivalde,
Sunna's and Nanna's father offered him peace, and that
the peace was confirmed by oath; that Ivalde broke the
999
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
oath, attacked Gevar-Nokver and burnt him; that, dur-
ing the hostilities between them, Slagfin-Gjuke, though
a son of Ivalde, did not take the side of his natural fa-
ther, but that of his foster-father; and that Ivalde had
to pay for his own deeds with ruin and death.
Concerning the point that Ivalde abducted a daughter
of Gevar-Nokver and married her, the Latin poems Val-
tarius Manufortis, Nibelunge Noth, Biterolf, Vilkina-
saga, and Boguphalus (Chronicon Poloniae) relate that
Walther fled with a princess named Hildigund. On the
flight he was attacked by Gjukungs, according to Val-
tarius Manufortis. The chief one of these (in the poem
Gunthari, Gjuke's son) received in the battle a wound
"clean to the hip-bone." The statement anent the wound,
which Walther gave to the chief one among the Gjukungs,
has its roots in the mythology where the chief Gjukung,
that is, Gjuke himself, appears with surnames (Hengest,
Geldr, ondr-Jdlkr} alluding to the wound inflicted. In
the Anglo-Saxon heroic poem Fin Folcvalding is married
to Hildeburh, a daughter of Hnaef-Hoce, and in Hyndlu-
Ijod (cp. str. 17 with str. 15) Hildigunnr is the mother
of Halfdan's wife Almveig, and consequently the wife of
Sumbl Finnakonungr, that is, Ivalde. Hildigunn's father
is called Sakonungr in Hyndluljod, a synonym of
Nokkver ("the ship-captain," the moon-god), and Hildi-
gun's mother is called Svdfa, the same name as that by
which Nanna is introduced in the poem concerning Helge
Hjorvardson. Hildeburh, Hnsef-Hoce's daughter, is
identical with Hildigun, daughter of Sakonungr. Com-
pare furthermore str. 20 in Hyndluljod, which speaks of
1000
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Nanna as Nokver's daughter, and thus refers back to str.
17, where Hildigun is mentioned as the daughter of
Scekonungr. The phrase Nanna var n&st thar Nauckva
dottir shows that Nokkver and another elder daughter
of his were named in one of the immediately preceding
strophes. But in these no man's name or epithet occurs
except Sakonungr, "the sea-king," which can -refer to
Nokkver, "the ship-owner," or "ship-captain," and the
"daughter" last mentioned in the poem is Hildigunnr.
Of the names of Ivalde's wife the various records
contain the following statements:
Hlaudver-Ivalde is married to Svanfeather (Svanfjodr,
Volundarkvida).
Finnalf-Ivalde is married to Svanhild Gold-feather,
daughter of Sol (Fornal. saga).
Fin Folcvalding-Ivalde is married to Hildeburh, daugh-
ter of Hnaef-Hoce (Beowulf poem).
Walther-Ivalde is married to Hildigunt (German poems).
Sumbl-Finnakonungr is married to Hildigun, daughter
of Ssekonungr Nokver, the same as Hncefr, Hnefr,
Nanna's father (Hyndluljod, compared with Saxo
and other sources).
She who is called Svanfeather, the sun-daughter Svan-
hild Gold-feather, Hildeburh, Hildigunt, and Hildigun
is accordingly a sister of the moon-dis Nanna, and a
daughter of the ruler of the atmosphere and of the moon.
She is herself a sun-dis. In regard to the composition
of the name, we must compare Hildigun, Hiltigunt, with
Nanna's surname Sinhtgunt. The Teutonic, or at all
IOOI
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
events the Norse, mythology knew two divinities of the
sun, mother and daughter. Grimnersmal (47) tells us
that the older one, Alfraudull, has a daughter, who, not
at the present time, but in the future, is to drive the car
of the sun (eina dottur berr Alfraudull . . . ). The
elder is the wife of the moon-god. The younger one
is the Sunna mentioned in the Merseburg formula (see
No. 92), Sinhtgunt-Nanna's sister. As a surname,
Sunna also occurs in the Norse literature (Alvissmal,
17; Younger Edda, i. 472, and elsewhere).
In the Beowulf poem and in "Battle of Furnesburg,"
we find Fin Folcvalding, Hildeburh's husband, as the foe
of his father-in-law Hnaef, and conquered by him and
Hengest. After a war ending unluckily for him, he
makes peace with his victors, breaks the peace, attacks
the citadel in the night, and cremates the slain and
wounded in an immense funeral pyre. Hnaef is among
those fallen, and Hildeburh weeps at his funeral pyre;
Hengest escapes and afterwards avenges Hnaef's death.
Saxo confirms the fact, that the historified person who in
the mythology is the moon-god is attacked and burnt by
one of his "satraps," and afterwards avenged. This
he tells of his Gevarus, Nanna's father (Hist., 131). The
correspondence on this point shows that the episode has
its root in the mythology, though it would be vain to
try to find out the symbolic significance from a stand-
point of physical nature of the fact that the moon-god
was attacked and burnt by the husband of his daughter,
the sun-dis.
Meanwhile we obtain from these scattered mythic frag-
1002
K:NG SVAFRLAME SECURES THE SWORD TYRFING.
Frolich.)
the Jcelandic Ilervar's Saga is an account of the mythical
.vorcl called Tyrfmg, which Odin commanded the dwarfs
•rin and Dvalin to forge for his grandson, King Svafrlame.
'ien, against their will, they were compelled to deliver th<-
ord to the king, the dwarfs pronounced a urse upon it,
faring that it should never be drawn from it? • iieath wiii
ising the death of some one. Soon after Svafrlame
ed by Arngrim and the sword passed to Angantyr, who in
• n. was slain by Hjalmar and, to abate the cur--e. Tyrfnu
'; ried with him. Angantyr's daughter, Hervo'-, howevet, by a
11. exorcised the spirit of her father and o! ie c*.vord,
which it had many owners in succession e re-
ined, for it brought death as before to every one who un-
athed it.
TEL
sun, mother and daughter. Grimm
that the older one, Alfraudutt, has a dai
at the present time, but in the future, is to
of the sun (eina dottur berr Alfraudull .
elder is the wife of the moon-god. The >
;e Sunna mentioned in the Merseburg formula
92), Sinhtgunt-Nanna's sister. As a sun;
na also occurs in the Norse literature (AlvissmaJ
17; Younger Edda^i
^^atfie^Furnesburg
;
o
*t *•>
,jtf ogp
he tells of his Ge
ospondence o
its root in the •
try to find out '
point of physica
was attacked am
the sun-dis.
Meanwhile we o
i.31). The
at the episode has
.vould be vain to
cance from a stand-
fact that the moon-god
husband of his daughter,
ese scattered mythic
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ments preserved in the heroic poems, when compared
with the statements found in the mythology itself, the
following connected story as the myth about the mead:
Originally, the mead, the soma, belongs to Mimer
alone. From an unknown depth it rises in the lower
world directly under the world-tree, whose middle root
is watered by the well of the precious liquid. Only by
self-sacrifice, after prayers and tears, is Odin permitted
to take a drink from this fountain. The drink increases
his strength and wisdom, and enables him to give order
to the world situated above the lower regions. From its
middle root the world-tree draws liquids from the mead-
fountain, which bless the einherjes of Asgard as a bev-
erage, and bless the people of Midgard as a fructifying
honey-dew. Still this mead is not pure ; it is mixed with
the liquids from Urd's and Hvergelmer's fountains.
But somewhere in the Jotunheims, the genuine mead was
discovered in the fountain Byrger. This discovery was
kept secret. The keeper of the secret was Ivalde, the
sworn watchman near the Elivagar. In the night he
sent his son Slagfin (afterwards called after his adopted
father Hjuke) and his daughter Bil (Idun) to dip liquid
from the fountain Byrger and bring it to him. But the
children never returned. The moon-god had taken them
and Byrger's liquids unto himself, and thus the gods of
Asgard were able to partake of this drink. Without
the consent of the moon-god, Ivalde on his part secured
his daughter the sun-dis, and doubtless she bears to him
the daughters Idun, Almveig, and other discs of growth
and rejuvenation, after he had begotten Slagfin, Egil,
1003
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and Volund with the giantess Greip. The moon-god and
Ivalde have accordingly taken children from each other.
The circumstance that the mead, which gives the gods
their creative power and wisdom, was robbed from
Ivalde — this find which he kept secret and wished to keep
for himself alone — makes him the irreconcilable foe of
the moon-god, is the cause of the war between them, and
leads him to violate the oath which he had taken to him.
He attacks Gevar in the nights kills and burns him, and
recaptures the mead preserved in the ship of the moon.
He is henceforth for ever a foe of the gods, and allies
himself with the worst enemies of their world, the pow-
ers of frost and fire. Deep down in Hades there has
long dwelt another foe of the gods, Surt-Durin, the clan-
chief of Suttung's sons, the father of Fjalar. In the
oldest time he too was the friend of the gods, and co-
operated with Mimer in the first creation (see No. 89).
But this bond of friendship had now long been broken.
Down into the deep and dark dales in which this clan
hostile to the gods dwells, Ivalde brings his mead-treas-
ure into safety. He apparently gives it as the price of
Fjalar's daughter Gunlad, and as a pledge of his alliance
with the world of giants. On the day of the wedding,
Odin comes before him, and clad in his guise, into Surt's
halls, marries Gunlad, robs the liquids of Byrger, and
flies in eagle guise with them to Asgard. On the wed-
ding day Ivalde comes outside of Surt's mountain-abode,
but never enters. A dwarf, the keeper of the halls, en-
tices him into his ruin. It has already been stated that
he was probably buried beneath an avalanche.
1004
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The myth concerning the carrying of the mead to
the moon, and concerning its fate there, has left various
traces in the traditions of the Teutonic people. In the
North, Hjuke and Bil with their mead-burden were the
objects seen in the spots on the moon. In southern
Sweden, according to Ling, it was still known in the
beginning of this century, that the bucket carried by the
figures in the moon was a "brewing kettle," consequently
containing or having contained a brewed liquid. Ac-
cording to English traditions, not the two children of
Vidfin, but a drunken criminal (Ritson's Ancient Songs;
cp. J. Grimm, Deut. Myth., 681), dwelt in the full -moon,
and that of which he is charged in widely circulated tra-
ditions is that he was gathering fagots for the purpose
of crime, or in an improper time (on the Sabbath). Both
the statements that he is drunk and that his crime con-
sists in the gathering of fagots — lead us to suppose that
this "man in the moon" originally was Ivalde, the drink-
champion and the mead-robber, who attacked and burnt
the moon-god. His punishment is that he will never get
to heaven, but will remain in the moon, and there he is
for ever to carry a bundle of thorn-fagots (thus accord-
ing to a German tradition, and also according to a tradi-
tion told by Chaucer). Most probably, he has to carry
the thorn-rod of the moon-god burnt by him. The moon-
god (see Nos. 75, 91) ruled over the Teutonic Erynnies
armed with rods (liniar), and in this capacity he bore
the epithet Bylimi. A Dutch poem from the fourteenth
century says that the culprit in dmtshe heet Ludergheer.
A variation which J. Grimm (Deut. Myth., 683) quotes
20
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
is Lodeger. The name refers, as Grimm has pointed out,
to the Old High German Liutker, the Liidiger of the
German middle-age poem. In "Nibelunge Noth," Liidi-
ger contends with the Gjukungs ; in "Dieterichs Flucht,"
he abandons Dieterich's cause and allies himself with the
evil Ermenrich. Like Liutwar, Ludiger is a pendant to
the Norse Hlaudver, in whom we have already rediscov-
ered Ivalde. While, according to the Younger Edda,
both the Ivalde children Hjuke and Bil appear in the
moon, according to the English and German traditions
it is their criminal father who appears on the scene of
the fire he kindled, drunk with the mead he robbed, and
punished with the rod kept by his victim.
The statement in Forspjallsljod, that Ivalde had two
groups of children, corresponds with the result at which
we have arrived. By the giantess Greip he is the father
of Slagfin, Egil, and Volund ; by the sun-dis Gevar, Nok-
ver's daughter and Nanna's sister, he is the father of
discs of growth, among whom are Idun, who first is
Volund's beloved or wife, and thereupon is married to
Brage. Another daughter of Ivalde is the beloved of
Slagfin-Gjuke, Auda, the "frau Ute" of the German
heroic saga. A third is Signe-Alveig, in Saxo the daugh-
ter of Sumblus Phinnorum (Ivalde). At his wedding
with her, Egil is attacked and slain by Halfdan. Had-
ding is Halfdan's and her son.
Several things indicate that, when their father became
a foe of the gods, Ivalde's sons were still their friends,
and that Slagfin particularly was on the side of his fos-
ter-father in the conflict with Ivalde. With this corre-
1006
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
spends also the conduct of the Gjukungs toward Val-
tarius, when he takes flight with Hildigun. In the An-
glo-Saxon heroic poetry, the name Hengest is borne by
the person who there takes Slagfin's place as Hnsef-Ge-
var's nearest man. The introduction to the Younger
Edda has from its English authorities the statement that
Heingestr (Hengest) was a son of Vitta and a near kins-
man of Svipdag. If, as previous investigators have as-
sumed, Vitta is Vade, then Hengest is a son of Ivalde,
and this harmonises with the statement anent his kinship
with Svipdag, who is a grandson of Ivalde. The mean-
ing of the word Hengest refers of itself to Slagfin-G^Wr.
