DF‘THE

lD i k i n G E b i t i o n

The r e ar e b u t s ix hun dr e d a n d fi fty s e tsmade far the world ,

of whi ch th 1'

5 1'

s

on icMy hoG ods and G odde sse s

o f the Northland

IN

THREE VOLUMES

By VIKTOR RYD BERG ,Ph .D .

,

MEMB ER OF THE SWED ISH ACADEMY ; AUTHOR O F THE LAST ATHEN IAN ”

AND OTHERWORK S .AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWED ISH

BY

RASMUS B . AND ERSON,LL.D . ,

EX-UN ITED STATES MIN ISTER T o DENMARK ; AUTHOR O F NORSEMYTHOLOG Y ,

" “V IK ING TALE S, ” E T C .

HON . RASMUS B . AND ERSON , LL.D Ph .D .

EDITOR I N C HIEF .

J .W. BUEL , Ph .D . ,

MANAG ING EDITOR .

VOL. III .

PUB LISHED B Y T HE

N ORRCENA SO C I E TY .

LONDON COPENHAG EN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEWYORK1 9 0 6

TEUTON IC MYTHOLO G Y .

TABLE O F CONTENTS .

VOLUME THREE

Story of the Seven Sle epe rs

The An thropology of th e My thologySvipdag a n d G roa

Me nglad’

s Identity w ith Freyja

The Sword of Revenge

O rvan del, the Star—He ro

Sv ipdag Re scue s F r eyja from th e G iants

Svipdag in Saxo’s Account of Ho the ru s

Er ic u s D ise rtu s in Saxo

Late r Fo rtune s of th e Vo lund Sword

The Sv ipdag Epithe t“Skirnir”

Transforma tion an d D e ath of SvipdagRemin iscence s of the Sv ipdag Myth

O rvan del, Egilan d Eb b o

Frey Foste re d in the Home of O rvan del

Ivalde , Sv ipdag’

s G randfa the r

Pa ralle l Myths in Rigveda

Judgment Passed on the Ivalde Sons

Olvalde and Ivalde Sons Identical

A Review o f Thorsdrap a

O f Vo lund’s Identity w ith Thjasse

The Worst D e ed o f Revenge

The G uard at Hve rgelme r an d the Elivagar

Slagfin , Egil, and Vo lund

The N iflu ng Hoard le ft by Vo lund

Slagfin -G juke a Star-He ro

Slagfin’

s Appe arance in the Moon Myth

Review o f the Synonyms of Ivalde ’s Sons

Pa ge890

93 2

952

956

96 8

97 1

975

98 1

98 5

991

LIST O F PHOT O G RAVURES .

—v

VOL. III .

Frontisp ie ce— Thor’s Journey to G e ir rodsgard .

Idun Brought Back to Asgard

Hymir, and the Midgard Se rpent .‘

Sva frlame Secure s the Swo rd Tyrfing

THE MYTH IN REG ARD T O THE

LOWERWORLD .

(Par t IV. C on tin u ed fromVolume II . )

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS.

Voluspa give s an account of the events which forebodeand lead up to Ragnarok. Among these we also findthat le ika Mims sym'r, that i s, that the sons of Mimer“spring up

,

” “fiy up ,

” “get into l ively motion . Butthe meaning of this has hitherto been an unsolved problem .

In the strophe immediately preceding ( the 44th )VOlu spa describes how it look s on the surface of Midgard when the end of the world i s at hand . Brothersand near kinsmen slay each other. The sa cred bo nds ofmorality are broken . It i s the sto rm-age and the wolfage . Me n no longer spare or pity one another . Knivesand axes rage . Vo lund’s world-destroying sword of reven ge has already been fetched by F jala r in the guise ofthe re d cock ( str. and from the Ironwood

,where i t

hitherto had been concea led by Angerboda and guardedby Egthe r ; the wolf-giant Hate with his companionshave invaded the world

,which it was the duty of the gods

707

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

to protect . The storms a re attended by eclips es of thesun ( str .Then suddenly the Hjalla r-ho rn sounds, announcingthat the destruction of the world i s now to be fulfilled

,

and just as the first notes of this trumpet penetrate theworld

,Mimer’s sons spring up.

“The old tree,” the

world- tre e, groans and trembles . When Mime r’s sons

“spring up” Odin i s engaged in conversation with thehead of thei r father, his faithful adviser, in regard to theimpending conflict

,which i s the last one in which the

gods a re to take a hand .

I shall here give re asons for the assumption that theblast from the Hjalla r-ho-rn wakes Mimer

’s sons from asleep that has laste d through centuries

,and that the C hris

tian legend concer ning the seven sleepers has its chie f,

i f not its only,root in a Teutonic myth which in the sec

ond half of the fifth or in the first hal f of the sixth centu ry was changed into a legend . At that time large portions o f the Teutonic race had already be en converted toChristianity : the G oth s, Vandals, G ep idian s , Rugia n s ,Burgundians

,and Swabians were Christians . Consider

able parts of the Roman empire wer e settled by the Teutons or governed by their swords . The Franks were onthe point of entering the Christian C hurch, and behindthem the Alaman nians and Longoba rdians . Thei r mythsand sagas were rec onstructed so far as they could beadapted to the new forms and ideas and i f the y, mo re orless tran sformed, assumed the garb of a Chri stian legend,then thi s guise enabled them to travel to the utmo stlimits o f C hristendom ; and i f they also contained , as in

708

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

While this transpire d a Chri stian man had engraved thenames of the sevenme n o n a le aden tablet

,and also the i r

te stimony in regard to their belief,and he had secretly

laid the tablet in the entrance of the cave before the latt er was closed . After many years, the congregationshaving secured pe ace and the C hristian Theodosius having gaine d the imperial dignity

,the false doctrine of the

Sadducees, who de nied resurre ction , was spread amongthe people. At this time it happens that a citiz en ofEphe sus i s about to make an enclosure for his sheep onthe mountain in question

,and for thi s purpo se he loo s

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 ofli fe into the sevenmen and they arose . Thinking the yhad slept only one night

,they sent one of their number,

a youth,to buy foo d . When he came to the city gate he

was astonished,for he saw the glorious sign of the C ross,

and he heard people ave r by the name o f Christ . Butwhen he produced his money

,which was from the time of

D ecius,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 . Presse d by them , hewas forced to reveal his secret, and he conducted themto the cave where the men were. At the entrance the

bishop then finds the l eaden table t, on which all that conce rned their case was noted down , and when he hadtalked with the men a messenger was despatched to theEmpero r Theodosius . He came and kne eled on the

7 1 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

ground and worshippe d them,and they said to the ruler

“Most august Augustus ! there has sprung up a false doctrine which trie s to turn the Christian people from thepromises of G od

,claiming that there is no resurrection

of the dead . In order that you may know that we areall to appea r befo re the judgment- seat of C hrist acco rding to the wo rds O f the Apostle Paul, the Lord G od hasraised us from the dea d and commande d us to makethis statement to you . See to i t that you are not de ce ive dand excluded from the kingdom of G od .

” When theEmperor Theodosius hea rd this he praise d the Lo rd forn o t permitting H is people to pe rish . But the men againlay down on the groun d and fe l l asleep . The EmperorTheodo sius wanted to make graves of gold fo r them ,

butin a vision he was prohibited from doing this . And umti l thi s very day the seme n rest in the same place, wrappedin fine linen mantles .At the first glance there i s nothing which betrays theTeu tonic origin of this legend . It may seemingly havehad an indepe ndent origin anywhe re in the Christianworld

,and particularly in the vicinity of Ephe sus .

Meanwhile the histo rian o f the Franks , Bishop G regorius of Tours (bo rn 53 8 or i s the first one whopresented in writing the legend regarding the sevenslee pers . In the form given above it appears throughhim for the first time within the borders o f the christianised western Europe ( see G regorius

’MiraculommLi b e r,i . , ch . After him it reappe ars in G reek records,and thence it travels o n and finally gets to Arabia andAbyssinia . H is account i s not written before the year

7 1 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

57 1 or 572 . As the legend itself claims in its preserve dform not to be O lde r than the first ye ars o f the reignof Theodosius, i t must have originated be tween the years3 79-57 2 .

The next time we learn anything about the sevensleepers in o ccidental l iterature i s in the Longobardianhistorian

,Paulus D iaconus (born about What

he relates has greatly surprised inve stigators ; for althoughhe certainly was acquainted with the Christian versionin regard to the seven men who sleep for gene rations ina cave

,and although he entertained no doubt as to its

truth,he nevertheless relates another— and that a T e u

tonic— seven sleepers’ legend, the scene of which i s theremotest part of Teutondom . He narrates ( i . 4)

“As my pen i s sti ll occupied with G e rmany,I deemi t

prope r, in conne ction with some other miracles, to mention one which the re is on the lips of eve ry b ody . In theremotest western boundaries of G ermany is to be seennea r the sea-strand un der a high rock a cave where sevenmen have been sleeping no one knows how long. Theyare in the deepest sleep and u n in flu e n c ed by time, not onlyas to thei r bodies but also as to their garments

,so that

they are held in great honour by the savage and ignorantpeople

,since time for so many years has left no trace

e ither on their bodies or on thei r clothes . To judge fromthei r dress they must be Roma ns . When a man fromcurios ity tried to undress one of them, i t i s said that hisarm at once withered

,and this punishment spread such

a terror that nobody has since then dared to touch them .

D oubtless it wi ll some day be apparent why D ivine Prov

7 1 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

idence has so long preserved them . Perhaps by theirprea ching— for they are b e lieve d to be none other thanC hristians— this people shall once more be called to salvation . In the vicinity of this place dwell the race ofthe Skr itob in ian s (

‘ theIn chapter 6 Paulus make s the following additions

,

which will be found to be of importance to our theme“No t far from that sea-strand which I mentioned as

'

ly

ing far to the we st ( in the most remote G erma ny) , wherethe boundle ss ocean extends

,i s found the unfathomably

de ep eddy which we traditionally call the navel of the se a .

Twice a -day it swallows the waves , and twice it vomitsthem forth again . O ften

,we are assured

,ships are

drawn into this eddy so violently that they look like arrows flying through the ai r

,and frequently they perish

in this abyss . But sometime s , whe n they are on the pointo f be ing swallowed up, they are driven ba ck with the

same terrible swiftness .”

From what Paulus D iaconus here relates we learn thatin the e ighth century the common bel ief prevailed amongthe heathen Teu tons that in the neighbourhood O f thatoce an-maelstrom

,caused by Hve rgelme r (“the roaring

se ven men slept from time immemorial under arock . How far the heathen Teutons be l ieve d that thesemen were Romans and C hristians, or whether this fe a

ture i s to be attributed to a conj ecture by Chri stian Teutons

,and came through influence from the Christian ve r

sion of the legend of the seven sleepers , i s a questionwhich it i s not necessary to discuss at prese nt . That the yare some day to awake to preach C hri stianity to “the

7 1 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

stubborn, still heathen T eutonic tribe s i s mani festly asuppo sition o n the part of Paulus himself

,and he doe s

not presen t i t as anyth ing else . It has nothing to do withthe saga in its heathen form .

The first question now is : Ha s the he athen traditionin regard to the seven sleep ers, which, according to thetestimo ny o f the Longobardian histo rian

,was common

among the h eathen Te utons o f the eighth century,since

the n disappeared without leaving any traces in our mythicrecords ?The answer i s : Traces of it reappear in Saxo, in

Adamof Bremen,in No rse and G erman popular belief

,

and in VOlu spa . When compared with one ano ther thesetrace s are sufficient to de termine the characte r and original place of the tradition in the epic of the Teutonicmytho logy .

I have already given above (NO . 46 ) the main features of Saxo’s account of King G orm’s and Tho rkil’sjourney to and in the lowe r world . With thei r c ompanions they are pe rmitted to vi sit the abode s of torture ofthe damn e d and the fields of bliss, toge ther with thegold- clad wo rld—fountains

,and to see the treasures pre

ser ve d in their vicinity . In the same rea lm where thesefountains are found there i s, says Saxo , a ta b e r n aculumwithin which still more precious treasures are preserved .

It i s an u b e r i or is thesau r i se c r e tar iam. The D anish ad

venturers also e ntered here. The treasury was also anarmoury

,and contained weapons suited to be borne by

warriors of supe rhuman size . The owners and makersof these arms wer e also there

,but they were perfectly

7 1 4

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

quiet and as immovable as l i feless figures . Still theywere n o t dea d

,but made the impression of being half

dead (s emin e c e s ) . By the enticing beauty and value ofthe treasures, and partly, too , by the do rmant conditionof the owners

,the D anes were betrayed into a n attempt

to secure some of these precious things . Even the usually cautious Tho rk ilset a bad example and put his handon a garment (amz'culoman umin s e r e n s ) . We are n o ttold by Saxo whether the garmen t covered anyone ofthose sleeping in th e tre asury, nor is it directly statedthat the touchin g with the hand produce d any disagre eable consequence s fo r Tho rkil. But further on Saxo t e

lates that Tho rkilbecame unrecogni sable, because a withering or emaciation (ma nor ) had changed his body andthe features of his face. With this account in Saxo wemust compare what we re ad in Adam of Bremen aboutthe Fri sian adventure rs who tri ed to plunde r treasuresbelonging to giants who in the middle of the day layconcealed in subterranean caves (me r idion o tempore la titamte s (mtm's su b te rra n e is ) . This account must al so haveconceived the owners of the trea sure s as sle eping whilethe plundering took place

,for not before they were on

thei r way back were the Fri sians pursued by the plu n

de red party or by other lowe r-world beings . Still , allbut one succeeded in getting back to their ships . Adamasserts that the y were such beings qu os n os tr i cy clopesappellan t (

“which among us are called thatthey, in other words , were gigantic smiths, who, accordingly , themselves had made the untold amount of go ldentreasures which the Frisians there saw . These northern

7 1 5

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

cyclops, he says, dwelt within solid walls, surrounded by

a wate r,to which, accordin g to Adam o f Bremen

,one

first comes afte r trave rsing the land of fro st (pr ovi n c ia

fr igor z'

s ) , and after passing that Eu r ipus ,“ in which the

water of the ocean flows back to its myste rious fountain”

( ad th i tt'

a qu ce damfon tis su i a rcam' r e cu rre n s ) ,“th i s

deep subte rranean abyss wherein the ebbing streams o f

the sea,according to repo rt , were swa l lowed up to t e

turn,

” and which “with most violent force drew the u n

fortunate seamen down into the lowe r world” ( in felic e sh an tos veheme n tiss imo impe tu traxi t ad C ha os ) .

It i s evident that what Paulus D iaconus,Adam of

Bremen,and Saxo here relate must be re fe rre d to the

same tradition . All three refer the scene of the se strangethings and events to the “most remote part o f G e rmany”

( cp . No s . 45, 4 6 , 48 , According to all thre e t e

ports the boundless ocea n washes the shores o f this sagaland which has to be trave rse d in orde r to get to “thesleepers

,

”to

“theme n half-dead and re sembl ing li fe le ss

images,

”to those conce ale d in the middle o f the day in

subterranea n cave s .” Paulus assures us that the y arein a cave under a ro ck in the neighbourhoo d o f the famous maelstrom which sucks the billows of the sea intoitsel f and spews them out again . Adam makes hisFrisian adventure rs come nea r be ing swallowe d up bythi s maelstrom before they reach the caves of treasureswhe re the cyclops in question dwell ; and Saxo lo catesthei r tabernacle

,filled with weapons and treasures

,to a

region which we have already recognise d ( see No s . 45

5 1 ) as be longing to Mimer’s lower-world realm

,and sit

7 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

the names are clearly ep ithets which po int to the mythicdestiny of the ancient artists in question . D dt

'

n n meansthe dead o n e ,

” and in analogy her ewith wemust interpret D valin n as “the do rmant one,

” “the one slumbe ring.

”

( cp . the Old Swedish dvale,slee p

,unconscious

condition ) . Their fates have ma de them the represen tat ive s of dea th and sleep

,a so rt o f equivalents of Thanatos

and Hypnos . As such they appea r in the allego ricalstrophes incorporated in G r imn e rsmal, which , describinghow the world-tree suffe rs and grows old

,make D din n

and D valin n,

“death” and “slumbe r,” get the ir food from

i ts branches,while N idhog and othe r serpents wound its

roots .In Hyn dluljod ( 6 ) the arti sts who made Frey

’s goldenboar are called D amn and N a b b i . In the Younger Edda

( i . 3 40- 3 42 ) they are called Brokkr and Sindr i . Strangeto say

,on account of mythological ci rcumstances not

known to us,the skalds have been able to use D din n as

a paraphrase for a rooting four-foo ted anima l,and Br okkr

too has a similar signification (cp . the Younger Edda,i i . 490, and V igfu sso n ,

D ict .,under Br okkr ) This

points to an original identity of these epithets . Thus wearrive at the following pa rallels

D amn -B ro kk r ) an d D valin nmade tre a su re s toge th e r ;(D ain n B r o kk r a n d Sin drimade F re y’

s go lde n bo ar ;D ain n a n d Nahb ima de F re y’s go lde n bo a r ;

and the conclusion we draw herefrom i s that in ourmythology

,in which there i s such a plurality of names ,

D valin n, Sindr i, and N ahbi are the same pe r son , an d

7 1 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

that D amn and Brokkr are identical . I may have an Oppo rtu n ity late r to presen t further evidence o f thi s iden tity .

The primeval artist Sin dre , who with his kinsmen inhabits a golden hall in Mimer’s realmunder the Hve rgelme r mountains

,near the subterranea n fountain of the

maelstrom,has therefore borne the epithet D valin n

,the

one wrapped in slumber . “The slumber er” thus res tswith his kinsmen

,where Paulus D iaconus has heard that

seven men sleep from time out of mind,and whe re Adam

of Bremen makes smithyin g giants, rich in trea su res,keep themse lves conceale d in lower-world caves withinwalls surrounded by water .It has already been demonstrated that D valin n i s ason of Mimer ( see N o . Sin dre -D valin and hiskinsme n are therefo re Mimer’s off spring (Min ts syn ir ) .

The golden citadel situate d ne ar the fountain of the maelstrom i s therefore inhabited by the sons of Mimer .It has also been shown that , according to Solarljod,

the sons ofMimer -N idi come fro -mthi s region ( from thenorth in Mimer’s domain ) , and that they are in al lseven

N o rda n sé e k ridaNidja s o n u

ok véru sja u s aman ;that i s to say

,that they are the same number as the

“economical months,or the changes of the year ( see

No .

In the same region Mimer’s daughter Na t has her

hall, where she takes her rest after her journey acrossthe heavens is accomplished ( see NO . The “cha

7 1 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

teau dormant of Teutonic mythology i s therefore situated in Nat’s udal territory

,and D valin

,

“the slumber er ,”

i s Nat’s brother . Perhaps her citadel i s identical withthe one in which D valin and his brothers sleep . According to Saxo

,voices of women are heard in the tab e rna

culumbelonging to the sleeping men,and glitte ring with

weapons and trea sures, whe n Tho rk iland his men cometo plunder the treasures there . Na t has her court and herattendant sisters in the Teutonicmythology, as in Rigveda (Ushas ) . Simmazra ( se e No s . 97, 98 ) i s one ofthe dises O f

‘ the night . According to the middle - agesagas, these dises and daughters o f Mimer are sa id to betwelve in number ( see N o s . 45

,

Mimer , as we know , was the ward of the middle rootof the wor ld-tree . H is seven sons, representing thechanges experienced by the world-tree and nature annual ly

,have with him guarded and tende d the holy tree and

watered its roo t with d a rgomforsi from the subter raneanhorn

,Valfa the r

’

s pledge.” When the god-clans b ecame foes

,and the Vans seize d weapons against the

Asas,Mimer was slain, and the world- tree, losing its wise

gua rdian, became subj ect to the influence of time. Itsuffers in crown and root (G r imn e rsmal) , and as it iside ally identical with creatio n itsel f

,bo th the natural and

the moral,so toward the clo se of the period of this world

i t will betray the same dilapidated condition as nature andthe moral world then are to reveal .Logic demanded that when the world-tree lost its chiefward

,the lord of the well of wisdom , i t should also lose

that care which under his di rection was bestowed upon

72 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

i t by .his seven sons . These, voluntarily or involuntarily,retired

,and the story of the sevenme n who sle ep in the

citadel full o f treasures informs us how they thenceforthspend th eir time unti l Ragnarok . The detai ls of themyth telling how they entered into thi s condition cannotnow be found ; but it may be in order to point out, as apossible connection with thi s matter, that one of the olderVa n agods, N jord

’s father,and po ssibly the same as Mun

‘

dilfor e , had the epithet Svafr , Svafr thor in n (F jOlsvin n smal ) Sva fr means s opi tor, the sle e pe r, and Svafr thor in nse ems to refer to w efn thorn ,

“sleep- thorn .

” Accordingto the traditions

,a person could be put to slee p by laying

a “sleep -thorn” in his ear,and he then slept unti l it was

taken out or fell out .Popular traditions scattered over Sweden

, D enmark,and G ermany have to this ve ry day bee n preserved , onthe lips of the common people

,of the men sleep ing among

weapo ns and treasures in underground chambers or inrocky halls ; A Swedish tradition makes them equippe dnot only with weapons

,but also with horses which in

thei r stalls abide the day when their masters are to awakeand sally forth . Common to the most of these traditions, bo th the Northe rn and the G e rman, i s the featurethat this i s to ha ppen when the gre ate st distress i s athand, or when the end o f the world approaches and theday of judgment comes . With regard to the G ermansagas on thi s po int I refer to Jacob G rimm’s My thology .

I simply wish to po int out here certain features whichare o f special importance to the subj e ct unde r discussion ,and which the popular memory in ce rtain pa rts of G e r

72 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

many has preserved from the heathen myths. Whenthe heroes who have slept through centuries sally forth

,

the trumpe ts o f the last day sound , a great battle with thepowers of evil (Antichrist) i s to be fought, on imme n s elyold tr e e

,which has wi the red

,is to grow gre e n aga in , and

a happier age is to be gin .

This immense ly old tre e, which i s withered at the clos eof the present period of the world, and which is to becomegreen again in a happier age after a decisive conflict b etween the good and evil

,can be no other than the world

tree of Teutonic mythology, the Ygdrasi l of our Eddas .

The angel trumpets, at whose blasts the men who s leepwithin the mountains sally forth, have their prototype inHeimdal’s ho rn, which proclaims the destruction of theworld ; and the battle to be fought with Antichrist i s theRagnarok confl ict

,clad in C hristian robes, between the

gods and the destroyers of the world . Here Mimer’sseven sons also have thei r task to perform . The lastgreat struggle also concerns the lower wo rld, whose regions of bliss demand protection against the thurs-clansof Nifelhel, the more so since these very regions of blissconstitute the n ew earth

,which after Ragnarok rises

from the sea to become the abode of a be tter race of men

( see No . The “wa l l rock” of the Hvergelme rmountain and its “stone gates” (VOlu spa ; cp . No s . 46 ,

75) require defenders able to wield those immenselylarge swords which are kept in the sleeping castle onN at’s udal fie lds

,and Sin dre -D valin i s remembere d n o t

only as the artist o f antiqu ity, spre ader of Mimer’s runic

wisdom,enemy of Lo ke, and fathe r of the man- loving

72 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

dises ( see No . but also as a hero . The name of thehorse he rode, and pro-bably i s to ride in the Ragnarokconflict

,i s according to a strophe cited in the Younger

Edda,Modin n ; the middle-age sagas have connec ted his

name to a certain viking, Sindr i, and to Sin tramof the

G e rman heroic poetry.

I now come back to the Vo luspa strophe,which was

the starting-po int in the investigation contained in thischapter

Le ika Mims syn ire nmjo tudr ky n diska t h in u gamlagjalla rh o rn i ;hat t b lae s s H e imda llr,h o rn e r a lo th i .

Mimer’s sons spring up,for the fate of the world i s

proclaime d by the old gjalla r-horn . Loud blows Heimdal— the horn is raised .

”

In regard to le ika,i t i s to be remembered that its old

meaning,“to jump,

” “to leap,” “to fly up, reappears

not only in Ulfilas , who translates skir tan of the NewTestament with la ikan (Luke i . 4 1 , 44, and vi . 2 3 ; inthe fo rmer passage in reference to the child slumberingi n Elizabeth’s womb ; the child

“leaps” at her meetingwith Mary ) , but also in another passage in VOlu spa ,

where it i s said in regard to Ragnarok, le ikr hdr hi ti a id

kimin sjalfam— “high leaps” (plays ) the fire againstheaven itself.” Further

,we must po int out the prete rit

form kyn disk ( from kyn n a , to make known ) by the sideof the presen t form le ika . This juxtaposition indicates

72 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

that the sons of Mimer rush up, while the fate of theworld, the final de stiny of cre atio n i n adva n c e and immediately beforehand, was proclaimed

“by the old gjalla rhorn .

” The bound ing up of Mime r’s sons i s the effectof the first powerful blast . O n e or mo re of these follow :

“Lou d blows H eimdal— the horn i s raise d ; andO din speak s with Mime r’s head . Thus we have foundthe meaning of le ika Mims syn ir . Their waking andappe arance i s one of the signs best remembered in thechronicles in popular traditions of Ragnarok’s approachand the return of the dead

,an d in thi s strophe VOlu spa

has preserved the memory of the “chateau dormant” ofTeutonic mythology .

Thus a compariso n of the mythic fragments extantwith the popular traditions gives us the fo llowing outlineo f the Teu tonic myth concerning the seven sle epersThe world-tree — the represen tative of the physical andmoral laws of the world— grew in time ’s mo rning gloriou sly out of the fields of the thre e world- fountains

,and

during the first epochs of the mythological e vents (dralda ) it stood fre sh and gre en ,

cared for by the su b te rran e a n guardians of these fountains . But the time s b ecame worse . The feminine counterpa rt of Loke , G ulve ig

—Heid,spreads evil runes in Asgard and Midgard ,

and he and she cause disputes and war between tho segod-clans whose task it i s to watch over and susta in theorder of the world in harmony . In the feud betweenthe Asas and Vans

,the middle and most important world

fountain— the fountain o f wisdom,the one from whichthe good ru nes were fetched— became robbed of its

72 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

of good and of evi l . The seven sleepers are there cladin splendid mantles of another cut than thos e commonamo ng men . C ertain mortals have had the privilege ofse eing the realms of the lower world and of inspectingthe hall where the seven brothers have their abode. Butwhoever ventured to touch their treasures

,or was allured

by the splendour of their mantles to attempt to secure anyof them

,was punished by the drooping and withering

of his l imbs .When Ragnarok i s at hand

,the aged and abused

world-tree trembles , and Heimdal’s trumpe t, unti l then

kep t in the deepest shade of the tree, i s once more in thehand of the god , and at a world-pie rcing blast from thistrumpe t Mimer’s seven sons start up from their sleepand arm themse lves to take part in the last confl ict . Thisi s to end with the victo ry of the good ; the world-treewill grow green again and flouri sh under the care of itsformer keepe r s ;

“all evi l shall then cea se,and Balder

shall come back . The Teutonic myth in regard to theseven sl eepers i s thus most intimate ly connected withthe myth concerning the re turn of the dead Balder ando f the other de a d men from the lower world, with theidea of resurrection and the regen eration of the world .

It forms an integral part of the gre at epic of Teutonicmytho logy, and could not be spared . I f the world-treei s to age during the histo rical epoch, and i f the prese ntper iod of time is to progress toward ruin, then thi s musthave its epic cause in the fact that the keepers of the chiefroot of the tree were se ve red by the course of events fromthei r important occupation . Ther efore Mimer dies ;

72 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

therefore his sons sink into the sleep of ages . But it i snecessa ry that they should wake and resume their oc ~

c upa t io n , for there i s to be a regeneration, and the worldtree i s to bloom with new freshness .Both in G e rmany and in Sweden the re stil l prevails a

popular belief which puts“the seven sleep ers

” in connection with the weather. If i t rains on the day of the sevenslee pers

,then

,acco rding to this popular belief

,i t i s to

rain for seven weeks there after. People have wonderedhow a wea ther prophecy could b e connected with thesleeping saints

,and the ma tter would also , in reality, be

utter ly incomprehensib le i f the legend were of C hristianorigin ; but it i s satisfactori ly explained by the heathenTeutonic mythology

,whe re the seven sleepers represent

those very seven so—called economic months— the se venchanges of the weather— which gave rise to the divisiono f the yea r into the months— gormdn ndr , fr e rm. , hr i i tm. ,e inm. , 5 6 1m

,selm.

,and korn skn rdarmdn n dr . Naviga

tion was also believed to be under the protection of theseven sleepe rs , and this we can understand when we remember that the hall o f Mimer’s sons was thought tostan d near the Hve rgelme r founta in and the G rotte ofthe skerry

,

“dangerous to seamen ,” and that they, l ike

their father,were lo vers of men . Tho rk il, the great nav

iga to r of the saga, therefo re praises G udmu n d-Mimer as aprotector in dangers .The legend has preserved the connection found in

the myth between the above meaning and the idea of aresurrection of the dead . But in the myth concerningMimer’s seven sons this idea i s most intimately connected

7 2 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

with the myth itse l f, and is , with epic logic, united withthe whole mythologica l system . In the legend

,on the

oth e r hand, the resurrection idea i s put on as a trade-mark .

The se venme n in Ephesus are lu lled into the ir longs le ep, and are waked again to appea r before Theodosius,the emperor, to preach a sermon illustrated by their ownfate again st the false doctrine which tri es to deny ther esurrection o f the dea d .

G regorius says that he is the first who recorded in theLatin langu age this miracle

,not befo re known to the

C hurch of Western Europe. As his authority he quote s“a certain Syrian” who had interp reted the story for him .

There was also ne ed of a man from the O ri ent as an autho r ity when a hitherto unknown miracle was to be presented— a miracle that had transpired in a cave nearEphesus . But there i s no absolute re ason for assuming that G regorius presents a story of h is own invention .

The reference of the legend to Ephesus i s explained bythe antique saga—variation concern ing Endymion , according to which the latter was sen ten ced to confinemen t andete rnal sleep in a cave in the mountain Latmo s . La tmosi s south of Ephesus

,and not ve ry far from there . This

sa ga i s the antique root- thread of the legend, out o f

which rose its locali sation,but not its con tents and its

de tails . The conten ts are borrowed from the Teu tonicmythology . That Syria or Asia Minor was the sceneof its transformation into a Christian legend is possible ,and i s not surprising. D uring and immediately afte rthe time to which the legend itself refe rs the resurrectionof the se ven sleepers

,the time of Theodo siu s , the Roman

72 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

O ri ent, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt wer e full of Teutonic warriors who had permane nt quarters there . A

N o ti tia dign i ta tnmfromthis age spea ks of hosts ofG oths , Alamannians , Franks , Chamavian s , and Vandals ,who there had fixed military quarte rs . There then stoodan ala F ra n c ornm

,a c oke rs Alama nn ornm, a oohors

Chamavornm, an ala Va n dilornm,a c ohors G o tho rnm,

and no doubt there, as e lsewhere in th e Roma n Empire,great provinces were colonised by Te utonic vet erans andother immigrants . No r must we neglect to remark thatthe legend refe rs the fall ing a slee p of the se ven men tothe time o f D ec ius . D ecius fell in batt le against the

G oths, who, a few ye ars later, invaded Asia Minor an dcaptured among other places also Ephesus .

ON THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE MYTHOLOGY.

The account now given of the myths con c e rning thelower world shows that the hierologists and ska lds of ou rheathendom had developed the doctrine in a perspicuousma nner even down to theminutest detai ls . The lowerworld and its kingdom of death were the chief subj ects

with which the i r fancy was occupied . The many sagas

and tradition s which flowed from heathen sources and

which described Sv ipdag’s,Hadding

’

s, G orm

’s,Tho rk il

’

s,

and other journ eys down there are proo f of this, andthe complet e agreement of statements fromtotally diffe ren t sources in regard to the topography of the lowerwo rld and the li fe there below shows that the ideas were

7 2 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

reduced to a systemat i sed and perspicuous whole . Svipdag’s an d Hadding

’

s journeys in the lower world havebe e n incorpo rated as episodes in the grea t epic concerning the T eutonic patriarchs, the chief outline s of whichI have pre sented in the pr eceding page s . This is donein the same manner as the visits of U lysses and ZEn e a sin the lower world have be come a part of the great G reekand Roman ep ic poems .Under such circumstance s it may seem surprising thatIcelandic rec ords from the middle ages concerning the

heathen belief in re gard to the abodes after death shouldgive us statements which se ems utterly i rreconci lablewith one another. F o r there are many proofs that thedead were belie ved to live in hills and rocks , or in gravemounds where thei r bodies were buri ed . How can thisbe reconciled with the doctrine that the dead descendedto the lower world

,and wer e there judged either to re

c e ive 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 thatconsequently the heathen-Teu tonic views in regard tothe day o f judgment wer e in this most important partof the religious doctrine unsuppo rted .

The reason for the obscurity i s not,however, in the

matter itsel f,which has never been thoroughly studied,

b u t in the false premi ses from which the conclusions havebeen drawn . Mythologists ha ve simply assumed thatthe popular view of the Christian Church in regard toterrestrialman , conceiving h imto consist of two fac

73 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

tors,the peri shable bo dy and the imperi shable soul, was

the nece ssary condition fo r every bel ie f in a li fe he reafter,

and that the heathen Teutons accordingly also cherishedthi s idea .

But thi s duality did not e nter into the belief of ourheathen fathe rs . No r

,

i s it o f such a kind that a man,

having conceived a l i fe hereafte r,in this connection nec

e ssa r ily must conceive the soul as the simple, indissolublespiritual factor of human nature. The division into twoparts

, lif oh sdla,likamr ok sdla

, body and soul , camewith Christianity, and there i s every reason for assuming

,so far as the Scandinavian peoples are concerned

,

that the very word soul, sdla , sdl, i s, l ike the i dea it represents

,a n importe d word . In Old Norse literature the

word occurs for the first time in O laf T rygve son’

s contempo rary Halfred

,after he had be en converte d to C hris

t ian ity . Stil l the wo rd i s o f Teutonic root . Ulfila s

translate s the N ew Testament psyche with sa iwala ,

but thi s he does with his mind on the Platonic N ew Testamen t view ofma n as consisting o f thre e factors : spirit

(pn e uma ) , soul (psyche ) , and body (soma ) . Spiri t

(pn e uma ) Ulfila s translates with ahma .

Another assumption,l ikewise inco rrect in estimating

the anthropological- e schatological beli ef of the Teutons,

i s that the y a re suppo sed to have distinguishe d betwe enmatte r a n d mind , which is a re sult reached by the ph ilo so

ph e rs of the O ccident in their abstract studies . It i s, onthe contrary

,ce rtain that such a distinction never entered

the system o f heathen Teutonic views . In it all thingswerema te r ial

,an efn i of course or fine grain, tangible or

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

intangible, visible or invisible . The imperishable factors O f man were, l ike the pe ri shable,ma te r ial, and aforce could not b e conceived which was not bound to matt e r

,o r expressed itself in matter

,or was matter .

The he athen Teutonic conception o f human nature,

a n d o f the factors compo sing it,i s most l ike the Aryan

Asiatic as we find the latter pre served in the traditionsof Buddhi sm

,which assume mo re than three factors in

a human being,and deny the existen ce of a soul

,i f this

i s to mean that all that i s not corporal i n man consistsof a single simple

,and therefo re indissoluble

,element, the

soul .The anthropological conception presented in Vo luspais as follows : Man consists o f six e lements

,namely

,to

begin with the lower and coarser and to end with theh ighest and noblest

( 1 ) The earthly matter o f which the body is fo rmed .

( 2 ) A formative vegetative force .

( 3 ) and (4) Lod er’s gifts .

( 5 ) Honer’s gifts .

( 6 ) Odin’s gi fts .

VOlu spa’

s words are these : The gods

fu n du a lan di fo un d o n th e la n dli t tmega n di w ith li t tle pow e r,Ask o k Emb la Ask a n d Emblao rla ugla u sa . w i tho u t de s tin y .

Au n d th a u n e at to , Sp irit th e y h ad n o t ,

oth tha u n e ba n i do ,

“Odr

” th e y h ad n o t ,

la n e lae t i, n e i th e r n o r“lae ti,

n e l ito go da . n o r th e fo rmo f th e go ds .

73 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

fromvegetable l i fe. And thus we are already w ithinth e domain of psychical e lements . The inhe rited features

,growth

,gait

,and pose, which were observed as

forming race and family-types,wer e regarded as having

the blood as efn i and as being conce ale d therein . Theblood which produced the family-type also produced thefamily- t ie , even though it was not acquired by the naturalprocess of gen eration . A person not at al l related to thefamily of another man could become his blo

’

di,h is bloo d

kinsman,i f they resolve d a t blan da blo

’

di sama n . Theythereby entered into the same re lations to each other asi f they had the same mother and father .Loder also gave at the same time another gi ft

, li tr goda .

To understand this expression (hitherto translated with“goo d we must bea r in mind that theTe uton s

,l ike the Hellenes and Romans

,con ce ived the

gods in human form,and that the image which charac

t e r ise s man was borne by the gods alone before man’scre ation

,and original ly belonge d to the gods . To the

h ie ro logi sts and the skalds o f the Teutons,as to those o f

the G reeks and Romans, man was cre ated in e tf igi emde orumand had in hi s nature a divine image in the rea lse nse of this word

,a li tr goda . No r was this li tr goda a

mere abstraction to the Teu tons , or an empty form ,but a

created e fn i dwe ll ing in man and giving shape and characte r to the earthly bo dy which is vi sible to the e ye . Thecommon meaning of the word li tr i s something presentingitse l f to the eye without be ing actually tangible to thehands . The G othic form of the wo rd is wli ts, whichUlfila s uses in translating the G reek prosopon — look ,

73 4

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

app earance, expression . C ertain persons we re regardedas able to sepa rate thei r li tr fromi ts union with the otherfactors o f their be ing

,and to len d it, at least for

’

a sho rttime

,to some other pe rson in exchange for his . This was

called to skipta li tum, vixla li tnm. It was don e by Sigurdand G unnar in the song of Sigurd F a fn e rsba n e ( i . 3 7That facto r in G u n n a r’s being which causes his earthlybody to presen t itsel f in a pe culiar individual manner toth e eyes of others i s transmitted to Sigurd, whose exterior,affected by G u n n ar ’s li tr , accommodates itself to the latter,while the spiritual kernel in Sigu rd

’

s per sonality suffers

no change.

Li t h efir thu G u n n a r s

o c lae t i h a n s ,mae ls c o th in ao cmegin hy ggio r (Sig , i .

Thus man has within him an inner body made in theimage of the gods and consi sting of a finer material, abody which is his li tr

,by virtue of which hi s coa rser taber

n a cle , forme d from the earth, receives that form bywhich i t impresses itself on the minds of others . Th e

recoll ection of the belief in this inner body has be enpreserved in a mo re or less distorted form in traditionshanded down even to our days ( see for example, Hyltén

C avalliu s, Vdr e n d o ch Virdar n e,i . 3 43 - 3 6 0 ; Raaf in

Smaland,B e skr . hfve r Ydr e , p .

The appea rance o f the outer body therefo re depe nds

on the con dition of the li tr , that i s , of the inner being.

Be auti ful women have a “j oyous fai r li tr” (Havamal,An emotion has influence upon the li tr , and through

73 5

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

it on the blood and the appearance of the outward body .

A sudden blushing, a sudden paleness, are among there sults thereof, and can give rise to the que stion ,

H efir

thu li t b rngdi t?— Have you changed your li tr ? (For

n ald.,i . To translate this with

,Have you changed

co lour ? i s absurd . The questione r sees the change ofcolou r, and does not need to ask the other on e who cannotsee it .O n account o f i ts mythological s ignification and appli

cation, it i s very n atural that the wo rd li tr should inevery-day li fe acqui re on the one hand the me aning ofcomplexion in gene ral, and on the other hand the s ign ific ation of hamr

, gui se, an earthly garb which persons skilledin magic cou ld put on and off. Skipta li tmn, vixla li tnm,have in C hri stian time s be en used as synonymous withship ia kh

'mum,vixla kh

'mum.In physical dea th the coarser elemen ts of an earthly

person’s nature are separated fromthe othe r constituen tparts . The tabe rnacle fo rme d of earth and the vege tativematerial unite d therewith are eliminated like the animaleleme nt and remain o n earth . But this doe s not implythat the deceased de scend without form to Hades . Theform in which they trave l in “dee p dales,

” traverse thetho rnfields

,wade acro ss the subterranean rivers , o r ride

over the gold-clad G jalla r-bridge, i s not a new creation ,but was wor n by them in their e arthly career . It can benone othe r than thei r li tr , thei r umbra e t imago . It also

shows distinctly what th e de adma n has b ee n in his earthlyli fe , and what care has been be stowed on his dust . Thewashing

,combing, dre ssing, o rname nting, and supp lying

73 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

with Hel-shoes of the dead body has influence upon on e’slooks in Hades, on one

’s loo ks when he is to appea r befo rehis judge.Sepa rated fromthe earthly element

,from the vegetative

material, and from the blood, the li t i s almost impo n de rable , and doe s n o t possess the qualities for an intensivel i fe , e ither in bliss or in torture . Five fylke s of dead menwho rode over the G jalla r—bridge produced no greate rdin than Hermod alone riding on Sleipne r and thewoman watching the bridge saw that Hermod s exterio rwas not that of one separated from the earthly e lement .It was n o t li tr dan draman n a (G ylfagin n ing) . But theli tr o f the dead i s compensated for what it has lo st .Those who in the judgme nt on dan dan hve rn are pron ou n c ed wor thy of bliss are permitted to drink from thehorn decorated with the se rpe nt- symbol of e ternity

,the

liquids of the three world- fountains which give li fe to al lthe world, and ther e by the i r li tr gets a higher gradeof body and nobler blood ( se e No s . 7 2 , Thosesente nced to torture must also drink

,but it is a drink e i tr i

blan d in nmic k, “much mixe d with venom,

” and it i s illnke illi, that i s,

‘ a warning of evil . This drink also resto restheir bo dies, but only to make them fee l the burden oftorture. The liquid of li fe which they imbibe in thisdrink i s the same as that which was thought to flow inthe veins of the demons of torture. When Hadding withhi s sword wounds the demon-hand which grasps afterHa rdgrep and tears her into piec es ( see No . thereflows from the wound “more venom than blood (plustab i qn amc ru or is— Saxo, H is t ,

73 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

When Loder had given Ask and Embla li tr goda, aninne r body fo rmed in the image o f the gods, a body whichgives to their earthly tabe rnacle a human-divine type,they re ceived from Honer the gi ft which i s called o

'

dr .

In s ignification this word corresponds most closely to theLatinme n s, the G reek n ou s ( cp . V igfu sso n

’

s Lexicon ) ,and means that material which forms the kernel of ahuma n personality, i ts ego, and whose mani festations areunderstanding

,memory

,fancy, and will .

Vigofu sson has calle d attention to the fact that theepithet langifo

’

tr and au rkon u ngr , Longleg” and “Mire

king,applied to Hone r

,i s applicable to the stork , and

that thi s cannot be a n accident,as the very name H ce n ir

suggests a bird,and is re lated to the G re ek kukn os , and

the Sanscrit saku n as (C orpu s Po e t . Bor .,i

'

. p . Itshould be borne in mind in thi s connection that the storkeven to this day is regarde d as a sacred and prote ctedbird

,and that amo ng Scandinavians and G ermans the re

sti l l ex ists a nursery tale te ll ing how the sto rk take s fromsome saga-pond the l ittle fruit s of man and brings themto their mo thers . The tale which now belongs to thenurse ry has its root in the myth , where Honer gives our

‘ The re i s a s tory o f th e c re a t ion o fma n by thre e wa n de rin g gods , wh obe c ome inme d iaava l s torie s Je s u s a n d SS . Pe te r a n d Pa u l wa lkin g amo n gme n , a s i n C h ampfie u ry ’

s pre tty a po logu e o f t h e b o n homme rmsér e , SO

be a u t i fu l ly i l lu s tr a te d by Le gr o s . I n t h e e dd ic le ge n d o n e o f the s e god s i sc a l le d H ome ; h e i s t h e sp e e c h -

give r o fWolo sp a , a n d i s de s cribe d i n pra ise stake n f romlost po ems a s

“t h e lo n g- le gge d o n e

”

[la n gi fo t r ] ,

“t h e lord o f

t h e o oze [a u r k on u n gr ] . Stra n ge e pithe ts , b u t e a s ily e xp la in a b le whe no n e ge ts a t t h e e tymo logy o f Haan e = h o h n i = Sa n sa sa k u n as z G r . k u k n os= t h e white b ird , swa n , o r s to rk, tha t s ta lks a lo n g i n t h emud , lord o f t h emarsh ; a n d it i s n ow e a sy t o s e e tha t this b ird i s t h e C re a tor wa lk i n g i nc ha o s , broo d in g ove r t h e pr imit ivemish-ma sh o r t Oh u -bohu , a n d fin a l lyha tc hin g t h e e gg o f t h e world . Hohu i i s a lso , on e wo u ld fa n c y, t o b e ide nt id e d w ith He imda l , t h e wa lk e r , wh o i s a ls o a c re a tor-god , wh o

_

sle e p smo r e ligh tly t h a n a b i rd, wh o i s a ls o th e“fa ir An s e ,” a n d the

“wh ite s t o ft h e An s e s ,

’ t h e“wake r o f t h e gods , a c e le st ia l Cha n t ic le e r a s it w e re

(V igf u s so n , C orpus Poe t ic umB ore ale , vol. i . , In trod u c t ion , p . OIL , qu ote db y t h e tra n s la tor) .

73 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

first parents that very gi ft which in a spiritual sense makesthem human beings and con tains the person al ego . It i sboth possible and probable that the condition s essential tothe existen ce of every person were con ceived as beinganalogous with the condition s attending the creation o fthe first human pair

,and that the gi fts which were then

given by the gods to Ask and Embla were thought to bere pe ated in the case of each o n e of the i r descendants— thatHoner consequently was be lieved to b e con tinually activein the same manner as when the first human pair wascreated, giving to the mothe r—fruit the ego that i s to be .The fruit itself ou t of which the child i s deve lop ed wasconceived as grown on the world-tree

,which therefore i s

ca lle dman n amfb' tu dr (F jOlsvin n smal, Every fruitof this kind (aldin ) that matured (and fell from thebranches of the world- tree into the mythic pond i s

fetched by the winged servants of the gods,and is born

a eld into the maternal lap,after be ing mentally fruc t ified

by Honer .

U t a f han s (Mimame ids ) aldn iska l a eld b e rafyr k elisjuka r ko n ur ;u ta r hve r fatha z th ee r in n a r skyli ,

sa e r han nme dmOn n umi tudr .

Above , in No . 8 3 , i t has b een shown that Lodurr isiden tical with Mu ndilfb

'

r i, the one producing fire by fric

tion , and that H ce n ir an d Lodu rr are Odin’s brothers ,also called Ve i and Vili . With regard to the last nameit should be remarked that its meaning of “will” developed

73 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

out of the meaning desire,” “longing

,and that the

word prese rved thi s o lde r meaning also in the secondarysense of cupido , lib ido , sexual desi re. This epithet of

Lodu rr co rre spo nds both with the nature of th e gifts hebestows on the human child which is to b e— that is, theblood and the huma n

,o riginally divine

,fo rm— and a lso

with his quality of fire -producer, i f, as is probable, thefriction-fire had the same symbo lic meaning in the Te utonic mytho logy as in the Rigveda . Like Hone r

,Loder

causes the knitting together of the human generations .While the forme r fru c t ifie s the embryo developing on theworld-tree with 6 dr

,i t receives from Loder the warmth

O f the blood and human organism . The expression Vilja

byrdr , Vili’

s burden,

” “that which Vili has produced ,”

i s fromthis po int of view a well- chosen and at the sametime an ambiguous paraphrase for a human body . Theparaphrase oc curs in Yn glinga tal (Yn glingasaga ,When Visb u r loses his l i fe in the flames it i s there said ofhim that the fire consume d his Vilia byrdi, hi s corporall i fe .To Loder’s and Honer’s gi fts the highest Asa-god addsthe best element in human nature

,5n d

,spirit

,that by

which a human be ing becomes participator in the divinealso in an inner sense, and not only as to fo rm . Thedivine must here

,of course, be understood in the sense

( far different from the eccle siastical ) in which i t wasused by our heathen ancestors, to whom the divine, as itcan reveal itsel f inme n , chiefly consi sted in power ofthou ght, courage, honesty, veracity , and mercy, but whoknew no other humil ity than that of pa tiently bearing

740

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

preserved some of his pe rsonality and qual ities . Thegrave-mound might in this manner contain an alter ego

o f him who had de scende d to the realm o f death . Thisalte r ego , calle d after his dwelling haugb i i i, hi ll-dweller,was characteri sed by his nature as a ldraugr , a branchwh ich , thou gh cut O ff from its li fe- root, sti ll maintains itsconsi stency, but gradually, though slowly, pays tribute tocorruption and progresses toward its dissolution . InC hristian times the word draugr acquired a bad , demoniacalmeaning, which did not belong to it exclusive ly inhe athen times, to judge from the compounds in which i ti s found : eldraugr, he rdraugr, hirdidraugr, which wer eused in paraphrases for “warriors o

’

daldraugr ,“rightful

owner,”&c . The alte r ego of the deceased, his r ep re

se n tat ive dwelling in the grave, retaine d his character :was goo d and kind i f the deceased had been so in life ; inthe Oppos ite case, evi l and dangerous . As a rule he wasbel ieved to sleep in his grave

,especially in the daytime,

but might wake up in th e night, or could be waked bythe influen ce of prayer or the powers of conjuration .

G hos ts of th e good kind were holla r vce ttir,of the evil

kind uva ttir . Respe c t fo r the fathe rs and the idea that theme n of the past wer e more pious and more noble thanthose of the present time cause d the alte r egos of thefathers to be regarded as b e n efic en t and working for thegood of the race

,and for this reason family grave-mounds

where the bones of the ancestors rested wer e generallynear the home. I f there was no grave-mound in thevicinity

,but a rock or hill

,the alte r egos in question were

bel ieved to congregate there when something of import

742

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

a nce to the fami ly was impending. It might also happenthat the lower elements , when abandon ed by odr and 5nd,became an alte r ego in whom the vegetative and animalelements exclusively asserted themselves . Such an onewas always tormented by animal desire of food , and didnot se em to have any feeling for or memory of bonds tiedin li fe. Saxo (H is t . , 2 44) gives a horrible acco unt ofo n e of this sort . Two foster-brothers, Asmu n d andAsv id, had agree d that i f the o n e died be fore the other thesurvivor should confine himse l f in the fo ster-brother’sgrave- chambe r and remain the re. Asv id d ie d and wasburied with horse and dog. Asmu n d kept his agreement,and ordered himself to be con fined in the large, roomygrave

,but discovered to hi s horro r that his fo ster-bro ther

had become a haugbui of the last-name d kind, who, aftereating horse and dog, attacke d Asmu n d to make him avictim of hi s hunge r . Asmu n d conque red the ho nghui,cut o ff hi s head , and pie rce d his he art with a pole toprevent his coming to li fe again . Swe dish adventurerswho opened the grave to plunder it freed Asmu n d fromhis prison . In such instances as this it must have be enassumed that the lower elements of the deceased c on

signed to the grave were neve r in hi s l i fetime suffici entlyperme ate d by hi s o

'

dr and 6 n d to enable these qualities togive the corpse an impre ssion of the rational pe rsonali tyand human characte r of the deceased . The same ideai s the basis of be l ief o f the Slavic people in the vampire .In o n e of this sort th e vegetative element united with hisdust stil l asserts itse lf

,so that hai r and nails continue to

grow as on a living being,and the animal element

,which

743

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

l ikewise continu e s to ope rate in the one buried,visits him

with hunge r and drive s h im in the night out o f the graveto suck the blood of su rviving kinsmen .

The real pe rsona l ity of the de ad , th e one endowed withli tr , o

'

dr, and o n d, was and remained in the death kingdom

,althou gh circumstances might take p la ce that would

call him back for a short time. The drink wh ich thehappy dead pe rson re ceive d in Hades was intended notonly to strengthen hi s li tr

,but al so to soothe that longing

which the earthly li fe and its memories might cause himto fe e l . I f a de arly-b eloved kin sma n or frie nd mournedthe dece ased too vio lently, this so rrow disturbed hi s hap

p in e ss in the de ath kingdom , and was able to bring himback to earth . Then h e would visit hi s grave -mou nd ,and he and his alte r ego , the haugbui, would be come o n e .

This was the case with Helge H u n din gsb a n e (He lgeHund .

,i i . 40, The sorrow o f Sigrun, his be loved ,

caused him to return from Valhalto earth and to ride tohis grave

,where Sigrun came to him and wante d to re st

in his arms during the night. But when He lge had to ldher that her tea rs pierced his breast with pain

,an d had

assure d h e r that she was excee d ingly de ar to him ,and

had predicted that they togethe r should drink the so rrowa l laying liquids of the lower world

,he rode his way again

,

in order that,befo re the crowing of the cock, he might

be back amon g the departe d he roes . Prayer was another

means o f calling the dead ba ck . At the e ntrance of hisdeceased mother’s grave-chambe r Svipdag besee che s herto awake . Her ashes kep t in the grave-chambe r ( e r tilmoldar e r komin ) and her real pe rsonality from the realm

744

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

of dea th ( e r o'

r ljodhe imume r lidin ) then unite, and G roaSpeaks out of the grave to her son (G rogaldr . , i . A

third means of revoking the dead to earth lay in conjuration . But such a use of conjuration was a great sin ,which relegated the sinner to the demons . (Cp . Saxo’saccount of Ha rdgrep . )Thus we understand why the de ad descende d to Hadesand still inhabited the grave -mounds . O n e die d “to Hel

”

and “to the grave ” at the same t ime . That of whichearthly man consisted

,in addition to his co rporal garb

,

was not the simple be ing,“the soul ,

” which cannot b edivided

,but the re was a combination of factors

,wh ich in

death could be separated , and of which those remaining onearth

,wh i le they had long been the co vering of a pe rsonal

kerne l could themselves in a new combination forma no the r ego of the person who had descended to Hades .But that too consisted of several factors

,li tr

,o’

dr,and

o n d,and they were n ot inseparably unite d . We have

a lre ady seen that the sinner, sentenced to torture, dies asecond de ath in the lower world before he pa sses throu ghthe Na -gates the death from Helto Nifelhel, so that hebe comes a n o r

,a corpse in a sti ll deeper sense than that

which n dr has in a physical sense . The se cond death ,l ike the first (physical ) , must consist in the separation ofone or more of the factors from the be ing that die s . Andin the se cond de ath

,that which sep arates itsel f from the

damned one and change s his remains into a lower-worldn dr , must b e those factors that have no blame in connection with his sins, and consequently should n o t suffe r his

punishment, and which in their origin are to o noble to

745

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

be come the obj ects of the practice of demons in the a rt oftorturing. The venom drink which the damned personhas to empty deprives him of that image of the gods inwhich he was made, and of the spirit wh ich was the noblegi ft of the Asa- father . Changed into amon s te r, he goesto his de st in ty fraught with misfo rtunes .The idea o f a regeneration was not foreign to the faithof the Teutonic heathens . To judge from the very fewstateme nts we have on this point, i t would seem that itwas on ly the very best and the very wo rst who we rethou ght to be born anew in the present world . G ulve ig

was bo rn again several time s by the force of her own evi lwi ll . But it i s only ideal pe rsons of whom it is said thatthey are born again— cg ,

Helge Hjo rva rdson ,Helge

Hu n din gsba n e , and O laf G e irstada ralf, of whomthe lastwas believed to have ri sen again in Saint O laf. With theexception of G ulve ig, the statements in regard to theothers from Christian times are an e cho from the heathenTeuton ic doctrine which it would be most interesting tobecome be tter acquainted with— also from the standpointof comparative Aryan mythology

,since this same doc trine

appears in a highly-developed fo rm in the Asiatic-Aryangroup of myths .

THE IVALD E RAC E .

SVIPDAG AND GROA .

G ROA’

S son Svipdag i s men tioned by this name in two

Old Norse songs, G rogalde r and F jOlsvmn smal, which asBugge has shown

,are mutual ly connected

,and describe

epi sodes from the same chain of even ts .The contents of G rogalde r are as followsG roa i s dead when the event describe d i n the songtakes place. Svipdag i s sti l l quite young. Before he rdeath she has told him that he is to go to her gr ave andcal l her i f he nee ds he r help . The grave i s a grave-chamb e r made of large flat stones raised over a stone floo r

,and

forming when see n from the outside a mound which i sfurnished with a doo r ( str . 1 , 1 5 )Svipdag

’

s father has married a second time. The stepmothe r commands her stepson to go abroad and findMe nglo

'

dum, “those fond of ornaments .” From F jOlsv in n smalwe learn that one of those calle d by this name i sa you ng ma id who bec omes Svipdag’

s wi fe. He r real name

is not given : she is continually designated as Me nglad,

Men glad, one of“those fond of ornaments , whom Svip

dag has be en commanded to find .

747

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

This task seems to Sv ipdag to exceed his powers . Itmust have bee n one of great adventures and great dangers,for he now conside rs it the proper time to ask his decease dmothe r for he lp . He has become su spicio us of his stepmo the r’s intentions ; he conside rs her lcevis (cunning) ,and her propos ition is

“a cruel p lay which she has putbe for e him”

( str .He goes to G roa’s grave-chamber, probably in the night

(ve rda auflgar i allir a n a ttamdau thir— Helge Hund .,i i .

bids her wake,and reminds her of her promise .

That of G roa which had be come dust ( e r tilmoldar e r

komin ) , and that of he r which had left thi s world of .manand gone to th e lowe r world ( e r a

’

r ljédhe imumlidin ) ,become again unite d under the influence of maternal loveand of the son’s praye r, and Sv ipdag he ars ou t of thegrave-chambe r his mo ther’s voice asking him why he hascome. He spe aks o f the errand on which he has beensent by his stepmothe r ( str . 3 ,The voice from the grave de clares that long journeysli e before Sv ipdag i f he is to reach the goal indicate d .

It doe s not, however, advise him to disobey the commandof his stepmo the r

,but assures him that i f he will but

patie ntly look for a good outcome of the matter, the n thenorn will guide the events into their right course ( str .The son the n requests his mothe r to sing protectingincantations over him . She is ce lebrate d in mythologyas o n e mighty in incantations o f the good kind . It wasG roa that sang heal ing incantations over Thor when witha wounded forehe ad he re turned from the confl ict withthe giant Hru n gn e r (G ylfag ) .

748

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

G roa’s fourth and fifth incantations indicate that Svipdag is to encounte r e nemies and be put in chains . He r

son gs are then to ope rate in such a manner that the heartsof the foes are so ftened into re conci liation

,and that the

chains fa l l from the limbs of he r son . F o r this purposeshe give s him that power which is cal le d “

Le ifn ir’

s fire s”

( see No . which loosens fetters from enchan ted limbs

( str. 9,G roa’s sixth incantation i s to save Svipdag from perish

ing in a gale on the sea . In the gre at world—m i l l (ludr )which produce s the mae lstrom ,

o cean curre nts , ebb andflood tide ( se e No s . 79 calm and war are to “gangthegither” in harmony, b e at Sv ipdag

’

s service and prepare him a safe voyage.

The seve nth incantatio n that comes from the gravechamber speaks of a journe y which Sv ipdag i s to makeover a mountain where terrible cold reigns . The songi s to save him from be coming a victim of the frost there.The last two incantations , the eighth and the ninth ,show what was alre ady sugge sted by the third , namely,that Sv ipdag

’

s adventurous journeys are to be crownedwi th a visi t in the lower world . He i s to me et N at d

N iflvegi,“o n th e N i fel-way,

” “ in N ifcl— land .

”The wo rd

n ifl doe s n o t occur in the Old Norse literature except inrefer ence to the northern part of the Teutonic Hades, theforecourt to the worlds of torture there. N iflhel andNiflhe imare, as we know,

the names of that forecourt .

N iflfar in n i s the designation , as he retofore mentioned , ofa deceased whose soul has de scended to N i felhel; N ifl

godr i s a nithing, one deserving to b e damned to the

750

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

tortures o f the lower world . G roa’s eighth incantationi s to protect her son against the peri lous con sequen ces ofencountering a “dead woman” (daud kon a ) on hisjourn ey through N ifelhel. The ninth incantation showsthat Svipdag, on having traversed the way to the no rthernpart of the lower wo rld

,crosses the Hvergelme r mountain

and comes to the realm of Mimer ; for he is to meet andtalk with “

th e weapo n-honoure d giant, Mimer himsel f,unde r circumstances which demand “ton gue and brains”

on the part of G roa ’s son

c i thu v id in n n addgo fga

o rdumsk ip t ir jOtun :mals o kma n n v i t ssé th e r a Mimis bi artagn Oga O f ge t i t .

