{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37876/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37876","id":"gutenberg_37876","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37876","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Legends -- Germany","Mythology, Germanic","Mythology, Norse"],"text":"Produced by Charlene Taylor, Katie Hernandez and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nfile was produced from images generously made available\nby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Teutonic Mythology\n Gods and Goddesses\n of the Northland\n\n IN\n\n THREE VOLUMES\n By VIKTOR RYDBERG, Ph.D.,\n MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF THE \"THE LAST ATHENIAN\"\n AND OTHER WORKS.\n\n _AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH_\n\n BY\n\n RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,\n EX-UNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF \"NORSE\n MYTHOLOGY,\" \"VIKING TALES,\" ETC.\n\n HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D.,\n EDITOR IN CHIEF.\n J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.,\n MANAGING EDITOR.\n\n VOL. I.\n\n PUBLISHED BY THE\n NORROENA SOCIETY,\n LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK\n 1906\n\n [Illustration]\n\n\n _OF THE_\n Viking Edition\n\n_There are but six hundred and fifty sets made for the world,\n of which this is_\n\n _No._ 99\n\n [Illustration: NORROENA]\n\n COPYRIGHT,\n T. H. SMART,\n 1905.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: IDUN, HEIMDAL, LOKE, AND BRAGE.\n(_From an etching by Lorenz Froelich._)]\n\nIdun was the beautiful goddess who in Asgard was keeper of the apples\nwhich the gods ate to preserve eternal youth. She is most generally\nregarded as the wife of Brage.\n\nHeimdal, the son of nine mothers, was guardian against the giants of the\nbridge of the gods, Bifroest. With a trumpet he summoned all the gods\ntogether at Ragnarok when he and Loke slew each other. He was the god of\nlight.\n\nLoke though beautiful in form was like Lucifer in character and was\nhence called the god of destruction. By the giantess Angerboda he had\nthree offspring, viz: the Midgard serpent, the Fenris-wolf, and Hela,\nthe latter becoming goddess of Hel.\n\nBrage was the son of Odin and being represented as the chief skald in\nValhalla he is called the god of poetry.\n\n\n\n\n TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.\n\n * * * * *\n\n TABLE OF CONTENTS.\n VOLUME ONE.\n\n\n\n PART I.\n Page\n Introduction--The Ancient Aryans 1\n (a) The Aryan Family of Languages 3\n Hypothesis of Asiatic Origin of the Aryans 5\n Hypothesis of European Origin of the Aryans 15\n The Aryan Land of Europe 20\n (b) Ancient Teutondom 26\n\n PART II.\n\n (a) Mediaeval Migration Sagas 32\n The Troy Saga and Prose Edda 44\n Saxo's Relation to the Story of Troy 47\n Older Periods of the Troy Saga 50\n Story of the Origin of Trojan Descent of the Franks 60\n Odin as Leader of the Trojan Emigration 67\n Materials of the Icelandic Troy Saga 83\n Result of Foregoing Investigations 96\n (b) Popular Traditions of the Middle Ages 99\n Saxon and Swabian Migration Saga 107\n The Frankish Migration Saga 111\n Migration Saga of the Burgundians 113\n Teutonic Emigration Saga 119\n\n PART III.\n\n Myths Concerning the Creation of Man 126\n Scef, the Original Patriarch 135\n Borgar-Skjold, the Second Patriarch 143\n Halfdan, the Third Patriarch 147\n Halfdan's Enmity with Orvandel and Svipdag 151\n Halfdan's Identity with Mannus 153\n Sacred Runes Learned from Heimdal 159\n Sorcery, the Reverse of Sacred Runes 165\n Heimdal and the Sun Goddess 167\n Loke Causes Enmity Between Gods and Creators 171\n Halfdan Identical with Helge 180\n The End of the Age of Peace 185\n War with the Heroes from Svarin's Mound 194\n Review of the Svipdag Myth 200\n The World-War and its Causes 204\n Myth Concerning the Sword Guardian 213\n Breach Between Asas Vans. Siege of Asgard 235\n Significance of the World-War 252\n The War in Midgard. Hadding's Adventures 255\n Position of the Divine Clans to the Warriors 262\n Hadding's Defeat 268\n Loke's Punishment 273\n Original Model of the Bravalla Battle 281\n The Dieterich Saga 285\n\n PART IV.\n\n Myth in Regard to the Lower World 306\n Gudmund, King of the Glittering Plains 309\n Ruler of the Lower World 312\n Fjallerus and Hadingus in the Low World 317\n A Frisian Saga, Adam of Bremen 319\n Odainsaker and the Glittering Plains 321\n Identification of Odainsaker 336\n Gudmund's Identity with Mimer 339\n Mimer's Grove 341\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.\n VOL. I.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Frontispiece--Idun, Heimdal, Loke, and Brage.\n Page\n Thor the Thunder God 120\n Giant Thjasse in the Guise of an Eagle Carries off Loke 174\n Odin Punishes the Monstrous Progeny of Loke 300\n\n\nSTOCKHOLM, NOVEMBER 20, 1887.\n\nHON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON,\n United States Minister,\n Copenhagen, Denmark.\n\nDEAR SIR,\n\nIt gives me pleasure to authorise you to translate into English my work\nentitled \"Researches in Teutonic Mythology,\" being convinced that no one\ncould be found better qualified for this task than yourself. Certainly\nno one has taken a deeper interest than you in spreading among our\nAnglo-Saxon kinsmen, not only a knowledge of our common antiquity, but\nalso of what modern Scandinavia is contributing to the advancement of\nculture--a work in which England and the United States of America are\ntaking so large a share.\n\n Yours faithfully,\n\n VIKTOR RYDBERG.\n\n\n\n\n I.\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\n * * * * *\n\n A. THE ANCIENT ARYANS.\n\n\n 1.\n\n THE WORDS GERMAN AND GERMANIC.\n\nAlready at the beginning of the Christian era the name Germans was\napplied by the Romans and Gauls to the many clans of people whose main\nhabitation was the extensive territory east of the Rhine, and north of\nthe forest-clad Hercynian Mountains. That these clans constituted one\nrace was evident to the Romans, for they all had a striking similarity\nin type of body; moreover, a closer acquaintance revealed that their\nnumerous dialects were all variations of the same parent language, and\nfinally, they resembled each other in customs, traditions, and religion.\nThe characteristic features of the physical type of the Germans were\nlight hair, blue eyes, light complexion, and tallness of stature as\ncompared with the Romans.\n\nEven the saga-men, from whom the Roman historian Tacitus gathered the\nfacts for his _Germania_--an invaluable work for the history of\ncivilisation--knew that in the so-called Svevian Sea, north of the\nGerman continent, lay another important part of Germany, inhabited by\nSviones, a people divided into several clans. Their kinsmen on the\ncontinent described them as rich in weapons and fleets, and in warriors\non land and sea (Tac., _Germ._, 44). This northern sea-girt portion of\nGermany is called Scandinavia--Scandeia by other writers of the Roman\nEmpire; and there can be no doubt that this name referred to the\npeninsula which, as far back as historical monuments can be found, has\nbeen inhabited by the ancestors of the Swedes and the Norwegians. I\ntherefore include in the term Germans the ancestors of both the\nScandinavian and Gothic and German (_tyske_) peoples. Science needs a\nsharply-defined collective noun for all these kindred branches sprung\nfrom one and the same root, and the name by which they make their first\nappearance in history would doubtless long since have been selected for\nthis purpose had not some of the German writers applied the terms\n_German_ and _Deutsch_ as synonymous. This is doubtless the reason why\nDanish authors have adopted the word \"Goths\" to describe the Germanic\nnation. But there is an important objection to this in the fact that the\nname _Goths_ historically is claimed by a particular branch of the\nfamily--that branch, namely, to which the East and West Goths belonged,\nand in order to avoid ambiguity, the term should be applied solely to\nthem. It is therefore necessary to re-adopt the old collective name,\neven though it is not of Germanic origin, the more so as there is a\nprospect that a more correct use of the words German and Germanic is\nabout to prevail in Germany itself, for the German scholars also feel\nthe weight of the demand which science makes on a precise and rational\nterminology.[1]\n\n[Footnote 1: Viktor Rydberg styles his work _Researches in Germanic\nMythology_, but after consultation with the Publishers, the Translator\ndecided to use the word _Teutonic_ instead of _Germanic_ both in the\ntitle and in the body of the work. In English, the words German,\nGermany, and Germanic are ambiguous. The Scandinavians and Germans have\nthe words _Tyskland_, _tysk_, _Deutschland_, _deutsch_, when they wish\nto refer to the present Germany, and thus it is easy for them to adopt\nthe words _German_ and _Germanisk_ to describe the Germanic or Teutonic\npeoples collectively. The English language applies the above word\n_Dutch_ not to Germany, but to Holland, and it is necessary to use the\nwords _German_ and _Germany_ in translating _deutsch_, _Deutschland_,\n_tysk_, and _Tyskland_. Teutonic has already been adopted by Max Mueller\nand other scholars in England and America as a designation of all the\nkindred branches sprung from one and the same root, and speaking\ndialects of the same original tongue. The words Teuton, Teutonic, and\nTeutondom also have the advantage over German and Germanic that they are\nof native growth and not borrowed from a foreign language. In the\nfollowing pages, therefore, the word Teutonic will be used to describe\nScandinavians, Germans, Anglo-Saxons, &c., collectively, while German\nwill be used exclusively in regard to Germany proper.--TRANSLATOR.]\n\n\n 2.\n\n THE ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES.\n\nIt is universally known that the Teutonic dialects are related to the\nLatin, the Greek, the Slavic, and Celtic languages, and that the kinship\nextends even beyond Europe to the tongues of Armenia, Irania, and India.\nThe holy books ascribed to Zoroaster, which to the priests of Cyrus and\nDarius were what the Bible is to us; Rigveda's hymns, which to the\npeople dwelling on the banks of the Ganges are God's revealed word, are\nwritten in a language which points to a common origin with our own.\nHowever unlike all these kindred tongues may have grown with the lapse\nof thousands of years, still they remain as a sharply-defined group of\nolder and younger sisters as compared with all other language groups of\nthe world. Even the Semitic languages are separated therefrom by a chasm\nso broad and deep that it is hardly possible to bridge it.\n\nThis language-group of ours has been named in various ways. It has been\ncalled the Indo-Germanic, the Indo-European, and the Aryan family of\ntongues. I have adopted the last designation. The Armenians, Iranians,\nand Hindoos I call the Asiatic Aryans; all the rest I call the European\nAryans.\n\nCertain it is that these sister-languages have had a common mother, the\nancient Aryan speech, and that this has had a geographical centre from\nwhich it has radiated. (By such an ancient Aryan language cannot, of\ncourse, be meant a tongue stereotyped in all its inflections, like the\nliterary languages of later times, but simply the unity of those\ndialects which were spoken by the clans dwelling around this centre of\nradiation.) By comparing the grammatical structure of all the daughters\nof this ancient mother, and by the aid of the laws hitherto discovered\nin regard to the transition of sounds from one language to another,\nattempts have been made to restore this original tongue which many\nthousand years ago ceased to vibrate. These attempts cannot, of course,\nin any sense claim to reproduce an image corresponding to the lost\noriginal as regards syntax and inflections. Such a task would be as\nimpossible as to reconstruct, on the basis of all the now spoken\nlanguages derived from the Latin, the dialect used in Latium. The\npurpose is simply to present as faithful an idea of the ancient tongue\nas the existing means permit.\n\nIn the most ancient historical times Aryan-speaking people were found\nonly in Asia and Europe. In seeking for the centre and the earliest\nconquests of the ancient Aryan language, the scholar may therefore keep\nwithin the limits of these two continents, and in Asia he may leave all\nthe eastern and the most of the southern portion out of consideration,\nsince these extensive regions have from prehistoric times been inhabited\nby Mongolian and allied tribes, and may for the present be regarded as\nthe cradle of these races. It may not be necessary to remind the reader\nthat the question of the original home of the ancient Aryan tongue is\nnot the same as the question in regard to the cradle of the Caucasian\nrace. The white race may have existed, and may have been spread over a\nconsiderable portion of the old world, before a language possessing the\npeculiarities belonging to the Aryan had appeared; and it is a known\nfact that southern portions of Europe, such as the Greek and Italian\npeninsulas, were inhabited by white people before they were conquered by\nAryans.\n\n\n 3.\n\n THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE ASIATIC ORIGIN OF THE ARYANS.\n\nWhen the question of the original home of the Aryan language and race\nwas first presented, there were no conflicting opinions on the main\nsubject.[2] All who took any interest in the problem referred to Asia as\nthe cradle of the Aryans. Asia had always been regarded as the cradle of\nthe human race. In primeval time, the yellow Mongolian, the black\nAfrican, the American redskin, and the fair European had there tented\nside by side. From some common centre in Asia they had spread over the\nwhole surface of the inhabited earth. Traditions found in the\nliteratures of various European peoples in regard to an immigration from\nthe East supported this view. The progenitors of the Romans were said to\nhave come from Troy. The fathers of the Teutons were reported to have\nimmigrated from Asia, led by Odin. There was also the original home of\nthe domestic animals and of the cultivated plants. And when the\nstartling discovery was made that the sacred books of the Iranians and\nHindoos were written in languages related to the culture languages of\nEurope, when these linguistic monuments betrayed a wealth of inflections\nin comparison with which those of the classical languages turned pale,\nand when they seemed to have the stamp of an antiquity by the side of\nwhich the European dialects seemed like children, then what could be\nmore natural than the following conclusion: The original form has been\npreserved in the original home; the farther the streams of emigration\ngot away from this home, the more they lost on the way of their language\nand of their inherited view of the world; that is, of their mythology,\nwhich among the Hindoos seemed so original and simple as if it had been\nwatered by the dews of life's dawn.\n\n[Footnote 2: Compare O. Schrader, _Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte_\n(1883).]\n\nTo begin with, there was no doubt that the original tongue itself, the\nmother of all the other Aryan languages, had already been found when\nZend or Sanscrit was discovered. Fr. v. Schlegel, in his work published\nin 1808, on the _Language and Wisdom of the Hindoos_, regarded Sanscrit\nas the mother of the Aryan family of languages, and India as the\noriginal home of the Aryan family of peoples. Thence, it was claimed,\ncolonies were sent out in prehistoric ages to other parts of Asia and to\nEurope; nay, even missionaries went forth to spread the language and\nreligion of the mother-country among other peoples. Schlegel's\ncompatriot Link looked upon Zend as the oldest language and mother of\nSanscrit, and the latter he regarded as the mother of the rest; and as\nthe Zend, in his opinion, was spoken in Media and surrounding countries,\nit followed that the highlands of Media, Armenia, and Georgia were the\noriginal home of the Aryans, a view which prevailed among the leading\nscholars of the age, such as Anquetil-Duperron, Herder, and Heeren, and\nfound a place in the historical text-books used in the schools from 1820\nto 1840.\n\nSince Bopp published his epoch-making Comparative Grammar the illusion\nthat the Aryan mother-tongue had been discovered had, of course,\ngradually to give place to the conviction that all the Aryan languages,\nZend and Sanscrit included, were relations of equal birth. This also\naffected the theory that the Persians or Hindoos were the original\npeople, and that the cradle of our race was to be sought in their homes.\n\nOn the other hand, the Hindooic writings were found to contain evidence\nthat, during the centuries in which the most of the Rigveda songs were\nproduced, the Hindooic Aryans were possessors only of Kabulistan and\nPendschab, whence, either expelling or subjugating an older black\npopulation, they had advanced toward the Ganges. Their social condition\nwas still semi-nomadic, at least in the sense that their chief property\nconsisted in herds, and the feuds between the clans had for their object\nthe plundering of such possessions from each other. Both these facts\nindicated that these Aryans were immigrants to the Indian peninsula, but\nnot the aborigines, wherefore their original home must be sought\nelsewhere. The strong resemblance found between Zend and Sanscrit, and\nwhich makes these dialects a separate subdivision in the Aryan family of\nlanguages, must now, since we have learned to regard them as\nsister-tongues, be interpreted as a proof that the Zend people or\nIranians and the Sanscrit people or Hindoos were in ancient times one\npeople with a common country, and that this union must have continued to\nexist long after the European Aryans were parted from them and had\nmigrated westwards. When, then, the question was asked where this\nIndo-Iranian cradle was situated, the answer was thought to be found in\na chapter of Avesta, to which the German scholar Rhode had called\nattention already in 1820. To him it seemed to refer to a migration from\na more northerly and colder country. The passage speaks of sixteen\ncountries created by the fountain of light and goodness, Ormuzd (Ahura\nMazda), and of sixteen plagues produced by the fountain of evil, Ahriman\n(Angra Mainyu), to destroy the work of Ormuzd. The first country was a\nparadise, but Ahriman ruined it with cold and frost, so that it had ten\nmonths of winter and only two of summer. The second country, in the name\nof which Sughda Sogdiana was recognised, was rendered uninhabitable by\nAhriman by a pest which destroyed the domestic animals. Ahriman made the\nthird (which by the way, was recognised as Merv) impossible as a\ndwelling on account of never-ceasing wars and plunderings. In this\nmanner thirteen other countries with partly recognisable names are\nenumerated as created by Ormuzd, and thirteen other plagues produced by\nAhriman. Rhode's view, that these sixteen regions were stations in the\nmigration of the Indo-Iranian people from their original country became\nuniversally adopted, and it was thought that the track of the migration\ncould now be followed back through Persia, Baktria and Sogdiana, up to\nthe first region created by Ormuzd, which, accordingly, must have been\nsituated in the interior highlands of Asia, around the sources of the\nJaxartes and Oxus. The reason for the emigration hence was found in the\nstatement that, although Ormuzd had made this country an agreeable\nabode, Ahriman had destroyed it with frost and snow. In other words,\nthis part of Asia was supposed to have had originally a warmer\ntemperature, which suddenly or gradually became lower, wherefore the\ninhabitants found it necessary to seek new homes in the West and South.\n\nThe view that the sources of Oxus and Jaxartes are the original home of\nthe Aryans is even now the prevailing one, or at least the one most\nwidely accepted, and since the day of Rhode it has been supported and\ndeveloped by several distinguished scholars. Then Julius v. Klaproth\npointed out, already in 1830, that, among the many names of various\nkinds of trees found in India, there is a single one which they have in\ncommon with other Aryan peoples, and this is the name of the birch.\nIndia has many kinds of trees that do not grow in Central Asia, but the\nbirch is found both at the sources of the Oxus and Jaxartes, and on the\nsouthern spurs of the Himalaya mountains. If the Aryan Hindoos\nimmigrated from the highlands of Central Asia to the regions through\nwhich the Indus and Ganges seek their way to the sea, then it is\nnatural, that when they found on their way new unknown kinds of trees,\nthen they gave to these new names, but when they discovered a tree with\nwhich they had long been acquainted, then they would apply the old\nfamiliar name to it. Mr. Lassen, the great scholar of Hindooic\nantiquities, gave new reasons for the theory that the Aryan Hindoos were\nimmigrants, who through the western pass of Hindukush and through\nKabulistan came to Pendschab, and thence slowly occupied the Indian\npeninsula. That their original home, as well as that of their Iranian\nkinsmen, was that part of the highlands of Central Asia pointed out by\nRhode, he found corroborated by the circumstance, that there are to be\nfound there, even at the present time, remnants of a people, the\nso-called Tadchiks, who speak Iranian dialects. According to Lassen,\nthese were to be regarded as direct descendants of the original Aryan\npeople, who remained in the original home, while other parts of the same\npeople migrated to Baktria or Persia and became Iranians, or migrated\ndown to Pendschab and became Hindoos, or migrated to Europe and became\nCelts, Greco-Italians, Teutons, and Slavs. Jacob Grimm, whose name will\nalways be mentioned with honour as the great pathfinder in the field of\nTeutonic antiquities, was of the same opinion; and that whole school of\nscientists who were influenced by romanticism and by the philosophy of\nSchelling made haste to add to the real support sought for the theory in\nethnological and philological facts, a support from the laws of natural\nanalogy and from poetry. A mountain range, so it was said, is the\nnatural divider of waters. From its fountains the streams flow in\ndifferent directions and irrigate the plains. In the same manner the\nhighlands of Central Asia were the divider of Aryan folk-streams, which\nthrough Baktria sought their way to the plains of Persia, through the\nmountain passes of Hindukush to India, through the lands north of the\nCaspian Sea to the extensive plains of modern Russia, and so on to the\nmore inviting regions of Western Europe. The sun rises in the east, _ex\noriente lux_; the highly-gifted race, which was to found the European\nnations, has, under the guidance of Providence, like the sun, wended its\nway from east to west. In taking a grand view of the subject, a mystic\nharmony was found to exist between the apparent course of the sun and\nthe real migrations of people. The minds of the people dwelling in\nCentral and Eastern Asia seemed to be imbued with a strange instinctive\nyearning. The Aryan folk-streams, which in prehistoric times deluged\nEurope, were in this respect the forerunners of the hordes of Huns which\npoured in from Asia, and which in the fourth century gave the impetus to\nthe Teutonic migrations, and of the Mongolian hordes which in the\nthirteenth century invaded our continent. The Europeans themselves are\nled by this same instinct to follow the course of the sun: they flow in\ngreat numbers to America, and these folk-billows break against each\nother on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. \"At the breast of our Asiatic\nmother,\" thus exclaimed, in harmony with the romantic school, a scholar\nwith no mean linguistic attainments--\"at the breast of our Asiatic\nmother, the Aryan people of Europe have rested; around her as their\nmother they have played as children. There or nowhere is the playground;\nthere or nowhere is the gymnasium of the first physical and intellectual\nefforts on the part of the Aryan race.\"\n\nThe theory that the cradle of the Aryan race stood in Central Asia near\nthe sources of the Indus and Jaxartes had hardly been contradicted in\n1850, and seemed to be secured for the future by the great number of\ndistinguished and brilliant names which had given their adhesion to it.\nThe need was now felt of clearing up the order and details of these\nemigrations. All the light to be thrown on this subject had to come from\nphilology and from the geography of plants and animals. The first author\nwho, in this manner and with the means indicated, attempted to furnish\nproofs in detail that the ancient Aryan land was situated around the\nOxus river was Adolphe Pictet. There, he claimed, the Aryan language had\nbeen formed out of older non-Aryan dialects. There the Aryan race, on\naccount of its spreading over Baktria and neighbouring regions, had\ndivided itself into branches of various dialects, which there, in a\nlimited territory, held the same geographical relations to each other\nas they hold to each other at the present time in another and immensely\nlarger territory. In the East lived the nomadic branch which later\nsettled in India; in the East, too, but farther north, that branch\nherded their flocks, which afterwards became the Iranian and took\npossession of Persia. West of the ancestors of the Aryan Hindoos dwelt\nthe branch which later appears as the Greco-Italians and north of the\nlatter the common progenitors of Teutons and Slavs had their home. In\nthe extreme West dwelt the Celts, and they were also the earliest\nemigrants to the West. Behind them marched the ancestors of the Teutons\nand Slavs by a more northern route to Europe. The last in this\nprocession to Europe were the ancestors of the Greco-Italians, and for\nthis reason their languages have preserved more resemblance to those of\nthe Indo-Iranians who migrated into Southern Asia than those of the\nother European Aryans. For this view Pictet gives a number of reasons.\nAccording to him, the vocabulary common to more or less of the Aryan\nbranches preserves names of minerals, plants, and animals which are\nfound in those latitudes, and in those parts of Asia which he calls the\noriginal Aryan country.\n\nThe German linguist Schleicher has to some extent discussed the same\nproblem as Pictet in a series of works published in the fifties and\nsixties. The same has been done by the famous German-English scientist\nMax Mueller. Schleicher's theory, briefly stated, is the following: The\nAryan race originated in Central Asia. There, in the most ancient Aryan\ncountry, the original Aryan tongue was spoken for many generations. The\npeople multiplied and enlarged their territory, and in various parts of\nthe country they occupied, the language assumed various forms, so that\nthere were developed at least two different languages before the great\nmigrations began. As the chief cause of the emigrations, Schleicher\nregards the fact that the primitive agriculture practised by the Aryans,\nincluding the burning of the forests, impoverished the soil and had a\nbad effect on the climate. The principles he laid down and tried to\nvindicate were: (1) The farther East an Aryan people dwells, the more it\nhas preserved of the peculiarities of the original Aryan tongue. (2) The\nfarther West an Aryan-derived tongue and daughter people are found, the\nearlier this language was separated from the mother-tongue, and the\nearlier this people became separated from the original stock. Max Mueller\nholds the common view in regard to the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. The\nmain difference between him and Schleicher is that Mueller assumes that\nthe Aryan tongue originally divided itself into an Asiatic and an\nEuropean branch. He accordingly believes that all the Aryan-European\ntongues and all the Aryan-European peoples have developed from the same\nEuropean branch, while Schleicher assumes that in the beginning the\ndivision produced a Teutonic and Letto-Slavic branch on the one hand,\nand an Indo-Iranian, Greco-Italic, and Celtic on the other.\n\nThis view of the origin of the Aryans had scarcely met with any\nopposition when we entered the second half of our century. We might add\nthat it had almost ceased to be questioned. The theory that the Aryans\nwere cradled in Asia seemed to be established as an historical fact,\nsupported by a mass of ethnographical, linguistic, and historical\narguments, and vindicated by a host of brilliant scientific names.\n\n\n 4.\n\n THE HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN ORIGIN OF\n THE ARYANS.\n\n\nIn the year 1854 was heard for the first time a voice of doubt. The\nsceptic was an English ethnologist, by name Latham, who had spent many\nyears in Russia studying the natives of that country. Latham was\nunwilling to admit that a single one of the many reasons given for the\nAsiatic origin of our family of languages was conclusive, or that the\naccumulative weight of all the reasons given amounted to real evidence.\nHe urged that they who at the outset had treated this question had lost\nsight of the rules of logic, and that in explaining a fact it is a\nmistake to assume too many premises. The great fact which presents\nitself and which is to be explained is this: There are Aryans in Europe\nand there are Aryans in Asia. The major part of Aryans are in Europe,\nand here the original language has split itself into the greatest number\nof idioms. From the main Aryan trunk in Europe only two branches extend\ninto Asia. The northern branch is a new creation, consisting of Russian\ncolonisation from Europe; the southern branch, that is, the\nIranian-Hindooic, is, on the other hand, prehistoric, but was still\ngrowing in the dawn of history, and the branch was then growing from\nWest to East, from Indus toward Ganges. When historical facts to the\ncontrary are wanting, then the root of a great family of languages\nshould naturally be looked for in the ground which supports the trunk\nand is shaded by the crown, and not underneath the ends of the\nfarthest-reaching branches. The mass of Mongolians dwell in Eastern\nAsia, and for this very reason Asia is accepted as the original home of\nthe Mongolian race. The great mass of Aryans live in Europe, and have\nlived there as far back as history sheds a ray of light. Why, then, not\napply to the Aryans and to Europe the same conclusions as hold good in\nthe case of the Mongolians and Asia? And why not apply to ethnology the\nsame principles as are admitted unchallenged in regard to the geography\nof plants and animals? Do we not in botany and zoology seek the original\nhome and centre of a species where it shows the greatest vitality, the\ngreatest power of multiplying and producing varieties? These questions,\nasked by Latham, remained for some time unanswered, but finally they led\nto a more careful examination of the soundness of the reasons given for\nthe Asiatic hypothesis.\n\nThe gist of Latham's protest is, that the question was decided in favour\nof Asia without an examination of the other possibility, and that in\nsuch an examination, if it were undertaken, it would appear at the very\noutset that the other possibility, that is, the European origin of the\nAryans--is more plausible, at least from the standpoint of methodology.\n\nThis objection on the part of an English scholar did not even produce an\necho for many years, and it seemed to be looked upon simply as a\nmanifestation of that fondness for eccentricity which we are wont to\nascribe to his nationality. He repeated his protest in 1862, but it\nstill took five years before it appeared to have made any impression. In\n1867, the celebrated linguist Whitney came out, not to defend Latham's\ntheory that Europe is the cradle of the Aryan race, but simply to clear\naway the widely spread error that the science of languages had\ndemonstrated the Asiatic origin of the Aryans. As already indicated, it\nwas especially Adolphe Pictet who had given the first impetus to this\nillusion in his great work _Origines indo-europeennes_. Already, before\nWhitney, the Germans Weber and Kuhn had, without attacking the Asiatic\nhypothesis, shown that the most of Pictet's arguments failed to prove\nthat for which they were intended. Whitney now came and refuted them all\nwithout exception, and at the same time he attacked the assumption made\nby Rhode, and until that time universally accepted, that a record of an\nAryan emigration from the highlands of Central Asia was to be found in\nthat chapter of Avesta which speaks of the sixteen lands created by\nOrmuzd for the good of man, but which Ahriman destroyed by sixteen\ndifferent plagues. Avesta does not with a single word indicate that the\nfirst of these lands which Ahriman destroyed with snow and frost is to\nbe regarded as the original home of the Iranians, or that they ever in\nthe past emigrated from any of them. The assumption that a migration\nrecord of historical value conceals itself within this geographical\nmythological sketch is a mere conjecture, and yet it was made the very\nbasis of the hypothesis so confidently built upon for years about\nCentral Asia as the starting-point of the Aryans.\n\nThe following year, 1868, a prominent German linguist--Mr. Benfey--came\nforward and definitely took Latham's side. He remarked at the outset\nthat hitherto geological investigations had found the oldest traces of\nhuman existence in the soil of Europe, and that, so long as this is the\ncase, there is no scientific fact which can admit the assumption that\nthe present European stock has immigrated from Asia after the quaternary\nperiod. The mother-tongues of many of the dialects which from time\nimmemorial have been spoken in Europe may just as well have originated\non this continent as the mother-tongues of the Mongolian dialects now\nspoken in Eastern Asia have originated where the descendants now dwell.\nThat the Aryan mother-tongue originated in Europe, not in Asia, Benfey\nfound probably on the following grounds: In Asia, lions are found even\nat the present time as far to the north as ancient Assyria, and the\ntigers make depredations over the highlands of Western Iran, even to the\ncoasts of the Caspian Sea. These great beasts of prey are known and\nnamed even among Asiatic people who dwell north of their habitats. If,\ntherefore, the ancient Aryans had lived in a country visited by these\nanimals, or if they had been their neighbours, they certainly would have\nhad names for them; but we find that the Aryan Hindoos call the lion by\na word not formed from an Aryan root, and that the Aryan Greeks borrowed\nthe word lion (_lis_, _leon_) from a Semitic language. (There is,\nhowever, division of opinion on this point.) Moreover, the Aryan\nlanguages have borrowed the word camel, by which the chief beast of\nburden in Asia is called. The home of this animal is Baktria, or\nprecisely that part of Central Asia in the vicinity of which an effort\nhas been made to locate the cradle of the Aryan tongue. Benfey thinks\nthe ancient Aryan country has been situated in Europe, north of the\nBlack Sea, between the mouth of the Danube and the Caspian Sea.\n\nSince the presentation of this argument, several defenders of the\nEuropean hypothesis have come forward, among them Geiger, Cuno, Friedr.\nMueller, Spiegel, Poesche, and more recently Schrader and Penka.\nSchrader's work, _Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte_, contains an\nexcellent general review of the history of the question, original\ncontributions to its solution, and a critical but cautious opinion in\nregard to its present position. In France, too, the European hypothesis\nhas found many adherents. Geiger found, indeed, that the cradle of the\nAryan race was to be looked for much farther to the west than Benfey and\nothers had supposed. His hypothesis, based on the evidence furnished by\nthe geography of plants, places the ancient Aryan land in Germany. The\ncautious Schrader, who dislikes to deal with conjectures, regards the\nquestion as undecided, but he weighs the arguments presented by the\nvarious sides, and reaches the conclusion that those in favour of the\nEuropean origin of the Aryans are the stronger, but that they are not\nconclusive. Schrader himself, through his linguistic and historical\ninvestigations, has been led to believe that the Aryans, while they\nstill were one people, belonged to the stone age, and had not yet become\nacquainted with the use of metals.\n\n\n 5.\n\n THE ARYAN LAND OF EUROPE.\n\n\nOn _one_ point--and that is for our purpose the most important one--the\nadvocates of both hypotheses have approached each other. The leaders of\nthe defenders of the Asiatic hypothesis have ceased to regard Asia as\nthe cradle of all the dialects into which the ancient Aryan tongue has\nbeen divided. While they cling to the theory that the Aryan inhabitants\nof Europe have immigrated from Asia, they have well-nigh entirely ceased\nto claim that these peoples, already before their departure from their\nEastern home, were so distinctly divided linguistically that it was\nnecessary to imagine certain branches of the race speaking Celtic,\nothers Teutonic, others, again, Greco-Italian, even before they came to\nEurope. The prevailing opinion among the advocates of the Asiatic\nhypothesis now doubtless is, that the Aryans who immigrated to Europe\nformed one homogeneous mass, which gradually on our continent divided\nitself definitely into Celts, Teutons, Slavs, and Greco-Italians. The\nadherents of both hypotheses have thus been able to agree that there has\nbeen _a European-Aryan country_. And the question as to where it was\nlocated is of the most vital importance, as it is closely connected with\nthe question of the _original home of the Teutons_, since the ancestors\nof the Teutons must have inhabited this ancient European-Aryan country.\n\nPhilology has attempted to answer the former question by comparing all\nthe words of all the Aryan-European languages. The attempt has many\nobstacles to overcome; for, as Schrader has remarked, the ancient words\nwhich to-day are common to all or several of these languages are\npresumably a mere remnant of the ancient European-Aryan vocabulary.\nNevertheless, it is possible to arrive at important results in this\nmanner, if we draw conclusions from the words that remain, but take care\nnot to draw conclusions from what is wanting.\n\nThe view gained in this manner is, briefly stated, as follows:\n\nThe Aryan country of Europe has been situated in latitudes where snow\nand ice are common phenomena. The people who have emigrated thence to\nmore southern climes have not forgotten either the one or the other name\nof those phenomena. To a comparatively northern latitude points also the\ncircumstance that the ancient European Aryans recognised only three\nseasons--winter, spring, and summer. This division of the year continued\namong the Teutons even in the days of Tacitus. For autumn they had no\nname.\n\nMany words for mountains, valley, streams, and brooks common to all the\nlanguages show that the European-Aryan land was not wanting in\nelevations, rocks, and flowing waters. Nor has it been a treeless plain.\nThis is proven by many names of trees. The trees are fir, birch, willow,\nelm, elder, hazel, and a beech called _bhaga_, which means a tree with\neatable fruit. From this word _bhaga_ is derived the Greek _phegos_, the\nLatin _fagus_, the German _Buche_, and the Swedish _bok_. But it is a\nremarkable fact that the Greeks did not call the beech but the oak\n_phegos_, while the Romans called the beech _fagus_. From this we\nconclude that the European Aryans applied the word _bhaga_ both to the\nbeech and the oak, since both bear similar fruit; but in some parts of\nthe country the name was particularly applied to the beech, in others to\nthe oak. The beech is a species of tree which gradually approaches the\nnorth. On the European continent it is not found east of a line drawn\nfrom Koenigsberg across Poland and Podolia to Crimea. This leads to the\nconclusion that the Aryan country of Europe must to a great extent have\nbeen situated west of this line, and that the regions inhabited by the\nancestors of the Romans, and north of them by the progenitors of the\nTeutons, must be looked for west of this botanical line, and between the\nAlps and the North Sea.\n\nLinguistic comparisons also show that the Aryan territory of Europe was\nsituated near an ocean or large body of water. Scandinavians, Germans,\nCelts, and Romans have preserved a common name for the ocean--the Old\nNorse _mar_, the Old High German _mari_, the Latin _mare_. The names of\ncertain sea-animals are also common to various Aryan languages. The\nSwedish _hummer_ (lobster) corresponds to the Greek _kamaros_, and the\nSwedish _sael_ (seal) to the Greek _selachos_.\n\nIn the Aryan country of Europe there were domestic animals--cows, sheep,\nand goats. The horse was also known, but it is uncertain whether it was\nused for riding or driving, or simply valued on account of its flesh\nand milk. On the other hand, the ass was not known, its domain being\nparticularly the plains of Central Asia.\n\nThe bear, wolf, otter, and beaver certainly belonged to the fauna of\nAryan Europe.\n\nThe European Aryans must have cultivated at least one, perhaps two kinds\nof grain; also flax, the name of which is preserved in the Greek _linon_\n(linen), the Latin _linum_, and in other languages.\n\nThe Aryans knew the art of brewing mead from honey. That they also\nunderstood the art of drinking it even to excess may be taken for\ngranted. This drink was dear to the hearts of the ancient Aryans, and\nits name has been faithfully preserved both by the tribes that settled\nnear the Ganges, and by those who emigrated to Great Britain. The\nBrahmin by the Ganges still knows this beverage as _madhu_, the Welchman\nhas known it as _medu_, the Lithuanian as _medus_; and when the Greek\nAryans came to Southern Europe and became acquainted with wine, they\ngave it the name of mead (_methu_).\n\nIt is not probable that the European Aryans knew bronze or iron, or, if\nthey did know any of the metals, had any large quantity or made any\ndaily use of them, so long as they linguistically formed one homogeneous\nbody, and lived in that part of Europe which we here call the Aryan\ndomain. The only common name for metal is that which we find in the\nLatin _aes_ (copper), in the Gothic _aiz_, and in the Hindooic _ayas_.\nAs is known, the Latin _aes_, like the Gothic _aiz_, means both copper\nand bronze. That the word originally meant copper, and afterwards came\nto signify bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin, seems to be a\nmatter of course, and that it was applied only to copper and not to\nbronze among the ancient Aryans seems clear not only because a common\nname for tin is wanting, but also for the far better and remarkable\nreason particularly pointed out by Schrader, that all the Aryan European\nlanguages, even those which are nearest akin to each other and are each\nother's neighbours, lack a common word for the tools of a smith and the\ninventory of a forge, and also for the various kinds of weapons of\ndefence and attack. Most of all does it astonish us, that in respect to\nweapons the dissimilarity of names is so complete in the Greek and Roman\ntongues. Despite this fact, the ancient Aryans have certainly used\nvarious kinds of weapons--the club, the hammer, the axe, the knife, the\nspear, and the crossbow. All these weapons are of such a character that\nthey could be made of stone, wood, and horn. Things more easily change\nnames when the older materials of which they were made give place to new\nhitherto unknown materials. It is, therefore, probable that the European\nAryans were in the stone age, and at best were acquainted with copper\nbefore and during the period when their language was divided into\nseveral dialects.\n\nWhere, then, on our continent was the home of this Aryan European people\nin the stone age? Southern Europe, with its peninsulas extending into\nthe Mediterranean, must doubtless have been outside of the boundaries of\nthe Aryan land of Europe. The Greek Aryans have immigrated to Hellas,\nand the Italian Aryans are immigrants to the Italian peninsula. Spain\nhas even within historical times been inhabited by Iberians and\nBasques, and Basques dwell there at present: If, as the linguistic\nmonuments seem to prove, the European Aryans lived near an ocean, this\ncannot have been the Mediterranean Sea. There remain the Black and\nCaspian Sea on the one hand, the Baltic and the North Sea on the other.\nBut if, as the linguistic monuments likewise seem to prove, the European\nAryans for a great part, at least, lived west of a botanical line\nindicated by the beech in a country producing fir, oak, elm, and elder,\nthen they could not have been limited to the treeless plains which\nextend along the Black Sea from the mouth of the Danube, through\nDobrudscha, Bessarabia, and Cherson, past the Crimea. Students of early\nGreek history do not any longer assume that the Hellenic immigrants\nfound their way through these countries to Greece, but that they came\nfrom the north-west and followed the Adriatic down to Epirus; in other\nwords, they came the same way as the Visigoths under Alarik, and the\nEastgoths under Theodoric in later times. Even the Latin tribes came\nfrom the north. The migrations of the Celts, so far as history sheds any\nlight on the subject, were from the north and west toward the south and\neast. The movements of the Teutonic races were from north to south, and\nthey migrated both eastward and westward. Both prehistoric and historic\nfacts thus tend to establish the theory that the Aryan domain of Europe,\nwithin undefinable limits, comprised the central and north part of\nEurope; and as one or more seas were known to these Aryans, we cannot\nexclude from the limits of this knowledge the ocean penetrating the\nnorth of Europe from the west.\n\nOn account of their undeveloped agriculture, which compelled them to\ndepend chiefly on cattle for their support, the European Aryans must\nhave occupied an extensive territory. Of the mutual position and of the\nmovements of the various tribes within this territory nothing can be\nstated, except that sooner or later, but already away back in\nprehistoric times, they must have occupied precisely the position in\nwhich we find them at the dawn of history and which they now hold. The\nAryan tribes which first entered Gaul must have lived west of those\ntribes which became the progenitors of the Teutons, and the latter must\nhave lived west of those who spread an Aryan language over Russia. South\nof this line, but still in Central Europe, there must have dwelt another\nbody of Aryans, the ancestors of the Greeks and Romans, the latter west\nof the former. Farthest to the north of all these tribes must have dwelt\nthose people who afterwards produced the Teutonic tongue.\n\n\n\n\n B. ANCIENT TEUTONDOM (GERMANIEN).\n\n\n 6.\n\n THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF ANCIENT TEUTONDOM.\n\n THE STONE AGE OF PREHISTORIC TEUTONDOM.\n\n\nThe northern position of the ancient Teutons necessarily had the effect\nthat they, better than all other Aryan people, preserved their original\nrace-type, as they were less exposed to mixing with non-Aryan elements.\nIn the south, west, and east, they had kinsmen, separating them from\nnon-Aryan races. To the north, on the other hand, lay a territory which,\nby its very nature, could be but sparsely populated, if it was inhabited\nat all, before it was occupied by the fathers of the Teutons. The\nTeutonic type, which doubtless also was the Aryan in general before much\nspreading and consequent mixing with other races had taken place, has,\nas already indicated, been described in the following manner: Tall,\nwhite skin, blue eyes, fair hair. Anthropological science has given them\none more mark--they are dolicocephalous, that is, having skulls whose\nanterior-posterior diameter, or that from the frontal to the occipital\nbone, exceeds the transverse diameter. This type appears most pure in\nthe modern Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and to some extent the Dutch, in\nthe inhabitants of those parts of Great Britain that are most densely\nsettled by Saxon and Scandinavian emigrants; and in the people of\ncertain parts of North Germany. Welcker's craniological measurements\ngive the following figures for the breadth and length of Teutonic\nskulls:\n\nSwedes and Hollanders, 75--71\nIcelanders and Danes, 76--71\nEnglishmen, 76--73\nHolsteinians, 77--71\nHanoverians, The vicinity of Jena, Bonn, and Cologne, 77--72\nHessians, 79--72\nSwabians, 79--73\nBavarians, 80--74\n\nThus the dolicocephalous form passes in Middle and Southern Germany into\nthe brachycephalous. The investigations made at the suggestion of\nVirchow in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria, in regard to\nblonde and brunette types, are of great interest. An examination of more\nthan nine million individuals showed the following result:\n\nGermany, 31.80% blonde, 14.05% brunette, 54.15% mixed.\nAustria, 19.79% blonde, 23.17% brunette, 57.04% mixed.\nSwitzerland, 11.10% blonde, 25.70% brunette, 61.40% mixed.\n\nThus the blonde type has by far a greater number of representatives in\nGermany than in the southern part of Central Europe, though the latter\nhas German-speaking inhabitants. In Germany itself the blonde type\ndecreases and the brunette increases from north to south, while at the\nsame time the dolicocephalous gives place to the brachycephalous.\nSouthern Germany has 25% of brunettes, North Germany only 7%.\n\nIf we now, following the strict rules of methodology which Latham\ninsists on, bear in mind that the cradle of a race- or language-type\nshould, if there are no definite historical facts to the contrary,\nespecially be looked for where this type is most abundant and least\nchanged, then there is no doubt that the part of Aryan Europe which the\nancestors of the Teutons inhabited when they developed the Aryan tongue\ninto the Teutonic must have included the coast of the Baltic and the\nNorth Sea. This theory is certainly not contradicted, but, on the other\nhand, supported by the facts so far as we have any knowledge of them.\nRoman history supplies evidence that the same parts of Europe in which\nthe Teutonic type predominates at the present time were Teutonic already\nat the beginning of our era, and that then already the Scandinavian\npeninsula was inhabited by a North Teutonic people, which, among their\nkinsmen on the Continent, were celebrated for their wealth in ships and\nwarriors. Centuries must have passed ere the Teutonic colonisation of\nthe peninsula could have developed into so much strength--centuries\nduring which, judging from all indications, the transition from the\nbronze to the iron age in Scandinavia must have taken place. The\npainstaking investigations of Montelius, conducted on the principle of\nmethodology, have led him to the conclusion that Scandinavia and North\nGermany formed during the bronze age one common domain of culture in\nregard to weapons and implements. The manner in which the other domains\nof culture group themselves in Europe leaves no other place for the\nTeutonic race than Scandinavia and North Germany, and possibly\nAustria-Hungary, which the Teutonic domain resembles most. Back of the\nbronze age lies the stone age. The examinations, by v. Dueben, Gustaf\nRetzius, and Virchow, of skeletons found in northern graves from the\nstone age prove the existence at that time of a race in the North which,\nso far as the characteristics of the skulls are concerned, cannot be\ndistinguished from the race now dwelling there. Here it is necessary to\ntake into consideration the results of probability reached by\ncomparative philology, showing that the European Aryans were still in\nthe stone age when they divided themselves into Celts, Teutons, etc.,\nand occupied separate territories, and the fact that the Teutons, so far\nback as conclusions may be drawn from historical knowledge have\noccupied a more northern domain than their kinsmen. Thus all tends to\nshow that when the Scandinavian peninsula was first settled by\nAryans--doubtless coming from the South by way of Denmark--these Aryans\nbelonged to the same race, which, later in history, appear with a\nTeutonic physiognomy and with Teutonic speech, and that their\nimmigration to and occupation of the southern parts of the peninsula\ntook place in the time of the Aryan stone age.\n\nFor the history of civilisation, and particularly for mythology, these\nresults are important. It is a problem to be solved by comparative\nmythology what elements in the various groups of Aryan myths may be the\noriginal common property of the race while the race was yet undivided.\nThe conclusions reached gain in trustworthiness the further the Aryan\ntribes, whose myths are compared, are separated from each other\ngeographically. If, for instance, the Teutonic mythology on the one hand\nand the Asiatic Aryan (Avesta and Rigveda) on the other are made the\nsubject of comparative study, and if groups of myths are found which are\nidentical not only in their general character and in many details, but\nalso in the grouping of the details and the epic connection of the\nmyths, then the probability that they belong to an age when the\nancestors of the Teutons and those of the Asiatic Aryans dwelt together\nis greater, in the same proportion as the probability of an intimate and\ndetailed exchange of ideas after the separation grows less between these\ntribes on account of the geographical distance. With all the certainty\nwhich it is possible for research to arrive at in this field, we may\nassume that these common groups of myths--at least the centres around\nwhich they revolve--originated at a time when the Aryans still formed,\nso to speak, a geographical and linguistic unity--in all probability at\na time which lies far back in a common Aryan stone age. The discovery of\ngroups of myths of this sort thus sheds light on beliefs and ideas that\nexisted in the minds of our ancestors in an age of which we have no\ninformation save that which we get from the study of the finds. The\nlatter, when investigated by painstaking and penetrating archaeological\nscholars, certainly give us highly instructive information in other\ndirections. In this manner it becomes possible to distinguish between\nolder and younger elements of Teutonic mythology, and to secure a basis\nfor studying its development through centuries which have left us no\nliterary monuments.\n\n\n\n\n II.\n\n A. MEDIAEVAL MIGRATION SAGAS.\n\n THE LEARNED SAGA IN REGARD TO THE EMIGRATION FROM\n TROY-ASGARD.\n\n\n 7.\n\n THE SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA.\n\n\nIn the preceding pages we have given the reasons which make it appear\nproper to assume that ancient Teutondom, within certain indefinable\nlimits, included the coasts of the Baltic and the North Sea, that the\nScandinavian countries constituted a part of this ancient Teutondom, and\nthat they have been peopled by Teutons since the days of the stone age.\n\nThe subject which I am now about to discuss requires an investigation in\nreference to what the Teutons themselves believed, in regard to this\nquestion, in the earliest times of which we have knowledge. Did they\nlook upon themselves as aborigines or as immigrants in Teutondom? For\nthe mythology, the answer to this question is of great weight. For\npragmatic history, on the other hand, the answer is of little\nimportance, for whatever they believed gives no reliable basis for\nconclusions in regard to historical facts. If they regarded themselves\nas aborigines, this does not hinder their having immigrated in\nprehistoric times, though their traditions have ceased to speak of it.\nIf they regarded themselves as immigrants, then it does not follow that\nthe traditions, in regard to the immigration, contain any historical\nkernel. Of the former we have an example in the case of the Brahmins and\nthe higher castes in India: their orthodoxy requires them to regard\nthemselves as aborigines of the country in which they live, although\nthere is evidence that they are immigrants. Of the latter the Swedes are\nan example: the people here have been taught to believe that a greater\nor less portion of the inhabitants of Sweden are descended from\nimmigrants who, led by Odin, are supposed to have come here about one\nhundred years before the birth of Christ, and that this immigration,\nwhether it brought many or few people, was of the most decisive\ninfluence on the culture of the country, so that Swedish history might\nproperly begin with the moment when Odin planted his feet on Swedish\nsoil.\n\nThe more accessible sources of the traditions in regard to Odin's\nimmigration to Scandinavia are found in the Icelandic works,\nHeimskringla and the Prose Edda. Both sources are from the same time,\nthat is, the thirteenth century, and are separated by more than two\nhundred years from the heathen age in Iceland.\n\nWe will first consider Heimskringla's story. A river, by name Tanakvisl,\nor Vanakvisl, empties into the Black Sea. This river separates Asia from\nEurope. East of Tanakvisl, that is to say, then in Asia, is a country\nformerly called Asaland or Asaheim, and the chief citadel or town in\nthat country was called Asgard. It was a great city of sacrifices, and\nthere dwelt a chief who was known by the name Odin. Under him ruled\ntwelve men who were high-priests and judges. Odin was a great chieftain\nand conqueror, and so victorious was he, that his men believed that\nvictory was wholly inseparable from him. If he laid his blessing hand on\nanybody's head, success was sure to attend him. Even if he was absent,\nif called upon in distress or danger, his very name seemed to give\ncomfort. He frequently went far away, and often remained absent\nhalf-a-year at a time. His kingdom was then ruled by his brothers Vile\nand Ve. Once he was absent so long that the Asas believed that he would\nnever return. Then his brothers married his wife Frigg. Finally he\nreturned, however, and took Frigg back again.\n\nThe Asas had a people as their neighbours called the Vans. Odin made war\non the Vans, but they defended themselves bravely. When both parties had\nbeen victorious and suffered defeat, they grew weary of warring, made\npeace, and exchanged hostages. The Vans sent their son Njord and his son\nFrey, and also Kvaser, as hostages to the Asas; and the latter gave in\nexchange Honer and Mimer. Odin gave Njord and Frey the dignity of\npriests. Frey's sister, too, Freyja, was made a priestess. The Vans\ntreated the hostages they had received with similar consideration, and\ncreated Honer a chief and judge. But they soon seemed to discover that\nHoner was a stupid fellow. They considered themselves cheated in the\nexchange, and, being angry on this account, they cut off the head, not\nof Honer, but of his wise brother Mimer, and sent it to Odin. He\nembalmed the head, sang magic songs over it, so that it could talk to\nhim and tell him many strange things.\n\nAsaland, where Odin ruled is separated by a great mountain range from\nTyrkland, by which Heimskringla means Asia Minor, of which the\ncelebrated Troy was supposed to have been the capital. In Tyrkland, Odin\nalso had great possessions. But at that time the Romans invaded and\nsubjugated all lands, and many rulers fled on that account from their\nkingdoms. And Odin, being wise and versed in the magic art, and knowing,\ntherefore, that his descendants were to people the northern part of the\nworld, he left his kingdom to his brothers Vile and Ve, and migrated\nwith many followers to Gardarike, Russia. Njord, Frey, and Freyja, and\nthe other priests who had ruled under him in Asgard, accompanied him,\nand sons of his were also with him. From Gardarike he proceeded to\nSaxland, conquered vast countries, and made his sons rulers over them.\nFrom Saxland he went to Funen, and settled there. Seeland did not then\nexist. Odin sent the maid Gefion north across the water to investigate\nwhat country was situated there. At that time ruled in Svithiod a chief\nby name Gylfe. He gave Gefion a ploughland,[3] and, by the help of four\ngiants changed into oxen, Gefion cut out with the plough, and dragged\ninto the sea near Funen that island which is now called Seeland. Where\nthe land was ploughed away there is now a lake called Logrin. Skjold,\nOdin's son, got this land, and married Gefion. And when Gefion informed\nOdin that Gylfe possessed a good land, Odin went thither, and Gylfe,\nbeing unable to make resistance, though he too was a wise man skilled in\nwitchcraft and sorcery, a peaceful compact was made, according to which\nOdin acquired a vast territory around Logrin; and in Sigtuna he\nestablished a great temple, where sacrifices henceforth were offered\naccording to the custom of the Asas. To his priests he gave\ndwellings--Noatun to Njord, Upsala to Frey, Himminbjorg to Heimdal,\nThrudvang to Thor, Breidablik to Balder, &c. Many new sports came to the\nNorth with Odin, and he and the Asas taught them to the people. Among\nother things, he taught them poetry and runes. Odin himself always\ntalked in measured rhymes. Besides, he was a most excellent sorcerer. He\ncould change shape, make his foes in a conflict blind and deaf; he was a\nwizard, and could wake the dead. He owned the ship Skidbladner, which\ncould be folded as a napkin. He had two ravens, which he had taught to\nspeak, and they brought him tidings from all lands. He knew where all\ntreasures were hid in the earth, and could call them forth with the aid\nof magic songs. Among the customs he introduced in the North were\ncremation of the dead, the raising of mounds in memory of great men, the\nerection of bauta-stones in commemoration of others; and he introduced\nthe three great sacrificial feasts--for a good year, for good crops, and\nfor victory. Odin died in Svithiod. When he perceived the approach of\ndeath, he suffered himself to be marked with the point of a spear, and\ndeclared that he was going to Gudheim to visit his friends and receive\nall fallen in battle. This the Swedes believed. They have since\nworshipped him in the belief that he had an eternal life in the ancient\nAsgard, and they thought he revealed himself to them before great\nbattles took place. On Svea's throne he was followed by Njord, the\nprogenitor of the race of Ynglings. Thus Heimskringla.\n\nWe now pass to the Younger Edda,[4] which in its Foreword gives us in\nthe style of that time a general survey of history and religion.\n\nFirst, it gives from the Bible the story of creation and the deluge.\nThen a long story is told of the building of the tower of Babel. The\ndescendants of Noah's son, Ham, warred against and conquered the sons of\nSem, and tried in their arrogance to build a tower which should aspire\nto heaven itself. The chief manager in this enterprise was Zoroaster,\nand seventy-two master-masons and joiners served under him. But God\nconfounded the tongues of these arrogant people so that each one of the\nseventy-two masters with those under him got their own language, which\nthe others could not understand, and then each went his own way, and in\nthis manner arose the seventy-two different languages in the world.\nBefore that time only one language was spoken, and that was Hebrew.\nWhere they tried to build the tower a city was founded and called\nBabylon. There Zoroaster became a king and ruled over many Assyrian\nnations, among which he introduced idolatry, and which worshiped him as\nBaal. The tribes that departed with his master-workmen also fell into\nidolatry, excepting the one tribe which kept the Hebrew language. It\npreserved also the original and pure faith. Thus, while Babylon became\none of the chief altars of heathen worship, the island Crete became\nanother. There was born a man, by name Saturnus, who became for the\nCretans and Macedonians what Zoroaster was for the Assyrians. Saturnus'\nknowledge and skill in magic, and his art of producing gold from red-hot\niron, secured him the power of a prince on Crete; and as he, moreover,\nhad control over all invisible forces, the Cretans and Macedonians\nbelieved that he was a god, and he encouraged them in this faith. He had\nthree sons--Jupiter, Neptunus, and Plutus. Of these, Jupiter resembled\nhis father in skill and magic, and he was a great warrior who conquered\nmany peoples. When Saturnus divided his kingdom among his sons, a feud\narose. Plutus got as his share hell, and as this was the least desirable\npart he also received the dog named Cerberus. Jupiter, who received\nheaven, was not satisfied with this, but wanted the earth too. He made\nwar against his father, who had to seek refuge in Italy, where he, out\nof fear of Jupiter, changed his name and called himself Njord, and where\nhe became a useful king, teaching the inhabitants, who lived on nuts and\nroots, to plough and plant vineyards.\n\nJupiter had many sons. From one of them, Dardanus, descended in the\nfifth generation Priamus of Troy. Priamus' son was Hektor, who in\nstature and strength was the foremost man in the world. From the Trojans\nthe Romans are descended; and when Rome had grown to be a great power it\nadopted many laws and customs which had prevailed among the Trojans\nbefore them. Troy was situated in Tyrkland, near the centre of the\nearth. Under Priamus, the chief ruler, there were twelve tributary\nkings, and they spoke twelve languages. These twelve tributary kings\nwere exceedingly wise men; they received the honour of gods, and from\nthem all European chiefs are descended. One of these twelve was called\nMunon or Mennon. He was married to a daughter of Priamus, and had with\nher the son Tror, \"whom we call Thor.\" He was a very handsome man, his\nhair shone fairer than gold, and at the age of twelve he was full-grown,\nand so strong that he could lift twelve bear-skins at the same time. He\nslew his foster-father and foster-mother, took possession of his\nfoster-father's kingdom Thracia, \"which we call Thrudheim,\" and\nthenceforward he roamed about the world, conquering berserks, giants,\nthe greatest dragon, and other prodigies. In the North he met a\nprophetess by name Sibil (Sibylla), \"whom we call Sif,\" and her he\nmarried. In the twentieth generation from this Thor, Vodin descended,\n\"whom we call Odin,\" a very wise and well-informed man, who married\nFrigida, \"whom we call Frigg.\"\n\nAt that time the Roman general Pompey was making wars in the East, and\nalso threatened the empire of Odin. Meanwhile Odin and his wife had\nlearned through prophetic inspiration that a glorious future awaited\nthem in the northern part of the world. He therefore emigrated from\nTyrkland, and took with him many people, old and young, men and women,\nand costly treasures. Wherever they came they appeared to the\ninhabitants more like gods than men. And they did not stop before they\ncame as far north as Saxland. There Odin remained a long time. One of\nhis sons, Veggdegg, he appointed king of Saxland. Another son, Beldegg,\n\"whom we call Balder,\" he made king in Westphalia. A third son, Sigge,\nbecame king in Frankland. Then Odin proceeded farther to the north and\ncame to Reidgothaland, which is now called Jutland, and there took\npossession of as much as he wanted. There he appointed his son Skjold as\nking; then he came to Svithiod.\n\nHere ruled king Gylfe. When he heard of the expedition of Odin and his\nAsiatics he went to meet them, and offered Odin as much land and as much\npower in his kingdom as he might desire. One reason why people\neverywhere gave Odin so hearty a welcome and offered him land and power\nwas that wherever Odin and his men tarried on their journey the people\ngot good harvests and abundant crops, and therefore they believed that\nOdin and his men controlled the weather and the growing grain. Odin went\nwith Gylfe up to the lake \"Logrin\" and saw that the land was good; and\nthere he chose as his citadel the place which is called Sigtuna,\nfounding there the same institutions as had existed in Troy, and to\nwhich the Turks were accustomed. Then he organised a council of twelve\nmen, who were to make laws and settle disputes. From Svithiod Odin went\nto Norway, and there made his son Saeming king. But the ruling of\nSvithiod he had left to his son Yngve, from whom the race of Ynglings\nare descended. The Asas and their sons married the women of the land of\nwhich they had taken possession, and their descendants, who preserved\nthe language spoken in Troy, multiplied so fast that the Trojan language\ndisplaced the old tongue and became the speech of Svithiod, Norway,\nDenmark, and Saxland, and thereafter also of England.