The name Geldr is a participle of gelda, and means cas-
tratus. The original meaning of Hengest is "a gelding,"
equus castratus (in the modern German the word got for
the first time its present meaning). That the adjective
idea castratus was transferred to the substantive equus
castratus is explained by the fact that Gils, Gisl, a mythic
name for a horse (Younger Edda, i. 70, 482), was also a
Gjukung name. One of Hengest's ancestors in his gen-
ealogy in Beda and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is
called Vict-gils; one of Slagfin-Gjuke's sons is named
Gilser. A neither mythic nor historic brother of Hengest
added in later times is named Horsa. The Ravenna
geography says that when the Saxons left their old abodes
on the continent, they marched cum principe suo Anschis,
and with their chief Ans-gisl, who therefore here appears
in the place of Hengest. Synonymous with Hengest is
the Norse Jalkr, equus castratus, and that some member
of the mythological group of skee-runners, that is, some
1007
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
one of the male members of the Ivalde race, in the Norse
version .of the Teutonic mythology, bore this epithet is
proved by the paraphrase ondr-Jalfyr, "the equus castratus
of the skee-runners." The cause of the designation is
found in the event described above, which has been handed
down by the poem "Valtarius Manufortis." The chief
one of the Gjukungs, originally Gjuke himself, there
fights with Valtarius, who in the mythology was his
father, and receives in the conflict a wound "clean to the
thigh-bone." This wound may have symbolic significance
from the fact that the fight is between father and son. Ac-
cording to the English chronicler Nennius, Hengest had
two brothers, Ochta and Ebissa. In spite of their cor-
ruption these names remind us of Slagfin's brothers,
Aggo-Ajo (Volund) and Ibor-Ebbo (Egil).
According to the historified saga, Hengest was the
leader of the first Saxon army which landed in Britain.
All scholars have long since agreed that this Hengest is
a mythical character. The migration saga of the Teu-
tonic mythology was transferred by the heathen Saxons
to England, and survived there until Christian times.
After the names of the real leaders of the Saxon immigra-
tion were forgotten, Hengest was permitted to take their
place, because in the mythology he had been a leader of
the Saxon emigrants from their original country, the
Scandian peninsula (see No. 16), and because this im-
migration was blended in Christian times with the mem-
ory of the emigration from Germany to Britain. Thus,
while the Longobardians made Volund and Egil (A jo
and Ibor) the leaders of their emigration, the Saxons
1008
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
made Volund's and Egil's brother Slagfm (Hengest-
Gjuke) their leader. The Burgundians also regarded
Slagfin (Gjuke) as their emigration hero and royal pro-
genitor. Of this there is evidence partly in Lex Burgund-
ionum, the preface of which enumerates Burgundian
kings who have Gjukung names ; partly in a Middle High
German poem, which makes the Gjukungs Burgundian
kings. The Saxon migration saga and the Burgundian
are therefore, like those of the other Teutonic races, con-
nected with the Ivalde race and with the fimbul-winter.
THE END.
1009
DICTIONARY
OF
PRINCIPAL PROPER NAMES
IN TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY,
with Explanations of the Character, Attributes
and Significance of the Cods, Goddesses,
Giants, Ewarfs and associated
creatures and places,
DICTIONARY
OF
GODS AND GODDESSES
. [Anglo- Sax, eagor, the sea] . The god who presides
over the stormy sea. He entertains the gods every
harvest, and brews ale for them. Mger.
AGNAR. A son of King Hraudung and foster-son of Frigg.
Agnar.
AGNAR. A son of King Geirrod. He serves drink to Grim-
ner (Odin). Agnar.
ALFR. An elf, fairy ; a class of beings like the dwarfs, be-
tween gods and men. They were of two kinds: elves
of light (Ljosalfar} and elves of darkness (Dokkalfar).
The abode of the elves is Alfheimr, fairy-land, and their
king is the god Frey. Elf.
ALFODR or ALFADIR [Father of all]. The name of Odin as
the supreme god. Allfather.
ALFHEIMR. Elf-land, fairy-land. Frey's dwelling. Alf-
heim.
The all-wise. One of the horses of the sun.
Alsvid.
1013
DICTIONARY OF
ALVISS. The dwarf who answers Thor's questions in the
lay of Alvis. Alvis.
AMSVARTNIR. The name of the sea, in which the island was "
situated where the wolf Fenrer was chained. Ams-
vartner.
ANNARR or ONARR. Husband of night and father of Jord
(the earth). Annar.
ANDHRIMNIR. The cook in Valhal. Andhrimner.
ANDVARI. The name of a pike-shaped dwarf ; the owner of
the fatal ring called Andvaranautr. Andvare.
ANDVARAFORS. The force or waterfall in which the dwarf
Andvare kept himself in the form of a pike fish. And-
vare-Force.
ANDVARANAUTR. The fatal ring given Andvare (the
wary spirit). Andvarenaut.
ANGANTYR. He has a legal dispute with Ottar Heimske,
who is favored by Freyja. Angantyr.
ANGEYJA. One of Heimdal's nine mothers. The Elder
Edda says in the Lay of Hyndla: Nine giant maids
gave birth to the gracious god, at the world's margin.
These are: Gjalp, Greip, Eistla, Angeyja, Ulfrun,
Eyrgjafa, Imd, Atla, and Jarnsaxa. Angeyja.
ANGRBODA [Anguish-creating]. A giantess; mother of the
Fenris-wolf by Loke. Angerboda.
ARVAKR [Early awake]. The name of one of the horses of
the sun. Aarvak.
Ass or As; plural ^SIR. The asas, gods. The word ap-
pears in such English names as Osborn, Oswald, etc.
With an n it is found in the Germ. Ansgzr (Anglo-Sax.
Oscar). The term aesir is used to distinguish Odin,
Thor, etc., from the vanir (vans). Asa.
ASA-LORI. Loke, so called to distinguish him from Utgard-
Loke, who is a giant. Asa-Loke.
1014
GODS AND GODDESSES
ASA-THORR. A common name for Thor. Asa-Thor.
ASGARDR. The residence of the gods (asas}. Asgard.
ASKR. The name of the first man created by Odin, Keener
and Loder. Ask.
ASYNJA; plural ASYNJUR. A goddess; feminine of Ass.
Asynje.
ATLA. One of Heimdal's nine mothers. Atla.
AUDHUMLA; also written AUDHUMBLA. The cow formed
from the frozen vapors resolved into drops. She nour-
ished the giant Ymer. Audhmnbla.
AURBODA. Gymer's wife and Gerd's mother. Aurboda.
AURGELMIR. A giant; grandfather of Bergelmer; called
also Ymer. Aurgelmer.
AUSTRI. A dwarf presiding over the east region. Austre.
Hast.
B
BALDR. God of the summer-sunlight. He was son of Odin
and Frigg; slain by Hoder, at the instigation of Loke.
He returns after Ragnarok. His dwelling is Breidablik.
Balder.
BARREY. A pleasant grove in which Gerd agreed with
Skirner to meet Frey. Barey.
BAUGI. A brother of Suttung, for whom (Baugi) Odin
worked one summer in order to get his help in obtaining
Suttung's mead of poetry. Bauge.
BELT. A giant, brother of Gerd, who was slain by Frey.
Bele.
BERGELMIR. A giant; son of Thrudgelmer and grandson
of Aurgelmer. Bergelmer.
BESTLA. Wife of Bur and mother of Odin. Bestla.
BEYLA. Frey's attendant ; wife of Bygver. Beyla.
1015
DICTIONARY OF
BIFROST. [To tremble ; the trembling way] . The rainbow.
Bifrost.
BILSKIRNIR. The heavenly abode of Thor, from the flashing
of light in the lightning. Bilskirner.
BOLTHORN. A giant; father of Bestla, Odin's mother.
Bolthorn.
BOLVERKR [Working terrible things] . An assumed name of
Odin, when he went to get Suttung's mead. Bolverk.
BODN. One of the three vessels in which the poetical mead
was kept. Hence poetry is called the wave of the bodn.
Bodn.
BORR [burr, a son ; Scotch bairn] . A son of Bure and father
of Odin, Vile and Ve. Bor.
BRAGI. The god of poetry. A son of Odin. He is the best
of skalds. Brage.
BKEIDABUK. [Literally to gleam, twinkle]. Balder's dwell-
ing. Breidablik.
BRISINGAMEN. Freyja's necklace or ornament. Brising-
amen.
BURI. The father of Bor. He was produced by the cow's
licking the stones covered with rime, frost. Bure.
BYGGVIR. Frey's attendant; Beyla's husband. Bygver.
BYLEIPTR [Flame of the dwelling]. The brother of Loke.
Byleipt.
DAGR [Day]. Son of Delling. Dag.
DAINN. A hart that gnaws the branches of Ygdrasil. Daain.
DELUNGR [Dayspring] . The father of Day. Delling.
Dis; plural DISIR. Attendant spirit or guardian angel.
Any female mythic being may be called Dis. Dis.
1016
GODS AND GODDESSES
DRAUPNIR. Odin's ring. It was put on Balder's funeral-
pile. Skirner offered it to Gerd. Draupner.
DROMI. One of the fetters by which the Fenris-wolf was
chained. Drome.
DUNEYRR, "1 Harts that gnaw the branches of Ygdrasil.
DURAPROP. J Durathror.
DURINN. A dwarf, second in degree. Durin.
DVAUNN. A dwarf. Dvalin.
DVERGR. A dwarf. In modern Icelandic lore dwarfs dis-
appear, but remain in local names, as Dverga-steinn,
and in several words and phrases. From the belief that
dwarfs lived in rocks an echo is called dwerg-mal (dwarf
talk), and dwerg-mala means to echo. The dwarfs
were skilled in metal-working.
EDDA. The literal meaning of the word is great-grand-
mother, but the term is usually applied to the mytho-
logical collection of poems discovered by Brynjolf Svein-
sson in the year 1643. He, led by a fanciful and errone-
ous suggestion, gave to the book which he found the
name Ssemundar Edda, Edda of Saemund. This is the
so-called Elder Edda. The Younger Edda, is a name
applied to a work written by Snorre Sturleson, and con-
tains old mythological lore and the old artificial rules
for verse-making. The ancients applied the name Edda
only to this work of Snorre. The Elder Edda was
never so called. And it is also uncertain whether
Snorre himself knew his work by the name of Edda.
In the Rigsmal (Lay of Rig) Edda is the progenitrix
of the race of thralls.
EGDIR. An eagle that appears at Ragnarok. Egder.
1017
DICTIONARY OF
EGILL. The father of Thjalfe; a giant dwelling near the
sea. Thor left his goats with him when on his way
to the giant Hymer to get a vessel in which to brew ale.
EIKTHYRNIR. A hart that stands over Odin's hall (Valhal).
From his antlers drops water from which rivers flow.
Hikthyrner.
EINHERI; plural EINHERJAR. The only (ein) or great
champions; the heroes who have fallen in battle and
been admitted into Valhal. Hinherje.
EiR. [The word signifies peace, clemency}. An attendant
of Menglod, and the most skillful of all in the healing
art. Hir.
EiSTXA. One of Heimdal's nine mothers. Histla.
The kettle in which the boar Saehrimner is
cooked in Valhal. Eldhrimner.
The fire-producer; a servant of JEger. Elder.
EUVAGAR. The ice-waves ; poisonous cold streams that flow
out of Niflheim. Hlivagar.
EMBLA. The first woman. The gods found two lifeless
trees, the ask (ash) and the embla; of the ash they made
man, of the embla, woman.
EYRGJAFA. One of Heimdal's nine mothers. Byrgjafa.
FAFNIR. Son of Hreidmar. He kills his father to get pos-
session of the Andvarenaut. He afterwards changes
himself into a dragon and guards the treasure on Gnita-
heath. He is slain by Sigurd, and his heart is roasted
and eaten. Fafner.
FALHOFNIR [Hollow-hoof]. One of the horses of the gods.
Falhofner.
1018
GODS AND GODDESSES
FARBAUTI [ Ship-destroyer] . The father of Loke. Farbaute.
FENRIR or FENRISULFR. The monster-wolf. He is the son
of Loke, who bites the hand of Tyr. The gods put
him in chains, where he remains until Ragnarok. In
Ragnarok he gets loose, swallows the sun and conquers
Odin, but is killed by Vidar. Fenrer or Fenris-wolf.
FENSALIR. The abode of Frigg. Fensal.
FJALAR. A misnomer for Skrymer, in whose glove Thor
took shelter. Fjalar.
FJALAR. A dwarf, who slew Kvaser, and composed from
his blood the poetic mead. Fjalar.
FJALAR. A cock that crows at Ragnarok. Fjalar.
FIMAFENGR. The nimble servant of ^Eger. He was slain
by the jealous Loke. Fimafeng. ,
FIMBUL. It means mighty great. In the mythology it ap-
pears as :
FIMBULFAMBI. A might fool. Fimbulfambe.
FIMBULTYR. The mighty god, great helper (Odin). Fim-
bultyr.
FIMBUL VETR [vetr, winter] . The great and awful winter of
three years' duration preceding the end of the world.
Fimbul-winter.
FIMBULTHUL. A heavenly river. Fimbulthul.
FIMBULTHULR. The great wise man. Fimbulthuler.
FJOLNIR. One of Odin's many names. F joiner.
FJORGYN. A personification of the earth ; mother of Thor.
Fjorgyn.
FOLKVANGR. [ Paradise, a field] . The folk-field. Freyja's
dwelling. Folkvang.
FORNJOTR. The most ancient giant. He was father of
^ger, or Hler, the god of the ocean ; of Loge, flame or
fire, and of Kaare, wind. His wife was Ran. These
divinities are generally regarded as belonging to an
1019
DICTIONARY OF
earlier mythology, probably to that of the Fins or Celts.