In the poem F jOlsvin n smal, which I am n ow to discu ss ,we read with regard to Svipdag

’

s adventure s in the lowerworld that on his journey in Mimer’s domain he hadoccasion to se e the dsmegir ’s citadel and the splendidthings within its walls ( str . 3 3 ; cp . No .

97 .

SVIPDAG OUTSIDE OF THE GATES OF ASGARD . MEN GLAD’

S

IDENTITYWITH FREYJ A .

In the first stanz as of F jOlsvin n smalwe see Svipdagmaking his way to a citadel which is furnished with

forgo'

rdum— that i s to say,rampa rts in fron t of the gate

in the wall which surrounds the place . O n one of theserampa rts stands a wa tchman who calls himsel f F jb'lsvin n r,which i s an epithet of O din (G r imn er smal,

7SI

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

The first strophe of the poem calls Svipdag thursa

thjédar sjélr ( sjoli ) , the leade r of the Thurs peop le .

”

The reason why he could be designated thus has alreadybe en gi ven ( see No s . 2 4, D uring the confl ictsbetwee n the powe rs o f winter and the sons of Ivalde , andthe race connected with them , on the one side, and theTeutonic patriarch Hal fdan , favoure d by the Asa-gods,on the other side

, Sv ipdag opposed the latter and finallydefeated him ( se e No .

From the manner in which F jOlsvin receives the traveller it appea rs that a “leade r O f the Thurs people” need n otlook for a welcome outside of such a citadel as this .F jOlsv in cal ls him a flagd, a vargr , and advise s him to goback by “mo ist ways,

” for within this wall such a beingcan never come . Meanwhile these severe words do noton this occasion appear to be Spoken in absolute earnest

,

for th e watchman at the same time encourage s conve rsation

,by asking Sv ipdag what his errand is . The latte r

corrects the watchman for his rough manner of receivinghim

,and explains that he is not able to re turn , fo r the

burgh he se es i s a beauti ful sight, and there he would beable to pass a happy li fe.When the watchman now asks him about h is parentsand family he answe rs in riddles . H imsel f “the le aderof the Thurs people ,

” the former ally of th e powers O ffros t, he callsWin dc old, his father h e cal ls Sp rin gcold,

and his grandfather Ve ry cold This answergives the key to the character of the whole followingconversation

,in which Svipdag i s the questioner, whose

interrogations the watchman answers in such a manner

752

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

that he gives persons and things names which seldom arethei r usual on es , but which refer to their qualities .What castle i s this, then, before which Svipdag stoppe d,

and within whose walls he i s soon to fin dMen glad, whomhe seeks ?A correct answer to this question i s o f the greatest

importance to a prope r understanding of the events ofmythology and their connec tion . Stran ge to say, i t hashitherto be en assumed that the castle i s the citadel ofa giant

,a resort of thu rse s, and that Me nglad i s a

giantess .

Svipdag has before him a scene that enchants his gaz eand fills him -with a longi ng to remain there for ever. Iti s a pleasure to the eyes, he says , which no one will inglyren ounces who once has seen a thing so charming.

Several “halls,” that is to say, large residences or palaces,

with thei r “ope n courts,” are situated on these grounds .

The halls glitter with gold,which cas ts a reflection over

the plains in front of them (gardar gloame r thykkja afgulln a sali

- str . On e of the palaces,a mostmagn ifi

cent one (an audran n ) , is surrounded by“wise Vafer

flame,

” and F jOlsvin says of it that fromtime immemo rialthere has be en a repo rt amon g men in regard to thisdwelling. He calls it Hyrr ,

“the gladdening one,

” “thelaughing one,

” “the soul- stirring one .” Within thecastle wall there ri ses a hill or rock, which the author ofthe son g conceived as decorated with flowers or in someothe r ravishing way

,for he calls it a joyou s r o ck . There

the fai r Me n glad is seen sitting like an image ( thruma ) ,surrou nded by lovely disc s . Svipdag her e sees the world

753

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

tree,invisible on earth, spreading its branchs loa ded with

fruits (aldin ) over al l lands . In the tree sits the coc kVidofn ir, whose whole pluma ge gl itters like gold ( str.

The whole place i s surroun ded by a wall,so solid that

i t shal l stand as lon g as the world” ( str. It i s builto f Le rb rimer ’

s (Yme r ’s ) l imbs , and is cal led G as trofn ir ,“the same on e as refuses admittance to uninvited guests .”

In the wall i s in serted the ga te skilfully made by Solblinde’s sons

,the one which I have already mentioned in

N o . 3 6 . Svipdag, who had bee n in the lower world andhad there seen th e halls of the gods and the well- for t ifie dcastle of the dsmegir ( see N o . admires the wall andthe gate, an d remarks that no more dangerous co n t r ivanecs ( for uninvited guests) than these were seen amon gthe gods ( str. 9The gate i s guarded by two garms

,wolf—dogs .

FjOlsvin explains that thei r names are G ifr and G er i, thatthe y are to l ive and perform their duty as watch-dogs to

the end of the world (u n z rjufask r egin ) , and that theyare the watchers of watchers, whose number is eleven

(var dir ellifu , e r the ir varda— str .Just as the mythic per sonality that Svipdagme t outside

of the castle i s name d by th e Odin- epithe t F jo'

lsvidr,so

we here find one of the watching dogs called after on e ofO din’s wolf-dogs, G e r i (G r imn e rsmal, Thei r dutyof watching

,which does not cease before Ragnarok

,they

perform in connection with eleven mythic persons dwelling within the citadel

,who are themselves call ed vardi r,

an epithet for world-protecting divinities . Heimdal i s

754

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

vo rdr goda , Balder i s vordr Hdlfdarna r jar da . The number of the Asas is e leven after Balder descended to thelower world . Hy n dluljod says : Voru ellifu a s ir taldir,

Balldr e r hn e vi d b an a thufu .

These wolf-dogs are foe s of giants and trolls . I f a

vce ttr came there he wou ld not b e able to get past them

( str . 1 6 — oh hemt thd va ttr,ef thd le a rn ) . The tro l l

beings that are called gifr an d kveldridu/r (Vo luspa , 50H e lge Hjo rv . ,

and that fly abo ut in the ai r with lim(bundle s of sticks ) in their hands, have been made tofall by these dogs . They have made gifr—liminto a“ land-wre ck” ( e r gjordu gifrlimr e ka fyr ir lb'nd in — str.

As one of the dogs is himse l f called G ifr , hisabi lity

,l ike that of those chased by him

, to fly in the airseems to be indicated . The old tradition ab out O din ,who with his dogs fl ie s through the ai r above the earth ,has its root in the myth concerning the duty devolvingupon the Asa- father

,in hi s capacity of lord of the heavens,

to ke ep space free from gifr , kveddr idu r , tu n r idur , who“le ika d lopti , do their mischief in the ai r ( cp . Havama],The hall in which Men glad l ives, and that part of the

wall-surrounded domain which belongs to her,seems to

be situate d directly in front of the gate,for Svipdag,

standing befo re it,asks who is the rule r o f the domain

which he sees be fore him,and F jOlsvin answers that it i s

Me nglad who there ho lds sway, owns the land, and ismistress of the treasure-chambers .The po emte lls us in the mos t unmistakable mannerthat Me nglad i s an a syn je , and that one of the very

755

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

noblest ones . What a re the names,asks Svipdag, of

the young women who sit so pleasantly together at Men

glad’s feet FjOlsvin answers by naming nine, amongwhom are the goddess o f hea l ing, Eir (Prose Edda , i .

and the disc s Hlif,“the prote ctress

,

”Bj iir t,

“ theshining

,

”Blid

,

“the blithe,and F rid

,

“the fair .” Theirplace at Me nglad

’

s feet indicates that they are sub o rdima te to her and belong to he r attendants . N everthelessthey are

,FjOlsvin assure s us , higher beings , who have

sanctuari es and altars ( str. and have both power an dinclination quickly to he lp men who O ffer sacrifices tothem. Nay ,

“no so severe evil can happen to the sons ofmen that thes e maids are n o t able to help them out ofthei r distress .” It follows with certainty that their mistress Me n glad, the one fond of o rname nts, must be o n eof the hi ghest and most wo rshipped goddesses in themythology . And to none of the a syn je s i s the epithet

“ fondof o rnamen ts (Me nglad) more applicable than to thefai r owner of the first among female ornaments

,Bris

in game n — to Freyja, whose daughters Hn oss and G e rsami are called by name s that mean “ornaments ,” and ofwho se fondness for beauti fu l j ewels even Christian sagaauthors speak . To the court o f no other goddess aresuch dises as Bj

'

a'

r t,Blid

,and F r id so wel l suited as to

hers . And al l that FjOlsvin n smal tells about Me nglad

i s in harmony with this .Freyja was the goddess of love

,of matrimony

,and o f

ferti lity,and fo r this reason she was regarded as the di

vine ruler and helper, to whom loving ma ids, wive s whoare to be ar children , and sick women wer e to address

756

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

glad and Freyja, and as a necessary con sequence for theidentity o f Svipdag and Odr , also calle d Ottarr .

The glorious c astle to which Svipdag travelled up”

i s there fore Asgard,as is plain from its ve ry de scription

with its gold—glittering palace,with its wall standing

unti l Ragnarok,with its artistic gate

,with its eleven

watcher s,with its FjOlsvin -Odin

,with its a syn je Eir ,

with its benevolent and lovely disc s worshipped by men,

with its two wo l f-dogs who are to keep watch so long asthe world stands, and which cle ar the ai r O f tu n r idu r

,

with its shady arbour forme d by the overhanging brancheso f the world-tree

,and with its gold- feathered cock

Vidofn ir (VOlu spa’

s G ullin kamb i ) .

Svipdag comes as a strange r to Asgard’

s gate,and

what he the re sees he has never befo re seen . H is conversation with F jOlsvin is a se rie s o f curious question s inregard to the strange things that he now witne sses forthe first time . His designation as thu rsa thjoda r si dlr

indicates not only that he i s a stranger in Asgard,but

also that he has be en the foe of the Asga rds . That heunder such ci rcumstances was able to secure admittanceto the only way that le ads to Asgard

,the bridge Bifrost ;

that he was al lowe d unhinde red to travel up this bridgeand approach the gate unpunished

,and without e ncounter

ing any other annoyances than a few re pe ll ing words fromF jOlsv in , who soo n change s his tone and gives him suchinforma tion as he desires— all thi s presuppo ses that themytho logy must have had strong and satisfactory reasonsfo r pe rmitting a thing so unusual to take pla ce . In several passage s in G rogalde r and in F jOlsvin n smal i t i s

758

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

hinted that the powers of fate had selected Svipdag tope rform extraordinary things and gain an end the a t

taining of which seemed impossible. That the nornshave some special purpose with him, and that Urd i s toprotect him and direct his course with invisible bonds ,however erratic it may seem

,all thi s gleams forth from

the words of his mother G roa in the gra ve-chamber. Andwhen Svipdag finally sees Me n glad hasten to throw herself into his arms

,he says hims elf that it i s U rd’s i rre

s ist ible decree that has shaped things thus : Urdar ordi

kvedr e ngimadr . But U rd’s resolve alone cannot be asufficient reason in the epic for Sv ipdag

’

s adoption inAsgard

,and for his gaining, though he i s not of Asa

birth,the extraordinary honour and good luck of b e com

ing the husband of the fairest of the a syn je s and of oneOf the foremost of the goddesses . Urd must have arranged the chain o i events in such a manner that Me n

glad de s ir e s to possess him,that Svipdag has deserved

her love,and that the Asa-gods deem it best for them

se lves to secure this opponent of theirs by bonds of kinship .

SVIPDAG BRINGS TO ASGARD THE SWORD OF REVENGEFORGED BY VOLUND .

The most important question put to F jOlsvin by Svipdag i s , O f course , the one whe ther a stranger can en ter .FjOlsv in

’

s answe r i s to the eff ect that this i s , and remains ,impo ssible, unless the stranger brings with him a certain

759

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

sword . The wall repe ls an uninvited come r ; the gate

holds him fast i f he ventures to lay hands on it ; of thetwo wolf-dogs one i s always watching while the othersleeps

,an d no one can pass them without permission .

To thi s assurance on the part of F jOlsvin are added aseries of questions and answers

,which the author of the

po em has planned with uncommon acumen . Svipdagasks i f it i s not

,after all, possible to get past the watching

dogs . There must be something in the world delicateen ough to sati sfy thei r appetite and thus turn away thei rattention . FjOlsvin admits that there are two delicaciesthat might produce this effect, but they are pieces of fleshthat l ie in the limbs. o f the coc k V ido fn er ( str . 1 7 ,He who can procure these can steal past the dogs . Bu t

the cock Vido fn e r sits high in the top of the world- treeand seems to be inaccessible. I s the re

,then

,asks Svip

dag,any weapon that can bring him down dead ? Ye s ,

says F jOlsvin ,ther e i s such a weapon . It was made

outside of Na -gate (n agr in dr ) . The smith was one

Loptr . He was robbe d (ruih u ) of this weapon so dangerons to the gold-glittering cock

,and now it i s in the

possession of Sinmara , who has laid it in a chest of toughi ron bene ath nine n ford- locks ( str . 2 5,It must have been most difl‘i cult and dangerous to go

to the place where Sinmara has her abode and try to secure the weapon so well kept . Svipdag asks i f anyonewho i s willing to attempt it has any hope of returning.

F jOlsvin an swers that in V ido fn e r’

s ankle-bones (viilu/m)l ie s a bright , hook- shaped bone . If one can secure this,bring i t to Ludr ( the place of the lower-world mill ) ,

76 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

a n d give it to Sinmara , then she can be induced to partwith the weapon in question ( str. 2 7It appears from this that the condition on which Svip

dag can get into the castle where Me nglad dwe lls is thath e shall be in posse ssion of a weapon which was smithiedby an enemy of the gods

,here called Loptr, and thus to be

compared with Loke,who actually bears this epithet . If

he do es n o t possess this weapon, which doubtless i sfraught with dan ger to the gods

,and is the only one

that can kill the gold-glitter ing cock of the world- tree,the n the gate of the citadel i s not ope ned to him , and thewatching wo l f-dogs wil l not let him pass through it .But F jOlsvin also indicates that unde r ordinary ci rcum

s tance s, and for one who i s not pa rticularly chosen forthis purpo se by Fate

,i t i s utterly impossible to secure

po sse ssion of the sword in question . Before Sinma racan be induced to lend it, i t i s necessary to bring Vido fn e rde ad down from the branches of the world- tree. But tokill the cock that very we apon is needed which Sinmaracannot o therwise be induced to part with .

Me anwhile the continuation o f the poem shows thatwhat was impossible fo r everybody else has alre ady beenaccomplished by Svipdag. When he stands at the gateof the castle in conversation with FjOlsvin he has thesword by hi s side

,and knows pe rfectly well that the

gate i s to b e Ope n ed so soon as it pleases him to put anend to the talk with FjOlsvin and pronounce hi s ownn ame. The ve ry moment he does this the gate swingson its hinges , the mighty wol f-dogs welcome (fagn a )him, and Me n glad, informed by F jOlsvin of his arrival,

76 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

hastens eager ly to meet him ( str . 42 , FjOlsvin n sma l

,so far as acumen in plot and in execution is con

cerned,i s the finest old po em that has been handed down

to our time,but it would be reduce d to the most absurd

nonsense i f the sword we re not in Sv ipda g’

s possession,as

th e gate i s never to b e opened to anyone else than to himwho brings to Mcn glad

’

s castle the sword in question .

So far as the sword i s conce rned we have now learne dThat it was made by an artist who must have beena fo e o f the gods, for F jOlsvin designates him by theLoke-epithet Loptr ,

:

That the place where the art ist dwelt when he madethe weapon was situate d fyr n dgr in dr n edan ;That while he dwe lt there

,and afte r he had fini shed

the sword, he was robbed of it (Loptr rumn fyr n dgr in drn eda n )That he or they who robbed him of it must have be e n

close ly re lated to Na t and the night discs,for the sword

was thereafter in the keeping of the night-being Sinma raThat she regarded it as exceedingly prec ious, and also

dangerous i f it came into imprope r hands, since she keepsit in a “tough iron chest” beneath nine magical locks ;That the eleven guards that dwell in the same castle

with Me nglad regard i t as of the greatest importance toget the sword within the i r castl e wal l ;That it has qual ities l ike no other weapon in the world

this sword,and it alone, can kill the golden cock on th e

world-trec— a quality which seems to indicate that itthreatens the existence o f the world and the gods .

76 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

It i s e vident that the artist who made this in compa rable and te rrible we apo n was o n e of the most celebra tedsmiths in mytho logy . The que stion now is

,whe the r the

information given us by FjOlsv in n smalin regard to himis sufficient to enable us to de te rmine with certainty whohe i s .The poem do es not name him by any of his names

,but

calls himby th e Loke- epithet Loptr , “the airy.

” Amongthe ancient smiths me ntione d in o u r mythic fragmentsthe re i s o n e who re fers to himse l f with the epithet Byrr ,“W ind,

” sugge sting to us the same pe rson— this one isVo lund . Afte r he in his sle ep had been made prisonerby Mimer-N idadr and his Nja r ia n s ( se e No . h e

says when he awake s

c ri t ’rO io fra r

th e ir e r a la ugdo

b e s t i By r s imao cmi c bu n do ?

Who a re the mighty,who W ith bonds ( b e s ti, dative of

bo'

s tr ) bound the wind (laugdo sima a Byr ) and fe tte re dme ? The expre ssio n implie s that i t i s as easy to bindthe wind as Vo lund . He wa s also able to secure hi s l ibet ty again in spite of all pre cautions .According to the Norse ver sion o f the Volund saga

,

one o f the precautions resorte d to i s to se ver the sinewsof his knee s ( str . 1 7 and the pro se) . It i s N idadr'squeen who causes this crue l treatment . In FjOlsvin n smalth e name less mythic personality who dep rived the

“airyo n e

”o f his weapon has left it to b e kept by a feminine

person , S iumora . The name i s composed of sin , which

76 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

means sinew, andma ra , which means the o n e thatmaims . (Mara i s re lated to the verbme rja , “tomaim”

— see V igfu sso n’

s D ict . ) Thus Sinmara means “the

o n e who maims by doing violence to the sinews .” Theo n e designate d by this epithet in FjOlsvin n smalhas the refo re acted the same part as Mimer-Nidadr's quee n in theVolu n da rkv ida .

Mimer-Nidadr, who imprisons Volund and robs himof his sword and the incomparable arm- ring, i s the fatherof Na t and her si sters ( se c No . He who robs “theairy o n e ” of his treasures must also have be en intimatelyrelated to the discs o f night

,else he would not have se

le c ted as keeper of the weapon Sinma ra , whose qualityas a being of night i s mani fested by the meaning inc u bu sn oc tu rn e s which i s the name Ma ra acquired . In F jOlsv in n smal( str. 2 9) Sinma ra i s cal led hin fb’

lva gygr,“the

ashes—coloured giantess”— a designation pointing in thesame dire ction .

She i s also called Eir aurglas is ( str. an expression which

,as I be l ieve

,has been correctly interpreted as

“the dis of the shining arm-ring” ( cp . Bugge Edda

,p .

In Volu n da rkv ida the daughte r of Mime r-Nidadrre ceives Volund’s incomparable arm-ring to wear .According to FjOlsvin n smal“the airy on e

” makes hisweapo n fyr n dgr in dr n e dan . The meaning of this expression has already been discussed in No . 6 0. The

smith has his abode in the frost-co ld and foggy N i felhc im,

while h e i s at work on the sword . Nifelhc im, the landfyr n dgr in dr n edan ,

as we already kn ow,i s the northern

subterranean bo rder- land of Mimer’s domain . The two

76 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

since the sword is kept in the lower world by a kinswoma n

o f Mimer.The heroic saga about Volund i s therefore identica lwith the myth concerning the maker of the sword whichOpens Asgard for Svipdag. The former

,produced in

C hristian times, i s only a new version of the latter. Vo

lund i s a foe of the gods, an elf-prince who was deep lyinsulted by beings more powerful than himself (No .

“The airy o n e” must likewise be a foe of the gods , since

th e weapon he has made is dangerous to the golden coc kof the world-tree, and is bought by

“the eleven wards

with the open ing of Asga rd’

s gate and the giving ofMe n glad as wi fe to Sv ipdag. Its danger to Asgard mustalso be suggested by FjOlsvin

’

s statement,that the splen

did hall,cal le d Hyrr,

“the gladdener,

” “the soul-stirring,

”

that hall which is situate d within the castle wall, whichi s encircled by va fc rflamc s, and which from time out ofmind has be en celebrate d amongmen — that this hall hasalready long trembled d b rodds oddi,

“on the point of thesword ( str . NO other weapon can here be me antthan one which was fraught with the greatest danger tothe sa fety of the gods, and which filled them with a n x

iety ; and unle ss we wish to deny that there i s sense andconnection in the poem , this sword can be no other thanthat which Svipdag now has with him , a nd which, havingbeen brought to Asgard , relieves the gods of their an xi e ty . And to repea t the points of similarity, Volund, .

l ike Lop tr , makes his weapon in th e no rthern borderland of Mimer’s domain ; and when the sword is finishedhe is surprised by subterranean powers . In Lop tr

’

s saga,

76 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

as in Volund’s,a magnificent arm-ring is mentioned

,and

in both a dis of night received this ring to wea r. In

Loptr’

s saga, as in Volund’s, a night-di s i s men tioned who

injures s inews . And Volund himsel f calls himself Byrr ,“the wind,

” which i s a synonym of Loptr .

Thus Sv ipdag has made a journey to the lower worldto get po ssession of the sword of Volund, and he hasbeen successful .

SVIPDAG’

S FATHER ORVANDEL, THE STAR-HERO . EKPLA

NATION OF H IS EPITHET SOLBJ ARTR.

The conversation between FjOlsvin and Svipdag endswhen the latter gives his name, and requests the formerto ask Menglad i f she wishe s to possess hi s love. Me n

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 rea lly i s the o n e hepretends to b c— the o n e she has long been longing for .The young hero then says : Svipdagr eh he i tir, Salbjar trhétmin n fadir ( str.When F jOlsvin asked Svipdag what the name of hisfather was, he answered : Spr ingcold, Vdrkaldr ( str. 6 )and I have already stated the reason why he was so called .

N ow he gi ves another name of his father— So’

lbjar tr

which also i s a mer e epithet,but still

,as Svipdag must

here speak plainly,i t has to be such a name as can. refer

to his father in a distinct and definite manner,

Svipdag’

s mother,G roa, was married to Orvan dillhin n

76 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

frcekn i (Younger Edda, 2 7 6 The epithet S (ilbjar tr ,“he who has a brightness l ike that of the sun , i f it reallyrefers to O rvan del, must be justified and explained bysomething that the mytho logy had to report of him . O f

O rvan del, we know from the Younger Edda that he and

G roa had at least for a time been good fri ends of Thor ;that on one of his expedition s in Jotunheim

,north of the

Elivagar rivers , the latter had met O rvan deland had carrie d him in hi s provision-basket across the wate r to hishome that O rvan delther e froze his toe ; tha t Thor brokethis off

,and

,in honour of O rvan del

,threw it up into the

heavens,where it became that star which is called Orva n

del’

s toe . O f ancient Teutonic star-names but very fewhave be e n hande d down to our time, and it i s natural thatthose now extant must be those of constellations or se parate stars

,which attracted attention on account of thei r

appearance, or particularly on account of the strength o fthei r light. O n e of them was “O rvan dcl’s to e .

” By thename O rvan del(Earen del) a star was also known amongthe Teutons in G rea t Britain . After being converted to

Christianity they re garded the Ear e n delstar as a symbolo f Christ . The Church had already sanctified such aview by applying to Christ the second epistle of Peter i .1 9

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy ;wher eunto ye do well that ye tak e heed

,as unto a light

that shineth in a dark pla c e , until the day dawn, and theday- star arise in your hearts .” The morning star b ecame

,as we read in a Latin hymn

,

“typus Christi .”

But it wou ld be a too hasty conclusion to assume thatO rvan dcl

’

s star and the morning star were identica l in

76 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

heathen times . All that we can assert with certainty i sthat the former must have been on e of the brightest, forthe very name Earcn delgradually became in the Old

English an abstract word meaning splendour.”

C odex Exonien sis has preserved a hymn to Chri st,the introducto ry stanzas of which appear to be borrowedfrom the memory of the he athen hymn to O rva n del, andto have be en adapted to Christ with a slight change :

E a la Ea rc n dcl O O rvan del,

e n gla b c o rh t a s t , brigh t e s t sh in in g o f a n ge ls ,o fc r Midda n gc a rd tho u w h o o v e r Midga rdmo n n ums e n de d a r t s e n t tome n ,

a n d s o diéi s t a tho u tru cs u n n a n le oma , b e amo f th e sun

t o h r t o fc r t a n gla s sh in in g abo vet hu tida gc hv a n c th e ligh ts o f h e a v e n ,

o f sylfumth e th o u w h o a lw ayssymlc in lih t e s . o f thys e lf

give s t ligh t .

From this Old Engl i sh song it appears as i f the O rvandcl ep ithet Solbjar tr was in vogue among the Saxontribes in England . We there find an apparent in te rp reta t ion of the epithet in the phrases adapted to Ea rcn del,“brightest ( b e orhtas t ) of angels

” and “tru e beam of the

sun . That Svipdag’

s name was well known in England,and that a Saxon royal dynasty counted him among theirmythical forefathe rs

,can be demonstrated by the gen

e alogy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . That Sv ipdagwith sufficien t distinctness might character i se his fatheras So

'

lbjar tr i s accordingly explained by the fact that O rvandel i s a star-hero

,and that the star bearing his name

76 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

was one of the brightest in the hea vens,and in bri l

lia n cy was like“a beam from the sun .

”

SVIPDAG RESCUED FREYJ A FROM THE HANDS OF THE

GIANTS. SAXO ON OTHARUS AN D SYRITHA . SVIP

D AG IDENTICALWITH OTHARUS.

When Me n glad requests Svipdag to name his race andhis name

,she do e s so because she wants jar tegn ( legal

eviden ce ; compare the express ionmed vi tn umoh jar tegn um) that he i s the one as whos e wi fe she had been de s ign a t ed by the norns ( ef e h var the r kvan of kvedin — str.

and that her eye s had not deceived her . She alsowishes to know some thing about h is past l i fe that mayconfirm that he is Svipdag. When Sv ipdag had give n as a

jar tegn h is own name and an epithet of his father, hemake s only a brief statement in regard to his past li fe

,but

to Me n glad it i s an entire ly sufficie nt proo f o f his identitywith her intende d husband . He says that the winds drovehim on cold paths from his fathe r’s house to frosty regionsof the world ( str . 47 That word used by him

,

“drove ”

(r eka ) , implies that he did n o t spontaneously leave hishome

,a fact which we also learn in G rogalde r . O n the

command of his stepmother, and contrary to his own will,he departs to find Mcn glads,

“the women fond of orna

ments .” His answer further shows that after he had lefthis father’s house he had made journeys in frost-cold re

gions of the world . Such regions a re Jotunheimand770

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

Nifclhc im, which was in fact regarded as a subterraneanpart of Jotunheim ( se c No s . 59

,

Me n glad has eagerly longed for the day when Svipdagshould come . He r moo d , when Svipdag se e s her withinthe castle wall sitting on “

the j oyous mount” surroundedby a syn je s and disc s, is described in th e poem by the verbthruma

,

“to be sunk into a le thargic,dreamy condition .

”

When F jOlsvin approa ches he r and bids her“look at a

strange r who may be Svipdag”

( str . she awake s in

gre at agony, and for a moment she can scarcely contro lherse l f . When she is persuaded that she has not beendeceived e ithe r by F jOlsv in

’

s wo rds or by her own eye s,

sh e at once se als the arrival of the youth with a kiss .The words which the poemmakes her lips utter testi fy,l ike her conduct

,that it i s not the first time she and Sv ip

dag have met, but that it i s a“meet ing again,

” and thatshe long ere thi s knew tha t she possessed Svipdag

’

s love .

She speaks n o t only of her own longing for h im, butalso of his longi ng and love fo r her ( str . 48 and i shappy that “he has come again to her hal ls (a t thu e s t

ap i r komin ,mb’gr , tilmin n a sala — str. This “again”

(back ) , which indicates a previous meeting betwee n Me n

glad a n d Svipdag,i s found in all the manuscripts o f

FjOlsv in n smal, and that it has not been added by any“betterer” trying to mend the metres of the text i s demonst ra ted by the fact that the metre would be improved bythe absen ce of the wo rd aptr .

Mea nwhile i t appears with certainty from F jOlsvin n smalthat Svipdag never before had seen the castle withinwhose walls Me nglad has r iki, e igh oh audso

'

lum( str . 7 ,77 I

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

He stands be fore its gate as a wondering stranger,and pu ts que stion afte r qu e st ion to F jOlsv in in re gard tothe remarkable sights be fore his e ye s . It fo l lows thatMe nglad did not have he r halls within this citadel, butdwe lt somewhe re e lse , at the time whe n she on a previousoccasion met Svipdag and became assure d that he lovedher .In this other place she must have res ide d when Sv ip

dag’s stepmo ther commande d him to find Me nglb'

dum,

that i s to say,Me n glad, but also some one else to whom

the epithe t “ornamen t-glad m ight apply. This i s confirmed by the fact that this o ther pe rson to whom G ro

galdc r’

s words refer is n o t at all me ntioned in F jOlsvin n smal . It i s mani fe st that many th ings had happened

,and

that Svipdag had encountere d many adventures , betwe enthe e pisode de scribed in G rogalde r , when he had just be encommande d by his stepmo the r to find “those loving o rnaments

,

” and the episod e in F jOlsvin n smal, when he se eksMen glad again in Asgard itsel f.Whe re can he haveme t he r befo re ? Was ther e any

time when Freyja did not dwell in Asgard ? VOlu spa

answers this que stion, as we know ,in the affirmative .

The e ven t threatening to the god s and to the existenceof the world once happ en ed that the goddess o f fertil ityand love came into the power of the giants . Then al lth e high-ho ly powers assembled to conside r who had

mixed the air with corruption and given Od’

s maid tothe race of gi ants .

” But non e of our Icelandic mythic

reco rds mentions how an d by whomFreyja was liberate dfrom the hands of the power s of frost . Under the name

772

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

the giant succe eded in nestl ing herself in Syr itha’

s c o n

fide n c e,in be ing adopte d as her maidse rvant

,and in e n

t icing her to a place wher e the giant lay in ambush . Thelatter hastene d away with Sy r itha and concealed her ina wi ld mountain district . When O tha ru s learned this hesta rted out in search of the young maiden . He visitede very recess in the mountains , found the maiden and slewthe giant . Syr itha was in a strange condition whenO tha ru s l iberated her . The giant had twisted and pre sse dher lo cks toge ther so that they formed on h e r head o n e

hard mass which hardly could be combed out except withthe aid of an iron too l . He r eye s stared in an apatheticmanner, and she neve r raised them to loo k at her libe rator. It was O tha ru s’ dete rmination to bring a pure virgin back to her kinsmen . Bu t the coldness and in di ffe re nce she se eme d to ma ni fe st toward him was mo re thanh e could e ndure, and so he abandoned he r on the way .

While she now wandered alone through the wilder ne ssshe came to the abode o f a giante ss . The latte r madethe maiden ten d her goats . Still

,O tha ru s must have re

gre t te d that he abandone d Sy r itha , for he wen t in search

o f her and libe rated he r a second time . The mythic po emfrom which Saxo borrowed his story must have containe da song

,rep roduced by him in Latin paraphrases, and in

which O tha ru s explained to Sy r itha his love, and re

que sted he r “whom he had suffe re d so much in seekingand finding

,to give him a loo k from her e ye s as a toke n

that unde r his prote ction she was willing to be brought

b ack to her father and mothe r. But her eye s continually

s tared on the ground , and appa rently she remained as

774

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

c old and indiff erent as before . O tharu s then abandonedher for the second time . From the thread of the storyi t appears that the y were then not far fromthat b orderwhich separates Jotunhe im from the other realms of theworld . O tha ru s crossed that water, which in the oldrecords i s probably called the Elivaga r rivers, on the op

po s it e s ide o f which was his fathe r’s home. O f Syr itha

Saxo on the other hand,says cautiously and obscure ly

that she in amanner that some time s happene d in a n

t iqu ity hasten ed far away down the ro cks”—mor e pr is tin o

d e cu r s is la te s c opulz'

s (H is t . ,'

3 3 3 ) — an expre ssion whichle ads us to suppos e that in the mythic account she hadflown away in th e guise of a bird . Meanwhile fatebrought her to the home of O tha ru s ’ parents . He re sherepresente d herself to be a poo r traveller

,bo rn of pa re nts

who had nothing. But he r refine d manners contradictedhe r statement, and the mo ther o f Otha ru s re ce ive d heras a noble guest . O tha ru s himsel f had already comehome . She thought she could rema in unknown to himby never raising the ve i l with which she co ve re d her face.But O tha ru s we ll knew who she was . To find out whethe rshe really had so l ittle feeling for himas her manne rs seemed to indicate , a pretended wedding betwee n

O tha ru s and a young ma iden was arrange d , whose name

and po sition Saxo do es not me ntion . When O tha ru s

went to the bridal bed, Sy r itha was probably near him as

bridesmaid,and ca rried the candle. The light or the

flame burn t down,so that the fire came in contact with

h e r hand,but she felt no pain , for the re was in he r heart

a sti ll more burning pain . When O tha ru s then requested

775

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

her to take care of her hand, she finally raised her gaz efrom the ground, and the i r eyes met . Therew ith thespel l resting o n Sy r itha was broke n : it was plain thatthey lo ved each other and the pret ended wedding waschanged into a re a l o n e between Syr itha an d O tha ru s .

When her father learned this he became exceedinglywro th ; but after his daughter had made a fu l l explanation to him, his anger was tran sforme d into kindness andgraciousness

,and he himself thereu pon married a sister

of O tha ru s .

In regard to the person who enticed Sy ri tha into thesnare laid by the giant

,Saxo i s not quite ce rtain that it

was a woma n . O the rs think,he says, that i t was a man

in the guise o f a woman .

It has long since attracted the attention ofmy thologi sts that in this narrative there are found two names,O tha ru s and Sy r itha , which seem to refe r to the mythconcern ing Freyja . O tharu s i s no doubt a Latinisedform of O ttar

,and

,as i s we l l known , the only one who

had this name in the mytho logy is, as stated , Freyja’s

lover and husband . Sy r itha , on the othe r hand , maybe a Latinised form of Freyja’s epithet Syr, in whichSaxo presumably supposed he had found an abbreviated

form of Syri (Siri , Sigrid ) . In Saxo’s narrative Sy rithai s abducted by a gi ant (gigas ) , with the aid of an allywhom he had procured among Freyja’s attendants . Inthe mythology Frey ja i s abducted by a giant, and, as i tappears from Voluspa

’s wo rds,l ikewise by the aid of

some ally who was in Freyja’s service,for it i s there said

that the gods hold council as to who it could have been

776

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

who gave, delivered Freyja to the race of the giants

(ho e rr hefdi cat t jc'

i tims Odsmey gefn a ) . In SaxoO tha ru s i s o f lower descent than Sy r itha . Saxo has notmade him a son of a king

,but a youth of humble birth

as compared with hi s bride ; and his courage to look up to

Sy r itha , Saxo remarks, can only be explained by thegreat deeds he had pe rformed o r by his rel iance on hisagreeable manners and his e loquen ce (s ive ge s tammrerummagn i tudin e rive c omi ta tis e t fac u n dice fiduc ia ac

c e n su s ) . In the mythology Odr was of lower birth thanF reyja he did not by birth belong to the number of highergods ; and Svipdag had , as we know ,

never se en Asgard before he arrived there unde r the circumstances describe d in F jolsvin n smal. That the most beauti ful of allthe goddesses

,and the one se cond in rank to Frigg alone

,

she who i s pa rticula rly desired by al l powers, the sistero f the harvest god Frey, the daughte r of N jord, the godo f wealth

,she who with O din share s the privilege o f

choosing heroe s on the b a t tlefield— that she doe s not b ecome the wi fe of an Asa -god

,but i s married to the man

cal led Odr ,” would long since have be en sele cted by the

mythologi st as a que st ion both inte resting and worthyof inve stigation had they cared to devote any attentionto epic coherence and to premise s and dén ou eme n t inthe mythology in connection with the speculations on thesignification of the myths as symbo ls o f nature or onthei r ethical meaning. The vi ew would then ce rtainly

have be en reached that thi s Odr in the epic of the mythology must have been the autho r of exploits which balancedhis humbler descent

,and the mythologi sts would thus

777

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

have been driven to direct the investigation first of all tothe que stion whether F reyja , who we know was for somet ime in the power of the giants

,but was rescued the re

from, did not find as her liberator this very Odr, whoafterwards became her husband

,and whether Odr did

not by this very act gain he r love and become entitledto obtain her hand . The adventure which Saxo relatesactually dovetai ls itse lf into and fills a gap in that chainof events which are the result o f the analysi s of G rogalder an d F jolsvin n smal.We understand that the youngSvipdag i s alarmed, and considers the task imposed o n

him by the stepmother to find Me nglad far too great forhis stren gth

,i f i t i s ne cessary to se ek Me nglad in Jotun

heim and rescue her thence. We understand why o n

hi s arrival at Asgard he i s 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 posse ssorof the Volund sword, but also as the one who has restore d to Asgard the most lovely and most beauti fula syn je . We can then understand why the gate

,which

holds fast every uninvited gue st, ope ns as of itself forhim

,and why the savage wolf-dogs l ick him . That his

wo rds : thadcm( fromhis pa ternal home) rdkumk vi nda

kalda vegu , are to Me n glad a sufficient answer to herquestion in regard to his pre vious journeys can b e u n

de rstoo d i f Sv ipdag has , as O ttar, searche d through thefro st-cold Jo tu n he im’s eastern mountain districts to findMe n glad ; and we can then see that Me nglad in F jolsv in n smalca n spe ak of her meeting with Svipdag at thegate of Asgard as a “meeting again,

” although Svipdag

778

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

never before had b e e n i n Asgard . And that Me n glad

rec e ives him as a husband to whom she is already marrie d

,with whom she is now to b e “united for ever”

(Fjolsv in n smal, i s l ikewise explained by the imp rov ise d wedding which O tha ru s celebrated with Sy r itha

before she re turns to he r father .The identity o f O tha ru s with the O ttarr—Odr—Svipdwgr

of the mythology furthe r appears fromthe fact that Saxogives him as father an Ebbo, which a compa rative in ve s

t iga t io n proves to be ide ntical with Svipdag’

s father O r

vandel . O f the name Ebbo and the person to whom itbelongs I shall have some thing to say in N o s . 1 08 and

1 09. Her e it mu st be remarked that i f O tha ru s i s identical with Svipdag,

then his fa ther Ebbo,l ike Svipdag

’

s

fa the r,shou ld appe ar in the history of the mythic patri

arch Halfdan and be the enemy of the latter ( see No s .

2 4,

Such is also the case . Saxo produces Ebboo n the scene as an enemy of Halfdan Be rggram(H is t . ,3 2 9, A woman

, G roa, i s the cause o f the enmitybetween Halfdan and O rvan del. A woman , Sygru tha ,i s the cause of the e nmity between Hal fdan and Ebbo .

In the one passage Halfdan robs O rva n del o f his b e

tro thed G roa ; in the other pa ssage Halfdan robs Ebboof hi s bride Sygru tha . In a third pa ssage in his H is tory(p . 1 3 8 ) Saxo has recorded the tradition that Ho rve n

dillu s (O rvan del) i s slain by a rival , who takes his wi fe ,there cal led G e ru tha . Halfdan ki l ls Ebbo . Thus it i splain that the same story i s to ld about Svipdag

’

s fathe r

Orvan deland about Ebbo the father of O tha ru s and that

G ro a, Sygru tha , and G e ru tha are different versions of

the same dis of vegetation .

779

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

According to Saxo, Syr itha’

s father was afterwardsmarried to a s ister o f O tharu s . In the mythology F reyja

’

s

father Njo rd marri es Skade, who is the foster- sister andsys tmnga ( sister’s child ) o f O ttar-Svipdag ( see No s .

1 08,1 1 3 1 1 4

,

Freyja s surname Ham(also H0m) may possibly beexplained by what Saxo relates about the giant’s mannerof treating he r hai r, which he pre ssed into o n e snarled ,stiff , and hard mass . With the myth concerning Freyja

’slocks, we must compare that about Si f

’s hair . The hairo f both the se godde sses i s subj e ct to the violence o f thehands of giants

,and it may be presume d that both myths

symbolise d some feature of nature. Loke ’s act o f v iolence on Sif’s hai r i smade good by the skill and goodwill of the ancient artists Sin dre and Brok (Younge rEdda , i . In regard to Freyja’s lo cks

,the skill o f

a “dwarf may have been resorted to,s ince Saxo relates

that an iron instrume nt was nec ess ary to sepa rate andcomb out the horn-hard braids . In Voluspa’s l ist o f a ncient arti sts the re i s a smith by name H or n b or i, whichpossibly has some re fe rence to this .Reasons have already been given in N o . 3 5 for the

theory that i t was G ulve ig-Heid who be trayed Freyj aand de l ive red her into the hands o f the g iants . WhenSaxo says tha t this tre ache ry was committed by a woman

,

but also sugge sts the possibi lity that i t was a man in thegu ise of a woman

,then this too is explained by themy

thology , in which G ulve ig-Heid,l ike he r fe llow culprit

,

has an androgynous nature . Loke become s “the po sse sso r of the evi l woman” (kvidugr af kon u illr i ) . In

780

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

s ical instruments was so great that he had the humanpassions under his control , and could produce, at pleasure

,gladne ss

,sorrow

,sympathy

,or hate. N anna , the

daughter of G eva ru s, fell in love with the highly giftedyouth a n d he with her.Meanwhile

,fate brought it to come to pass that Bal

der,the son of the ido l Odin , also fe ll in love with

N anna . He had once seen her bathing,and had be en

daz zled by the splendour of h e r l imbs . In o rder to t e

move the most dangerous obstacle be tween himself andh e r

,he re so lved to slay Ho the ru s .

As Ho th e ru s o n a foggy day was hunting in the woodshe got lo st and came to a house, where there sat threewoo d-nymphs . They greeted him by name , and in a n

swer to his question the y said they were the maids whodetermine the events of the battle, and give de fe at or success in war . Invisible they come to the battlefield , andsecretly give help to tho se whom they wish to favour .From them Ho the ru s le arned that Balder was in lovewith Nanna

,b u t the y advise d him not to resort to w eap

ons against him,fo r h e was a demigod born of super

natural se ed . When they had said this,they and the

house in which Ho theru s had found them disappeare d ,and to his joy he found himsel f standing o n a field underthe open sky.

When he arrived home, he mentioned to G e va ru s whathe had seen and heard

,and at once demanded the han d

of his daughter . Ge va ru s answered that i t would havebeen a ple asure to him to se e Ho the ru s and Nanna united,but Balder had a lready made a similar request

,and he

78 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

did not dare to draw the wrath of the latter down uponhimsel f

,since not even iron could harm the conjured body

of the demigod .

But G e va ru s said he knew of a sword with whichBalder could be slain

,but it l ie s locked up behind the

strongest bars,and the place where it i s found is scarcely

accessible to mortals . The way thithe r— i f we may usethe e xpression where no road has be enmadeb is filledwith obstacle s

,and leads fo r the greate r part through ex

c e edin gly cold regions . But be hind a span of swift stagsone ought to be able to ge t safe across the icy mountain ridges . He who ke eps the swo rd is the fo re st-be ing

Mimin gu s, who also has a wonderful wealth-pro ducingarm- ring . I f Ho the ru s gets the re, he should place histent in such a manner that its shadow doe s not fall intothe cave where Mimingu s dwel ls, fo r at the sight of thi sstrange e clipse the latter would withdraw farther intothe mountain . Observing the se rules o f caution

,the

swo rd and arm-ring might po ssibly be secured . Thesword i s of such a kind that victory never fai ls to atten dit

,and its value i s quite inestimable .Ho the ru s

,who care fully followed the advice of

G e va ru s , succe eded in securing the sword and the ring,wh ich Mimin gu s, surpri sed and bound by Ho the ru s, del ive re d as a ransom for his li fe .When G elder, the king of Saxony, learned that thetreasure of Mimingu s had been robbe d, he resolved tomake war against Ho the ru s . The fore knowing G eva ru ssaw thi s in advance

,and advised Ho the ru s to receive the

rain of javelins from. the enemy pati ently in the battle,

78 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

an d not to throw his own javelins befo re the enemy’s supply o f we apo ns was exhausted . G elde r was conque re d

,

and had to pray fo r peace . Ho the ru s received h imin themost friendly manner

,and now he conquered him with

his kindness as he had before done with hi s cunning asa warrio r .Ho tha ru s also had a fri end in Helgo

,the king of

Halogalan d. The Chieftain of the Finns and of theBja rmian s, Cus‘o (G use) , wa s the father of Thora, whosehand Helgo sought through mess engers . But He lgohad so ugly a blemish on his mouth that he was ashamedto converse

,n o t only with strange rs

,but also with his

own hou sehold and friends . Cuso had already refuse dhis offe r of ma rriage

,but as he now addressed himse l f

to Ho the ru s asking for assi stance, the latte r was able tosecure a hearing from the Finnish Chie ftain, so thatHe lgo secured the wife he so greatly desired .

While this happe ned in Halogalan d, Balde r had invaded the territory of G e va ru s with an armed force, todema nd N anna’s hand . G e va ru s referred him to hisdaughter

,who was he rse l f permi tted to dete rmine her

fate . N anna answere d that she was of to o humble birthto be the wife of a husband of divine descent . G eva ru s

informed Ho the ru s of what had happened,and the latter

to ok counsel with Helgo as to what was now to be done .

After having cons idered various things, they finally re

solved on making war .And it was a war in which one should think menfought with gods . For Odin , Thor, and the hosts sanct ified by the gods fought on Balder ’s side . Thor had a

784

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

heavy club,with which he smashed shields and coa ts-o i

mail,and slew all before him . Ho the ru s would have

seen his re treating army defeated had he not himself succ eeded in checking Thor’s progress . C lad in an impenet rable coat-o i -mail

,he went against Tho r, and with a

blow of his sword he seve red the handle fromTho r’sclub and made i t unfit for u se . Then the gods fled .

Thereu po n the warriors of Ho the ru s rushed upon Balder’s flee t and destroye d and sa nk it . In the same war

G elder fell and hi s body was laid in h i s ship on a pi leof his fal len warriors and b urne d b u t hi s ashes we re

afterwards depo sited with gre at solemnity in amagn ificent grave -mound by Ho the ru s who then returned to

G eva ru s , ce lebrated h i s wedding with N anna, and madegreat presents to Helgo and Thora .But Balde r had no peace. Another war was dec lare d ,and this time Balder was the victor . The defeatedHo the ru s took refuge with Ge va ru s . In thi s war a waterfamine occurred in Balder’s army

,but the latter dug

deep we lls and opened new fountains for his thi rsty men .

Meanwhi le Balde r was afflicted in his dreams by ghostswhich had assume d N anna’s form . H is love and longing so consumed him that he at last was unable to walk,but had to ride in a chariot on his journeys .

Ho the ru s had fle d to Sweden , whe re he retained theroyal authority ; but Balde r took posse ssion of Seeland,a n d soon acqu i red the de votio n of the D anes , for he wasregarded as having martial merits

,and was ama n of

great dignity . Ho the ru s again de clared war against Balder

,but was defeated in Jutland

,and was obliged to r e

785

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

turn to Swe den alone and abandoned . D espondent onaccount of h i s defeats, weary of li fe and the light o f day,he went into the wilderness and traversed most de solatefo rests , where the fa l l of mortal feet i s seldom heard .

Then he came to a cave in which sat three strange women .

From such women he had once re ceive d the impenet rablecoat-o f-mail, and he recognised themas those ve ry persons . They asked him why he ha d come to the se re

gions , and he told them how unsucce ss ful he had be en inhis last battle. He reproa ched them

,saying that they

had de ce ived him,for they had promise d him victory,

but he had a totally diff eren t fate . The women respondedthat he nevertheless had done his enemies great harm,

and assured him that victory would yet perch o n his banners i f he should succeed in finding the won derful nouri shme n t which was invented for the incre asing of Balde r’s strength . This was sufficient to encourage him tomake ano ther war

,although there w ere those among his

friends who dissuaded him there from. From differentsides men were gather ed

,and a bloo dy battle was fought,

which was not decide d at the fall of night . The u n e a siness o f Ho the ru s hindered h imfrom sleeping

,and he

we nt out in the darkness of the night to reconnoitre thecond ition and position of the e nemy . Whe n he hadre ached the camp of the enemy he pe rceived that threedise s

,who were wont to prepare Balder’s mysterious

foo d,had just left . He followed their footprints in the

bedewed grass and reached their abode . Asked by themwho he was

,he said he was a player o n the cithern . O n e

o f them then handed him a cithern, and he played for them78 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

magnificently. They had three serpents, with whosevenom Balder’s food was mixed . They wer e now e n

gaged in preparing this food . O n e o f them had thegoodness to off er Ho the ru s some of the food ; but theeldest said “It would be treason to Balder to increasethe strength of his foe .

” The stranger said that he waso n e of the men of Ho the ru s

,and not Ho the ru s himsel f .

He was then pe rmitted to taste the food .

* The womenalso presented him with a beauti ful girdle of victory.

O n his way home Ho the ru s met his foe and thrust aweapo n into his side, so that he fell half-dead to theground . This produced joy in the camp of Ho the ru s,

but so rrow in the D anish camp . Balder, who knew thathe was going to die

,but was unwilling to abide death in

his tent,ren ewed the battle the following day

,and had

himse l f carrie d on a stretcher into the thickest of the fight .The following night Prose rpina ( the goddess of de ath )came to him and announce d to him that he should be herguest the next day . He died from his wound at the timepredicted

,and was burie d in a mound with royal splen

dour . Ho the ru s took the sceptre in D e nmark after Balder .Meanwhile i t had happened that King G eva ru s had

been attacked and burned in his ho use by a jarl under him,

by name G u n n o . Ho the ru s aven ged the de ath of G evarus, and burnt G umno alive on a funeral pyre as a punishme n t for his crime .Rinda and O din had a son by name Bous . The lat

‘ Ac c ord in g to G h e y sme r ’

s syn ops is . Saxo h ims e lf s ays n oth in g o f th ek in d . Th e pre se n t re a d in g o f th e pa s sa ge i n Saxo i s d ist in c tlymu t i la ted .

787

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

ter,to aven ge the death of his brother Balder, attacked

Ho the ru s, who fel l in the confl ict . But Bous himselfwas severely wounded and died the fol lowing day fromhis wounds . Ho the ru s was followed on the D anishthrone by his son Rori cu s .

In the examination o f this narrative in Saxo there i sno hope of arriving at absolutely po sitive results unlessthe stu dent lays aside all current presuppositions and

,in

fact,al l notions concerning the origin and age of the Bal

der-myth,concern ing a spe cial D anish myth in opposi

tion to a special Norse-Icelandic, &c . I f the latter con

je c tu re b ased on Saxo is correct, then this i s to appear asa result of the investigation ; but the conj ecture i s not tobe used as a presuppo sition .

That which first strikes the reader i s that the storyis not homogeneous . It i s composed of elements thatcould not be blended into one harmonious whole . Itsuff e rs from intrinsic contra dictions . The origin of thesecontradictions must first of all be explained .

The most persi stent contradiction concerns the swordof victory of which Ho the ru s secured po ssession .

* Weare assure d that it i s of imme nse value ( inge n s pr zmium) ,and is atten de d with the succe ss of victory ( b elli for tu n ac omi tar e tu r ) , and Ho the ru s i s, in fact, able with the helpof thi s sword to accomplish a great exploit : put Thorand other gods to fl ight . But then Ho the ru s i s conqueredagain an d again by Balder, and finally also defeate d byBous and slain

,in spite of the fact that G eva ru s had as

‘ This Bu gge , t oo , h a s obs e rve d , a n d h e right ly a s sume s tha t th e e p isodec o n c e rn in g t h e sword h a s be e n in te rpo la te d fromsome o ther s ourc e .

788

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

po int out in which o f these alternative s we have themythological fact . Ho

'

dr has neve r po sses sed the irre

s ist ible sword .

But Saxo has n o t himse l f invented the episode concerning the swor d of victo ry, nor has he introduced thisepisode in his narrative about Ho the ru s without thinkinghe had good re ason ther e for .It follows with certainty that the episo de belongs to

the saga of anothe r he ro, and that things were found inthat saga which made it po ssible for Saxo to confoundh imW ith Hodr .

The que stion then arises who this hero was . The firstthread the investigation finds

,and has to follow, is the

name itself,Ho the ru s

,within which Latin form Oder

can lie conceale d as we ll as Hddr .

In the mytho logy Odr,l ike H adr

,was an inhabitant of

Asgard,but ne verthele ss

,l ike Ho

'

dr,he has had hosti le

relations to Asga rd, and in this connection he ha s foughtwith Thor ( se e No . The similari ty of the name sand the similia r ity of the mythological situation are su fficient to explain the confusion on the part of Saxo . Butthere are se ve ral othe r reaso ns , of which I will give one .The wea pon with which Hoder slew Balder in themythology was a young twig, Mis telte imi . The swo rd ofvictory made by Vo lund

,with ho sti le intentions against

the gods, could, for the very reason that it was dangerousto Asgard , be compa red by skalds with the mistletoe, andbe so called in a po etic—rhetorical figure. The fact is ,that bo th in Skirn e rsmaland in F jolsv in n smal the V0lund sword is designated as a te irm; that themis tle toe

790

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

i s included in the list of sword-names in the YoungerEdda ; and that in the later Icelandic saga- l ite raturemist elte irmi s a sword which is owne d in succession by Saming

,Thrdirm

,and Romun d G re ipso n and finally

,that all

that i s there said abo ut this swo rdmis telte irmi s a faithfulecho o f the sword of victory made by Volund

,though the

facts are more or less confuse d . Thus we find,for ex

ample,that i t i s Mdn 'i Ka rlwho informs Romu n d where

the sword is to b e so ught, while in Saxo it i s the moo ngod G evar, N anna

’s father, who tells Ho the ru s where i tlies hid . That the god Mdn i and G e var are identicalhas already been proved ( se e No s . 90, 9 1 , Alrea dybefore Saxo’s time themi s telte in ri and the sword of victory o f the mythology had be en confounded with eachothe r

,and Hoder’s and O der’s weapo ns had received the

same name. This was another reason for Saxo to c oh

found Hoder and Oder an d unite them in Ho the ru s .

And when he found in some of his sources that a swordmis telte imz. was used by O der, and in others that amistelte irmwas wielde d by Hode r, it was natural that he asa historian should prefer the sword to the fabulous mistle to e ( se emore below ) .

The circumstan ce that two mythical persons are unitedinto o n e in Ho the ru s has given Saxo free choice of making his Ho the ru s the son of the fathe r of the one or ofthe o ther . In the mythology Hoder i s the son of O din ;O der-Svipdag i s the son of O rvan del. Saxo has madeh ima son of Hoddb rodd

,who i s identical with O rvan del.

It has alrea dy been demonstrated ( se e No . 2 9) that HelgeHu n dingsba n e i s a copy of the Teutonic patriarch Hal f

79I

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

dan . The serie s of para lle ls by which this demonstrationwa s made clear at the same time makes it man ifest thatH e lge ’s rival Hoddb rodd i s Halfdan’s rival O rvan del.The same place as i s o ccupied in the Halfdan myth byO rvan del, Ho ddb rodd occu pies in the songs co ncerningHelge Hun din gsb an e . What we had a right to expect

,

namely,that Saxo

,whe n he did not make Ho the ru s

the son of Hoder’s fathe r,shou ld make h ima so n of

Ode r’s , has actu ally bee n done, whe nce there c a n be nodoubt that Hoder and Ode r were united into one in Saxo’sHo the ru s .

With this point perfectly establishe d,i t i s po ssible to

analyse Saxo ’s narrative po int by point,reso lve it into

its constituen t parts, and refe r them to the one of thetwo myths concerning Hoder and O de r to which theybe long .

* It has a lready been no ted that Saxo was u nable to unite organically with his narration of Ho der’sadve nture the episode conce rning the sword of victorytaken from Mimin gu s . The introduction of this episo dehas made the sto ry of Ho the ru s a cha in o f contradictions .O n the othe r hand , the same episode natural ly adapts itsel fto th e Svipdag-Oder sto ry, which w e already know . Wehave se en that Sv ipdag descends to the lower world an d

there gets into posse ssion of the Volu nd sword . Henceit i s Svipdag-Oder

,not Hode r

,who is instructed by the

moon-god G e var as to whe re the swo rd i s to be found .

It i s he who crosses the frost-mo untains,penetrates into

the spe cu s guarded by Mimingu s , and there capture s theVolund swo rd and the Volund ring . It i s Svipdag,

not*This a n a lys is w il l b e give n i n th e s e c on d part o f this work i n th e

tre a t is e o n t h e Ra ide r -myth .792

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

myth concerning Svipdag. In two other pa ssages in hisH is tor ia D an ica Sv ipdag reappe ars, namely, in the a c

counts o f the reigns o f Frod e III . and of Halfdan Berggram

,in bo th under the name Er icu s (Eire kr ) , a name

appl ie d to Svipdag in the mythology also ( see No .

The first reference showing that Svipdag and Erikare identical appears in the following analogie sHalfdan (G ram ) , who kills a Swedish king, is attacked

in war by Svipdag.

Halfdan (Be rggram) , who kills a Swedish king, i sattacked in war by Erik .

Svipdag i s the son of the slain Swedish king’s daugh

ter.Erik is the son of the slain Swedish king’s daughter .Saxo’s account o f K ing Frode i s for the greater part

the myth abo ut Frey told as history. We might the nexpec t to find that Svipdag, who becomes Frey

’s bro therin - law

,should appe ar in some role in Frode’s history.

The question,then, i s whether any brother-in —law of

Frode plays a part therein . This i s actual ly the case .F rode

’

s bro ther- in - law is a young her o who i s his generaland factotum

,and i s calle d F riens, with the surname

D is e r ta s,the eloquent . The Er icu s who appears as

Halfdan ’s enemy acco rdingly resemble s Svipdag,Half

dan’s en emy, in the fact that he is a son of the daughter of the Swedish king slain by Halfdan . The Er icu swho i s Frode-Frey’s gen er al , again, re sembles Sv ipdagi n the fact that he marries F rode F r ey

’

s sister. Thi si s ano ther indication that Erik and Svipdag we re ident ical in Saxo’s mythic sources .

794

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Let us now pursue these indications and see whetherthey are confirmed by the stori e s wh ich Saxo tells of Hal fdan’s e nemy Erik and Frode-Frey’s brothe r- in - law

,Er ik

the eloquen t .Saxo first brings us to the paternal home of Erik the

eloquent . In the beginning of the narrative Erik’s motheri s already dead and his father i s marri ed a secon d time

(H is t , C ompare with this the beginning of Svipdag’s histo ry

,where his mother

,according to G rogalde r ,

i s de ad,a n d h is father is marrie d again .

The stepmother has a so n,by name Rolleru s

,whose

position in the myth I shall conside r hereafter . Erikand Ro ller leave thei r paternal home to find Frode-F reyand his sister G u n va ra ,

a maiden of the most extrao rdinary beauty . Befo re they proce ed ou this adven turousjourney Erik’s stepmother

,Ro ller’s mother

,has gi ven

them a wisdom- inspiring food to eat,in which one o f the

constituent parts was the fat of thre e serpen ts . O f thi sfood the cunning Erik knew how to se cure the be tter pa rt,re al ly intended for Roller . But the half-brothe rs wer efaithful friends .From Saxo’s narrative it appe ars that Erik had no

desire at al l to make this journey . It was Ro ller whofirst made the promise to go in search for Frode and hissi ster

,and it was doubtless Erik’s stepmothe r who brought

about tha t Erik should assi st hi s brother in the a c complishme n t of

.

the task . Erik himsel f regarded the r e

solve taken by Roller as surpassing his strength (H is t ,

This corresponds with what G rogalde r tells us about

795

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Svipdag’

s disinclination to pe r fomthe task imposed onh imby his stepmother. This also gives us the key toG rogalde r

’

s wo rds, that Svipdag was commanded to goa n d find not only “the one fond of ornamen ts

,

” but “thos efond of ornaments” (komamoti Me nglodum) . Theplural indica tes that there i s more than one “fond of o rnaments” to be sought . It i s necessary to bring back toAsgard not only Freyja

,but also Frey h e r brother

,the

god of the harvests,for whom the ancien t artists made

o rnaments,and who as a symbol of nature i s the one um

der whose suprema cy the fo rces o f veget ation in nature

decorate the meadows with grass and the fields with grain .