\n\nThe Prose Edda's first part, Gylfaginning, consists of a collection of\nmythological tales told to the reader in the form of a conversation\nbetween the above-named king of Sweden, Gylfe, and the Asas. Before the\nAsas had started on their journey to the North, it is here said Gylfe\nhad learned that they were a wise and knowing people who had success in\nall their undertakings. And believing that this was a result either of\nthe nature of these people, or of their peculiar kind of worship, he\nresolved to investigate the matter secretly, and therefore betook\nhimself in the guise of an old man to Asgard. But the foreknowing Asas\nknew in advance that he was coming, and resolved to receive him with all\nsorts of sorcery, which might give him a high opinion of them. He\nfinally came to a citadel, the roof of which was thatched with golden\nshields, and the hall of which was so large that he scarcely could see\nthe whole of it. At the entrance stood a man playing with sharp tools,\nwhich he threw up in the air and caught again with his hands, and seven\naxes were in the air at the same time. This man asked the traveller his\nname. The latter answered that he was named Ganglere, that he had made a\nlong journey over rough roads, and asked for lodgings for the night. He\nalso asked whose the citadel was. The juggler answered that it belonged\nto their king, and conducted Gylfe into the hall, where many people\nwere assembled. Some sat drinking, others amused themselves at games,\nand still others were practising with weapons. There were three\nhigh-seats in the hall, one above the other, and in each high-seat sat a\nman. In the lowest sat the king; and the juggler informed Gylfe that the\nking's name was Har; that the one who sat next above him was named\nJafnhar; and that the one who sat on the highest throne was named Thride\n(_thridi_). Har asked the stranger what his errand was, and invited him\nto eat and drink. Gylfe answered that he first wished to know whether\nthere was any wise man in the hall. Har replied that the stranger should\nnot leave the hall whole unless he was victorious in a contest in\nwisdom. Gylfe now begins his questions, which all concern the worship of\nthe Asas, and the three men in the high-seats give him answers. Already\nin the first answer it appears that the Asgard to which Gylfe thinks he\nhas come is, in the opinion of the author, a younger Asgard, and\npresumably the same as the author of Heimskringla places beyond the\nriver Tanakvisl, but there had existed an older Asgard identical with\nTroy in Tyrkland, where, according to Heimskringla, Odin had extensive\npossessions at the time when the Romans began their invasions in the\nEast. When Gylfe with his questions had learned the most important facts\nin regard to the religion of Asgard, and had at length been instructed\nconcerning the destruction and regeneration of the world, he perceived a\nmighty rumbling and quaking, and when he looked about him the citadel\nand hall had disappeared, and he stood beneath the open sky. He returned\nto Svithiod and related all that he had seen and heard among the Asas;\nbut when he had gone they counselled together, and they agreed to call\nthemselves by those names which they used in relating their stories to\nGylfe. These sagas, remarks Gylfaginning, were in reality none but\nhistorical events transformed into traditions about divinities. They\ndescribed events which had occurred in the older Asgard--that is to say,\nTroy. The basis of the stories told to Gylfe about Thor were the\nachievements of Hektor in Troy, and the Loke of whom Gylfe had heard\nwas, in fact, none other than Ulixes (Ulysses), who was the foe of the\nTrojans, and consequently was represented as the foe of the gods.\n\nGylfaginning is followed by another part of the Prose Edda called\n_Bragaroedur_ (Brage's Talk), which is presented in a similar form. On\nLessoe, so it is said, dwelt formerly a man by name _AEgir_. He, like\nGylfe, had heard reports concerning the wisdom of the Asas, and resolved\nto visit them. He, like Gylfe, comes to a place where the Asas receive\nhim with all sorts of magic arts, and conduct him into a hall which is\nlighted up in the evening with shining swords. There he is invited to\ntake his seat by the side of Brage, and there were twelve high-seats in\nwhich sat men who were called Thor, Njord, Frey, &c., and women who were\ncalled Frigg, Freyja, Nanna, &c. The hall was splendidly decorated with\nshields. The mead passed round was exquisite, and the talkative Brage\ninstructed the guest in the traditions concerning the Asas' art of\npoetry. A postscript to the treatise warns young skalds not to place\nconfidence in the stories told to Gylfe and _AEgir_. The author of the\npostscript says they have value only as a key to the many metaphors\nwhich occur in the poems of the great skalds, but upon the whole they\nare deceptions invented by the Asas or Asiamen to make people believe\nthat they were gods. Still, the author thinks these falsifications have\nan historical kernel. They are, he thinks, based on what happened in the\nancient Asgard, that is, Troy. Thus, for instance, Ragnarok is\noriginally nothing else than the siege of Troy; Thor is, as stated,\nHektor; the Midgard-serpent is one of the heroes slain by Hektor; the\nFenris-wolf is Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, who slew Priam (Odin); and\nVidar, who survives Ragnarok, is AEneas.\n\n[Footnote 3: As much land as can be ploughed in a day.]\n\n[Footnote 4: A translation of the Younger or Prose Edda was edited by R.\nB. Anderson and published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago, in 1881.]\n\n\n 8.\n\n THE TROY SAGA IN HEIMSKRINGLA AND THE PROSE EDDA\n (_continued_).\n\n\nThe sources of the traditions concerning the Asiatic immigration to the\nNorth belong to the Icelandic literature, and to it alone. Saxo's\n_Historia Danica_, the first books of which were written toward the\nclose of the twelfth century, presents on this topic its own peculiar\nview, which will be discussed later. The Icelandic accounts disagree\nonly in unimportant details; the fundamental view is the same, and they\nhave flown from the same fountain vein. Their contents may be summed up\nthus:\n\nAmong the tribes who after the Babylonian confusion of tongues emigrated\nto various countries, there was a body of people who settled and\nintroduced their language in Asia Minor, which in the sagas is called\nTyrkland; in Greece, which in the sagas is called Macedonia; and in\nCrete. In Tyrkland they founded the great city which was called Troy.\nThis city was attacked by the Greeks during the reign of the Trojan king\nPriam. Priam descended from Jupiter and the latter's father Saturnus,\nand accordingly belonged to a race which the idolaters looked upon as\ndivine. Troy was a very large city; twelve languages were spoken there,\nand Priam had twelve tributary kings under him. But however powerful the\nTrojans were, and however bravely they defended themselves under the\nleadership of the son of Priam's daughter, that valiant hero Thor, still\nthey were defeated. Troy was captured and burned by the Greeks, and\nPriam himself was slain. Of the surviving Trojans two parties emigrated\nin different directions. They seem in advance to have been well informed\nin regard to the quality of foreign lands; for Thor, the son of Priam's\ndaughter, had made extensive expeditions in which he had fought giants\nand monsters. On his journeys he had even visited the North, and there\nhe had met Sibil, the celebrated prophetess, and married her. One of the\nparties of Trojan emigrants embarked under the leadership of AEneas for\nItaly, and founded Rome. The other party, accompanied by Thor's son,\nLoride, went to Asialand, which is separated from Tyrkland by a mountain\nridge, and from Europe by the river Tanais or Tanakvisl. There they\nfounded a new city called Asgard, and there preserved the old customs\nand usages brought from Troy. Accordingly, there was organised in\nAsgard, as in Troy, a council of twelve men, who were high priests and\njudges. Many centuries passed without any political contact between the\nnew Trojan settlements in Rome and Asgard, though both well remembered\ntheir Trojan origin, and the Romans formed many of their institutions\nafter the model of the old fatherland. Meanwhile, Rome had grown to be\none of the mightiest empires in the world, and began at length to send\narmies into Tyrkland. At that time there ruled in Asgard an exceedingly\nwise, prophetic king, Odin, who was skilled in the magic arts, and who\nwas descended in the twentieth generation from the above-mentioned Thor.\nOdin had waged many successful wars. The severest of these wars was the\none with a neighbouring people, the Vans; but this had been ended with\ncompromise and peace. In Tyrkland, the old mother country, Odin had\ngreat possessions, which fell into the hands of the Romans. This\ncircumstance strengthened him in his resolution to emigrate to the north\nof Europe. The prophetic vision with which he was endowed had told him\nthat his descendants would long flourish there. So he set out with his\nmany sons, and was accompanied by the twelve priests and by many people,\nbut not by all the inhabitants of the Asia country and of Asgard. A part\nof the people remained at home; and among them Odin's brothers Vile and\nVe. The expedition proceeded through Gardarike to Saxland; then across\nthe Danish islands to Svithiod and Norway. Everywhere this great\nmultitude of migrators was well received by the inhabitants. Odin's\nsuperior wisdom and his marvellous skill in sorcery, together with the\nfact that his progress was everywhere attended by abundant harvests,\ncaused the peoples to look upon him as a god, and to place their thrones\nat his disposal. He accordingly appointed his sons as kings in Saxland,\nDenmark, Svithiod, and Norway. Gylfe, the king of Svithiod, submitted to\nhis superiority and gave him a splendid country around Lake Maelar to\nrule over. There Odin built Sigtuna, the institutions of which were an\nimitation of those in Asgard and Troy. Poetry and many other arts came\nwith Odin to the Teutonic lands, and so, too, the Trojan tongue. Like\nhis ancestors, Saturnus and Jupiter, he was able to secure divine\nworship, which was extended even to his twelve priests. The religious\ntraditions which he scattered among the people, and which were believed\nuntil the introduction of Christianity, were misrepresentations spun\naround the memories of Troy's historical fate and its destruction, and\naround the events of Asgard.\n\n\n 9.\n\n SAXO'S RELATION OF THE STORY OF TROY.\n\n\nSuch is, in the main, the story which was current in Iceland in the\nthirteenth century, and which found its way to Scandinavia through the\nProse Edda and Heimskringla, concerning the immigration of Odin and the\nAsas. Somewhat older than these works is _Historia Danica_, by the\nDanish chronicler Saxo. Sturlason, the author of Heimskringla, was a lad\nof eight years when Saxo began to write his history, and he (Sturlason)\nhad certainly not begun to write history when Saxo had completed the\nfirst nine books of his work, which are based on the still-existing\nsongs and traditions found in Denmark, and of heathen origin. Saxo\nwrites as if he were unacquainted with Icelandic theories concerning an\nAsiatic immigration to the North, and he has not a word to say about\nOdin's reigning as king or chief anywhere in Scandinavia. This is the\nmore remarkable, since he holds the same view as the Icelanders and the\nchroniclers of the Middle Ages in general in regard to the belief that\nthe heathen myths were records of historical events, and that the\nheathen gods were historical persons, men changed into divinities; and\nour astonishment increases when we consider that he, in the heathen\nsongs and traditions on which he based the first part of his work,\nfrequently finds Odin's name, and consequently could not avoid\npresenting him in Danish history as an important character. In Saxo, as\nin the Icelandic works, Odin is a human being, and at the same time a\nsorcerer of the greatest power. Saxo and the Icelanders also agree that\nOdin came from the East. The only difference is that while the Icelandic\nhypothesis makes him rule in Asgard, Saxo locates his residence in\nByzantium, on the Bosphorus; but this is not far from the ancient Troy,\nwhere the Prose Edda locates his ancestors. From Byzantium, according to\nSaxo, the fame of his magic arts and of the miracles he performed\nreached even to the north of Europe. On account of these miracles he was\nworshipped as a god by the peoples, and to pay him honour the kings of\nthe North once sent to Byzantium a golden image, to which Odin by magic\narts imparted the power of speech. It is the myth about Mimer's head\nwhich Saxo here relates. But the kings of the North knew him not only by\nreport; they were also personally acquainted with him. He visited\nUpsala, a place which \"pleased him much.\" Saxo, like the Heimskringla,\nrelates that Odin was absent from his capital for a long time; and when\nwe examine his statements on this point, we find that Saxo is here\ntelling in his way the myth concerning the war which the Vans carried on\nsuccessfully against the Asas, and concerning Odin's expulsion from the\nmythic Asgard, situated in heaven (_Hist. Dan._, pp. 42-44; _vid._ No.\n36). Saxo also tells that Odin's son, Balder, was chosen king by the\nDanes \"on account of his personal merits and his respect-commanding\nqualities.\" But Odin himself has never, according to Saxo, had land or\nauthority in the North, though he was there worshipped as a god, and, as\nalready stated, Saxo is entirely silent in regard to any immigration of\nan Asiatic people to Scandinavia under the leadership of Odin.\n\nA comparison between him and the Icelanders will show at once that,\nalthough both parties are Euhemerists, and make Odin a man changed into\na god, Saxo confines himself more faithfully to the popular myths, and\nseeks as far as possible to turn them into history; while the\nIcelanders, on the other hand, begin with the learned theory in regard\nto the original kinship of the northern races with the Trojans and\nRomans, and around this theory as a nucleus they weave about the same\nmyths told as history as Saxo tells.\n\n\n 10.\n\n THE OLDER PERIODS OF THE TROY SAGA.\n\n\nHow did the belief that Troy was the original home of the Teutons arise?\nDoes it rest on native traditions? Has it been inspired by sagas and\ntraditions current among the Teutons themselves, and containing as\nkernel \"a faint reminiscence of an immigration from Asia,\" or is it a\nthought entirely foreign to the heathen Teutonic world, introduced in\nChristian times by Latin scholars? These questions shall now be\nconsidered.\n\nAlready in the seventh century--that is to say, more than five hundred\nyears before Heimskringla and the Prose Edda were written--a Teutonic\npeople were told by a chronicler that they were of the same blood as the\nRomans, that they had like the Romans emigrated from Troy, and that they\nhad the same share as the Romans in the glorious deeds of the Trojan\nheroes. This people were the Franks. Their oldest chronicler, Gregorius,\nbishop of Tours, who, about one hundred years before that time--that is\nto say, in the sixth century--wrote their history in ten books, does not\nsay a word about it. He, too, desires to give an account of the original\nhome of the Franks (_Hist. Franc._, ii. 9), and locates it quite a\ndistance from the regions around the lower Rhine, where they first\nappear in the light of history; but still not farther away than to\nPannonia. Of the coming of the Franks from Troy neither Gregorius knows\nanything nor the older authors, Sulpicius Alexander and others, whose\nworks he studied to find information in regard to the early history of\nthe Franks. But in the middle of the following century, about 650, an\nunknown author, who for reasons unknown, is called Fredegar, wrote a\nchronicle, which is in part a reproduction of Gregorius' historical\nwork, but also contains various other things in regard to the early\nhistory of the Franks, and among these the statement that they emigrated\nfrom Troy. He even gives us the sources from which he got this\ninformation. His sources are, according to his own statement, not\nFrankish, not popular songs or traditions, but two Latin authors--the\nChurch father Hieronymus and the poet Virgil. If we, then, go to these\nsources in order to compare Fredegar's statement with his authority, we\nfind that Hieronymus once names the Franks in passing, but never refers\nto their origin from Troy, and that Virgil does not even mention Franks.\nNevertheless, the reference to Virgil is the key to the riddle, as we\nshall show below. What Fredegar tells about the emigration of the Franks\nis this: A Frankish king, by the name Priam, ruled in Troy at the time\nwhen this city was conquered by the cunning of Ulysses. Then the Franks\nemigrated, and were afterwards ruled by a king named Friga. Under his\nreign a dispute arose between them, and they divided themselves into two\nparties, one of which settled in Macedonia, while the other, called\nafter Friga's name Frigians (Phrygians), migrated through Asia and\nsettled there. There they were again divided, and one part of them\nmigrated under king Francio into Europe, travelled across this\ncontinent, and settled, with their women and children, near the Rhine,\nwhere they began building a city which they called Troy, and intended\nto organise in the manner of the old Troy, but the city was not\ncompleted. The other group chose a king by name Turchot, and were called\nafter him Turks. But those who settled on the Rhine called themselves\nFranks after their king Francio, and later chose a king named Theudemer,\nwho was descended from Priam, Friga, and Francio. Thus Fredegar's\nchronicle.\n\nAbout seventy years later another Frankish chronicle saw the light of\nday--the _Gesta regum Francorum_. In it we learn more of the emigration\nof the Franks from Troy. _Gesta regum Francorum_ (i) tells the following\nstory: In Asia lies the city of the Trojans called Ilium, where king\nAEneas formerly ruled. The Trojans were a strong and brave people, who\nwaged war against all their neighbours. But then the kings of the Greeks\nunited and brought a large army against AEneas, king of the Trojans.\nThere were great battles and much bloodshed, and the greater part of the\nTrojans fell. AEneas fled with those surviving into the city of Ilium,\nwhich the Greeks besieged and conquered after ten years. The Trojans who\nescaped divided themselves into two parties. The one under king AEneas\nwent to Italy, where he hoped to receive auxiliary troops. Other\ndistinguished Trojans became the leaders of the other party, which\nnumbered 12,000 men. They embarked in ships and came to the banks of the\nriver Tanais. They sailed farther and came within the borders of\nPannonia, near the Moeotian marshes (_navigantes pervenerunt intra\nterminos Pannoniarum juxta Moeotidas paludes_), where they founded a\ncity, which they called Sicambria, and here they remained many years\nand became a mighty people. Then came a time when the Roman emperor\nValentinianus got into war with that wicked people called Alamanni (also\nAlani). He led a great army against them. The Alamanni were defeated,\nand fled to the Moeotian marshes. Then said the emperor, \"If anyone\ndares to enter those marshes and drive away this wicked people, I shall\nfor ten years make him free from all burdens.\" When the Trojans heard\nthis they went, accompanied by a Roman army, into the marshes, attacked\nthe Alamanni, and hewed them down with their swords. Then the Trojans\nreceived from the emperor Valentinianus the name _Franks_, which, the\nchronicle adds, in the Attic tongue means the _savage_ (_feri_), \"for\nthe Trojans had a defiant and indomitable character.\"\n\nFor ten years afterwards the Trojans or Franks lived undisturbed by\nRoman tax-collectors; but after that the Roman emperor demanded that\nthey should pay tribute. This they refused, and slew the tax-collectors\nsent to them. Then the emperor collected a large army under the command\nof Aristarcus, and strengthened it with auxiliary forces from many\nlands, and attacked the Franks, who were defeated by the superior force,\nlost their leader Priam, and had to take flight. They now proceeded\nunder their leaders Markomir, Priam's son, and Sunno, son of Antenor,\naway from Sicambria through Germany to the Rhine, and located there.\nThus this chronicle.\n\nAbout fifty years after its appearance--that is, in the time of\nCharlemagne, and, to be more accurate, about the year 787--the\nwell-known Longobardian historian Paulus Diaconus wrote a history of the\nbishops of Metz. Among these bishops was the Frank Arnulf, from whom\nCharlemagne was descended in the fifth generation. Arnulf had two sons,\none of whom was named Ansgisel, in a contracted form Ansgis. When Paulus\nspeaks of this he remarks that it is thought that the name Ansgis comes\nfrom the father of AEneas, Anchises, who went from Troy to Italy; and he\nadds that according to evidence of older date the Franks were believed\nto be descendants of the Trojans. These evidences of older date we have\nconsidered above--Fredegar's _Chronicle_ and _Gesta regum Francorum_.\nMeanwhile this shows that the belief that the Franks were of Trojan\ndescent kept spreading with the lapse of time. It hardly needs to be\nadded that there is no good foundation for the derivation of Ansgisel or\nAnsgis from Anchises. Ansgisel is a genuine Teutonic name. (See No. 123\nconcerning Ansgisel, the emigration chief of the Teutonic myth.)\n\nWe now pass to the second half of the tenth century, and there we find\nthe Saxon chronicler Widukind. When he is to tell the story of the\norigin of the Saxon people, he presents two conflicting accounts. The\none is from a Saxon source, from old native traditions, which we shall\ndiscuss later; the other is from a scholastic source, and claims that\nthe Saxons are of Macedonian descent. According to this latter account\nthey were a remnant of the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great,\nwhich, as Widukind had learned, after Alexander's early death, had\nspread over the whole earth. The Macedonians were at that time regarded\nas Hellenicised Trojans. In this connection I call the reader's\nattention to Fredegar's _Chronicle_ referred to above, which tells that\nthe Trojans, in the time of king Friga, disagreed among themselves, and\nthat a part of them emigrated and settled in Macedonia. In this manner\nthe Saxons, like the Franks, could claim a Trojan descent; and as\nEngland to a great extent was peopled by Saxon conquerors, the same\nhonour was of course claimed by her people. In evidence of this, and to\nshow that it was believed in England during the centuries immediately\nfollowing Widukind's time, that the Saxons and Angles were of Trojan\nblood, I will simply refer here to a pseudo-Sibylline manuscript found\nin Oxford and written in very poor Latin. It was examined by the French\nscholar Alexandre (_Excursus ad Sibyllina_, p. 298), and in it Britain\nis said to be an island inhabited by the survivors of the Trojans\n(_insulam reliquiis Trojanorum inhabitatam_). In another British\npseudo-Sibylline document it is stated that the Sibylla was a daughter\nof king Priam of Troy; and an effort has been made to add weight and\ndignity to this document by incorporating it with the works of the well\nknown Church historian Beda, and thus date it at the beginning of the\neighth century, but the manuscript itself is a compilation from the time\nof Frederick Barbarossa (_Excurs. ad Sib._, p. 289). Other\npseudo-Sibylline documents in Latin give accounts of a Sibylla who lived\nand prophesied in Troy. I make special mention of this fact, for the\nreason that in the Foreword of the Prose Edda it is similarly stated\nthat Thor, the son of Priam's daughter, was married to Sibil (Sibylla).\n\nThus when Franks and Saxons had been made into Trojans--the former into\nfull-blooded Trojans and the latter into Hellenicised Trojans--it could\nnot take long before their northern kinsmen received the same descent as\na heritage. In the very nature of things the beginning must be made by\nthose Northmen who became the conquerors and settlers of Normandy in the\nmidst of \"Trojan\" Franks. About a hundred years after their settlement\nthere they produced a chronicler, Dudo, deacon of St. Quentin. I have\nalready shown that the Macedonians were regarded as Hellenicised\nTrojans. Together with the Hellenicising they had obtained the name\nDanai, a term applied to all Greeks. In his Norman Chronicle, which goes\ndown to the year 996, Dudo relates (_De moribus et gestis_, &c., lib.\ni.) that the Norman men regarded themselves as Danai, for Danes (the\nScandinavians in general) and Dania was regarded as the same race name.\nTogether with the Normans the Scandinavians also, from whom they were\ndescended accordingly had to be made into Trojans. And thus the matter\nwas understood by Dudo's readers; and when Robert Wace wrote his rhymed\nchronicle, _Roman de Rou_, about the northern conquerors of Normandy,\nand wanted to give an account of their origin, he could say, on the\nbasis of a common tradition:\n\n \"When the walls of Troy in ashes were laid,\n And the Greeks exceedingly glad were made,\n Then fled from flames on the Trojan strand\n The race that settled old Denmark's land;\n And in honour of the old Trojan reigns,\n The people called themselves the Danes.\"\n\nI have now traced the scholastic tradition about the descent of the\nTeutonic races from Troy all the way from the chronicle where we first\nfind this tradition recorded, down to the time when Are, Iceland's first\nhistorian, lived, and when the Icelander, Saemund, is said to have\nstudied in Paris, the same century in which Sturlason, Heimskringla's\nauthor, developed into manhood. Saxo rejected the theory current among\nthe scholars of his time, that the northern races were Danai-Trojans. He\nknew that Dudo in St. Quentin was the authority upon which this belief\nwas chiefly based, and he gives his Danes an entirely different origin,\n_quanquam Dudo, rerum Aquitanicarum scriptor, Danos a Danais ortos\nnuncupatosque recenseat_. The Icelanders on the other hand, accepted and\ncontinued to develop the belief, resting on the authority of five\nhundred years, concerning Troy as the starting-point for the Teutonic\nrace; and in Iceland the theory is worked out and systematised as we\nhave already seen, and is made to fit in a frame of the history of the\nworld. The accounts given in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda in regard\nto the emigration from Asgard form the natural denouement of an era\nwhich had existed for centuries, and in which the events of antiquity\nwere able to group themselves around a common centre. All peoples and\nfamilies of chiefs were located around the Mediterranean Sea, and every\nevent and every hero was connected in some way or other with Troy.\n\nIn fact, a great part of the lands subject to the Roman sceptre were in\nancient literature in some way connected with the Trojan war and its\nconsequences: Macedonia and Epirus through the Trojan emigrant Helenus;\nIllyria and Venetia through the Trojan emigrant Antenor; Rhetia and\nVindelicia through the Amazons, allies of the Trojans, from whom the\ninhabitants of these provinces were said to be descended (_Servius ad\nVirg._, i. 248); Etruria through Dardanus, who was said to have\nemigrated from there to Troy; Latium and Campania through the AEneids;\nSicily, the very home of the AEnean traditions, through the relation\nbetween the royal families of Troy and Sicily; Sardinia (see Sallust);\nGaul (see Lucanus and Ammianus Marcellinus); Carthage through the visit\nof AEneas to Dido; and of course all of Asia Minor. This was not all.\nAccording to the lost Argive History by Anaxikrates, Scamandrius, son of\nHektor and Andromache, came with emigrants to Scythia and settled on the\nbanks of the Tanais; and scarcely had Germany become known to the\nRomans, before it, too, became drawn into the cycle of Trojan stories,\nat least so far as to make this country visited by Ulysses on his many\njourneys and adventures (Tac., _Germ._). Every educated Greek and Roman\nperson's fancy was filled from his earliest school-days with Troy, and\ntraces of Dardanians and Danaians were found everywhere, just as the\nEnglish in our time think they have found traces of the ten lost tribes\nof Israel both in the old and in the new world.\n\nIn the same degree as Christianity, Church learning, and Latin\nmanuscripts were spread among the Teutonic tribes, there were\ndisseminated among them knowledge of and an interest in the great Trojan\nstories. The native stories telling of Teutonic gods and heroes\nreceived terrible shocks from Christianity, but were rescued in another\nform on the lips of the people, and continued in their new guise to\ncommand their attention and devotion. In the class of Latin scholars\nwhich developed among the Christianised Teutons, the new stories learned\nfrom Latin literature, telling of Ilium, of the conflicts between\nTrojans and Greeks, of migrations, of the founding of colonies on\nforeign shores and the creating of new empires, were the things which\nespecially stimulated their curiosity and captivated their fancy. The\nLatin literature which was to a greater or less extent accessible to the\nTeutonic priests, or to priests labouring among the Teutons, furnished\nabundant materials in regard to Troy both in classical and\npseudo-classical authors. We need only call attention to Virgil and his\ncommentator Servius, which became a mine of learning for the whole\nmiddle age, and among pseudo-classical works to Dares Phrygius'\n_Historia de Excidio Trojae_ (which was believed to have been written by\na Trojan and translated by Cornelius Nepos!), to Dictys Cretensis'\n_Ephemeris belli Trojani_ (the original of which was said to have been\nPhoenician, and found in Dictys' alleged grave after an earthquake in\nthe time of Nero!), and to \"Pindari Thebani,\" _Epitome Iliados Homeri_.\n\nBefore the story of the Trojan descent of the Franks had been created,\nthe Teuton Jordanes, active as a writer in the middle of the sixth\ncentury, had already found a place for his Gothic fellow-countrymen in\nthe events of the great Trojan epic. Not that he made the Goths the\ndescendants either of the Greeks or Trojans. On the contrary, he\nmaintained the Goths' own traditions in regard to their descent and\ntheir original home, a matter which I shall discuss later. But according\nto Orosius, who is Jordanes' authority, the Goths were the same as the\n_Getae_, and when the identity of these was accepted, it was easy for\nJordanes to connect the history of the Goths with the Homeric stories. A\nGothic chief marries Priam's sister and fights with Achilles and Ulysses\n(Jord., c. 9), and Ilium, having scarcely recovered from the war with\nAgamemnon, is destroyed a second time by Goths (c. 20).\n\n\n 11.\n\n THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY IN REGARD TO THE TROJAN\n DESCENT OF THE FRANKS.\n\nWe must now return to the Frankish chronicles, to Fredegar's and _Gesta\nregum Francorum_, where the theory of the descent from Troy of a\nTeutonic tribe is presented for the first time, and thus renews the\nagitation handed down from antiquity, which attempted to make all\nancient history a system of events radiating from Troy as their centre.\nI believe I am able to point out the sources of all the statements made\nin these chronicles in reference to this subject, and also to find the\nvery kernel out of which the illusion regarding the Trojan birth of the\nFranks grew.\n\nAs above stated, Fredegar admits that Virgil is the earliest authority\nfor the claim that the Franks are descended from Troy. Fredegar's\npredecessor, Gregorius of Tours, was ignorant of it, and, as already\nshown, the word Franks does not occur anywhere in Virgil. The discovery\nthat he nevertheless gave information about the Franks and their origin\nmust therefore have been made or known in the time intervening between\nGregorius' chronicle and Fredegar's. Which, then, can be the passage in\nVirgil's poems in which the discoverer succeeded in finding the proof\nthat the Franks were Trojans? A careful examination of all the\ncircumstances connected with the subject leads to the conclusion that\nthe passage is in _AEneis_, lib. i., 242ff.:\n\n \"Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,\n Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima tutus\n Regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi:\n Unde per ora novem vasto cum murmere montis\n It mare proruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti.\n Hic tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit\n Teucrorum.\"\n\n\"Antenor having escaped from amidst the Greeks, could with safety\npenetrate the Illyrian Gulf and the inmost realms of Liburnia, and\noverpass the springs of Timavus, whence, through nine months, with loud\nechoing from the mountain, it bursts away, a sea impetuous, and sweeps\nthe fields with a roaring deluge. Yet there he built the city of Padua\nand established a Trojan settlement.\"\n\nThe nearest proof at hand, that this is really the passage which was\ninterpreted as referring to the ancient history of the Franks, is based\non the following circumstances:\n\nGregorius of Tours had found in the history of Sulpicius Alexander\naccounts of violent conflicts, on the west bank of the Rhine, between\nthe Romans and Franks, the latter led by the chiefs Markomir and Sunno\n(Greg., _Hist._, ii. 9).\n\nFrom Gregorius, _Gesta regum Francorum_ has taken both these names.\nAccording to _Gesta_, the Franks, under the command of Markomir and\nSunno, emigrate from Pannonia, near the Moeotian marshes, and settle on\nthe Rhine. The supposition that they had lived in Pannonia before their\ncoming to the Rhine, the author of _Gesta_ had learned from Gregorius.\nIn _Gesta_, Markomir is made a son of the Trojan Priam, and Sunno _a son\nof the Trojan Antenor_.\n\nFrom this point of view, Virgil's account of Antenor's and his Trojans'\njourney to Europe from fallen Troy refers to the emigration of the\nfather of the Frankish chief Sunno at the head of a tribe of Franks. And\nas _Gesta's_ predecessor, the so-called Fredegar, appeals to Virgil as\nhis authority for this Frankish emigration, and as the wanderings of\nAntenor are nowhere else mentioned by the Roman poet, there can be no\ndoubt that the lines above quoted were the very ones which were regarded\nas the Virgilian evidence in regard to a Frankish emigration from Troy.\n\nBut how did it come to be regarded as an evidence?\n\nVirgil says that Antenor, when he had escaped the Achivians, succeeded\nin penetrating _Illyricos sinus_, the very heart of Illyria. The name\nIllyricum served to designate all the regions inhabited by kindred\ntribes extending from the Alps to the mouth of the Danube and from the\nDanube to the Adriatic Sea and Haemus (cp. _Marquardt Roem.\nStaatsverwalt_, 295). To Illyricum belonged the Roman provinces\nDalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia, and the Pannonians were an Illyrian\ntribe. In Pannonia Gregorius of Tours had located the Franks in early\ntimes. Thus Antenor, with his Trojans, on their westward journey,\ntraverses the same regions from which, according to Gregorius, the\nFranks had set out for the Rhine.\n\nVirgil also says that Antenor extended his journeys to the Liburnian\nkingdoms (_regna Liburnorum_). From Servius' commentary on this passage,\nthe middle age knew that the Liburnian kingdoms were Rhetia and\nVindelicia (_Rhetia Vindelici ipsi sunt Liburni_). Rhetia and Vindelicia\nseparate Pannonia from the Rhine. Antenor, accordingly, takes the same\nroute toward the West as the Franks must have taken if they came from\nPannonia to the Rhine.\n\nVirgil then brings Antenor to a river, which, it is true, is called\nTimavus, but which is described as a mighty stream, coming thundering\nout of a mountainous region, where it has its source, carrying with it a\nmass of water which the poet compares with a sea, forming before it\nreaches the sea a delta, the plains of which are deluged by the billows,\nand finally emptying itself by many outlets into the ocean. Virgil says\n_nine_; but Servius interprets this as meaning _many_: \"_finitus est\nnumerus pro infinito_.\"\n\nWe must pardon the Frankish scribes for taking this river to be the\nRhine; for if a water-course is to be looked for in Europe west of the\nland of the Liburnians, which answers to the Virgilian description, then\nthis must be the Rhine, on whose banks the ancestors of the Franks for\nthe first time appear in history.\n\nAgain, Virgil tells us that Antenor settled near this river and founded\na colony--Patavium--on the low plains of the delta. The Salian Franks\nacquired possession of the low and flat regions around the outlets of\nthe Rhine (_Insula Batavorum_) about the year 287, and also of the land\nto the south as far as to the Scheldt; and after protracted wars the\nRomans had to leave them in control of this region. By the very\noccupation of this low country, its conquerors might properly be called\nBatavian Franks. It is only necessary to call attention to the\nsimilarity of the words _Patavi_ and _Batavi_, in order to show at the\nsame time that the conclusion could scarcely be avoided that Virgil had\nreference to the immigration of the Franks when he spoke of the\nwanderings of Antenor, the more so, since from time out of date the\npronunciation of the initials _B_ and _P_ have been interchanged by the\nGermans. In the conquered territory the Franks founded a city (Ammian.\nMarc., xvii. 2, 5).\n\nThus it appears that the Franks were supposed to have migrated to the\nRhine under the leadership of Antenor. The first Frankish chiefs\nrecorded, after their appearance there, are Markomir and Sunno. From\nthis the conclusion was drawn that Sunno was Antenor's son; and as\nMarkomir ought to be the son of some celebrated Trojan chief, he was\nmade the son of Priam. Thus we have explained Fredegar's statement that\nVirgil is his authority for the Trojan descent of these Franks. This\nseemed to be established for all time.\n\nThe wars fought around the Moeotian marshes between the emperor\nValentinianus, the Alamanni, and the Franks, of which _Gesta_ speaks,\nare not wholly inventions of the fancy. The historical kernel in this\nconfused semi-mythical narrative is that Valentinianus really did fight\nwith the Alamanni, and that the Franks for some time were allies of the\nRomans, and came into conflict with those same Alamanni (Ammian. Marc.,\nlibs, xxx., xxxi.). But the scene of these battles was not the Moeotian\nmarshes and Pannonia, as _Gesta_ supposes, but the regions on the Rhine.\n\nThe unhistorical statement of Gregorius that the Franks came from\nPannonia is based only on the fact that Frankish warriors for some time\nformed a _Sicambra cohors_, which about the year 26 was incorporated\nwith the Roman troops stationed in Pannonia and Thracia. The cohort is\nbelieved to have remained in Hungary and formed a colony, where Buda now\nis situated. _Gesta_ makes Pannonia extend from the Moeotian marshes to\nTanais, since according to Gregorius and earlier chroniclers, these\nwaters were the boundary between Europe and Asia, and since Asia was\nregarded as a synonym of the Trojan empire. Virgil had called the Trojan\nkingdom Asia: _Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentem_, &c.,\n(_AEneid_, iii. 1).\n\nThus we have exhibited the seed out of which the fable about the Trojan\ndescent of the Franks grew into a tree spreading its branches over all\nTeutonic Europe, in the same manner as the earlier fable, which was at\nleast developed if not born in Sicily, in regard to the Trojan descent\nof the Romans had grown into a tree overshadowing all the lands around\nthe Mediterranean, and extending one of its branches across Gaul to\nBritain and Ireland. The first son of the Britons, \"Brutus,\" was,\naccording to Galfred, great-grandson of AEneas, and migrated from Alba\nLonga to Ireland.\n\nSo far as the Gauls are concerned, the incorporation of Cis-Alpine Gaul\nwith the Roman Empire, and the Romanising of the Gauls dwelling there,\nhad at an early day made way for the belief that they had the same\norigin and were of the same blood as the Romans. Consequently they too\nwere Trojans. This view, encouraged by Roman politics, gradually found\nits way to the Gauls on the other side of the Rhine; and even before\nCaesar's time the Roman senate had in its letters to the AEduans, often\ncalled them the \"brothers and kinsmen\" of the Romans (_fratres\nconsanguineique_--Caesar, _De Bell. Gall._, i. 33, 2). Of the Avernians\nLucanus sings (i. 427): _Averni ... ausi Latio se fingere fratres,\nsanguine ab Iliaco populi_.\n\nThus we see that when the Franks, having made themselves masters of the\nRomanised Gaul, claimed a Trojan descent, then this was the repetition\nof a history of which Gaul for many centuries previously had been the\nscene. After the Frankish conquest the population of Gaul consisted for\nthe second time of two nationalities unlike in language and customs, and\nnow as before it was a political measure of no slight importance to\nbring these two nationalities as closely together as possible by the\nbelief in a common descent. The Roman Gauls and the Franks were\nrepresented as having been one people in the time of the Trojan war.\nAfter the fall of the common fatherland they were divided into two\nseparate tribes, with separate destinies, until they refound each other\nin the west of Europe, to dwell together again in Gaul. This explains\nhow it came to pass that, when they thought they had found evidence of\nthis view in Virgil, this was at once accepted, and was so eagerly\nadopted that the older traditions in regard to the origin and migrations\nof the Franks were thrust aside and consigned to oblivion. History\nrepeats itself a third time when the Normans conquered and became\nmasters of that part of Gaul which after them is called Normandy. Dudo,\ntheir chronicler, says that they regarded themselves as being _ex\nAntenore progenitos_, descendants of Antenor. This is sufficient proof\nthat they had borrowed from the Franks the tradition in regard to their\nTrojan descent.\n\n\n 12.\n\n WHY ODIN WAS GIVEN ANTENOR'S PLACE AS LEADER OF\n THE TROJAN EMIGRATION.\n\nSo long as the Franks were the only ones of the Teutons who claimed\nTrojan descent, it was sufficient that the Teutonic-Trojan immigration\nhad the father of a Frankish chief as its leader. But in the same degree\nas the belief in a Trojan descent spread among the other Teutonic tribes\nand assumed the character of a statement equally important to all the\nTeutonic tribes, the idea would naturally present itself that the leader\nof the great immigration was a person of general Teutonic importance.\nThere was no lack of names to choose from. Most conspicuous was the\nmythical Teutonic patriarch, whom Tacitus speaks of and calls _Mannus_\n(_Germania_, 2), the grandson of the goddess Jord (Earth). There can be\nno doubt that he still was remembered by this (Mann) or some other name\n(for nearly all Teutonic mythic persons have several names), since he\nreappears in the beginning of the fourteenth century in Heinrich\nFrauenlob as Mennor, the patriarch of the German people and German\ntongue.[5] But Mannus had to yield to another universal Teutonic mythic\ncharacter, Odin, and for reasons which we shall now present.\n\nAs Christianity was gradually introduced among the Teutonic peoples, the\nquestion confronted them, what manner of beings those gods had been in\nwhom they and their ancestors so long had believed. Their Christian\nteachers had two answers, and both were easily reconcilable. The common\nanswer, and that usually given to the converted masses, was that the\ngods of their ancestors were demons, evil spirits, who ensnared men in\nsuperstition in order to become worshipped as divine beings. The other\nanswer, which was better calculated to please the noble-born Teutonic\nfamilies, who thought themselves descended from the gods, was that these\ndivinities were originally human persons--kings, chiefs, legislators,\nwho, endowed with higher wisdom and secret knowledge, made use of these\nto make people believe that they were gods, and worship them as such.\nBoth answers could, as stated, easily be reconciled with each other, for\nit was evident that when these proud and deceitful rulers died, their\nunhappy spirits joined the ranks of evil demons, and as demons they\ncontinued to deceive the people, in order to maintain through all ages a\nworship hostile to the true religion. Both sides of this view we find\ncurrent among the Teutonic races through the whole middle age. The one\nwhich particularly presents the old gods as evil demons is found in\npopular traditions from this epoch. The other, which presents the old\ngods as mortals, as chiefs and lawmakers with magic power, is more\ncommonly reflected in the Teutonic chronicles, and was regarded among\nthe scholars as the scientific view.\n\nThus it followed of necessity that Odin, the chief of the Teutonic gods,\nand from whom their royal houses were fond of tracing their descent,\nalso must have been a wise king of antiquity and skilled in the magic\narts, and information was of course sought with the greatest interest in\nregard to the place where he had reigned, and in regard to his origin.\nThere were two sources of investigation in reference to this matter. One\nsource was the treasure of mythic songs and traditions of their own\nrace. But what might be history in these seemed to the students so\ninvolved in superstition and fancy, that not much information seemed\nobtainable from them. But there was also another source, which in regard\nto historical trustworthiness seemed incomparably better, and that was\nthe Latin literature to be found in the libraries of the convents.\n\nDuring centuries when the Teutons had employed no other art than poetry\nfor preserving the memory of the life and deeds of their ancestors, the\nRomans, as we know, had had parchment and papyrus to write on, and had\nkept systematic annals extending centuries back. Consequently this\nsource _must_ be more reliable. But what had this source--what had the\nRoman annals or the Roman literature in general to tell about Odin?\nAbsolutely nothing, it would seem, inasmuch as the name Odin, or Wodan,\ndoes not occur in any of the authors of the ancient literature. But this\nwas only an apparent obstacle. The ancient king of our race, Odin, they\nsaid, has had many names--one name among one people, and another among\nanother, and there can be no doubt that he is the same person as the\nRomans called Mercury and the Greeks Hermes.\n\nThe evidence of the correctness of identifying Odin with Mercury and\nHermes the scholars might have found in Tacitus' work on Germany, where\nit is stated in the ninth chapter that the chief god of the Germans is\nthe same as Mercury among the Romans. But Tacitus was almost unknown in\nthe convents and schools of this period of the middle age. They could\nnot use this proof, but they had another and completely compensating\nevidence of the assertion.\n\nOriginally the Romans did not divide time into weeks of seven days.\nInstead, they had weeks of eight days, and the farmer worked the seven\ndays and went on the eighth to the market. But the week of seven days\nhad been in existence for a very long time among certain Semitic\npeoples, and already in the time of the Roman republic many Jews lived\nin Rome and in Italy. Through them the week of seven days became\ngenerally known. The Jewish custom of observing the sacredness of the\nSabbath, the first day of the week, by abstaining from all labour, could\nnot fail to be noticed by the strangers among whom they dwelt. The Jews\nhad, however, no special name for each day of the week. But the\nOriental, Egyptian, and Greek astrologers and astronomers, who in large\nnumbers sought their fortunes in Rome, did more than the Jews to\nintroduce the week of seven days among all classes of the metropolis,\nand the astrologers had special names for each of the seven days of the\nweek. Saturday was the planet's and the planet-god Saturnus' day;\nSunday, the sun's; Monday, the moon's; Tuesday, Mars'; Wednesday,\nMercury's; Thursday, Jupiter's; Friday, Venus' day. Already in the\nbeginning of the empire these names of the days were quite common in\nItaly. The astrological almanacs, which were circulated in the name of\nthe Egyptian Petosiris among all families who had the means to buy them\ncontributed much to bring this about. From Italy both the taste for\nastrology and the adoption of the week of seven days, with the\nabove-mentioned names, spread not only into Spain and Gaul, but also\ninto those parts of Germany that were incorporated with the Roman\nEmpire, Germania superior and inferior, where the Romanising of the\npeople, with Cologne (_Civitas Ubiorum_) as the centre, made great\nprogress. Teutons who had served as officers and soldiers in the Roman\narmies, and were familiar with the everyday customs of the Romans, were\nto be found in various parts of the independent Teutonic territory, and\nit is therefore not strange if the week of seven days, with a separate\nname given to each day, was known and in use more or less extensively\nthroughout Teutondom even before Christianity had taken root east of the\nRhine, and long before Rome itself was converted to Christianity. But\nfrom this introduction of the seven-day week did not follow the adoption\nof the Roman names of the days. The Teutons translated the names into\ntheir own language, and in so doing chose among their own divinities\nthose which most nearly corresponded to the Roman. The translation of\nthe names is made with a discrimination which seems to show that it was\nmade in the Teutonic border country, governed by the Romans, by people\nwho were as familiar with the Roman gods as with their own. In that\nborder land there must have been persons of Teutonic birth who\nofficiated as priests before Roman altars. The days of the sun and moon\nwere permitted to retain their names. They were called Sunday and\nMonday. The day of the war-god Mars became the day of the war-god Tyr,\nTuesday. The day of Mercury became Odin's day, Wednesday. The day of the\nlightning-armed Jupiter became the day of the thundering Thor, Thursday.\nThe day of the goddess of love Venus became that of the goddess of love\nFreyja, Friday. Saturnus, who in astrology is a watery star, and has his\nhouse in the sign of the waterman, was among the Romans, and before them\namong the Greeks and Chaldaeans, the lord of the seventh day. Among the\nNorth Teutons, or at least, among a part of them, his day got its name\nfrom laug,[6] which means a bath, and it is worthy of notice in this\nconnection that the author of the Prose Edda's Foreword identifies\nSaturnus with the sea-god Njord.\n\nHere the Latin scholars had what seemed to them a complete proof that\nthe Odin of which their stories of the past had so much to tell was--and\nwas so recognised by their heathen ancestors--the same historical person\nas the Romans worshipped by the name Mercury.\n\nAt first sight it may seem strange that Mercury and Odin were regarded\nas identical. We are wont to conceive Hermes (Mercury) as the Greek\nsculptors represented him, the ideal of beauty and elastic youth, while\nwe imagine Odin as having a contemplative, mysterious look. And while\nOdin in the Teutonic mythology is the father and ruler of the gods,\nMercury in the Roman has, of course, as the son of Zeus, a high rank,\nbut his dignity does not exempt him from being the very busy messenger\nof the gods of Olympus. But neither Greeks nor Romans nor Teutons\nattached much importance to such circumstances in the specimens we have\nof their comparative mythology. The Romans knew that the same god among\nthe same people might be represented differently, and that the local\ntraditions also sometimes differed in regard to the kinship and rank of\na divinity. They therefore paid more attention to what Tacitus calls\n_vis numinis_--that is, the significance of the divinity as a symbol of\nnature, or its relation to the affairs of the community and to human\nculture. Mercury was the symbol of wisdom and intelligence; so was\nOdin. Mercury was the god of eloquence; Odin likewise. Mercury had\nintroduced poetry and song among men; Odin also. Mercury had taught men\nthe art of writing; Odin had given them the runes. Mercury did not\nhesitate to apply cunning when it was needed to secure him possession of\nsomething that he desired; nor was Odin particularly scrupulous in\nregard to the means. Mercury, with wings on his hat and on his heels,\nflew over the world, and often appeared as a traveller among men; Odin,\nthe ruler of the wind, did the same. Mercury was the god of martial\ngames, and still he was not really the war-god; Odin also was the chief\nof martial games and combats, but the war-god's occupation he had left\nto Tyr. In all important respects Mercury and Odin, therefore, resembled\neach other.\n\nTo the scholars this must have been an additional proof that this, in\ntheir eyes, historical chief, whom the Romans called Mercury and the\nTeutons Odin, had been one and the same human person, who had lived in a\ndistant past, and had alike induced Greeks, Romans, and Goths to worship\nhim as a god. To get additional and more reliable information in regard\nto this Odin-Mercury than what the Teutonic heathen traditions could\nimpart, it was only necessary to study and interpret correctly what\nRoman history had to say about Mercury.\n\nAs is known, some mysterious documents called the Sibylline books were\npreserved in Jupiter's temple, on the Capitoline Hill, in Rome. The\nRoman State was the possessor, and kept the strictest watch over them,\nso that their contents remained a secret to all excepting those whose\nposition entitled them to read them. A college of priests, men in high\nstanding, were appointed to guard them and to consult them when\ncircumstances demanded it. The common opinion that the Roman State\nconsulted them for information in regard to the future is incorrect.\nThey were consulted only to find out by what ceremonies of penance and\npropitiation the wrath of the higher powers might be averted at times\nwhen Rome was in trouble, or when prodigies of one kind or another had\nexcited the people and caused fears of impending misfortune. Then the\nSibylline books were produced by the properly-appointed persons, and in\nsome line or passage they found which divinity was angry and ought to be\npropitiated. This done, they published their interpretation of the\npassage, but did not make known the words or phrases of the passage, for\nthe text of the Sibylline books must not be known to the public. The\nbooks were written in the Greek tongue.\n\nThe story telling how these books came into the possession of the Roman\nState through a woman who sold them to Tarquin--according to one version\nTarquin the Elder, according to another Tarquin the Younger--is found in\nRoman authors who were well known and read throughout the whole middle\nage. The woman was a Sibylla, according to Varro the Erythreian, so\ncalled from a Greek city in Asia Minor; according to Virgil the Cumaean,\na prophetess from Cumae in southern Italy. Both versions could easily be\nharmonised, for Cumae was a Greek colony from Asia Minor; and we read in\nServius' commentaries on Virgil's poems that the Erythreian Sibylla was\nby many regarded as identical with the Cumaean. From Asia Minor she was\nsupposed to have come to Cumae.\n\nIn western Europe the people of the middle age claimed that there were\ntwelve Sibyllas: the Persian, the Libyan, the Delphian, the Cimmerinean,\nthe Erythreian, the Samian, the Cumaean, the Hellespontian or Trojan, the\nPhrygian and Tiburtinian, and also the Sibylla Europa and the Sibylla\nAgrippa. Authorities for the first ten of these were the Church father\nLactantius and the West Gothic historian Isodorus of Sevilla. The last\ntwo, Europa and Agrippa, were simply added in order to make the number\nof Sibyllas equal to that of the prophets and the apostles.\n\nBut the scholars of the middle ages also knew from Servius that the\nCumaean Sibylla was, in fact, the same as the Erythreian; and from the\nChurch father Lactantius, who was extensively read in the middle ages,\nthey also learned that the Erythreian was identical with the Trojan.\nThanks to Lactantius, they also thought they could determine precisely\nwhere the Trojan Sibylla was born. Her birthplace was the town\nMarpessus, near the Trojan Mount Ida. From the same Church father they\nlearned that the real contents of the Sibylline books had consisted of\nnarrations concerning Trojan events, of lives of the Trojan kings, &c.,\nand also of prophecies concerning the fall of Troy and other coming\nevents, and that the poet Homer in his works was a mere plagiator, who\nhad found a copy of the books of the Sibylla, had recast and falsified\nit, and published it in his own name in the form of heroic poems\nconcerning Troy.\n\nThis seemed to establish the fact that those books, which the woman from\nCumae had sold to the Roman king Tarquin, were written by a Sibylla who\nwas born in the Trojan country, and that the books which Trojan bought\noff her contained accounts and prophecies--accounts especially in regard\nto the Trojan chiefs and heroes afterwards glorified in Homer's poems.\nAs the Romans came from Troy, these chiefs and heroes were their\nancestors, and in this capacity they were entitled to the worship which\nthe Romans considered due to the souls of their forefathers. From a\nChristian standpoint this was of course idolatry; and as the Sibyllas\nwere believed to have made predictions even in regard to Christ, it\nmight seem improper for them to promote in this manner the cause of\nidolatry. But Lactantius gave a satisfactory explanation of this matter.\nThe Sibylla, he said, had certainly prophesied truthfully in regard to\nChrist; but this she did by divine compulsion and in moments of divine\ninspiration. By birth and in her sympathies she was a heathen, and when\nunder the spell of her genuine inspirations, she proclaimed heathen and\nidolatrous doctrines.\n\nIn our critical century all this may seem like mere fancies. But careful\nexaminations have shown that an historical kernel is not wanting in\nthese representations. And the historical fact which lies back of all\nthis is that the Sibylline books which were preserved in Rome actually\nwere written in Asia Minor in the ancient Trojan territory; or, in\nother words, that the oldest known collection of so-called Sibylline\noracles was made in Marpessus, near the Trojan mountain Ida, in the time\nof Solon. From Marpessus the collection came to the neighbouring city\nGergis, and was preserved in the Apollo temple there; from Gergis it\ncame to Cumae, and from Cumae to Rome in the time of the kings. How it\ncame there is not known. The story about the Cumaean woman and Tarquin is\nan invention, and occurs in various forms. It is also demonstrably an\ninvention that the Sibylline books in Rome contained accounts of the\nheroes in the Trojan war. On the other hand, it is absolutely certain\nthat they referred to gods and to a worship which in the main were\nunknown to the Romans before the Sibylline books were introduced there,\nand that to these books must chiefly be attributed the remarkable change\nwhich took place in Roman mythology during the republican centuries. The\nRoman mythology, which from the beginning had but few gods of clear\nidentity with the Greek, was especially during this epoch enlarged, and\nreceived gods and goddesses who were worshipped in Greece and in the\nGreek and Hellenised part of Asia Minor where the Sibylline books\noriginated. The way this happened was that whenever the Romans in\ntrouble or distress consulted the Sibylline books they received the\nanswer that this or that Greek-Asiatic god or goddess was angry and must\nbe propitiated. In connection with the propitiation ceremonies the god\nor goddess was received in the Roman pantheon, and sooner or later a\ntemple was built to him; and thus it did not take long before the\nRomans appropriated the myths that were current in Greece concerning\nthese borrowed divinities. This explains why the Roman mythology, which\nin its oldest sources is so original and so unlike the Greek, in the\ngolden period of Roman literature comes to us in an almost wholly Greek\nattire; this explains why Roman and Greek mythology at that time might\nbe regarded as almost identical. Nevertheless the Romans were able even\nin the later period of antiquity to discriminate between their native\ngods and those introduced by the Sibylline books. The former were\nworshipped according to a Roman ritual, the latter according to a Greek.\nTo the latter belonged Apollo, Artemis, Latona, Ceres, Hermes, Mercury,\nProserpina, Cybile, Venus, and Esculapius; and that the Sibylline books\nwere a Greek-Trojan work, whose original home was Asia Minor and the\nTrojan territory, was well known to the Romans. When the temple of the\nCapitoline Jupiter was burned down eighty-four years before Christ, the\nSibylline books were lost. But the State could not spare them. A new\ncollection had to be made, and this was mainly done by gathering the\noracles which could be found one by one in those places which the Trojan\nor Erythreian Sibylla had visited, that is to say, in Asia Minor,\nespecially in Erythrae, and in Ilium, the ancient Troy.\n\nSo far as Hermes-Mercury is concerned, the Roman annals inform us that\nhe got his first lectisternium in the year 399 before Christ by order\nfrom the Sibylline books. Lectisternium was a sacrifice: the image of\nthe god was laid on a bed with a pillow under the left arm, and beside\nthe image was placed a table and a meal, which as a sacrifice was\noffered to the god. About one hundreds years before that time,\nHermes-Mercury had received his first temple in Rome.\n\nHermes-Mercury seemed, therefore, like Apollo, Venus, Esculapius, and\nothers, to have been a god originally unknown to the Romans, the worship\nof whom the Trojan Sibylla had recommended to the Romans.\n\nThis was known to the scholars of the middle age. Now, we must bear in\nmind that it was as certain to them as an undoubted scientific fact that\nthe gods were originally men, chiefs, and heroes, and that the deified\nchief whom the Romans worshipped as Mercury, and the Greeks as Hermes,\nwas the same as the Teutons called Odin, and from whom distinguished\nTeutonic families traced their descent. We must also remember that the\nSibylla who was supposed to have recommended the Romans to worship the\nold king Odin-Mercurius was believed to have been a Trojan woman, and\nthat her books were thought to have contained stories about Troy's\nheroes, in addition to various prophecies, and so this manner of\nreasoning led to the conclusion that the gods who were introduced in\nRome through the Sibylline books were celebrated Trojans who had lived\nand fought at a time preceding the fall of Troy. Another inevitable and\nlogical conclusion was that Odin had been a Trojan chief, and when he\nappears in Teutonic mythology as the chief of gods, it seemed most\nprobable that he was identical with the Trojan king Priam, and that\nPriam was identical with Hermes-Mercury.\n\nNow, as the ancestors of the Romans were supposed to have emigrated from\nTroy to Italy under the leadership of AEneas, it was necessary to assume\nthat the Romans were not the only Trojan emigrants, for, since the\nTeutons worshipped Odin-Priamus-Hermes as their chief god, and since a\nnumber of Teutonic families traced their descent from this Odin, the\nTeutons, too, must have emigrated from Troy. But, inasmuch as the\nTeutonic dialects differed greatly from the Roman language, the Trojan\nRomans and the Trojan Teutons must have been separated a very long time.\n\nThey must have parted company immediately after the fall of Troy and\ngone in different directions, and as the Romans had taken a southern\ncourse on their way to Europe, the Teutons must have taken a northern.\nIt was also apparent to the scholars that the Romans had landed in\nEurope many centuries earlier than the Teutons, for Rome had been\nfounded already in 754 or 753 before Christ, but of the Teutons not a\nword is to be found in the annals before the period immediately\npreceding the birth of Christ. Consequently, the Teutons must have made\na halt somewhere on their journey to the North. This halt must have been\nof several centuries' duration, and, of course, like the Romans, they\nmust have founded a city, and from it ruled a territory in commemoration\nof their fallen city Troy. In that age very little was known of Asia,\nwhere this Teutonic-Trojan colony was supposed to have been situated,\nbut, both from Orosius and, later, from Gregorius of Tours, it was known\nthat our world is divided into three large divisions--Asia, Europe, and\nAfrica--and that Asia and Europe are divided by a river called Tanais.\nAnd having learned from Gregorius of Tours that the Teutonic Franks were\nsaid to have lived in Pannonia in ancient times, and having likewise\nlearned that the Moeotian marshes lie east of Pannonia, and that the\nTanais empties into these marshes, they had the course marked out by\nwhich the Teutons had come to Europe--that is, by way of Tanais and the\nMoeotian marshes. Not knowing anything at all of importance in regard to\nAsia beyond Tanais, it was natural that they should locate the colony of\nthe Teutonic Trojans on the banks of this river.\n\nI think I have now pointed out the chief threads of the web of that\nscholastic romance woven out of Latin convent learning concerning a\nTeutonic emigration from Troy and Asia, a web which extends from\nFredegar's Frankish chronicle, through the following chronicles of the\nmiddle age, down into Heimskringla and the Foreword of the Younger Edda.\nAccording to the Frankish chronicle, _Gesta regum Francorum_, the\nemigration of the Franks from the Trojan colony near the Tanais was\nthought to have occurred very late; that is, in the time of\nValentinianus I., or in other words, between 364 and 375 after Christ.\nThe Icelandic authors very well knew that Teutonic tribes had been far\ninto Europe long before that time, and the reigns they had constructed\nin regard to the North indicated that they must have emigrated from the\nTanais colony long before the Franks. As the Roman attack was the cause\nof the Frankish emigration, it seemed probable that these\nworld-conquerors had also caused the earlier emigration from Tanais;\nand as Pompey's expedition to Asia was the most celebrated of all the\nexpeditions made by the Romans in the East--Pompey even entered\nJerusalem and visited its Temple--it was found most convenient to let\nthe Asas emigrate in the time of Pompey, but they left a remnant of\nTeutons near the Tanais, under the rule of Odin's younger brothers Vile\nand Ve, in order that this colony might continue to exist until the\nemigration of the Franks took place.\n\nFinally, it should be mentioned that the Trojan migration saga, as born\nand developed in antiquity, does not indicate by a single word that\nEurope was peopled later than Asia, or that it received its population\nfrom Asia. The immigration of the Trojans to Europe was looked upon as a\nreturn to their original homes. Dardanus, the founder of Troy, was\nregarded as the leader of an emigration from Etruria to Asia (_AEneid_,\niii. 165 ff., Serv. Comm.). As a rule the European peoples regarded\nthemselves in antiquity as autochthones if they did not look upon\nthemselves as immigrants from regions within Europe to the territories\nthey inhabited in historic times.\n\n[Footnote 5:\n\n\"Mennor der erste was genant,\nDem diutische rede got tet bekant.\"\n\nLater on in this work we shall discuss the traditions of the Mannussaga\nfound in Scandinavia and Germany.]\n\n[Footnote 6: Saturday is in the North called Loeverdag, Loerdag--that is,\nLaugardag=bathday.--TR.]\n\n\n 13.\n\n THE MATERIALS OF THE ICELANDIC TROY SAGA.\n\n\nWe trust the facts presented above have convinced the reader that the\nsaga concerning the immigration of Odin and the Asas to Europe is\nthroughout a product of the convent learning of the middle ages. That\nit was born and developed independently of the traditions of the\nTeutonic heathendom shall be made still more apparent by the additional\nproofs that are accessible in regard to this subject. It may, however,\nbe of some interest to first dwell on some of the details in the\nHeimskringla and in the Younger Edda and point out their source.\n\nIt should be borne in mind that, according to the Younger Edda, it was\nZoroaster who first thought of building the Tower of Babel, and that in\nthis undertaking he was assisted by seventy-two master-masons. Zoroaster\nis, as is well known, another form for the Bactrian or Iranian name\nZarathustra, the name of the prophet and religious reformer who is\npraised on every page of Avesta's holy books, and who in a prehistoric\nage founded the religion which far down in our own era has been\nconfessed by the Persians, and is still confessed by their descendants\nin India, and is marked by a most serious and moral view of the world.\nIn the Persian and in the classical literatures this Zoroaster has\nnaught to do with Babel, still less with the Tower of Babel. But already\nin the first century of Christianity, if not earlier, traditions became\ncurrent which made Zoroaster the founder of all sorcery, magic, and\nastrology (Plinius, _Hist. Nat._, xxx. 2); and as astrology particularly\nwas supposed to have had its centre and base in Babylon, it was natural\nto assume that Babel had been the scene of Zoroaster's activity. The\nGreek-Roman chronicler Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived in the fourth\ncentury after Christ, still knows that Zoroaster was a man from Bactria,\nnot from Babylon, but he already has formed the opinion that Zoroaster\nhad gotten much of his wisdom from the writings of the Babylonians. In\nthe Church fathers the saga is developed in this direction, and from the\nChurch fathers it got into the Latin chronicles. The Christian historian\nOrosius also knows that Zoroaster was from Bactria, but he already\nconnects Zoroaster with the history of Nineveh and Babylon, and makes\nNinus make war against him and conquer him. Orosius speaks of him as the\ninventor of sorcery and the magic arts. Gregorius of Tours told in his\ntime that Zoroaster was identical with Noah's grandson, with Chus, the\nson of Ham, that this Chus went to the Persians, and that the Persians\ncalled him Zoroaster, a name supposed to mean \"the living star.\"\nGregorius also relates that this Zoroaster was the first person who\ntaught men the arts of sorcery and led them astray into idolatry, and as\nhe knew the art of making stars and fire fall from heaven, men paid him\ndivine worship. At that time, Gregorius continues, men desired to build\na tower which should reach to heaven. But God confused their tongues and\nbrought their project to naught. Nimrod, who was supposed to have built\nBabel, was, according to Gregorius, a son of Zoroaster.