Porn jot.
FORSETI [The fore-sitter, president, chairman]. Son of
Balder and Nanna. His dwelling is Glitner, and his of-
fice is that of a peacemaker. Forsete.
FRANANGRS-FORS. The force or waterfall into which L,oke,
in the likeness of a salmon, cast himself, and where
the gods caught him and bound him. Fraananger-Force.
FREKI. One of Odin's wolves. Freke.
FREYJA [Feminine of Freyr]. The daughter of Njord and
sister of Frey. She dwells in Folkvang. Half the fallen
in battle belong to her, the other half to Odin. She
lends her feather disguise to Loke. She is the goddess
of love. Her husband is Oder. Her necklace is Bris-
ingamen. She has a boar with golden bristles. Freyja.
FREYR. He is son of Njord, husband of Skade, slayer of
Bele, and falls in conflict with Surt in Ragnarok. Alf-
heim was given him as a tooth-gift. The ship Skid-
bladner was built for him. He falls in love with Gerd,
Gymer's fair daughter. He gives his trusty sword to
Skirner. Frey.
FRIGG. [Love]. She is the wife of Odin, and mother of
Balder and queen of the gods, and reigns with Odin in
Hlidskjalf. She exacts an oath from all things that
they shall not harm Balder. Frigg.
[Fullness]. Frigg's attendant. She takes care of
Frigg's toilette, clothes and slippers. Nanna sent her
a finger-ring from Helheim. She is represented as
wearing her hair flowing over her shoulders. Fulla.
GALAR. One of two dwarfs who killed Kvaser. Fjalar
was the other. Galar.
1020
GODS AND GODDESSES
GAGNRADE. A name assumed by Odin when he went to
visit Vafthrudner. Gagnraad.
GANGLERI. One of Odin's names in Grimner's Lay. Gang-
lere.
GANGLERI. A name assumed by King Gylfe when he came
to Asgard. Ganglere.
GARDROFA. The goddess Gnaa has a horse by name Hofvar-
pner. The sire of this horse is Hamskerper, and its
mother is Gardrofa. Gardrofa.
GARMR. A dog that barks at Ragnarok. He is called the
largest and best among dogs. Garm.
GEFJUN or GEFJON. A goddess. She is a maid, and all
those who die maids become her maid-servants. She
is present at ^ger's feast. Odin says she knows men's
destinies as well as he does himself. Gefjun.
GEIRRODR. A son of King Hraudung and foster-son of
Odin ; he becomes king and is visited by Odin, who calls
himself Grimner. He is killed by his own sword.
There is also a giant by name Geirrod, who was once
visited by Thor. Geirrod.
GEIRSKOGUL. A valkyrie. Geirskogul.
GEIRVIMUL. A heavenly river. Geirvimul.
GERDR. Daughter of Gymer, a beautiful young giantess;
beloved by Frey. Gerd.
GERi. [gerr, greedy] . One of Odin's wolves. Gere.
GERSEMI. One of Freyja's daughters. Gerseme.
GJALLARBRU [gjalla, to yell, to resound]. The bridge
across the river Gjol, near Helheim. The bridge be-
tween the land of the living and the dead. Gjdlarr
bridge.
GjAUvARHORN. Heimdal's horn, which he will blow at
Ragnarok. Gfallar horn.
21 1021
DICTIONARY OF
GILLING. Father of Suttung, who possessed the poetic
mead. He was slain by Fjalar and Galar. Gilling.
GIMLI [Heaven], The abode of the righteous after Rag-
narok. Gimle.
GJALP. One of Heimdal's nine mothers. Gjalp.
GINNUNGA-GAP. The great yawning gap, the premundane
abyss, the chaos or formless void, in which dwelt the
supreme powers before the creation. In the eleventh
century the sea between Greenland and Vinland
(America) was called Ginnunga-gap. Ginungagap.
GJOLL. One of the rivers Elivagar that flowed nearest
the gate of Hel's abode. Gjol.
GISI, [Sunbeam], One of the horses of the gods, Gisl.
GLADR [Clear, bright]. One of the horses of the gods.
Glad.
GLADSHEIMR [Home of brightness or gladness]. Odin's
dwelling. Gladsheim.
GLASIR. A grove in Asgard. Closer.
The last fetter with which the wolf Fenrer was
bound. Gleipner.
[The glassy]. One of the horses of the gods. Gler.
GUTNIR [The glittering]. Forsete's golden hall. Glitner.
GNA. She is the messenger that Frigg sends into the va-
rious worlds on her errands. She has a horse called
Hofvarpenr, that can run through air and water. Gnaa.
GNIPAHELUR. The cave before which the dog Garm barks.
The Gnipa-cave.
GNITAHEIDR. Fafner's abode, where he kept the treasure
called Andvarenaut. Gnita-heath.
GOINN. A serpent under Ygdrasil. Coin.
GOLL. A valkyrie. Got.
GOMUL. A heavenly river. Gomul.
1022
GODS AND GODDESSES
GONDUL. A valkyrie. Gondul.
GOPUL. A heavenly river. Gopul.
GRABAKR. One of the serpents under Ygdrasil. Graabak.
GRAD. A heavenly river. Graad.
GRAFVITNIR. J Serpents under Ygdrasil. Grafvitner;
GRAFVOIXUDR. J Grafvollud.
GREIP. [Eng. grip}. One of Heimdal's nine giant mothers.
Greip.
GRIMNIR. A kind of hood or cowl covering the upper part
of the face. Grimner is a name of Odin from his trav-
eling in disguise. Grimner.
GROA. The giantess mother of Orvandel. Thor went to
her to have her charm the flint-stone out of his fore-
head. Groa.
GULLFAXI [Gold-mane]. The giant Hrungner's horse.
Goldfax.
GULLINKAMBI [Gold-comb]. A cock that crows at Rag-
narok. Gullinkambe or Goldcomb.
GULI/TOPPR [Gold-top]. Heimdal's horse. Goldtop.
GUU.VEIG [Gold-thirst]. A personification of gold. Though
pierced and thrice burnt, she yet lives. Gulveig.
GULUNBURSTI [Golden bristles]. The name of Frey's hog.
Gulliriburste.
GUNGNIR [To tremble violently]. Odin's spear. Gungner.
GUNNLOD [To invite]. One who invites war. She was
daughter of the giant Suttung, and had charge of the
poetic mead. Odin got it from her. Gunlad.
GYLFI. A king of Svithod, who visited Asgard under the
name of Ganglere. The first part of the Younger Edda
is called Gylfaginning, which means the Delusion of
Gylfe. Gylfe.
GYLLIR [Golden]. One of the horses of the gods. Gyller.
1023
DICTIONARY OF
GYMIR. A giant; the father of Gerd, the beloved of Frey.
Gymer.
GYMIR. Another name of the ocean divinity ^ger. Gymer.
H
HALUNSKIDI. Another name of the god Heimdal. The
possessor of the leaning (hallo) way. Hallinskid.
HAMSKERPIR [Hide-hardener]. A horse; the sire of Hof-
varpner, which was Gnaa's horse. Hamskerper.
HAR. The High One, applied to Odin. Hoar.
HARBARDR. The name assumed by Odin in the Lay of
Harbard. Harbard.
HEIDRUNR [Bright-running]. A goat that stands over Val-
hal. Heidrun.
HEIMDALR. He was the heavenly watchman in the old
mythology, answering to St. Peter in the medieval.
According to the Lay of Rig (Heimdal), he was the
father and founder of the different classes of men,
nobles, churls and thralls. He has a horn called
Gjallar-horn, which he blows at Ragnarok. His dwell-
ing is Himinbjorg. He is the keeper of Bifrost (the
rainbow). Nine giantesses are his mothers. Heimdal.
HEL. [Anglo-Sax, and Eng. hell; to kill] . The goddess of
death, born of Loke and Angerboda. She corresponds
to Proserpina. Her habitation is Helheim, under one
of the roots of Ygdrasil. Hel.
HELBLINDI. A name of Odin. Helblinde.
HELGRINDR. The gates of Hel. Helgrind or Helgate.
HELHEIM. The abode of Hel. Helheim.
HERFODR, j [The father of hosts]. A name of Odin.
HERJAFODR. ] Herfather.
1024
GODS AND GODDESSES
HERMODR [Courage of hosts]. Son of Odin, who gives
him a helmet and a corselet. He rode on Sleipner to Hel
to bring Balder back. Hermod.
HILDISVINI [Means war]. Freyja's hog. Hilde-svine.
HIMINBJORG [Heaven, help, defense; hence heaven de-
fender]. Heimdal's dwelling. Himinbjorg.
HIMINBRJOTR [Heaven-breaker]. One of the giant Hym-
er's oxen. Himinbrjoter.
The abode of ./Eger. Hlesey.
The seat of Odin, whence he looked out over
all the worlds. Hlidskjalf.
HLIN. One of the attendants of Frigg; but Frigg herself
is sometimes called by this name. Hlin.
HLODYN. A goddess ; a name of the earth ; Thor's mother.
Hlodyn.
HLORIDI [Eng. low, to bellow, roar, and reid, thunder]
One of the names of Thor; the bellowing thunderer.
Hloride.
HNIKARR, f
TT •{ Names of Odin, Hnikar and Hnikuder.
HNIKUDR. [
HNOSS [Anglo-Sax, to hammer] . A costly thing ; the name
of one of Freyja's daughters. Hnos.
HODDMIMISHOI/T. Hodmimer's holt or grove, where the
two human beings Lif and Lifthraser were preserved
during Ragnarok. Hodmimer's forest.
HODR. The slayer of Balder. He is blind, returns to life
m the regenerated world. The Cain of the Norse
mythology. Hoder.
HOENIR. One of the three creating gods. With Odin and
Loder Keener creates Ask and Embla, the first human
pair. Hoener.
1025
DICTIONARY OF
HOFVARPNIR [Hoof-thrower]. Gnaa's horse. His father
is Hamskerper and mother Gardrofa. Hofvarpner.
HRAESVEXGR [Corpse-swallower]. A giant in an eagle's
plumage, who produces the wind. Hraesvelger.
HRAUDUNGR. Geirrod's father. Hraudung.
HREIDMARR. Father of Regin and Fafner. He exacts the
blood-fine from the gods for slaying Otter. He is
slain by Fafner. Hreidmar.
HRIMFAXI [Rime-mane]. The horse of night. Rimefax.
HRIMTHURSAR [Eng. rime, hoar-frost]. Rime-giants or
frost-giants, who dwell under one of Ygdrasil's roots.
Giants.
HRODVITNIR. A wolf ; father of the wolf Hate. Hrodvitner.
HROPTR. One of Odin's names. Hropt.
HRUNGNIR. A giant ; friend of Hymer. Thor fought with
him and slew him. Hrungner.
HRINGHORNI. The ship upon which Balder's body was
burned. Hringhorn.
HROSSTHJOFR [Horse-thief]. A giant. Hrosthjof.
HUGINN [Mind]. One of Odin's ravens. Hugin.
HVERGELMIR [The old kettle] . The spring in the middle of
Niflheim, whence flowed the rivers Elivagar. The
Northern Tartaros. Hvergelmer.
HYMIR. A giant with whom Thor went fishing when he
caught the Midgard-serpent. His wife was the mother
of Tyr. Tyr and Thor went to him to procure a kettle
for ^Eger in which to brew ale for the gods. Hymer.
HYNDLA. A vala visited by Freyja, who comes to her to
learn the genealogy of her favorite, Ottar. Hyndla,
1026
GODS AND GODDESSES
I
IDAVOLLR. A plain where the gods first assemble, where
they establish their heavenly abodes, and where they
assemble again after Ragnarok. The plains of Ida.
Idavold.
IDUNN. Daughter of the dwarf Ivald; she was wife of
Brage, and the goddess of early spring. She possesses
rejuvenating apples of which the gods partake. I dun.
IFING. A river which divides the giants from the gods.
Ifing.
IMD. One of Heimdal's nine giant mothers. Imd.
I MR. A son of the giant Vafthrudner. Im.
INGUNAR-FREYR. One of the names of Frey. Ingun's Prey.
INNSTEINN. The father of Ottar Heimske; the favorite of
Freyja. Instein.
IVALDI. A dwarf. His sons construct the ship Skidblad-
ner. Ivald.
1
JAFNHAR [Equally high]. A name of Odin.
JALKR. A name of Odin (Jack the Giant-killer?). Jalk.
JARNSAXA [Iron-chopper]. One of Heimdal's nine giant
mothers. Jarnsaxa.
JARNVIDR [Iron- wood]. A wood east of Midgard, peopled
by giantesses called Jarnvids. This wood had iron
leaves. Jarnvid.
JARNVIDIUR. The giantesses in the Iron-wood. Jarnvids.
JORD. Wife of Odin and mother of Thor. Earth.
JOTUNN. A giant. The giants were the earliest created
beings. The gods question them in regard to Balder.
1027
DICTIONARY OF
Thor frequently contends with them. Famous giants
are: Ymer, Hymer, Hrungner, Orvandel, Gymer,
Skrymer, Vafthrudner and Thjasse. Giant.
JOTUNHEIMAR (plural). The Utgaard; the home of the
giants in the outermost parts of the earth. Jotunheim.
KERLAUGAR (plural). Two rivers which Thor every day
must cross. Kerlaug.
KORMT. Another river which Thor every day must pass.
Kormt.
KVASIR. The hostage given by the vans to the asas. His
blood, when slain, was the poetical mead kept by Sut-
tung. Kvaser.