He , too, with his sister, was in the power of the giantworld in the grea t fimb ul-winte r ( se e be low ) .

The food to which se rpents must contribute one of theconstituent parts reappears in Saxo’s account of Ho the ru s

(H is t , 1 2 3 ; No . and is there described with aboutthe same words . In both passages three serpents arerequired for the purpose . That Balder should be nourished with this sort of foo d is highly improbable. The

se rpe nt food in the stories about Ho th e ru s and Ericu sh as been borrowed from the Svipdag-myth .

The land in which Frode and his beauti ful s ister l iveis difficu lt of access, and magic powers have hitherto madefuti le every effort to get there . The attendants of thebrother and si ster there are described as the most savage,the mo st impudent

,and the most disagreeable that can be

conceived . They are beings o f the most dn u st ing kind,whose manners are as unrestrained as the i r words . To

ge t to this country i t i s necessary to cross an ocea n, where

796

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

It i s mani fest from Saxo’s description that Frode an d

G u n va ra , possibly by virtue of the sorcery of the giants,are in a spiritual condition in which they have a lmostforgotten the past

,but without being happy in their pres

e n t circumstance s . Frode feels unhappy and degr aded .

G u n va ra loathes his suito r G rep . The days here spentby Erik and Ro lle r, before they get an opportunity totake flight with G u n va ra , form a serie s o f drinkingbouts

,vulgar songs

,assaults

,fights, and murders . The

j ealous G rep trie s to assassinate Erik, but in this attempthe i s slain by Ro l le r’s sword . Frode cannot be pe rsu aded to accompany Erik

,Roller

,and G u n va ra on this

fl ight . He feels that his l i fe i s staine d with a spo t thatcannot be remove d

,and he is unwi l l ing to appear with i t

among otherme n . In the mytho logy it i s left to N jo rdhimsel f to libe rate his son . In ano ther passage (H is t ,2 6 6

,2 6 7 ) Saxo says that King F r idlevu s (N jord ) l ib

e ra te d a prince ly youth who had be en robb ed by a giant .In the mythology th i s youth can hardly b e anyone elsethan the young Fre y

,the son o f the liberator. Erik a f

te rwa rds marries G u n va ra .

Among the po etical pa raphrases from heathen time sa re found some which refer to Frey’s and Freyj a

’s c apt iv ity among the giants . In a song of the skald Ko rmakthe mead o f po etry is called jas tr irz fon to rma Sj ra r G r eppo ,“the seething flood o f the se a ranks (o f the skerry ) o f

Syr (of Freyja ) of the G reps .” This paraphrase e vi

de n tly owes its existence to an association of ide as basedon the same myth as Saxo has told in his way . aswe know

,i s one of Freyja’s surnames, and as to its mean

798

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

ing,one which she must have acquired during her so

journ in Jotunheim,for it i s scarcely applicable to her out

side o f Jotunheim . G reppr, , the poet there, as we havealready seen

,i s Frey j a

’s suitor. He has had brothersalso calle d G r eppr , when ce the plural expression Syrs

G r eppo Sy r’

s wherein Freyja’s surname i sjoined with more than one G rep, receive s itsmythologiacal explanation . The giant abo de where Frode and G u nvara sojourn

,i s according to Saxo, situate d not far from

the harbour where Erik and Roller ente red (por tamaqu o Pr o tho n on lo nge dev e rsa ba tu r

— H is t,

Theexpression “the G rep s of Syr

’

s skerries” thus agrees withSaxo .

A northern land uninhabited by man is by Eyvind

Skaldasp ille r calle d u tro'

s t B elja dolgs,“the most r e

motely situated abo de of Be le’s enemy Thisparaphrase is also explained by the myth concerningFrey’s and Fr eyja

’

s visi t in Jotunhe im . B eli i s a giantname

,and means “the howler .” Erik and Roller

,accord

ing to Saxo,are rece ive d with a ho rrible howl by the

giants who atten d Frey.

“They produced horriblesounds like tho se o f howling animals (ululon tiummor ehorr ison os dede r e voc es ) . To the myth about how Fre yfell into the powe r of the giants I shall come later ( seeNo s . 1 09

,1 1 1

,

Erik is in Saxo called diser tas,the eloquent . The

Svipdag epithet Oar originally had a meaning very nearto this . The impersonal odr means partly the reflecting

element in man,part ly song and poetry , the abil ity of ex

pressing one’s sel f skil fully and o f joining the words

799

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

in an agreeable and pe rsua sive manner ( cp . the G othicwe i t-wodon , to convince ) . Erik demonstrates the pro

p r ie ty o f his name . Saxo makes h im speak in proverbsand sentence s

,certainly for the reaso n that his Northern

source has put them on the lips of the young hero . Thesame quality characteri ses Svipdag. In G rogalde r hi smother sings ove r him :

“Eloque nce and social talents beabundantly be stowe d upon you and the de scription ofhim in Fjélsvin n smalplaces before our eyes a nimble andvivacious youth who wel l understands the watchman’svei led words

,and on who se l ips the spee ch deve lops into

proverbs wh ich faste n themselves on th e mind . C ompare ougna gamo n s , &c . ( str . and the often quotedUrdar ordi kvedr e ngimadr ( str .Toward G u n va ra Erik observe s the same chaste and

chivalrous conduct as O tha ru s toward Sy r itha ( in tac tailli pudic i tiama n e t— p . As to birth

,he occupies

the same subordinate position to her as Oar to Freyj a ,O tha ru s to Sy r itha , Svipdag to Me n glad .

The adventures re lated in the mythology from Svipdag’s journey

,when he went in se arch of Freyja-Me n

glad,are by Saxo so divided betwee n Er icu s D ise rtu s an d

O tha ru s that o f the former i s told the most of whathappened to Sv ipdag during his visit in the giant abode ,of the latte r the most of what happened to him on hisway thence to h i s home .Concerning Erik’s family relations , Saxo gives somefacts which

,from a mythological po int of view, are o f

great value . It has already been stated that Erik’s mothe r,l ike Svipdag

’

s,i s dead

,and that his father, l ike

800

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

(H is t , 2 07— op tima es t affin iumope ra opis i n digo ) .

Saxo ’s accou nt of Erik and Rolle r thus gives us the k e yto the mythological statements

,n o t othe rwise intell igible,

that though Ullhas in Tho r a friendly stepfather ( cp .

the expression gulli Ulla r— Younger Edda, i . an d

in Odin a clan- chie f who distinguishe s him ( cp . Ullar

hylli, &c .

— G rimn e rsmal,

ne vertheless he contendsin this feud o n the same side as Erik-Svipdag, with whomhe once set out to rescue Frey from the power of thegiants . The mythology was n o t wi l l ing to sever tho sebonds o f fidelity which youthful adventurers shared incommon had established betwe e n Fre y

,U 1 1 , and Svip

dag. Both the last two therefore associate themselveswith Fre y when the war breaks out between the Asas andVans .It follows that S i f was the second wi fe of O rvan del

the brave befo re she became Thor’s and that UII i s O rvandel’s son . The intimate relation between O rvan del onthe one side and Thor on the other has already b eenshown above. When O rvan delwas out on adventu re sin Jotunheim his first wife G roa visite d Thor’s halls ashis guest

,where the dis of vegetation might have a safe

place of refuge during he r husba nd’s absence. This feature preserved in the Younger Edda is of grea tmythologi cal importance , and, as I shall show furthe r on , ofancient Aryan origin . O rva n del, the gr eat archer andstar-he ro, reappea rs in Rigveda and also in the G reekmythology— in the latter under the name O rion, a s Vig

fu sso n has already assumed . The correctness o f the assumption i s corroborated by reasons, which I sha l l pre

sent later o n . 80 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

THE SVIPDAG SYN ON YM EIRIKR (c on tin u ed) .

We now pass to that Erik whom Saxo mention s in hisnarrative concerning Halfdan-Be rggram, and who, l ikeSvipdag, i s the son of a Swe dish king

’s daughter. Thisking had been slain by Halfdan . Just as Sv ipdag undertake s a n i rreconcilable war of re venge against Halfdan

G ram ,so doe s Erik against Hal fdan-B e rggram. In one

of thei r battles Hal fdan was oblige d to take fl ight,despite

his superhuman st re n gh and martial luck . More thanthis

,he has by his side the “champion Thoro,

” and Saxohimse l f info rms us that the latter i s no less a pe rsonagethan the Asa-god Thor

,but he too must yi eld to Erik

,

Thor’s Mjoln e r and Halfdan’s club avai le d no thin gagainst Erik . In conflict with him the i r we apo ns seemededgele ss (H is t , 3 2 3 ,Thus not only Halfdan, but even Thor himsel f, O din

’smighty son , he who alone ou twe ighs in strength all theo the r descendants and clansmen of O din, was obliged tore treat before a mythical hero ; and that his lightninghammer

,at other time s i rre sistible

, Sin dre’

s wonde rfulwork

,i s powerless in this conflict

,must in the mythology

have had particular reasons . The mythology has scarce lypermitte d its favourite

,

“Hlodyn

’

s celebrate d son,” to be

subj e cted to such a humiliation more than once,an d thi s

fact must have had such a motive, that the event mightbe re garded as a solitary exception . It must there forebe bo rne in mind that

,in hi s narrative concern ing Ho th

ern s, Saxo states, that after the latter had acquired the

80 3

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

sword of victory guarded by Mimin gu s , h e meets theAsa-god Thor in a battle and fo rces h im to yie ld , afterthe fo rme r has se ve re d the hammer from its handle witha blow of the sword (H ist , 1 1 8 ; se e N o . It hasalrea dy be en shown that Odr -Sv ipdag,

n o t Hodr , i s theHo the ru s who captured the sword of victo ry and aecom

plished this de e d ( see No . Erik accord ingly has,

in common with Svipdag,not only those fe ature s that he

i s the daughte r- so n of a Swe dish king whom Ha lfdan hadslain

,and that he pe rsi sts in making war o n the latte r,

but also that h e accomplished the unique deed of puttingThor to flight .Thus the hammer Mjoln e r i s found to have be en a

weapon which,in spite of its extrao rdinary qualitie s

,i s

infe rio r to th e sword of victory fo rged by Vo lund ( se eN o s . 8 7 , Accordingly the mytho logy has containe dtwo famous judgments on pro ducts of the ancie nt art ists .The first judgme nt is passe d by the Asa-gods in so lemnconsultation

,and in refe rence to this very hamme r, Mjol

ner,expla ins that Sin dr e ’s produ cts are superior to those

of Ivalde ’s sons . The othe r judgment i s passe d o n thefie ld of ba ttle

,and co nfirms the fo rme r judgment o f the

gods . Mjoln e r proves itse l f useless in confl ict with thesword of victo ry . I f now the Volund o f the heroi c traditions were one of th e Ivalde sons who fai ls to get theprize in the mythology, the n an epic connection could befou nd between the former and the latter judgment : theinsulted Ivalde son has then aven ged himself o n the godsand re -established hi s reputation injure d by them . Ishal l recur to the question whether Volund was a son ofIvalde o r not .

804

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Freyj a’s husband, an d whose career was adorned withsu ch strange adventures, was not before the ninth century, and that in Swede n, accorde d the same rank as theAsa-gods , and this in spite of the fact that h e was adop te din Asgard, and de spite the fact that his ha lf-brother Ullwas clo thed with the same dignity as that o f the Asa-gods .The re i s n o trace to show that he who i s Freyja’s husba ndand Frey’s brother - in —law was gene ral ly honou red with adivine title

,with a temple, and with sacrifices . He

remaine d to the devotee s of the mythology what he was— a brill iant he ro

,but nothing more ; and while the saga

on the remote antiquity of the Te utons made him a rulerof No rth Te utonic tribe s

,whos e leade r h e i s in the war

against Hal fdan and Hadding (se e N o s . 3 3,

he washonoured as one o f the olde st kings of the Scandinavianpe ople s

,but was not worshipped as a god . As an ancien t

king he ha s re ceived his place in the middle-age chroniclesand gene alogies of ruler s n ow under th e name Sv ipdag,

n ow unde r the name Erik . But, at the same time , hispo sition in the epic wa s s u ch that , i f the Teutonic O lympuswas ever to be incre ase d with a divinity o f Asa-rank , noo n e would have a gre ater right than he to b e clothe dwith this dignity. F ro-mthi s point o f view light i s shedo n a passage in ch . 2 6 of Vi ta An sgar i i . It i s there related

,that be fore Ansga rius arrived in Birka

,where his

impen ding arrivalwas n o t unknown,there came thither

a man (doubtle ss a he athen priest or skald ) who insistedthat he had a missio n from the god s to the king and thepeople . Accord ing to the man ’s statement

,the gods

had held a meeting,at which he himsel f had been present ,

806

TEUTONICWW?

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

and in which they unanimously had re solved to adop tin thei r counci l that King Erik who in antiquity had ruledover the Swedes, so that he hencefor th should be one ofthe gods (Er icum, qu orulamregemve s tru rn , n os u n a n ime s in c ollegiamn os trumas c is imus , u t s i t a rms de n umerode orum) thi s was done because they had pe rce ived thatthe Swedes were about to increase the number of the i rpresent gods by adopting a stranger (C hrist ) whos edoctrine could not be reconci le d with thei rs

,and who

accordingly did not deserve to be worshippe d . If theSwedes wished to add another god to the old ones

,under

whose protection the country had so long e njoyed happiness

,pe ace

,and plenty, they ou ght to accord to Erik, and

not to the strange god, that honour which belon gs to thedivinities of the land . What the man who came to Birkawith this mission reported was made public, and createdmuch sti r and agitation . When Ansgarius landed

,a tem

ple had already been built to Erik, in which supplicationsand sacrifices were offered to him . This event took placeat a time fo re boding a cri si s for the ancient O dinicreligion . Its last bulwarks on the Teutonic continent hadre cently bee n le velle d with the ground by C harlemagne ’svictory over the Saxon s . The report of the crue ltiespractised by the advocates of the doc trine, which invadedthe country from the south and the we st for the purpos eo f breaking th e faith of the Saxon O din worshippe rstowards thei r religion

,had cert ainly found its way to

Scandinavia, and doubtless had its influence in e n cou raging that mighty effo rt made by the northern peoples in theninth century to visit and conque r on their own territory

807

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

thei r Teuton ic k insmen who had be en conver ted to Chris

t ia n ity . It i s of n o slight mytho logi cal intere st to learnthat zealousmen among the Swede s hope d to be able toinspire the old doctrine with n ew l i fe by adopting amongthe god s Freyj a’s husba nd, th e mo st bri l l iant of th eanc ient myth ic he ro e s and the on e mos t ce lebrated by theska lds . I do n o t deem it imposs ible that this ve ry attemptmade Erik’s name hate d among some o f the C hristian s ,and was the rea son why “

Old Erik” be came a name o fthe de vi l . Vi ta Ansgar ii says that i t was th e devi l

’s ownwo rk tha t Erik wa s adopte d among the gods .The Svipdag synonym Erik reappears in the Christiansaga abou t Er ik Vidfo rle ( the far- trave lled ) , who su c

c e eded in finding and ente ring Odai n s akr ( se e No .

This i s a reminiscence of Sv ipdag’

s visit inMimer’s rea lm .

The surname Vi dfo rlz has be come connecte d with twonames of Svipdag : we have E

'

ir ikr hin n v idforli and Oa'

r

(Oddr ) himi vidfo rli i n the late r Ice landic sagas .THE LATER FORTUNES OF TH E VOLUN D SWORD .

I have n ow given a review of the manner in wh ich Ihave found the fragments of the myth conce rning Svipdagup to the point whe re h e obtains Freyja as his wife . Thefragm e nts dove—tai l into e ach other and form a c o n sec u

tive who le. Now ,a few words in regard to the part

afte rwards played by th e Volund sword, secured by Sv ipdag in the lowe r world, in th e mytholo gy, and in thesaga . The sword , as we have se en , i s the prize for

808

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

nesses of the Ea st, where it had be e n buried , not to beproduced again before the approach of Ragnarok

,when

i t was to be exhumed and delivere d by a shepherd to a foeof mankind . Already , before this time, the Teuton s .

had conne cted the appearance of the Huns with this myth .

According to j ordane s , they be li eved that evil tro l lwomen , whom the G othic king F ilime r had banished fromhis pe 0p1 e

,had taken refuge in the wildernes ses of the

Ea st, and there given bi rth to children with forest giantswhich chi ldren be came the progenitors of

the Huns . This is to say, in other words, that theybeli eved the Huns were de scended from Angerboda’sprogeny in the Ironwood , which , i n the fulne ss of time,were to brea k into Midgard with the monster Hate astheir leader. Th e swordWt h the god Frey hadpo ssessed, and which was con ce aled in the Ironwood ,

be comes in Jordanes a sword which the god “Mars” hadowned

,and which

,ther e after

,had be en conce aled in the

e arth . Ou t of Ange rboda’s shepherd, who again bringsthe sword into daylight and gives i t to the world-hostil eF jala r , becomes a shepherd who exhumes the sword a n dgive s i t to Atti la

,the foe of the Te utonic race.

The memory of the sword survived the victory ofChri stianity

,and was hande d down through the centurie s

in many variations . That Surt at the e n d of the worldwas to pos sess the sword of course fell away, and insteadn ow on e and then another was se lected as the hero whowas to find and take it ; that it was watched by a womanand by a man ( in the mythology Angerboda and Eggther) and that the woman was an even more disgusting

8 1 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

be ing than the man, wer e features that the saga re tainedboth on the Con tinent and in England .

The Beowulf poem makes a monster,by name G rendel

(“the dwell with his mother under a marshin a forest

,which

,though. referred to D enma rk and to

the vicini ty of the Splen did ca stle of a D anish king,i s

described in a manner which makes it highly pro babletha t the prot otype used by the Chr i stian poet was a heathenskald’s description of the I ronwood . There i s

,says he

,

the mysterious land in which the wolf con ceals himsel f,

full of narrow valleys,prec ipices, and abysses , full of

dark and deep forests,marshes shrouded in gloom, lakes

shaded with trees,nesses lashe d by the sea , mountain

torrents and bogs,which in the night shine as of fire, and

shelter demoniac be ings and dragon s in their turbidwaves . The hunted game prefers being torn into pie cesby dogs to seeking its refuge on this unholy grou nd, fromwhich raging sto rms chase black clouds unti l the heavensare darkene d and the rain po urs down in tor rents . TheEnglish poe t may honestly have locate d the mythologi calIronwoo d in D enmark . The same old borde r- land , wh ichto thi s very day i s called “

D an isch e wold ,” was stil l in

the thi rteenth century calle d by the D anes Ja rn w ith ,the

Ironwood . From his abode in this wilderne ss G re nde lmakes nightly excursions to the D anish royal castle ,breaks in the re

,ki lls sle eping champions with his i ron

hands, sucks ou t thei r blood ,and ca rries thei r corpses to

the enchanted marsh in order to eat them ther e . Th e

hero,Be owulf, who has he ard of this, proceeds to D e n

mark,pe netrates into the awful forest, dive s , armed with

8 1 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

D enmark’s best sword, down into the magi c marsh to

G re n del’

s and his mo ther’s hall, and ki lls them after acon fl ict in which the above-mentioned sword was founduseless . But down there h e finds ano ther which G ren deland his mo ther kept concealed, gets poss ession of it, andconquers with its a id.

O f thi s remarkable sword it is said that it was rich invictory

,

” that it hailed from the past, that“ i t was a good

and exce llent work o f a smith ,” and that the golden hilt

was the wo rk of the “wonde r- smith . O n the blade wasr iste d ( engraved )

“that ancie nt war” when “the billowsof the raging se a washed ove r the race of giants,

” and o na plate made of the purest gold was written in runes thename of him for whom this weapon was first made.”

The Christian poe t found it mos t convenient for his purpo se not to name this name fo r his readers or hearers .But all that i s here stated is appl icable to themy thologica l sword of victory .

“The Wonder- smith” in the OldEnglish tale i s Volund (Weland ) . The coat of mai lborne by Beowulf is “Wela n de s geweo rc .

” “D eor the

Scald’s C omplaint” sings‘ of We land , and King Al fre d inhis translation o f Boethius speaks of “the wise We land

,

the goldsmith,who

,in ancient times

,was the most cele

b ra ted. That the We land sword was “the work of agiant correspo nds with the Vo lund myth ( se e below )and as we here learn that the blade was engraved withpictures representing the de structions o f the ancient giantar tists in the waves of the sea ( the blood of the primevalgiant Ymer ) , then thi s i llustrates a passage in Skirn e rsmal where it i s l ikewise stated that the sword was r isted

8 1 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

dr eyra, colours the princely abode with red blood fromthe wounds .” G rendel steal s into the royal castle an d

sta ins i t with blood . The expression here reappe arsa lmost l iterally . Voluspa’s r agn o sjo

’

t and dr eyr i correspond perfec tly to Be owu lf’s” driht-s ele and dr e or .

i”

In V ilk in a saga we read that Nagelring, the best swordin the world was conceale d in a forest

,and was the re

watched by a woman and a man . The man had the

strength of twelveme n ,but the woman was sti l l stronger.

King Th idrek and his friend H ilde brand succeeded aftera terrible combat in slaying the monster. The womanhad to be slain thrice in order that she should

"

not cometo l i fe again . This feature i s also borrowed from themyth about Angerboda

,the thrice slain .

H is tor ic Pon tificum( from the middle of the twelfthcentury ) informs us that D uke Wilhe lm of Angouleme

( second half of the tenth century ) pos sesse d an extraordinary swo rd made by Volund . But this was not theree l swo rd of victory . FromJordane ’s h istory it wa sknown in the middle age that this sword had fallen intoAtti la’s hands, and the que stion was natural ly askedwhat afterwards became o f it . Saga s answe re d the question . The sword remained with the descendants o f theHuns

,the Hungarians . The mother of the Hungarian

king Solomon gave it to one O tto of Bavaria . He le nti t to the margrave of Lausitz , D edi the yo unger. Afte rthe murder of D edi it came into the hands of Empero rHe nry IV. ,

who gave it to hi s favourite, Le opold o f

Me rseburg. By a fall fromhis hor se Leopold waswounded by the point of the sword , and died from the

8 1 4

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

wound . Even in later times the sword was believed toexist

,and there were those who believed that the D u ke of

Alba bore it at his side .

THE SVIPDAG EPITHET SK IRNER. THE VOLUN D swoan’

s

N AME GAMBAN TEI N .

After Svipdag’

s marriage with Freyj a the saga of hi sl i fe may be divided into two parts— the time be fore hisvisit in Asgard as Freyj a’s happy husband and Frey

’sbest friend

,and the time of his absence fromAsgard and

his change and destruction .

To the former of the se divis ions belongs hi s j ou rney,celebrated in song, to the abode of the giant G yme r ,whithe r he proceeds to ask, on Frey

’s beha l f, fo r the handof G erd, G yme r’s and Au rb oda ’

s fai r dau ghter. It hasalready be en pointed out that after his marriage withG u n va ra -Freyja

, Erik-Svipdag appea rs in Saxo asProtho -Frey’s right hand

,ready to help and a trusted

man in al l things . Among other things the task i s alsoimpo sed on him to ask, on behalf of Protho ,

for the handof a young maid whos e father in the mythology doubtle sswas a giant . He i s describe d as a deceitful, treacherousbe ing, hosti le to the gods, as a person who had laid aplan with his daughter as a ba it to deceive Protho andwin G u n va ra for himsel f. The plan is frustrated bySv ipdag (Er icu s ) , Ull (Rolle ru s ) , and Thor (Bra cu s ) ,the last of whomhere appears in his u sual role as the con

8 1 5

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

qu e ro r of gi ants . At the very point when F rotho’

s

intended father-in —law thinks he has won the game Thorrushes into his halls, and the schemer is compelled tosave himsel f by fl ight (His t , 2 2 1 , In the excellentpoem Sk irn er smal, the Icelandic mythic fragments havepreserved the memory of Frey’s courtship to a giantmaid

,daughter of Au rb oda

’

s terrible husba nd, the giantchi

'

ef C ymer. Here, as in Saxo , the Vana-god does nothimsel f go to do the courting, but sen ds a messenge r, whoin the poem is named by the epithet Sk irn e r . All thati s there told about this Sk irn e r finds its explanation in

Sv ipdag’

s saga . The very epithet Skirn ir ,“the shining

one,” i s justified by the fact that Solb jar t -O rva n del, the

star -hero , i s his father. Sk irn e r dwells in Asgard , but i snot on e of the ruling god s . The one of the gods withwhomhe is most intimately united i s Frey . Thus hi sposition in Asgard i s the same as Svipdag’s .

'

Skirn er’

s

influence with Freyja’s brother i s so gre at that whe nneither N j ord nor Skade can induce the son to reve althe cause of the sorrow which affl icts him

,they hope that

Skirn e r may be able to do so . Who,i f not Svipdag,

who tried to res cue Frey from the power o f the giantsand who is his brother- in - law, and in Saxo his all in all ,would be the one to pos sess such influence over him ?

Skirn e r also appe als to the fact that Frey and he havein days past had adventures together of such a kind thatthey ou ght to have faith in ea ch o ther, and that Frey

ought not to have any sec ret which he may n ot safelyconfide to so faithful a friend ( str . Sk irn er i s wiseand poe tic, and has proverbs on his l ips like Svipdag-Erik

8 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

i s here called gamb cmte in n i s called hwva te in ri , homa te in n( se e further No . 1 1 6 ) i n F jolsvin n smal.In the myt hology there i s on ly one single p lace whichi s called Holt . It is Mimis holt, Hoddmimis holt, thesubte rranean grove, where the children who are to b ethe parents of the future race of man have their se cureabode unti l the regeneration of the world ( see Nos . 52 ,

l iving on the morning-dew which falls from theworld- tree , hrdr vidr,

“the tree rich in sap ( see NO .

Mimer-Nidhad also comes fromHolt when h e imprisonsVolund (Volund , It has alrea dy been provedabove that

,on his journey in the lower world

, Svipdag

also came toMimis holt, and saw the citadel within whichthe dsmegir have their asylum .

Saxo has known either the above-cited strophe oranother resembling it

,and when his Erik-Svipdag speak s

of his journe y in ambigu ous words ( o bscu ra amb age ) ,Saxo makes h imsay : Ad tru n c a sylvar umr o b ora pe n etrot/i i b i cuspis a r ob or e r egis exc u ssa e s t (H is t ,With the expre ssion ad r o b ora sylvor umpe n e travi wemust compare tilholtz e c ge c c . The words r o bu r r egis

re fer to the tree of the lowe r world king, Mimer Mimame idr, the wor ld- tree . Erik—Svipdag'

s purpos e with hisj ourney to this tree is to secure a weapon . Saxo callsthis weapon cuspis . F jdlsvin n smalcalls it, with a paraphrase

, b r oddr . Cuspis i s a translation of b roddr .

Thus there can be no doubt concerning the identity o fSki t h er with Svipdag.

8 1 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

svrp n a o’

s LATER FORTUNES. H IS TRANSFORMATION AND

D EATH . FREYJ A c ons IN SEARCH o r H IM. FREY

J A’

s EPITHET MARD OLL. THE SEA- KID NEY, BRISIN GAMEN . SVIPDAG

’

S EPITHET HERMODR.

When the war between the Asas and the Vans hadbroken out, Svipdag, as we have learned , espouses thecause of the Vans ( see No s . 3 3 , to whomhe naturally belongs as the husband o i the Vana-dis Freyja andFrey’s most intimate friend . The happy issue of the warfor the Vans gives Sv ipdag free hands in regard to Hal fdan’s hated son Hadding, the son of the woman forwhose sake Sv ipdag

’s mother G roa was rejected . Mean

whi le Svipdag offers Hadding reconci liation, peace, anda throne among the Teu tons ( see No . When Had

ding re fuses to accept gi fts of mercy fromthe slayer ofhis father, Svipdag persecutes him with irreconcilablehate . This hatred finally produces a turning-po int in

Svipdag’

s fortunes and darken s the career of the brillianthero. After the Asas and Vans had become recon ci ledagain , on e of thei r first thoughts must have been to put anend to the fu ed be tween the Teutonic tribes , since a cont in u a t ion of the latter was not in harmon y with thepeace restore d among the god s ( see No . neverthele ssthe war was continued in Midgard ( see No . and thecause is Svipdag. He has become a rebel against bothAsas and Vans, and herein we must loo k for the rea sonwhy, as we read in the Younger Edda , he disappeared

8 1 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

from Asgard (You nger Edda , But he disappe ars not only from the world of the gods , but finallyalso from the ter restrial s eat of war, and that god or thosegods who wer e to blame for this conceal his unhappy andhumiliating fate from Freyja . It i s at thi s time that thefaithful an d devoted Van a-dis goe s forth to seek her loverin all worldsmed uk imn u rn thjédum.Saxo gives us two accoun ts of Svipdag

’

s death— theone clearly conve rted into history, the other corresponding fa i thfully with the mythology. The former reportsthat Hadding conquered and slew Svipdag in a navalba ttle (H is t , The latter gives us the followingaccount (His t , 48 )While Hadding lived in exile in a no rthern wilderness

after his great defeat in conflict with the Swedes, it happened

,on a sunny

,wa rm day, tha t he went to the sea to

bathe. While he was washing himsel f in the cold waterhe saw an animal of a most peculiar kind ( b ellu a in a udi ti

ge n e r is ) , and came into comba t with it . Hadding slewit with quick blows and dragged it on shore. But whilehe rej oiced over this dee d a woman put her self in hisway and sang a son g, i n which she let him kn ow thatthe de ed he had now pe rpetrated should bring fearfulconsequences unti l he succeeded in recon cil ing the divinewrath which this murder had called down upon his head .

All the forces of nature, wind and wave, heaven andearth

,were to be hi s enemies unless he could prop itiate

the angry gods,for the be ing whos e l i fe he had taken

was a celestial being concealed in the gu i se of an animal ,on e of the super-terrestrial :

8 2 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

than the fact that Frey was a nearer kinsman than anyof 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 navalengagement with Hadding, all points to the conclusionthat in the celestial pe rson who was concealed in the guiseof an animal and was slain in the water we must discover Svipdag Freyja

’s husba nd .

Saxo doe s not tel l us what animal guise it was . Itmust certainly have be en a purely fab ulous kind, sinceSaxo designates it as b ellu a ina udi ti ge n e ris . An AngloSaxon record, which is to be cite d be low,

designates i tas uyrmand drac a . That Svipdag,

senten ced to wear thisguise

,kept himsel f in the water near the sho re of a sea ,

fo l lows from the fact that Hadding meets and kills himin the sea where he goes to bathe. Freyja, who soughther los t lover everywhere, also went in search for himto the realms of E gir and Rdn . There are reason s forassuming that she found him again

,and

,in spite of his

transformation and the repulsive exterior he thereby go t ,she remained with him and sought to soothe his miserywith her faithful love. O n e of Freyj a’s surnames showsthat sh e at on e time dwelt in the bosom of th e sea . Thename is Mar ddll. Another proo f of this i s the fragmentpreserved to o u r time of the myth concerning the confl ictbetwee n Heimdal and Loke in regard to Bri singamen .

This neck and breast-ornament , celebrated in song bothamong the Teu tonic trib es of Englan d and those of Seandin av ia

, o n e of the mos t Splendid works of the ancientartists

,be lon ged to Freyja (Thrymskvida , Younger

8 2 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Edda ) . She wore it when she was seeking Svipdag andfound him be ne ath the wave s of the sea ; and the splendourwhich her Brisingamen diff used from the de ep over thesurface of the sea i s the epic in tep re ta t ion of the nameMardo

'

ll frommar r , “sea,” and drill, feminine of dallr

(old English. de alt) ,“glittering” ( compare the names

Heimdallr and D el l ing ) . Mardo'

llthus means “the o n ediffusing a gl immering in the se a . The fact that Brisin game n ,

together with its possessor,actually was for a

time in iEge r’

s realmi s proved by its epithet fagr t hafrtyra ,

“the fai r kidney of the sea,” which oc curs in a

strophe of Ulf Ugge so n (Younger Edda, Therewas also a skerry

,Vdgasker , Singas te in rt, on which

Brisingamen lay and glitte re d , whe n Loke, clad in theguise of a se al t ri ed to steal it . But be fore h e ac complished his purpo se, there crept upon the ske rry anotherse al , in whose looks— pe rsons in disguise were n o t ableto change the i r eyes— the evi l a n d cunning descendantof F a rb au te must quickly have recogn ised his old oppon ent He imdal . A con fl ict arose in regard to the pos sessionof the ornament

,and the brave son of the nine mothers

became the victor and preserved the treasure for Asgard .

To the Svipdag synonyms Odr (Ho tha ru s ) , O ttar

(O tha ru s ) , Eir ekr (Er icu s ) , and Skirn ir , we must finallya dd one more, which is , perhaps , of Anglo—Saxon origin :H e rmo-dr

,H e r e rn od.

From the N or se mythic reco rds we learn the fol lowingin regard to Hermod

(a ) He dwelt in Asgard,but did not belong to the num

ber of rul ing gods . He i s calle d O din’s sve irm(Younger8 2 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

Edda,

and he was the Asa-father’s favourite , andreceived from him helmet and cuirass (Hyn dluljod,

( b ) He i s called e n n hva ti (Younger Edda, therapid . When Frigg asks i f anyone desires to ea rn herfavour and gratitude by riding to the re alm of death andoff er ing Hela ransom fo r Ba lder, Hermod o ffer s to takeu pon himsel f thi s task . He gets O din’s horse Sleipnerto ride

,proceeds on hi s way to Hel

, comes safely to thatcitadel in the lower wo rld , where Balder and Nanna abidethe regeneration of the earth ,

‘

spurs Sleipner over thecastle wall

, an d returns to Asgard with Hel’s answer,and with the ring D raupn e r , and with pre sen ts fromNanna to Frigg and Fulla (Younge r Edda,From this i t appears that He rmod has a po sition in

Asga rd resembling Skirn e r’s ; that he, l ike Skirn e r , i semployed by the gods as a messenger when important o rventure some errands are to be undertaken ; and that he,l ike Sk irn e r , then gets that steed to ride, which is ableto leap over va fe rflame s and castle-walls . We shouldalso bear in mind that Sk irn e r-Sv ipdag had made celeb ra ted j ourneys in the same world to which Hermod i snow sent to find Balder . As w e know, Svipdag hadbefore his arrival in Asgard travelled a l l over the lowerwo rld, and had there fetched the sword o f victory. Afterhis adoption in Asgard

,he i s sent by the gods to the

lower world to get the chain Gle ipn e r .

( c ) In historical times Hermod dwells in Valhal, andi s one of the chief e in he rje s there. When Hakon theGo od was on the way to the hal l o f the Asa- father, thelatter sent Brage and Hermod to meet him:

8 2 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

(f) But a lthough he was reared at the court o f theD anish king, this did not turn out to the advantage ofthe Skjoldu ngs, but was a damage to them ( str. 3 42 2 ,

for there grew a bloo dthirsty heart in his breast .

(g) When the D a nish king died ( the poem doe s notsay how ) he left young sons .

(h ) Hermod, betrayed by evi l passions that got thebetter of him , was the cause of the ruin of the Skjoldungs

,and of a ter rible plague amon g the D anes , whose

fallen warriors for his sake covered the battlefields . H is

table- companions at the D anish court he consigned to

de ath in a fit of anger ( str. 3 42 6 ,

( i ) The war continues a very long time ( str . 1 8 1 5,&c .

, str.

( 12 ) At last there came a change, which was a nfavou ra ble to Hermod

,whose supe riority in martial power

decreased ( str .

(l) Then he quite unexpe ctedly d isappeare d ( str3 43 2 ) from the sight of men .

(m) This happened against his will . He had sudde nly be en banished and delivered to the world of giants,whe re “waves of sorrow” long oppressed him ( str .1 809

,

( i t ) He had become changed to a dragon (wyrm,dra w) .

( 0 ) The dragon dwelt near a rocky island in the sea

u n der home s tart (ben eath a grey rock) .

There he slew a hero o f the Volsung race ( in theBeowulf po em Sigemun d— str . 1 747 , &c .

All these points harmonise completely with Svipdag’

s

8 2 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

saga, as we have found it in other sources . Svipdag i sthe stepson of Hal fdan the Skjoldu n g,

and has bee n rearedin his halls

,and dwells there unti l his mother G roa i s

turned out and returns to O rvan del. He sets out likeHermod on long journeys, and i s doubtless the most i amous traveller mentioned in the mythology ; witness hisjourney across the Elivaga r, and his visit to Jotunheimwhile see king Frey and Freyja ; his journey across thefrosty mountains, and his descent to the lower world,where he traverses N i felhe im

,see s the Eylud mill, comes

into Mimer’s realm,procure s the sword o f victory

,and

see s the glorious castle of the dsmegir ; witness his journey over Bi frost to Asgard

,and his warlike expedition

to the remote East ( see also Younger Edda , i . 1 08 , where

Sk irn e r i s sent to Svar tolfahe imto fetch the chain G l itner) . He i s

,l ike Hermod

,endowe d with extraordinary

strength, partly on account of hi s own inhe rited character,partly on account of the songs of incantation sung overhim by G roa, o n account of the nourishme nt of wisdomobtaine d from his stepmother and finally on account of thepo sse ssion of the indomitable sword of victory . By beingadopted in Asgard as Freyja

’

s husband,he is

,l ike He rmod, elevated to a po sition of power greater than that

which mortals may expect . But al l thi s does not turnou t to be a blessing to the Skjoldu n gs , but i s amis fo rtune to them . The hatre d he had cherished toward theSkjoldu ng Hal fdan is transferred to the son o f the latter, Hadding, and he persecu tes him and all those whoare faithful to Hadding

,makes war against him

,and is

unwilling to end the long war,although the gods demand

8 2 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

i t . Then he suddenly disappears, the divine wrath having clothed him with the guise of a strange animal

,and

relegated him to the world of water-giants,where he i s

slain by Hadding (who in the Norse heroic saga becomesa Volsung, after Halfdan , under the name Helge Hundingsb an e , was made a son of the Volsung Sigmund ) .

Hermod i s ki l led on a rocky i sland u nde r ha rn e s tem.Svipdag i s kill ed in the water, probably in the vicinityof the Vdgaske r and the Singas te in n ,

where the Br isingamen orn ament o f his faithful Mardol i s d iscove red byLoke and Heimdal .Freyj a’s love and sorrow may in the mythology have

caused the gods to look upon Sv ipdag’

s last sad fate andde ath as a propitiation of his faults . The tears which theVana-dis wep t over her lover were transformed , according to the mythology

,into gold, and this gold , the gold

of a woman’s faithfulness,may have been re garded as a

sufl‘ic ie n t compensation for the sins of her dear one, anddoubtless opened to Svipdag the same Asgard-gate whichhe had se e n opened to him during his l i fe . This explainsthat Hermod i s in Asgard in the historical time, and that,according to a rev e lation to the Swedes in the ninth century

,the anci ent King Erik was unanimously elevated by

the gods as a member of thei r council .F inally

,i t should be po inted out that the Svipdag syn o

n ymOdr has the same meaning asméd in He r eméd, andas fe rhd in Svidfe rhd,

the epithet with which Hermod i sdesignate d in the Beowul f strophe 1 8 2 0. Odr meansthe one endowed with spi rit,

”Her emo‘ d the one e n

dowed with mart ial spirit,

”Svidhe rhd,

“the one endowed

with mighty spiri t .8 2 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

hosti le to the gods,i s also present

,and he too has seen

Bri singamen . Loke has assumed the guise of a seal,

whi le the ornament lies on a rock in the sea,Vdgaske r ,

and it can cause no suspicion that a seal tries to find aresting-place there . Heimdal assumes the same guise

,

the seals fight on the rock, and Loke must retire with hi serrand unpe rformed . The rock i s also cal led Singa ste in

(Younger Edda, i . 2 6 4, a name in which I seethe Anglo-Saxon Sin c as tdn

,the ornament rock .

” Ane cho of the combat about Brisingamen reappears in theBeowulf poem

,where Heimdal (not Hamdir ) appe ars

under the name Hama,and where it i s said that “Hama

has brought to the weapo n-glittering citadel (Asgard )Bros irrgame n e ,” which was the best ornament underheave n whereupon it i s said that Hama fell “into

Eo rme n r ic ’s snares,” with which we should compareSaxo’s account of the snares laid by Loke

, Jo rme n rek ’

s

adviser, for Lise ru S-Heimdal and Hadding.

*

REMIN ISCEN CES O F THE SVIPD AG -MYTH .

The mythic story about Svipdag and Freyja has beenhanded down in popular tales and songs

,eve n to our time

,

o f course in an e ver varyin g and corrupted form . Amongthe popular tales there i s one aboutMce r tho

'

ll,put in writ

‘ As Jordan e s c on fou n de d t h emytho logic a l G u dh orm-J ormun r e k w itht h e historica l E rma n a r e k , a n d c o n n e c te d w ith t h e histo ry o f th e la tte r t h ehe r o ic s a ga o f Ammi u s -H amd i r . it lay c lo se a t ha n d t o c on fou n d H amd i rwith He imda l , wh o , l ike Hamd i r , is th e toe o f t h emythic a l J ormu n r e k .

8 3 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

ing by Konrad Maurer,and publ i shed in Mode rn Ic elan

dic Popular Tale s .

The wondrous fair heroine in this tale bears Freyj a swell-known surname

,Mardol

,but l ittle changed . And as

she,l ike Freyja

,weeps tears that change into gold

,it i s

plain that she is originally identical with the Vana-dis,a fact which Maurer also points out .Like Freyja

,she i s destined by the norn to be the wi fe

o f a princely youth . But when he court ed her, difficulties arose which remind us of what Saxo relates aboutO tha ru s and Sy r itha .

As Saxo represents her, Sy r itha i s bound as it were by

an enchantment,not daring to look up at he r love r or to

answer his declarations o f love. She fl ie s over the mountainsmor e pr is tin o , “ in the manner usual in antiquity

,

”

consequen tly in all probability in the guise of a bird . In

the Icelandic popular tale Ma rthol shudders at the ap

proa ch ing wedding night, since she is then destined to bechanged into a sparrow . She is about to renounce theembrace of he r lover

,so that he may not know anything

about the enchantment in which she i s fettered .

In Saxo the spell resting on Syr itha i s broken whenthe candle of the wedding night burns her hand . In thepopular tale Ma rthol i s to we ar the sparrow guise forever i f it i s not burnt on the wedding night or on one o fthe two following nights .Both in Saxo and in the popular tale another maidentakes Ma rdol

’

s place in the bridal bed o n the weddingnight . But the spell i s broken by fire , after which boththe lovers actually get each other .

8 3 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

The original identity of the mythological Freyja-Ma rdol, Saxo

’

Syr itha , and the Ma r tho'

ll of the Icelandicpopular tale is there fo re evident .In D anish and Swedish versions of a ballad ( in Syv,

Ny e rup , Arw idsso n , G eij er an d Afz eliu s , G ru n dtvig,D y

beck,Hofbe rg ; compare Bugge

’

s Edda, p . 3 52,&c . ) a

young Sve idal (Svedal, Sve n dal, Sveden dal, Silfve rdal)i s ce lebrated , who is none other than Svipdag o f themythology . Svend G ru n dtvig and Bugge have called a t

tention to the conspicuous similarity between this balladon the o n e hand , and G rogalde r and F jolsv in n smal onthe other . From th e various versions of the ballad it i snecessary to mention he re o nly those features which bestpreserve the mo st striking resemblance to the mythicproto type . Sve idal i s commanded by hi s ste pmother tofind a maiden “whose sad heart had long bee n longing .

”

He then goes first to the grave o f his deceased mothe r toget advice from her . The mother Speaks to him from thegrave and promise s him a horse

,which can be ar him over

sea and land,and a sword hardene d in the blood of a

dragon and resembling fire . The narrow limits of theballad forbade tell ing how Sve idalcame into possessio nof the treasures promised by the mother or giving an account o f the exploits he performed with the swo rd . Thisplays no part in the ballad ; it i s only indicated that eventsnot recorded too k place before Sve idalfinds the longingma id . Riding through forests and over seas , he comes

to the country where"

she has h e r castle. Outside o f thi she meets a shephe rd , with whom he en ters into conversation . The shepherd informs him that within i s found

8 3 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

In G ermany, too, we have fragments preserved of themyth about Svipdag and Freyja . These remnants are

,

we admi t, parts of a structure built, so to speak, in thestyle of the monks, but they nevertheless show in the mostpositive manner that they are borrowed from the fallenand crumble d arcades of the heathen mythology . Werediscover in them the old medieval poem about “Christ’sunsewed grey coat .The hero of the poem is Svipdag, here called by h isfather’s name O re n del, O ren tel— that is, O rvan del. Thefather himse lf

,who is said to be a king in Trier, has re

c e ive d ano the r name, which already in the most ancien theathen times was a synonym of Or van del

,and which I

shall consider below . This in connectio n with the cir

cumsta n c e that the younger O ren tel’s (Sv ipdag’

s ) patronsaint i s called the holy Wieland ,

” and thus he has thename of a person who

,in themythology, as Shall be

shown below, wa s Svipdag

’

s uncle ( father’s brother )

an d helper,and whose sword i s Svipdag

’

s protection andpledge of victory

,proves that at least in solitary instance s

not only the events of the my th but also its names andfami ly relations have been preserved in a most remarkable and faithful manner through centuries in the mindsof the Ge rman pe0p1 e.In the very nature o f things it cannot in the monkish

poem be the task of the young Svipdag-Or en telto go insearch of the he athen goddess Freyja and rescue her fromthe power of the giants . In her stea d appe ars a “FrauBreyde ,

” who is the fairest of all women,and the only

o n e worthy to be the young O re n t el’s wife. In the

8 34

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

heathen po em the goddess o f fate Urd, in the G e rmanmedieval poem G od H imsel f

,resolves that O re n tel i s to

have the fairest woman as his bride. In the heathenpoem Freyja i s in the power of gi ants

,and concea led

somewhe re in Jotunheim at the time when Svipdag i scommanded to find her

,and i t i s of the greatest moment

for the preservation of the world that the goddess of loveand fert i lity should b e freed from the hands of the powers of fro st . In the G e rman po em , written under theinfluence o f the efforts of the C hristian world to reconquer the Holy Land , Frau Breyde i s a princess who is forthe time being in Jerusalem, surrounded and watched bygiants

,heathens

,and knights templar, the last of whom,

at the time when the poem received its present form,were

looke d upon as worshippers of the dev i l,and as pe rsons

to be shunned by the faithful . To Sv ipdag‘

s task of libcrating the goddess of love corresponds, in the monkishpoem

, O re n tel’

s task of liberating Frau Breyde fromher surrounding of giants

,heathens

,and knights tem

plar, and restoring to Chri stendom the holy grave inJerusalem. O re n telproc eeds thither with a fleet . Butalthough the journey accordingly i s southward

,the mythic

saga,which makes Svipdag journey across the frost-cold

Elivaga r , asserts itsel f ; and as his flee t could not wellbe hinde re d b y pieces of ice on the co ast of the HolyLand , it i s made to stick fast in den se wate r,

” and r e

main there fo r three yea rs,unti l

,on the supplication of

the V i rgin Mary,i t i s libe rated the refrom by a storm .

The V irgin Mary’s prayers have assumed the same placein the Christian poems as G roa’s incantations in the

8 3 5

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

heathen . The flee t,made free from the dense water,

sai ls to a land which i s governe d by o n e Belian , who i sconque red by O ren telin a naval en gagement . This Bel ian i s the mytho logical Beli

,one of those “howlers” who

surrounded Frey and Freyja during their so journ in Jotunhe im and thre atened Svipdag

’

s l i fe . In the Christianpoem Be le was made a king in G reat Babylonia, doubtless fo r the reason that his name suggested the bibl ical“Bel in Babe l .” Saxo also speaks o f a naval battle inwhich Svipdag-Er icu s conquers the mythic person , doubtless a storm-giant

, who by means o f witchcraft pre pare sthe ruin of sai lo rs approaching the land where F ro thoand G u n va ra are conce aled . After various othe r adve nture s O ren tel arrives in the Ho ly Land

,and the ange l

G abriel shows him the way to Frau Breyde , just as“the

se ven angels of G od in on e of the Scandinavian balladsguide Sve idalto the castle where hi s chosen bride abides .

Lady Breyde i s found to be surrounded by none but foesof Chri stianity— knights templar, he athens, and giantswho

,l ike G u n va ra ’

s giant surroundings in Saxo,spend

the i r time in fighting,but stil l wait upon their fai r lady as

the i r princess . The giants and knights templar str ive totake Or e n tel’s l i fe , and , l ike Sv ipdag, he must constantlybe prepared to defend it . O n e o f the giants slain byO re n tali s a “banne r-beare r. O n e of the gi ants, who inthe mythology tri es to take Svipdag

’

s l i fe,i s G rep, who,

according to Saxo,meets him in de rision wi th a banner

on the top of whose staff i s fixed the head of an ox .

Meanwhile Lady Breyd e i s attentive to O ren tel. AsMe nglad recei ves Svipdag, so Lady Breyde receives

8 3 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

stances which remind us of the above-cited story fromSaxo ( see No . when Er icu s-Svipdag, G un va ra

Freyja , and Rolle ru s-UHare in the abode of a treacherousgiant

,who tri es to pe rsuade Svipdag to deliver G u n va ra

to him,and when Bra cu s-Thor brea ks into the giant

abo de, and either slays the inmates or puts them to flight .G u n va ra then fights by the side of Er icu s-Svipdag,mulieb r i c orpore vir ileman imfumwqu an s (H is t ,In the G erman O re n tel saga appears a “fisherman ,

who is called master Yse . O re n telhas at one time bee nwrecked

,and comes floating o n a plank to his i sland,

where Yse picks him up . Yse i s not a common fishe rman . He has a castle with seven towers, an d eight hundre

'

d fishermen serve unde r him . Th ere i s good reasonfor assuming that this mighty chieftain of fishermen origin ally was the Asa-god Tho r, who in the northern oceanonce had the Midgard- serpent on his hook

,and that the

e pisod e of the picking up o f the wrec ked O re n telby Ysehas its root in a tradition concerning the mythical adve nture

,when the real O rvan del, Sv ipdag

’

s father,feeble

and cold,was met by Thor and carrie d by h imacross the

Elivaga r . In the mythology, as shall be Shown he re a fter

,O rven del the brave was Thor’s sworn” man , and

fought with him against giants before the hosti lity sprangup between Ivalde ’

s sons and the Asa -gods . In the O rentel saga Yse also regards O re n telas his thrall .” Thelatte r emancipa tes himself from his thraldom with gold .

Perhaps this ran som is a reference to the gold whichFreyja’s te ars gave as a ransom for Svipdag.

O re n tel’

s father i s called Eigel, king in Trier . In

8 3 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Vilkin asaga we find the archer Egi l, Volund’s brothe r,mentioned by the name-variatio n Eigill. The G e rman

O re n tel’

s pa tron saint i s Wieland, that i s, Volund . Thusi n the O ren telsaga as in the Volu n da rkvida and in Vilkin a saga we find both these names Egi l and Volund com

b in ed,an d we have all the more reason for regarding

King Eigel in Trier as identical with the mythologicalEgi l

,since the latter

,l ike O rva n del, i s a famous archer .

Be low ,I shall demonstrate that the archer O rva n deland

the archer Egi l actually were identical in the mythology.

But first it may be in order to point o u t the followingcircumstances . Tacitus tells us in his G e rma n ia ( 3 )“Some people think

,howe ve r, that U lysses , too , on his

long adventurous journeys was carried into this ocean

( the G e rma nic ) , and visited the countrie s of G e rmany,a n d that he founded and gave name to Asc ib u rgium,which is situated on the Rhine

,and is sti ll an inhabited

city ; nay, an altar co nse crate d to U lysses , with the nameof hi s father Laert es added , i s said to have been foundther e To determine the precise location of this Asci

b u rgi umi s not possible. Ptolemy ( i i . 1 1 , and afterh imMarcianus He ra cleo ta (Pe r ipl. , 2 , inform usthat an Ask ib u rgo n was situated on the Rhine, south ofand above the delta of the river . Ta bula Peu tinge r ia

loc ates Asc e b u rgia be twee n G e lduba (G e lb ) and Ve te ra

(Xanten ) . But from the history of Tacitus it appe ars

( iv. 3 3 ) that Asc ib u rgiumwas situated between N e uss

a n d Mainz (Maye nce) . Read the passage : Ali is a

N ow sio , alzi s a Mogorztiac o u n iversos c opias adven isse

c r ede n tibu s .

8 39

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

The passage refers to the Roman tr00 ps sen t to Ascib u rgiumand there attack ed— tho se troops which expe ctedto be re l ieved fromthe neares t Roman quarters in theno rth or south . Its location Shou ld acc o rdingly b e

looked for e i ther on or near that pa rt o f the Rhine, whichon the east bo rdere d the old archbishopric Trie r .Thus the G e rman O re n tel saga locates King Eigel

’

s

realm and O ren tel’s native cou ntry in the same regions ,where

,according to Tacitus’ reporte r, U lysses was sa id to

have set tled fo r some time and to have fou nded a citadel .As i s well known

,the Roman s bel ieve d they found trace s

o f the wandering U lysses in well-nigh all lands , and i t wasonly necessary to hear a strange pe ople mention a fartravelle d mythic hero

,and he was at once identified eithe r

as U lysses o r Hercules . The Teuton ic mytho logy had ahero d la U lysses in the younge r O re n tel, Odr-SvipdagHe remod, whom the Beowulf poem calls “incomparablythe most celebrated traveller among mankind” (wre cc e n a widemce ros t ofe r w e r- theode ) . Mannhardt hasa lready po inte d out an episode (O re n tel

’

s shipwre ck andarrival in Yse ’s land ) which cal ls to mind the Shipwreckof Odysseu s and his arrival in the land of the Phe ac e s .

Within the limits which the Sv ipdag-myth,according to

my own investigations , proves itself to hav e had , otherand more conspicuous features common to bo th

,but cer

ta inly not borrowed from e ither,can be pointed ou t , fo r

instance Svipdag’

s and Oydsseu s’ descent to the lower

world , and the comba t in the guise of seals betwe en Heimdal and Loke

,which reminds us of the confl ict of Mene

laos clad in seal~skin with the seal-watcher Proteus

840

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Jordanes says that in the most ancient times they werece lebrated in song and describ e d as heroe s who scarce lyhad their equals (quo te s n ix he rods fu issemiran da ja c ta tan tiqu i tas ) . Previous investigators have already recogn iz ed in Arpa n tala O rva n del, in Amala Hamal , in VidigoiaWitt iche ,Wieland’s son (Vidga Volu n dso n ) , who inthe mythology are cousins of Svipdag ( se e No .

F r idige rn u s, F r idgjorn , means“he who strives to get the

beauti ful one, an epithet to which Svipdag has the firstclaim among ancient Teutonic heroes, as Freyja hersel fhas the first claim to the name F r id (beauti ful ) . InF jolsvin n smal i t belongs to a dis, who sits at Freyja’sfeet

,and be longs to he r royal household . This is in anal

ogy with the fact that the name Hlirt belongs at the sametime to Frigg herself (V01 u spa ) , and to a goddess belonging to her royal household (Younger Edda, i .What Tacitus tells about the stone found at Asc ib u rgium

,with the names of U lysses and Laertes inscribed

thereon , can of course be nothing but a conj ecture, basedon the idea that the famous Teutonic trave ller was identical with Odysseus . D oubtless this idea has beenstren gthened by the similarity between the names Odr ,G oth . Vods , and Odysseus, and by the fact that th ename Laertes (acc . La e rt e n ) has sounds in common withthe name o f Sv ipdag

’s father . I f, as Tacitu s seems to

indicate,Asc ib u rgiumwas named after its founde r, we

would find in Asc an epithet of O rva n del’s Son , common

in the first century after Christ and later. In that ca sei t l ies nearest at hand to think o f di sko (Fick. i ii . theEnglish “ask

,

” the Anglo-Saxon as c ia n ,the Swedish

842

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

a ska,to seek

,

” “search for,” “

to try to secure, whicheasi ly adap ted itself to Svipdag,

who goes on long andpe rilous journeys to look for Freyja an d the sword ofvictory . I cal l attention to these possibi liti es becausethey appe ar to suggest an ancient connection

,but not for

the purpose of building hypo theses there on . Under all

ci rcumstances it i s of intere st to note that the Christianmedieval O re n t el saga locates the Teutonic migrationhero’s home to the same pa rt of G ermany where Tacitusin h is time assumed that he had founded a citadel . Thetradition

,as heard by Tacitus, did n o t however make

the regions about the Rhine the native land of the ce leb ra te d traveller. He came thither, i t i s said in G e rma n ia ,fromthe No rth after having navigated in t he Norther nO cean . And this correspo nds with the mythology, whichmakes Svipdag an In guaeo n ,

and Svio n ,a member of the

race of the Sk ilfin g—Yn glings, makes him in the beginning fight on the side of the powers of frost against Hal f

afterwards lead not only the north Teu tonic

( In gu aeon ia n ) but also the west Teutonic tribe s ( theHermiones ) against the ea st Teutonic war for ces of Had

ding ( see No s . 3 8

Memories of the Sv ipdag-myth have also be e n preservedin the story abou t Hamle t, Saxo

’s Amle thu s (Sn aeb jo rn ’

s

Amlodi ) , Son of Ho rve n dillu s (O rvan del) . In themedieval story Hamlet’s father

,l ike Svipdag

’

s fathe r inthe mythology, was Slain by the same man, who marr i esthe wife of the slain man

,and

,l ike Svipdag in the myth ,

Hamlet o f the medieval saga becomes the avenger of hisfather Horve n dillu s and the slayer of his stepfather . O n

843

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

more than one occasion the idea oc curs in the Norse sagasthat a lad whose stepfather has slain his father broodsover his duty of avenging the latter

,and then plays

insane or half idiot to avoid the suspicion that he maybecome dangerous to the murderer . Svipdag, O rvan del

’

s

son,i s re ared in his stepfather’s hou se amid al l the cir

cumsta n c e s that might justi fy or explain such a hypoc risy .

Therefore he has as a lad receive d the epithet Amlodi , theme aning of which is “ insane

,

” and themyth having atthe same time describe d him as highly-gi fted , clever, andsharp-witted , we have in the words which the mythologyhas attr ibuted to his lips the k ey to the ambiguous wordswhich make the cleverness, which i s veiled under a stupidexte rior

,gleam forth . These features of the mythic

account of Svipdag have bee n transferred to the middleage saga anen t Hamlet— a saga which already in Saxo’stime had been de veloped into an independent narra tive .

I shal l return to this theme in a treatise o n the heroicsagas . O ther reminiscences of th e Sv ipdag-myth reappear in D anish

,Swe dish

,and Norwegi an ballads . The

D anish ballads , which , with surprising fidelity,have pre

se rved certain fundamental traits and de tails of the Sv ipdag-myth even down to our days , I have already discussed .

The Norwegian bal lad about Hermod the Young”

(Lands tad N a rske F olkevis er , p 2 8 ) , and its Swedish ve rsion

,

“Be rgtrolle t , which corresponds sti ll more faith

fu l ly with the myth (Arvidson , i . have this pecul iarinterest in reference to mythological synonymics and thecon nection of the mythic fragments preserved , that Svipdag appears in the fo rmer as in the Beowul f poem and

844

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

finds that they have gone she hastens (according to theNorwegian version accompanie d by eighteen giants ) afterthose who have taken fl ight through dark for ests with aspee d which makes every tre e bend itself to the ground .

Whe n Hermod with hi s young maiden had come to thesalt fjord (Elivaga r ) , the giante ss is quite ne ar them, butin the decisive mome nt she i s changed to a ston e

,accord

ing to the Norse ver sion, by the influence of the sun ,which just at that time rose ; according to the Swedishversion , by the influe nce of a cro ss which stood near thefjord and its “ long bridge .”

The Swe dish version states,in addition to this

,that

Hermod had a brother ; in the mythology, Ullthe skil fulskee —runne r . In bo th the versions, Hermod is himsel fan excellent skee-man . The refrains in both read : “

He

could so well on the Skees run .

” Below ,I shall prove

that O rva n del, Svipdag’

s and U ll’s father, i s identicalwith Egi l, the foremos t Skee- runne r in the mythology, andthat Svipdag i s a cousin of Skade,

“the dis of the Ske es .

Svipdag-Hermod belongs to the celebrate d ske e - race of

the mythology,and in this respect, too ,

these ballads havepreserved a genuine trait of the mythology .