\n\nIf we compare this with what the Foreword of the Younger Edda tells,\nthen we find that there, too, Zoroaster is a descendant of Noah's son\nCham and the founder of all idolatry, and that he himself was worshipped\nas a god. It is evident that the author of the Foreword gathered these\nstatements from some source related to Gregorius' history. Of the 72\nmaster-masons who were said to have helped Zoroaster in building the\ntower, and from whom the 72 languages of the world originated, Gregorius\nhas nothing to say, but the saga about these builders was current\neverywhere during the middle ages. In the earlier Anglo-Saxon literature\nthere is a very naive little work, very characteristic of its age,\ncalled \"A Dialogue between Saturn and Solomon,\" in which Saturnus tests\nSolomon's knowledge and puts to him all sorts of biblical questions,\nwhich Solomon answers partly from the Bible and partly from sagas\nconnected with the Bible. Among other things Saturnus informs Solomon\nthat Adam was created out of various elements, weighing altogether eight\npounds, and that when created he was just 116 inches long. Solomon tells\nthat Shem, Noah's son, had thirty sons, Cham thirty, and Japhet\ntwelve--making 72 grandsons of Noah; and as there can be no doubt that\nit was the author's opinion that all the languages of the world, thought\nto be 72, originated at the Tower of Babel, and were spread into the\nworld by these 72 grandsons of Noah, we here find the key to who those\n72 master-masons were who, according to the Edda, assisted Zoroaster in\nbuilding the tower. They were accordingly his brothers. Luther's\ncontemporary, Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, who, in his work _De occulta\nPhilosophia_, gathered numerous data in regard to the superstition of\nall ages, has a chapter on the power and sacred meaning of various\nnumbers, and says in speaking of the number 72: \"The number 72\ncorresponds to the 72 languages, the 72 elders in the synagogue, the 72\ncommentators of the Old Testament, Christ's 72 disciples, God's 72\nnames, the 72 angels who govern the 72 divisions of the Zodiac, each\ndivision of which corresponds to one of the 72 languages.\" This\nillustrates sufficiently how widespread was the tradition in regard to\nthe 72 master-masons during the centuries of the middle ages. Even\nNestor's Russian chronicle knows the tradition. It continued to enjoy a\ncertain authority in the seventeenth century. An edition of Sulpicius\nSeverus' _Opera Omnia_, printed in 1647, still considers it necessary to\npoint out that a certain commentator had doubted whether the number 72\nwas entirely exact. Among the doubters we find Rudbeck in his\n_Atlantica_.\n\nWhat the Edda tells about king Saturnus and his son, king Jupiter, is\nfound in a general way, partly in the Church-father Lactantius, partly\nin Virgil's commentator Servius, who was known and read during the\nmiddle age. As the Edda claims that Saturnus knew the art of producing\ngold from the molten iron, and that no other than gold coins existed in\nhis time, this must be considered an interpretation of the statement\nmade in Latin sources that Saturnus' was the golden age--_aurea secula,\naurea regna_. Among the Romans Saturnus was the guardian of treasures,\nand the treasury of the Romans was in the temple of Saturnus in the\nForum.\n\nThe genealogy found in the Edda, according to which the Trojan king\nPriam, supposed to be the oldest and the proper Odin, was descended in\nthe sixth generation from Jupiter, is taken from Latin chronicles.\nHerikon of the Edda, grandson of Jupiter, is the Roman-Greek\nErichtonius; the Edda's Lamedon is Laomedon. Then the Edda has the\ndifficult task of continuing the genealogy through the dark centuries\nbetween the burning of Troy and the younger Odin's immigration to\nEurope. Here the Latin sources naturally fail it entirely, and it is\nobliged to seek other aid. It first considers the native sources. There\nit finds that Thor is also called Lorride, Indride, and Vingthor, and\nthat he had two sons, Mode and Magne; but it also finds a genealogy made\nabout the twelfth century, in which these different names of Thor are\napplied to different persons, so that Lorride is the son of Thor,\nIndride the son of Lorride, Vingthor the son of Indride, &c. This mode\nof making genealogies was current in Iceland in the twelfth century, and\nbefore that time among the Christian Anglo-Saxons. Thereupon the Edda\ncontinues its genealogy with the names Bedvig, Atra, Itrman, Heremod,\nSkjaldun or Skold, Bjaef, Jat, Gudolf, Fjarlaf or Fridleif, and finally\nOdin, that is to say, the younger Odin, who had adopted this name after\nhis deified progenitor Hermes-Priam. This whole genealogy is taken from\na Saxon source, and can be found in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle name for\nname. From Odin the genealogy divides itself into two branches, one from\nOdin's son, Veggdegg, and another from Odin's son, Beldegg or Balder.\nThe one branch has the names Veggdegg, Vitrgils, Ritta, Heingest. These\nnames are found arranged into a genealogy by the English Church\nhistorian Beda, by the English chronicler Nennius, and in the\nAnglo-Saxon chronicle. From one of these three sources the Edda has\ntaken them, and the only difference is that the Edda must have made a\nslip in one place and changed the name Vitta to Ritta. The other branch,\nwhich begins with Balder or Beldegg, embraces eight names, which are\nfound in precisely the same order in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle.\n\nIn regard to Balder, the Edda says that Odin appointed him king in\nWestphalia. This statement is based on the tradition that Balder was\nknown among the heathen Germans and Scandinavians by the name Fal\n(_Falr_, see No. 92), with its variation Fol. In an age when it was\nbelieved that Sweden got its name from a king Sven, Goetaland from a king\nGoet, Danmark from a king Dan, Angeln from a king Angul, the Franks from\na duke Francio, it might be expected that Falen (East- and West-Phalia)\nhad been named after a king Fal. That this name was recognised as\nbelonging to Balder not only in Germany, but also in Scandinavia, I\nshall give further proof of in No. 92.\n\nAs already stated, Thor was, according to the Edda, married to Sibil,\nthat is to say, the Sibylla, and the Edda adds that this Sibil is called\nSif in the North. In the Teutonic mythology Thor's wife is the goddess\nSif. It has already been mentioned that it was believed in the middle\nage that the Cumaean or Erythreian Sibylla originally came from Troy, and\nit is not, therefore, strange that the author of the Younger Edda, who\nspeaks of the Trojan descent of Odin and his people, should marry Thor\nto the most famous of Trojan women. Still, this marriage is not invented\nby the author. The statement has an older foundation, and taking all\ncircumstances into consideration, may be traced to Germany, where Sif,\nin the days of heathendom, was as well known as Thor. To the northern\nform Sif corresponds the Gothic form _Sibba_, the Old English _Sib_, the\nOld Saxon _Sibbia_, and the Old High German _Sibba_, and Sibil, Sibilla,\nwas thought to be still another form of the same name. The belief, based\non the assumed fact that Thor's wife Sif was identical with the Sibylla,\nexplains a phenomenon not hitherto understood in the saga-world and\nchurch sculpture of the middle age, and on this point I now have a few\nremarks to make.\n\nIn the Norse mythology several goddesses or dises have, as we know,\nfeather-guises, with which they fly through space. Freyja has a\nfalcon-guise; several dises have swan-guises (Volundarkv. Helreid.\nBrynh., 6). Among these swan-maids was Sif (see No. 123). Sif could\ntherefore present herself now in human form, and again in the guise of\nthe most beautiful swimming bird, the swan.\n\nA legend, the origin of which may be traced to Italy, tells that when\nthe queen of Saba visited king Solomon, she was in one place to cross a\nbrook. A tree or beam was thrown across as a bridge. The wise queen\nstopped, and would not let her foot touch the beam. She preferred to\nwade across the brook, and when she was asked the reason for this, she\nanswered that in a prophetic vision she had seen that the time would\ncome when this tree would be made into a cross on which the Saviour of\nthe world was to suffer.\n\nThe legend came also to Germany, but here it appears with the addition\nthat the queen of Saba was rewarded for this piety, and was freed while\nwading across the brook from a bad blemish. One of her feet, so says the\nGerman addition, was of human form, but the other like the foot of a\nwater-bird up to the moment when she took it out of the brook. Church\nsculpture sometimes in the middle age represented the queen of Saba as a\nwoman well formed, except that she had one foot like that of a\nwater-bird. How the Germans came to represent her with this blemish,\nforeign to the Italian legend, has not heretofore been explained,\nalthough the influence of the Greek-Roman mythology on the legends of\nthe Romance peoples, and that of the Teutonic mythology on the Teutonic\nlegends, has been traced in numerous instances.\n\nDuring the middle ages the queen of Saba was called queen Seba, on\naccount of the Latin translation of the Bible, where she is styled\n_Regina Seba_, and Seba was thought to be her name. The name suggested\nher identity, on the one hand, with Sibba, Sif, whose swan-guise lived\nin the traditions; on the other hand, with Sibilla, and the latter\nparticularly, since queen Seba had proved herself to be in possession of\nprophetic inspiration, the chief characteristic of the Sibylla. Seba,\nSibba, and Sibilla were in the popular fancy blended into one. This\nexplains how queen Seba among the Germans, but not among the Italians,\ngot the blemish which reminds us of the swan-guise of Thor's wife Sibba.\nAnd having come to the conclusion that Thor was a Trojan, his wife Sif\nalso ought to be a Trojan woman. And as it was known that the Sibylla\nwas Trojan, and that queen Seba was a Sibylla, this blending was almost\ninevitable. The Latin scholars found further evidence of the correctness\nof this identity in a statement drawn originally from Greek sources to\nthe effect that Jupiter had had a Sibylla, by name Lamia, as mistress,\nand had begotten a daughter with her by name Herophile, who was endowed\nwith her mother's gift of prophecy. As we know, Mercury corresponds to\nOdin, and Jupiter to Thor, in the names of the days of the week. It thus\nfollows that it was Thor who stood in this relation to the Sibylla.\n\nThe character of the anthropomorphosed Odin, who is lawgiver and king,\nas represented in Heimskringla and the Prose Edda, is only in part based\non native northern traditions concerning the heathen god Odin, the ruler\nof heaven. This younger Odin, constructed by Christian authors, has\nreceived his chief features from documents found in the convent\nlibraries. When the Prose Edda tells that the chief who proceeded from\nAsgard to Saxland and Scandinavia did not really bear the name Odin, but\nhad assumed this name after the elder and deified Odin-Priam of Troy, to\nmake people believe that he was a god, then this was no new idea.\nVirgil's commentator, Servius, remarks that ancient kings very\nfrequently assumed names which by right belonged only to the gods, and\nhe blames Virgil for making Saturnus come from the heavenly Olympus to\nfound a golden age in Italy. This Saturnus, says Servius, was not a god\nfrom above, but a mortal king from Crete who had taken the god Saturnus'\nname. The manner in which Saturnus, on his arrival in Italy and the\nvicinity of Rome, was received by Janus, the king ruling there, reminds\nus of the manner in which Odin, on his arrival in Svithiod, was received\nby king Gylfe. Janus is unpretentious enough to leave a portion of his\nterritory and his royal power to Saturnus, and Gylfe makes the same\nconcessions to Odin. Saturnus thereupon introduces a higher culture\namong the people of Latium, and Odin brings a higher culture to the\ninhabitants of Scandinavia. The Church father Lactantius, like Servius,\nspeaks of kings who tried to appropriate the name and worship of the\ngods, and condemns them as foes of truth and violators of the doctrines\nof the true God.\n\nIn regard to one of them, the Persian Mithra, who, in the middle age,\nwas confounded with Zoroaster, Tertulianus relates that he (Mithra), who\nknew in advance that Christianity would come, resolved to anticipate the\ntrue faith by introducing some of its customs. Thus, for example,\nMithra, according to Tertulianus, introduced the custom of blessing by\nlaying the hands on the head or the brow of those to whom he wished to\ninsure prosperity, and he also adopted among his mysteries a practice\nresembling the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist. So far as the\nblessing by the laying on of hands is concerned, Mithra especially used\nit in giving courage to the men whom he sent out as soldiers to war.\nWith these words of Tertulianus it is interesting to compare the\nfollowing passage in regard to Odin in the Heimskringla: \"It was his\ncustom when he sent his men to war, or on some errand, to lay his hands\non their heads and give them _bjannak_.\" Bjannak is not a Norse word,\nnot even Teutonic, and there has been uncertainty in regard to its\nsignificance. The well-known Icelandic philologist, Vigfusson, has, as I\nbelieve, given the correct definition of the word, having referred it to\nthe Scottish word _bannock_ and the Gaelic _banagh_, which means bread.\nPresumably the author of Heimskringla has chosen this foreign word in\norder not to wound the religious feelings of readers with a native term,\nfor if _bjannak_ really means bread, and if the author of Heimskringla\ndesired in this way to indicate that Odin, by the aid of sacred usages,\npractised in the Christian cult--that is, by the laying on of hands and\nthe breaking of bread--had given his warriors assurance of victory, then\nit lay near at hand to modify, by the aid of a foreign word for bread,\nthe impression of the disagreeable similarity between the heathen and\nChristian usages. But at the same time the complete harmony between what\nTertulianus tells about Mithra and Heimskringla about Odin is manifest.\n\nWhat Heimskringla tells about Odin, that his spirit could leave the body\nand go to far-off regions, and that his body lay in the meantime as if\nasleep or dead, is told, in the middle age, of Zoroaster and of\nHermes-Mercurius.\n\nNew Platonian works had told much about an originally Egyptian god, whom\nthey associated with the Greek Hermes and called Hermes-Trismegistus--that\nis, the thrice greatest and highest. The name Hermes-Trismegistus became\nknown through Latin authors even to the scholars in the middle age\nconvents, and, as a matter of course, those who believed that Odin\nwas identical with Hermes also regarded him as identical with\nHermes-Trismegistus. When Gylfe sought Odin and his men he came to a\ncitadel which, according to the statement of the gatekeeper, belonged to\nking Odin, but when he had entered the hall he there saw not _one_\nthrone, but three thrones, the one above the other, and upon each of the\nthrones a chief. When Gylfe asked the names of these chiefs, he received\nan answer that indicates that none of the three alone was Odin, but that\nOdin the sorcerer, who was able to turn men's vision, was present in\nthem all. One of the three, says the doorkeeper, is named _Har_, the\nsecond, _Jafnhar_, and the one on the highest throne is _Thridi_. It\nseems to me probable that what gave rise to this story was the surname\n\"the thrice-highest,\" which in the middle age was ascribed to Mercury,\nand, consequently, was regarded as one of the epithets which Odin\nassumed. The names _Third_ and _High_ seem to point to the phrase \"the\nthrice-highest.\" It was accordingly taken for granted that Odin had\nappropriated this name in order to anticipate Christianity with a sort\nof idea of trinity, just as Zoroaster, his progenitor, had, under the\nname Mithra, in advance imitated the Christian usages.\n\nThe rest that Heimskringla and the Younger Edda tell about the king Odin\nwho immigrated to Europe is mainly taken from the stories embodied in\nthe mythological songs and traditions in regard to the god Odin who\nruled in the celestial Valhal. Here belongs what is told about the war\nof Odin and the Asiatics with the Vans. In the myth, this war was waged\naround the walls built by a giant around the heavenly Asgard (Voelusp.,\n25). The citadel in which Gylfe finds the triple Odin is decorated in\nharmony with the Valhal described by the heathen skalds. The men who\ndrink and present exercises in arms are the einherjes of the myth. Gylfe\nhimself is taken from the mythology, but, to all appearances, he did not\nplay the part of a king, but of a giant, dwelling in Jotunheim. The\nFornmanna sagas make him a descendant of _Fornjotr_, who, with his sons,\n_Hler_, _Logi_, and _Kari_, and his descendants, _Joekull_, _Snaer_,\n_Geitir_, &c., doubtless belong to Jotunheim. When Odin and the Asas had\nbeen made immigrants to the North, it was quite natural that the giants\nwere made a historical people, and as such were regarded as the\naborigines of the North--an hypothesis which, in connection with the\nfable about the Asiatic emigration, was accepted for centuries, and\nstill has its defenders. The story that Odin, when he perceived death\ndrawing near, marked himself with the point of a spear, has its origin\nin the words which a heathen song lays on Odin's lips: \"I know that I\nhung on the wind-tossed tree nine nights, by my spear wounded, given to\nOdin, myself given to myself\" (Havam., 138).\n\n\n 14.\n\n THE RESULT OF THE FOREGOING INVESTIGATIONS.\n\nHerewith I close the examination of the sagas in regard to the Trojan\ndescent of the Teutons, and in regard to the immigration of Odin and his\nAsiamen to Saxland, Denmark, and the Scandinavian peninsula. I have\npointed out the seed from which the sagas grew, the soil in which the\nseed could be developed, and how it gradually grew to be what we find\nthese sagas to be in Heimskringla and the Younger Edda. I have shown\nthat they do not belong to the Teutonic heathendom, but that they were\nborn, as it were of necessity, in a Christian time, among Teutons\nconverted to Christianity, and that they are throughout the work of the\nLatin scholars in the middle age. The assumption that they concealed\nwithin themselves a tradition preserved for centuries among the Teutons\nthemselves of an ancient emigration from Asia is altogether improbable,\nand is completely refuted by the genuine migration sagas of Teutonic\norigin which were rescued from oblivion, and of which I shall give an\naccount below. In my opinion, these old and genuine Teutonic migration\nsagas have, from a purely historical standpoint, but little more claim\nthan the fables of the Christian age in regard to Odin's emigration from\nAsia to be looked upon as containing a kernel of reality. This must in\neach case be carefully considered. But that of which they furnish\nevidence is, how entirely foreign to the Teutonic heathens was the idea\nof an immigration from Troy or Asia, and besides, they are of great\ninterest on account of their connection with what the myths have to say\nin regard to the oldest dwelling-places, history, and diffusion of the\nhuman race, or at least of the Teutonic part of it.\n\nAs a rule, all the old migration sagas, no matter from what race they\nspring, should be treated with the utmost caution. Large portions of\nthe earth's surface may have been appropriated by various races, not by\nthe sudden influx of large masses, but by a gradual increase of the\npopulation and consequent moving of their boundaries, and there need not\nhave been very remarkable or memorable events in connection therewith.\nSuch an expansion of the territory may take place, and be so little\nremarked by the people living around the centre, that they actually do\nnot need to be aware of it, and much less do they need to remember it in\nsagas and songs. That a few new settlers year by year extend the\nboundaries of a race has no influence on the imagination, and it can\ncontinue generation after generation, and produce as its final result an\nimmense expansion, and yet the separate generations may scarcely have\nbeen conscious of the change in progress. A people's spreading over new\nterritory may be compared with the movement of the hour-hand on a clock.\nIt is not perceptible to the eye, and is only realized by continued\nobservation.\n\nIn many instances, however, immigrations have taken place in large\nmasses, who have left their old abodes to seek new homes. Such\nundertakings are of themselves worthy of being remembered, and they are\nattended by results that easily cling to the memory. But even in such\ncases it is surprising how soon the real historical events either are\nutterly forgotten or blended with fables, which gradually, since they\nappeal more to the fancy, monopolise the interest. The conquest and\nsettlement of England by Saxon and Scandinavian tribes--and that, too,\nin a time when the art of writing was known--is a most remarkable\ninstance of this. Hengist, under whose command the Saxons, according to\ntheir own immigration saga, are said to have planted their feet on\nBritish soil, is a saga-figure taken from mythology, and there we shall\nfind him later on (see No. 123). No wonder, then, if we discover in\nmythology those heroes under whose leadership the Longobardians and\nGoths believed they had emigrated from their original Teutonic homes.\n\n\n\n\n B. REMINISCENCES IN THE POPULAR TRADITIONS\n OF THE MIDDLE AGES OF THE\n HEATHEN MIGRATION SAGA.\n\n\n 15.\n\n THE LONGOBARDIAN MIGRATION SAGA.\n\nWhat there still remains of migration sagas from the middle ages, taken\nfrom the saga-treasure of the Teutons themselves, is, alas! but little.\nAmong the Franks the stream of national traditions early dried up, at\nleast among the class possessing Latin culture. Among the Longobardians\nit fared better, and among them Christianity was introduced later.\nWithin the ken of Roman history they appear in the first century after\nChrist, when Tiberius invaded their boundaries.\n\nTacitus speaks of them with admiration as a small people whose paucity,\nhe says, was balanced by their unity and warlike virtues, which rendered\nthem secure in the midst of the numerous and mighty tribes around them.\nThe Longobardians dwelt at that time in the most northern part of\nGermany, on the lower Elbe, probably in Luneburg. Five hundred years\nlater we find them as rulers in Pannonia, whence they invade Italy. They\nhad then been converted to Christianity. A hundred years after they had\nbecome settled in North Italy, one of their Latin scholars wrote a\nlittle treatise, _De Origine Longobardorum_, which begins in the\nfollowing manner: \"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Here begins the\noldest history of our Longobardian people. There is an island called\nSkadan, far in the north. There dwelt many peoples. Among them was a\nlittle people called the Vinnilians, and among the Vinnilians was a\nwoman by name Gambara. Gambara had two sons: one by name Ibor, the other\nnamed Ajo. She and these sons were the rulers among the Vinnilians. Then\nit came to pass that the Vandals, with their dukes Ambri and Assi,\nturned against the Vinnilians, and said to them: 'Pay ye tribute unto\nus. If ye will not, then arm yourselves for war!' Then made answer Ibor\nand Ajo and their mother Gambara: 'It is better for us to arm ourselves\nfor war than to pay tribute to the Vandals'. When Ambri and Assi, the\ndukes of the Vandals, heard this, they addressed themselves to Odin\n(Godan) with a prayer that he should grant them victory. Odin answered\nand said: 'Those whom I first discover at the rising of the sun, to them\nI shall give victory'. But at the same time Ibor and Ajo, the chiefs of\nthe Vinnilians, and their mother Gambara, addressed themselves to Frigg\n(Frea), Odin's wife, beseeching her to assist them. Then Frigg gave the\nadvice that the Vinnilians should set out at the rising of the sun, and\nthat the women should accompany their husbands and arrange their hair so\nthat it should hang like a beard under their chins. When the sky cleared\nand the sun was about to rise, Frigg, Odin's wife, went to the couch\nwhere her husband was sleeping and directed his face to the east (where\nthe Vinnilians stood), and then she waked him. And as he looked up he\nsaw the Vinnilians, and observed the hair hanging down from the faces of\ntheir women. And then said he: 'What long-beards are they?' Then said\nFrigg to Odin: 'My lord, as you now have named them, you must also give\nthem victory!' And he gave them victory, so that they, in accordance\nwith his resolve, defended themselves well, and got the upper hand. From\nthat day the Vinnilians were called Longobardians--that is to say,\nlong-beards. Then the Longobardians left their country and came to\nGolaida, and thereupon they occupied Aldonus, Anthaib, Bainaib, and\nBurgundaib.\"\n\nIn the days of Charlemagne the Longobardians got a historian by name\nPaulus Diaconus, a monk in the convent Monte Cassino, and he was himself\na Longobardian by birth. Of the earliest history of his people he\nrelates the following: The Vinnilians or Longobardians, who ruled\nsuccessfully in Italy, are of Teutonic descent, and came originally from\nthe island Scandinavia. Then he says that he has talked with persons who\nhad been in Scandinavia, and from their reports he gives some facts,\nfrom which it is evident that his informants had reference to Scania\nwith its extensive coast of lowlands and shallow water. Then he\ncontinues: \"When the population on this island had increased beyond the\nability of the island to support them, they were divided into three\nparts, and it was determined by lot which part should emigrate from the\nnative land and seek new homes. The part whose destiny it became to\nleave their native land chose as their leaders the brothers Ibor and\nAjo, who were in the bloom of manhood and were distinguished above the\nrest. Then they bade farewell to their friends and to their country, and\nwent to seek a land in which they might settle. The mother of these two\nleaders was called Gambara, who was distinguished among her people for\nher keen understanding and shrewd advice, and great reliance was placed\non her prudence in difficult circumstances.\" Paulus makes a digression\nto discuss many remarkable things to be seen in Scandinavia: the light\nsummer nights and the long winter nights, a maelstrom which in its\nvortex swallows vessels and sometimes throws them up again, an animal\nresembling a deer hunted by the neighbours of the Scandinavians, the\nScritobinians (the Skee[7] Finns), and a cave in a rock where seven men\nin Roman clothes have slept for centuries (see Nos. 79-81, and No. 94).\nThen he relates that the Vinnilians left Scandinavia and came to a\ncountry called Scoringia, and there was fought the aforesaid battle, in\nwhich, thanks to Frigg's help, the Vinnilians conquered the Vandals, who\ndemanded tribute from them.\n\nThe story is then told how this occurred, and how the Vinnilians got the\nname Longobardians in a manner corresponding with the source already\nquoted, with the one addition, that it was Odin's custom when he awoke\nto look out of the window, which was open, to the east toward the rising\nsun. Paulus Diaconus finds this Longobardian folk-saga ludicrous, not in\nitself, but because Odin was, in the first place, he says, a man, not a\ngod. In the second place, Odin did not live among the Teutons, but among\nthe Greeks, for he is the same as the one called by the Romans Mercury.\nIn the third place, Odin-Mercury did not live at the time when the\nLongobardians emigrated from Scandinavia, but much earlier. According to\nPaulus, there were only five generations between the emigration of the\nLongobardians and the time of Odoacer. Thus we find in Paulus Diaconus\nthe ideas in regard to Odin-Mercury which I have already called\nattention to. Paulus thereupon relates the adventures which happened to\nthe Longobardians after the battle with the Vandals. I shall refer to\nthese adventures later on. They belong to the Teutonic mythology, and\nreappear in mythic sources (see No. 112), but in a more original form,\nand as events which took place in the beginning of time in a conflict\nbetween the Asas and Vans on the one hand, and lower beings on the other\nhand; lower, indeed, but unavoidable in connection with the well-being\nof nature and man. This conflict resulted in a terrible winter and\nconsequent famine throughout the North. In this mythological description\nwe shall find Ajo and Ibor, under whose leadership the Longobardians\nemigrated, and Hengist, under whom the Saxons landed in Britain.\n\nIt is proper to show what form the story about the Longobardian\nemigration had assumed toward the close of the twelfth century in the\nwritings of the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus. The emigration took\nplace, he says, at a time when a Danish king, by name Snoe, ruled, and\nwhen there occurred a terrible famine. First, those starving had\nresolved to kill all the aged and all children, but this awful resolve\nwas not carried out, thanks to a good and wise woman, by name Gambaruc,\nwho advised that a part of the people should emigrate. This was done\nunder the leadership of her sons Aggo and Ebbo. The emigrants came first\nto Blekingia (Blekinge), then they sailed past Moringia (Moere) and came\nto Gutland, where they had a contest with the Vandals, and by the aid of\nthe goddess Frigg they won the victory, and got the name Longobardians.\nFrom Gutland they sailed to Rugen, and thence to the German continent,\nand thus after many adventures they at length became masters of a large\npart of Italy.\n\nIn regard to this account it must be remarked that although it contains\nmany details not found in Paulus Diaconus, still it is the same\nnarrative that has come to Saxo's knowledge. This Saxo also admits, and\nappeals to the testimony of Paulus Diaconus. Paulus' Gambara is Saxo's\nGambaruc; Ajo and Ibor are Aggo and Ebbo. But the Longobardian monk is\nnot Saxo's only source, and the brothers Aggo and Ebbo, as we shall\nshow, were known to him from purely northern sources, though not as\nleaders of the Longobardians, but as mythic characters, who are actors\nin the great winter which Saxo speaks of.\n\nThe Longobardian emigration saga--as we find it recorded in the seventh\ncentury, and then again in the time of Charlemagne--contains\nunmistakable internal evidence of having been taken from the people's\nown traditions. Proof of this is already the circumstance, that although\nthe Longobardians had been Christians for nearly 200 years when the\nlittle book _De Origine Longobardorum_ appeared, still the long-banished\ndivinities, Odin and Frigg, reappear and take part in the events, not as\nmen, but as divine beings, and in a manner thoroughly corresponding with\nthe stories recorded in the North concerning the relations between Odin\nand his wife. For although this relation was a good and tender one,\njudging from expressions in the heathen poems of the North (Voelusp., 51;\nVafthr., 1-4), and although the queen of heaven, Frigg, seems to have\nbeen a good mother in the belief of the Teutons, this does not hinder\nher from being represented as a wily person, with a will of her own\nwhich she knows how to carry out. Even a Norse story tells how Frigg\nresolves to protect a person whom Odin is not able to help; how she and\nhe have different favourites among men, and vie with each other in\nbringing greater luck to their favourites. The story is found in the\nprose introduction to the poem \"Grimnismal,\" an introduction which in\nmore than one respect reminds us of the Longobardian emigration saga. In\nboth it is mentioned how Odin from his dwelling looks out upon the world\nand observes what is going on. Odin has a favourite by name Geirrod.\nFrigg, on the other hand, protects Geirrod's brother Agnar. The man and\nwife find fault with each other's proteges. Frigg remarks about Geirrod,\nthat he is a prince, \"stingy with food, so that he lets his guests\nstarve if they are many.\" And the story goes on to say that Geirrod, at\nthe secret command of Odin, had pushed the boat in which Agnar was\nsitting away from shore, and that the boat had gone to sea with Agnar\nand had not returned. The story looks like a parable founded on the\nLongobardian saga, or like one grown in a Christian time out of the same\nroot as the Longobardian story. Geirrod is in reality the name of a\ngiant, and the giant is in the myth a being who brings hail and frost.\nHe dwells in the uttermost North, beyond the mythical Gandvik\n(Thorsdrapa, 2), and as a mythical winter symbol he corresponds to king\nSnoe in Saxo. His \"stinginess of food when too many guests come\" seems to\npoint to lack of food caused by the unfavourable weather, which\nnecessitated emigrations, when the country became over-populated. Agnar,\nabandoned to the waves of the sea, is protected, like the Longobardians\ncrossing the sea, by Frigg, and his very name, Agnar, reminds us of the\nnames Aggo, Acho, and Agio, by which Ajo, one of the leaders of the\nLongobardians, is known. The prose introduction has no original\nconnection with _Grimnismal_ itself, and in the form in which we now\nhave it, it belongs to a Christian age, and is apparently from an author\nbelonging to the same school as those who regarded the giants as the\noriginal inhabitants of Scandinavia, and turned winter giants like\nJoekull, Snaer, &c., into historical kings of Norway.\n\nThe absolutely positive result of the Longobardian narratives written by\nLongobardian historians is that the Teutonic race to which they belonged\nconsidered themselves sprung, not from Troy or Asia, but from an island,\nsituated in the ocean, which washes the northern shores of the Teutonic\ncontinent, that is to say, of Germany.\n\n[Footnote 7: The snow-skate, used so extensively in the north of Europe,\nis called _Ski_ in the Norse, and I have taken the liberty of\nintroducing this word here and spelling it phonetically--_skee_, pl.\n_skees_. The words snow-shoes, snow-skates, hardly describe sufficiently\nthese skees used by the Finns, Norsemen, and Icelanders. Compare the\nEnglish word _skid_, the drag applied to a coach-wheel.--_Tr._]\n\n\n 16.\n\n THE SAXON AND SWABIAN MIGRATION SAGA.\n\n\nFrom the Longobardians I now pass to the great Teutonic group of peoples\ncomprised in the term the _Saxons_. Their historian, Widukind, who wrote\nhis chronicle in the tenth century, begins by telling what he has\nlearned about the origin of the Saxons. Here, he says, different\nopinions are opposed to each other. According to one opinion held by\nthose who knew the Greeks and Romans, the Saxons are descended from the\nremnants of Alexander the Great's Macedonian army; according to the\nother, which is based on native traditions, the Saxons are descended\nfrom Danes and Northmen. Widukind so far takes his position between\nthese opinions that he considers it certain that the Saxons had come in\nships to the country they inhabited on the lower Elbe and the North Sea,\nand that they landed in Hadolaun, that is to say, in the district\nHadeln, near the mouth of the Elbe, which, we may say in passing, still\nis distinguished for its remarkably vigorous population, consisting of\npeasants whose ancestors throughout the middle ages preserved the\ncommunal liberty in successful conflict with the feudal nobility.\nWidukind's statement that the Saxons crossed the sea to Hadeln is found\nin an older Saxon chronicle, written about 860, with the addition that\nthe leader of the Saxons in their emigration was a chief by name\nHadugoto.\n\nA Swabian chronicle, which claims that the Swabians also came from the\nNorth and experienced about the same adventures as the Saxons when they\ncame to their new home, gives from popular traditions additional details\nin regard to the migration and the voyage. According to this account,\nthe emigration was caused by a famine which visited the Northland\nsituated on the other side of the sea, because the inhabitants were\nheathens who annually sacrificed twelve Christians to their gods. At the\ntime when the famine came there ruled a king Rudolph over that region in\nthe Northland whence the people emigrated. He called a convention of all\nthe most noble men in the land, and there it was decided that, in order\nto put an end to the famine, the fathers of families who had several\nsons should slay them all except the one they loved most. Thanks to a\nyoung man, by name Ditwin, who was himself included in this dreadful\nresolution, a new convention was called, and the above resolution was\nrescinded, and instead, it was decided to procure ships, and that all\nthey who, according to the former resolution, were doomed to die, should\nseek new homes beyond the sea. Accompanied by their female friends, they\nembarked, and they had not sailed far before they were attacked by a\nviolent storm, which carried them to a Danish harbour near a place,\nsays the author, which is called Slesvik. Here they went ashore, and to\nput an end to all discussion in regard to a return to the old dear\nfatherland, they hewed their ships into pieces. Then they wandered\nthrough the country which lay before them, and, together with much other\nbooty, they gathered 20,000 horses, so that a large number of the men\nwere able to ride on horseback. The rest followed the riders on foot.\nArmed with weapons, they proceeded in this manner through the country\nruled by the Danes, and they came to the river Alba (Elbe), which they\ncrossed; after which they scattered themselves along the coast. This\nSwabian narrative, which seems to be copied from the Saxon, tells, like\nthe latter, that the Thuringians were rulers in the land to which the\nimmigrants came, and that bloody battles had to be fought before they\ngot possession of it. Widukind's account attempts to give the Saxons a\nlegal right, at least to the landing-place and the immediate vicinity.\nThis legal right, he says, was acquired in the following manner: While\nthe Saxons were still in their ships in the harbour, out of which the\nThuringians were unable to drive them, it was resolved on both sides to\nopen negotiations, and thus an understanding was reached, that the\nSaxons, on the condition that they abstained from plundering and murder,\nmight remain and buy what they needed and sell whatever they could. Then\nit occurred that a Saxon man, richly adorned with gold and wearing a\ngold necklace, went ashore. There a Thuringian met him and asked him:\n\"Why do you wear so much gold around your lean neck?\" The youth\nanswered that he was perishing from hunger, and was seeking a purchaser\nof his gold ornaments. \"How much do you ask?\" inquired the Thuringian.\n\"What do you bid?\" answered the Saxon. Near by was a large sand-hill,\nand the Thuringian said in derision: \"I will give you as much sand as\nyou can carry in your clothes.\" The Saxon said he would accept this\noffer. The Thuringian filled the skirts of his frock with sand; the\nSaxon gave him his gold ornaments and returned to the ships. The\nThuringians laughed at this bargain with contempt, and the Saxons found\nit foolish; but the youth said: \"Go with me, brave Saxons, and I will\nshow you that my foolishness will be your advantage.\" Then he took the\nsand he had bought and scattered it as widely as possible over the\nground, covering in this manner so large an area that it gave the Saxons\na fortified camp. The Thuringians sent messengers and complained of\nthis, but the Saxons answered that hitherto they had faithfully observed\nthe treaty, and that they had not taken more territory than they had\npurchased with their gold. Thus the Saxons got a firm foothold in the\nland.\n\nThus we find that the sagas of the Saxons and the Swabians agree with\nthose of the Longobardians in this, that their ancestors were supposed\nto have come from a northern country beyond the Baltic. The Swabian\nversion identifies this country distinctly enough with the Scandinavian\npeninsula. Of an immigration from the East the traditions of these\ntribes have not a word to say.\n\n\n 17.\n\n THE FRANKISH MIGRATION SAGA.\n\nWe have already stated that the Frankish chronicles, unlike those of the\nother Teutonic tribes, wholly ignore the traditions of the Franks, and\ninstead present the scholastic doctrine concerning the descent of the\nFranks from Troy and the Moeotian marshes. But I did not mean to say\nthat we are wholly without evidence that another theory existed among\nthe Franks, for they, too, had traditions in harmony with those of the\nother Teutonic tribes. There lived in the time of Charlemagne and after\nhim a Frankish man whose name is written on the pages of history as a\nperson of noble character and as a great educator in his day, the abbot\nin Fulda, later archbishop in Mayence, Hrabanus Maurus, a scholar of the\ndistinguished Alcuin, the founder of the first library and of the first\nlarge convent school in Germany. The fact that he was particularly a\ntheologian and Latinist did not prevent his honouring and loving the\ntongue of his fathers and of his race. He encouraged its study and use,\nand he succeeded in bringing about that sermons were preached in the\nchurches in the Teutonic dialect of the church-goers. That a Latin\nscholar with so wide a horizon as his also was able to comprehend what\nthe majority of his colleagues failed to understand--viz., that some\nvalue should be attached to the customs of the fathers and to the old\nmemories from heathen times--should not surprise us. One of the proofs\nof his interest in this matter he has given us in his treatise _De\ninvocatione linguarum_, in which he has recorded a Runic alphabet,\nand added the information that it is the alphabet used by the Northmen\nand by other heathen tribes, and that songs and formulas for healing,\nincantation, and prophecy are written with these characters. When\nHrabanus speaks of the Northmen, he adds that those who speak the German\ntongue trace their descent from the Northmen. This statement cannot be\nharmonised with the hypothesis concerning the Asiatic descent of the\nFranks and other Teutons, except by assuming that the Teutons on their\nimmigration from Asia to Europe took a route so far to the north that\nthey reached the Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark without touching\nGermany and Central Europe, and then came from the North to Germany. But\nof such a view there is not a trace to be found in the middle age\nchronicles. The Frankish chronicles make the Franks proceed from\nPannonia straight to the Rhine. The Icelandic imitations of the\nhypothesis make Odin and his people proceed from Tanais to Saxland, and\nfound kingdoms there before he comes to Denmark and Sweden. Hrabanus has\ncertainly not heard of any such theory. His statement that all the\nTeutons came from the North rests on the same foundation as the native\ntraditions which produced the sagas in regard to the descent of the\nLongobardians, Saxons, and Swabians from the North. There still remains\none trace of the Frankish migration saga, and that is the statement of\nPaulus Diaconus, made above, concerning the supposed identity of the\nname Ansgisel with the name Anchises. The identification is not made by\nPaulus himself, but was found in the Frankish source which furnished\nhim with what he tells about the ancestors of Charlemagne, and the\nFrankish source, under the influence of the hypothesis regarding the\nTrojan descent of the Franks, has made an emigration leader mentioned in\nthe popular traditions identical with the Trojan Anchises. This is\ncorroborated by the Ravenna geographer, who also informs us that a\ncertain Anschis, Ansgisel, was a Teutonic emigration leader, and that he\nwas the one under whose leadership the Saxon tribes left their old\nhomes. Thus it appears that, according to the Frankish saga, the Franks\noriginally emigrated under the same chief as the Saxons. The character\nand position of Ansgisel in the heathen myth will be explained in No.\n123.\n\n\n 18.\n\n JORDANES ON THE EMIGRATION OF THE GOTHS, GEPIDAE,\n AND HERULIANS. THE MIGRATION SAGA OF THE\n BURGUNDIANS. TRACES OF AN ALAMANNIC MIGRATION\n SAGA.\n\n\nThe most populous and mighty of all the Teutonic tribes was during a\nlong period the _Gothic_, which carried victorious weapons over all\neastern and southern Europe and Asia Minor, and founded kingdoms between\nthe Don in the East and the Atlantic ocean and the Pillars of Hercules\nin the West and South. The traditions of the Goths also referred the\ncradle of the race to Scandinavia. Jordanes, a Romanised Goth, wrote in\nthe sixth century the history of his people. In the North, he says,\nthere is a great ocean, and in this ocean there is a large island called\nScandza, out of whose loins our race burst forth like a swarm of bees\nand spread over Europe. In its capacity as cradle of the Gothic race,\nand of other Teutonic tribes, this island Scandza is clearly of great\ninterest to Jordanes, the more so since he, through his father Vamod or\nAlano-Vamut, regarded himself as descended from the same royal family as\nthat from which the Amalians, the famous royal family of the East Goths,\ntraced their ancestry. On this account Jordanes gives as complete a\ndescription of this island as possible. He first tells what the Greek\nand Roman authors Claudius Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela have written about\nit, but he also reports a great many things which never before were\nknown in literature, unless they were found in the lost _Historia\nGothorum_ by Cassiodorus--things which either Jordanes himself or\nCassiodorus had learned from Northmen who were members of the large\nTeutonic armies then in Italy. Jordanes also points out, with an air of\nsuperiority, that while the geographer Ptolemy did not know more than\nseven nations living on the island Scandza, he is able to enumerate many\nmore. Unfortunately several of the Scandinavian tribe-names given by him\nare so corrupted by the transcriber that it is useless to try to restore\nthem. It is also evident that Jordanes himself has had a confused notion\nof the proper geographical or political application of the names. Some\nof them, however, are easily recognisable as the names of tribes in\nvarious parts of Sweden and Norway, as, for instance, Vagoth,\nOstrogothae, Finnaithae (inhabitants of Finved), Bergio, Hallin,\nRaumaricii, Ragnaricii, Rani. He gives us special accounts of a\nScandinavian people, which he calls sometimes Svehans and sometimes\nSvethidi, and with these words there is every reason to believe that he\nmeans the Swedes in the wider or more limited application of this term.\nThis is what he tells about the Svehans or Svethidi: The Svehans are in\nconnection with the Thuringians living on the continent, that Teutonic\npeople which is particularly celebrated for their excellent horses. The\nSvehans are excellent hunters, who kill the animals whose skins through\ncountless hands are sent to the Romans, and are treasured by them as the\nfinest of furs. This trade cannot have made the Svehans rich. Jordanes\ngives us to understand that their economical circumstances were not\nbrilliant, but all the more brilliant were their clothes. He says they\ndressed _ditissime_. Finally, he has been informed that the Svethidi are\nsuperior to other races in stature and corporal strength, and that the\nDanes are a branch of the Svethidi. What Jordanes relates about the\nexcellent horses of the Swedes is corroborated by the traditions which\nthe Icelanders have preserved. The fact that so many tribes inhabited\nthe island Scandza strengthens his conviction that this island is the\ncradle of many of the peoples who made war on and invaded the Roman\nEmpire. The island Scandza, he says, has been _officina gentium_,\n_vagina nationum_--the source of races, the mother of nations. And\nthence--he continues, relying on the traditions and songs of his own\npeople--the Goths, too, have emigrated. This emigration occurred under\nthe leadership of a chief named Berig, and he thinks he knows where\nthey landed when they left their ships, and that they, like the\nLongobardians, on their progress came in conflict with the Vandals\nbefore they reached the regions north of the Black Sea, where they\nafterwards founded the great Gothic kingdom which flourished when the\nHuns invaded Europe.\n\nThe saga current among the Goths, that they had emigrated from\nScandinavia, ascribed the same origin to the Gepidae. The Gepidae were a\nbrave but rather sluggish Teutonic tribe, who shared the fate of the\nGoths when the Huns invaded Europe, and, like the Goths, they cast off\nthe Hunnish yoke after the death of Attila. The saga, as Jordanes found\nit, stated that when the ancestors of the Goths left Scandza, the whole\nnumber of the emigrants did not fill more than three ships. Two of them\ncame to their destination at the same time; but the third required more\ntime, and therefore the first-comers called those who arrived last\nGepanta (possibly Gepaita), which, according to Jordanes, means those\ntarrying, or the slow ones, and this name changed in course of time into\nGepidae. That the interpretation is taken from Gothic traditions is\nself-evident.\n\nJordanes has heard a report that even the warlike Teutonic Herulians had\ncome to Germany from Scandinavia. According to the report, the Herulians\nhad not emigrated voluntarily from the large islands, but had been\ndriven away by the Svethidi, or by their descendants, the Danes. That\nthe Herulians themselves had a tradition concerning their Scandinavian\norigin is corroborated by history. In the beginning of the sixth\ncentury, it happened that this people, after an unsuccessful war with\nthe Longobardians, were divided into two branches, of which the one\nreceived land from the emperor Anastasius south of the Danube, while the\nother made a resolve, which has appeared strange to all historians,\nviz., to seek a home on the Scandinavian peninsula. The circumstances\nattending this resolution make it still more strange. When they had\npassed the Slavs, they came to uninhabited regions--uninhabited,\nprobably, because they had been abandoned by the Teutons, and had not\nyet been occupied by the Slavs. In either case, they were open to the\noccupation of the Herulians; but they did not settle there. We\nmisunderstand their character if we suppose that they failed to do so\nfrom fear of being disturbed in their possession of them. Among all the\nTeutonic tribes none were more distinguished than the Herulians for\ntheir indomitable desire for war, and for their rash plans. Their\nconduct furnishes evidence of that thoughtlessness with which the\nhistorian has characterised them. After penetrating the wilderness, they\ncame to the landmarks of the Varinians, and then to those of the Danes.\nThese granted the Herulians a free passage, whereupon the adventurers,\nin ships which the Danes must have placed at their disposal, sailed over\nthe sea to the island \"Thule,\" and remained there. Procopius, the East\nRoman historian who records this (_De Bello Goth._, ii., 15), says that\non the immense island Thule, in whose northern part the midnight sun can\nbe seen, thirteen large tribes occupy its inhabitable parts, each tribe\nhaving its own king. Excepting the Skee Finns, who clothe themselves in\nskins and live from the chase, these Thulitic tribes, he says, are\nscarcely to be distinguished from the people dwelling farther south in\nEurope. One of the largest tribes is the Gauts (the Goetar). The\nHerulians went to the Gauts and were received by them.\n\nSome decades later it came to pass that the Herulians remaining in South\nEurope, and dwelling in Illyria, were in want of a king. They resolved\nto send messengers to their kinsmen who had settled in Scandinavia,\nhoping that some descendant of their old royal family might be found\nthere who was willing to assume the dignity of king among them. The\nmessengers returned with two brothers who belonged to the ancient family\nof rulers, and these were escorted by 200 young Scandinavian Herulians.\n\nAs Jordanes tells us that the Herulians actually were descended from the\ngreat northern island, then this seems to me to explain this remarkable\nresolution. They were seeking new homes in that land which in their old\nsongs was described as having belonged to their fathers. In their\nopinion, it was a return to the country which contained the ashes of\ntheir ancestors. According to an old middle age source, _Vita\nSigismundi_, the Burgundians also had old traditions about a\nScandinavian origin. As will be shown further on, the Burgundian saga\nwas connected with the same emigration chief as that of the Saxons and\nFranks (see No. 123).\n\nReminiscences of an Alamannic migration saga can be traced in the\ntraditions found around the Vierwaldstaedter Lake. The inhabitants of\nthe Canton Schwitz have believed that they originally came from Sweden.\nIt is fair to assume that this tradition in the form given to it in\nliterature has suffered a change, and that the chroniclers, on account\nof the similarity between Sweden and Schwitz, have transferred the home\nof the Alamannic Switzians to Sweden, while the original popular\ntradition has, like the other Teutonic migration sagas, been satisfied\nwith the more vague idea that the Schwitzians came from the country in\nthe sea north of Germany when they settled in their Alpine valleys. In\nthe same regions of Switzerland popular traditions have preserved the\nmemory of an exploit which belongs to the Teutonic mythology, and is\nthere performed by the great archer Ibor (see No. 108), and as he\nreappears in the Longobardian tradition as a migration chief, the\npossibility lies near at hand, that he originally was no stranger to the\nAlamannic migration saga.\n\n\n 19.\n\n THE TEUTONIC EMIGRATION SAGA FOUND IN TACITUS.\n\n\nThe migration sagas which I have now examined are the only ones\npreserved to our time on Teutonic ground. They have come down to us from\nthe traditions of various tribes. They embrace the East Goths, West\nGoths, Longobardians, Gepidae, Burgundians, Herulians, Franks, Saxons,\nSwabians, and Alamannians. And if we add to these the evidence of\nHrabanus Maurus, then all the German tribes are embraced in the\ntraditions. All the evidences are unanimous in pointing to the North as\nthe Teutonic cradle. To these testimonies we must, finally, add the\noldest of all--the testimony of the sources of Tacitus from the time of\nthe birth of Christ and the first century of our era.\n\n[Illustration: THOR, THE THUNDER GOD. (_From the painting by M. E.\nWinge._)\n\nThor was reputed to be the son of Odin, surnamed the All-father, and\nJorth, the earth. He was the source of wisdom, patron of culture and of\nheroes, friend of mankind and slayer of giants. He always carried a\nheavy hammer, called The Crusher, with which he fought, assisted by\nthunder and lightning. From Thor is derived the middle English words\nThursday (Thorsday) and Thunder.]\n\nThe statements made by Tacitus in his masterly work concerning the\nvarious tribes of Germany and their religion, traditions, laws, customs,\nand character, are gathered from men who, in Germany itself, had seen\nand heard what they reported. Of this every page of the work bears\nevidence, and it also proves its author to have been a man of keen\nobservation, veracity, and wide knowledge. The knowledge of his\nreporters extends to the myths and heroic songs of the Teutons. The\nlatter is the characteristic means with which a gifted people, still\nleading their primitive life, makes compensation for their lack of\nwritten history in regard to the events and exploits of the past. We\nfind that the man he interviewed had informed himself in regard to the\ncontents of the songs which described the first beginning and the most\nancient adventures of the race, and he had done this with sufficient\naccuracy to discover a certain disagreement in the genealogies found in\nthese songs of the patriarchs and tribe heroes of the Teutons--a\ndisagreement which we shall consider later on. But the man who had done\nthis had heard nothing which could bring him, and after him Tacitus, to\nbelieve that the Teutons had immigrated from some remote part of the\nworld to that country which they occupied immediately before the birth\nof Christ--to that Germany which Tacitus describes, and in which he\nembraces that large island in the North Sea where the seafaring and\nwarlike Sviones dwelt. Quite the contrary. In his sources of information\nTacitus found nothing to hinder him from assuming as probable the view\nhe expresses--that the Teutons were aborigines, autochthones, fostered\non the soil which was their fatherland. He expresses his surprise at the\ntypical similarity prevailing among all the tribes of this populous\npeople, and at the dissimilarity existing between them on the one hand,\nand the non-Teutonic peoples on the other; and he draws the conclusion\nthat they are entirely unmixed with other races, which, again,\npresupposes that the Teutons from the most ancient times have possessed\ntheir country for themselves, and that no foreign element has been able\nto get a foothold there. He remarks that there could scarcely have been\nany immigrations from that part of Asia which was known to him, or from\nAfrica or Italy, since the nature of Germany was not suited to invite\npeople from richer and more beautiful regions. But while Tacitus thus\ndoubts that non-Teutonic races ever settled in Germany, still he has\nheard that people who desired to exchange their old homes for new ones\nhave come there to live. But these settlements did not, in his opinion,\nresult in a mixing of the race. Those early immigrants did not come by\nland, but in fleets over the sea; and as this sea was the boundless\nocean which lies beyond the Teutonic continent and was seldom visited by\npeople living in the countries embraced in the Roman empire, those\nimmigrants must themselves have been Teutons. The words of Tacitus are\n_(Germ., 2): Germanos indigenas crediderim minimeque aliarum\ngentium adventibus et hospitiis mixtos, quia nec terra olim sed\nclassibus advehebantur qui mutare sedes quaerebant, et immensus ultra\natque ut sic dixerim adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus\naditur._ \"I should think that the Teutons themselves are aborigines (and\nnot at all mixed through immigrations or connection with non-Teutonic\ntribes). For those desiring to change homes did not in early times come\nby land, but in ships across the boundless and, so to speak, hostile\nocean--a sea seldom visited by ships from the Roman world.\" This passage\nis to be compared with, and is interpreted by, what Tacitus tells when\nhe, for the second time, speaks of this same ocean in chapter 44, where\nhe relates that in the very midst of this ocean lies a land inhabited by\nTeutonic tribes, rich not only in men and arms, but also in _fleets_\n(_praeter viros armaque classibus valent_), and having a stronger and\nbetter organization than the other Teutons. These people formed several\ncommunities (_civitates_). He calls them the Sviones, and describes\ntheir ships. The conclusion to be drawn from his words is, in short,\nthat those immigrants were Northmen belonging to the same race as the\ncontinental Teutons. Thus traditions concerning immigrations from the\nNorth to Germany have been current among the continental Teutons already\nin the first century after Christ.\n\nBut Tacitus' contribution to the Teutonic migration saga is not limited\nto this. In regard to the origin of a city then already ancient and\nsituated on the Rhine, Asciburgium (_Germ._, 3), his reporter had heard\nthat it was founded by an ancient hero who had come with his ships from\nthe German Ocean, and had sailed up the Rhine a great distance beyond\nthe Delta, and had then disembarked and laid the foundations of\nAsciburgium. His reporter had also heard such stories about this ancient\nTeutonic hero that persons acquainted with the Greek-Roman traditions\n(the Romans or the Gallic neighbours of Asciburgium) had formed the\nopinion that the hero in question could be none else than the Greek\nUlysses, who, in his extensive wanderings, had drifted into the German\nOcean and thence sailed up the Rhine. In weighing this account of\nTacitus we must put aside the Roman-Gallic conjecture concerning\nUlysses' visit to the Rhine, and confine our attention to the fact on\nwhich this conjecture is based. The fact is that around Asciburgium a\ntradition was current concerning an ancient hero who was said to have\ncome across the northern ocean with a host of immigrants and founded the\nabove-named city on the Rhine, and that the songs or traditions in\nregard to this ancient hero were of such a character that they who knew\nthe adventures of Ulysses thought they had good reason for regarding him\nas identical with the latter. Now, the fact is that the Teutonic\nmythology has a hero who to quote the words of an ancient Teutonic\ndocument, \"was the greatest of all travellers,\" and who on his journeys\nmet with adventures which in some respects remind us of Ulysses'. Both\ndescended to Hades; both travelled far and wide to find their beloved.\nOf this mythic hero and his adventures see Nos. 96-107, and No. 107\nabout Asciburgium in particular.\n\nIt lies outside the limits of the present work to investigate whether\nthese traditions contain any historical facts. There is need of caution\nin this respect, since facts of history are, as a rule, short-lived\namong a people that do not keep written annals. The historical songs and\ntraditions of the past which the Scandinavians recorded in the twelfth\ncentury do not go further back in time than to the middle of the ninth\ncentury, and the oldest were already mixed with stories of the\nimagination. The Hellenic historical records from a pre-literary time\nwere no older; nor were those of the Romans. The question how far\nhistorically important emigrations from the Scandinavian peninsula and\nDenmark to Germany have taken place should in my opinion be considered\nentirely independent of the old migration traditions if it is to be\nbased on a solid foundation. If it can be answered in the affirmative,\nthen those immigrations must have been partial returns of an Aryan race\nwhich, prior to all records, have spread from the South to the\nScandinavian countries. But the migration traditions themselves clearly\nhave their firmest root in myths, and not in historical memories; and at\nall events are so closely united with the myths, and have been so\ntransformed by song and fancy, that they have become useless for\nhistorical purposes. The fact that the sagas preserved to our time make\nnearly all the most important and most numerous Teutonic tribes which\nplayed a part in the destiny of Southern Europe during the Empire\nemigrants from Scandinavia is calculated to awaken suspicion.\n\nThe wide diffusion this belief has had among the Teutons is sufficiently\nexplained by their common mythology--particularly by the myth\nconcerning the earliest age of man or of the Teutonic race. As this work\nof mine advances, I shall find opportunity of presenting the results of\nmy investigations in regard to this myth. The fragments of it must, so\nto speak, be exhumed from various mounds, and the proofs that these\nfragments belong together, and once formed a unit, can only be presented\nas the investigation progresses. In the division \"The Myth concerning\nthe Earliest Period and the Emigrations from the North,\" I give the\npreparatory explanation and the general _resume_ (Nos. 20-43). For the\npoints which cannot there be demonstrated without too long digressions\nthe proofs will be presented in the division \"The Myth concerning the\nRace of Ivalde\" (Nos. 96-123).\n\n\n\n\n III.\n\n THE MYTH CONCERNING THE EARLIEST\n PERIOD AND THE EMIGRATIONS\n FROM THE NORTH.\n\n\n 20.\n\n THE CREATION OF MAN. THE PRIMEVAL COUNTRY.\n SCEF THE BRINGER OF CULTURE.\n\n\nThe human race, or at least the Teutonic race, springs, according to the\nmyth, from a single pair, and _has accordingly had a centre from which\ntheir descendants have spread over that world which was embraced by the\nTeutonic horizon_. The story of the creation of this pair has its root\nin a myth of ancient Aryan origin, according to which the first parents\nwere plants before they became human beings. The Iranian version of the\nstory is preserved in Bundehesh, chap. 15. There it is stated that the\nfirst human pair grew at the time of the autumnal equinox in the form of\na _rheum ribes_ with a single stalk. After the lapse of fifteen years\nthe bush had put forth fifteen leaves. The man and woman who developed\nin and with it were closely united, forming one body, so that it could\nnot be seen which one was the man and which one was the woman, and they\nheld their hands close to their ears. Nothing revealed whether the\nsplendour of Ahuramazda--that is to say, the soul--was yet in them or\nnot. Then said Ahuramazda to Mashia (the man) and to Mashiana (the\nwoman): \"Be human beings; become the parents of the world!\" And from\nbeing plants they got the form of human beings, and Ahuramazda urged\nthem to think good thoughts, speak good words and do good deeds. Still,\nthey soon thought an evil thought and became sinners. The _rheum ribes_\nfrom which they sprang had its own origin in seed from a primeval being\nin human form, Gaya Maretan (Gayo-mert), which was created from\nperspiration (cp. Vafthrudnersmal, xxxiii. 1-4), but was slain by the\nevil Angra Mainyu. Bundehesh then gives an account of the first\ngenerations following Mashia and Mashiana, and explains how they spread\nover the earth and became the first parents of the human race.\n\nThe Hellenic Aryans have known the myth concerning the origin of man\nfrom plants. According to Hesiodus, the men of the third age of the\nworld grew from the ash tree (_ek meleon_); compare the _Odyssey_, xix,\n163.\n\nFrom this same tree came the first man according to the Teutonic myth.\nThree asas, mighty and worthy of worship, came to Midgard (at _husi_,\nVoelusp., 16; compare Voelusp., 4, where Midgard is referred to by the\nword _salr_) and found _a landi_ Ask and Embla. These beings were then\n\"of little might\" (_litt megandi_) and \"without destiny\"\n(_oerloegslausir_); they lacked _oend_, they lacked _odr_, they had no _la\nor laeti or litr goda_, but Odin gave them _oend_, Honor gave them _odr_,\nLoder gave them _la_ and _litr goda_. In reference to the meaning of\nthese words I refer my readers to No. 95, simply noting here that _litr\ngoda_, hitherto defined as \"good colour\" (_godr litr_), signifies \"the\nappearance (image) of gods.\" From looking like trees Ask and Embla got\nthe appearance which before them none but the gods had assumed. The\nTeutons, like the Greeks and Romans, conceived the gods in the image of\nmen.\n\nOdin's words in Havamal, 43, refer to the same myth.\n\nThe passage explains that when the Asa-god saw the modesty of the\nnew-made human pair he gave them his own divine garments to cover them.\nWhen they found themselves so beautifully adorned it seems to indicate\nthe awakening sense of pride in the first human pair. The words are: \"In\nthe field (_velli at_) I gave my clothes to the two wooden men (_tveim\ntremoennum_). Heroes they seemed to themselves when they got clothes. The\nnaked man is embarrassed.\"\n\nBut the expressions _a landi_ and _velli at_ should be observed. That\nthe trees grew on the ground, and that the acts of creating and clothing\ntook place there is so self-evident that these words would be\nmeaningless if they were not called for by the fact that the authors of\nthese passages in Havamal and Voeluspa had in their minds the ground\n_along the sea_, that is, a sea-beach. This is also clear from a\ntradition given in Gylfaginning, chapter 9, according to which the three\nasas were walking along the sea-beach (_med saevarstroendu_) when they\nfound Ask and Embla, and created of them the first human pair.\n\nThus the first human pair were created on the beach of an ocean. To\nwhich sea can the myth refer? The question does not concern the ancient\nAryan time, but the Teutonic antiquity, not Asia, but Europe; and if we\nfurthermore limit it to the Christian era there can be but one answer.\nGermany was bounded in the days of Tacitus, and long before his time, by\nGaul, Rhoetia, and Pannonia on the west and south, by the extensive\nterritories of the Sarmatians and Dacians on the east, and by the ocean\non the north. The so-called German Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic,\nwas then the only body of water within the horizon of the Teutons, the\nonly one which in the days of Jordanes, after the Goths long had ruled\nnorth of the Black Sea, was thought to wash the primeval Teutonic\nstrands. The myth must therefore refer to the German Ocean. It is\ncertain that the borders of this ocean where the myth has located the\ncreation of the first human pair, or the first Teutonic pair, was\nregarded as the centre from which their descendants spread over more and\nmore territory. Where near the North Sea or the Baltic was this centre\nlocated?\n\nEven this question can be answered, thanks to the mythic fragments\npreserved. A feature common to all well-developed mythological systems\nis the view that the human race in its infancy was under the special\nprotection of friendly divinities, and received from them the doctrines,\narts, and trades without which all culture is impossible. The same view\nis strongly developed among the Teutons. Anglo-Saxon documents have\nrescued the story telling how Ask's and Embla's descendants received the\nfirst blessings of culture from the benign gods. The story has come to\nus through Christian hands, which, however, have allowed enough of the\noriginal to remain to show that its main purpose was to tell us how the\ngreat gifts of culture came to the human race. The saga names the land\nwhere this took place. The country was the most southern part of the\nScandinavian peninsula, and especially the part of it bordering on the\nwestern sea. Had these statements come to us only from northern sources,\nthere would be good reason for doubting their originality and general\napplication to the Teutonic tribes. The Icelandic-Norwegian middle-age\nliterature abounds in evidence of a disposition to locate the events of\na myth and the exploits of mythic persons in the author's own land and\ntown. But in this instance there is no room for the suspicion that\npatriotism has given to the southern-most part of the Scandinavian\npeninsula a so conspicuous prominence in the earliest history of the\nmyth. The chief evidence is found in the traditions of the Saxons in\nEngland, and this gives us the best clue to the unanimity with which the\nsagas of the Teutonic continent, from a time prior to the birth of\nChrist far down in the middle ages, point out the great peninsula in the\nnorthern sea as the land of the oldest ancestors, in conflict with the\nscholastic opinion in regard to an emigration from Troy. The region\nwhere the myth located the first dawn of human culture was certainly\nalso the place which was regarded as the cradle and centre of the race.