LAEDINGR. One of the fetters with which the Fenris-wolf
was bound. Laeding.
LAERADR. A tree near Valhal. Laerad.
LANDVIDI [A mountain range overgrown with trees].
Vidar's abode. The primeval forests. Landvide.
LAU^EY [Leafy island]. Loke's mother. Laufey.
LEIETHRASIR, "I The two persons preserved in Hodmim-
J er's grove during Surfs conflagration
in Ragnarok; the last beings in the old and the first
in the new world. Lif and Lifthraser.
[Light-foot]. One of the horses of the gods.
Lightfoot.
1028
GODS AND GODDESSES
LITR. A dwarf that Thor kicked into Balder's funeral pile.
Liter.
LODDFAFNIR. A protege of Odin. Lodfafner.
LODURR [To flame]. One of the three gods (Odin, Haener
and Loder) who create Ask and Embla, the first man
and woman. He is identical with Loke. Loder.
LOKI [To end, finish; Loke is the end and consummation
of divinity]. The evil giant-god of the Norse myth-
ology. He steers the ship Naglfar in Ragnarok. He
borrows Freyja's feather-garb and accompanies Thor to
the giant Thrym, who has stolen Thor's hammer. He
is the father of Sleipner; also of the Midgard serpent,
of the Fenris-wolf and of Hel. He causes Balder's
death, abuses the gods in ^Eger's feast, but is captured
in Fraanangerforce and is bound by the gods. Loke.
LOPTR [The aerial]. Another name of Loke. Lopter.
M
MAGNI [megin, strength]. A son of Thor. Magne.
MANI [Eng. moon]. Brother of Sol (the sun, feminine),
and both were children of the giant Mundilfare. Moon
or Maane.
MARDOLL or MARTHOLI,. One of the names of Freyja.
Mardallar gratr (the tears of Mardal), gold. Mardal.
MANAGARMR [Moon-swallower]. A wolf of Loke's off-
spring. He devours the moon. Maanegarm or Moon-
garm.
MANNHEIMAR (plural) [Homes of man]. Our earth.
Manheim.
MEIU. A son of Odin. Meile.
1029
DICTIONARY OF
MIDGARDR. [In Cumberland, England, are three farms:
High-garth, Middle-garth, Low-garth.] The mid-yard,
middle-town, that is, the earth, is a mythological word
common to all the ancient Teutonic languages. The
Icelandic Edda alone has preserved the true mythical
bearing of this old Teutonic word. The earth (Mid-
gard), the abode of men, is situated in the middle of the
universe, bordered by mountains and surrounded by the
great sea; on the other side of this sea is the Utgard
(out-yard), the abode of the giants; the Midgard is
defended by the yard or burgh Asgard (the burgh of
the gods) lying in the middle (the heaven being con-
ceived as rising above the earth). Thus the earth and
mankind are represented as a stronghold besieged by
the powers of evil from without, defended by the gods
from above and from within. Midgard.
MIDGARDSORMR [The serpent of Midgaard]. The world-
serpent hidden in the ocean, whose coils gird around
the whole Midgard. Thor once fishes for him, and
gets him on his hook. In Ragnarok Thor slays him,
but falls himself poisoned by his breath. Midgard-ser-
pent.
MIMAMEIDR. A mythic tree ; probably the same as Ygdra-
sil. It derives its name from Mimer, and means Mi-
mer's tree. Mimameider.
MIMIR. The name of the wise giant keeper of the holy
well Mimis-brunnr, the burn of Mimer, the well of
wisdom, at which Odin pawned his eye for wisdom; a
myth which is explained as symbolical of the heavenly
vault with its single eye, the sun, setting in the sea.
MJOLNIR. Thor's formidable hammer. After Ragnarok, it
is possessed by his sons Mode and Magne. M joiner.
MISTII/TEINN [Eng. mistletoe]. The mistletoe or mistle-
twig, the fatal twig by which Balder, the white sun-
1030
GODS AND GODDESSES
god, was slain. After the death of Balder, Ragnarok
set in. Balder's death was also symbolical of the vic-
tory of darkness over light, which comes every year
at midwinter. The mistletoe in English households at
Christmas time is no doubt a relic of a rite lost in the
remotest heathendom, for the fight of light and dark-
ness at midwinter was a foreshadowing of the final
overthrow in Ragnarok. The legend and the word are
common to all Teutonic peoples of all ages. Mistletoe.
MODI [Courage]. A son of Thor. Mode.
MODSOGNIR. The dwarf highest in degree or rank. Mod-
sogner.
MOINN. A serpent under Ygdrasil. Moin.
MUNDILFARI. Father of the sun and moon. Mundilfare.
MUNINN [Memory] . One of Odin's ravens. Munin.
MUSPEL. The name of an abode of fire. It is populated by
a host of fiends, who are to appear at Ragnarok and de-
stroy the world by fire. Muspel.
MuspELLSHEiMR. The abode of Muspel. This interesting
word (Muspell) was not confined to the Norse myth-
ology, but appears twice in the old Saxon poem Heliand.
In these instances muspel stands for the day of judg-
ment, the last day, and answers to Ragnarok of the
Norse mythology.
MOKKURKALFI [A dense cloud] . A clay giant in the myth
of Thor and Hrungner. Mokkerkalfe.
N
NAGLFAR [Nail-ship]. A mythical ship made of nail-par-
ings. It apears in Ragnarok. Naglfar. Nailship.
NAL [Needle]. Mother of Loke. Naal.
1031
DICTIONARY OF
NANNA. Daughter of Nep (bud) ; mother of Forsete and
wife of Balder. She dies of grief at the death of
Balder. Nanna.
NARI or NARFI. Son of Loke. Loke was bound by the
intestines of Nare. Nare or Narfe.
NASTROND [The shore of corpses] . A place of punishment
for the wicked after Ragnarok. Naastrand.
NIDAFJOLL. The Nida-mountains toward the north, where
there is after Ragnarok a golden hall for the race of
Sindre (the dwarfs). Nidafell.
NIDHOGGR. A serpent of the nether world, that tears the
carcases of the dead. He also lacerates Ygdrasil.
Nidhug.
NiFLHEiMR. The world of fog or mist; the nethermost of
the rime worlds. The place of punishment (Hades).
It was visited by Odin when he went to inquire after the
fate of Balder. Niflheim.
NJORDR. A van, vanagod. He was husband of Skade, and
father of Frey and Freyja. He dwells in Noatun.
Njord.
NOATUN [Place of ships]. Njord's dwelling; Njord being
a divinity of the water or sea. Noatun.
NORDRI [North]. A dwarf presiding over the northern re-
gions. Nordre or North.
NoTT. Night ; daughter of Norve. Night.
NORN; plural NORNIR. The weird sisters; the three heav-
enly norns Urd, Verdande, and Skuld (Past, Present,
and Future) ; they dwelt at the fountain of Urd, and
ruled the fate of the world. Three norns were also
present at the birth of very man and cast the horoscope
of his life. Norn.
1032
GODS AND GODDESSES
ODINN [Anglo-Sax. Wodan] . Son of Bor and Bestla. He
is the chief of the gods. With Vile and Ve he parcels
out Ymer. With Hoener and Loder he creates Ask
and Embla. He is the fountain-head of wisdom, the
founder of culture, writing and poetry, the progenitor
of kings, the lord of battle and victory. He has two
ravens, two wolves and a spear. His throne is Hlid-
skjalf, whence he looks out over all the worlds. In
Ragnarok he is devoured by the Fenris-wolf. Odin.
ODR. Freyja's husband. Oder.
ODROERIR [The spirit-mover] . One of the vessels in which
the blood of Kvaser, that is, the poetic mead, was kept.
The inspiring nectar. Odroerer.
OENIR. A serpent under Ygdrasil. Ofner.
OKOLNIR. After Ragnarok the giants have a hall (ale-
hall) called Brimer, at Okolner.
OKU-THORR. So called from the Finnish thunder-god Ukko.
Akethor.
OSKI [Wish]. A name of Odin. Oske. Wish.
OTR [OTTER]. A son of Hreidmar; in the form of an otter
killed by Loke. Oter.
OTTARR or OTTARR HEIMSKI [Stupid]. A son of Instein,
a protege of Freyja. He has a contest with Angantyr.
Hyndla gives him a cup of remembrance. Ottar.
RAGNAROK [Sentence, judgment, from rekja, is the whole
development from creation to dissolution, and would,
in this word, denote the dissolution, doomsday, of the
gods ; or it may be from rokr (reykkr, smoke), twilight,
1033
DICTIONARY OF
and then the word means the twilight of the gods].
The last day ; the dissolution of the gods and the world.
Ragnarok.
RAN [Rob]. The goddess of the sea ; wife of ^Eger. Ran.
RATATOSKR. A squirrel that runs up and down the branches
of Ygdrasil. Ratatosk.
RATI. An auger used by Odin in obtaining the poetic mead.
Rate.
REGINN. Son of Hreidmar; brother of Fafner and Otter.
Regin.
RINDR. A personification of the hard frozen earth. Mother
of Vale. The loves of Odin and Rind resemble those
of Zeus and Europa in Greek legends. Rind.
ROSKVA. The name of the maiden follower of Thor. She
symbolizes the ripe fields of harvest. Roskva.
SAEHRIMNIR [Rime-producer]. The name of the boar on
which the gods and heroes in Valhal constantly feed.
Saehrimner.
SAGA [History]. The goddess of history. She dwells in
Sokvabek.
SESSRUMNIR. Freyja's large-seated palace. Sesrumner.
SIDHOTTR [Long-hood]. One of Odin's names, from his
traveling in disguise with a large hat on his head hang-
ing down over one side of his face to conceal his miss-
ing eye. Sidhat.
SIDSKEGGR [Long-beard]. One of Brage's names. It is
also a name of Odin in the lay of Grimner. Sidskeg.
The wife of Thor and mother of Uller. The word
denotes affinity. Sif, the golden-haired goddess, wife
of Thor, betokens mother earth with her bright green
1034
GODS AND GODDESSES
grass. S'he was the goddess of the sanctity of the fam-
ily and wedlock, and hence her name. Sif.
SIGFADIR [Father of victory]. A name of Odin. Sigfather.
SIGYN. Loke's wife. She holds a basin to prevent the
serpent's venom from dropping into Loke's face. Sigyn.
SiijfRiNToppR. One of the horses of the gods. Silvertop.
SINDRI. One of the most famous dwarfs. Sindre,
SINIR [Sinew]. One of the horses of the gods. Siner.
SJOFN. One of the goddesses. She delights in turning
men's hearts to love. Sjofn.
SKADI [scathe, harm, damage]. A giantess; daughter of
Thjasse and the wife of Njord. She dwells in Thrym-
heim, and hangs a venom serpent over Loke's face.
Skade. i
SKEIDBRIMIR [Race-runner], One of the horses of the
gods. Skeidbrimer.
SKIDBLADNIR. The name of the famous ship of the god
Frey that could move alike on land or sea and could be
made small or great at will. Skidbladner.
SKINFAXI [Shining-mane]. The horse of Day. Skinfax.
SKIRNIR [The bright one]. Frey's messenger. Skirner.
SKRYMIR. The name of a giant; also the name assumed by
Utgard-Loke. Skrymer.
SKULD [Shall]. The norn of the future. Skuld.
SKOGUL. A valkyrie. Skogul.
SLEIPNIR [The slipper]. The name of Odin's eight-footed
steed. He is begotten by Loke with Svadilfare. Sleip-
ner.
SNOTRA [Neat]. The name of one of the goddesses. Snotra.
SOKKMIMIR [Mimer of the deep]. A giant slain by Odin.
Sokmimer.
1035
DICTIONARY OF
SOKKVABEKKR. A mansion where Odin and Saga quaff
from golden beakers. Sokvabek.
SOL [Sun]. Daughter of Mundilfare. She drives the
horses that draw the car of the sun.
SONR. One of the vessels containing the poetic mead. Son.
SUDRI [South]. A dwarf who presides over the south re-
gion. Sudre. South.
SURTR. A fire-giant in Ragnarok who contends with the
gods on the plain of Vigrid and guards Muspelheim.
Surt.
SUTTUNGR. The giant possessor of the poetic mead.
Suttung.
SVADILFARI. A horse ; the sire of Sleipner. Svadil'fare.
SVAFNIR. A serpent under Ygdrasil. Svafner.
SVAUNN [Cooler]. The shield placed before the sun.
Svalin.
SVASUDR [Delightful]. The name of a giant; the father of
the sun. Svasud.
SYN. A minor goddess.
TYR. Properly the generic name of the highest divinity,
and remains in many compounds. In mythology he is
the one-armed god of war. The Fenris-wolf bit one
hand off him. He goes with Thor to Hymer to borrow
a kettle for ^Eger. He is son of Odin by a giantess.
Tyr.
THJALFI. The name of the servant and follower of Thor.
The word properly means a delver, digger. The names
Thjalfe and Roskva indicate that Thor was the friend
of the farmers and the god of agriculture. Thjalfe.
1036
GODS AND GODDESSES
THJAZI [Thjassi]. A giant; the father of Njord's wife,
Skade. His dwelling was Thrymheim ; he was slain
by Thor. Thjasse.