In the i r way,these ballads

,the re fore

,give evide nce of

Svipdag’s identity with Hermod, and of the latte r

’s iden

tity with Saxo’s O the ru s .

Finally,a few words about the Svipdag synonyms . O f

these, Odr and He rmodr (and in the Be owulf poem Svid

ferhd) fo rm a group which, as has alre ady bee n pointedout above

,refer to the qual ities of his mind . Sv ipdag

(“the glimmering day” ) and Skirn er (

“the shining o n e” )

846

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

form another group , which refers to his birth as the sono f the star-he ro O rva n del, who is

“the brightest ofstars,

” and “a true beam from the sun” ( se e above ) .

Again, anent the synonym Eirekr , we should bear in mindthat Svipdag

’

s half—brother G udho rmhad the epithetf ormu n r ekr , and the half-brother o f the latter, Hadding,the epithet tho

’

dr ekr . The y are the three half—brotherswho

,after the patriarchMannus-Halfdan , a ssume the gov

e rnme n t . of the Teutons, and as e ach one o f them haslarge domains

,and rules over many Teutonic tribes

,

they are,in contradistinction to the princes of the separate

tribes,great kings or emperors . It i s the dignity of a

great king which is indicated, each in its own way, by allthese parallel names— Eirekr, J ormrmr ekr, and thjédrekr .

SVIPDAG’

S F ATHER ORVANDEL. EVIDEN CE THAT HE Is

IDENTICAL WITH VOLUN D’

S BROTHER EG IL. THE

ORVAN DEL SYN ON YM EBBo (EBUR, IBOR ) .

Svipdag’

s father, O rvan del, must have be en a mortalenemy of Halfdan

,who abducted his wi fe G roa . But

hitherto it i s his son Svipdag whomwe have seen carryout the feud of revenge against Halfdan . Still, i t must

se em incredible that the brave archer himse l f should

remain inactive and le ave it to his young untried so n tofight against Tho r’s favou rite

,the mighty son of Bo rga r .

The epic conne ction demands that O rvan delalso shou ldtake part in thi s war

,and it i s necessary to inves tigate

847

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

whether our mythic records have preserved traces of thesatisfaction o f thi s demand in regard to the mythologica lepic .As hi s name indicates

, O rvan del was a celebratedarcher. That m O rvan del, in heathen times, was conc e ived to be the wo rd or,

“arrow — though this meaningdoes not therefore need to be the most original one— i smade perfectly certain by Saxo, according to whomOrvan dill’s father was named G e irva n dill (G e rvan dillu s ,H is t , Thus the father i s the one “busy with thespea r, the son

“the one busy with the arrow .

”

Taking thi s as the start ing point, we must at the verythreshold of our investigation present the question : Isthe re among Hal fdan’s enemies me ntioned by Saxo anyone who bea rs the name of a well-kn own archer ?This i s actually the fact . Hal fdan Be rggramhas tocontend with two my thic persons, Toko and An u n du s ,who with united for ces appear against him (H is t ,Toko, Toki, is the well-known name of an archer. Inanother passage in Saxo (H is t , 2 6 5, &c . ) one An u n du s ,with the help o f Avo (or Ano) sagi ttar ius , fights againstone Halfdan . Thus we have the parallelsThe archer O rvan deli s an enemy of Halfdan f

The man called archer Toko and An u n du s are enemiesof Hal fdan .

The archer Avo and An u n du s are enemies of Hal fdan .

What at once strikes us is the fact that bo th the onecalled Toko ( an archer

’s name) and the archer Avo haveas comrade one An un du s in the war against Ha l fdan .

Whence did Saxo get this Anu n du s ? We are n ow in the

848

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Volund’s brothe rs are called Egilland Slagfidr (Slagfin n r ) in Volu n da rkv ida . The Icelandic-No rwegianpoems from heathe n times contain paraphrases whichprove that the mythological Egi l was famous as a n archerand skee- runner . The bow is “

Egil’

s weapon,” the

arrows are “Egil

’

s weapon-hail” (Younger Edda,and “the swift herring of Egi l

’

s hands” (Har . G r . , p .

A Ship is cal led Egil’

s Skees , originally be cause hecould use hi s skees also on the water. In Vo-lu n darkvida

he makes hunting expedition s with his brothers on skees .Vilkin a saga also ( 2 9, 3 0) knows Egil as Volund

’sbrother, and speaks of him as a wonde rfully ski l ful archer.The same Vo lund , who in Saxo under the name An u n dhas Toko ( the name of an archer ) or the archer Avo byhis side in the conflict with Halfdan

,also has the archer

Egi l as a brother in other sources .O f an archer Toko, who is mentioned in H is t , 487-490,Saxo tel ls the same exploit as Vilkin a saga attribute s toVolund’s brothe r Egi l . In Saxo it i s Toko who performs the celebrated maste rpiece which was afterwardsattributed to William Tell . In Vilkin a saga i t i s Egi l .The one like the other, amid s imilar secondary circumstances , shoots an apple fromhi s son’s head . Egil

’

s ski llas a skee-runner and the servi ceablene ss o f his skees onthe water have not been forgotte n in Saxo’s account ofToko. He runs on skees down the mountain,mp ing prec ip itou sly down to the sea, Kullen in Scania, and is saidto have saved himsel f on bo ard a ship . Saxo’s Toko wastherefore without doubt identical with Volund’s brotherEgi l, and Saxo

’s An un d i s the same Volund of whom850

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

the Volu n darkvida testifies that he also had this name inthe mytho logy.

Thus we have demonstrated the fact that Volund and

Egi l appe ared in the saga of the Teutonic patriarch Halfdan as the enemies of the latter

,and that the famous

archer Egil occupied the po sition in which we wouldexpect to find the celebrated archer O rvan del

, Svipdag’

s

father. O rvan deli s therefore either identical with Egi l,and then i t i s easy to understand why the latter is anenemy of Halfdan, who we know had robbed hi s wi feG roa ; or he is not ide ntical with Egi l, and then we knowno motive for the appearance of the latter on the sameside as Svipdag, and we, moreover, are confronted by theimprobability that O rvan deldoe s nothing to avenge theinsult done to him“

.

Orvan del’

s identity with Egil is complet ely confirmedby the following circumstances .

O rvan delhas the Elivaga r and the coasts of Jotunheimas the scene of hi s exploi ts during the time in which he i sthe friend of the gods and the oppon ent of the giants .To this time we must refer Ho rve n dillu s

’ victories overC olle ru s (Kollr ) an d his sister Sela ( cp . the name of amon ster Selko-lla— Bisk S i . 6 05) mention ed by Saxo

(H is t , 1 3 5 H is surname in n frwkn i, the brave,alone is pro of that the myth refe rs to important exploi tscarried out by him

,and that these were performed against

the powers o f fros t in particular— that i s to say, in theservice of the gods and fo r the good of Midgard— i splain from the narrative in the Younger Edda ( 2 7 6 ,This shows, as is also demanded by the ep ic connec tion ,

85 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

that the Asa-god Thor and the archer Or va ndelwere atleast for a time confidential friends

,and that the y had met

each other on thei r expeditions for similar pu rpp se s inJo tunheim . When Thor, wounded in his fo rehead,returns from his combat with the giant Hmngn ir to hishome

,thr i idvdngr ( thr i idvdngar , thrudhe irn r) O rvan del

’

s

wife G roa was there and tried to help him with healingsorcery, wherein sh e would also have succeeded i f Thorcould have made himse l f hold his tongue for a while concerning a rep ort he brought with him abou t her husba nd ,and which he expecte d would please her . And G roa d idbecome so glad that she forgot to continue the magicsong and was unable to complete the healing. The repo rtwas , as we know, that, on the expedition to Jotunheimfrom which he had now come home, Thor had met O rvandel , carried him in his ba sket acros s the Elivaga r , andthrown a toe which the intrep id adventurer had froz enup to heaven and made a star ther e of. Thor added thatbefore lon g O r van delwould come “home that i s to say,doubtless

,home to Thor, to fetch his wi fe G roa . It

follows that , when he had carried O rvan del across the

Elivagar , Thor had parted with him somewhere on theway

,in all probabil ity in O rvan del

’

s own home,and that

whi le Orvan delwan dered about in Jo tunheim, G roa , thedi s of growth , had a safe place of refuge in the Asa-G od

’sown citadel . A close re lation between Thor and O rvandel also appears from the fact that Thor afterwards marries O rva n del

’

s se cond wi fe Si f, and adopts his so n Ull,Sv ipdag

’

s half-brothe r ( see No . in Asgard .

Consequently O rva n del’s abode was S ituate d south o f

852

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

where his precious car and goats were housed and takencare of by the host, who accor dingly had a ve ry important task

,and must have been a friend of Thor and the

Asa-gods in the mythology. The hos t bears the archername Egil . FromAsgard to Egil’s abode, says Hyme rskv ida , i t i s about on e day

’s journey for Thor when herides behind his goa ts on his way to Jotunheim . Afterthis day’s j ou rney he leaves the draught-animals, decorated with ho rns , with Egil, who takes care of them , andthe god continues his journey on foo t . Tho r and Tyrbeing about to visit the giant Hymer

F o ro dr ivgomdag tha n n fra rnAsga rdi fra ,

un z t ilEgils qu omo ;h irdi h an n h a frah o rn ga u fga s ta

hu rto a t h a ullo

e r Hymir at ti .Nearly al l the day they proceede d thei r way from

Asgard unti l they came to Egil’

s . He gave the hornstrong goats care. They (Thor and Tyr ) continued tothe great hall which Hyme r owned ”

)FromEgil’s abode both the gods accordingly go on

foot . From what is afterwards stated about adventureson their way home, it appe ars that there i s a long distance be tween Egil

’

s house and Hyme r’s (cp . str. 3 5for o le ngi , adr , fire ) . It i s necessary to journey acrossthe Elivagar first— byr fyr an s tan

, Elivdga hu n dviss

Hyn i ir ( str . In the Elivaga r Hymer has hi s fishing854

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

ground s, and the re he is wont to catch whales on hooks

(cp . str . 1 7— a vdg r oa ) but sti ll he does not ve nture farout upon the water ( see str. presumably be cause hehas e nemies o n the southern strand where Egil dwells .Be tween the Elivaga r and Hyme r ’s abode there i s a cons ide rable distance through woody mountain recesses

(holt r id— str . 2 7 ) and past rocks in whose caverns dwellmonsters belonging to Hyme r’s giant-clan ( str .Tho r reso rts to cunning in order to se cure a safe retreat .After he has been out fishing with the giant, instead ofmaking his boat fast in its proper place on the strand

,as

Hyme r requests him to do, he carries the boa t with itsbe longings al l the difficult way up to Hyme r ’s hall . He

i s also attacked on his way home by Hymer and all hi sgiant- clan

,and

,in order to be able to wieldMjoln e r fre ely

,

he must put down the precious kettle which he has captu red from the

'

frost-giant and was carry ing on his broadShoulders ( str. 3 5

,But the undisturbed retreat

across the Elivaga r he has secured by the above-men

t io n ed cunning.

Egil i s called hran n b n i ( str. an epithet the ambigu ou s meaning of which Sho uld not be unobserve d . It i susually translate d with roc k-dweller, but it here means“he who l ives near or at Hran n n

”Hran n n i s

one of the names of the Elivaga r ( see No s . 59, 93 ; cp .

Younger Edda, 2 58 , with G r imn e rsmal,

After thei r return to Egil’

s,Thor and Tyr again seat

themselves in the thunde r- chariot and proceed to Asgardwith the captured kettle. But they had not driven farbefore the strength of one of the horn-decorate d draught

855

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

animals fai led , and it was found that the goa t was lame

( str . A misfortune had happe ned to it while in

Egil’

s keeping, and this had been caused by the cunningLoke ( str. 3 7 The poem doe s n o t state the kind ofmisfor tune— the Younger Edda give s us information onthis point— but i f it was Loke’s purpose to make e nmitybetween Thor and his friend Egil he did n ot succeed thistime . Thor, to be sure, demanded a ransom. for whathad happened

,and the ransom was

,as Hyme rskv ida

informs us,two children who were reared in Egil

’

s house.But Thor became thei r excellent foster- father and p rotector, and the punishmen t was therefore of such a kindthat i t was calculated to strengthen the bon d of friendship instead o f breaking i t .G ylfagin n ing also (Younger Edda, i . 1 42 , &c . ) ha s

preserved tradition s showing that when Thor is to make ajourney from Asgard to Jotunheim it requires more thano n e day, and that he therefore puts up in an inn at theend of the first day’s travel , where he eats hi s supper andstops over night . There he leaves his goa ts and travelsthe next day eastward (north ) ,

“across the deep sea”

(hafit that hi t djapa ) , on who se other side hi s giant foeshave their abode . The sea in question is the Elivaga r ,and the tradition co rrectly states that the in n i s S ituatedon its southern (weste rn ) side.But G ylfagin n ing has forgotten the name of the hostin this inn . Instead of giving hi s name it simply call shim a b n a n di (peasant ) ; but it knows and states on theother hand the names of the two childre n there reared ,Thjalfe and Ro skva ; and it relates how it happened that

856

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

the Elivaga r and in Jotunheim against th e same enemiesas Tho r ; and why the mytho logy has made him and thelord o f thunde r friends who vis i t each other. W ith thetenderness o f a father, and with the devotion o f a fe llowwarrior, the mighty son o f Odin bears o n his Shoulde rsthe we ary and cold star-hero over the foggy Elivagar ,fil le d with magic terrors

,to place him safe by his own

hea rth south of this se a afte r he has honou red him with atoken which shall for ever shine on the hea vens as a monumen t of O rvan del’s exploits and Thor’s friendship fo rhim . In the meantime G roa , Orvan del

’

s wife , stays inTh or’s halls .But we discover the same bond o f hospitality between

Thor and Egil . According to Hyme rskvida i t i s in Egil’shouse

,according to G ylfagin n in g in the house in which

Thjalfe i s fostered, where the accident to o n e o f Thor’sgoats happe ns . In one of the sources the youth whomThor takes as a ransom is called simply Egil

’

s child ; inthe other he is cal le d Thjalfe . Two diffe rent mythicsources Show that Thjalfe was a wai f, adopted in Egil

’

s

house,and consequently not a real brother but a foster

brother of Svipdag and U 1 ]. O n e source i s F orn alde rsaga ( i i i . where it i s stated that G roa in a flcedarmdlfound a little boy and reared him toge ther with herown son . F lcedarmdli s a place which a part of the timeis flooded with water and a part of the time l ies dry . Theother source i s the Lo ngobard saga, in which the mythological Egil re appe ars as Agelmu n d, the first king of theLongoba rdians who emigrate d from Scandinavia (Origo

Longo b . ,Paulus D iac . , 1 4, 1 5 ; cp . No . Agelmu n d,

858

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

it is said , had a foster- son, Lamicho (Or igo or

Lamissio (Paulus whom he found in a dam andtook home out of pity . Th us in the one place it is awoman who be ars th e name of the archer O rva n del’swi fe, i n the other it i s the archer Egil himself, who adoptsas foster-son a child found in a darn o r in a place fille dwith water. Paulus D iaconus says that the lad re ce ive dthe name Lamiss io to commemorate this c ircumstance ,“since he was fished up out o f a dam or dyke ,

” which intheir ( the Lon goba rdian ) language is called lama ( cp .

lehm,mud . The name Thjalfe ( thjdlfi) thus sugge sts

a S imi lar idea . As Vigfu sso n has already pointed out, i ti s connected with the English delve, a dyke ; with theAnglo-Saxon delfan ; the D utch delve n

,to work the

ground with a spade, to dig. The circumstances underwhich the lad was found presaged his future. In themythology h e fells the clay-giant

,M5kkr -kalfi (Younge r

Edda, i . 2 72 In the migration saga he is the discoverer of land and circumnavigates i slands (Ko rm, 1 9,3 ; You nger Edda, i . and the re he conquers giants

(Harbards- lj od , 3 9) in order to make the lands inhabitable for immigrants . In the appendix to the G otlandlaw he appe ars as Thjelva r , who lands in G o tland , l iberates the island from trolls by carrying fire, colonises i tand be comes the progenitor o f a hos t of emigrants, whosettle in sou thern countri e s . In Paulus D iaconus hegrows u p to be a powerful hero ; in the myt hology hedevelops i nto the Asa-god Thor

’s brave he lper, who par

t ic ipa te s in h is and the great archer’s adventures on the

Elivaga r and in Jotunheim . Paulus (ch . 1 5) says that

859

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

when Agelmu n d once came with his Longobardians to ariver

,

“amazons” wanted to hinder him from crossing it .Then Lamissio fought, swimming in the river, with thebravest one of the amaz on s, and killed her. In the mytho logy Egi l himsel f fights with the giantess Sela

,men

t io n e d in Saxo as an amazon ; pira tic is exe rc i ta r e b n s a c

b elli c i pe r i tamu n e r is (H is t ,whi le Thjalfe com

bats with giantesse s on Hle ssey (Ha rb a rdslj and atthe S ide of Thor and the archer he fights his way throughthe river waves

,in which giante sses t ry to drown him

(Thor sdrapa ) . It i s evident that Paulus D iaconus’

accounts o f Agelmu n d and Lamissio are nothing butechoe s re lated as history of the myths concerning Egiland Thjal i e, of which the N orse records fortunately havepreserve d valuable fragme nts .Thus Thjalfe i s the arche r Egil

’

s and G roa’s foster

so-n , as is apparent from a bringing together of the sourcescited . From other source s we have found that G roa is thearcher O rva n del’s wife . Orva n deldwells near th e Elivagar and Thor i s hi s friend, and visits him o n his way toand from Jotunheim . These are the evidences of O rvandel’s and Egil

’

s identity which lie neare st at hand .

It has already been pointed out that Svipdag’

s fatherO rvan delappears in Saxo by the name Ebbo ( se e No s .

2 3, It is O tha ru s-Sv ipdag

’

s father whomhe callsEbbo (H is t , 3 2 9 Hal fdan slays O rvan del-Ebbo,while the latter ce lebrates his wedding with a princess

Sygru tha ( see No . In the my tho logy Egil hadthe same fate : an en emy and rival kills him for the sakeo f a woman . Franks C asket ,

” an old work of sculpture86 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

(ch . Ajo and Ibor. Thus the name Ebbo i s anotherform for Ibor, the G erman Ebur, the Norse Jo

'

fn rr ,“a

wild boar. The Ibor of the Lo ngobard saga,the emi

gra t io n leader, and Agelmu n d, the first king of the emigrants

, in the mythology, and also in Saxo’s authorities

,

are one and the same person . The Lon gobardian emi

gra t io n sto ry, narrated in the form of history, thus has itsroot in the universal Teuton ic emigratio n myth

,which

was connected with the enmity caused by Loke betweenthe gods and the primeval artists— a n e nmity in whichthe latter allied themse lves with the powers of frost, and,at the head of th e Sk ilfing—Yn glin g tribe s, gave theimpe tus to that migration southward which re sulte d inthe populating of the Teutonic continent with tribesfromSouth Scandia and D e nma rk ( se e No s . 2 8 ,

N o r i s the mythic he ro Ibo r forgotte n in the G ermansagas . He i s mentioned in No tk e r (about the ye ar 1 000)and in the Vilk in a saga . No tke r S imply me ntions him inpassing as a saga-hero well known at that time . He d ist ingu ishe s between the re al wi ld boar (Ebe r ) roamingin the woods

,and the Eber (Ebur) who

“we ars theswan- ring.

” This i s all h e ha s to say of him . But,according to Volu n da rkv ida ,

the mythologi cal Ebur-Egili s married to a swan-maid

,a n d

, l ike h i s bro the r Volund,he wore a ring. The signification of the swan- rings wasoriginally the same as that of D raupn e r : they were symbo l s of ferti l ity

,and we re made and owne d for this reason

by the prime val artists o f mytho logy,who

,as w e have

se en,were the personified fo rce s o f growth in nature

,and

by the i r beloved or wives , the swan-maids, who r ep r e

8 6 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

sented the saps of vegetation,the bestowers of the mythic

“mea d or “ale The swan-maid who loves Egil i s,therefore

,in Volu n da rvida called Olrun , a parallel to the

name Olgefion ,as G roa, O rvan del

’

s wife, i s called in

Hau stlau n g (Younger Edda, i . Saxo,too

,has

heard of the swan-rings,and says that from three swans

singing in the ai r fell a c inguluminscribed with namesdown to King F r idlevu s (N j ord ) , which informed him

where he was to find a youth who had been robbed by agiant

,and who se liberation was a matter of great impor

tance to F r idlevu s . The context shows that the unnamedyouth was in the mythology F r idlevu s-N jord’s own sonF‘rey

,the lord o f harvests

,who had been robbed by the

powers of frost . Accordingly, a swan- ring has co -operated in the mythology in restoring the fertility of the

earth .

In Vilkin asaga appe ars Villife r . The author of thesaga says himsel f that thi s name is identical with WildEbur

,wild boar. Villifer , a splen did and noble-minded

youth,wears on his arm a gold ring, and i s the elder

frien d,protector

,and saviour o f Vidga Volu n dso n . O f

his fami ly relations Vilkin asaga give s us no information ,but the part i t gives him to play finds its explan ationin the myth

,where Ebur i s Volund’s brother Egil

,and

hence the uncle of his favourite V idga .

I f we now take into conside ration that in the G e rmanO re n t el saga, which is ba sed on the Svipdag-myth

,the

father of the hero i s called Eigel (Egil ) , and his patronsaint Wieland (Volund ) , and that in the archer, who inSaxo fights by the side of Amund-Volund against Half

86 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

dan,we have re —d iscovered Egi l where we expecte d

O rva n del; the n w e here fin d a who le chain of evidencethat Ebur

,Egil , and O rvan delare identical, and at the

same time the l inks in this chain of evidence,taken as

the y are from the Icelandic poetry, and from Saxo, fromEngland

,G ermany, and Italy, have demonstrated how

widely spread among the Teutonic peoples was the mythabout O rvan del-Egil, his famous bro ther Volund , and hisno less celebrated son Svipdag. The result gained by theinve stigation is of the greatest importance for the re sto ration of the e pic conne ction of the mythology . H i thertothe Volu n da rkv ida with its hero has stood in the galle ryof myths as an iso lated torso with no t race of connectionwith the other myths and mythic sagas . N ow,

on theother hand, i t appears, and as the inve stigation progresse si t Shall become mo re and more evident, that the Volundmyth belongs to the central timbers of the great epic o fTeutonic mythology

,and extends branches through it in

all directions .In regard to Svipdag

’

s saga,the first result gained i s

that the mythology was not inclined to allow Volund’ssword, concealed in the lower world , to fall into the handsof a hero who was a stranger to the great artist and h isplans . I f Vo lund fo rged the sword fo r a purpo se hos t i leto the gods

,in order to aven ge a wrong done him

,or to

elevate himsel f and his ci rcle of kinsmen among the elve sat the expen se of the ruling gods

,then his work was n o t

done in vain . I f Volund and his brothers are tho seIvalde sons who , after having given the gods beauti fultre asures, became offended on account of the decision

86 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y.

dignity of an Asa-god,he who is the son of O rva n del

Egil,and Svipdag

’

s bro ther ( see No . according toG r imn e r smal, has his halls built in Ydalir . D ivinebeings who did not originally belong to Asgard

,but were

adopted in O din’s clan , and thus became ful l citizenswithin the

,

bulwarks of the Asa- citadel,still retain po s

session o f the land, realm,and halls

,which i s thei r udal

and where they were reared . After he became a deniz enin Asgard, N jo rd continued to own and to reside occas io n ally in the Vana-citadel Noatun be yond the weste rnocean ( see No s . 2 0, Skade, as an a syn je , continuesto inhabit her father Thjasse

’

s halls in Thrymheim

(G r imn e rsmal, Vidar’s grass and brush-grownre alm is not a part o f Asgard

,but i s the large plain o n

which,in Ragnarok

, Odin is to fall in combat with Fe n re r

(G r imn er smal, 1 7 ; se e No . When U 1 ] i s said tohave his halls in Ydale r , thi s must be based on a similarreason

,and Ydale r must b e the land whe re he was reared

and which he inherited after his father,the great archer .

When G r imn e rsmalenumerates the homes of the gods, theseries of them begins with Thrudhe im, Thor’s realm,

andnext thereafter

,and in connection with Alfheim

,i s men

t ion ed Ydale r, presumably for the reason that Thor’s

land and O rvan del-Egil’

s were, as we have seen , most

intimately connected in mythology .

Lan d e r h e ila c t ,

e r e c liggia s e

a som0 c olfomnmr ;e n i th rudh e imis e al thorr v e ra ,u n z umr ivfa z re gin .

8 6 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Yda lir h e i ta .

tha r e r U llr h efirs e r umgo rva s ali ;Alfh e imF re ygafo i ardagat iva r a t t a n n fae .

Ydalir means the dales of the bow o r of the bows .Yse tr i s “the chale t of the bow or “of the bows .” Thatthe first part of these compound words i s bow

,

” i sproved by the way in which the local name Yse tr can beapplied in poetical paraphrases, where the b ow-holdinghand is called Yse tr . The names refer to the mythicalrulers of the region

,namely, the arche r U 1 1 and his father

the archer O rvan del-Egi l . The place has also been called

G e irvadills se tr, G e irva n dills s e tr,which is explained by

the fact that O rvan del’s father bore the ep ithet G eirvandel (Saxo, H is t , Hakon Jarl

,the ruler of

northern Norway, i s called (F agrsk .,3 7, 4) G e irvad ills

s e trs Ullr ,“the U 1 1 of G e irvan del’s chalet, a paraphrase

in which we fin d the mythological association of Ullwiththe chalet which was owned by his father O rvan delandhi s grandfather G e irvan del. The Ydale s were describe da s rich in gold . Yse trs eldr i s a paraphrase for gold .

With this we must compare what Volund says (Vola nda rkv ida , 1 4 ) of the wea lth of gold in his and his kinsmen’s home. (See furthe r, in regard to the same passage , No s . 1 1 4 andIn connection with its mention of the Ydale s

,G rim

n e rsmalstates that the gods gave Frey Alfhe im a s a toothgi ft . Ta n n fe

'

( tooth-gift ) was the name of a gi ft whichwas gi ven (and in Iceland is stil l given ) to a child when

86 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

i t gets its first too th . The tender Fre y is thus appointedby the gods as king o ve r Alfhe im, and chie f o f the elfprinces there

,among whom Volund and O rvan del-Egil,

judging from the mythic events themselve s,must have

be en the foremost and mos t celebrated . It i s also logicallyco rrect, from the standpoint of nature symbo l ism

,that

the god of growth and harvests re cei ves the governmento f elves and primeval artists

,the personifie d powers of

culture . Through thi s arrangement o f the gods , Volundand O rvan delbe come vassals unde r N jord and his son .

In two pa ssages in Saxo we read mythic accounts toldas history

,from which it appe ars that N jord selected a

fo ster- father for his son,or let him be reared in a home

under the care of two fo ste rers . In the one passage

(H is t . 2 72 ) i t i s F ridle vu s-N jo rd who sele cts Avo thearcher as his son’s fo ster- fa ther ; in the o ther passage

(H is t , 1 8 1 ) it i s the ten der F ro tho , son of F r idlevu s andfuture bro ther- in - law of Er icu s-Svipdag,

who receive sIsulfu s and Aggo as guardians .So far as the archer Avo i s concerned, we have alreadyme t h imabove ( se e N o . 1 08 ) in combat by the side of

An u n du s-Volund against one Halfdan . He i s a pa rallelfigure to the archer Toko

,who l ikewise fights by the side

of An u n du s-Vo lund against Halfdan , and , as has alreadybeen shown

,he i s identical with the archer O rvan del

Egil .The name Aggo is borne by one of the leaders of theemigr ation of the Longobardians, brother of Ebbo- Ibor ,in whom we have already discovered O rva n del-Egil .The name Isolfr

,in the Old Norse poetic language ,

8 6 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

additional light on Svipdag-Skirn e r’

s words to Frey in

Skirn e rsmal, 5u n gir s ama ny a romi ardaga ,v elmae t t imtvae ir t rua s c .

SVIPDAO’

S. G RAND FATHER 1 s IVALDE. ORVAN DEL, VOLUND ,

AND SLAG F IN THEREFORE ID ENTICAI. WITH IVALDE’

S

SON S.

In the mythology we read that elves smithied splendidtreasures for Frey (G rimn e rsmal, 42 ; Younger Edda ,i . 1 40, Among the se treasures were the remarkable ship Skidbladn ir and the gold-glittering boar Slidrngtan n i

,also called G ullin b u rst i (Younger Edda, i . 1 7 6 , 2 6 4,

3 40 both clearly symbols of vegetation . The elvest hat smithied these treasures are called Ivalde ’s sons , andconstitute the same group of brothe rs who se gifts to thegods

,at the instigation of Loke, are subj ected to a public

examination by the Asas and by them found wanting ascompared with Sin dre

’

s products . It would be most surpris ing

,nay, quite incredible, i f, whe n other artists made

useful presents to Fre y,the el f-prince Volund and his

brothers did not do likewise, inasmuch as he is the chiefsmith o f them all

,and inasmuch as he, with his brother

O rvan del-Egil, has taken upon himsel f the duties of afoster- fathe r toward the young harvest-god

,among which

duties one was certainly to care for his good and enablehim to per form the impo rtant task devolving on him in

the administration of the world .

870

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

From this standpoint already it i s more than probable

t hat the same artist who in the heroic saga o f the Teut onic 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 mythology was the most excellent smith ; that i s, the mostskil ful one among Ivalde ’s sons . This V iew i s perfectlyc onfirmed as to its correctness by the proofs which I Shallnow present.O f Ivalde , F

‘

o rn spjallsljod says that he had two groupso f children

,and that Idun

,the goddess of vegetation, b e

longed to one of these groups

Alfa ae t ta r

I thu n n i h e toIvallds e llr i

yn gs ta barn a .

Idun i s,therefore

,a sister of the celebrated art ists

,the

sons of Ivalde . In Volu n darkvida , Vo lund and Slagfinare brother s o r half-brothers of the disc s of vegetation

,

who are together with them in theWolfdale s ( see str .According to F omspjallsljod, Idun was for a time absentfrom Asgard, and stayed in a winter- cold land near Na rfeMimer’s daughter Na t , and in compa ny with pe rsonswhose names and epithets indicate that they were smiths

,

primeval artists (Ragn ir and Regin ; see No s . 1 1 3,1 1 5

,

and the epithet uiggiar , a synonym of smidar— Younge rEdda, i . Thus we read precisely the same of Idunas of the swan-maids and vegetation-dises who dwelt fora time in theWolfdale s with Volund and his brothers .

87 1

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

Further on it shal l be demonstrated that the name ofVo lund’s fathe r in the introduction of Volu n da rkvida andthe name given to the father of Volund’s and Slagfin

’

s

swan-maids are synonyms,and refer to one and the same

person . But i f we for the present leave this proof o u t ,and confine ourselves to the e viden ces alrea dy presente d ,then the question concern ing the identity o f the Ivaldesons with the grou p of bro thers Volund, Egil, and Slagfinassume s the fo llowing form :

1 . (a ) There i s in the mythology a group of brothers ,the Ivalde sons

,from whos e hands the mo st wonderful

works pr oceeded , works which we re presented to thegods, and by the latter wer e compared with thos e of theprimeval artist Sin dre .

( b ) In the he roic saga there i s a group of brothers , towhom Volund belon gs, the most celebrated of the smithshanded down from the mythology .

2 . (a ) Ivaldo i s an elf and his sons elves .

( b ) Volund, Egi l, and Slagfin are e lves (Volu n darkv ida ,

3 . (a ) Ivalde’

s sons are brothers or half-brothe rs ofthe goddess o f vegetation

,Idun .

( b ) Volund, Egil , and Slagfin are brothers or hal fbrothers of swan-maids and dises of vegetation .

4 . (a ) O f Idun, the sister o f Ivalde’

s sons,i t i s stated

that sh e was for a time absen t from the gods,and dwelt

with the primeval artists in a winter-cold land, nea r Nat ,the daughter of N ar/

‘i—Mimer .

( b ) Volund and his brothers’ swan-maids dwell for a

time in a winte r-c old land , which , as my rese arches have

872

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

THE RESULTS OF THE J UD GMEN T PASSED ON THE WORKS

OF ART PROD UCED BY THE IVALDE SON S. PARALLELMYTHS IN RIGVED A .

In the Younger Edda,which speaks of the judgment

passed by the gods o n the art works of the Ivalde sons

(p. 3 40, &c . ) there i s nothing said about the consequencesof the judgment ; and the mythologists se em therefore tohave assumed that no results fol lowed

,although it was

prepared by the “father o f misfortunes,

” the far-calculating and evil- scheming Loke . The judgment would inthat case be an isolated event

,without any influen ce on

the future,and without any connection with the other

mythic events . O n the other hand,no pos sible explana

tion was found o f Volund’s words (Volu n da rkvida ,which he utters afte r he has taken his te rrible vengeanceon N idad and is prepared to fly away in ea gle guise fromhis prison : N n hefi e c h efn t ka rmamin na allra n emae in n o ivi thgjarn ra —

“Now I have avenged all the wrongs

done to me, excepting one, which demands a more terribleven geance .” The wrong here referred to by him is notdone to him by N idad, and did n o t happe n to him whilehe live d as an exile in the w ildn e rn e ss of theWolfdale s ,but belongs to an earlier time

,when he and his brothers

and thei r kinsmen dwe lt in the rea lm rich in gold,whe re

,

according to Volu n da rkvida they l ived a happyli fe . This wrong was n o t avenged when he and hi sbrothers left thei r home abounding in gold

,in order that

far from his enemies he might perfect his plan of reven ge

874

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

by making the sword of victory. Volund’s words referto the judgmen t passe d on the art work of the Ivalde

sons,and thus the mythic even ts unite themselves into a

continuou s chain .

This judgmen t was in its consequences too impo rtantnot to be refer red to in Vo luspa , which makes all the danger-boding events o f the mythology pass one by one be foreour eyes in the or der in which they happe ned, in orde r toshow how thi s world from an innocent and happy beginning sank dee per and deeper into the misery which attainsits maturity in Ragnarok . That i s the plan and purpos eof the po em. As I shall Show fully and in detai l inanother pa rt of this wor k, its purpose i s not to Speakof Valfa the r ’s “art work, but of the treacherou s deedsof Loke

,

“the fathe r of evil (Vafodrs vel— Cod . Han k . )not to speak of “the traditions of the past, but of

“thepast events full of danger” (for n spjb

'

llfira ) . The happytime during which the Asa s tefldn i tan i and te i tir b arn

pa sses awa y for ever, and is followed by an epoch in whichthree dangerous thurs-maiden s came fromJo te n h e im.These thurs-maidens are not the norns, as has usuallybeen assumed . O f the relation of the norns to the god sI have given a full account already . The three thursmaids a r e th e one who in her unity i s triple and is thrice

bo rn of different parents . He r name is Heid-G ulve igAngerboda

,and

,in conne ction with Loke

,she constitute s

the evil principle of Teutonic mytho logy,l ike Angra

Ma in yu ,and Jahi in the Iranian mythology (Bu n dehe sh ,

The misfo rtune-boding even t which happens afterthe first hypostasis of “the three times born” came from

875

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

Jotunheim is mentioned i n connection with its couse

qu e n c es i n Vo luspa ( str. The Asas had not hithertosuff ered from want of works of gold, but n ow came at ime when such as might be of use or pleasure to the godswere no longer to be had . O f the gold-metal itse l f thegods have never been in want .

“ Their halls glitter wi th

thi s met al, and it grows in the bright wood Glas ir , ou t

side o f Valhal (Younger Edda, i . The poem , asthe very words Show

,mea ns golden works of art, things

made of gold,such as G n ngn ir , D ran pn ir , Sif

’s hair,Bris

ingame n ,and Slidrugta n n i, things the possession of which

incre ased the power o f the gods and the wealth of Midgard . Such ceased to flow into the hands of the gods .The epoch in which Sin dre

’

s and the Ivalde son’s gi ftsincreased Asga rd

’

s collection of wo rld-protecting weaponsand fert i l ity-producing o rnaments was at an end

,when

Loke,through He id’s arrival, found his other ego and

when the evi l principle, hithe rto barren, could as manand woman give birth to evil de e ds . The consequen ceo f the first deceitful act was

,as w e see, that hands skil ful

in art— hands which hitherto had made and given suchtreasures— refused to serve the god s any longer. Thearrangeme nt whereby Lok e gained this end Voluspa do esnot mention

,but it can be no other than the judgment

brought about by him,which insu lte d the sons o f Ivalde ,

and , at the same time, cheated the victo r ious Sin dre outof the priz e agreed on, Loke

’s head . Both the groups ofartists must have left the divine court angry at the gods .When we remember that the primeval artists are the creative fo rces of vegetation personified

,then we can also

876

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

fragments of old Aryan mythology, which Avesta , Z end,and Bu n dehe sh have preserved, spe ak of a terrible winte r,which visited the world . To rescu e that which is noblestand best among plants

, animals, and men fromthe coming des truction, Jima arranged in the lower world a separate en closed domain

,within which selecte d organisms

live an uncontaminated l i fe undisturbed by the events ofthis world

,so that they may peo ple a mo re beauti ful and a

happier earth in the regen erated world . I have shownthat the same myth in all important detai ls reappears inthe Teutonic doctrine an ent Mimer ’s grove and the dsmegir l iving there . In the Iranian records, we read that thegre at winte r was the work o f the evi l Spirit

,but they do

not tel l the details or the epic causes of the destruction bythe cold . O f these cause s we get information in Rigveda,the Indian S iste r of the Iranian mythology .

C lothed with divine rank, the re l ives among Rigve da’s

gods an extraordinary artist,Tva shtar (Tvashtr i ) , often

mention ed and addressed in Rigveda’s hymns . The wordmeans “the master-workman

,

” “the handi-workman

(Be rga ign e , Relig. Ved.,i i i . 45 ; D a rme ste te r, O rmazd,

6 3,

He i s the one who forms the organisms in thematernal wombs, the one who prepares and first posse ssesas his secret the strength and inspiration-giving somadrink (Rigv. , i i . 53 , &c . ) i t i s he that supports the racesof men (Rigv . ,

i i i . 55, Among the wonde rful thingsmade by his hands are mentioned a goblet , which the godsdrink from

,and which fi lls itsel f with blessings (Rigv . ,

i i i . 55, 2 0 ; x . 53,

and Indra’s the Hin doo ic Thor’s,thunderbo lt, corresponding to Thor

’s Mjoln e r .

878

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

But among mortals brothe rs have bee n reared, themselves mortals

,and not of divine rank , but who have edu

c a ted themselves into artists , whose ski ll fil ls the wo rldwith astonishment . The y are three in number, usual lycalled the Rib hu s

,but a lso An u s and Ayn s , names which

po ssibly may have some o riginal conne ction with theVolund names Aunu d and Ajo . Most clever and ente rprising in success fu l arti stic efforts i s the youngest of thethr e e (Rigv .

,iv . They are also soma-brewe rs

,

skalds,and he roes (Rigv . , iv . 3 6 , 5, and one of them

,

l ike Volund’s brother O rvan del-Egil , i s an unsurpasse da rcher (Rigv . ,

iv . 3 6 , O n account of the i r handiwo rk,

the se mortal artists come in contact with the gods (Rigv. ,

iv . and as Volund and Orva n del-Egil become"

Thor’sfriends

,a l l i es war-comrades, and servants, so the Ribhus

be come Indra s (Rigv . , i . 5 1 , 2 ; vi i , 3 7 , 7 )“with Indra

,

the helpful,allied themselves the helpers ; with Indra, the

nimble,the Ribhus .” They make weapons

,coats—o f

mai l,and means of locomotion, and make wonderful treas

ures for the gods . O n earth they produce vegetation inthe deserts, and hew out ways for the fert ili sing streams

(Rigv .,v . 42

,1 2 ; i v . 3 3

,With Ivalde ’s sons, the y,

therefore, share the qual ities of being at the same timecre ator s of vegetation

,and smiths at the hearth

,and b e

stowers of precious treasures to the god s .But some evi l tongue persuaded the gods that the Rib

hus had said something derogatory of the goblet made byTva shta r . Th i s made Tva shtar angry, and he demandedthei r death . The gods then sent the fire -god Agni to theRibhus . The Ribhus asked : “Why has the most excel

879

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

lent,the most youthful one come to us ? On wha t e rrand

does he come ?” Agni told them that it was reported

that the y had found fault with Tvashta r ’s goble t ; theyde c lared that they had not said anything derogatory, but

on ly talked about the material of which it was made. Agnime anwhile stated the resolution of the gods , to the e ffectthat they were to make fromTva shta r ’s goblet four othersof the same kind . I f they were unable to do this, thenthe gods would doubtle ss satis fy Tva shta r’s request andtake their l ives ; but i f they we re able to make the goblet s,then they should share with the gods the right to receiveoffe rings . Moreover , they were to give the followingproof of mastership . They were to smithy a l iving horse

,

a l iving chariot,a living cow

,and they were to create a

means of rejuvenation and demonstrate its effica cy on twoaged and enfeebled beings . The Ribhus informed thegods that they would do what was demanded of them . So

they made the won derful chariot or the chariot-Ship,

which they gave to the Asvin ian s— the beauti ful twingods — o n which they ride through the ai r and on the se a

( cp . Skidbladn e r , Frey’s ship

,and Hr inghorn e , Balder

’s,

and probably also Hoder ’s means o f locomotion throughthe ai r and on the sea ) . O f o n e horse they made two, andpre sented them to Indra . Ou t o f an empty cow’s hidethey smithied a cow (cp . Sin dre

’

s work of art when hemade the boar Slidr ingta n n e out of an empty pig

’s skin ) .

They made the.

remedy of rejuvenation , and tested i t succ e ssfully on their aged parents . Finally, they do thegrea t master-work of producing four goblets of equal ex

c elle n c e from Tvashtar’

s . Thereupon th e y appear before

880

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

po inted out in nearly al l mythic groups in the world, and,as a rule , altogether too bold hypotheses a re built on thefeeble foundations they offer . The question here i s inregard to identity in great , central, connected collectionsof myths . Such are : The myths concerning an originalharmony be tween a divine clan on the on e hand, andartists subo rdinate to, and in the se rvice of, the divineclan on the other hand . Artists who produce ferti lity,ornaments

,and weapons for the gods

,know how to brew

the strength and inspiration-giving mead,and are close ly

conne cted with dises o f vegetation,who, as we shall show ,

appe ar as swan-maids , not only in the Teutonic mythologybut also in the H in doo ic ; themyths tell ing how thi s harmony was frustrated by a judgment in a competition, thecontending parties being on the one hand he who in theH in do o ic mythology made Indra’s thunde rbolt

,and in the

Teutonic Thor’s thundering Mjoln e r ; and on the otherhand three brothe rs

,of whom one is an excellent archer ;

the myths concerning the consequences of the judgment,the destruction o f nature by fro st-powers and giant-monste rs the myths ( in the Iranian and Teutonic records ofantiquity ) concerning the subterranean paradise, in whicha selection of the be st beings of creation are protectedagainst annihilation

,and continue to l ive uncorrupte d

through centuries ; the myths ( in the Iranian and Teutonicrecords of antiquity) o i

' the destiny of these be ings, conn e c t ed with the myths likewise common to the Iranian andTeutonic mytho logi es concerning the destru ction andregeneration of the world . Common to the Hin doo ic andTeutonic mythology i s also the idea that a cunning, spying,

88 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

being,in Rigveda D adhyak (D adhya n k ) , in the Icelandic

source s Loke, has lost his head to an artist who smithiedthe bo lt for Ind ra and the hammer for Thor, but saves hiswager through cunning.

An important observation should here be pointed out .A comparison between different passages in Rigvedashows

,that o f all the remarkable works of art which were

e xhibited to the gods for thei r examination, there wasoriginally not one of metal . Tva shta r

’

s goblet was notmade of gold

,but of fire and water and a third element .

Indra’s thunderbo lt was made of the bones of the head ofD a dhyak

’

s horse, and it i s in a later trad ition that it b ecomes bronze . Common to the Aryan -Asiatic and theTeutonic mythology i s the ability of the primeval arti ststo make animals from empty skins of be asts

,and of mak

ing from on e work of art seve ral S imilar ones ( the gobletof the Ribhus, Sin dre

’

s D raupn e r ) . In the Teutonicmythology

,Thor’s hamme r was not originally of metal

,

but o f stone, and the other works produced by Sin dre andIvalde

’

s sons may in the course of centuries have undergone similar changes . It should also be noted that not atrace i s to be found in the Asiatic groups of myths of asingle one to be compared with that concerning Svipdagand the sword o f victory. In the Teutonic heroic saga

,

G e irvan del,the spear-hero

,i s the father of O rvan del

,the

archer, and of him is born Svipdag, the sword-hero (cp .

NO . Themyth concerning the sword of victoryseems to be purely Teutonic

,and to have sprung into

existen ce during one of the bronz e or iron ages,while the

myths concerning the judgmen t passed on the primeval

88 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

art ists,and concerning the fimb ul-winter fol lowing, must

hail from a time when metals were not yet used by theAryans . In the other even t i t would be most incred ibleto suppose that the judgmen t should con ce rn wo rks of art,of which not a single one originally suggested a producto f metal .

THE CON SEQ UEN CES OF THE J UD GMEN T PASSED ON THE

IVALDE SON S ( c o n tin u ed ) . N J ORD’

S EFFORTS To

BRIN G ABOUT A RECON C ILIATION .

It has already bee n stated that Fr idlevu S-Njo rd rescuesa princely youth from the power of the giants . Acco rding to Saxo

,the event was an episode in the feud between

F r idlevu s-N jord and An u n du s (Volund ) , and Avo ,the

archer (O rvan del-Egil ) . This corroborates the theorythat the rescue d youth was Frey

,Volund’s and Egll

’

s

foster- son . The first one of the gods to be seiz ed byfears on account o f the judgment passed on Ivalde ’ssons

,ought

,natural ly

, to b e N jord , who se son Frey wasat that time in the care and power of Volund and Egil ( se eN o . We also learn from Saxo that F r idlevu s tookmeasures to propitiate the two brothe rs . He

'first se ndsmessen ge rs, who on his behalf woo the daughter o fAn u n d-Volund

,but the me ssengers do not return . An u n d

had slain them . Thereu pon F r idle vu s goe s himsel f,accompanied by others

,and amon g 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

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

2 6 0) as be ing in Bjo rn o’

s possession,and which before

had gu arde d the giant Off o te ’s he rds . But thi smolosst tswas n o t able to prevent tho se fle e ing from reaching theirdestination in safe ty . In all probability Frey had alreadybe en de l ivered by his wards to the giants whe n this happe ned . This must have occurred on the way betweenthe abod e abounding in go ld

,whe re Ivalde ’s sons had

fo rmerly lived in happiness,and theWolfdale s , and so

withi n Jotunheim,where the gods were surrounded by

foes .The Story of this adventure o n the j ourney of the emi

grating Ivalde sons reappears in a form easi ly recognisedin Paulus D i aconus

,whe re h e tells o f the emigration of

the Longobardians under Ibor (Or van del-Egil ; see N o .

1 08 ) and Ajo (Vo lund ) . In Saxo Avo -Egi l,who b e

longs to the race of elves,become s a low-bo rn champion

,

while the Vana-god N jord bec ome s King F r idlevu s . InPaulus the saga is not content with making the greatarcher of the emigrants a p lebe ian , but he i s made a thra l lwho challen ge s a cho sen fre e-born warrior among thefoe s of the Longobardians . In the mythology and inSaxo the duel was fought with bows an d arrows

,and the

plebei an was found to b e far supe rior to his opponen t .Paulus doe s not name the kind o f weapons used, but whenit had ended with the victo ry of “the thrall ,

” an oath wastaken o n an arr ow that the thralls were to be freed fromthe i r chains by the Longobardians . Consequently thearrow must have been the thrall’s wea pon of victory . Inth e mythology, the journey o f the Ivalde sons to the Wolfdales was down to the lower world Jotunheim and north

88 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

ward through Ni felhel, inhabited by thu rses and monste rs . Both in Saxo and Paulus this sort o f beings takepart in the adventures described . In Saxo

,F r idle vu s

’

war-comrade Bjorno sends a monster in the gu ise of a dogagainst the sons of Ivalde . In Paulus

,according to the

belief o f thei r enemie s,the emigrants had as their all iesme n with dog-heads .”

Bjorno i s an Asa-god ; and he is described as an archerwho had confidence in his weapon , though he proved tobe in fer ior to Avo in the use of it . Among the gods ofAsgard only two a rche rs are mentioned— HOdr and Ullr .

At the time whe n th i s event occurred Ullhad not yet be enadopte d in Asgard . As has be en shown above ( se e No .

he i s the son of Orva n del-Egil and Si f. H is abodeis sti ll with his pa rents when Svipdag,

his hal f-bro ther ,receives instructions from Sif to se e k Frey and Freyja inJotunheim ( see No . and he faithfully accompanies

Sv ipdag through his adventures o n this journey . ThusUlli s out of the question— the mo re so as he would inthat case be oppos ing his own father. Ho der (H b dr )i s mentioned as an arche r both in the Be owulf poem,

where he,under the name Haedcyn ,

shoots Balder-Hereb e ald accidental ly with his “horn-bow,

” and in Saxo

(ar cn s pe r i tia polle b a t— H is t . , an d in Christiantales based o n myths

,where he appears by the name

Hedin n . That Bjorno,mentioned by Saxo as a beauti ful

youth , i s Hoder i s confirme d by another circumstance.He i s said to be s equ es tr is ordin is f

a ir (His t ,an

expression so difficult to interpret that scholars have propos ed to change it into seqn i or is o r equ e str is ordin is a ir .

88 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

The word shows that B jorno in Saxo ’s mythologica lautho rities belonged to a group of pe rsons who se fu nctions were such that they together might be design atedas a seque s tr is o rdo . Seqn e s te r means a mediator in gene ral, and in the law language o f Rome it meant an impartial arbitrator to whom a dispute might be referred . TheNorse word which Saxo

,acco rd ingly

,translated with

s equ e s tris ordo,

“the mediators ,” “the arbitra tors

,can

have been none other tha n the plural ljo’

n a r,amythologi

cal wo rd,and also an old legal te rm

,o f which it is said in

the Younge r Edda : Ljén ar he i ta the irme n n,e r ganga

i n n swttirma n n a,17e are ca l led tho semen who se

business it i s to settle disputes . That this word ljén aroriginally designated a certain group of Asa-gods who sespecial duty it was to act a s arbitrators i s manifest fromthe phrase ljo

’

n a kin dir ,“the chi ldre n of the peacemakers,”

an expression inherited from heathendom and applied toma nkind far down in C hristian times ; i t i s an expre ss ionto be compa red with the phrasemegir H e imdallar

,

“Heim

dal’s sons, which also wa s used to design ate mankind . InChristian times the phrase “childre n ofmen ” was translated with the heathe n expression ljén a ki n dir ; and whe nthe recollection of the original meaning o f ljo

’

n ar wasobliterated

,the word , on account of this u sage , came to

mean men in general (v ir i , homin e s ) , a significationwhich i t ne ver had in the days o f he athendom .

Three Asa-gods are mentioned in our mythological reco rds as peacemakers— Balder

,Hoder

,and Balder’s son

,

Fo rse te . Balder i s mentioned as judge in the YoungerEdda AS such he is liksamas tr— that i s

,

“the most

88 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

h e ever he ard . Saxo describes the giant in whose powerFrey i s

,when he i s rescu e d by h is father

,as a cowardly

and e ne rvate d monste r whos e eno rmous body is amole sde s ti tn ta ra b ore (H is t , In this manner ended thee ff ort of the gods to make pe ace. The three sons o f

Ivalde continue their journey to theWolfdale s, in ac c e ssible to the gods

,in order that they thence might send ruin

upo n the world .

PROOFS THAT IVALDE’

S SON S ARE IDEN TICAL WITHOLVALD E

’

S.

Observations made in the course of my investigationsanent Ivalde and his sons have time and again le d me tothe unexpe cted re sult that Ivalde ’s sons , Slagfin ,

Egil,and

Vo lund ,are identical with Olvalde -Alvalde

’

s sons,who

,

in the G rotte- song, a r e calle d Idi,Urn ir or Au rn ir

(Orn ir ) , and thjaz i, and in the Younger Edda (p. 2 1 4 )thjaz i, Idi, and G dngr . This result was unexpe cte d and

,

as i t seeme d to me in the beginning, improbable, for there ason that where Thja sse i s mentioned in the Elder Edda

,

he i s usually styled a giant, while Vo lund is called a princeo r chief of elves in Volu n da rkv ida . In G r imn e rsmal( 1 1 ) Thjasse is design ate d as in n amathi io tn n n ; in Ha r

b a rdsljod ( 1 9) as e n n thrn dmo thgi io tn n n ; in Hyn dluljod ( 3 0) as a kinsman of C ymer and Au rb oda . TheG rotte- song (9) says that Thja sse , Ide, and Au rn ir werebrothers of those mountain giants who were the fathersof Menja and Fenja . In the Younger Edda he i s also

890

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

called a j o tun n . In the be ginning of my researches , andbefore Volund’s position in the mythology was clear tome

,i t app ea red to me highly improbable that a prince

amon g the elves and one of the chief artists in the mythology could be characterised as a giant . Indeed I wasalready then aware that the clan-names occurring in themythology— dss

,va n r , dlfr , dve rgr, and jo

'

tu n n — did notexclusively designate the descent of the beings, but couldalso be appli ed to them on account of qual ities developedor positions acqui red

,regardless o f the clan to which they

actually belonged by their bi rth . In Thrymskvidaso to spe ak in the same breath , Heimdal i s called both dssand van r— “

thd qn a th tha t H e imdallr,hvi tas tr dsa

,vissi

han velfroms emvan ir dthr ir .

” And Loke is designatedboth as dss and jo

'

tu n n , although the Asas an d giants represent the two extremes . N either Heimdal nor Loke areo f the Asa-clan by birth ; but they a re adopted in Asgard ,that i s, they are adopted Asas , and this explains the appe llation . Elves and dwarfs a r e doubtle ss by descent differen t classe s o f beings

,but the word dwarf

,which in the

earliest Christian times became the synonym of a beingo f diminutive stature

,also mea nt an artist

,a smith

,

whence both Vans and elves, nay, even Fjalar, could beincorporated in the VOlu spa dwarf- l ist . When , duringthe progress of my investigations

,i t appeared that Volund

and his brothers in the epic o f the mythology were themost dangerous foes of the gods and led the powers offro st in thei r eff orts to de stro y the world

,i t could no

longer surprise me that Volund,though an el f prince

,was

characterised as in n dmdtki io tn n n,e n n thrndmo thgi

89 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

io tn n n . But there was another difficulty in the wayaccording to Hyn dlulj0d and the G rotte-song, Thjasse andhis bro thers were kinsmen of giants, and must therefo reundoubtedly have had giant—blood in their veins . Bu t

there are kinsmen of the giants among the Asas too ; andwhen in the progress o f the investigation it appea rs thatThja sse

’

s mo ther i s a giante ss , but his father a hap t, agod of lower rank

,then his maternal descent, and his posi

tion as an ally and chief of the giants, and as the mostpowerful foe of Asgard and Midgard

,are suff icient to

explain the apparent contradictio n that he is at the sametime a giant and a kinsman of the giants, and sti ll identicalwith the elf-prince , Volund . It should also be observedthat

,as shal l be shown below, the tradition has preserved

the memory o f the fact that Volund too was called a giantand had kinsmen among the gi ants .The reasons which

,taken col le ctively

,prove con

e lusively at least to me, that Ivalde’

s sons an d Olvalde ’sare identical a re the fol lowing

( 1 ) In regard to the names themselves , w e note in thefirst place that, as has already been pointed o u t , the nameof the father o f Ide

,as Au rn ir -G ang, and of Thja sse ap

pears with the var iations Allu aldi, Olvaldi, and An dvaldi .

To persons speaking a lan guage In which the prefixes IId and All are equivalents and are subs tituted for oneanother, and accustomed to po et ics, in which it was themost common thing to substitute equivalent nouns andnames ( for example , G rjo

’

tbjb'

rn for Ar in b jb’

rn,F joll

gyldir for 24'

so’

lfr , i t was impossible to see in Ivaldiand Allvaldi anything bu t names designating the sameperson .

892

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

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 takingtheir mouths full of gold an e qua l number of times . Hencegold i s called in po etry the word s or speech of thesegiants .”

It is bo th po ssible and assumable that in the mythologythe brothers divided the gold in si len ce and in harmony .

But that i t should have been done in the manner herere late d may be doubted . There i s rea son to suspect thatthe story of the divi sio n of the gold in the manner abovedescribe d was invente d in C hristian times in order to furnish an explanation of the phrase thingskil thjaz a inBjarkamal, o f [ di d glysmdl in the same source, and ofidi a o rd

,quoted in Malskrn dsfr ce di . More than one

pseudo -mythic story,created in the same manne r and

stampe d by the same taste, i s to b e found in the YoungerE

'

dda . It should n o t be forgo tte n that all these phrase shave one thing in common

,and that is

,a public delibe ra

tion, a jud icial act . Mdland o rd do not nec e ssari ly implysuch an allusion

,for in addition to the legal meaning

,

the y have the more common one o f speech and verbalstatements in general ; but to get at thei r actua l s ign ificance in the paraphrases quo ted we must compare themwith th ingskil, since in these paraphrases all th e expressions, thingskil, glysmdl, and ord, must be founded on oneand the same mythic event . With thingskilis meant thatwhich can be produced before a court by the defendant ina d i spute to clear up his case ; and as gold ornaments arecalled Thjasse

’

s thi ngskilin Bja rkamal, it should follow894

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

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

o ther,touched him . From the same po int of view Ide’s

glysmdland Ide’s o rd are to be interpreted . Ide’s glysmdlare Ide’s glittering pleadings his o rd are the evidence or explanation presented in court by the ornamen tsmade by or belonging to him . N ow , we know from themythology a court act in which precious works o f thesmiths

,

“glitter ing pleadings,

” were produce d in re ferenceto the decis ion o f a case . The case o r dispute was theone caused by Loke

,and the question was whe the r he had

forfeited his head to Sin dre or n o t . As we know,the

decision of the dispute depe nded o n a comparison betweenBrok’s and Sin dre ’S works on the one hand, and those ofthe Ivalde sons on the other. Brok had appeare d beforethe high tribunal , and was able to plead his and his brothe r

’

s cause . Ivalde’

s sons, on the o the r hand,we re not

pre sent,but the wo rks done by them had to speak in their

behalf,or rather for themselve s . From th i s we have

,as

it se ems to me,a simple and striking explanation of the

paraphrase s thjaz a thingskil, Idi a glysmdl, Idja ord.

Their works of art were the glittering but mute pleadingswhich were pre sented

,on thei r pa rt

,for the dec i sion of the

case . That go ld carrie d in the mouth and never laidbefo re th e tribunal should be called thingskilI regard ashighly improbable . From heathe n poems we cannot p roduce a S ingle po sit ive proof that a paraphrase of so disto rt ed and inadequate a characte r was ever used .

6 ) Saxo relates that the same F ridlevu s-N jord who

895

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

fought with An u n d-Volund and Avo-Egil wooe d An un d’

s

daughter and was re fu sed , but was marrie d to her afte r

An u n d’

s death . Thus i t would seem that N jord married

a daughter of Volund . In the mythology he marriesThjasse’s daughter Skade . Thus Volund and Thja sse actthe same part as fathe r- in - law of Njo rd .

(7 ) Saxo furthe r relates that Freyja-Syr itha’

s fatherwas marrie d to the s oror of Svipdag-O tharu s . Sor o r

means sister,but also foste r—siste r and playmate . If the

word is to be taken in its strictest sense,N jord marries a

daughte r of Vo lund ’s brother ; i f in its modified sense,Volund’s daughter .