\n\nThe non-Scandinavian sources in question are: Beowulf's poem,\nEthelwerdus, Willielmus Malmesburiensis, Simeon Dunelmensis, and\nMatthaeus Monasteriensis. A closer examination of them reveals the fact\nthat they have their information from three different sources, which\nagain have a common origin in a heathen myth. If we bring together what\nthey have preserved of the story we get the following result:[8]\n\nOne day it came to pass that a ship was seen sailing near the coast of\nScedeland or Scani,[9] and it approached the land without being\npropelled either by oars or sails. The ship came to the sea-beach, and\nthere was seen lying in it a little boy, who was sleeping with his head\non a sheaf of grain, surrounded by treasures and tools, by glaives and\ncoats of mail. The boat itself was steady and beautifully decorated. Who\nhe was and whence he came nobody had any idea, but the little boy was\nreceived as if he had been a kinsman, and he received the most constant\nand tender care. As he came with a sheaf of grain to their country the\npeople called him Scef, Sceaf.[10] (The Beowulf poem calls him Scyld,\nson of Sceaf, and gives Scyld the son Beowulf, which originally was\nanother name of Scyld.) Scef grew up among this people, became their\nbenefactor and king, and ruled most honourably for many years. He died\nfar advanced in age. In accordance with his own directions, his body was\nborne down to the strand where he had landed as a child. There in a\nlittle harbour lay the same boat in which he had come. Glittering from\nhoar-frost and ice, and eager to return to the sea, the boat was waiting\nto receive the dead king, and around him the grateful and sorrowing\npeople laid no fewer treasures than those with which Scef had come. And\nwhen all was finished the boat went out upon the sea, and no one knows\nwhere it landed. He left a son Scyld (according to the Beowulf poem,\nBeowulf son of Scyld), who ruled after him. Grandson of the boy who came\nwith the sheaf was Healfdene--Halfdan, king of the Danes (that is,\naccording to the Beowulf poem).\n\nThe myth gives the oldest Teutonic patriarchs a very long life, in the\nsame manner as the Bible in the case of Adam and his descendants. They\nlived for centuries (see below). The story could therefore make the\nculture introduced by Scef spread far and wide during his own reign, and\nit could make his realm increase with the culture. According to\nscattered statements traceable to the Scef-saga, Denmark, Angeln, and at\nleast the northern part of Saxland, have been populated by people who\nobeyed his sceptre. In the North Goetaland and Svealand were subject to\nhim.\n\nThe proof of this, so far as Denmark is concerned, is that, according to\nthe Beowulf poem, its first royal family was descended from Scef through\nhis son Scyld (Skjold). In accordance herewith, Danish and Icelandic\ngenealogies make Skjold the progenitor of the first dynasty in Denmark,\nand also make him the ruler of the land to which his father came, that\nis, Skane. His origin as a divinely-born patriarch, as a hero receiving\ndivine worship, and as the ruler of the original Teutonic country,\nappears also in _Fornmannasoegur_, v. 239, where he is styled _Skaninga\ngod_, the god of the Scanians.\n\nMatthaeus Westmonast. informs us that Scef ruled in Angeln.\n\nAccording to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the dynasty of Wessex came from\nSaxland, and its progenitor was Scef.\n\nIf we examine the northern sources we discover that the Scef myth still\nmay be found in passages which have been unnoticed, and that the tribes\nof the far North saw in the boy who came with the sheaf and the tools\nthe divine progenitor of their celebrated dynasty in Upsala. This can be\nfound in spite of the younger saga-geological layer which the hypothesis\nof Odin's and his Trojan Asas' immigration has spread over it since the\nintroduction of Christianity. Scef's personality comes to the surface,\nwe shall see, as Skefill and Skelfir.\n\nIn the Fornalder-sagas, ii. 9, and in Flateyarbok, i. 24, Skelfir is\nmentioned as family patriarch and as Skjold's father, the progenitor of\nthe Skjoldungs. There can, therefore, be no doubt that Scef, Scyld's\nfather, and through him the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, originally is\nthe same as Skelfir, Skjold's father, and progenitor of the Skjoldungs\nin these Icelandic works.\n\nBut he is not only the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, but also of the\nYnglings. The genealogy beginning with him is called in the\nFlateryarbok, _Skilfinga aett edr skjoldunga aett_. The Younger Edda also\n(i. 522) knows Skelfir, and says he was a famous king whose genealogy\n_er koellut skilvinga aett_. Now the Skilfing race in the oldest sources\nis precisely the same as the Yngling race both from an Anglo-Saxon and\nfrom a heathen Norse standpoint. The Beowulf poem calls the Swedish\nkings _scilfingas_, and according to Thjodulf, a kinsman of the Ynglings\nand a kinsman of the Skilfing, _Skilfinga nidr_, are identical\n(Ynglingatal, 30). Even the Younger Edda seems to be aware of this. It\nsays in the passage quoted above that the Skilfing race _er i\nAustrvegum_. In the Thjodulf strophes _Austrvegar_ means simply\nSvealand, and _Austrkonungur_ means Swedish king.\n\nThus it follows that the Scef who is identical with Skelfir was in the\nheathen saga of the North the common progenitor of the Ynglinga and of\nthe Skjoldunga race. From his dignity as original patriarch of the royal\nfamilies of Sweden, Denmark, Angeln, Saxland, and England, he was\ndisplaced by the scholastic fiction of the middle ages concerning the\nimmigration of Trojan Asiatics under the leadership of Odin, who as the\nleader of the immigration also had to be the progenitor of the most\ndistinguished families of the immigrants. This view seems first to have\nbeen established in England after this country had been converted to\nChristianity and conquered by the Trojan immigration hypothesis. Wodan\nis there placed at the head of the royal genealogies of the chronicles,\nexcepting in Wessex, where Scef is allowed to retain his old position,\nand where Odin must content himself with a secondary place in the\ngenealogy. But in the Beowulf poem Scef still retains his dignity as\nancient patriarch of the kings of Denmark.\n\nFrom England this same distortion of the myth comes to the North in\nconnection with the hypothesis concerning the immigration of the\n\"Asiamen,\" and is there finally accepted in the most unconcerned manner,\nwithout the least regard to the mythic records which were still well\nknown. Skjold, Scef's son, is without any hesitation changed into a son\nof Odin (Ynglingasaga, 5; Foreword to Gylfag., 11). Yngve, who as the\nprogenitor of the Ynglings is identical with Scef, and whose very name,\nperhaps, is or has been conceived as an epithet indicating Scef's tender\nage when he came to the coast of Scandia--Yngve-Scef is confounded with\nFrey, is styled Yngve-Frey after the appellation of the Vana-god Ingunar\nFrey, and he, too, is called a son of Odin (Foreword to Gylfag., c. 13),\nalthough Frey in the myth is a son of Njord and belongs to another race\nof gods than Odin. The epithet with which Are Frode in his _Schedae_\ncharacterises Yngve, viz., _Tyrkiakonungr_, Trojan king, proves that the\nlad who came with the sheaf of grain to Skane is already in Are changed\ninto a Trojan.\n\n[Footnote 8: Geijer has partly indicated its significance in _Svea Rikes\nHaefder_, where he says: \"The tradition anent Sceaf is remarkable, as it\nevidently has reference to the introduction of agriculture, and shows\nthat it was first introduced in the most southern part of Scandinavia.\"]\n\n[Footnote 9: The Beowulf poem has the name Scedeland (Scandia): compare\nthe name Skadan in _De origine Longobardorum_. Ethelwerd writes: \"Ipse\nSkef cum uno dromone advectus est in insulam Oceani, quae dicitur Scani,\narmis circumdatus,\" &c.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Matthaeus Westmonast. translates this name with _frumenti\nmanipulus_, a sheaf.]\n\n\n 21.\n\n SCEF THE AUTHOR OF CULTURE IDENTICAL WITH HEIMDAL-RIG,\n THE ORIGINAL PATRIARCH.\n\n\nBut in one respect Are Frode or his authority has paid attention to the\ngenuine mythic tradition, and that is by making the Vana-gods the\nkinsmen of the descendants of Yngve. This is correct in the sense that\nScef-Yngve, the son of a deity transformed into a man, was in the myth a\nVana-god. Accordingly every member of the Yngling race and every\ndescendant of Scef may be styled a _son of Frey_ (_Freys attungr_),\nepithets applied by Thjodulf in Ynglingatal in regard to the Upsala\nkings. They are gifts from the Vana-gods--the implements which point to\nthe opulent Njord, and the grain sheaf which is Frey's symbol--which\nScef-Yngve brings with him to the ancient people of Scandia, and his\nrule is peaceful and rich in blessings.\n\nScef-Yngve comes across the ocean. Vanaheim was thought to be situated\non the other side of it, in the same direction as AEgir's palace in the\ngreat western ocean and in the outermost domain of Jormumgrund (see 93).\nThis is indicated in Lokasenna, 34, where Loke in AEgir's hall says to\nthe Van Njord: \"You were sent from here to the East as a hostage to the\ngods (_thu vart austr hedan gisl um sendr at godum_)\". Thus Njord's\ncastle Noatun is situated in the West, on a strand outside of which the\nswans sing (Gylfag., 23). In the faded memory of Scef, preserved in the\nsaga of the Lower Rhine and of the Netherlands, there comes to a\npoverty-stricken people a boat in which there lies a sleeping youth. The\nboat is, like Scef's, without sails or oars, but is drawn over the\nbillows by a swan. From Gylfaginning, 16, we learn that there are myths\ntelling of the origin of the swans. They are all descended from that\npair of swans which swim in the sacred waters of Urd's fountain. Thus\nthe descendants of these swans that sing outside of the Vanapalace\nNoatun and their arrival to the shores of Midgard seems to have some\nconnection with the coming of the Van Scef and of culture.\n\nThe Vans most prominent in the myths are Njord, Frey, and Heimdal.\nThough an Asa-god by adoption, Heimdal is like Njord and Frey a Vana-god\nby birth and birthplace, and is accordingly called both _ass_ and _vanr_\n(Thrymskv., 15). Meanwhile these three divinities, definitely named\nVans, are only a few out of many. The Vans have constituted a numerous\nclan, strong enough to wage a victorious war against the Asas (Voelusp.).\nWho among them was Scef-Yngve? The question can be answered as follows:\n\n(1) Of Heimdal, and of him alone among the gods, it is related that he\nlived for a time among men as a man, and that he performed that which is\nattributed to Scef--that is, organised and elevated human society and\nbecame the progenitor of sacred families in Midgard.\n\n(2) Rigsthula relates that the god Heimdal, having assumed the name Rig,\nbegot with an earthly woman the son Jarl-Rig, who in turn became the\nfather of Konr-Rig. Konr-Rig is, as the very name indicates and as\nVigfusson already has pointed out, the first who bore the kingly name.\nIn Rigsthula the Jarl begets the king, as in Ynglingasaga the judge\n(Domarr) begets the first king. Rig is, according to Ynglingasaga, ch.\n20, grandfather to Dan, who is a Skjoldung. Heimdal-Rig is thus the\nfather of the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, and it is the story of the\ndivine origin of the Skjoldungs Rigsthula gives us when it sings of\nHeimdal as Jarl's father and the first king's grandfather. But the\nprogenitor of the Skjoldungs is, according to both Anglo-Saxon and the\nnorthern sources above quoted, Scef. Thus Heimdal and Scef are\nidentical.\n\nThese proofs are sufficient. More can be presented, and the identity\nwill be established by the whole investigation.\n\nAs a tender boy, Heimdal was sent by the Vans to the southern shores of\nScandinavia with the gifts of culture. Hyndla's lay tells how these\nfriendly powers prepared the child for its important mission, after it\nwas born in the outermost borders of the earth (_vid jardar thraum_), in\na wonderful manner, by nine sisters (Hyndla's Lay, 35; Heimdallar\nGaldr., in the Younger Edda; compare No. 82, where the ancient Aryan\nroot of the myth concerning Heimdal's nine mothers is pointed out).\n\nFor its mission the child had to be equipped with strength, endurance,\nand wisdom. It was given to drink _jardar magn svalkaldr saer_ and _Sonar\ndreyri_. It is necessary to compare these expressions with _Urdar magn_,\n_svalkaldr saer_ and _Sonar dreyri_ in Gudrunarkivda, ii. 21, a song\nwritten in Christian times, where this reminiscence of a triple\nheathen-mythic drink reappears as a potion of forgetfulness allaying\nsorrow. The expression _Sonar dreyri_ shows that the child had tasted\nliquids from the subterranean fountains which water Yggdrasil and\nsustain the spiritual and physical life of the universe (cp. Nos. 63 and\n93). _Son_ contains the mead of inspiration and wisdom. In Gylfaginning,\nwhich quotes a satire of late origin, this name is given to a jar in\nwhich Suttung preserves this valuable liquor, but to the heathen skalds\n_Son_ is the name of Mimer's fountain, which contains the highest\nspiritual gifts, and around whose rush-bordered edge the reeds of poetry\ngrow (Eilif Gudrunson, Skaldskaparmal). The child Heimdal has,\ntherefore, drunk from Mimer's fountain. _Jardar magn_ (the earth's\nstrength) is in reality the same as _Urdar magn_, the strength of the\nwater in Urd's fountain, which keeps the world-tree ever green and\nsustains the physical life of creation (Voelusp.). The third subterranean\nfountain is Hvergelmer, with hardening liquids. From Hvergelmer comes\nthe river Sval, and the venom-cold Elivogs (Grimner's Lay,\nGylfaginning). _Svalkaldar saer_, cool sea, is an appropriate designation\nof this fountain.\n\nWhen the child has been strengthened in this manner for its great\nmission, it is laid sleeping in the decorated ship, gets the grain-sheaf\nfor its pillow, and numerous treasures are placed around it. It is\ncertain that there were not only weapons and ornaments, but also\nworkmen's tools among the treasures. It should be borne in mind that the\ngods made on the plains of Ida not only ornaments, but also tools\n(_tangir skopu ok tol goerdu_). Evidence is presented in No. 82 that\nScef-Heimdal brought the fire-auger to primeval man who until that time\nhad lived without the blessings produced by the sacred fire.\n\nThe boy grows up among the inhabitants on the Scandian coast, and, when\nhe has developed into manhood, human culture has germinated under his\ninfluence and the beginnings of classes in society with distinct\ncallings appear. In Rigsthula, we find him journeying along \"green\npaths, from house to house, in that land which his presence has\nblessed.\" Here he is called _Rigr_--it is true of him as of nearly all\nmythological persons, that he has several names--but the introduction\nto the poem informs us that the person so called is the god Heimdal\n(_einhverr af asum sa er Heimdallr het_). The country is here also\ndescribed as situated near the sea. Heimdal journeys _framm med\nsjofarstroendu_. Culture is in complete operation. The people are\nsettled, they spin and weave, perform handiwork, and are smiths, they\nplough and bake, and Heimdal has instructed them in runes. Different\nhomes show different customs and various degrees of wealth, but\nhappiness prevails everywhere. Heimdal visits Ai's and Edda's\nunpretentious home, is hospitably received, and remains three days. Nine\nmonths thereafter the son Trael (thrall) is born to this family. Heimdal\nthen visits Ave's and Amma's well-kept and cleanly house, and nine\nmonths thereafter the son Karl (churl) is born in this household. Thence\nRig betakes himself to _Fadir's_ and _Modir's_ elegant home. There is\nborn, nine months later, the son Jarl. Thus the three Teutonic\nclasses--the thralls, the freemen, and the nobility--have received their\ndivine sanction from Heimdal-Rig, and all three have been honoured with\ndivine birth.\n\nIn the account of Rig's visit to the three different homes lies the\nmythic idea of a common fatherhood, an idea which must not be left out\nof sight when human heroes are described as sons of gods in the\nmythological and heroic sagas. They are sons of the gods and, at the\nsame time, from a genealogical standpoint, men. Their pedigree, starting\nwith Ask and Embla, is not interrupted by the intervention of the\nvisiting god, nor is there developed by this intervention a half-divine,\nhalf-human middle class or bastard clan. The Teutonic patriarch Mannus\nis, according to Tacitus, the son of a god and the grandson of the\ngoddess Earth. Nevertheless he is, as his name indicates, in the full\nphysical sense of the word, a man, and besides his divine father he has\nhad a human father. They are the descendants of Ask and Embla, men of\nall classes and conditions, whom Voeluspa's skald gathered around the\nseeress when she was to present to them a view of the world's\ndevelopment and commanded silence with the formula: \"Give ear, all ye\ndivine races, great and small, sons of Heimdal.\" The idea of a common\nfatherhood we find again in the question of _Fadir's_ grandson, as we\nshall show below. Through him the families of chiefs get the right of\nprecedence before both the other classes. Thor becomes their progenitor.\nWhile all classes trace their descent from Heimdal, the nobility trace\ntheirs also from Thor, and through him from Odin.\n\nHeimdal-Rig's and _Fadir's_ son, begotten with _Modir_, inherits in\nRigsthula the name of the divine co-father, and is called Rig Jarl.\nJarl's son, Kon, gets the same name after he has given proof of his\nknowledge in the runes introduced among the children of men by Heimdal,\nand has even shown himself superior to his father in this respect. This\nview that the younger generation surpasses the older points to the idea\nof a progress in culture among men, during a time when they live in\npeace and happiness protected by Heimdal's fostering care and sceptre,\nbut must not be construed into the theory of a continued progress based\non the law and nature of things, a theory alike strange to the Teutons\nand to the other peoples of antiquity. Heimdal-Rig's reign must be\nregarded as the happy ancient age, of which nearly all mythologies have\ndreamed. Already in the next age following, that is, that of the second\npatriarch, we read of men of violence who visit the peaceful, and under\nthe third patriarch begins the \"knife-age, and axe-age with cloven\nshields,\" which continues through history and receives its most terrible\ndevelopment before Ragnarok.\n\nThe more common mythical names of the persons appearing in Rigsthula are\nnot mentioned in the song, not even Heimdal's. In strophe 48, the last\nof the fragment, we find for the first time words which have the\ncharacter of names--_Danr_ and _Danpr_. A crow sings from the tree to\nJarl's son, the grandson of Heimdal, Kon, saying that peaceful amusement\n(_kyrra fugla_) does not become him longer, but that he should rather\nmount his steed and fight against men; and the crow seeks to awaken his\nambition or jealousy by saying that \"Dan and Danp, skilled in navigating\nships and wielding swords, have more precious halls and a better\nfreehold than you.\" The circumstance that these names are mentioned\nmakes it possible, as shall be shown below, to establish in a more\nsatisfactory manner the connection between Rigsthula and other accounts\nwhich are found in fragments concerning the Teutonic patriarch period.\n\nThe oldest history of man did not among the Teutons begin with a\nparadisian condition. Some time has elapsed between the creation of Ask\nand Embla, and Heimdal's coming among men. As culture begins with\nHeimdal, a condition of barbarism must have preceded his arrival. At all\nevents the first generations after Ask and Embla have been looked upon\nas lacking fire; consequently they have been without the art of the\nsmith, without metal implements, and without knowledge of agriculture.\nHence it is that the Vana-child comes across the western sea with fire,\nwith implements, and with the sheaf of grain. But the barbarous\ncondition may have been attended with innocence and goodness of heart.\nThe manner in which the strange child was received by the inhabitants of\nScandia's coast, and the tenderness with which it was cared for\n(_diligenti animo_, says Ethelwerd) seem to indicate this.\n\nWhen Scef-Heimdal had performed his mission, and when the beautiful boat\nin which he came had disappeared beyond the western horizon, then the\nsecond mythic patriarch-age begins.\n\n\n 22.\n\n HEIMDAL'S SON BORGAR-SKJOLD, THE SECOND PATRIARCH.\n\n\nYnglingasaga, ch. 20, contains a passage which is clearly connected with\nRigsthula or with some kindred source. The passage mentions three\npersons who appear in Rigsthula, viz., Rig, Danp, and Dan, and it is\nthere stated that the ruler who first possessed the kingly title in\nSvithiod was the son of a chief, whose name was Judge (_Domarr_), and\nJudge was married to Drott (_Drott_), the daughter of Danp.\n\nThat Domar and his royal son, the latter with the epithet _Dyggvi_,\n\"the worthy,\" \"the noble,\" were afterwards woven into the royal pedigree\nin Ynglingasaga, is a matter which we cannot at present consider.\nVigfusson (_Corpus Poet. Bor._) has already shown the mythic symbolism\nand unhistorical character of this royal pedigree's _Visburr_, the\npriest, son of a god; of _Domaldr-Domvaldr_, the legislator; of\n_Domarr_, the judge; and of _Dyggvi_, the first king. These are not\nhistorical Upsala kings, but personified myths, symbolising the\ndevelopment of human society on a religious basis into a political\ncondition of law culminating in royal power. It is in short the same\nchain of ideas as we find in Rigsthula, where Heimdal, the son of a god\nand the founder of culture, becomes the father of the Jarl-judge, whose\nson is the first king. _Domarr_, in the one version of the chain of\nideas, corresponds to Rig Jarl in the other, and _Dyggvi_ corresponds to\nKon. Heimdal is the first patriarch, the Jarl-judge is the second, and\nthe oldest of kings is the third.\n\nSome person, through whose hands Ynglingasaga has passed before it got\nits present form in Heimskringla, has understood this correspondence\nbetween _Domarr_ and Rig-Jarl, and has given to the former the wife\nwhich originally belonged to the latter. Rigsthula has been rescued in a\nsingle manuscript. This manuscript was owned by Arngrim Jonsson, the\nauthor of _Supplementum Historiae Norvegiae_, and was perhaps in his time,\nas Bugge (_Norr. Fornkv._) conjectures, less fragmentary than it now is.\nArngrim relates that Rig Jarl was married to a daughter of Danp, lord of\nDanpsted. Thus the representative of the Jarl's dignity, like the\nrepresentative of the Judge's dignity in Ynglingasaga, is here\nmarried to Danp's daughter.\n\nIn Saxo, a man by name Borgar (_Borcarus_--_Hist. Dan._ 336-354)\noccupies an important position. He is a South Scandinavian chief, leader\nof Skane's warriors (_Borcarus cum Scanico equitatu_, p. 350), but\ninstead of a king's title, he holds a position answering to that of the\nJarl. Meanwhile he, like Skjold, becomes the founder of a Danish royal\ndynasty. Like Skjold he fights beasts and robbers, and like him he wins\nhis bride, sword in hand. Borgar's wife is Drott (_Drotta_, _Drota_),\nthe same name as Danp's daughter. Skjold's son Gram and Borgar's son\nHalfdan are found on close examination (see below) to be identical with\neach other, and with king Halfdan Berggram in whom the names of both are\nunited. Thus we find:\n\n(1) That Borgar appears as a chief in Skane, which in the myth is the\ncradle of the human race, or of the Teutonic race. As such he is also\nmentioned in _Script. rer. Dan._ (pp. 16-19, 154), where he is called\nBurgarus and Borgardus.\n\n(2) That he has performed similar exploits to those of Skjold, the son\nof Scef-Heimdal.\n\n(3) That he is not clothed with kingly dignity, but has a son who founds\na royal dynasty in Denmark. This corresponds to Heimdal's son Rig Jarl,\nwho is not himself styled king, but whose son becomes a Danish king and\nthe progenitor of the Skjoldungs.\n\n(4) That he is married to Drott, who, according to Ynglingasaga, is\nDanp's daughter. This corresponds to Heimdal's son Rig Jarl, who takes\na daughter of Danp as his wife.\n\n(5) That his son is identical with the son of Skjold, the progenitor of\nthe Skjoldungs.\n\n(6) That this son of his is called Halfdan, while in the Anglo-Saxon\nsources Scef, through his son Scyld (Skjold), is the progenitor of\nDenmark's king Healfdene.\n\nThese testimonies contain incontestible evidence that Skjold, Borgar,\nand Rig Jarl are names of the same mythic person, the son of the ancient\npatriarch Heimdal, and himself the second patriarch, who, after Heimdal,\ndetermines the destiny of his race. The name _Borgarr_ is a synonym of\n_Skjoeldr_. The word _Skjoeldr_ has from the beginning had, or has in the\nlapse of past ages acquired, the meaning \"the protecting one,\" \"the\nshielding one,\" and as such it was applied to the common defensive\narmour, the shield. _Borgarr_ is derived from _bjarga_ (past. part.\n_borginn_; cp. _borg_), and thus has the same meaning, that is, \"the\ndefending or protecting one.\" From Norse poetry a multitude of examples\ncan be given of the paraphrasing of a name with another, or even several\nothers, of similar meaning.\n\nThe second patriarch, Heimdal's son, thus has the names Skjold, Borgar,\nand Rig Jarl in the heathen traditions, and those derived therefrom.\n\nIn German poems of the middle age (\"Wolfdieterich,\" \"Koenig Ruther,\" and\nothers) Borgar is remembered by the name Berchtung, Berker, and Berther.\nHis mythic character as ancient patriarch is there well preserved. He\nis _der grise mann_, a Teutonic Nestor, wears a beard reaching to the\nbelt, and becomes 250 years old. He was fostered by a king Anzius, the\nprogenitor of the Amelungs (the Amalians). The name Anzius points to the\nGothic _ansi_ (Asa-god). Borgar's fostering by \"the white Asa-god\" has\naccordingly not been forgotten. Among the exercises taught him by Anzius\nare _daz werfen mit dem messer und schissen zu dem zil_ (compare Rig\nJarl's exercises, Rigsthula, 35). Like Borgar, Berchtung is not a king,\nbut a very noble and greatly-trusted chief, wise and kind, the\nfoster-father and counsellor of heroes and kings. The Norse saga places\nBorgar, and the German saga places Berchtung, in close relation to\nheroes who belong to the race of Hildings. Borgar is, according to Saxo,\nthe stepfather of Hildeger; Berchtung is, according to \"Wolfdieterich,\"\nHildebrand's ancestor. Of Hildeger Saxo relates in part the same as the\nGerman poem tells of Hildebrand. Berchtung becomes the foster-father of\nan Amalian prince; with Borgar's son grows up as foster-brother Hamal\n(Helge Hund., 2; see Nos. 29, 42), whose name points to the Amalian\nrace. The very name _Borgarr_, which, as indicated, in this form refers\nto _bjarga_, may in an older form have been related to the name\nBerchter, Berchtung.\n\n\n 23.\n\n BORGAR-SKJOLD'S SON HALFDAN, THE THIRD PATRIARCH.\n\n _The Identity of Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan\n Borgarson._\n\n\nIn the time of Borgar and his son, the third patriarch, many of the\nmost important events of the myth take place. Before I present these,\nthe chain of evidence requires that I establish clearly the names\napplied to Borgar in our literary sources. Danish scholars have already\ndiscovered what I pointed out above, that the kings Gram Skjoldson,\nHalfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson mentioned by Saxo, and referred\nto different generations, are identical with each other and with Halfdan\nthe Skjoldung and Halfdan the Old of the Icelandic documents.\n\nThe correctness of this view will appear from the following\nparallels:[11]\n\n\n {Saxo: Gram slays king Sictrugus, and marries Signe,\n { daughter of Sumblus, king of the Finns.\n {Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung slays king Sigtrygg, and\n 1. { marries Almveig with the consent of Eymund.\n {Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and\n { marries Alveig, daughter of Eyvind.\n {Fornald. S.: Halfdan the Old slays king Sigtrygg, and\n { marries Alfny, daughter of Eymund.\n\n {Saxo: Gram, son of Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs.\n {Hyndluljod: Halfdan Skjoldung, son or descendant of\n { Skjold, is the progenitor of the Skjoldungs, Ynglings,\n 2. { Odlungs, &c.\n {Prose Edda: Halfdan the Old is the progenitor of the\n { Hildings, Ynglings, Odlungs, &c.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Bogarson is the progenitor of a royal\n { family of Denmark.\n\n {Saxo: Gram uses a club as a weapon. He kills seven\n { brothers and nine of their half-brothers.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Berggram uses an oak as a weapon. He\n 3. { kills seven brothers.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson uses an oak as a weapon. He\n { kills twelve brothers.\n\n\n {Saxo: Gram secures Groa and slays Henricus on his wedding-day.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Berggram marries Sigrutha, after having\n 4. { slain Ebbo on his wedding-day.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Borgarson marries Guritha, after having\n { killed Sivarus on his wedding-day.\n\n {Saxo: Gram, who slew a Swedish king, is attacked in war\n { by Svipdag.\n {Saxo: Halfdan Berggram, who slew a Swedish king, is\n 5. { attacked by Ericus.\n {Combined sources: Svipdag is the slain Swedish king's\n { grandson (daughter's son).\n {Saxo: Ericus is the son of the daughter of the slain Swedish\n { king.\n\nThese parallels are sufficient to show the identity of Gram Skjoldson,\nHalfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson. A closer analysis of these\nsagas, the synthesis possible on the basis of such an analysis, and the\nposition the saga (restored in this manner) concerning the third\npatriarch, the son of Skjold-Borgar, and the grandson of Heimdal,\nassumes in the chain of mythic events, gives complete proof of this\nidentity.\n\n[Footnote 11: The first nine books of Saxo form a labyrinth constructed\nout of myths related as history, but the thread of Ariadne seems to be\nwanting. On this account it might be supposed that Saxo had treated the\nrich mythical materials at his command in an arbitrary and unmethodical\nmanner; and we must bear in mind that these mythic materials were far\nmore abundant in his time than they were in the following centuries,\nwhen they were to be recorded by the Icelandic authors. This supposition\nis, however, wrong. Saxo has examined his sources methodically and with\nscrutiny, and has handled them with all due reverence, when he assumed\nthe desperate task of constructing, by the aid of the mythic traditions\nand heroic poems at hand, a chronicle spanning several centuries--a\nchronicle in which fifty to sixty successive rulers were to be brought\nupon the stage and off again, while myths and heroic traditions embrace\nbut few generations, and most mythic persons continue to exist through\nall ages. In the very nature of the case, Saxo was obliged, in order to\nsolve this problem, to put his material on the rack; but a thorough\nstudy of the above-mentioned books of his history shows that he treated\nthe delinquent with consistency. The simplest of the rules he followed\nwas to avail himself of the polyonomy with which the myths and heroic\npoems are overloaded, and to do so in the following manner:\n\nAssume that a person in the mythic or heroic poems had three or four\nnames or epithets (he may have had a score). We will call this person A,\nand the different forms of his name A', A'', A'''. Saxo's task of\nproducing a chain of events running through many centuries forced him to\nconsider the three names A', A'', and A''' as originally three persons,\nwho had performed certain similar exploits, and therefore had, in course\nof time, been confounded with each other, and blended by the authors of\nmyths and stories into one person A. As best he can, Saxo tries to\nresolve this mythical product, composed, in his opinion, of historical\nelements, and to distribute the exploits attributed to A between A',\nA'', and A'''. It may also be that one or more of the stories applied to\nA were found more or less varied in different sources. In such cases he\nwould report the _same_ stories with slight variations about A', A'',\nand A'''. The similarities remaining form _one_ important group of\nindications which he has furnished to guide us, but which can assure us\nthat our investigation is in the right course only when corroborated by\nindications belonging to other groups, or corroborated by statements\npreserved in other sources.\n\nBut in the events which Saxo in this manner relates about A', A'', and\nA''', other persons are also mentioned. We will assume that in the myths\nand heroic poems these have been named B and C. These, too, have in the\nsongs of the skalds had several names and epithets. B has also been\ncalled B', B'', B'''. C has also been styled C', C'', C'''. Out of this\none subordinate person B, Saxo, by the aid of the abundance of names,\nmakes as many subordinate persons--B', B'', and B'''--as he made out of\nthe original chief person A--that is, the chief persons A', A'', and\nA'''. Thus also with C, and in this way we got the following analogies:\n\n A' is to B' and C' as\n A'' B'' C'' and as\n A''' B''' C'''.\n\nBy comparing all that is related concerning these nine names, we are\nenabled gradually to form a more or less correct idea of what the\noriginal myth has contained in regard to A, B, and C. If it then\nhappens--as is often the case--that two or more of the names A', B', C',\n&c., are found in Icelandic or other documents, and there belong to\npersons whose adventures are in some respects the same, and in other\nrespects are made clearer and more complete, by what Saxo tells about\nA', A'', and A''', &c., then it is proper to continue the investigation\nin the direction thus started. If, then, every new step brings forth new\nconfirmations from various sources, and if a myth thus restored easily\ndovetails itself into an epic cycle of myths, and there forms a\nnecessary link in the chain of events, then the investigation has\nproduced the desired result.\n\nAn aid in the investigation is not unfrequently the circumstance that\nthe names at Saxo's disposal were not sufficient for all points in the\nabove scheme. We then find analogies which open for us, so to speak,\nshort cuts--for instance, as follows:\n\n A' is to B' and C' as\n A'' B' C'' and as\n A''' B'' C'.\n\nThe parallels given in the text above are a concrete example of the\nabove scheme. For we have seen--\n\nA=Halfdan, trebled in A'=Gram, A''=Halfdan Berggram, A'''=Halfdan\nBorgarson.\n\nB=Ebbo (Ebur, Ibor, Joefurr), trebled in B'=Henricus, B''=Ebbo,\nB'''=Sivarus.\n\nC doubled in C'=Svipdag, and C''=Ericus.]\n\n\n 24.\n\n HALFDAN'S ENMITY WITH ORVANDEL AND SVIPDAG (cp. No. 33).\n\n\nSaxo relates in regard to Gram that he carried away the royal daughter\nGroa, though she was already bound to another man, and that he slew her\nfather, whereupon he got into a feud with Svipdag, an irreconcilably\nbitter foe, who fought against him with varying success of arms, and\ngave himself no rest until he had taken Gram's life and realm. Gram left\ntwo sons, whom Svipdag treated in a very different manner. The one named\nGuthormus (_Gudhormr_), who was a son of Groa, he received into his good\ngraces. To the other, named Hadingus, or Hadding, and who was a son of\nSigne, he transferred the deadly hate he had cherished towards the\nfather. The cause of the hatred of Svipdag against Gram, and which could\nnot be extinguished in his blood, Saxo does not mention, but this point\nis cleared up by a comparison with other sources. Nor does Saxo mention\nwho the person was from whom Gram robbed Groa, but this, too, we learn\nin another place.\n\nThe Groa of the myth is mentioned in two other places: in Groagalder and\nin Gylfaginning. Both sources agree in representing her as skilled in\ngood, healing, harm-averting songs; both also in describing her as a\ntender person devoted to the members of her family. In Gylfaginning she\nis the loving wife who forgets everything in her joy that her husband,\nthe brave archer Orvandel, has been saved by Thor from a dangerous\nadventure. In Groagalder she is the mother whose love to her son\nconquers death and speaks consoling and protecting words from the grave.\nHer husband is, as stated, Orvandel; her son is Svipdag.\n\nIf we compare the statements in Saxo with those in Groagalder and\nGylfaginning we get the following result:\n\n Saxo: King Sigtrygg has a daughter Groa.\n Gylfaginning: Groa is married to the brave Orvandel.\n Groagalder: Groa has a son Svipdag.\n Saxo: Groa is robbed by Gram-Halfdan.\n Saxo: } Hostilities on account of the robbing of\n Hyndluljod: } the woman. Gram-Halfdan kills\n Skaldskap.mal:} Groa's father Sigtrygg.\n Saxo: With Gram-Halfdan Groa has the son Gudhorm.\n Gram-Halfdan is separated from Groa. He courts\n Signe (Almveig in Hyndluljod; Alveig in Skaldskaparmal),\n daughter of Sumbel, king of the Finns.\n Groagalder: Groa with her son Svipdag is once more with\n her first husband. Groa dies. Svipdag's father Orvandel\n marries a second time. Before her death Groa\n has told Svipdag that he, if need requires her help,\n must go to her grave and wake her out of the sleep\n of death.\n The stepmother gives Svipdag a task which he thinks surpasses\n his strength. He then goes to his mother's\n grave. From the grave Groa sings protecting incantations\n over her son.\n Saxo: Svipdag attacks Gram-Halfdan. After several conflicts\n he succeeds in conquering him and gives him a\n deadly wound.\n Svidpdag pardons the son Gram-Halfdan has had with\n Groa, but persecutes his son with Signe (Alveig).\n\nIn this connection we find the key to Svipdag's irreconcilable conflict\nwith Gram-Halfdan. He must revenge himself on him on his father's and\nmother's account. He must avenge his mother's disgrace, his grandfather\nSigtrygg's death, and, as a further investigation shows, the murder also\nof his father Orvandel. We also find why he pardons Gudhorm: he is his\nown half-brother and Groa's son.\n\nSigtrygg, Groa, Orvandel, and Svipdag have in the myth belonged to the\npedigree of the Ynglings, and hence Saxo calls Sigtrygg king in\nSvithiod. Concerning the Ynglings, Ynglingasaga remarks that Yngve was\nthe name of everyone who in that time was the head of the family (Yngl.,\np. 20). Svipdag, the favourite hero of the Teutonic mythology, is\naccordingly celebrated in song under the name Yngve, and also under\nother names to which I shall refer later, when I am to give a full\naccount of the myth concerning him.\n\n\n 25.\n\n HALFDAN'S IDENTITY WITH MANNUS IN \"GERMANIA.\"\n\n\nWith Gram-Halfdan the Teutonic patriarch period ends. The human race had\nits golden age under Heimdal, its copper age under Skjold-Borgar, and\nthe beginning of its iron age under Halfdan. The Skilfinga-Ynglinga race\nhas been named after Heimdal-Skelfir himself, and he has been regarded\nas its progenitor. His son Skjold-Borgar has been considered the founder\nof the Skjoldungs. With Halfdan the pedigree is divided into three\nthrough his stepson Yngve-Svipdag, the latter's half-brother Gudhorm,\nand Gudhorm's half-brother Hading or Hadding. The war between these\nthree--a continuation of the feud between Halfdan and Svipdag--was the\nsubject of a cycle of songs sung throughout Teutondom, songs which\ncontinued to live though greatly changed with the lapse of time, on the\nlips of Germans throughout the middle ages (see Nos. 36-43).\n\nLike his father, Halfdan was the fruit of a double fatherhood, a divine\nand a human. Saxo was aware of this double fatherhood, and relates of\nhis Halfdan Berggram that he, although the son of a human prince, was\nrespected as a son of Thor, and honoured as a god among that people who\nlongest remained heathen; that is to say, the Swedes (_Igitur apud\nSveones tantus haberi caepit, ut magni Thor filius existimatus, divinis a\npopulo honoribus donaretur ac publico dignus libamine censeretur_). In\nhis saga, as told by Saxo, Thor holds his protecting hand over Halfdan\nlike a father over his son.\n\nIt is possible that both the older patriarchs originally were regarded\nrather as the founders and chiefs of the whole human race than of the\nTeutons alone. Certain it is that the appellation Teutonic patriarch\nbelonged more particularly to the third of the series. We have a\nreminiscence of this in Hyndluljod, 14-16. To the question, \"Whence came\nthe Skjoldungs, Skilfings, Andlungs, and Ylfings, and all the free-born\nand gentle-born?\" the song answers by pointing to \"the foremost among\nthe Skjoldungs\"--Sigtrygg's slayer Halfdan--a statement which, after the\nmemory of the myths had faded and become confused, was magnified in the\nYounger Edda into the report that he was the father of eighteen sons,\nnine of which were the founders of the heroic families whose names were\nat that time rediscovered in the heathen-heroic songs then extant.\n\nAccording to what we have now stated in regard to Halfdan's genealogical\nposition there can no longer be any doubt that he is the same patriarch\nas the Mannus mentioned by Tacitus in _Germania_, ch. 2, where it is\nsaid of the Germans: \"In old songs they celebrate _Tuisco_, a god born\nof Earth (_Terra_; compare the goddess _Terra Mater_, ch. 40), and his\nson Mannus as the source and founder of the race. Mannus is said to have\nhad three sons, after whose names those who dwell nearest the ocean are\ncalled Ingaevonians (_Ingaevones_), those who dwell in the centre\nHermionians (_Hermiones_, _Herminones_), and the rest Istaevonians\n(_Istaevones_).\" Tacitus adds that there were other Teutonic tribes, such\nas the Marsians, the Gambrivians, the Svevians, and the Vandals, whose\nnames were derived from other heroes of divine birth.\n\nThus Mannus, though human, and the source and founder of the Teutonic\nrace, is also the son of a god. The mother of his divine father is the\ngoddess Earth, mother Earth. In our native myths we rediscover this\ngoddess--polyonomous like nearly all mythic beings--in Odin's wife\nFrigg, also called _Fjorgyn_ and _Hlodyn_. As sons of her and Odin only\nThor (Voelusp.) and Balder (Lokasenna) are definitely mentioned.\n\nIn regard to the goddess Earth (Jord), Tacitus states (ch. 40), as a\ncharacteristic trait that she is believed to take a lively interest and\nactive part in the affairs of men and nations (_eam intervenire rebus\nhominum, invehi populis arbitrantur_), and he informs us that she is\nespecially worshipped by the Longobardians and some of their neighbours\nnear the sea. This statement, compared with the emigration saga of the\nLongobardians (No. 15), confirms the theory that the goddess Jord, who,\nin the days of Tacitus, was celebrated in song as the mother of Mannus'\ndivine father, is identical with Frigg. In their emigration saga the\nLongobardians have great faith in Frigg, and trust in her desire and\nability to intervene when the fate of a nation is to be decided by arms.\nNor are they deceived in their trust in her; she is able to bring about\nthat Odin, without considering the consequences, gives the Longobardians\na new name; and as a christening present was in order, and as the\nLongobardians stood arrayed against the Vandals at the moment when they\nreceived their new name, the gift could be no other than victory over\ntheir foes. Tacitus' statement, that the Longobardians were one of the\nraces who particularly paid worship to the goddess Jord, is found to be\nintimately connected with, and to be explained by, this tradition, which\ncontinued to be remembered among the Longobardians long after they\nbecame converted to Christianity, down to the time when _Origo\nLongobardorum_ was written.\n\nTacitus calls the goddess Jord Nerthus. Vigfusson (and before him J.\nGrimm) and others have seen in this name a feminine version of _Njoerdr_.\nNor does any other explanation seem possible. The existence of such a\nform is not more surprising than that we have in Freyja a feminine form\nof Frey, and in Fjorgyn-Frigg a feminine form of Fjoergynr. In our\nmythic documents neither Frigg nor Njord are of Asa race. Njord is, as\nwe know, a Van. Frigg's father is _Fjoergynr_ (perhaps the same as\n_Parganya_ in the Vedic songs), also called _Annarr_, _Anarr_, and\n_Onarr_, and her mother is Narve's daughter Night. Frigg's high position\nas Odin's real and lawful wife, as the queen of the Asa world, and as\nmother of the chief gods Thor and Balder, presupposes her to be of the\nnoblest birth which the myth could bestow on a being born outside of the\nAsa clan, and as the Vans come next after the Asas in the mythology, and\nwere united with them from the beginning of time, as hostages, by\ntreaty, by marriage, and by adoption, probability, if no other proof\ncould be found, would favour the theory that Frigg is a goddess of the\nrace of Vans, and that her father _Fjoergyn_ is a clan-chief among the\nVans. This view is corroborated in two ways. The cosmogony makes Earth\nand Sea sister and brother. The same divine mother Night (Nat), who\nbears the goddess Jord, also bears a son _Udr_, _Unnr_, the ruler of the\nsea, also called _Audr_ (Rich), the personification of wealth. Both\nthese names are applied among the gods to Njord alone as the god of\nnavigation, commerce, and wealth. (In reference to wealth compare the\nphrase _audigr sem Njoerdr_--rich as Njord.) Thus Frigg is Njord's\nsister. This explains the attitude given to Frigg in the war between the\nAsas and Vans by Voeluspa, Saxo, and the author of Ynglingasaga, where\nthe tradition is related as history. In the form given to this tradition\nin Christian times and in Saxo's hands, it is disparaging to Frigg as\nOdin's wife; but the pith of Saxo's narrative is, that Frigg in the\nfeud between the Asas and Vans did not side with Odin but with the Vans,\nand contributed towards making the latter lords of Asgard. When the\npurely heathen documents (Voelusp., Vafthr., Lokas.) describe her as a\ntender wife and mother, Frigg's taking part with the Vans against her\nown husband can scarcely be explained otherwise than by the Teutonic\nprinciple, that the duties of the daughter and sister are above the\nwife's, a view plainly presented in Saxo (p. 353), and illustrated by\nGudrun's conduct toward Atle.\n\nThus it is proved that the god who is the father of the Teutonic\npatriarch Mannus is himself the son of Frigg, the goddess of earth, and\nmust, according to the mythic records at hand, be either Thor or Balder.\nThe name given him by Tacitus, _Tuisco_, does not determine which of the\ntwo. _Tuisco_ has the form of a patronymic adjective, and reappears in\nthe Norse _Tivi_, an old name of Odin, related to _Dios divus_, and\n_devas_, from which all the sons of Odin and gods of Asgard received the\nepithet _tivar_. But in the songs learned by Saxo in regard to the\nnorthern race-patriarch and his divine father, his place is occupied by\nThor, not by Balder, and \"Jord's son\" is in Norse poetry an epithet\nparticularly applied to Thor.\n\nMannus has three sons. So has Halfdan. While Mannus has a son _Ingaevo_,\nHalfdan has a stepson Yngve, Inge (Svipdag). The second son of Mannus is\nnamed Hermio. Halfdan's son with Groa is called _Gudhormr_. The second\npart of this name has, as Jessen has already pointed out, nothing to do\nwith _ormr_. It may be that the name should be divided _Gudhormr_, and\nthat _hormr_ should be referred to _Hermio_. Mannus' third son is\n_Istaevo_. The Celtic scholar Zeuss has connected this name with that of\nthe Gothic (more properly Vandal) heroic race Azdingi, and Grimm has\nagain connected Azdigni with Hazdiggo (_Haddingr_). Halfdan's third son\nis in Saxo called Hadingus. Whether the comparisons made by Zeuss and\nGrimm are to the point or not (see further, No. 43) makes but little\ndifference here. It nevertheless remains as a result of the\ninvestigation that all is related by Tacitus about the Teutonic\npatriarch Mannus has its counterpart in the question concerning Halfdan,\nand that both in the myths occupy precisely the same place as sons of a\ngod and as founders of Teutonic tribes and royal families. The pedigrees\nare:\n\n =_Tacitus._= =_Norse documents._=\n\n Tivi and the goddess Jord. Tivi=Odin and the goddess\n | Jord.\n | |\n Tivi's son (Tiusco). Tivi's son Thor.\n | |\n Mannus, progenitor of the Halfdan, progenitor of the\n Teutonic tribes. royal families.\n +--------+--------+ +---------+---------+\n | | | | | |\n Ingaevo. Hermio. Istaevo. Yngve. Gudhormr. Hadding.\n\n\n 26.\n\n THE SACRED RUNES LEARNED FROM HEIMDAL.\n\n\nThe mythic ancient history of the human race and of the Teutons may, in\naccordance with the analysis above given, be divided into the following\nepochs:--(1) From Ask and Ernbla's creation until Heimdal's arrival; (2)\nfrom Heimdal's arrival until his departure; (3) the age of\nSkjold-Borgar; (4) Halfdan's time; (5) The time of Halfdan's sons.\n\nAnd now we will discuss the events of the last three epochs.\n\nIn the days of Borgar the moral condition of men grows worse, and an\nevent in nature takes place threatening at least the northern part of\nthe Teutonic world with destruction. The myth gives the causes of both\nthese phenomena.\n\nThe moral degradation has its cause, if not wholly, yet for the greater\npart, in the activity among men of a female being from the giant world.\nThrough her men become acquainted with the black art, the evil art of\nsorcery, which is the opposite of the wisdom drawn from Mimer's holy\nfountain, the knowledge of runes, and acquaintance with the application\nof nature's secret forces for good ends (see Nos. 34, 35).\n\nThe sacred knowledge of runes, the \"fimbul-songs,\" the white art, was,\naccording to the myth, originally in the possession of Mimer. Still he\ndid not have it of himself, but got it from the subterranean fountain,\nwhich he guarded beneath the middle root of the world-tree (see No.\n63)--a fountain whose veins, together with the deepest root of the\nworld-tree, extends to a depth which not even Odin's thought can\npenerate (Havam., 138). By self-sacrifice in his youth Odin received\nfrom Bestla's brother (Mimer; see No. 88) a drink from the precious\nliquor of this fountain and nine fimbul-songs (Havam., 140; cp. Sigrdr.,\n14), which were the basis of the divine magic of the application of the\npower of the word and of the rune over spiritual and natural forces, in\nprayer, in sacrifices and in other religious acts, in investigations, in\nthe practical affairs of life, in peace and in war (Havam., 144 ff.;\nSigrdr., 6 ff.). The character and purpose of these songs are clear from\nthe fact that at the head is placed \"help's fimbul-song,\" which is able\nto allay sorrow and cure diseases (Havam., 146).\n\nIn the hands of Odin they are a means for the protection of the power of\nthe Asa-gods, and enable them to assist their worshippers in danger and\ndistress. To these belong the fimbul-song of the _runes of victory_; and\nit is of no little interest that we, in Havamal, 156, find what Tacitus\ntells about the _barditus_ of the Germans, the shield-song with which\nthey went to meet their foes--a song which Ammianus Paulus himself has\nheard, and of which he gives a vivid description. When the Teutonic\nforces advanced to battle the warriors raised their shields up to a\nlevel with the upper lip, so that the round of the shield formed a sort\nof sounding-board for their song. This began in a low voice and\npreserved its subdued colour, but the sound gradually increased, and at\na distance it resembled the roar of the breakers of the sea. Tacitus\nsays that the Teutons predicted the result of the battle from the\nimpression the song as a whole made upon themselves: it might sound in\ntheir ears in such a manner that they thereby became more terrible to\ntheir enemies, or in such a manner that they were overcome by despair.\nThe above-mentioned strophe of Havamal gives us an explanation of this:\nthe warriors were roused to confidence if they, in the harmony of the\nsubdued song increasing in volume, seemed to perceive Valfather's voice\nblended with their own. The strophe makes Odin say: _Ef ec scal til\norrostu leitha langvini, undir randir ec gel, en their meth riki fara\nheilir hildar til, heilir hildi fra_--\"If I am to lead those to battle\nwhom I have long held in friendship, then I sing under their shields.\nWith success they go to the conflict, and successfully they go out of\nit.\" Voeluspa also refers to the shield-song in 47, where it makes the\nstorm-giant, _Hrymr_, advancing against the gods, \"lift his shield\nbefore him\" (_hefiz lind fyrir_), an expression which certainly has\nanother significance than that of unnecessarily pointing out that he has\na shield for protection. The runes of victory were able to arrest\nweapons in their flight and to make those whom Odin loved proof against\nsword-edge and safe against ambush (Havam., 148, 150). Certain kinds of\nrunes were regarded as producing victory and were carved on the hilt and\non the blade of the sword, and while they were carved Tyr's name was\ntwice named (Sigrdr., 6).\n\nAnother class of runes (_brimrunar_, Sigrdr., 10; Havam., 150)\ncontrolled the elements, purified the air from evil beings (Havm., 155),\ngave power over wind and waves for good purposes--as, for instance, when\nsailors in distress were to be rescued--or power over the flames when\nthey threatened to destroy human dwellings (Havam., 152). A third kind\nof runes (_malrunar_) gave speech to the mute and speechless, even to\nthose whose lips were sealed in death (see No. 70). A fourth kind of\nrunes could free the limbs from bonds (Havam., 149). A fifth kind of\nrunes protected against witchcraft (Havam., 151). A sixth kind of runes\n(_oelrunar_) takes the strength from the love-potion prepared by another\nman's wife, and from every treachery mingled therein (Sigrdr., 7, 8). A\nseventh kind (_bjargrunar_ and _limrunar_) helps in childbirth and heals\nwounds. An eighth kind gives wisdom and knowledge (_hugrunar_, Sigrdr.,\n13; cp. Havam., 159). A ninth kind extinguishes enmity and hate, and\nproduces friendship and love (Havam., 153, 161). Of great value, and a\ngreat honour to kings and chiefs, was the possession of healing runes\nand healing hands; and that certain noble-born families inherited the\npower of these runes was a belief which has been handed down even to our\ntime. There is a distinct consciousness that the runes of this kind were\na gift of the blithe gods. In a strophe, which sounds as if it were\ntaken from an ancient hymn, the gods are beseeched for runes of wisdom\nand healing: \"Hail to the gods! Hail to the goddesses! Hail to the\nbounteous Earth (the goddess Jord). Words and wisdom give unto us, and\nhealing hands while we live!\" (Sigrdr., 4).\n\nIn ancient times arrangements were made for spreading the knowledge of\nthe good runes among all kinds of beings. Odin taught them to his own\nclan; Dainn taught them to the Elves; Dvalinn among the dwarfs; Asvinr\n(see No. 88) among the giants (Havam., 143). Even the last-named became\nparticipators in the good gift, which, mixed with sacred mead, was sent\nfar and wide, and it has since been among the Asas, among the Elves,\namong the wise Vans, and among the children of men (Sigrdr., 18). The\nabove-named Dvalinn, who taught the runes to his clan of ancient\nartists, is the father of daughters, who, together with dises of Asa and\nVana birth, are in possession of _bjargrunar_, and employ them in the\nservice of man (Fafnism., 13).\n\nTo men the beneficent runes came through the same god who as a child\ncame with the sheaf of grain and the tools to Scandia. Hence the belief\ncurrent among the Franks and Saxons that the alphabet of the Teutons,\nlike the Teutons themselves, was of northern origin. Rigsthula expressly\npresents Heimdal as teaching runes to the people whom he blessed by his\narrival in Midgard. The noble-born are particularly his pupils in runic\nlore. Of Heimdal's grandson, the son of Jarl Borgar, named Kon-Halfdan,\nit is said:\n\n En Konr ungr But Kon the young\n kunni runar, taught himself runes,\n aefinrunar runes of eternity\n ok alldrrunar. and runes of earthly life.\n Meir kunni hann Then he taught himself\n monnum bjarga, men to save,\n eggjar deyfa, the sword-edge to deaden,\n aegi legia, the sea to quiet,\n klok nam fugla, bird-song to interpret,\n kyrra ellda, fires to extinguish,\n saeva ok svefia, to soothe and comfort,\n sorgir laegia. sorrows to allay.\n\nThe fundamental character of this rune-lore bears distinctly the stamp\nof nobility. The runes of eternity united with those of the earthly life\ncan scarcely have any other reference than to the heathen doctrines\nconcerning religion and morality. These were looked upon as being for\nall time, and of equal importance to the life hereafter. Together with\nphysical runes with magic power--that is, runes that gave their\npossessors power over the hostile forces of nature--we find runes\nintended to serve the cause of sympathy and mercy.\n\n\n 27.\n\n SORCERY THE REVERSE OF THE SACRED RUNES. GULLVEIG-HEIDR,\n THE SOURCE OF SORCERY. THE MORAL\n DETERIORATION OF THE ORIGINAL MAN.\n\n\nBut already in the beginning of time evil powers appear for the purpose\nof opposing and ruining the good influences from the world of gods upon\nmankind. Just as Heimdal, \"the fast traveller,\" proceeds from house to\nhouse, forming new ties in society and giving instruction in what is\ngood and useful, thus we soon find a messenger of evil wandering about\nbetween the houses in Midgard, practising the black art and stimulating\nthe worst passions of the human soul. The messenger comes from the\npowers of frost, the enemies of creation. It is a giantess, the daughter\nof the giant _Hrimnir_ (Hyndlulj., 32), known among the gods as Gulveig\nand by other names (see Nos. 34, 35), but on her wanderings on earth\ncalled _Heidr_. \"Heid they called her (Gulveig) when she came to the\nchildren of men, the crafty, prophesying vala, who practised sorcery\n(_vitti ganda_), practised the evil art, caused by witchcraft\nmisfortunes, sickness, and death (_leikin_, see No. 67), and was always\nsought by bad women.\" Thus Voeluspa describes her. The important position\nHeid occupies in regard to the corruption of ancient man, and the\nconsequences of her appearance for the gods, for man, and for nature\n(see below), have led Voeluspa's author, in spite of his general poverty\nof words, to describe her with a certain fulness, pointing out among\nother things that she was the cause of the first war in the world. That\nthe time of her appearance was during the life of Borgar and his son\nshall be demonstrated below.\n\nIn connection with this moral corruption, and caused by the same powers\nhostile to the world, there occur in this epoch such disturbances in\nnature that the original home of man and culture--nay, all Midgard--is\nthreatened with destruction on account of long, terrible winters. A\nseries of connected myths tell of this. Ancient artists--forces at work\nin the growth of nature--personifications of the same kind as Rigveda's\nRibhus, that had before worked in harmony with the gods, become, through\nthe influence of Loke, foes of Asgard, their work becoming as harmful as\nit before was beneficent, and seek to destroy what Odin had created (see\nNos. 111 and 112). Idun, with her life-renewing apples, is carried by\nThjasse away from Asgard to the northernmost wilderness of the world,\nand is there concealed. Freyja, the goddess of fertility, is robbed and\nfalls into the power of giants. Frey, the god of harvests, falls sick.\nThe giant king Snow and his kinsmen _Thorri_ (Black Frost), _Joekull_\n(the Glacier), &c., extend their sceptres over Scandia.\n\nAlready during Heimdal's reign, after his protege Borgar had grown up,\nsomething happens which forebodes these terrible times, but still has a\nhappy issue.\n\n\n 28A.\n\n HEIMDAL AND THE SUN-DIS (Dis-goddess).\n\n\nIn Saxo's time there was still extant a myth telling how Heimdal, as the\nruler of the earliest generation, got himself a wife. The myth is found\nrelated as history in _Historia Danica_, pp. 335-337. Changed into a\nsong of chivalry in middle age style, we find it on German soil in the\npoem concerning king Ruther.\n\nSaxo relates that a certain king Alf undertook a perilous journey of\ncourtship, and was accompanied by Borgar. Alf is the more noble of the\ntwo; Borgar attends him. This already points to the fact that the mythic\nfigure which Saxo has changed into a historical king must be Heimdal,\nBorgar's co-father, his ruler and fosterer, otherwise Borgar himself\nwould be the chief person in his country, and could not be regarded as\nsubject to anyone else. Alf's identity with Heimdal is corroborated by\n\"King Ruther,\" and to a degree also by the description Saxo makes of his\nappearance, a description based on a definite mythic prototype. Alf,\nsays Saxo, had a fine exterior, and over his hair, though he was young,\na so remarkably white splendour was diffused that rays of light seemed\nto issue from his silvery locks (_cujus etiam insignem candore\ncaesariem tantus comae decor asperierat, ut argenteo crine nitere\nputaretur_). The Heimdal of the myth is a god of light, and is described\nby the colour applied to pure silver in the old Norse literature to\ndistinguish it from that which is alloyed; he is _hviti ass_ (Gylfag.,\n27) and _hvitastr asa_ (Thrymskvida, 5); his teeth glitter like gold,\nand so does his horse. We should expect that the maid whom Alf, if he is\nHeimdal, desires to possess belongs like himself to the divinities of\nlight. Saxo also says that her beauty could make one blind if she was\nseen without her veil, and her name Alfhild belongs, like Alfsol, Hild,\nAlfhild Solglands, Svanhild Guldfjaeder, to that class of names by which\nthe sundises, mother and daughter, were transferred from mythology to\nhistory. She is watched by two dragons. Suitors who approach her in vain\nget their heads chopped off and set up on poles (thus also in \"King\nRuther\"). Alf conquers the guarding dragons; but at the advice of her\nmother Alfhild takes flight, puts on a man's clothes and armour, and\nbecomes a female warrior, fighting at the head of other Amazons. Alf and\nBorgar search for and find the troop of Amazons amid ice and snow. It is\nconquered and flies to \"Finnia,\" Alf and Borgar pursue them thither.\nThere is a new conflict. Borgar strikes the helmet from Alfhild's head.\nShe has to confess herself conquered, and becomes Alf's wife.\n\nIn interpreting the mythic contents of this story we must remember that\nthe lad who came with the sheaf of grain to Scandia needed the help of\nthe sun for the seed which he brought with him to sprout, before it\ncould give harvests to the inhabitants. But the saga also indicates\nthat the sun-dis had veiled herself, and made herself as far as possible\nunapproachable, and that when Heimdal had forced himself into her\npresence she fled to northern ice-enveloped regions, where the god and\nhis foster-son, sword in hand, had to fetch her, whereupon a happy\nmarriage between him and the sun-dis secures good weather and rich\nharvests to the land over which he rules. At the first glance it might\nseem as if this myth had left no trace in our Icelandic records. This\nis, however, not the case. Its fundamental idea, that the sun at one\ntime in the earliest ages went astray from southern regions to the\nfarthest north and desired to remain there, but that it was brought back\nby the might of the gods who created the world, and through them\nreceived, in the same manner as Day and Night, its course defined and\nregularly established, we find in the Voeluspa strophe, examined with so\ngreat acumen by Julius Hoffory, which speaks of a bewilderment of this\nkind on the part of the sun, occurring before it yet \"knew its proper\nsphere,\" and in the following strophe, which tells how the all-holy gods\nthereupon held solemn council and so ordained the activity of these\nbeings, that time can be divided and years be recorded by their course.\nNor is the marriage into which the sun-dis entered forgotten.\nSkaldskaparmal quotes a strophe from Skule Thorsteinson where Sol[12] is\ncalled _Glenr's_ wife. That he whom the skald characterises by this\nepithet is a god is a matter of course. _Glenr_ signifies \"the shining\none,\" and this epithet was badly chosen if it did not refer to \"the\nmost shining of the Asas,\" _hvitastr asa_--that is, Heimdal.\n\nThe fundamental traits of \"King Ruther\" resemble Saxo's story. There,\ntoo, it is a king who undertakes a perilous journey of courtship and\nmust fight several battles to win the wondrous fair maiden whose\nprevious suitors had had to pay for their eagerness by having their\nheads chopped off and fastened on poles. The king is accompanied by\nBerter, identical with Berchtung-Borgar, but here, as always in the\nGerman story, described as the patriarch and adviser. A giant,\nVidolt--Saxo's Vitolphus, Hyndluljod's _Vidolfr_--accompanies Ruther and\nBerter on the journey; and when Vitolphus in Saxo is mentioned under\ncircumstances which show that he accompanied Borgar on a warlike\nexpedition, and thereupon saved his son Halfdan's life, there is no room\nfor doubt that Saxo's saga and \"King Ruther\" originally flowed from the\nsame mythic source. It can also be demonstrated that the very name\nRuther is one of those epithets which belong to Heimdal. The Norse\n_Hrutr_ is, according to the Younger Edda (i. 588, 589), a synonym of\n_Heimdali_, and _Heimdali_ is another form of _Heimdall_ (Isl., i. 231).\nAs _Hrutr_ means a ram, and as _Heimdali_ is an epithet of a ram (see\nYounger Edda, i. 589), light is thrown upon the bold metaphors,\naccording to which \"head,\" \"Heimdal's head,\" and \"Heimdal's sword\" are\nsynonyms (Younger Edda, i. 100, 264; ii. 499). The ram's head carries\nand is the ram's sword. Of the age of this animal symbol we give an\naccount in No. 82. There is reason for believing that Heimdal's helmet\nhas been conceived as decorated with ram's horns.[13] A strophe quoted\nin the Younger Edda (i. 608) mentions Heimdal's helmet, and calls the\nsword the _fyllr_ of Heimdal's helmet, an ambiguous expression, which\nmay be interpreted as that which fills Heimdal's helmet; that is to say,\nHeimdal's head, but also as that which has its place on the helmet.\nCompare the expression _fyllr hilmis stols_ as a metaphor for the power\nof the ruler.\n\n[Footnote 12: Sol is feminine in the Teutonic tongues.--TR.]\n\n[Footnote 13: That some one of the gods has worn a helmet with such a\ncrown can be seen on one of the golden horns found near Gallehuus. There\ntwice occurs a being wearing a helmet furnished with long, curved, sharp\npointed horns. Near him a ram is drawn and in his hand he has something\nresembling a staff which ends in a circle, and possibly is intended to\nrepresent Heimdal's horn.]\n\n\n 28B.\n\n LOKE CAUSES ENMITY BETWEEN THE GODS AND THE\n ORIGINAL ARTISTS (THE CREATORS OF ALL THINGS\n GROWING). THE CONSEQUENCE IS THE FIMBUL-WINTER\n AND EMIGRATIONS.\n\n\nThe danger averted by Heimdal when he secured the sun-dis with bonds of\nlove begins in the time of Borgar. The corruption of nature and of man\ngo hand in hand. Borgar has to contend with robbers (_pugiles_ and\n_piratae_), and among them the prototype of pirates--that terrible\ncharacter, remembered also in Icelandic poetry, called _Rodi_ (Saxo,\n_Hist._, 23, 345). The moderate laws given by Heimdal had to be made\nmore severe by Borgar (_Hist._, 24, 25).\n\nWhile the moral condition in Midgard grows worse, Loke carries out in\nAsgard a cunningly-conceived plan, which seems to be to the advantage of\nthe gods, but is intended to bring about the ruin of both the gods and\nman. His purpose is to cause enmity between the original artists\nthemselves and between them and the gods.\n\nAmong these artists the sons of Ivalde constitute a separate group.\nOriginally they enjoyed the best relations to the gods, and gave them\nthe best products of their wonderful art, for ornament and for use.\nOdin's spear _Gungnir_, the golden locks on Sif's head, and Frey's\ncelebrated ship Skidbladner, which could hold all the warriors of Asgard\nand always had favourable wind, but which also could be folded as a\nnapkin and be carried in one's pocket (Gylfaginning), had all come from\nthe workshop of these artists.\n\n Ivalda synir The sons of Ivalde\n gengu i ardaga went in ancient times\n Scidbladni at skapa, to make Skidbladner,\n scipa bezt, among ships the best,\n scirom Frey, for the shining Frey,\n nytom Njardar bur. Njord's useful son.\n\n (Grimnismal.)\n\nAnother group of original artists were Sindre and his kinsmen, who dwelt\non Nida's plains in the happy domain of the lower world (Voelusp., Nos.\n93, 94). According to the account given in Gylfaginning, ch. 37, Loke\nmeets Sindre's brother Brok, and wagers his head that Sindre cannot make\ntreasures as good as the above-named gifts from Ivalde's sons to the\nAsas. Sindre then made in his smithy the golden boar for Frey, the ring\nDraupner for Odin, from which eight gold rings of equal weight drop\nevery ninth night, and the incomparable hammer Mjolner for Thor. When\nthe treasures were finished, Loke cunningly gets the gods to assemble\nfor the purpose of deciding whether or not he has forfeited his head.