THORR. The English Thursday is a later form, in which
the phonetic rule of the Scandinavian tongue has been
followed. The god of thunder, keeper of the hammer,
the ever-fighting slayer of trolls and destroyer of evil
spirits, the friend of mankind, the defender of the earth,
the heavens and the gods ; for without Thor and his ham-
mer the earth would become the helpless prey of the
giants. He was the consecrator, the hammer being the
cross or holy sign of the ancient heathen. Thor was the
son of Odin and Fjorgyn (mother earth) ; he was
blunt, hot-tempered, without fraud or guile, of few
words but of ready stroke — such was Thor, the favorite
deity of our forefathers. The finest legends of the
Younger Edda and the best lays of the Elder Edda
refer to Thor. His hall is Bilskirner. He slays Thjasse,
Thrym, Hrungner, and other giants. In Ragnarok he
slays the Midgard-serpent, but falls after retreating nine
paces, poisoned by the serpent's breath. Thor,
THRIDI [Third]. A name of Odin in Gylfaginning.
Thride.
THRUDGELMIR. The giant father of Bergelmer. Thrud-
gelmer.
THRUDHEIMR orl
,_, J-Thor's abode. Thrudheim; Thrudvang.
THRUDVANGR. J
THRUDR. The name of a goddess; the daughter of Thor
and Sif. Thrud.
THRYMHEIMR. Thjasse's and Skade's dwelling. Thrym-
heim,
THRYMR. The giant who stole Thor's hammer and de-
manded Freyja as a reward for its return. Thrym.
22 1037
DICTIONARY OF
THOKK. The name of a giantess (supposed to have been
Loke in disguise) in the myth of Balder. Thok.
U
ULFRUN. One of Heimdal's nine giant mothers. Ulfrun.
ULLR. The son of Sif and stepson of Thor. His father is
not named. He dwells in Ydaler. Utter.
URDARBRUNNR. The fountain of the norn Urd. The Ur-
dar-fountain. The weird spring.
URDR [Eng. weird}. One of the three norns. The norn
of the past. Urd.
UTGARDAR [The out-yard] . The abode of the giant Utgard-
Loke. Utgard.
UTGARDA-LOKI. The giant of Utgard visited by Thor. He
calls himself Skrymer. Utgard-Loke.
VAFTHRUDNIR. A giant visited by Odin. They try each
other in questions and answers. The giant is defeated
and forfeits his life. Vafthrudner.
VALASKJALF. One of Odin's dwellings. Valaskjalf.
VALFODR [Father of the slain]. A name of Odin. Valfather.
VALGRIND. A gate of Valhal. Valgrind.
VALHOLL [The hall of the slain]. The hall to which Odin
invited those slain in battle. Valhal.
VALKYRJA [The chooser of the slain]. A troop of god-
desses, handmaidens of Odin. They serve in Valhal,
and are sent on Odin's errands. Valkyrie.
1038
GODS AND GODDESSES
VAU. Is a brother of Balder, who slays Hoder when only
one night old. He rules with Vidar after Ragnarok.
Vale.
VALI. A son of Loke. Vale.
VALTAMR. A fictitious name of Odin's father. Valtam.
VE. A brother of Odin (Odin, Vile and Ve). Ve.
VEGTAMR. A name assumed by Odin. Vegtam.
VANAHEIMAR. The abode of the vans. Vanaheim.
VANR; plural VANIR. Those deities whose abode was in
Vanaheim, in contradistinction to the asas, who dwell
in Asgard: Njord, Frey and Freyja. The vans waged
war with the asas, but were afterwards, by virtue of a
treaty, combined and made one with them. The vans
were deities of the sea. Van.
VEORR [Defender]. A name of Thor. Veor.
VERDANDI [To become]. The norn of the present.
VESTRI. The dwarf presiding over the west region. Vestre.
West.
VIDARR. Son of Odin and the giantess Grid. He dwells
in Landvide. He slays the Fenris-wolf in Ragnarok.
Rules with Vale after Ragnarok. Vidar.
VIGRIDR [A battle]. The field of battle where the gods and
the sons of Surt meet in Ragnarok. Vigrid.
Viu. Brother of Odin and Ve. These three sons of Bor
and Bestla construct the world out of Ymer's body. Vile.
VIMUR. A river that Thor crosses. Vimer.
VINDSVALR. The father of winter. Vindsval.
VINDHEIMR. The place that the sons of Balder and Hoder
are to inhabit after Ragnarok. Vindheim. Windhome.
VIN-GOLF [The mansion of bliss] The palace of the asyn-
jes. Vingolf.
VINGTHORR. A name of Thor. Vingthor.
1039
DICTIONARY OF GODS AND GODDESSES
VOR. The goddess of betrothals and marriages. Vor.
YDAUR. Uller's dwelling. Ydaler.
YGGR. A name of Odin. Ygg.
YGGDRASILL [The bearer of Ygg (Odin)]. The world-
embracing ash tree. The whole world is symbolized
by this tree. Ygdrasil.
YMIR. The huge giant in the cosmogony, out of whose
body Odin, Vile and Ve created the world. The pro-
genitor of the giants. He was formed out of frost
and fire in Ginungagap. Ymer,
1040
INDEX
OF
PERSONS AND PLACES.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.
Achilles, 44, 192.
Achivians, 62.
Adalbert, 320.
Adam, 86, 132, 319, 338.
Adam of Bremen, 714.
Adriatic, 62.
Aeduans, 66.
Aegir, 43, 136, 235, 422, 575, 697,
813, 822, 967.
Aeneas, 44, 66, 81, 730.
African, 6.
Agelmund, 858.
Aggo, 104, 861, 893, 953, 1008.
Agni, 587, 605, 886.
Agrippa, 76, 86.
Ahriman, 817.
Ahura, 8.
Ahuramazda, 127, 381, 450.
Ai, 140.
Ajo, 100, 861, 992.
Alamannians, 53, 119, 708.
Alarik, 25.
Alba-Longa, 66.
Aldonus, 101.
Aldrian, 981, 991.
Alexander, 50, 55.
Alf, 167.
Alfather, 376, 220, 340.
Alfheim, 696, 865, 947.
Alfhild, 168.
Alfrandull, 1002.
Alfsol, 168.
Alps, 62.
Almveig, 1000.
Alvalde, 174, 584, 898, 953, 992.
Alveig, 173, 257, 263, 273.
Alveig-Signe, 793, 902.
Alvis, 437.
Alvism, 365, 376.
Alvismal, 436, 445.
Alvitr, 898.
Amala, 293.
Amalgort, 293.
Amalian, 147, 285, 293, 980.
Amazons, 168.
Ambri, 100.
Amelolt, 293.
Amelungs, 147, 293.
America, 940.
Amlethus, 317, 843.
Amlodi, 843, 568.
Amma, 140.
Ammianus, 58.
Amsvartner, 564.
Anarr, 157.
Anchises, 54, 112.
Andlanger, 706.
Andvare. a dwarf, 300, 977.
Angerboda, 226, 275, 558, 707, 809.
Angeyja, 597.
IO4I
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Angles, 55.
Anglo-Saxon, 86.
Angra-Mainyu, 127.
Angul, 89.
Animals, 23.
Anses, 738.
Ansgarius, 806.
Ansgis, 54, 112.
Antenor, 53, 62.
Anthaib, 101.
Anthropology, 729.
Anti- Christ, 722.
Anundus, 848, 884, 896, 932, 951.
Anus, 879.
Anzius, 147.
Apaosha, 970.
Apollo, 79.
Aquili, 553.
Are, 57, 425, 438.
Arinbjorn, 173, 464.
Aristarchus, 53.
Armenia, 3.
Arnulf, 54.
Artimis, 79.
Arvidson, 844.
Aryan, 3, 14, 30, 124, 188, 253, 380,
746.
Asa-Brage, 256, 801.
Asa-father, 746.
Asa-god, 147, 191, 210, 246, 740,
777, 793, 820.
Asaland, 33.
Asalfr, 926.
Asas, 34, 41, 83, 211, 235, 254, 275,
364, 376, 397, 436, 485, 580, 620,
720, 819, 838, 852, 875, 888, 946.
Asasynir (goddesses), 446.
Asbjorn, 245.
Asciburgium, 122, 839.
Asgard, 33, 41, 166, 218, 229, 245,
276, 376, 397, 423, 443, 467, 575,
601, 693, 724, 751, 772, 790, 806,
845, 865, 877, 909, 938, 959, 977,
989, 1004.
Asia-land, 45.
Asia Minor, 77.
Asiatic, 4, 14.
Ask, 127, 140, 604, 733.
Asmegir, 353, 436, 446, 827, 878.
Asmund, 265, 743.
Assi, 100.
Assyrians, 37.
Astrology, 71.
Asvid, 365, 743.
Asvinians, 880, 910.
Atlakvida, 512.
Atlantic, 87.
Atlas, 977.
Atle, 471, 915.
Attic, 53.
Attila, 286, 809, 983.
Audhumbla, 389, 574, 733, 433.
Augustus, 711.
Aurboda, 213, 242, 781, 815, 845,
962.
Aurgelner, 433, 570.
Aurnir, 899, 948, 992.
Austria, 28.
Ave, 140.
Avo, 848, 884, 896.
Avernians, 66.
Avesta, 8, 17, 30, 450, 878.
Azdingi, 159.
B
Baal, 37.
Babel, 37, 84.
Babylon, 37, 84.
Bacchus, 900.
Bactria, 9, 84.
Baermagnis-Sogo, 310.
Bainaib, 101.
Balder, 36, 88, 191, 212, 248, 346,
368, 377, 400, 413, 436, 465, 622,
684, 726, 782, 796, 809, 833, 877,
888, 898, 963, 985.
Banings (destroyers), 297.
Barbarossa, 55.
Baugregin's Well, 577.
Beda, 55, 88.
Beistla, 624.
Bel, 836.
Beldegg, 40, 88.
Belgium, 28.
1042
INDEX
Bcli, 836.
Benfey, 18.
Beowulf, 130, 191, 472, 605,1749.
811, 825, 844, 986, 1002.
Berchter, 591.
Berchtung, 146, 291.
Bergelmer, 434, 570, 626.
Bergio, 115.
Berggram, 848.
Berig, 116.
Berker, 146.
Bergtrollet, 844.
Berserks, 39.
Berther, 146.
Bessarabia, 25.
Bestla, 160, 389, 476.
Beyla, 575.
Bhrigu, 587.
Bifrost, 397, 415, 462, 534, 586,
693, 705, 758, 827, 989.
Bil, 676, 985, 1003.
Billing, 471, 698.
Birka, 806.
Biterolf, 359, 644, 977, 997.
Bjaef, 88.
Bjarmia, 563.
Bjorn, .245.
Bjorno, 884.
Bjort, 229, 756.
Blekingia, 104.
Blid, 229, 756.
Bodn, 331.
Bodvar, 530.
Boethius, 812.
Bolthorn, 361, 624.
Bor, 389, 434, 574, 603.
Borgar, 145, 255, 281, 293, 591,
847, 861, 976.
Bose Saga, 310.
Bospborus, 48.
Bous, 787.
Bragaraedur, 959.
Brage, 43, 468, 675, 824. 967, 986.
Bravalla, 283.
Breidablik, 36.
Brimer, 643.
Brisingamen, 272, 364, 725, 819,
829, 876.
Britain, 55.
Brok, 361, 718, 895,
Brunnakr, 898, 953.
Brunnie, 898, 953.
Brutus, 66.
Brynhild, 491, 979.
Buddhism, 732.
Budlungs, 189.
Bundebash, 126.
Bure, 389.
Burgarus, 145.
Burgundaib, 101, 113.
Byggvir, 575.
Byleipt, 559.
Byrgir, 676, 986, 1003.
Byzantium, 48.
Caesar, 66, 283.
Cain, 813.
Capitoline Hill, 74.
Carthage, 58.
Cassiodorus, 114.
Cave of Punishment, 552.
Celts, 10, 25, 254.
Cerberus, 38, 413.
Ceres, 79.
Chaldseans, 72.
Cham, 85.
Chaos, 389.
Charlemagne, 53, 101, 807.
Cheldricus, 981, 990.
Cherson, 25.
Christ, 77, 284, 807.
Christianity, 50, 285.
Chus, 85.
Cimmerians, 76.
Cis-Alpine, 66.
Claudius, 114.
Claybrimer, 570,
Codex Regius, 233.
Codex Upsalensis, 353, 538.
Cool, 519.
Cosmogony, 157.
Cosmographic Review, 692.
Creator, 813.
1043
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Creation of Man, 126.
Crete, 38.
Crimea, 25.
Cumsean Propketess, 75.
Curetians, 261.
Cuso, 784.
Cybile, 79.
Cyclops, 715.
Dacians, 129.
Dag, 366, 420, 433, 446, 602, 696.
Dainn, an elf artist, 240, 365, 717.
Dalmatia, 63.
Damkan, 386.
Dan, 137.
Danai, 56, 255.
Danes, 27, 56, 117, 178, 257.
Danische Wold, 811.
Danish Adventurers, 714.
Dankrat, 981.
Danmark, 89.
Dannevirke, 913, 927.
Danr Draupr, 142.
Danube, 62.
Dardanus, 38.
Darius, 3.
Darnanians, 58.
Dasyus, 596.
Decius, 710.
Delling, 356, 366, 377, 416, 461,
602, 696, 823.
Diaconus, 54, 101, 859.
Dictys, 59.
Dieterich, 285, 980.
Dis, sun goddess, 167.
Disertus, 794.
Ditevin, 109.
Dobrudscho, 25.
Domarr, 137.
Don, 113.
Doom of the Dead, 485.
Dore, 356.
Drauper, 361, 374, 427, 635.
Draupner, 725, 824, 862.
Drott, 143.
Duben, 29.
Dudo, 56, 67.
Dulsi, 608, 652.
Dunelmensis, 130.
Durin, 357, 653.
Durnir, 652.
Dutch, 27.