( 8 ) In a third passage (H is t , 50, Skade’

s fatherappears unde r the name Haqu in u s . The same name b elongs to a champion (H is t ,

3 2 3 ) who assists SvipdagEr ic u s in his combat with the Asa-god Thor and hisfavourite Halfdan

,and i s the cause that Thor’s and Half

dan’

S weapo ns pro ve themselve s wo rthless against theVolund sword wielded by Svipdag-Bri ens . There is

,

therefore,eve ry re ason fo r re garding Haqu in u s as one of

Saxo’s epithe ts fo r Volund . The name Hdhon,of which

Haqu in u s has bee n suppo se d to be the Latinise d form ,

ne ve r occurs in the N o rse mythic records, bu t Haqu in u s

is in this case to be expla ined as a Latinisation with thea spirate usual in Saxo o f the Old G e rman Aki theMiddleG e rman Ecke, which o ccurs in the Compo sitlo n s Eckenbrecht

,Eckehard

,and Eckesa chs . In “Rosen garten ,

”

Ecke n b re cht i s a celebrate d weapon- smith . In Vilk in asaga , Eckehard is , l ike Volund , a smith who works fo rMimer ; and Ecke sach s i s a sword made by the three

896

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

2 1 0 Under such circumstance s,that s layer o f

Idun’s brother,whom she is charged with embracing

,can

be none other than Loke himse l f . As a further al lusionto thi s, the author of the poem makes Loke spe ak of ac ircumstance connected with the adve nture— namely

,that

Idun, to swee ten the pleasure of the critical hour, washedher arms shining white— a circumstance of which noneother than he rsel f and her secre t lover could knew . ThusLoke i s the cause o f th e slaying of one of the famousartists

,Ivalde

’

s sons . The murde rs o f which Loke boastsin the po em a re two only

,that of Balde r and that of

Thja sse . He says that he advised the killing of Balder ,and that h e was the first and fo remo st in the kill ing ofThjasse (fyr s tr oc ofs tr ) . Balder was not Idun’s brother .So far as we can make out from the mythic records extant

,the Ivalde so n slain must have been identical with

Thjasse,the son of Alvalde . There i s no o ther cho ice .

( 1 0) It has a lready been shown above that Volundand the swan-maid who came to him in theWolfdale swere either bro the r and S ister or half-brother and hal fsiste r . From what has be en “

stated above,it follows tha t

Thjasse and Idun were related to each other in the samemanner.( 1 1 ) Thja sse

’

s house i s cal led Brn n n —akr (Younger

Edda, i . In Volu n darkv ida (9) Volund is calledB rn n n i .

( 1 2 ) Idun has the epithet Sn o'

t (Younger Edda ,the wise one

,

” “the intelligent one .

” Volund’sswan-maid has the epithe t Alvi tr

,

“the much-knowingone

,

” “the very intell ige nt one” (Volu n da rkv ida ,

898

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Volund has the epithe t Aso’

lfr (Hyn dluljod ; cp . No .

Thjasse has the epithet F jallgylde r (YoungerEdda

,which is a pa raphrase of Aso

’

lfr (dss z fjdll,olfr= gyldir )( 1 3 ) O n e o f Volund

’s brothers,namely O rvan del

Egi l, had the epithet“Wild boar” ( Ibor, Ebur ) . On e of

Thja sse’

s brothers is called Urn ir , Au rn ir . This name

means “wild boar .” Compa re the Swedish and No rwegian peasant word orn e

,and the Icelandic word rn n i ( a

boar ) , in which the letters a re transpo sed .

( 1 4 ) At least one of Alvalde’

s sons was a star—hero,VIZ Thja sse , whose eyes O din and Thor fastene d on theheavens (Harba rdsljod,

1 8 ; Younger Edda, i . 3 1 8 ,At least one of Ivalde ’s sons was a star-hero

,viz .

O rva n del-Egil (You nger Edda , i . 2 7 6 , No starhero i s me ntioned who i s n o t called a son of Alvalde or i sa son of Ivalde , and not a S ingle name of a star o r of agroup o f stars can with certainty be pointed out whichdoes not refer to Alvalde ’

s or Ivalde ’s sons . From theNorse sources we have the names Orva ndils td thjaz a angn

Lokab r e n n a and Re id Ho’

gn is . Loka b ren n a , the Icelandicname o f Sirius

,can only refer to the b re n n a (fire) caused

by Loke whe n Thja sse fell into the va fe rflame s kindledaround Asga rd . In Re id Ho

'

gn is , Rogn e r’

s car, Rogne ris , as Shal l be shown below, the epithet of a mythic person ,in whom we rediscover bo th Volund and Thja sse . InOld English writings the Mi lky Way i s called Vae tlinga

stree t ,Wa tlinge strae t . TheWa tlings or Vae tlin gs ca n

o nly be explained as a patronymic meaning Vate’s sons .Vate is one of the names o f the father of Volund and his

899

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

brothers ( see No . Another old English name o fstar-group is Eb u rthru ng, Eb u rthr in g. He re Egil

’

s surname Ebur,

“wild boar, reappears . The name Ide ,bo rne by a brother o f Thjasse , also se ems to have de s ign a ted a star-hero in England.

At least two of these figu res and names are very old

a n d of ancien t Aryan origin . I do not know the re asonswhy V igfu sso n assumes that O rvan del i s identicalwith

O rion, but the assumption i s corroborated bymythological facts . O ri on is the most celeb rated archer andhunter of G reek mytho logy

,just as O rva n deli s that o f

the Teutonic . Like O rvan del-Egil,he has two brothers

of whom the one Lyko s (wolf ) has a T elchin name, anddoubtless was originally identical with the Telehin Lyko s ,who, l ike Volund , i s a great art ist and is also endowedwith powers to influen ce the weather . Or ion could , so i ti s said , walk on the sea as we l l as on the land . O rva n del

E'

gi l has Skee s, with which he travels on the se a as well ason the snow-fields

,whence small ships are called Egil

’

s

a n drar, Egil

’

s Skees (Ko rmak , O rion woo e s a daughter o f O in op io n . The first pa rt of the word i s o in os

(wine) and as O in op ion i s the son of Bacchus, there i sno room for doubt that he o riginally had a place in th eAryan myth in regard to the mead . O rva n del-Egil woo sa daughte r o f Sumbl (Olvalde ) , the king of the Finns,who in the Teutonic mytholo

gy is O in Op io n

’

s counterpart .O rion i s described as a giant, a tal l and excee dingly handsome man

,and is said to be a brother of the Titans . H is

first wi fe, the beauti ful Sida , he soo n lost by death ; justas Orva n dellost G roa . Sida , Sida with its D orian varia

900

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

that bea rs it . According to my Opinion , Thja sse i s identical with the star-hero mentioned in Rigveda

,Tishya, the

Tis trya of the Iranians, who in Rigveda (x . 6 4,8 ) i s

worshippe d together with an archer,who presumably

was his brother . The G erman middle-age poetry has preserved the name Thjasse in the form D es e n (which is related to thjae i as B elve n i s to thialti ) . In “

D i eter ichsFlucht” D esen is a king

,whose daughter marries D ieter

ich-Haddin g’

s father . In the N o rse sources a sister ofThja sse (Alve ig-Signe

,daughter o f Sumbl, the king o f

the Finns ) marries Haddin g’

s father,Halfdan . Com

mon to the G erman and Norse traditions i s, therefore, thatHaddin g

’

s father marries a near kinswoman o f Thja sse .

( 1 5 ) In the poem Hau stlau ng Thjasse’

s adventure i smentioned , when he captured Loke with the magic rai l .Here we get remarkable hitherto misunderstood, factsin regard to Thjasse’s personality.

That they have be en misunderstood i s not owing tolack of attention or acumen o n the pa rt of the interpreters .On the contrary

,acumen has be e n lavishe d the reon .

* Insome cases the scho lars have resorted to text-changes ino rder to make the contents inte l ligible, and this was n e ce ssary o n account of the form in which our mythologyhitherto has been presented

,and that for good rea sons

,

since important studies of another kind, e specially o f accu

rate e ditions o f the Teutoni c mythological texts,have

claimed the time of scholars and compelled them to neglect the study of the epic connection of the myths and oftheir e xceedingly ri ch and abundant synonymics . AS a

‘ Se e fo r e xample Th .Wi sén ’

s in ve stiga t ion s a n d F in n u r J on sson’

s Kr i t .Stud . (C ope n hage n ,

90 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

matter of course,an e xamination of the synonymics and

o f the epic connection could not fai l to shed another lightthan that which could be gained without this study upona number of passages in the old mythologi cal poems, andupon the pa raphrases base d on the myths and occurring inthe historical songs .In Hau stlaun g Thjasse i s called fadirmo rn a , thefather of the swords .” Without the least reason it hasbeen doubted that a mythic pe rson, that i s so frequentlyca l led a giant

,and whose connection with the giant world

and whose giant nature a re so distinctly held forth in ourmythic source s

,could b e an artist and a maker of swords .

C onsequen tly the text has been changed to fadirmorn a ro r fadirmorn a

,the fathe r o f consumption or of the

strength-co nsuming disea se s, or of the feminine thu rse srepre senting these diseases . But so far as our mythicrecords give us any information

,Thja sse had no other

daughter than Skade,described as a proud

,bold

,powerful

maid,devoted to achievements, who was elevated to the

rank of an a syn je , be came the wi fe of the god of wea lth,the tender stepmother of the lord of harvests (Sk imer smal ) , Frigg

’s elja, and in this capacity the progenitress ofno rthern rulers

,who boasted their descen t from her . That

Thja sse had more daughters i s indee d possible, but theyare not me ntioned, and it must remain a conj ecture onwhich nothing can be built ; and even i f such were thecase, i t must be admitted tha t as Skade was the foremost

and most celebrated among them, She is the first one to b e

thought of when there is me ntion of a daughter or ofdaughters of Thja sse . But that Skade should be spoken

90 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

o f as amo r n , a co nsumpt ion-witch , and that Hakon Jar]should b e regarde d as descended from a demon of c o nsumption

,and be celebrated in song as the scion of such a

person,I do not deem possible . The text

,as we have it

te l ls us that Thja sse was the fa the r o f swo rds (mb'r n irswo rd ; see Younge r Edda , i . 56 7 ; i i . 56 0, Wemust confine ourselves to this reading and remember tha tth i s i s n o t the only passage which we have hithe r to.me twith where his name i s pu t in connection with wo rks o f asmith . Such a passage we have alre adyme t with inthjaz a thingskil.

( 1 6 ) In the same poem ,Hau stlau n g,

Thja sse i s cal ledhap to s n y tr ir ,

“the one who de co rated the gods ,” fur

nished them with tre asures . Th i s e pithe t,too

,appea re d

unintel ligible,so long as none o f the artists of antiquity

was re cognised in Thja sse ; hence text—change s were a lsoresorted to in this case in order to make sense out o f th epassage .The situation described i s as fo l lows : Odin and Hwn ir

,

accompanied by Lo ke are o u t on a journey . They havetraverse d mountains and wilderne sse s (Bragaraedu r ,and are now in a region which , to ju dge from the context

,i s situated within Thja sse

’

s domain,Thrymheim .

The latter,who ismargspakr and lo'mhngadr (Hau stl,

3,

has planned an ambush for Loke in the very placewhich they have now reached : a valley (Braga raedu r , 2 )overgrown with oak-trees (Hau stl

,and the more ih

v it in g as a place of refreshment and rest, inasmuch as theAsas are hungry after their long journey (Braga raedu r ,

and see a herd of “yoke -bears pastu ring in the grass

904

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

guise ) ? He at once answers that h e desires his Shareof the sacred mea l of the gods

,and to this Odin gives h is

cons ent . N othing indicates that O d in sees a foe inThjasse . There is then no diffi culty in regard to the ro ast ;and when i t i s ready and divided into four parts Thja sseflie s down

,but

,to plague Loke

,he take s so much that the

latter,angry

,and doubtless also depending on Odin’s pro

te c t io n i f needed , sei zes the rai l ly ihg near at hand andstrikes the eagle a blow across the back . But Loke couldnot let go his hold o f the rai l ; his hand stuck fast to oneend while the other end clung to the eagle, and Thja sseflew with him and did not let go o f him before he hadforced him to swear an oath that he would bring Idun into

Thja sse’

s hands .So long as it was impossible to assume that Thja sse

had been the friend o f the gods befo re th is event happ ened ,and in the capacity of ancien t arti st had given them val

u able products of his skill, and thus be come a hap to s n y

tr ir,i t was also impo ssible to see in him

,though he was

concealed in the guise of an eagle,the hjdlmfaldin n he re

in question,since hjdlmfaldin n manife stly i s in appos i

tion to hap to sn y tr ir ,“the decorator of the gods .” (The

common meaning o f hjdlmr , as i s well known , i s a co ve ring

,a garb, or which hjdlmr in the sense of a helmet i s a

specification . ) It therefore became necessary to assumethat Odin was meant by hjdlmfaldin n and hap to sn y trir .

This led to the changing of qu o tha to quad, and to the insert ion in the manuscripts o f amu n not found there , an dto the exclusion of a thvi found there . The result was ,moreover, that no notice was taken of the use made of the

906

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

expressions hj almfaldin n and sn y trir in a poem closelyrelate d to Hau stlau ng,

and evidently referring to i ts description of Thja sse . This po em is Einar Skalaglam’s“Vellekla

,

” which celebrates Hakon Jarl,the G reat .

Hakon Jarl regarded himsel f as desce nded from Thja sse

through the latter’s daughter,Skade (Haleygja tal) , and

o n this account V ellekla contains a number of allusions to

the mythic progenitor . The task ( from a po etic andrhetorical po int o f view ) which Einar has under taken isin fact that of taking

,so far as po ssible, the ke rnel of

those paraphrases with which he celebrate s Hakon Jarl

( se e below ) from the myth concern ing Thja sse , and thetask is performed with force and acumen . In the exe cution of his poem Einar has had before him that part ofThjodulf

’

s Hau stlau ng which conce rned Thja sse . In str .6 he cal ls Thjasse

’

s descen dant thjo’

dar s n y tr ir, taking hiscu e from Hau stlau n g, which calls Thja sse hap to sn y tr ir .

In str . 8 he gives Hakon the epithet hjdlmi faldin n , havingre ference to Hau stlau ng, whichmakes Thja sse app earhjdlmfaldin n . In str . 1 0 Hakon is a gord-Rb

’

gn ir , justas Thja sse i s a ving-Rb

’

gn ir in Hau stlau ng. In str . 1 1Hakon is amidjn ngr , just as Thjasse i s amidjn ngr inHau stlau ng. In str . 1 6 an allusion i s made in the phrasevildi Yggsn idr fr idar b ildja to Hau stlau n g

’

smdln n an trhvdtsmdtti fridar b idja . In str . 2 1 Hakon i s calle dklym-N arh

, just as Thja sse in Hau stlau ng i s called gri o’

t

Nidadr (N arfi and N idadr are epithets o f Mimer ; seeN o s . 8 5, In str . 2 2 Hakon is called fangswll, andThjasse ha s the same ep ithe t in Hau stlau ng. Some of theparaphrases in Vellekla

, to which the myth about Thja sse

907

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

furnishes the kernel, I shall discuss below. There can ,therefore

,be no doubt whateve r that Einar in Haust

lau n g’

s hjdlmfaldin n and hapto sn y trir saw epithe ts ofThja sse , and we a rrive at the same re sult i f we interpretthe text in its original reading and make no emen dations .Thus we have already found three paraphrase s whichinform us that Thja sse was an ancie nt artist, one of thegreat smiths of mythology : ( 1 ) thiaz a thingskil, go ldentre asures produced as evidence in court owned or made byThja sse ; ( 2 ) hap to sn y tr ir , he who gave ornaments tothe gods ; ( 3 ) fad irmb’rn a , the father of the swords .Thjasse’s claim to become a table- companion o f the godsand to e a t with them

,of helgn skn tli

,points in al l proba

b ility to an ancie nt mythological fact of which we find acounterpart in the Iranian re co rds . This fact i s that

,as a

compensation for the se rvice s he had rende red th e gods ,Thja sse was anxio us to b e elevated to thei r rank and tore c e ive sacrifice s from the ir worshippers . Th i s demandfrom the Te utonic star-he ro Thja sse i s also made by theIranian star-hero T istrya , Rigveda

’s T ishya . T istrya

complains in Ave sta that he has n o t sufficien t strength tooppose the foe o f growth, Apao sha , since men do notwo rsh ip him

,Tistrya ,

do not o ffe r sacrifices to him . Ifthey did so

,it i s said

,the n h e would b e strong e nough to

conquer. T ishya -T istrya does not appe ar to have obtainedcomplete rank as a god ; but sti l l he i s wo rshippe d in Rigveda

,though very seldom

,and in cases of se vere dry

weather the Iranians were commanded to off e r sacrificesto h im .

( 1 7 ) In Hau stlau n g Thja sse is ca l le d vi ng-Rogn ir

908

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

o f Thor and Frey, Balder’s Ship Ringho rn ,

Frey’s Ship

Sk idbladn e r , and the fe ather garbs o f the swan-maids .The mythology which knew from whose hands Skid

bladn e r proceeded certainly also had some thing to say ofthe masters who produced Ringho rn and the above-ment io n ed cars and feather garbs . That they were made byancient artists and not by the highest gods i s an idea o fancient Aryan birt h . In Rigveda i t was the Ribhus

,the

counterparts of the Ivalde sons,who smithied the wonder

ful car-ship of the Asvin ian s and Indra’s horses .The appe llations Rogn ir and Regin also o ccur outside

of Hau stlau ng in connection with each other, and thiseven as late as in the Skida-Rima , composed be tween 1 400and 1 450

,where Regin i s represen ted as a smi th (Rogn ir

kallar Regin tils in : rammliga skaltn smida — str .In F o rspjallsljod ( 1 0) we read : G aldr gélo , gan ndomr i tho Rogn ir 0k Regin a t ra nn i he imi s— “Rogne r andRegin sang magic songs at the edge of the earth and constru cted magic implements They who do this areartists

,smiths . In strophe 8 they are called viggiar , and

viggi i s a synonym of smidr (Younger Edda, i .While they do this Idun is ab sen t from Asgard (Fors

pjallsljod, str . and a terr ible cold threatens to destroythe e arth . The words in VOIu spa , with which the terriblefimb ul-winter of antiquity i s characte ri sed, loptr leev i

b lan din n,are adopted by F o rspjallsljod ( str. 6 — loptimed lwvi ) , thus showing that the same mythic event i s

there described . The existence of the order of the world

i s threatened,the earth and the source of light are attacked

by evil influen ces,the li fe of nature is dying, from the

9 1 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

north (east ) , from the Elivaga r rivers come piercing,rime-cold arrows of frost

,which kil lme n and destroy the

vegeta tion of the earth . The southe rn source of the lowerworld

,whose function i t i s to furnish warming saps to the

world- tree,was not able to preven t the devastations of the

frost . “It was so ordained,

” i t i s said in F o rspjallsljod,str . 2 , that U rd

’s Odrwr ir (Urd’s fountain ) did not have

sufficient powe r to supply pro tection against the terribleThe destruction i s caused by Rogner and Regin .

Their magic songs a re heard e ven in Asgard . Odinlistens in Lidskjal f and perce ives tha t the song comes fromthe uttermost en d of the wo rld . The gods are se ized bythe thought that the e n d of the world i s approaching, andsend the i r messen gers to the lower world in o rder toobtain there from the wise norn a solution o f the problemof the world and to get the impending fate of the worldproclaimed .

In the dictionaries and in the mythological text-booksRb

’

gn ir i s said to be one of Odin’s epithets . In hi s excel

lent commen tary o n Vellekla,Freu denthal has expressed

a doubt as to the correctness of this view . I have myse l fmade a list o f all the pa ssages in the Old Norse literaturewhere the name occurs, and I have thereby reached theconclusion that the statement in the dictionaries and in thetext-books has no othe r foundation than the name- l i st in

Eddn b ro tt and the above-cited Skidarima , composed in thefiftee nth century. The con ceptions of the latte r in regardto heathen mythology are of such a nature that it should

‘ T h e e d it ion s have cha n ge d Urda r t o Urar , a n d the r e b y c on ve rte d th ea bove -c ite d pa s s a ge in to n o n se n s e , f or which i n tur n t h e a u thor o f F orsp jalls ljod wa s b lame d , a n d it wa s pr e s e n te d a s a n argume n t to prove tha tt h e poemi s spuriou s .

9 1 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

neve r in e arnest be regarde d as an authority anent thisquestion . In the Old Norse records there cannot be founda s ingle passage where Rogn ir i s use d as an epithe t o f

Odin . It i s everywhere used in re ference to a mythic b eing who was a smith and a singer of magic so ngs

,and

regularly,and without exception, refers to Thja sse .

While Thjodolf designates Thja sse as the Rogner of thewing-cars

,his desce ndant Hakon Jarl ge ts the same epi

thet in Einar Skalaglam’s pa raphrases . He i s hjb'

rs b rak

Rb’

gn ir,“the Rogner of the sword-din , and G e irr cisar

gard-Rogn ir ,

“the Rogne r of the wall o f the sword—fl ight

( the shi eld ) . The Thja sse descendant, Sigurd Hladej arl

,i s

,i n harmony herewith, called fe n s fu rs Rogn ir .

Thrym-Rb’gn ir (Eg ,58 ) alludes to Thja sse as ruler in

Thrymheim . A paral le l phrase to thrym-Rb’

gm'r i s thrymRegin (Younger Edda, i . Thus

,whi le Thjasse i s

cha racterised as Rogn ir , Saxo has prese rve d the fact thatVolund’s brother, O rvan del-Egil , bo re the epithet Regin .

Saxo Latinises Regin into Regn e ru s, and gi ves this nameto Er icu s-Sv ipdag

’

s father (H is t , The epithetRogn ir confines itsel f exclusive ly to a certain grou p— to

Thja sse and his supposed descendants . Among themi ti s

,as it were

,an inher itance .

The paraphrases in Vellekla are of great mythologicalimportance . While other mythic records relate thatThja sse carried away Idun , the goddess of vegeta tion, thegoddess who controls the regenerating forces in nature,and that he thus assisted in bringing about the great winter of antiquity

,we learn from Vellekla that it was he who

d i rectly, and by separate magic acts, produced this win

9 1 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

in describing the achievements o f Hakon from the domaino f cold and storm, and the re can be no doubt that it doesso in imitation o f the Thjasse -myth .

In another poem to Hakon Jarl, of which poem there i sonly a fragment extant, the skald Einar spe aks of Hakon

’sge neros ity, and says : Ve rk Rogn i rme r hogn a ,

“Rogner’s works please me. We know that Hakon Jarl oncegave Einar two gilt s i lver goblets, to which be longed twoscales in the form of statuette s

,the one o f go ld, the o ther

of si lver,which scales were thought to possess magic

qualities, and that Hakon o n another occasion gave himan exceedingly precious engraved shield

,inlaid between

the engraved parts with go ld and studded with preciousstones . It was customary for the skalds to make songso n such gi fts . It follows, therefore, that the

“works ofRogne r

,with which Einar says he was pleased

,are th e

presents which Hakon,the suppos ed descendant of Rog

ner-Thja sse , gave him ; and I find this inte rpretation themore necessary for the reason that we have already foundse veral unanimous evide nces of Thja sse

’

s pos ition in themythology as an artist of the olden time .

F o rspjallsljod’

s Rogner sings magic songs and c on

c oc ts witchcraft” in order to en courage and strengthen bythe se mean s of magic the attack of the powe rs o f frost onthe world protecte d by the god s . Hau stlau ng callsThjasse rammcmr e imud Jotu n he im, “the powerful r eimud of Jotunheim .

” The word r e imud oc curs nowhereelse. It i s thought to be con nected with r eimt and r eimle z

'

kar,words which in the writings of Christian times re

fer to ghosts,supernatural phenom ena, and re imudr

9 1 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

f o tun he z’ma has therefore been interpreted as the o n e

who made Jotunheim the scene of his magic arts andghost- like appearances . From what has been statedabove

,i t is manifest that this interpretation i s correct .

A passage in Tho rsdrapa ( str. to which I shallrecur below

,informs us that at the time when Thor made

his famous j ourney to the fire -giant Ge irrod, Rogner hadnot yet come to an agreement with Lo-ke in regard to theplan of bringing ruin on the gods . Ro gner was, therefore

,during a ce rtain pe riod of his l i fe, the foe of the

gods, but during a preceding period he was n o t an enemy.

The same i s true o f Thja sse . He was for a time hapta;sn y tr ir ,

“the o n e giving the gods treasures .” At ano thertime he carried away Idun, and appeared as one changedinto do

’

lgr b allas tr wallow,“the most powerful foe o f the

earth” (Hau stl. , an expre ssion which characte riseshim as the cause of the fimb ul-winter .The re stil l remain one or two important passages in

regard to the correct interpretation of the epithet Rogn e r . In Atlakvida ( 3 3 ) it i s said of G udrun when shegoes to me e t her husband Atle

,who has returned home

,

carrying in her hand a golden goblet,that she goe s to

r e ifa gjdld Rogn is, to present that requita l or that revenge which Rogner gave.” To avenge her brothers

,

G udrun slew in Atle ’s absence the two young sons she hadwith him and made goblets of their skulls . Into one o fthese she poured the drink of welcome for Atle . A simila r revenge is told about Volund . The latter secret lykills N idadr’s two young sons and makes goblets o u t oftheir skulls for their father . In the passage it is stated

9 1 5

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

that the reven ge of G udrun against Atle was of the samekind as Rogn e r

’

s revenge against some one Whom heowed a grudge. So far as our records contain any in fo rmation, Volund is the only one to whom the ep ithet Rogner i s applicable in this case. O f no one else i s i t reportedthat he too k a revenge of such a kind that G udrun’s couldbe compa red therewith . In all other passages the epithetRogner refers to “the fathe r of the swords ,

” to theancient art ist Thja sse , the so n of Alvalde . Here it re fe rsto the father of the most exce l lent sword , to the ancienta rtist Volund, the son of Ivalde .

The strophe in Vellekla , which compares the Thja ssedescendant Hakon Jarl with the hail-producing Rogner,also alludes to another point in the myth concerning himby a paraphrase the kerne l o f which is : Va ra t w an gljr

jadi a t fryja ofbyrjarr nédr ifu ,“ i t was impossible to defy

the swan-pleaser in the matte r of storm and bad weather .”

The paraphrase i s made applicable to Hakon by makingthe “swan-pleaser” into the “pleaser o f the swan of thesword’s high-bi l lowing fjord — that i s to say, the o n e whopleases the bird of the battlefield, that i s , the raven . Thestorm is changed into “the storm of arrows

,

” and thebad weathe r into the “bad weather of the goddess of thebattle.” The mythological ke rnel o f this paraphrase

,and

that which sheds l ight o n our theme, i s the fact that Rogn e r i n the mythology was “one who pleased the swans .”

In the heroic poem three swan-maids a re devoted in the i rlove to Volund and his brothers . Volu n da rkvida saysthat the thi rd one lays her arms around Volund-Amund’swhite neck .

9 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

that i s,to dethrone the gods and destroy what they had

created . They deliver their fos ter- son Frey, the younggod o f harvests, to the giants ( see Nos . 1 09, 1 1 2 )— a n

event which,l ike Idun’s disappearance from Asgard

,

re fers to the coming of thefimb ul-winter— and they departto the most northern edge of the lower world where theydwell with swan-maids

, disc s of growth , who, like Idunin F o rspjallsljod ( str . must have changed characterand jo ined the world-ho sti le plots of their lovers . (O f

Idun it is said,in the strophe men tioned, that she clothed

herself in a wolf- skin given her by the smiths, and lyud ib rey tti, lek a t lcemlrz', li tomskipti . ) The revenge whichVo lund , during hi s imprisonmen t by N idad, takes againstthe latter explains why Atlakvida characteri ses G udrun’ste rrible deed as “

Ro-gu er’s re ven ge.” In regard to thewitchcraft (gamd) concocte d by Rogner and Re gin, i t i sto be said that the sword of victory made by Volund is a

gan dr in the original sense o f this word— a n implemente ndowed with magic powers

,and it was made during his

soj ourn in theWolfdale s .

O n e passage in Volu n da rkvida ( str. which hithertohas defied every eff ort at interpretation

,shows that his

skill was occupied with other magic things while he dweltthere . The passage reads : Lu c thi hcmn alla lin db auga

vel. The “l ind”-rings in question,smithie d o f “red gold”

( see the prece ding lines in strophe are,according to

the prefix, lin d, limm', serpent- formed rings , which againa re gand (witchcraft ) rings on accou nt of the mysteriousqualities ascribed to the serpe nt . Lindb augi i s anotherfo rm for lin n baugi, just as lindbéli s another form for

9 1 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

lin nb él. The part played by the serpent in the magicarts made it

,whe n under the influence o r in the posses

s ion of the magician,a gan d, whence linm', a serpe nt ,

could be used as a paraphrase of gan dr, and gandr couldin turn

,in the compound Jo

'

rmu ngan dr, be used as anepithet for theMidgard- serpen t . The rings which Volund“close d wel l together are gand- rings . The ve ry rope

( b as t, b b’

s tr— Volu n da rkvida , 7 , 1 2 ) on which he hangs

th e seven hundre d gand-rings he has finishe d se ems tobe a gand

,an object o f witchcraft, with which Vo lund

can bind and from which he can release the wind . WhenN idad

’

s men surpri sed Volund in his sleep and bo und h imwith this rope

,he asks ambiguously who “had bo und the

wind with it ( str . In two pa ssages in Volu n da rkvida ( str. 4, 8 ) he i s calle d vedr eygr,

“the stormobserver,

” or “the storm- terrible .

” The word may havee ither meaning. That Volund for hi s purposes, l ike Rogn e r

,made use of magic songs i s mani fest from Saxo

(H is t , 3 2 3 , According to Saxo it was by meanso f Volund-Haqu in u s

’ magic song that the Volund- swo rd ,wielded by Svipdag—Er icu s , was able to conquer Tho r

’shammer and Hal fdan’s club .

Passing now to the passages whe re the name Rogneroccurs in paraphrases

,I would particularly emphasize

what I have already demonstrate d : that Hau stla u n g withthis name refers to Thj asse that poems of a more re centdate than Hau stlau ng, and con n ected with the same celeb ra ted song, apply it to th e supposed descendants ofThja sse , Hakon Jarl and his kinsmen ; that all of theseparaphrases represent Rogner as a producer of storm

,

9 1 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG V

snow,and hai l ; and that Rogner made wind-cars, was

a “Regin of the motion of the feathe r- le af” ( the wing ) ,a n d

“one who pleased the swans .” Therefo re (a ) Rogn e r i s an epithet o f Thja sse , and at the same time it de s ignates Vo lund ; ( b ) all that i s said of Rogner , when thename in the pa raphrases i s a Thjasse -epithet, applies toVo lund ; (c ) all that i s said of Rogner, indepe ndently ofparaphrases

,applies to Volund

( 1 8 ) A usage in the Old Norse poe try i s to design atea person by the name of his opponent

,when , by means

of an additional characterisation, it can be made evidentthat the former and not the latte r i s meant . Thus, a giantcan be called b e rg- tho

’

rr o r grjét because he oncehad Tho r o r Thor’s so -n Mode as an opponent, and theseepithets particularly apply to giants who actually foughtwith Thor or Mode in the mytho logy . In contrast withthei r successors in C hristian time s , the heathen skaldstook great pains to give their pa raphrase s spe cial ju st ific at ion and support in some mytho logical event . For thesame re ason that a giant who had fought withMode couldbe called grjét—Mo

’

di, Volund, as N idad

’

s foe, could becalle d grjét—N z

'

dudr . This epithet also occurs a single

time in the Old Norse poetry, namely, in Hau stlau n g,and

there i t is applied to Thjasse . The paraphrase shows thatthe skald had in his mind a corre sponding (antithetic ) circ umsta n c e betwe en Thjasse and N idadr (Nidwdr ) Whatwe are able to gather from our sources is

,that Volund and

Nidadr had had an encounter,and that on e of so decisive

a character, that the epithet grjét-N idudr naturally would

make the hearers think of Volund .

92 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

he capture d Loke in the ambush he had laid ; and, besides,Loke was he avy. The badly-hurt Loke had during thewhole time desired to beg for mercy, but during the fl ight

he was unable to do so . When Thja sse fin ally sank tothe ground

,Loke obtained a breathing space

,so that he

could sue for me rcy.

In the four l ines there are four paraphrases . Thja sse

i s called thérs ofru nm' or thérs ofmim', “he who madeThor run

,or “he who was Thor’s friend

,

” and “midju ngr ,

” a word the me aning o f which it i s of n o importance to inve stigate in conne ction with the question underconsideration . Loke is called Loptr , a surname which i sapplied to him many times

,andmdhmau tr hva tsmid

ju ngs, he who had journeyed with the female companiono f the powerful Midju n g The female c ompanion (mdla ) o f Thja sse i s Idun , and the paraphrasere fe rs to the myth tel l ing how Loke carried Idun awayfrom Thja sse

’

s halls,and flew with her to Asgard .

With these preparatory remarks I am ready to present al iteral translation of the passage :

(Thja sse flew a long way with Loke so that the latte rcame ne ar being torn into pieces ) , thereupon

( thdz de in de ) became he who cause d Thor to run (va rdIhérs ofru n n i )— o r who became Thor’s friend (Iho

’

rs

0fr¢2n i ) — ti red out ( ofspmngin n ) , ( for) Lop t washeavy ( thdngr var Loptr ) . He (Loke ) who had madea j ourney with the power ful Midjung

’

s (Thjasse’

s )female companion (mélu n au tr hva tsmidju ngs ) could(now finally ) sue for peace (mdtti fr idarIn the lines

92 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

tha va rd thors o fru n n i

thun gr va r Lo p t r , o fsp run gin n

fin ing? var Loptr cle arly stands as an intermediate sentence, which , in connection with what has be en statedabove

,namely

,that Thjasse had be en flying a long way

with his burden , will justi fy and expla in why Thja sse ,though exceedingly strong

,stron ger than Hru ngn ir ( the

G rotte-song) , sti ll was at the po int of succumbing fromover- exertion . The skald has thus given the reason whyThjasse ,

“rejoicing in what he had caught,”sank to the

earth wi th his victim, befo re Lo ke be came more used upthan was the case. To understand the connection

,the

wo rdmdtti in the third line i s o f importance . H ithertothe wordsmdlu nwu tr hu rtsm'dttz'midjungs fr idar I nd ia:have been interpreted as i f they meant that Loke “wascompelled” to ask Thja sse for pe ac e . Mdttz

'

has be enunderstood to mean c o

'

ac tus e s t . F in n ur Jonsson (Kr i t.

Stud ,p . 48 ) has pointed out that not a single passage can

with certainty or probabi l ity be found where the verbmega,mdtti , means “to be compelled . Everywhere itcan b e transla ted “to b e able.” Thus the wo rdsmci ttifr idar b idja mean that Lo ke c ould

,was able to ,

askThjasse for peace . The reason why he was able i s statedabove, where it is said that Thja sse got ti red of flying

with his hea vy burden . Before that,and during the fl ight

and the disagreeable coll ision s between Lo ke’s body and

objects with which he came in contact,he was not able to

treat with his captu rer ; but when the latt er had se ttled on

the ground , Loke got a breathing space, and could b eg to

92 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

be spa red . The half strophe thus interpreted gives themo st logica l connect ion, and gives three cause s and threeresults : ( 1 ) Loke was able to use his eloquent tonguein spe aking to Thjas se , since the latter cea sed to fly b efo re Lo ke was torn into pieces ; ( 2 ) Thor

’s affa n n i or

ofmlm’ ended hlS a i r- j ourney, because he, though a verypowerful person, felt that he had over-exerted himself ;

( 3 ) he felt wearied because Loke, with whom he had be enflying

,was heavy. But from this i t fol lows with absolute

certainty that the skald, wi th Tho r’s affa n n i o r ofmm',

meant Thjasse and not Loke, as has hitherto been supposed . The epithet Thor’s ofru nm', “he who made Thorrun

,

” must accordingly be explained by some mythicevent, which shows that Thor at one time had to takefl ight on account of Thjasse . A single circumstance hascome to our knowledge, wher e Thor retreats before anopponent, and it i s hardly credible th at the mythologyshould allow its favourite to ret reat con quered more thanonce. O n that occasion it is Volund’s sword

,wielded by

Sv ipdag, which cleaves Thor’s hammer and compels him

to reti re. Thus Volun d was at one time Thor’s affa n n i .In Hau stlau ng i t i s Thjasse . Here

,too, we therefore

meet the fact which has so frequently come to the surfacein these investigations

,namely

,that the same thing i s told

of Vo lund and of Thja sse .

But by the side o f affa n n i we have anoth er readingwhich must be considered . CodexWormian u s hasofn ln i instead of ofrun n i , and, as Wise

'

n has pointed out,thismnm' must, for the sake of the metre , be readmi n i .Acco rding to this reading Thjasse must at some time

92 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Ullr ci tti skip tha t, er Skj oldr he’

t . So far as his accomplishme n ts are concerned, Ull is in fact the counterpartof his father Egi l, and the same may be said of Skade.While Ulli s called “the god of the skees ,

” Skade is called“the goddess of the skees,

” “the dis of the skees,

” andthe dis of the sea-bone,

”swe a r b ei n s dis

,a paraphrase

which mani festly has the same origin as Saxo’s account

o f the bone enchanted by Ull. Thus Thja sse’

s daughterhas an attribute belonging to the circle of Volund’s kinsmen .

The names also connect those whom we find to bek insme n of Volund with Thja sse

’

s . Alvalde i s Thja sse’

s

father ; Ivalde i s Volund’s . Tvaldi i s another form for

Idvaldi . The long prefixed TimIvo 'ldi i s explained by thedisappe arance of d from Idvaldi . Id reappears in thename of Ivalde ’s daughter Ma n n and Thjasse

’

s brotherIdi, and these are the only mythological names in whichId appears . Furthermore, it has already be en pointed

out,that of Alvalde ’s (Olvaldi

’

s ) three sons there i s onewho has the epithetWildbo a r (Aurn ir , Urn ir ) and thatamong Ivalde ’s three sons there i s on e— namely, O rvandel-Egil— who has the same epithet (I b ar , Eb ur , Eb b o )and that among Alvalde ’s sons one— namely

,Thjasse

has the epithet F jallgyldir ,“mountain-wolf (Haust

laung) while among Ivalde -Olmod’s sons ther e i s on enamely, Volund— who has the epithe t Aso

’

lfr, which alsomeans “mountain-wolf.In thi s connection i t must not be forgotten that tradi

tion has attached the qualities of giants,n o t only to

Thjasse , but also to Volund . That this does not appear

92 6

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

in the Elder Edda depends simply on the fact that Vo lundis not mentioned by this name in the genuine mythic son gs ,but only in the heroi c fragment which we have in Volund

a rkvida . The memory that Volund, though an el f-princein the mythology

,and certainly not a full-bloo ded giant

on his father’s side,was regarded and celebrated in song

as an i ii timn ,— the memory of this n ot only survives in

Vilkin a saga , but appears there in an exaggeration fost e red by later tradition s, to the effect that his fathe r Vade

( see No . 1 1 0) i s there cal led a giant , while hi s father’s

mother is said to have been a mermaid . In another r espect

,too

,there survives in V ilkin a saga the memory of a

relationship be tween Volund and the mos t famous gi antbeing. He and the giants Etge ir (Eggthe r ) and Vidolfare cousins

,according to chapter 1 75. I f we examine th e

Norse sources, we find Vidolf mentioned in Hyn dluljod

(53 ) as progenitor of al l the mytho logical valas , and Aur

boda, the most notor iou s of the valas of mythology, ment io n ed i n strophe 3 0 as a kinswoman of Thja sse . Thuswhile Hyn dluljod makes Thja sse , the Vilkin asaga makesVolund , a kinsman of the giant Vidolf .Though in a form gr eatly changed

,the Vilkin asaga has

also preserved the memory of the manner in whichVolund’s father closed his career . With some smiths

who lived in a remote mountain,Vade had

made an agreement, acco rding to which , in return for a

certain compensation, his son Volund should learn theirwonderfulart as smiths . When

,toward the close of the

time agreed upon , Vade appeared outside of th e moun

tain . he was, before entering, killed by an avalanche in

92 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

accordance with the treacherous arrangement o f thesesmiths .In the mythology Thjasse

’

s father i s the great drinkchampion who, among his many names and epithets, as wehave seen, also has some that refer to his position in themythology i n regard to fermented beverage . Svigdir ( thegreat drinker ) Olvaldi, Olmo’dr, SumblF in n akon u ngr .

In regard to Svigdir’

s death , i t has already been shown

( see No . 8 9 ) that, on his complete disappearance fromthe mythology

,he is outside of a mountain in which Sut

tung and Su t tu n g’

s sons,descendants o f Surt—D u rin n ,

with Mimer the mos t ancie nt smith ( see No . havetheir halls ; that on his arrival a treacherous dwarf, thedoorkeepe r of Su ttung

’

s sons , goes to meet him,and that

he is “be trayed” by the dwarf, never enters the rockyhalls , and consequently must have die d outside.Vilk ina saga

’

s ve ry late statements (probably takenfrom G erman traditions ) , in regard to the death ofVolund’s father

,thus correspond in the main features with

what i s related in the Norse records as to how Thja sse’

s

father disappeare d from the scene of mythology .

In regard to the bi rth and rank of Thja sse’

s fathe ramong the mythic powers

,the fo llowing statements in

poems from the heathen time a re to be observe d . WhenHau stlau n g tells how Thja sse falls into the va fe rflame skindled around Asgard

,i t makes use of the words G re ipa zr

b idils son svidn a r ,“the son of G re ip

’

s wooer is scorched .

”

Thus Thja sse’

s mother i s the giante ss G re ip ,who, accord

ing to a stanza cited in the Younger Edda,i . 2 8 8 , i s a

daughter of the giant G e irrodr and a sister of G jalp . O n e

92 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

s e rkja —li lym—val- i ’

rdumthe princes o f the south

landHere, too, the myth about Thja sse and of the fimb ul

winte r fo rms the kerne l o u t of which the paraphrase sadapted to Hako n Jarl have grown . Hakon is clo thedwith the mask of the co ld—hard sto rm-watcher who comesfrom the North and can le t loos e the winter -winds .Empe ror O tto and the chiefs who le d the southern troopsunder him are compare d with N jo rd and his kinsmen ,who, in the mytho logy, fought with Vo lund and the powers o f fros t, and the battle between the warriors of theSouth and the North is compared with a “murde r- frost

,

”

i n which Hakon coming from the N orth meets theC hri stian continental Te utons at D anne virke .

Thus th e mythical ke rnel o f the strophe i s as fol lowsThe el f of th e Mo rkwoo d of Hloydn ,

the co ld-hard sto rmwatcher, tested his power with frost-weather when he

fought with N jo rd and his kinsmen .

The Hlodyn of the Mo rkwo od— that is to say, the goddess o f the Jotunheim wood s— i s in this conne ct io nThja sse

’

s daughter Skade, who ,

i n Haleygja tal, i s calle dJdmvidja of J cimvidr , the Ironwood ,

which is ide ntica lwith the Mo rkwo od (D a rkwo od ) . Thja sse himself,whose fathe r i s calle d “a perjurous hap t” in Tho rsdrapa ,

i s here cal led an elf. Alone, this pa ssage would n o t besuffi ci ent to de cide the question as to which class o f mythical beings Thjasse and his fathe r be longed , the less soas dlfr, applied in a paraphrase , might allude to any sort

o f be ing according to th e characteri sation added . Bu t“perjurous hap t” canno t possibly be a paraphrase for a

93 0

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

giant . Every divinity that has violated its oath is ape rjurous ke pt, and the mytho logy spe aks of such perjuries . I f a god has committed perjury , thi s is no reasonwhy h e should be called a giant . If a giant has committed perjury, thi s is n o reason why he should be calleda kapt, for it i s nothing spe cial ly characte ristic o f the

giant nature that i t commits perjury or violate s its oath .

In fact,i t seems to me that there should b e the gravest

doubts about Thja sse’

s be ing a giant in the stricte st andcomple test sense of the word , from the ci rcumstances that

he i s a star-hero ; that distinguished persons conside re d itan honour to be de scended from him ; that Hakon Jarl

’sskalds neve r tired of clothing him with the appearance ofhis supposed progenitor

,and of comparing the histo rica l

achie vements of the one with the mythical exploits of th e

other ; and that he, Thjasse , not only robbe d Idun, whichindeed a genuine giant might do

,but that he also l ived

with her many long years , and, so fa r as we can see,be gat with he r the daughter Skade. It should be remembered , from the forego ing page s , what pains the mytho logy takes to ge t the o the r a syn je , Freyja, who had falleninto the hands of giants

,back pure and u n defiled to

Asgard, and it is the refore difficult to be l ieve that Idunshould be humiliated and made to live for many yearsin intimacy with a re al giant . It follows fro-mthi s thatwhen Thjas se , in the above-cited mythological ke rnel ofthe strophe o f Velle kla , i s called an diff, and whe n hisfathe r in Tho rsdrapa is cal le d a kapt, a be ing of highero r lower divine rank, the n cllfr i s a further definition ofthe idea kazpt, and informs us to which class of n umi n a

93 1

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

Thja sse belonged— namely, the lowe r class of gods calledelves . Thus, o n hi s fathe r

’s side , Thja ss e i s an elf . Soi s Volund . In Volun da rkvida he is cal le d a prince ofe lve s . Furthermore, i t should be obse rve d that, in thestrophe-kern el presente d above , Th j asse i s represented aso n e who has fought with Njo rd and hi s allie s . In Saxo iti s An u n d-Vo lund and hi s bro ther the archer who fightwith Njo rd-F r idlevu s and his companions ; and as N jo rdin Saxo marries Amund-Volund’s daughter

,while in the

mythology he marries Thja sse’

s daughter,then this is

anothe r recurrence o f the fact which continually comesto the surface in this investigation , namely, that whateveri s told of Volund i s also told of Thja sse .

PROO F S THAT IVALDE’

S SON S ARE oLVALD E’

s ( c on tin ue d ) .

A REVIEW OF TH ORSD RAPA .

( 2 1 ) We now come to amythic reco rd in whi chThja sse

’

s brothe rs Idi and G dngr , and he to o , in a paraphra se

,are men tioned under circumstances well suite d to

thr ow light o n the subj e ct before us , which is very important in regard to the epic conne ction of the mytho logy .

O f Thor’s expedition to G e i rrod, we have two very d i ffe r e n t accounts . On e i s recorded by the autho r of Skaldskapa rrn al the other i s found in Ei l i f G un drun so n

’

s

Tho rsdrapa .

In Skaldskapa rrn al(Younger Edda, i . 2 84) w e readOnly fo r plea sure Loke made an e xpedition in Freyj a ’sfe ather guise

,and was led by hi s curiosity to seat himse l f

93 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y.

was first given to h im a n d Loke (acco rding to C odexRegius ; acco rding to the Upsala C odex a guest-house )as their lodgi ngs . Then a re relate d the adve nture s Thorhad with G e irrod’

s daughters G jalp and G re ip , and howh e , invited to perform games in G e irrod’

s hall,was met

by a glowing i ron which G e irrod threw against him witha pair of tongs

,but wh ich he caught with the i ron gloves

and threw b ack with so great force that the i ron passedthrough a pos t

,behind which G e irrod had concealed him

se l f,and through G e irrod himself and his house wall, and

then penetrated into the earth .

This narrative,c ompo se d free ly from mythical and

pseudo -mythical elements, i s related to Tho rsdrapa , compo sed in he athen time s, about in the same manner asBragarae du r

’

s account of O din and Su ttun g i s re late d tothat of Havamal. Just as in Braga raedu r pu n ch/ams alie n sl ies in the coarse j est about how poo r poetry originated,so here a crude ane cdote built on the pro verb,

“A streamis to be stemme d a t its mouth, seems to b e the basis o f thestory . In C hristian times the mythology had to furnishthe theme not only for ancien t history

,heroic poems, and

popu lar traditions, but also fo r comic songs .Now , a few words in regard to Tho rsdrapa . This

song, excellent from the standpoint of po e try and important from a mythological point of view, has, in my opinion, hithe rto be en entirely misunderstood , not so much onaccount of the difficultie s found in the text— for these disappear

,when they a re consider ed without any p r e con

c e ived Opinio n in regard to the contents— as on account ofthe undese rved faith in Skaldskapa rmal’s account of

93 4

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY]

Thor’s visit to G e i rrod, and on account of the efforts madeunder the influen ce of this misleading authority to rediscover the statements o i the latter in the heathen poem . Inthese efforts the poetics of the Christian period in Icelandhave been applied to the poem, and in this way all mytho logical names

,whose real me aning 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 collectio n of names as an armoury, inwhich the names of real or suppose d “dwarfs

,

” “giants,”

“sea-kings,

”&c . ,

are brought toge ther and arranged assynonyms

,thi s system of poetics teaches that from such

lists we may take whateve r dwarf name,giant name, &c . ,

we please to designate whi chever “dwarf,” “giant

,

”&c . ,

we please. I f, there fo re, Tho rsdrapa mentions Idi’

s

chalet” and “G dngr

’

s war-vans,” then

,according to thi s

system of poetics,Idi and G cingr

’

s — though theyin heathen times designated particular mythic personswho had their own history

,their own personal care e rs

have no othe r me aning than the gen eral one of “a giant,for the reason that Idi and G dngr are incorporated in theabove-named lists of giant names . Such a system ofpo etics co uld not arise befo re the most of the mythologicalnames had be come mere empty sounds , the personalitie s towhom they be longed be ing forgotten . The fact that the yhave been adapted

,and sti ll continue to be adapted, to

the poems of the heathe n skalds,i s one o f the re asons

why the important contributions which names and paraphrases in the he athen poetry a re able to furnish inmy thological inve stigations have remained an unuse d treasure .

93 5

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG YWh i le Skaldskapa rmalmake s Loke and no o n e elseaccompany Thor to G e irro d

,and repre sents the who le

matte r as a visit to the giant by Tho r, we learn from

Tho rsdrapa that this j ourney to Jotunheim is an expedition of war

,which Thor makes at the hea d of his war

riors against the much-dreaded chief o f giants,and that

on the way thither he had to fight a rea l ba ttle with G ei rrod’s giants before he i s able to pe netrate to the destination O f hi s expedition, G e irrod

’

s hall,where th e giants

put to flight in the battle just mentioned gather,and where

another battle is fought . Tho rsdrapa doe s n o t mentionwith a single word that Lo ke accompanied Thor on this

warlike expe dition . Instead of this, we le arn that he hada secret understanding with one of G e irrod’

s daughters .that he encouraged Thor to go, and gave him untruthfulaccounts o f the characte r of the roa d

,so that

,i f not Thor

himsel f,then at least the allie s who went with him,

mightpe ri sh by the ambush laid in wait fo r them. That Lo ke,under such circumstan ces, should accompany Thor ishighly incredible, since his misrepresentations in re gard tothe character of the way would be discove red on the j ourney, and revea l him as a traitor. But since Skaldskapa rrn al state s that Lo ke was Thor’s companion , the inte r

p re te rs o f Tho rsdrapa have allowed him so to rema in, andhave attrib uted to him— the traitor and secret ally ofthe giants— and to Thjalfe (who i s not mentioned in theSkaldskaparrn alaccoun t ) the exploits which Thor

’s companions perform against the giants . That the poem , fo r

instance,in the expression Tkjcifimed 35ms imi i, “Thjalfe

with hi s companions ,” in th e most distinct manner empha

93 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Stropke 1 . The deceitful Loke e ncourages Thor to gofrom home and visit G e irrod,

“the master of the temp le

o f the steep altars .” The gre at l iar assures him thatgree n paths would take him to G e irrod’

s halls,that i s to

say,they were acce ssible to travel le rs o n foot

,and not

obstructed by rive rs .

NOTE — For Thor himsel f the condition of the roadsmight b e of less importance. He who wades acros s the

Elivagar rivers and subterranean streams did not ne edto be very anxious abou t fin ding water-courses crossinghis paths . But fromthe continuation o f the poemwelearn that this expedition to Jotunheim was n ot a visit asa guest, or a meeting to fight a du el, as when Thor wen tto find Hru ngn e r, but this time he i s to press into Jotunheim with a who le army

,and thus the characte r of the

road he was to travelwas of some importance. The ambu sh laid in his way doe s not concern Thor himsel f, butthe giant- foes who constitute his army . If the latterperish in the ambush

,then G ei rrod and h is giants wil l

have Thor alone to fight against, an d may then have somehope of victory.

Stropke 2 . Thor did not require much u rging tounde rtake the expe dition . He leaves Asgard to visitJotunheim . O f what happene d o n the way between

Asgard and the Elivaga r rivers , be fore Thor pene trate d

into Jotu nheim ,the strophe says

thé e r gja rdv e n jodr Wh e n th e b e lt -w e are r (T ho rth e po s s e s s o r o f th e be l t o fs tre n gth )

93 8

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

e n dr (=it e rum, r u r su s ) n ow , a s o n fo rme r o c c a s io n s ,rikri Idj a G a n dv ik r - s e t r s sk o s tre n gth e n e d by th eme n o f

t um Ide’s c ha le t s itu a t e d n e a r

G a n dvik,go rdis t fra th r idia t il Yms a w a s o n h is w ay fromO din t o

k in da r, Yms e ’s (Yme r ’s ) ra c e ,fy s tu s t th e ir (C o d .Wo rm. ) i t w a s t o th em( t o T h o r a n d

fyr s t u z (C o d . Re g. ) t o t h eme n o f Ide’

s c ha le t)a jo y (o r th e y ru sh e dth i th e r)

a t th ry s t a tho rn s n idjumt o c o n qu e r T ho rn ’

s (Bolth o rn -Yme r ’s ) kin sme n .

NOTE — The common understanding O f this passage i s

( 1 ) that e n dr has nothing to do with the contents, but is acomplementary wor d which may be translated with “onceupon a time

,

” a part which e ndr has to play only too oftenin the interpretation of the old poems ; ( 2 ) that Ide i smerely a general giant name

,applicable, l ik e every other

giant name,in a paraphrase Idja s e tr

,which is suppose d

to mean Jotunhe im; ( 3 ) that r ikr i Idja s e trs sko tumorr ikr i G an dvikr sko tumwas to give the hearers or reade rsof Tho r sdrapa the (utterly unne cessary ) info rmation that

Thor was stronger than the gi ants ; and (4) that theywho longed to subdue Yme r ’s k isme n were Tho r and Loke— the same Loke who

,in secre t understanding with the

giant-chief and with on e of his daughters ( see below ) ,has the purpose of enticing Thor and his companions inarms into a trap !

Rikr i sko tumi s to be regarded as an ellipticalsente nce in which the instrumen tal preposition ,

as i s oftenthe case, is to be understood . When Thor came from

W93 9

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Asgard to the chalet of Ide , situated near G andvik, hethe re gets companions in arms, and through them he b ecomes r ikr i , thro ugh them h e gets an addition to his ownpowe rs in the impe nding conflicts . The fact that whenThor invades Jotunheim h e i s at the head of an army i spe rfectly evident fromce rtain expressions in the poem ,

and from the poem as a whole . Whence could al l thesewarriors come all of a sudden ? They are not dwellers inAsgard

,and he has not brought them with him in his

l ightning chariot They l ive near G andvik, which means“the magic bay, the Elivaga r . G andvik was a p ure ly

mythological-geographical name before it became thename of theWhite Se a in a la te Christian time, when thes e a between G reenland and America got the mythic name

G in u n gagap . Thei r being the inhabitants on the coa st o f

a bay gives th e author of Tho rsdrapa an occasion furthe ro n to designate them as vikings

, hayings .We havea lready seen that i t i s a day’s j ourney between Asgardand the Elivaga r ( see N o . and that on th e sou the rnco ast Thor has an inn

,whe re he stops

,and whe re h is

precious team and chariot are taken care O f wh i le hemakes expeditions into Jo tunheim . The continuation o f

the po em shows that this time, too, he stopped at th i s inn ,and that he got his warrio rs the re. N ow , as always b efo re

,he proc e e ds on foo t

,after having rea ched Jotun

he im .

Stropke 3 first makes a mythic chronological statementnamely

,that the daughter O f G e irrod,

“skilled in magic ,had come to an understanding with Loke, before Rognerbecame the ally of the latte r . This mythic chronological

940

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

vowel may have been thrown out in later times where i tseemed to Obscure the al l iteration

,and thus the fo rm Endil

may have ari sen from Ve n dil,Va n dil.

“Orvan del’smeadow” i s accordingly in poe tic lan gu age synonymouswith Elivaga r, and the paraphrase i s a fitting one

,since

O rvan del-Egi l had ske e s which bore him ove r land andsea

,and since Elivaga r was the scen e of his adventure s .

Str opke 4 tells that after crossing En dil’

s meadowthe host of warriors invaded Jo tunheim on foo t, and thatinformation abo ut thei r invasion into the land of the

giants came to the witches ther e.Two important facts are here given in regard to thesewarrio rs : they are calle d G dngs gmm-van ir and Vargsfr idar ,

“G ang’s warrior—vans ,

” and “Va rg

’

s defenders ofthe land . Thus

,in the first strophes o f Tho rsdrapa , we

mee t with the names o f Olval'de’

s three sons : Rogn ir

(Thjasse ) , Idi, and G dngr . The poem mentions Rogn e r’

s

name in stating that the expedition occurred before Rogner became the foe o f the gods ; i t names Ide

’s name wheni t te lls that it was at his ( Ide

’s ) chalet near G andvik thatThor gathered these warriors around him ; and it namesG dngr

’

s name, and in connection therewith Vargr’

s name,when it i s to state who the le ade rs were o f those champions who accompanie d Thor against G e irrod. Undersuch ci rcumstances it i s mani fest that Tho rsdrapa re latesan episod e in which Ide, G ang, and Thja sse appear asfriends of Thor and foes of the giants, and that thepoem locates their original country in the regions on thesouth coa st o f Elivaga r , and make s I-dja s e tr to be situated near the same strand

,and play m Thor’s expe dition s

942

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

the same part as O rvan del-Egil’

s abode near the Elivagar ,which i s also called chalet

, G e irvan dil’

s s e tr , and Ys e tr .

The Vargr who is mentioned i s, the refore, so far as canbe seen

,Rogner-Thja sse himself, who in Hau stlau ng, as

we know,is

,called fjallgyldir , that i s to say, wolf.

All the warrio rs accompanying Thor were e ager to fight

Yme r’s descendants, as we have seen in the secondstr ophe. But the last l ine s of strophe 4 represent o n e inparticular as longing to contend with one of the warl ikeand terrible giantesses of giant- land . This champion i snot mentioned by name

,but he i s characte rised as b ragdmildr

,

“quick to conce ive and quick to move a s b reedi

vce n dr,“he who i s wont to off er food to eat and as

b b’

lkve i tir o r b b’

lkve tir Lo'ka,“he who compen sated Loke’s

evi l deed .

” The characterisations fit O rva n del-Egi l, thenimble archer and skee- runner

,who, at his chalet, receives

Thor as his gue st, when the latter i s on his way to Jotunheim, and who gave Thor Thjalfe and Ro skva as a c omp e n sa t io n , when Loke had deceitfully induce d Thjalfe tobreak a bone belonging to one of Thor’s slaughte red goa tsfor the purpose of getting at the marrow . If Tho rsdrapahad added that the champion thus designated also was thebest archer of mythology, there could be no doubt thatEgi l was meant . This addition i s made further on in thepoem , and of itsel f con firms the fact that Egi l took pa rtin the expedition .

Str opke 5, compared with strophes 6 and 7 , in formsus that Thor, with his troo p of champion s, in the courseo f h i s march came into o n e o f the wild mou ntain-regionso f j o tunh eim . The weathe r i s bad and hai l- showers fall .

943

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

And here Thor fin ds out that Loke has deceived him in

the most insolent manner . By his directions Thor has ledhis fo rce s to the place where they now are, and here rushesfo rth from be tween the mountains a river into whichgreat streams, swelling with hai l-showers, ro l l down fromthe mountains with seething ice-water. To find in sucha river a ford by which his companions can cro ss was forThor a diffi cult matter.

Stropke 6 . Me anwhile the men from Ide’s chalet hadconfide ntly de sce nde d into the river . A compari son withstrophes 7 and 8 shows that they cautiously kept nearThor, and waded a l ittle farther up the river than he .The y used thei r spears as staff s, which they put down intothe stony bottom o f the river. The din of the spears,whe n thei r metal l ic points came in contact with the stoneso f the bottomblended with the noise o f the e ddies ro aring around the rocks o f the rive r (Knd tti kr eggi kb

’

ggvimiklym-thelvidmii i glymja , e n n fjalla fellikryn tkau tme dF edi a s tedja ) .

Str opke 7 . In the meantime the river constantly rise sand incre ases in vio lence

,and its ocean-l ike billows a re

already breaking against Tho r’s powe rful shoulders . I fthis i s to continue

,Tho r will have to re so rt to the power

inherent in him of rising e qually with the increase of thewaves .

NOTE — But the warriors from Ide’s sa ter, who do notpossess this power, what are they to do ? The plan laidbetween Loke and the witches o f Jotunheim is mani festlyto drown them . And the succeeding strophes show thatthey a r e in the mos t imminent danger.

944

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

the god of the bow on h is shoulders,and with a whole

host of warr iors clinging to his waist, Thor continues hiswading across the stream .