\nThe gods cannot, of course, decide this without at the same time passing\njudgment on the gifts of Sindre and those of Ivalde's sons, and showing\nthat one group of artists is inferior to the other. And this is done.\nSindre's treasures are preferred, and thus the sons of Ivalde are\ndeclared to be inferior in comparison. But at the same time Sindre\nfails, through the decision of the gods, to get the prize agreed on.\nBoth groups of artists are offended by the decision.\n\nGylfaginning does not inform us whether the sons of Ivalde accepted the\ndecision with satisfaction or anger, or whether any noteworthy\nconsequences followed or not. An entirely similar judgment is mentioned\nin Rigveda (see No. 111). The judgment there has the most important\nconsequences: hatred toward the artists who were victorious, and toward\nthe gods who were the judges, takes possession of the ancient artist who\nwas defeated, and nature is afflicted with great suffering. That the\nTeutonic mythology has described similar results of the decision shall\nbe demonstrated in this work.\n\nJust as in the names _Alveig_ and _Almveig_, _Bil-roest_ and _Bifroest_,\n_Arinbjoern_ and _Grjotbjorn_, so also in the name _Ivaldi_ or _Ivaldr_,\nthe latter part of the word forms the permanent part, corresponding to\nthe Old English Valdere, the German Walther, the Latinised\nWaltharius.[14]\n\nThe former part of the word may change without any change as to the\nperson indicated: _Ivaldi_, _Allvaldi_, _Oelvaldi_, _Audvaldi_, may be\nnames of one and the same person. Of these variations _Ivaldi_ and\n_Allvaldi_ are in their sense most closely related, for the prefix I\n(_Id_) and _All_ may interchange in the language without the least\nchange in the meaning. Compare _all-likr_, _ilikr_, and _idglikr_;\n_all-litill_ and _ilitill_; _all-nog_, _ignog_ and _idgnog_. On the\nother hand, the prefixes in _Oelvaldi_ and _Audvaldi_ produce different\nmeanings of the compound word. But the records give most satisfactory\nevidence that _Oelvaldi_ and _Audvaldi_ nevertheless are the same person\nas _Allvaldi_ (Ivaldi). Thjasse's father is called in Harbardsljod (19)\n_Allvaldi_; in the Younger Edda (i. 214) _Oelvaldi_ and _Audvaldi_. He\nhas three sons, Ide, Gang, also called Urner (the Grotte-song), and the\njust-named Thjasse, who are the famous ancient artists, \"the sons of\nIvalde\" (_Ivalda synir_). We here point this out in passing. Complete\nstatement and proof of this fact, so important from a mythological\nstandpoint, will be given in Nos. 113, 114, 115.\n\nNor is it long before it becomes apparent what the consequences are of\nthe decision pronounced by the Asas on Loke's advice upon the treasures\npresented to the gods. The sons of Ivalde regarded it as a mortal\noffence, born of the ingratitude of the gods. Loke, the originator of\nthe scheme, is caught in the snares laid by Thjasse in a manner fully\ndescribed in Thjodolf's poem \"Haustlaung,\" and to regain his liberty he\nis obliged to assist him (Thjasse) in carrying Idun away from Asgard.\n\n[Illustration: GIANT THJASSE, IN THE GUISE OF AN EAGLE, CARRIES OFF LOKE.\n\n(_From an etching by Lorenz Froelich._)\n\nThjasse was known as the storm-giant who having been born in deformity\nwas ever seeking golden apples from Idun to cure his ugliness. Upon one\noccasion assuming the form of an eagle he interrupted a feast of Odin,\nHoner and Loke and when the latter attempted to strike the voracious\nbird with a stake found himself fastened to both stake and eagle and was\nborne away shrieking for mercy. Thjasse promised to release Loke if he\nwould bring to him Idun and her golden apples. Loke in fulfillment of\nhis promise beguiled Idun out of Asgard whereupon Thjasse in the form of\nan eagle seized the goddess in his talons and bore her away to his\ncastle, Thrymheim. He was soon afterwards killed by the gods, and Idun\nwas released.]\n\nIdun, who possesses \"the Asas' remedy against old age,\" and keeps the\napples which symbolise the ever-renewing and rejuvenating force of\nnature, is carried away by Thjasse to a part of the world inaccessible\nto the gods. The gods grow old, and winter extends its power more and\nmore beyond the limits prescribed for it in creation. Thjasse, who\nbefore was the friend of the gods, is now their irreconcilable foe. He\nwho was the promoter of growth and the benefactor of nature--for Sif's\ngolden locks, and Skidbladner, belonging to the god of fertility,\ndoubtless are symbols thereof--is changed into \"the mightiest foe of\nearth,\" _dolg ballastan vallar_ (Haustl., 6), and has wholly assumed the\nnature of a giant.\n\nAt the same time, with the approach of the great winter, a terrible\nearthquake takes place, the effects of which are felt even in heaven.\nThe myth in regard to this is explained in No. 81. In this explanation\nthe reader will find that the great earthquake in primeval time is\ncaused by Thjasse's kinswomen on his mother's side (the\nGrotte-song)--that is, by the giantesses Fenja and Menja, who turned the\nenormous world-mill, built on the foundations of the lower world, and\nworking in the depths of the sea, the prototype of the mill of the\nGrotte-song composed in Christian times; that the world-mill has a\n_moendull_, the mill-handle, which sweeps the uttermost rim of the earth,\nwith which handle not only the mill-stone but also the starry heavens\nare made to whirl round; and that when the mill was put in so violent a\nmotion by the angry giantesses that it got out of order, then the starry\nconstellations were also disturbed. The ancient terrible winter and the\ninclination of the axis of heaven have in the myth been connected, and\nthese again with the close of the golden age. The mill had up to this\ntime ground gold, happiness, peace, and good-will among men; henceforth\nit grinds salt and dust.\n\nThe winter must of course first of all affect those people who inhabited\nthe extensive Svithiod north of the original country and over which\nanother kinsman of Heimdal, the first of the race of Skilfings or\nYnglings, ruled. This kinsman of Heimdal has an important part in the\nmythology, and thereof we shall give an account in Nos. 89, 91, 110,\n113-115, and 123. It is there found that he is the same as Ivalde, who,\nwith a giantess, begot the illegitimate children Ide, Urner, and\nThjasse. Already before his sons he became the foe of the gods, and from\nSvithiod now proceeds, in connection with the spreading of the\nfimbul-winter, a migration southward, the work at the same time of the\nSkilfings and the primeval artists. The list of dwarfs in Voeluspa has\npreserved the record of this in the strophe about the artist migration\nfrom the rocks of the hall (_Salar steinar_) and from Svarin's mound\nsituated in the north (the Voeluspa strophe quoted in the Younger Edda;\ncp. Saxo., _Hist._, 32, 33, and Helg. Hund., i. 31, ii. to str. 14). The\nattack is directed against _aurvanga sjoet_, the land of the clayey\nplains, and the assailants do not stop before they reach _Joeruvalla_ the\nJara plains, which name is still applied to the south coast of\nScandinavia (see No. 32). In the pedigree of these emigrants--\n\n their er sottu\n fra Salar steina (or Svarins haugi)\n aurvanga sjot\n til Joeruvalla--\n\noccur the names _Alfr_ and _Yngvi_, who have Skilfing names; _Fjalarr_,\nwho is Ivalde's ally and Odin's enemy (see No. 89); _Finnr_, which is\none of the several names of Ivalde himself (see No. 123); _Frosti_, who\nsymbolises cold; _Skirfir_, a name which points to the Skilfings; and\n_Virfir_, whom Saxo (_Hist. Dan._, 178, 179) speaks of as _Huyrvillus_,\nand the Icelandic records as _Virvill_ and _Vifill_ (Fornalders. ii. 8;\nYounger Edda, i. 548). In Fornalders. Vifill is an emigration leader who\nmarried to Loge's daughter _Eymyrja_ (a metaphor for fire--Younger Edda,\nii. 570), betakes himself from the far North and takes possession of an\nisland on the Swedish coast. That this island is Oland is clear from\nSaxo, 178, where Huyrvillus is called _Holandiae princeps_. At the same\ntime a brother-in-law of Virfir takes possession of Bornholm, and\nGotland is colonised by Thjelvar (_Thjalfi_ of the myth), who is the son\nof Thjasse's brother (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). _Virfir_ is allied with\nthe sons of _Finnr_ (_Fyn_--Saxo, _Hist._, 178). The saga concerning the\nemigration of the Longobardians is also connected with the myth about\nThjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 112-115).\n\nFrom all this it appears that a series of emigration and colonisation\ntales have their origin in the myth concerning the fimbul-winter caused\nby Thjasse and concerning the therewith connected attack by the\nSkilfings and Thjasse's kinsmen on South Scandinavia, that is, on the\nclayey plains near Jaravall, where the second son of Heimdal,\nSkjold-Borgar, rules. It is the remembrance of this migration from north\nto south which forms the basis of all the Teutonic middle-age migration\nsagas. The migration saga of the Goths, as Jordanes heard it, makes them\nemigrate from Scandinavia under the leadership of Berig. (_Ex hac igitur\nScandza insula quasi officina gentium aut certe velut vagina nationum\ncum rege suo Berig Gothi quondam memorantur egressi--De Goth. Orig., c.\n4. Meminisse debes, me de Scandzae insulae gremio Gothos dixisse egressos\ncum Berich suo rege_--c. 17.) The name Berig, also written Berich and\nBerigo, is the same as the German Berker, Berchtung, and indicates the\nsame person as the Norse _Borgarr_. With Berig is connected the race of\nthe Amalians; with Borgar the memory of Hamal (Amala), who is the\nfoster-brother of Borgar's son (cp. No. 28 with Helge Hund., ii.). Thus\nthe emigration of the Goths is in the myth a result of the fate\nexperienced by Borgar and his people in their original country. And as\nthe Swedes constituted the northernmost Teutonic branch, they were the\nones who, on the approach of the fimbul-winter, were the first that were\ncompelled to surrender their abodes and secure more southern\nhabitations. This also appears from saga fragments which have been\npreserved; and here, but not in the circumstances themselves, lies the\nexplanation of the statements, according to which the Swedes forced\nScandinavian tribes dwelling farther south to emigrate. Jordanes (c. 3)\nclaims that the Herulians were driven from their abode in Scandza by the\nSvithidians, and that the Danes are of Svithidian origin--in other\nwords, that an older Teutonic population in Denmark was driven south,\nand that Denmark was repeopled by emigrants from Sweden. And in the\nNorse sagas themselves, the centre of gravity, as we have seen, is\ncontinually being moved farther to the south. Heimdal, under the name\nScef-Skelfir, comes to the original inhabitants in Scania. Borgar, his\nson, becomes a ruler there, but founds, under the name Skjold, the royal\ndynasty of the Skjoldungs in Denmark. With Scef and Skjold the Wessex\nroyal family of Saxon origin is in turn connected, and thus the royal\ndynasty of the Goths is again connected with the Skjold who emigrated\nfrom Scandza, and who is identical with Borgar. And finally there\nexisted in Saxo's time mythic traditions or songs which related that all\nthe present Germany came under the power of the Teutons who emigrated\nwith Borgar; that, in other words, the emigration from the North carried\nwith it the hegemony of Teutonic tribes over other tribes which before\nthem inhabited Germany. Saxo says of Skjold-Borgar that _omnem\nAlamannorum gentem tributaria ditione perdomuit_; that is, \"he made the\nwhole race of Alamanni tributary.\" The name Alamanni is in this case not\nto be taken in an ethnographical but in a geographical sense. It means\nthe people who were rulers in Germany before the immigration of Teutons\nfrom the North.\n\nFrom this we see that migration traditions remembered by Teutons beneath\nItalian and Icelandic skies, on the islands of Great Britain and on the\nGerman continent, in spite of their wide diffusion and their separation\nin time, point to a single root: to the myth concerning the primeval\nartists and their conflict with the gods; to the robbing of Idun and the\nfimbul-winter which was the result.\n\nThe myth makes the gods themselves to be seized by terror at the fate of\nthe world, and Mimer makes arrangements to save all that is best and\npurest on earth for an expected regeneration of the world. At the very\nbeginning of the fimbul-winter Mimer opens in his subterranean grove of\nimmortality an asylum, closed against all physical and spiritual evil,\nfor the two children of men, Lif and Lifthrasir (Vafthr., 45), who are\nto be the parents of a new race of men (see Nos. 52, 53).\n\nThe war begun in Borgar's time for the possession of the ancient country\ncontinues under his son Halfdan, who reconquers it for a time, invades\nSvithiod, and repels Thjasse and his kinsmen (see Nos. 32, 33).\n\n[Footnote 14: Elsewhere it shall be shown that the heroes mentioned in\nthe middle age poetry under the names Valdere, Walther, Waltharius\nmanufortis, and Valthere of Vaskasten are all variations of the name of\nthe same mythic type changed into a human hero, and the same, too, as\nIvalde of the Norse documents (see No. 123).]\n\n\n 29.\n\n EVIDENCE THAT HALFDAN IS IDENTICAL WITH HELGE\n HUNDINGSBANE.\n\n\nThe main outlines of Halfdan's saga reappears related as history, and\nmore or less blended with foreign elements, in Saxo's accounts of the\nkings Gram, Halfdan Berggram, and Halfdan Borgarson (see No. 23).\nContributions to the saga are found in Hyndluljod (str. 14, 15, 16) and\nin Skaldskaparmal (Younger Edda, i. 516 ff.), in what they tell about\nHalfdan Skjoldung and Halfdan the Old. The juvenile adventures of the\nhero have, with some modifications, furnished the materials for both\nthe songs about Helge Hundingsbane, with which Saxo's story of Helgo\nHundingicida (_Hist._, 80-110) and Volsungasaga's about Helge Sigmundson\nare to be compared. The Grotte-song also (str. 22) identifies Helge\nHundingsbane with Halfdan.\n\nFor the history of the origin of the existing heroic poems from mythic\nsources, of their relation to these and to each other, it is important\nto get the original identity of the hero-myth, concerning Halfdan and\nthe heroic poems concerning Helge Hundingsbane, fixed on a firm\nfoundation. The following parallels suffice to show that this Helge is a\nlater time's reproduction of the mythic Halfdan:\n\n Halfdan-Gram, sent on a Helge Hundingsbane, sent\n warlike expedition, meets on a warlike expedition,\n Groa, who is mounted on meets Sigrun, who is mounted\n horseback and accompanied on horseback and is accompanied\n by other women on horseback by other women\n (Saxo, 26, 27). on horseback (Helge Hund.,\n i. 16; Volsungasaga, c. 9).\n\n The meeting takes place in The meeting takes place in\n a forest (Saxo, 26). a forest (Vols., c. 9).\n\n Halfdan-Gram is on the Helge is on the occasion\n occasion completely wrapped disguised. He speaks fra\n in the skin of a wild beast, so ulfidi \"from a wolf guise\"\n that even his face is concealed (Helge Hund., i. 16), which\n (Saxo, 26). expression finds its\n interpretation\n in Saxo, where Halfdan\n appears wrapped in the\n skin of a wild beast.\n\n Conversation is begun between Conversation is begun between\n Halfdan-Gram and Helge and Sigrun.\n Groa. Halfdan pretends to be Helge pretends to be a person\n a person who is his brother-at-arms who is his foster-brother\n (Saxo, 27). (Helge Hund., ii. 6).\n\n Groa asks Halfdan-Gram: Sigrun asks Helge:\n Quis, rogo, vestrum Hverir lata fljota\n dirigit agmen, fley vid backa,\n quo duce signa hvar hermegir\n bellica fertis? heima eigud?\n (Saxo, 27.) (Helge Hund., ii. 5.)\n\n Halfdan-Gram invites Groa Helge invites Sigrun to\n to accompany him. At first accompany him. At first the\n the invitation is refused invitation is rebuked (Helge\n (Saxo, 27). Hund., i. 16, 17).\n\n Groa's father had already Sigrun's father had already\n given her hand to another promised her to another\n (Saxo, 26). (Helge Hund., i. 18).\n\n Halfdan-Gram explains Helge explains that this\n that this rival ought not to rival should not cause them to\n cause them to fear (Saxo, 28). fear (Helge Hund., i., ii.).\n\n Halfdan-Gram makes war Helge makes war on Sigrun's\n on Groa's father, on his rival, father, on his rival, and\n and on the kinsmen of the latter on the kinsmen of the latter\n (Saxo, 32). (Helge Hund., i., ii.).\n\n Halfdan-Gram slays Groa's Helge kills Sigrun's father\n father and betrothed, and and suitors, and many heroes\n many heroes who belonged to who were the brothers or\n his circle of kinsmen or were allies of his rival (Helge\n subject to him (Saxo, 32). Hund., ii.).\n\n Halfdan-Gram marries Groa Helge marries Sigrun (Helge\n (Saxo, 33). Hund., i. 56).\n\n Halfdan-Gram conquers a Helge conquers Ring's sons\n king Ring (Saxo, 32). (Helge Hund., i. 52).\n\n Borgar's son has defeated Helge has slain king Hunding,\n and slain king Hunding and thus gotten the\n (Saxo, 362; cp. Saxo, 337). name Hundingsbane (Helge\n Hund., i. 10).\n\n Halfdan-Gram has felled Helge's rival and the many\n Svarin and many of his brothers. brothers of the latter dwell\n Svarin was viceroy under around Svarin's grave-mound.\n Groa's father (Saxo, 32). They are allies or subjects of\n Sigrun's father.\n\n Halfdan-Gram is slain by Helge is slain by Dag, who\n Svipdag, who is armed with is armed with an Asgard\n an Asgard weapon (Saxo, 34, weapon (Helge Hund., ii.).\n to be compared with other\n sources. See Nos. 33, 98, 101,\n 103).\n\n Halfdan-Berggram's father Helge's father was slain by\n is slain by his brother Frode, his brother Frode, who took\n who took his kingdom (Saxo, his kingdom (Rolf Krake's\n 320). saga).\n\n Halfdan Berggram and his Helge and his brother were\n brother were in their childhood in their childhood protected\n protected by Regno by Regin (Rolf Krake's saga).\n (Saxo, 320).\n\n Halfdan Berggram and his Helge and his brothers\n brother burnt Frode to death burnt Frode to death in his\n in his house (Saxo, 323). house (Rolf Krake's saga).\n\n Halfdan Berggram as a Helge Hundingsbane as a\n youth left the kingdom to his youth left the kingdom to his\n brother and went warfaring brother and went warfaring\n (Saxo, 320 ff). (Saxo, 80).\n\n During Halfdan's absence During Helge Hundingsbane's\n Denmark is attacked by an absence Denmark is attacked\n enemy, who conquers his by an enemy, who conquers\n brother in three battles and his brother in three\n slays him in a fourth (Saxo, battles and slays him in a\n 325). fourth (Saxo, 82).\n\n Halfdan, the descendant of Helge Hundingsbane became\n Scef and Scyld, becomes the the father of Rolf\n father of Rolf (Beowulf (Saxo, 83; compare Rolf\n poem). Krake's saga).\n\n Halfdan had a son with his Helge Hundingsbane had a\n own sister Yrsa (Grotte-song, son with his own sister Ursa\n 22; mon Yrsu sonr vid Half-dana (Saxo, 82). The son was Rolf\n hefna Froda; sa mun (compare Rolf Krake's saga).\n hennar heitinn vertha boerr oc\n brothir).\n\nA glance at these parallels is sufficient to remove every doubt that the\nhero in the songs concerning Helge Hundingsbane is originally the same\nmythic person as is celebrated in the song or songs from which Saxo\ngathered his materials concerning the kings, Gram Skjoldson, Halfdan\nBerggram, and Halfdan Borgarson. It is the ancient myth in regard to\nHalfdan, the son of Skjold-Borgar, which myth, after the introduction of\nChristianity in Scandinavia, is divided into two branches, of which the\none continues to be the saga of this patriarch, while the other utilises\nthe history of his youth and transforms it into a new saga, that of\nHelge Hundingsbane. In Saxo's time, and long before him, this division\ninto two branches had already taken place. How this younger branch,\nHelge Hundingsbane's saga, was afterwards partly appropriated by the\nall-absorbing Sigurdsaga and became connected with it in an external and\npurely genealogical manner, and partly did itself appropriate (as in\nSaxo) the old Danish local tradition about Rolf, the illegitimate son of\nHalfdan Skjoldung, and, in fact, foreign to his pedigree; how it got\nmixed with the saga about an evil Frode and his stepsons, a saga with\nwhich it formerly had no connection;--all these are questions which I\nshall discuss fully in a second part of this work, and in a separate\ntreatise on the heroic sagas. For the present, my task is to show what\ninfluence this knowledge of Halfdan and Helge Hundingsbane's identity\nhas upon the interpretation of the myth concerning the antiquity of the\nTeutons.\n\n\n 30.\n\n HALFDAN'S BIRTH AND THE END OF THE AGE OF PEACE.\n THE FAMILY NAMES YLFING, HILDING, BUDLUNG.\n\n\nThe first strophes of the first song of Helge Hundingsbane distinguish\nthemselves in tone and character and broad treatment from the\ncontinuation of the song, and have clearly belonged to a genuine old\nmythic poem about Halfdan, and without much change the compiler of the\nHelge Hundingsbane song has incorporated them into his poem. They\ndescribe Halfdan's (\"Helge Hundingsbane's\") birth. The real mythic names\nof his parents, Borgar and Drott, have been retained side by side with\nthe names given by the compiler, Sigmund and Borghild.\n\n Ar var alda; It was time's morning,\n that er arar gullo, eagles screeched,\n hnigo heilog votn holy waters fell\n af himinfjollum; from the heavenly mountains.\n tha hafthi Helga Then was the mighty\n inn hugom stora Helge born\n Borghildr borit by Borghild\n i Bralundi. in Bralund.\n\n Nott varth i boe, It was night,\n nornir qvomo, norns came,\n ther er authlingi they who did shape\n aldr urn scopo; the fate of the nobleman;\n thann batho fylci they proclaimed him\n fraegstan vertha best among Budlungs,\n oc buthlunga and most famed\n beztan ticcia. among princes.\n\n Snero ther af afli With all their might the threads\n aurlaugthatto, of fate they twisted,\n tha er Borgarr braut when Borgar settled\n i Bralundi; in Bralund;\n ther um greiddo of gold they made\n gullin simo the warp of the web,\n oc und manasal and fastened it directly\n mithian festo. 'neath the halls of the moon.\n\n ther austr oc vestr In the east and west\n enda falo: they hid the ends:\n thar atti lofdungr there between\n land a milli; the chief should rule;\n bra nipt Nera Nere's[15] kinswoman\n a nordrevega northward sent\n einni festi one thread and bade it\n ey bath hon halda. hold for ever.\n\n Eitt var at angri One cause there was\n Ylfinga nith of alarm to the Yngling (Borgar),\n oc theirre meyio and also for her\n er nunuth faeddi; who bore the loved one.\n hrafn gvath at hrafni Hungry cawed\n --sat a ham meithi raven to raven\n andvanr ato:-- in the high tree:\n \"Ec veit noccoth! \"Hear what I know!\n\n \"Stendr i brynio \"In coat of mail\n burr Sigmundar, stands Sigmund's son,\n doegrs eins gamall, one day old,\n nu er dagr kominn; now the day is come;\n hversir augo sharp eyes of the Hildings\n sem hildingar, has he, and the wolves'\n sa er varga vinr, friend he becomes,\n vith scolom teitir.\" We shall thrive.\"\n\n Drott thotti sa Drott, it is said, saw\n dauglingr vera In him a dayling,[16]\n quado meth gumnom saying, \"Now are good seasons\n god-ar kominn; come among men;\"\n sialfr gecc visi to the young lord\n or vig thrimo from thunder-strife\n ungum faera came the chief himself\n itrlauc grami. with a glorious flower.\n\nHalfdan's (\"Helge Hundingsbane's\") birth occurs, according to the\ncontents of these strophes, when two epochs meet. His arrival announces\nthe close of the peaceful epoch and the beginning of an age of strife,\nwhich ever since has reigned in the world. His significance in this\nrespect is distinctly manifest in the poem. The raven, to whom the\nbattle-field will soon be as a wellspread table, is yet suffering from\nhunger (_andvanr atu_); but from the high tree in which it sits, it has\non the day after the birth of the child, presumably through the window,\nseen the newcomer, and discovered that he possessed \"the sharp eyes of\nthe Hildings,\" and with prophetic vision it has already seen him clad in\ncoat of mail. It proclaims its discovery to another raven in the same\ntree, and foretells that theirs and the age of the wolves has come: \"We\nshall thrive.\"\n\nThe parents of the child heard and understood what the raven said.\nAmong the runes which Heimdal, Borgar's father, taught him, and which\nthe son of the latter in time learned, are the knowledge of bird-speech\n(_Konr ungr kloek nam fugla_--Rigsthula, 43, 44). The raven's appearance\nin the song of Helge Hundingsbane is to be compared with its relative\nthe crow in Rigsthula; the one foretells that the new-born one's path of\nlife lies over battle-fields, the other urges the grown man to turn away\nfrom his peaceful amusements. Important in regard to a correct\nunderstanding of the song, and characteristic of the original relation\nof the strophes quoted to the myth concerning primeval time, is the\ncircumstance that Halfdan's (\"Helge Hundingsbane's\") parents are not\npleased with the prophecies of the raven; on the contrary they are\nfilled with alarm. Former interpreters have been surprised at this. It\nhas seemed to them that the prophecy of the lad's future heroic and\nblood-stained career ought, in harmony with the general spirit pervading\nthe old Norse literature, to have awakened the parents' joy and pride.\nBut the matter is explained by the mythic connection which makes\nBorgars' life constitute the transition period from a happy and peaceful\ngolden age to an age of warfare. With all their love of strife and\nadmiration for warlike deeds, the Teutons still were human, and shared\nwith all other people the opinion that peace and harmony is something\nbetter and more desirable than war and bloodshed. Like their Aryan\nkinsmen, they dreamed of primeval _Saturnia regna_, and looked forward\nto a regeneration which is to restore the reign of peace. Borgar, in the\nmyth, established the community, was the legislator and judge. He was\nthe hero of peaceful deeds, who did not care to employ weapons except\nagainst wild beasts and robbers. But the myth had also equipped him with\ncourage and strength, the necessary qualities for inspiring respect and\ninterest, and had given him abundant opportunity for exhibiting these\nqualities in the promotion of culture and the maintenance of the\nsacredness of the law. Borgar was the Hercules of the northern myth, who\nfought with the gigantic beasts and robbers of the olden time. Saxo\n(_Hist._, 23) has preserved the traditions which tell how he at one time\nfought breast to breast with a giant bear, conquering him and bringing\nhim fettered into his own camp.\n\nAs is well known, the family names Ylfings, Hildings, Budlungs, &c.,\nhave in the poems of the Christian skalds lost their specific\napplication to certain families, and are applied to royal and princely\nwarriors in general. This is in perfect analogy with the Christian\nIcelandic poetry, according to which it is proper to take the name of\nany viking, giant, or dwarf, and apply it to any special viking, giant,\nor dwarf, a poetic principle which scholars even of our time claim can\nalso be applied in the interpretation of the heathen poems. In regard to\nthe old Norse poets this method is, however, as impossible as it would\nbe in Greek poetry to call Odysseus a Peleid, or Achilleus a Laertiatid,\nor Prometheus Hephaestos, or Hephaestos Daedalos. The poems concerning\nHelge Hundingsbane are compiled in Christian times from old songs about\nBorgar's son Halfdan, and we find that the patronymic appellations\nYlfing, Hilding, Budlung, and Lofdung are copiously strewn on \"Helge\nHundingsbane.\" But, so far as the above-quoted strophes are concerned,\nit can be shown that the appellations Ylfing, Hilding, and Budlung are\nin fact old usage and have a mythic foundation. The German poem\n\"Wolfdieterich und Sabin\" calls Berchtung (Borgar) Potelung--that is,\nBudlung; the poem \"Wolfdieterich\" makes Berchtung the progenitor of the\nHildings, and adds: \"From the same race the Ylfings have come to\nus\"--_von dem selbe geslehte sint uns die wilfinge kumen_ (v. 223).\n\nSaxo mentions the Hilding Hildeger as Halfdan's half-brother, and the\ntraditions on which the saga of Asmund Kaempebane is based has done the\nsame (compare No. 43). The agreement in this point between German,\nDanish, and Icelandic statements points to an older source common to\nthem all, and furnishes an additional proof that the German Berchtung\noccupied in the mythic genaelogies precisely the same place as the Norse\nBorgar.\n\nThat Thor is one of Halfdan's fathers, just as Heimdal is one of\nBorgar's, has already been pointed out above (see No. 25). To a divine\ncommon fatherhood point the words: \"Drott it is said, saw in him (the\nlad just born) a dayling (son of a god of light), a son divine.\" Who the\ndivine partner-father is, is indicated by the fact that a storm has\nbroken out the night when Drott's son is born. There is a thunder-strife\n_vig thrimo_, the eagles screech, and holy waters fall from the heavenly\nmountains (from the clouds). The god of thunder is present, and casts\nhis shadow over the house where the child is born.\n\n[Footnote 15: Urd, the chief goddess of fate. See the treatise \"Mythen\nom Under-jorden.\"]\n\n[Footnote 16: _Dayling_ = bright son of day or light.]\n\n\n 31.\n\n HALFDAN'S CHARACTER. THE WEAPON-MYTH.\n\n\nThe myths and heroic poems are not wanting in ideal heroes, who are\nmodels of goodness of heart, justice, and the most sensitive nobleness.\nSuch are, for example, the Asa-god Balder, his counter part among\nheroes, Helge Hjorvardson, Beowulf, and, to a certain degree also,\nSigurd Fafnesbane. Halfdan did not belong to this group. His part in the\nmyth is to be the personal representative of the strife-age that came\nwith him, of an age when the inhabitants of the earth are visited by the\ngreat winter and by dire misfortunes, when the demoralisation of the\nworld has begun along with disturbances in nature and when the words\nalready are applicable, \"_hart er i heimi_\" (hard is the world). Halfdan\nis guilty of the abduction of a woman--the old custom of taking a maid\nfrom her father by violence or cunning is illustrated in his saga. It\nfollows, however, that the myth at the same time embellished him with\nqualities which made him a worthy Teutonic patriarch, and attractive to\nthe hearers of the songs concerning him. These qualities are, besides\nthe necessary strength and courage, the above-mentioned knowledge of\nrunes, wherein he even surpasses his father (Rigsth.), great skaldic\ngifts (Saxo, _Hist._, 325), a liberality which makes him love to strew\ngold about him (Helge Hund., i. 9), and an extraordinary, fascinating\nphysical beauty--which is emphasised by Saxo (_Hist._, 30), and which is\nalso evident from the fact that the Teutonic myth makes him, as the\nGreek myth makes Achilleus, on one occasion don a woman's attire, and\nresemble a valkyrie in this guise (Helge Hund., ii.). No doubt the myth\nalso described him as the model of a faithful foster-brother in his\nrelations to the silent Hamal, who externally was so like him that the\none could easily be taken for the other (cp. Helge Hund., ii. 1, 6). In\nall cases it is certain that the myth made the foster-brotherhood\nbetween Halfdan and Hamal the basis of the unfailing fidelity with which\nHamal's descendants, the Amalians, cling to the son of Halfdan's\nfavourite Hadding, and support his cause even amid the most difficult\ncircumstances (see Nos. 42, 43). The abduction of a woman by Halfdan is\nfounded in the physical interpretation of the myth, and can thus be\njustified. The wife he takes by force is the goddess of vegetation,\nGroa, and he does it because her husband Orvandel has made a compact\nwith the powers of frost (see Nos. 33, 38, 108, 109).\n\nThere are indications that our ancestors believed the sword to be a\nlater invention than the other kinds of weapons, and that it was from\nthe beginning under a curse. The first and most important of all\nsword-smiths was, according to the myth, Thjasse,[17] who accordingly is\ncalled _fadir moerna_, the father of the swords (Haustlaung, Younger\nEdda, 306). The best sword made by him is intended to make way for the\ndestruction of the gods (see Nos. 33, 98, 101, 103). After various\nfortunes it comes into the possession of Frey, but is of no service to\nAsgard. It is given to the parents of the giantess Gerd, and in Ragnarok\nit causes the death of Frey.\n\nHalfdan had two swords, which his mother's father, for whom they were\nmade, had buried in the earth, and his mother long kept the place of\nconcealment secret from him. The first time he uses one of them he slays\nin a duel his noble half-brother Hildeger, fighting on the side of the\nSkilfings, without knowing who he is (cp. Saxo, _Hist._, 351, 355, 356,\nwith Asmund Kaempebane's saga). Cursed swords are several times mentioned\nin the sagas.\n\nHalfdan's weapon, which he wields successfully in advantageous exploits,\nis in fact, the club (Saxo, _Hist._, 26, 31, 323, 353). That the\nTeutonic patriarch's favourite weapon is the club, not the sword; that\nthe latter, later, in his hand, sheds the blood of a kinsman; and that\nhe himself finally is slain by the sword forged by Thjasse, and that,\ntoo, in conflict with a son (the stepson Svipdag--see below), I regard\nas worthy of notice from the standpoint of the views cherished during\nsome of the centuries of the Teutonic heathendom in regard to the\nvarious age and sacredness of the different kinds of weapons. That the\nsword also at length was looked upon as sacred is plain from the fact\nthat it was adopted and used by the Asa-gods. In Ragnarok, Vidar is to\navenge his father with a _hjoerr_ and pierce Fafner's heart (_Voeluspa_).\n_Hjoerr_ may, it is true, also mean a missile, but still it is probable\nthat it, in Vidar's hand, means a sword. The oldest and most sacred\nweapons were the spear, the hammer, the club, and the axe. The spear\nwhich, in the days of Tacitus, and much later, was the chief weapon both\nfor foot-soldiers and cavalry in the Teutonic armies, is wielded by the\nAsa-father himself, whose Gungner was forged for him by Ivalde's sons\nbefore the dreadful enmity between the gods and them had begun.\n\nThe hammer is Thor's most sacred weapon. Before Sindre forged one for\nhim of iron (Gylfaginning), he wielded a hammer of stone. This is\nevident from the very name _hamarr_, a rock, a stone. The club is, as we\nhave seen, the weapon of the Teutonic patriarch, and is wielded side by\nside with Thor's hammer in the conflict with the powers of frost. The\nbattle-axe belonged to Njord. This is evident from the metaphors found\nin the Younger Edda, p. 346, and in Islend. Saga, 9. The mythological\nkernel in the former metaphor is _Njoerdrklauf Herjan's hurdir_, _i.e._,\n\"_Njord_ cleaved Odin's gates\" (when the Vans conquered Asgard); in the\nother the battle-axe is called _Gaut's megin-hurdar galli_, _i.e._, \"the\ndestroyer of Odin's great gate.\" The bow is a weapon employed by the\nAsa-gods _Hoedr_ and _Ullr_, but Balder is slain by a shot from the bow,\nand the chief archer of the myth is, as we shall see, not an Asa-god,\nbut a brother of Thjasse. (Further discussion of the weapon-myth will be\nfound in No. 39.)\n\n[Footnote 17: Proofs of Thjasse's original identity with Volund are\ngiven in Nos. 113-115.]\n\n\n 32.\n\n HALFDAN'S CONFLICTS INTERPRETED AS MYTHS OF\n NATURE. THE WAR WITH THE HEROES FROM SVARIN'S\n MOUND. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH DISES\n OF VEGETATION.\n\n\nIn regard to the significance of the conflicts awaiting Halfdan, and\noccupying his whole life, when interpreted as myths of nature, we must\nremember that he inherits from his father the duty of stopping the\nprogress southward of the giant-world's wintry agents, the kinsmen of\nThjasse, and of the Skilfing (Yngling) tribes dwelling in the north. The\nmigration sagas have, as we have seen, shown that Borgar and his people\nhad to leave the original country and move south to Denmark, Saxland,\nand to those regions on the other side of the Baltic in which the Goths\nsettled. For a time the original country is possessed by the conquerors\nwho according to Voeluspa, \"from Svarin's Mound attacked and took\n(_sotti_) the clayey plains as far as Jaravall.\" But Halfdan represses\nthem. That the words quoted from Voeluspa really refer to the same mythic\npersons with whom Halfdan afterwards fights is proved by the fact that\nSvarin and Svarin's Mound are never named in our documents except in\nconnection with Halfdan's saga. In Saxo it is Halfdan-Gram who slays\nSvarin and his numerous brothers; in the saga of \"Helge Hundingsbane\" it\nis again Halfdan, under the name Helge, who attacks tribes dwelling\naround Svarin's Mound, and conquers them. To this may be added, that the\ncompiler of the first song about Helge Hundingsbane borrowed from the\nsaga-original, on which the song is based, names which point to the\nVoeluspa strophe concerning the attack on the south Scandinavian plains.\nIn the category of names, or the genealogy of the aggressors, occur, as\nhas been shown already, the Skilfing names Alf and Yngve. Thus also in\nthe Helge-song's list of persons with whom the conflict is waged in the\nvicinity of Svarin's Mound. In the Voe1uspa's list Moinn is mentioned\namong the aggressors (in the variation in the Prose Edda); in the\nHelge-song, strophe 46, it is said that Helge-Halfdan fought _a\nMoinsheimom_ against his brave foes, whom he afterwards slew in the\nbattle around Svarin's Mound. In the Voeluspa's list is named among the\naggressors one _Haugspori_, \"the one spying from the mound\"; in the\nHelge-song is mentioned _Sporvitnir_, who from Svarin's Mound watches\nthe forces of Helge-Halfdan advancing. I have already (No. 28B), pointed\nout several other names which occur in the Voeluspa list, and whose\nconnection with the myth concerning the artists, frost-giants, and\nSkilfings of antiquity and their attack on the original country, can be\nshown.\n\nThe physical significance of Halfdan's conflicts and adventures is\napparent also from the names of the women, whom the saga makes him\nmarry. Groa (grow), whom he robs and keeps for some time, is, as her\nvery name indicates, a goddess of vegetation. Signe-Alveig, whom he\nafterwards marries, is the same. Her name signifies \"the nourishing\ndrink.\" According to Saxo she is the daughter of Sumblus, Latin for\n_Sumbl_, which means feast, ale, mead, and is a synonym for _Oelvaldi_,\n_Oelmodr_, names which belonged to the father of the Ivalde sons (see No.\n123).\n\nAccording to a well-supported statement in Forspjallsljod (see No. 123),\nIvalde was the father of two groups of children. The mother of one of\nthese groups is a giantess (see Nos. 113, 114, 115). With her he has\nthree sons, viz., the three famous artists of antiquity--Ide,\nGang-Urnir, and Thjasse. The mother of the other group is a goddess of\nlight (see No. 123). With her he has daughters, who are goddesses of\ngrowth, among them Idun and Signe-Alveig. That Idun is the daughter of\nIvalde is clear from Forspjallsljod (6), _alfa aettar Ithunni heto\nIvallds ellri yngsta barna_.\n\nOf the names of their father _Sumbl_, _Oelvaldi_, _Oelmodr_, it may be\nsaid that, as nature-symbols, \"oel\" (ale) and \"mjoed\" (mead), are in the\nTeutonic mythology identical with _soma_ and _somamadhu_ in Rigveda and\n_haoma_ in Avesta, that is, they are the strength-developing, nourishing\nsaps in nature. Mimer's subterranean well, from which the world-tree\ndraws its nourishment, is a mead-fountain. In the poem \"Haustlaung\" Idun\nis called _Oelgefn_; in the same poem Groa is called _Oelgefion_. Both\nappellations refer to goddesses who give the drink of growth and\nregeneration to nature and to the gods. Thus we here have a family, the\nnames and epithets of whose members characterise them as forces, active\nin the service of nature and of the god of harvests. Their names and\nepithets also point to the family bond which unites them. We have the\ngroup of names, _Idvaldi_, _Idi_, _Idunn_, and the group, _Oelvaldi_\n(_Oelmodr_), _Oelgefn_, and _Oelgefion_, both indicating members of the\nsame family. Further on (see Nos. 113, 114, 115), proof shall be\npresented that Groa's first husband, Orvandel the brave, is one of\nThjasse's brothers, and thus that Groa, too, was closely connected with\nthis family.\n\nAs we know, it is the enmity caused by Loke between the Asa-gods and the\nlower serving, yet powerful, divinities of nature belonging to the\nIvalde group, which produces the terrible winter with its awful\nconsequences for man, and particularly for the Teutonic tribes. These\nhitherto beneficent agents of growth have ceased to serve the gods, and\nhave allied themselves with the frost-giants. The war waged by Halfdan\nmust be regarded from this standpoint. Midgard's chief hero, the real\nTeutonic patriarch, tries to reconquer for the Teutons the country of\nwhich winter has robbed them. To be able to do this, he is the son of\nThor, the divine foe of the frost-giants, and performs on the border of\nMidgard a work corresponding to that which Thor has to do in space and\nin Jotunheim. And in the same manner as Heimdal before secured\nfavourable conditions of nature to the original country, by uniting the\nsun-goddess with himself through bonds of love, his grandson Halfdan now\nseeks to do the same for the Teutonic country, by robbing a hostile son\nof Ivalde, Orvandel, of his wife Groa, the growth-giver, and thereupon\nalso of Alveig, the giver of the nourishing sap. A symbol of nature may\nalso be found in Saxo's statement, that the king of Svithiod, Sigtrygg,\nGroa's father, could not be conquered unless Halfdan fastened a golden\nball to his club (_Hist._, 31). The purpose of Halfdan's conflicts, the\nobject which the norns particularly gave to his life, that of\nreconquering from the powers of frost the northernmost regions of the\nTeutonic territory and of permanently securing them for culture, and the\ndifficulty of this task is indicated, it seems to me, in the strophes\nabove quoted, which tell us that the norns fastened the woof of his\npower in the east and west, and that he from the beginning, and\nundisputed, extended the sceptre of his rule over these latitudes,\nwhile in regard to the northern latitudes, it is said that Nere's\nkinswoman, the chief of the norns (see Nos. 57-64, 85), cast a single\nthread in this direction and _prayed_ that it might hold for ever:\n\n ther austr oc vestr\n enda falo,\n thar atti lofdungr\n land a milli;\n bra nipt Nera\n a nordrvega\n einni festi,\n ey bath hon halda.\n\nThe norns' prayer was heard. That the myth made Halfdan proceed\nvictoriously to the north, even to the very starting-point of the\nemigration to the south caused by the fimbul-winter, that is to say, to\nSvarin's Mound, is proved by the statements that he slays Svarin and his\nbrothers, and wins in the vicinity of Svarin's Mound the victory over\nhis opponents, which was for a time decisive. His penetration into the\nnorth, when regarded as a nature-myth, means the restoration of the\nproper change of seasons, and the rendering of the original country and\nof Svithiod inhabitable. As far as the hero, who secured the \"giver of\ngrowth\" and the \"giver of nourishing sap,\" succeeds with the aid of his\nfather Thor to carry his weapons into the Teutonic lands destroyed by\nfrost, so far spring and summer again extend the sceptre of their reign.\nThe songs about Helge Hundingsbane have also preserved from the myth the\nidea that Halfdan and his forces penetrating northward by land and by\nsea are accompanied in the air by \"valkyries,\" \"goddesses from the\nsouth,\" armed with helmets, coats of mail, and shining spears, who fight\nthe forces of nature that are hostile to Halfdan, and these valkyries\nare in their very nature goddesses of growth, from the manes of whose\nhorses falls the dew which gives the power of growth back to the earth\nand harvests to men. (Cp. Helg. Hund., i. 15, 30; ii., the prose to v.\n5, 12, 13, with Helg. Hjoerv., 28.) On this account the Swedes, too, have\ncelebrated Halfdan in their songs as their patriarch and benefactor, and\naccording to Saxo they have worshipped him as a divinity, although it\nwas his task to check the advance of the Skilfings to the south.\n\nDoubtless it is after this successful war that Halfdan performs the\ngreat sacrifice mentioned in Skaldskaparmal, ch. 64, in order that he\nmay retain his royal power for three hundred years. The statement should\nbe compared with what the German poems of the middle ages tell about the\nlongevity of Berchtung-Borgar and other heroes of antiquity. They live\nfor several centuries. But the response Halfdan gets from the powers to\nwhom he sacrificed is that he shall live simply to the age of an old\nman, and that in his family there shall not for three hundred years be\nborn a woman or a fameless man.\n\n\n 33.\n\n REVIEW OF THE SVIPDAG MYTH AND ITS POINTS OF CONNECTION\n WITH THE MYTH ABOUT HALFDAN (cp. No. 24).\n\n\nWhen Halfdan secured Groa, she was already the bride of Orvandel the\nbrave, and the first son she bore in Halfdan's house was not his, but\nOrvandel's. The son's name is Svipdag. He develops into a hero who, like\nHalfdan himself, is the most brilliant and most beloved of those\ncelebrated in Teutonic songs. We have devoted a special part of this\nwork to him (see Nos. 96-107). There we have given proofs of various\nmythological facts, which I now already must incorporate with the\nfollowing series of events in order that the epic thread may not be\nwanting:\n\n(_a_) Groa bears with Halfdan the son Guthorm (Saxo, _Hist._, _Dan._,\n34).\n\n(_b_) Groa is rejected by Halfdan (Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, 33). She returns\nto Orvandel, and brings with her her own and his son Svipdag.\n\n(_c_) Halfdan marries Signe-Alveig (Hyndluljod, 15; Prose Edda, i. 516;\nSaxo _Hist._, 33), and with her becomes the father of the son Hadding\n(Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, 34).\n\n(_d_) Groa dies, and Orvandel marries again (Grogaldr, 3). Before her\ndeath Groa has told her son that if he needs her help he must go to her\ngrave and invoke her (Grogaldr, 1).\n\n(_e_) It is Svipdag's duty to revenge on Halfdan the disgrace done to\nhis mother and the murder of his mother's father Sigtrygg. But his\nstepmother bids Svipdag seek Menglad, \"the one loving ornaments\"\n(Grogaldr, 3).\n\n(_f_) Under the weight of these tasks Svipdag goes to his mother's\ngrave, bids her awake from her sleep of death, and from her he receives\nprotecting incantations (Grogaldr, 1).\n\n(_g_) Before Svipdag enters upon the adventurous expedition to find\nMenglad, he undertakes, at the head of the giants, the allies of the\nIvaldesons (see Fjoelsvinsm, 1, where Svipdag is called _thursathjodar\nsjolr_), a war of revenge against Halfdan (Saxo, 33 ff., 325; cp. Nos.\n102, 103). The host of giants is defeated, and Svipdag, who has entered\ninto a duel with his stepfather, is overcome by the latter. Halfdan\noffers to spare his life and adopt him as his son. But Svipdag refuses\nto accept life as a gift from him, and answers a defiant no to the\nproffered father-hand. Then Halfdan binds him to a tree and leaves him\nto his fate (Saxo, _Hist._, 325; cp. No. 103).\n\n(_h_) Svipdag is freed from his bonds through one of the incantations\nsung over him by his mother (Grogaldr, 10).\n\n(_i_) Svipdag wanders about sorrowing in the land of the giants.\nGevarr-Noekkve, god of the moon (see Nos. 90, 91), tells him how he is to\nfind an irresistible sword, which is always attended by victory (see No.\n101). The Sword is forged by Thjasse, who intended to destroy the world\nof the gods with it; but just at the moment when the smith had finished\nhis weapon he was surprised in his sleep by Mimer, who put him in chains\nand took the sword. The latter is now concealed in the lower world (see\nNos. 98, 101, 103).\n\n(_j_) Following Gevarr-Noekkve's directions, Svipdag goes to the\nnorthernmost edge of the world, and finds there a descent to the lower\nworld; he conquers the guard of the gates of Hades, sees the wonderful\nregions down there, and succeeds in securing the sword of victory (see\nNos. 53, 97, 98, 101, 103, 112).\n\n(_k_) Svipdag begins a new war with Halfdan. Thor fights on his son's\nside, but the irresistible sword cleaves the hammer Mjolner; the Asa-god\nhimself must yield. The war ends with Halfdan's defeat. He dies of the\nwounds he has received in the battle (see Nos. 101, 103; cp. Saxo,\n_Hist._, 34).\n\n(_l_) Svipdag seeks and finds Menglad, who is Freyja who was robbed by\nthe giants. He liberates her and sends her pure and undefiled to Asgard\n(see Nos. 96, 98, 100, 102).\n\n(_m_) Idun is brought back to Asgard by Loke. Thjasse, who is freed from\nhis prison at Mimer's, pursues, in the guise of an eagle, Loke to the\nwalls of Asgard, where he is slain by the gods (see the Eddas).\n\n(_n_) Svipdag, armed with the sword of victory, goes to Asgard, is\nreceived joyfully by Freyja, becomes her husband, and presents his sword\nof victory to Frey. Reconciliation between the gods and the Ivalde race.\nNjord marries Thjasse's daughter Skade. Orvandel's second son Ull,\nSvipdag's half-brother (see No. 102), is adopted in Valhal. A sister of\nSvipdag is married to Forsete (Hyndluljod, 20). The gods honour the\nmemory of Thjasse by connecting his name with certain stars\n(Harbardsljod, 19). A similar honour had already been paid to his\nbrother Orvandel (Prose Edda).\n\nFrom this series of events we find that, although the Teutonic patriarch\nfinally succumbs in the war which he waged against the Thjasse-race and\nthe frost-powers led by Thjasse's kinsmen, still the results of his work\nare permanent. When the crisis had reached its culminating point; when\nthe giant hosts of the fimbul-winter had received as their leader the\nson of Orvandel, armed with the irresistible sword; when Halfdan's fate\nis settled; when Thor himself, _Midgard's veorr_ (Voelusp.), the mighty\nprotector of earth and the human race, must retreat with his lightning\nhammer broken into pieces, then the power of love suddenly prevails and\nsaves the world. Svipdag, who, under the spell of his deceased mother's\nincantations from the grave, obeyed the command of his stepmother to\nfind and rescue Freyja from the power of the giants, thereby wins her\nheart and earns the gratitude of the gods. He has himself learned to\nlove her, and is at last compelled by his longing to seek her in Asgard.\nThe end of the power of the fimbul-winter is marked by Freyja's and\nIdun's return to the gods, by Thjasse's death, by the presentation of\nthe invincible sword to the god of harvests (Frey), by the adoption of\nThjasse's kinsmen, Svipdag, Ull, and Skade in Asgard, and by several\nmarriage ties celebrated in commemoration of the reconciliation between\nAsgard's gods and the kinsmen of the great artist of antiquity.\n\n\n 34.\n\n THE WORLD WAR. ITS CAUSE. THE MURDER OF GULLVEIG-HEIDR.\n THE VOICE OE COUNSEL BETWEEN THE\n ASAS AND THE VANS.\n\n\nThus the peace of the world and the order of nature might seem secured.\nBut it is not long before a new war breaks out, to which the former may\nbe regarded as simply the prelude. The feud, which had its origin in the\njudgment passed by the gods on Thjasse's gifts, and which ended in the\nmarriage of Svipdag and Freyja, was waged for the purpose of securing\nagain for settlement and culture the ancient domain and Svithiod, where\nHeimdal had founded the first community. It was confined within the\nlimits of the North Teutonic peninsula, and in it the united powers of\nAsgard supported the other Teutonic tribes fighting under Halfdan. But\nthe new conflict rages at the same time in heaven and in earth, between\nthe divine clans of the Asas and the Vans, and between all the Teutonic\ntribes led into war with each other by Halfdan's sons. From the\nstandpoint of Teutonic mythology it is a world war; and Voeluspa calls it\n_the first great war in the world--folcvig fyrst i heimi_ (str. 21, 25).\n\nLoke was the cause of the former prelusive war. His feminine counterpart\nand ally _Gullveig-Heidr_, who gradually is blended, so to speak, into\none with him, causes the other. This is apparent from the following\nVoeluspa strophes:\n\n Str. 21. That man hon folcvig\n fyrst i heimi\n er Gullveig\n geirum studdu\n oc i haull Hars\n hana brendo.\n\n Str. 22. Thrysvar brendo\n thrysvar borna\n opt osialdan\n tho hon en lifir.\n\n Str. 23. Heida hana heto\n hvars til husa com\n volo velspa\n vitti hon ganda\n seid hon kuni\n seid hon Leikin,\n e var hon angan\n illrar brudar.\n\n Str. 24. Tha gengo regin oll\n a raukstola\n ginheilog god\n oc um that gettuz\n hvart scyldo esir\n afrad gialda\n etha scyldo godin aull\n gildi eiga.\n\n Str. 25. Fleygde Odin\n oc i folc um scaut\n that var en folcvig\n fyrst i heimi.\n\n Brotin var bordvegr\n borgar asa\n knatto vanir vigspa\n vollo sporna.\n\nThe first thing to be established in the interpretation of these\nstrophes is the fact that they, in the order in which they are found in\nCodex Regius, and in which I have given them, all belong together and\nrefer to the same mythic event--that is, to the origin of the great\nworld war. This is evident from a comparison of strophe 21 with 25, the\nfirst and last of those quoted. Both speak of the war, which is called\n_folkvig fyrst i heimi_. The former strophe informs us that it occurred\nas a result of, and in connection with, the murder of Gulveig, a murder\ncommitted in Valhal itself, in the hall of the Asa-father, beneath the\nroof where the gods of the Asa-clan are gathered around their father.\nThe latter strophe tells that the first great war in the world produced\na separation between the two god-clans, the Asas and Vans, a division\ncaused by the fact that Odin, hurling his spear, interrupted a\ndiscussion between them; and the strophe also explains the result of the\nwar: the bulwark around Asgard was broken, and the Vans got possession\nof the power of the Asas. The discussion or council is explained in\nstrophe 24. It is there expressly emphasised that all the gods, the Asas\nand Vans, _regin oll, godin aull_, solemnly assemble and seat themselves\non their _raukstola_ to counsel together concerning the murder of\n_Gullveig-Heidr_. Strophe 23 has already described who Gulveig is, and\nthus given at least one reason for the hatred of the Asas towards her,\nand for the treatment she receives in Odin's hall. It is evident that\nshe was in Asgard under the name Gulveig, since Gulveig was killed and\nburnt in Valhal; but Midgard, the abode of man, has also been the scene\nof her activity. There she has roamed about under the name Heidr,\npractising the evil arts of black sorcery (see No. 27) and encouraging\nthe evil passions of mankind: _ae var hon angan illrar brudar_. Hence\nGulveig suffers the punishment which from time immemorial was\nestablished among the Aryans for the practice of the black art: she was\nburnt. And her mysteriously terrible and magic nature is revealed by\nthe fact that the flames, though kindled by divine hands, do not have\nthe power over her that they have over other agents of sorcery. The gods\nburn her thrice; they pierce the body of the witch with their spears,\nand hold her over the flames of the fire. All is in vain. They cannot\nprevent her return and regeneration. Thrice burned and thrice born, she\nstill lives.\n\nAfter Voeluspa has given an account of the vala who in Asgard was called\n_Gullveig_ and on earth _Heidr_, the poem speaks, in strophe 24, of the\ndispute which arose among the gods on account of her murder. The gods\nassembled on and around the judgment-seats are divided into two parties,\nof which the Asas constitute the one. The fact that the treatment\nreceived by Gulveig can become a question of dispute which ends in\nenmity between the gods is a proof that only one of the god-clans has\ncommitted the murder; and since this took place, not in Njord's, or\nFrey's, or Freyja's halls, but in Valhal, where Odin rules and is\nsurrounded by his sons, it follows that the Asas must have committed the\nmurder. Of course, Vans who were guests in Odin's hall _might_ have been\nthe perpetrators of the murder; but, on the one hand, the poem would\nscarcely have indicated Odin's hall as the place where Gulveig was to be\npunished, unless it wished thereby to point out the Asas as the doers of\nthe deed, and, on the other hand, we cannot conceive the murder as\npossible, as described in Voeluspa, if the Vans were the ones who\ncommitted it, and the Asas were Gulveig's protectors; for then the\nlatter, who were the lords in Valhal, would certainly not have\npermitted the Vans quietly and peaceably to subject Gulveig to the long\ntorture there described, in which she is spitted on spears and held over\nthe flames to be burnt to ashes.\n\nThat the Asas committed the murder is also corroborated by Voeluspa's\naccount of the question in dispute. One of the views prevailing in the\nconsultation and discussion in regard to the matter is that the Asas\nought to _afrad gjalda_ in reference to the murder committed. In this\n_afrad gjalda_ we meet with a phrase which is echoed in the laws of\nIceland, and in the old codes of Norway and Sweden. There can be no\ndoubt that the phrase has found its way into the language of the law\nfrom the popular vernacular, and that its legal significance was simply\nmore definite and precise than its use in the vernacular. The common\npopular meaning of the phrase is _to pay compensation_. The compensation\nmay be of any kind whatsoever. It may be rent for the use of another's\nfield, or it may be taxes for the enjoyment of social rights, or it may\nbe death and wounds for having waged war. In the present instance, it\nmust mean compensation to be paid by the Asas for the slaying of\n_Gullveig-Heidr_. As such a demand could not be made by the Asas\nthemselves, it must have been made by the Vans and their supporters in\nthe discussion. Against this demand we have the proposition from the\nAsas that all the gods should _gildi eiga_. In regard to this disputed\nphrase at least so much is clear, that it must contain either an\nabsolute or a partial counter-proposition to the demand of the Vans, and\nits purpose must be that the Asas ought not--at least, not alone--to\npay the compensation for the murder, but that the crime should be\nregarded as one in reference to which all the gods, the Asas and the\nVans, were alike guilty, and as one for which they all together should\nassume the responsibility.\n\nThe discussion does not lead to a friendly settlement. Something must\nhave been said at which Odin has become deeply offended, for the\nAsa-father, distinguished for his wisdom and calmness, hurls his spear\ninto the midst of those deliberating--a token that the contest of reason\nagainst reason is at an end, and that it is to be followed by a contest\nwith weapons.\n\nThe myth concerning this deliberation between Asas and Vans was well\nknown to Saxo, and what he has to say about it (_Hist._, 126 ff.),\nturning myth as usual into history, should be compared with Voeluspa's\naccount, for both these sources complement each other.\n\nThe first thing that strikes us in Saxo's narrative is that sorcery, the\nblack art, plays, as in Voeluspa, the chief part in the chain of events.\nHis account is taken from a mythic circumstance, mentioned by the\nheathen skald Kormak (_seid Y ggr til Rindar_--Younger Edda, i. 236),\naccording to which Odin, forced by extreme need, sought the favour of\nRind, and gained his point by sorcery and witchcraft, as he could not\ngain it otherwise. According to Saxo, Odin touched Rind with a piece of\nbark on which he had inscribed magic songs, and the result was that she\nbecame insane (_Rinda ... quam Othinus cortice carminibus adnotato\ncontingens lymphanti similem reddidit_). In immediate connection\nherewith it is related that the gods held a council, in which it was\nclaimed that Odin had stained his divine honour, and ought to be deposed\nfrom his royal dignity (_dii ... Othinum variis majestatis detrimentis\ndivinitatis gloriam maculasse cernentes, collegio suo submovendum\nduxerunt--Hist._, 129). Among the deeds of which his opponents in this\ncouncil accused him was, as it appears from Saxo, at least one of which\nhe ought to take the consequences, but for which all the gods ought not\nto be held responsible ( ... _ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati,\ninsontes nocentis crimine punirentur--Hist., 129; in omnium caput unius\nculpam recidere putares, Hist._, 130). The result of the deliberation of\nthe gods is, in Saxo as in Voeluspa, that Odin is banished, and that\nanother clan of gods than his holds the power for some time. Thereupon\nhe is, with the consent of the reigning gods, recalled to the throne,\nwhich he henceforth occupies in a brilliant manner. But one of his first\nacts after his return is to banish the black art and its agents from\nheaven and from earth (_Hist._, 44).\n\nThus the chain of events in Saxo both begins and ends with sorcery. It\nis the background on which both in Saxo and in Voeluspa those events\noccur which are connected with the dispute between the Asas and Vans. In\nboth the documents the gods meet in council before the breaking out of\nthe enmity. In both the question turns on a deed done by Odin, for which\ncertain gods do not wish to take the responsibility. Saxo indicates this\nby the words: _Ne vel ipsi, alieno crimine implicati innocentes nocentis\ncrimine punirentur._ Voeluspa indicates it by letting the Vans present,\nagainst the proposition that _godin oell skyldu gildi eiga_, the claim\nthat Odin's own clan, and it alone, should _afrad gjalda_. And while\nVoeluspa makes Odin suddenly interrupt the deliberations and hurl his\nspear among the deliberators, Saxo gives us the explanation of his\nsudden wrath. He and his clan had slain and burnt Gulveig-Heid because\nshe practised sorcery and other evil arts of witchcraft. And as he\nrefuses to make compensation for the murder and demands that all the\ngods take the consequences and share the blame, the Vans have replied in\ncouncil, that he too once practised sorcery on the occasion when he\nvisited Rind, and that, if Gulveig was justly burnt for this crime, then\nhe ought justly to be deposed from his dignity stained by the same crime\nas the ruler of all the gods. Thus Voeluspa's and Saxo's accounts\nsupplement and illustrate each other.\n\n_One_ dark point remains, however. Why have the Vans objected to the\nkilling of Gulveig-Heid? Should this clan of gods, celebrated in song as\nbenevolent, useful, and pure, be kindly disposed toward the evil and\ncorrupting arts of witchcraft? This cannot have been the meaning of the\nmyth. As shall be shown, the evil plans of Gulveig-Heid have\nparticularly been directed against those very Vana-gods who in the\ncouncil demand compensation for her death. In this regard Saxo has in\nperfect faithfulness toward his mythic source represented Odin on the\none hand, and his opponents among the gods on the other, as alike\nhostile to the black art. Odin, who on one occasion and under peculiar\ncircumstances, which I shall discuss in connection with the Balder myth,\nwas guilty of the practise of sorcery, is nevertheless the declared\nenemy of witchcraft, and Saxo makes him take pains to forbid and\npersecute it. The Vans likewise look upon it with horror, and it is this\nhorror which adds strength to their words when they attack and depose\nOdin, because he has himself practised that for which he has punished\nGulveig.\n\nThe explanation of the fact is, as shall be shown below, that Frey, on\naccount of a passion of which he is the victim (probably through\nsorcery), was driven to marry the giant maid Gerd, whose kin in that way\nbecame friends of the Vans. Frey is obliged to demand satisfaction for a\nmurder perpetrated on a kinswoman of his wife. The kinship of blood\ndemands its sacred right, and according to Teutonic ideas of law, the\nVans must act as they do regardless of the moral character of Gulveig.\n\n\n 35.\n\n GULVEIG-HEIDR. HER IDENTITY WITH AURBODA, ANGRBODA,\n HYRROKIN. THE MYTH CONCERNING THE\n SWORD GUARDIAN AND FJALAR.\n\n\nThe duty of the Vana-deities becomes even more plain, if it can be shown\nthat Gulveig-Heid is Gerd's mother; for Frey, supported by the\nVana-gods, then demands satisfaction for the murder of his own\nmother-in-law. Gerd's mother is, in Hyndluljod, 30, called Aurboda, and\nis the wife of the giant Gymer:\n\n Freyr atti Gerdi,\n Hon vor Gymis dottir,\n iotna aettar\n ok Aurbodu.\n\nIt can, in fact, be demonstrated that Aurboda is identical with\nGulveig-Heid. The evidence is given below in two divisions. (a) Evidence\nthat Gulveig-Heid is identical with Angerboda, \"the ancient one in the\nIronwood;\" (b) evidence that Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is identical with\nAurboda, Gerd's mother.\n\n(a) Gulveid-Heid identical with Angerboda.\n\nHyndluljod, 40, 41, says:\n\n Ol ulf Loki\n vid Angrbodu,\n (enn Sleipni gat\n vid Svadilfara);\n eitt thotti skars\n allra feiknazst\n that var brodur fra\n Byleistz komit.\n\n Loki af hiarta\n lindi brendu,\n fann hann haalfsuidinn\n hugstein konu;\n vard Loptr kvidugr\n af konu illri;\n thadan er aa folldu\n flagd hvert komit.\n\nFrom the account we see that an evil female being (_ill kona_) had been\nburnt, but that the flames were not able to destroy the seed of life in\nher nature. Her heart had not been burnt through or changed to ashes. It\nwas only half-burnt (_halfsvidinn hugsteinn_), and in this condition it\nhad together with the other remains of the cremated woman been thrown\naway, for Loke finds and swallows the heart.\n\nOur ancestors looked upon the heart as the seat of the life principle,\nof the soul of living beings. A number of linguistic phrases are founded\non the idea that goodness and evil, kindness and severity, courage and\ncowardice, joy and sorrow, are connected with the character of the\nheart; sometimes we find _hjarta_ used entirely in the sense of soul, as\nin the expression _hold ok hjarta_, soul and body. So long as the heart\nin a dead body had not gone into decay, it was believed that the\nprinciple of life dwelling therein still was able, under peculiar\ncircumstances, to operate on the limbs and exercise an influence on its\nenvironment, particularly if the dead person in life had been endowed\nwith a will at once evil and powerful. In such cases it was regarded as\nimportant to pierce the heart of the dead with a pointed spear (cp.\nSaxo, _Hist._, 43, and No. 95).\n\nThe half-burnt heart, accordingly, contains the evil woman's soul, and\nits influence upon Loke, after he has swallowed it, is most remarkable.\nOnce before when he bore Sleipner with the giant horse Svadilfare, Loke\nhad revealed his androgynous nature. So he does now. The swallowed heart\nredeveloped the feminine in him (_Loki lindi af brendu hjarta_). It\nfertilised him with the evil purposes which the heart contained. Loke\nbecame the possessor of the evil woman (_kvidugr af konu illri_), and\nbecame the father of the children from which the trolls (_flagd_) are\ncome which are found in the world. First among the children is mentioned\nthe wolf, which is called _Fenrir_, and which in Ragnarok shall cause\nthe death of the Asa-father. To this event point Njord's words about\nLoke, in Lokasenna, str. 33: _ass ragr er hefir born of borit_. The\nwoman possessing the half-burnt heart, who is the mother or rather the\nfather of the wolf, is called Angerboda (_ol ulf Loki vid Angrbodu_). N.\nM. Peterson and other mythologists have rightly seen that she is the\nsame as \"the old one,\" who in historical times and until Ragnarok dwells\nin the Ironwood, and \"there fosters Fenrer's kinsmen\" (Voeluspa, 39), her\nown offspring, which at the close of this period are to issue from the\nIronwood, and break into Midgard and dye its citadels with blood\n(Voeluspa, 30).\n\nThe fact that Angerboda now dwells in the Ironwood, although there on a\nformer occasion did not remain more of her than a half-burnt heart,\nproves that the attempt to destroy her with fire was unsuccessful, and\nthat she arose again in bodily form after this cremation, and became the\nmother and nourisher of were-wolves. Thus the myth about Angerboda is\nidentical with the myth about Gulveig-Heid in the two characteristic\npoints:\n\n Unsuccessful burning of an evil woman.\n Her regeneration after the cremation.\n\nThese points apply equally to Gulveig-Heid and to Angerboda, \"the old\none in the Ironwood.\"\n\nThe myth about Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, as it was remembered in the first\nperiod after the introduction of Christianity, we find in part\nrecapitulated in Helgakvida Hundingsbane, i. 37-40, where Sinfjotle\ncompares his opponent Gudmund with the evil female principle in the\nheathen mythology, the vala in question, and where Gudmund in return\ncompares Sinfjotle with its evil masculine principle, Loke.\n\nSinfjotle says:\n\n Thu vart vaulva\n i Varinseyio,\n scollvis kona\n bartu scrauc saman;\n\n * * * * *\n\n Thu vart, en scetha,\n scass valkyria,\n autul, amatlig\n at Alfaudar;\n mundo einherjar\n allir beriaz,\n svevis kona,\n um sakar thinar.\n Nio attu vith\n a neri Sagu\n ulfa alna\n ec var einn fathir theirra.\n\n Gudmund's answer begins:\n\n Fadir varattu\n fenrisulfa....\n\nThe evil woman with whom one of the two heroes compares the other is\nsaid to be a vala, who has practised her art partly on Varin's Isle\npartly in Asgard at Alfather's, and there she was the cause of a war in\nwhich all the warriors of Asgard took part. This refers to the war\nbetween the Asas and Vans. It is the second feud among the powers of\nAsgard.\n\nThe vala must therefore be Gulveig-Heid of the myth, on whose account\nthe war between the Asas and Vans broke out, according to Voeluspa. Now\nit is said of her in the lines above quoted, that she gave birth to\nwolves, and that these wolves were \"fenrisulfar.