Dvalinn, a dwarf artist, 164, 244,
356, 461, 717.
Dwarfs, 445.
Dygve, 144, 621.
Barendel, 769.
East Goths, 25.
Ebbo, 104, 779, 847.
Ebur, 863, 953.
Eckenbrecht, 896.
Eckihard, 360.
Edda, 325, 354, 406, 562, 603, 647,
718, 791, 827, 851, 888, 927, 962.
Egil, 425, 463, 529, 838, 847, 863,
873, 884, 901, 926, 941, 969, 977,
990.
Fgilsson, 733.
Eggther, sword guardian, 223, 707,
810, 962.
Egyptian, 94.
Eikthynir, a thunder cloud, 249,
968.
Eilif, 857.
Eilif Gudrunson, 331.
Einar, 372, 908, 914.
Einar Skalaglam, 330.
Einherges, gods, 824, 1003.
Eir, 229, 756.
Eirikr, 793, 803, 823, 847.
Elbe, 107.
Elderich, 984.
Elf Clans, 603.
Elivagar, 424, 519, 532, 695, 775,
827, 835, 846, 857, 911, 938, 960,
968, 1003.
Elivogs, 325, 379.
Elizabeth, 723.
Elves, 164, 445, 696.
1044
INDEX
Elysian Fields, 325.
Embla, 127, 143, 604, 733.
Emperor Theodosius, 710.
Endil, 941.
Endymion, 728.
Eomenric, 830.
Eos, 901.
Ephesus, 709, 728.
Epirus, 25.
Ericus, 793, 868.
Erik, 463, 620, 794, 807, 818, 828,
994.
Eriksmal, 472.
Erikvidforle's Saga, 306, 322.
Erinnyes, 493.
Ermenrich, 980, 998.
Erythreian Sibyl, 76.
Esculapians, 79.
Ethelwardus, 130.
Etgeir, 927.
Etruria, 83.
Etrurians, 58.
Euhemerists, 49.
Euripides, 716.
Europe, 76.
Eylud Mill, 827.
Eyludr, 568, 584. •
Eystrasalt, the Baltic, 235.
Eyrbyggja, 478.
Eyrgjafa, 598.
Eyvind, 225, 469.
Padir, 140.
Fafner, 977.
Fafnersbane, 191, 218, 260, 735.
Fafnersmal, 460, 693.
Fagerskinna, 741.
Fal, 87.
Falen, 89.
Fann, 522.
Farbaute, 823.
Fenja, 262, 567, 584, 890, 951.
Fenrer, 618, 705.
Fenris Wolf, 44, 215, 404, 448, 558,
618.
Fifel, 559.
Fimbulthul, 642.
Fimbul-Winter, 171, 585, 796.
Finalf, 971.
Finmark, 310.
Finnr, 988.
Finns, 118.
Fjalar, a giant sorcerer, 210, 224,
266, 317, 336, 513, 596, 647, 661,
707, 810, 891, 962, 1004.
Fjallgyldir, 926.
Fjolner, 499, 995.
Fjolsvinn, 354, 499, 571.
Fjolsvinsmal, 229, 238, 721, 747,
758, 772, 790, 817, 832, 978.
Fjorgyn, 155.
Fjorgyn-Frigg, 374.
Flatey-bok, 133, 306.
Floedarmal, 858.
Flying Serpents, 564.
Fornald, 363.
Fornaldr Saga, 858.
Fornmanna Saga, 96.
Forsets, 888.
Forspjallsljod, 196, 330, 447, 532,
553, 871, 911, 917, 1008.
Francis, 51.
Franks, 50, 60, 99, 708.
Frankish, 82.
Frankland, 40.
Frau Breyde, 834.
Frauenlob, 68.
Frea, 100.
Frey, 34, 137, 157, 230, 361, 426,
558, 575, 607, 661, 702, 718, 777,
796, 810, 820, 863, 884, 918, 958,
983.
Fredegar, 50, 60.
Freyja, 34, 100, 155, 166, 229, 327,
363, 607, 443, 461, 526, 684, 796,
819, 834, 843, 879, 887, 897, 931,
958, 989.
Freki, Odin's wolf dog, 249, 559.
Freyja Menglad, 250.
Frid, 229, 842.
Fridleif, 88.
Fridleifson, 567.
Fridigernus, 842.
1045
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Fridlevus, 245, 798, 863, 884.
Frigg, 34, 100, 155, 229, 607, 684,
824, 842, 903, 963.
Frigga, 55.
Frigida, 39.
Friesland, 320.
Frisian Adventurers, 715.
Frode, 135, 499, 565, 578, 794.
Froste, 225.
Frotho, 815, 837, 868.
Frotho-Frey, 274.
Fulda, 111.
Fulla, 685, 824.
Funen, 35.
Fylgies, 457.
Gabriel, 836.
Gaelic, 94.
Galfrid, 66, 984.
Gambanteinn, 427, 815, 964.
Gambara, 100, 893, 953.
Gambarac, 104.
Gambrivians, 155.
Gandaricus Magnus, 222.
Gandil, 468.
Gang, 946, 955, 974.
Ganges, 10.
Gangr, 932, 948.
Gang-Urmir, 196.
Gardarike, 15.
Garm, 440, 564.
Gastrofnir, 754.
Gaul, 26, 58, 66, 129.
Gauta, 505, 642.
Gaya-Maretan, 127.
Gayomert, 127.
Gehenna, 437, 549.
Geflon, 35.
Gefu, 773.
Geiger, 19, 131.
Geirrod, a fire giant, 106, 310, 432,
459, 535, 598, 915, 928, 949.
Geiter, 96, 536.
Geirvandil, 848, 867, 883, 948, 974,
993.
Geldr, 784, 984, 1000.
Gepaute, 116.
Gepidians, 708.
Gerd, a giantess, 192, 227, 241, 426,
437, 528, 815, 967.
Geri, 754.
German-Saga Cycle, 294.
Germans, 548.
Germany, 19, 27, 120.
Gernoz, 981.
Gersami, 756.
Gerutha, 779.
Geruthus, 312.
Gesta, 62.
Gevarr, 669, 792, 990, 1002.
Gevarr-Nokkue, 202.
Gevarus, 781, 836.
Ghosts, 742.
Giants, 39, 96, 175, 770, 836.
Gibich, 981.
Gifr, 754.
Gigas, a giant, 776.
Gillingr, 483.
Gilzer, 981.
Gimule, 561.
Ginungagap, 452, 940.
Gipties, 457.
Gisle, 684, 741.
Gisler, 981, 1007.
Gissur, 527.
Gjallahorn, 524.
Gjaller-bridge, 736.
Gjalp, 928, 933.
GJoll, 328, 415, 448, 515.
Gjuke, 971, 981, 991, 999, 1009.
Gjukung, 515.
Gleipner, 565, 824.
Glenr, husband of the Sun Dis, 169.
Glitner, 827.
Glittering-fields, 309, 322, 418, 517,
636.
Gnipa-Cave, 440, 564.
Godan, Odin, 100.
Godmundr, 642.
Gods of the Week Days, 72.
Golaida, 101.
Gold-Comb, 449.
Gold-glittering Cock, 760.
1046
INDEX
Gorm, 312, 418, 432, 515, 534, 552,
641, 714.
Gosh, 382.
Got, Gotland, 89, 132.
Gothic, 23, 60, 99, 113, 178.
Goths, 708, 729.
Grafvitner, a giant wolf, 240.
Gragas, 430.
Gram, 147, 283, 794.
Grandvik, 832, 940.
Grane, 241, 978.
Great Babylonia, 836.
Greco, 10, 25.
Greeks, 59.
Greenland, 940.
Greip, a giantess, 551, 598, 893,
928, 1004.
Gregorius, 50, 81, 288, 711, 728.
Grendel, 811.
Grep, 797, 836.
Gridarvolr, 933.
Gridr, 933.
Grimhild, 516.
Grimm, 10, 298.
Grimm's Mythology, 721.
Grimner, 434.
Grimner's Lay, 139.
Grimnersmal, 423, 447, 564, 592,
644, 717, 802, 855, 866, 889.
Grimnismal, 105, 236, 251, 399.
Groa, 150, 196, 255, 268, 747, 776,
793, 819, 847, 858, 900, 998.
Grcedir, 566.
Grogalder, 151, 201, 354, 571, 747,
758, 770, 795, 805, 832.
Grotte, 727.
Grotte-mill, 565.
Grotte-Song, 181, 262, 584, 890,
951.
Grund, 310.
Gugnir, 876.
Gudheim, 36.
Gudhorm, 153, 255, 270.
Gudmund, 217, 309, 360, 393, 516,
636.
Gudmund-Mimer, 727.
Gudolf, 88.
Gudrun, 355, 915, 974, 989.
Gudrunarkvida, 138, 522.
Gudrundson, 138, 421, 452, 491,
516, 932.
Gudzorm, 981.
Gull, 231.
Gulltoppr, 592.
Gulveig, 165, 204, 230, 486.
Gulveig-Heid, 724, 746, 780.
Gunbjorn, 245.
Gunlad, 224, 648, 1004.
Gungner, a sword, 193, 268, 639.
Gunnar, 472, 502, 735, 978, 989.
Gunno, 787.
Gunvara, 795, 815.
Guod, a ship, 265.
Guritha, 150.
Guthmundus, 314.
Guthorm, 567.
Guthormus, 151.
Gutland, 104.
Gylder, 962.
Gygr, a troll woman, 845.
Gylfaginning, 41, 128, 138, 325,
344, 395, 425, 497, 524, 538, 552,
565, 607, 757, 856, 925, 962.
Gylfe, 35, 41, 93.
Gymer, 426, 536.
Gymir, a giant, 213, 227, 242.
H
Hadaland, 741.
Hadding, 255, 263, 273, 289, 317,
432, 449, 492, 517, 604, 729, 737,
793, 806, 819, 843, 902, 980, 997.
Hades, 123, 337, 392, 431, 482, 514,
577, 730, 817, 1004.
Hadingus, 159, 301.
Hadolaun, 107.
Hadugoto, 108.
Hagen, 298, 981.
Haguinus, 896.
Hakon, 370, 467, 500, 824, 867, 904,
913, 929.
Hakonarmal, 468.
Halfdan, 132, 185, 191, 202, 255,
318, 460, 489, 591, 741, 779, 792,
803, 819, 847, 896, 919, 958, 973,
1000.
1047
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Halfe, 256, 262.
Haliorunse, 22.
Halir, 446.
Hallfred, 407, 479.
Hallin, 115.
Halogaland, 312.
Ham, 85.
Kama, 830.
Hamal, 147, 192, 281.
Hamingjes, 457, 505.
Hamlet, 843.
Handuanus, 300.
Har, 42, 95.
Harald, 464.
Harald Blue Tooth, 929.
Harald Hardrade, 282.
Harald Hildetand, 282.
Harbard, 889, 961.
Harbardsljod, 276, 449, 953, 967.
Hardgrep, 260, 271, 492, 737.
Hartung, 289.
Hate, a monster, 558, 690, 707, 810.
Haustlaug, 416, 574, 853, 902, 987.
Havamal, 128, 259, 330, 361, 431,
476, 492, 642, 717, 735, 934.
Hedinn, 887.
Heid, 65, 351, 480, 876.
Heidrun, 644.
Heimdal, 36, 135, 170, 236, 272,
280, 298, 378, 425, 447, 586, 695,
705, 722, 738, 822, 830, 891.
Heimskringla, 32, 35, 47, 82, 94,
243, 370, 520, 606, 741.
Heingest, 88, 99, 970, 991, 1008.
Hektor, 38.
Hel, 400, 406, 420, 440, 447, 478,
614, 745, 824, 968.
Helblinde, 559, 599.
Helblottin, 414, 969.
Hel-dog, 564.
Helgakvida, 216.
Hel-gate, 702.
Helge, 147, 181, 310, 520, 571, 690,
744, 791, 973.
Helgo, 784,
Hel-horse, 480.
Heliand, 416, 456, 560.
Hellenic, 25.
Hellewite, 407.
Hel-rivers, 765.
Hel-shoes, 737.
Helvegir, 440.
Helvegum, 442.
Hel-way, 515.
Hengikjoptr, 566.
Henricus, 86.
Hephaastros, 189.
Hercynian, 1.
Herikon, 87.
Hermanaricus, 301.
Hermes, 70.
Hermes-Mercurius, 94.
Hermes-Trismegistus, 94.
Hermionians, 155, 301.
Hermod, 327, 374, 415, 465, 565,
737, 819, 845.
Hertrich, 359.
Herulians, 113.
Hesiodus, 127.
Hervor, 309, 335, 957.
Hieronymus, 51.
Hildebrand, 147, 814.
Hildeger, 147, 193.
Hildigun, 1000.
Hildings, 190.
Himalaya, 10.
Himinn, 445.
Himminbjorg, 36, 289, 705.
Hindoos, 4, 254.
Hindukush, 10.
Hjaller-horn, 708.
Hjardarholt, 592.
Hjarrandi, 989.
Hjorvardson, 746.
Hjuki, 676.
Hlandverr, 997.
Hlebardr, 956, 964.
Hler, 96.
Hlidskjolf, 696.
Hlif, 756.
Hlin, 842.
Hlodyn, 155, 599, 803, 930, 945.
Hnoss, 756.
Hoce, 986.
Hodd-Mimer, 342.
1048
INDEX
Hodbrod, 973.
Hodd-goda, 416.
Hoder, 415, 684, 791, 885, 963,
985, 880, 887.
Hodrofner's-horn, 624.
Hoenir, 739, 904.
Hofudlausn, 500.