In strophe 8 , the G andvik champions are designated bytwo paraphrases . We have already seen them describedas “G ang’s warrior-vans” and as “Va rg

’

s land-defenders .Here they are called “the clever warriors of the vikingsaeter (vikinga s e trs sn o trir gun n a fr ru n nar ) and

“Od in’s

land-defenders , bound by oaths”

(G ou ta e idsv ara fr idar ) .

That Ide’s saeter i s called “the vikings’ saeter” is explained

by the fact that i t is situated nea r G andvik, and thatthese b ayings had the Elivaga r as the scene of thei r confl ic ts with the powers o f frost . That they are O din’s landde fe nders , bound by oa ths , means that they are mythica lbe ings

,who in rank are lower than the Asas

,and a re

pledged by oaths to serve Odin and defend hi s territo ryaga inst the giants . Their saeter ( chalet ) near G andvik istherefore an outpost against the powers o f frost . It follows that Ide, G ang, and Thja sse o riginally are n umina ,though of a lower

,serving rank ; that the i r relation to the

higher world of gods was of such a character that theycould not by their very nature be regarded as foes of thegiants , but a re bound to the cause of the gods by oaths ;but on the other hand they could not be full-bloodedgiants of the race produced from Yme r’s feet ( see No .

Their original home i s not Jotunheim itself, but aland bordering on the home of the giants, and thismythogeographical locality must correspon d with theirmythogen ea logical position . The last strophe in Tho rsdrapa

calls the giants slain by the G andvik champ ions“Alf

946

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

heim’s calves,Alfheim’s cattle to be slaughtered, an d thi s

se ems to indica te that these champions belong to the thirdand lowest of those clans into which the divinities o f theTeutonic mythology are divided , that i s, the elves .The G andvik champion who rescues himsel f on Thor’s

shoulders, while the rest of them ho ld fast to his girdle, i sa celebrated archer

,and so wel l known to the hearers of

Tho rsdrapa , that i t was not necessary to mention him byname in order to make it clea r who he was . In fact, theepithet applied to him

,

“the god of the bow (dss kykvan a/uda/r, and in strophe 1 8 , tvividar Tyr ) , i s quite suffic ie n t to design ate him as the foremo st archer of mythology

,that is

, O rva n del-Egil, who is here carried on Tho r’s

shoulders through the raging waves, just as on anothero ccasion he was carried by Thor in his basket across the

Elivagar . Already in strophe 4 he is referred to as thehe ro 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 theG andvik champions i s Thjalfe , Egil

’

s foster-son . Theo thers are designated as Thjalfe

’

s gims in n i, his body ofmen .

Thus we find that the two foremost among G ang’swarrior-vans

,

” who with Thor marched forth from “Ide’ssaeter,

” be fore Rogn er (Thja sse ) became Loke’s ally, are

Volund’s and Slagfin’

s brother Egi l and Egil’

s fo ster- sonThjalfe . We find that Egil and Thjalfe be long to theinhabitants o f Ide’s saeter

,where Thor on this occasion had

stoppe d, and where he had left his chariot and goa ts , forn ow

, as on other occasions , he goes o n foot to Jotunheim.947

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

And as in other sources Egil is mentioned as the o n e whoon such occasions give s lodgings to Thor and his goats,and as Tho rsdrapa also indicates that he i s the hospitablehost who had received Thor in his house

,and had paid

him a ransom for the damage caused by Loke to one o fhis goats, then this must be a most sati sfactory proof thatIde’s saeter i s the same place as the G e irvadils se tr in hab

ite d by Egi l and his brothers, and that O rvan del-Egi l i sidentical eithe r with Ide or G ang

,from which it follows ,

again,that Alvalde ’s (Olvalde

’

s ) sons, Ide, G ang, andThjasse, are identical with Ivalde

’

s sons, Slagfin , Egi l, and

Volund .

That Egi l is identical with G ang and not with Ide isapparent from a comparison with the G rotte-song. There

Olvalde’

s sons are cal led Idi, Aur n ir , and Tkjaz i, while inthe Younger Edda the y are calle d Idi, G dngr, and Tkjaz i .

Thus Au rn ir i s identical with G dngr, and as Au rn ir means“wild boar,

” and as “wild bo ar” (Ebur, Ibor, Ebbo ) i san epithet of Egil, O rvan del-Egi l must be identica l withG ang.

In regard to the rest of Tho rsdrapa I may b e brief,since it i s of less intere st to the subject under discussion .

Str opke 1 0. In spite of the perilous adventure descr ibe d above, the hearts of Thjalfe and the G andvikchampions were no mo re terrified than Thor’s . Here

they are designated as e ids fiardar,“the men pledged by

oath,

” with which is to be compared e idsvamfr idar instrophe 8 .

S tr ophe’s 1 1 , 1 2 , show that Thor landed safely withhis burden . Scarcely had he and his companions got a

948

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

room to use h i s bow, but who, with th i s convenient treejerked (or broke n ) from the forest,

” gave death-blows to“the ca lves of Alfheim .

” The arrows from his quivercould not be used in thi s crowded place against the men

o f the mountain-chief.The fa ct that the giants in Thor sdrapa use the slingis of interest to the question conce rning the pos ition O f

the variou s weapons of mythology . G e i rrod i s calledvegtaugar thrjétr,

“the industrious applie r o f the sling”

( str . and dlmta/i igar Hi gh, “the E gir of the sl ing

made of elm-ba st.”In the last strophe Egi l i s sa id to be kelblo

’

tin n an d

kn e i tir , umdirfjdlfs bliku ,e xpressions to which I shall

recur furthe r on .

Like the relation between Volund and his swan-maidsin Volun da rkv ida , the re lation be tween Rogne r-Thjasseand Idun in F o rspjallsljod i s not that of the robber to hisunwilling victim

,but one of mutual harmony . This is

confirmed by a poem which I shall analyse when the in ve st iga t ion reaches a point that demands it, and according towhich Idun was from her childhood ti ed by b onds O f loveand by oa th to the highly-gi fted but unhappy so n ofIvalde , to the great artist who , by his irreconcilable thirstfor revenge

,became the Luci fe r of Te utonic mythology,

while Loke i s its Mefisto . I presume that the means ofrejuvenation

,the divine remedy against age ( ellilyf dsa

-Hau stlau n g) , which Idun alone in Asgard knows an dpo sse sses, was a product o f Thja sse —Volund

’s art . The

middle age also remembered Volund (Wieland ) as aphysician

,and th i s trait seems to be from the o ldest time ,

950

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

fo r in Rigveda , too, the counterpa rts of the Ivalde sons ,that i s, the Ribhus, at the reque st of the gods, inventmeans of rejuvenation . It may be presumed that themythology describe d his exterior pe rsonal ity in a clearmanner . From his mothe r he must have inherited hisgiant strength

,which

,according to the G rotte-song, sur

passe d Hru ngn e r’

s and that of the father of the latter

(Ha rd va r H ru ngn ir 0k ha n s fadir , tkévar Tkjae i the ima-i iflga r i— str. With his strength beauty was doubtle ss united . O therwise, Volun da rkv ida

’

s author wouldscarcely have said that his swan-ma id laid her armsa round Amund’s (Volund’s ) “white” neck . That his

eyes were conce ived as glitte ring may be concluded fromthe fact that they distinguish him on the starry canopy asa star-hero

,and that in Volu n da rkvida N idhad

’

s queenspe aks of the threatening glow in the gaz e of the fe tteredartist ( an i o n e ro augi i o rmi the ime n omfrdn a— s tr . 1 7

Ivalde’

s sons— Thja sse -Volund, Au rn ir-Egi l, and IdeSlagfin — are, as we have seen, bastards of an el f and agiantes s (G re ip , G amba ra ) . Ivalde

’

s daughters,on the

o ther hand ( see No . have as mother a sun-dis,daughter of the ruler of the atmosphe re

,Nokve r . In

o ther source s the statemen t in F o rspjallsljod ( 6 ) i s confirmed, that Ivalde had two groups of children , and thatshe who “among the race s of elve s was calle d Idun” b elonged to one of them . Thus, while Idun and her Slste rs

are half-s isters to Ivalde ’s sons,these are in turn half

brothe rs to pure giants,sons of G re ip , and these giants

a re , according to the G rotte —song ( str . the fathers o fFenja and Menja . The re lationship of the Ivalde sons

951

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

to the god s on the one hand and to the giants on the othermay be il lustrated by the following scheme :

Ivalde b e ge ts ( 1 ) with a ( 2 ) w ith th e gia n te s s G r e ip b e e r s w ith a gia n ts un -d i s G r e i p

gian t gia n tIdun a n d h e r s iste rs . Th jas se-Vo lun d a n d h is

bro the rs . Fe n ja . Me n ja .

REVIEWOF THE PROOFS O F VoLU ND’

s IDENTITY W ITHTH J ASSE.

The circumstances which first drew my attention tothe necessity of investigating whether Thja sse and

Volund were not different names of the same mythic pe r

son ality , which the mythology particularly called Thjasse ,and which the heroic saga springing from the mythologyin Christian times particularly called Volund , were the

fol lowing : 1 ) In the study of Saxo I found in no less

than three passages that N jord, under diff e rent historica lmasks

,marries a daughter of Volund

,while in the mythol

ogy he marrie s a daughte r of Thja sse . ( 2 ) In investigating the statements anent Volund’s father in Volu nda rkvida

’

s text and prose appendix I found that these led

to the result that Volund was a son of Sumbl, the Firmking— that i s to say

,of Olvalde

,Thja sse

’

s father . ( 3 )My researches in regard to the myth about the mead produc ed the result that Svigde r-Olvalde peri shed by the

treachery of a dwarf outside o f a mountain, where one of

the smith- races o f the mythology, Su ttun g

’s son s , had

their abode. In Vilkin asaga’

s account of the death of

952

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

ing th i s,boasts in the same poem that he has cau se d the

slaying o f Thjasse .

In re gard to bonds of relationship in gene ral,I found

that on the on e side Volund, l ike Thja sse , was regardedas a giant, and had re lations among the giants, among

whom V idolf i s mentioned both as Volund’s andThja sse

’

s re lat ive,and that on the othe r hand Vo lund i s

calle d an elf-prince,and that Thja sse

’

s father be longedto the clan of e lve s , and that Thja sse

’

s daughter i s chara c te rised, like Volund and hi s neare st relative s, as a skeerunne r and hunter, and in this respect has the same ep ithe tas Volund’s nephew Ull. I found, furthermore, that sofar as tradition has pre se rved th e memory of star—he roe s ,e very myt hic person who belonge d to thei r numbe r wa sca lled a so n o f Ivalde o r a son o f Olvalde . O rva n del

Egi l is a star-hero and a son o f Ivalde . TheWa tlin gs ,afte r whom the Mi lky Way is named, a re de scendants o fVate-Vade

,Volund’s father . Thja sse i s a star-hero and

the so n o f Olvalde . Ide,too

,Thja sse

’

s bro ther,

“the

to rch-beare r, may have been a star-hero , and , as we sha l lshow late r, the memory of Volund

’s brother Slagfin waspartly connecte d with th e Mi lky Way and partly with thespots on the moon ; while, according to ano the r tradition ,i t i s Vo lund’s fa the r whose image is se e n in these spo ts

( see N o s . 1 2 1 ,

I found that Rogner i s a Thja sse - epithet,and that all

that i s stated o f Rogner i s also to ld of Vo lund . Rognerwas, l ike the latter, first the friend of the gods and thenthe i r foe . He was a “swan-gladdener

,and Volund th e

lover o f a swan-maid . Like Vo lund h e fought against

954

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

N jo rd . Like Volund he proceeded to the northe rnmostedge of the world, and there he worked with magic impleme n ts through the powers of fro st for the de structiono f the gods and of the world . And from some one he hastaken the same ransom as Volund did, when the latte rkille d N idhad’

s young sons and made goblets of thei r

skulls .I found that while Olvalde ’s sons, Ide, Au rn e r (G ang) ,

and Thjasse , sti ll were friends Of the gods, they had theirabode on the south coast of the Elivaga r , whe re Ivaldehad h is home

,called after him G e irvadils s e tr , and where

his so n O rva n del-Egil afte rwards dwelt ; that Thor on hisway to Jo tunheim visits Ide’s se tr, and that he is a guest in

Egil’

s dwell ing ; that the mythological warriors who dwellaround Ide’s s e tr are called “warr ior-vans,

” and that these“G ang’s warrior -vans” have these ve ry persons

,Egi l and

his fo ster-son Thjalfe , as their leade rs when they ac company Thor to fight the giants, wherefore the s e i r of theOlvalde sons Ide and G ang must b e identical with that ofthe Ivalde sons , and Ide, G ang, and Thjasse identicalwith Slagfin ,

Egi l,and Volund .

O n these foundations the identity of Olvalde ’s sons withIvalde

’

s sons i s sufficien tly supported, even though o u r

mythic re cords had preserved no evi dence that Thjasse ,l ike Vo lund , was the most celebrated artist of mythology .

But such e vidence i s not wanting. As the real meaning ofRegin i s

“shaper,” “workman

,and as thi s has be en re

ta in e d as a smith-name in Christian time s , there i s everyreason to assume that Thjasse

,who is called fjadrar —blads

le ik-Regin and vingva-gn a Rogn ir , did himsel f make, l ike

955

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Volund,the eagle guise which he, l ike Volund, wears .

The son of Ivalde , Volund, made the mos t precious treasures for the gods while he sti ll was their friend, and the

Olvalde son Thja sse i s called hapta sn y tr ir,“the deco

rator of the gods,” doubtless for the reason that he had

smithied treasures for the gods during a time when he wastheir friend and Thor’s ofr i in i (Thor

’s confidentialfriend ) . Volund is the mo st famous and, so far as wecan see

,also the first swo rd-smith , which seems to appear

from the fact that his father Ivalde , though a val iantchampion

,doe s not use the sword but the Spear as a

weapon,and is therefore calle d G ekv a n dill. Thja sse was

the first sword-smith,otherwise he would not have been

called fadirmb'rn a, “the father of the swords .” Splendidimplements are called ve rk Rogn is and Tkjaz a tkingskil,Idja glj

’

fsmdl, Idja ord— expressions which do not findtheir adequate explanation in the Younge r Edda’s accountof the divis ion of Olvalde ’s estate, but in the myth aboutthe judgment which the gods once pro claimed in the contest concerning the Skill of Sin dre and the sons of Ivalde ,when the treasures O f the latter presented in court had to

plead their own cau se .

A LOOK AT THE MYTH CON CERN IN G THJ ASSE-VOLUND .

H IS EPITHET HLEBARDR. H IS WORST DEED OF RE

VEN GE.

What our mythic records tell us about the sons ofOlvalde and the sons of Ivalde i s under such circum

956

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Ivalde , who had deserted the god s, on the one side, andthe gods and their favourite Halfdan

,the Teutonic

patriarch, on the other S ide, was kindled anew ( see No .

Halfdan is repulsed, and finally falls in the war inwhich Volund got sati sfaction by the fact that his swordconquered Thor’s Mjoln e r and made Thor retreat . Butonce more the hope based on the sword of revenge i s fra st ra ted

,thi s time by the possessor of the sword itsel f,

Volund’s young kinsman, who— victor in the war, bu tconquered by the lo ve he cherished for Freyj a, re scuedby him— becomes the husband of the fair a syn je and givesthe sword O f Volund to Frey, the god O f the harvests .That, in spite o f this crossing of his plan of revenge,Volund sti l l did not give it up may be taken for granted .

He i s described not only as the most revengeful, but alsoas the mo st persi stent and pa tien t pe rson ( see

“D oe r the

Scald’s when patie nce cou ld promote hisplans . To make war on the gods with the aid o f thegiants, when the swo rd of victory had fallen into thehands of the latte r, could not give him the least hope ofsuccess . After the mythology has given Volund satisfaction for the despicable judgment passed on the products of his skill

,i t unites the chain of events in such a

manner that the same we apon which refuted the judgmentand was to cause the ruin of the gods became thei r pal ladiumagainst its own maker. What was Volund ab le todo afterwards

,and what did he do ? The answer to this

question i s given in the myth about Thja sse . With Idun— the Hervor Alvitr of the heroic poem— he confinedhimsel f in a mountain, whose halls he presumably deco

958

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

rated with all the won ders which the sagas of the middleages

,describing splendid mountain-halls and parks within

the mountains, inherited from the mythology. Themountain must have been situated in a region difficult ofaccess to the gods— according to Braga raedu r in Jotunheim . At all events, Thjasse i s there secure against everyeffort to disturb him , forcibly, in his retreat . The meansagai nst the depredations of time and years which Idunpossesses have their virtue only when in her care. Without this means, even the gods O f Asga rd are subject to theinfluen ce of t ime

,and are to grow old and die. And in

the sen se of a myth symbolising nature, the same meansmust have had its share in the rejuvenation of creationthrough the saps rising every ye ar in trees and herbs .

The destruction of the world— the app roa ch of whichVolund wished to precipitate with his sword O f revengemust come slowly, but sure ly, i f Idun remains away fromAsgard . This plan is frustrated by the gods throughLoke, as an instrument compelled by necessity— compelledby necessity (Hau stlau ng, str . although he delighte din the mischief of dece iving even his allies . NearThja sse

’

s mountain-halls i s a body o f water, on which heoc casionally rows out to fish (Braga raedu r . ) On ce, whe nhe rows out for this purpose

,pe rhaps accompanied by

Skade, Idun is at home alone. Lo ke , who seems to havestudied hi s customs, fl ies in a borrowed fe ather guise intothe mountain and steals Idun

,who

,changed into a nut,

i s carried in hi s claws through space to Asgard . But the

robbing of Idun was not enough for Lo ke. He enticedThjasse to pursue . In hi s inconsiderate z eal

,the latter

959

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

dons his eagle guise and hastens after the robber intoAsga rd

’

s va fe rflame s, where he falls by the javelins ofthe gods and by Thor’s hammer. Sin dre

’

s work,the one

surpassed by Volund, causes hi s death, an d is avenged . Ihave already po inted out that this event explains Loke’swords to Idun in Loka se n n a , where he speaks o f the murder of one of the Ivalde sons, and insi sts that she , Idun ,embraced the one who caused his death .

The fate of the great arti st and his tragi ca l death helpto throw light on the character of Lo ke an d on the parthe played in the mythology. Ivalde

’

s sons are, in the beginning, the z ealous friends o f the gods, and the de cora to rs and protectors of their creation . They smithyo rnamen ts, which are the symbols of vegetation ; and atthei r outpos t by the Elivaga r they defend the domain ofveget ation against Jo tun he im’s powers of fro st . As Ihave already stated, they are, l ike the Ribhus , at the sametime her oe s, promoters O f growth, and artists of antiquity .

The mythology had also mani festly endowe d the sons ofIvalde with pleasing qualitie s— profound knowledge ofthe mysteries of nature

,intelligence, strengt h , beauty, and

with faithfulness toward their be loved . We find that, in

time of adversity,the brothers were firmly unite d , and

that their swan-maids love them in j oy and in distress .

For the powers of evil it was, therefore, of the greatestmoment to bring about stri fe between the gods and these

thei r “sworn men .

” Loke, who is a gedr eyn ir (Thorsdrapa) ,

“a se archer O f the qual ities of the soul,” a

“tempter O f the character, has d 1 sc ove red in the greatartist of antiquity the false but hitherto unawakened qual

96 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

other concerns Thjasse , who , seeing his b eloved carriedaway by Loke and his plan about to be frustrated

,reck

le ssly rushed into his certain ruin . The real name ofthe giant al luded to is not given, but it is indicated by theepithet Hle

’

b arrdr, which , according to the Younger Edda ,

( i i . i s a sn yo n ymof Vargr and G yldir . It hasalready been shown above that Vargr in Tho rsdrapa andF jallgyldir in Hau stlau ng are epithets o f Thja sse . Lokesays that this same giant, who se sense he cunninglyrobbe d, had previously given him a gamban te in n . Thisword means a wea pon made by Volund . H is swordof revenge and victory i s called gamb an te in n in Skirn e rsmal . But gamban te imi is, at the same time, a synonymo fmis telte i n n

,hence

,in an Icelandic saga from the

Christian time , Volund’s sword of victory also reappears

by the namemis telte imi ( see No . Thus the giantHleba rd gave Loke a weapon, which, according to itsdesignation , i s either Volund

’s sword of victo ry or themistletoe . It cannot be the sword of victo ry. We knowthe hands to which this swor d has gon e and is to go :Vo lund’s , Mimer-N idhad

’

s , the night-dis Sinma ra ’

s, Svip

dag’s,Frey’s

,Au rb oda

’

s and Eggthe r’

s,and finally

F jalar’

s and Surt’s . The weapon which Thjasse’

s name

sake Hleba rd gives Loke must , accordingly, have beenthe mistletoe . In this connection we must be ar in mindwhat i s said O f the mistletoe . Unfortunately, the fewwords of VOIuspa are the only entirely rel iable record we

have on this subj ect ; but ce rtain features of G ylfagi n

n in g’

s account (Younger Edda, i . 1 72 - 1 74) may be myt hologi c ally correct .

“Slen der and fai'

r”— not dangerous

96 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

and fai r to behold— grew, according to Voluspa , the

mistletoe,

“higher than the fields” (as a parasite on thet rees )

! bu t fromthe Shrub which se emed innoc ent b ecame a dangerous arrow of pain,

” which HOdr hurled .

According to a poetic fragment united with Vegtamskv ida (

“Balder’s and according to G ylfaginning, the gods had previously exacted an oath from al lthings not to harm Balder ; but, according to G ylfaginning

,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 afterwards able to put into Hoder’s hand

,while, according to

G ylfagin n ing, the gods were amusing themselves by seeing how every wea pon aimed at Balder hit him withoutharming him . But that Loke should hand Hoder thisshrub in the form in which it had grown on the tree, andthat Hoder should use it in this

'

fo rmto shoo t Balder, i sas improbable as that Hoder was blind .

* We must takel uspa

’

s words to mean that the shrub be came an arrow ,

and we must con ceive that th i s arrow looked like everyother arrow

,an d for this reason did not awaken su sp i

cion . O therwise the suspicion would at once have beenawaken ed ,

for they who had exacted the oa th of things,and Frigg who had sent the messenge rs to exact the oaths

,

knew that the mistletoe was the only thing in the wholeworld that had not be en sworn . The he athen songs no

‘Whe n I c ome t o c on s ide r th e Ba lde r-myth i n th e s e c on d part o f thiswork , I sha l l po in t o u t t h e s ourc e fromwhic h th e a u thor o f G y lfagi n n i n g,mis u n de rsta n d in gly, h a s drawn t h e c on c lu s ion tha t t h ema n o f e xp lo its ,th e wa r r ior, th e a rche r, a n d t h e hu n te r Hode r was b l i n d . T h emi s un de rsta n d in g gave we lc ome s uppo r t t o th e symbo l ic i n te rpre ta t io n , which , i n

t h e bl in d Hode r. foun d amon g o the r thin gs a symbo l o f n ight ( b ut n ighth a sma n y e ye s" )

96 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

where bet ray such inconsistencies and such thoughtlessnes s as abound in the accounts o f the Younger Edda .

The former are always well conceived,at times incisive

,

but they always reveal a keen sense of everything that maygive even to the miraculous the appearance of reality andlogic . The mistletoe wa s made into an arrow by some onewho knew how to turn i t into a “dan ge rous arrow o f

pain” in an infal lible ma nner. The unhappy shot depended o n themagic qualiti es that were given to the mistle toe by the han ds tha t changed it into an arrow . Theevent become s c on i pneh en sible , an d the statements foundin the var ious so u rces dove ta i l togethe r and bear the testof so und criti ci sm, i f Loke, avai ling himsel f of the onlything which had not be en b ound by oath not to harm Balde r , goe s wi th th is shrub, which of itsel f was innocent andha rd ly fit for an arrow, to the arti st who hated the gods,to the art ist who ha d smithi ed the sword o f reven ge

,and

i f th e latte r, wi th his magi c skill as a smith, makes out ofthemis telte inn a n ew gamb an t e in n. dangerous to the gods ,and gi ves the we apon to Lo ke in order that he might a ccomplish h is evi l purpose therewi th . As Hleba rd i s aThja sse -synonym,

as thi s Thja sse - synonym is connectedwith the weapon-name gamba n te imi , which indicates aThja sse -work, and as Loke has treated Thja sse as hesays he ha s trea ted Hleb ard— b y a cu nning act he robbedhim of his sen s es— the n al l accessible facts go to es tablishthe theo ry that by Hleb ard i s meant the celebrated an

cient artist deceived by Loke . And as Hle ba rd has gi venhima weapon which is designate d by the name of theswo rd of reven ge

,bu t which is not the sword of re venge,

96 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

to Loke (Harba rdsljod ) ( 8 ) fromLoke’s hands. i tpasse d into Hoder

’s , and was shot by the latter (Lokasenna

, VOlu spa ) .

It is dangerous to employ nature-symbolism as a meansofmytho logi cal investigation . It is unserviceable forthat purpose

,so long as it canno t be subj ected to the rules

o f severe methodics . O n the other hand,i t i s admissible

and justifiable to consider from a natu ral symbolic standpoint the re sults gained in a mythologi cal investigationby the methodological system . If, as alrea dy indicated ,

Hle ba rd is identical with Thjasse -Volund, then he whowas the cause o f the fimb ul-winter and sent the powe rsof frost out upo n the earth, also had his hand in the deathof the sun-god Balder and in his descent to the lowerworld . Ther e i s logic in thi s . And there i s logic in thevery fact that the weapon with which the sun-god is slaini s made from the mistle toe, which blossoms and producesfruit in the winte r

,and i s a plant which rather shuns

than seeks the light O f the sun . When we remember howthe popular traditions have explained the appearance andqualiti es of various animals and plants by connectingthemwith the figu res of mythology or of legendary lore

,

then I suppo se i t is possible that the popular fancy saw inthe mistletoe’s dre ad of light the effect o f grief and shameat having been an instrument in evil hands for evil purposes . Various things indicate that the mistletoe or igin ally was a sacred plant, not only among the C elts, butalso among the Teutons . The H in doo ic Aryans alsokn ew sacre d parasitical plants .The word gamb cmwhich forms a part of gamban te in n

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

means compensation,

“ransom,when used as a noun,

and otherwise “retaliating.

” In the Anglo-Saxon poe tryoc curs ( see G rein

’s D ictionary) the phrase gamba i i gyldan ,

“to compensate ,” “to pay dues .

" In the Norse

sources gamba i i occurs only in the compo unds gambanle imt (Skirn e rsmal, 3 2 ; Harb a rdsljod, gwmbwn r e idi(Sk irn e rsmal, and gamb cmmmbl (Loka se n n a ,In the son g of Sk irn e r , the latter threatens G erd, who re

fused Frey’s off e r of marriage, tha t she shal l be struckby gambai zr e idi goda , the ave ngingwr ath of the gods . InLoka se n n a , Loke come s unbidden into the banquet of thegod s in ZEgir

’

s hal l to mix bitterness with their gladness,a n d he demands eithe r a place at the ba nque t table or tobe turned out of doors . Brage answe rs that th e godsnever will grant him a seat at a banquet,

“since the y wellknow fo r whom among beings they are to prepare gamb ai i sumbl,” a banquet of revenge o r a drink of revenge .

This he mani festly mentions as a threat,referring to the

fate which soo n afterwards happe ns to Loke , when he iscaptured and bound

,and when a ven om- spitting se rpent

i s fastene d above his mouth . For the common a ssumptio n that gamban means something “grand

,

” “magn ific en t ,

” “divine,

” the re is not a single shadow o f reaso n . G amb cmte in n i s accordingly “the twig of reve nge ,

”

and thus we have the mythological reason why Thja sseVolund’s sword o f revenge and the mistle toe arrow wereso called . With them h e desire s to avenge the insult towhich he refers in Volu n da rkvida , 2 8 : Nu kefi e c kefn tkarmamin n a allra: n ema e in n o ivi tkgjcnrm'a .

96 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

THE GUARD AT H VERGELMER AN D THE ELIVAGAR.

It has already bee n shown ( see No s . 59, 93 ) tha t theElivaga r have their source in the subterranean fountainHvergelme r , situate d o n a mountain , which separates thesubte rranean region o f bliss (Hel) from N i felhel. He re .

nea r the source of the Elivaga r , stands the great worldmi l l, which re volve s the starry heaven s, cause s the ebband flood of the oce an and regulate s its currents , andgrinds the bo die s o f the primeval giants into layers ofmou ld on the rocky substrata ( see No s . 79, FromHve rgelme r , the mo ther of all waters, the northe rn roo to f the world-tree draws saps

,which ri se into its topmo st

branches,e vaporate into Eiktkymir above Asgard, and

flow thence as vafe r- laden clou ds ( see No . whichemit fructi fying showers upo n Midgard , and through theearth they return to their o rigi nal source, the fountainHvergelme r . The Hve rgelme r mo untain ( the N idamountains

, Nidafjé'

ll) cannot have be en le ft without careand protection

, as i t i s of so vast impo rtance in the e conomy of the world , and this the less since i t at the sametime forms the boundary between the lowe r world’srealm of bliss and N i felhel, the subterranean Jotu nhe im ,

whose frost- thu rse s sustain the same re lation to the inhabitants on the eve rgreen fields of bliss as the powersof frost in the upper Jotu nheim sustain to the gods ofAsgard and to the inhabitants of Midgard . There is n oreason fo r assuming that the guard of brave sworn warriors of the Asgard gods

,those warriors whom w e have

96 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

mists o f N i felhe im,and the refo re re ce ive s toke ns of grati

tude from the i r pious inhabitants .The vocation of th e sons o f Ivalde , a s the keepers o f

the Hve rgelme r fountain and o f the Elivaga r , ha s i tscounte rpart in the vo cation which

,in the Iranian mythol

ogy ,i s attributed to Thja sse

’

s proto type, the star-heroT istrya (T ishya ) . The fountain Hve rgelme r , the

source o f the o c ean and o f al l water s, ha s in the Iranianmythology its counterpart in the immense body o f waterVou ru ka sha . Just as the Teutonic world- tree grows fromits northern root o u t of Hve rgelme r , the Iranian wo rldtree G aoke re n a grows o u t of Vo u ruka sha (Bu n dehe sh ,

Vo u ru ka sha i s guarded by T istrya , assisted by twoheroes be longing to the class of mythologica l be ings thatare cal led Ya z a ta s ( Iz ads ; in the Veda l iterature Ya j ata )“they who deserve o ffe rings , and in the Iranianmythology they form the third rank o f divine beings

,and

thus correspond to the elves o f the Te utonic mytho logy .

Assisted b y‘

the se two he roes and by th e “fevers o f thejust,

”T istrya defends Vou ru ka sha ,

and oc casionallyfights against the demon Apaosha , who desires to destroythe world (Bu n dehe sh ,

T istrya , as such, appearsin three forms : as a youth with bright and glisteningeyes

,as a wild boar, and as a ho rse . C a n i t be an a c

c ide n t that the se forms have the i r counterpa rts in theTeutonic mythology in the fact that o n e of Thja sse

’

s

brothers (Egil-Orva n del-Ebur ) has the epithet“wild

boar,” and that

,as shall be Shown below

,his othe r brother

(Slagfin ) bears the epithe t Henge st, and that Thjasse.Volund himsel f, who for years was possessor of, and

970

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

presumably invented,the remedy against aging, which

Idun,hi s beloved, has charge o i — that Thjasse -Volund

himself was regarded as a youth with a “white neck

(Volu n da rkvida , 2 ) and with glittering eyes (Volu n dar

kvida ,which after his death were placed in the beav

ens as stars ?

SLAG F IN . H IS IDEN TITY WITH G J UKE. SLAG F IN , EG IL,

AN D VOLUN D ARE N I FLUN G S.

I now come to the third Ivalde son , Slagfin . The name

Slagfin (Slagfidr ) occurs nowhere else than in Volun

da rkvida,and in the prose introduction to the same .

All that we learn of him is that, l ike Egi l, he a c compa n ied his brother Volund to theWolfdale s ; that, l ikethem

,he runs on skees and is a hunte r ; and that, whe n

the swan-maids,in the ninth year of thei r abo de in theWolfdale s

,are o ver come by longing an d re turn to the

south,he goe s awa y to find his be loved

,just as Egil goes

to find his . We learn, furthermore, tha t Slagfin’

s swanmaid i s a sister of Volund’s and a kinswoman of Egil

’

s,

and that she,accordingly

,i s Slagfin

’

s Sister (hal f- siste r) .

She is ca l led Hladgudr Sva n kvi t, l ikewise a name whichoccurs nowhere else. He r (and accordingly also that o fVolund’s swan-maid ) mo ther i s calle d Swan-feather,Svo n fjéidr (Slagfin

’

s beloved is Sva n fjadmr dro’s— str .The name Svan-feather reminds us of the Svan h ild

G old- feather mentioned in F o rnm. , i i . 7 , wi fe of oneF in alf . I f Svan fe a the r i s identical with Svan h ild G old

97 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

fea ther,then F in alf must originally be iden tical with

Ivalde , who also i s an elf and bears the n ame F in na kon

u ngr , Samblu s Pkin n orum' r ex. But this then simplyconfirms 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, an d rediscover him bearing othern ames, and restore the myth concerning him which seemsto b e lost. That he

,however

,played an important part

in the mythology may be assumed already fromthe factthat his brother s hold places so central in the great epico f the mythology . It is

,therefore, highly probable that

he i s mentioned in our mythic fragments,though con

cealed under some other name . O n e of these names,viz .

,Ide, we have a lready found ( see No . and

thereby we have learned that he,with his brother Egil ,

had a citadel near the Elivagar , and guarded the i r coastsagainst the powers o f frost . But of his fate in generalwe are ignorant . NO exten s ive researches a re required ,however, before we find circumstance s which

,compared

with each other,give us the result that Slagfin i s G juke ,

and therewith the way is open for a nearer acquaintancewith his position in the heroic saga

,and before that in the

mythology. H is identity with G juke i s mani fest fromthe following circumstances :The G jukungs

,famo us in the heroic saga, are, accord

ing to the saga itself,the first ones who bear this name .

Their father is G juke , from whom this patronymic i s derived . Through thei r father the y belong to a race that i scalled Hn iflungs, Niflu ngs, N e b elu ngs . The G jukungs

972

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

flu nga ; so also in Atlakv ida In G udru n arkvida

( i i . 2 5) the queen of the decea se d G j a ke promises he rand G juke

’

s daughte r , G u drun , that she is to have thecontrol o f all the treasures “after (a t ) her de ad fathe r

(fjé’

ld allz fi ar a t tk in faud i lr dauda n ) , and we are to ldthat those trea sure s, togethe r with the hall s in which the ywe re kept and the precious ca rpets, are an inhe ritanceafte r (a t ) Hlaudv e r ,

“the fal len prince” (kr inga ra i lda

Hlaudve s sali, arsalallcma t jofm' fallin ) . From Volu nda rkvida we gathe r that Volund’s and Slagfin

’

s swanmaids a re daughte rs o f Hlau dve r and sisters of thei rlo vers . Thus Hlaudve r i s identica l with Ivalde , Vo

lund’s, Egil’

s , and Slagfin’

s father ( see No . Ivalde’

s

splendidly decorate d halls,togethe r with at least o n e

son’s share o f his golden trea sures, have thus passed asan inheritance to G juk e , and from G juk e to his sons , theG juku ngs . While the first song about He lge Hu n din gs

bane tells us that Volund,Egil

,and Slagfin were, l ike

G juke , N iflu ngs, w e here learn that G juke was the heirO f Volund’s

, Egi l’

s,and Slagfin

’

s father . And whileTho rsdrapa , compared with othe r so urce s, has a lreadyinformed us that Ide -Slagfin and G ang-Egi l inhabitedthat citadel ne ar the Elivaga r which i s called

“Ide’schale t” an d G e irvadel

’

s (G e i rvan del’

s ) cha let, and whileG e irvan deli s demonstrably an epithe t o f and asIvalde

’

s citadel acco rdingly passed into the possession ofSlagfin and Egil , we here find that Ivalde ’s citadel wasinhe rited by G juke . Finally

,we must compare here

‘ I n Saxo G e rva n d illu s ( G e i r va n d ill) i s th e fa the r o f H orva n d illu s

(Orvwn d i i i ) . O rv a n d e l h a s be e n prove d t o b e ide n tic a l w ith Egil . An d a s

Egil i s th e son o f Ivalde , G e i rva n d e l is ide n t ic a l w ith Ivalde .

974

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

with Braga raedu r ( ch . where it i s said that Ivalde

( there ca l le d Olvalde ) was su rvived by his sons , whoharmoniously divide d hi s gre at treasure s . Thus G jukei s one of the so ns of Ivalde , and inhe rited halls and treasures after Ivalde ; and as he can be neithe r Volund norEgi l

,whose fates we already know, he must be Slagfin

a result confirmed by the evidence which we shall gradnally present below .

THE N IF LU N G HOARD IS THE TREASURE LEFT BY VOLUNDAND H IS BROTHERS .

When Volund and Egil , angry at the gods, abandonedFrey to the power of the giants and set out for the Wolfdale s

,they were unable to take with themthe i r immense

tre asures inherited from their father and augmented bythemselve s . N o r did they need them for their purpo ses .Volund carri ed with him a golden fountain in his wealthbringing arm- ring ( see N o s . 8 7

,98 , 1 01 ) from which the

seven hundred rings,that Nidhad to his astonishme n t

discovere d in hi s smithy,must have come . But the

riches left by these brothers ought not to fall into thehands of the gods

,who were their enemies . C on se

quently they were concea led . Saxo (H is t , 1 93 ) saysof the father o f Svipdag-Er icu s , that i s to say, of O rvandel-Egil, that he long had had great tre asures concealedin earth caves (gaz e , quas di i i claus ce tellu r is an tra c on di

de fan t ) . The same is tru e o f G juko Slagfin ,who went

w ith hi s brothers to theWolfdale s . V ilk in a saga ( see

975

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

b elow)'

has rescued an account of a treasure which waspreserved in the interior of a mountain

,and which he

owned . The same is sti ll more an d particularly appli

cable to Volund,as he was the most famo us sm ith of

themythology and o f the he roic saga . The popular fancyconceived the se treasures left and concealed by Volundas be ing kept in e arth cave s, or in mountain ha l ls, guardedand brooded ove r by dragons . Or i t conce ived them aslying on the bottom of the se a

,or in the bottomO f deep

rive rs,guarded by some dwarf inhabiting a rocky island

near by . Many of the songs and sagas of heathe ndoma n d O f the o lder days o f Christian ity were connected withthe r efin ding and acquisition of the N iblu ng ho ard bysome he ro or othe r as the Vo l sung Sigmund , the Bo rga rde sc endant Hadding-D i eterich, and Siegfri ed-SigurdFa fn e r sba n e . The N iflu ng treasure, hodd N iflmiga(Atlakvida , N i b elmige H ar t

,i s in its more limited

sense these Vo lund treasures,and in its most ge ne ral Sig

n ifica t io n the go lden wealth le ft by the thre e brothe rs .This wealth the saga repre sents as gathered again largelyin the han ds of the G jukungs , afte r Sigurd, upo n th e

victo ry over Fafne r,has reunited the most important o n e

of Volund’s concea led treasures with that of the G juku ng

’

s,and has married the G jukung sister G udrun . The

G e rman tradition , pre served in middle-age poems, showsthat the continen tal Teutons long remembere d that theN i b elu rige H or t originally was owned by Volund

,Egi l ,

a n d Slagfin-G juke . In Li ed vori Siegfr ied the treasure i s

owned by three brothers who are “N iblungs .”On ly o n e

o f them is named , and he is called King Englin, a name

976

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

n a ted by a synonym of G a s tr, that i s, by Byr r , wind

(Volu n da rkvda , and by Loptr ,“the airy o n e

Fjc'

Slsv in n smal, 2 6 ) as,furthermore

,the song cycle

concerning Sigurd F a fn ersb an e i s connected with th e

children o f G juk e Vo lund’s brother, and in several o the r

re spe cts strikes roots down into the myth concerningIvalde

’

s sons ; and as, finally,the G erman tradition shows

an original connection b etween N i b eli i rige H or t and thetreasures o f the Ivalde sons , the n every fa ct goes to showthat in G a s tr we have an epithet of Volund, and that theN iflu ng hoard, both in the Norse and in the G e rmanSigurd-Siegfried saga was the inheritance and the workso f Volund and his brothe rs . Vigfu sson assumes that thefirst pa rt of the compound Slagfin i s slagr ,

“a tone,” “a

melody, played on a stringed instrument . The correctness of this Opinio n i s corroborated by the fact that Slagfin -G juke

’

s son, G unnar, i s the gre atest player o n stringedinstruments in the heroic l iterature . In the den of serpe nts he still plays his harp

,so that the crawling venom

o u s creatures a re enchanted by the tone s . This wonderful art o f his i s explained by the fact that his father is“ the stringed instrument’s” Finn

,that i s

, Slagfin . Theho rse G rane, who carries Sigu rd and the hoard takenfrom Fafner

,pro bably at one time bore Volund himself,

when he proceeded to theWolfdale s . G rane at al l e ven tshad a place in the Volund-myth . The way traversed byVolund from his own go lden realm to theWolfdale s

,an d

which in part was through the northe rn regi ons of thelower world (fy rmcigr in dr n edan — F jOlsvin n smal, 2 6 )i s in Volu n darkvida ( 1 4) called G rane

’s way. Finally,

978

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

it must here be stated that Sigu rdr i fva , to whom Sigurdpro cee ds afte r he has go tten posse ssion of Fa fn e r’s treasu r e

, (G rip e rssaga , 1 3 i s a mythic character transferred to the he ro ic saga, who , as shall be Shown in th e

s e cond part o f this wo rk, held a conspicuous po sition inthe myths concerning the Ivalde sons and the i r swanmaids . She is, in fact, the heroic copy of Idun , ando riginally she had nothing to do with Budle ’s daughte rB rynhild . Th e cycle of the Sigurd songs thus attache sitse l f as the last ring or circle in the powerful epic to th emyth conce rning the Ivalde sons . The Sigurd songsarch themselves over the fate ful treasures which were

smithied and le ft by the fallen Luci fer of the Teutonicmythology

,and which

,l ike his sword o f re venge and his

arrow of revenge,a re fille d with curses and coming wo e .

In the hero ic poems the Ivalde sons are the i r owners .The son’s son Sv ipdag wields the sword of revenge .

The son’s sons G unnar and Hogne go as the possesso rsof the N iblung treasure to mee t thei r ruin . The mythconcerning their fathe rs

,the Ivalde sons , arches itse l f

o ve r the enmity caused by Loke between the gods on th eone hand

,a nd the great artists

,the el f-princes , the pro

t e c tor s of growth, the pe rsonified forces of the li fe o f

n ature,on the other han d . In connection herewith the

myth abo ut Ivalde himself revolves mainly around the

mead,

” the s oma ,the strength-giving saps in nature . He

to o,l ike his sons afterwards

,gets into confl ict with the

gods and rebels against them,seeks to deprive them of

the soma sap which he had discovered , all ies himself withSu ttu ng

’

s sons , in whose keep-ing the precious liquid i s

979

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

rediscovered,and i s sla in outs ide of their doo r, while

O d in is W ithin and carrie s ou t the plan by which the meadbe come s accessible to gods and tome n ( see No .

Th i s chain of eve nts thus continue s through three genera t io n s . And interwoven with it i s the chain of e ventsoppo sed to i t, which de ve lops th rough the generations o fthe o ther great mythic race of heroe s : that o f the Heimdal son Bo rga r , of the Bo rga r so n Hal fdan, and of theHal fdan sons Hadding and G u tho rm(D i eterich and Erme n r ich ) . Bo rgar fights and must yie ld to the assaulto f Ivalde , and subsequently of his sons from the No rthin al l iance with the powers o f frost ( see N o s . 2 2 ,

Halfdan contends with Ivalde ’s sons, re captures fo r vege

ta t io n the Teutonic country as far as to “Sva r in

’

s mound ,”

b u t i s slain by Ivalde ’s grandson Sv ipdag,armed with the

Volund swo rd ( se e N o s . 3 2 , 3 3 , 1 02 , In the confl ic t betwee n Sv ipdag and G u tho rm-Erme n r ich on the o n eside

,and Hadding o n the o the r

,w e see the champions

divide d into two camps according to the mythologica lanteceden ts of their families : Amalian s and H i ldings o nHadding

’

s side,the de scendants of Ivalde o n the othe r

( see N o s . 42 , Accordingly,the G jukungs ,

“th e

kings on the Rhine,are in the G e rman tradition on Erme n r ich’

s side . Acco rdingly, Vidga Volu n dso n ,in spite

o f his bond of fri endship with Hadding-D ieterich,also

fights unde r Ermanrich’s banner . Acco rdingly,V ilde b u r

Egil i s again calle d to l i fe in the heroic saga , and there"

appears as the protector and helpe r of the Vo lund son ,hi s own nephew . And accordingly

,Vate-VValthe r , to o

( see No . iden tical with Ivalde,Volund’s father, i s

98 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

The Norse form for D an kra t (Tan c red) i s tkakkradr ,Thakkrad . This name appears a single t ime in the No rserecords , and then in connection with Volund and N idhad . In Volu n da rkvida ( 3 9 ) Thakk rad i s mentioned asN idhad

’

s chief servant, who sti ll remains in hi s service

when Volund,his revenge accomplished, fl i es in an, eagle’s

guise away from his prison . That thi s se rvant bears aname that belongs to Slagfin -G juke , Vo -lund’s brothe r,cannot be an accident . We must compare an account inV ilkin asaga , according to which Volund

’s other brotherEgil was in N idhad’

s service when Volund flew away.

It follows that the heroic saga made n o t only Vo lund ,but also Slagfin and Egil, fall into Nidhad

’

s hands . Bothin Volu n da rkvida i tse l f and in its prose introduction were ad that when the home- sick swan-maids had left theWolfdale s

,Egi l and Slagfin betoo k themselves thence ,

Egi l going to the east to look fo r h is swan-ma id Olru n ,

Slagfin going south to fin d his Svan hvit (Volu n darkvida ,

and that Nidhad thereupon leame d— the song does notsay how— that Volund was alone in theWolfdale s (Volu n da rkvida , The assumption here li es near at hand ,that N idhad found it out from! the fact that Slagfin andEgi l

,though going away i n diffe rent directions

,fe l l into

hi s powe r while they we re loo kin g fo r thei r beloved .

Whether this feature belonge d to the myth or not cannotbe det ermined . At all events i t i s remarkable that wer efin d in Volu n darkvida the G juke name Thakk rad, asin Vilk in asaga we fin d Volund

’s brother Egi l in N idhad’

s

envi ronment .The name Irung

,Iring

,as a synonym o f G juk e , is of

98 2

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Ymore importance from a mythological point of view .

Widukind of C o rve i (about the ye a r 950) te l ls us in ch .

1 3 of his Saxon Chronicle that “the Mi lky Way is de sigmated by Ir ing’

s name e ven to this day.

” Just previouslyh e has mentione d a Saxon warrior by this name

,whom

he believes to have been the cause of this appe l latio nIr ingi n omin e , qu emi ta voc i tari t, lac te i is c aeli c ir

c ulu s s i t voca ti i s ; and in the Au rsb e rg Chronicle, a c

cording to J . G rimm, lac te i is e celi c ircula s Ir ingis, n omin eIr inge ss traa a s it voca tus ) . According to Anglo-Saxonglo ssaries

,the Mi lky Way i s called Ir inge s u a eg. With

this w e should compare the statements made abo ve , thatthe Mi lky Way among the Teutonic population of England was calle d the way o f theWa tlings ( that i s, thede scendants of Vate

,i . e . ,

Ivalde ) . Both the statementsharmoniz e . In the one it i s the descendants o f Ivalde

i n gene ral,in the other it i s Slagfin - Iring whose name

i s connecte d with the Mi lky Way . Thus Slagfin ,l ike

Volund and O rva n del-Egil,was a star-hero . In “

Klage”

i t i s said of Iring and two othe r heroes,in whose company

he appears in two other po ems,that they committed grave

mistakes and were declared banished, and that they, inspite o f efforts at re concil iation

,remained under the pen

alty to the end of their l ives . Bite rolf says that they we reexiles and threaten e d by their foes . Her e we have are ve rbe ration of the myth concerning the conflict betwee nthe gods and the Ivalde sons, of Frey

’s unsuccessful e ffort to rec oncile the enemi es

,and of their fl ight to the ex

t reme north of the earth. In the G erman po ems they takefl ight to Attila .

98 3

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

The G jake synonym Aldr ian i s a name formed in an

alogy with Alb r ian ,which is a variation of Elb e r ich . In

ana logy he rewith Aldr ian should be a variation o f Elderich

,Helde r ich . In G alfr id o f Monmouth’s Briti sh H is

tory there i s a Saxon saga-hero Cheldr icu s , who , in al

lia n c e with a Saxon chief Baldulf , fights with K ingArtus’ general C ador

,and i s slain by him . How far

the name- forms Aldr ia n -Elder ich have any connectionwith the Latini sed Cheldr ic u s I think best to l eave u ndetermined ; but there are o ther reasons which

,inde

pendently of a re a l or apparen t name- identity,indicate

that this C heldr icu s i s the same person as Aldr ian -G juke .

Bugge has already po inted out that Baldrian correspondsto Balder, C ador to H o

"

dr ; that G alfr id’

s account haspoints of contact with Saxo’s about the war be tweenBalder and Ho der

,and that G alfr id’

s Cheldr icu s correspo n ds to Saxo

’s King G elde ru s , G eldr , who fights withHode r and falls in conflict with him .

That which at once strikes us in Saxo’s account o f

G elde ru s ( se e No . 1 01 ) i s that he takes arms againstHo the ru s , when he learns that the latter has go t possession of the sword of victory and the wealth—producingring— tre asures that were smithied by Vo lund , and inthat sense belonged to the Niblu n g hoard . That Saxo inthi s manner gave a reason for the appearance of G elderus can only be explained by the fact that G elde ru s hadbeen in some way connected with the N iblu n g hoard , andlooked upon himsel f as more entitled to it than Ho the ru s .

This right could hardly be based on any othe r reason thanthe fact that G elde ru s was a N iflu ng,

a kinsma n of the

984

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

persons who play a part in the Balder-myth . According to Saxo

,Ho de r was fo ste re d by G e va rr

,the moon

god, Nanna’s fathe r . As N an na’s fo ste r-brothe r

,h e fa l ls .

in lo ve with her who become s the w i fe o f his brothe r,

Balder . Now the mytho logy actually me ntions an ind ividual who was adopte d by the moo n-god ,

and accordingly was Hoder’s foster-brothe r, but do e s n o t in fact b elong to the number o f the re al gods . This foster—so ninherits in th e Old Norse records o n e o f the name s withwhich the moon-god is de signate d in the Anglo-Saxonpoems— that is

,H o c e

,a name identical with the N o rse

Hfilke . Hn a f (Hmfr , N cefr, N anna’s father ) i s also,

as a lready shown,cal led Ho ce in the Be owulf poem( see

N o s . 90,

From the sto ry about Bi l a n d Hjuk e , b elongi ng to the myth abo u t th e mead and preserved in theYo unger Edda

,we know that the moon—god to ok the se

children to himse l f, when they we re to ca rry to thei rfather Vidfirmr , the pre cious burden which they had

dipped out of the mea d- fountain, Byrge r ( see No s ,

That this taking up wa s equivalent to an adoption o f

the se ch i ldren by the moon-god i s mani fest from the

position Bil afte rwards go t in the circle of gods . She

becomes an a syn je (Younger Edda, i . 1 1 8 , 556 ) a n d distribute s the Teutonic mytho logical soma

,the cre ative sap

o f natu re and inspiration,the same liquid as she carried

when she was taken up by the moon—god . The skaldsof earth pray to her ( ef a rma i tr v ildi B ilskdldi !) and Asgard’s skald—god ,

Brage, refreshes hims el f with her inG e varr -Nokve r

’

s silver- ship ( se e So n a to rrek ; cp . No s . 90,

986

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Odin came to her every day and got a drink fromthe mead o f the moon- ship

,when the latte r wa s sinking

toward the horizon in the west . The ship i s in G rimn e r smal called Sdkkva b e kkr,

“the setting o r sinking ship,” in

which O din and Saga“daily drink from golden goblets

,

”

while “coo l bi llows in sough ing sound flow over” theplace where they sit . The co ol billows that roar overSokvab e k are the wave s of the atmo spheric sea

,in which

Nokve r’

s ship sai ls,an d they are the waves of the ocean

when the silve r-ship sinks into the sea . The epithet Sagai s used in the same manner as Bil

,and it pr obably has the

same reason for its origin as that which led the skalds toca l l the bucket which Bil and Hjuke ca rried Se gr . B il

,

again,i s merely a synonym of Idun . In Hau stlau ng,

Idu n i s cal le d Byrgis dr-G efn , Byrge r’

s harvest-givingdis ;

”Thja sse i s cal led By rgis cir -G efn a r bjarga—Tyr ,

By rge r’

s harvest-giving dis,mountain-Tyr . Idun is

thus named partly afte r the fountain from whi ch Bil andHjuke fetched the mead, partly after the bucket in whichit was carried .

That Hjuke,l ike Bil-Idun

,was regarded by the moon

god as a fo ster-child, should not be doubted , the less soas w e have already seen that he

,in the Norse sources ,

bears his foster-father’s name . As an adopted son of themoo n-god , he i s a fos ter-brother of Hoder and Nanna .

Hjuke must therefore have oc cupied a position in themythology simi lar to that in which we find G elde ru s as abrother- in -arms of N anna’s husband

,and as one who was

held in fr ie ndship even by hi s oppo nent,Hoder . As a

brother of the Ivalde daughter,Bil- Idun

,he too must be

987

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

an Ivalde son, an d consequently one of the three brothers ,either Slagfin ,

or O rvan del-Egi l, o r Volund . The myth iccontext does not permit his identification with Volundor Egi l . C onsequently he must be Slagfin . That G elderus i s Slagfin has already been shown .

This also explains how,in Christian times , when the

myths were told as history,the N iflungs—G jukungs were

said to be descended from N refr , N efir , (N efir e r N iflimge rem

, frci komn irmYou nge r Edda, i . It i s connec tedwith the fact that Slagfm, l ike his brothers, i s a N iflu ng( se e No . 1 1 8 ) and an adopted son of the moon-god,whose name he bore.Bil’s and Hjuke

’

s father i s called Vidfirmr . We havealready seen that Slagfin

’

s and his brothers’ father,Ivalde ,

i s calle d F irmr,F i rmakon u ngr ( Introduction to Vola n

da rkvida ) , and that he i s iden tical with SumblF irma kon u ngr, a nd F irmdlfr . In fact the name F irmr ne ver o ccurs in the mythic re cords, either alone or in compoundsor in paraphrases

,except where it alludes to Ivalde or his

son, Slagfin . Thus, for instance, the byrnie , F irmzle if, i n

Y’

n glin ga saga , i s born e by a h isto r ified mythic person, bywho se name Saxo called a fo ster- son of G e va rr

,the moon

god . The reason why Ivalde got the name F ik ur shallbe given below ( see And as Ivalde (SumblF in n akon u ngr

— Olvalde ) plays an important part in themead-myth

,and as the same i s true of Vidfin ,

who isrobbed of By rge r

’

s l iquid , then there i s every reason forthe conclusion that Vidfin ’

s,Hjuk e

’

s , and Bil-Idun’s

father is identical with F in n akommgr, the father of

Slagfin and of his sister .

988

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

treatise o n the heroi c sagas . Balder’s playing is re

membered by G alfr id of Monmouth . Hoder’s isment io n ed in Saxo, and pe rhaps also in the Edda

’s Hadarlag,

a special kind of met re or manner of Singing. Slagfin’

s

quality as a musician i s appare nt from his name, and i sin herited by his son

, G unnar. Hja rran di-Ho ru n d ap

pe ars in the G udrun epic by the side of Vate ( Ivalde ) ,and there i s reason for identi fying him with G e va rrhimse l f. All these names and persons ar e conne ctedwith the myth concerning the s oma preser ve d in the

moon . Whi le the first d rink of the l iquid of inspiration and of creative force i s handed to Odin by Mimer ,we afterwards fin d a supply of the liquid preserved bythe moon-god ; and those mythic persons who a re conn e c ted with him are the very ones who appear as thegreat harp-players . Balder i s the son - in - law of themoo n-

god ,Hoder and Slagfin are h is fo ster- sons , G u n

n ar i s Slagfin’

s son,Brage becomes the husband of Bil

Idun,and Hjar ran di i s no doubt the moo n-god himsel f,

who sings so that the bi rds in the woods,the bea sts on

the ground and the fishe s in the sea li ste n and arecharmed G udrun ,

”1 41 5- 1 41 8 , 1 52 3 - 1 52 5, 1 555

Bo th in Saxo and in Galfr id Hoder meets Slagfin withthe bow in his conflict with him (Cheldri cu s in G alfr id ;G elde ru s in Saxo) . The bow plays a chief part in therelation betwee n the gods and the sons of Ivalde . Hoderalsomet Egil in conflict with the b ow ( see No .

an d wa s then defeated , but Egil’

s noble-mindedness forbade his ha rming Slagfin

’

s foster-brother . Hoder,as

990

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

an archer,gets satisfaction for the defea t in Saxo , when

with his favourite weapon he conquers Egil’

s brother,Slagfin (Ge lde ru s ) , who also i s an archer. And finally,with an arrow treacherously la i d on Hoder’s bow, Volund ,in demoniac thirst fo r reven ge and at Loke’s instigation,takes the li fe of Balder, Hoder

’s brother .

REVIEW OF THE SYN ONYMS OF THE SON S OF IVALDE.

The name s by which Slagfin i s found in our re cordsare accordingly Idi

, G ji iki , D an kra t ( tka kkradr ) , Irung,Aldr ian

, Cheldricu s , G elde ru s, Hj i iki . We ha ve yet tomention one more

,Hengest (H e ngis t ) , to which I shall

return below . O f these name s , G elde ru s (G eldr ) ,C heldr icu s , and Aldr ian forma group by themselves,an d they are possibly simply variations of the same word .

The meaning of the name Henge st,

“a gelding,” i s con

n ec ted with the same group,an d pa rticularly to the vari

ation G eldr . The most important Slagfin epithets, froma mythological standpoint

,are Ide

, G juke , Hjuke , andIrung.

The names of Volund (Wieland , Veland ) in the variou s records are

,as we have see n

,thjaz i, Ajo (Aggo ) ,

An u n d (Ommdr ) , Rc'

ign ir , Brmmi,Aso

’

lfr , Vargr ,

F j allgyldir, Hle'

b ar dr,Byrr , G a s tr , Loptr , ,

Haqu in u s(Aki , Eck e) . O f these names and epithets Asélfr ,Vargr , F jallgyldir , and Hléb ardr fo rm a group by themselves, and refer to his animal- symbol , the wolf. Theother brothers also have animal-symbo ls . Egi l is sym

99 1

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

b olised as a wild boa r and a bear by the names Mu ra ir,

Ebu r, lso’

lfr . Slagfin i s symbo l ised as a horse in Hen

gest,and also in the paraphrase 6 nd r -J cilkr ,

“the geld

ing of the skees .” Like his bro thers,he i s a runner o n

skees . The Volund epithet,Brmmi

,also alludes to

skee—running. Ra'

gn ir and Regin are name s of Volundand his brothers in thei r ca pacity o f artists . The namesAjo

,An u n d, and Thjasse ( the sparkling) may have

their origi n in ancient Aryan times .

The names o f the thi rd brother,Egi l, are G angr, Orva n

dill, Egill, Agelmu n d, Eigel, Euglin , HO

'

db r oddr, Toko,and Avo, the archer ; Ebur ( Ibor, Wild-Ebur, Ville fe r ,Ebbo ) , Au rn ir Isélfr . O f these names Egill, Agelmu n d,Egi l , and Englin form a sepa rate grou p ; Orva n dillH 6 db r oddr

,Toko

,and Avo sagitta rius form another group

,

referring to his fame as an arche r ; Ebur, Au rn ir , andIsolfr a third, referring to his animal-symbols .

IVALDE.