\" Of Angerboda we\nalready know that she is the mother of the real Fenris-wolf, and that\nshe, in the Ironwood, produces other wolves which are called by Fenrer's\nname (_Fenris kindir_--Voeluspa). Thus the identity of Gulveig-Heid and\nAngerboda is still further established by the fact that both the one and\nthe other is called the mother of the Fenris family.\n\nThe passage quoted is not the only one which has preserved the memory of\nGulveig-Heid as mother of the were-wolves. Volsungasaga (c. ii. 8)\nrelates that a giantess, _Hrimnir's_ daughter, first dwelt in Asgard as\nthe maid-servant of Frigg, then on earth, and that she, during her\nsojourn on earth, became the wife of a king, and with him the mother and\ngrandmother of were-wolves, who infested the woods and murdered men. The\nfantastic and horrible saga about these were-wolves has, in Christian\ntimes and by Christian authors been connected with the poems about Helge\nHundingsbane and Sigurd Fafnersbane. The circumstance that the giantess\nin question first dwelt in Asgard and thereupon in Midgard, indicates\nthat she is identical with Gulveig-Heid, and this identity is confirmed\nby the statement that she is a daughter of the giant _Hrimnir_.\n\nThe myth, as it has come down to our days, knows only one daughter of\nthis giant, and she is the same as Gulveig-Heid. Hyndluljod states that\n_Heidr_ is _Hrimnir's_ daughter, and mentions no sister of hers, but, on\nthe other hand, a brother _Hrossthiofr_ (_Heidr ok Hrorsthiofr Hrimnis\nkindar_--Hyndl., 30). In allusion to the cremation of Gulveig-Heid fire\nis called in Thorsdrapa _Hrimnis drosar lyptisylgr_, \"the lifting drink\nof Hrimner's daughter,\" the drink which Heid lifted up on spears had to\ndrink. Nowhere is any other daughter of Hrimner mentioned. And while it\nis stated in the above-cited strophe that the giantess who caused the\nwar in Asgard and became the mother of fenris-wolves was a vala on\nVarin's Isle (_vaulva i Varinseyio_), a comparison of Helgakv. Hund., i.\n26, with Volsungasaga, c. 2, shows that Varin's Isle and Varin's Fjord\nwere located in that very country, where Hrimner's daughter was supposed\nto have been for some time the wife of a king and to have given birth to\nwere-wolves.\n\nThus we have found that the three characteristic points--\n\n unsuccessful cremation of an evil giantess,\n her regeneration after the cremation,\n the same woman as mother of the Fenrer race--\n\nare common to Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda.\n\nTheir identity is apparent from various other circumstances, but may be\nregarded as completely demonstrated by the proofs given. Gulveig's\nactivity in antiquity as the founder of the diabolical magic art, as one\nwho awakens man's evil passions and produces strife in Asgard itself,\nhas its complement in Angerboda's activity as the mother and nourisher\nof that class of beings in whose members witchcraft, thirst for blood,\nand hatred of the gods are personified. The activity of the evil\nprinciple has, in the great epic of the myth, formed a continuity\nspanning all ages, and this continuous thread of evil is twisted from\nthe treacherous deeds of Gulveig and Loke, the feminine and the\nmasculine representatives of the evil principle. Both appear at the dawn\nof mankind: Loke has already at the beginning of time secured access to\nAlfather (Lokasenna, 9), and Gulveig deceives the sons of men already in\nthe time of Heimdal's son Borgar. Loke entices Idun from the secure\ngrounds of Asgard, and treacherously delivers her to the powers of\nfrost; Gulveig, as we shall see, plays Freyja into the hands of the\ngiants. Loke plans enmity between the gods and the forces of nature,\nwhich hitherto had been friendly, and which have their personal\nrepresentatives in Ivalde's sons; Gulveig causes the war between the\nAsas and Vans. The interference of both is interrupted at the close of\nthe mythic age, when Loke is chained, and Gulveig, in the guise of\nAngerboda, is an exile in the Ironwood. Before this they have for a time\nbeen blended, so to speak, into a single being, in which the feminine\nassuming masculineness, and the masculine effeminated, bear to the world\nan offspring of foes to the gods and to creation. Both finally act their\nparts in the destruction of the world. Before that crisis comes\nAngerboda has fostered that host of \"sons of world-ruin\" which Loke is\nto lead to battle, and a magic sword which she has kept in the Ironwood\nis given to Surt, in whose hand it is to be the death of Frey, the lord\nof harvests (see Nos. 89, 98, 101, 103).\n\nThat the woman who in antiquity, in various guises, visited Asgard and\nMidgard was believed to have had her home in the Ironwood[18] of the\nEast during the historical age down to Ragnarok is explained by what\nSaxo says--viz., that Odin, after his return and reconciliation with the\nVans, banished the agents of the black art both from heaven and from\nearth. Here, too, the connection between Gulveig-Heid and Angerboda is\nmanifest. The war between the Asas and Vans was caused by the burning of\nGulveig by the former. After the reconciliation with the Asas this\npunishment cannot again be inflicted on the regenerated witch. The Asas\nmust allow her to live to the end of time; but both the clans of gods\nagree that she must not show her face again in Asgard or Midgard. The\nmyth concerning the banishment of the famous vala to the Ironwood, and\nof the Loke progeny which she there fosters, has been turned into\nhistory by Jordanes in his _De Goth. Origine_, ch. 24, where it is\nstated that a Gothic king compelled the suspected valas (_haliorunas_)\nfound among his people to take their refuge to the deserts in the East\nbeyond the Moeotian Marsh, where they mixed with the wood-sprites, and\nthus became the progenitors of the Huns. In this manner the Christian\nGoths got from their mythic traditions an explanation of the source of\nthe eastern hosts of horsemen, whose ugly faces and barbarous manners\nseemed to them to prove an other than purely human origin. The vala\nGulveig-Heid and her like become in Jordanes these _haliorunae_; Loke and\nthe giants of the Ironwood become these wood-sprites; the Asa-god who\ncaused the banishment becomes a king, son of Gandaricus Magnus (the\ngreat ruler of the Gandians, Odin), and Loke's and Angerboda's wonderful\nprogeny become the Huns.\n\nStress should be laid on the fact that Jordanes and Saxo have in the\nsame manner preserved the tradition that Odin and the Asas, after making\npeace and becoming reconciled with the Vans, do not apply the\ndeath-penalty and burning to Gulveid-Heid-Angerboda and her kith and\nkin, but, instead, sentence them to banishment from the domains of gods\nand men. That the tradition preserved in Saxo and Jordanes corresponded\nwith the myth is proved by the fact that we there rediscover\nGulveig-Heid-Angerboda with her offspring in the Ironwood, which was\nthought to be situated in the utmost East, far away from the human\nworld, and that she remains there undisturbed until the destruction of\nthe world. The reconciliation between the Asas and Vans has, as this\nconclusively shows, been based on an admission on the part of the Asas\nthat the Vans had a right to find fault with and demand satisfaction for\nthe murder of Gulveig-Heid. Thus the dispute which caused the war\nbetween Asas and Vans was at last decided to the advantage of the\nlatter, while they on their part, after being satisfied, reinstate Odin\nin his dignity as universal ruler and father of the gods.\n\n(b) Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda identical with Aurboda.\n\nIn the Ironwood dwells Angerboda, together with a giant, who is _gygjar\nhirdir_, the guardian and watcher of the giantess. He has charge of her\nremarkable herds, and also guards a sword brought to the Ironwood. This\nvocation has given him the epithet Egther (_Egtherr_--Voeluspa), which\nmeans sword-guardian. Saxo speaks of him as Egtherus, an ally of Finns,\nskilled in magic, and a chief of Bjarmians, equally skilful in magic\n(cp. _Hist._, 248, 249, with Nos. 52, 53). Bjarmians and Finns are in\nSaxo made the heirs of the wicked inhabitants of Jotunheim. Vilkinasaga\nknows him by the name Etgeir, who watches over precious implements in\nIsung's wood. Etgeir is a corruption of Egther, and Isung's wood is a\nreminiscence of _Isarnvidr_, _Isarnho_, the Ironwood. In the Vilkinasaga\nhe is the brother of Vidolf. According to Hyndluljod, all the valas of\nthe myth come from Vidolf. As Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is the chief of all\nvalas, and the teacher of the arts practised by the valas this statement\nin Hyndluljod makes us think of her particularly; and as _Hrimnir's_\ndaughter has been born and burnt several times, she may also have had\nseveral fathers. Among them, then, is Vidolf, whose character, as\ndescribed by Saxo, fits well for such a daughter. He is a master in\nsorcery, and also skilful in the art of medicine. But the medical art he\npractises in such a manner that those who seek his help receive from him\nsuch remedies as do harm instead of good. Only by threats can he be made\nto do good with his art (_Hist._, 323, 324). The statement in\nVilkinasaga compared with that in Hyndluljod seems therefore to point\nto a near kinship between Angerboda and her sword-guard. She appears to\nbe the daughter of his brother.\n\nIn Voeluspa's description of the approach of Ragnarok, Egther Angerboda's\nshepherd, is represented as sitting on a mound--like Aurboda's shepherd\nin _Skirnisfoer_--and playing a harp, happy over that which is to happen.\nThat the giant who is hostile to the gods, and who is the guardian of\nthe strange herds, does not play an idyl on the strings of his harp does\nnot need to be stated. He is visited by a being in the guise of the red\ncock. The cock, says Voeluspa, is _Fjalarr_ (str. 44).\n\nWhat the heathen records tell us about Fjalar is the following:[19]\n\n(a) He is the same giant as the Younger Edda (i. 144 ff.) calls\nUtgard-Loke. The latter is a fire-giant, _Loge's_, the fire's ruler\n(Younger Edda, 152), the cause of earthquakes (Younger Edda, 144), and\nskilled in producing optical delusions. Fjalar's identity with\nUtgard-Loke is proved by Harbardsljod, str. 26, where Thor, on his way\nto Fjalar, meets with the same adventures as, according to the Younger\nEdda, he met with on his way to Utgard-Loke.\n\n(b) He is the same giant as the one called Suttung. The giant from whom\nOdin robs the skaldic mead, and whose devoted daughter Gunlad he causes\nbitter sorrow, is called in Havamal sometimes Fjalar and sometimes\nSuttung (cp. strs. 13, 14, 104, 105).\n\n(c) Fjalar is the son of the chief of the fire-giants, _Surtr_, and\ndwells in the subterranean dales of the latter. A full account of this\nin No. 89. Here it will suffice to point out that when Odin flies out of\nFjalar's dwelling with the skaldic mead, it is \"from Surt's deep dales\"\nthat he \"flying bears\" the precious drink (_hinn er Surts or soekkdoelum\nfarmagnudr fljugandi bar_, a strophe by Eyvind, quoted in the Younger\nEdda, p. 242), and that this drink while it remained with Fjalar was\n\"the drink of Surt's race\" (_Sylgr Surts aettar_, Fornms., iii. 3).\n\n(d) Fjalar, with Froste, takes part in the attack of Thjasse's kinsmen\nand the Skilfings from Svarin's Mound against \"the land of the clayey\nplains, to Jaravall\" (Voeluspa, 14, 15; see Nos. 28, 32). Thus he is\nallied with the powers of frost, who are foes of the gods, and who seek\nto conquer the Teutonic domain. The approach of the fimbul-winter was\nalso attended by an earthquake (see Nos. 28, 81).\n\nWhen, therefore, Voeluspa makes Fjalar on his visit to the sword-guardian\nin the Ironwood appear in the guise of the red cock, then this is in\nharmony with Fjalar's nature as a fire-giant and as a son of Surt.\n\n Sat thar a haugi\n oc slo haurpo\n gygjar hirthir\n gladr Egther.\n Gol um hanom\n i galgvithi\n fagrraudr hani\n sa er Fjalar heitir (Voelusp., 41).\n\nThe red cock has from time immemorial been the symbol of fire as a\ndestructive power.\n\nThat what Odin does against Fjalar--when he robs him of the mead, which\nin the myth is the most precious of all drinks, and when he deceived his\ndaughter--is calculated to awaken Fjalar's thirst for revenge and to\nbring about a satisfaction sooner or later, lies in the very spirit of\nTeutonic poetry and ethics, especially since, Odin's act, though done\nfrom a good motive, was morally reprehensible. What Fjalar's errand to\nAngerboda's sword-guard was appears from the fact that when the last war\nbetween the gods and their enemies is fought a short time afterwards,\nFjalar's father, the chief of the fire-giants, Surt, is armed with the\nbest of the mythical weapons, the sword which had belonged to a\n_valtivi_, one of the gods of Asgard (Voelusp., 50), and which casts the\nsplendour of the sun upon the world. The famous sword of the myth, that\nwhich Thjasse finished with a purpose hostile to the gods (see No. 87\nand elsewhere), the sword concealed by Mimer (see Nos. 87, 98, 101), the\nsword found by Svipdag (see Nos. 89, 101, 103), the sword secured\nthrough him by Frey, the one given by Frey to Gymer and Aurboda in\nexchange for Gerd,--this sword is found again in the Ragnarok conflict,\nwielded by Surt, and causes Frey's death (Voeluspa), it having been\nsecured by Surt's son, Fjalar, in the Ironwood from Angerboda's\nsword-guard.\n\n Gulli keypta\n leztu Gymis dottur\n oc seldir thitt sva sverth;\n Enn er Muspells synir\n rida myrcvith yfir\n veizta thu tha, vesall, hve thu vegr (Lokas., 42).\n\nThis passage not only tells us that Frey gave his sword in exchange for\nGerd to the parents of the giantess, Gymer and Aurboda, but also gives\nus to understand that this bargain shall cause his death in Ragnarok.\nThis bride-purchase is fully described in Skirnismal, in which poem we\nlearn that the gods most unwillingly part with the safety which the\nincomparable sword secured to Asgard. They yield in order to save the\nlife of the harvest-god, who was wasting away with longing and anxiety,\nbut not until the giants had refused to accept other Asgard treasures,\namong them the precious ring Draupner, which the Asa-father once laid on\nthe pulseless breast of his favourite son Balder. At the approach of\nRagnarok, Surt's son, Fjalar, goes to the Ironwood to fetch for his\nfather the sword by which Frey, its former possessor, is to fall. The\nsword is then guarded by Angerboda's shepherd, and consequently belongs\nto her. In other words, the sword which Aurboda enticed Frey to give her\nis now found in the possession of Angerboda. This circumstance of itself\nis a very strong reason for their identity. If there were no other\nevidence of their identity than this, a sound application of methodology\nwould still bid us accept this identity rather than explain the matter\nby inventing a new, nowhere-supported myth, and thus making the sword\npass from Aurboda to another giantess.\n\nWhen we now add the important fact in the disposition of this matter,\nthat Aurboda's son-in-law, Frey, demands, in behalf of a near kinsman,\nsatisfaction from the Asas when they had killed and burnt\nGulveig-Heid-Angerboda, then it seems to me that there can be no doubt\nin regard to the identity of Aurboda and Angerboda, the less so, since\nall that our mythic fragments have to tell us about Gymer's wife\nconfirms the theory that she is the same person. Aurboda has, like\nGulveig-Heid-Angerboda, practised the arts of sorcery: she is one of the\nvalas of the evil giant world. This is told to us in a strophe by the\nskald _Refr_, who calls her \"Gymer's primeval cold vala\" (_ursvoel Gymis\nvoelva_--Younger Edda, i. 326, 496). She might be called \"primeval cold\"\n(_ursvoel_) from the fact that the fire was not able to pierce her heart\nand change it to ashes, in spite of a threefold burning. Under all\ncircumstances, the passage quoted informs us that she is a vala.\n\nBut have our mythic fragments preserved any allusion to show that\nAurboda, like Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda, ever dwelt among the gods in\nAsgard? Asgard is a place where giants are refused admittance.\nExceptions from this prohibition must have been very few, and the myths\nmust have given good reasons for them. We know in regard to Loke's\nappearance in Asgard, that it is based on a promise given him by the\nAsa-father in time's morning; and the promise was sealed with blood\n(Lokasenna, 9). If, now, this Aurboda, who, like Angerboda, is a vala of\ngiant race, and like Angerboda, is the owner of Frey's sword, and, like\nAngerboda, is a kinswoman of the Vans--if now this same Aurboda, in\nfurther likeness with Angerboda, was one of the certainly very few of\nthe giant class who was permitted to enter within the gates of Asgard,\nthen it must be admitted that this fact absolutely confirms their\nidentity.\n\nAurboda did actually dwell in Asgard. Of this we are assured by the poem\n\"Fjoelsvinsmal.\" There it is related that when Svipdag came to the gates\nof Asgard to seek and find Menglad-Freyja, who was destined to be his\nwife (see Nos. 96, 97), he sees Menglad sitting on a hill surrounded by\ngoddesses, whose very names _Eir_, _Bjoert_, _Blid_, and _Frid_, tell us\nthat they are goddesses of lower or higher rank. _Eir_ is an asynja of\nthe healing art (Younger Edda, i. 114). _Bjoert_, _Blid_, and _Frid_ are\nthe dises of splendour, benevolence, and beauty. They are mighty beings,\nand can give aid in distress to all who worship them (Fjolsv., 40). But\nin the midst of this circle of dises, who surround Menglad, Svipdag also\nsees Aurboda (Fjolsv., 38).\n\nAbove them Svipdag sees Mimer's tree--the world-tree (see No. 97),\nspreading its all-embracing branches, on which grow fruits which soothe\n_kelisjukar konur_ and lighten the entrance upon terrestrial life for\nthe children of men (Fjolsv., 22). Menglad-Freyja is, as we know, the\ngoddess of love and fertility, and it is Frigg's and her vocation to\ndispose of these fruits for the purposes for which they are intended.\n\nThe Volsungasaga has preserved a record concerning these fruits, and\nconcerning the giant-daughter who was admitted to Asgard as a\nmaid-servant of the goddesses. A king and queen had long been married\nwithout getting any children. They beseeched the gods for an heir.\nFrigg heard their prayers and sent them in the guise of a crow the\ndaughter of the giant Hrimner, a giantess who had been adopted in Asgard\nas Odin's \"wish-may.\" Hrimner's daughter took an apple with her, and\nwhen the queen had eaten it, it was not long before she perceived that\nher wish would come to pass (Volsungasaga, pp. 1, 2). Hrimner's daughter\nis, as we know, Gulveig-Heid.\n\nThus the question whether Aurboda ever dwelt in Asgard is answered in\nthe affirmative. We have discovered her, though she is the daughter of a\ngiant, in the circle around Menglad-Freyja, where she has occupied a\nsubordinate position as maid-servant. At the same time we have found\nthat Gulveig-Heid has for some time had an occupation in Asgard of\nprecisely the same kind as that which belongs to a dis serving under the\ngoddess of fertility. Thus the similarity between Aurboda and\nGulveig-Heid is not confined to the fact that they, although giantesses,\ndwelt in Asgard, but they were employed there in the same manner.\n\nThe demonstration that Gulveig-Heid-Angerboda is identical with Aurboda\nmay now be regarded as complete. Of the one as of the other it is\nrelated that she was a vala of giant-race, that she nevertheless dwelt\nfor some time in Asgard, and was there employed by Frigg or Freyja in\nthe service of fertility, and that she possessed the sword, which had\nformerly belonged to Frey, and by which Frey is to fall. Aurboda is\nFrey's mother-in-law, consequently closely related to him; and it must\nhave been in behalf of a near relation that Frey and Njord demanded\nsatisfaction from the Asas when the latter slew Gulveig-Heid. Under such\ncircumstances it is utterly impossible from a methodological standpoint\nto regard them otherwise than identical. We must consider that nearly\nall mythic characters are polyonomous, and that the Teutonic mythology,\nparticularly, on account of its poetics, is burdened with a\nhighly-developed polyonomy.\n\nBut of Gulveig-Heid's and Aurboda's identity there are also other proofs\nwhich, for the sake of completeness, we will not omit.\n\nSo far as the very names Gulveig and Aurboda are concerned the one can\nserve as a paraphrase of the other. The first part of the name\n_Aurboda_, the _aur_ of many significations may be referred to _eyrir_,\npl. _aurar_, which means precious metal, and is thought to be borrowed\nfrom the Latin _aurum_ (gold). Thus _Gull_ and _Aur_ correspond. In the\nsame manner _veig_ in Gulveig can correspond to _boda_ in _Aurboda_.\n_Veig_ means a fermenting liquid. _Boda_ has two significations. It can\nbe the feminine form of _bodi_, meaning fermenting water, froth, foam.\nNo other names compounded with _boda_ occur in Norse literature than\n_Aurboda_ and _Angrboda_.\n\nYnglingasaga[20] (ch. 4) relates a tradition that _Freyja kendi fyrst\nmed Asum seid_, that Freyja was the first to practise sorcery in Asgard.\nThere is no doubt that the statement is correct. For we have seen that\nGulveig-Heid, the sorceress and spreader of sorcery in antiquity,\nsucceeded in getting admission to Asgard, and that Aurboda is mentioned\nas particularly belonging to the circle of serving dises who attended\nFreyja. As this giantess was so zealous in spreading her evil arts among\nthe inhabitants of Midgard, it would be strange if the myth did not make\nher, after she had gained Freyja's confidence, try to betray her into\npractising the same arts. Doubtless Voeluspa and Saxo have reference to\nGulveig-Heid-Aurboda when they say that Freyja, through some treacherous\nperson among her attendants, was delivered into the hands of the giants.\n\nIn his historical account relating how Freyja (_Syritha_) was robbed\nfrom Asgard and came to the giants but was afterwards saved from their\npower, Saxo (_Hist._, 331; cp. No. 100) tells that a woman, who was\nsecretly allied with a giant, had succeeded in ingratiating herself in\nher favour, and for some time performed the duties of a maid-servant at\nher home; but this she did in order to entice her in a cunning manner\naway from her safe home to a place where the giant lay in ambush and\ncarried her away to the recesses of his mountain country. (_Gigas\nfaeminam subornat, quae cum obtenta virginis familiaritate, ejus\naliquamdiu pedissequam egisset, hanc tandem a paternis procul penatibus,\nquaesita callidius digressione, reduxit; quam ipse mox irruens in\narctiora montanae crepidinis septa devexit._) Thus Saxo informs us that\nit was a woman among Freyja's attendants who betrayed her, and that this\nwoman was allied with the giant world, which is hostile to the gods,\nwhile she held a trusted servant's place with the goddess. Aurboda is\nthe only woman connected with the giants in regard to whom our mythic\nrecords inform us that she occupied such a position with Freyja; and as\nAurboda's character and part, played in the epic of the myth, correspond\nwith such an act of treason, there is no reason for assuming the mere\npossibility, that the betrayer of Freyja may have been some one else,\nwho is neither mentioned nor known.\n\nWith this it is important to compare Voeluspa, 26, 27, which not only\nmentions the fact that Freyja came into the power of the giants through\ntreachery, but also informs us how the treason was punished:\n\n Tha gengo regin oll\n A raukstola,\n ginheilog god\n oc um that gettuz\n hverir hefdi lopt alt\n levi blandit\n etha ett iotuns\n Oths mey gefna\n thorr ein thar va\n thrungin modi,\n hann sialdan sitr\n er hann slict um fregn.\n\nThese Voeluspa lines stand in Codex Regius in immediate connection with\nthe above-quoted strophes which speak of Gulveig-Heid and of the war\ncaused by her between the Asas and Vans. They inform us that the gods\nassembled to hold a solemn counsel to find out \"who had filled all the\nair with evil,\" or \"who had delivered Freyja to the race of giants;\" and\nthat the person found guilty was at once slain by Thor, who grew most\nangry.\n\nNow if this person is Gulveig-Aurboda, then it follows that she\nreceived her death-blow from Thor's hammer, before the Asas made in\ncommon the unsuccessful attempt to change her body into ashes. We also\nfind elsewhere in our mythic records that an exceedingly dangerous woman\nmet with precisely this fate. There she is called _Hyrrokin_. A strophe\nby Thorbjorn Disarskald preserved in the Younger Edda, states that\n_Hyrrokin_ was one of the giantesses slain by Thor. But the very\nappellation _Hyrrokin_, which must be an epithet of a giantess known by\nsome other more common name indicates that some effort worthy of being\nremembered in the myth had been made to burn her, but that the effort\nresulted in her being smoked (_roekt_) rather than that she was burnt;\nfor the epithet _Hyrrokin_ means the \"fire-smoked.\" For those familiar\nwith the contents of the myth, this epithet was regarded as plain enough\nto indicate who was meant. If it is not, therefore, to be looked upon as\nan unhappy and misleading epithet, it must refer to the thrice in vain\nburnt Gulveig. All that we learn about _Hyrrokin_ confirms her identity\nwith Aurboda. In the symbolic-allegorical work of art, which toward the\nclose of the tenth century decorated a hall at Hjardarholt, and of which\nI shall give a fuller account elsewhere, the storm which from the land\nside carried Balder's ship out on the sea is represented by the giantess\nHyrrokin. In the same capacity of storm-giantess carrying sailors out\nupon the ocean appears Gymer's wife, Aurboda, in a poem by _Refr_;\n\n Faerir bjoern, thar er bara\n brestr, undinna festa,\n\n Opt i AEgis kjopta\n ursvoel Gymis voelva.\n\n\"Gymer's ancient-cold vala often carries the ship amid breaking billows\ninto the jaws of AEgir.\" Gymer, Aurboda's husband, represents in the\nphysical interpretation of the myth the east wind coming from the\nIronwood. From the other side of Eystrasalt (the Baltic) Gymer sings his\nsong (Ynglingasaga, 36); and the same gale belongs to Aurboda, for AEgir,\ninto whose jaws she drives the ships, is the great open western ocean.\nThat Aurboda represents the gale from the east finds its natural\nexplanation in her identity with Angerboda \"the old,\" who dwells in the\nIronwood in the uttermost east, \"_Austr byr hin alldna i iarnvithi_\"\n(Voelusp.).\n\nThe result of the investigation is that _Gullveig-Heidr_, _Aurboda_, and\n_Angrboda_ are different names for the different hypostases of the\nthrice-born and thrice-burnt one, and that _Hyrrokin_, \"the\nfire-smoked,\" is an epithet common to all these hypostases.\n\n[Footnote 18: In Voeluspa the wood is called both _Jarnvidr, Gaglvidr_\n(Cod. Reg.), and _Galgvidr_ (Cod. Hauk.). It may be that we here have a\nfossil word preserved in Voeluspa meaning metal. Perhaps the wood was a\ncopper or bronze forest before it became an iron wood. Compare\n_ghalgha_, _ghalghi_ (Fick., ii. 578) = metal, which, again, is to be\ncompared with _Chalkos._ = copper, bronze.]\n\n[Footnote 19: In _Bragaraedur's_ pseudo-mythic account of the Skaldic\nmead (Younger Edda, 216 ff.) the name _Fjalarr_ also appears. In regard\nto the value of this account, see the investigation in No. 89.]\n\n[Footnote 20: Ynglingasaga is the opening chapters of Snorre Sturlason's\nHeimskringla.]\n\n\n 36.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). THE BREACH OF PEACE\n BETWEEN ASAS AND VANS. FRIGG, SKADE, AND ULL\n IN THE CONFLICT. THE SIEGE OF ASGARD. THE\n VAFERFLAMES. THE DEFENCE AND SURROUNDINGS\n OF ASGARD. THE VICTORY OF THE VANS.\n\n\nWhen the Asas had refused to give satisfaction for the murder of\nGulveig, and when Odin, by hurling his spear, had indicated that the\ntreaty of peace between him and the Vans was broken, the latter leave\nthe assembly hall and Asgard. This is evident from the fact that they\nafterwards return to Asgard and attack the citadel of the Asa clan. The\ngods are now divided into two hostile camps: on the one side Odin and\nhis allies, among whom are Heimdal (see Nos. 38, 39, 40), and Skade; on\nthe other Njord, Frigg (Saxo, _Hist._, 42-44), Frey, Ull (Saxo, _Hist_.,\n130, 131), and Freyja and her husband Svipdag, besides all that clan of\ndivinities who were not adopted in Asgard, but belong to the race of\nVans and dwell in Vanaheim.\n\nSo far as Skade is concerned the breach between the gods seems to have\nfurnished her an opportunity of getting a divorce from Njord, with whom\nshe did not live on good terms. According to statements found in the\nmyths, Thjasse's daughter and he were altogether too different in\ndisposition to dwell in peace together. Saxo (_Hist._, 53 ff.) and the\nYounger Edda (p. 94) have both preserved the record of a song which\ndescribes their different tastes as to home and surroundings. Skade\nloved Thrymheim, the rocky home of her father Thjasse, on whose\nsnow-clad plains she was fond of running on skees and of felling wild\nbeasts with her arrows; but when Njord had remained nine days and nine\nnights among the mountains he was weary of the rocks and of the howling\nof wolves, and longed for the song of swans on the sea-strand. But when\nSkade accompanied him thither she could not long endure to be awakened\nevery morning by the shrieking of sea-fowls. In Grimnismal, 11, it is\nsaid that Skade \"now\" occupies her father's \"ancient home\" in\nThrymheim, but Njord is not named there. In a strophe by Thord Sjarekson\n(Younger Edda, 262) we read that Skade never became devoted to the\nVana-god (_nama snotr una godbrudr Vani_), and Eyvind Skalda-spiller\nrelates in _Haleygjatal_ that there was a time when Odin dwelt _i\nManheimum_ together with Skade, and begat with her many sons. With\n_Manheimar_ is meant that part of the world which is inhabited by man;\nthat is to say, Midgard and the lower world, where are also found a race\nof _menskir menn_ (see Nos. 52, 53, 59, 63), and the topographical\ncounterpart of the word is _Asgardr_. Thus it must have been after his\nbanishment from Asgard, while he was separated from Frigg and found\nrefuge somewhere in _Manheimar_, that Odin had Skade for his wife. Her\nepithet in Grimnismal, _skir brudr goda_, also seems to indicate that\nshe had conjugal relations with more than one of the gods.\n\nWhile Odin was absent and deposed as ruler of the world, Ull has\noccupied so important a position among the ruling Vans that, according\nto the tradition preserved in Saxo, they bestowed upon him the task and\nhonour which until that time had belonged to Odin (_Dii ... Ollerum\nquendam non solum in regni, sed etiam in divinitatis infulas\nsubrogavere_--_Hist._, 130). This is explained by the fact that Njord\nand Frey, though _valtivar_ and brave warriors when they are invoked,\nare in their very nature gods of peace and promoters of wealth and\nagriculture, while Ull is by nature a warrior. He is a skilful archer,\nexcellent in a duel, and _hefir hermanns atgervi_ (Younger Edda, i.\n102). Also after the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans, Thor's\nstepson Ull has held a high position in Asgard, as is apparently\ncorroborated by Odin's words in Grimnismal, 41 (_Ullar hylli ok allra\ngoda_).\n\nFrom the mythic accounts in regard to the situation and environment of\nAsgard we may conclude that the siege by the Vans was no easy task. The\nhome of the Asas is surrounded by the atmospheric ocean, whose strong\ncurrents make it difficult for the mythic horses to swim to it (see Nos.\n65, 93). The bridge Bifrost is not therefore superfluous, but it is that\nconnection between the lower worlds and Asgard which the gods daily use,\nand which must be captured by the enemy before the great cordon which\nencloses the shining halls of the gods can be attacked. The wall is\nbuilt of \"the limbs of Lerbrimer\" (Fjolsv., 1), and constructed by its\narchitect in such a manner that it is a safe protection against\nmountain-giants and frost-giants (Younger Edda, 134). In the wall is a\ngate wondrously made by the artist-brothers who are sons of \"Solblinde\"\n(_Valgrind_--Grimnism., 22; _thrymgjoell_--Fjoelsvimsm., 10). Few there\nare who understand the lock of that gate, and if anybody brings it out\nof its proper place in the wall-opening where it blocks the way for\nthose who have no right to enter, then the gate itself becomes a chain\nfor him who has attempted such a thing (_Forn er su grind, enn that fair\nvito, hor hve er i las um lokin_--Grimn., 22. _Fjoeturr fastr verdr vid\nfaranda hvern er hana hefr fra hlidi_--Fjoelsv., 10).\n\nOutside of the very high Asgard cordon and around it there flows a rapid\nriver (see below), the moat of the citadel. Over the eddies of the\nstream floats a dark, shining ignitible mist. If it is kindled it\nexplodes in flames, whose bickering tongues strike their victims with\nunerring certainty. It is the _vaferloge_, \"the bickering flame,\" \"the\nquick fire,\" celebrated in ancient songs--_vafrlogi_, _vafreydi_,\n_skjot-brinni_. It was this fire which the gods kindled around Asgard\nwhen they saw Thjasse approaching in eagle guise. In it their\nirreconcilable foe burnt his pinions, and fell to the ground.\n\"Haustlaung,\" Thjodolf's poem, says that when Thjasse approached the\ncitadel of the gods \"the gods raised the quick fire and sharpened their\njavelins\"--_Hofu skjot; en skofu skoept; ginnregin brinna_. The \"quick\nfire,\" _skjot-brinni_, is the _vaferloge_.[21]\n\nThe material of which the ignitible mist consists is called \"black\nterror-gleam.\" It is _or odauccom_; that is to say, _ofdauccom ognar\nljoma_ (Fafn., 40) (_cp. myrckvan vafrloga_--Skirn., 8, 9; Fjolsv., 31).\nIt is said to be \"wise,\" which implies that it consciously aims at him\nfor whose destruction it is kindled.\n\nHow a water could be conceived that evaporates a dark, ignitible mist we\nfind explained in Thorsdrapa. The thunder-storm is the \"storm of the\nvaferfire,\" and Thor is the \"ruler of the chariot of the\nvaferfire-storm\" (_vafreyda hreggs hufstjori_). Thus the thunder-cloud\ncontains the water that evaporates a dark material for lightning. The\ndark metallic colour which is peculiar to the thunder-cloud was regarded\nas coming from that very material which is the \"black terror-gleam\" of\nwhich lightning is formed. When Thor splits the cloud he separates the\ntwo component parts, the water and the vafermist; the former falls down\nas rain, the latter is ignited and rushes away in quick, bickering,\nzigzag flames--the vaferfires. That these are \"wise\" was a common Aryan\nbelief. They do not proceed blindly, but know their mark and never miss\nit.\n\nThe river that foams around Asgard thus has its source in the\nthunder-clouds; not as we find them after they have been split by Thor,\nbut such as they are originally, swollen with a celestial water that\nevaporates vafermist. All waters--subterranean, terrestrial, and\ncelestial--have their source in that great subterranean fountain\nHvergelmer. Thence they come and thither they return (Grimn., 26; see\nNos. 59, 63, 33). Hvergelmer's waters are sucked up by the northern root\nof the world-tree; they rise through its trunk, spread into its branches\nand leaves, and evaporate from its crown into a water-tank situated on\nthe top of Asgard, _Eikthyrnir_, in Grimnismal, str. 26, symbolised as a\n\"stag\"[22] who stands on the roof of Odin's hall and out of whose horns\nthe waters stream down into Hvergelmer. _Eikthyrnir_ is the great\ncelestial water-tank which gathers and lets out the thunder-cloud. In\nthis tank the Asgard river has its source, and hence it consists not\nonly of foaming water but also of ignitible vafermists. In its capacity\nof discharger of the thunder-cloud, the tank is called _Eikthyrnir_, the\noak-stinger. Oaks struck by lightning is no unusual occurrence. The oak\nis, according to popular belief based on observation, that tree which\nthe lightning most frequently strikes.\n\nBut Asgard is not the only citadel which is surrounded by vafermists.\nThese are also found enveloping the home where dwelt the storm-giant\nGymer and the storm-giantess Aurboda, the sorceress who knows all of\nAsgard's secrets, at the time when Frey sent Skirner to ask for the hand\nof their daughter Gerd. Epics which in their present form date from\nChristian times make vaferflames burn around castles, where goddesses,\npricked by sleep-thorns, are slumbering. This is a belief of a later\nage.\n\nTo get over or through the vaferflame is, according to the myth,\nimpossible for anyone who has not got a certain mythical horse to\nride--probably Sleipner, the eight-footed steed of the Asa-father, which\nis the best of all horses (Grimn., 44). The quality of this steed, which\nenables it to bear its rider unscathed through the vaferflame, makes it\nindespensable when this obstacle is to be overcome. When Skirner is to\ngo on Frey's journey of courtship to Gerd, he asks for that purpose _mar\nthann er mic um myrckvan beri visan vafrloga_, and is allowed to ride it\non and for the journey (Skirn., 8, 9). This horse must accordingly have\nbeen in the possession of the Vans when they conquered Asgard, an\nassumption confirmed by what is to be stated below. (In the great epic\nSigurd's horse Grane is made to inherit the qualities of this divine\nhorse.)\n\nOn the outer side of the Asgard river, and directly opposite the Asgard\ngate, lie projecting ramparts (_forgardir_) to protect the drawbridge,\nwhich from the opening in the wall can be dropped down across the river\n(see below). When Svipdag proceeded toward Menglad's abode in Asgard, he\nfirst came to this _forgardir_ (Fjoels., i. 3). There he is hailed by the\nwatch of the citadel, and thence he gets a glimpse over the gate of all\nthe glorious things which are hid behind the high walls of the citadel.\n\nOutside the river Asgard has fields with groves and woods (Younger Edda,\n136, 210).\n\nOf the events of the wars waged around Asgard, the mythic fragments,\nwhich the Icelandic records have preserved, give us but very little\ninformation, though they must have been favourite themes for the heathen\nskaldic art, which here had an opportunity of describing in a\ncharacteristic manner all the gods involved, and of picturing not only\ntheir various characters, but also their various weapons, equipments,\nand horses. In regard to the weapons of attack we must remember that\nThor at the outbreak of the conflict is deprived of the assistance of\nhis splendid hammer: it has been broken by Svipdag's sword of victory\n(see Nos. 101, 103)--a point which it was necessary for the myth to\nassume, otherwise the Vans could hardly he represented as conquerors.\nNor do the Vans have the above-mentioned sword at their disposal: it is\nalready in the power of Gymer and Aurboda. The irresistible weapons\nwhich in a purely mechanical manner would have decided the issue of the\nwar, were disposed of in advance in order that the persons themselves,\nwith their varied warlike qualities, might get to the foreground and\ndecide the fate of the conflict by heroism or prudence, by prescient\nwisdom or by blind daring. In this war the Vans have particularly\ndistinguished themselves by wise and well calculated strategies. This we\nlearn from Voeluspa, where it makes the final victors conquer Asgard\nthrough _vigspa_, that is, foreknowledge applied to warlike ends (str.\n26). The Asas, as we might expect from Odin's brave sons, have\nespecially distinguished themselves by their strength and courage. A\nrecord of this is found in the words of Thorbjorn Disarskald (Younger\nEdda, 256).\n\n Thorr hefir Yggs med arum\n Asgard of threk vardan.\n\n\"Thor with Odin's clan-men defended Asgard with indomitable courage.\"\n\nBut in number they must have been far inferior to their foes. Simply the\ncircumstance that Odin and his men had to confine themselves to the\ndefence of Asgard shows that nearly all other divinities of various\nranks had allied themselves with his enemies. The ruler of the lower\nworld (Mimer) and Honer are the only ones of whom it can be said that\nthey remained faithful to Odin; and if we can trust the Heimskringla\ntradition, which is related as history and greatly corrupted, then Mimer\nlost his life in an effort at mediation between the contending gods,\nwhile he and Honer were held as hostages among the Vans (Ynglingas., ch.\n4). Asgard was at length conquered. Voeluspa, str. 25, relates the final\ncatastrophe:\n\n brotin var bordvegr\n borgar asa\n knatto vanir vigspa\n vollo sporna.\n\n Broken was the bulwark\n of the asaburg;\n Through warlike prudence were the Vans able\n its fields to tread.\n\nVoeluspa's words seem to indicate that the Vans took Asgard by strategy;\nand this is confirmed by a source which shall be quoted below. But to\ncarry out the plan which chiefly involved the finding of means for\ncrossing the vaferflames kindled around the citadel and for opening the\ngates of Asgard, not only cunning but also courage was required. The\nmyth has given the honour of this undertaking to Njord, the clan-chief\nof the Vans and the commander of their forces. This is clear from the\nabove-quoted passage: _Njordr klauf Herjans hurdir_--\"Njord broke Odin's\ndoors open,\" which should be compared with the poetical paraphrase for\nbattle-axe: _Gauts megin-hurdar galli_--\"the destroyer of Odin's great\ngate,\"--a paraphrase that indicates that Njord burst the Asgard gate\nopen with the battle-axe. The conclusion which must be drawn from these\nutterances is confirmed by an account with which the sixth book of Saxo\nbegins, and which doubtless is a fragment of the myth concerning the\nconquest of Asgard by the Vans corrupted and told as history.\n\nThe event is transferred by Saxo to the reign of King Fridlevus II. It\nshould here be remarked that every important statement made by Saxo\nabout this Fridlevus, on a closer examination, is found to be taken from\nthe myth concerning Njord.\n\nThere were at that time twelve brothers, says Saxo, distinguished for\ncourage, strength, and fine physical appearance. They were \"widely\ncelebrated for gigantic triumphs.\" To their trophies and riches many\npeoples had paid tribute. But the source from which Saxo received\ninformation in regard to Fridlevus' conflict with them did not mention\nmore than seven of these twelve, and of these seven Saxo gives the\nnames. They are called Bjorn, Asbjorn, Gunbjorn, &c. In all the names is\nfound the epithet of the Asa-god Bjorn.\n\nThe brothers had had allies, says Saxo further, but at the point when\nthe story begins they had been abandoned by them, and on this account\nthey had been obliged to confine themselves on an island surrounded by a\nmost violent stream which fell from the brow of a very high rock, and\nthe whole surface of which glittered with raging foam. The island was\nfortified by a very high wall (_praealtum vallum_), in which was built a\nremarkable gate. It was so built that the hinges were placed near the\nground between the sides of the opening in the wall, so that the gate\nturning thereon could, by a movement regulated by chains, be lowered and\nform a bridge across the stream.\n\nThus the gate is, at the same time, a drawbridge of that kind with which\nthe Germans became acquainted during the war with the Romans already\nbefore the time of Tacitus (cp. _Annal._, iv. 51, with iv. 47). Within\nthe fortification there was a most strange horse, and also a remarkably\nstrong dog, which formerly had watched the herds of the giant Offotes.\nThe horse was celebrated for his size and speed, and it was the only\nsteed with which it was possible for a rider to cross the raging stream\naround the island fortress.\n\nKing Fridlevus now surrounds this citadel with his forces. These are\narrayed at some distance from the citadel, and in the beginning nothing\nelse is gained by the siege than that the besieged are hindered from\nmaking sallies into the surrounding territory. The citadel cannot be\ntaken unless the above-mentioned horse gets into the power of Fridlevus.\nBjorn, the owner of the horse, makes sorties from the citadel, and in so\ndoing he did not always take sufficient care, for on one occasion when\nhe was on the outer side of the stream, and had gone some distance away\nfrom his horse, he fell into an ambush laid by Fridlevus. He saved\nhimself by rushing headlong over the bridge, which was drawn up behind\nhim, but the precious horse became Fridlevus' booty. This was of course\na severe loss to the besieged, and must have diminished considerably\ntheir sense of security. Meanwhile, Fridlevus was able to manage the\nmatter in such a way that the accident served rather to lull them into\nincreased safety. During the following night the brothers found their\nhorse, safe and sound, back on the island. Hence it must have swum back\nacross the stream. And when it was afterwards found that the dead body\nof a man, clad in the shining robes of Fridlevus, floated on the eddies\nof the stream, they took it for granted that Fridlevus himself had\nperished in the stream.\n\nBut the real facts were as follows: Fridlevus, attended by a single\ncompanion, had in the night ridden from his camp to the river. There his\ncompanion's life had to be sacrificed, in order that the king's plan\nmight be carried out. Fridlevus exchanged clothes with the dead man,\nwho, in the king's splendid robes, was cast into the stream. Then\nFridlevus gave spur to the steed which he had captured, and rode through\nthe eddies of the stream. Having passed this obstacle safely, he set the\nhorse at liberty, climbed on a ladder over the wall, stole into the hall\nwhere the brothers were wont to assemble, hid himself under a projection\nover the hall door, listened to their conversation, saw them go out to\nreconnoitre the island, and saw them return, secure in the conviction\nthat there was no danger at hand. Then he went to the gate and let it\nfall across the stream. His forces had, during the night, advanced\ntoward the citadel, and when they saw the drawbridge down and the way\nopen, they stormed the fortress and captured it.\n\nThe fact that we here have a transformation of the myth, telling how\nNjord at the head of the Vans conquered Asgard, is evident from the\nfollowing circumstances:\n\n(_a_) The conqueror is Fridlevus. The most of what Saxo relates about\nthis Fridlevus is, as stated, taken from the myth about Njord, and told\nas history.\n\n(_b_) The brothers were, according to Saxo, originally twelve, which is\nthe well-established number of Odin's clansmen: his sons, and the\nadopted Asa-gods. But when the siege in question takes place, Saxo finds\nin his source only seven of the twelve mentioned as enclosed in the\ncitadel beseiged by Fridlevus. The reason for the diminishing of the\nnumber is to be found in the fact that the adopted gods--Njord, Frey,\nand Ull--had left Asgard, and are in fact identical with the leaders of\nthe besiegers. If we also deduct Balder and Hoedr, who, at the time of\nthe event, are dead and removed to the lower world, then we have left\nthe number seven given. The name Bjorn, which they all bear, is an Asa\nepithet (Younger Edda, i. 553). The brothers have formerly had allies,\nbut these have abandoned them (_deficientibus a se sociis_), and it is\non this account that they must confine themselves within their citadel.\nThe Asas have had the Vans and other divine powers as allies, but these\nabandon them, and the Asas must defend themselves on their own fortified\nground.\n\n(_c_) Before this the brothers have made themselves celebrated for\nextraordinary exploits, and have enjoyed a no less extraordinary power.\nThey shone on account of their _giganteis triumphis_--an ambiguous\nexpression which alludes to the mythic sagas concerning the victories of\nthe Asas over Jotunheim's giants (_gigantes_), and nations have\nsubmitted to them as victors, and enriched them with treasures\n(_trophaeis gentium celebres, spoliis locupletes_).\n\n(_d_) The island on which they are confined is fortified, like the Asa\ncitadel, by an immensely high wall (_praealtum vallum_), and is\nsurrounded by a stream which is impassable unless one possesses a horse\nwhich is found among the brothers. Asgard is surrounded by a river belt\ncovered with vaferflames, which cannot be crossed unless one has that\nsingle steed which _um myrckvan beri visan vafrloga_, and this belongs\nto the Asas.\n\n(_e_) The stream which roars around the fortress of the brothers comes\n_ex summis montium cacuminibus_. The Asgard stream comes from the\ncollector of the thunder-cloud, _Eikthynir_, who stands on the summit of\nthe world of the gods. The kindled vaferflames, which did not suit an\nhistorical narration, are explained by Saxo to be a _spumeus candor_, a\nfoaming whiteness, a shining froth, which in uniform, eddying billows\neverywhere whirl on the surface of the stream, (_tota alvei tractu undis\nuniformiter turbidatis spumeus ubique candor exuberat_).\n\n(_f_) The only horse which was able to run through the shining and\neddying foam is clearly one of the mythic horses. It is named along with\nanother prodigy from the animal kingdom of mythology, viz., the terrible\ndog of the giant Offotes. Whether this is a reminiscence of _Fenrir_\nwhich was kept for some time in Asgard, or of Odin's wolf-dog _Freki_,\nor of some other saga-animal of that sort, we will not now decide.\n\n(_g_) Just as Asgard has an artfully contrived gate, so has also the\ncitadel of the brothers. Saxo's description of the gate implies that any\nperson who does not know its character as a drawbridge, but lays violent\nhands on the mechanism which holds it in an upright position, falls, and\nis crushed under it. This explains the words of Fjoelsvinnsmal about the\ngate to that citadel, within which Freyja-Menglad dwells: _Fjoeturr\nfastr verdr vid faranda hvern, er hana hefr fra hlidi_.\n\n(_h_) In the myth, it is Njord himself who removes the obstacle, \"Odin's\ngreat gate,\" placed in his way. In Saxo's account, it is Fridlevus\nhimself who accomplishes the same exploit.\n\n(_i_) In Saxo's narration occurs an improbability, which is explained by\nthe fact that he has transformed a myth into history. When Fridlevus is\nsafe across the stream, he raises a ladder against the wall and climbs\nup on to it. Whence did he get this ladder, which must have been\ncolossal, since the wall he got over in this manner is said to be\n_praealtum_? Could he have taken it with him on the horse's back? Or did\nthe besieged themselves place it against the wall as a friendly aid to\nthe foe, who was already in possession of the only means for crossing\nthe stream? Both assumptions are alike improbable. Saxo had to take\nrecourse to a ladder, for he could not, without damaging the\n\"historical\" character of his story, repeat the myth's probable\ndescription of the event. The horse which can gallop through the\nbickering flame can also leap over the highest wall. Sleipner's ability\nin this direction is demonstrated in the account of how it, with Hermod\nin the saddle, leaps over the wall to Balder's high hall in the lower\nworld (Younger Edda, 178). The impassibility of the Asgard wall is\nlimited to mountain-giants and frost-giants; for a god riding Odin's\nhorse the wall was no obstacle. No doubt the myth has also stated that\nthe Asas, after Njord had leaped over the wall and sought out the\nabove-mentioned place of concealment, found within the wall their\nprecious horse again, which lately had become the booty of the enemy.\nAnd where else should they have found it, if we regard the stream with\nthe bickering flames as breaking against the very foot of the wall?\n\nFinally, it should be added, that our myths tell of no other siege than\nthe one Asgard was subjected to by the Vans. If other sieges have been\nmentioned, they cannot have been of the same importance as this one, and\nconsequently they could not so easily have left traces in the mythic\ntraditions adapted to history or heroic poetry; nor could a historicised\naccount of a mythic siege which did not concern Asgard have preserved\nthe points here pointed out, which are in harmony with the story of the\nAsgard siege.\n\nWhen the citadel of the gods is captured, the gods are, as we have seen,\nonce more in possession of the steed, which, judging from its qualities,\nmust be Sleipner. Thus Odin has the means of escaping from the enemy\nafter all resistance has proved impossible. Thor has his thundering car,\nwhich, according to the Younger Edda, has room for several besides the\nowner, and the other Asas have splendid horses (Grimnism., Younger\nEdda), even though they are not equal to that of their father. The Asas\ngive up their throne of power, and the Vans now assume the rule of the\nworld.\n\n[Footnote 21: The author of _Bragaraedur_ in the Younger Edda has\nunderstood this passage to mean that the Asas, when they saw Thjasse\napproaching, carried out a lot of shavings, which were kindled (!)]\n\n[Footnote 22: In the same poem the elf-artist, Dainn, and the\n\"dwarf\"-artist, Dvalinn, are symbolised as stags, the wanderer Ratr (see\nbelow) as a squirrel, the wolf-giant _Grafvitner's_ sons as serpents,\nthe bridge Bifrost as a fish (see No. 93), &c. Fortunately for the\ncomprehension of our mythic records such symbolising is confined to a\nfew strophes in the poem named, and these strophes appear to have\nbelonged originally to an independent song which made a speciality of\nthat sort of symbolism, and to have been incorporated in Grimnismal in\nlater times.]\n\n\n 37.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF\n THE CONFLICT FROM A RELIGIOUS-RITUAL STANDPOINT.\n\n\nIn regard to the significance of the change of administration in the\nworld of gods, Saxo has preserved a tradition which is of no small\ninterest. The circumstance that Odin and his sons had to surrender the\nreign of the world did not imply that mankind should abandon their faith\nin the old gods and accept a new religion. Hitherto the Asas and Vans\nhad been worshipped in common. Now, when Odin was deposed, his name,\nhonoured by the nations, was not to be obliterated. The name was given\nto Ull, and, as if he really were Odin, he was to receive the sacrifices\nand prayers that hitherto had been addressed to the banished one\n(_Hist._, 130). The ancient faith was to be maintained, and the shift\ninvolved nothing but the person; there was no change of religion. But in\nconnection with this information, we also learn, from another statement\nin Saxo, that the myth concerning the war between Asas and Vans was\nconnected with traditions concerning a conflict between various views\namong the believers in the Teutonic religion concerning offerings and\nprayers. The one view was more ritual, and demanded more attention paid\nto sacrifices. This view seems to have gotten the upper hand after the\nbanishment of Odin. It was claimed that sacrifices and hymns addressed\nat the same time to several or all of the gods, did not have the\nefficacy of pacifying and reconciling angry deities, but that to each\none of the gods should be given a separate sacrificial service (Saxo,\n_Hist._, 43). The result of this was, of course, an increase of\nsacrifices and a more highly-developed ritual, which from its very\nnature might have produced among the Teutons the same hierarchy as\nresulted from an excess of sacrifices among their Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen.\nThe correctness of Saxo's statement is fully confirmed by strophe 145 in\nHavamal, which advocates the opposite and incomparably more moderate\nview in regard to sacrifices. This view came, according to the strophe,\nfrom Odin's own lips. He is made to proclaim it to the people \"after his\nreturn to his ancient power.\"\n\n Betra er obethit\n en se ofblothit\n ey ser til gildis giof;\n betra er osennt\n enn se ofsoit.\n Sva thundr um reist\n fyr thiotha rauc,\n thar hann up um reis\n er hann aptr of kom.\n\nThe expression, _thar hann up um reis, er hann apter of kom_, refers to\nthe fact that Odin had for some time been deposed from the\nadministration of the world, but had returned, and that he then\nproclaimed to the people the view in regard to the real value of prayers\nand sacrifices which is laid down in the strophe. Hence it follows that\nbefore Odin returned to his throne another more exacting doctrine in\nregard to sacrifices had, according to the myth, secured prevalence.\nThis is precisely what Saxo tells us. It is difficult to repress the\nquestion whether an historical reminiscence is not concealed in these\nstatements. May it not be the record of conflicting views within the\nTeutonic religion--views represented in the myth by the Vana-gods on the\none side and the Asas on the other? The Vana views, I take it,\nrepresented tendencies which had they been victorious, would have\nresulted in hierarchy, while the Asa doctrine represented the tendencies\nof the believers in the time-honoured Aryan custom of those who\nmaintained the priestly authority of the father of the family, and who\ndefended the efficacy of the simple hymns and sacrifices which from time\nout of mind had been addressed to several or all of the gods in common.\nThat the question really has existed among the Teutonic peoples, at\nleast as a subject for reflection, spontaneously suggests itself in the\nmyth alluded to above. This myth has discussed the question, and decided\nit in precisely the same manner as history has decided it among the\nTeutonic races, among whom priestcraft and ritualism have held a far\nless important position than among their western kinsmen, the Celts, and\ntheir eastern kinsmen, the Iranians and Hindoos. That prayers on account\nof their length, or sacrifices on account of their abundance, should\ngive evidence of greater piety and fear of God, and should be able to\nsecure a more ready hearing, is a doctrine which Odin himself rejects in\nthe strophe above cited. He understands human nature, and knows that\nwhen a man brings abundant sacrifices he has the selfish purpose in view\nof prevailing on the gods to give a more abundant reward--a purpose\nprompted by selfishness, not by piety.\n\n\n 38.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). THE WAR IN MIDGARD\n BETWEEN HALFDAN'S SONS. GROA'S SONS AGAINST\n ALVEIG'S. LOKE'S APPEARANCE ON THE STAGE.\n HADDING'S YOUTHFUL ADVENTURES.\n\n\nThe conflict between the gods has its counterpart in, and is connected\nwith, a war between all the Teutonic races, and the latter is again a\ncontinuation of the feud between Halfdan and Svipdag. The Teutonic race\ncomes to the front fighting under three race-representatives--(1)\nYngve-Svipdag, the son of Orvandel and Groa; (2) Gudhorm, the son of\nHalfdan and Groa, consequently Svipdag's half-brother; (3) Hadding, the\nson of Halfdan and Alveig (in Saxo called Signe, daughter of Sumbel),\nconsequently Gudhorm's half-brother.\n\nThe ruling Vans favour Svipdag, who is Freyja's husband and Frey's\nbrother-in-law. The banished Asas support Hadding from their place of\nrefuge. The conflict between the gods and the war between Halfdan's\nsuccessor and heir are woven together. It is like the Trojan war, where\nthe gods, divided into parties, assist the Trojans or assist the Danai.\nOdin, Thor, and Heimdal interfere, as we shall see, to protect Hadding.\nThis is their duty as kinsmen; for Heimdal, having assumed human nature,\nwas the lad with the sheaf of grain who came to the primeval country and\nbecame the father of Borgar, who begat the son Halfdan. Thor was\nHalfdan's associate father; hence he too had duties of kinship toward\nHadding and Gudhorm, Halfdan's sons. The gods, on the other hand, that\nfavour Svipdag are, in Hadding's eyes, foes, and Hadding long refuses to\npropitiate Frey by a demanded sacrifice (Saxo, _Hist._, 49, 50).\n\nThis war, simultaneously waged between the clans of the gods on the one\nhand, and between the Teutonic tribes on the other, is what the seeress\nin Voeluspa calls \"the first great war in the world.\" She not only gives\nan account of its outbreak and events among the gods, but also indicates\nthat it was waged on the earth. Then--\n\n sa hon valkyrior saw she valkyries\n vitt um komnar far travelled\n gaurvar at rida equipped to ride\n til Godthjodar to Goththjod.\n\nGoththjod is the Teutonic people and the Teutonic country.\n\nWhen Svipdag had slain Halfdan, and when the Asas were expelled, the\nsons of the Teutonic patriarch were in danger of falling into the power\nof Svipdag. Thor interested himself in their behalf, and brought Gudhorm\nand Hadding to Jotunheim, where he concealed them with the giants Hafle\nand Vagnhofde--Gudhorm in Hafle's rocky gard and Hadding in Vagnhofde's.\nIn Saxo, who relates this story, the Asa-god Thor appears partly as\n_Thor deus_ and _Thoro pugil_, Halfdan's protector, whom Saxo himself\nidentifies as the god Thor (_Hist._, 324), and partly as _Brac_ and\n_Brache_, which name Saxo formed from Thor's epithet, _Asa-Bragr_. It is\nby the name Brache that Thor appears as the protector of Halfdan's sons.\nThe giants Hafle and Vagnhofde dwell, according to Saxo, in \"Svetia\"\nprobably, since Jotunheim, the northernmost Sweden, and the most\ndistant east were called _Svithiod hinn kalda_.[23]\n\nSvipdag waged war against Halfdan, since it was his duty to avenge the\ndisgrace of his mother Groa, and also that of his mother's father, and,\nas shall be shown later, the death of his father Orvandel (see Nos. 108,\n109). The revenge for bloodshed was sacred in the Teutonic world, and\nthis duty he performed when he with his irresistible sword felled his\nstepfather. But thereby the duty of revenge for bloodshed was\ntransferred to Halfdan's sons--less to Gudhorm, who is himself a son of\nGroa, but with all its weight to Hadding, the son of Alveig, and it is\n_his_ bounden duty to bring about Svipdag's death, since Svipdag had\nslain Halfdan. Connecting itself with Halfdan's robbery of Groa, the\ngoddess of growth, the red thread of revenge for bloodshed extends\nthroughout the great hero-saga of Teutonic mythology.\n\nSvipdag makes an effort to cut the thread. He offers Gudhorm and Hadding\npeace and friendship, and promises them kingship among the tribes\nsubject to him. Groa's son, Gudhorm, accepts the offer, and Svipdag\nmakes him ruler of the Danes; but Hadding sends answer that he prefers\nto avenge his father's death to accepting favours from an enemy (Saxo,\n_Hist._, 35, 36).\n\nSvipdag's offer of peace and reconciliation is in harmony, if not with\nhis own nature, at least with that of his kinsmen, the reigning Vans. If\nthe offer to Hadding had been accepted, we might have looked for peace\nin the world. Now the future is threatened with the devastations of war,\nand the bloody thread of revenge shall continue to be spun if Svipdag\ndoes not prevent it by overpowering Hadding. The myth may have contained\nmuch information about the efforts of the one camp to capture him and\nabout contrivances of the other to frustrate these efforts. Saxo has\npreserved a partial record thereof. Among those who plot against Hadding\nis also Loke (_Lokerus_--Saxo, _Hist._, 40, 41),[24] the banished ally\nof Aurboda. His purpose is doubtless to get into the favour of the\nreigning Vans. Hadding is no longer safe in Vagnhofde's mountain home.\nThe lad is exposed to Loke's snares. From one of these he is saved by\nthe Asa-father himself. There came, says Saxo, on this occasion a rider\nto Hadding. He resembled a very aged man, one of whose eyes was lost\n(_grandaevus quidam altero orbus oculo_). He placed Hadding in front of\nhimself on the horse, wrapped his mantle about him, and rode away. The\nlad became curious and wanted to see whither they were going. Through a\nhole in the mantle he got an opportunity of looking down, and found to\nhis astonishment and fright that land and sea were far below the hoofs\nof the steed. The rider must have noticed his fright, for he forbade him\nto look out any more.\n\nThe rider, the one-eyed old man, is Odin, and the horse is Sleipner,\nrescued from the captured Asgard. The place to which the lad is carried\nby Odin is the place of refuge secured by the Asas during their exile _i\nManheimum_. In perfect harmony with the myths, Saxo refers Odin's exile\nto the time preceding Hadding's juvenile adventures, and makes Odin's\nreturn to power simultaneous with Hadding's great victory over his\nenemies (_Hist._, 42-44). Saxo has also found in his sources that\nsword-slain men, whom Odin chooses during \"the first great war in the\nworld,\" cannot come to Valhal. The reason for this is that Odin is not\nat that time the ruler there. They have dwelling-places and plains for\ntheir warlike amusements appointed in the lower world (_Hist._, 51).\n\nThe regions which, according to Saxo, are the scenes of Hadding's\njuvenile adventures lie on the other side of the Baltic down toward the\nBlack Sea. He is associated with \"Curetians\" and \"Hellespontians,\"\ndoubtless for the reason that the myth has referred those adventures to\nthe far east.\n\nThe one-eyed old man is endowed with wonderful powers. When he landed\nwith the lad at his home, he sang over him prophetic incantations to\nprotect him (_Hist._, 40), and gave him a drink of the \"most splendid\nsort,\" which produced in Hadding enormous physical strength, and\nparticularly made him able to free himself from bonds and chains.\n(Compare Havamal, str. 149, concerning Odin's freeing incantations by\nwhich \"fetters spring from the feet and chains from the hands.\") A\ncomparison with other passages, which I shall discuss later, shows that\nthe potion of which the old man is lord contains something which is\ncalled \"Leifner's flames,\" and that he who has been permitted to drink\nit, and over whom freeing incantations have simultaneously been sung, is\nable with his warm breath to free himself from every fetter which has\nbeen put on his enchanted limbs (see Nos. 43, 96, 103).\n\nThe old man predicts that Hadding will soon have an opportunity of\ntesting the strength with which the drink and the magic songs have\nendowed him. And the prophecy is fulfilled. Hadding falls into the power\nof Loke. He chains him and threatens to expose him as food for a wild\nbeast--in Saxo a lion, in the myth presumably some one of the wolf or\nserpent prodigies that are Loke's offspring. But when his guards are put\nto sleep by Odin's magic song, though Odin is far away, Hadding bursts\nhis bonds, slays the beast, and eats, in obedience to Odin's\ninstructions, its heart. (The saga of Sigurd Fafnersbane has copied this\nfeature. Sigurd eats the heart of the dragon Fafner and gets wisdom\nthereby.)\n\nThus Hadding has become a powerful hero, and his task to make war on\nSvipdag, to revenge on him his father's death, and to recover the share\nin the rulership of the Teutons which Halfdan had possessed, now lies\nbefore him as the goal he is to reach.\n\nHadding leaves Vagnhofde's home. The latter's daughter, Hardgrep, who\nhad fallen in love with the youth, accompanies him. When we next find\nHadding he is at the head of an army. That this consisted of the tribes\nof Eastern Teutondom is confirmed by documents which I shall hereafter\nquote; but it also follows from Saxo's narrative, although he has\nreferred the war to narrower limits than were given to it in the myth,\nsince he, constructing a Danish history from mythic traditions, has his\neyes fixed chiefly on Denmark. Over the Scandian tribes and the Danes\nrule, according to Saxo's own statement, Svipdag, and as his tributary\nking in Denmark his half-brother Gudhorm. Saxo also is aware that the\nSaxons, the Teutonic tribes of the German lowlands, on one occasion were\nthe allies of Svipdag (_Hist._, 34). From these parts of Teutondom did\nnot come Hadding's friends, but his enemies; and when we add that the\nfirst battle which Saxo mentions in this war was fought among the\nCuretians east of the Baltic, then it is clear that Saxo, too, like the\nother records to which I am coming later, has conceived the forces under\nHadding's banner as having been gathered in the East. From this it is\nevident that the war is one between the tribes of North Teutondom, led\nby Svipdag and supported by the Vans on the one side, and the tribes of\nEast Teutondom, led by Hadding and supported by the Asas on the other.\nBut the tribes of the western Teutonic continent have also taken part in\nthe first great war of mankind. Gudhorm, whom Saxo makes a tributary\nking in Yngve-Svipdag's most southern domain, Denmark, has in the mythic\ntraditions had a much greater empire, and has ruled over the tribes of\nWestern and Southern Teutondom, as shall be shown hereafter.\n\n[Footnote 23: _Filii Gram, Guthormus et Hadingus, quorum alterum Gro,\nalterum Signe enixa est, Svipdagero Daniam obtinente, per educatorem\nsuum Brache nave Svetiam deportati, Vagnophto et Haphlio gigantibus non\nsolum alendi, verum etiam defensandi traduntur_ (Saxo _Hist._, 34).]\n\n[Footnote 24: The form _Loki_ is also duplicated by the form _Lokr_. The\nlatter is preserved in the sense of \"effeminated man,\" found in myths\nconcerning Loke. Compare the phrase \"_veykr Lokr_\" with \"_hinn veyki\nLoki_.\"]\n\n\n 39.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). THE POSITION OF THE\n DIVINE CLANS TO THE WARRIORS.\n\n\nThe circumstance that the different divine clans had their favourites in\nthe different camps gives the war a peculiar character. The armies see\nbefore a battle supernatural forms contending with each other in the\nstarlight, and recognize in them their divine friends and opponents\n(_Hist._, 48). The elements are conjured on one and the other side for\nthe good or harm of the contending brother-tribes. When fog and pouring\nrain suddenly darken the sky and fall upon Hadding's forces from that\nside where the fylkings of the North are arrayed, then the one-eyed old\nman comes to their rescue and calls forth dark masses of clouds from the\nother side, which force back the rain-clouds and the fog (_Hist._, 53).\nIn these cloud-masses we must recognize the presence of the thundering\nThor, the son of the one-eyed old man.\n\nGiants also take part in the conflict. Vagnhofde and Hardgrep, the\nlatter in a man's attire, contend on the side of the foster-son and the\nbeloved Hadding (_Hist._, 45, 38). From Icelandic records we learn that\nHafle and the giantesses Fenja and Menja fight under Gudhorm's banners.