Hogne, 979.
Hohni, 738.
Holt, 818.
Homer, 76, 268.
Honer, 34, 127, 243, 461, 505, 529,
603, 732.
Hordaland, 929.
Horn, 773.
Hornklofve, 674.
Horund, 989.
Horvendillus, 317, 843.
Hothbrodus, 781, 792.
Hother, 340.
Hothurus, 633, 773, 787, 823.
Hrabanus, 111.
Hraunbui, 855.
Hraunn, 424.
Hrimgrimner, 817.
Hrimner, a giantess, 218, 230, 817.
Hrolfr, 801.
Hromund-Greipson's Saga, 269.
Hroptatyr, 367.
Hrunger, 748, 852.
Hrutr-Heimdall, 286.
Huginn, 696.
Hunding's-bane, 184, 281, 744.
Huns, 11, 116, 222, 273.
Huyrvillus, 117.
Hoedrung, 489.
Hoergelmer, 402, 414, 423, 451,
519, 532, 562, 639, 702, 713, 749,
765, 968.
Hylten-Cavallius, 735.
Hymir, winter giant, 854.
Hymirskvida, 853.
Hyndla, 526.
Hyndley's Lay, 138.
Hyndluljod, 155, 223, 526, 694, 718,
755, 773, 824, 892, 1000.
Hypnos, 718.
Hyrr, 753.
Hyrroken, a giantess, 234.
I
Iberians, 24.
Ibor, 100, 119, 862, 1008.
Iceland, 48, 82.
Ida's Plains, 346.
Ide, 425, 890, 926, 944, 972, 991.
Idi, 197, 935.
Idun, 174, 871, 887, 906, 918, 931,
950, 958, 987, 1003.
Idunn, 197.
Ilium, 52.
Illyrian, 61.
India, 3.
Indo-Iranian, 14.
Indra, 360.
Indride, 88.
Ing, 265.
Ingjold, 457.
Irania, 3, 84, 126, 254.
Ire, 356.
Ireland, 66.
Ironwood, 216, 558, 707, 809, 877,
930.
Irpa, 913.
Irung, 281, 991.
Isodorus, 76.
Isolfr, 865.
Israel, 58.
Istaevonians, 155.
Isung's Wood, 223.
Itrman, 88.
Ivalde, 172, 196, 361, 747, 804, 838,
870, 879, 897, 948, 956, 974, 999.
Ivalderson, 202.
Jafnhar, 42, 95.
Jarl Hakonson, 994.
Jarl Rig, 137.
Jat, 88.
Jaxartes, 9.
Jerusalem, 83, 835.
1049
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Jessen, 158.
Jewes, 71.
Jima (Grove), 381, 629, 878.
Jokull, 96, 166.
Jonsson, 114.
Jord, the earth, 68, 615.
Jordanes, 59, 113, 178, 301, 830.
Jormungander, 919.
Jormungrun, 601, 695.
Jormunrek, 270, 836, 847.
Jotunheim, home of the giants, 96,
223, 248, 310, 399, 425, 434, 580,
599, 675, 770, 827, 845, 876, 885,
914, 936, 947, 968, 1003.
Jupiter, 38, 87.
Jupiter's Temple, 74.
Jutland, 40, 785.
Kabulistan, 7.
Kari, 96.
Kark, 456.
Karl (Churl), 140.
Kiarr, 998.
King Englin, 976.
King Liutwar, 997.
Kirshipta, 386.
Kjalki, 267.
Klage, 981.
Klaproth, 9.
Kollr, 851.
Kon, 142.
Kormak, 210, 463, 530.
Kour-Rig, 137.
Kuhn, 17.
Kullen, 850.
Kvaser, 34.
Lactantius, 76.
Lake Maelar, 47.
Lamedon, 88.
Lamia, 92.
Lamissio, 859.
Langarbrekku-Einar, 741.
Lassen, 10.
Latham, 15.
Latin, 50, 87.
Latium, 58.
Latona, 79.
Laurin, 301.
Leifner's flames, 260, 299, 750.
Leifthraser, 353, 378, 442, 453, 530.
Legend of the Cross, 90.
Leika, 365.
Leikin, 476, 534, 705.
Leiptr, 420.
Lesso, 43, 265.
Lethe, 335.
Letto-Slavic, 14.
Liburnia, 61.
Libyan, 76.
Lidskjalfn, 356, 911.
Lif, 353, 378, 442, 453, 530.
Lif and Leifthraser, 341.
Lifthraser, 180.
Link, 7.
Liserus-Heimdal, 829.
Liutker, 1006.
Loder, 127, 732.
Lodr, 603.
Lodur, 601, 739.
L of dung, 189.
Logi, 96, 662.
Logrin, 35, 40.
Loka-Senna, 155, 279, 428, 558,
575, 661, 897, 953, 965.
Loke, 43, 136, 171, 214, 269, 273,
428, 438, 448, 476, 548, 556, 575,
600, 697, 722, 761, 822, 840, 856,
876, 891, 904, 921, 936, 945, 960,
991.
Longobardians, 54, 156, 422, 708,
858, 995.
Longobardian Saga, 99, 322.
Longlegs, 738.
Loptr, 760.
Loride, 88.
Lothurus, 604.
Lower World Mill, 760.
Ludr, 760.
Luneburg, 100.
1050
INDEX
Lykoa, 900.
Lyngvi, Island of darkness, 278,
564, 705.
Lyrner, 445.
Lysir, the shining one, 272.
M
Macedonia, 45, 54.
Maeringaburg, 297.
Magne, 88, 441.
Malmesburiensis, 130.
Mane, 446, 580, 629, 698.
Manegarm, 564.
Mani, 690.
Mani-Karl, 791.
Manu, 387, 587.
Mannus, 68, 155, 841, 847.
Manufortis, 993, 1008.
Manus, 284.
Mardoll, 819, 830.
Marcellinus, 84.
Markomir, 62.
Marpessus, 76.
Mars, 809.
Mary, 723.
Mashia, Mashiena, 127.
Master Masons, 87.
Maurus, 111.
Mayence, 111.
Mead Myth, 644.
Mead Wells, 329.
Media, 7.
Memnor, 68.
Menelaus, 840.
Menglad, 202, 229, 368, 747, 757,
770, 836.
Menglodum, 747.
Menja, a giantess, 262, 567, 584,
890, 951.
Mennon, 39.
Mercury, 70.
Merv, 9.
Metals, 23.
Metz, 54.
Middle Ages Saga, 309.
Midgard, 127, 136, 166, 232, 255,
276, 325, 362, 377, 404, 417, 466,
558, 573, 707, 810, 819, 851, 877,
892, 968, 1003.
Midgard Serpent, 44, 438, 599, 704,
838.
Midjung, 922.
Mdvitnlr, 651.
Migration Saga, 32.
Miklagard (Constantinople), 307.
Miklagard Pison, 307.
Milky-way, 983.
Mime, 359.
Mimameidr, 833.
Mimer, 34, 180, 197, 203, 243, 326,
362, 389, 403, 423, 448, 505, 529,
577, 602, 628, 696, 707, 719, 751,
766, 808, 817, 871, 896, 909, 928,
962, 990.
Mimer's Grove, 353, 379, 439, 484,
878.
Mimingus, 635, 783, 804.
Mimisholt, 529.
Mimmung, 644.
Mistelteinn, 790.
Mistletoe, 963.
Mithra, 93.
Mitothian (Loke), 277.
Mjolner, Thor's Hammer, 172, 329,
428, 599, 803, 855, 869, 958.
Mode, 88, 441, 920.
Modinn, 723.
Modir, 140.
Modsognir, 357, 367, 642.
Mffiotian, 52.
Mokkr-Kalfl, 859.
Moldgelmer, 570.
Molossus, a giant dog, 885.
Monasteriensis, 130.
Mongolian, 5, 11.
Moringia, 104.
Morkwood, 929.
Morn, 534.
Mount Ida, 76.
Muller, 13.
Mundilfore, 579, 607, 721.
Muspel, 441, 552, 705.
Muspelheim, 561.
1051
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Myrkwood, 558, 631.
Mysing, 568.
Mythology, 729.
N
Nabbi, 718.
Na-gates, 429, 478, 531, 564, 705,
745, 760, 817, 885.
Nagelfar, 438, 556.
Nanna, 43, 374, 466, 469, 782, 824,
986, 999.
Nar, 426, 430.
Narfl, 611.
Narfl-Mimer, 872.
Narve, 157, 612, 640.
Narvi, 612.
Nastrand, a place of torture, 328,
392, 405, 423, 535, 554.
Nat, mother of the gods (also
night), 157, 367, 446, 470, 530,
602, 640, 719, 762, 871.
Nedan, 640.
Nef, 678.
Nennius, 88.
Neptune, 38.
Nero, 59.
Nerthus, 156.
Nestor, 87.
New Testament, 723.
Niblunc, 977.
Nibelungs, 972, 1000.
Nida Mountains, 423, 532, 608, 704,
725, 765, 968.
Nidad, 631, 634.
Nide, 392, 577.
Nidhad, 630, 763, 874, 915, 955,
975.
Nidhog, 392, 423, 517, 533, 555,
639, 718.
Nidi, 640.
Nine Giant Mothers of Heimdal,
598.
Nifelheim, 419, 532, 564, 764, 827,
969.
Nifelheim demon, 271.
Nifelhel, 328, 368, 399, 419, 431,
443, 478, 512, 694, 722, 745, 817,
887, 968.
Niflgodr, 533.
Niflungs, 678, 971.
Niflung hoard, 975.
Nimrod, 85.
Ninevah, 85.
Ninus, 85.
Nitherians, 323.
Njal, 458.
Njord, 34, 156, 20», 236, 244, 346,
470, 611, 640, 697, 721, 757, 777,
816, 863, 884, 930, 955.
Njorve, 613.
Noah, 37, 85, 570.
Noatun, 36, 136.
Nokkvi, 669.
Nokver, 987, 1000.
Normandy, 56.
Normans, 56.
Noras (fates), 186, 458.
Norse, 105.
Norse Sagas, 844.
Norwegians, 27.
Noth, 1000.
Numina, 353.
Ny, 640.
Ochta, 1008.
Od, 772.
Oda, 981.
Odainsaker, a place of joy, 300,
336, 389, 808.
Oder-Svipdag, 791.
Odin, 6, 33, 40, 48, 70, 81, 93, 134,
157, 177, 212, 235, 252, 273, 296,
326, 361, 368, 376, 410, 431, 4'44,
469, 585, 615, 645, 687, 732, 758,
777, 787, 821, 858, 866, 906, 934,
987.
Odlungs, 149.
Odoacer, 103, 296.
Odr, 758, 773, 823, 846.
Odrasrer, 362, 624.
Odysseus, 189, 840.
1052
INDEX
Offote, a giant, 249, 886.
Oinopion, 900.
Oland, 117.
Olaf, 407.
Olaf Trygveson, 310, 334, 731.
Old, 149.
Olgeflon, 863.
Olgefu, 197.
Ollerus, 925.
Olympus, 73, 806.
Onar, 615.
Ope, 534.
Ore, 356.
Orentel, 834, 843, 863.
Origo Longobardarum, 156.
Orion, 802, 900.
Ormuzd, 8, 878.
Orosius, 60, 81.
Orvalde, 890, 932, 954, 988.
Orvandel, 151, 192, 255, 426, 767,
779, 802, 827, 843, 865, 900, 947,
975.
Otacher, 296.
Othale, 534.
Otharus, 770, 779, 805, 823, 831,
845.
Otto of Friesinger, 300.
Ottar, 296, 526, 773, 805.
Oxus, 9.
Padua, 61.
Pannonia, 50, 82, 100, 129.
Paradise, 307.
Parusha, 626.
Patavi, 64.
Paul, 711.
Paulus Diaconus, 288, 712, 887.
Peleid, 189.
Pendschab, 7.
Penka, 19.
Persians, 7, 84.
Petosiris, 71.
Phoenicians, 59.
Phrygians, 51, 76.
Pictet, 12.
Pindar, 59.
Pliny, 84.
Plutus, 38.
Pompey, 83.
Pomponius, 114.
Posche, 19.
Priam, 44, 55, 87.
Priamus, 38, 81.
Procopius, 117.
Prometheus, 189.
Prose Edda, 32, 48.
Proserpine, 79, 457, 787.
Psychopomps, 477.
Ptolemy, 114, 839.
Q
Queen Rusila, 996.
Rabenbattle, 303.
Race of Ivalde, 125.
Ragnarcii, 115.
Ragnarok, 44, 192, 224, 276, 340,
378, 390, 442, 466, 534, 556, 661,
701, 707, 721, 810, 866, 877.
Ragnvaldson, 513.
Ran, 422, 600, 822.
Rati, 596.
Raumaricii, 115.
Reidgothaland, 40.
Regin, 871, 909, 920.
Retzius, 29.
Rhetia, 58, 129.
Rhine, 51, 839.
Rhoa, 901.
Rhoda, 8.
Ribhuians, 639.
Ribhus, 360, 879, 960.
Rig, 137.
Rig-Heimdal, 377.
Rigsthula, 137.
Rig-Veda, 3, 30, 166, 360, 586,
639, 740, 802, 874, 883, 902.
Rimbegla, 585.
23
1053
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Rimfaxe, 530.
Rimgrimner, 434.
Rimner, 437.
Rim-Odin, 435.
Rind, 210, 471, 749, 789.
Rinda, 787.
Ringhorn, 910.
Risting, 472.
Ritta, 88.
Rogner, 871, 899, 909, 920, 943.