In the course taken by our investigation we have already met with and pointed out several names and epi

the ts by which Ivalde occurs in the mythology and inthe heroic poems . Such are G e irvan dill, with the variation G e irvad ill; Vadi (Vate) , Allvaldi , Audvaldi, Olvoldi, Svigdir (Svegdir ) , Olmo’dr , SumblF irmakon ak gr(Sumblu s Phin n orumrex ) , F i n n akommgr , Vidfin n r ,

F imzalfr , F in F olcvaldmg, HlaxudverrO f these names Ivaldi , Allvaldi , Audvaldi , an d Olvaldi

992

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

foremo st archer in mythology, the other must refer to a

prominen t spear-champion . It i s of no slight importance to ou r kn owledge of th e Teutonic weapon-myththat the foremo st repre sentatives of the spear

, the b ow,

and the sword among the heroes are grandfathe r,father

,

and son . Sv ipdag,Ivalde

’

s grandson, the son of O r

vandel-Egil,i s above all o the rs the sword-champ ion ,

“the sword-el f” (sverddlfr— see O laf T rygv . ,43 , where

Sv ipdag-Erik’s namesake and supposed desce ndant

,

Erik,Jarl Hakon son

,i s call ed by this epithet ) . It is h e

who from the lower world fe tche s the best and most terrible sword

,which wa s also probably regarde d as the

first O f its kind in that age, as his uncle, who had madeit

,was called “

th e father of swo rds” ( see N o s . 1 1 3 , 1 1 4,

Svipdag’

s father i s the mos t e xcellent arche rwhose memory sti l l survives in the story about WilliamTell . The grandfather, Ivalde , must have bee n the mostexcellent marksman with the Spear. The memory o f

thi s survives not only in the epithe ts G e i rva ndill and

G e irvadill, but a lso in the he roic poem, Valta riu s Manufo rt is , written before the year 950 by Ec kehard in St .G allen , and in Vilkin asaga , which has preserved certainfea tures o f the Ivalde -myth.

C lad in an armour smi thied by Volund (Vu elandiofab r ica ) , Valtariu s appea rs as the grea t spe ar—champ ion ,who despise s all othe r wea pons o f attack

Vu alta r iu s e ra t virmaximu s u n diqu e t elisSu sp e c tamqu e h abu i t c u n c t o s ibi t emp o r i pu gn am( v . 3 6 6

With the spea r he meets a sword-champ ionH ic gladio fide n s h ic a c e r e t a rduu s h a s ta (v . 8 2 2 )

994

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

and he ha s developed the use o f the spear into an art,a l l

o f whose se crets were originally known by him alone ,the n also by Hagan o , who learne d them from the forme r

(v. 3 3 6, Vilk in asaga speaks of Valthar i as an

excellent spear-champion . Sure of success, he wagershis head in a compet it ive conte st with this weapon .

It ha s already been shown abo ve ( see No . 8 9 ) that

Svigdir—Ivalde in the mythic saga concerning the race

he roes was the first ruler of the Swede s,just as hi s so ns

,

Volund and Egil,became those of the Longobardians

and Slagfin that o f the Burgundians , and, as Shall beshown be low ,

also that of the Saxons . Even in the

Ynglinga saga , compi led in the twe lfth century, he re

mains,by the name Svegdir among the first kings O f the

Yngling race, and in re ality as th e first hero ; for his forerunners

,F jéln ir, F r eyr, and Odimi , are prehuman gods

( in regard to F jb'

lri ir,see VOlu spa ) . Tha t Svidir was

made the race -hero of the Swedes i s explained by thefact that Ivalde , before his sons, before he had y et b ecome the foe of . the gods and a “perjured kapt, was thegu ardian o f the northern Teutonic wo rld against the .

powers of frost,and that the Svio n e s were the northern

most race o f the Teutonic domain . The elf- citade l onthe southern coast of the Elivaga r was G e irvadill-Ivalde

’

s

s e ir before it became that of his sons ( see No s . 1 09, 1 1 3

1 1 5,1 1 7, The contine ntal Teutons

,like the ir

kinsmen on the Scandian pe ninsula , knew that north o f

the Swedes and in the uttermost north l ived a non-T e utonic people who ran on skees and practised huntingthe Finns . And as the re alm that was subject to the

995

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

race -hero o f the Swe des in th e mythology extended tothe Elivaga r , whe re his s e i r was situated, e ven the Finnsmust have been subject to his sceptre . This explains hissurname

,F in n akommgr , F in n r , Vidfirmr, Fin F olcvald

ing,and also the fact that his descendants fo rm a group

o f Skee -runners . TO the location of the s e ir near the

Elivaga r , at the point where Tho r was wont to wadea cro ss this bo dy of wate r ( see N o s . 1 09, we havea refe ren ce in the Ivalde epithets, Vadill Vadi . Theyind icate his o ccupation as the keeper of the ford . V il

k in a saga make s him a wade r of the same kind as Thor,and makes him bear his son , Vo lund , across a soundwhi le the latter wa s stil l a lad . Reasons wh ich I may

y e t have an oppo rtunity to present indicate that Ivalde’

s

mother was the mightie st amazon of Teu tonic mytho logy , whose memory survive s in Saxo

’s account of Q ueenRusila

,Ru sla (H is t , 1 78 , 3 6 5, 3 94 and in the

G erman he roic- saga’s Rii tz e . This queen of the elves ,dwe ll ing south of the Elivaga r , i s also remembered byTa c t itu s

’ informer. In G erma n ia (45 ) we read : Svion ib us Si tomimge n te s c o n tin ua n tu r . C e ter a s imile s tw o

di ffe r e n t qu ad femin a domin a tu r . .H ic Su e b ia fin e s

The Sv io n e s ar e bounded by the Siton e s . While theya re l ike each other in other things they di ff e r in the onere spect

,that a woman rules ove r the Sito n e s . Here the

confines o f Su e b ia end .

” The name Sito n e s does n o t

o ccur e lsewher e, and it would be vain to seek it in thedomain of reality . Beyond the domain of the Svio n e sextended at that time that of the my thic geography .

The Siton e s, who we re governed by a queen, belonged

996

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

place as Ermen r ich ’

s standard-bearer,and

,with Sab e n e ,

leads his fo rce s . The same position as Erme n ri ch ’

s

standard-bearer o ccupies i s held in “D ieterich’s F lucht”

by Vate,that i s to say, Vad i-Ivalde , and in Vilk in asaga

by Valtha r i . that i s to say again, Ivalde . Liu twar , Vate,and Valtha ri are original ly one and the same person inthe se G e rman records

,just as Hlau dve r (corresponding

to Liu twa r ) , Vade (corre sponding to Vate ) , and Ivalde

(corresponding to Valthar i ) are identical in the Scandinavian Volu n darkvida

’

s statemen t,that Volund’s and

Slagfin’

s swan-maids are the i r s isters (hal f- sisters , asw e shall see) , and, l ike them ,

daughte rs of Ivalde,i s thus

found to be correct by the compari son of widely-separate d source s .Whi le the father o f these two swan-maids i s called

Hlaudve rr in Volu n da rkvida , the fathe r of the third swanmaid

, Egil’

s belo ve d , i s calle d King Kior r in Valla n d. AsEgi l was first married to the dis o f vegetation

,G roa ,

whose father i s Sigtryg in the heroic saga, and then toSi f

,his swan-maid must be one of these two . In Volum

da rkvida,where none o f the swan-maids have their c ommo n mythological names

,sh e i s call ed Olru n

,and is sa id

to be not a siste r, but a kin swoman (ka rma— str . 1 5) ofboth the Hkmdverr ( Ivalde ) an d Kiorr a re

the refore kinsmen . Who K io rr was in the myt hologyI canno t now consider . Bo th the se kings ofmy thological descent reappe a r in the cycle of the Sigurd songs . Ithas alrea dy been shown above (No . 1 1 8 ) tha t the

G jukungs appear in the Sigurd saga as heirs and posse sso rs of Hlau ddverrs halls and treasures ; i t i s added

998

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

tha t they possess the whitest shield from Kia/rr'

s hall

(G udru n a rkvida , i i . 2 5 ; Atlakvida , Here we a c

c o rdingly once more find the connection already po intedout between the pe rsons appearing in Volun da rkvida andthose in the G juku ngsaga . The fathe rs of the swanmaids who love Volund and his brothers reappear inthe Sigurd songs as heroes who ha d alrea dy left thesce ne O f action

,and who had own ed immense treasures,

which after the i r death have passed by inher itance intothe possession of the G jukun gs . This also follows fromthe fact that the G jukungs are descendants of G juke

Slagfin ,and that Slagfin and hi s brothers are Niflu n gs ,

hei rs of Hlaudve r-Ivalde , who was gullai idigrmjb'k(Younger Edda) .

Like his sons,Ivalde originally stoo d in a fri endly re

lation to the higher reigning gods ; he was the i r swornman

,and from his ci tade l near the Elivagar , G e irvmlills

s e ir,he protected the c rea tion of the gods from the pow

ers of frost : But, l ike hi s sons, and before them, hefell into enmity with the gods and became “a perjuredkapt .

” The features of the Ivalde -myth,which ha ve

been preserved in the heroic po ems an d shed light on therelatio n be tween the moo n-god and him ,

are told partly inthe account of G e va ru s , Nanna

’s father,i n Saxo

,and

partly in the poems abo ut Walther (Valta r iu s,Waltha r i )and Fin F olcvalding. From these accounts it appears thatIvalde abducted a daughter of the moon-god ; that e n

mity arose between them; that, after the defeat of Ivalde ,Sunna’s and Nanna’s father o ff e red him pea c e

,and that

the peace was confirmed by oath ; that Ivalde broke the

999

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

oath,attacke d G evar-N okver and burnt him ; that , du r

ing the hosti l ities be tween them, Slagfin-G juke , though

a son of Ivalde,did n o t take the side of his natura l fa

ther,but that of his foste r- father ; an d that Ivalde had

to pay for his own deeds with ruin and death .

C oncern ing the point that Ivalde abducted a daughtero f G evar-N okve r and married her, the Latin po ems Valta rins Ma n u fo rt is

,N ibelunge Noth , B ite rolf , V ilkin a

saga,and Boguphalu s (C hronico n Polo n iae ) relate that

Walther fled with a prince ss named H ildigu n d. O n theflight he was attacked by G jukungs, acco rding to Valta r iu s Ma n u fo rt is . The chief one o f the se ( in the poemG u n thar i

, G juk e’

s son ) re c eive d in the battle a wound“clea n to the hip-bone .” The statement anent the wound ,which Walther gave to the chief one among the G jukungs ,has its roots in the mytho logy whe re the chief G jukung,that i s

, G ju ke himsel f, appe ars with surnames (Henge st ,G eldr

,5n dr -Jalkr ) alluding to the wou nd inflicted . In

the Anglo-Saxon heroic po em Fin F olcvaldin g i s marriedto H ildeb u rh

,a daughter of Hn ae f-Hoce

,and in Hyn dlu

lj od (cp . str . 1 7 with str. 1 5 ) H ildigumi r i s the mothero f Hal fdan’s wi fe Almve ig,

and consequently the wife of

SumblF irma kon u ngr, that i s, Ivalde . H ildigi imi ’s fathe ri s cal led k ommgr in Hyn dluljod ,

a synonym o f

N dkkve r (“the ship- captain

,the moon-god ) , and H i ldi

gun’s mother i s cal led Svdfa , the same name as that bywhich N anna i s introduced in the poem concerning HelgeHjo rvardso n . H ilde b u rh ,

Hn ae f-Hoc e’s daughter,is

iden tical with H ildigun ,daughte r o f Sce kommgr . Com

pare fu rthermore str . 2 0 in Hyn dluljod, which speaks o f

1 000

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

e vents the N orse,mythology knew two divinities of the

sun,mo ther and daughter . G r imn e rsmal (47 ) tells us

that the O lder one, Alfraudull, has a daughter , who , n o tat the present time, but in the future, i s to drive the caro f the sun ( e in a do ttu r b err Alfraudi ill The

e lder i s the wi fe O f the moon-god . The younger onei s the Sunna mentioned in the Merseburg formula ( se eNo . Sin htgun t

-Nanna’s sister . As a surname ,Sunna also occurs in the Norse literature (Alvissmal ,1 7 ; Younger Edda, i . 472 , and e lsewhere) .

In the Beowulf poem and in “Battle o f F u rn e Sb u rg,

we find Fin F olcvalding,H ilde b u rh

’

s husband,as the fo e

of his father-in -law Hn ae f,and conquer ed by him and

Hengest . After a war ending unlucki ly fo r him ,he

makes pe ace with his victors,bre aks the peace

,attacks

the citadel in the night, and cremates the slain andwounded in an immense funeral pyre . Hn ae f i s amongthose fallen

,and Hildeb u rh weeps at his funeral pyre ;

Hengest escapes and afterwards aven ges Hn ae f’

s death .

Saxo confirms the fact,that the h isto rified person who in

the mythology is the moon-god is attacked and burnt byon e of his “satraps,

” and afterwards aven ged . Thishe tells of hi s G e varu s , Nanna

’s fathe r (His t , Thecorre spo ndence on this point shows that the epi so de hasits root in the mytho logy, though it would b e vain totry to find out the symbolic significance from a standpoint o i physical nature of the fact that the moon-godwas attacke d and burnt by the husband o f his daughte r,the sun-dis .

Meanwhile we Obtain from these scattered mythic frag

1 00 2

kin-w two divin it ie s o f the

US

att acks

s tru n g

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

ments preserved in the heroic poems, when comparedwith the statements found in the mythology itself, thefo l lowing connected story as the myth abo ut the mead

O riginally, the mead, the s oma , belongs to Mimeralone. From an unknown de pth it ri ses in the lowerworld directly under the world-tree, whose middle rooti s watered by the well of the precious liquid . Only byself-sac r ific e , afte r prayers and tears , i s O din permitted

to take a drink from this fountain . The drink incre ase shis stren gth and wisdom

,and enables him to give orde r

to the world situate d above the lower regions . From itsmiddle root the world-tree draws liquids from the meadfountain

,which bless the e in he rje s of Asgard as a bev

erage,and ble ss the people o f Midgard as a fructi fying

honey-dew . Still thi s mead i s not pure ; i t i s mixed withthe l iquids from Urd’s and Hve rgelme r ’s fountains .Bu t somewhere in the Jo tu n he ims , the ge nuine me ad wasdiscover ed in the fountain By rge r . This discovery waskep t se cret . The ke eper of the secre t was Ivalde , thesworn watchman n ea r the Elivaga r . In the night hesent his son Slagfin (afterwards called after his adopte dfathe r Hjuke ) and hi s daughter Bil ( Idun ) to dip liquidfrom the fountain Byrger and bring i t to him . But thechildren never return ed . The moon-god had taken themand By rge r

’

s l iquids unto himsel f,and thus the gods of

Asgard were able to partake of thi s drink. Withoutthe consent of the moon-god

,Ivalde on his part secured

hi s daughter the sun-dis,and doubtless she bears to him

the daughte rs Idun,Almve ig, and o ther disc s o f growth

and rejuven ation, after he had begotten Slagfin ,Egil

,

1 00 3

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

and Volund with the giantess G re ip . The moon-god andIvalde have accordingly taken children from each o ther .The circumstance that the mead

,which gives the go ds

the ir creative powe r and wisdom,was robbed from

Ivalde— thi s find which he kept secre t and wished to ke epfo r himsel f alone— makes him the irreconci lable foe O f

the moon-god,i s the cause of the war betwee n them

,and

leads him to violate the oath which he had taken to him .

He attacks G e var in the night, kills and burns him ,and

recaptures the mead preserve d in the ship o f the mo on .

H e i s henceforth for ever a foe of the gods, and allie shimsel f with the worst enemies of their wo rld, the powers of fros t and fire . D e ep down in Hades there haslong dwelt anothe r fo e O f the gods, Surt-D urin, the clanc h ie f of Su ttu ng

’

s sons,the father O f F jala r . In the

o ldest time he too was the friend o f the gods,and c o

ope rated with Mime r in the first creation ( see N o .

Bu t this bond o f friendship had now long be en broken .

D own into the de ep and dark dales in which this clanho sti le to the gods dwells , Ivalde brings his mea d-tre asure into sa fety. He apparently gives it as the price o fF jala r

’

s daughter G u nlad,and as a pledge of his alliance

with the wo rld of giants . O n the day of the wedding,O din comes before him ,

and clad in his gui se , into Surt’s

halls,marries G u n lad, robs th e l iquids of By rge r , and

fl ie s in e agle guise with them to Asgard . O n the wedding day Ivalde comes outside of Surt’s mountain-abode,but never en ters . A dwarf, the ke eper of the halls, e ntices him into his ruin . It has already been stated thathe was probably burie d beneath an avalanche.

1 0 04

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

i s Lodege r . The name refers , as G rimm has po inted out ,to the Old H igh Ge rman Liu tke r , the Lii dige r of th eG e rman m iddle- age poem . In “

N ibe lunge Noth, Liidi

ge r contends with the G jukungs in“D ieter ichs Flucht

,

”

he abandons D i e teric h’s cause and al l ie s himse lf with thee vi l Erme n r ich . Like Liu twa r , Liidige r is a pendant tothe N o rse Hlaudve r

,in whom we have already rediscov

e re d Ivalde . Whi le , according to the Yo unger Edda ,bo th the Ivalde children Hjuk e and Bil appe ar in themoo n

,acco rding to the English and G erman traditions

it i s their criminal fathe r who appe ars on the scene o f

the fire he kindled,drunk with the mead he robbe d, and

punish ed with the ro d kept by h i s victim .

The statemen t in F o rspjallsljod, that Ivalde had twogroups of children , corre sponds with the result at whichwe have arrive d . By the giantess G re ip he i s the fa thero f Slagfin ,

Egil, and Volu nd by the sun-dis G e var, Nokver’s daughter and Nanna’s sister

,he i s the fathe r o f

disc s of growth,among whom are Idun

,who first i s

Vo lund’s be lo ve d or wi fe,and the reupon is married to

Brage. Another daughte r o f Ivalde i s the beloved o f

Slagfin-G juk e , Auda, the

“ frau U te ” o f the G e rmanhe roic saga . A third is Signe -Alve ig,

in Saxo the daugh

t e r of Sambln s Phin n orum( Ivalde ) . At his weddingwith her

,Egil is attacked and slain by Halfdan . Had

ding i s Hal fdan’s and her son .

Several things indicate that , when their father becamea foe of the go ds

,Ivalde

’

s sons were stil l the i r friends ,and that Slagfin particularly was on the side of his fo s

ter- father in the conflict with Ivalde . With this corre

1 006

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

spo n ds also the conduct of the G jukungs toward Valta r iu s

,when he takes fl ight with H ildigu n . In the An

glo-Saxon he ro ic po e try

,the name Hengest is borne by

the person who there take s Slagfin’

s place as Hn ae f-Cc

var’s nearest man . The introduction to the Younge r

Edda has from its Engl i sh authoritie s the statement thatH e inge s tr (Henge st ) was a so n o f V itta and a near kinsman o f Svipdag. I f

,as previo us investigators have as

sume d,V itta i s Vade, then Henge st is a so n of Ivalde

,

a n d thi s harmonise s with the statemen t anent his kinshipwith Svipdag, who i s a grandson of Ivalde . The me aning of the word Hengest re fers of itself to Slagfin -G eldr .

The name G eldr i s a participle o f gelda , and means castra tn s . The original meaning of Henge st i s a gelding

,

”

eqn n s c as tra tn s ( in the modern G e rman the word got forthe first time its prese nt me aning) . That the adj ectiveide a cas tra tn s was transferred to the substantive eqn n sc as tra tn s i s explained by the fact that G ils , G isl, a mythicname for a horse (Younge r Edda, i . 70, was also aG jukung name . O n e of Hengest’s ancestors in his gene alogy in Beda and in the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle i scalled Vict-gils ; one of Slagfin -G juk e

’

s sons i s namedG ils e r . A ne ither mythic nor historic brother of Henge stadde d in later times i s named Horsa . The Ravennageography says that whe n the Saxon s left the i r old abo de so n the continent

,they marched cnmpr in c ipe sn o An sckis ,

and with thei r chie f An s —gisl, who the refore here appea rsin the place of Hengest . Synonymous with Hengest i sthe Norse Jdlkr

,eqn n s cas tra tn s

,and that some member

o f the mythological group of skee-runners,that is , some

1 00 7

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

one of the male members of the Ivalde race , in the No rseve rs io n . o f the Teuton ic mytho logy, bore th is epithe t isprove d by the paraphrase 5nd

'

r -f dlkr,“the eqn n s c as tra tn s

o f the ske e - runners .” The cause o f the de signation isfound in the event describe d above

,which has be en hande d

down by the po em “Valta r iu s Ma n u fo rt is .

” The chie fo n e of the G jukungs, o r iginal ly G juke himself, therefights with Valta r iu s

,who in the mytho logy was his

father,and rece ive s in the confl ict a wound “clean to the

th igh -bone .

” This wound may have symbolic significancefrom the fact that the fight i s between fa the r and son . Ac

cording to the Engl i sh chronicler N e n n iu s, H e ngest hadtwo brothe rs

, O chta and Eb issa . In Spite o f the i r c o rrupt ion these names remind us of Slagfin ’

s brothers ,Aggo -Ajo (Volund ) and Ibo r-Ebbo (Egi l ) .

According to the histo r ified saga , Hengest was thel e ade r of the first Saxo n army which lande d in Britain .

Al l scholars have long since agreed that this Hen ge st i sa myth ica l chara cte r . The migration saga o f the Teutonic mytho logy w a s transferre d by th e he athen Saxonsto England

,and su rvived the re unti l C hri stian time s .

Afte r the name s o f th e re al leade r s of the Saxon immigration were forgotten

,Hengest was pe rmitte d to take thei r

place,because in the mythology he had be en a leader o f

the Saxon emigrants from the i r original country,the

Scandian peninsula ( see N o . and because this immigration wa s ble nded in Christian times with the memo ry of the emigration from Ge rmany to Britain . Thus ,while the Longoba rdians made Volund and Egi l (Ajoa n d Ibor ) the leader s of their emigration , the Saxons

1 008

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY

PRINC IPAL PROPER NAMES

IN TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY,

wi th Expla n a ti on s o f the Char a c te r , Httm’b u ts sa n d Sign ific a n c e of th e G ods , G odde ss e s .

G i a n ts , D wa r fs an d a s s o c i a te d

c r e a tur e s a n d pla c e s .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D IC TIONARY OF

ALVISS . The dwa rf who answ e rs Tho r’s qu e s t ions in th e

lay o f Alv is . Alvis .

AMSVARTN IR. The n ame o f the s e a ,in which th e island wa s

s itu ate d whe re the wo lf F e n re r wa s cha ine d . Amsvar tn e r .

AN NARR o r O N ARR. Hu sband o f n ight a n d fa the r o f Jo rd( the e a r th ) . An n a r .

AN DHRIMN IR. The c ook in Valhal. An dkr imn e r .

ANDVARI . The name o f a p ike - shape d dwa rf ; the owne r o fthe fata l ring c a lled An dvara n au tr . An dva re .

ANDVARAFORS. The fo rce o r wa te rfa ll in which the dwa rfAndva re kept himse lf in the fo rm o f a p ike fish . An d

var e -F orc e .

AND VARANAUTR. Th e fatal ring given Andva re ( th ewa ry sp iri t ) . An dvar e n au t

AN GAN TYR. He has a lega l dispu te with O ttar He imske ,who is favo re d by Freyj a . Anga n tyr .

AN GEYJA . O n e o f He imda l’s n inemothe rs . The Elde rEdda says in the Lay o f Hyn dla : N ine giantmaidsga v e b irth to the gra c iou s god, a t th e wo rld

’s margin .

The se a re : G jalp , G r e ip , Eistla , An geyja , Ulfru n ,

Ey rgja fa , Imd, At la , a n d Ja rn saxa . Angeyja .

AN GRBODA [An gu ish- c re at ing] . A giante ss ;mothe r o f theFe n r is -wo lf by Loke . Anger b oda .

ARVAKR [Early awake ] . The name o f o n e o f th e ho rse s o fthe su n . Aarvak .

Ass o r AS ; plu ra l ZESIR. The as as , gods . The wo rd appe ars ih such En gl ish name s a s O sbo rn, O swa ld, e tc .

With an n it is found in the G e rm. An sgar (Anglo-Sax .

Os c ar) . Th e te rm ae s ir is u se d to d istingu ish Odin ,Tho r, e tc . , fromthe va n ir (vans ) . Asa .

ASA-LOKI . Loke , so ca lle d to distingu ish h imfrom Utga rdLoke , who is a giant . Asa-Loke .

1 0 1 4

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

ASA-THORR . A c ommon name fo r Tho r . Asa -Thor .

ASGARDR. The re s idence o f the gods (as as ) . Asgard .

ASKR . Th e name o f the firstman c re a te d by Od in, Hoene ran d Lode r . Ask .

ASYN J’

A ; plura l ASYN J UR. A godde ss ; feminine o f Ass .

Asyn je .

ATLA . O n e o f He imda l’s n inemothe rs . Atla .

AUD HUMLA ; a lso written AUD HUMBLA . The c ow fo rme dfromthe fro zen vapo rs re so l v e d in to drops . She nourished the giant Yme r . Audhumbla .

AURBODA . G yme r’s wi fe and G e rd’smothe r. Aurb oda .

AURGELMIR. A giant , grandfathe r o f Be rgelme r ; c a lleda lso Yme r . Au rgelme r .

AUSTRI . A dwa rf pre siding ove r the e a st region . Au s tr e .

Eas t .

BALD R. G od o f the summe r- sunl ight . He wa s so n o f Odinan d Frigg ; s la in by Hode r, a t the instiga tion o f Lo ke .

He re tu rns a fte r Ragnarok . H is dwe l l ing is Bre idabl ik .

Balde r .

BARREY . A ple asant grove in which G e rd agre e d withSk irn e r tome e t Frey. Bar ey .

BAUG I . A brothe r o f Su ttu n g, fo r Whom (Baugi ) Odinwo rke d o n e summe r in o rde r to ge t h is he lp in obtain ingSu ttu n g

’

sme ad o f po e try . Ba nge .

BELL A giant, brothe r o f G e rd, who was slain by Frey.

B ele .

BERGELMIR. A giant ; son o f Thru dgelme r and grandsono f Au rgelme r . B e rgelme r .

BESTLA . Wife of Bu r an dmo the r o f Odin . B es tla .

BEYLA . Frey’s attendant ; wife o f Bygve r . B eyla .

1 0 1 5

D ICTIONARY OF

B IFROST . [To tremble ; th e trembling way] . The ra inbow .

B ifros t.

B ILSK IRN IR. The h e ave n ly abode o f Tho r,fromthe fla shing

o f l ight in th e l ightn in g. B ilskirn e r .

BOLTHORN . A giant ; fathe r o f Be stla , O din ’

s mo the r .

B olthom.BOLVERKR [Wo rking te rrible things] . An as sumed name o f

O din , when h e went to ge t Su ttu n g’

sme ad . B olve rk .

BOD N . O n e o f the thre e ve sse ls in which th e po e tic a lmea dwa s kept . He n c e po e try is ca lle d th e wa v e o f the b odn .

B odn .

BORR [b u rn a so n ; Sco tch b a im] . A so n o f Bure a n d fathe ro f O din, Vi le a n d Ve . B ar .

BRAG I . Th e god o f po e try. A so n o f Odin . He is the be sto f ska lds . B rage .

BREID ABLIK . [Lite ra lly to gle am, twinkle ] . Ba lde r’s dw e lling. B r e idab lik .

BRIS IN GAMEN . Freyj a ’

s ne cklace o r o rnament . B r is ingame n .

BURI . The fa the r o f Bo r . He wa s produ c ed by th e cow’

s

lickin gt h e stone s c ove red w ith rime , fro s t . Ba re .

BYGGVIR. Frey’s att endant ; Beyla’

s hu sband . Bygve r .

BYLEIPTR [Flame o f th e dwe ll ing] . The bro the r o f Loke .

Byle ipt.

D AG R [D ay ] . Son o f D e ll ing. D ag.

D AIN N . A ha rt tha t gn aws the bran che s o f Ygdras il . D aa in .

D ELLIN GR [D ayspring] . The fathe r o f D ay . D elling.

D IS ; plu ra l D ISIR. Attendan t spirit o r gu ardian ange l .Any fema lemythic be ingmay b e c alle d D is . D is .

1 0 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D IC TIONARY OF

EG ILL. The fa th e r o f Thjalfe ; a gia n t dw e ll ing near these a . Tho r le ft his goa ts wi th h imwhen o n h is wayto the giant Hyme r to ge t a v e ss e l in which to brew ale .

EIKTHYRN IR. A ha rt tha t s tan ds o v e r O din ’

s ha l l (Valhal) .

Fromh is a n tle rs drops wa te r fromwhich rive rs flow .

Eik thyrn e r .

EIN HERI ; plu ra l EIN HERJAR. Th e o n ly ( e in ) o r gre a tchampions ; the he ro e s who ha v e fa llen in battle an d

be en admitted in to Valhal. Ein he rje .

EIR. [The wo rd s ign ifie s pe a c e, cleme n cy ] . An attendant

o f Me n glod, an d themo st skillfu l o f all in th e he a l inga rt . Eir .

EISTLA. O n e o f He imda l’s n in emo the rs . Eis tla .

ELD HRIMN IR. Th e ke ttle in which the boa r Saehr imn e r isc oo ked in Valhal. Eldhrn nn e r .

ELD IR. The fir e -produ c e r ; a s e rvant o f ZEge r . Elde r .

ELIVAGAR. The ic e -wave s ; po iso n o u s co ld stre ams tha t flowou t o f N iflhe im. Elivaga r .

EMBLA . The first woma n . The gods fo u n d two l ife le sstre e s , th e as k ( a sh ) an d the embla

,

“

o f th e a sh theymademan ,o f th e embla , woma n .

EYRG J AFA. O n e o f He imda l’s n inemo the rs . Eyrgjafa .

FAF N IR. So n o f Hre idma r . He kills h is fathe r to ge t po ss e ss io n o f th e An dva r e n au t . He a fte rwa rds change shimse l f in to a dragon a n d gu a rds th e t re a su re on On itahe ath . He is s la in by Sigu rd, an d his he a rt i s ro a ste da n d e aten . F afn e r .

F ALH OF N IR [Ho llow-hoo f] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods .F alhofn er .

1 0 1 8

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

F ARBAUTI [Ship-de stroye r] . Th e fa the r o f Loke . F ar b au te .

FEN RIR o r FENRISULFR. Themo n ste r-wo lf. He is the son

o f Loke , who bite s the han d o f Tyr . Th e gods pu th imin cha ins, whe re he rema in s u n til Ragna rok . In

Ragna rok he ge ts loo s e , swa llows th e su n an d c onqu e rsO din , b u t is kille d by Vida r . F e n r e r o r Pe n n

'

s -wolf .

FEN SALIR. The abode o f Frigg. F e n sal.

FJ ALAR. Amisn ome r fo r Sk ryme r , in who se glove Tho rtoo k she l te r . F jala r .

F J ALAR. A dwa rf, who s lew Kva se r , a n d c ompo sed fromhis blo od th e po e tic me ad . F jalar .

F JALAR. A co ck that crows a t Ragna rok . F jala r .

F IMAFEN GR. The n imble s e rvant o f ZEge r . He wa s sla inby the j e a lo u s Loke . a afe ng.

F IMBUL . Itme ansmighty gr e a t . In themytho logy it appe a rs a s

F IMBULFAMBI . Amight foo l . F lmb ulfamb eFIMBULTYR. Themighty god, gr e a t he lpe r (O din ) . a

b nltyr .

F IMBULVETR [ve tr , w inte r] . The gre a t a n d awfu l w inte r o fthre e ye ars’ du ra t ion pre c edin g the e n d o f th e wo rld .

F imb ul-wi n ter .

F IMBULTHUL. A he avenly rive r . F irn b n lthnl.

F IMBULTH ULR. The gre a t w iseman . F imb nlthnler .

F J OLN IR. O n e o f O din’smany name s . F joln e r .

FJ ORGYN . A pe rsonifica tion o f the e a rth ;mothe r o f Tho r .F jorgyn .

FOLKVAN GR. [Pa radise , a fie ld] . The fo lk-field. Freyj a ’

s

dwe ll ing. F olkva ng.

F ORN J OTR. Themo st anc ient giant . He w a s fathe r o f

iEge r , o r Hle r, th e god o f the oce an ; o f Loge , flame o r

fire, a n d o f Ka a re , win d . H is w ife wa s Ran . The se

divin itie s a re gene ra lly rega rde d a s be longing to an

1 0 1 9

D IC TIONARY OF

e a rlie rmytho logy, probably to that o f the Fins o r C e l ts .

F or n jo t .

FORSETI [Th e fo re -s itte r,pre s ident, cha irma n ] . So n o f

Ba lde r a n d N a n na . H is dwe ll ing is ’

Glitn e r , a n d h is o f

fic e is that o f a pe a c emake r . F ors e te .

F RANAN GRS-FORS . The fo rce o r wa te rfa l l in to which Loke ,in the l ike n e ss o f a sa lmo n , c ast himse l f, a n d wh e rethe gods c aught him an d bound him . F raa n a nge r

—F orc e .

PREK I . O n e o f Odin’s wo lve s . Er eke .

FREYJ A [Femin in e o f Fre y r ] . The daughte r o f N j o rd a n d

s iste r o f Frey. She dwe lls in Fo lkvang. Ha lf th e fa llenin battle be long to h e r , the o the r ha lf to O d in . She

lends he r fe a the r d isgu ise to Loke . She is th e godde sso f love . He r hu sband is Ode r . He r ne ckla c e is Brisin game n . Sh e ha s a bo a r w ith go lde n bristle s . F r e yja .

FREYR . He is so n o f N jo rd, hu sband o f Skade , s laye r o f

Be le , an d fa lls in c onflict wi th Su rt in Ragna rok . Al fhe imwa s give n h imas a too th-gift . The ship Skidbladn e r wa s bu ilt fo r h im. He fa lls in lo ve w ith G e rd,

G yme r ’s fa i r daughte r. He give s his tru sty swo rd to

Sk irn e r . F r ey .

FRIG G . [Love ] . She is the wife o f O din , an dmo the r o f

Ba lde r an d qu e en o f the gods, a n d re igns with O din inHlidskjalf . She exa c ts an o a th fromal l things tha tthey sha ll n o t ha rmBalde r. F r igg.

FULLA [Fu llne ss] . Frigg’s attendant . She tak e s care o f

Frigg’s to ile tte , c lothe s an d sl ippe rs . N anna s ent he ra fin ge r

-rin g fromHelhe im. She is repre sented as

wearing he r ha ir flowing ove r h e r shou lde rs . F ulla .

G ALAR. O n e o f two dwa rfs who k ille d Kvase r . F jalarwas th e o the r. G ala r .

1 0 2 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY OF

G ILLIN G . Fa the r o f Su ttu n g, who posse sse d the poeticme ad . H e wa s s la in b y Fj alar an d G a la r . G illing.

G IMLI [He a v e n ] . The abode o f th e righte ou s a fte r Ragna rok . G irn le .

G JALP. O n e o f He imda l’s ninemothe rs . G jalp .

G IN N UN GA-GAP. The gre at yawn ing gap, the premundaneabyss , the chao s o r fo rmle ss vo id, in which dwe lt thesupreme powe rs be fo re the c re ation . In th e e leventhcentu ry th e se a be twe en G re enland an d Vinland

(Ame rica ) was ca lle d G in n unga -gap . G in ungagap .

G J OLL. O n e o f the rive rs Elivagar tha t flowed ne a re stthe ga te o f He l ’s abode . G jol.

C ISL [Sunbe am] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods . G isl.

G LAD R [C le a r , bright] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods .Glad .

G LAD SHEIMR [Home o f brightn e ss o r gladne ss ] . Odin ’

s

dwe ll in g. G ladshenn .

G LASIR. A grove in Asga rd . Glas e r .

G LEIPN IR. Th e la st fe tte r wi th which the wo lf Fe n r e r wa sbou n d . Gle ipn e r .

C LER [The glassy] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods . Gle r .

G LITN IR [The gl itte ring] . Fo rse te ’s go lden ha ll . Gli tn e r .

G NA . Sh e is theme ssenge r that Frigg sends into the va

rio n s wo rlds o n h e r e rran ds . She ha s a ho rse c a lledHo fvarp e n r , tha t c a n ru n through a ir a n d wa te r . G n aa .

G N IPAHELLIR. The cave be fo re which th e dog G a rm barks .

The G n ipa -cave .

G N ITAHEID R. Fa fn e r’s abode , whe re h e kept the tre asu rec a l led An dva r e n au t . G n i ta -he a th .

G O IN N . A se rpent unde r Ygdrasil . G o in .

G OLL . A va lkyrie . G ol.

GOMUL. A he avenly rive r. G omul.I 0 2 2

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

G ONDUL. A valkyrie . G on dul.

G OPUL . A he avenly rive r . G opnl.

G RABAKR. O n e o f the se rpents unde r Ygdrasil . G raa b ak .

G RAD . A he avenly rive r . G raad .

G RAFVITN IR Se rpents unde r Ygdrasil . G rafvitn e r ;G RAFVOLLUDR. G rafvolln d.

G REIF . [Eng grip] . O n e o f He imdal’s n ine giant mothe rs .G re ip.

G RIMN IR. A kin d o f hood o r c owl c ove ring the uppe r parto f the fac e . G r imn e r is a name o f Odin fromh is trave l ing in d isguise . G r imn er .

G ROA. The giante ssmothe r o f O rvan del. Tho r went tohe r to have he r cha rm th e fl in t—stone ou t o f h is fo rehead . G roa .

G ULLFAXI [G o ld-mane ] . The giant Hru n gn e r’

s ho rse .

G oldfax .

G ULLIN KAMB I [Go ld-comb] . A c ock tha t crows at Ragnarok . G nllin kamb e o r G oldc omb .

G ULLTOPPR [G o ld-top] . He imda l’s ho rse . G oldtop.

G ULLVEIG [G o ld- thirst] . A pe rsonification o f go ld . Thoughpie rced and thrice burnt, she ye t l ive s . G ulve ig.

G ULLIN BURSTI [G o lden bristle s] . The name o f Frey’s hog.

G ullin b urs te .

G UN GN IR [To tremble vio lently] . Od in’s spear . G n ngn e r .

G UN NLOD [TO invite ] . O n e who invite s war . She wa s

daughte r o f the giant Su ttu n g, an d had charge o f the

po e tic mead . O d in go t it from he r . G u nlad.

G YLF I . A king o f Svithod, who vis ite d Asgard unde r thename o f G angle r e . Th e first pa rt o f the Younge r Eddais c a lled G ylfagi n n in g,

which me ans the D e lu s ion o f

G ylfe . G ylfe .

G YLLIR [G o lden] . O n e o f th e ho rse s o f the gods . Gylle r .

1 0 2 3

D ICTIONARY OF

G YMIR. A giant ; th e fathe r o f G e rd, the be loved o f Frey.

G yme r .

G YMIR. Anothe r name o f th e oce an d ivinity E ger. G yme r .

HALLIN SKID I . Anothe r name o f the god Heimdal . The

po sse sso r o f the le aning (halla ) way. Hallin skid.

HAMSKERPIR [H ide -harden e r] . A ho rse ; the s ire o f Ho f

va rpn e r , which wa s G n aa’

s ho rse . Hams ke rpe r .

HAR. The High O n e , appl ied to Odin . Haar .

HARBARDR. The name a ssume d by Odin in the Lay o f

Ha rbard . Ha r b a rd.

HEIDRUNR [Bright- running] A goat that s tands o v e r Valhal. H e idru n .

HEIMDALR. He was the he avenly watchman in the oldmytho logy, answe rin g to St . Pe te r in themed ieva l .Ac c o rding to the Lay o f Rig (He imda l ) , he wa s thefathe r a n d founde r o f the d iff e re n t c lasse s o fme n ,

noble s, churls and thra lls . He has a ho rn calledG jallar -ho rn , which he blows at Ragnarok . His dwe lling is H iminbjo rg. He is the ke epe r o f B ifro st ( thera inbow ) . N ine giante sse s are his mothers . Helmdal.

HEL. [Anglo-Sax . an d Eng. hell; to k i ll] . The godde ss o fde ath , bo rn o f Loke an d Ange rboda . She co rre spondsto Pro se rp ina . He r habitation i s Helhe im, unde r o n eo f the roots o f Ygdras il . Hel.

HELBLIND I . A name o f Od in. Helblz'

n de .

HELGRIN DR. The gate s of Hel. H elgr in d o r Helgaf e .

HELHEIM. The abode of Hel. Helhe im.HERFODR, [The fathe r o f hosts] . A name o f Odin .

HERJ'

AF ODR. He rfa the r .

1 0 2 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY OF

HOFVARPN IR [Hoof- throwe r] . G n aa’

s ho rse . H is fathe ris Hamsk e rp e r a n dmothe r G a rdro fa . H ofvarpn e r .

HRAESVELGR [Co rpse -swa llowe r] . A giant in an e agle ’

s

plumage , who produ c e s th e wind . Hraesvelge r .

HRAUDUN GR. G e irrod’

s fathe r . Hraudu ng.

HREIDMARR. Fa the r o f Regin an d Fa fne r . He exacts thebloo d-fin e fromthe gods fo r s laying O tte r. He is

sla in by Fa fn e r . Hre idmar .

HRIMFAX I [Rime -mane ] . The ho rse of n ight . Rimefax .

HRIMTH URSAR [En g r ime,ho a r- fro st] . Rime -giants o r

fro st-giants , who dwe ll u n de r o n e o f Ygdra s il’s roo ts .

G ian ts .

HROD VITN IR. A wo lf ; fa the r o f the wo l f Hat e . Hrodvi tn e r .

HROPTR. O n e o f Odin’s name s . Hropt .

HRUN G N IR. A giant ; frie n d o f Hyme r . Thor fo ught withhiman d s lew h im. Hr u n gn e r .

HRIN GHORN I . The ship upon which Ba lde r’s body wa s

bu rn ed . Hr inghorn .

HROSSTH J OFR [Ho rse - thie f] . A giant . Hros thjof.

HUG IN N [Mind] . O n e o f Od in’s ravens . Hugin .

HVERGELMIR [The old ke ttle ] . The spring in th e middle o f

N iflhe im, whenc e flowe d the rive rs Elivaga r . The

No rthe rn Ta rtaro s . Hve rgelme r .

HYMIR. A giant with whomTho r went fishing when hec aught th e Midgard- se rpent . His wife was themo the ro f Tyr . Tyr an d Tho r went to h imto pro c u re a ke ttlefo r ZEge r in which to brew ale fo r the gods . Hyme r .

HYNDLA . A va la visited by Freyj a , who'

c ome s to he r tole a rn the genealogy o f h e r favo rite , O ttar. Hyn dla .

1 0 2 6

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

IDAVOLLR. A pla in whe re the gods first a ssemble , whe rethey e stab lish the ir he a v e n ly abode s , an d whe re th e v

a ssemble aga in a ft e r Ragna rok . The pla ins o f Ida .

Idavold .

ID UN N . D aughte r o f the dwa rf Ivald ; she wa s wife o f

B rage , a n d the godde ss o f e a rly spring. Sh e po sse sse sre juvenat ing apple s o f which th e gods pa rtake . Idu n .

IF I N G . A rive r which d ivide s the giants fromth e gods .

Ifing.

IMD . On e o f He imda l’s n ine giantmo the rs . Imd.

IMR. A son o f the giant Va fthrudn e r . Im.IN GUNAR-FREYR. O n e o f the name s o f Fre y. Ingn n

’

s F rey .

IN N STEIN N . The fathe r o f O tta r He imsk e ; th e favorite o f

Freyj a . In s te in .

IVALD I . A dwa rf. H is so n s c onstru c t the ship Skidbladn e r . Ivald.

I

JAF N HAR [Equally high] . A name o f Odin .

JALKR. A name o f O din (Jack the G iant I alk .

JARN SAXA [Iron-choppe r] . O n e o f He imda l’s n ine giantmo the rs . J arn saxa .

JARNVIDR [Iron-wood ] . A wood e a st o f Midga rd, pe op ledby giante sse s c a lle d Ja rn v ids . This wood had ironle ave s . I arn vid.

JARNVID IUR. The giante sse s in the Iron-wood . I arn vids .

JORD . Wi fe o f Odin an dmothe r o f Tho r . Earth .

JOTUN N . A gi ant . The giants we re the e a rlie st cre ate dbe ings . The gods qu e s t ion themin rega rd to Balde r .

1 0 2 7

D ICTIONARY OF

Tho r frequ ently c onte n ds w i th them. Famou s giantsa r e : Yme r , Hyme r, Hru n gn e r , O rvan del, G yme r ,Skryme r , Va fthrudn e r a n d Thja sse . G ian t.

JOTUN HEIMAR (plu ral ) . The Utgaard ; the home o f th e

giants in the oute rmost parts o f the ea rth . J o tun he im.KERLAUGAR (plu ral ) . Two rive rs which Thor e very daymust c ro ss . Ke rla ng.

KORMT . Ano the r rive r which Thor e ve ry daymust pass .Kormt.

KVASIR. The hostage given by the vans to the asas . H is

blood,when sla in , was the po e tica l me ad kept by Su t

tung. Ko os e r .

LAED IN GR. O n e o f the fe tte rs with which th e Fenri s-wo l fw a s b ound. La eding.

LAEM DR. A tre e ne ar Valhal. Lae rad .

LANDVID I [A mounta in range ove rgrown with tre e s] .Vidar’s abode . The primeval fo re sts . Lan dvide .

LAUFEY [Lea fy island] . Loke’s mothe r . Laufey .

LEIFTHRASIR, The two pe rsons pre se rved in HodmimLIF . e r

’

s grove du ring Su rt’s con flagrat ion

in Ragnarok ; the las t be ings in the old and th e firstin the n ew wo rld . Lif and Lifthras er .

LETTFETI [Light- foo t] . O n e o f th e horses of the gods .Lightfoo t .

0 2 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY OF

MID GARDR. [In C umbe rland, England, a re thre e farmsH igh

-

ga r th, Middle -ga r th , Low-

gar th . ] Themid-yard,

middle - town, tha t is , the e a rth , i s amytho logic a l wo rdcommon to all th e an c ient Teutonic lan gu age s . The

Ice landic Edda a lone ha s pre se rve d the tru e mythic a lbe a ring o f this old Te u ton ic wo rd . The e a rth (Midgard ) , th e abode o fme n , is s itu ate d in th emiddle o f th eu n ive rse , bo rde re d bymounta ins an d su rrou n de d by th egr e at s e a ; o n the o the r s ide o f this se a is the Utgard(o u t-yard ) , the abo de o f the giants ; th e Midgard isde fende d by the yard o r bu rgh Asgard ( the bu rgh o f

th e gods ) lying in themiddle ( the he ave n be ing c o n

c e ive d a s ris ing above th e e a rth ) . Thu s th e e a rth an d

mankind a re repre sented a s a strongho ld be s iege d bythe powe rs o f evil from without, de fe n ded by the godsfromabove and fromw ithin . Midgard .

MIDGARD SORMR [The se rpent o f Midgaa rd] . The worlds e rpent hidde n in th e oc e an, who s e c o ils gird a roundthe who le Midgard . Tho r onc e fishe s fo r him, an d

ge ts himo n his hook . In Ragna rok Tho r slays h im,b u t fa lls himse l f po isoned by h is breath . Midgard-se rpe n t

MIMAMEIDR. Amythic tre e ; probably the same as Ygdras il. It de rive s its name fromMime r, a n d means Mime r’s tre e . Mima in e ide r .

MIMIR. The name o f th e wise giant ke eper o f the ho lywe ll Mimis-b ru n n r , the bu rn o f Mime r , th e we ll o f

wisdom, a t which Odin pawned h is ey e fo r wisdom ; amyth which is expla ined a s symbo l ica l o f the he avenlyvau lt with its sin gle ey e , the su n

, se tting in the se a .

MJ OLN IR. Tho r’s fo rmidable hamme r . Afte r Ragna rok , i tis po sse sse d by h is sons Mode a n d Magn e . Mjoln e r .

MISTILTEIN N [En gmis tle toe ] . Th emistle toe ormistletwig, the fa tal tw ig by which Balde r, the white su n

1 03 0

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

god , was slain . Afte r the death o f Balde r, Ragnarokse t in . Ba lde r’s de a th was also symbo lica l o f th e vic

to ry o f darkne ss ove r l ight, which c ome s e ve ry yeara t midwinte r . The mistle toe in Engl ish househo lds a tChristma s time is n o doubt a re l ic o f a rite lo st in theremote s t he athendom, fo r the fight o f light and darkne ss a tmidwinte r wa s a fo re shadowing o f th e fina love rthrow in Ragna rok . The legend an d the wo rd a r ec ommo n to allTe u tonic pe ople s o f allage s . Mis tle toe .

Mom[C o u rage ] . A son o f Tho r . Mode .

MOD sooN iR. The dwa rf highe st in degre e o r rank . Mod

sogn e r .

MOI N N . A se rpent unde r Ygdra s i l . Ma in .

MUN D ILFARI . Fathe r o f the su n an dmoon . Mu n dilfar e .

MUN IN N [Memory] . O n e of Odin’s ravens . Mun in .

MUSPELL . The name o f a n abode o f fire . It is popu la ted bya ho st o f fiends , who a re to appe a r at Ragnarok and des t roy the world by fire. Mn spel.

MUSPELLSHEIMR. The abode of Mu spel. This intere stingwo rd (Mn spell) wa s n o t c o n fin e d to th e No rsemytho logy, b u t appe ars twic e in the old Saxon po emH e liand .

In the se instance smu spelstands fo r the day of judgme n t, the las t day , a n d answe rs to Ragnarok o f the

No rsemytho logy.

MOKKURKALF I [A dense c loud] . A c lay giant in the mythof Thor and Hru ngn e r . Mokke rkalfe .

NAG LFAR [N a il- ship] . Amythic a l shipmade o f na il-p a rings . It ape a rs in Ragna rok . N aglfar . Na ilship .

NAL [N e edle ] . Mothe r o f Loke . N aal.

1 0 3 1

D ICTIONARY OF

NAN NA . D aughte r o f N ep (b ud)mothe r o f Forse te a n d

wife o f Ba lde r . She die s o f grie f a t the de a th o f

Balde r . N an n a .

NARI o r NARF I . Son o f Loke . Loke wa s bound by theinte stine s o f Na re . N are o r N arfe .

NASTRON D [The sho re o f co rpse s] . A place o f pun ishmentfo r the wicke d a fte r Ragnarok . N aas tran d.

N IDAF J OLL. The N ida -mountains towa rd th e no rth, whe rethe re is a fte r Ragna rok a go lden ha l l fo r th e race o f

Sin dre ( the dwarfs ) . N idafell.

N IDHOGGR. A se rpent o f the ne the r wo rld, that tears theca rcase s o f the de ad. He a lso lace rate s Ygdra s il .N idhng.

N IFLHEIMR. The wo rld of fog o rmist ; the ne the rmost o fthe rime wo rlds . The pla c e o f punishment (Hade s ) .

It wa s vis ited by O d in when he went to inqu ire a fte r thefate of Balde r. N iflhe im.

N J ORDR. A van , van agod . He was hu sband o f Skade , a n dfathe r o f Frey an d Freyj a . He dwe lls in No atu n .

NOATUN [Place o f ships] . N jord’s dwe ll ing ; N jord be inga divinity o f the w ate r o r se a . N oa tu n .

NORDRI [No rth] . A dwa rf pre s idin g ove r the no rthe rn re

gions . N ordr e o r N or th .

NOTT. N ight ; daughte r o f No rve .

’

N ight .

NORN ; plural NORN IR. The we ird s iste rs ; the thre e beave nly no rns U rd, Ve rdan de , a n d Sku ld (Past, Pre sent,an d Future ) ; they dwe lt a t th e founta in o f Urd

, a n d

ru le d the fa te o f the wo rld . Thre e no rns we re a lsopre sent a t th e birth o f ve ryman an d ca st the horo scopeof his l i fe. Nam.

1 03 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY OF

an d then the wo rd me ans the twil ight o f the gods] .

The last day ; the disso lu tion o f the gods an d th e wo rld.

Ragn a r ok .

RAN [Rob ] . The godde ss o f the se a ; wife o f ZEge r . Ran .

RATATOSKR. A squ irre l that runs up and down the branche so f Ygdra s i l . Ra ta tosk .

RAT I . An auge r u sed by Odin in obta ining the poe tic me ad .

Ra te .

REG IN N . So n o f Hre idma r ; bro the r o f Fafne r an d O tte r .Regin .

RIN DR. A pe rsonific a tion o f th e hard frozen e a rth . Mothe ro f Va le . The love s o f O din an d Rind re semble tho seo f Z eu s a n d Eu ropa in G re e k legends . Rin d .

ROSKVA . The name o f thema iden fo llowe r o f Tho r. She

symbolizes the ripe fields of harve st . Roskva .

SAEHRIMN IR [Rime -produ ce r] . The name o f the boar onwhich the gods an d he roe s in Valhal c onstantly fe ed .

Sa ehr ini n e r .

SAGA [Histo ry] . The godde ss of history. She dwe lls inSokvab ek .

SESSRUMN IR. Freyja ’s large -seated palace . Sesrmn n e r .

SID HOTTR [Long-hood] . O n e - o f O din’s name s , from his

trave l ing in disgu ise w ith a large ha t o n his he ad hanging down ove r o n e s ide o f h is face to conce al h ismissing eye . Sidha t.

SID SKEGGR [Long-be a rd] . O n e o f Brage ’s name s . It isa lso a name o f O din in th e lay o f G r imn e r . Sidskeg.

SIP. The w ife o f Tho r an dmo the r o f U lle r . The wo rddenote s affinity. Si f, the go lden-ha ired godde ss, wifeof Thor

,be tokens mothe r e arth with he r bright gre en

1 0 3 4

GOD S AND GOD DESSES

grass . Sh e was the godde ss of th e sanctity o f the fami ly an d we dloc k, a n d hence he r name . Sif.

SIG FAD IR [Fathe r o f vic to ry] . A name o f Odin . Sigfa the r .

SIGYN . Loke ’s wife . She ho lds a ba sin to prevent these rpent’s venomfromdropping into Loke ’s face . Sigyn .

SILFRIN TOPPR. O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods . Silve r top.

SIND RI . O n e o f the most famou s dwarfs . Sin dre .

SIN IR [Sinew] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f the gods . Sin e r .

SJ OF N . O n e o f the godde sse s . She de l ight s in tu rningmen’s he a rts to love . Sjofn .

SKAD I [s ca the , ha rm , damage ] . A giante ss ; daughte r o f

Thjasse a n d th e wife o f N jo rd . She dwe l ls in Thrymhe im,

an d hangs a venoms e rpe n t ove r Loke ’s fac e .

Skade .

SKEIDBRIMIR [Race -runne r] . O n e o f the ho rse s o f th e

gods . Ske idb r ime r .

SKID BLAD N IR. The name o f th e famou s ship o f the god

Frey tha t couldmove a l ike on land o r se a an d cou ld b emade sma ll o r gre a t a t will . Skidbladn e r .

SKIN FAXI [Shining-mane ] . The horse o f D ay . Skin fax.

SKIRN IR [The bright o n e ] . Frey’sme ssenge r. Skirn e r .

SKRYMIR. The name o f a gian t ; a lso th e name a ssume d b yUtgard-Loke . Skryme r .

SKULD [Shall] . The no rn o f the future . Skuld .

SKOGUL. A valkyrie . Skogn l.

SLEIPN IR [The sl ippe r] . The name o f O din ’

s e ight- foo te dste ed . He is begotten by Loke with Svadilfa re . Sle ipn e r .

SNOTRA [N eat] . The name o f o n e o f the godde sse s . Sn o tra .

SOKKMIMIR [Mime r o f the de ep] . A giant sla in by Odin .

Sokrn irn e r .

1 03 5

D ICTIONARY OF

SOKKVABEKKR. Amansion whe re Odin an d Saga qu a fffromgo lde n be ake rs . Sokva b ek .

SOL [Su n ] . D aughte r o f Mu n dilfa re . She drive s the

ho rse s that draw the c ar o f the su n .

SONR. O n e o f the ve sse ls conta ining the po e ticme ad . Son .

SUDRI [Sou th] . A dwa rf who pre s ide s ove r the sou th r e

gion . Sudr e . Sou th .

SURTR . A fir e -giant in Ragn a rok who contends with thegods on the pla in o f Vigr id an d gu ards Mu spe lhe im.Sn r t .

SUTTUN GR. The giant po ss e sso r o f the poeticmead.Sa tta ng.

SVAD ILFARI . A horse ; the s ire o f Sle ipne r . Svad ilfare .

SVAF N IR. A se rpent u n de r Ygdra sil. Svafn e r .

SVALIN N [C oo le r] . Th e shie ld pla c ed be fo re the su n .

St a lin .

SVASUD R [D e l ight fu l] . The name o f a gian t ; th e fa the r o fth e su n . Svas n d .

SYN . Amino r godde ss .

TYR. Prope rly the gene ric name of the highest d ivinity,a n d rema ins inman y c ompounds . Inmythology he isthe o n e -a rmed god o f wa r . The Fenris-wo lf bit o n ehand o ff him. He goe s with Tho r to Hyme r to bo rrowa ke ttle fo r E ge r . He is son o f Odin by a giante ss .

Tyr .

TH JALF I . The name o f the se rvant and fo llowe r of Tho r .The wo rd prope rlyme ans a de lve r, digge r . Th e name sThjalfe an d Roskva indic ate that Tho r wa s the friendo f the fa rme rs an d the god o f agricu ltu re . Thjalfe .

1 0 3 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D ICTIONARY OF

THOKK . Th e name o f a gia n te s s ( suppose d to have be enLo ke in d isguise ) in th emyth o f Ba lde r . Thok .

ULFRUN . O n e o f He imdal’s n ine giantmo the rs . Ulfru n .

ULLR . The so n o f Si f an d stepson o f Tho r . H is fa the r isn o t named. He dwe lls in Ydale r . Ulle r .

URD ARBRUN NR. The founta in o f the no rn Urd . The U r

da r- founta in. Th e we ird spring.

URDR [En g w e ird] . O n e o f the thre e no rns . Th e no rno f the pa st . Urd.

UTGARDAR [The ou t-yard] The abode of the giant U tga rd

UTGARDA-LOK I . Th e giant o f Utgard v isite d by Tho r . He

c a lls himse l f Skryme r . Utga rd-Lake .

VAF THRUD N IR. A giant vis ited by O din . They try e acho the r in qu e stions an d a n swe rs . The giant is de fe ate da n d fo rfe its h is l ife . Vafthrudn e r .

VALASKJ ALF. O n e o f Odin’s dw e ll ings . Valas kjalf.

VALFODR [Fa the r o f th e slain] . A name o f Odin . Valfa the r .

VALGRIND . A gate o f Valhal. Valgr in d .

VALH OLL [The ha ll o f the sla in] . The ha ll to which Odinin vite d tho se s la in in battle . Valkal.

VALKYRJA [The choo se r o f the sla in] . A tr00p o f god

de sse s , handma idens o f Od in . They se rve in Valhal,a n d a re sent on Od in’s e rrands . Valkyr ie .

1 03 8

GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

VALI . Is a brothe r o f Ba lde r , who s lays Hode r when onlyo n e night old. H e ru le s wi th V ida r a fte r Ragna rok .

Vale .

VALI . A so n o f Loke . Vale .

VALTAMR. A fic titio u s name o f O din’s fa the r . Valtom.VE. A bro the r o f O din (Odin , V i le an d Ve ) . Ve .

VEG’

I‘

AMR. A n ame a ssume d by O din . Vegtam.VAN AHEIMAR. The abode o f the van s . Va n ahe im.VAN R; plu ral VAN IR. Tho se de itie s who se abode wa s in

Vanahe im, in contrad istinc tion to th e a sa s, who dwe l lin Asga rd : N j o rd, Frey a n d F r e yja . The vans wage dwa r with the asas , b u t we re a fte rwa rds, by virtue o f a

tre aty, c ombine d an dmade o n e with them. Th e vanswe re de itie s o f the s e a . Van .

VEORR [D e fende r] . A name o f Tho r . Ve ar .

VERD AND I [To be come ] . The n o rn o f the pre sent .

VESTRI . The dwa rf pre s iding o v e r th e we st region . Ves tr e .Wes t .VIDARR. Son o f O din and th e gian te ss G rid . He dwe lls

in Lan dvide . H e s lays the Fe n ris-wo l f in Ragna rok .

Ru le s w ith Va le afte r Ragna rok . Vidar .

VIGRIDR [A battle ] . Th e fie ld o f ba ttle whe re the gods a n d

the sons o f Su rtme e t in Ragnarok . Vigr id.

V 1 L1 . Brothe r o f Odin an d Ve . The se thre e sons o f Bo ran d Be stla c ons tru c t the wo rld ou t o f Yme r ’s body. Vile .

VIMUR. A rive r that Tho r c ro sse s . Vimer .

VIND SVALR. Th e fathe r o f w inte r . Vin dsval.

VIND HEIMR. The plac e that th e sons o f Ba lde r an d Hode r

a re to inhabit a fte r Ragna rok . Vin dhe im.Win dhome .

VIN -GOLF [Themans io n o f bl iss] The palace o f th e asyn

je s . Vingolf .

V IN GTHORR. A name o f Tho r . Vin gthor .