\nIn the Grotte-song (14, 15) these maids sing:\n\n En vit sithan\n a Svidiothu\n framvisar tvoer\n i folk stigum;\n beiddum biornu,\n en brutum skioldu\n gengum igegnum\n graserkiat lit.\n Steyptom stilli,\n studdum annan,\n veittum gothum\n Guthormi lid.\n\nThat the giant Hafle fought on the side of Gudhorm is probable from the\nfact that he is his foster-father, and it is confirmed by the fact that\nThor paraphrased (Grett., 30) is called _fangvinr Hafla_, \"he who\nwrestled with Hafle.\" Since Thor and Hafle formerly were friends--else\nthe former would not have trusted Gudhorm to the care of the\nlatter--their appearance afterwards as foes can hardly be explained\notherwise than by the war between Thor's protege Hadding and Hafle's\nfoster-son Gudhorm. And as Hadding's foster-father, the giant Vagnhofde,\nfaithfully supports the young chief whose childhood he protected, then\nthe myth could scarcely avoid giving a similar part to the giant Hafle,\nand thus make the foster-fathers, like the foster-sons, contend with\neach other. The heroic poems are fond of parallels of this kind.\n\nWhen Svipdag learns that Hadding has suddenly made his appearance in the\nEast, and gathered its tribes around him for a war with Gudhorm, he\ndescends from Asgard and reveals himself in the primeval Teutonic\ncountry on the Scandian peninsula, and requests its tribes to join the\nDanes and raise the banner of war against Halfdan's and Alveig's son,\nwho, at the head of the eastern Teutons, is marching against their\nhalf-brother Gudhorm. The friends of both parties among the gods, men\nand giants, hasten to attach themselves to the cause which they have\nespoused as their own, and Vagnhofde among the rest abandons his rocky\nhome to fight by the side of his foster-son and daughter.\n\nThis mythic situation is described in a hitherto unexplained strophe in\nthe Old English song concerning the names of the letters in the runic\nalphabet. In regard to the rune which answers to _I_ there is added the\nfollowing lines:\n\n Ing vaes oerest mid Eastdenum\n geseven secgum od he siddan east\n ofer vaeg gevat. Vaen aefter ran;\n thus Heardingas thone haele nemdon.\n\n \"Yngve (Inge) was first seen among the East-Danemen.\n Then he betook himself eastward over the sea.\n Vagn hastened to follow:\n Thus the Heardings called this hero.\"\n\nThe Heardings are the Haddings--that is to say, Hadding himself, the\nkinsmen and friends who embraced his cause, and the Teutonic tribes who\nrecognised him as their chief. The Norse _Haddingr_ is to the\nAnglo-Saxon _Hearding_ as the Norse _haddr_ to the Anglo-Saxon _heard_.\nVigfusson, and before him J. Grimm, have already identified these forms.\n\nIng is Yngve-Svipdag, who, when he left Asgard, \"was first seen among\nthe East-Danemen.\" He calls Swedes and Danes to arms against Hadding's\ntribes. The Anglo-Saxon strophe confirms the fact that they dwell in the\nEast, separated by a sea from the Scandian tribes. Ing, with his\nwarriors, \"betakes himself eastward over the sea\" to attack them. Thus\nthe armies of the Swedes and Danes go by sea to the seat of war. What\nthe authorities of Tacitus heard among the continental Teutons about the\nmighty fleets of the Swedes may be founded on the heroic songs about the\nfirst great war not less than on fact. As the army which was to cross\nthe Baltic must be regarded as immensely large, so the myth, too, has\nrepresented the ships of the Swedes as numerous, and in part as of\nimmense size. A confused record from the songs about the expedition of\nSvipdag and his friends against the East Teutons, found in Icelandic\ntradition, occurs in Fornald, pp. 406-407, where a ship called Gnod, and\ncapable of carrying 3000 men, is mentioned as belonging to a King\nAsmund. Odin did not want this monstrous ship to reach its destination,\nbut sank it, so it is said, in the Lessoe seaway, with all its men and\ncontents. The Asmund who is known in the heroic sagas of heathen times\nis a son of Svipdag and a king among the Sviones (Saxo, _Hist._, 44).\nAccording to Saxo, he has given brilliant proofs of his bravery in the\nwar against Hadding, and fallen by the weapons of Vagnhofde and Hadding.\nThat Odin in the Icelandic tradition appears as his enemy thus\ncorresponds with the myth. The same Asmund may, as Gisle Brynjulfsson\nhas assumed, be meant in Grimnersmal (49), where we learn that Odin,\nconcealing himself under the name Jalk, once visited Asmund.\n\nThe hero Vagn, whom \"the Haddings so called,\" is Hadding's\nfoster-father, Vagnhofde. As the word _hoefdi_ constitutes the second\npart of a mythic name, the compound form is a synonym of that name which\nforms the first part of the composition. Thus _Svarthoefdi_ is identical\nwith _Svartr_, _Surtr_. In Hyndluljod, 33, all the mythical sorcerers\n(_seidberendr_) are said to be sprung from _Svarthoefdi_. In this\nconnection we must first of all think of Fjalar, who is the greatest\nsorcerer in mythology. The story about Thor's, Thjalfe's, and Loke's\nvisit to him is a chain of delusions of sight and hearing called forth\nby Fjalar, so that the Asa-god and his companions always mistake things\nfor something else than they are. Fjalar is a son of _Surtr_ (see No.\n89). Thus the greatest agent of sorcery is descended from _Surtr_,\n_Svartr_, and, as Hyndluljod states that all magicians of mythology have\ncome of some _Svarthoefdi_, _Svartr_ and _Svarthoefdi_ must be identical.\nAnd so it is with Vagn and _Vagnhoefdi_; they are different names for the\nsame person.\n\nWhen the Anglo-Saxon rune-strophe says that Vang \"made haste to follow\"\nafter Ing had gone across the sea, then this is to be compared with\nSaxo's statement (_Hist._, 45), where it is said that Hadding in a\nbattle was in greatest peril of losing his life, but was saved by the\nsudden and miraculous landing of Vagnhofde, who came to the battle-field\nand placed himself at his side. The Scandian fylkings advanced against\nHadding's; and Svipdag's son Asmund, who fought at the head of his men,\nforced his way forward against Hadding himself, with his shield thrown\non his back, and with both his hands on the hilt of a sword which felled\nall before it. Then Hadding invoked the gods who were the friends of\nhimself and his race (_Hadingo familiarium sibi numinum praesidia\npostulante subito Vagnophtus partibus ejus propugnaturus advehitur_),\nand then Vagnhofde is brought (_advehitur_) by some one of these gods to\nthe battle-field and suddenly stands by Hadding's side, swinging a\ncrooked sword[25] against Asmund, while Hadding hurls his spear against\nhim. This statement in Saxo corresponds with and explains the old\nEnglish strophe's reference to a quick journey which Vagn made to help\n_Heardingas_ against _Ing_, and it is also illustrated by a passage in\nGrimnismal, 49, which, in connection with Odin's appearance at Asmund's,\ntells that he once by the name Kjalar \"drew _Kjalki_\" (_mic heto Jalc at\nAsmundar, enn tha Kialar, er ec Kialka dro_). The word and name\n_Kjalki_, as also _Sledi_, is used as a paraphrase of the word and name\n_Vagn_.[26] Thus Odin has once \"drawn Vagn\" (waggon). The meaning of\nthis is clear from what is stated above. Hadding calls on Odin, who is\nthe friend of him and of his cause, and Odin, who on a former occasion\nhas carried Hadding on Sleipner's back through the air, now brings, in\nthe same or a similar manner, Vagnhofde to the battle-field, and places\nhim near his foster-son. This episode is also interesting from the fact\nthat we can draw from it the conclusion that the skalds who celebrated\nthe first great war in their songs made the gods influence the fate of\nthe battle, not directly but indirectly. Odin might himself have saved\nhis favourite, and he might have slain Svipdag's son Asmund with his\nspear Gungner; but he does not do so; instead, he brings Vagnhofde to\nprotect him. This is well calculated from an epic standpoint, while _dii\nex machina_, when they appear in person on the battle-field with their\nsuperhuman strength, diminish the effect of the deeds of mortal heroes,\nand deprive every distress in which they have taken part of its more\nearnest significance. Homer never violated this rule without injury to\nthe honour either of his gods or of his heroes.\n\n[Footnote 25: The crooked sword, as it appears from several passages in\nthe sagas, has long been regarded by our heathen ancestors as a foreign\nform of weapon, used by the giants, but not by the gods or by the heroes\nof Midgard.]\n\n[Footnote 26: Compare Fornald., ii. 118, where the hero of the saga\ncries to _Gusi_, who comes running after him with \"2 hreina ok _vagn_\"--\n\n _Skrid thu af kjalka,\n Kyrr thu hreina,\n seggr sidfoerull\n seg hvattu heitir!_\n]\n\n\n 40.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). HADDING'S DEFEAT.\n LOKE IN THE COUNCIL AND ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.\n HEIMDAL THE PROTECTOR OF HIS DESCENDANT HADDING.\n\n\nThe first great conflict in which the warriors of North and West\nTeutondom fight with the East Teutons ends with the complete victory of\nGroa's sons. Hadding's fylkings are so thoroughly beaten and defeated\nthat he, after the end of the conflict, is nothing but a defenceless\nfugitive, wandering in deep forests with no other companion than\nVagnhofde's daughter, who survived the battle and accompanies her\nbeloved in his wanderings in the wildernesses. Saxo ascribes the victory\nwon over Hadding to Loke. It follows of itself that, in a war whose\ndeepest root must be sought in Loke's and Aurboda's intrigues, and in\nwhich the clans of gods on both sides take part, Loke should not be\nexcluded by the skalds from influence upon the course of events. We have\nalready seen that he sought to ruin Hadding while the latter was still a\nboy. He afterwards appears in various guises as evil counsellor, as an\nevil intriguer, and as a skilful arranger of the fylkings on the field\nof battle. His purpose is to frustrate every effort to bring about\nreconciliation, and by means of persuasion and falsehoods to increase\nthe chances of enmity between Halfdan's descendants, in order that they\nmay mutually destroy each other (see below). His activity among the\nheroes is the counterpart of his activity among the gods. The merry,\nsly, cynical, blameworthy, and profoundly evil Mefisto of the Teutonic\nmythology is bound to bring about the ruin of the Teutonic people like\nthat of the gods of the Teutons.\n\nIn the later Icelandic traditions he reveals himself as the evil\ncounsellor of princes in the forms of Blind ille, Blind boelvise (in Saxo\nBolvisus); _Bikki_; in the German and Old English traditions as Sibich,\nSifeca, Sifka. _Bikki_ is a name-form borrowed from Germany. The\noriginal Norse Loke-epithet is _Bekki_, which means \"the foe,\" \"the\nopponent\". A closer examination shows that everywhere where this\ncounsellor appears his enterprises have originally been connected with\npersons who belong to Borgar's race. He has wormed himself into the\nfavour of both the contending parties--as Blind ille with King\nHadding--whereof Hromund Greipson's saga has preserved a distorted\nrecord--as Bikke, Sibeke, with King Gudhorm (whose identity with\nJormunrek shall be established below). As Blind boelvise he lies in\nwaiting for and seeks to capture the young \"Helge Hundingsbane,\" that is\nto say, Halfdan, Hadding's father (Helge Hund., ii.). Under his own\nname, Loke, he lies in waiting for and seeks to capture the young\nHadding, Halfdan's son. As a cunning general and cowardly warrior he\nappears in the German saga-traditions, and there is every reason to\nassume that it is his activity in the first great war as the planner of\nGudhorm's battle-line that in the Norse heathen records secured Loke the\nepithets _sagna hroerir_ and _sagna sviptir_, the leader of the warriors\nforward and the leader of the warriors back--epithets which otherwise\nwould be both unfounded and incomprehensible, but they are found both in\nThjodolf's poem Haustlaung, and in Eilif Gudrunson's Thorsdrapa. It is\nalso a noticeable fact that while Loke in the first great battle which\nends with Hadding's defeat determines the array of the victorious\narmy--for only on this basis can the victory be attributed to him by\nSaxo--it is in the other great battle in which Hadding is victorious\nthat Odin himself determines how the forces of his protege are to be\narranged, namely, in that wedge-form which after that time and for many\ncenturies following was the sacred and strictly preserved rule for the\nbattle-array of Teutonic forces. Thus the ancient Teutonic saga has\nmentioned and compared with one another two different kinds of\nbattle-arrays--the one invented by Loke and the other invented by Odin.\n\nDuring his wanderings in the forests of the East Hadding has had\nwonderful adventures and passed through great trials. Saxo tells one of\nthese adventures. He and Hardgrep, Vagnhofde's daughter, came late one\nevening to a dwelling where they got lodgings for the night. The husband\nwas dead, but not yet buried. For the purpose of learning Hadding's\ndestiny, Hardgrep engraved speech-runes (see No. 70) on a piece of wood,\nand asked Hadding to place it under the tongue of the dead one. The\nlatter would in this wise recover the power of speech and prophecy. So\nit came to pass. But what the dead one sang in an awe-inspiring voice\nwas a curse on Hardgrep, who had compelled him to return from life in\nthe lower world to life on earth, and a prediction that an avenging\nNiflheim demon would inflict punishment on her for what she had done. A\nfollowing night, when Hadding and Hardgrep had sought shelter in a bower\nof twigs and branches which they had gathered, there appeared a gigantic\nhand groping under the ceiling of the bower. The frightened Hadding\nwaked Hardgrep. She then rose in all her giant strength, seized the\nmysterious hand, and bade Hadding cut it off with his sword. He\nattempted to do this, but from the wounds he inflicted on the ghost's\nhand there issued matter or venom more than blood, and the hand seized\nHardgrep with its iron claws and tore her into pieces (Saxo, _Hist._, 36\nff.).\n\nWhen Hadding in this manner had lost his companion, he considered\nhimself abandoned by everybody; but the one-eyed old man had not\nforgotten his favourite. He sent him a faithful helper, by name\n_Liserus_ (Saxo, _Hist._, 40). Who was _Liserus_ in our mythology?\n\nFirst, as to the name itself: in the very nature of the case it must be\nthe Latinising of some one of the mythological names or epithets that\nSaxo found in the Norse records. But as no such root as _lis_ or _lis_\nis to be found in the old Norse language, and as Saxo interchanges the\nvowels _i_ and _y_,[27] we must regard _Liserus_ as a Latinising of\n_Lysir_, \"the shining one,\" \"the one giving light,\" \"the bright one.\"\nWhen Odin sent a helper thus described to Hadding, it must have been a\nperson belonging to Odin's circle and subject to him. Such a person and\ndescribed by a similar epithet is _hinn hviti ass, hvitastr asa_\n(Heimdal). In Saxo's account, this shining messenger is particularly to\noppose Loke (_Hist._, 40). And in the myth it is the keen-sighted and\nfaithful Heimdal who always appears as the opposite of the cunning and\nfaithless Loke. Loke has to contend with Heimdal when the former tries\nto get possession of Brisingamen, and in Ragnarok the two opponents kill\neach other. Hadding's shining protector thus has the same part to act in\nthe heroic saga as the whitest of the Asas in the mythology. If we now\nadd that Heimdal is Hadding's progenitor, and on account of blood\nkinship owes him special protection in a war in which all the gods have\ntaken part either for or against Halfdan's and Alveig's son, then we are\nforced by every consideration to regard _Liserus_ and Heimdal as\nidentical (see further, No. 82).\n\n[Footnote 27: Compare the double forms _Trigo_, _Thrygir_; _Ivarus_,\n_Yvarus_; _Sibbo_, _Sybbo_; _Siritha_, _Syritha_; _Sivardus_,\n_Syvardus_; _Hibernia_, _Hybernia_; _Isora_, _Ysora_.]\n\n\n 41.\n\n THE WORLD WAR (_continued_). HADDING'S JOURNEY TO\n THE EAST. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE ASAS AND\n VANS. \"THE HUN WAR.\" HADDING RETURNS AND\n CONQUERS. RECONCILIATION BETWEEN GROA'S DESCENDANTS\n AND ALVEIG'S. LOKE'S PUNISHMENT.\n\nSome time later there has been a change in Hadding's affairs. He is no\nlonger the exile wandering about in the forests, but appears once more\nat the head of warlike hosts. But although he accomplishes various\nexploits, it still appears from Saxo's narrative that it takes a long\ntime before he becomes strong enough to meet his enemies in a decisive\nbattle with hope of success. In the meanwhile he has succeeded in\naccomplishing the revenge of his father and slaying Svipdag (Saxo\n_Hist._, 42)--this under circumstances which I shall explain below (No.\n106). The proof that the hero-saga has left a long space of time between\nthe great battle lost by Hadding and that in which he wins a decided\nvictory is that he, before this conflict is fought out, has slain a\nyoung grandson (son's son) of Svipdag, that is, a son of Asmund, who was\nSvipdag's son (Saxo, _Hist._, 46). Hadding was a mere boy when Svipdag\nfirst tried to capture him. He is a man of years when he, through\ndecided successes on the battle-field, acquires and secures control of a\ngreat part of the domain over which his father, the Teutonic patriarch,\nreigned. Hence he must have spent considerable time in the place of\nrefuge which Odin opened for him, and under the protection of that\nsubject of Odin, called by Saxo _Liserus_.\n\nIn the time intervening important events have taken place in the world\nof the gods. The two clans of gods, the Asas and Vans, have become\nreconciled. Odin's exile lasted, according to Saxo, only ten years, and\nthere is no reason for doubting the mythical correctness of this\nstatement. The reconciliation must have been demanded by the dangers\nwhich their enmity caused to the administration of the world. The\ngiants, whose purpose it is to destroy the world of man, became once\nmore dangerous to the earth on account of the war among the gods. During\nthis time they made a desperate effort to conquer Asgard occupied by the\nVans. The memory of this expedition was preserved during the Christian\ncenturies in the traditions concerning the great Hun war. Saxo (_Hist._,\n231 ff.) refers this to _Frotho_ III.'s reign. What he relates about\nthis _Frotho_, son of _Fridlevus_ (Njord), is for the greatest part a\nhistoricised version of the myth about the Vana-god Frey (see No. 102);\nand every doubt that his account of the war of the \"Huns\" against Frotho\nhas its foundation in mythology, and belongs to the chain of events here\ndiscussed, vanishes when we learn that the attack of the Huns against\nFrotho-Frey's power happened at a time when an old prophet, by name\n_Uggerus_, \"whose age was unknown, but exceeded every measure of human\nlife,\" lived in exile, and belonged to the number of Frotho's enemies.\n_Uggerus_ is a Latinised form of Odin's name _Yggr_, and is the same\nmythic character as Saxo before introduced on the scene as \"the old\none-eyed man,\" Hadding's protector. Although he had been Frotho's enemy,\nthe aged _Yggr_ comes to him and informs him what the \"Huns\" are\nplotting, and thus Frotho is enabled to resist their assault.[28]\n\nWhen Odin, out of consideration for the common welfare of mankind and\nthe gods, renders the Vans, who had banished him, this service, and as\nthe latter are in the greatest need of the assistance of the mighty\nAsa-father and his powerful sons in the conflict with the giant world,\nthen these facts explain sufficiently the reconciliation between the\nAsas and the Vans. This reconciliation was also in order on account of\nthe bonds of kinship between them. The chief hero of the Asas, Thor, was\nthe stepfather of Ull, the chief warrior of the Vans (Younger Edda, i.\n252). The record of a friendly settlement between Thor and Ull is\npreserved in a paraphrase, by which Thor is described in Thorsdrapa as\n\"_gulli Ullar_,\" he who with persuasive words makes Ull friendly. Odin\nwas invited to occupy again the high-seat in Asgard, with all the\nprerogatives of a paterfamilias and ruler (Saxo, _Hist._, 44). But the\ndispute which caused the conflict between him and the Vans was at the\nsame time manifestly settled to the advantage of the Vans. They do not\nassume in common the responsibility for the murder of Gulveig Angerboda.\nShe is banished to the Ironwood, but remains there unharmed until\nRagnarok, and when the destruction of the world approaches, then Njord\nshall leave the Asas threatened with the ruin they have themselves\ncaused and return to the \"wise Vans\" (_i aldar rauc hann mun aptr coma\nheim med visom vaunom_--Vafthr., 39).\n\nThe \"Hun war\" has supplied the answer to a question, which those\nbelieving in the myths naturally would ask themselves. That question\nwas: How did it happen that Midgard was not in historical times exposed\nto such attacks from the dwellers in Jotunheim as occurred in antiquity,\nand at that time threatened Asgard itself with destruction? The \"Hun\nwar\" was in the myth characterized by the countless lives lost by the\nenemy. This we learn from Saxo. The sea, he says, was so filled with the\nbodies of the slain that boats could hardly be rowed through the waves.\nIn the rivers their bodies formed bridges, and on land a person could\nmake a three days' journey on horseback without seeing anything but dead\nbodies of the slain (_Hist._, 234, 240). And so the answer to the\nquestion was, that the \"Hun war\" of antiquity had so weakened the giants\nin number and strength that they could not become so dangerous as they\nhad been to Asgard and Midgard formerly, that is, before the time\nimmediately preceding Ragnarok, when a new fimbul-winter is to set in,\nand when the giant world shall rise again in all its ancient might. From\nthe time of the \"Hun war\" and until then, Thor's hammer is able to keep\nthe growth of the giants' race within certain limits, wherefore Thor in\nHarbardsljod explains his attack on giants and giantesses with _micil\nmundi ett iotna, ef allir lifdi, vetr mundi manna undir Mithgarthi_.\n\nHadding's rising star of success must be put in connection with the\nreconciliation between the Asas and Vans. The reconciled gods must lay\naside that seed of new feuds between them which is contained in the war\nbetween Hadding, the favourite of the Asas, and Gudhorm, the favourite\nof the Vans. The great defeat once suffered by Hadding must be balanced\nby a corresponding victory, and then the contending kinsmen must be\nreconciled. And this happens. Hadding wins a great battle and enters\nupon a secure reign in his part of Teutondom. Then are tied new bonds of\nkinship and friendship between the hostile races, so that the Teutonic\ndynasties of chiefs may trace their descent both from Yngve (Svipdag)\nand from Borgar's son Halfdan. Hadding and a surviving grandson of\nSvipdag are united in so tender a devotion to one another that the\nlatter, upon an unfounded report of the former's death, is unable to\nsurvive him and takes his own life. And when Hadding learns this, he\ndoes not care to live any longer either, but meets death voluntarily\n(Saxo, _Hist._, 59, 60).\n\nAfter the reconciliation between the Asas and Vans they succeed in\ncapturing Loke. Saxo relates this in connection with Odin's return from\nAsgard, and here calls Loke _Mitothin_. In regard to this name, we may,\nwithout entering upon difficult conjectures concerning the first part of\nthe word, be sure that it, too, is taken by Saxo from the heathen\nrecords in which he has found his account of the first great war, and\nthat it, in accordance with the rule for forming such epithets, must\nrefer to a mythic person who has had a certain relation with Odin, and\nat the same time been his antithesis. According to Saxo, _Mitothin_ is a\nthoroughly evil being, who, like Aurboda, strove to disseminate the\npractice of witchcraft in the world and to displace Odin. He was\ncompelled to take flight and to conceal himself from the gods. He is\ncaptured and slain, but from his dead body arises a pest, so that he\ndoes no less harm after than before his death. It therefore became\nnecessary to open his grave, cut his head off, and pierce his breast\nwith a sharp stick (_Hist._, 43).\n\nThese statements in regard to _Mitothin's_ death seem at first glance\nnot to correspond very well with the mythic accounts of Loke's exit, and\nthus give room for doubt as to his identity with the latter. It is also\nclear that Saxo's narrative has been influenced by the mediaeval stories\nabout vampires and evil ghosts, and about the manner of preventing these\nfrom doing harm to the living. Nevertheless, all that he here tells, the\nbeheading included, is founded on the mythic accounts of Loke. The place\nwhere Loke is fettered is situated in the extreme part of the hell of\nthe wicked dead (see No. 78). The fact that he is relegated to the realm\nof the dead, and is there chained in a subterranean cavern until\nRagnarok, when all the dead in the lower world shall return, has been a\nsufficient reason for Saxo to represent him as dead and buried. That he\nafter death causes a pest corresponds with Saxo's account of\n_Ugarthilocus_, who has his prison in a cave under a rock situated in a\nsea, over which darkness broods for ever (the island _Lyngvi_ in\nAmsvartner's sea, where Loke's prison is--see No. 78). The hardy\nsea-captain, Thorkil, seeks and finds him in his cave of torture, pulls\na hair from the beard on his chin, and brings it with him to Denmark.\nWhen this hair afterwards is exposed and exhibited, the awful exhalation\nfrom it causes the death of several persons standing near (_Hist._, 432,\n433). When a hair from the beard of the tortured Loke (\"a hair from the\nevil one\") could produce this effect, then his whole body removed to the\nkingdom of death must work even greater mischief, until measures were\ntaken to prevent it. In this connection it is to be remembered that\nLoke, according to the Icelandic records, is the father of the feminine\ndemon of epidemics and diseases, of her who rules in Niflheim, the home\nof the spirits of disease (see No. 60), and that it is Loke's daughter\nwho rides the three-footed steed, which appears when an epidemic breaks\nout (see No. 67). Thus Loke is, according to the Icelandic mythic\nfragments, the cause of epidemics. Lakasenna also states that he lies\nwith a pierced body, although the weapon there is a sword, or possibly a\nspear (_pic a hiorvi scola binda god_--Lakas., 49). That Mitothin takes\nflight and conceals himself from the gods corresponds with the myth\nabout Loke. But that which finally and conclusively confirms the\nidentity of Loke and Mitothin is that the latter, though a thoroughly\nevil being and hostile to the gods, is said to have risen through the\nenjoyment of divine favour (_caelesti beneficio vegetatus_). Among male\nbeings of his character this applies to Loke alone.\n\nIn regard to the statement that Loke after his removal to the kingdom of\ndeath had his head separated from his body, Saxo here relates, though in\nhis own peculiar manner, what the myth contained about Loke's ruin,\nwhich was a logical consequence of his acts and happened long after his\nremoval to the realm of death. Loke is slain in Ragnarok, to which he,\nfreed from his cave of torture in the kingdom of death, proceeds at the\nhead of the hosts of \"the sons of destruction.\" In the midst of the\nconflict he seeks or is sought by his constant foe, Heimdal. The shining\ngod, the protector of Asgard, the original patriarch and benefactor of\nman, contends here for the last time with the Satan of the Teutonic\nmythology, and Heimdal and Loke mutually slay each other (_Loki a orustu\nvid Heimdall, ok verdr hvarr annars bani_--Younger Edda, 192). In this\nduel we learn that Heimdal, who fells his foe, was himself pierced or\n\"struck through\" to death by a head (_sva er sagt, at hann var lostinn\nmanns hoefdi i goegnum_--Younger Edda, 264; _hann var lostinn i hel med\nmanns hoefdi_--Younger Edda, 100, ed. Res). When Heimdal and Loke\nmutually cause each other's death, this must mean that Loke's head is\nthat with which Heimdal is pierced after the latter has cut it off with\nhis sword and become the bane (death) of his foe. Light is thrown on\nthis episode by what Saxo tells about Loke's head. While the demon in\nchains awaits Ragnarok, his hair and beard grow in such a manner that\n\"they in size and stiffness resemble horn-spears\" (_Ugarthilocus ...\ncujus olentes pili tam magnitudine quam rigore corneas aequaverant\nhastas_--_Hist._, 431, 432). And thus it is explained how the myth could\nmake his head act the part of a weapon. That amputated limbs continue to\nlive and fight is a peculiarity mentioned in other mythic sagas, and\nshould not surprise us in regard to Loke, the dragon-demon, the father\nof the Midgard-serpent (see further, No. 82).\n\n[Footnote 28: _Deseruit eum_ (Hun) _quoque Uggerus vates, vir aetatis\nincognitae et supra humanum terminum prolixae; qui Frothonem transfugae\ntitulo petens quidquid ab Hunis parabatur edocuit_ (_Hist._, 238).]\n\n\n 42.\n\n HALFDAN AND HAMAL FOSTER-BROTHERS. THE AMALIANS\n FIGHT IN BEHALF OF HALFDAN'S SON HADDING.\n HAMAL AND THE WEDGE-FORMED BATTLE-ARRAY. THE\n ORIGINAL MODEL OF THE BRAVALLA BATTLE.\n\n\nThe mythic progenitor of the Amalians, _Hamall_, has already been\nmentioned above as the foster-brother of the Teutonic patriarch, Halfdan\n(Helge Hundingsbane). According to Norse tradition, Hamal's father,\n_Hagall_, had been Halfdan's foster-father (Helge Hund., ii.), and thus\nthe devoted friend of Borgar. There being so close a relation between\nthe progenitors of these great hero-families of Teutonic mythology, it\nis highly improbable that the Amalians did not also act an important\npart in the first great world war, since all the Teutonic tribes, and\nconsequently surely their first families of mythic origin, took part in\nit. In the ancient records of the North, we discover a trace which\nindicates that the Amalians actually did fight on that side where we\nshould expect to find them, that is, on Hadding's, and that Hamal\nhimself was the field-commander of his foster-brother. The trace is\nfound in the phrase _fylkja Hamalt_, occurring in several places (Sig.\nFaf., ii. 23; Har. Hardr., ch. 2; Fornalds. Saga, ii. 40; Fornm., xi.\n304). The phrase can only be explained in one way, \"arranged the\nbattle-array as _Hamall_ first did it.\" To Hamal has also been ascribed\nthe origin of the custom of fastening the shields close together along\nthe ship's railing, which appears from the following lines in Harald\nHardrade's Saga, 63:\n\n Hamalt syndiz mer hoemlur\n hildings vinir skilda.\n\nWe also learn in our Norse records that _fylkja Hamalt_, \"to draw up in\nline of battle as Hamal did,\" means the same as _svinfylkja_, that is,\nto arrange the battalions in the form of a wedge.[29] Now Saxo relates\n(_Hist._, 52) that Hadding's army was the first to draw the forces up in\nthis manner, and that an old man (Odin) whom he has taken on board on a\nsea-journey had taught and advised him to do this.[30] Several centuries\nlater Odin, according to Saxo, taught this art to Harald Hildetand. But\nthe mythology has not made Odin teach it twice. The repetition has its\nreason in the fact that Harald Hildetand, in one of the records\naccessible to Saxo, was a son of Halfdan Borgarson (_Hist._, 361;\naccording to other records a son of Borgar himself--_Hist._, 337), and\nconsequently a son of Hadding's father, the consequence of which is that\nfeatures of Hadding's saga have been incorporated into the saga produced\nin a later time concerning the saga-hero Harald Hildetand. Thereby the\nBravalla battle has obtained so universal and gigantic a character.\n\nIt has been turned into an arbitrarily written version of the battle\nwhich ended in Hadding's defeat. Swedes, Goths, Norsemen, Curians, and\nEsthonians here fight on that side which, in the original model of the\nbattle, was represented by the hosts of Svipdag and Gudhorm; Danes (few\nin number, according to Saxo), Saxons (according to Saxo, the main part\nof the army), Livonians, and Slavs fight on the other side. The fleets\nand armies are immense on both sides. Shield-maids (amazons) occupy the\nposition which in the original was held by the giantesses Hardgrep,\nFenja, and Menja. In the saga description produced in Christian times\nthe Bravalla battle is a ghost of the myth concerning the first great\nwar. Therefore the names of several of the heroes who take part in the\nbattle are an echo from the myth concerning the Teutonic patriarchs and\nthe great war. There appear _Borgar_ and _Behrgar_ the wise (Borgar),\n_Haddir_ (Hadding), _Ruthar_ (_Hrutr_-Heimdal, see No. 28_a_), _Od_\n(_Odr_, a surname of Freyja's, husband, Svipdag, see Nos. 96-98, 100,\n101), _Brahi_ (_Brache_, _Asa-Bragr_, see No. 102), _Gram_ (Halfdan),\nand _Ingi_ (Yngve), all of which names we recognise from the patriarch\nsaga, but which, in the manner in which they are presented in the new\nsaga, show how arbitrarily the mythic records were treated at that time.\n\nThe myth has rightly described the wedge-shaped arrangement of the\ntroops as an ancient custom among the Teutons. Tacitus (_Germ._, 6) says\nthat the Teutons arranged their forces in the form of a wedge (_acies\nper cuneos componitur_), and Caesar suggests the same (_De Bell.\nGall._, i. 52: _Germani celeriter ex consuetudine sua phalange\nfacta_...). Thus our knowledge of this custom as Teutonic extends back\nto the time before the birth of Christ. Possibly it was then already\ncenturies old. The Aryan-Asiatic kinsmen of the Teutons had knowledge of\nit, and the Hindooic law-book, called Manus', ascribes to it divine\nsanctity and divine origin. On the geographical line which unites\nTeutondom with Asia it was also in vogue. According to AElianus (_De\ninstr. ac._, 18), the wedge-shaped array of battle was known to the\nScythians and Thracians.\n\nThe statement that Harald Hildetand, son of Halfdan Borgarson, learned\nthis arrangement of the forces from Odin many centuries after he had\ntaught the art to Hadding, does not disprove, but on the contrary\nconfirms, the theory that Hadding, son of Halfdan Borgarson, was not\nonly the first but also the only one who received this instruction from\nthe Asa-father. And as we now have side by side the two statements, that\nOdin gave Hadding this means of victory, and that Hamal was the first\none who arranged his forces in the shape of a wedge, then it is all the\nmore necessary to assume that these statements belong together, and that\nHamal was Hadding's general, especially as we have already seen that\nHadding's and Hamal's families were united by the sacred ties which\nconnect foster-father with foster-son and foster-brother with\nfoster-brother.\n\n[Footnote 29: Compare the passage, _Eirikr konungr fylkti sva lidi sinu,\nat rani (the swine-snout) var a framan a fylkinganni, ok lukt allt utan\nmed skjaldbjorg_, (Fornm., xi. 304), with the passage quoted in this\nconnection: _hildingr fylkti Hamalt lidi miklu_.]\n\n[Footnote 30: The saga of Sigurd Fafnersbane, which absorbed materials\nfrom all older sagas, has also incorporated this episode. On a\nsea-journey Sigurd takes on board a man who calls himself _Hnikarr_ (a\nname of Odin). He advises him to \"_fylkja Hamalt_\" (Sig. Fafn., ii.\n16-23).]\n\n\n 43.\n\n EVIDENCE THAT DIETERICH \"OF BERN\" IS HADDING. THE\n DIETERICH SAGA THUS HAS ITS ORIGIN IN THE MYTH\n CONCERNING THE WAR BETWEEN MANNUS-HALFDAN'S\n SONS.\n\n\nThe appearance of Hamal and the Amalians on Hadding's side in the great\nworld war becomes a certainty from the fact that we discover among the\ndescendants of the continental Teutons a great cycle of sagas, all of\nwhose events are more or less intimately connected with the mythic\nkernel: that Amalian heroes with unflinching fidelity supported a prince\nwho already in the tender years of his youth had been deprived of his\nshare of his father's kingdom, and was obliged to take flight from the\npersecution of a kinsman and his assistants to the far East, where he\nremained a long time, until after various fortunes of war he was able to\nreturn, conquer, and take possession of his paternal inheritance. And\nfor this he was indebted to the assistance of the brave Amalians. These\nare the chief points in the saga cycle about Dieterich of Bern\n(_thjodrekr_, _Thidrek_, _Theodericus_), and the fortunes of the young\nprince are, as we have thus seen, substantially the same as Hadding's.\n\nWhen we compare sagas preserved by the descendants of the Teutons of the\nContinent with sagas handed down to us from Scandinavian sources, we\nmust constantly bear in mind that the great revolution which the victory\nof Christianity over Odinism produced in the Teutonic world of thought,\ninasmuch as it tore down the ancient mythical structure and applied the\nfragments that were fit for use as material for a new saga\nstructure--that this revolution required a period of more than eight\nhundred years before it had conquered the last fastnesses of the Odinic\ndoctrine. On the one side of the slowly advancing borders between the\ntwo religions there developed and continued a changing and\ntransformation of the old sagas, the main purpose of which was to\nobliterate all that contained too much flavour of heathendom and was\nincompatible with Christianity; while, on the other side of the borders\nof faith, the old mythic songs, but little affected by the tooth of\ntime, still continued to live in their original form. Thus one might, to\nchoose the nearest example at hand, sing on the northern side of this\nfaith-border, where heathendom still prevailed, about how Hadding, when\nthe persecutions of Svipdag and his half-brother Gudhorm compelled him\nto fly to the far East, there was protected by Odin, and how he through\nhim received the assistance of _Hrutr-Heimdall_; while the Christians,\non the south side of this border, sang of how Dieterich, persecuted by a\nbrother and the protectors of the latter, was forced to take flight to\nthe far East, and how he was there received by a mighty king, who, as he\ncould no longer be Odin, must be the mightiest king in the East ever\nheard of--that is, Attila--and how Attila gave him as protector a\ncertain Ruediger, whose very name contains an echo of Ruther (Heimdal),\nwho could not, however, be the white Asa-god, Odin's faithful servant,\nbut must be changed into a faithful vassal and \"markgrave\" under Attila.\nThe Saxons were converted to Christianity by fire and sword in the\nlatter part of the eighth century. In the deep forests of Sweden\nheathendom did not yield completely to Christianity before the twelfth\ncentury. In the time of Saxo's father there were still heathen\ncommunities in Smaland on the Danish border. It follows that Saxo must\nhave received the songs concerning the ancient Teutonic heroes in a far\nmore original form than that in which the same songs could be found in\nGermany.\n\nHadding means \"the hairy one,\" \"the fair-haired;\" Dieterich\n(_thjodrekr_) means \"the ruler of the people,\" \"the great ruler.\" Both\nepithets belong to one and the same saga character. Hadding is the\nepithet which belongs to him as a youth, before he possessed a kingdom;\nDieterich is the epithet which represents him as the king of many\nTeutonic tribes. The Vilkinsaga says of him that he had an abundant and\nbeautiful growth of hair, but that he never got a beard. This is\nsufficient to explain the name Hadding, by which he was presumably\ncelebrated in song among all Teutonic tribes; for we have already seen\nthat Hadding is known in Anglo-Saxon poetry as Hearding, and, as we\nshall see, the continental Teutons knew him not only as Dieterich, but\nalso as Hartung. It is also possible that the name \"the hairy\" has in\nthe myth had the same purport as the epithet \"the fair-haired\" has in\nthe Norse account of Harald, Norway's first ruler, and that Hadding of\nthe myth was the prototype of Harald, when the latter made the vow to\nlet his hair grow until he was king of all Norway (Harald Harfager's\nSaga, 4). The custom of not cutting hair or beard before an exploit\nresolved upon was carried out was an ancient one among the Teutons, and\nso common and so sacred that it must have had foothold and prototype in\nthe hero-saga. Tacitus mentions it (_Germania_, 31); so does Paulus\nDiaconus (_Hist._, iii. 7) and Gregorius of Tours (v. 15).\n\nAlthough it had nearly ceased to be heard in the German saga cycle,\nstill the name Hartung has there left traces of its existence. \"Anhang\ndes Heldenbuchs\" mentions King Hartung _aus Reuessenlant_; that is to\nsay, a King Hartung who came from some land in the East. The poem\n\"Rosengarten\" (variant D; cp. W. Grimm, _D. Heldensage_, 139, 253) also\nmentions Hartunc, king _von Riuzen_. A comparison of the different\nversions of \"Rosengarten\" with the poem \"Dieterichs Flucht\" shows that\nthe name Hartung _von Riuzen_ in the course of time becomes Hartnit _von\nRiuzen_ and Hertnit _von Riuzen_, by which form of the name the hero\nreappears in Vilkinasaga as a king in Russia. If we unite the scattered\nfeatures contained in these sources about Hartung we get the following\nmain outlines of his saga:\n\n(_a_) Hartung is a king and dwells in an eastern country (all the\nrecords).\n\n(_b_) He is not, however, an independent ruler there, at least not in\nthe beginning, but is subject to Attila (who in the Dieterich's saga has\nsupplanted Odin as chief ruler in the East). He is Attila's man\n(\"Dieterichs Flucht\").\n\n(_c_) A Swedish king has robbed him of his land and driven him into\nexile.\n\n(_d_) The Swedish king is of the race of elves, and the chief of the\nsame race as the celebrated Velint--that is to say, Volund\n(Wayland)--belonged to (Vilkinasaga). As shall be shown later (see Nos.\n108, 109), Svipdag, the banisher of Hadding, belongs to the same race.\nHe is Volund's nephew (brother's son).\n\n(_e_) Hartung recovers, after the death of the Swedish conqueror, his\nown kingdom, and also conquers that of the Swedish king (Vilkinasaga).\n\nAll these features are found in the saga of Hadding. Thus the original\nidentity of Hadding and Hartung is beyond doubt. We also find that\nHartung, like Dieterich, is banished from his country; that he fled,\nlike him, to the East; that he got, like him, Attila the king of the\nEast as his protector; that he thereupon returned, conquered his\nenemies, and recovered his kingdom. Hadding's, Hartung's and Dieterich's\nsagas are, therefore, one and the same in root and in general outline.\nBelow it shall also be shown that the most remarkable details are common\nto them all.\n\nI have above (No. 42) given reasons why Hamal (Amala), the\nfoster-brother of Halfdan Borgarson, was Hadding's assistant and general\nin the war against his foes. The hero, who in the German saga has the\nsame place under Dieterich, is the aged \"master\" Hildebrand, Dieterich's\nfaithful companion, teacher, and commander of his troops. Can it be\ndemonstrated that what the German saga tells about Hildebrand reveals\nthreads that connect him with the saga of the original patriarchs, and\nthat not only his position as Dieterich's aged friend and general, but\nalso his genealogy, refer to this saga? And can a satisfactory\nexplanation be given of the reason why Hildebrand obtained in the German\nDieterich saga the same place as Hamal had in the old myth?\n\nHildebrand is, as his very name shows, a Hilding,[31] like Hildeger who\nappears in the patriarch saga (Saxo, _Hist._, 356-359). Hildeger was,\naccording to the tradition in Saxo, the half-brother of Halfdan\nBorgarson. They had the same mother _Drot_, but not the same father;\nHildeger counted himself a Swede on his father's side; Halfdan, Borgar's\nson, considered himself as belonging to the South Scandinavians and\nDanes, and hence the dying Hildeger sings to Halfdan (_Hist._, 357):\n\n Danica te tellus, me Sveticus edidit orbis.\n Drot tibi maternum, quondam distenderat uber;\n Hac genitrici tibi pariter collacteus exto.[32]\n\nIn the German tradition Hildebrand is the son of Herbrand. The Old High\nGerman fragment of the song, about Hildebrand's meeting with his son\nHadubrand, calls him _Heribrantes sunu_. Herbrand again is, according to\nthe poem \"Wolfdieterich,\" Berchtung's son (concerning Berchtung, see No.\n6). In a Norse tradition preserved by Saxo we find a Hilding (Hildeger)\nwho is Borgar's stepson; in the German tradition we find a Hilding\n(Herbrand) who is Borgar-Berchtung's son. This already shows that the\nGerman saga about Hildebrand was originally connected with the patriarch\nsaga about Borgar, Halfdan, and Halfdan's sons, and that the Hildings\nfrom the beginning were akin to the Teutonic patriarchs. Borgar's\ntransformation from stepfather to the father of a Hilding shall be\nexplained below.\n\nHildeger's saga and Hildebrand's are also related in subject matter. The\nfortunes of both the kinsmen are at the same time like each other and\nthe antithesis of each other. Hildeger's character is profoundly tragic;\nHildebrand is happy and secure. Hildeger complains in his death-song in\nSaxo (cp. Asmund Kaempebane's saga) that he has fought with and slain his\nown beloved son. In the Old High German song-fragment Hildebrand seeks,\nafter his return from the East, his son Hadubrand, who believed that his\nfather was dead and calls Hildebrand a deceiver, who has taken the dead\nman's name, and forces him to fight a duel. The fragment ends before we\nlearn the issue of the duel; but Vilkinasaga and a ballad about\nHildebrand have preserved the tradition in regard to it. When the old\n\"master\" has demonstrated that his Hadubrand is not yet equal to him in\narms, father and son ride side by side in peace and happiness to their\nhome. Both the conflicts between father and son, within the Hilding\nfamily, are pendants and each other's antithesis. Hildeger, who\npassionately loves war and combat, inflicts in his eagerness for strife\na deep wound in his own heart when he kills his own son. Hildebrand acts\nwisely, prudently, and seeks to ward off and allay the son's love of\ncombat before the duel begins, and he is able to end it by pressing his\nyoung opponent to his paternal bosom. On the other hand, Hildeger's\nconduct toward his half-brother Halfdan, the ideal of a noble and\ngenerous enemy, and his last words to his brother, who, ignorant of the\nkinship, has given him the fatal wound, and whose mantle the dying one\nwishes to wrap himself in (Asmund Kaempebane's saga), is one of the\ntouching scenes in the grand poems about our earliest ancestors. It\nseems to have proclaimed that blood revenge was inadmissible, when a\nkinsman, without being aware of the kinship, slays a kinsman, and when\nthe latter before he died declared his devotion to his slayer. At all\nevents we rediscover the aged Hildebrand as the teacher and protector of\nthe son of the same Halfdan who slew Hildeger, and not a word is said\nabout blood revenge between Halfdan's and Hildeger's descendants.\n\nThe kinship pointed out between the Teutonic patriarchs and the Hildings\nhas not, however, excluded a relation of subordination of the latter to\nthe former. In \"Wolfdieterich\" Hildebrand's father receives land and\nfief from Dieterich's grandfather and carries his banner in war.\nHildebrand himself performs toward Dieterich those duties which are due\nfrom a foster-father, which, as a rule, show a relation of\nsubordination to the real father of the foster-son. Among the kindred\nfamilies to which Dieterich and Hildebrand belong there was the same\ndifference of rank as between those to which Hadding and Hamal belong.\nHamal's father Hagal was Halfdan's foster-father, and, to judge from\nthis, occupied the position of a subordinate friend toward Halfdan's\nfather Borgar. Thus Halfdan and Hamal were foster-brothers, and from\nthis it follows that Hamal, if he survived Halfdan, was bound to assume\na foster-father's duties towards the latter's son Hadding, who was not\nyet of age. Hamal's relation to Hadding is therefore entirely analagous\nto Hildebrand's relation to Dieterich.\n\nThe pith of that army which attached itself to Dieterich are Amelungs,\nAmalians (see \"Biterolf\"); that is to say, members of Hamal's race. The\noldest and most important hero, the pith of the pith, is old master\nHildebrand himself, Dieterich's foster-father and general. Persons who\nin the German poems have names which refer to their Amalian birth are by\nHildebrand treated as members of a clan are treated by a clan-chief.\nThus Hildebrand brings from Sweden a princess, Amalgart, and gives her\nas wife to a son of Amelolt serving among Dieterich's Amelungs, and to\nAmelolt Hildebrand has already given his sister for a wife.\n\nThe question as to whether we find threads which connect the Hildebrand\nof the German poem with the saga of the mythic patriarchs, and\nespecially with the Hamal (Amala) who appears in this saga, has now been\nanswered. Master Hildebrand has in the German saga-cycle received the\nposition and the tasks which originally belonged to Hamal, the\nprogenitor of the Amalians.\n\nThe relation between the kindred families--the patriarch family, the\nHilding family, and the Amal family--has certainly been just as\ndistinctly pointed out in the German saga-cycle as in the Norse before\nthe German met with a crisis, which to some extent confused the old\nconnection. This crisis came when Hadding-_thjodrekr_ of the ancient\nmyth was confounded with the historical king of the East Goths,\nTheoderich. The East Goth Theoderich counted himself as belonging to the\nAmal family, which had grown out of the soil of the myth. He was,\naccording to Jordanes (_De Goth. Orig._, 14), a son of Thiudemer, who\ntraced his ancestry to Amal (Hamal), son of Augis (Hagal).[33] The\nresult of the confusion was:\n\n(_a_) That Hadding-_thjodrekr_ became the son of Thiudemer, and that his\ndescent from the Teuton patriarchs was cut off.\n\n(_b_) That Hadding-_thjodrekr_ himself became a descendant of Hamal,\nwhereby the distinction between this race of rulers--the line of\nTeutonic patriarchs begun with Ruther Heimdal--together with the Amal\nfamily, friendly but subject to the Hadding family, and the Hilding\nfamily was partly obscured and partly abolished. Dieterich himself\nbecame an \"Amelung\" like several of his heroes.\n\n(_c_) That when Hamal thus was changed from an elder contemporary of\nHadding-_thjodrekr_ into his earliest progenitor, separated from him by\nseveral generations of time, he could no longer serve as Dieterich's\nfoster-father and general; but this vocation had to be transferred to\nmaster Hildebrand, who also in the myth must have been closely connected\nwith Hadding, and, together with Hamal, one of his chief and constant\nhelpers.\n\n(_d_) That Borgar-Berchtung, who in the myth is the grandfather of\nHadding-_thjodrekr_, must, as he was not an Amal, resign this dignity\nand confine himself to being the progenitor of the Hildings. As we have\nseen, he is in Saxo the progenitor of the Hilding Hildeger.\n\nAnother result of Hadding-_thjodrekr's_ confusion with the historical\nTheoderich was that Dieterich's kingdom, and the scene of various of his\nexploits, was transferred to Italy: to Verona (Bern), Ravenna (Raben),\n&c. Still the strong stream of the ancient myths became master of the\nconfused historical increments, so that the Dieterich of the saga has\nbut little in common with the historical Theoderich.\n\nAfter the dissemination of Christianity, the hero saga of the Teutonic\nmyths was cut off from its roots in the mythology, and hence this\nconfusion was natural and necessary. Popular tradition, in which traces\nwere found of the historical Theoderich-Dieterich, was no longer able to\ndistinguish the one Dieterich from the other. A writer acquainted with\nthe chronicle of Jordanes took the last step and made Theoderich's\nfather Thiudemer the father of the mythic Hadding-_thjodrekr_.\n\nNor did the similarity of names alone encourage this blending of the\npersons. There was also another reason. The historical Theoderich had\nfought against Odoacer. The mythic Hadding-_thjodrekr_ had warred with\nSvipdag, the husband of Freyja, who also bore the name _Odr_ and _Ottar_\n(see Nos. 96-100). The latter name-form corresponds to the English and\nGerman _Otter_, the Old High German _Otar_, a name which suggested the\nhistorical _Otacher_ (Odoacer). The Dieterich and Otacher of historical\ntraditions became identified with _thjodrekr_ and _Ottar_ of mythical\ntraditions.\n\nAs the Hadding-_thjodrekr_ of mythology was in his tender youth exposed\nto the persecutions of Ottar, and had to take flight from them to the\nfar East, so the Dieterich of the historical saga also had to suffer\npersecutions in his tender youth from Otacher, and take flight,\naccompanied by his faithful Amalians, to a kingdom in the East.\nAccordingly, Hadubrand says of his father Hildebrand, that, when he\nbetook himself to the East with Dieterich, _floh her Otachres nid_, \"he\nfled from Otacher's hate.\" Therefore, Otacher soon disappears from the\nGerman saga-cycle, for Svipdag-Ottar perishes and disappears in the\nmyth, long before Hadding's victory and restoration to his father's\npower (see No. 106).\n\nOdin and Heimdal, who then, according to the myth, dwelt in the East and\nthere became the protectors of Hadding, must, as heathen deities, be\nremoved from the Christian saga, and be replaced as best they could by\nothers. The famous ruler in the East, Attila, was better suited than\nanyone else to take Odin's place, though Attila was dead before\nTheoderich was born. Ruther-Heimdal was, as we have already seen,\nchanged into Ruediger.\n\nThe myth made Hadding dwell in the East for many years (see above). The\nten-year rule of the Vans in Asgard must end, and many other events must\noccur before the epic connection of the myths permitted Hadding to\nreturn as a victor. As a result of this, the saga of \"Dieterich of Bern\"\nalso lets him remain a long time with Attila. An old English song\npreserved in the Exeter manuscript, makes _Theodric_ remain _thrittig\nwintra_ in exile at Maeringaburg. The song about Hildebrand and Hadubrand\nmake him remain in exile _sumaro enti wintro sehstic_, and Vilkinasaga\nmakes him sojourn in the East thirty-two years.\n\nMaeringaburg of the Anglo-Saxon poem is the refuge which Odin opened for\nhis favourite, and where the former dwelt during his exile in the East.\nMaeringaburg means a citadel inhabited by noble, honoured, and splendid\npersons: compare the Old Norse _maeringr_. But the original meaning of\n_maerr_, Old German _mara_, is \"glittering,\" \"shining,\" \"pure,\" and it is\npossible that, before _maeringr_ received its general signification of a\nfamous, honoured, noble man, it was used in the more special sense of a\nman descended from \"the shining one,\" that is to say, from Heimdal\nthrough Borgar. However this may be, these \"maeringar\" have, in the\nAnglo-Saxon version of the Hadding saga, had their antitheses in the\n\"baningar,\" that is, the men of Loke-Bicke (Bekki). This appears from\nthe expression _Bekka veold Baningum_, in Codex Exoniensis. The Banings\nare no more than the Maerings, an historical name. The interpretation of\nthe word is to be sought in the Anglo-Saxon _bana_, the English _bane_.\nThe Banings means \"the destroyers,\" \"the corrupters,\" a suitable\nappellation of those who follow the source of pest, the all-corrupting\nLoke. In the German poems, Maeringaburg is changed to Meran, and\nBorgar-Berchtung (Hadding's grandfather in the myth) is Duke of Meran.\nIt is his fathers who have gone to the gods that Hadding finds again\nwith Odin and Heimdal in the East.\n\nDespite the confusion of the historical Theoderich with the mythic\nHadding-_thjodrekr_, a tradition has been handed down within the German\nsaga-cycle to the effect that \"Dieterich of Bern\" belonged to a\ngenealogy which Christianity had anathematised. Two of the German\nDieterich poems, \"Nibelunge Noth\" and \"Klage,\" refrain from mentioning\nthe ancestors of their hero. Wilhelm Grimm suspects that the reason for\nthis is that the authors of these poems knew something about Dieterich's\ndescent, which they could not relate without wounding Christian ears;\nand he reminds us that, when the Vilkinasaga Thidrek (Dieterich) teases\nHoegne (Hagen) by calling him the son of an elf, Hoegne answers that\nThidrek has a still worse descent, as he is the son of the devil\nhimself. The matter, which in Grimm's eyes is mystical, is explained by\nthe fact that Hadding-_thjodrekr's_ father in the myth, Halfdan\nBorgarson, was supposed to be descended from Thor, and in his capacity\nof a Teutonic patriarch he had received divine worship (see Nos. 23 and\n30). _Anhang des Heldenbuchs_ says that Dieterich was the son of a\n\"boeser geyst.\"\n\nIt has already been stated (No. 38) that Hadding from Odin received a\ndrink which exercised a wonderful influence upon his physical nature. It\nmade him _recreatum vegetiori corporis firmitate_, and, thanks to it and\nto the incantation sung over him by Odin, he was able to free himself\nfrom the chains afterwards put on him by Loke. It has also been pointed\nout that this drink contained something called Leifner's or Leifin's\nflames. There is every reason for assuming that these \"flames\" had the\neffect of enabling the person who had partaken of the potion of\nLeifner's flames to free himself from his chains with his own breath.\nGroa (Groagalder, 10) gives her son Svipdag \"Leifner's fires\" in order\nthat if he is chained, his enchanted limbs may be liberated (_ek laet\nther Leifnis elda fyr kvedinn legg_). The record of the giving of this\ngift to Hadding meets us in the German saga, in the form that Dieterich\nwas able with his breath to burn the fetters laid upon him (see\n\"Laurin\"), nay, when he became angry, he could breathe fire and make the\ncuirass of his opponent red-hot. The tradition that Hadding by eating,\non the advice of Odin, the heart of a wild beast (Saxo says of a lion)\ngained extraordinary strength, is also preserved in the form, that when\nDieterich was in distress, God sent him _eines loewen krafft von\nherczenlichen zoren_ (\"Ecken Ausfarth\").\n\nSaxo relates that Hadding on one occasion was invited to descend into\nthe lower world and see its strange things (see No. 47). The heathen\nlower world, with its fields of bliss and places of torture, became in\nthe Christian mind synonymous with hell. Hadding's descent to the lower\nworld, together with the mythic account of his journey through the air\non Odin's horse Sleipner, were remembered in Christian times in the form\nthat he once on a black diabolical horse rode to hell. This explains the\nremarkable _denouement_ of the Dieterich saga; namely, that he, the\nmagnanimous and celebrated hero, was captured by the devil. Otto of\nFriesingen (first half of the twelfth century) states that _Theodoricus\nvivus equo sedens ad inferos descendit_. The Kaiser chronicle says that\n\"many saw that the devils took Dieterich and carried him into the\nmountain to Vulcan.\"\n\nIn Saxo we read that Hadding once while bathing had an adventure which\nthreatened him with the most direful revenge from the gods (see No.\n106). Manuscripts of the Vilkinasaga speak of a fateful bath which\nThidrek took, and connects it with his journey to hell. While the hero\nwas bathing there came a black horse, the largest and stateliest ever\nseen. The king wrapped himself in his bath towel and mounted the horse.\nHe found, too late, that the steed was the devil, and he disappeared for\never.\n\n[Illustration: ODIN PUNISHES THE MONSTROUS PROGENY OF LOKE.\n\n(_From an etching by Lorenz Froelich Froelloh._)\n\nLoke was at one time the comrade of Odin but by his mismating with a\ngiantess, Angerboda, he became the father of three monsters, the Fenris\nWolf, the Midgard Serpent and the terrible Hel, at the sight of which\nlatter living creatures were immediately stricken dead. Odin was so\nenraged by these issues of Loke's commerce with a giantess, that he had\nthe brood brought before him in Asgard, and seizing Hel and the snake in\nhis powerful arms he flung them far out into space. Hel fell for nine\ndays until she reached Helheim, far beneath the earth, where she became\nruler over the dead. The snake dropped into the ocean that surrounds\nMidgard, where it was to remain growing until its coils should envelop\nthe earth and in the end should help to bring about the destruction of\nthe world. The Wolf was borne away by Tyr and placed in chains, but\nescaping later at Ragnarok he devoured Odin.]\n\nSaxo tells that Hadding made war on a King Handuanus, who had concealed\nhis treasures in the bottom of a lake, and who was obliged to ransom his\nlife with a golden treasure of the same weight as his body (_Hist._. 41,\n42, 67). Handuanus is a Latinised form of the dwarf name _Andvanr,\nAndvani_. The Sigurd saga has a record of this event, and calls the\ndwarf _Andvari_ (Sig. Fafn., ii.). The German saga is also able to\ntell of a war which Dieterich waged against a dwarf king. The war has\nfurnished the materials for the saga of \"Laurin.\" Here, too, the\nconquered dwarf-king's life is spared, and Dieterich gets possession of\nmany of his treasures.\n\nIn the German as in the Norse saga, Hadding-_thjodrekr's_ rival to\nsecure the crown was his brother, supported by _Otacher-Ottar_\n(Svipdag). The tradition in regard to this, which agrees with the myth,\nwas known to the author of _Anhang des Heldenbuchs_. But already in an\nearly day the brother was changed into uncle on account of the\nintermixing of historical reminiscences.\n\nThe brother's name in the Norse tradition is _Gudhormr_, in the German\n_Ermenrich_ (_Ermanaricus_). _Ermenrich Joermunrekr_ means, like\n_thjodrekr_, a ruler over many people, a great king. Jordanes already\nhas confounded the mythic _Joermunrekr-Gudhormr_ with the historical\nGothic King _Hermanaricus_, whose kingdom was destroyed by the Huns, and\nhas applied to him the saga of Svanhild and her brothers _Sarus_\n(_Soerli_) and _Ammius_ (_Hamdir_), a saga which originally was connected\nwith that of the mythic _Joermunrek_. The Sigurd epic, which expanded\nwith plunder from all sources, has added to the confusion by annexing\nthis saga.\n\nIn the Roman authors the form _Herminones_ is found by the side of\n_Hermiones_ as the name of one of the three Teutonic tribes which\ndescended from Mannus. It is possible, as already indicated, that\n_-horm_ in _Gudhorm_ is connected with the form _Hermio_, and it is\nprobable, as already pointed out by several linguists, that the\nTeutonic _irmin_ (_joermun_, Goth. _airmana_) is linguistically\nconnected with the word _Hermino_. In that case, the very names\n_Gudhormr_ and _Joermunrekr_ already point as such to the mythic\nprogenitor of the Hermiones, Herminones, just as Yngve-Svipdag's name\npoints to the progenitor of the _Ingvaeones_ (Ingaevones), and possibly\nalso Hadding's to that of the Istaevones (see No. 25). To the name\nHadding corresponds, as already shown, the Anglo-Saxon Hearding, the old\nGerman Hartung. The _Hasdingi_ (_Asdingi_) mentioned by Jordanes were\nthe chief warriors of the Vandals (_Goth. Orig._, 22), and there may be\na mythic reason for rediscovering this family name among an East\nTeutonic tribe (the Vandals), since Hadding, according to the myth, had\nhis support among the East Teutonic tribes. To the form _Hasdingi_\n(Goth. _Hazdiggos_) the words _istaevones_, _istvaeones_, might readily\nenough correspond, provided the vowel _i_ in the Latin form can be\nharmonised with _a_ in the Teutonic. That the vowel _i_ was an uncertain\nelement may be seen from the genealogy in Codex La Cava, which calls\nIstaevo _Ostius_, _Hostius_.\n\nAs to geography, both the Roman and Teutonic records agree that the\nnorthern Teutonic tribes were Ingaevones. In the myths they are\nScandinavians and neighbours to the Ingaevones. In the Beowulf poem the\nking of the Danes is called _eodor Inguina_, the protection of the\nIngaevones, and _frea Inguina_, the lord of the Ingaevones. Tacitus says\nthat they live nearest to the ocean (_Germ._, 2); Pliny says that\nCimbrians, Teutons, and Chaucians were Ingaevones (_Hist. Nat._, iv. 28).\nPomponius Mela says that the land of the Cimbrians and Teutons was\nwashed by the Codan bay (iii. 3). As to the Hermiones and Istaevones, the\nformer dwelt along the middle Rhine, and of the latter, who are the East\nTeutons of mythology, several tribes had already before the time of\nPliny pressed forward south of the Hermiones to this river.\n\nThe German saga-cycle has preserved the tradition that in the first\ngreat battle in which Hadding-_thjodrekr_ measured his strength with the\nNorth and West Teutons he suffered a great defeat. This is openly avowed\nin the Dieterich poem \"die Klage.\" Those poems, on the other hand, which\nout of sympathy for their hero give him victory in this battle (\"the\nRaben battle\") nevertheless in fact acknowledge that such was not the\ncase, for they make him return to the East after the battle and remain\nthere many years, robbed of his crown, before he makes his second and\nsuccessful attempt to regain his kingdom. Thus the \"Raben battle\"\ncorresponds to the mythic battle in which Hadding is defeated by\nIngaevones and Hermiones. Besides the \"Raben battle\" has from a Teutonic\nstandpoint a trait of universality, and the German tradition has upon\nthe whole faithfully, and in harmony with the myth, grouped the allies\nand heroes of the hostile brothers. Dieterich is supported by East\nTeutonic warriors, and by non-Teutonic people from the East--from\nPoland, Wallachia, Russia, Greece, &c.; Ermenrich, on the other hand, by\nchiefs from Thuringia, Swabia, Hessen, Saxony, the Netherlands, England,\nand the North, and, above all, by the Burgundians, who in the genealogy\nin the St. Gaelen Codex are counted among the Hermiones, and in the\ngenealogy in the La Cava Codex are counted with the Ingaevones. For the\nmythic descent of the Burgundian dynasty from an uncle of Svipdag I\nshall present evidence in my chapters on the Ivalde race.\n\nThe original identity of Hadding's and Dieterich's sagas, and their\ndescent from the myth concerning the earliest antiquity and the\npatriarchs, I now regard as demonstrated and established. The war\nbetween Hadding-Dieterich and Gudhorm-Ermenrich is identical with the\nconflict begun by Yngve-Svipdag between the tribes of the Ingaevones,\nHermiones, and Istaevones. It has also been demonstrated that Halfdan,\nGudhorm's, and Hadding's father, and Yngve-Svipdag's stepfather, is\nidentical with Mannus. One of the results of this investigation is,\ntherefore, that _the songs about Mannus and his sons, ancient already in\nthe days of Tacitus, have, more or less influenced by the centuries,\ncontinued to live far down in the middle ages, and that, not the songs\nthemselves, but the main features of their contents, have been preserved\nto our time_, and should again be incorporated in our mythology together\nwith the myth in regard to the primeval time, the main outline of which\nhas been restored, and the final episode of which is the first great war\nin the world.\n\nThe Norse-Icelandic school, which accepted and developed the learned\nhypothesis of the middle age in regard to the immigration of Odin and\nhis Asiamen, is to blame that the myth, in many respects important, in\nregard to the olden time and its events in the world of gods and\nmen--among Aryan myths one of the most important, either from a\nscientific or poetic point of view, that could be handed down to our\ntime--was thrust aside and forgotten. The learned hypothesis and the\nancient myth could not be harmonised. For that reason the latter had to\nyield. Nor was there anything in this myth that particularly appealed to\nthe Norse national feeling, and so could claim mercy. Norway is not at\nall named in it. Scania, Denmark, Svithiod (Sweden), and continental\nTeutondom are the scene of the mythic events. Among the many causes\nco-operating in Christian times, in giving what is now called \"Norse\nmythology\" its present character, there is not one which has contributed\nso much as the rejection of this myth toward giving \"Norse mythology\"\nthe stamp which it hitherto has borne of a narrow, illiberal town\nmythology, which, built chiefly on the foundation of the Younger Edda,\nis, as shall be shown in the present work, in many respects a caricature\nof the real Norse, and at the same time in its main outlines Teutonic,\nmythology.\n\nIn regard to the ancient Aryan elements in the myth here presented, see\nNos. 82 and 111.\n\n[Footnote 31: In nearly all the names of members of this family, Hild-\nor -brand, appears as a part of the compound word. All that the names\nappear to signify is that their owners belong to the Hilding race.\nExamples:--\n\n _Old High German fragment._ Herbrand - Hildebrand - Hadubrand.\n _Wolfdieterich_ Berchtung. - Herbrand - Hildebrand.\n _Vilkinasaga._ Hildebrand. - Alebrand.\n _A popular song about\n Hildebrand._ Hildebrand. - The younger Hildebrand.\n / Hildir.\n _Fundin Noregur._ Hildir. - Hildebrand.\n \\ Herbrand.\n / Hildir.\n _Flateybook, i. 25,_ Hildir. - Hildebrand. - Vigbrand.\n \\ Herbrand.\n _Asmund Kaempebane's Saga._ Hildebrand. - Helge. - Hildebrand.\n]\n\n[Footnote 32: Compare in Asmund Kaempebane's saga the words of the dying\nhero:\n\n _thik Drott of bar\n af Danmorku\n en mik sjalfan\n a Svithiodu._\n]\n\n[Footnote 33: The texts of Jordanes often omit the aspirate and write\nEruli for Heruli, &c. In regard to the name-form Amal, Closs remarks, in\nhis edition of 1886: AMAL, _sic, Ambr. cum Epit. et Pall, nisi quod hi\nHamal aspirate_.]\n\n\n\n\n IV.\n\n THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE\n LOWER WORLD.\n\n\n 44.\n\n MIDDLE AGE SAGAS WITH ROOTS IN THE MYTH CONCERNING\n THE LOWER WORLD. ERIK VIDFORLE'S SAGA.