Rolf Krake's Saga, 183.
Roller, 795, 838.
Roman Mythology, 78.
Romans, 26, 49.
Romund Greipson, 791.
Roricus, 788.
Rosengarten, 288, 896.
Roskva, 943.
Rubhus, 363.
Rudbeck, 87.
Rudiger, 286.
Rudolph, 108.
Rugen, 104.
Rugians, 708.
Ruler of the Lower World, 312.
Runes, 163.
Ruther, 167, 283.
Rutze, 996.
Rymer, 438.
Saba, 90.
Sacredflre, 586.
Sacred Runes, 165.
Saeming, 40.
Ssemund, 57.
Saga, 987.
Saga-Men, 1.
Saint Olaf, 746.
Salian, 64.
Sallust, 58.
Samian, 76.
Sanscrit, 6, 738.
Sardinia, 58.
Sarmatian, 129.
Saturnus, 38, 85.
Satyrs, 810.
Saviour, 90.
Saxo, 44, 49, 104, 211, 261, 360,
535, 546, 553, 607, 714, 773, 789,
801, 822, 850, 890, 952.
Saxland, 35, 97, 134.
Saxons, 55, 90, 98.
Scamandrius, 58.
Scandians, 2, 98, 131, 264.
Scandinavians, 2, 27, 49, 102.
Scandza, 115, 178.
Scania, 850.
Sceaf, 131.
Scedeland, 131.
Scef-Saga, 132.
Schelling, 11.
Schelt, 64.
Schildbunc, 977.
Schlegel, 7.
Schleicher, 13.
Schrader, 19.
Scoringia, 102.
Scritobinians, 102.
Scyld, 131.
Scythia, 58.
Sea-kidney, 819.
Seeland, 35, 785.
Sela, a gaintess, 860.
Semitic, 18.
Servius, 59, 63, 75.
Seven Sleepers, 707.
Shem, 86.
Shield-Maids, 90, 283.
Shield-Song, 161.
Sib, 90.
Sibil Sibylla, 39, 55.
Sibylline Books, 74.
Sicily, 58.
Sicombria, 52.
Sida, 900.
Sigemund, 826, 828, 976.
Siege of Asgard, 235.
Siegfried, 976.
Sif, 39, 89, 780, 802, 852, 887, 897,
Sigge, 40.
Sigmundson, 181.
Signe, 149, 196.
Sigrdrifva, 49, 531.
1054
INDEX
Sigrun, 181, 520.
Sigtuna, 36, 40, 47.
Sigtrygg, 149, 198.
Sigurd, 191, 218, 241, 300, 319,
531.
Sigurd-sven, 360, 471, 735, 976,
998.
Sindre, 172, 361, 532, 704, 717, 723,
780, 865, 876, 883, 956.
Sinfjotle, 217.
Singasteinn, 828.
Sinmara, 720, 760, 962.
Sintram, 723.
Skade, 236, 309, 565, 691, 780, 816,
846, 896, 903, 925, 959, 989.
Skaden, 100, 203.
Skagul, 468.
Skalaglam, 917.
Skaldaspiller, 468, 500, 561, 799.
Skaldskaparmal, 200, 567, 616, 932.
Skallagrimson, 436, 500, 521, 566,
674.
Skidbladner, 36, 172, 556, 639, 870,
880, 910.
Skida-Rima, 916.
Skidfinna, 713.
Skidner, 241.
Skidnersmal, 426, 434, 447, 528,
562.
Skilflng-Yingling, 843, 862.
Skilflngs, 154, 608, 977.
Skirner, 436, 815, 823, 846.
Skjold, 35, 132, 149, 604.
Skjoldun, 88, 154.
Skold, 88, 150, 322.
Skoldung, 827.
Skuld, 453, 621.
Slagfln, 849, 870, 890, 917, 947,
971, 982, 997, 1000.
Slavs, 10, 117.
Sleiper, 215, 241, 300, 327.
Sleipner, 737, 824.
Slesvik, 109, 482.
Slid, 535.
Slidrugtanne, 725, 880.
Smaland, 735.
Snaebjorn, 568, 583.
Sno, 104, 322.
Sneer, 96.
Snot (Idun), 898.
Sokkvabekkar, 987.
Sokmimer, 651, 664.
Sol, 367, 446, 580, 641, 680, 697.
Solarjod, 719.
Solarljod, 534, 579.
Solbjartr, 767, 816.
Solblinde, 238.
Solon, 78.
Solomon, 86.
Sonatorrek, 340.
Sons of the world ruin, 220.
Speechrunes, 490.
Spiegel, 19.
St. Quentin, 56.
Sturlason, 47, 57.
Sughda-Sodiana, 8.
Sulpicius, 50.
Sumble, 901, 952.
Sumblus, 196.
Sunno, 53, 64, 656, 688, 999.
Sursons-Saga, 458.
Surt, 220, 226, 266, 345, 442, 561,
659, 701, 809, 928, 962, 1004.
Sutting, 224, 928, 934, 952, 979.
Suttung, 436, 552, 646.
Svafa, 1000.
Svafr, 757.
Svaldilfan, giant Horse, 215.
Svanhild, 301. 971.
Svarin, 98.
Svarin's Mound, 194.
Svartalfaheim, 827.
Svea, 37, 134.
Svedal, 832.
Svefuthorn, 721.
Svehaus, 115.
Sven, 89.
Svend, 832.
Svethldi, 118.
Svevian, 2.
Svider, 995.
Svidferhd, 628, 846.
Svidur, 651.
Svigder, 664, 928, 952.
Sviones, 2, 265.
Svipdag, 150, 200, 255, 283, 354,
1055
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
368, 379, 640, 683, 729, 744, 747,
760, 770, 793, 803, 815, 827, 841,
870, 883, 919, 957, 975, 989.
Svithiod, 35, 178, 198, 475, 656.
Swabians, 708.
Swabian Saga, 107.
Swan Maids, 90.
Swedes, 27, 178.
Sweden, 33, 89, 134.
Switzerland, 28.
Sygin, 618.
Sygritha, 770, 831, 845.
Sygrutha, 779, 860.
Symbols of Nature, 73.
Syr, 776.
Syvaldus, 773.
Tabernaculum, 720.
Tacitus, 21, 68, 119, 193, 283, 475,
548.
Tadchiks, 10.
Tanais, 58, 82.
Tanakvisl, 33, 45.
Tanngnjostr, 853.
Tanngrisnir, 853.
Tarquin, 75.
Teutonic, 726.
Teutonic Mythology, 31, 38, 119,
173, 345.
Teutons, 10, 14, 26, 50, 58, 99, 188,
713.
Tertulianus, 93.
Thakkrod, 982.
Thanatos, 718.
Theodosius, 710.
Theodoric, 25, 295.
Thidrek, 814.
Thingstead, 485.
Thiudemer, 295.
Thjalfe, 857, 943.
Thjasse, 166, 176, 225, 236, 309,
757, 890, 897, 903, 921, 931, 943,
952, 970.
Thjaza, 956.
Tbjelvar, 859.
Thor, 36, 45, 88, 151, 198, 240,
256, 276, 298, 316, 415, 425, 437,
470, 580, 599, 748, 784, 793, 809,
838, 852, 866, 889, 909, 920, 933,
943, 960, 996.
Thora, 784, 803.
Thorbjorn, 243.
Thord Sjarekson, 237.
Thorer wood-beard, 513.
Thorgerd, 913.
Thorkil, 278, 312, 335, 515, 537,
552, 714, 727".
Thorolf, 464.
Thorri, 166.
Thorsdraper, 270, 425, 447, 857,
915, 929, 947, 960.
Thracia, 39, 65.
Thraim, 791.
Thrand, 309.
Thride, 42.
Thridi, 95.
Thrudgelmer, 433, 570, 626.
Thrudheim, 39, 866.
Thruma, 753.
Thrundvang, 36.
Thrymheim, 237, 904.
Thrymskvida, 822, 891.
Thule, 117.
Thund, 692.
Thuringian, 108.
Thurs, 752.
Tiberius, 99.
Tiburtinian, 76.
Timavus, 61.
Tistrya, 970.
Tivi, 159.
Toko, 848.
Tope, 534.
Tours, 50.
Troy, 6, 39, 58, 397, 445.
Troy-Asgard, 32.
Trojans, 61, 76, 134.
Trol (thrall), 140.
Troy-Saga, 50.
Trykland, 655.
Tuisco, 155.
Tvashtar, 878.
Tyr, 74, 459, 809, 854, 897.
1056
INDEX
Tyrfing, 363.
Tysk, 3.
Tyskland, 3, 35, 45.
u
Udr Unnr, 157.
Ugarthilocus, 278, 552.
Uggarus, 274.
Uggeson, 592, 823.
Ulf, 823.
Ulfdale, 558.
Ulfllas, 723.
Ulixes (Ulysses), 43, 51.
till, 203, 236, 607, 846, 869, 925,
954.
Ullr, 801, 865, 887.
Ulysses, 730, 839.
Undensaker, 317.
Upregin, 446.
Upsala, 36, 49, 561.
Urd, a giantess, 136, 326, 397, 423,
448, 484, 523, 613, 660, 759, 611.
Urdr, 457.
Ure 356.
Urner, 176, 890.
Utgard-Loke, a giant, 224, 477,
662, 857.
Vade, 927, 989.
Vadgelmer, 431.
Vaferflames, 753, 909, 959.
Vafthrudner, 434.
Vafthrudnersmal, 127, 325, 342,
353, 410, 417, 447, 569.
Vagasker, 823.
Vagn, 265.
Vagnholde, 256.
Vagoth, 114.
Vajush, 382, 389.
Valas, 228.
Valdere, 173.
Vale, 441, 620.
Valentin ianus, 53, 82.
Valfather, 162, 441, 524, 720, 875.
Valhal, 95, 207, 327, 414, 462, 512,
623, 692, 824, 876.
Valkyries, 199, 457.
Valthari, 993, 999.
Vana-Child, 143.
Vana-God, 135, 213, 254, 436, 602,
702, 757.
Vanaheim, 607.
Vandals, 100, 708.
Vanlande, 477.
Vamod, 114.
Vans, 34, 49, 95, 157, 208, 275,
326, 441, 486, 603, 696, 720, 801,
819, 869, 891.
Var, 356, 367.
Vardir, 754.
Varg, 946, 962.
Varinians, 117.
Varro, 75.
Vate, 899, 954, 989.
Vaya-Vata, 383.
Ve, 34, 83.
Veda, 970.
Vegdrasil, 356.
Veggdegg, 40, 88.
Vegtamskvida, 328, 368, 410, 447.
Vei, 603, 739.
Veig, 231.
Velint, 360, 644.
Velleka, 370, 907.
Venetia, 58.
Venus, 79.
Vestfold, 741.
Vidar, 44, 193, 441, 933.
Vidblainn, 706.
Vidfln, 676, 986.
Vidforle, 517.
Vidga, 869, 980.
Vidofner, 449, 706, 758.
Vidolf, 927, 954.
Vidolt, Vitolphus, 170, 223.
Viflll, 177.
Vifir, 177.
Vigfusson, 94, 156, 264, 459, 499.
Vigrid, 441, 561.
Vildebur, 980.
Vile, 34, 83.
1057
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Vili, 603, 739.
Vilkinasaga, 223, 289, 300, 359,
644, 814, 839, 850, 863, 927, 952.
Villifer, 863.
Vimur, 424, 933.
Vindelicia, 58.
Vingthor, 88.
Vinnilians, 100.
Virchow, 28.
Virgil, 51, 75, 92.
Visburr, 144.
Visigoths, 25.
Vitrgils, 88.
Volsung, 826.
Volund, 289, 359, 630, 707, 763,
790, 804, 814, 849, 864, 874, 897,
909, 920, 947, 962, 978, 994.
Volunds Sword, 815.
Volunga Saga, 218.
Voluspa, 128, 166, 208, 243, 326,
356, 431, 440, 499, 524, 538, 555,
603, 707, 732, 758, 776, 875, 891.
Vorva, 499.
Vulcan, 300.
Vyrd, 455.
Wace, 56.
Walther, 993, 999.
Watlings, 899, 989.
Wayland, 289, 359.
Weapons, 24.
Weber, 17.
Welcker, 27.
Wessex, 133.
Westmonast, 133.
Westphalia, 40, 89.
Whitney, 17.
Widukind, 54, 107.
Wieland, 812, 839, 863, 991.
Wild Boar, 899.
Willehad, a saint, 321.
William Tell, 850, 994.
Wodan, 389.
Wolfdales, 631, 765, 849, 874, 885,
898, 957, 978.
Wolfdieterich, 292.
Wonder-smith, 812.
World-mill, 568, 586, 750.
World-tree, 708, 766.
World-war, 252.
Wurth, 455.
Ybor, 861.
Ydaler, 865.
Ygdrasil, tree of life, 326, 366, 395,
421, 433, 451, 534, 556, 645, 704,
722, 817.
Yggr, 274.
Yingling-Saga, 231, 340, 475.
Ymer, 424, 433, 534, 569, 602, 733,
754, 812, 939, 946.
Ynglingatal, 454, 740, 995.
Ylflngs, 154.
Ynglings, 37, 133.
Yngve, 40, 135, 195, 255, 277, 304,
468.
Younger Bdda, 87, 82, 133, 242,
595.
Yse, 838.
Zarathustra, 84, 382.
Zend, 6, 878.
Zend Avesta, 383.
Zeus, 73, 159.
Zodiac, 87.
Zoroaster, 3, 37, 84.
1058
f ,
ILLINOIS-URBANA
30112041907533
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11