D IC TIONARY OF GOD S AND GOD D ESSES

VOR. The godde ss o f be trotha ls a n dma rriage s . Vor .

YDALIR. U lle r’s dwe ll ing. Ydale r .

YGGR. A name o f O din . Ygg.

YG GDRASILL [Th e be a re r o f Ygg The wo rldembrac ing a sh tre e . The who le wo rld is symbo l ize dby this tre e . Ygdras il.

YMIR. The huge giant in the cosmogony, ou t o f who sebody O d in, V ile a n d Ve c re ated the wo rld . The p ro

ge n ito r o f the gian ts . He wa s fo rmed out o f fro sta n d fire in G in un gagap . Ymer .

1 040

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

An gle s , 55 .

An glo -Saxo n , 8 6 .

An gra -Ma tuyu , 1 2 7 .

An gu l , 8 9 .

An ima ls , 2 3 .

An s e s , 7 3 8 .

An s gariu s , 8 06 .

An sgi s , 54 , 1 1 2 .

An te n or, 5 3 , 6 2 .

An th a i b , 1 0 1 .

An thropo lo gy , 7 2 9 .

An ti- C hrist , 7 2 2 .

An u n du s , 8 48 , 8 84 , 8 96 , 9 3 2 , 95 1 .

An u s , 8 79 .

An z i u s , 1 47 .

Ap aosh a , 970.

Apo l lo , 79 .

Agu l l i, 55 3 .

Ar e , 57 , 4 2 5 , 43 8 .

Ar in b jo r n , 1 7 3 , 4 6 4 .

Ar is tarchu s , 53 .

Arme n ia , 3 .

Arn u lf, 54 .

Art imi s , 7 9 .

Arv idso n , 8 44 .

Arya n , 3 , 1 4, 3 0, 1 2 4 , 1 8 8 , 2 53 , 3 8 0,

7 4 6 .

As a-Bra ge , 2 56 , 8 0 1 .

Asa - fa the r, 746 .

Asa -god , 1 47 , 1 9 1 , 2 1 0 , 2 4 6 . 7 40.

7 7 7 , 7 93 , 8 2 0 .

Asala n d , 3 3 .

As alf r , 9 2 6 .

As a s , 3 4 , 4 1 , 8 3 , 2 1 1 , 2 3 5 , 2 54 , 2 7 5 ,

3 6 4 , 3 7 6 , 3 97 , 43 6 , 4 8 5 , 5 8 0, 6 2 0,

7 2 0, 8 1 9 , 8 3 8 , 8 5 2 , 8 7 5 , 8 8 8 , 946 .

As a sy n i r ( godde ss e s ) , 446 .

As b jor n , 2 45 .

As c i b u rgium, 1 2 2 , 8 3 9 .

Asga rd , 3 3 , 41 , 1 6 6 , 2 1 8 , 2 2 9 , 2 45 ,

2 7 6 , 3 7 6 , 3 97 , 4 2 3 , 443 , 4 6 7 , 5 7 5 ,

6 01 , 6 93 , 7 2 4 , 7 5 1 , 7 7 2 , 7 90, 8 06 ,

8 45 , 8 6 5 , 8 7 7 , 909 , 93 8 , 959 , 97 7 ,

98 9 , 1 004 .

As ia - la n d , 45 .

As ia Min or, 7 7 .

As ia t ic , 4, 1 4 .

Ask , 1 2 7 , 1 40, 6 04 , 7 3 3 .

042

Asme gi r , 3 53 , 4 3 6 , 446 , 8 2 7 , 8 7 8 .

Asmu n d , 2 6 5 , 743 .

As s i, 1 00 .

Assyria n s , 3 7 .

Astro lo gy , 7 1 .

Asv id , 3 6 5 , 7 4 3 .

Asv i n i a n s , 8 8 0, 9 1 0.

Atlak v ida , 5 1 2 .

Atla n t ic , 8 7 .

Atla s , 97 7 .

Atle , 4 7 1 , 9 1 5 .

Att ic , 53 .

Att ila , 2 8 6 , 8 09 , 98 3 .

Au dhumbla , 3 8 9 , 5 74, 7 3 3 , 4 3 3 .

Au gu stu s , 7 1 1 .

Au rb oda , 2 1 3 , 2 42 , 7 8 1 , 8 1 5 , 8 45 ,

9 6 2 .

Au rge ln e r , 4 3 3 , 570.

Au r n i r , 8 99 , 948 , 99 2 .

Au stria , 2 8 .

Ave , 1 40.

Avo , 8 48 , 8 8 4 , 8 96 .

Ave r n i a n s , 6 6 .

Ave sta , 8 , 1 7 , 3 0, 450, 8 7 8 .

Az d in gi , 1 59 .

Ba a l , 3 7 .

Babe l, 3 7 , 8 4.

Ba bylo n , 3 7 , 8 4 .

Ba c chu s , 900.

Ba c tria , 9 , 8 4 .

B ae rma gn is -Sogo , 3 1 0.

B a i n a i b , 1 0 1 .

Ba lde r, 3 6 , 8 8 , 1 9 1 , 2 1 2 , 2 48 ,

3 6 8 , 3 7 7 , 400, 4 1 3 , 43 6 , 46 5 ,

6 8 4, 7 2 6 . 7 8 2 , 79 6 , 8 09 , 8 3 3 ,

8 8 8 , 96 3 , 9 8 5 .

Ba n in ge ( de s troyers ) , 2 97 .

Barbaro s s a , 55 .

B a ugr e gin’

s We l l , 57 7 .

Be da , 55 , 8 8 .

B e i st la , 6 2 4 .

B el, 8 3 6 .

B e lde gg, 40, 8 8 .

Be lgium, 2 8 .

INDEX

Be l i, 8 3 6 .

B e n f e y , 1 8 .

Be owu lf, 1 3 0, 1 9 1 , 47 2 , 6 05 ,

8 1 1 , 8 2 5 , 8 44 , 98 6 , 1 002 .

B e r c h t e r , 59 1 .

B e r c h t u n g, 1 4 6 , 2 9 1 .

B e rgelme r , 43 4 , 570 , 6 2 6 .

B e rgio , 1 1 5 .

B e rggr am, 8 48 .

Be rig, 1 1 6 .

Be t ke r, 1 4 6 .

B e rgt r olle t , 8 44 .

Be rs e rks , 3 9 .

Be rthe r, 1 4 6 .

Be ss ara b ia , 2 5 .

B e stla , 1 6 0, 3 8 9 , 47 6 .

Be yla , 57 5 .

Bh r igu , 58 7 .

B ifro s t, 3 97 , 41 5 , 46 2 , 53 4 , 58 6 ,

6 9 3 , 7 05, 7 58 , 8 2 7 , 98 9 .

B il , 6 7 6 , 98 5 , 1 003 .

B il l in g, 47 1 , 6 98 .

B irka , 8 06 .

B i t e r olf , 3 59 , 6 44, 977 , 997 .

B ja e t , 8 8 .

B i armia 5 6 3 .

B jorn 2 45 .

Bjorn o , 8 8 4 .

B jort , 2 2 9 , 7 56 .

Ble k in gi a , 1 04 .

Blid , 2 2 9 , 7 5 6 .

Bodn , 3 3 1 .

B odva r , 5 3 0.

Boe thiu s , 8 1 2 .

Bolth o rn , 3 6 1 , 6 2 4 .

B o r , 3 8 9 , 43 4, 574 , 6 03 .

B o rga r , 1 45 , 2 55 , 2 8 1 , 2 9 3 , 59 1 ,

8 47 , 8 6 1 , 97 6 .

Bose Sa ga , 3 1 0 .

Bosphor u s , 48 .

Bou s , 7 8 7 .

B raga r aedu r , 959 .

Bra ge , 43 , 46 8 , 6 75 , 8 2 4 , 96 7 , 98 6 .

B r a valla , 2 8 3 .

Bre ida bl ik . 3 6 .

Brime r, 6 43 .

Bris in game n , 2 7 2 . 3 6 4 , 7 2 5 , 8 1 9 ,

8 2 9 , 8 7 6 .

1 043

Brita in , 55 .

Brok, 3 6 1 , 7 1 8 , 8 95.B r u n n a k r , 8 98 , 953 .

B r u n n i e , 8 98 , 953 .

Bru tu s , 6 6 .

Bryn hild , 49 1 , 979 .

Buddhism, 7 3 2 .

B u dlu n gs , 1 8 9 .

B u n deh a sh , 1 2 6 .

Bur e , 3 8 9 .

B u rga r u s , 1 45 .

B u rgu n da i b , 1 0 1 , 1 1 3 .

B yggv i r , 57 5 .

B yle i p t , 559 .

B y rgi r , 6 7 6 , 98 6 , 1 003 .

Byza n t ium, 48 .

C ae sar, 6 6 , 2 8 3 .

C a in , 8 1 3 .

C ap ito l in e H i l l , 74 .

C a r tha ge , 58 .

C a ss iodo r u s , 1 1 4 .

C ave o f Pu n ishme n t, 552 .

C e lts , 1 0, 2 5 , 2 54 .

C e rbe ru s , 3 8 , 4 1 3 .

C e re s , 7 9 .

C ha ldaea n s , 7 2 .

C ham, 8 5 .

C ha o s , 3 8 9 .

C harlema gn e , 5 3 , 1 0 1 , 8 07 .

C h e ldr i c u s , 9 8 1 , 990 .

C he rson , 2 5 .

C hr ist, 7 7 , 2 8 4 , 8 07 .

C hr is tia n ity, 50, 2 8 5 .

C hu s , 8 5 .

C imme ria n s , 7 6 .

C i s -Alp in e , 6 6 .

C la u d iu s , 1 1 4 .

C la y b r ime r , 570.

C ode x R e giu s , 2 3 3 .

C ode x Up sale n s i s , 3 5 3 , 53 8 .

0 00 1 , 5 1 9 .

C o smogo n y, 1 57 .

C o smogr a phic Re v iew, 6 9 2 .

C re a tor, 8 1 3 .

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

C re a tion of Ma n , 1 2 6 .

C re te , 3 8 .

C rime a , 2 5 .

C umaea n Proph e te ss , 7 5 .

C u r e t ia n s , 2 6 1 .

C u so , 7 8 4 .

C y b i le , 7 9 .

C yc lops , 7 1 5. a rtist ,

D a c ia n s , 1 2 9 .

D ag, 3 6 6 , 4 2 0, 4 3 3 , 446 , 6 02 ,

D a in n , a n e lf a rt is t, 2 40, 3 6 5 ,D a lma t ia , 6 3 .

D amka n , 3 8 6 .

D a n , 1 3 7 .

D a n a i, 5 6 , 2 55 .

D a n e s , 2 7 , 56 , 1 1 7 , 1 7 8 , 2 57 .

D a n i s ch e Wo ld , 8 1 1 .

D a n is h Adve n ture rs , 7 1 4 .

D a n k r a t , 9 8 1 .

D a nmark , 8 9 .

D a n n e virke , 9 1 3 , 9 2 7 .

D a n r D r a u p r , 1 42 .

D an ube , 6 2 .

D a rda n u s , 3 8 .

D a rius , 3 .

D a r n a n i a n s , 58 .

D a syu s , 59 6 .

D e c iu s , 7 1 0 .

D e l l in g, 3 56 , 3 6 6 , 3 7 7 , 4 1 6 , 46 1 ,

6 02 , 6 96 , 8 2 3 .

D ia c on u s , 54 , 1 0 1 , 8 59 .

D ict ys , 59 .

D ie te rich , 2 8 5 , 9 8 0.

D i s , s u n godde s s , 1 6 7 .

D i se rt u s , 7 94 .

D i t e v i n , 1 09 .

D o b r u dsc h o , 2 5 .

D oma r r , 1 3 7 .

D on , 1 1 3 .

D oomo f th e D e a d , 48 5 .

D ore , 3 5 6 .

D r a u p e r , 3 6 1 , 3 74 , 42 7 , 6 3 5 .

D r a u p n e r , 7 2 5 , 8 2 4 , 8 6 2 .

D rot t, 1 43 .

1 044

D u b e n , 2 9 .

D u do , 5 6 , 6 7 .

D uls i , 6 08 , 6 5 2 .

D u n elme n s i s , 1 3 0.

D u rln , 3 57 , 6 53 .

D u r n i r , 6 5 2 .

D u tch , 2 7 .

D vali n n , a dwarf3 5 6 , 4 6 1 , 7 1 7 .

D warfs , 445 .

D ygve , 1 44, 6 2 1 .

E a r e n d e l, 7 6 9 .

Ea st G o ths , 2 5 .

Ebbo , 1 04, 7 7 9 , 8 47 .

Ebur, 8 6 3 , 953 .

E ck e n b r e ch t , 8 96 .

E ck ih a rd , 3 6 0.

Edda , 3 2 5 , 3 54 , 406 , 56 2 , 6 03 ,

7 1 8 , 7 9 1 , 8 2 7 , 8 5 1 , 8 8 8 , 9 2 7 ,

Egil , 42 5 , 46 3 , 5 2 9 , 8 3 8 , 8 47 .

8 7 3 , 8 8 4 , 901 , 9 2 6 , 94 1 , 96 9 ,

990.

Egils so n , 7 3 3 .

Eggth e r , sword gu ard ia n , 2 2 3 ,

8 1 0, 9 6 2 .

Egyptian , 94 .

E ik t h y n i r , a th un de r c loud ,9 6 8 .

Eil if, 8 57 .

Eil if G udr u n son , 3 3 1 .

Ein ar, 3 7 2 , 908 , 9 1 4 .

E i n ar Sk alaglam, 3 3 0.

E in h e rge s , gods , 8 2 4 , 1 003 .

E i r , 2 2 9 , 7 5 6 .

E ir ik r , 7 9 3 , 8 03 , 8 2 3 , 8 47 .

Elbe , 1 07 .

Eld e r i ch , 98 4 .

E 1 1 C la n s , 6 03 .

Elivaga r , 42 4 , 5 1 9 , 5 3 2 , 6 95 ,

8 2 7 , 8 3 5 , 8 46 , 8 57 , 9 1 1 , 9 3 8 ,

96 8 , 1 003 .

Elivogs , 3 2 5 , 3 79.

Elizabe th, 7 2 3 .

Elve s , 1 6 4 , 445, 6 96 .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

F r idlevu s , 2 45 , 798 , 8 6 3 , 8 8 4 .

F rigg, 3 4 , 1 00, 1 55 , 2 2 9 , 6 07 ,

8 2 4, 8 4 2 , 903 , 9 6 3 .

Frigga , 55 .

Frigida , 3 9 .

Frie s la n d , 3 2 0.

Fris ia n Adve n ture rs , 7 1 5 .

Frode , 1 3 5, 499 , 5 6 5 , 57 8 , 7 94 .

Proste , 2 2 5 .

F r o th o , 8 1 5, 8 3 7 , 8 6 8 .

Protho-Fre y, 2 7 4 .

Fu lda , 1 1 1 .

Fu l la , 6 8 5 , 8 2 4.

F u n e n , 3 5 .

F ylgi e s , 457 .

G a brie l , 8 3 6 .

G a e l ic , 94.

G alf r id , 6 6 , 98 4 .

G amb a n t e in n , 42 7 , 8 1 5 , 9 6 4 .

G amba ra , 1 00, 8 9 3 , 95 3 .

G amb a r a c , 1 04 .

G amb r ivi a n s , 1 55 .

G a n da r i c u s Magn u s , 2 2 2 .

G a n d il , 46 8 .

G an g, 94 6 , 955 , 974 .

G a n ge s , 1 0.

G a n gr , 9 3 2 , 948 .

G a n g-Urmi r , 1 9 6 .

G a rda r ik e , 1 5 .

G a rm, 440, 5 6 4.

G a st ro f n i r , 7 54 .

G a u l , 2 6 , 58 , 6 6 , 1 2 9 .

G a u ta , 505 , 6 42 .

G aya -Ma r e t a n , 1 2 7 .

G a y ome rt , 1 2 7 .

G e he n n a , 43 7 , 549 .

G efion , 3 5 .

G e fu . 7 7 3 .

G e iger, 1 9 , 1 3 1 .

G e i r rod , a fir e gia n t , 1 06 , 3 1 0,

459 , 53 5 , 59 8 , 9 1 5 , 9 2 8 , 949

G e it e r , 9 6 , 53 6 .

G e i rva n d il, 8 48 , 8 6 7 , 8 8 3 , 948 ,

993 .

1 046

G e ldr , 78 4 , 984 , 1 000.

G e p a u t e , 1 1 6 .

G e p id ian s , 7 08 .

G e rd, a gian te s s , 1 92 , 2 2 7 , 2 4 1 , 42 6 ,43 7 , 5 2 8 , 8 1 5 , 96 7 .

G e ri, 7 54 .

G e rma n -Sa ga C yc le , 2 94 .

G e rma n s , 548 .

G e rma n y, 1 9, 2 7 , 1 2 0.

G e rn o z , 98 1 .

G e r s ami , 7 5 6 .

G e r u th a , 7 7 9 .

G e r u th u s , 3 1 2 .

G e s ta , 6 2 .

G e va r r , 6 6 9 , 7 92 , 990, 1 002 .

G ava rr-Nok k u e , 2 02 .

G e va r u s , 7 8 1 , 8 3 6 .

G hos ts , 74 2 .

G ia n ts , 3 9 , 9 6 , 1 7 5, 7 70, 8 3 6 .

G ible h , 98 1 .

G i fr , 7 54 .

G iga s , a gia n t , 77 6 .

G i lli n gr , 48 3 .

G i lz e r , 98 1 .

G lmule , 5 6 1 .

G i n un gaga p . 45 2 , 940.

G i p t i e s , 457 .

G is le , 6 8 4 , 741 .

G is le r. 9 8 1 , 1 007 .

G i s su r , 5 2 7 .

G jalla h o r n , 52 4.

G jalle r -bridge , 7 3 6 .

G jalp , 92 8 , 93 3 .

G i oll, 3 2 8 , 4 1 5 , 448 , 5 1 5 .

G juk e , 97 1 , 98 1 , 99 1 , 999 , 1 009 .

G juku n g, 5 1 5 .

G le i p n e r . 5 6 5 , 8 2 4 .

G le n r , hu sba n d o f th e Su n D i s , 1 6 9 .

G lit n e r , 8 2 7 .

G l itte rin g-fields , 3 09 , 3 2 2 , 41 8 , 5 1 7 ,6 3 6 .

G n ip a -C ave , 440, 5 6 4 .

G oda n , Od in , 1 00.

G odmu n dr , 6 42 .

G ods of th e We e k D ays , 7 2 .

G olalda , 1 0 1 .

G o ld-C omb , 449 .

G o ld-gl itteri n g C ock, 7 6 0.

IND EX

G orm, 3 1 2 , 4 1 8 , 43 2 , 5 1 5 , 5 3 4 , 55 2 ,

6 4 1 , 7 1 4 .

G o sh, 3 8 2 .

G o t , G o tla n d , 8 9 , 1 3 2 .

G o thic , 2 3 , 6 0, 99 , 1 1 3 , 1 7 8 .

G o ths , 7 08 , 7 2 9 .

G r a tv it n e r , a gia n t wolf , 2 40.

G ra ga s , 43 0.

G r am, 1 47 , 2 8 3 , 7 94 .

G r a n dvik , 8 3 2 , 940 .

G r a n e , 2 4 1 , 97 8 .

G r e a t Babylon ia , 8 3 6 .

G re c o , 1 0, 2 5 .

G re e ks , 59 .

G re e n la n d , 940.

G r e ip , a gia n te s s , 551 , 598 , 8 9 3 ,

9 2 8 , 1 004 .

G re goriu s , 50, 8 1 , 2 8 8 , 7 1 1 , 7 2 8 .

G re n de l , 8 1 1 .

G re p , 7 97 , 8 3 6 .

G r ida r volr , 9 3 3 .

G r id r , 9 3 3 .

G rimhild , 5 1 6 .

G rimm1 0, 2 98 .

G r imms Myt ho logy , 7 2 1 .

G r imn e r 43 4 .

G r imn e r s Lay , 1 3 9 .

G r imn e r smal, 42 3 , 447 , 5 6 4, 59 2 ,

6 44, 7 1 7 , 8 02 , 8 55 , 8 6 6 , 8 8 9 .

G r imn i smal, 1 05 , 2 3 6 , 2 5 1 , 3 99 .

G ro a , 1 50, 1 9 6 , 2 55 , 2 6 8 , 7 47 , 7 7 6 .

7 93 , 8 1 9 , 8 47 , 8 58 , 900, 998 .

G r ce d i r , 5 6 6 .

G r ogald e r , 1 5 1 , 2 0 1 , 3 54, 57 1 , 7 47 .

7 58 , 7 70 , 7 95 , 8 05 , 8 3 2 .

G rotte , 7 2 7 .

G r o tte -mil l , 5 6 5 .

G rotte -Son g, 1 8 1 , 2 6 2 , 5 8 4 , 8 90,

95 1 .

G ru n d , 3 1 0.

G ugn i r , 8 7 6 .

G u dhe lm, 3 6 .

G u dh o rm, 1 53 , 2 55 , 2 70 .

G udmu n d , 2 1 7 , 3 09 , 3 6 0, 3 93 , 5 1 6 .

6 3 6 .

G u dmu n d -Mime r, 7 2 7 .

G udo l i , 8 8 .

G udrun , 3 55, 9 1 5 , 974 , 98 9 .

1 047

G u dr u n a rk v ida , 1 3 8 , 5 2 2 .

G udr u n dso n , 1 3 8 , 42 1 , 452 , 49 1 ,

5 1 6 , 93 2 .

G u dz orm, 98 1 .

G u l l , 2 3 1 .

G ullt op p r , 59 2 .

G ulve ig, 1 6 5 , 2 04, 2 3 0, 48 6

G ulve ig-He id , 7 2 4 , 7 46 , 7 8 0 .

G u n b jor n , 2 45 .

G u n lad , 2 2 4 , 6 48 , 1 004 .

G u n gn e r , a sword , 1 9 3 , 2 6 8 , 6 3 9

G u n n ar, 47 2 , 502 , 7 3 5 , 97 8 , 98 9 .

G u n n o , 7 8 7 .

G u n va r a , 7 95 , 8 1 5 .

G u od , a ship , 2 6 5 .

G u r i th a , 1 50 .

G u thmu n du s , 3 1 4 .

G u t h o rm, 5 6 7 .

G u t h o rmu s , 1 5 1 .

G u tla n d , 1 04 .

G yld e r , 9 6 2 .

G y gr , a tr o l l woma n , 8 45 .

G ylf agin n i n g, 4 1 , 1 2 8 , 1 3 8 , 3 2 5 ,

3 44 , 3 95 , 4 2 5 ,497 , 5 2 4 , 5 3 8 , 55 2

5 6 5 , 6 07 , 7 57 , 8 5 6 , 9 2 5 . 9 6 2 .

G ylf e . 3 5 , 41 , 9 3 .

G yme r , 4 2 6 , 5 3 6

G ymi r , a gia n t, 2 1 3 , 2 2 7 , 2 4 2 .

HHadalan d, 74 1 .

Hadd in g, 2 55 , 2 6 3 , 2 7 3 , 2 8 9 , 3 1 7 .

43 2 , 449 , 492 , 5 1 7 , 6 04 , 7 2 9 , 7 3 7 ,

7 93 , 8 06 , 8 1 9 , 8 43 , 902 , 98 0, 997 .

Ha de s , 1 2 3 , 3 3 7 , 3 9 2 , 43 1 , 48 2 , 5 1 4

57 7 , 7 3 0, 8 1 7 , 1 004 .

Ha d i n gu s , 1 59 , 3 01 .

H a dolau n , 1 07 .

H adugot o , 1 08 .

Ha ge n , 2 98 , 98 1 .

H agu i n u s , 8 9 6 .

Hako n , 3 70 , 46 7 , 500, 8 6 7 , 904 ,

9 1 3 , 9 2 9 .

H ak on a rmal, 46 8 .

Ha lfda n , 1 3 2 , 1 8 5 , 1 9 1 , 2 02 , 2 55 ,

3 1 8 , 46 0, 48 9 , 59 1 , 7 4 1 , 7 7 9 , 7 9 2 ,

8 03 , 8 1 9, 8 47 , 8 9 6 , 9 1 9 , 958 , 97 3 ,

1 000 .

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

Ha lfe , 2 5 6 , 2 6 2 .

H alio r u n ae , 2 2 .

Ha l ir, 44 6 .

H a llf r e d , 407 , 479.

Ha l l in , 1 1 5 .

H alogala n d , 3 1 2 .

H am, 8 5 .

Hama , 8 3 0.

Hama l , 1 47 , 1 9 2 , 2 8 1 .

H ami n gje s , 457 , 505.

Hamle t , 8 43 .

Ha n du a n u s , 3 00.

H a r , 42 , 9 5 .

Ha r a ld , 46 4 .

Hara ld B lu e Too th , 9 2 9 .

Har a ld Ha rdr ade , 2 8 2 .

Ha r a ld H ilde t a n d , 2 8 2 .

Harba rd , 8 8 9 , 9 6 1 .

H a r b a r dsljod , 2 7 6 , 449, 95 3 , 9 6 7 .

H a r dgr e p , 2 6 0, 2 7 1 , 492 , 7 3 7 .

Ha r tu n g, 2 8 9 .

Ha te , amo n st e r, 558 , 6 90, 7 07 , 8 1 0.

H a u s tla ug, 4 1 6 , 574 , 8 53 , 90 2 , 98 7 .

H avamal, 1 2 8 , 2 59 , 3 3 0 , 3 6 1 , 4 3 1 ,

47 6 , 49 2 , 6 4 2 , 7 1 7 , 7 3 5 , 9 3 4 .

H ed in n . 8 8 7 .

He id , 6 5 , 3 5 1 , 48 0, 8 7 6 .

He idru n , 6 44 .

He imda l , 3 6 , 1 3 5 , 1 7 0, 2 3 6 , 2 7 2 ,

2 8 0, 2 98 , 3 7 8 , 42 5 , 447 , 5 8 6 , 6 95 ,

7 05 , 7 2 2 , 7 3 8 , 8 2 2 , 8 3 0, 8 9 1 .

He imsk r i n gla , 3 2 , 3 5 , 4 7 , 8 2 , 94 ,

2 43 , 3 7 0, 5 2 0, 6 06 , 7 41 .

H e i n ge s t , 8 8 , 99, 97 0, 99 1 , 1 008 .

He ktor, 3 8 .

H e l, 400, 406 , 42 0, 440, 447 , 4 7 8 ,

6 1 4, 7 45, 8 2 4, 96 8 .

H e lb li n de , 559 , 599 .

H e lb lo tt in , 4 1 4 , 9 6 9.

He l-dog, 5 6 4.

He lga kv ida , 2 1 6 .

H el-ga te , 702 .

He lge , 1 47 , 1 8 1 , 3 1 0, 5 2 0, 57 1 , 6 90 ,

7 44 , 79 1 , 9 7 3 .

He l go , 7 8 4 .

H e l-horse , 48 0.

He l ian d , 4 1 6 , 456 , 56 0 .

1 048

He l le n ic , 2 5 .

H e lle t e , 407 .

H e l-rive rs , 7 6 5 .

He l- sho e s , 7 3 7 .

H e lve gi r , 440.

H elve gum, 442 .

H e l-wa y , 5 1 5 .

H e n gik jop t r , 5 6 6 .

He n r ic u s , 8 6 .

H e p h aes t r os , 1 8 9 .

He rc yn ia n , 1 .

H e r ik on , 8 7 .

He rma n a r i c u s , 3 01 .

He rme s , 7 0.

He rme s -Me rc uriu s , 94 .

He rme s -Trisme gis tu s , 94 .

H e rmio n i a n s , 1 55 , 3 01 .

He rmod , 3 2 7 , 3 74 , 4 1 5 , 4 6 5 , 5 6 5 ,

7 3 7 , 8 1 9 , 8 45 .

He rtrie b , 3 59 .

Heru l ia n s , 1 1 3 .

He s iodu s , 1 2 7 .

He rvor, 3 09 , 3 3 5 , 957 .

H ie r o n ymu s , 5 1 .

H ilde bra n d , 1 4 7 , 8 1 4 .

H i lde ge r , 1 47 , 1 93 .

H ild igu n , 1 000 .

H ild in gs , 1 90 .

H ima la ya , 1 0 .

H imin n , 445 .

H immin b jorg, 3 6 , 2 8 9 , 705.

H in do os , 4 , 2 54 .

H in duk u sh , 1 0.

H j alle r -horn , 708 .

Hj a r da rh olt , 592 .

H ja r r a n d i , 9 8 9 .

H jo rva rdson , 746 .

Hjuk i , 6 7 6 .

Hla n dve r r , 997 .

Hle b a r dr , 95 6 , 96 4 .

H le r , 9 6 .

Hlidsk jolf , 6 96 .

Hli f , 7 5 6 .

Hli n , 8 4 2 .

Hlody n , 1 55 , 599 , 8 03 , 9 3 0, 945 .

H n o s s , 7 5 6 .

Ho c e , 98 6 .

Hodd-Mime r, 3 4 2 .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

Je ss e n , 1 58 .

J ewe s , 7 1 .

J ima ( G rove ) , 3 8 1 , 6 2 9 , 8 7 8 .

J ok ull, 9 6 , 1 6 6 .

Jo n s so n , 1 1 4 .

Jora, th e e arth , 6 8 , 6 1 5 .

Jorda n e s , 59 , 1 1 3 , 1 7 8 , 3 0 1 , 8 3 0.

J o rmu n ga n d e r , 9 1 9.

J o rmu n grun , 6 0 1 , 6 95 .

J o rmun r e k , 2 7 0, 8 3 6 , 8 47 .

Jo tu n he im, home o f th e gia n ts , 9 6 ,

2 2 3 , 2 48 , 3 1 0, 3 99 , 4 2 5 , 4 3 4 , 58 0.

599, 6 7 5 , 7 7 0, 8 2 7 , 8 45 , 8 7 6 , 8 8 5 ,

9 1 4, 93 6 , 947 , 9 6 8 , 1 003 .

Ju p ite r, 3 8 , 8 7 .

Ju p ite r’s Temp le , 7 4 .

Ju tla n d, 40, 7 8 5 .

K ab uli st a n , 7 .

Kari, 96 .

Kark, 45 6 .

Karl ( C hurl) , 1 40.

K la rr, 998 .

K in g En gl in , 97 6 .

K in g Liu twa r , 997 .

K i r sh ip t a , 3 8 6 .

K jalk i , 2 6 7 .

K la ge , 98 1 .

Kla proth , 9 .

Kollr , 8 5 1 .

Kon , 1 42 .

Ko rmak , 2 1 0, 46 3 ,

Kour-R ig, 1 3 7 .

Kuhn , 1 7 .

Ku l le n , 8 50.

Kve se t , 3 4 .

La c t a n t iu s , 7 6 .

Lake Ma ela r , 47 .

Lame do n , 8 8 .

Lamia , 92 .

Lami s s io , 8 59 .

La n ga r b r e k k u -Ein ar, 74 1 .

La ss e n , 1 0.

La tham, 1 5 .

La tin , 50, 8 7 .

La t ium, 58 .

La to n a , 7 9 .

La urin , 3 0 1 .

Le i fn e r’

s fl ame s , 2 6 0 , 2 99 , 7 50.

Le i f th r a s e r , 3 53 , 3 7 8 , 442 , 453 , 5 3 0.

Le ge n d o f t h e C ro ss , 90 .

Le ika , 3 6 5 .

Le ik i n , 4 7 6 , 5 3 4 , 7 05 .

Le i p t r , 42 0.

Le s so , 43 , 2 6 5 .

Le the , 3 3 5 .

Lo tto -S lav ic , 1 4 .

L ib u r n i a , 6 1 .

Libya n , 7 6 .

Lidsk j alfn , 3 5 6 , 9 1 1 .

Li t , 3 53 , 3 7 8 , 44 2 , 453 , 53 0 .

Li t a n d Le i ft h r a se r , 3 4 1 .

L i fth r a s e r , 1 8 0 .

Lin k, 7 .

L i s e r u s -He imda l , 8 2 9 .

L i u tk e r , 1 006 .

Lode r, 1 2 7 , 7 3 2 .

Lod r , 6 03 .

Lo du r, 6 01 , 7 3 9 .

Lo fdu n g, 1 8 9 .

Logi , 9 6 , 6 6 2 .

Logr i n , 3 5 , 40.

Loka -Se n n a , 1 55 , 2 79 , 42 8 , 558 ,

57 5 , 6 6 1 , 8 97 , 953 , 9 6 5 .

Loke , 4 3 , 1 3 6 , 1 7 1 , 2 1 4 , 2 6 9 , 2 7 3 ,

4 2 8 , 4 3 8 , 448 , 47 6 , 548 , 55 6 , 57 5 .

6 00, 6 97 , 7 2 2 , 7 6 1 , 8 2 2 , 8 40, 8 5 6 ,

8 7 6 , 8 9 1 , 904 , 9 2 1 , 93 6 , 945 , 9 6 0,

991 .

Lo n gobard ia n s , 54 , 1 5 6 , 4 2 2 , 708 ,

8 5 8 , 995 .

Lo n gobard ia n Sa ga , 99 , 3 2 2 .

Lo n gle gs , 7 3 8 .

Lop t r , 7 6 0.

Lo r id e , 8 8 .

Loth u r u s , 6 04.

Lowe r Wo r ld Mil l , 7 6 0 .

Lu dr , 7 6 0 .

Lu n e b urg, 1 00.

Ly k oa , 900.

Ly n gv i , Is la n d o f da rkn e s s , 2 7 8 ,

5 6 4 , 7 05 .

Ly r n e r , 445 .

Ly s i r , t h e shin in g o n e , 2 7 2 .

ha

Ma c e don ia , 45, 54 .

Ma e r in ga b u rg, 2 97 .

Ma gn e , 8 8 , 441 .

Malme sb u r i e n s is , 1 3 0.

Ma n e , 446 , 5 8 0, 6 2 9 , 6 98 .

Ma n e ga rm, 5 6 4 .

Ma n i, 6 90.

Ma n i-Karl , 7 91 .

Ma n n , 3 8 7 , 58 7 .

Ma n n u s , 6 8 , 1 55, 8 4 1 , 8 47 .

Ma n u fo r t i s , 993 , 1 008 .

Ma n u s , 2 8 4 .

Ma rdoll, 8 1 9 , 8 3 0.

Ma r c e l l in u s , 8 4 .

Ma rk omi r , 6 2 .

Ma r p e s s u s , 7 6 .

Ma r s , 8 09 .

Mary, 7 2 3 .

Ma shia , Ma sh i e n a , 1 2 7 .

Ma s te r Ma son s , 8 7 .

Ma uru s , 1 1 1 .

Maye n c e , 1 1 1 .

Me a d Myth , 6 44 .

Me a d We l ls , 3 2 9 .

Me d ia , 7 .

Memn o r , 6 8 .

Me n e la u s , 8 40.

Me n glad , 2 02 , 2 2 9 , 3 6 8 , 747 ,

7 70, 8 3 6 .

Me n glodum, 747 .

Me n ja , a. gia n te s s , 2 6 2 , 56 7 ,

8 90, 95 1 .

Me n n on , 3 9.

Me rc u ry , 7 0.

Me rv , 9 .

Me ta ls , 2 3 .

Me tz , 54 .

Midd le Age s Sa ga , 3 09 .

1 05 1

Midga rd , 1 2 7 , 1 3 6 , 1 6 6 , 2 3 2 , 2 55 ,

2 7 6 , 3 2 5 , 3 6 2 , 3 7 7 , 404 , 4 1 7 , 4 6 6 ,

558 , 57 3 , 7 07 , 8 1 0, 8 1 9 , 8 5 1 , 8 7 7 ,

8 9 2 , 9 6 8 , 1 003 .

Midga r d Se rpe n t , 44 , 4 3 8 , 599 , 7 04

8 3 8 .

Midju n g, 9 2 2 .

Mdv i t n i r , 6 5 1 .

Migra t ion Sa ga , 3 2 .

Mik la ga rd ( C on s ta n t in op le ) , 3 07 .

Mik laga rd Pis o n , 3 07 .

Milky-way , 98 3 .

Mime , 3 59 .

Mimame idr , 8 3 3 .

Mime r, 3 4 , 1 8 0, 1 97 , 2 03 , 2 43 , 3 2 6 ,

3 6 2 , 3 8 9 , 403 , 42 3 , 448 , 505 , 5 2 9 ,

57 7 , 6 02 , 6 2 8 , 6 9 6 , 7 07 , 7 1 9 , 7 5 1 ,

7 6 6 , 8 08 , 8 1 7 , 8 7 1 , 8 9 6 , 909 , 92 8 ,

9 6 2 , 990.

Mime r’s G rove , 3 53 , 3 7 9 , 4 3 9 , 48 4 ,

8 7 8 .

Mimi n gu s , 6 3 5 , 7 8 3 , 8 04 .

Mimi sh olt , 5 2 9 .

Mimmu n g, 6 44 .

Mi s t e lt e i n n , 7 90 .

Mistle toe , 9 6 3 .

Mithra , 93 .

Mi t oth i a n ( Loke ) , 2 7 7 .

Mjoln e r , Tho r ’

s Hamme r, 1 7 2 , 3 2 9 ,

42 8 , 599 , 8 03 , 8 55 , 8 6 9 , 95 8 .

Mode , 8 8 , 44 1 , 9 2 0.

Mod in n , 7 2 3 .

Mod ir , 1 40.

Modsogn i r , 3 57 , 3 6 7 , 6 4 2 .

Mmo t i a n , 52 .

Mok k r -Ka lh , 8 59 .

Moldge lme r , 570.

Mo lo s su s , a gia n t dog, 8 8 5 .

Mo n a s t e r i e n s i s , 1 3 0.

Mo n go l ia n , 5 , 1 1 .

Mo r i n gia , 1 04 .

Mo rkwood , 9 2 9 .

Mo r n , 5 3 4 .

Mou n t Ida , 7 6 .

Mu l le r, 1 3 .

Mu n d ilf or e , 5 79 , 6 07 , 7 2 1 .

Mu sp e l, 44 1 , 55 2 , 7 05 .

Mu spe lhe im. 5 6 1 .

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

My rkwood , 558 , 6 3 1 .

My s in g, 5 6 8 .

Mytho logy, 7 2 9 .

N ahb i, 7 1 8 .

N a -ga te s , 4 2 9 , 47 8 , 5 3 1 , 5 6 4 , 7 05 ,

745 , 7 6 0, 8 1 7 , 8 8 5 .

N a ge lta r , 4 3 8 , 55 6 .

N a n n a , 43 , 3 74 , 46 6 , 46 9 , 7 8 2 , 8 2 4,

98 6 , 999 .

N a r , 42 6 , 43 0 .

N a rd , 6 1 1 .

N ara-Mime r, 8 7 2 .

N a rve , 1 57 , 6 1 2 , 6 40 .

N arv i, 6 1 2 .

N a st r a n d, a p la c e o f torture , 3 2 8 ,

3 92 , 405 , 42 3 , 5 3 5 , 554 .

N a t ,mothe r o f t h e gods ( a lson ight ) , 1 57 , 3 6 7 , 44 6 , 470, 53 0,

6 02 , 6 40, 7 1 9, 7 6 2 , 8 7 1 .

N e da n , 6 40.

N e t , 6 7 8 .

N e n n iu s , 8 8 .

N e ptu n e , 3 8 .

N e ro , 59 .

N e rthu s , 1 5 6 .

N e stor, 8 7 .

N ew Te stame n t, 7 2 3 .

N ib lu n c , 977 .

N ibe lu n ge , 97 2 , 1 000.

N ida Mo u n ta in s , 4 2 3 , 5 3 2 , 6 08 , 7 04 ,

7 2 5 , 7 6 5 , 9 6 8 .

N ida d , 6 3 1 , 6 3 4.

N ide , 3 9 2 , 57 7 .

N idh ad , 6 3 0, 7 6 3 , 8 74, 9 1 5 , 955 ,

97 5 .

N idh og, 3 9 2 , 4 2 3 , 5 1 7 , 5 3 3 , 555 ,

6 3 9 , 7 1 8 .

N id i, 6 40.

N in e G ia n t Moth e rs o f He imda l ,598 .

N i felh e im, 41 9 , 53 2 , 5 6 4 , 7 6 4 , 8 2 7 ,

9 6 9 .

N if elh e imdemo n , 2 7 1 .

N if elh el, 3 2 8 , 3 6 8 , 3 99 , 41 9, 4 3 1 .

O c h ta , 1 008 .

0 d , 7 7 2 .

Oda . 98 1 .

Od a in s ak e r , a p la c e o f joy ,

3 3 6 , 3 8 9 , 8 08 .

Ode r-Sv ipd ag, 7 9 1 .

Od in , 6 , 3 3 , 40, 48 , 7 0, 8 1 , 93 , 1 3 4 ,

1 57 , 1 7 7 , 2 1 2 , 2 3 5 , 2 52 , 2 7 3 , 2 96 ,

3 2 6 , 3 6 1 , 3 6 8 , 3 7 6 , 4 1 0, 43 1 , 444 ,

4 6 9 , 58 5 , 6 1 5 , 6 45 , 6 8 7 , 7 3 2 , 7 58 ,

7 7 7 , 7 8 7 , 8 2 1 , 8 58 , 8 6 6 , 906 , 93 4 ,

98 7 .

Odlun gs , 1 49 .

Odoa c e r, 1 03 , 2 96 .

Od r , 7 58 , 7 7 3 , 8 2 3 , 8 46 .

Odr aar e r , 3 6 2 , 6 2 4 .

Odys se u s , 1 8 9 , 8 40 .

3 00,

1 052

44 3 , 47 8 , 5 1 2 , 6 94, 7 2 2 , 7 45 ,

8 8 7 , 9 6 8 .

N iflgod r , 5 3 3 .

N ifl u n gs , 6 7 8 , 97 1 .

N iflun g hoard, 97 5 .

N imrod , 8 5 .

N in e v e h , 8 5 .

N in u s , 8 5 .

N ith e r i a n s , 3 2 3 .

N j a l , 45 8 .

N jord , 3 4, 1 5 6 , 2 08 , 2 3 6 , 2 44 ,

47 0, 6 1 1 , 6 40, 6 9 7 , 7 2 1 , 7 57 ,

8 1 6 , 8 6 3 , 8 8 4 , 9 3 0, 955 .

N jo rve , 6 1 3 .

No ah , 3 7 , 8 5 , 570 .

N oa tun , 3 6 , 1 3 6 .

N ok kv i , 6 6 9 .

N ok ve r , 98 7 , 1 000 .

N orma n dy , 5 6 .

N orma n s , 5 6 .

N ame ( fa t e s ) , 1 8 6 , 458 .

N ors e , 1 05 .

N ors e Sa ga s , 8 44 .

N orw e gia n s , 2 7N oth , 1 000.

N umin a , 3 53 .

N y , 6 40.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTON IC MYTHOLOG Y

R imf axe , 5 3 0.

R imgr imn e r , 4 3 4 .

R imn e r , 4 3 7 .

R im-Od in , 43 5 .

R in d , 2 1 0, 47 1 , 749 , 7 8 9 .

R in da , 7 8 7 .

R i n gh or n , 9 1 0.

R is t i n g, 47 2 .

R itta , 8 8 .

R ogn e r, 8 7 1 , 8 99 , 909 , 92 0,

Ro lf Kr ake ’

s Sa ga , 1 8 3 .

R o l le r, 7 95 , 8 3 8 .

Roma n Myt ho lo gy, 7 8 .

R oma n s , 2 6 , 49 .

Romu n d G r e ip son , 7 9 1 .

Ro r i c u s , 7 8 8 .

Ro s e n ga rte n , 2 8 8 , 8 9 6 .

B o aky e , 943 .

Ru b h u s , 3 6 3 .

Ru db e ck , 8 7 .

Ru d ige r, 2 8 6 .

Ru do lph, 1 08 .

Ru ge n , 1 04.

Ru gi a n s , 7 08 .

Ru le r o f th e Lowe r World ,Ru n e s , 1 6 3 .

Ru the r, 1 6 7 , 2 8 3 .

Hu tze , 996 .

Rymer, 4 3 8 .

Saba , 90.

Sa c r e dfir e , 58 6 .

Sa c r e d Ru n e s , 1 6 5 .

Saami n g, 40.

Saamu n d , 57 .

Sa ga , 98 7 .

Sa ga -Me n , 1 .

Sa in t O la f, 746 .

Sa l ia n , 6 4.

Sa l lu st , 58 .

Samian , 7 6 .

Sa n s c r it , 6 , 7 3 8 .

Sa rd in ia , 58 .

Sarma t ia n , 1 2 9.

Sa turn u s , 3 8 , 8 5 .

1 054

Sa tyr s , 8 1 0 .

Saviour, 90.

Saxo , 44, 49 , 1 04 , 2 1 1 , 2 6 1 , 3 6 0,

53 5 , 54 6 , 55 3 , 6 07 , 7 1 4 , 7 7 3 7 8 9 ,

8 01 , 8 2 2 , 8 50, 8 90 , 952 .

Saxla n d , 3 5 , 9 7 , 1 3 4 .

Sa xo n s , 55 , 90, 98 .

Sc ama n driu s , 58 .

S c a n d ia n s , 2 , 9 8 , 1 3 1 , 2 6 4 .

Sc a n d in av ia n s , 2 , 2 7 , 49 , 1 02 .

Sc a n d z a , 1 1 5 , 1 7 8 .

Sc a n ia , 8 50.

Sc e a t, 1 3 1 .

Sc e dela n d , 1 3 1 .

Sc e f- Sa ga , 1 3 2 .

Sc he l l in g, 1 1 .

Sch elt , 6 4 .

Sc h ildb u n c , 97 7 .

Sc hle ge l , 7 .

Schle iche r, 1 3 .

Schra de r , 1 9 .

Sc o r in gi a , 1 02 .

Sc r i t ob i n i a n s , 1 02 .

Scyld , 1 3 1 .

Scythia , 5 8 .

Se a -kidn e y, 8 1 9 .

Se e la n d , 3 5 , 7 8 5 .

Se la , a ga in t e s s , 8 6 0.

Semit ic , 1 8 .

Se rv iu s , 59 , 6 3 , 7 5 .

Seve n S le e pers , 707 .

Shem, 8 6 .

Shie ld-Ma ids , 90, 2 8 3 .

Shie ld - So n g, 1 6 1 .

S ib, 90.

S ib il S ibylla , 3 9 , 55 .

S ibyll in e Books , 74 .

S ic i ly, 5 8 .

S i c omb r i a , 5 2 .

S ida , 900.

S igemu n d , 8 2 6 , 8 2 8 , 97 6 .

S ie ge o f As ga rd , 2 3 5 .

S ie gfr ie d , 97 6 .

S if, 3 9, 8 9 , 7 8 0, 8 02 , 8 5 2 , 8 8 7 , 8 97 ,

S igge , 40.

S igmu n dso n , 1 8 1 .

S ign e , 1 49 , 1 96 .

Sigrdr i fva , 49 , 53 1 .

IND EX

S igru n , 1 8 1 , 5 2 0.

S igtu n a , 3 6 , 40, 47 .

S igt rygg, 1 49 , 1 98 .

sun u d , 1 9 1 , 2 1 8 , 2 4 1 , 3 00, 3 1 9 ,

53 1 .

S igurd-Sve n , 3 6 0, 47 1 , 7 3 5 , 97 6 ,

998

S in dr e , 1 7 2 , 3 6 1 , 53 2 , 7 04 , 7 1 7 , 7 2 3 ,

S i n fjo tle , 2 1 7 .

S i n ga s t e in n , 8 2 8 .

S i nma r a , 7 2 0, 7 6 0, 9 6 2 .

S in t r am, 7 2 3 .

8 46 , 8 9 6 , 903 , 92 5 , 959 , 98 9 .

Sk ad e n , 1 00, 2 03 .

Sk aguL 4 6 8 .

Sk ala glam, 9 1 7 .

Sk a lda sp i lle r , 46 8 , 500, 5 6 1 , 7 99 .

Sk ald sk a p a rmal, 2 00, 5 6 7 ,‘

6 1 6 , 9 3 2 .

Sk a lla gr imson , 43 6 , 500, 5 2 1 , 5 6 6 ,

6 74

Sk idb ladn e r , 3 6 , 1 7 2 , 556 , 6 3 9 , 8 70 ,

8 8 0, 9 1 0.

Sk ida -R ima , 9 1 6 .

Sk idfin n a , 7 1 3 .

Sk idn e r , 2 4 1 .

Sk idn e r smal, 42 6 , 43 4 , 447 , 5 2 8 ,

5 6 2

Sk ilfin g-Y in gl in g, 8 43 , 8 6 2 .

Sk flfin gs

Sk i r n e r , 43 6 , 8 1 5 , 8 2 3 , 8 4 6 .

Skjo ld , 3 5 , 1 3 2 , 1 49 , 6 04 .

Sk joldu n , 8 8 , 1 54 .

Sko ld , 8 8 , 1 50, 3 2 2 .

Sk oldu n g, 8 2 7 .

Sku ld , 45 3 , 6 2 1 .

Sla gfin , 8 49 , 8 70 , 8 90 , 9 1 7 , 947 ,

97 1 , 98 2 , 997 , 1 000 .

S lavs , 1 0, 1 1 7 .

Sle ip e r , 2 1 5 , 2 4 1 , 3 00, 3 2 7 .

S le ipn e r, 7 3 7 , 8 2 4 .

Sle sv ik , 1 09 , 48 2 .

S l id , 5 3 5 .

Slidr ugta n n e , 7 2 5 , 8 8 0.

Sma lan d , 7 3 5 .

Sn aab jo r n , 5 6 8 , 58 3 .

Sn o , 1 04 , 3 2 2 .

1 055

Sn oe r , 96 .

Sn ot ( Idu n ) , 8 98 .

Sok k va b e k k a r , 98 7 .

Sokmime r , 6 5 1 , 6 6 4 .

Sol, 3 6 7 , 446 , 58 0, 6 4 1 , 6 8 0 , 6 97 .

Sola r jod , 7 1 9 .

Sola rljod , 5 3 4 , 57 9 .

Solb ja r t r , 7 6 7 , 8 1 6 .

Solb li n d e , 2 3 8 .

So lon , 7 8 .

So lomo n , 8 6 .

So n a t o r r e k , 3 40.

So n s o f t h e wo r ld r u in , 2 2 0.

Sp e e ch r u n e s , 490 .

Sp ie ge l , 1 9 .

St . Q u e n t in , 5 6 .

Stu rla son , 47 , 57 .

Sugh da -Sod i a n a , 8 .

Su lp ic iu s , 50.

Sumb le , 90 1 , 95 2 .

Sumb lu s , 1 9 6 .

Su n n o , 5 3 , 6 4, 6 56 , 6 8 8 , 999 .

Su r s on s - Sa ga , 458 .

Su rt , 2 2 0, 2 6 6 , 3 45 , 44 2 , 5 6 1 ,

6 59 , 7 01 , 8 09 , 92 8 , 9 6 2 , 1 004 .

Su t t i n g, 2 2 4 , 9 2 8 , 93 4 , 95 2 , 97 9 .

Su t t u n g, 4 3 6 , 55 2 , 6 4 6 .

Sva ta , 1 000.

Sva f r , 7 57 .

Svald ilf a n , gia n t Ho r s e , 2 1 5.

Sva n h ild , 3 01 . 97 1 .

Svarin , 98 .

Sva r in’

s Mou n d , 1 94 .

Sva rt alfa h e im, 8 2 7 .

Sve a , 3 7 , 1 3 4.

Sve dal, 8 3 2 .

Sve fu th or n , 7 2 1 .

Sve h a u s , 1 1 5 .

Sve n , 8 9 .

Sve n d , 8 3 2 .

Sve th id i , 1 1 8 .

Sve v ia n , 2 .

Sv ide r , 995 .

Sv idf e rh d , 6 2 8 , 8 46 .

Sv idu r , 6 5 1 .

Sv igd e r , 6 6 4 , 9 2 8 , 95 2 .

Sv ion e s , 2 , 2 6 5 .

Sv ip dag, 1 50, 2 00, 2 55 , 2 8 3 , 3 54,

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

3 6 8 , 3 79 , 6 40, 6 8 3 , 7 2 9 , 744 , 747 ,

7 6 0, 7 7 0, 7 93 , 8 03 , 8 1 5 , 8 2 7 , 8 4 1 ,

8 7 0, 8 8 3 , 9 1 9 , 957 , 97 5 , 98 9 .

Sv i t h i od , 3 5 , 1 7 8 , 1 98 , 475, 6 5 6 .

Swa b ia n s , 708 .

Swa b ia n Sa ga , 1 07 .

Sw a n Ma ids , 90.

Swe de s , 2 7 , 1 7 8 .

Swe de n , 3 3 , 8 9, 1 3 4 .

Sw itze rla n d, 2 8 .

Sy gi n , 6 1 8 .

Sy gr i th a , 7 70, 8 3 1 , 8 45 .

Sy gr u t h a , 7 7 9, 8 6 0 .

Symbo ls o f N a ture , 7 3 .

Sy r , 7 7 6 .

Syvaldus , 7 7 3 .

1 7

T a b e r n a c ulum, 7 2 0.

Ta c itu s , 2 1 , 6 8 , 1 1 9, 1 9 3 , 2 8 3 , 47 5 ,

548 .

T ad ch ik s , 1 0.

T a n a i s , 58 . 8 2 .

T a n akv i sl, 3 3 , 45 .

T a n n gn jo st r , 8 53 .

T a n n gr i sn i r , 8 53 .

Tarqu in , 7 5 .

Te u ton ic , 7 2 6 .

Te u ton ic Mytho logy , 3 1 , 3 8 , 1 1 9 ,

1 7 3 , 3 45 .

Te u ton s , 1 0, 1 4, 2 6 , 50, 5 8 , 99 , 1 8 8 ,

7 1 3 .

T e r tuli a n u s , 93 .

Th ak k r ad , 98 2 .

Tha n a to s , 7 1 8 .

The odo s iu s , 7 1 0.

The odoric , 2 5, 2 95.

T h idr e k , 8 1 4 .

Thin gste a d , 48 5.

T h i u deme r , 2 95 .

T h jalf e , 8 57 , 943 .

T h ja s se , 1 6 6 , 1 7 6 , 2 2 5 , 2 3 6 , 3 09 ,

7 57 , 8 90, 8 97 , 903 , 9 2 1 , 93 1 , 943 ,

95 2 , 970.

Th ja z a , 956 .

Thj elvar , 8 59.

1 056

Thor, 3 6 , 45 , 8 8 , 1 5 1 , 1 98 , 2 40,

2 5 6 , 2 7 6 , 2 9 8 , 3 1 6 , 4 1 5 , 42 5 , 43 7 ,

47 0, 58 0, 599 , 7 48 , 7 8 4 , 7 93 , 8 09 .

8 3 8 , 8 5 2 , 8 6 6 , 8 8 9, 909, 92 0, 93 3 ,

94 3 , 9 6 0, 99 6 .

Tho r a , 7 8 4 , 8 03 .

Thorbjorn , 2 43 .

T h o r d Sja r e k s on , 2 3 7 .

T h or e r wood -be ard , 5 1 3 .

T h orge r d , 9 1 3 .

T h o rk il, 2 7 8 , 3 1 2 , 3 3 5 , 5 1 5 , 5 3 7 .

552 , 7 1 4 , 7 2 7 .

T h o r olf , 4 6 4.

T h o r r i ,

T h o rsdr a p e r , 2 70, 4 2 5, 447 , 8 57 ,

9 1 5 , 9 2 9 , 947 , 9 6 0.

Thra c ia , 3 9 , 6 5 .

T h r a im, 7 9 1 .

Th r a n d , 3 09 .

T h r id e , 4 2 .

Th r id i , 95 .

T h r u dge lme r , 43 3 , 570, 6 2 6 .

Th r u dh e im, 3 9 , 8 6 6 .

T h r uma , 7 5 3 .

Th r un dva n g, 3 6 .

Thrymhe im, 2 3 7 , 904

T h rymsk v ida , 8 2 2 , 8 9 1 .

Thu le , 1 1 7 .

Thu n d , 6 9 2 .

Thurin gia n , 1 08 .

Thu r s , 7 5 2 .

Tibe riu s , 99 .

T ib u r t i n i a n , 7 6 .

T imavu s , 6 1 .

T i s t ry a , 970.

Tiv i, 1 59 .

Toko , 8 48 .

T ope , 5 3 4 .

Tours , 50.

Troy, 6 , 3 9 , 58 , 3 97 ,

Troy-Asgard , 3 2 .

Tro j a n s , 6 1 , 7 6 , 1 3 4.

Tro l ( thr a l l ) , 1 40 .

Troy-Sa ga , 50.

T ry kla n d , 6 55 .

T u i s c o , 1 55 .

Tva sh t a r , 8 78 .

T y r , 74, 459, 809 , 8 54 , 8 97 .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TEUTONIC MYTHOLOG Y

V il i, 6 03 , 7 3 9 .

V ilk in as aga , 2 2 3 , 2 8 9 , 3 00, 3 59 ,

6 44, 8 1 4 , 8 3 9 , 8 50, 8 6 3 , 9 2 7 , 952 .

Villi fe r , 8 6 3 . 8 8 5 ,

V imu r , 42 4, 9 3 3 .

V i n de li c ia , 5 8 .

V in gth o r , 8 8 .

V i n n i lia n s , 1 00.

V irc how, 2 8 .

Virgil , 5 1 , 7 5 , 9 2 .

V i sb u r r , 1 44 .

V is igoths , 2 5 .

V i t rgils , 8 8 .

Vo lsu n g, 8 2 6 .

Vo lu n d , 2 8 9 , 3 59 , 6 3 0, 7 07 , 7 6 3 .

7 90, 8 04 , 8 1 4 , 8 49 , 8 6 4 , 8 74 , 8 97 ,

909 , 9 2 0, 947 , 9 6 2 , 9 7 8 , 994 .

Vo lu n ds Sword , 8 1 5 .

Volu n ga Sa ga , 2 1 8 .

Vo lu spa , 1 2 8 , 1 6 6 , 2 08 , 2 43 , 3 2 6 ,

3 56 , 4 3 1 , 440, 499 , 5 2 4 , 5 3 8 , 555 ,

6 03 , 7 07 , 7 3 2 , 7 58 , 7 7 6 , 8 7 5 , 8 9 1 .

Ybor, 8 6 1 .

Ydale r , 8 6 5 .

Ygdra s il , tre e o f l ife , 3 2 6 ,

42 1 , 4 3 3 , 45 1 , 5 3 4, 55 6 , 6 45 , 704 ,

7 2 2 , 8 1 7 .

Yggr , 2 74 .

Y in gl in g- Sa ga , 2 3 1 , 3 40, 4 75 .

277

3 2244

330. Yme r, 4 2 4 , 43 3 , 5 3 4, 5 6 9 , 6 02 , 7 3 3 ,

Vy rd 4 55 .

7 54 , 8 1 2 , 93 9 , 946 .

Yn glin ga t al, 454 , 740, 995 .

Ylfin gs , 1 54 .

Yn gli n gs , 3 7 , 1 3 3 .

Yn gve , 40, 1 3 5 , 1 95 , 2 55 , 2 7 7 , 3 04 .

46 8 .

999 .

Yo

s

u

g

n

s

ge r Edda , 3 7 , 8 2 , 1 3 3 , 2 42 ,Wa tlin gs , 8 99 , 98 9 .

Ye e 83 8Wa yla n d , 2 8 9 , 3 59 .

We apo n s , 2 4 .

We be r, 1 7 .

We lcke r, 2 7 .

We s s e x, 1 3 3 .We s tmo n a s t , 1 3 3 .Zara thu stra , 8 4 , 3 8 2 .

We stpha l ia , 40, 8 9 . Ze n d , 6 , 8 78 .

Whitn e y, 1 7 .Ze n d Ave sta , 3 8 3 .

W idukin d , 54 , 1 07 . Ze u s , 7 3 , 1 59 .

W ie la n d , 8 1 2 , 8 3 9 ,Zo d ia c , 8 7 .

Wi ld Boar, 8 99 . Zoroa ste r. 3 . 3 7 , 84

Wille h a d , a s a in t , 3 2 1 .

W il l iamTe l l , 8 50, 994 .

Woda n , 3 8 9 .Wolfdale s , 6 3 1 , 7 6 5 , 8 49, 8 748 98 , 957 , 97 8 .Wolfd i e t e r i ch , 2 9 2 .

Won de r-smith , 8 1 2 .

World-mil l , 5 6 8 , 58 6 , 7 50 .

World-tre e , 7 08 , 7 6 6 .

World -wa r , 2 5 2 .

Wu rth , 455 .