\n\n\nFar down in Christian times there prevailed among the Scandinavians the\nidea that their heathen ancestors had believed in the existence of a\nplace of joy, from which sorrow, pain, blemishes, age, sickness, and\ndeath were excluded. This place of joy was called _Odainsakr_,\nthe-acre-of-the-not-dead, _Joerd lifanda manna_, the earth of living men.\nIt was situated not in heaven but below, either on the surface of the\nearth or in the lower world, but it was separated from the lands\ninhabited by men in such a manner that it was not impossible, but\nnevertheless exceeding perilous, to get there.\n\nA saga from the fourteenth century incorporated in Flateybook, and with\na few textual modifications in Fornald. Saga, iii., tells the following:\n\nErik, the son of a petty Norse king, one Christmas Eve, made the vow to\nseek out Odainsaker, and the fame of it spread over all Norway. In\ncompany with a Danish prince, who also was named Erik, he betook\nhimself first to Miklagard (Constantinople), where the king engaged the\nyoung men in his service, and was greatly benefited by their warlike\nskill. One day the king talked with the Norwegian Erik about religion,\nand the result was that the latter surrendered the faith of his\nancestors and accepted baptism. He told his royal teacher of the vow he\nhad taken to find Odainsaker,--\"_fra honum heyrdi ver sagt a voru\nlandi_,\"--and asked him if he knew where it was situated. The king\nbelieved that Odainsaker was identical with Paradise, and said it lies\nin the East beyond the farthest boundaries of India, but that no one was\nable to get there because it was enclosed by a fire-wall, which aspires\nto heaven itself. Still Erik was bound by his vow, and with his Danish\nnamesake he set out on his journey, after the king had instructed them\nas well as he was able in regard to the way, and had given them a letter\nof recommendation to the authorities and princes through whose\nterritories they had to pass. They travelled through Syria and the\nimmense and wonderful India, and came to a dark country where the stars\nare seen all day long. After having traversed its deep forests, they saw\nwhen it began to grow light a river, over which there was a vaulted\nstone bridge. On the other side of the river there was a plain, from\nwhich came sweet fragrance. Erik conjectured that the river was the one\ncalled by the king in Miklagard Pison, and which rises in Paradise. On\nthe stone bridge lay a dragon with wide open mouth. The Danish prince\nadvised that they return, for he considered it impossible to conquer the\ndragon or to pass it. But the Norwegian Erik seized one of his men by\none hand, and rushed with his sword in the other against the dragon.\nThey were seen to vanish between the jaws of the monster. With the other\ncompanions the Danish prince then returned by the same route as he had\ncome, and after many years he got back to his native land.\n\nWhen Erik and his fellow-countryman had been swallowed by the dragon,\nthey thought themselves enveloped in smoke; but it was scattered, and\nthey were unharmed, and saw before them the great plain lit up by the\nsun and covered with flowers. There flowed rivers of honey, the air was\nstill, but just above the ground were felt breezes that conveyed the\nfragrance of the flowers. It is never dark in this country, and objects\ncast no shadow. Both the adventurers went far into the country in order\nto find, if possible, inhabited parts. But the country seemed to be\nuninhabited. Still they discovered a tower in the distance. They\ncontinued to travel in that direction, and on coming nearer they found\nthat the tower was suspended in the air, without foundation or pillars.\nA ladder led up to it. Within the tower there was a room, carpeted with\nvelvet, and there stood a beautiful table with delicious food in silver\ndishes, and wine in golden goblets. There were also splendid beds. Both\nthe men were now convinced that they had come to Odainsaker, and they\nthanked God that they had reached their destination. They refreshed\nthemselves and laid themselves to sleep. While Erik slept there came to\nhim a beautiful lad, who called him by name, and said he was one of the\nangels who guarded the gates of Paradise, and also Erik's guardian\nangel, who had been at his side when he vowed to go in search of\nOdainsaker. He asked whether Erik wished to remain where he now was or\nto return home. Erik wished to return to report what he had seen. The\nangel informed him that Odainsaker, or _joerd lifanda manna_, where he\nnow was, was not the same place as Paradise, for to the latter only\nspirits could come, and the land of spirits, Paradise, was so glorious\nthat, in comparison, Odainsaker seemed like a desert. Still, these two\nregions are on each other's borders, and the river which Erik had seen\nhas its source in Paradise. The angel permitted the two travellers to\nremain in Odainsaker for six days to rest themselves. Then they returned\nby way of Miklagard to Norway, and there Erik was called _vid-foerli_,\nthe far-travelled.\n\nIn regard to Erik's genealogy, the saga states (Fornald. Saga, iii. 519)\nthat his father's name was Thrand, that his aunt (mother's sister) was a\ncertain Svanhvit, and that he belonged to the race of Thjasse's daughter\nSkade. Further on in the domain of the real myth, we shall discover an\nErik who belongs to Thjasse's family, and whose mother is a swan-maid\n(goddess of growth). This latter Erik also succeeded in seeing\nOdainsaker (see Nos. 102, 103).\n\n\n 45.\n\n MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (_continued_). ICELANDIC SOURCES IN\n REGARD TO GUDMUND, KING ON THE GLITTERING\n PLAINS.\n\n\nIn the saga of Hervor, Odainsaker is mentioned, and there without any\nvisible addition of Christian elements. Gudmund (_Godmundr_) was the\nname of a king in Jotunheim. His home was called _Grund_, but the\ndistrict in which it was situated was called the Glittering Plains\n(_Glaesisvellir_). He was wise and mighty, and in a heathen sense pious,\nand he and his men became so old that they lived many generations.\nTherefore, the story continues, the heathens believed that Odainsaker\nwas situated in his country. \"That place (Odainsaker) is for everyone\nwho comes there so healthy that sickness and age depart, and no one ever\ndies there.\"\n\nAccording to the saga-author, Jotunheim is situated north from\nHalogaland, along the shores of Gandvik. The wise and mighty Gudmund\ndied after he had lived half a thousand years. After his death the\npeople worshipped him as a god, and offered sacrifices to him.\n\nThe same Gudmund is mentioned in Herrod's and Bose's saga as a ruler of\nthe Glittering Plains, who was very skilful in the magic arts. The\nGlittering Plains are here said to be situated near Bjarmaland, just as\nin Thorstein Baearmagn's saga, in which king Gudmund's kingdom,\nGlittering Plains, is a country tributary to Jotunheim, whose ruler is\nGeirrod.\n\nIn the history of Olaf Trygveson, as it is given in Flateybook, the\nfollowing episode is incorporated. The Northman Helge Thoreson was sent\non a commercial journey to the far North on the coast of Finmark, but he\ngot lost in a great forest. There he met twelve red-clad young maidens\non horseback, and the horses' trappings shone like gold. The chief one\nof the maidens was Ingeborg, the daughter of Gudmund on the Glittering\nPlains. The young maidens raised a splendid tent and set a table with\ndishes of silver and gold. Helge was invited to remain, and he stayed\nthree days with Ingeborg. Then Gudmund's daughters got ready to leave;\nbut before they parted Helge received from Ingeborg two chests full of\ngold and silver. With these he returned to his father, but mentioned to\nnobody how he had obtained them. The next Yule night there came a great\nstorm, during which two men carried Helge away, none knew whither. His\nsorrowing father reported this to Olaf Trygveson. The year passed. Then\nit happened at Yule that Helge came in to the king in the hall, and with\nhim two strangers, who handed Olaf two gold-plated horns. They said they\nwere gifts from Gudmund on the Glittering Plains. Olaf filled the horns\nwith good drink and handed them to the messengers. Meanwhile he had\ncommanded the bishop who was present to bless the drink. The result was\nthat the heathen beings, who were Gudmund's messengers, cast the horns\naway, and at the same time there was great noise and confusion in the\nhall. The fire was extinguished, and Gudmund's men disappeared with\nHelge, after having slain three of King Olaf's men. Another year passed.\nThen there came to the king two men, who brought Helge with them, and\ndisappeared again. Helge was at that time blind. The king asked him many\nquestions, and Helge explained that he had spent most happy days at\nGudmund's; but King Olaf's prayers had at length made it difficult for\nGudmund and his daughter to retain him, and before his departure\nIngeborg picked his eyes out, in order that Norway's daughters should\nnot fall in love with them. With his gifts Gudmund had intended to\ndeceive King Olaf; but upon the whole Helge had nothing but good to\nreport about this heathen.\n\n\n 46.\n\n MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (_continued_). SAXO CONCERNING\n THIS SAME GUDMUND, RULER OF THE LOWER WORLD.\n\n\nSaxo, the Danish historian, also knows Gudmund. He relates (_Hist.\nDan._, viii.) that King Gorm had resolved to find a mysterious country\nin regard to which there were many reports in the North. Incredible\ntreasures were preserved in that land. A certain Geruthus, known in the\ntraditions, dwelt there, but the way thither was full of dangers and\nwell-nigh inaccessible for mortals. They who had any knowledge of the\nsituation of the land insisted that it was necessary to sail across the\nocean surrounding the earth, leave sun and stars behind, and make a\njourney _sub Chao_, before reaching the land which is deprived of the\nlight of day, and over whose mountains and valleys darkness broods.\nFirst there was a perilous voyage to be made, and then a journey in the\nlower world. With the experienced sailor Thorkillus as his guide, King\nGorm left Denmark with three ships and a numerous company, sailed past\nHalogaland, and came, after strange adventures on his way, to\nBjarmaland, situated beyond the known land of the same name, and\nanchored near its coast. In this _Bjarmia ulterior_ it is always cold;\nto its snow-clad fields there comes no summer warmth, through its deep\nwild forests flow rapid foaming rivers which well forth from the rocky\nrecesses, and the woods are full of wild beasts, the like of which are\nunknown elsewhere. The inhabitants are monsters with whom it is\ndangerous for strangers to enter into conversation, for from\nunconsidered words they get power to do harm. Therefore Thorkillus was\nto do the talking alone for all his companions. The place for anchoring\nhe had chosen in such a manner that they thence had the shortest journey\nto Geruthus. In the evening twilight the travellers saw a man of unusual\nsize coming to meet them, and to their joy he greeted them by name.\nThorkillus informed them that they should regard the coming of this man\nas a good omen, for he was the brother of Geruthus, Guthmundus, a\nfriendly person and the most faithful protector in peril. When\nThorkillus had explained the perpetual silence of his companions by\nsaying that they were too bashful to enter into conversation with one\nwhose language they did not understand, Guthmundus invited them to be\nhis guests and led them by paths down along a river. Then they came to a\nplace where a golden bridge was built across the river. The Danes felt a\ndesire to cross the bridge and visit the land on the other side, but\nGuthmundus warned them that nature with the bed of this stream has drawn\na line between the human and superhuman and mysterious, and that the\nground on the other side was by a sacred order proclaimed unlawful for\nthe feet of mortals.[34] They therefore continued the march on that\nside of the river on which they had hitherto gone, and so came to the\nmysterious dwelling of Guthmundus, where a feast was spread before them,\nat which twelve of his sons, all of noble appearance, and as many\ndaughters, most fair of face, waited upon them.\n\nBut the feast was a peculiar one. The Danes heeded the advice of\nThorkillus not to come into too close contact with their strange\ntable-companions or the servants, and instead of tasting the courses\npresented of food and drink, they ate and drank of the provisions they\nhad taken with them from home. This they did because Thorkillus knew\nthat mortals who accept the courtesies here offered them lose all memory\nof the past and remain for ever among \"these non-human and dismal\nbeings.\" Danger threatened even those who were weak in reference to the\nenticing loveliness of the daughters of Guthmundus. He offered King Gorm\na daughter in marriage. Gorm himself was prudent enough to decline the\nhonour; but four of his men could not resist the temptation, and had to\npay the penalty with the loss of their memory and with enfeebled minds.\n\nOne more trial awaited them. Guthmundus mentioned to the king that he\nhad a villa, and invited Gorm to accompany him thither and taste of the\ndelicious fruits. Thorkillus, who had a talent for inventing excuses,\nnow found one for the king's lips. The host, though displeased with the\nreserve of the guests, still continued to show them friendliness, and\nwhen they expressed their desire to see the domain of Geruthus, he\naccompanied them all to the river, conducted them across it, and\npromised to wait there until they returned.\n\nThe land which they now entered was the home of terrors. They had not\ngone very far before they discovered before them a city, which seemed to\nbe built of dark mists. Human heads were raised on stakes which\nsurrounded the bulwarks of the city. Wild dogs, whose rage Thorkillus,\nhowever, knew how to calm, kept watch outside of the gates. The gates\nwere located high up in the bulwark, and it was necessary to climb up on\nladders in order to get to them. Within the city was a crowd of beings\nhorrible to look at and to hear, and filth and rottenness and a terrible\nstench were everywhere. Further in was a sort of mountain-fastness. When\nthey had reached its entrance the travellers were overpowered by its\nawful aspect, but Thorkillus inspired them with courage. At the same\ntime he warned them most strictly not to touch any of the treasures that\nmight entice their eyes. All that sight and soul can conceive as\nterrible and loathsome was gathered within this rocky citadel. The\ndoor-frames were covered with the soot of centuries, the walls were\ndraped with filth, the roofs were composed of sharp stings, the floors\nwere made of serpents encased in foulness. At the thresholds crowds of\nmonsters acted as doorkeepers and were very noisy. On iron benches,\nsurrounded by a hurdle-work of lead, there lay giant monsters which\nlooked like lifeless images. Higher up in a rocky niche sat the aged\nGeruthus, with his body pierced and nailed to the rock, and there lay\nalso three women with their backs broken. Thorkillus explained that it\nwas this Geruthus whom the god Thor had pierced with a red-hot iron; the\nwomen had also received their punishment from the same god.\n\nWhen the travellers left these places of punishment they came to a place\nwhere they saw cisterns of mead (_dolia_) in great numbers. These were\nplated with seven sheets of gold, and above them hung objects of silver,\nround as to form, from which shot numerous braids down into the\ncisterns. Near by was found a gold-plated tooth of some strange animal,\nand near it, again, there lay an immense horn decorated with pictures\nand flashing with precious stones, and also an arm-ring of great size.\nDespite the warnings, three of Gorm's men laid greedy hands on these\nworks of art. But the greed got its reward. The arm-ring changed into a\nvenomous serpent; the horn into a dragon, which killed their robbers;\nthe tooth became a sword, which pierced the heart of him who bore it.\nThe others who witnessed the fate of their comrades expected that they\ntoo, although innocent, should meet with some misfortune. But their\nanxiety seemed unfounded, and when they looked about them again they\nfound the entrance to another treasury, which contained a wealth of\nimmense weapons, among which was kept a royal mantle, together with a\nsplendid head-gear and a belt, the finest work of art. Thorkillus\nhimself could not govern his greed when he saw these robes. He took hold\nof the mantle, and thus gave the signal to the others to plunder. But\nthen the building shook in its foundations; the voices of shrieking\nwomen were heard, who asked if these robbers were longer to be\ntolerated; beings which hitherto had been lying as if half-dead or\nlifeless started up and joined other spectres who attacked the Danes.\nThe latter would all have lost their lives had not their retreat been\ncovered by two excellent archers whom Gorm had with him. But of the men,\nnearly three hundred in number, with whom the king had ventured into\nthis part of the lower world, there remained only twenty when they\nfinally reached the river, where Guthmundus, true to his promise, was\nwaiting for them, and carried them in a boat to his own domain. Here he\nproposed to them that they should remain, but as he could not persuade\nthem, he gave them presents and let them return to their ships in safety\nthe same way as they had come.\n\n[Footnote 34: Cujus transeundi cupidos revocavit, docens, eo alveo\nhumana a monstrosis rerum secrevisse naturam, nec mortalibus ultra fas\nesse vestigiis.]\n\n\n 47.\n\n MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (_continued_). FJALLERUS AND HADINGUS\n (HADDING) IN THE LOWER WORLD.\n\n\nTwo other Danish princes have, according to Saxo, been permitted to see\na subterranean world, or Odainsaker. Saxo calls the one Fjallerus, and\nmakes him a sub-regent in Scania. The question who this Fjallerus was in\nthe mythology is discussed in another part of this work (see No. 92).\nAccording to Saxo he was banished from the realm by King Amlethus, the\nson of Horvendillus, and so retired to Undensakre (Odainsaker), \"a place\nwhich is unknown to our people\" (_Hist. Dan._ iv.).\n\nThe other of these two is King Hadingus (_Hist. Dan._, i.), the\nabove-mentioned Hadding, son of Halfdan. One winter's day, while Hadding\nsat at the hearth, there rose out of the ground the form of a woman, who\nhad her lap full of cowbanes, and showed them as if she was about to ask\nwhether the king would like to see that part of the world where, in the\nmidst of winter, so fresh flowers could bloom. Hadding desired this.\nThen she wrapped him in her mantle and carried him away down into the\nlower world. \"The gods of the lower world,\" says Saxo, \"must have\ndetermined that he should be transferred living to those places, which\nare not to be sought until after death.\" In the beginning the journey\nwas through a territory wrapped in darkness, fogs, and mists. Then\nHadding perceived that they proceeded along a path \"which is daily trod\nby the feet of walkers.\" The path led to a river, in whose rapids spears\nand other weapons were tossed about, and over which there was a bridge.\nBefore reaching this river Hadding had seen from the path he travelled a\nregion in which \"a few\" or \"certain\" (_quidam_), but very noble beings\n(_proceres_) were walking, dressed in beautiful frocks and purple\nmantles. Thence the woman brought him to a plain which glittered as in\nsunshine (_loca aprica_, translation of \"The Glittering Plains\"), and\nthere grew the plants which she had shown him. This was one side of the\nriver. On the other side there was bustle and activity. There Hadding\nsaw two armies engaged in battle. They were, his fair guide explained to\nhim, the souls of warriors who had fallen in battle, and now imitated\nthe sword-games they had played on earth. Continuing their journey, they\nreached a place surrounded by a wall, which was difficult to pass\nthrough or to surmount. Nor did the woman make any effort to enter\nthere, either alone or with him: \"It would not have been possible for\nthe smallest or thinnest physical being.\" They therefore returned the\nway they had come. But before this, and while they stood near the wall,\nthe woman demonstrated to Hadding by an experiment that the walled place\nhad a strange nature. She jerked the head off a chicken which she had\ntaken with her, and threw it over the wall, but the head came back to\nthe neck of the chicken, and with a distinct crow it announced \"that it\nhad regained its life and breath.\"\n\n\n 48.\n\n MIDDLE AGE SAGAS (_continued_). A FRISIAN SAGA IN\n ADAM OF BREMEN.\n\n\nThe series of traditions above narrated in regard to Odainsaker, the\nGlittering Plains, and their ruler Gudmund, and also in regard to the\nneighbouring domains as habitations of the souls of the dead, extends,\nso far as the age of their recording in writing is concerned, through a\nperiod of considerable length. The latest cannot be referred to an\nearlier date than the fourteenth century; the oldest were put in writing\ntoward the close of the twelfth. Saxo began working on his history\nbetween the years 1179 and 1186. Thus these literary evidences span\nabout two centuries, and stop near the threshold of heathendom. The\ngeneration to which Saxo's father belonged witnessed the crusade which\nSigurd the Crusader made in Eastern Smaland, in whose forests the\nAsa-doctrine until that time seems to have prevailed, and the Odinic\nreligion is believed to have flourished in the more remote parts of\nSweden even in Saxo's own time.\n\nWe must still add to this series of documents one which is to carry it\nback another century, and even more. This document is a saga told by\nAdam of Bremen in _De Situ Daniae_. Adam, or, perhaps, before him, his\nauthority Adalbert (appointed archbishop in the year 1043), has turned\nthe saga into history, and made it as credible as possible by excluding\nall distinctly mythical elements. And as it, doubtless for this reason,\nneither mentions a place which can be compared with Odainsaker or with\nthe Glittering Plains, I have omitted it among the literary evidences\nabove quoted. Nevertheless, it reminds us in its main features of Saxo's\naccount of Gorm's journey of discovery, and its relation both to it and\nto the still older myth shall be shown later (see No. 94). In the form\nin which Adam heard the saga, its point of departure has been located in\nFriesland, not in Denmark. Frisian noblemen make a voyage past Norway up\nto the farthest limits of the Arctic Ocean, get into a darkness which\nthe eyes scarcely can penetrate, are exposed to a maelstrom which\nthreatens to drag them down _ad Chaos_, but finally come quite\nunexpectedly out of darkness and cold to an island which, surrounded as\nby a wall of high rocks, contains subterranean caverns, wherein giants\nlie concealed. At the entrances of the underground dwellings lay a great\nnumber of tubs and vessels of gold and other metals which \"to mortals\nseem rare and valuable.\" As much as the adventurers could carry of\nthese treasures they took with them and hastened to their ships. But the\ngiants, represented by great dogs, rushed after them. One of the\nFrisians was overtaken and torn into pieces before the eyes of the\nothers. The others succeeded, thanks to our Lord and to Saint Willehad,\nin getting safely on board their ships.\n\n\n 49.\n\n ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN NOS. 44-48.\n\n\nIf we consider the position of the authors or recorders of these sagas\nin relation to the views they present in regard to Odainsaker and the\nGlittering Plains, then we find that they themselves, with or without\nreason, believe that these views are from a heathen time and of heathen\norigin. The saga of Erik Vidforle states that its hero had in his own\nnative land, and in his heathen environment, heard reports about\nOdainsaker. The Miklagard king who instructs the prince in the doctrines\nof Christianity knows, on the other hand, nothing of such a country. He\nsimply conjectures that the Odainsaker of the heathens must be the same\nas the Paradise of the Christians, and the saga later makes this\nconjecture turn out to be incorrect.\n\nThe author of Hervor's saga mentions Odainsaker as a heathen belief, and\ntries to give reasons why it was believed in heathen times that\nOdainsaker was situated within the limits of Gudmund's kingdom, the\nGlittering Plains. The reason is: \"Gudmund and his men became so old\nthat they lived through several generations (Gudmund lived five hundred\nyears), and therefore the heathens believed that Odainsaker was situated\nin his domain.\"\n\nThe man who compiled the legend about Helge Thoreson connects it with\nthe history of King Olaf Trygveson, and pits this first king of Norway,\nwho laboured for the introduction of Christianity, as a representative\nof the new and true doctrine against King Gudmund of the Glittering\nPlains as the representative of the heathen doctrine. The author would\nnot have done this if he had not believed that the ruler of the\nGlittering Plains had his ancestors in heathendom.\n\nThe saga of Thorstein Baearmagn puts Gudmund and the Glittering Plains in\na tributary relation to Jotunheim and to Geirrod, the giant, well known\nin the mythology.\n\nSaxo makes Gudmund Geirrod's (Geruthus') brother, and he believes he is\ndiscussing ancient traditions when he relates Gorm's journey of\ndiscovery and Hadding's journey to Jotunheim. Gorm's reign is referred\nby Saxo to the period immediately following the reign of the mythical\nKing Snoe (Snow) and the emigration of the Longobardians. Hadding's\ndescent to the lower world occurred, according to Saxo, in an antiquity\nmany centuries before King Snow. Hadding is, in Saxo, one of the first\nkings of Denmark, the grandson of Skjold, progenitor of the Skjoldungs.\n\nThe saga of Erik Vidforle makes the way to Odainsaker pass through\nSyria, India, and an unknown land which wants the light of the sun, and\nwhere the stars are visible all day long. On the other side of\nOdainsaker, and bordering on it, lies the land of the happy spirits,\nParadise.\n\nThat these last ideas have been influenced by Christianity would seem to\nbe sufficiently clear. Nor do we find a trace of Syria, India, and\nParadise as soon as we leave this saga and pass to the others, in the\nchain of which it forms one of the later links. All the rest agree in\ntransferring to the uttermost North the land which must be reached\nbefore the journey can be continued to the Glittering Plains and\nOdainsaker. Hervor's saga says that the Glittering Plains and Odainsaker\nare situated north of Halogaland, in Jotunheim; Herrod's and Bose's saga\nstates that they are situated in the vicinity of Bjarmaland. The saga of\nThorstein Baearmagn says that they are a kingdom subject to Geirrod in\nJotunheim. Gorm's saga in Saxo says it is necessary to sail past\nHalogaland north to a _Bjarmia ulterior_ in order to get to the kingdoms\nof Gudmund and Geirrod. The saga of Helge Thoreson makes its hero meet\nthe daughters of Gudmund, the ruler of the Glittering Plains, after a\nvoyage to Finmarken. Hadding's saga in Saxo makes the Danish king pay a\nvisit to the unknown but wintry cold land of the \"Nitherians,\" when he\nis invited to make a journey to the lower world. Thus the older and\ncommon view was that he who made the attempt to visit the Glittering\nPlains and Odainsaker must first penetrate the regions of the uttermost\nNorth, known only by hearsay.\n\nThose of the sagas which give us more definite local descriptions in\naddition to this geographical information all agree that the region\nwhich forms, as it were, a foreground to the Glittering Plains and\nOdainsaker is a land over which the darkness of night broods. As just\nindicated, Erik Vidforle's saga claims that the stars there are visible\nall day long. Gorm's saga in Saxo makes the Danish adventurers leave sun\nand stars behind to continue the journey _sub Chao_. Darkness, fogs, and\nmists envelop Hadding before he gets sight of the splendidly-clad\n_proceres_ who dwell down there, and the shining meadows whose flowers\nare never visited by winter. The Frisian saga in Adam of Bremen also\nspeaks of a gloom which must be penetrated ere one reaches the land\nwhere rich giants dwell in subterranean caverns.\n\nThrough this darkness one comes, according to the saga of Erik Vidforle,\nto a plain full of flowers, delicious fragrances, rivers of honey (a\nBiblical idea, but see Nos. 89, 123), and perpetual light. A river\nseparates this plain from the land of the spirits.\n\nThrough the same darkness, according to Gorm's saga, one comes to\nGudmund's Glittering Plains, where there is a pleasure-farm bearing\ndelicious fruits, while in that Bjarmaland whence the Glittering Plains\ncan be reached reign eternal winter and cold. A river separates the\nGlittering Plains from two or more other domains, of which at least one\nis the home of departed souls. There is a bridge of gold across the\nriver to another region, \"which separates that which is mortal from the\nsuperhuman,\" and on whose soil a mortal being must not set his foot.\nFurther on one can pass in a boat across the river to a land which is\nthe place of punishment for the damned and a resort of ghosts.\n\nThrough the same darkness one comes, according to Hadding's saga, to a\nsubterranean land where flowers grow in spite of the winter which reigns\non the surface of the earth. The land of flowers is separated from the\nElysian fields of those fallen in battle by a river which hurls about in\nits eddies spears and other weapons.\n\nThese statements from different sources agree with each other in their\nmain features. They agree that the lower world is divided into two main\nparts by a river, and that departed souls are found only on the farther\nside of the river.\n\nThe other main part on this side the river thus has another purpose than\nthat of receiving the happy or damned souls of the dead. There dwells,\naccording to Gorm's saga, the giant Gudmund, with his sons and\ndaughters. There are also the Glittering Plains, since these, according\nto Hervor's, Herrod's, Thorstein Baearmagn's, and Helge Thoreson's sagas,\nare ruled by Gudmund.\n\nSome of the accounts cited say that the Glittering Plains are situated\nin Jotunheim. This statement does not contradict the fact that they are\nsituated in the lower world. The myths mention two Jotunheims, and hence\nthe Eddas employ the plural form, Jotunheimar. One of the Jotunheims is\nlocated on the surface of the earth in the far North and East, separated\nfrom the Midgard inhabited by man by the uttermost sea or the Elivogs\n(Gylfaginning, 8). The other Jotunheim is subterranean. According to\nVafthrudnismal (31), one of the roots of the world-tree extends down \"to\nthe frost-giants.\" Urd and her sisters, who guard one of the fountains\nof Ygdrasil's roots, are giantesses. Mimer, who guards another fountain\nin the lower world, is called a giant. That part of the world which is\ninhabited by the goddesses of fate and by Mimer is thus inhabited by\ngiants, and is a subterranean Jotunheim. Both these Jotunheims are\nconnected with each other. From the upper there is a path leading to the\nlower. Therefore those traditions recorded in a Christian age, which we\nare here discussing, have referred to the Arctic Ocean and the uttermost\nNorth as the route for those who have the desire and courage to visit\nthe giants of the lower world.\n\nWhen it is said in Hadding's saga that he on the other side of the\nsubterranean river saw the shades of heroes fallen by the sword arrayed\nin line of battle and contending with each other, then this is no\ncontradiction of the myth, according to which the heroes chosen on the\nbattle-field come to Asgard and play their warlike games on the plains\nof the world of the gods.\n\nIn Voeluspa (str. 24) we read that when the first \"folk\"-war broke out in\nthe world, the citadel of Odin and his clan was stormed by the Vans, who\nbroke through its bulwark and captured Asgard. In harmony with this,\nSaxo (_Hist._, i.) relates that at the time when King Hadding reigned\nOdin was banished from his power and lived for some time in exile (see\nNos. 36-41).\n\nIt is evident that no great battles can have been fought, and that there\ncould not have been any great number of sword-fallen men, before the\n_first_ great \"folk\" war broke out in the world. Otherwise this war\nwould not have been the first. Thus Valhal has not before this war had\nthose hosts of einherjes who later are feasted in Valfather's hall. But\nas Odin, after the breaking out of this war, is banished from Valhal and\nAsgard, and does not return before peace is made between the Asas and\nVans, then none of the einherjes chosen by him could be received in\nValhal _during_ the war. Hence it follows that the heroes fallen in this\nwar, though chosen by Odin, must have been referred to some other place\nthan Asgard (excepting, of course, all those chosen by the Vans, _in\ncase_ they chose einherjes, which is probable, for the reason that the\nVanadis Freyja gets, after the reconciliation with Odin, the right to\ndivide with him the choice of the slain). This other place can nowhere\nelse be so appropriately looked for as in the lower world, which we know\nwas destined to receive the souls of the dead. And as Hadding, who,\naccording to Saxo, descended to the lower world, is, according to Saxo,\nthe same Hadding during whose reign Odin was banished from Asgard, then\nit follows that the statement of the saga, making him see in the lower\nworld those warlike games which else are practised on Asgard's plains,\nfar from contradicting the myth, on the contrary is a consequence of the\nconnection of the mythical events.\n\nThe river which is mentioned in Erik Vidforle's, Gorm's, and Hadding's\nsagas has its prototype in the mythic records. When Hermod on Sleipner\nrides to the lower world (Gylfaginning, 10) he first journeys through a\ndark country (compare above) and then comes to the river _Gjoell_, over\nwhich there is the golden bridge called the Gjallar bridge. On the other\nside of _Gjoell_ is the Helgate, which leads to the realm of the dead. In\nGorm's saga the bridge across the river is also of gold, and it is\nforbidden mortals to cross to the other side.\n\nA subterranean river hurling weapons in its eddies is mentioned in\nVoeluspa, 33. In Hadding's saga we also read of a weapon-hurling river\nwhich forms the boundary of the Elysium of those slain by the sword.\n\nIn Vegtamskvida is mentioned an underground dog, bloody about the\nbreast, coming from Nifelhel, the proper place of punishment. In Gorm's\nsaga the bulwark around the city of the damned is guarded by great dogs.\nThe word \"nifel\" (_nifl_, the German _Nebel_), which forms one part of\nthe word Nifelhel, means mist, fog. In Gorm's saga the city in question\nis most like a cloud of vapour (_vaporanti maxime nubi simile_).\n\nSaxo's description of that house of torture, which is found within the\ncity, is not unlike Voeluspa's description of that dwelling of torture\ncalled Nastrand. In Saxo the floor of the house consists of serpents\nwattled together, and the roof of sharp stings. In Voeluspa the hall is\nmade of serpents braided together, whose heads from above spit venom\ndown on those dwelling there. Saxo speaks of soot a century old on the\ndoor frames; Voeluspa of _ljorar_, air- and smoke-openings in the roof\n(see further Nos. 77 and 78).\n\nSaxo himself points out that the Geruthus (_Geirroedr_) mentioned by him,\nand his famous daughters, belong to the myth about the Asa-god Thor.\nThat Geirrod after his death is transferred to the lower world is no\ncontradiction to the heathen belief, according to which beautiful or\nterrible habitations await the dead, not only of men but also of other\nbeings. Compare Gylfaginning, ch. 46, where Thor with one blow of his\nMjolner sends a giant _nidr undir Niflhel_ (see further, No. 60).\n\nAs Mimer's and Urd's fountains are found in the lower world (see Nos.\n63, 93), and as Mimer is mentioned as the guardian of Heimdal's horn and\nother treasures, it might be expected that these circumstances would not\nbe forgotten in those stories from Christian times which have been cited\nabove and found to have roots in the myths.\n\nWhen in Saxo's saga about Gorm the Danish adventurers had left the\nhorrible city of fog, they came to another place in the lower world\nwhere the gold-plated mead-cisterns were found. The Latin word used by\nSaxo, which I translate with cisterns of mead, is _dolium_. In the\nclassical Latin this word is used in regard to wine-cisterns of so\nimmense a size that they were counted among the immovables, and usually\nwere sunk in the cellar floors. They were so large that a person could\nlive in such a cistern, and this is also reported as having happened.\nThat the word _dolium_ still in Saxo's time had a similar meaning\nappears from a letter quoted by Du Cange, written by Saxo's younger\ncontemporary, Bishop Gebhard. The size is therefore no obstacle to\nSaxo's using this word for a wine-cistern to mean the mead-wells in the\nlower world of Teutonic mythology. The question now is whether he\nactually did so, or whether the subterranean _dolia_ in question are\nobjects in regard to which our earliest mythic records have left us in\nignorance.\n\nIn Saxo's time, and earlier, the epithets by which the mead-wells--Urd's\nand Mimer's--and their contents are mentioned in mythological songs had\ncome to be applied also to those mead-buckets which Odin is said to have\nemptied in the halls of the giant Fjalar or Suttung. This application\nalso lay near at hand, since these wells and these vessels contained the\nsame liquor, and since it originally, as appears from the meaning of the\nwords, was the liquor, and not the place where the liquor was kept, to\nwhich the epithets _Odraerir_, _Bodn_, and _Son_ applied. In Havamal\n(107) Odin expresses his joy that _Odraerir_ has passed out of the\npossession of the giant Fjalar and can be of use to the beings of the\nupper world. But if we may trust Bragar, (ch. 5), it is the drink and\nnot the empty vessels that Odin takes with him to Valhal. On this\nsupposition, it is the drink and not one of the vessels which in Havamal\nis called _Odraerir_. In Havamal (140) Odin relates how he, through\nself-sacrifice and suffering, succeeded in getting runic songs up from\nthe deep, and also a drink dipped out of _Odraerir_. He who gives him the\nsongs and the drink, and accordingly is the ruler of the fountain of the\ndrink, is a man, \"Bolthorn's celebrated son.\" Here again Odraerer is one\nof the subterranean fountains, and no doubt Mimer's, since the one who\npours out the drink is a man. But in Forspjalsljod (2) Urd's fountain is\nalso called Odraerer (_Odhraerir Urdar_). Paraphrases for the liquor of\npoetry, such as \"Bodn's growing billow\" (Einar Skalaglam) and \"Son's\nreedgrown grass edge\" (Eilif Gudrunson), point to fountains or wells,\nnot to vessels. Meanwhile a satire was composed before the time of Saxo\nand Sturlason about Odin's adventure at Fjalar's, and the author of this\nsong, the contents of which the Younger Edda has preserved, calls the\nvessels which Odin empties at the giant's _Odhraerir_, _Bodn_, and _Son_\n(Brogaraedur, 6). Saxo, who reveals a familiarity with the genuine\nheathen, or supposed heathen, poems handed down to his time, may thus\nhave seen the epithets _Odraerir_, _Bodn_, and _Son_ applied both to the\nsubterranean mead-wells and to a giant's mead-vessels. The greater\nreason he would have for selecting the Latin _dolium_ to express an idea\nthat can be accommodated to both these objects.\n\nOver these mead-reservoirs there hang, according to Saxo's description,\nround-shaped objects of silver, which in close braids drop down and are\nspread around the seven times gold-plated walls of the mead-cisterns.\n[35]\n\nOver Mimer's and Urd's fountains hang the roots of the ash Ygdrasil,\nwhich sends its root-knots and root-threads down into their waters. But\nnot only the rootlets sunk in the water, but also the roots from which\nthey are suspended, partake of the waters of the fountains. The norns\ntake daily from the water and sprinkle the stem of the tree therewith,\n\"and the water is so holy,\" says Gylfaginning (16), \"that everything\nthat is put in the well (consequently, also, all that which the norns\ndaily sprinkle with the water) becomes as white as the membrane between\nthe egg and the egg-shell.\" Also the root over Mimer's fountain is\nsprinkled with its water (Voelusp., Cod. R., 28), and this water, so far\nas its colour is concerned, seems to be of the same kind as that in\nUrd's fountain, for the latter is called _hvitr aurr_ (Voelusp., 18) and\nthe former runs in _aurgum forsi_ upon its root of the world-tree\n(Voelusp., 28). The adjective _aurigr_, which describes a quality of the\nwater in Mimer's fountain, is formed from the noun _aurr_, with which\nthe liquid is described which waters the root over Urd's fountain.\nYgdrasil's roots, as far up as the liquid of the wells can get to them,\nthus have a colour like that of \"the membrane between the egg and the\negg-shell,\" and consequently recall both as to position, form, and\ncolour the round-shaped objects \"of silver\" which, according to Saxo,\nhang down and are intertwined in the mead-reservoirs of the lower world.\n\nMimer's fountain contains, as we know, the purest mead--the liquid of\ninspiration, of poetry, of wisdom, of understanding.\n\nNear by Ygdrasil, according to Voeluspa (27), Heimdal's horn is\nconcealed. The seeress in Voeluspa knows that it is hid \"beneath the\nhedge-o'ershadowing holy tree.\"\n\n Veit hon Heimdallar\n hljod um folgit\n undir heidvoenum\n helgum badmi.\n\nNear one of the mead-cisterns in the lower world Gorm's men see a horn\nornamented with pictures and flashing with precious stones.\n\nAmong the treasures taken care of by Mimer is the world's foremost sword\nand a wonderful arm-ring, smithied by the same master as made the sword\n(see Nos. 87, 98, 101).\n\nNear the gorgeous horn Gorm's men see a gold-plated tooth of an animal\nand an arm-ring. The animal tooth becomes a sword when it is taken into\nthe hand.[36] Near by is a treasury filled with a large number of\nweapons and a royal robe. Mimer is known in mythology as a collector of\ntreasures. He is therefore called _Hoddmimir_, _Hoddropnir_,\n_Baugregin_.\n\nThus Gorm and his men have on their journeys in the lower world seen not\nonly Nastrand's place of punishment in Nifelhel, but also the holy land,\nwhere Mimer reigns.\n\nWhen Gorm and his men desire to cross the golden bridge and see the\nwonders to which it leads, Gudmund prohibits it. When they in another\nplace farther up desire to cross the river to see what there is beyond,\nhe consents and has them taken over in a boat. He does not deem it\nproper to show them the unknown land at the golden bridge, but it is\nwithin the limits of his authority to let them see the places of\npunishment and those regions which contain the mead-cisterns and the\ntreasure chambers. The sagas call him the king on the Glittering Plains,\nand as the Glittering Plains are situated in the lower world, he must be\na lower world ruler.\n\nTwo of the sagas, Helge Thoreson's and Gorm's, cast a shadow on\nGudmund's character. In the former this shadow does not produce\nconfusion or contradiction. The saga is a legend which represents\nChristianity, with Olaf Trygveson as its apostle, in conflict with\nheathenism, represented by Gudmund. It is therefore natural that the\nlatter cannot be presented in the most favourable light. Olaf destroys\nwith his prayers the happiness of Gudmund's daughter. He compels her to\nabandon her lover, and Gudmund, who is unable to take revenge in any\nother manner, tries to do so, as is the case with so many of the\ncharacters in saga and history, by treachery. This is demanded by the\nfundamental idea and tendency of the legend. What the author of the\nlegend has heard about Gudmund's character from older saga-men, or what\nhe has read in records, he does not, however, conceal with silence, but\nadmits that Gudmund, aside from his heathen religion and grudge towards\nOlaf Trygveson, was a man in whose home one might fare well and be\nhappy.\n\nSaxo has preserved the shadow, but in his narrative it produces the\ngreatest contradiction. Gudmund offers fruits, drinks, and embraces in\norder to induce his guests to remain with him for ever, and he does it\nin a tempting manner and, as it seems, with conscious cunning.\nNevertheless, he shows unlimited patience when the guests insult him by\naccepting nothing of what he offers. When he comes down to the\nsea-strand, where Gorm's ships are anchored, he is greeted by the leader\nof the discoverers with joy, because he is \"the most pious being and\nman's protector in perils.\" He conducts them in safety to his castle.\nWhen a handful of them returns after the attempt to plunder the treasury\nof the lower world, he considers the crime sufficiently punished by the\nloss of life they have suffered, and takes them across the river to his\nown safe home; and when they, contrary to his wishes, desire to return\nto their native land, he loads them with gifts and sees to it that they\nget safely on board their ships. It follows that Saxo's sources have\ndescribed Gudmund as a kind and benevolent person. Here, as in the\nlegend about Helge Thoreson, the shadow has been thrown by younger hands\nupon an older background painted in bright colours.\n\nHervor's saga says that he was wise, mighty, in a heathen sense pious\n(\"a great sacrificer\"), and so honoured that sacrifices were offered to\nhim, and he was worshipped as a god after death. Herrod's saga says that\nhe was greatly skilled in magic arts, which is another expression for\nheathen wisdom, for fimbul-songs, runes, and incantations.\n\nThe change for the worse which Gudmund's character seems in part to have\nsuffered is confirmed by a change connected with, and running parallel\nto it, in the conception of the forces in those things which belonged to\nthe lower world of the Teutonic heathendom and to Gudmund's domain. In\nSaxo we find an idea related to the antique Lethe myth, according to\nwhich the liquids and plants which belong to the lower world produce\nforgetfulness of the past. Therefore, Thorkil (Thorkillus) warns his\ncompanions not to eat or drink any of that which Gudmund offers them. In\nthe Gudrun song (ii. 21, 22), and elsewhere, we meet with the same\nidea. I shall return to this subject (see No. 50).\n\n[Footnote 35: Inde digressis dolia septem zonis aureis circumligata\npanduntur, quibus pensiles ex argento circuli crebros inseruerant\nnexus.]\n\n[Footnote 36: The word _biti_= a tooth (cp. bite) becomes in the\ncomposition _leggbiti_, the name of a sword.]\n\n\n 50.\n\n ANALYSIS OF THE SAGAS MENTIONED IN NOS. 44-48. THE\n QUESTION IN REGARD TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF\n ODAINSAKER.\n\n\nIs Gudmund an invention of Christian times, although he is placed in an\nenvironment which in general and in detail reflects the heathen\nmythology? Or is there to be found in the mythology a person who has\nprecisely the same environment and is endowed with the same attributes\nand qualities?\n\nThe latter form an exceedingly strange _ensemble_, and can therefore\neasily be recognized. Ruler in the lower world, and at the same time a\ngiant. Pious and still a giant. King in a domain to which winter cannot\npenetrate. Within that domain an enclosed place, whose bulwark neither\nsickness, nor age, nor death can surmount. It is left to his power and\npleasure to give admittance to the mysterious meadows, where the\nmead-cisterns of the lower world are found, and where the most precious\nof all horns, a wonderful sword, and a splendid arm-ring are kept. Old\nas the hills, but yet subject to death. Honoured as if he were not a\ngiant, but a divine being. These are the features which together\ncharacterise Gudmund, and should be found in his mythological prototype,\nif there is one. With these peculiar characteristics are united wisdom\nand wealth.\n\nThe answer to the question whether a mythical original of this picture\nis to be discovered will be given below. But before that we must call\nattention to some points in the Christian accounts cited in regard to\nOdainsaker.\n\nOdainsaker is not made identical with the Glittering Plains, but is a\nseparate place on them, or at all events within Gudmund's domain. Thus\naccording to Hervor's saga. The correctness of the statement is\nconfirmed by comparison with Gorm's and Hadding's sagas. The former\nmentions, as will be remembered, a place which Gudmund does not consider\nhimself authorized to show his guests, although they are permitted to\nsee other mysterious places in the lower world, even the mead-fountains\nand treasure-chambers. To the unknown place, as to Balder's subterranean\ndwelling, leads a golden bridge, which doubtless is to indicate the\nsplendour of the place. The subterranean goddess, who is Hadding's guide\nin Hades, shows him both the Glittering Fields (_loca aprica_) and the\nplains of the dead heroes, but stops with him near a wall, which is not\nopened for them. The domain surrounded by the wall receives nothing\nwhich has suffered death, and its very proximity seems to be enough to\nkeep death at bay (see No. 47).\n\nAll the sagas are silent in regard to who those beings are for whom\nthis wonderful enclosed place is intended. Its very name,\n_Acre-of-the-not-dead_ (_Odainsakr_), and _The field-of-the-living_\n(_Joerd lifanda manna_), however, makes it clear that it is not intended\nfor the souls of the dead. This Erik Vidforle's saga is also able to\nstate, inasmuch as it makes a definite distinction between _Odainsaker_\nand the land of the spirits, between _Odainsaker_ and Paradise. If human\nor other beings are found within the bulwark of the place, they must\nhave come there as living beings in a physical sense; and when once\nthere, they are protected from perishing, for diseases, age, and death\nare excluded.\n\nErik Vidforle and his companion find on their journey on Odainsaker only\na single dwelling, a splendid one with two beds. Who the couple are who\nown this house, and seem to have placed it at the disposal of the\ntravellers, is not stated. But in the night there came a beautiful lad\nto Erik. The author of the saga has made him an angel, who is on duty on\nthe borders between Odainsaker and Paradise.\n\nThe purpose of Odainsaker is not mentioned in Erik Vidforle's saga.\nThere is no intelligible connection between it and the Christian\nenvironment given to it by the saga. The ecclesiastical belief knows an\nearthly Paradise, that which existed in the beginning and was the home\nof Adam and Eve, but that it is guarded by the angel with the flaming\nsword, or, as Erik's saga expresses it, it is encircled by a wall of\nfire. In the lower world the Christian Church knows a Hades and a hell,\nbut the path to them is through the gates of death; physically living\npersons, persons who have not paid tribute to death, are not found\nthere. In the Christian group of ideas there is no place for Odainsaker.\nAn underground place for physically living people, who are there no\nlonger exposed to aging and death, has nothing to do in the economy of\nthe Church. Was there occasion for it among the ideas of the heathen\neschatology? The above-quoted sagas say nothing about the purposes of\nOdainsaker. Here is therefore a question of importance to our subject,\nand one that demands an answer.\n\n\n 51.\n\n GUDMUND'S IDENTITY WITH MIMER.\n\n\nI dare say the most characteristic figure of Teutonic mythology is\nMimer, the lord of the fountain which bears his name. The liquid\ncontained in the fountain is the object of Odin's deepest desire. He has\nneither authority nor power over it. Nor does he or anyone else of the\ngods seek to get control of it by force. Instances are mentioned\nshowing that Odin, to get a drink from it, must subject himself to great\nsufferings and sacrifices (Voeluspa, Cod. Reg., 28, 29; Havamal, 138-140;\nGylfag., 15), and it is as a gift or a loan that he afterwards receives\nfrom Mimer the invigorating and soul-inspiring drink (Havamal, 140,\n141). Over the fountain and its territory Mimer, of course, exercises\nunlimited control, an authority which the gods never appear to have\ndisputed. He has a sphere of power which the gods recognize as\ninviolable. The domain of his rule belongs to the lower world; it is\nsituated under one of the roots of the world-tree (Voeluspa, 28, 29;\nGylfag., 15), and when Odin, from the world-tree, asks for the precious\nmead of the fountain, he peers _downward_ into the deep, and thence\nbrings up the runes (_nysta ec nithr_, _nam ec up runar_--Havamal,\n139). Saxo's account of the adventure of Hotherus (_Hist_., pp. 113-115,\nMueller's ed.) shows that there was thought to be a descent to Mimer's\nland in the form of a mountain cave (_specus_), and that this descent\nwas, like the one to Gudmund's domain, to be found in the uttermost\nNorth, where terrible cold reigns.\n\nThough a giant, Mimer is the friend of the order of the world and of the\ngods. He, like Urd, guards the sacred ash, the world-tree (Voeluspa, 28),\nwhich accordingly also bears his name and is called Mimer's tree\n(_Mimameidr_--Fjolsvinsm, 20; _meidr Mima_--Fjolsv., 24). The\nintercourse between the Asa-father and him has been of such a nature\nthat the expression \"Mimer's friend\" (_Mimsvinr_--Sonatorrek, 22;\nYounger Edda, i. 238, 250, 602) could be used by the skalds as an\nepithet of Odin. Of this friendship Ynglingasaga (ch. 4) has preserved a\nrecord. It makes Mimer lose his life in his activity for the good of the\ngods, and makes Odin embalm his head, in order that he may always be\nable to get wise counsels from its lips. The song about Sigrdrifa (str.\n14) represents Odin as listening to the words of truth which come from\nMimer's head. Voeluspa (str. 45) predicts that Odin, when Ragnarok\napproaches, shall converse with Mimer's head; and, according to\nGylfaginning (56), he, immediately before the conflagration of the\nworld, rides to Mimer's fountain to get advice from the deep thinker for\nhimself and his friends. The firm friendship between Alfather and this\nstrange giant of the lower world was formed in time's morning while\nOdin was still young and undeveloped (Hav., 141), and continued until\nthe end of the gods and the world.\n\nMimer is the collector of treasures. The same treasures as Gorm and his\nmen found in the land which Gudmund let them visit are, according to\nmythology, in the care of Mimer. The wonderful horn (Voeluspa, 28), the\nsword of victory, and the ring (Saxo, _Hist._, 113, 114; cp. Nos. 87,\n97, 98, 101, 103).\n\nIn all these points the Gudmund of the middle-age sagas and Mimer of the\nmythology are identical. There still remains an important point. In\nGudmund's domain there is a splendid grove, an enclosed place, from\nwhich weaknesses, age, and death are banished--a Paradise of the\npeculiar kind, that it is not intended for the souls of the dead, but\nfor certain _lifandi menn_, yet inaccessible to people in general. In\nthe myth concerning Mimer we also find such a grove.\n\n\n 52.\n\n MIMER'S GROVE. LIF AND LEIFTHRASER.\n\n\nThe grove is called after its ruler and guardian, Mimer's or\nTreasure-Mimer's grove (_Mimis holt_--Younger Edda, Upsala Codex;\nGylfag., 58; _Hoddmimis holt_--Vafthrudnism, 45; Gylfag., 58).\n\nGylfaginning describes the destruction of the world and its\nregeneration, and then relates how the earth, rising out of the sea, is\nfurnished with human inhabitants. \"During the conflagration (_i\nSurtarloga_) two persons are concealed in Treasure-Mimer's grove. Their\nnames are Lif (_Lif_) and Leifthraser (_Leifthrasir_), and they feed on\nthe morning dews. From them come so great an offspring that all the\nworld is peopled.\"\n\nIn support of its statement Gylfaginning quotes Vafthrudnersmal. This\npoem makes Odin and the giant Vafthrudner (_Vafthrudnir_) put questions\nto each other, and among others Odin asks this question:\n\n Fiolth ec for,\n fiolth ec freistathac,\n fiolth ec um reynda regin:\n hvat lifir manna,\n tha er inn maera lithr\n fimbulvetr meth firom?\n\n\"Much I have travelled, much I have tried, much I have tested the\npowers. What human persons shall still live when the famous\nfimbul-winter has been in the world?\"\n\nVafthrudner answers:\n\n Lif oc Leifthrasir,\n enn thau leynaz muno\n i holti Hoddmimis;\n morgindauggvar\n thau ser at mat hafa\n enn thadan af aldir alaz.\n\n\"Lif and Leifthraser (are still living); they are concealed in\nHodd-Mimer's grove. They have morning dews for nourishment. Thence (from\nHodd-Mimer's grove and this human pair) are born (new) races.\"\n\nGylfaginning says that the two human beings, Lif and Leifthraser, who\nbecome the progenitors of the races that are to people the earth after\nRagnarok, are concealed _during the conflagration of the world_ in\nHodd-Mimer's grove. This is, beyond doubt, in accordance with mythic\nviews. But mythologists, who have not paid sufficient attention to what\nGylfaginning's source (Vafthrudnersmal) has to say on the subject, have\nfrom the above expression drawn a conclusion which implies a complete\nmisunderstanding of the traditions in regard to Hodd-Mimer's grove and\nthe human pair therein concealed. They have assumed that Lif and\nLeifthraser are, like all other people living at that time, inhabitants\nof the surface of the earth at the time when the conflagration of the\nworld begins. They have explained Mimer's grove to mean the world-tree,\nand argued that when Surt's flames destroy all other mortals this one\nhuman pair have succeeded in climbing upon some particular branch of the\nworld-tree, where they were protected from the destructive element.\nThere they were supposed to live on morning dews until the end of\nRagnarok, and until they could come down from their hiding-place in\nYgdrasil upon the earth which has risen from the sea, and there become\nthe progenitors of a more happy human race.\n\nAccording to this interpretation, Ygdrasil was a tree whose trunk and\nbranches could be grasped by human hands, and one or more mornings, with\nattendant morning dews, are assumed to have come and gone, while fire\nand flames enveloped all creation, and after the sun had been swallowed\nby the wolf and the stars had fallen from the heavens (Gylfag., 55;\nVoelusp., 54)! And with this terrible catastrophe before their eyes, Lif\nand Leifthraser are supposed to sit in perfect unconcern, eating the\nmorning dews!\n\nFor the scientific reputation of mythical inquiry it were well if that\nsort of investigations were avoided when they are not made necessary by\nthe sources themselves.\n\nIf sufficient attention had been paid to the above-cited evidence\nfurnished by Vafthrudnersmal in this question, the misunderstanding\nmight have been avoided, and the statement of Gylfaginning would not\nhave been interpreted to mean that Lif and Leifthraser inhabited Mimer's\ngrove _only_ during Ragnarok. For Vafthrudnersmal plainly states that\nthis human pair are in perfect security in Mimer's grove, _while a long\nand terrible winter, a fimbul-winter, visits the earth and destroys its\ninhabitants_. Not until after the end of this winter do giants and gods\ncollect their forces for a decisive conflict on Vigrid's plains; and\nwhen this conflict is ended, then comes the conflagration of the world,\nand after it the regeneration. Anent the length of the fimbul-winter,\nGylfaginning (ch. 55) claims that it continued for three years \"without\nany intervening summer.\"\n\nConsequently Lif and Leifthraser must have had their secure place of\nrefuge in Mimer's grove during the fimbul-winter, which precedes\nRagnarok. And, accordingly, the idea that they were there only during\nRagnarok, and all the strange conjectures based thereon, are unfounded.\nThey continue to remain there while the winter rages, and during all the\nepisodes which characterise the progress of the world towards ruin, and,\nfinally, also, as Gylfaginning reports, during the conflagration and\nregeneration of the world.\n\nThus it is explained why the myth finds it of importance to inform us\nhow Lif and Leifthraser support themselves during their stay in Mimer's\ngrove. It would not have occurred to the myth to present and answer this\nquestion had not the sojourn of the human pair in the grove continued\nfor some length of time. Their food is the morning dew. The morning dew\nfrom Ygdrasil was, according to the mythology, a sweet and wonderful\nnourishment, and in the popular traditions of the Teutonic middle age\nthe dew of the morning retained its reputation for having strange,\nnourishing qualities. According to the myth, it evaporates from the\nworld-tree, which stands, ever green and blooming, over Urd's and\nMimer's sacred fountains, and drops thence \"in dales\" (Voeluspa, 18, 28;\nGylfag., 16). And as the world-tree is sprinkled and gets its\nlife-giving sap from these fountains, then it follows that the liquid of\nits morning dew is substantially the same as that of the subterranean\nfountains, which contain the elixir of life, wisdom, and poesy (cp. Nos.\n72, 82, and elsewhere).\n\n_At what time_ Mimer's grove was opened as an asylum for Lif and\nLeifthraser, whether this happened during or shortly before the\nfimbul-winter, or perchance long before it, on this point there is not a\nword in the passages quoted from Vafthrudnersmal. But by the following\ninvestigation the problem shall be solved.\n\nThe Teutonic mythology has not looked upon the regeneration of the world\nas a new creation. The life which in time's morning developed out of\nchaos is not destroyed by Surt's flames, but rescues itself, purified,\nfor the coming age of the world. The world-tree survives the\nconflagration, for it defies both edge and fire (Fjolsvinnsm, 20, 21).\nThe Ida-plains are not annihilated. After Ragnarok, as in the beginning\nof time, they are the scene of the assemblings of the gods (Voeluspa, 57;\ncp. 7). Vanaheim is not affected by the destruction, for Njord shall in\n_aldar rauc_ (Vafthrudnersmal, 39) return thither \"to wise Vans.\" Odin's\ndwellings of victory remain, and are inhabited after regeneration by\nBalder and _Hoedr_ (Voeluspa, 59). The new sun is the daughter of the old\none, and was born before Ragnarok (Vafthr., 47), which she passes\nthrough unscathed. The ocean does not disappear in Ragnarok, for the\npresent earth sinks beneath its surface (Voeluspa, 54), and the new earth\nafter regeneration rises from its deep (Voeluspa, 55). Gods survive\n(Voeluspa, 53, 56; Vafthr. 51; Gylfag., 58). Human beings survive, for\nLif and Leifthraser are destined to become the connecting link between\nthe present human race and the better race which is to spring therefrom.\nAnimals and plants survive--though the animals and plants on the surface\nof the earth perish; but the earth risen from the sea was decorated with\ngreen, and there is not the slightest reference to a new act of creation\nto produce the green vegetation. Its cascades contain living beings, and\nover them flies the eagle in search of his prey (Voeluspa, 56; see\nfurther, No. 55). A work of art from antiquity is also preserved in the\nnew world. The game of dice, with which the gods played in their youth\nwhile they were yet free from care, is found again among the flowers on\nthe new earth (Voeluspa, 8, 58; see further, No. 55).\n\nIf the regeneration had been conceived as a new creation, a wholly new\nbeginning of life, then the human race of the new era would also have\nstarted from a new creation of a human pair. The myth about Lif and\nLeifthraser would then have been unnecessary and superfluous. But the\nfundamental idea is that the life of the new era is to be a continuation\nof the present life purified and developed to perfection, and from the\nstandpoint of this fundamental idea Lif and Leifthraser are necessary.\n\nThe idea of improvement and perfection are most clearly held forth in\nregard to both the physical and spiritual condition of the future world.\nAll that is weak and evil shall be redeemed (_bauls mun allz\nbatna_--Voeluspa, 59). In that perfection of nature the fields unsown by\nmen shall yield their harvests. To secure the restored world against\nrelapse into the faults of the former, the myth applies radical\nmeasures--so radical, that the Asa majesty himself, Valfather, must\nretire from the scene, in order that his son, the perfectly blameless\nBalder, may be the centre in the assembly of the chosen gods. But the\nmythology would fail in its purpose if it did not apply equally radical\nmeasures in the choice and care of the human beings who are to\nperpetuate our race after Ragnarok; for if the progenitors have within\nthem the seed of corruption, it will be developed in their descendants.\n\nHas the mythology forgotten to meet this logical claim? The demand is no\ngreater than that which is made in reference to every product of the\nfancy of whatever age. I do not mean to say that a logical claim made\non the mythology, or that a conclusion which may logically be drawn from\nthe premises of the mythology, is to be considered as evidence that the\nclaim has actually been met by the mythology, and that the mythology\nitself has been developed into its logical conclusion. I simply want to\npoint out what the claim is, and in the next place I desire to\ninvestigate whether there is evidence that the claim has been honoured.\n\nFrom the standpoint that there must be a logical harmony in the\nmythological system, it is necessary:\n\n1. That Lif and Leifthraser when they enter their asylum, Mimer's grove,\nare physically and spiritually uncorrupted persons.\n\n2. That during their stay in Mimer's grove they are protected against:\n\n(_a_) Spiritual degradation.\n\n(_b_) Physical degradation.\n\n(_c_) Against everything threatening their very existence.\n\nSo far as the last point (2_c_) is concerned, we know already from\nVafthrudnersmal that the place of refuge they received in the vicinity\nof those fountains, which, with never-failing veins, nourish the life of\nthe world-tree, is approached neither by the frost of the fimbul-winter\nnor by the flames of Ragnarok. This claim is, therefore, met completely.\n\nIn regard to the second point (2_b_), the above-cited mythic traditions\nhave preserved from the days of heathendom the memory of a grove in the\nsubterranean domain of Gudmund-Mimer, set aside for living men, not for\nthe dead, and protected against sickness, aging, and death. Thus this\nclaim is met also.\n\nAs to the third point (2_a_), all we know at present is that there, in\nthe lower world, is found an enclosed place, the very one which death\ncannot enter, and from which even _those_ mortals are banished by divine\ncommand who are admitted to the holy fountains and treasure chambers of\nthe lower world, and who have been permitted to see the regions of bliss\nand places of punishment there. It would therefore appear that all\ncontact between those who dwell there and those who take part in the\nevents of our world is cut off. The realms of Mimer and the lower world\nhave, according to the sagas--and, as we shall see later, according to\nthe myths themselves--now and then been opened to bold adventurers, who\nhave seen their wonders, looked at their remarkable fountains, their\nplains for the amusement of the shades of heroes, and their places of\npunishment of the wicked. But there is one place which has been\ninaccessible to them, a field proclaimed inviolable by divine command\n(Gorm's saga), a place surrounded by a wall, which can be entered only\nby such beings as can pass through the smallest crevices (Hadding's\nsaga).[37] But that this difficulty of entrance also was meant to\nexclude the moral evil, by which the mankind of our age is stained, is\nnot expressly stated.\n\nThus we have yet to look and see whether the original documents from the\nheathen times contain any statements which can shed light on this\nsubject. In regard to the point (1), the question it contains as to\nwhether the mythology conceived Lif and Leifthraser as physically and\nmorally undefiled at the time when they entered Mimer's grove, can only\nbe solved if we, in the old records, can find evidence that a wise,\nforeseeing power opened Mimer's grove as asylum for them, at a time when\nmankind as a whole had not yet become the prey of physical and moral\nmisery. But in that very primeval age in which the most of the events of\nmythology are supposed to have happened, creation had already become the\nvictim of corruption. There was a time when the life of the gods was\nhappiness and the joy of youthful activity; the condition of the world\ndid not cause them anxiety, and, free from care, they amused themselves\nwith the wonderful dice (Voeluspa, 7, 8). But the golden age ended in\nphysical and moral catastrophies. The air was mixed with treacherous\nevil; Freyja, the goddess of fertility and modesty, was treacherously\ndelivered into the hands of the frost giants; on the earth the sorceress\nHeid (_Heid_) strutted about teaching the secrets of black magic, which\nwas hostile to the gods and hurtful to man. The first great war broke\nout in the world (Voeluspa, 21, 22, 26). The effects of this are felt\ndown through the historical ages even to Ragnarok. The corruption of\nnature culminates in the fimbul-winter of the last days; the corruption\nof mankind has its climax in \"the axe- and knife-ages.\" The separation\nof Lif and Leifthraser from their race and confinement in Mimer's grove\nmust have occurred before the above catastrophies in time's beginning,\nif there is to be a guarantee that the human race of the new world is\nnot to inherit and develop the defects and weaknesses of the present\nhistorical generations.\n\n[Footnote 37: _Prodcuntibus murus aditu transcensuque difficilis\nobsistebat, quem femina_ (the subterranean goddess who is Hadding's\nguide) _nequicquam transilire conata cum ne corrugati quidem exilitate\nproficeret_ (Saxo, _Hist. Dan._, i. 51).]\n\n (_Continuation of Part IV in Volume II._)","title":"Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, Vol. 1","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":94358}